The Good Catholic Life

Summary of today’s show: The topic of canon law is rarely fun and lighthearted, but Scot Landry, Fr. Mark O’Connell and Chris Kelly make a go of it with a Jeopardy-style back-and-forth, answering questions on the sacraments that the Archdiocesan Tribunal frequently receives. From whether a parent can fire a godparent after the baptism to why you can’t have your wedding on a beach, our panel give informative answers to important questions many people encounter. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell Today’s guest(s): Chris Kelly Today’s topics: Canon Law Quiz Show 1st segment: Scot Landry said there’s a lot going on from All Saints’ Day to All Souls Day to Election Day next week. Scot and Fr. Mark agreed they’re looking forward to the political ads ending. They said a lot rides on the election and when we vote it’s a moral act on which we act on our deepest values. He welcomed Chris Kelly to the show. Scot noted yesterday was the second anniversary of WQOM, of which Chris is the general manager. Chris thanked everyone who donated to the recent fund drive and noted that they are still short of their goal. Donations can be made at WQOM.org. Scot said on today’s show they’re addressing the 20 or so most-frequently asked questions of the Tribunal and canon lawyers. Scot said they’re going to have a contest to see how well he and Chris Kelly guess the answer. Fr. Mark said his office has been keeping the list of frequently asked questions since 2003. Fr. Mark will ask questions of Scot and Chris. He started with questions on baptism. Fr. Mark asked Chris the first question: Who qualifies as a sponsor at baptism? Chris said a baptized Catholic. Scot added a baptized, confirmed Catholic in good standing. Fr. Mark clarified that a non-Catholic can stand-in as a Christian witness. He said you only need one Catholic to be a godparent and the other can be a Christian witness. The second question: Can a parent fire a godparent after the baptism? Scot said the answer is No. Chris said his answer is Yes. Fr. Mark said that Scot is right. He said you can add to record. You can’t change the record because it is history of that day. The next question is whether you can pick a godparent who is not a Catholic? Chris noted that while it was sort of answered, the answer is Yes. Fr. Mark said the person must be a Christian to a witness. Scot answered the question whether you can have two godparents who are of the same sex. Fr. Mark said godparent is not the technical word, but are listed as sponsors in canon law. However, the register has a space for one man and one woman. Scot got the question right. The next question is How does an Orthodox person become a Roman Catholic? Chris answered that since the Orthodox have all the same sacraments, they won’t need to be baptized or confirmed. Fr. Mark said they received baptism, confirmation and first communion at the same and because they are sacramentally valid they don’t have to go through RCIA. Instead, they first have to become an Eastern-rite Catholic by a profession of faith in front of the pastor. They become a Greek Catholic or Russian Catholic. To become a Roman Catholic, there has to be a series of letters between the Eastern-rite bishops and the Latin rite bishop. The Church discourages switching between Catholic rites. Fr. Mark asked Scot whether parent can be a confirmation sponsor. Scot said the answer is Yes. Fr. Mark said canon law says the sponsors are the same rule as baptism sponsors so no, since the parents can’t be baptism sponsors. The parent can stand in as a proxy and present them to the bishop if the sponsor can’t be present. The Church encourages the godparents to be the sponsor. Fr. Mark said the next question for Chris is “Can a child who is not of Confirmation age ask to receive Confirmation early?” Fr. Mark said in the Archdiocese of Boston it’s usually 13 or 14 years old. Chris said the answer is No. Scot said Yes. Fr. Mark said Yes, but pastors don’t often realize that. The child has a right to early confirmation if they are ready for it. Scot noted that in a few dioceses where the children receive confirmation in second grade at the same time as first communion and first reconciliation. Scot said the current score is 4 for Landry and 2 for Kelly. Next question is whether you need to be confirmed to be married in the Catholic Church. Fr. Mark said technically you don’t although it’s highly encouraged. He said children are often told they have to stay in religious education to confirmation if they ever want to be married. This is incorrect. This isn’t a canon law question, but Why do some Churches have the Confirmandi in robes and others do not? This one is for Chris. Chris said No and Scot said it’s because the church wants the kids to stand out from the west or to reflect a particular symbolic color. Fr. Mark said robes make it seem like a graduation and it can make it seem like they’re graduating from religion. But because confirmation is a beginning, not an ending, they discourage the practice. On the other hand, they use the robes to cover up kids who aren’t properly dressed. Onto Penance, Scot was asked Do they still do General Absolution and where can I go to do that instead of individual Confession? Scot said Ys, under certain circumstances, but it’s very rare. You could do it on a plane about to go down. Or otherwise when it is impossible for practical purposes for everyone who wants to receive the sacrament individually can’t. Still, those individuals are encouraged to go individually. Fr. MArk said it’s 100% perfect answer, even when you have to go to individual confession later. Scot said the Church has emphasized that it should be rare for general absolution. For Chris, Do I have to tell all my sins in Confession? Chris said Yes, however, if don’t remember them all inadvertently, all the sins are still forgiven. Fr. Mark said that was well done. cot asked the status of your relationship with God if you knowingly withhold the confession of a sin because you’re embarrassed. Fr. Mark said the actual effectiveness is up to God, not the priest. He said some people worry about looking bad in front of the priest, but he said the priest has heard everything before and wants to hear a full confession. To not give a full confession risks not receiving absolution. Fr. Mark noted that if you forget a mortal sin and remember it later, you still have to confess it. Chris asked whether a priest can ever reveal what’s said in confession. Fr. Mark said absolutely no. Scot added that the priest can’t even reveal to the individual that they remember the sin. Fr. Mark said every priest has had a weird conversation with someone who later brings something up from the confessional and he’s supposed to just not respond. Scot answered Do I have to go to Confession facing a priest? Scot said of course not. You can still use the confessional box or sitting side by side. Fr. Mark said a person can ask for an opportunity for anonymous confession because they have that right. For Chris, Can I receive Communion if I haven’t gone to Confession lately? He said that we’re required to go to confession once per year at least and if they are in a state of mortal sin, not to receive communion. They are still required to go to Mass. Onto the marriage topic, Scot is asked whether s non-Catholic marrying a Catholic have to promise to raise the children Catholic? Scot guessed No. Rick Heil disagreed with Scot that if you’re having a Catholic wedding, then you must. Chris agreed with Rick. Fr. Mark said the non-Catholic does not make any process, but the Catholic has to promise to remain a Catholic and to do in his power to raise the children as Catholic. It’s not an absolute promise. The non-Catholic has to witness the promise. Scot gets the point. Fr. Mark asked Chris: How come my Church won’t give me a real Baptism certificate? Chris said the baptism certificate has to stay in the church’s records. Fr. Mark said the long form of the certificate has to only be given from one priest to another. The long form establishes the freedom to marry and has never been married or has been annulled. These are the Church’s private records. The parish can give a short form. For Scot: Can a priest marry a couple that has no intention of having children? Scot said it’s a loaded question. People beyond the age of childbirth can be married can be married. On the other hand, if a couple said they absolutely aren’t open to life or open to having children then the answer is No. Fr. Mark said he’s right. They would ask the couple to re-consider. It also doesn’t mean that the couple can’t decide to delay children. He said you have to give the right to your spouse to have children in the union. For Chris: Why can’t I have my wedding on the beach? Chris said the sacraments aren’t personal or private. We don’t divide the sacrament from the Church. Having the sacrament in the Church unites it to the community. Fr. Mark said a baptized Catholic marrying a non-baptized person is a non-sacramental marriage, so what about those. They are natural and valid marriage, but not a sacrament. Scot guesses No. Fr. Mark said it’s up to the province of bishops to say what’s a suitable place and in our province even for non-sacramental marriages between a Catholic and non-Catholic they must be indoors in a public place and sacramental marriages must be in a church. They then discussed that you can get permission to have a Mass on the beach, but not a wedding. Fr. Mark said people often are angered by the rule. For Chris: Can I have two ceremonies for my Marriage; one Catholic and the other of my spouse’s faith? Chris said he’s stymied. Scot said in countries where Catholic marriages aren’t recognized by the government, they go to the courthouse to get civilly married first and then go to the church for a sacramental wedding. But if this was about different faiths, then he says No. Fr. Mark said this question is most often asked by people marrying Hindus. A Catholic gets married in one church and then in a Catholic church, did they really fully commit to the Catholic sacrament. The preferred solution is to have the other ceremony with a dispensation and not have one in the Catholic church. For Scot: Should a priest or deacon celebrate a Marriage if the woman is pregnant? Scot’s answer is Yes. Fr. Mark said a couple preparing for marriage, maybe in late twenties and go to Mass every week, and they move up the wedding, that’s okay. On the other hand, a young woman of 18 gets pregnant and thinks she needs to, he would say wait. That wouldn’t necessarily be full and free consent. Last question for Chris: How do I get my Marriage which was not in a Church “blessed” by the Church? Chris said they have to go through the parish priest. Fr. Mark said another good answer is to call the Tribunal. He said someone married outside the Church is not validly married and not able to go to Communion and the Church assumes you’re having sex outside marriage, which you can’t confess because you won’t have a firm commitment to avoid that again. So you would have to validate the marriage, by going through an actual wedding ceremony. He said he’s had people come in to have their marriage validated with five kids in tow and it was a wonderful celebration. Scot asked for a tiebreaker: Does an annulment of my marriage make my children illegitimate? Scot said the answer is NO!!!!!! Chris seconds that. The answer is No. Another tiebreaker: Why does my non-Catholic fiancé need a Catholic annulment? Chris said the Church has to ensure that the natural marriage did not exist in the first place. Fr. Mark said because a Catholic is participating and we recognize that all marriages can be valid. Fr. Mark said if two Jews are married by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas for two weeks and divorced 10 years later. If one of them wants to marry a Catholic, do they need an annulment? The answer is Yes. 2nd segment: Now as we do every week at this time, we will consider the Mass readings for this Sunday, specifically the Gospel reading. Gospel for the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 4, 2012 (Mark 12:28b-34) One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’ And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions. Scot said what jumps out to him was the firmness by which he answered the question. God wants us to love our neighbors intensely, but to love God first, putting him first. Chris said he was struck by the emphasis on “you” as in “you must”. There is a personal call to each one of us individually. Fr. Mark said some people don’t love and respect themselves enough and that’s the standard by which we’re supposed to love. He added that St. Therese tells a story about helping a grumpy elder sister every day and was loved by her because she gave her her nicest smile every day. Scot asked whether you can love God if you don’t love your neighbor and can you truly love your neighbor if you don’t love God. You love the neighbor truly when you love them as God does.

Summary of today’s show: Our Thursday panel of Scot Landry, Susan Abbot, Fr. Roger Landry, and Domenico Bettinelli considered the news headlines of the week, including Cardinal Seán’s four steps to stop assisted suicide in the final four days before the election; making your vote count and Catholic citizenship; Synod recommendations for the new evangelization; fifth-graders visit St. John’s Seminary; remembering our deceased deacons; and the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Fr. Roger Landry, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River, and Domenico Bettinelli, creative director at Pilot New Media Links from today’s show: The Anchor The Pilot Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot’s and The Anchor’s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today’s topics: Final days before election; 4 steps in 4 days to stop assisted suicide; fifth graders visit seminary; remembering deceased deacons 1st segment: (As our show transcriptionist was a guest on today’s show, we will not have the usual transcription. Some of the links to stories discussed are below and the remainder will be on the Pilot’s and Anchor’s websites on Friday and Saturday.) “Four steps in the final four days to defeat assisted suicide”, Cardinal Seán, The Pilot, 11/2/12 “Better citizens, more faithful Catholics”, Archbishop Charles Chaput 2nd segment: “Synod members propose ways to promote evangelization”, Catholic News Service, 10/29/12 “Sandy a storm ‘many have feared for long time,’ says Catholic official”, Catholic News Service, 10/31/12

Summary of today’s show: All Saints Day is tomorrow and Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams welcome the man who literally wrote the book on the saints, Fr. George Evans. His book, 101 Questions and Answers about the Saints, provides fodder for discussion about some of the more obvious and obscure questions we all have about saints, helping us to appreciate these role models and older brothers and sisters in the faith. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Fr. George Evans, pastor of St. Julia Parish in Weston Links from today’s show: 101 Questions & Answers on Saints Today’s topics: Questions and Answers about the Saints 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the show and reminded listeners that today is the eve of a holy day of obligation, All Saints’ Day. He welcomed Fr. Matt Williams and they discussed a video they made today with about 100 students from St. Mary High School in Lynn, presenting them with the facts about Question 2 on physician-assisted suicide. Among the lessons they demonstrated was the natural inclination to defend and protect life and that suicide is not a natural inclination, but a thought that comes from brokenness. Scot reminded listeners that Cardinal Seán is tweeting everyday at http://www.twitter.com/cardinalsean. Many more resources on Question 2 are available at http://www.suicideisalwaysatragedy.org and http://www.stopassistedsuicide.org. Father Matt said the aim of today’s video for high school teens was to make thi available so that every Catholic high school in Massachusetts can show it in schools this week and use it to start a conversation with family and friends. The video will be available online on Thursday evening at http://www.suicideisalwaysatragedy.org/students. Preparing for All Saints’ Day, our guest today is Fr. George Evans, who has written a book called 2nd segment: Fr. Evans has been pastor of St. Julia parish in Weston and Lincoln since 2003. He also serves on the current Pastoral Planning Commission for the Archdiocese. Scot asked him what prompted him to write the book and how did he find the time. Fr. Evans said he broke his ankle and was confined to bed for seven weeks in 2004 and so he started writing this book he’d wanted to write for some time. There were some glitches in the process, including crushing his computer accidentally under his assistive chair. He’s not sure the book would have seen the light of day without that broken ankle. Scot noted this is a part of a series by Paulist Press on 101 Questions and Answers on various topics. Fr. Evans said he was a conference and was browsing books and an editor from Paulist asked him if he had an interest in writing book. He said it took some time to hone the proposal because he needed to come up with 101 questions first. Fr. Evans said he remembers in his fifth grade class in Catholic school learning about the North American martyrs. He’d loved biographies as a child, especially of US presidents. That set him up to enjoy the saints. He got a book, “Heavenly Friends: A Saint for Each Day” which he still has. The stories were edifying and very much reminding us that we’re part of a long stream of holiness. As a student at Catholic University, he remembered reading a book called “On the Meaning of Saints,” and he thought this would be a help to get him to his doctoral dissertation. Some of his advisors, including then-Father Avery Dulles, had been looking for something to help them with their Lutheran-Catholic dialogue they were involved in. Dulles later told him that he’d wished he could have written the dissertation that Fr. Evans wrote. It included the views of Martin Luther and his contemporaries an the achievement of the Second Vatican Council in providing a harmonizing what was said in the dialogues in the 16th century. Scot explained the significance of Fr. Dulles, who was made a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II at the end of his life, one of the few who aren’t bishops. Fr. Evans said his favorite saints growing up were the missionaries, those connected to the United States, and the more famous saints that you’d learn about in school. Fr. Evans recalled a parish priest who gave a life of St. Francis Xavier during a novena, a bit each night of the novena. Cardinal Avery Dulles St. Francis Xavier Fr. Matt asked if he thought there was more of a call to people to emulate saints more than before. Fr. Evans said the Second Vatican Council’s emphasis on the universal call to holiness is evidence of it. Everyone involved in the life of the Church is called to holiness. John Paul II was one of the important people at the council. Scot said Question 47 in the book asks how many saints were canonized by Pope John Paul and how he compares to the rest of history. The answer is that John Paul canonized more people than all the popes of the past four centuries combined. He did it in an attempt to let the Church’s call to holiness be sounded loudly and widely. He wanted holiness to be seen in the people he beatified and canonized around the world and in places that not many saints had come from before. Scot said there are many figures in the Old Testament who aren’t given the title of Saint. That’s another question in the book. Fr. Evans said the process of declaring saints was a Christian era phenomenon. The saints of the pre-Christian era are listed in the official list of saints in the Church, but not included in the liturgical celebrations of the Mass. ANother question in the book is number 14: Is Jesus a saint? Is the blessed Mother a saint? Fr. Evans said Jesus is the fullness of holiness and Mary is the pre-eminent disciple. At the same time, we differentiate Jesus from the saints because he is the one of whom the others are a reflection. His uniqueness as human and God puts him in another league, but saint means “holy” and he is holiness to the max. Mary is the queen of all saints, and we have many churches called St. Mary’s. Fr. Matt recalled a story of Pope Benedict at St. Patrick’s in New York talking about the saints like stained glass windows. In order for the windows to achieve their fullness, the light of Christ must shine through in all his greatness. Fr. Matt said God doesn’t want us to be another St. Francis, he wants us to be a saint in all our uniqueness. The many men and women John Paul canonized makes sainthood accessible to us right where we are. Scot asked about whether we can say our deceased loved ones are saints. Fr. Evans said we don’t force on God or the Church the certainty that someone is with God in the fullness of life in heaven. But we can have that as a hope and a personal sense. Only God knows all the saints. The Church recognizes a few as canonized saints. He said we have to be a little modest in talking a little too definitively as a saint and this is why the canonization process started, because people were being widely acclaimed as saints who weren’t suited and thus undermining all the rest. Fr. Matt asked if that’s what All Saints’ Day is. Fr. Evans said it’s inclusive of all the saints, but highlights all of those who have died and are in the presence of God, but we don’t know. The splendid nobodies, in the best sense. Those people shine in a way that makes their anonymity all the more splendid because they are indeed those who were dutiful and loving in ways that aren’t greatly celebrated. Scot asked the link between Halloween and All Saints Day, which is question 19. Fr. Evans said in the early centuries of the Church there were many martyrs. That shedding of blood led people to celebrate so-called white martyrs, those who died to sin and selfishness and lived wholeheartedly for Christ. The Church was looking for a way to celebrate all of them. The day chosen for this coincided with a pagan feast that celebrates the end of the harvest. The word Halloween means literally All Hallows Eve or Eve of the Feast of All the Holy. 3rd segment: This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Mary Cournoyer of Portsmouth, RI She wins “The Story of a Soul”, the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, audiobook on CD. If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 4th segment: Scot said if you think of all the good questions people have had on the saints over the years and they will be in this book. He strongly recommends the book. Scot asked how patron saints get designated, for example for parishes. Fr. Evans said parishes can be named for saints who are favored by the founding pastor or bishop, although today there is usually a more consultative process. He notes that St. Julia’s is named after the founding pastor’s mother’s patron saint in 1919. St. Julia was an early church martyr with not much known about her. Scot recommended AmericanCatholic.org for more information about patron saints of various disciplines. He asked how a saint is determined to be patron saint of, say, astronomy. Fr. Evans said in some cases the devotion to the saint came from the grassroots, ordinary people praying perhaps based on some small fact. Other times, the Church has been asked to designate a patron for some cause. St. Clare is the patroness of television. There was a story that when she was ill and confined to her room ,she heard and saw the Mass being celebrated some distance from herself. Pope Pius XII thus declared her the patroness of TV at a time when TV was new. Scot said St. Anthony is patron of a lot of things, but most famously for lost items. St. Jude is patron of lost causes. Fr. Evans said back in the 1920s, an American Claretian priest found a holy card of St. Jude and developed his own devotion to St. Jude. As the Great Depression began, he and his Claretian community began public devotions to St. Jude in a church in Chicago. They started a newsletter and people sent in letters about how St. Jude’s intercession helped them in desperate circumstances. St. Anthony was very erudite and there’s so much that is imitable in his preaching and pastoral care. But there is a story about a book that was stolen and it was restored when he prayed for it. Another story tells about a man who cut off his own limb and St. Anthony restored it. Fr. Matt clarified that St. Jude is Jude Thaddeus, the Apostle. Simon and Jude have a combined feast day and are lesser known apostles. That quality of being lesser known may have made him more appealing to those who are themselves lesser known in tough times. Fr. Evans said there’s always been the tradition of naming saints after one or many saints, but it swung toward one patron of the parish in the old days. But he doesn’t think we ever did enough to explore the lives of our patrons. But there have also been All Saints Parishes. You see that more often know when parishes combine. Fr. Matt asked what is a saint. Fr. Evans said a saint is someone who is so full of the light of Christ, which is a metaphor for truth or for love. They become attractive or guiding of others. You could also speak about the journey toward heaven and the saints are like guideposts along the way. Saints are also friends. Scot asked why we pray through the intercession of the saints, instead of just to Jesus directly. The Church has encouraged us to this practice. Fr. Evans said some say that saints are obstacles to Christ. The truth is that in our experience we ask each other to pray for us and our needs. We’re praying in a way that doesn’t block Christ, but extends his prayer into the Body of Christ. Christ is still the one who prays par excellence, but that work of mediating is shared and we all do it because we care. We pray for what’s important to us and why not pray for people and pray with people. Fr. Evans said one of the sources of understanding is religious experience and the effectiveness of intercessory prayer. The way we think of the saints is not that they’re a go-between connecting us to Christ in a way we couldn’t otherwise. Instead they are in a circle with us around Christ. They are with us as companions. Scot recommended Pilot Parish Finder for those looking for a parish for an All Saints Day Mass tomorrow.

Summary of today’s show: In its new issue that hits the stands today, Boston Magazine offers a profile of St. John’s Seminary, how it has turned around in the decade since the clergy sex-abuse scandal broke, and the story of Fr. Eric Cadin, whose own journey to the priesthood provides a glimpse of the sort of men who are being called to the priesthood today. Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor look at the story by Patrick Doyle and expand on what was written with Fr. Chris providing his own perspective as vice-rector of the seminary. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Links from today’s show: “Resurrection”, Patrick Doyle, Boston Magazine, November 2012 Today’s topics: Boston Magazine profiles Fr. Eric Cadin and the turnaround of St. John’s Seminary 1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to the show. He said today he’s glad Fr. Chris O’Connor is the co-host because one of the main stories in Boston Magazine this month is about the turnaround of St. John’s Seminary and a profile of the kind of men becoming priests today, particularly Fr. Eric Cadin. Fr. Chris said he is quite pleased with the story and the writer captured the sense of the seminary. Scot said opening up the seminary and themselves to a reporter they don’t know well is a risk. He spoke to so many people over such a long time, he could have taken many approaches. Fr. Chris said there had been overtures over time from Boston Magazine to the Archdiocese. The writer, Patrick Boyle, contacted Fr. Chris after hearing him on The Good Catholic Life. Fr. Chris discussed it with Bishop Arthur Kennedy and some of the faculty. Fr. Chris said they know they have a good story and they are proud of their seminarians and if they know that why not let him come in and see where it’s going to go. If the story came out otherwise, they knew it wouldn’t be the truth. Fr. Chris said Patrick told Fr. Chris that he’s Catholic, attended Catholic college, and loves to write. All we hear about is the decline of priestly numbers and to hear that St. John’s is full to capacity and so he wanted to come to see what it’s all about. Scot asked Fr. Chris how difficult it was to identify a couple of guys to talk to at length. Fr. Chris said he left nothing to chance. They invited Patrick to dinner at the seminary and specified that this would be an off the record conversation to take the measure of each other. They assembled 12 to 15 seminarians, all men from Boston at Patrick’s request, for the dinner. Initially, the focus was on men just coming into the seminary. As Patrick unpacked the story, Fr. Cadin’s story became interesting because he left the seminary to come back later. He was there in the darkest days and then came back when the turnaround had begun, which became the frame for the turnaround of the seminary. Scot said FR. Eric’s story is a crazy story, including growing up in Weymouth, going to Roxbury Latin, attending Harvard, living on the beach in a few places as a surfer, going to seminary, leaving to start pre-med, coming back to seminary and eventually being ordained. OF all the men he does have a very interesting story. Fr. Chris said Fr. Eric is a very personable guy. Today happens to be Fr. Eric’s birthday. Fr. Chris said even the clergy sexual abuse scandal details are pretty straightforward and not inflammatory. He said he told Patrick that priests are like airplanes: we never hear about the ones who take off and land safely, only about the ones who crash. Here is a story about a young guy in love with the Lord, very normal and decent. Patrick’s approach is about what makes a successful young man give himself to the Lord. Fr. Chris said Patrick Doyle comes from Colorado and Fr. Chris saw a story he’d written on capital punishment and how the governor’s Catholic faith was involved as well as another story about a minister. Fr. Chris got the sense of a man who appreciated the role of the church in the world, while not giving the Church a pass. He was going to look at the Church objectively. Scot said the title of the story is “Resurrection”. It begins, “The clergy sex abuse scandal exploded onto front pages across the country in 2002. A painful decade later, the Archdiocese of Boston has begun to rebuild. But a stubborn question remains: What kind of man wants to become a priest?” 2nd segment: Scot said the idea of the story is what kind of man wants to become a priest when the world thinks the Church is in shambles from the abuse crisis. Scot asked Fr. Chris how the scandal affected the men who were in the seminary in 2002 and 2003. Fr. Chris said when he listens to admissions interviews, he starts to tear up sometimes when he hears them talk about why they want to be priests. Without question, they all get that they are signing up for a life of service to others. Even in the midst of crisis, the response to the crisis is, “If not me, them whom.” They know they aren’t the Messiah, but they feel called. After 9/11, people flocked to Ground Zero with the feeling that they needed to do something. The men coming forward toward have the sense of Boston as the epicenter with a real diesre on the part of these men to make a difference in the Church. Scot asked if most men think they are called to priesthood is because of the abuse scandal or in spite of it. Fr. Chris said he hears it less 11 years later, but in the early years it was a desire to give their lives to the Church in the time of her need. Scot said the story talks about the decrease in Mass attendance, in donations, in the number of seminarians, and in the number of priests ten years ago. Scot said St. John’s Seminary has been described as the heart of the Church and as the womb of the Church, giving birth to new priests. Fr. Chris said they were aware that they had a large task in front of them. One of Cardinal Seán’s mandates was that it needed to expand its mission beyond just being an archdiocesan seminary that welcomed seminarians from other dioceses to become a truly regional seminary. They needed to invite the input and interests of the bishops of the region and make it clear that it’s a regional seminary in which all the seminarians are equal. Scot asked what changed in the seminary to ensure we wouldn’t have a repeat of the abuse scandal. Fr. Chris said the seminary faculty is single-minded in their understanding of the priesthood and what’s important. It doesn’t mean there isn’t disagreement, but they’re on the same side on the issues and just looking at different ways of approaching them. Secondly, transparency has priority. The faculty talks frankly with seminarians about the blessings and struggles of their own priesthood. In the past, the faculty was somewhat removed as formators and educators, but today the faculty is also companions on the journey. Fr. Chris and another faculty member will take some seminarians out to dinner to talk to them about their concern and worries and answer questions. Anytime a priest falls, it’s a public thing and is sad for all of us. The Church mourns and grieves. The seminary takes those opportunities to sit down with the seminarians and look at what causes these things to happen. Fr. Chris said they’ve also revised the whole human formation program over the last year or two. Once per month, a faculty member gets together with a particular class on a set subject and those meetings build on themselves. Recently, he spoke on affective maturity. Another recent topic was being brutally honest with their spiritual director. Scot said in many cases, experts have determined that it was the screening process and human formation that failed to weed out or help men who later became abusers. He said many priests today will recall thinking a particular classmate was kind of odd and he turned out to be one of those abusive priests. Fr. Chris said human formation didn’t exist before Vatican II. At the time, there was only spiritual and academic formation. Pastoral formation and human formation only came after. Pope John Paul wrote about priesthood and seminary formation that the other three build on the human formation. the priest must be a bridge and not an obstacle to Christ. They are mediators for Christ. One of the interesting aspects of the article, Scot said, was when it details that when Fr. Eric decided to go into the seminary, he had a lot of people who weren’t encouraging and got a mixed reaction, which is common among seminarians. Fr. Chris said many people tell seminarians that it’s a perfect fit for them, but there’s often a mom or dad who is discouraging. Sometimes they don’t want their son to be lonely in a tough life. Another reason, like Aristotle said, is that it lessens the chance for grandchildren for their legacy and parents become nervous about that. Fr. Chris encourages potential seminarians to bring their parents to see that these are normal and good men and it alleviates their fears. Scot outlined the extensive application process that potential seminarians go through as outlined in the magazine story, including a full-day psychological exam. Fr. Chris said it’s a grueling process. There are several meetings with diocesan vocation directors. The man then fills out an autobiography and his understanding of the Church and priesthood. He goes to an all-day psychological test with several psychologists, including family background, mental health, sexual history, why they want to become a priest. There are tests of leadership ability and personality. They then need four or five letter of recommendation, three or four from priests, others from co-workers or parishioners. They sit before a board of faculty members, including the rector, vice-rector, academic dean, and directory of spiritual formation. Sometimes they ask what their family traditions are, which gives a sense of the family background, for example. The questions are geared around the four pillars. They need to assess their academic ability. Fr. Chris looks at the human formation, their strengths and weaknesses. They ask what sort of leadership roles he’s had and experiences working with men and women. They ask about their spiritual formation, their prayer life, their devotions, when they heard God calling. It’s an hourlong conversation and the faculty forget what a grueling experience it is. Scot said being interviewed by a psychologist is grueling and he related a story about the crazy questions he had to answer before he entered the seminary 20 years ago for a brief time. Being interviewed by five people at once can be similarly grueling. Fr. Chris told a story of taking the Rorshach test. Scot said in the story it tells of how Fr. Eric left the seminary for about 2 years. He asked Fr. Chris how often it happens that men take time off and how many leave altogether. Fr. Chris said when he was in seminary you saw men coming and going quite regularly, but you don’t see it as much anymore. Perhaps it’s because of the scandal. Men coming now have thought long and hard about this. They’re often older and leaving lucrative careers. There’s more going into the thought process now. Fr. Chris always tell men who tell him that they’re leaving, he asks them 25 times if they’re sure. If they say it 25 times, then he tells him he’ll help them move out because the last thing the Church needs is another unhappy priest. Scot said the formation he received in the seminary made him a better husband because he gave it a chance first. In the story, it tells of how Fr. Eric walked into the refectory wearing flip-flops and ran into then-seminarian Darin Colarusso, a former Air Force pilot, who told him he had to wear shoes. Almost all guys going to the seminary experience a bit of a culture shock. One of the big tasks of the faculty is to help them adjust. Fr. Chris said it’s a difficult task, especially coming from the culture where independence is celebrated. These men in their mid-twenties now have to ask permission to be excused from an Evening Prayer and a dinner. They do that because living in a parish, they will always be accountable to someone else, whether a pastor or the bishop. Getting in the habit of being accountable is essential. For many professions, you work Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, but a priest is a priest on vacation, out with friends, or at Mass. Being a priest is something that changes you in essentials. So the seminarians aren’t living in a college dorm, but are living in a seminary for formation. Fr. Chris said the story doesn’t mention that when Christ called the Twelve, he brought them together and formed them as a group. In Scripture, the Apostles jockeyed with one another. The faculty relies on seminarians forming other seminarians and helping them with positive and negative reinforcement. Scot said it’s like a typical family where the older siblings are expected to help form and guide their younger siblings. 3rd segment: Fr. Chris said he was happy that the writer helped put a human face on the priesthood. Most people only see their priests for an hour on Sunday. the article shows that priests come from families like ours, that they follow long twisty roads. He said the story also picked up on the instrumental moment of the death of Fr. Cadin’s mother and the presence of two priests with him in the hospital. This occurred during the period when he’d left the seminary. He recognized that God was present in that moment. Patrick Doyle also didn’t paint a rosy picture, talking statistics and the scandal. He caught the anger against the Church, but he also caught what the Church is trying to do to make it better, including normal, healthy priests. Scot said there’s a lot of good stuff that can’t make the final version of any printed article. He asked Fr. Chris what good things didn’t make the story. Fr. Chris joked that they didn’t publish his full-page photo. But seriously, he thinks each of the men who were interviewed have a unique powerful story about God calling them and each of them would have been just as compelling a story about Fr. Cadin’s. He thinks Patrick did an excellent job of pointing out the mistakes and how the Church is correcting those mistakes. Scot noted that Boston Magazine will reach a lot of folks who aren’t active Catholics. Fr. Chris said they will now know that St. John’s Seminary is here, not going anywhere, is alive and well, and the priests being formed are good, holy, and indispensable for the new evangelization. With the sale of some of the property to Boston College, there was a false sense that the seminary had closed. The story will reach a large audience of people to tell them that the seminary is here to stay. It also shows that there is a human side to the priests and could be a tool to call people back to the faith. Fr. Chris said Msgr. Moroney, the rector, found it to be a balanced article. He hasn’t had a chance to check with the seminarians. He thinks Patrick Doyle has done a great job. Scot said the story has three contexts: Fr. Eric Cadin; St. John’s Seminary’s turnaround; and the role of St. John’s Seminary in turning around the Archdiocese. He thinks that it does a good job of balancing all of these things. He said it gives us all hope and shows how things have changed in the past 10 years.

Summary of today’s show: The Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization that coincided with the launch of the Year of Faith wrapped up its work last week and sent a summary of their deliberations to Pope Benedict XVI for him to use as he writes his Apostolic Exhortation over the next 18 months. Scot Landry and Janet Benestad take a look at the summary and how it will be the basis for what will become the landmark statement of the Holy Father’s papacy. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Janet Benestad Links from today’s show: “The Church “Is Called to Something New” – On the New Evangelization, The Synod’s Last Word”, Whispers in the Loggia Today’s topics: The Synod on the New Evangelization 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the show and noted that the weather has gotten pretty bad out there. He welcomed Janet Benestad to the show. There are only a few people in the whole Pastoral Center today. Today’s topic will be some summaries of the recently closed Synod of Bishops for the New Evangelization. Janet said it’s part of the Year of Faith we’re in, to rediscover our faith, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and express our faith to others. Scot said the document they’ll consider is being called the Synod’s last word. 2nd segment: Scot noted that yesterday Cardinal Seán’s homily delivered by video and audio to all parishes on assisted suicide is available for viewing at SuicideIsAlwaysATragedy.org. This synod document was prepared by a ten-member group that included Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, DC. It’s considered to be a summary of everything that was discussed in the Synod and in 18 months Pope Benedict XVI will unveil an apostolic exhortation that some are saying will be the most significant document of his pontificate. The document starts by situating us in Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. There is no man or woman who, in one’s life, would not find oneself like the woman of Samaria beside a well with an empty bucket, with the hope of finding the fulfillment of the heart’s most profound desire, that which alone could give full meaning to existence. Today, many wells offer themselves to quench humanity’s thirst, but we must discern in order to avoid polluted waters. We must orient the search well, so as not to fall prey to disappointment, which can be disastrous. Like Jesus at the well of Sychar, the Church also feels obliged to sit beside today’s men and women. She wants to render the Lord present in their lives so that they could encounter him because he alone is the water that gives true and eternal life. Only Jesus can read the depths of our heart and reveal the truth about ourselves: “He told me everything I have done”, the woman confesses to her fellow citizens. This word of proclamation is united to the question that opens up to faith: “Could he possibly be the Messiah?” It shows that whoever receives new life from encountering Jesus cannot but proclaim truth and hope to others. The sinner who was converted becomes a messenger of salvation and leads the whole city to Jesus. The people pass from welcoming her testimony to personally experiencing the encounter: “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world”. Scot said it’s a good beginning because we, like the Samaritan, want the life that quenches our thirst. Janet said the woman would have been shocked because he knew everything about her. Janet said its strange that the woman went to tell everyone else, even though she was an outcast from the community. She becomes an instrument that no one else would have expected. Scot said we don’t know better than Jesus who should be his messenger and it’s our duty too, to reach out and share the Good News. Janet said this experience of the faith can inform us in a way that we can become the best proclaimers. Jesus calls all of us. A new evangelization Leading the men and women of our time to Jesus, to the encounter with him is a necessity that touches all the regions of the world, those of the old and those of the recent evangelization. Everywhere indeed we feel the need to revive a faith that risks eclipse in cultural contexts that hinders its taking root in persons and its presence in society, the clarity of its content and its coherent fruits. It is not about starting again, but entering into the long path of proclaiming the Gospel with the apostolic courage of Paul who would go so far as to say “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). Throughout history, from the first centuries of the Christian era to the present, the Gospel has edified communities of believers in all parts of the world. Whether small or great, these are the fruit of the dedication of generations of witnesses to Jesus – missionaries and martyrs – whom we remember with gratitude. Changing societies and cultures call us to something new: to live our communitarian experience of faith in a renewed way and to proclaim it through an evangelization that is “new in its ardor, in its methods, in its expressions” (John Paul II, Discourse to the XIX Assembly of CELAM, Port-au-Prince, 9 March 1983, n. 3) as John Paul II said. Benedict XVI recalled that it is an evangelization that is directed “principally at those who, though baptized, have drifted away from the Church and live without reference to the Christian life… to help these people encounter the Lord, who alone fills our existence with deep meaning and peace; and to favor the rediscovery of the faith, that source of grace which brings joy and hope to personal, family and social life”(Benedict XVI, Homily for the Eucharistic celebration for the solemn inauguration of the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Rome, 7 October 2012). Scot said we’re called to proclaim Jesus as the kernel of the Good News that is so central to our faith. We know about him because of the dedication of so many generations who have come before us, some who have risked death, and some who have risked ridicule. Janet said it’s all about Jesus, it’s about Christmas and Easter. It’s a phenomenal story we have to tell. Scot said God gives us the grace each day to live that faith, even if we have to bear the crosses of each day. The crosses are lighter if we know Jesus is with us. Janet said we live in a culture that often wants to separate us from our Christian faith, but this is calling us to a new ardor and a new way to express that faith. John Paul called us to express the faith with new zeal and new passion. We are called to use new means, like new media, and new expressions, contemporary language and ways of speaking. Janet said people who live in the modern context have experienced things that beg for a response in the expression of the faith. The synod addressed people from those who live in big fast-paced cities to people who have enormous poverty of culture. The personal encounter with Jesus Christ in the Church Before saying anything about the forms that this new evangelization must assume, we feel the need to tell you with profound conviction that the faith determines everything in the relationship that we build with the person of Jesus who takes the initiative to encounter us. The work of the new evangelization consists in presenting once more the beauty and perennial newness of the encounter with Christ to the often distracted and confused heart and mind of the men and women of our time, above all to ourselves. We invite you all to contemplate the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, to enter the mystery of his existence given for us on the cross, reconfirmed in his resurrection from the dead as the Father’s gift and imparted to us through the Spirit. In the person of Jesus, the mystery of God the Father’s love for the entire human family is revealed. He did not want us to remain in a false autonomy. Rather he reconciled us to himself in a renewed pact of love. The Church is the space offered by Christ in history where we can encounter him, because he entrusted to her his Word, the Baptism that makes us God’s children, his Body and his Blood, the grace of forgiveness of sins above all in the sacrament of Reconciliation, the experience of communion that reflects the very mystery of the Holy Trinity, the strength of the Spirit that generates charity towards all. We must form welcoming communities in which all outcasts find a home, concrete experiences of communion which attract the disenchanted glance of contemporary humanity with the ardent force of love – “See how they love one another!” (Tertullian, Apology, 39, 7). The beauty of faith must particularly shine in the actions of the sacred Liturgy, above all in the Sunday Eucharist. It is precisely in liturgical celebrations that the Church reveals herself as God’s work and renders the meaning of the Gospel visible in word and gesture. It is up to us today to render experiences of the Church concretely accessible, to multiply the wells where thirsting men and women are invited to encounter Jesus, to offer oases in the deserts of life. Christian communities and, in them, every disciple of the Lord are responsible for this: an irreplaceable testimony has been entrusted to each one, so that the Gospel can enter the lives of all. This requires of us holiness of life. Scot said this message is first of all for us and then for others. Janet said beauty is going to be a theme of the documents that come out of the synod. Sometimes our world is not so beautiful, because the beauty of God’s creation and the love of God for his children are pushed aside. There isn’t time for reflection. The synod calls us back to a reflection on that beautiful faith. Scot said Jesus is always taking the opportunity to encounter us. He said the Holy Father said in his World Communications Day message last year, the Holy Father encouraged us to have more silence in our lives so we can hear Jesus speak to us. Janet said God is always leading us to himself and calling us out of terrible conditions to himself. There is a lot of static that interferes with that message. Jesus is always calling us out of that to experience his love in a new and different way. Scot said sometimes the descriptions of the Church in Church documents can be confusing. This has a simple one: “The Church is the space offered by Christ in history where we can encounter him, because he entrusted to her his Word, the Baptism that makes us God’s children, his Body and his Blood, the grace of forgiveness of sins above all in the sacrament of Reconciliation, the experience of communion that reflects the very mystery of the Holy Trinity, the strength of the Spirit that generates charity towards all.” That is a beautiful description of what the Church is about. It’s a response to those who think the Church is a building. It’s where we encounter Christ and one another. If you read Scripture, Jesus formed the Church for us. The first leaders of that Church failed and betrayed him, but came back and did wonderful things. We are called to reconcile ourselves to himself through the Church so we can be the instruments through which he reaches others. Janet said he doesn’t want us to remain in a false autonomy. It’s a lonely world. Our sacramental life situates us in a family of believers who enjoy one another and forgives one another. Scot said we attract others because they see our love and joy and they decided they want to have that. He said all of our parishes need to work to reach that level. We need to be able to say to returning Christians, I’m glad you’re back. 3rd segment: Scot and Janet section 4 and discuss section 5. The occasions of encountering Jesus and listening to the Scriptures Someone will ask how to do all this. We need not invent new strategies as if the Gospel were a product to be placed in the market of religions. We need to rediscover the ways in which Jesus approached persons and called them, in order to put them into practice in today’s circumstances. We recall, for example, how Jesus engaged Peter, Andrew, James and John in the context of their work, how Zaccheus was able to pass from simple curiosity to the warmth of sharing a meal with the Master, how the Roman centurion asked him to heal a person dear to him, how the man born blind invoked him as liberator from his own marginalization, how Martha and Mary saw the hospitality of their house and of their heart rewarded by his presence. By going through the pages of the Gospels as well as the apostles’ missionary experiences in the early Church, we can discover the various ways and circumstances in which persons’ lives were opened to Christ’s presence. The frequent reading of the Sacred Scriptures – illuminated by the Tradition of the Church who hands them over to us and is their authentic interpreter – is not only necessary for knowing the very content of the Gospel, which is the person of Jesus in the context of salvation history. Reading the Scriptures also helps us to discover opportunities to encounter Jesus, truly evangelical approaches rooted in the fundamental dimensions of human life: the family, work, friendship, various forms of poverty and the trials of life, etc. Evangelizing ourselves and opening ourselves to conversion We, however, should never think that the new evangelization does not concern us personally. In these days voices among the Bishops were raised to recall that the Church must first of all heed the Word before she could evangelize the world. The invitation to evangelize becomes a call to conversion. We firmly believe that we must convert ourselves above all to the power of Christ who alone can make all things new, above all our poor existence. With humility we must recognize that the poverty and weaknesses of Jesus’ disciples, especially of his ministers, weigh on the credibility of the mission. We are certainly aware – we Bishops first of all – that we could never really be equal to the Lord’s calling and mandate to proclaim his Gospel to the nations. We know that we must humbly recognize our vulnerability to the wounds of history and we do not hesitate to recognize our personal sins. We are, however, also convinced that the Lord’s Spirit is capable of renewing his Church and rendering her garment resplendent if we let him mold us. This is demonstrated by the lives of the Saints, the remembrance and narration of which is a privileged means of the new evangelization. If this renewal were up to us, there would be serious reasons to doubt. But conversion in the Church, just like evangelization, does not come about primarily through us poor mortals, but rather through the Spirit of the Lord. Here we find our strength and our certainty that evil will never have the last word whether in the Church or in history: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27), Jesus said to his disciples. The work of the new evangelization rests on this serene certainty. We are confident in the inspiration and strength of the Spirit, who will teach us what we are to say and what we are to do even in the most difficult moments. It is our duty, therefore, to conquer fear through faith, humiliation through hope, indifference through love. Scot said we’re told that if we want to be more effective in the new evangelization we have to convert ourselves first. Janet said it’s hard to invite others to something you don’t have enthusiasm for yourself. You begin to think in terms of how others you encounter can respond to the needs in their life. When you hear about someone’s concerns or problems, if you have a living faith life, then you can respond authentically with advice on turning to God in various ways. Scot said St. Peter’s repeated failures inspire him because he always responded with conversion and faith. He noted also the story of France which has gone through successive times of faith and lack of faith and how the Cure of Ars, St. John Vianney, who barely graduated seminary and was ordained, ended up re-converting all of France. Janet said the new evangelization rests on the serene certainty and confidence in the strength of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit can bring about changes that we would never expect could happen. Scot noted that it’s called the Year of Faith, not the Year of Catechesis. While catechesis is part of it, what’s important first is that we turn to Jesus. We need to trust that God loves us more than we can possibly love him. We need to trust in him. Janet said evil will never have the last word. That’s the essence of faith. It is through God’s time and initiative that we will do what we do. Seizing new opportunities for evangelization in the world today This serene courage also affects the way we look at the world today. We are not intimidated by the circumstances of the times in which we live. Our world is full of contradictions and challenges, but it remains God’s creation. The world is wounded by evil, but God loves it still. It is his field in which the sowing of the Word can be renewed so that it would bear fruit once more. There is no room for pessimism in the minds and hearts of those who know that their Lord has conquered death and that his Spirit works with might in history. We approach this world with humility, but also with determination. This comes from the certainty that the truth triumphs in the end. We choose to see in the world God’s invitation to witness to his Name. Our Church is alive and faces the challenges that history brings with the courage of faith and the testimony of her many daughters and sons. We know that we must face in this world a difficult struggle against the “principalities” and “powers”, “the evil spirits” (Ephesians 6:12). We do not ignore the problems that such challenges bring, but they do not frighten us. This is true above all for the phenomena of globalization which must be opportunities for us to expand the presence of the Gospel. Despite the intense sufferings for which we welcome migrants as brethren, migrations have been and continue to be occasions to spread the faith and build communion in its various forms. Secularization – as well as the crisis brought about the ascendancy of politics and of the State – requires the Church to rethink its presence in society without however renouncing it. The many and ever new forms of poverty open new opportunities for charitable service: the proclamation of the Gospel binds the Church to be with the poor and to take on their sufferings like Jesus. Even in the most bitter forms of atheism and agnosticism, we can recognize – although in contradictory forms – not a void but a longing, an expectation that awaits an adequate response. In the face of the questions that dominant cultures pose to faith and to the Church, we renew our trust in the Lord, certain that even in these contexts the Gospel is the bearer of light and capable of healing every human weakness. It is not we who are to conduct the work of evangelization, but God, as the Pope reminded us: “The first word, the true initiative, the true activity comes from God and only by inserting ourselves in to the divine initiative, only by begging this divine initiative, will we too be able to become – with him and in him – evangelizers”(Benedict XVI, Meditation during the first general Congregation of the XIII General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Rome, 8 October 2012). Scot said we talk often about the family as the domestic church and the place where we’ve learned the faith, but in many ways the breakdown in the faith is that our families aren’t passing on the faith like they did fifty years ago. Janet said there’s no question the family is under attack. She said it’s interesting that both parties in this election are pitching their messages to women in particular ways. The Church recognizes that in terms of instruction of the young, women play a very specific role. This document recognizes the important role of the family in handing on the faith. This is about catechesis of the faith, not just of elements, but of faith that is lived, lived at the dining room table, at the bedside at night, and in all the parts of the days. Scot said we try to form our kids in a work ethic and other important life lessons. Do we form them in prayer through praying personally? He recounts how he now begins his prayer with kids by declaring his love for God. He said it’s the parents’ responsibility, morning, noon and night. It can’t be done in an hour at Mass and another hour in religious education. Then it’s amazing how kids can pass that faith on to other kids their age. Janet said that as a grandparent she’s intentional about how she introduces them to the world of prayer, the world of saints. Evangelization, the family and consecrated life Ever since the first evangelization, the transmission of the faith from one generation to the next found a natural home in the family where women play a very special role without diminishing the figure and responsibility of the father. In the context of the care that every family provides for the growth of its little ones, infants and children are introduced to the signs of faith, the communication of first truths, education in prayer, and the witness of the fruits of love. Despite the diversity of their geographical, cultural and social situations, all the Bishops of the Synod reconfirmed this essential role of the family in the transmission of the faith. A new evangelization is unthinkable without acknowledging a specific responsibility to proclaim the Gospel to families and to sustain them in their task of education. We do not ignore the fact that today the family, established in the marriage of a man and of a woman which makes them “one flesh” (Matthew 19:6) open to life, is assaulted by crises everywhere. It is surrounded by models of life that penalize it and neglected by the politics of society of which it is also the fundamental cell. It is not always respected in its rhythms and sustained in its tasks by ecclesial communities. It is precisely this, however, that impels us to say that we must particularly take care of the family and its mission in society and in the Church, developing specific paths of accompaniment before and after matrimony. We also want to express our gratitude to the many Christian couples and families who, through their witness, show the world an experience of communion and of service which is the seed of a more loving and peaceful society. Our thoughts also went to the many families and couples living together which do not reflect that image of unity and of lifelong love that the Lord entrusted to us. There are couples who live together without the sacramental bond of matrimony. More and more families in irregular situations are established after the failure of previous marriages. These are painful situations that negatively affect the education of sons and daughters in the faith. To all of them we want to say that God’s love does not abandon anyone, that the Church loves them, too, that the Church is a house that welcomes all, that they remain members of the Church even if they cannot receive sacramental absolution and the Eucharist. May our Catholic communities welcome all who live in such situations and support those who are in the path of conversion and reconciliation. Family life is the first place in which the Gospel encounters the ordinary life and demonstrates its capacity to transform the fundamental conditions of existence in the horizon of love. But not less important for the witness of the Church is to show how this temporal existence has a fulfillment that goes beyond human history and attains to eternal communion with God. Jesus does not introduce himself to the Samaritan woman simply as the one who gives life, but as the one who gives “eternal life” (John 4:14). God’s gift, which faith renders present, is not simply the promise of better conditions in this world. It is the proclamation that our life’s ultimate meaning is beyond this world, in that full communion with God that we await at the end of time. Of this supernatural horizon of the meaning of human existence, there are particular witnesses in the Church and in the world whom the Lord has called to consecrated life. Precisely because it is totally consecrated to him in the exercise of poverty, chastity and obedience, consecrated life is the sign of a future world that relativizes everything that is good in this world. May the gratitude of the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops reach these our brothers and sisters for their fidelity to the Lord’s calling and for the contribution that they have given and give to the Church’s mission. We exhort them to hope in situations that are difficult even for them in these times of change. We invite them to establish themselves as witnesses and promoters of new evangelization in the various fields to which the charism of each of their institutes assigns them. Scot said that his own kids are already curious about what God intends them to be when they’re grown up and where it all ends at the end of life. Janet said after 40 years she’s learned that her real role as parent and spouse is to get other people to heaven. In the new evangelization, as you do these things more intentionally, you reinforce in yourself the need to do these things more fervently. The life of the family reminds us of the natural rhythms and how they are all sacramental. Scot encouraged listeners to read the rest of the document. The ecclesial community and the many agents of evangelization No one person or group in the Church has exclusive right to the work of evangelization. It is the work of ecclesial communities as such, where one has access to all the means for encountering Jesus: the Word, the sacraments, fraternal communion, charitable service, mission. In this perspective, the role of the parish emerges above all as the presence of the Church where men and women live, “the village fountain”, as John XXIII loved to call it, from which all can drink, finding in it the freshness of the Gospel. It cannot be abandoned, even though changes can require of it to be made up of small Christian communities or to either the articulation into small communities or forge bonds of collaboration within larger pastoral contexts. We exhort our parishes to join the new forms of mission required by the new evangelization to the traditional pastoral care of God’s people. These must also permeate the various important expressions of popular piety. In the parish, the ministry of the priest – father and pastor of his people – remains crucial. To all priests, the Bishops of this Synodal Assembly express thanks and fraternal closeness for their difficult task. We invite them to strengthen the bonds of the diocesan presbyterium, to deepen their spiritual life, to an ongoing formation that enables them to face the changes. Alongside the priests, the presence of deacons is to be sustained, as well as the pastoral action of catechists and of many other ministers and animators in the fields of proclamation, catechesis, liturgical life, charitable service. The various forms of participation and co-responsibility of the faithful must also be promoted. We cannot thank enough our lay men and women for their dedication in our communities’ manifold services. We ask all of them, too, to place their presence and their service in the Church in the perspective of the new evangelization, taking care of their own human and Christian formation, their understanding of the faith and their sensitivity to contemporary cultural phenomena. With regard to the laity, a special word goes to the various forms of old and new associations, together with the ecclesial movements and the new communities: All are an expression of the richness of the gifts that the Spirit bestows on the Church. We also thank these forms of life and of commitment in the Church, exhorting them to be faithful to their proper charism and to earnest ecclesial communion especially in the concrete context of the particular Churches. Witnessing to the Gospel is not the privilege of one or of a few. We recognize with joy the presence of many men and women who with their lives become a sign of the Gospel in the midst of the world. We recognize them even in many of our Christian brothers and sisters with whom unity unfortunately is not yet full, but are nevertheless marked by the Lord’s Baptism and proclaim it. In these days it was a moving experience for us to listen to the voices of many authorities of Churches and ecclesial communities who gave witness to their thirst for Christ and their dedication to the proclamation of the Gospel. They, too, are convinced that the world needs a new evangelization. We are grateful to the Lord for this unity in the necessity of the mission. That the youth may encounter Christ The youth are particularly dear to us, because they, who are a significant part of humanity’s and the Church’s present, are also their future. With regard to them, the Bishops are far from being pessimistic. Concerned, yes; but not pessimistic. We are concerned because the most aggressive attacks of our times happen to converge precisely on them. We are not, however, pessimistic, above all because what moves in the depths of history is Christ’s love, but also because we sense in our youth deep aspirations for authenticity, truth, freedom, generosity, to which we are convinced that the adequate response is Christ. We want to support them in their search and we encourage our communities to listen to, dialogue with and respond boldly and without reservation to the difficult condition of the youth. We want our communities to harness, and not to suppress, the power of their enthusiasm; to struggle for them against the fallacies and selfish ventures of worldly powers which, to their own advantage, dissipate the energies and waste the passion of the young, taking from them every grateful memory of the past and every earnest vision of the future. The world of the young is a demanding but also particularly promising field of the New Evangelization. This is demonstrated by many experiences, from those that draw many of them like the World Youth Days, to the most hidden – but nonetheless powerful – like the different experiences of spirituality, service and mission. The youth’s active role in evangelizing first and foremost their world is to be recognized. The Gospel in dialogue with human culture and experience and with religions The New Evangelization is centered on Christ and on care for the human person in order to give life to a real encounter with him. However, its horizons are as wide as the world and beyond any human experience. This means that it carefully cultivates the dialogue with cultures, confident that it can find in each of them the “seeds of the Word” about which the ancient Fathers spoke. In particular, the new evangelization needs a renewed alliance between faith and reason. We are convinced that faith has the capacity to welcome every product of a sound mind open to transcendence and the strength to heal the limits and contradictions into which reason could fall. Faith does not close its eyes, not even before the excruciating questions arising from evil’s presence in life and in history, in order to draw the light of hope from Christ’s Paschal Mystery. The encounter between faith and reason nourishes also the Christian community’s commitment in the field of education and culture. The institutions of formation and of research – schools and universities – occupy a special place in this. Wherever human intelligence is developed and educated, the Church is pleased to bring her experience and contribution to the integral formation of the person. In this context particular care is to be reserved for catholic schools and for catholic universities, in which the openness to transcendence that belongs to every authentic cultural and educational course, must be fulfilled in paths of encounter with the event of Jesus Christ and of his Church. May the gratitude of the Bishops reach all who, in sometimes difficult conditions, are involved in this. Evangelization requires that we pay much attention to the world of social communication, especially the new media, in which many lives, questions and expectations converge. It is the place where consciences are often formed, where people spend their time and live their lives. It is a new opportunity for touching the human heart. A particular field of the encounter between faith and reason today is the dialogue with scientific knowledge. This is not at all far from faith, since it manifests the spiritual principle that God placed in his creatures. It allows us to see the rational structures on which creation is founded. When science and technology do not presume to imprison humanity and the world in a barren materialism, they become an invaluable ally in making life more humane. Our thanks also go to those who are involved in this sensitive field of knowledge. We also want to thank men and women involved in another expression of the human genius, art in its various forms, from the most ancient to the most recent. We recognize in works of art a particularly meaningful way of expressing spirituality inasmuch as they strive to embody humanity’s attraction to beauty. We are grateful when artists through their beautiful creations bring out the beauty of God’s face and that of his creatures. The way of beauty is a particularly effective path of the new evangelization. In addition to works of art, all of human activity draws our attention as an opportunity in which we cooperate in divine creation through work. We want to remind the world of economy and of labor of some reminders arising from the Gospel: to redeem work from the conditions that often make it an unbearable burden and an uncertain future threatened by youth unemployment, to place the human person at the center of economic development, to think of this development as an occasion for humanity to grow in justice and unity. Humanity transforms the world through work. Nevertheless he is called to safeguard the integrity of creation out of a sense of responsibility towards future generations. The Gospel also illuminates the suffering brought about by disease. Christians must help the sick feel that the Church is near to persons with illness or with disabilities. Christians are to thank all who take care of them professionally and humanely. A field in which the light of the Gospel can and must shine in order to illuminate humanity’s footsteps is politics. Politics requires a commitment of selfless and sincere care for the common good by fully respecting the dignity of the human person from conception to natural end, honoring the family founded by the marriage of a man and a woman and protecting academic freedom; by removing the causes of injustice, inequality, discrimination, violence, racism, hunger and war. Christians are asked to give a clear witness to the precept of charity in the exercise of politics. Finally, the Church considers the other religions are her natural partners in dialogue. One is evangelized because one is convinced of the truth of Christ, not because one is against another. The Gospel of Jesus is peace and joy, and his disciples are happy to recognize whatever is true and good that humanity’s religious spirit has been able to glimpse in the world created by God and that it has expressed in the various religions. The dialogue among religions intends to be a contribution to peace. It rejects every fundamentalism and denounces every violence that is brought upon believers as serious violations of human rights. The Churches of the whole world are united in prayer and in fraternity to the suffering brethren and ask those who are responsible for the destinies of peoples to safeguard everyone’s right to freely choose, profess and witness to one’s faith. Remembering the Second Vatican Council and referring to the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the Year of Faith In the path opened by the New Evangelization, we might also feel as if we were in a desert, in the midst of dangers and lacking points of reference. The Holy Father Benedict XVI, in his homily for the Mass opening the Year of Faith, spoke of a “spiritual ‘desertification’” that has advanced in the last decades. But he also encouraged us by affirming that “it is in starting from the experience of this desert, from this void, that we can again discover the joy of believing, its vital importance for us, men and women. In the desert we rediscover the value of what is essential for living” (Homily for the Eucharistic celebration for the opening of the Year of Faith, Rome, 11 October 2012). In the desert, like the Samaritan woman, we seek water and a well from which to drink: blessed is the one who encounters Christ there! We thank the Holy Father for the gift of the Year of Faith, an exquisite portal into the path of the new evangelization. We thank him also for having linked this Year to the grateful remembrance of the opening of the Second Vatican Council fifty years ago. Its fundamental magisterium for our time shines in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is proposed once more as a sure reference of faith twenty years after its publication. These are important anniversaries, which allow us to reaffirm our close adherence to the Council’s teaching and our firm commitment to carry on its implementation. Contemplating the mystery and being at the side of the poor In this perspective we wish to indicate to all the faithful two expressions of the life of faith which seem particularly important to us for witnessing to it in the New Evangelization. The first is constituted by the gift and experience of contemplation. A testimony that the world would consider credible can arise only from an adoring gaze at the mystery of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, only from the deep silence that receives the unique saving Word like a womb. Only this prayerful silence can prevent the word of salvation from being lost in the many noises that overrun the world. We now address a word of gratitude to all men and women who dedicate their lives in monasteries and hermitages to prayer and contemplation. Moments of contemplation must interweave with people’s ordinary lives: spaces in the soul, but also physical ones, that remind us of God; interior sanctuaries and temples of stone that, like crossroads, keep us from losing ourselves in a flood of experiences; opportunities in which all could feel accepted, even those who barely know what and whom to seek. The other symbol of authenticity of the new evangelization has the face of the poor. Placing ourselves side by side with those who are wounded by life is not only a social exercise, but above all a spiritual act because it is Christ’s face that shines in the face of the poor: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). We must recognize the privileged place of the poor in our communities, a place that does not exclude anyone, but wants to reflect how Jesus bound himself to them. The presence of the poor in our communities is mysteriously powerful: it changes persons more than a discourse does, it teaches fidelity, it makes us understand the fragility of life, it asks for prayer: in short, it brings us to Christ. The gesture of charity, on the other hand, must also be accompanied by commitment to justice, with an appeal that concerns all, poor and rich. Hence, the social doctrine of the Church is integral to the pathways of the new evangelization, as well as the formation of Christians to dedicate themselves to serve the human community in social and political life. To the Churches in the various regions of the world The vision of the Bishops gathered in the synodal assembly embraces all the ecclesial communities spread throughout the world. Their vision seeks to be comprehensive, because the call to encounter Christ is one, while keeping diversity in mind. The Bishops gathered in the Synod gave special consideration, full of fraternal affection and gratitude, to you Christians of the Catholic Oriental Churches, those who are heirs of the first wave of evangelization – an experience preserved with love and faithfulness – and those present in Eastern Europe. Today the Gospel comes to you again in a new evangelization through liturgical life, catechesis, daily family prayer, fasting, solidarity among families, the participation of the laity in the life of communities and in dialogue with society. In many places your Churches are amidst trials and tribulation through which they witness to their participation in the sufferings of Christ. Some of the faithful are forced to emigrate. Keeping alive their oneness with their community of origin, they can contribute to the pastoral care and to the work of evangelization in the countries that have welcomed them. May the Lord continue to bless your faithfulness. May your future be marked by the serene confession and practice of your faith in peace and religious liberty. We look to you Christians, men and women, who live in the countries of Africa and we express our gratitude for your witness to the Gospel often in difficult circumstances. We exhort you to revive the evangelization that you received in recent times, to build the Church as the family of God, to strengthen the identity of the family, to sustain the commitment of priests and catechists especially in the small Christian communities. We affirm the need to develop the encounter between the Gospel and old and new cultures. Great expectation and a strong appeal is addressed to the world of politics and to the governments of the various countries of Africa, so that, in collaboration with all people of good will, basic human rights may be promoted and the continent freed from violence and conflicts which still afflict it. The Bishops of the synodal Assembly invite you, Christians of North America, to respond with joy to the call to a new evangelization, while they look with gratitude at how your young Christian communities have borne generous fruits of faith, charity and mission. You need to recognize the many expressions of the present culture in the countries of your world which are today far from the Gospel. Conversion is necessary, from which is born a commitment that does not bring you out of your cultures, but in their midst to offer to all the light of faith and the power of life. As you welcome in your generous lands new populations of immigrants and refugees, may you be willing to open the doors of your homes to the faith. Faithful to the commitments taken at the synodal Assembly for America, be united with Latin America in the ongoing evangelization of the continent you share. The synodal assembly addressed the same sentiment of gratitude to the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean. Particularly striking throughout the ages is the development in your countries of forms of popular piety still fixed in the hearts of many people, of charitable service and of dialogue with cultures. Now, in the face of many present challenges, first of all poverty and violence, the Church in Latin America and in the Caribbean is encouraged to live in an ongoing state of mission, announcing the Gospel with hope and joy, forming communities of true missionary disciples of Jesus Christ, showing in the commitment of its sons and daughters how the Gospel could be the source of a new, just and fraternal society. Religious pluralism also tests your Churches and requires a renewed proclamation of the Gospel. To you, Christians of Asia, we also offer a word of encouragement and of exhortation. As a small minority in the continent which houses almost two thirds of the world’s population, your presence is a fruitful seed entrusted to the power of the Spirit, which grows in dialogue with the diverse cultures, with the ancient religions and with the countless poor. Although often outcast by society and in many places also persecuted, the Church of Asia, with its firm faith, is a valuable presence of the Christ’s Gospel which proclaims justice, life and harmony. Christians of Asia, feel the fraternal closeness of Christians of other countries of the world which cannot forget that in your continent – in the Holy Land – Jesus was born, lived, died and rose from the dead. The Bishops address a word of gratitude and hope to the Churches of the European continent, in part marked today by a strong – sometimes even aggressive – secularization, and in part still wounded by many decades of regimes with ideologies hostile to God and to man. We look with gratitude towards the past, but also to the present, in which the Gospel has created in Europe singular theologies and experiences of faith – often overflowing with holiness – that have been decisive for the evangelization of the whole world: richness of theological thought, variety of charismatic expressions, varied forms of charitable service towards the poor, profound contemplative experiences, the creation of a humanistic culture which has contributed to defining the dignity of the person and shaping the common good. May the present difficulties not pull you down, dear Christians of Europe: may you consider them instead as a challenge to be overcome and an occasion for a more joyful and vivid proclamation of Christ and of his Gospel of life. Finally, the bishops of the synodal assembly greet the people of Oceania who live under the protection of the southern Cross, they thank them for their witness to the Gospel of Jesus. Our prayer for you is that you might feel a profound thirst for new life, like the Samaritan Woman at the well, and that you might be able to hear the word of Jesus which says: “If you knew the gift of God” (John 4:10). May you more strongly feel the commitment to preach the Gospel and to make Jesus known in the world of today. We exhort you to encounter him in your daily life, to listen to him and to discover, through prayer and meditation, the grace to be able to say: “We know that this is truly the Savior of the World” (John 4:42). The star of Mary illumines the desert Arriving at the end of this experience of communion among Bishops of the entire world and of collaboration with the ministry of the Successor of Peter, we hear echoing in us the actual command of Jesus to his disciples: “Go and make disciples of all nations […] and behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19,20). This time, the mission is not addressed to one geographic area only, but goes to the very hidden depths of the hearts of our contemporaries to draw them back to an encounter with Jesus, the Living One who makes himself present in our communities. This presence fills our hearts with joy. Grateful for the gifts received from him in these days, we raise to him the hymn of praise: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord […] The Mighty One has done great things for me” (Luke 1:46,49). We make Mary’s words our own: the Lord has indeed done great things for his Church throughout the ages in various parts of the world and we magnify him, certain that he will not fail to look on our poverty in order to show the strength of his arm in our days and to sustain us in the path of the new evangelization. The figure of Mary guides us on our way. Our work, as Pope Benedict XVI told us, can seem like a path across the desert; we know that we must journey, taking with us what is essential: the company of Jesus, the truth of his word, the eucharistic bread which nourishes us, the fellowship of ecclesial communion, the impetus of charity. It is the water of the well that makes the desert bloom. As stars shine more brightly at night in the desert, so the light of Mary, Star of the new evangelization, brightly shines in heaven on our way. To her we confidently entrust ourselves.

Summary of today’s show: This Sunday, Cardinal Seán is taking the unusual step of asking every parish in the Archdiocese of Boston to play a video or audio of a special homily he’s written to talk about the attempt to legalize physician-assisted suicide in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on the November 6 ballot. Scot Landry, Fr. Mark O’Connell, Fr. Chip Hines and the listeners of The Good Catholic Life get an exclusive advance look at the homily and our panel discusses the Cardinal’s appeal to the moral law, the good of society, love of the most vulnerable, and our Christian duty to be a family of faith for those in need. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry, Fr. Mark O’Connell and Fr. Chip Hines Links from today’s show: Suicide Is Always A Tragedy Committee to Stop Physician-Assisted Suicide Cardinal Seán’s homily (English, Spanish, and Portuguese versions) Cardinal Sean’s Blog Cardinal Sean’s Twitter Cardinal Seán’s Homily for October 28, 2012: “Our task is to help prevent suicide” (English) from Archdiocese of Boston on Vimeo. Today’s topics: Cardinal Seán’s homily on Assisted Suicide 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the show and welcomed Fr. Mark O’Connell and Fr. Chip Hines back to the show. Fr. Chip is back for the first time since becoming pastor of St. Joseph parish in Medford. Fr. Mark said he had a pretty normal week. Scot said the Pastoral Center is busy getting ready for the Social Justice Convocation tomorrow. He said the Daughters of St. Paul are setting up their bookstall in the lobby of the Pastoral Center right now. Scot said we’re starting this week with this Sunday’s Gospel and then hear Cardinal Seán’s homily that will be heard in all the parishes of the archdiocese this weekend. Gospel for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mark 10:46-52) As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.” He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. Scot said Cardinal Seán pronounces Bartimaeus differently, probably the way it’s pronounced in one of the other languages he speaks. They now played the beginning of Cardinal Seán’s homily. People often find beggars annoying. Some will cross the street to avoid them. A man who was raised during the depression told of how the hobos, the knights of the road, would constantly arrive at their kitchen door asking for a handout. His mom would prepare sandwiches, a piece of fruit and a cup of coffee. They wondered why their back door seemed to attract more beggars than the rest of the neighborhood. One day they discovered that there was a mark on the curb in front of their house that indicated that this family would give something. The little boy asked his mother if he should erase the markings. His mom told him to leave them alone. It was a lesson that the boy never forgot. Today’s Gospel is about a Beggar named, Bartimaeus, which means Tim’s son. Bartimaeus is a blind beggar who has placed himself on the side of the road where all the pilgrims will pass on the way from Jericho to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover. Everyone over 12 years of age who lived within 15 miles of Jerusalem was expected to go to Jerusalem for the feast. I cannot hear this Gospel without remembering a young man from South America by the name of Segundo who arrived at National Airport in Washington and was referred to the Travelers’ Aid Desk. Segundo did not speak English. He knew no one in Washington, he had no money and he was blind. Someone who worked for an airline had gotten him an airplane ticket and a visitor’s visa. Travelers’ Aid sent him to me at the Centro Católico Hispano. As politely as I could, I asked “What possessed you to come to Washington without knowing anyone, without a plan, with nothing?” He said: “Padre in my country there are no seeing eye dogs, no schools for the blind, and not much medical attention. Blind people in my town spend their whole life sitting on the steps of the Church begging from the people going to Mass.”” I said: “Segundo, welcome to Washington. Welcome to the Spanish Catholic Center.” In today’s Gospel, Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, is there hoping to get a handout from the Church goers. The Gospels often describe for us two categories of people; the crowd and the community. The crowd is a collection of individuals who are quite content to put their own personal interest first, and to mind their own business. This group is often portrayed as pushing people away from the Lord, like the crowd in today’s Gospel who keep telling the beggar to shut up. The community are those who share Jesus’ mission and are calling people to draw near, to be closer to the Lord, to be a part of their family of faith. The community are the ones in the Gospel who say: “Take courage, get up, Jesus is calling you.” We want to form not a crowd, but a community; a family of faith, a community that cares for the blind beggar, the helpless child, the sick and the dying. Scot said Cardinal Seán will tie in the Church’s care of the needy with the need to care for the dying. Of the story of Segundo, Scot said it reflects our welcoming of the immigrant. Fr. Chip said Cardinal Seán often speaks about Centro Catolico and you get the sense that was some of the best times of his priesthood. Scot said from the time of Cardinal Seán’s ordination to the priesthood until becoming a bishop in the Virgin Islands, nearly every single Mass he celebrated was in a language other than English. The Centro Catolico was formed to help care for the influx of immigrants to the United States in that area. Fr. Mark said the Centro is a safe haven. He said as a priest it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the people that need help. He told a story of a man approaching him after Mass one day and how he pre-judged someone as wanting to ask for money when all they wanted was to tell him what a good homily he had given. Even priests can become wearied of the work. Scot noted that the beggars and hobos and Segundo and Bartimaeus were able to advocate for themselves. But Cardinal Seán will speak to those who are unable to speak for themselves, like the unborn or the terminally ill. The family of faith, the People of God, the Church needs to be their voice. He distinguishes between two categories of people in society and in the Church. Sometimes we’re the crowd and sometimes we’re the community of faith. We could sit back and be judgmental of many things and of people. Other times we can be a family of faith caring for the blind, the helpless child, the sick, and the dying. Over the next 11 days we need to ensure we’re going to be a family of faith. Fr. Chip said the people expect priests to be available and it’s part of who they are. There are times he’s in the middle of something, but he makes the time for the person. St. Francis loved beggars and became a beggar himself and wanted us his friars to be beggars because being a beggar reveals a lot about our human condition, our dependence upon God, and our interdependence among ourselves. At periods of our life, we are completely dependent on others for our basic needs; at the beginning and at the end of life. Somewhere in between, we get to be caregivers. The Elizabethan poet, John Donne, wrote that no man is an island, that we are diminished by each death because we are part of humanity. The poet bids us: “Inquire not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” We cannot ignore the impending legalization of Physician-Assisted-Suicide as if it did not affect us. It would bring spiritual death, a cheapening of human life, and a corrupting of the medical profession. PhysicianAssisted-Suicide means making the pharmacists, doctors, nurses, family members, friends and society itself, accomplices in a suicide. Our task is to help prevent suicide and provide the very best palliative and hospice care for our terminally ill loved ones. You will hear many emotional arguments in favor of Assisted-Suicide. We all get emotional when we talk about the death of those whom we love the most. Laws must not be born out of emotions. Laws need to reflect the moral law, the common good and the protection of the most vulnerable. Scot said what jumps out to him that in periods of our life we are completely dependent on others, but in the middle of our lives we often get to become caregivers. Being dependent is not a bad thing. When your children are dependent on you as a parent because it gives an opportunity to share love. At the end of life, even if in a diminished physical capacity, you can experience that love. Fr. Mark said before the show he was with his father, just holding his hand for 20 minutes and reflected on the doctors and nurses caring for him so well. That’s how our seniors should be treated; with love and a place to call home and freed from pain. On the fact that we can’t ignore assisted suicide as if it doesn’t affect us, the Cardinal is saying it impacts us because it affects others and affects society. Fr. Mark said the Church has a duty to speak up against immorality because we are part of society. The cardinal then outlines how it would affect society. Fr. Chip said at funeral Masses, the last caregivers are there. How would they deal with contributing to the death of the person? How would we be able to comfort them? The people who care for others at the end of life need to be cared for too. Scot said suicide by those we know affects us deeply even if we don’t think it will. This law would allow someone to kill themselves without even notifying their spouse or children. How would that leave them after death? Fr. Chip said he celebrated his own uncle’s funeral who took his own life and he remembers seeing his father and his siblings and his cousins and wondering how it will affect them all. Fr. Mark pointed out that it’s not going too far from the topic to talk about all suicide, not just assisted suicide. In Oregon, the overall suicide rate has gone way up and it’s because of the cheapening of human life. Scot said assisted suicide sends the message that suicide is sometimes a solution to our problems. Fr. Mark said there is a copycat effect. Scot said we’re hearing the Question 2 advocates are emotional arguments. Cardinal Seán is saying that laws must not be born out of emotions. Your heart goes out to some of the key spokesmen for Yes on 2, because they obviously went through difficulty with a loved one who wanted to take their life. But the emotion in those individual cases should not make laws for everyone. Laws should reflect the moral law and common good for the most vulnerable. Fr. Chip said the response to suffering is not death, it’s love. Jaymie Stuart Wolfe wrote that in her column in the Pilot this week. Our response should be love to those who are elderly, dying, going through a hard time. There are many citizens of this State who do not share our faith and for whom the clear Biblical teaching is not a convincing argument. To them, we make an appeal to reason: that this is bad legislation because it puts vulnerable people at risk and it promotes suicide. Some of the perilous flaws of this legislation that need careful reflection even by those persons who favor physician assisted suicide are: Doctors agree that terminal diagnoses of 6 months or less are often wrong. Many people with a terminal diagnosis live for years. Patients requesting suicide do not need to be examined by a psychiatrist before receiving a lethal prescription, despite that many of them are suffering from the depression. This prescription is for about 100 capsules of Seconal. Of course, people can’t ingest 100 capsules all at once. So they pour the contents into juice or applesauce to consume it. Poisoning is never a dignified way to die, especially with no doctor present. There is no requirement that the patient notify family members. Compassionate care at the end of life should involve the loving support of family members. We should be supporting improved hospice and palliative care statewide, not legalized suicide. It is also important that some people in Massachusetts oppose Question 2 because they believe that a ballot initiative process is not a good way to deal with a complex, ethical issue involving life and death. The legislature exists to be able to review proposals, hold public hearings and build consensus on complicated issues. Scot said that the Cardinal is saying we are a people of life. To defeat assisted suicide, we need people who may not be pro-life to be with us. We as mass-attending Catholics need to have the facts and arguments that would be persuasive to those who won’t hear this homily. It’s bad legislation because it puts vulnerable people at risk without safeguards. Scot said every newspaper in Massachusetts that’s taken up Question 2 in its editorials has said Vote No. One of the major arguments has been that such an important law should be taken up by the Legislature. If there’s going to be a real discussion, make it a real discussion. Fr. Chip said it’s not really physician-assisted suicide. You fill a prescription and go home alone. This law is so flawed with so many problems that even appealing to just logic and sense and the process will work. Scot points out that most doctors in Oregon want nothing to do with this and so doctors affiliated with the pro-suicide group Compassion in Dying write the prescriptions and they barely know the patients. In Massachusetts, the people go to the neighborhood pharmacy and get a lethal dose in between all the flu medication and asthma inhalers. Fr. Chip asks what happens if they change their mind halfway through. Fr. Mark points out that the law doesn’t prohibit someone with a financial or other interest in spooning the poison into the patients. He said in many cases people get the prescription to keep around in case they want it and so the pills are laying around with the possibility of someone else getting them. Scot pointed out that no one is saying most people would do this, but if it happens once, it’s too many times. We are asking our Catholic parishioners to help in this very challenging time. We feel confident that if the voters have a chance to hear about the flaws in this proposed legislation, they will vote No on Question 2. It all hinges on our ability to get the message out. Please take copies of the hand out cards, and distribute them to your family, friends and neighbors at the events you attend over the next week. You might ask people if they have heard about Question 2, and tell them you would like to read the card with some of the reasons that medical organizations, disability groups, and other community leaders are voting no. There are also sample texts on SuicideIsAlwaysATragedy.org that you can use to e-mail folks, post on Facebook, Twitter or Google-Plus. I would not be asking this of you if it were not so critical. I would hope that each of us would try to reach at least 10 people with this message. This is not partisan politics, it is simply exercising our right to contribute to the exchange of ideas that the Constitution of the United States guarantees. The Churches perform an important service by weighing in on moral and ethical issues. Many people objected to Archbishop Romero advocating for the poor and objected to Reverend Martin Luther King’s work on behalf of social justice. They both gave their lives to make their countries better places where human dignity was respected. We are all called to work for a more just society where the weak and the vulnerable are nurtured and protected. Our faith demands that we not be guilty bystanders. That’s why I am asking you to join me and partner with so many medical and disability groups to stop assisted suicide by Voting No on Question 2 on Election Day. Scot added that if you’re on Twitter follow @CardinalSean and retweet what he posts there. He said the Cardinal is specifically asking everyone who hears this to reach out to one person per day until the election that Question 2 would be a tragedy if passed. You don’t have to persuade or convince them. Just let them know, send them a link, and ask them to consider this. Fr. Mark said we need the Catholic vote, but we need more as well. Our neighbors need to hear about this. We can pass out the literature and even talk to those leaning in that direction. Fr. Chip said people can follow him on Twitter too @chines. The beggar Bartimaeus was ignored by the maddening crowd. They tried to silence him, but Bartimaeus refused to be intimidated. It took courage to cry out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” It was interpreted as a political statement by some, no doubt. It was rather a cry to escape from the world of darkness. Jesus heard Bartimaeus’ cry and called him over and asked what he wanted. Bartimaeus said: “Lord that I might see.” Jesus who spent his ministry trying to heal blindnesses of minds and hearts says to the beggar: “Go your way, your faith has saved you.” The Gospel said, he immediately received his sight and followed Jesus on the way. What a beautiful ending to this Gospel. Bartimaeus did not disappear when he received what he asked for. With faith and gratitude he became Jesus’ disciple and followed the Lord to Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified ten days later – and three days after that, rose from the dead. Let us beg the Lord to cure all our societal blindnesses and help us to follow Jesus with the faith and gratitude of Bartimaeus. Following Jesus is never easy, but it always leads to deeper love and joy. Just ask the beggar. Fr. Chip said he sometimes wonder if assisted suicide is more for the people around the sick person to relieve their burden. Scot said with the exception of the main signatories of the ballot question, he’s yet to see any doctor appear on TV or in print in favor of it. Doctors he talks to say that a massive majority of doctors are strongly opposed to this. Fr. Mark pointed out that there are great advances in palliative care in our day and we have compassionate ways to treat people with love.

Summary of today’s show: Our usual Thursday panel of Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, Fr. Roger Landry, and Gregory Tracy on Thursday discussed the news headlines of the week, including the bevy of newspaper editorials opposing Question 2; the Pilot’s own editorial on the assisted suicide question; Scot’s column in the Pilot answering proponent’s claims in favor of Question 2; Fr. Roger’s column in the Anchor on how Catholics should vote; and the surprise announcement of six new cardinals for the Church. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Gregory Tracy, managing editor of the Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Fr. Roger Landry, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River Links from today’s show: The Anchor The Pilot Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot’s and The Anchor’s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today’s topics: Assisted suicide; How Catholics should vote; new cardinals 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the show and welcomed Susan Abbott back to the show. She said this past week there was a wonderful workshop on bereavement ministry and on her parish on Monday, she started the Catholicism series by Fr. Robert Barron. She’s also working on the revision of religious education guidelines for Catholic schools and parish religious education. Scot noted that Gregory Tracy will be on vacation next week. Fr. Roger Landry said it’s been a busy few weeks for him. They had over 100 people come to an event preparing for the launch of the Year of Faith. Next week, he has eight talks in six days in five states, not to mention All Saints Day and All Souls Day. He’ll be in Tennessee first, talking about a couple of colleges and the Nashville Dominicans religious community, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and then in Philadelphia the end of the week. It’s been a great time of graces so far in the Year of Faith, not necessarily doing new things, but doing what we’re doing with a far greater trust in God. Scot noted that we could be hit with a hurricane or tropical storm at the beginning of next week. Susan noted that last year there was a huge snowstorm that hit this area. Scot said in the stories this week, the Pilot wrote editorials asking people to vote non on Questions 2 and 3, outlining the rational arguments against the questions. Greg said the flaws are obvious to anyone who wants to look at these laws, they don’t have to be Catholic. Scot quickly outlined the the laws of the law in the editorial as well as all the other groups that oppose Question 2. Scot said proponents have cited very small, alternative medical groups in favor. Scot asked about the editorial opposing Question 3, legalizing marijuana. Greg said that it’s clear in certain cases some people are advocating it for medical purposes, but once you open the door it gets out of control. In California, the reality of legalization has been to have marijuana dispensaries selling more marijuana than the possible valid patients. “Our View: No on Question 2”, Salem News, 10/24/12 “Our view: Death with Dignity law is fatally flawed”, New Bedford Standard Times, 10/7/12 “No on Question 2”, Boston Herald, 10/22/12 “Vote ‘no’ on Question 2”, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 10/21/12 Back to Question 2, Scot turned to some local newspaper editorials opposing the Question. He said the Salem News mentions the argument that the legislature and legislators should take this up. Susan said issues this serious shouldn’t be left up to a one-time vote. It begs to be discussed by the legislature with input from experts and constituents. With the graying of the population and advances in end-of-life care for all ages, Massachusetts needs to have a wide-ranging, intelligent and respectful debate about assisted suicide. Our legislators need to find the political courage to confront a raw, emotional issue and craft a law that recognizes our right to make our own decisions about our quality of life while offering safeguards against misuse or abuse. Question 2 is not that law, and we urge a No vote. Scot said they are more opposed to the law because of the way it is crafted rather than the morality of it. Two weeks ago, the New Bedford Standard Times came out with a similar editorial. Fr. Roger said the newspaper editors said they support a right to suicide, but that this particular law as proposed doesn’t protect the vulnerable. Scot referred to his op ed in the week’s Pilot as well, which counters the arguments in favor of the law by proponents. At least they recognized how bad this particular bill is. If both opponents and proponents of assisted suicide in principle agree that this is bad, then the odds it’s bad is 105% The Boston Herald also came out with an editorial against Question 2 this week. It is tempting to consider support for Question 2, the so-called “Death with Dignity” act, which seeks to ease the final days of terminally ill patients. None of us wants to see a loved one suffer; we do not want to endure such suffering ourselves. We can all imagine that moment when we might seek the ultimate escape from indescribable pain. But the ballot initiative is deeply flawed. The Herald recommends voting NO. The new law would allow willing physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of medication for patients who have been diagnosed with an incurable illness that will cause death within six months, and who ask for the prescription that they would self-administer. Of course, such an estimate of life expectancy could easily be wrong. The patient must be deemed mentally competent, but is not required to undergo any counseling to determine if the request may be motivated by, say, treatable depression. That is reason enough on its own to vote no. It’s conceivable that some patients would resort to the lethal prescription not to ease their own suffering but to unburden loved ones. And there is deep concern about Question 2 within the medical and disability communities. We are fortunate in this country — and in this commonwealth — to have a strong network of end-of-life services for the terminally ill. Hospice provides compassionate care. Access to palliative care could be improved, and that should be the focus of those who are committed to humane and dignified treatment of the dying. Scot said a flaw in the editorial is that it makes it seem that suffering at the end of life is inevitable, but palliative care experts disagree and say that there is very little pain that can’t be alleviated. Greg said he was happy to see a major Boston newspaper that came out against this Question. He said that he’s heard some claim that if it’s okay to that amount of morphine needed would end up causing death inadvertently, then this should be legalized. But as Cardinal Seán has said that this isn’t the case. Susan pointed out that the intention is to relieve the pain, it’s not to kill the person. Scot said every major newspaper in Massachusetts that’s taken a position on Question 2 has been opposed. Fr. Roger said he would be shocked if one paper didn’t take a position in favor simply because of political associations, but he’s edified that so many newspapers agree that this particular initiative would be bad law. Of course, the truth of the matter is not determined by how many editorials are opposed or in favor. He encouraged people to write letters to editorial boards to thank them for the stand or to take a stand against. He noted that the more emphatically this Question is defeated, the less likely it is to be successful before the Legislature. Greg noted that with ballot initiatives, the wording of the law is crafted by those who are extreme advocates. If you’re going to have a law, have it drafted by a neutral party like legislators. He noted that every definition and the wording is expansive. Also in the Pilot is a story about 17 religious leaders, including Cardinal Seán, signed an agreement opposing physician-assisted suicide, based on a set of four criteria: The 6-month prognosis, doesn’t require consultations, doesn’t require family notification, and that the lethal prescription is not a death with dignity. Scot encouraged listeners when discussing this Question refer to it as a bill legalizing assisted suicide, not the euphemisms proposed by those in favor of the ballot question. There was discussion of the prescribing of the lethal pills from the neighborhood pharmacy, not from the doctor’s office, nor is there any control over the drugs once they’re out in the public sphere. “Don’t be fooled by proponents’ claims on Question 2”, Scot Landry, The Pilot, 10/26/12 Scot said Cardinal Seán asked him to write in the Pilot with responses to the claims made by proponents of Question 2. Susan said it’s a valuable one-page look at the pros and cons. Scot said what he hoped to do in the column is to provide assistance to someone who knows he’s going to get in a debate with a proponent of Question 2. Also in the Pilot this week is the text of Cardinal Seán’s homily that will be heard in all archdiocesan parishes this weekend. Tomorrow’s show will be devoted to this homily. The video of the homily will be on Cardinal Sean’s Blog on Friday night. Scot encouraged everyone to spread the homily through their social networks on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere. Susan said she also liked the column by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe called “The final enemy” on this topic. Susan said Jaymie looks at those who have lived terribly tragic lives and are afraid of dying alone and reminds us that it is to ensure that they don’t die alone, but surrounded by love. 2nd segment: Scot said Fr. Roger’s column in this week’s Anchor is entitled “How does God want you to vote?”. Fr. Roger said it’s about the proper formation of conscience. He said people are often confused about how this occurs. He said it’s about asking the Lord the question in prayer, examine his values, and become salt and leaven. Voting is a moral action that makes us morally better or worse. In a choice between a candidate who recognizes that abortion is the massacre of innocent human beings and intends to work to reduce and eliminate it and one who celebrates abortion as a great civil “right” and even wants to force Catholic individuals and institutions to have to pay for it, is it complicated to figure out which candidate’s values God wants us to support? Similarly, would He want us to vote for or against candidates and legislation that would give doctors the ability to help patients commit suicide? God instituted marriage in the beginning as the union of one man and one woman, as a reflection of His own image. Would He want us to support candidates who see marriage as He does or those who believe that such an idea of marriage is bigoted, unconstitutional, and needs to be redefined to embrace husband-less or wife-less unions? God founded a Church, calls us to use our freedom to live our faith through acts of charity, and wants us to be people who conscientiously follow His voice. Would He want us to support candidates who defend freedom of conscience and religion or those who want to use their office to compel Catholic institutions, priests, nuns, families and businesses to pay for other people to have free chemical abortions, sterilizations, and contraception? The answers, for those of a well-formed conscience, aren’t complicated. He said God cares who our leaders are. That was true in the Old Testament and is still clearly true. Catholics are consecrated, which means we’re different, and so we should be transforming society rather than just reflecting it. Scot said people often say their conscience compels them to favor things the Church’s teaches are immoral. Fr. Roger said conscience is not personal preferences or gut instincts. Conscience is an organ of sensitivity given to us by God to hear his voice to do or avoid something or to see if something we did or failed to do accorded with what he wants us to do. We know we are hearing him correctly when we are in accord with his Revelation as safeguarded by the Church. He said we should prepare to vote by praying, by consulting the saints, and by becoming informed of Church teaching. He said many Catholics have not formed their consciences well and he said many priests have to express sorrow for having failed to be clear about what the conscience is and have failed to teach clearly the obligations of the Catholic faith. Scot said last week he was part of a panel at St. Mary parish in Dedham on current events, especially ahead of the election. He said people wanted guidance on how to vote. People asked why they don’t hear more about this in the Church. Scot said when secularists out there don’t like what they hear from us, they run to claim separation of church and state. Scot said the Church can’t endorse a candidate from the pulpit, but the Church can express the principles for how a Catholic should balance all the different moral questions. Before we got into the ballot box, we have to think about it as an action of faith. Susan said another resource is the US Conference of Catholic Bishops which puts out succinct one-page briefings on Catholic teachings related issues of the day. Scot noted that the Church teaches that there is a hierarchy of values, where not every issue has the same moral weight. Greg said that the right to life is the pre-eminent right. If you’re prevented from being born, then you don’t even have a chance to be poor or one of the other conditions some would place a greater weight on. “Pope proclaims seven new saints, including St. Kateri, St. Marianne”, Catholic News Service, 10/21/12 Scot said Pope Benedict declared seven new saints in Rome last Sunday. He said also that there was a surprising announcement in which the Pope named six new cardinals. Two of them are significant, Archbishop Harvey, an American who’s been the head of the Papal Household. Also there are no other curial officials or Europeans. The other surprising pick is the 55-year-old Filipino archbishop Luis Tagle. Fr. Roger said he was surprised that Archbishop Gerhard Muller, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wasn’t picked to be a cardinal. Fr. Roger said he’s always been impressed by Tagle and said he’s been tipped as one of the leading contenders for the papacy from Asia. “Pope names six new cardinals, including US Archbishop Harvey”, Catholic News Service, 10/24/12

Summary of today’s show: The annual Bishop Healy Award dinner honors those in the Archdiocese of Boston who provide particular service to the Black Catholic community. Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams are joined by Lorna DesRoses of the Office for Black Catholics to talk to Anthony Owens, clerk-magistrate in Dorchester District Court, parishioner at St. Mary of the Angels Parish, and the 2012 winner of the Bishop James Augustine Healy Award; and Beth Chambers, director of Catholic Charities South, parishioner at Holy Name Parish, and the 2012 Robert L. Ruffin Award winner, about what it means to them and how they serve their community in an exemplary manner. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Lorna DesRoses of the Office for Black Catholics; Anthony Owens, Healy Award winner; Beth Chambers, Ruffin Award winner Links from today’s show: Office of Outreach and Cultural Diversity Office for Black Catholics 2012 Bishop James Augustine Healy Award Dinner Bishop James Augustine Healy Today’s topics: 2012 Bishop Healy Awards Dinner 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed Fr. Matt Williams to the show and talked about his travels around the archdiocese this week. Fr. Matt said last Wednesday they celebrated the 50 years of service to the Archdiocese’s CYO program by Peter Williams. He also talked about a recent presentation to Confirmation candidates about how God has created them for greatness. He also spoke of the Black Catholic revival between St. Angela’s in Mattapan and St. Matthew in Dorchester, including a youth component on Saturday. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Lorna DesRoses, Anthony Owens and Beth Chambers from Catholic Charities South. Scot asked Lorna about the Bishop Healy Award. She said it is given in honor of Bishop James Augustine Healy, the first recognized black Catholic bishop in the US. He was the first chancellor of the Archdiocese of Boston and the second bishop of the Diocese of Portland, Maine. The award is given to a black Catholic who shows exemplary leadership and has given exemplary service to the community. Anthony Owens is a parishioner of St. Mary of Angels and has been very active in the parish and community. He has raised his son and been very involved in his education. This is the 19th year of the Healy Award. Anthony said he was honored to receive the award. He said he was speechless when Lorna called to tell him about it. He said he helped start the food pantry at St. Mary’s a number of years ago. He’s served the parish council, been involved in the celebrations committee. He worked with Boston Symphony Orchestra to bring classical music to his community. He helped with a 24-hour prayer revival. Scot asked about St. Mary of the Angels Parish. Anthony said he’s been in the parish for 26 year. It’s in the Eggleston Square section of Boston. There is a large Spanish-speaking population and a large African-American community. It is very diverse. They also have strong relationships with the parishes that surround them. Scot asked Lorna about the Ruffin Award. Lorna said Robert Ruffin was involved in the 19th century Black Catholic congress movement. The award is given to someone who serves the black Catholic community, is dedicated to the faith, shows the unity within the diversity of the Church, and shows great personal character. She said Beth Chambers is receiving the award for her work in Catholic Charities. Lorna said this is the sixth Ruffin award being given out. Scot asked Beth what it means to her. Beth has worked for Catholic Charities for 22 years. Beth said when she was first told she said there must be some mistake. She said her husband, Meyer, gets the awards. He is the founder of the archdiocesan Black Catholic choir. She also looked to the previous recipients who did so much. She said her husband is proud of her. She said her work in Catholic Charities started because of Meyer. Beth said when she was in Boston’s Catholic Charities, she helped with the basic needs programs in the area of the Cathedral in the South End. In August, she was appointed as director of Catholic Charities South. It’s a different role for her now. She talked about how people she works with are often at the very rock bottom of life. She also oversees Sunset Point Camp in Hull, for kids who couldn’t otherwise go to camp or have a vacation. It was closed for a year a couple of years, but they were able to re-open it with community support. Beth said the basic needs program has increased manyfold in recent years. The first 8 months of this year, the numbers at the food pantry in Dorchester have doubled. But the funding is not increasing and so they have to be more creative about getting food. They see that there aren’t other food pantries around them in Boston or Roxbury so they serve the people who come to them. Scot asked Anthony if his food pantry sees the same increasing needs. He said in his position as magistrate-clerk for the Dorchester District Court and he sees people with those same basic needs and he sends them to Catholic Charities. Scot asked Lorna what else happens at the dinner besides the awards. She said the Black Catholic choir provides music throughout the evening. They have a raffle. The dinner is on Saturday, Nov. 3. People come from various parishes to support the honorees. The guest speaker this year will be Prof. Maria Hilton from BU School of Law. She is a lifelong Catholic, mother of 7. The theme of the dinner is “Be Doers of the Word, Not Hearers Only”. Tickets and tables are still available. c 3rd segment: This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Johanna Butler Tenenbaum from Boston She wins the Magnificat Year of Faith Companion and the audio CD Journey in Faith by Johnnette Benkovic. If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 4th segment: Beth said she’s a parishioner at Holy Name Parish in West Roxbury. She said it’s a beautiful church with a wonderful community and pastor. Scot asked her about how working in Brockton has been different from Boston. She said they have parent aid programs, programs for children, and a huge food pantry. The pantry is set up with shopping carts letting people shop for their food as opposed to being given a bag of food. This is a total choice pantry. Fr. Matt asked Beth how the theme for the dinner resonates with her. She said it’s a quotes from the Letter to James that she just heard the other day. She said whether it’s paid workers or volunteers, it’s the truth. They couldn’t do what they do at Catholic Charities without volunteers. In Brockton, they have young people and elderly who come help out. They have four young Mormon men who volunteer also. Beth said she considers herself a Martha, someone who just works in the background. She loves the behind-the-scenes preparation work, letting others shine as it happens. Anthony said many hands, make for light work. Many people are less active, but could do more. He asked them to please come and get so much out of it. They’ll see people thank them for helping them to eat for the first time in days. They’ll help young people, directing them away to something that helps them, as opposed to hurts them. Fr. Matt asked Tony how his faith inspires him and lives out his work. Tony said everything he does, he brings his Catholic faith to it. They have people who come through Dorchester Court that he greets with respect and dignity, who haven’t experienced that elsewhere. He emphasizes that with his staff and even those who appear before him as clerk-magistrate. Fr. Matt asked Tony to share about what it means to be a Dad as a Catholic and as someone who sees so many young people appear before him coming from broken homes. Tony said before he became a dad, he was an uncle raising his two-year-old nephew. He turned to his parish for that support to help them grow in their faith. He prepares his children for a live when their father won’t be around. Give them a strong spiritual foundation. He them to know how to make good moral choices. A father has to be loving and patient and there all the time even if not physically always. Scot said a father’s job is to raise adults, not kids. He’s sure Tony has seen people in many different life stages and places, the best and worst of society. They talked about you’re never prepared for fatherhood. Tony said he saw as a probation officer how giving people the right resources can make a difference in their lives. Scot asked Lorna what she hopes to be the result of the award dinner for the community. She said in addition to inspiring us to be doers of the Word, she hopes it encourages us by seeing someone doing something wonderful and maybe acts as a catalyst for them to do more. Beth said she’ll be expected to give a 3-5 minute acceptance speech. She’s attended every single award dinner so receiving the Ruffin Award makes it even more special. Anthony said he’s also mapped out his acceptance speech. Scot said it’s a challenge to name everybody you need to thank. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the people who’ve set you on this path in life to serve the Church and the people served in the name of the Church. Tony said throughout his life he’s had many who’ve helped him, but his parents stand out. His mother ensured he would go to church. Fr. Charles Bryson was a teacher in school who told him he was capable of great things. He also would name many of the people at St. Mary’s. Beth said first and foremost she would name her husband. She grew up as a Catholic, but it wasn’t a Catholic household. So when she married her husband it was like a baptism by fire in her faith.

Summary of today’s show: As we close in on Election Day, we celebrate our 400th episode by beginning in earnest our formation as Catholics in the public square. Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor continue looking at the 1998 document from the US bishops called “Living the Gospel of Life”, which Archbishop Charles Chaput calls “the best tool anywhere for understanding the American Catholic political vocation”. Scot and Fr. Chris consider the second part of the document, which includes calls to specific groups of Catholics to recognize the hierarchy of rights that puts the right to life and the dignity of all human life first and foremost. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor “Living The Gospel Of Life: A Challenge To American Catholics”, A statement by the Catholic bishops of the United States Program #0400 for Monday, October 22, 2012: Living the Gospel of Life: Part 1 “Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life”, Archbishop Charles Chaput Today’s topics: Living the Gospel of Life: Part 2 1st segment: Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor talked about their weekend. Fr. Chris said he was called out to perform an anointing for a man who was dying of cancer. He was struck by the fact that this was dying with dignity, to be surrounded by loved ones and cared for by medical professionals who also cared for the family. Fr. Chris said he preached on the subject of dying with dignity and Question 2. He said it’s a tough subject to talk about in the presence of so many children, but he though that the more culture turns in on itself and gets twisted. He doesn’t want to offend the sensibility of the little ones while edifying the adults. Many people said they hadn’t heard of the assisted suicide question or misunderstood it. He pointed out that it’s not physician-assisted suicide because the physician doesn’t provide any assistance except to write a prescription. Scot said the doctor is not present when the fatal prescription is ingested. In many ways, it’s dying alone. He said yesterday the Boston Herald, Worcester Telegram and Gazette joined The New Bedford Standard-Times in opposing Question 2. Fr. Chris said it makes sense to him why even doctors and nurses oppose this bill after seeing the doctors and nurses caring for the dying over the weekend. Today’s topic is the second part of a two-part series discussing the US bishops’ 1998 document “Living the Gospel of Life.” Scot reminded listeners he’d never heard of this document until reading Archbishop Chaput’s book “Render Unto Caesar” over the weekend. We start with Section 3, Paragraph 16. This does not make America sectarian. It does, however, underline the crucial role God’s sovereignty has played in the architecture of American politics. While the founders were a blend of Enlightenment rationalists and traditional Christians, generations of Jews, Muslims, other religious groups and non-believers have all found a home in the United States. This is so because the tolerance of our system is rooted in the Jewish-Christian principle that even those who differ from one another in culture, appearance and faith still share the same rights. We believe that this principle still possesses the power to enlighten our national will. The Second Vatican Council, in its Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), praises those women and men who have a vocation to public office. It encourages active citizenship. It also reminds us that, “The political community … exists for the common good: This is its full justification and meaning, and the source of its specific and basic right to exist. The common good embraces all those conditions of social life which enable individuals, families and organizations to achieve complete and efficacious fulfillment” (74). In pursuing the common good, citizens should “cultivate a generous and loyal spirit of patriotism, but without narrow-mindedness … [they must also] be conscious of their specific and proper role in the political community: They should be a shining example by their sense of responsibility and their dedication to the common good …” (75). As to the role of the Church in this process: “… The political community and the Church are autonomous and independent of each other in their own fields. Nevertheless, both are devoted to the personal vocation of man, though under different titles … [yet] at all times and in all places, the Church should have the true freedom to teach the faith, to proclaim its teaching about society, to carry out its task among men without hindrance, and to pass moral judgment even in matters relating to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it” (76; emphasis added). Pope John Paul II elaborates on this responsibility in his 1988 apostolic exhortation, The Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World (Christifideles Laici): “The inviolability of the person, which is a reflection of the absolute inviolability of God, finds its primary and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights — for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture — is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition of all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination … The human being is entitled to such rights in every phase of development, from conception until natural death, whether healthy or sick, whole or handicapped, rich or poor … [Moreover, if,] indeed, everyone has the mission and responsibility of acknowledging the personal dignity of every human being and of defending the right to life, some lay faithful are given particular title to this task: such as parents, teachers, healthworkers and the many who hold economic and political power” (38). We believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a “Gospel of life.” It invites all persons and societies to a new life lived abundantly in respect for human dignity. We believe that this Gospel is not only a complement to American political principles, but also the cure for the spiritual sickness now infecting our society. As Scripture says, no house can stand divided against itself (Lk 11:17). We cannot simultaneously commit ourselves to human rights and progress while eliminating or marginalizing the weakest among us. Nor can we practice the Gospel of life only as a private piety. American Catholics must live it vigorously and publicly, as a matter of national leadership and witness, or we will not live it at all. Scot said it is the role of the Church to speak up when the rights of man require it. The Church isn’t asking for theocracy, but we have a right to be heard and contribute to social discourse on various issues. If we make ourselves silent, then a huge voice for good is silenced. Fr. Chris said the Church is one of the only prophetic voices left in our society. The Church serves every man, women, and child and the common good. The Church has a right to speak and to invite men and women of good conscience who wants to join the cause. The Church teaches the truth and when people hear the truth, they are attracted to it. Scot said #19 is one of the best in the document. It talks about the call of everyone and that of particular people who have a particular task in proclaiming the right to life, especially anyone who leads other people. Fr. Chris said if you want to know the health of a culture, see how it takes care of its marginalized. There’s a hierarchy of rights that the right to life presumes the other rights. I have to have a right o life in order to be free, to pursue liberty and happiness. When we go into the voting booth we have to take that into consideration. Scot said in #20, we can’t live the Gospel of life privately. We can’t say our faith is only meant for our home or in church. We have to live it in the public square. Fr. Chris said this counters the formulation “I’m personally opposed but I can’t impose my beliefs on others.” Abortion is intrinsically evil and we are called to protect the unborn, the weak, the suicidal and sick when we enter the voting booth. “It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop.” Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life Bringing a respect for human dignity to practical politics can be a daunting task. There is such a wide spectrum of issues involving the protection of human life and the promotion of human dignity. Good people frequently disagree on which problems to address, which policies to adopt and how best to apply them. But for citizens and elected officials alike, the basic principle is simple: We must begin with a commitment never to intentionally kill, or collude in the killing, of any innocent human life, no matter how broken, unformed, disabled or desperate that life may seem. In other words, the choice of certain ways of acting is always and radically incompatible with the love of God and the dignity of the human person created in His image. Direct abortion is never a morally tolerable option. It is always a grave act of violence against a woman and her unborn child. This is so even when a woman does not see the truth because of the pressures she may be subjected to, often by the child’s father, her parents or friends. Similarly, euthanasia and assisted suicide are never acceptable acts of mercy. They always gravely exploit the suffering and desperate, extinguishing life in the name of the “quality of life” itself. This same teaching against direct killing of the innocent condemns all direct attacks on innocent civilians in time of war. Pope John Paul II has reminded us that we must respect every life, even that of criminals and unjust aggressors. It is increasingly clear in modern society that capital punishment is unnecessary to protect people’s safety and the public order, so that cases where it may be justified are “very rare, if not practically non-existent.” No matter how serious the crime, punishment that does not take life is “more in conformity with the dignity of the human person” (Evangelium Vitae, 56-7). Our witness to respect for life shines most brightly when we demand respect for each and every human life, including the lives of those who fail to show that respect for others. The antidote to violence is love, not more violence. As we stressed in our 1995 statement Political Responsibility: “The application of Gospel values to real situations is an essential work of the Christian community.” Adopting a consistent ethic of life, the Catholic Church promotes a broad spectrum of issues “seeking to protect human life and promote human dignity from the inception of life to its final moment.”9 Opposition to abortion and euthanasia does not excuse indifference to those who suffer from poverty, violence and injustice. Any politics of human life must work to resist the violence of war and the scandal of capital punishment. Any politics of human dignity must seriously address issues of racism, poverty, hunger, employment, education, housing, and health care. Therefore, Catholics should eagerly involve themselves as advocates for the weak and marginalized in all these areas. Catholic public officials are obliged to address each of these issues as they seek to build consistent policies which promote respect for the human person at all stages of life. But being ‘right’ in such matters can never excuse a wrong choice regarding direct attacks on innocent human life. Indeed, the failure to protect and defend life in its most vulnerable stages renders suspect any claims to the ‘rightness’ of positions in other matters affecting the poorest and least powerful of the human community. If we understand the human person as the “temple of the Holy Spirit” — the living house of God — then these latter issues fall logically into place as the crossbeams and walls of that house. All direct attacks on innocent human life, such as abortion and euthanasia, strike at the house’s foundation. These directly and immediately violate the human person’s most fundamental right — the right to life. Neglect of these issues is the equivalent of building our house on sand. Such attacks cannot help but lull the social conscience in ways ultimately destructive of other human rights. As Pope John Paul II reminds us, the command never to kill establishes a minimum which we must respect and from which we must start out “in order to say ‘yes’ over and over again, a ‘yes’ which will gradually embrace the entire horizon of the good” (Evangelium Vitae, 75). Since the entry of Catholics into the U.S. political mainstream, believers have struggled to balance their faith with the perceived demands of democratic pluralism. As a result, some Catholic elected officials have adopted the argument that, while they personally oppose evils like abortion, they cannot force their religious views onto the wider society. This is seriously mistaken on several key counts. First, regarding abortion, the point when human life begins is not a religious belief but a scientific fact — a fact on which there is clear agreement even among leading abortion advocates. Second, the sanctity of human life is not merely Catholic doctrine but part of humanity’s global ethical heritage, and our nation’s founding principle. Finally, democracy is not served by silence. Most Americans would recognize the contradiction in the statement, “While I am personally opposed to slavery or racism or sexism I cannot force my personal view on the rest of society.” Real pluralism depends on people of conviction struggling vigorously to advance their beliefs by every ethical and legal means at their disposal. Today, Catholics risk cooperating in a false pluralism. Secular society will allow believers to have whatever moral convictions they please — as long as they keep them on the private preserves of their consciences, in their homes and churches, and out of the public arena. Democracy is not a substitute for morality, nor a panacea for immorality. Its value stands — or falls — with the values which it embodies and promotes. Only tireless promotion of the truth about the human person can infuse democracy with the right values. This is what Jesus meant when He asked us to be leaven in society. American Catholics have long sought to assimilate into U.S. cultural life. But in assimilating, we have too often been digested. We have been changed by our culture too much, and we have changed it not enough. If we are leaven, we must bring to our culture the whole Gospel, which is a Gospel of life and joy. That is our vocation as believers. And there is no better place to start than promoting the beauty and sanctity of human life. Those who would claim to promote the cause of life through violence or the threat of violence contradict this Gospel at its core. Scripture calls us to “be doers of the word and not hearers only … [for] faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (Jas 1:22, 2:17). Jesus Himself directs us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you …” (Mt 28:19-20). Life in Christ is a life of active witness. It demands moral leadership. Each and every person baptized in the truth of the Catholic faith is a member of the “people of life” sent by God to evangelize the world. God is always ready to answer our prayers for help with the virtues we need to do His will. First and foremost we need the courage and the honesty to speak the truth about human life, no matter how high the cost to ourselves. The great lie of our age is that we are powerless in the face of the compromises, structures and temptations of mass culture. But we are not powerless. We can make a difference. We belong to the Lord, in Him is our strength, and through His grace, we can change the world. We also need the humility to listen well to both friend and opponent on the abortion issue, learning from each and forgetting ourselves. We need the perseverance to continue the struggle for the protection of human life, no matter what the setbacks, trusting in God and in the ultimate fruitfulness of the task He has called us to. We need the prudence to know when and how to act in the public arena — and also to recognize and dismiss that fear of acting which postures as prudence itself. And finally we need the great foundation of every apostolic life: faith, hope and charity. Faith not in moral or political abstractions, but in the personal presence of God; hope not in our own ingenuity, but in His goodness and mercy; and love for others, including those who oppose us, rooted in the love God showers down on us. These virtues, like the Gospel of Life which they help animate, have serious implications for every Christian involved in any way in the public life of the nation. Scot said in #23, as they listed various forms of standing up for life and violations of human rights, they said being in right in many areas can never excuse being wrong about direct attacks on human life. Advocating against direct attacks comes first if we want to advocate against indirect attacks. Fr. Chris said it’s the false premise of proportionalism. We can’t say that we will save 99 lives and let one die. Every life is so sacred and valuable that we can’t directly cause the taking of a life. The bishops say it’s seriously mistaken to say it’s not a human life and that the sanctity of human life is not just a Catholic idea. Also, democracy isn’t served by silence. We can’t mute ourselves on this. Scot said abortion continues in this country because too many of us have not stood up to defend life in the womb. Scot said people deserve to hear why we believe what we believe. Everybody needs to hear us in the public square, whether we are successful or not. If God moves their hearts, all the better; if not, we’re better for sharing our faith. Fr. Chris said our Constitution provides for us to speak about religiously defined beliefs in the public square. Scot said we only hear about separation of church and state, it’s only from people who disagree with us. When we talk about serving the poor, no one tries to shout us down. Fr. Chris said these discussions should not become vicious and brutal, but rather should be based on mutuality and respect for the other, in the hopes that truth will surface. In #25, the bishops discuss the long battle to be assimilated into American life, but that desire for assimilation has often resulted in Catholics being changed too much by the culture than vice versa. Fr. Chris said we are called to based our decisions on our faith and one science and reason. They discussed recent formulations of the opposing approaches by Catholic politicians. The bishops in #27 talk about the virtues we need. Scot and Fr. Chris skipped over #29 and #30 which address bishops, priests, religious, catechists, teachers, and theologians. As bishops, we have the responsibility to call Americans to conversion, including political leaders, and especially those publicly identified as Catholic. As the Holy Father reminds us in The Splendor of the Truth (Veritatis Splendor): “… [It] is part of our pastoral ministry to see to it that [the Church’s] moral teaching is faithfully handed down, and to have recourse to appropriate measures to ensure that the faithful are guarded from every doctrine and theory contrary to it” (116). As chief teachers in the Church, we must therefore explain, persuade, correct and admonish those in leadership positions who contradict the Gospel of life through their actions and policies. Catholic public officials who disregard Church teaching on the inviolability of the human person indirectly collude in the taking of innocent life. A private call to conversion should always be the first step in dealing with these leaders. Through prayer, through patiently speaking the truth in love, and by the witness of our lives, we must strive always to open their hearts to the God-given dignity of the unborn and of all vulnerable persons. So also we must remind these leaders of their duty to exercise genuine moral leadership in society. They do this not by unthinking adherence to public opinion polls or by repeating empty pro-choice slogans, but by educating and sensitizing themselves and their constituents to the humanity of the unborn child. At the same time we need to redouble our efforts to evangelize and catechize our people on the dignity of life and the wrongness of abortion. Nonetheless, some Catholic officials may exclude themselves from the truth by refusing to open their minds to the Church’s witness. In all cases, bishops have the duty and pastoral responsibility to continue to challenge those officials on the issue in question and persistently call them to a change of heart. As bishops we reflect particularly on the words of the Office of Readings: Let us be neither dogs that do not bark nor silent onlookers nor paid servants who run away before the wolf. Instead, let us be careful shepherds watching over Christ’s flock. Let us preach the whole of God’s plan to the powerful and the humble, to rich and to poor, to men of every rank and age, as far as God gives us the strength, in season and out of season, as St. Gregory writes in his book of Pastoral Instruction.10 Priests, religious, catechists, Catholic school teachers, family life ministers and theologians all share, each in their appropriate way, in the Church’s task of forming the Catholic faithful in a reverence for the sanctity of life. We call them to a renewed commitment to that task. In their words and example, they should witness loyally and joyfully to the truth that every human life, at every stage of development, is a gift from God. Physicians, nurses and healthcare workers can touch the lives of women and girls who may be considering abortion with practical assistance, counseling and adoption alternatives. Equally important, they should be conscious evangelizers of their own professions, witnessing by word and example that God is the Lord of life. Catholics who are privileged to serve in public leadership positions have an obligation to place their faith at the heart of their public service, particularly on issues regarding the sanctity and dignity of human life. Thomas More, the former chancellor of England who preferred to give his life rather than betray his Catholic convictions, went to his execution with the words, “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” In the United States in the late 1990s, elected officials safely keep their heads. But some will face a political penalty for living their public office in accord with their pro-life convictions. To those who choose this path, we assure them that their course is just, they save lives through their witness, and God and history will not forget them. Moreover, the risk of witness should not be exaggerated, and the power of witness should not be underestimated. In an age of artifice, many voters are hungry for substance. They admire and support political figures who speak out sincerely for their moral convictions. For our part we commend Catholic and other public officials who, with courage and determination, use their positions of leadership to promote respect for all human life. We urge those Catholic officials who choose to depart from Church teaching on the inviolability of human life in their public life to consider the consequences for their own spiritual well being, as well as the scandal they risk by leading others into serious sin. We call on them to reflect on the grave contradiction of assuming public roles and presenting themselves as credible Catholics when their actions on fundamental issues of human life are not in agreement with Church teaching. No public official, especially one claiming to be a faithful and serious Catholic, can responsibly advocate for or actively support direct attacks on innocent human life. Certainly there are times when it may be impossible to overturn or prevent passage of a law which allows or promotes a moral evil — such as a law allowing the destruction of nascent human life. In such cases, an elected official, whose position in favor of life is known, could seek legitimately to limit the harm done by the law. However, no appeal to policy, procedure, majority will or pluralism ever excuses a public official from defending life to the greatest extent possible. As is true of leaders in all walks of life, no political leader can evade accountability for his or her exercise of power (Evangelium Vitae, 73-4). Those who justify their inaction on the grounds that abortion is the law of the land need to recognize that there is a higher law, the law of God. No human law can validly contradict the Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.” The Gospel of Life must be proclaimed, and human life defended, in all places and all times. The arena for moral responsibility includes not only the halls of government, but the voting booth as well. Laws that permit abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are profoundly unjust, and we should work peacefully and tirelessly to oppose and change them. Because they are unjust they cannot bind citizens in conscience, be supported, acquiesced in, or recognized as valid. Our nation cannot countenance the continued existence in our society of such fundamental violations of human rights. We encourage all citizens, particularly Catholics, to embrace their citizenship not merely as a duty and privilege, but as an opportunity meaningfully to participate in building the culture of life. Every voice matters in the public forum. Every vote counts. Every act of responsible citizenship is an exercise of significant individual power. We must exercise that power in ways that defend human life, especially those of God’s children who are unborn, disabled or otherwise vulnerable. We get the public officials we deserve. Their virtue — or lack thereof — is a judgment not only on them, but on us. Because of this, we urge our fellow citizens to see beyond party politics, to analyze campaign rhetoric critically, and to choose their political leaders according to principle, not party affiliation or mere self-interest. We urge parents to recall the words of the Second Vatican Council and our Holy Father in On the Family (Familiaris Consortio), that the family is “the first and vital cell of society” (42).11 As the family goes, so goes our culture. Parents are the primary educators of their children, especially in the important areas of human sexuality and the transmission of human life. They shape society toward a respect for human life by first being open to new life themselves; then by forming their children — through personal example — with a reverence for the poor, the elderly and developing life in the womb. Families which live the Gospel of life are important agents of evangelization through their witness. But additionally, they should organize “to see that the laws and institutions of the state not only do not offend, but support and actively defend the rights and duties of the family,” for the purpose of transforming society and advancing the sanctity of life (44). Women have a unique role in the transmission and nurturing of human life. They can best understand the bitter trauma of abortion and the hollowness and sterility at the heart of the vocabulary of “choice.” Therefore, we ask women to assume a special role in promoting the Gospel of life with a new pro-life feminism. Women are uniquely qualified to counsel and support other women facing unexpected pregnancies, and they have been in the vanguard of establishing and staffing the more than 3000 pregnancy aid centers in the United States. They, in a way more fruitful than any others, can help elected officials to understand that any political agenda which hopes to uphold equal rights for all, must affirm the equal rights of every child, born and unborn. They can remind us that our nation’s declaration of God-given rights, coupled with the command “Thou shalt not kill,” are the starting points of true freedom. To choose any other path is to contradict our own identity as a nation dedicated to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Scot said sometimes Catholics in political life say if they vote their faith they won’t be re-elected and they won’t be able to do the good they want to do in Washington. But the bishops say the power of witness should not be underestimated. He said the bishops are telling them to first consider their eternal life. Fr. Chris said the bishops are calling politicians to grow a backbone and stand up for what’s right and true. Someday, the future will look at us today and call us a barbaric culture. We’re immune and not cognizant to how destructive this culture is. Scot noted that before the Civil War, many northerners didn’t think about the evil of slavery and only when they were confronted with its immorality did they stand up against it. Fr. Chris said when we think of the abolitionists or Martin Luther King standing up for religious rights, these were public leaders bringing their faith into the public square. Scot said the bishops tell us that we get the public officials we deserve if we don’t hold them to a standard of virtue and defense of life. When we do get them, we need to give them support. Scot says he reflects on how he has to send checks to those who he sees running for office and standing up for life.Our faith informs every part of our life, including financially helping some of these candidates. In #36, we see a special message to women. Scot said it seems that women in our culture today are considered the swing votes appealed to by candidates at every level. We have a society in which women can turn the tide against abortion if they speak up. Scot said some groups like NOW say that the only issue that women care about is abortion and access to free contraception and many women feel insulted that they are boiled down to these two issues, rather than jobs, a stable society, and many of the issues that motivate men. Fr. Chris said the abortion rate wreaks disastrous effects on women. In China we see where sex-selection abortion results in girls being aborted at a high rate. Similar effects are in place in the US. Scot noted that Planned Parenthood and NOW have been the biggest opponents of laws to criminalize sex-selection abortion. Scot and Fr. Chris said this is a great document for all Americans to hear or read ahead of the election. We commend all who proclaim and serve the Gospel of Life. By their peaceful activism, education and prayer, they witness to God’s truth and embody our Lord’s command to love one another as He loved us. By their service to women who have experienced abortion, they bring His peace and consolation. We urge them to persevere in this difficult work, and not to be discouraged. Like the Cross of our Lord, faithful dedication to the Gospel of Life is a “sign of contradiction” in our times. As Pope John Paul II has said: “It is a tribute to the Church and to the openness of American society that so many Catholics in the United States are involved in political life.” He reminds us that “democracy is … a moral adventure, a continuing test of a people’s capacity to govern themselves in ways that serve the common good and the good of individual citizens. The survival of a particular democracy depends not only on its institutions, but to an even greater extent on the spirit which inspires and permeates its procedures for legislating, administering and judging. The future of democracy in fact depends on a culture capable of forming men and women who are prepared to defend certain truths and values.”12 As we conclude the American century and approach a new era for our own nation and the world, we believe that the purpose of the United States remains hopeful and worthy. In the words of Robert Frost, our vocation is to take “the road less traveled,” the road of human freedom rooted in law; law which is rooted, in turn, in the truth about the sanctity of the human person. But the future of a nation is decided by every new generation. Freedom always implies the ability to choose between two roads: one which leads to life; the other, death (Dt 30:19). It is now our turn to choose. We appeal to all people of the United States, especially those in authority, and among them most especially Catholics, to understand this critical choice before us. We urge all persons of good will to work earnestly to bring about the cultural transformation we need, a true renewal in our public life and institutions based on the sanctity of all human life. And finally, as God entrusted His Son to Mary nearly 2,000 years ago for the redemption of the world, we close this letter today by entrusting to Mary all our people’s efforts to witness the Gospel of life effectively in the public square. Mary, patroness of America, renew in us a love for the beauty and sanctity of the human person from conception to natural death; and as your Son gave His life for us, help us to live our lives serving others. Mother of the Church, Mother of our Savior, open our hearts to the Gospel of life, protect our nation, and make us witnesses to the truth.

Summary of today’s show: As we close in on Election Day, we celebrate our 400th episode by beginning in earnest our formation as Catholics in the public square. Scot Landry and Michael Lavigne start by tackling the 1998 document from the US bishops called “Living the Gospel of Life”, which Archbishop Charles Chaput calls “the best tool anywhere for understanding the American Catholic political vocation”. Scot and Michael look at the first half of the document today and Scot will continue on Tuesday with Fr. Chris O’Connor. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Michael Lavigne Links from today’s show: “Living The Gospel Of Life: A Challenge To American Catholics”, A statement by the Catholic bishops of the United States Today’s topics: Living the Gospel of Life 1st segment: Scot Landry noted that today is the 400th episode of The Good Catholic Life and he congratulated and thanked everyone involved with the show, including the listeners. Today is also the official feast day of Blessed John Paul II and our studio is named in his honor. He read the prayer from Mass for this feast. The reason it’s his feast day is because it was the inauguration of his papacy in 1978. Scot said we also welcome two newspaper editorials today from the Boston Herald and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette opposing Question Two on assisted suicide. Scot said there was also a great StandUp for Religious Freedom rally in West Roxbury over the weekend. He said he also spoke at St. Mary’s in Dedham on a panel to discuss the topic of religious freedom and the intersection of faith and public life. On today’s show, we begin in earnest our formation as we prepare for the election on November 6. In preparing over the weekend, Scot said he was reading Archbishop Charles Chaput’s book Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life, which recommended the US bishops’ document “Living the Gospel of Life” as a blueprint. Scot quoted from the introduction to the book: A very good guide to Catholic citizenship and public leadership already exists . The pastoral statement Living the Gospel of Life, issued in 1998 by the U.S. Catholic bishops—though it had to survive a great deal of internal friction and wrangling first—remains, in my view, the best tool anywhere for understanding the American Catholic political vocation. “Catholics already know that politics exists to serve the common good. But what is the common good? It’s a thorny question. Some problems are more complicated than others. Some issues have more gravity than others. Some methods to achieve a good end are wrong in themselves. We can never choose them without coarsening the society we inhabit. Public officials have a special responsibility in sorting these things out. This is why the health of our public life requires men and women of strong moral character in political service. No community understands this better than the Catholic Church, from centuries of both good and ugly experience. The genius of Pope John Paul II’s great 1995 encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), is not that it gives us a specific, sectarian blueprint for building a moral society. It doesn’t. Rather, it offers a common architecture for humane political thought and boundaries for government action that cannot be crossed without brutalizing human dignity. When the U.S. bishops issued Living the Gospel of Life, they applied the best of John Paul’s encyclical to the American experience. Not surprisingly, no other document ever issued by the American bishops on political responsibility has the clarity, coherence, and force of Living the Gospel of Life. The only sadness is that so few Catholics seem to know about it. In fact, if this book does nothing more than lead more people to read and act on Living the Gospel of Life, it will have partly served its purpose. Scot welcomed Michael Lavigne and they discussed how they were surprised by this document from the bishops that they’d never heard of before reading the Archbishop’s book. Today and tomorrow on TGCL they will discuss this document to help form us how to balance the things we hear from our faith and from the public square and prioritize what’s most important. Michael said part of our responsibility as Catholics is to be educated and informed and use whatever we can get our hands on to help us as we vote on Election Tuesday. 2nd segment: Scot moved right to the first part of the document: “Your country stands upon the world scene as a model of a democratic society at an advanced stage of development. Your power of example carries with it heavy responsibilities. Use it well, America!” Pope John Paul II, Newark, 1995 When Henry Luce published his appeal for an “American century” in 1941, he could not have known how the coming reality would dwarf his dream. Luce hoped that the “engineers, scientists, doctors … builders of roads [and] teachers” of the United States would spread across the globe to promote economic success and American ideals: “a love of freedom, a feeling for the quality of opportunity, a tradition of self-reliance and independence and also cooperation.”1 Exactly this, and much more, has happened in the decades since. U.S. economic success has reshaped the world. But the nobility of the American experiment flows from its founding principles, not from its commercial power. In this century alone, hundreds of thousands of Americans have died defending those principles. Hundreds of thousands more have lived lives of service to those principles — both at home and on other continents — teaching, advising and providing humanitarian assistance to people in need. As Pope John Paul has observed, “At the center of the moral vision of [the American] founding documents is the recognition of the rights of the human person …” The greatness of the United States lies “especially [in its] respect for the dignity and sanctity of human life in all conditions and at all stages of development.” This nobility of the American spirit endures today in those who struggle for social justice and equal opportunity for the disadvantaged. The United States has thrived because, at its best, it embodies a commitment to human freedom, human rights and human dignity. This is why the Holy Father tells us: “… [As] Americans, you are rightly proud of your country’s great achievements.”3 But success often bears the seeds of failure. U.S. economic and military power has sometimes led to grave injustices abroad. At home, it has fueled self-absorption, indifference and consumerist excess. Overconfidence in our power, made even more pronounced by advances in science and technology, has created the illusion of a life without natural boundaries and actions without consequences. The standards of the marketplace, instead of being guided by sound morality, threaten to displace it. We are now witnessing the gradual restructuring of American culture according to ideals of utility, productivity and cost-effectiveness. It is a culture where moral questions are submerged by a river of goods and services and where the misuse of marketing and public relations subverts public life. The losers in this ethical sea change will be those who are elderly, poor, disabled and politically marginalized. None of these pass the utility test; and yet, they at least have a presence. They at least have the possibility of organizing to be heard. Those who are unborn, infirm and terminally ill have no such advantage. They have no “utility,” and worse, they have no voice. As we tinker with the beginning, the end and even the intimate cell structure of life, we tinker with our own identity as a free nation dedicated to the dignity of the human person. When American political life becomes an experiment on people rather than for and by them, it will no longer be worth conducting. We are arguably moving closer to that day. Today, when the inviolable rights of the human person are proclaimed and the value of life publicly affirmed, the most basic human right, “the right to life, is being denied or trampled upon, especially at the more significant moments of existence: the moment of birth and the moment of death” (Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life [Evangelium Vitae], 18). Scot said the document refers to the book by Henry Luce on “The American century”. So much happened in the US after World War II, but not everything was good. The con was a growth of American cultural that was tied to utilitarianism and the decline of individual rights in the face of productivity and cost effectiveness. Scot said we are human beings, not human doings, and what we can do has no bearing on our value. We are loved by God just for being. Michael Lavigne said Aquinas said we love the good in the other. Scot said the document could not have been blunter about who are the losers in this ethical sea change. This group has no voice of their own and we have to be their voice, not just Catholics, but all Catholics of good will. Michael said he and his wife do that in a small way by giving a name to their unborn children to talk about them as living persons even before birth. How can we be the voice of all these people in whatever of life we are in at this time? Scot said we talk a lot about human rights in our society, but we have to include the right of the unborn and the right of those with terminal illness. Michael said no other rights matter if we don’t protect the right to life from conception to natural death. He said he used to use Evangelium Vitae when he taught high school students. It tells us that the world should be a place where the gift of life is defended at all moments. The nature and urgency of this threat should not be misunderstood. Respect for the dignity of the human person demands a commitment to human rights across a broad spectrum: “Both as Americans and as followers of Christ, American Catholics must be committed to the defense of life in all its stages and in every condition.”4 The culture of death extends beyond our shores: famine and starvation, denial of health care and development around the world, the deadly violence of armed conflict and the scandalous arms trade that spawns such conflict. Our nation is witness to domestic violence, the spread of drugs, sexual activity which poses a threat to lives, and a reckless tampering with the world’s ecological balance. Respect for human life calls us to defend life from these and other threats. It calls us as well to enhance the conditions for human living by helping to provide food, shelter and meaningful employment, beginning with those who are most in need. We live the Gospel of Life when we live in solidarity with the poor of the world, standing up for their lives and dignity. Yet abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others. They are committed against those who are weakest and most defenseless, those who are genuinely “the poorest of the poor.” They are endorsed increasingly without the veil of euphemism, as supporters of abortion and euthanasia freely concede these are killing even as they promote them. Sadly, they are practiced in those communities which ordinarily provide a safe haven for the weak — the family and the healing professions. Such direct attacks on human life, once crimes, are today legitimized by governments sworn to protect the weak and marginalized. It needn’t be so. God, the Father of all nations, has blessed the American people with a tremendous reservoir of goodness. He has also graced our founders with the wisdom to establish political structures enabling all citizens to participate in promoting the inalienable rights of all. As Americans, as Catholics and as pastors of our people, we write therefore today to call our fellow citizens back to our country’s founding principles, and most especially to renew our national respect for the rights of those who are unborn, weak, disabled and terminally ill. Real freedom rests on the inviolability of every person as a child of God. The inherent value of human life, at every stage and in every circumstance, is not a sectarian issue any more than the Declaration of Independence is a sectarian creed. Scot said in paragraph 5 the bishops outline the many ways that today we tamper with the inviolability of the dignity of human life, but they outline abortion and euthanasia as the worst because they go after the weakest of them all. He thinks the bishops are talking to self-proclaimed social justice Catholics who aren’t opposed to abortion or euthanasia. Michael said they outline all the areas of social teaching, but the queen of all of them is dignity of human life. The rest are meaningless if you don’t stand for life. Scot said the bishops aren’t asking us to choose between them, but to be for all of them. But there are Catholics over the past four decades who’ve said they are personally opposed to abortion but don’t want to stand for them in public life. Michael said they remind us that these actions which were once crimes and are now legal are opposed to the divine law. Scot said many Catholics say that it’s what the priests or religious in their parishes or schools told them. The document isn’t pointing fingers, but calling us to change and to find our way again. Michael said the bishops are acknowledging how bad formation has been in recent decades and calling us anew. In a special way, we call on U.S. Catholics, especially those in positions of leadership — whether cultural, economic or political — to recover their identity as followers of Jesus Christ and to be leaders in the renewal of American respect for the sanctity of life. “Citizenship” in the work of the Gospel is also a sure guarantee of responsible citizenship in American civic affairs. Every Catholic, without exception, should remember that he or she is called by our Lord to proclaim His message. Some proclaim it by word, some by action and all by example. But every believer shares responsibility for the Gospel. Every Catholic is a missionary of the Good News of human dignity redeemed through the cross. While our personal vocation may determine the form and style of our witness, Jesus calls each of us to be a leaven in society, and we will be judged by our actions. No one, least of all someone who exercises leadership in society, can rightfully claim to share fully and practically the Catholic faith and yet act publicly in a way contrary to that faith. Our attitude toward the sanctity of life in these closing years of the “American century” will say volumes about our true character as a nation. It will also shape the discourse about the sanctity of human life in the next century, because what happens here, in our nation, will have global consequences. It is primarily U.S. technology, U.S. microchips, U.S. fiber-optics, U.S. satellites, U.S. habits of thought and entertainment, which are building the neural network of the new global mentality. What America has indelibly imprinted on the emerging global culture is its spirit. And the ambiguity of that spirit is why the Pope appealed so passionately to the American people in 1995. “It is vital for the human family,” he said, “that in continuing to seek advancement in many different fields — science, business, education and art, and wherever else your creativity leads you — America keeps compassion, generosity and concern for others at the very heart of its efforts.”5 That will be no easy task. Scot said section 7 is one of his favorites. It states clearly that every Catholic is called by the Lord to proclaim his message, some by word, some by action, but all by example. We’re all, as Catholics, at times the spokesman for the Catholic Church as people ask us about the Church’s teachings. We’re called to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not our own beliefs. Michael related how he ran for school committee in his town at 23 years old and how he worked to make sure his Catholic faith added to his work as a school committeeman whatever the topic, whether on the subject of busing or the distribution of birth control to students. Scot said in section 8, we hear how the US influences the world. He said many pro-life groups point out how the US exports abortion around the world. He mentioned the example of the Philippines which is very Catholic and has very low levels of adultery, sexually transmitted disease, and unwed pregnancy, yet the US is trying to get into that country to bring birth control there. He said that in the US, 51% of the population is pro-life, and he argues it’s because of the increase of scientific data and efforts, like better ultrasounds. “In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.” George Orwell, Politics and the English Language Nations are not machines or equations. They are like ecosystems. A people’s habits, beliefs, values and institutions intertwine like a root system. Poisoning one part will eventually poison it all. As a result, bad laws and bad court decisions produce degraded political thought and behavior, and vice versa. So it is with the legacy of Roe vs. Wade. Roe effectively legalized abortion throughout pregnancy for virtually any reason, or none at all. It is responsible for the grief of millions of women and men, and the killing of millions of unborn children in the past quarter century. Yet the weaknesses of the Supreme Court’s 1973 reasoning are well known. They were acknowledged by the Supreme Court itself in the subsequent 1992 Casey decision, which could find no better reason to uphold Roe than the habits Roe itself created by surviving for 20 years.6 The feebleness and confusion of the Casey decision flow directly out of Roe’s own confusion. They are part of the same root system. Taking a distorted “right to privacy” to new heights, and developing a new moral calculus to justify it, Roe has spread through the American political ecology with toxic results. Roe effectively rendered the definition of human personhood flexible and negotiable. It also implicitly excluded unborn children from human status. In doing so, Roe helped create an environment in which infanticide — a predictable next step along the continuum of killing — is now open to serious examination. Thanks ultimately to Roe, some today speculate publicly and sympathetically why a number of young American women kill their newborn babies or leave them to die. Even the word “infanticide” is being replaced by new and less emotionally charged words like “neonaticide” (killing a newborn on the day of his or her birth) and “filicide” (killing the baby at some later point). Revising the name given to the killing reduces its perceived gravity. This is the ecology of law, moral reasoning and language in action. Bad law and defective moral reasoning produce the evasive language to justify evil. Nothing else can explain the verbal and ethical gymnastics required by elected officials to justify their support for partial-birth abortion, a procedure in which infants are brutally killed during the process of delivery. The same sanitized marketing is now deployed on behalf of physician-assisted suicide, fetal experimentation and human cloning. Each reduces the human person to a problem or an object. Each can trace its lineage in no small part to Roe. Obviously Roe is only one of several social watersheds which have shaped the America of the late 1990s. But it is a uniquely destructive one. In the 25 years since Roe, our society’s confusion about the relationship of law, moral reasoning and language has created more and more cynicism in the electorate. As words become unmoored from their meaning (as in “choice” or “terminating a pregnancy”), and as the ideas and ideals which bind us together erode, democratic participation inevitably declines. So too does a healthy and appropriate patriotism. At Baltimore’s Camden Yards, Pope John Paul spoke prophetically when he said: “Today the challenge facing America is to find freedom’s fulfillment in truth; the truth that is intrinsic to human life created in God’s image and likeness, the truth that is written on the human heart, the truth that can be known by reason and can therefore form the basis of a profound and universal dialogue among people about the direction they must give to their lives and their activities.”7 Scot said the idea o a nation as an ecosystem is new to him and that there’s a relationship between law, language, and moral reasoning that affects how the ecosystem works. That has a lot of upstream and downstream consequences. Roe v. Wade had a lot of effects on our ecosystem. Michael said it’s a very prophetic statement by the bishops in the late 90s that as we continued to erode the foundation of our country, then nothing else will matter. The destruction we see in families is an example. As we devalue life in the womb, we see child abuse, broken families, divorce, teen pregnancy and all that has gone up after we legalized abortion. Scot said he took a great class in college from a survivor of the Holocaust whose aim in life was to teach everyone he could the strategies the Nazis employed. What he took most from the class was the use of language by the Nazis to dehumanize the Jews, to scapegoat them for problems. They devalued a whole group of people by the use of language. Some of things we see in the abortion debate or in assisted suicide do the same. When we call it a fetus or a clump of cells rather than a baby, we dehumanize that baby. Proponents of assisted suicide don’t call it suicide, but death with dignity. As it was described on the ballot, it’s described with the euphemisms. Michael said when you use euphemisms you’re usually covering up for something that was morally wrong. “For the power of Man to make himself what he pleases means, as we have seen, the power of some men to make other men what they please.” C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man We believe that universal understandings of freedom and truth are “written on the human heart.” America’s founders also believed this to be true. In 1776 John Dickinson, one of the framers of our Constitution, affirmed: “Our liberties do not come from charters; for these are only the declaration of pre-existing rights. They do not depend on parchments or seals, but come from the king of kings and the Lord of all the earth.”8 The words of the Declaration of Independence speak of the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” and proceed to make the historic assertion: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness …” Today, more than two centuries of the American experiment have passed. We tend to take these words for granted. But for the founders, writing on the brink of armed revolution, these phrases were invested not just with their philosophy but with their lives. This is why they closed with a “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.” The words of the Declaration of Independence illuminate the founding principles of the American Republic, principles explicitly grounded in unchanging truths about the human person. The principles of the Declaration were not fully reflected in the social or political structures of its own day. Then human slavery and other social injustices stood in tension to the high ideals the Founders articulated. Only after much time and effort have these contradictions been reduced. In a striking way, we see today a heightening of the tension between our nation’s founding principles and political reality. We see this in diminishing respect for the inalienable right to life and in the elimination of legal protections for those who are most vulnerable. There can be no genuine justice in our society until the truths on which our nation was founded are more perfectly realized in our culture and law. One of those truths is our own essential creatureliness. Virtual reality and genetic science may give us the illusion of power, but we are not gods. We are not our own, or anyone else’s, creator. Nor, for our own safety, should we ever seek to be. Even parents, entrusted with a special guardianship over new life, do not “own” their children any more than one adult can own another. And therein lies our only security. No one but the Creator is the sovereign of basic human rights — beginning with the right to life. We are daughters and sons of the one God who, outside and above us all, grants us the freedom, dignity and rights of personhood which no one else can take away. Only in this context, the context of a Creator who authors our human dignity, do words like “truths” and “self-evident” find their ultimate meaning. Without the assumption that a Creator exists who has ordained certain irrevocable truths about the human person, no rights are “unalienable,” and nothing about human dignity is axiomatic. This does not make America sectarian. It does, however, underline the crucial role God’s sovereignty has played in the architecture of American politics. While the founders were a blend of Enlightenment rationalists and traditional Christians, generations of Jews, Muslims, other religious groups and non-believers have all found a home in the United States. This is so because the tolerance of our system is rooted in the Jewish-Christian principle that even those who differ from one another in culture, appearance and faith still share the same rights. We believe that this principle still possesses the power to enlighten our national will. Scot said the Michael that learning the history of an organization forms the culture that helps you to work together without having the reinvent the wheel. These founding documents help us to fight for the principles on which our country was founded. Michael said the Declaration of Independence was based on nature’s law, what we can know with just our human brains, that is the value of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Scot noted that the HHS mandate violates our first freedom in the Bill of Rights, our right to live our religion in the public square in our social service agencies, our hospitals, and our ministries. The right to define what our religion requires of us comes from God, not the state. Michael noted that Blessed John Paul lived under the threat to religious freedom.