The Ultimate Loophole

I kept pondering the loophole as I wrote most of this post on January 23rd. We sadly commemorated Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton the day before with the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. The following day I left the house at 3 AM for the March for Life. During this time of year, we get the opportunity to hear and read more about the pro-life movement and its rival: the culture of death.

One thing that continues to befuddle me is that so many adults buy into the loophole mentality. Almost every adult human can reason the point, and agrees, it is wrong to kill another human being. We vastly agree: All humans must avoid killing other humans; and those who kill other humans should be punished greatly. Yet, in the 21st Century, about half of adult humans are at least sometimes OK with killing the unborn. This is the ultimate loophole. The loophole says: If you get the killing done while she's in the womb, then it's not wrong like killing someone outside the womb.

We rightly lament the fact that throughout the history of humanity, people have invented all sorts of devices for killing other humans. In the loophole mentality, the instruments to kill the unborn are still OK because once again the loophole says: If you get the killing done while she's in the womb, then it's not wrong like killing someone outside the womb.

She is the same human being, whether inside the womb or outside.

Wake Up!

I love this theme of "Wake Up!"
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bishop-takes-to-twitter-urges-faithful-to-wake-up-to-civilizations-destruction
If taken far enough, perhaps it could bring about the real change of direction we need in the world. It seems that many in the culture want to attack the symptom without addressing the underlying pathology. Why are so many surprised that unstable people act out in violence when they were raised playing violent video games living in the culture of death? We now have two generations of people who were raised with abortion on demand being the "law of the land." If the lives of the unborn are disposable, why would we expect respect for the born.?
Perhaps we will wake up a sleeping giant of common sense and respect.

Autonomy is the new god of the culture of death

Alyssa Milano says she is happy and joyful about her decisions to have two abortions in this article:

https://churchpop.com/2019/08/23/alyssa-milano-denounces-catholic-faith-after-revealing-she-had-2-abortions/?_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Qe42Kt-lC7prfUPowpyarLTZ9uIJ_xJVn0lasz1jt05gEnWMTV8Fw5JpjRQWSBikgyqvkrUyDEE8JYUMa9YZrdmMJ8A&_hsmi=76038105

My response is the classic: "Me thinks she protesteth too much." I am not convinced of her having any joy and fulfillment as a result of two abortions in order to organize her career. As a matter of fact, it seems she is trying to convince herself more than she is trying to convince me, the reader.

I agree we have to pray for Alyssa Milano and all those who buy into the lie that radical autonomy is a human right. Belly buttons are proof of that. We also need to invite her to repent and come back home to the Church where she will find true and lasting joy in a life of love and service.

Culture War (follow up)

I used the phrase "radical autonomy" in my previous post "Culture War" pointing out the goal of the pro-abortion movement. This article shows that Alyssa Milano admits it on twitter but uses the phrase "bodily autonomy." This is the new gnosticism. It means you decide to do whatever you want with your body and never deal with the bodily consequences of that decision. Of course, this is contrary to reason. You can decide to do the thing that makes babies, but if a baby is made, you can kill the baby as long as you do it before she is born. Of course that is also contrary to reason as the location or size of the human being does not provide her worth. We need to change hearts and change laws to protect the unborn. Thank you Governor DeWine and the Ohio legislature for passing the heartbeat bill!

Culture War

The culture war is raging. At one hand some lawmakers in Georgia know that the child in the womb is a complete human being at that particular stage of her development, and therefore must be protected by law. The governor is expected to sign the bill that says the child's life cannot be ended by abortion once a heartbeat is detected. Of course, there are a bunch of exceptions that are still contrary to natural law reasoning, but it should be an incremental step in reducing the number of abortions.
On the other hand, Alyssa Milano is sending letters to these lawmakers and getting other actors to pledge a boycott of Georgia's growing film industry if the bill is made law. Reading the names of some of the actors who have signed the letter of boycott caused me to sarcastically exclaim: "Shocker!" At the same time I wonder why so many people, which seems like half of the country, can disregard the life of the unborn child.
These people are actors, become activists. They probably think they are doing a good thing for women. Because radical autonomy is sacrosanct in the culture, the life of the unborn is disregarded by many because it threatens that radical autonomy of the mother. Abortionists know exactly what they are doing in taking the life of the unborn child, but these children are seen as collateral damage in the fight to protect radical autonomy.
I remember Alyssa Milano doing those Unicef commercials several years ago. It was all about the children. She had so much passion to get us to give what we could to save the children. I'll never get the chance to interview Alyssa Milano, but I would love to find out where the disconnect is. These same children she is so passionate about saving in the Unicef commercial were the same ones in the womb a day or two ago, when their lives were worthless, according to this line of thinking.
When I first saw the Unicef commercial, and noticed the passion in Alyssa Milano's voice, I thought she must be pro-life and Unicef must be a pro-life organization. It didn't take long to find the truth that Unicef is on record as being pro-abortion, and now we see that Alyssa Milano is also. Their way of fighting poverty is killing the poor.
Our belly buttons prove we were never promised radical autonomy, but we have some responsibility for others. In our human freedom we can choose the good of the other, which is the definition of love. This is where we have to get the hearts of the citizens of this country. What I can do for another is so much more important than any threats to my convenience, or plans. While we are working on conversion of hearts, we also have to make laws that protect the most vulnerable poor ones among us, the unborn.

More on the abuse crisis:

I have had a couple more weeks to reflect since writing my statement for the parish. Since then, I have also been asked to write a statement for the Catholic Social Workers' National Association, since I am the priest on the board. You can see the statement at cswna.org or below. 

The most common thought I keep having is that it seems we are in a decades or centuries long lull of many priests and bishops failing to call the faithful to holiness. The evidence in the media shows that many are not willing to live it themselves. Imagine if the faithful would have the resolve to grow in holiness and demand the same of their priests and bishops. Catholic media seem to be the only ones talking about it still. How long will it stay on the minds of the faithful?

Here is the statement at cswna.org:

As Catholic social workers, we stand ready to serve the victims of this abuse or any abuse. We stand with the victims in solidarity, supporting them in our work and praying for their healing and comfort. Also, as Catholic social workers, we uphold the constant Personalistic Norm that demands respect for every human being, made in God’s image. Because of this universal demand for respect, we condemn any act of abuse on any person. Because we are Catholic, we uphold the truth that purity is an aid to wholeness as human persons. Any act of impurity, whether legal or illegal, is an assault on the good of the human person. We invite all people of faith to a conversion of heart that increases their own personal holiness. As this personal holiness for Catholics increases, we will automatically demand holiness and accountability in our priests and bishops. At the same time, we welcome the leadership of the Church’s faithful clergy to lead us on the journey of holiness.

Here are some new items from the Archdiocese:

Archbishop Schnurr’s interview on Sacred Heart Radio:

https://soundcloud.com/sacred-heart-radio/archbishop-dennis-schnurr-scandals-in-the-church

At http://www.catholiccincinnati.org/ you will find the Archbishop’s statement and schedules for a Day of Prayer for the Church and the Victims of Abuse on Friday, September 14, the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, at three venues: St. Peter in Chains Cathedral, St. Joseph (Dayton), and St. Michael (Fort Loramie). All are invited to participate.

Below is my personal reflection on the crisis:

Beloved in Christ,

Over the past several weeks, I have read statements and listened to talks by some of my favorite bishops, priests and lay people regarding the scandal in the Church. I wish I could share all the good points being made, but there is just too much material. I do; however, encourage all the faithful to pray for the victims and show support for the victims. Secondly, I want to condemn any act of abuse, especially any against a minor. I hope the people who committed these acts repent sincerely.

Whenever things like this make the news, we get the question from friends, family and colleagues: “Why are you still Catholic?” For me, personally, it takes me back to the year 2002 right after I began discerning my vocation to the priesthood.

I first met with Fr. Watkins, the vocation director of the Archdiocese, in December of 2001. The next day, I met with my girlfriend and we ended our relationship, so I could discern my vocation. By the time of my third meeting with Fr. Watkins in the interview process, we were into February of 2002. You may recall, in February of 2002 there was an explosion of similar reports beginning with the Archdiocese of Boston and spreading to every other diocese in the United States.

During the interview process, Fr. Watkins asked me: “Is this stuff in the news affecting you at all?” I replied, “No, it’s not affecting me.” As he started to shuffle papers on his desk, I told him I wanted to change my answer. I told him that the abuse crisis was affecting me. It made me have a greater desire to want to be a faithful priest. We were hearing about some unfaithful priests every day in the news media. Although they were very small in number, they were messing things up for everyone else and tarnishing the Bride of Christ, His Church, with their evil.

I have always been 100% convinced of the authenticity of the Catholic Church. Even before studying theology, I knew that Christ founded the Church on the Rock of St. Peter and the other Apostles, and that they sent out their successors to the rest of the world with His authentic teachings and authority of Jesus Christ. Now there were some guys messing it all up for everyone else.

My reaction now feels very similar to that of 2002. How could these men who promised to be both pure, and to strive for holiness, do the exact opposite and commit the most condemnable acts? As things unfolded, we started hearing that the Archdiocese of Cincinnati was actually ahead of the curve. Archbishop Pilarczyk set up a child protection policy in 1993 before it was mandated by the bishops’ conference. I also noticed back in 2002 that the clear majority of cases we were hearing about were from decades before. Now in 2018, it seems that two things are happening. It seems that we are once again revisiting the cases of decades past, but at the same time, there seems to be more evidence that some bishops in our country were not as diligent as they should have been in making sure people were held accountable and things were reported. The increased anger among the faithful makes me optimistic that we will not have to deal with this again in another 16 years.

The revelations about the former Cardinal McCarrick remind me of the time before entering seminary. I was told about how things were in the early 1990s with the presence of a homosexual subculture. This was obviously cleaned up by the time I arrived. I did not see any evidence of such things in my six years there. Our local seminary has an excellent system of forming men to be faithful priests.

I think a great opportunity for purification of the Church is in front of us. We have been given a stark reminder of the universal call to holiness and faithfulness. This call is universal because it is for all God’s people: from the laity to the pope, and everyone in between. Not even popes and cardinals are exempt from the need of a continual conversion of heart.

We see from Jesus’ encounter with St. Paul in Acts 9:4-5 that He equates Himself with His Church. This gives me the confidence to answer like St. Peter did in last Sunday’s Gospel: “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

I am happy to discuss this issue with anyone who would like. Please report any suspected abuse on the part of any agent of the Archdiocese to the appropriate civil authorities, as well as to the Coordinator of Ministry to Survivors of Abuse in the Archdiocese.  This can be done by calling 513.263.6623.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Bedel