The Record Newspaper 03 September 2008

Saint for the week

Ludmilla

c. 860-921

feast – September 16

Married to Borivoy, founder of a dynasty, she became a Christian after he was baptized by St. Methodius in 874. They had six children and built the first church in Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. But they were embroiled in the political storms of their family and region. Ludmilla had assumed the care and education

and for his intentions

Walking with Him Daily Mass Readings

7 S 23RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Humanae Vitae at Forty

■ by George Weigel

hard to imagine a less auspicious time for the reception of a papal encyclical on the morally appropriate means of family planning than the summer of 1968.

Now, 40 years after it was issued, Pope Paul VI’s letter, Humanae Vitae, may finally be getting the hearing it deserves. Why? Because the developed world is in demographic crisis from decades of plummeting birth rates.

Because younger women have figured out a truth that eluded their mothers in the Sixties: the sexual revolution — made possible in part by easily available contraception — is great for predatory men, and not-so-great for women. And because John Paul II’s “theology of the body” has set the Church’s classic teaching in an engaging, humanistic framework.

The Catholic Lite Brigade will doubtless make this anniversary year the occasion to celebrate two generations of theological dissent; wiser souls will ponder the human wreckage caused by the sexual revolution, especially to women, and think again.

There still remains a lot of confusion about the Church’s teaching on marital chastity, in part because most of the Church’s ordained leadership has done a poor job of explaining it. Leadership on this front has come primarily from lay scholars and activists — the formidable Janet Smith, prima inter pares; Richard Doerflinger of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops; now a successor generation, including Christopher West, Helen Alvare, Colleen Carroll Campbell, Pia de Solenni, and Mary Eberstadt (whose brilliant article on Humanae Vitae in the August-September First Things is required reading).

No one imagines that this is easy. But then no one should imagine that marriage is easy, either. The testimony of Catholics who faithfully live the truth about marital love and responsibility is that the rhythms of sexual love and sexual abstinence involved in natural family planning enhance relationships, deepen conversations, and enrich marriages humanly and spiritually.

Gr Ezek 33:7-9 Personal responsibility

Ps 94:1-2.6-9 Listen to God’s voice Rom 13:8-10 Love your neighbour Mt 18:15-20 The art of listening

8 M Birthday of the Blessed Virgin

Wh Micah 5:1-4 He will be peace [Alt. Rom 8:28-30 True images]

Ps 12:6-7 Sing to the Lord

Mt 1:1-16.18-23 She will give birth

9 T St Peter Claver, martyr (M)

Red 1Cor 6:1-11 Settle differences

Ps 149:1-6.9 Sing a new song

Lk 6:12-19 Whole night in prayer

10 W

Gr 1Cor 7:25-31 Stay as one is

Ps 44:11-12.14-17 The king your Lord Lk 6:20-26 Happy the poor

11 T

Gr 1Cor 8:1-7.11-13 Love gives growth

Ps 183:1-3.13-14.23-24 You created my being Lk 6:27-38 Love your enemies

12 F Holy Name of Mary (O)

Gr 1Cor 9:16-19.22-27 The slave of everyone

Ps 83:3-6.12 The Lord is a shield Lk 6:39-42 Disciple not superior

13 S St John Chrysostom, bishop, doctor of the Church (M)

Wh 1Cor 10:14-22 One bread, one Body

Ps 115:12-13.17-18 A sacrifice of praise Lk 6:43-49 Build on rock

Thanks to the brave souls in the natural family planning and new Catholic feminist movements, what Paul VI was trying to say has a chance of being heard — in part, because it’s being said in a vocabulary familiar to 21st century young adults.

It bears repeating yet again, because the mainstream media consistently get it wrong: the Catholic Church does not teach an ideology of fertility-at-all-costs. To the contrary: the Catholic Church teaches that every couple has a moral responsibility to welcome new life as a gift from God, to consider the number of children they can rear and educate, and to order marital life in concert with those two responsibilities.

Where the Church is boldly countercultural is in teaching that the morally appropriate means to regulate fertility is through biology rather than technology. Natural family planning according to the rhythms of biology, the Church proposes, honours the integrity of women and the special nature of the marital bond; natural family planning honours, if you will, the iconography of marital sexual love and its dual nature as both lovesharing and life-giving. Technological means of family planning impede that.

NFP Couples

The contempt in which Humanae Vitae and natural family planning are held in some quarters may have less to do with a serious moral appraisal of different methods of family planning than it does with different appraisals of the sexual revolution itself.

“Natural,” after all, is one of the sacred words of the secular world. So why the tsunami of vitriol thrown at Paul VI and his proposal that natural family planning is the more humane and humanistic approach?

I think it has something to do with the fact that Humanae Vitae laid down a cultural marker: the Catholic Church was not going to cave to the spirit of the age as so many other religious bodies had done.

The Catholic Church was not going to declare that sex is just another contact sport: not because the Church is prudish or repressed or misogynist, but because the Church takes men and women seriously, and because the Church imagines the love of Christ for the Church as spousal love. It’s a pleasure to discover how many young women get this, today. Maybe men — and the theological establishment — will catch up in due course.

Director, Catholic Youth Ministry Archdiocese of Perth

Catholic Youth Ministry (CYM) is the official agency promoting and supporting youth ministry in the Archdiocese of Perth. CYM aims to assist young adults to build a deep and lasting relationship with Jesus and to help them find their place in the Church and the world. The target audience is young people from 13 to 30 years old.

The Director is responsible for co ordinating the work of the CYM office and reports to the Archbishop or his representative. The key responsibilities include:

� preparing and implementing a strategic plan for the CYM that links to and builds on the work of World Youth Day 2008

� liaising with and acting as resource centre for other groups and agencies in the Archdiocese that have a youth focus

� liaising and advising Parishes, in particular supporting local Parish youth groups

� providing leadership training programs

� distributing information on youth events

� managing the financial budget of the CYM office

� managing a small staff group and volunteers.

The successful candidate must be a practising Catholic, fully involved in the Catholic Church. Preferably they will possess a tertiary degree in the area of youth work or teaching. Excellent leadership and communication skills are mandatory. All applications must contain the names of three referees, one being a Catholic priest.

The offices of the Catholic Youth Ministry are located at Mary Street Highgate. The web address is http://www.cym.com.au

Please email your CV to Tamara Rowson at tamarar@archdiocese perth.org.au by close of business Friday 12 September For further information please contact Terry Wilson, Personnel and Planning Manager at the Archdiocesan Finance Office on 08 9427 0310 or by email at terryw@archdiocese perth.org.au

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS SINCE HUMANAE VITAE

Yes, it’s not easy - but it’s timeless: Pope

Scientific discoveries validate encyclical and making it more current: Benedict XVI

■ By John Thavis

VATICAN CITY (CNS)Pope Benedict XVI defended the Church’s teaching against artificial birth control and said its wisdom has become clearer in light of new scientific discoveries and social trends.

In an age in which sexual activity can become like a drug, people need to be reminded that married love should always involve the whole person and be open to new life, he said on May 10.

The Pope made his comments as the Church prepared to mark the 40th anniversary of the encyc-

lical “Humanae Vitae.” Issued by Pope Paul VI on July 25, 1968, it affirmed the Church’s teaching on married love and said use of artificial contraception was morally wrong.

Addressing participants of a church-sponsored conference on “Humanae Vitae,” Pope Benedict said the encyclical was a “gesture of courage.”

He acknowledged that its teachings have been controversial and difficult for Catholics, but he said the text expressed the true design of human procreation.

“What was true yesterday remains true also today.

“The truth expressed in ‘Humanae Vitae’ does not change; in fact, in light of new scientific discoveries, its teaching is becoming more current and is provoking reflection,” he said.

The Pope said the encyclical correctly explained that married

love is based on total self-giving between spouses, a relationship that goes far beyond fleeting pleasures or sentiments.

“How could such a love remain closed to the gift of life?” he said.

The Pope said the Christian concept of marriage respects the unity of the person, in body and soul.

The alternative, he said, is a culture that considers the body an object that can be bought or sold and in which “the exercise of sexuality is transformed into a drug that wants to subject the partner to one’s own desires and interests.”

“As believers, we can never allow the dominion of the technical to invalidate the quality of love and

Cathedral crucifix winner

the sacredness of life,” he said. The Pope said this fundamental view of human life and procreation was something that goes back to the creation of man, and thus represents a paradigm for all generations. It is a key part of natural law that deserves universal respect, he said.

“The transmission of life is inscribed in nature and its laws remain as unwritten norms to which everyone should refer,” he said.

Any attempt to move away from this principle is destined to remain sterile and without a future, he said.

He said it should also be remembered that true love involves a sense of sacrifice, which is part of a married couple’s openness to life.

“No mechanical technique can substitute the act of love that two spouses exchange as a sign of a greater mystery, in which they are

protagonists and co-participants in creation,” he said. The Pope said he was concerned that adolescents today are not receiving the kind of sexual formation they need in order to make proper decisions and avoid the “risky implications” of their behaviour.

He said it does no honour to free and democratic societies when they offer their young people “false illusions” about their own sexuality. Freedom must be tied to truth and responsibility, he said.

He summed up his talk by saying that the 1968 encyclical should be looked at with a broader perspective.

“The teaching expressed in ‘Humanae Vitae’ is not easy. However, it conforms to the fundamental structure through which life has always been transmitted from the creation of the world, in the respect of nature and in conformity with its demands,” he said.

ST MARY’S RANGE of pens.

■ By Robert Hiini

A WINNER for The Record’s St Mary’s Cathedral Crucifix competition has been drawn.

Congratulations to Mrs Caterina

Sansalone of Bayswater. A crucifix made out of made out of historic 1865 Jarrah from St Mary’s Cathedral is in the mail.

Carolyn Kelly, a friend of Mrs Sansalone, says that Caterina is a dedicated reader of The Record

She loves God and her parish family and is still actively involved in visiting the sick while being herself, in her seventies.

“Caterina’s magic is recognised by people of all ages and she seems to know when a person is in need of a smile and one of her special hugs”, said Carolyn.

“These hugs are such a gift and many a person has found themselves in tears, sharing their troubles with her and then walking away happy knowing that she will pray for them and that everything will soon be alright”.

The Record received 162 entries from readers who diligently collected a token per week, over 7 weeks.

Editor, Peter Rosengren, says that he was delighted with response to the competition.

‘Congratulations to Mrs Sansalone and I hope she enjoys her authentic St Mary’s Crucifix’.

St Mary’s Cathedral Crucifixes, made out of Jarrah from the original 1865 building, are still available from The Record Bookshop for $119.95.

I’m John Hughes, WA’s most trusted car dealer

Is it true I have my own finance company to assist good people with poor nance company to assist with poor credit to buy cars from me?

Is it true I sell over 1,300 vehicles every month in Victoria Park and that is the biggest number from any one location in Australia?

Is it true that I refuse to sell any vehicle that has had previous major accident damage?

Is it true that when people come to do business with me, I guarantee they will be treated with courtesy, sincerity, professionalism and efficiency? ciency?

Is it true that “I want your business and I’m prepared to pay for it” and “I stand behind every car I sell”.

Is it true that I have over 40 technicians who are dedicated to getting my used cars in first class condition before sale? rst

Is it true that if somebody buys a used car from me, I will pay for a prepurchase RAC or similar inspection?

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JohnHughes

Pope Benedict XVI

A winner: Record editor Peter Rosengren draws the winner in The Record’s cathedral crucifix competition, ably assisted by Mark Reidy. PHOTO: JUSTINE STEVENS

More than a dry old dogmait’s the key to true love

■ By Dennis Sadowski

Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (“Of Human Life”) upholds the Church’s long-standing teaching that it is immoral for married couples to use artificial contraception. Even after 40 years, the document is still widely debated.

At 7,000 words, the encyclical is divided into three sections: the question at hand, doctrinal principles and pastoral directives.

In opening the encyclical, Pope Paul reviewed the arguments of those who urged a change in church teaching. He acknowledged concerns about population growth; changing social and economic conditions that impact the size of families, including a new understanding of the dignity of woman and her place in society; and scientific advances giving couples more control over nature. He also reviewed theological arguments calling for a new understanding of the role of procreation in marriage.

In starting his analysis of doctrinal principles, Pope Paul stated that conjugal love is grounded fundamentally in “God who is love.” Given that understanding, he explained that such love is total, faithful and exclusive until death.

Such love, he stressed, exists to “bring new life into being.”

“Marriage and conjugal love are by their nature ordained toward procreation and education of children. Children are the supreme gift of marriage and contribute to the highest degree of their parents’ welfare,” he wrote.

At the same time, husband and wife are called to responsible parenthood, that is being open to the possibility of creating new life in every conjugal act, he said.

Pope Paul said it is acceptable for a couple to engage in the conjugal act when the women is not fertile “since they always remain ordained toward expressing and consolidating their union.” However, he maintained that the deliberate attempt to prevent pregnancy is immoral in all circumstances.

“Excluded is every action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act or in its accomplishment or in the development of its natural consequences proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible,” he said.

The Pope warned of several conse-

quences to using artificial contraception, including a “wide and easy” road to marital infidelity, a lowering of sexual morality, especially among young people, and the danger of men losing respect for women and reducing them to “a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment.”

After presenting his arguments, Pope Paul acknowledged that the Church’s teaching “will easily appear to many to be difficult or even impossible to fulfil.”

He urged couples to develop “solid convictions concerning the true values of life and of the family” and to work together to achieve the discipline needed to follow the Church’s teaching. He predicted that couples who did so would find their lives and marriage enriched.

The Pope also:

● Asked educators and the media to develop programs more favourable to chastity.

● Urged government authorities not to permit contraception, abortion or sterilization as means to regulate births.

● Asked scientists to improve natural family planning methods “providing a sufficiently secure basis for a regulation of birth founded on the observance of natural rhythms.”

● Called on priests to widely share the Church’s teaching on marriage and to show patience and understanding toward those who had difficulty following that teaching.

Age and maturity seem to be winning an increasing support and appeal for this encyclical as an eloquent exposition on marital love, which especially benefits marriage and women in the first instance, but helps men to treat them as they deserve to be treated - and also build better families and societies.

■ By Dennis Sadowski

Pope Paul VI’s encyclical on artificial contraception and the role of procreation in marriage turned 40 on July 25 and seemed to be finding new life across the United States.

From natural family planning initiatives to sexual abstinence programs for teenagers, parishes and dioceses are increasingly adopting Pope Paul’s vision for a world built on fidelity in marriage and the love shared by husband and wife as the cornerstone of a stable world.

While the 7000-word encyclical - which upholds the Church’s long-standing prohibition on artificial contraception - is rarely addressed from the pulpit, ministries that seek to head off teen sex, cohabitation, high rates of divorce and single parenthood are sprouting in the hope of delivering a positive message on human sexuality.

“There is an army of people out there right now who are desirous of getting this message out,” said Janet Smith, professor of moral theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in the Detroit Archdiocese.

Smith, who has taken her “Contraception Why Not” presentation across the US and Canada and who lectures occasionally at the John Paul II Institute in Melbourne, is finding that while the numbers may not be overwhelming, a growing number of people are beginning to understand the connection

between the sexual freedom that emerged in the 1960s and today’s violence, depiction of women as sex objects and high incidence of divorce. “It seems to me that 40 years ago people thought that contraception would be advantageous. Now 40 years later, we’d better rethink that,” she said.

Pope Paul issued “Humanae Vitae” as artificial contraception, in particular the birth control pill, began to become commonplace. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Enovid - the pill - in May 1960 after tests on nearly 900 women through more than 10,000 fertility cycles appeared to show no significant side effects.

Initially it was thought that Pope Paul might support the use of birth control, especially after nine of 16 episcopal members of a papal commission in 1968 had approved a draft document that endorsed the principle of freedom for parents to decide on the means of regulating births. Hopes were buoyed in some circles after documents reflecting the commission’s deliberations were leaked to the Catholic press.

Once the encyclical appeared, opposition rose throughout the Church. Clergy in Europe and the US openly voiced their disagreement and thousands of lifelong Catholics left the Church.

Most notably, 87 teaching theologians from American seminaries and Catholic universities responded with their own statement within days. They argued that because

Editor’s Note: The full text of “Humanae Vitae” can be found online at the Vatican Web site at www.vatican.va under “H” in the site map area.

Human life: In Humanae Vitae’s fortieth year there is a growing body of support for it’s beauty and its prescience on the damage caused by subtracting love from sex and marriage.

PHOTO: CNS

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS SINCE HUMANAE VITAE

For Life and Love

attention but respect for its foresight

the encyclical was not an infallible teaching, married couples in good conscience could use artificial contraception and remain good Catholics.

Whether because of certitude or tradition, or both, the teaching in “Humanae Vitae” remains. Pope Benedict XVI, addressing participants of a church-sponsored conference marking the encyclical’s anniversary in May at the Vatican, called the document a “gesture of courage.” He acknowledged that its teachings have been controversial and difficult for Catholics but he said the text expressed the true design of human procreation.

“What was true yesterday remains true also today,” he said. “The truth expressed in ‘Humanae Vitae’ does not change; in fact, in light of new scientific discoveries, its teaching is becoming more current and is provoking reflection.”

Fuelling today’s efforts to uphold the encyclical is an emerging philosophy known as the “theology of the body.”

Based on a series of 129 talks Pope John Paul II gave at Wednesday audiences during the first five years of his pontificate, the teachings shed light on the human body and the sexual relationship. Supporters say the teachings open people to Christ’s invitation to lifegiving love.

Theresa Notare, assistant director of the natural family planning program in the Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth of the US bishops’ conference, said

theology of the body particularly is being embraced by younger priests.

“They see how empowering God’s truth is and they want the best for their people,” she said. “So on a one-on-one counselling basis, integrating sermons, doing education in their parishes, our younger priests are marvellous.”

Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix knows that clergy have shied away from addressing the issues raised in “Humane Vitae” and has been encouraging priests in his diocese to overcome their long-standing silence. He has regularly addressed the encyclical in his column in The Catholic Sun, the Phoenix diocesan newspaper.

“I think most priests didn’t speak

HIGHLIGHTS

■ acceptable

Reaffi Reaffirrms that artifi ms artificcial contraception is not

■ open to the transmission of life

States that ever y conjugal act must remain

■ reasons

Rejects all direct abortion, even for therapeutic

■ temporar y.

Condemns direct sterilization, permanent or

out and they fell silent,” the bishop said. “They lost confidence that it was good news and they wanted to give their people good news. It requires each of us to really get into this document with the help of the Holy Spirit and prayer and see it as good.”

Bishop Olmsted sees the encyclical as being relevant to Catholics today, especially because of its prophetic qualities.

“I think we’re in a time in society where there’s very little support for the truth about human life and about marriage,” he said. “There’s a lot of difficulties for people to hear these truths and to understand

them.” He is hopeful, however, that Pope Benedict’s 2006 encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est” (“God Is Love”) will help laypeople reflect on what love means to them.

“If Jesus says you should love the Lord your God with your whole soul, your whole mind, with all your might, that’s what ‘Humanae Vitae’ asks of a married couple,” he said.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Centre, said priests today can find inspiration in both Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul in approaching the topic of artificial contraception.

“I think the response has to be along the lines of how the Church responded in the Roman culture, which was very much at odds to the teaching of Christ,” he said.

“Simply continue to live and give example and stand against the current with the kind of fortitude which gets attention from those around you.”

He said natural family planning offers the best alternative for the Church to capitalise on the teachings of “Humanae Vitae.”

“There’s a whole beauty to marriage that is at stake,” he said. “To the extent we can communicate that, people say ‘Wow, the Church is relevant and maybe I shouldn’t be so dismissive.’”

One program that Notare holds up as a model for natural fam-

ily planning training is that of the Department for Marriage and Family in the Cleveland Diocese. The program is one of the few that is certified by the bishops’ conference to train married couples to teach other couples about natural family planning methods.

Bill Boomer, department director, has found that in addition to couples wanting to learn about natural family planning, teenagers and young adults are yearning for information on how to turn away from the dominant culture which says if you don’t “hook up” for recreational sex, you’re not cool.

“We really have to help parents do this job,” Boomer said. “Parents are surprised when 20 parents get together and find they’re not alone in facing this. They are overrun by the culture. They are afraid and overwhelmed. They can’t stop this message. ‘I don’t know what to do,’ they say. So we tell them to link up as parents to talk about this and also promote retreats and other activities to get young people to think a bit.”

That’s where Pope Paul’s encyclical can help, he said.

“’Humanae Vitae’ gives a beautiful vision of what God’s design for married love is. It’s to be both life giving and love giving,” said Boomer. “That has always been the constant teaching of the Church. It needs to be heard even more today.” - CNS

Allows for sterilization to cure a bodily disease

■ Allows married couples, for serious reasons, to

■ reserve sexual union to the infertile periods of a woman’s reproductive c ycle.

States that ar tificcial birth control may lead to

■ mar ital infidelity, a “general lowering of moral standards” and the demeaning of women.

Recognizes that everyone will not accept these

■ teachings, but affirrms the church as “guardian and interpreter ” of moral law

Promotes self-discipline and chastity education. ■ Urges states not to support laws that permit ■ contraception, abortion or sterilization as a means of regulating births ©2008

Key figures: Pope Paul VI and the-then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. PHOTO: CNS

Across WA, nature’s advocates offer

Age and maturity seem to be winning an increasing support and appeal for this encyclical as an eloquent exposition on marital love, which especially benefits

PERTH: NATURAL FERTILITY SERVICES

NFP... is for Life

■ By Derek Boylen

“So how do you think Natural Family Planning might help a couple to have a healthy, happy relationship? How is it different?” I ask the couples. And they respond enthusiastically, “they have to communicate,” “they share the responsibility,” “they are looking after themselves and their bodies,” “they are respecting each other’s fertility.”

It’s hard to imagine that so many couples might respond that way when they learn about Natural Family Planning at their pre marriage course but it’s true. Couples want to know the truth.

It’s an interesting irony that in today’s sex-saturated culture couples preparing for marriage often have little access to good information.

Often they are completely unaware that society has ill equipped them for a healthy, lifelong sexual relationship.

Before becoming a marriage educator in sexuality and fertility I never would have guessed how fulfilling this work would be.

Teaching couples today about sexual intimacy and Natural Family Planning through pre marriage courses is challenging work. It involves a careful balance. A marriage educator needs to respect the varying degrees of knowledge that couples bring with them while at the same time sensitively trying to ensure that the knowledge they have is correct and adequate.

We need to respect that many couples have already made decisions about family planning while sensitively challenging them to consider a more life-giving way.

However, when you get things right it is amazing. You can see the couples sit up. They ask questions. They want to know more. In many ways Humane Vitae was a great gift to the Church. It meant that we needed to explore just what it was that makes a healthy loving sexual relationship.

It meant that, in the face of the sexual revolution, the Church needed to find positive and creative ways of engaging with couples.

PERTH: NAPRO FERTILITY CLINIC

Helping couples conceive

Humane Vitae was also a fantastic challenge for marriage educators. While secular marriage educators abandoned couples with rhetoric about their right to “choose” the kind of sexual relationship they wanted, Catholic marriage educators were challenged to think about how we could help married couples embrace their right to a lifelong, healthy, sexual relationship. And they rose to the challenge.

Every weekend hundreds of marriage educators around Australia and the world talk to engaged couples about sex, sexuality and natural family planning. It is one of the most rewarding areas. Generally the feedback from our programs is very positive.

Young couples today are different from previous generations. They don’t necessarily come with preconceived ideas about the Church’s teaching; they want the truth. They want to make healthy, natural choices for their bodies.

And for many, who have experienced the effects of divorce, they want to equip themselves with whatever tools will help them to weather the years ahead in love.

What they get in their pre-marriage course are educators who are sincere; who care about the future of their relationship; who understand the sacramental nature of marriage and who want them to have wonderful intimate relationships that bring life to the world.

- Derek Boylen is the Director of Catholic Marriage Education Services in Perth and is a trained instructor in the Sympto-thermal method of natural family planning. He can be contacted on (08) 9325 1859.

■ By Anthony Barich

July 26, 1968 was a monumental day in the history of mankind and the Catholic Church, but especially for one young doctor for one young doctor who would help others understand what it is to truly live as a sexual human being.

On that day – the feast of St James the Apostle - Pope Paul VI released his encyclical letter Humanae Vitae on the regulation of birth in response to the introduction of the Pill. It would have seismic repercussions.

In doing so, Paul VI called “men of science” and “physicians and health care professionals” to “persevere in promoting on every occasion the discovery of solutions inspired by faith and right reason.”

This sparked a fire in the young Dr Thomas Hilgers, who, like Paul VI, recognised the imbalance between theological teachings and the availability of reliable and morally acceptable methods of family planning.

It was clear, as Paul VI said, that scientific advances in the natural means for the regulation of human fertility were needed if couples were to live out these teachings with success and, importantly, joy.

Dr Hilgers responded to this call. He began research in December 1968 as a medical student, and after his residency working in hospitals completing the final stages of training as a gynecologist and obstetrician, he established research centres at St Louis University and Creighton University Schools of Medicine.

To carry on this research, he and his wife Sue founded the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Nebraska - a decision they made on the day of Pope Paul VI’s death, August 6, 1978. The Institute opened on September 1, 1985. Their work would have repercussions throughout the world, even to Catholics and non-Christians alike in places as far away as Perth.

The work they did, including the standardising of charting a couple carried out during the woman’s cycle, allowed vast amounts of research to be gathered into what actually happens in fertility, and why, leading to a whole new area of medical treatment known as NaPro Technology. The catch-

cry of the naprotechnology.com website is “Unleashing the power in a woman’s cycle”. Graduates of the Paul VI institute, the international hub of NaPro Technology, are constantly amazed by the “intrinsically evangelical” power of the technology when working with every-day couples.

One such graduate, Dr Amanda Lamont, works in Perth and has found that couples who approach her FertilityCare office for help with the woman’s health issues often end up using natural family planning, even though this is not what they originally intended.

“They see the beauty of it and the benefits for their health and relationships,” she says.

Seventy per cent of clients who

Astonishing stats: NaPro Technology claims an approximate success rate helping couples conceive in WA of 80 per cent - depending on the cause of the fertility problems they experience. Internationally, the figure is somewhere between 40 and 60 per cent. Dr Hilgers, at left, meets Pope John Paul II.

seek the help of her clinic have trouble conceiving.

The Creighton Model FertilityCare charting process pioneered by Dr Hilgers and his associates helps them conceive by teaching them about their bodies, how to monitor fertility and educating them about the medical treatments they use. Every woman uses the same terminology to describe what they’re seeing, so Hilgers and his team know what’s normal and what’s not.

“The work of NaPro Technology is the fruit of Humanae Vitae,” she told The Record

Dr Lamont said she uses an acronym in her work that embraces some of the intrinsic ways in which

Continued - Page 7

THE CHRIST- CENTERED WOMAN: Finding Balance in a World of Extremes

By Kimberly Dunnam Reisman

Christian women must respond to many callings – those of family and home, work and colleagues, ministry and discipleship. In this insightful guide, United Methodist Minister, Kimberley Reisman, confronts the daily chaos of competing demands from a new perspective. She asks not, “How do I juggle my responsibilities?” but “How do I make choices that reflect my relationship with Christ and Christ’s direction for my life?”

Rome extension (3)

Walking the walk: Among those contributing to this edition of The Record commemorating Humanae Vitae is Quyen D’Souza, pictured with husband Cyrus. Both are active members of Flame Ministries International and Quyen also works at The Magnificat Fertilitycare Centre with Dr Amanda Lamont.

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS SINCE HUMANAE VITAE

For Life and Love

couples safe, joyful approaches to fertility

PERTH: BILLINGS OVULATION METHOD

New method really ‘already existed in nature’

■ By Jo Bell

In 1953, Drs John and Lyn Billings began developing the teaching of the Billings Ovulation Method, based on the woman’s recognition of her fertility by observing the pattern of the discharge and sensation at the vulva as it changes throughout the cycle. The publication of Humanae Vitae in 1968 gave them great encouragement; ‘since man cannot find true happiness - to which he aspires with all his being – other than in respect of the laws written by God in his very nature, laws which he must observe with intelligence and love.’ (Humanae Vitae No. 31)

As John Billings often said, “We did not create the method, because it exists in nature, and we found it there.” John began by collecting the observations of many women, verifying the fertile time accurately as couples used the method to achieve pregnancy.

Considerable scientific validation came with the research of Professor James Brown, a biochemist from New Zealand.

Not a Catholic, Professor Brown was impressed by the logic and loving message of HumanaeVitae, and moved his research to Melbourne, where he has made more than 75,000 measurements of the ovulation hormones over the past 40 years, providing a solid base of scientific evidence to validate the interpretation of the women’s observations.

Further scientific validation came when Professor Eric Odeblad, a biophysicist from Sweden, contributed his research on the cervix and the cervical mucus, which explained much about the changing patterns of discharge observed by the woman in the course of a fertile cycle.

In 1978, an international conference was held in Melbourne to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Humanae Vitae. Welcoming delegates from 47 different countries, John Billings notes that since Paul VI exhorted scientists, medical people and couples to work together (on NFP) … ‘a truly great work for the world’, the response

For me, happy faces say it all

THE Billings Ovulation

has exceeded the most optimistic expectations.

Not only had a reliable method for achieving or avoiding pregnancy been developed, but great benefits were achieved in marriages and families by fostering communication, understanding, mutual decision making, responsibility and unselfish love between husbands and wives.

Bishop Thomas Stewart, a missionary from Korea, spoke of the ‘Happy Families Movement’ he formed to teach the Billings Method in his diocese 4 years previously.

He had 8,250 couples using the method, 5,000 of whom were not Catholic. He describes ‘many and varied fruits to be seen…’ including couples becoming Catholic, or returning to the Church, and ‘many people have told us that their marriage and family life have improved greatly’.

Far from being an imposition on Catholics, the BOM was actu-

ally proving to be an evangelising tool. Ten years later, at another international conference in Sydney in 1988, delegates from all over the world celebrated 20 years of ‘Teaching the Truth with Love’… as exhorted in Humanae Vitae, and re-iterated in Familiaris Consortio by Pope John Paul II. I remember the leader of the Korean delegation describing the benefits of the BOM in creating family strength and stability in a society which was suffering from the breakdown of the traditional extended family values, by encouraging a caring unselfish love between husband and wife, and deeper respect for children.

At the same conference, Dr Hanna Klaus from the US, also a religious sister, provided convincing evidence that her ‘Teen Star’ program, instructing disadvantaged teenagers in the BOM, considerably reduced not only the pregnancy rate, but the incidence of promiscuous sexual activity, since

they gained a new self respect. To quote John Billings again; “The unique love which has inspired the commitment of husband and wife to each other is embodied in their child, who becomes a source of peace and happiness to us all.”

Twenty years on, in 2008, the wisdom of Humanae Vitae still inspires us, in a world in which the ‘culture of death’ has taken an even greater hold.

However, the evangelising work of the BOM continues, assisted by that indispensible tool of the 21st century, the Internet!

World-wide websites and the accessibility of most places by air travel have enabled amazing advances of the BOM into most corners of the world… even the People’s Republic of China. But that’s another story...

- Jo Bell is an accredited Billings Method instructor and a Veterinary doctor living and working in Perth. Billings contact information: see advertisement below.

Method of natural family planning is well rooted in Humanae Vitae. The two go together beautifully. But how?

Pope Paul VI had insight into the human person.

He knew that if you take out of the ‘Marital equation’ real love that respect, faithfulness, commitment, truthfulness, a self-giving openness to new life and all the other qualities that are needed, the people everywhere would get themselves into a gigantic mess.

He was right. Looking around the world we can see so much heartache and sadness.

The Billings Method of natural family planning fosters all that Pope Paul VI said in Humanae Vitae

Being a Billings teacher for 25 years I have seen the beauty of this teaching come alive.

Many clients who had not heard of this beautiful teaching have already experienced hurt. But as they come to understand the beauty of a natural method of family planning they have become better people in themselves. They become more knowledgeable about their fertility and in turn communicate more with their spouses. Their marriages have started to flourish.

The happiness in their faces says it all. By using a natural method of family planning couples also realise where help is needed in their marital relationship. This in turn enlightens the couple that maybe they should seek marriage counselling or other help.

In other words, if the marital relationship is good a natural method of natural family planning like the Billings Ovulation method will enhance it, if a marital relationship is rocky it will bring it to the forefront and it gives the couple the opportunity to seek help.

- Marilena Scarfe

Why should women believe their fertility has to be suppressed, asks doc

Continued from Page 6 couples can learn to be fully human through their intimacy.

“SPICE is the acronym we use to label some of the areas in which we can express our sexuality as male and female – Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Creative and Emotional – though there are others,” she says.

Meanwhile, the NaPro Technology used to assist couples experiencing infertility has a high success rate in Perth of approximately 80 per cent, depending on the causes of the fertility problems they experience.

Internationally, the success rate is estimated at between 40 to 60 per cent.

“We encourage people, particularly in marriage, to explore how they can learn to love each other on all those levels – though they’re

just some facets of what it means to truly live as a human being,” she said.

“In that way, we’re sexual in everything we do; we communicate

our sexuality in so many ways, and understanding that can be very enriching for marriages in improving intimacy in all areas of a couple’s relationship.”

“Single women too come for help with women’s health, and we use the same categories where they discover what it means to be truly feminine; how we can affirm and enrich them to become more fully human on an individual level as well as those who are married within their relationships,” she said.

The evangelical effect, she says, is up to us as Catholics to educate ourselves so that we can answer questions whenever they arise.

“How it impacts beyond our circle is up to us,” she says.

“It’s what we do with that gift of understanding that we can help people understand this. That’s the only way the wider Church is going to experience this.

“The non-Catholics don’t experience it theologically, but practically in their relationships and in

charting during the NFP process they’ve told us that the benefits have been enormous.

“They tell us, ‘even if we don’t fall pregnant we’re so glad we’ve taken this’.”

Amanda, a former General Practitioner herself, says GPs are so ingrained in their training that they must teach about contraceptives, that they are the “only option to prevent pregnancies, but so many people are having trouble conceiving, people are just being given pills and then they can’t fall pregnant”.

“We need to not just teach Australian women about family planning but their own fertility, not just how to suppress it.”

For more information on the FertlityCare approach, call 08 9440 4530 or visit: http://www.fertilitycare.com.au.

Educating for life: CMES’s Derek Boylen, left, FertilityCare’s Dr Amanda Lamont together with Kath Fenton and Marilena Scarfe from the Billings Ovulation Method movement outside St Mary’s Cathedral. All are Perth-based groups.

PHOTO: ANTHONY

For Life and Love

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS SINCE HUMANAE VITAE

The Record invited any couples who wanted to witness to Humanae Vitae’s contribution to their marriages and lives to send us their photos. Here they are...

Meet some of those who affirm Humanae Vitae’s relevance

■ By Simcha Fisher

Welcome to NFP Club.

The first rule of NFP Club is: You do not talk about NFP Club.

YOU can’t talk to engaged couples about NFP - you’ll scare them away. You can’t talk to experienced older couples, either, or you’ll get an earful about the bad old days of rhythm-and-blues and 23 children.

You can’t talk to radical providentialists, who insist that iustae causae translates as “fill your hungry belly with rocks, and get conceivin’”; and you can’t talk to non-Catholics, who will think you’re a pervert for even saying “abstinence.” Nor can you talk to your doctor, who will write “family planning: nothing” on your medical record (especially if you’ve caught that Sexually Transmitted Disease known as “pregnancy”).

And, of course, you can’t talk to a dissident priest, who thinks the Church has no business in your bedroom (immortal soul, si; bedroom, no). Nor even can you really talk to a faithful priest, who will be so thrilled you know what “NFP” stands for that he’ll assume you’re home free.

But if you don’t talk to someone, you’re going to jump in front of a train. The truth is, sometimes NFP stinks.

Yes, there are couples out there who rejoice in their obedient participation in God’s miraculous plan of procreation. There are men whose holy continence rivals St Joseph’s, and women who sigh, “Fiat” every month. But for many of us, uniting our wills with God’s sounds more like “Uncle.”

Everyone else talks about sex. Why should Catholics be shy?

Don’t get me wrong: I think the prudent use of NFP can be a font of grace in a marriage. I (and the pope) think it is fully in conformity with the teachings of the Church. I even think that, after ten years, I’m starting to get the hang of it.

But is NFP, as its cheerleaders insist, God’s plan? Well, only in the same way that confession is God’s plan: It won’t kill you, and it gets the job done; but in God’s original plan, it wouldn’t have been necessary.

Confession is inconvenient and embarrassing, and most of the time, you do it just because you have to. Sometimes the only thing that makes it tolerable is considering the alternative.

NFP is the same: It’s the worst possible method, except for all the others. That’s because NFP is both an aid and a penance. It gives you the opportunity to grow spiritually, but it also gives you some first-class suffering to offer up.

It doesn’t help that some proponents of NFP pretend that it’s all togetherness and respect, profundity and cuddles. If you feel frustrated with it, remember that you’re not alone. Everyone struggles sometimes; it’s not just you. It helps no one to ignore the challenges. Catholics should talk about the trials of NFP, as well as the blessings.

That being said, here are some people you can talk to, and how:

Talk to your spouse. Men tend to be understandably reluctant to have these wretched conversations, but you have to do it. Women can use NFP on their own if necessary, but it’s not about being on your own - it’s about being together. Men and women

can easily misunderstand or underestimate each other’s unique trials in practising NFP. Ask your spouse: What can I do to make this easier on you? And once you have listened, you can tell your side.

Talk to your priest. This is good for both you and the priest. Our spiritual fathers need to know how NFP plays out in the trenches. But don’t reject out of hand a celibate man’s ideas about sex: After hearing 46 million confessions, he probably knows more than you do, Mr Pass-the-Absolution.

Talk to God. You can yell and whine at God. You can moan and growl and blubber - He can take it. Complain in detail every night, if it gives you some relief. Just don’t forget to end every rant with a plea: Help me do better. Help me to notice when You’re trying to draw me closer to You. Help me to see sex, and my spouse, the way You do.

Talk to yourself. Just don’t be a broken record. Give yourself something new to think about - reread church documents on marriage and family, take up your Catechism, or pick up a good Catholic book on sexuality. Don’t just settle for being obedient: Try to understand why God wants this for you. He doesn’t intend for you to be subserviently miserable, so keep returning to the reason behind the rule.

Talk to others who use NFP. This is why the Internet was invented. Of course, you will run into the usual assortment of jerks and weirdos, but mostly you will find married Catholics who are dying to commiserate, encourage, and share their good ideas. There are more of us than you think.

Here is a huge message board for people

(mostly women) who use NFP. A man’s perspective is often harder to find, but “I Am Husband” and “With a Grain of Salt” are two good blogs by men who frequently discuss marriage.

Talk to people who don’t use NFP. . . carefully. Be honest, but offer a balanced picture. If you’re speaking to an engaged couple, don’t present NFP as a slick little vehicle for marital bliss and bouncy good times (guaranteed at least half the month). Don’t bother to pretty things up for couples who openly scoff at the Church. You won’t get through to them, and an overly rosy picture is discouraging for couples who are trying to do right.

Instead, speak honestly and fully. Most couples want to hear the full truth. I suggest something like this:

Look, God is asking you to do something that will sometimes be hard. But if you stick with it, there will be some incredible, unexpected rewards at least some of the time. These benefits are not inevitable, but they are achievable, and the alternatives offer only fleeting and shallow satisfactions. This is a chance to do something wonderful for your beloved. Do you love each other enough to take on this strange and beautiful challenge?

As long as it’s acceptable for everyone else to talk about sex these days, why should Catholics be shy? Many disenchanted couples are suffering from a lack of honest information about NFP. For their sake - and for our own - let’s find the people we can trust, and let’s be straight with each other.

For goodness sake, let’s talk about NFP.

Living life to the full: Lucas and Catherine Cavuoto with their 4 children Daniella, Emily, Samuel and Alisa (from left to right) from St Mary’s parish, Donnybrook, WA.

Loving embrace: Nick and Leigh Marvin with their children Anastasia, 9, Xavier ,7, Felicity, 4 and baby Perpetua at her baptism. Our Lady Queen of Peace, Willagee.

Catholic family: Raymond and Theresa DeSouza, parents. In order of birth: Dominic, Francis, Theresa, Stephan, John, Catherine, Claire and Pier-Giorgio with Fr Vladimir Kalinecki, parish priest of the Ukrainian Catholic parish of St. John Baptist, in Maylands.

Happy couple: Andrew Clemens and his pregnant wife Jill after their wedding two years ago. They belong to St Francis of Assisi Parish in East Cannington and say NFP has changed their lives for the better.

Humanae Vitae couple, and proud of it: Patrick and Sarah Laundy.

Vista For Life and Love

ember

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS SINCE HUMANAE VITAE

1968: A bitter cup for all

Humanae Vitae

The Year of the Peirasmos - 1968

■ By Cardinal James Francis Stafford

“LEAD us not into temptation” is the sixth petition of the Our Father (Peirasmos), the Greek word used in this passage for ‘temptation.’, means a trial or test

Disciples petition God to be protected against the supreme test of ungodly powers. The trial is related to Jesus’s cup in Gethsemane, the same cup which his disciples would also taste (Mk 10: 35-45).

The dark side of the interior of the cup is an b

transmitting human life, Humanae Vitae (HV).

He met immediate, premeditated, and unpre ce dente d opp osit ion f rom s ome American theologians and pastors. By any measure, 1968 was a bitter cup

tain storm. Growing into my later teens I understood better how complex friendship with young women could be They entered the spring-time of my life like the composite rhythm of a poem.

On the fortieth anniversar y of Humanae Vitae, I have been asked to reflect on one event of that year, the doctrinal dissent among some priests and theologians in an American Archdiocese on the occasion of its publication. It is not an easy or welcome task. But since it may help some followers of Jesus to live what Pope Paul VI called a more “disciplined” life (HV 21), I will l h

The summer of 1968 is a record of God’s hottest hour The memories are not forgoth f l

They remain vivid like a tornado in the plains of Colorado They inhabit the whirlwind where God’s wrath dwells. In 1968 something terrible happened in the Church. Within the ministerial priesthood ruptures developed ever ywhere among friends which never healed And the wounds continue to affect the whole Church.

The summer of 1968 is a record of God’s hottest hour The memories are not forgotten; they are painful

It reveals the awful consequences of God’s judgment upon sinful humanity In August, 1968, the weight of the evangelical Periasmos fell on many priests, including myself It was the year of the bad war, of complex innocence that sanctified the h ddin f bl d

English historian Paul Johnson dubs 1968 as the year of “America’s Suicide Attempt ”

It included the Tet offensive in Vietnam with its tsunami-like effects in American life and politics, the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr in Memphis, Tennessee; the tumult in American cities on Palm Sunday weekend; and the June assassination of Senator Robert F Kennedy in southern California. It was also the year in which Pope Paul VI issued his encyclical letter on

The dissent, together with the leaders’ manipulation of the anger they fom e nt e d , b e c am e a supreme test It changed f und ament a l rel at ionships w it hin t he Church. It was a Peirasmos for many Some background material is necessar y Cardinal Lawrence J Shehan, the sixth Archbishop of Baltimore, was my ecclesiastical superior at the time

Pope PaulVI had appointed him along with others as additional memb ers to the Papal Commission for the Study of Problems of the Family, Population, and Birth R ates, first established by Blessed Pope John X XIII in 1963during the II Vatican Council

There had b e en d is c ussions and delays and unauthorised interim reports from Rome prior to 1968. The enlarged Commission was asked to make recommendations on these issues to the Pope

In preparation for its deliberations, the Cardinal sent confidential letters to various persons of the Church of Baltimore seeking their advice I received such a letter

My response drew upon experience, both personal and pastoral Family and education had given me a Christian underdin f

The profoundly Catholic imagination of my family, friends and teachers had caused me to be open to this reality ; I was filled with wonder before its myster y

Theological arguments weren’t necessar y to convince me of the binding connection between sexual acts and new life That truth was an accepted part of life at the elementar y school connected with St Joseph’s Passionist Monaster y Parish in Baltimore

In my early teens my father had first introduced me to the full meaning of human sexuality and the need for discipline His inter vention opened a path through the labyrinth of adolescence

Through my family, schools, and parishes I became friends with many young women. Some of them I dated on a regular basis. I mar veled at their beauty The courage of St Maria Goretti, canonised in 1950, struck my generation like an intense moun-

To my surprise, the joy of being their friend was enriched by prayer, modesty, and the Sacraments of Pe n anc e and t he Eucharist Later education and for mation in s e m i n a r i e s b u i l t u p o n h

It didn’t take long to discover changes in Americans’ attitudes towards the v ir tue f .

In a 1955 letter to a friend, Flanner y O’Connor describes the significance of the virtue of purity for many Catholics at that time “ To see Christ as God and man is probably no more difficult today than it has been. For you it maybe a matter of not being able to accept what you call a suspension of the law of the flesh and the physical, but for my part I think that when I know what the laws of the flesh and physical reality really are, then I will know what God is.

“We know them as we see them, not as God sees them. For me it is the virgin birth, the Incarnation, the re s u r re c t i on w h i c h are the true laws of the flesh and the physical Death, decay, destruction are the suspension of these laws.

O’Connor’s theolog y with its remarkably eschatological mark anticipates the teaching of the II Vatican Council, “ The truth is that only in the myster y of the incarnate Word does the myster y of man take on light” (Gaudium et Spes 22). In those years, I could not have used her explicit words to explain where I stood on sexuality and its use Once I discovered them she became a spiritual sister

Eight years of priestly ministr y from 1958 to 1966 in Washington and Baltimore broadened my experience It didn’t take long to discover changes in Americans’ attitudes towards the virtue of purity B oth cities were undergoing sharp increases in out-of-wedlock pregnancies.

The rate in Baltimore’s inner-city was about 18 per cent in 1966 and had been climbing for several years. In 1965-1966 the Baltimore Metropolitan Health and Welfare Council undertook a study to advise the city government in how to address the i

I l ni h d h hasis the Church places on the body It is not the soul she says that will rise but the body, gl if d “I have always thought that purity was the most mysterious of the virtues, but it occurs to me that it would never have entered human consciousness if we were not to look for ward to a resurrection of the body, which will be flesh and spirit u d , in h h y were in Christ The resurrection of Christ seems h h h t in h l f n ”

At that time, the B oard members of the Council, including myself, had uncritical faith in experts and social research. Even the II Vatican Council had expressed unfettered confidence in the role of benevolent experts (Gaudium et Spes 57) Not one of my professional acquaint ances anticipated the crisis of trust which was just around the corner in the relations between men a d n. Our vision was incapable of establishing c di f e a d f f h t continued Vista 2

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS SINCE HUMANAE VITAE

For Life and Love

In 1968, the Ye ar of the Te st f rom

continued from Vista 1

in which wonder and appreciation can find play We were already anachronistic and without hope We ignored the texture of life There were signs even then of the disasters facing children, both born and unborn.

formally to the Cardinal: the unitive and procreative meanings of marriage cannot be separated Consequently, to deprive a conjugal act deliberately of its fertility is intrinsi-

As a caseworker and priest throughout the 1960’s, part of my ministr y involved counselling inner-city families and single parents. My first awareness of a parishioner using hard drugs was in 1961. A sixteen-year old had been jailed in Anne Arundel County, Mar yland At the time of my late afternoon visit to him, he was experiencing drug withdrawal unattended and alone in a tiny cell His screams filled the corridors and adjoinlls.

Through the iron bars dividing us, I was horror-stricken watching him in his torment The abyss he was looking into was unimagibl if

In this drugged youth writhing in agony on the floor next to an open toilet I saw the bitter fruits of the estrangement of men and women His mother, separated from her husband, lived with her younger children in a sweltering third floor flat on Light Street in old South Baltimore

The father was non-existent for them. The failure of men in their paternal and spousal roles was unfolding before my eyes and ears. Since then more and more American men have refused to accept responsibility for their li

ll To encourage or approve such an abuse would lead to the eclipse of fatherhood and to disrespect for women. Since then, Pope John Paul II has given us the complementar y and superlative insight into the nuptial meaning of the human body Decades afterwards, I came across an analogous reading from Meister Eckhart: “Gratitude for the gift is shown only by allowing it to make one fruitful ” Some time later, the Papal Commission sent its recommendah d that the Church’s teaching on contraception be changed in light of new circumstances. Cardinal Shehan was part of that majority Even before the encyclical had been signed and issued, his vote had been made public although not on his initiative As we know, the Pope decided other wise This sets the scene for the tragic drama following the actual date of the publication of the encyclical letter on July 29, 1968.

In a confidential letter responding to his request, I shared in a general fashion these concerns. My counsel to Cardinal Shehan was ver y real and specific I had taken a hard, cold look at what I was experiencing and what the Church and society were doing I came across an idea which was elliptical: the gift of love should be allowed to be fruitful These two fixed points are constant

This simple idea lit up ever ything like lightning in a storm. I wrote about it more

In this drug ged youth w rithing in agony on the f loor next to an open toilet I saw the bitter fruits of the estrangement f d n.

In his memoirs, Cardinal Shehan describes the immediate reaction of some priests in Washington to the encyclical “[A]fter receiving the first news of the publication of the encyclical, Fr Charles Curran, instructor of moral theolog y of The Catholic University of America, flew back to Washington from the West where he had been staying Late [on the afternoon of July 29], he and nine other professors of theolog y of the Catholic University met, by evident prearrangement, in Caldwell Hall to receive, again by prearrangement with the W t by part, as it came from the press.

The stor y further indicated that by nine o ’clock that night, they had received the whole encyclical, had read it, had analysed it, criticized it, and had composed their sixhundred word ‘Statement of Dissent ’ Then they began that long series of telephone calls to ‘theologians’ throughout the East, which went on, according to the Post m, seeking authorisation, to attach their names as endorsers (‘signers’ was the term used) of the statement, although those to whom they had telephoned could not have had an opportunity to see either the encyclical or their statement

his work in liturg y and race-relations. There were also several Sulpician priests present from St Mar y ’ s Seminar y in Baltimore to assist him in directing the meeting I don’t recall their actual number

My expectations of the meeting proved unrealistic I had hoped that we had been called together to receive copies of the encyclical and to discuss it I was mistaken. Neither happened After welcoming us and introducing the leadership, the inner-city pastor came to the point He expected each of us to subscribe to the Washington “Statement of Dissent ”

Me anw h i l e , t h e y h a d arranged through one of the local television stations to have the statement broadcast h h ”

The Cardinal’s judgment was scornful In 1982 he wrote, “ The first thing that we have to note about the whole performance is this: so far as I have been able to discern, never in the recorded histor y of the Church has a solemn proclamation of a Pope been received by any group of Catholic people with so much disrespect and contempt ” The personal ‘Peirasmos’, the b n.

Mixing passion with humour, he explained the reasons. They ranged from the maintenance of the credibility of the Church among the laity to the need to allow ‘flexibility’ for married couples in forming their consciences on the use of artificial contraceptives.

In Baltimore in early August, 1968, a few days after the encyclical’s issuance, I received an invitation by telephone from a recently ordained assistant pastor to attend a gathering of some Baltimore priests at the rector y of St William of York parish in south west Baltimore to discuss the encyclical

The meeting was set for Sunday evening, August 4. I agreed to come Eventually a large number of priests were gathered in the rector y ’ s basement I knew them all

The dusk was clear, hot, and humid The quarters were cramped We were seated on rows of benches and chairs and were led by a diocesan inner-city pastor well known for

B efore our arrival, the conveners had decided that the Baltimore priests’ rejection of the papal encyclical would be published the following morning in The Baltimore Sun, one of the daily newspapers. The Washington statement was read aloud Then the leader asked each of us to agree to have our names attached to it No time was allowed for discussion, reflection, or prayer Each priest was required individually to give a verbal “yes” or “ no ”

My earlier letter to Cardinal Shehan came to mind I remained convinced of the truth of my judgement and conclusions. Noting that my seat was last in the packed basement, I listened to each priest’s response, hoping for support It didn’t materialise Ever yone agreed to sign. There were no abstentions. As the last called upon, I felt isolated The basement became suffocating

By now it was night The room was charged with tension Something epochal was taking place It became clear that the leaders’ strateg y had been carefully mapped out beforehand It was moving along without a hitch. Their rhetorical skills were having their anticipated effect They had planned carefully how to exert what amounted to emotional and intellectual coercion.

Violence by overt manipulation was new to the Baltimore presbyterate The leader’s reaction to my refusal was predictable and awful The whole process now became a gruelling struggle, a terrible test, a ‘Peirasmos’ The priest/leader, drawing upon some scatological language from his Marine Corp past in the II World War responded contemptuously to my decision. He tried to force me to change He became visibly angr y and b ll b

The u nderly i ng , ‘f r ater na l’ v iolenc e became more evident He questioned and then derided my integrity He taunted me to risk my ecclesiastical ‘future,’ although his reference was more anatomically specific The abuse went on. With surprising coherence I was eventually able to respond that the Pope’s encyclical deser ved the courtesy of a reading None of us had read it

I continued that, as a matter of fact, I agreed with and accepted the Pope’s teaching as it had been reported in the public media. That response elicited more ridicule

Other wise there was silence Finally, seeing that I would remain firm, the ex-Marine moved on to complete the business and adjourn the meeting The leaders then prepared a statement for the next morning’s daily paper The meeting ended I sped out of there, free but disoriented Once outside the darkness encompassed me We all had been subjected to a new thing in the Church, something unexpected A pastor and several seminar y professors had abused rhetoric to undermine the truth within the evangelical community When opposed, they assumed the role of Job’s friends. Their contempt became a nightmare In the night it seemed that God’s blind hand was reaching out to touch my face

The dissent of a few Sulpician seminar y professors compounded my disorientation. In their ancient Baltimore Seminar y I had

Heady times: I n 1968, the year that Pope Paul VI promulgated Humanae Vitae, ever ything seemed to be changing - quick ly Against this back drop the enc yclical looked to many to be well out of date with the times I n retrospect, it was prescient Paul VI’s warning on the damaging consequences if ar tificial contraception was widely adopted have been more than borne out in widespread divorce, infidelity and the consequences for unborn children whose parents don’t want them to be born. Perhaps the 60s weren’t quite so cool as people thought I t is also a beautiful, penetrating, understanding of marital love The sixties philosophy of sex, on the other hand has lead to brutalities such as the decriminalisation of prostitution in WA. As usual women suffer the consequences

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS SINCE HUMANAE VITAE

For Life and Love

om the Lord, d id w e p a ss or fail?

first caught on to the connection between freedom, interiority, and obedience By ever y ecclesial measure they should have been aware that the process they supported that evening exceeded the “ norms of licit dissent ” But they showed no concern for the gravity of that theological and pastoral moment They saw nothing unbecoming in the mix of publicity and theolog y They expressed no impatience then or later over the coercive nature of the August meeting Nor did any of the other priests present

One diocesan priest did request privately later that night that his name be removed before the statement’s publication in the morning paper For a long time, I wondered ab out t he me aning of the event It was a cataclysm which was difficult to sur vive intact Things were s or ted out slowly Later, Henri de Lubac captured some of its significance, “Nothing is more opposed to witness than vulgarization. Nothing is more unlike the apostolate than propaganda ” Hannah Arendt’s insights have been useful concerning the dangerous poise of 20th centur y western culture between unavoidable doom and reckless optimism.

Sunday weekend, civil dialogue in metropolitan Baltimore broke down and came to a stop It took a back seat to open anger and recriminations between whites and blacks.

The violence of the priests’ August gathering gave rise to its own ferocious acrimony

Conversations among the clerg y, where they existed, became contaminated with fear Suspicions among priests were chronic Fears abounded And they continue The Archdiocesan priesthood lost something of the fraternal whole which Baltimore priests had known for generations.

We all had been subjected to a new thing in the Church, something unexpected

1968 marked the hiatus of the generational communio of the Archdiocesan presbyterate, which had been continually reinforced by the seminar y and its Sulpician faculty Pr iests ’ f rater nit y had been wounded Pastoral dissent had attacked the Eucharistic foundation of the Church Its nuptial significance had been denied Some priests saw bishops as nothing more than Roman uins.

“It should be possible to discover the hidden mechanics by which all traditional elements of our political and spiritual world were dissolved into a conglomeration where ever ything seems to have lost specific value, and has become unrecognizable for human comprehension, unusable for human purpose To yield to the mere process of disintegration has become an irresistible temptation, not only because it has assumed the spurious grandeur of ‘historical necessity’, but also because ever ything outside it has begun to appear lifeless, bloodless, meaningless and unreal”

The subterranean world that has always accompanied Catholic communities, called Gnosticism by our ancestors, had again surfaced and attempted to usurp the truth of the Catholic tradition. An earlier memor y from April 1968 helped to shed further light on what had happened in August, 1968 along with de Lubac’s words about violence and Arendt’s insights into the breaking point reached by Western civilization in the 20th

During the height of the 1968 Baltimore riots following the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, I had made an emergency call to that same inner-city pastor who would lead the later August meeting

It was one of numerous telephone conversations I had with inner-city pastors during the night preceding Palm Sunday At the request of the city government, I was asking whether the pastors or their people, both beleaguered, might need food, medical assistance, or other help My conversation with him that April night was by far the most dramatic

He described the view from the rector y while speaking on the phone A window framed a dissolving neighbourhood; his parish was becoming a raging inferno He said, “From here I see nothing but fire burning ever ywhere Ever ything has been set ablaze The Church and rector y are untouched thus far ” He did not wish to leave or be evacuated His voice betrayed disillusionment and fear Later we learned that the parish buildings sur vived ‘Sorting out’ these two events of violence continued throughout the following months and years. The trajectories of April and August 1968 unpredictably converged Memories of the physical violence in the city in April 1968 helped me to name what had happened in August 1968. Ecclesial dissent had become a kind of spiritual violence in its form and content A ne w, uns ett ling insig ht emerge d Violence and truth don’t mix. When expressive violence of whatever sort is inflicted upon truth, the resulting irony is lethal What do I mean? Look at the results of the two events. After the violent 1968 Palm

you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor 13:3-5).

The rupture of the violent death of Jesus has changed our understanding of the nature of God His Trinitarian life is essentially selfsurrender and love By Baptism, ever y disciple of Jesus is imprinted with that Trinitarian water-mark. The Incarnate Word came to do the will of him who sent him. Contemporar y obedience of disciples to the S ccessor f o d ll d the Cross.

The whole people of God, including children and adolescents, now must look into the abyss and see what dread beasts are at its bottom. Each of us shudders before the wrath of God, each weeps in sorrow for our sins and each begs for the Father’s merciful remembrance of Christ’s obedience J Francis Cardinal Stafford, Major Penitentiar y of the Apostolic Penitentiar y

Something else happened among priests on that violent August night Friendship in the Church sustained a direct hit Jesus, by calling those who were with him his ‘friends,’ had made friendship a privileged analog y of the Church. That analog y became obscured after a large number of priests expressed shame over their leaders and repudiated their h Cardinal Shehan later reported that on Monday morning, August 5, he “ was startled to read in the Baltimore Sun o priests of the Baltimore area had signed the Statement of Dissent ” What he later called “the years of crisis” began for him during that hot, violent August evening in 1968. But that night was not a total loss. The test was unexpected and unwelcome Its unhinging consequences continue

Abusive, coercive dissent has become a reality in the Church and subjects her to violent, debilitating, unproductive, chronic controversies. But I did discover something new Others also did When the moment of Christian witness came, no Christian could be coerced who refused to be Despite the novelty of being treated as an object of shame and ridicule, I did not become “ashamed of the Gospel” that night and found “sweet delight in what is right ”

It was not a bad lesson. Ecclesial obedience ran the distance My discover y that Christ was the first to despise shame was gut-rending in its existential and providential reality “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame ”

Paradoxically, in the hot, August night a new sign shown unexpectedly on the path to future life It read, “Jesus learned obedience through what he suffered ” The violence of the initial disobedience was only a prelude to further and more per vasive violence

Priests wept at meetings over the manipulation of their brothers. Contempt for the truth, whether aggressive or passive, has become common in Church life Dissenting priests, theologians and lay people have continued their coercive techniques.

From the beginning the press has used them to further its own serpentine agenda. All of this led to a later discover y Discernment is an essential part of episcopal ministr y With the grace of “the governing Spirit” the discerning skills of a bishop should mature Episcopal attention should fo cus on the break/rupture initiated by Jesus and described by St Paul in his response to Corinthian dissenters. “You desire proof that Christ is speaking in me He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful in you For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the f d

“For we are weak in him, but in dealing with you we shall live with him by the power of God Examine yourselves, to see whether

In 1978 ep o h v with the e x - M a r who led A 1968 i g c He was f o r m i d a Our con s at i on a b o u t he had b h h d d 1 9 6 8 r The at m h amiable

Myth and reality: The Six ties w e r e , a n d a r e , p r e s e n t e d a s f r e e d o m a n d f u n I n f a c t , i n many respects they have proved to be the disastrous betrayal of t h e f a m i l y, e s p e c i a l l y w o m e n a n d c h i l d r e n T h e s t r u g g l e t o r e g a i n h u m a n s a n i t y i s s i t l l g o i n g o n i n a s e a o f ignorance

in the k un Since we d h h d tiate a c b b o cumstanc h h d fo from him which had become cenh r lf W d h r h n he rema silence d v f o commen i ld n m h e bl b There d in e d d q h di a l We neve a di d hi b b n i in k y worth o worthles s not re c l n

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Perspectives

Who’s laughing now? Paul VI

The Church heals all pain in its Truth Body Language

Igrew up in South Africa. My parents’ religion was Christian Science. My faith began by going to Sunday school and learning about God. I had very bad experiences with my father. I later thought the way that he went to Church was hypocritical. As a result I stopped going to Church.

Why I became Catholic

with Debbie Warrier

I still had my faith and looked for another religion. I avoided the Catholic Church as my parents and others had said awful things about them. I ended up at the Methodist Church. I was 23 and my daughter was one. We were both baptised there but left that religion soon after. My daughter’s father and I divorced when she was two. She was nine when we moved to Australia in 1994. Four years later I met another guy and had two more children with him. We had an ugly separation that lasted three years and involved the courts. However, it felt like God was helping me throughout it.

I wanted to move to the North and make a fresh start. I would pray, “God, please take me closer to the sunset.” We ended up moving to Joondalup. My children were accepted into a nearby Catholic school within a week. They were baptised later that year. I had always believed in God and wanted my children to grow up with a Christian background.

A year later I joined the RCIA program. I found it amazing. It challenged my beliefs, what my parents had taught me and the bad things that I had heard about Catholicism.

I learnt the reasons behind the Sacraments like marriage and why the Catholic Church is against premarital sex. Hugh Ryan and Penny Power who run the RCIA for my parish were instrumental to my journey. Father Bronek helped me initially. Now Father Richard and Father Darek are very encouraging too.

In 2007 I became Catholic. It was meant to be. The Church community was welcoming. I felt peaceful and like I have come home. My search for a meaningful faith had been a long journey; the pieces of the puzzle had come together. I feel like I am beginning a new and wonderful journey with God. I am enjoying each footstep I take. My daughter Siân joined the RCIA and became a Catholic at Easter this year. She saw the inner peace that my Catholic faith had given me.

In retrospect I would have liked to have done the RCIA earlier in life but maybe I wouldn’t have appreciated it as much. The RCIA is also good for cradle Catholics who may have lost their way or have questions or doubts.

I watch my children say their prayers. They are always happy to go to Mass and I admire the way their faith is incorporated into their schooling. I feel their having a strong faith and love of God will give them a foundation and tools for a better chance of getting through life. They know God is there and they can always turn to Him.

I did a Personal Development Course in 2006 through the Church run by Hugh and Joy Ryan. It taught meditation and linked it to Christianity. Through the meditation I have found a quiet place where I can be still and listen to God.

debwarrier@hotmail.com

a commentary on the intersection of faith, sex and culture

By Christopher West

I Am Legend and Humanae Vitae.

Afriend of mine recently turned me on to last year’s blockbuster I Am Legend with Will Smith. I’ve watched it four times in two weeks. I’m mesmerised by it.

In this apocalyptic tale, based on the 1954 science fiction novel by Richard Matheson, D. Alice Kripin’s “once hailed miracle cure for cancer” turns out to be a virus that very quickly wipes out 90 per cent of mankind. Only one per cent was immune. The other nine per cent morphed into the so-called “dark seekers” – rabid, violent, hungry human animals who emerge at night (light kills them) to hunt down and eat the remaining, healthy one per cent.

Will Smith’s character, Dr Robert Neville, is part of that one per cent. He’s also a virologist devoted to finding a cure and saving the human race from extinction.

With all the recent talk about the 40th anniversary of Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae, I can’t help but draw some connections. I know I just devoted a whole series of columns to this topic, but allow me one more indulgence.

I believe that sometime in the not too distant future, the evening news will be speaking openly about the “once hailed miracle pill” that promised liberation and happiness, but has led unwittingly (but not un-forewarned) to today’s “culture of death”.

The haunting picture of our future painted by I Am Legend is obviously is science fiction. But, allegorically speaking, it offers much food for thought. The idea of “dark seekers” feeding on the flesh of other human beings is not that far off from the many horrid forms of sexual abuse that are sweeping through our pornified culture like a virus. Just a cursory knowledge of what’s happening today with Internet

porn leads a person to conclude, as Dr Neville does in the movie, that “social de-evolution appears complete; typical human behaviour is now entirely absent”.

It’s time to take an honest look at how “the once hailed” technology of contraception has played a major role in this “de-evolution.”

Social re-engineers do not like this fact, but when we let the data speak, it’s clear: civilisation rests on the family – that is, on the committed union of a man and a woman and their naturally resulting offspring.

What would happen to the human family if a majority of us bought into the idea that sterilised sex is “better” than the natural family-building kind? Where would society veer?

Insert contraception into the sexualsocietal equation and the basic goal of sex becomes pleasure rather than the establishment of those relationships that bind families and civilisation together. Sexual pleasure is a great blessing of God – in its proper context. When pleasure becomes the main goal of sex, however, society becomes utilitarian. You are valued if you are useful. And, in this case, you are “useful” if you are sexually stimulating. If you are not, or if you get in the way of my pleasure, you will be ignored, discarded, maybe even exterminated.

When pleasure is the main goal of sex, people (mostly women) become the means and babies become the obstacle. So we take our pleasure and we kill our offspring. This is not some

dire prediction of the future. This is the world we live in now.

As a culture, we are desperately in need of recovering what should be an obvious and celebrated truth: sex leads to babies.

Who, then, should be having sex?

Wise men and women throughout history – not just Christians – have concluded that only those who have committed themselves to embracing and raising the most natural fruit of the sexual act should be having sex. That commitment is called... marriage.

But there’s more. Not only does sex lead to babies. When we allow the data to speak, we also recognise what, once again, should be an obvious and celebrated truth: women are the ones who carry them. When we forget this truth or reject it, the abortion industry capitalises on it, the State taxes us to provide what delinquent men won’t (food, shelter, clothing, etc.) and the basic infrastructure of civilisation eventually collapses.

In I Am Legend, it seemed that science had discovered the cure for cancer. Imagine the scorn and derision that would have been aimed at anyone who tried to warn the world that this “cure” was actually a deadly poison.

That’s what Pope Paul VI endured 40 years ago.

Few even bothered to read Humanae Vitae, but it has proved prophetic. Google Humanae Vitae and give it a read. Then (if you have the stomach) watch I Am Legend... and “light up the darkness”.

No, you can’t ‘follow conscience’

By Fr John Flader

The teaching of “Humanae vitae”

Now that the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul’s encyclical Humanae vitae banning contraception is upon us, I have two questions. First, how could Pope Paul write what he did when he could foresee that many people would reject it? And second, are Catholics free to follow their conscience if it leads them to justify the use of contraception?

As you say, the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae fell on July 25. You ask questions that have been in the minds of many people over the last 40 years,

including at present. The answer to the first question, in brief, is that when Popes write encyclicals they do not seek to satisfy popular opinion, but to teach the truth. And they do this, even if they foresee that many people will reject their teaching.

Jesus Christ Himself did this on numerous occasions. When he taught that a man could not divorce his wife and marry another, his own disciples said: “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” (Mt 19:10) And when he taught about the Real Presence in the Eucharist, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” (Jn 6:66)

This questioning of His teaching by His own disciples did not move Jesus to change his teaching.

He made an effort to explain it to them, but if they chose to reject it He could only let them leave.

Pope Paul VI could do nothing other than write what he did 40 years ago, in view of the fact that the Church

has opposed contraception from the beginning. St Augustine, who died in 430, wrote: “Intercourse even with one’s legitimate wife is unlawful and wicked where the conception of the offspring is prevented.” (De coniug. adult., lib. II, n. 12)

We should remember that until 1930 all the Christian denominations were opposed to contraception. In August of that year, the Church of England in its Lambeth Conference was the first denomination to break ranks and allow contraception.

Later that year, on December 31, Pope Pius XI reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s constant opposition to contraception in his encyclical Casti connubii: “Any use whatsoever of marriage exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offence against the law of God and nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of grave sin.” (CC IV)

It should be noted that the Pope was

Kerrin Carter

Love means obedience: simple

If ye love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever, e’en the Spirit of truth.

- John 14: (15 – 17)

Being Heard

By John Heard

How do you love your mother? You show her that you appreciate her efforts on your behalf, the ancient ones alongside the more recent, and you listen to her word.

With a father, too, the program is not that difficult. Cultivate his affection, pay attention to his wisdom – he must have some, even the silliest man at least has experience to draw on – and honour him.

How do we love each other?

Like the Christ loved us. That one is a mystery. I won’t venture there.

How do we love God? Here there is another mystery, but we have some guidance.

In John, Jesus tells us to love Him by keeping His commandments.

It is one of those times when He clearly marks Himself out as more than another prophet, beyond just a man of God.

The Christ has come in Jesus, and He is the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.

The commandments He references are the same ones Moses brought down from Mount Sinai.

Notice the sequence.

If you love Me, keep My commandments. Then, I will ask the Father. The Father will listen to Me. On the strength of My prayer, the Father will give you another Comforter. The Comforter will abide with you. Truth will come down, and abide with you forever.

It is a mighty thing that Jesus makes for us.

Thomas Tallis (1505 – 1585), a Catholic composer working

during the turbulent years of the English schism, took the English words of John 14: 15–17 and set them to music.

His anthem, If ye love me, is a solid, shimmering thing. You may read into them what you might, based on the historical context, but contemporary Catholics – especially same sex attracted men –cannot help hearing the words in the setting as a wake up call.

Certainly, there is no escaping the beauty. It hunts one down.

I was on my way to bed, a little weary from a short walk in the cold, and very keen to keep warm.

Instead, inspired by two snatches that played randomly on my iPod, I sat down and wondered about God’s love.

As my limbs grew cold, I wrote those lines about a mother, and a father.

I turned my stupid, stubborn, unwieldy mind to God.

“If you love me”. What is a man to do with a God who yearns? A God, indeed, who yearns for man’s love?

“Keep My commandments”. There it is. That is the program.

Christians understand it as the only way to bridge the bright, terrifying gap between the Jews’ omnipotent One and the Messiah who has come. How does one make up the distance to God? How do we love Him?

We do the right thing. We mend what is broken. We keep clean, and pattern our hearts and minds after His laws. He will do the rest.

Tough call, sure, especially when the “fat, relentless ego” gets in the way.

Then, there is doubt.

Certainly, I face a mountain of struggle. Flabby, silly creatures that men are, we turn away from the angel because he is too bright, and we flee from the God Who is Love.

How many times have same sex attracted men, faced with this brightness, and His Love, turned instead to petty things?

How often have we doubted Him, or blasphemed His power?

Whether out of despair, or pride, or anger, how common it is to see the things that belong to God –including our bodies – lampooned, or defiled in “gay” marches, and other places associated with the modern, homoactivist lifestyle.

How piercing, and beautiful –an extreme contrast - are the swell and call of Tallis’ composition.

How transparently do they show the tender mercy of Christ?

Swell and call, love and light.

The answer is right there, and it is that God loves us – and wants us to love Him – if only we will keep His commandments.

johnnyheard@gmail.com

if it’s not formed by Scripture

invoking as the basis for his teaching “the law of God and nature”, ie the natural law.

Both of these laws come from God and are immutable.

This is not a matter of a Church law, which could be changed, but of a divine law.

Thus when Pope Paul addressed the same issue in 1968, he was not in a position to allow the use of contraception.

After stating that abortion and sterilisation are excluded as lawful means of avoiding childbirth, he went on to say: “Similarly excluded is every action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible.” (HV 14)

He based his teaching once again on the natural law, that is on the very nature of marriage

and the marriage act. (cf. HV 4)

Interestingly, he predicted that if the use of contraception became widespread the following consequences could be foreseen: increased marital infidelity and the general lowering of morality, a loss of respect for women by men, seeing them merely as instruments for selfish enjoyment, and the favouring or even imposition of contraception by governments on certain people as a means of social policy. (cf. HV 17)

It is obvious that all of these have resulted.

Are Catholics free to invoke their conscience to act against this teaching? Catholics must form their conscience, using Scripture and especially the teachings of the Church, so that they make judgments of conscience which are in conformity with the law of God. If they do this, and they come to know the Church’s stand on

this issue, their conscience will not allow them to use contraception.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, making reference to Humanae vitae, teaches that the use of contraception is “intrinsically evil” (cf. CCC 2370). That is, it may not be used in any circumstances.

The bishops of Australia confirmed this in a statement in 1976, saying that “the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church contained in Humanae vitae ... binds the consciences of all without ambiguity and excludes the possibility of a probable opinion opposed to this teaching.”

Now that 40 years have passed since the publication of this momentous encyclical, it is a good time to take up the document once again and savour its rich fare of wisdom.

Got a question? Email Fr Flader: director@caec.com.au

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the World

At death’s door, priest returns with a passion

■ By Anthony Barich

In 2005, Father Paul Baczynski was lying in hospital for three months having nearly died from complications stemming from a throat infection.

Father Paul, who in 2000 started Cross Roads Community, a diocesan support agency for drug, alcohol and gambling addiction, had suffered septicaemia, a potentially fatal infection that arises from a localised infection in the body.

In his case, it was in the throat, and a complication saw all his major organs stop working. He was on life support for two weeks, in a coma for three.

He lost 20kgs and he says that for a while there it was “touch and go” whether he would pull through.

He took 4 months off as Cross Road director, which gave him time to reflect on life, the universe, and everything, as they say.

Prior to this experience, he’d been working on an idea: Assisi Retreat Farm, where substance abusers could live-in and help to run the show themselves along with being supported by a proven and comprehensive education program. Cross Roads simply did not have the capacity to borrow enough money to start it, and he was frustrated it had been going so slowly.

While in recovery from the near-death experience, he was able to clarify things in his head about how Assisi Retreat Farm should operate.

But his troubles weren’t over. A personal issue was to take him away from Cross Roads for a further 10 months; he resigned as director to sort things out.

During this time he celebrated Mass every day, and then on Sundays provided a Mass for the people supporting his work, while continuing his spiritual Lectio Divina (Divine Reading) Bible meditation group, had many one-on-one meetings with substance abusers to help them along, continued developing the Assisi Retreat Farm project, and considered a renewal for Cross Roads.

Now he’s back on board and fired up and Cross Roads is moving forward having been in a holding pattern during his time away, though it still functioned successfully as a support agency for substance abuse.

“It was never my intention to do anything than be a priest in the Archdiocese supporting those affected by substance abuse,” he told The Record in an in-depth interview in an inter view about the struggles and hopes of himself and Cross Roads.

Rewind a few years to 2000, the year Pope John Paul II had declared as a special Jubilee Year celebrating the birth of the Son of God.

Father Paul had a big dream, but little collateral. Something was being born, with similarly humble beginnings. He had obtained a

property on East Street, East Fremantle for Cross Roads’ base, but it had no furniture, no bed or fridge... just his mobile phone sitting on the floor. Without any contribution from the Church he built the agency for eighteen months, using $1200 of his $1250 stipend to pay the venue’s rent...

But it didn’t take long for the agency to pick up, showing there was an obvious need in the community for the Church to minister to those affected by substance abuse. People saw the work he was doing and supported him. “It hasn’t been easy... it’s been a bloody tough road,” he says. But he had been through a journey of healing himself involving the rehabilitation of mind, body and soul, and he wanted to share it.

“I wanted people to know that with God’s love and the personal desire to change and grow anything is possible, it is possible to break away from an addictive life-style; that God is real and God’s love does heal those who dare to reach out and touch his cloak” he said. “In the beginning God made all things good, so if we invest in the ‘true good’ and not the ‘apparent good’ then we will grow as Jesus grew in stature and wisdom. It’s the love and support that people experience which helps them believe in their own ability to grow away from stuff such as substance abuse.”

And grown it has. A wealthy businessman gave him half a million dollars, with which he purchased a commercial building within East Fremantle as Cross Roads’ “city base” for two years. Having now moved to a site owned by the Archdiocese, that old commercial building is now leased out to help Cross Roads with finances.

A psychologist friend, Dorothy Mali, who worked at Cross Roads, has bequeathed half the Assisi Retreat Farm site, and the dream

is closer to reality than ever before.

As of its annual general meeting in April, a new board is embarking on the journey with renewed enthusiasm, with a site at Oldbury, about half an hour south of Perth just off Freeway South, designated as the venue for the Assisi Retreat Farm.

including a 12-month outpatient program where the substance abuser addresses their physical health, ie liver cleansing and a physical program tailored for their needs.

“Their body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, so we advocate that they look after it,” Fr Paul says. “It’s a beautiful gift from God.”

The clients are also invited to psychotherapy groups with one-on-one counselling that engages them on an intellectual, emotional and spiritual level. The psychotherapy used at Cross Roads is cognitive behaviour and outcomes based. An ‘action plan’ is tailormade for all substance abuser clients.

“We have a saying that it’s important to flex your physical, intellectual and spiritual biceps,” he says.

Care for the soul is the most important part of the process, he says. Certainly, it was in Fr Paul’s own recovery.

Having been a “cradle Catholic” who, like millions of Australians, left the Church at 17 and as a professional diver and fisherman off the coast of WA for 15 years, “brushed shoulders” with drugs and alcohol.

The new chairman is lawyer Matthew Handcock. Other new faces include pharmacist Keryth Cattalini and business proprietor Colin Evans, in charge of finances.

Keryth’s knowledge will be important, as addiction also extends to legal drugs; and, as Fr Paul says, “a large part of the legal drug market is done illegally”.

Meera Finnigan, an Ethicist, JP and Personal Assistant to WA Attorney General Jim McGinty, remains on the board, along with business proprietor Santo Merenda, who has skills in land development that Cross Roads needs for the Assisi project.

Fr Paul also wishes to thank the previous Board members for their hard and generous work. Cross Roads’ approach is different from secular clinics beyond the fact that it offers spiritual guidance. In the secular rehab culture, it’s commonplace, Fr Paul says, for clinics to run 12-week programs. These can be like “turnstiles”. Participants of the Assisi Retreat Farm would be there for a minimum of 24 months.

“In Italy and other European countries there are models that are massive, like three to four year programs,” he says.

Cross Roads’ city base offers services to the family and friends and to substance abusers,

“I was trapped,” he recalled. “I had to find a method of living life without drugs and alcohol, and the healing model of ‘mind, body, soul’ was born when I spent three months living alone in a very small fishing town on the mid-west coast’.

“Every client on a genuine path of healing will at some stage come across forgiveness: a profound need to forgive and be forgiven.

“It’s the vice of the addictive lifestyle that puts shackles on our thinking and behaviour. So we have forgiveness ceremonies.

“Contrition is very necessary for healing to take place. The Sacrament of Confession is very helpful. When a client is ‘honest and contrite’ healing will occur each and every time, however without this honesty only lies and more pain can follow. The client who is contrite – honest and genuine - will grow in the areas of human and spiritual development. Likewise, it is beautiful for the therapist walking with the client to see their clients` improvement brought about through honesty, growth and hard work. Unfortunately, too many people live in denial and therefore stay stuck in their counterproductive and abusive ways.

“If you’ve been forgiven much you will forgive much; it’s all about love... if a person has not experienced authentic love and is not open to experience it, then how on God’s good earth can this person ever move forward with their life. The person in denial will always whinge, complain, be angry and blame others for their lifestyle.” Personal responsibility is paramount at Cross Roads.”

The spiritual work has not just produced healed souls. Atheists and agnostics have developed a deep and meaningful spirituality and some have been brought into the Catholic faith through their contact with Fr Baczynski and Cross Roads.

Protestants embrace Natural Family Planning ‘wisdom’

AUSTIN, Texas (CNA) - Citing a desire to let their faith in God guide their sex lives and to trust Him in every aspect of their existence, some Protestants have become practitioners of Natural Family Planning (NFP).

Eschewing contraceptives, some are now joining Catholics in fertility classes and returning to traditional Christian teaching.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that the number of NFP practitioners who are Protestants is difficult to quantify.

However, Rev Amy Laura Hall, a Methodist minister and associate professor at Duke Divinity School, says there appears to be growing interest.

She said that, as a Protestant scholar writing about reproductive issues, she frequently fields questions about family planning. Hall explained that some ask how to

avoid preoccupation with finances and social advancement and instead welcome children as gifts from God even if children disrupt the parents’ life plans.

Historically, some Protestant perspectives grew from an antipathy towards Catholic and fundamentalist families, she claimed.

The Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in the United States, in 1930 changed its teachings which formerly forbade contraception, while Methodist literature after World War II advocated limiting the number of children to an ideally two-child, sex-balanced family.

This history has not prevented all Protestants from considering using NFP.

Phaedra Taylor, 28, told the Austin American-Statesman that she ruled out taking birth control pills after reading claims that the

pill can cause abortions by rendering the womb hostile to a newly conceived human life.

“I just wasn’t willing to risk it,” she said, explaining she wanted her faith to guide her sexual and reproductive decisions after her marriage, before which she had been abstinent.

She added that her avoidance of artificial contraception is consistent with her efforts to eat seasonal, locally grown foods and to be a good steward for the Earth.

Her husband David Taylor, 36, who was arts minister at their nondenominational church Hope Chapel, said family planning reveals “a fascinating examination of God’s sovereignty and human free will.”

“What does it mean to submit your physical bodies to God’s sovereign care? ... God has given us power and freedom to exercise that

decision. We can say, ‘God, we’re going to respect the rhythms you have given us.’”

Both spouses said the NFP method draws them closer, stating they want to wait a few months before trying to conceive.

Megan Tietz, a 31-year-old Oklahoman Baptist and a mother of two, told the Austin AmericanStatesman “...for me, using hormonal birth control indicates that I don’t really trust God with every area of my life.” “It is an effort on my part to control something that I really believe God can be trusted with,” she continued.

However, some Protestants have backed away from their previous support for NFP.

Sam and Bethany Torode, authors of “Open Embrace: A Protestant Couple Rethinks Contraception,” said the five years passed since writing their book have “shown

that we had a lot to learn about NFP, and that there is a dark side we weren’t aware of.”

Others see NFP as beneficial.

Katie Fox, 31, is a member of Hope Chapel along with the Taylors.

“I feel like it really works in harmony with the way that God designed our bodies to work,” she commented.

“In contrast with the pill, which works by altering and suppressing our natural systems, NFP works by supporting those systems in harmony with their functions.

“It goes with the flow, so to speak.

“There is a wisdom and a rightness to that which I really appreciate.”

Open Embrace: A Protestant couple rethinks contraception is available at The Record Bookshop for $22 + postage. See back page.

How’s the serenity: Fr Paul Baczynski stands at the Oldbury site which will be sold to acquire a suitable, ready-to-go site for his Assisi Retreat Farm. PHOTO COURTES Y FR BACZYNSKI

Fr Paul Baczynski

the World

From circus to convent, Liz loves life of Mercy

From circus to convent, Liz loves life of Merc y

■ By Anthony Barich

ELIZABETH Young is not your average recruit to the consecrated Religious life. Then again, she wasn’t your average circus performer either.

Elizabeth, 23, grew up learning all about Mary MacKillop in the Australian Blessed’s heartland in Penola.

As a country girl, a visit from a circus was always a major event, and she loved watching, in awe, as the trapeze artists performed gravity-defying stunts. But while she continued gymnastics after school, it was 50km to her nearest gymnastics club.

So it was off to Melbourne to study a circus degree for three years at Melbourne’s Swinburne University, specialising in handstands and the high-wire while also learning related subjects like dance, physiology, circus history and culture, business and singing. Strength and flexibility are a big part of it, though she says much depends on skill.

Growing up in the country she had plenty of material and wideopen spaces to live out her dreams and practise her craft. There were trees and hay bails to climb on; her dad even built a beam out of some metal and wood covered with leather.

She worked with whatever was lying around. The handstand prop she used at university was made from recycled wood from around the family farm at Kalangadoo, 400km south of Adelaide.

She attended World Youth Day in Sydney this year, and while she’d already joined the Mercy community in Renown Park, Adelaide in March 2007, she found immense inspiration talking to others just

like herself studying for Religious orders or the priesthood, who were experiencing the same struggles as her.

Having met the Order’s vocations director last year, she’s currently in the Enquiry stage, living in community before reception into the candidacy program in September. Two years later she will take her first vows.

And despite her unusual path, she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“It definitely feels like this is where God wants me to be,” she told The Record

“Everything’s turned out so well. Living in community has helped me keep a balance between all these things in life. People in community are all trying to follow Jesus in different ways and they support each other.”

She has found that community life is more similar to her previous lifestyle in the circus than she’d imagined.

“The Sisters are more similar to the rest of the world than different,” she says. “We live as part of the world, not separated from it. We participate in many thingswork, study, social life and family.

“The difference is having the mission and the spirit of mercy that holds us together. Some are in schools, working with refugees, homeless and in parishes.

“There’s a lot more listening together in what God is calling you to in life. They don’t just tell you what to do and you do it. It’s discerning together, and having a wider pool of wisdom to draw from.”

Elizabeth had felt a call to the Religious life since about age seven, so it was “like a coming back to that call”, she says, “and as soon as I started taking the steps and talking to people about it, it fell into place and I really felt God is with me in this”.

“Big things made me look again

– being involved with inter-religious dialogue with a group in Melbourne; seeing the power and strength in religious communities… when they follow their faith in a very committed way, so much is possible and it’s not just a bad institutional thing.

“It really made me see the value in committed Religious life.”

The multi-faith group she was involved with in Melbourne led her to a Religions for Peace conference in Japan in August 2006… the same year she had her first boyfriend – for about a month.

“It had nothing to do with him, but just having a boyfriend really made me realise that I wanted a celibate life; it was my path,” she says.

Mercy on the up

■ By Anthony Barich

Sister Meredith Evans, the Sisters of Mercy congregation leader in Adelaide, says the Order has found vocations in recent years from Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Pakistan, aged from 23 (in the case of Elizabeth Young) to their 50s.

“What we’re experiencing now is that people realise it’s a big decision to make to join Religious life in our culture, so a person must be able to know who they are and what their gifts and strengths are and what needs further developing,” Sr Evans says.

“We’re open to women of all different backgrounds and experience. There will always be people who give their whole life to God, as it is taught.”

She said all people have the universal call to holiness, but some are called to live that out in their own way. She said that at the last institute Chapter in 2004 in Sydney, the Order nominated four areas to focus on: refugees and asylum seekers, reconciliation with Aboriginals, the environment and women in poverty.

“I was surprised by how much (being in a relationship) confused me. I never thought I’d have a relationship anyway, as I felt called to Religious life since a young age.

“It made me think, “Why am I so worried about this (feeling like I need to have a boyfriend)?”

Research suggests Pill leads women to ‘wrong partner’

■ By Caroline Moynihan

Headlines this week draw attention to a new reason for second thoughts about the contraceptive pill -- one that may carry weight with people who reject loftier arguments.

This one comes from biologists.

It seems that the pill may change the way a woman reacts to a man’s smell.

A man’s aroma can give a clue to his type of genes and ability to

fight disease, although it is complicated by factors such as soap and aftershave. In a world without such refinements and the pill, women subconsciously react to a man’s smell to identify a partner with dissimilar genes to their own.

It is important to have a mixed immune system (called the Major Histocompatibility Complex or MHC) to combat different diseases, but taking the pill could disrupt this natural ability, according to research from the University of Liverpool in England. Possible

results are difficulty in conceiving, an increased risk of miscarriage and long intervals between pregnancies.

Passing on a lack of diverse genes to a child could also weaken their immune system. The research did not find that women who were not on the pill were more attracted to men with a different MHC, but it did show clearly that the pill made women more likely to be attracted to a man with a similar immune makeup.

Lead researcher Dr Craig

Roberts said MHC similarity could not only lead to fertility problems but could ultimately lead to the breakdown of relationships when women stopped taking the pill and discovered they did not like the smell of their partner.

“Divorce rates were certainly lower before and up to the mid60s when pill use became commonplace, but as you can imagine, there are plenty of alternative explanations for increasing divorce rates since then.”

Friends in high places: Elizabeth Young, second from right, seated next to the Dalai Lama at a multi-faith youth panel including Buddhist Freeman Trebilcock (second from left), Muslim representative Fulya Celik (far right) and representives from the Hindu faith and Aboriginal spirituality.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DALAI LAMA IN AUSTRALIA

Pastoral fun: Elizabeth Young makes baskets while travelling with a Mercy Sisters group in the Philippines.

the World

Youthful Knights on a mission from God

■ By Anthony Barich

MARA Peters only had to set foot in the Holy Land in September 1997 to note the tension and hostility towards its resident Christians.

As a 24-year-old at the time, it tore at her heart, as she also experienced first-hand the “beauty, history and spirituality of this great land”.

As a 35-year-old ‘Generation X’ Australian, fighting for the underdog by striving to ensure a continued Catholic presence in the Holy Land is a challenge she “gladly now takes up” with other members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

The challenge, however, does not only lie overseas.

The Order has recruited 25 new members over the past two years, but Mara is still the youngest member, and she recognises the challenge that lies not only within the Order but for the Chuch in society.

“Our Christian presence in the Holy Land is not the only place under threat,” she said after her investiture with 10 others into the Order as Knights and Ladies of the Order on August 24 at St Joseph’s Church in Subiaco.

“Our Christian presence in Australia is declining, particularly as my generation and younger are becoming a generation of ‘no religion’ or ‘non-denominational’.

“This saddens me greatly. Among my peers and close friends, I am disappointed to say that I am the only one who attends church regularly and is still active in the Church.

“Even though my friends love me and accept me for who I am, I hope that by becoming a Lady today I may become an example to them and show them that it’s ok to have God in your life; it’s ok to have faith and attend church and it’s cool to be Catholic.

“To me personally, this is what I hope for the most.”

The hope that Christ brings in His Church through people like Mara was reflected in Archbishop Hickey’s homily during the Investiture Mass at St Joseph’s, where he spoke, as requested, on Pope Benedict XVI’s

encyclical, Spe Salvi – on Christian Hope. It is hope, he said, that transforms; and our hope is based on the Truth of Christ, “otherwise our hope is in other things which won’t last”.

He reminded the Order that the hope we have is the same hope that the early Christians had through their persecutions and martyrdom – centred in Christ, so that the eternal values communicated through the Church can re-Christianise Europe, and Australia too.

Indeed, the Order itself – entrusted to protect this Truth - can trace its origins to Godfrey de Bullion, the leader of the first Crusade in 1099.

Successive pontiffs have supported the Order over the centuries and retained the title of Grand Master of the Order until Pope Pius XII delegated the position to a cardinal in 1948.

Today, Mara is the youngest member to join the Order in Australia-Western, its West Australian branch.

But although the investiture ceremony rekindles images of medieval times – with A-W Grand Prior Archbishop Barry Hickey knighting members with a sword over their shoulders – being a Knight or Lady of the Order is not about glory or “adding more letters to the end of her name”.

“Becoming a lady today is a humble reflective journey in recognition of my past and present commitments within the Catholic Church and the community,” said Mara.

“More importantly it is a day I took an Oath of Promise to fulfil the purposes of the Order and brothers by becoming a part of the larger family of Knights and Ladies of the Order.”

Father Richard Smith, a former Anglican priest, was one of the 11 members to take part in the investiture.

The others were Ladies Lorraine Calnon, Sharon Cogan, Theresa Moore, Francisca Weston and Knights Thomas Chickonoski, Edward Cogan, Michael Nimmo, Derek Peters and Derek Watts. Fr Smith, an Ecclesiastical Knight, said that to belong to the Order is “a reminder of what the Cross means in our lives”, and to stand in unity with others who lived and worked in the Holy Land.

College student experiences the Catholic response to AIDS in Namibia.

DENVER (CNA) - Most English majors choose to do their theses on a novel or particular reading genre.

But Sarah Moran, a senior at Regis University in Denver, Colorado decided to travel to the African country of Namibia to receive first-hand knowledge of the Catholic Church’s response to AIDS.

Moran had always been interested in the Church’s social justice teachings, which led her to attend the Jesuit-run university.

Her interest in these teachings also drew her to helping those infected with HIV.

Upon looking into opportunities to serve, Sarah saw that many organisations ministering to HIV patients in African countries do so by supplying condoms.

Knowing the Catholic Church’s firm stance against contraception, Moran was curious as to what Catholic organisations did to assist those with AIDS.

She was put in touch with the Namibian organisation, Catholic AIDS Action (CAA), and inquired about volunteering for a month to serve and research for her thesis.

Once the contact was made, she recalled, setting up the volunteer experience was “surprisingly easy.”

Within “a few weeks of the idea,” she had purchased her ticket and was travelling to the country in southern Africa.

Upon arriving in the country’s capital of Windhoek, Moran related to CNA that she was immediately taken care of by those affiliated with CAA.

“I loved the organisation,” she said.

“I just can’t say enough about their work.”

CAA was founded in 1998 by Sr Dr Raphaela Händler and Dr Lucy Steinitz as “Namibia’s first Church-based response to the country’s HIV /AIDS crisis.”

Currently, CAA is one of the largest organisations responding to the pandemic in the country.

Moran explained to Catholic News Agency that CAA has four focuses:

● Home-based counseling and care including house visits reminding patients to take antiretroviral treatments, helping with chores and encouragement,

● Youth education and prevention through programs and activities,

● Care and support to children and to the vulnerable,

● Voluntary counselling and testing for HIV/AIDS.

During her one month stay in Namibia, Moran volunteered her time in Katatura, a suburb of Windhoek, working in youth education and prevention.

“Many of the children had one or both parents who passed away and were living in incredible poverty,” she recalled.

While she described their personal stories as “heartbreaking,” Moran added that though “so much had gone wrong in their lives, they were still filled with joy.”

Girls find dignity, hope as Church combats AIDS

The joy of the students, despite their poverty, inspired Moran.

She recalled how many children lived in homes with tin siding.

One particular young girl, whose parents died from AIDS, lived with her older sister, nieces and nephews in a small hut.

With a tarp roof, they all shared one light bulb, one bed, and one stove.

CAA cares for the children by providing them with the uniforms they need to attend school.

The centre also feeds them, gives them opportunities to sing in the choir, play sports, read, or access computers.

The centre also specifically teaches the 300 children who visit it about the dignity of the person.

“Instead of putting a band-aid on the problem, they are trying to fight it at its roots,” Moran said, describing the centre’s approach to fighting AIDS.

While many AIDS programs focus on handing out condoms, CAA reaches out to help those infected by allowing “God’s love to enter.”

The centre works to “create positive preventative care,” Moran said.

One way it does this is through the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Moran explained that “good treatment is good prevention.”

Many times, AIDS is passed from mother to child.

“If the needs of the mother are met, by providing clean bottles and formula as well

as education, the virus isn’t passed to the child.

The centre also focuses on prevention and education through empowering the children to become aware of AIDS and the behavioural changes that are needed to prevent infection.

Moran noted that one session discussed relationship skills and gave students the chance to discuss the importance of “abstinence and fidelity in a monogamous relationship.”

Other issues such as communication skills, gender issues and the relationship of alcohol, poverty and AIDS are also discussed.

The children are also educated to make positive choices.

After being back in the United States for a month, Moran is hopeful that the trip will not be her last.

She is considering returning for a year once she graduates next year from Regis University to focus on bringing hope to the Namibian children, especially the younger girls.

She explained that many of the young girls “don’t have hope for advancement, so they find validation of themselves through the opposite gender.”

Moran expressed the desire to assist the women on a spiritual level through the program, ENDOW (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women).

Instead of turning to a promiscuous lifestyle, the girls will find dignity and hope in Christ, she explained.

Clockwise from top left: Archbishop Barry Hickey knights a member of the Order with a sword; Mara Peters is presented with the medal as a Lady of the Order; Fr Richard Smith kneels before the archbishop during his investiture into the Order at St Joseph’s Church in Subiaco. PHOTOS ANTHONY BARICH

Kids bitz

COOKING

St Anthony (Abbot)

Following the death of his parents when he was about 20, he ensured that his sister completed her education, then sold his house, furniture, and the land he owned, gave the proceeds to the poor, joined the anchorites who lived nearby, and moved into an empty sepulchre. At age 35 he moved alone to the desert, living 20 years in an abandoned fort.Anthony barricaded the place for solitude, but admirers broke in. He miraculously healed people, and agreed to be the spiritual counselor of others. His recommendation was to base life on the Gospel.

colouring activities

OLLA DE SAN ANTON (ST ANTHONY’S STEW)

Ingredients:

1⁄2 lb. (225g) dried white beans, soaked, then drained.

1⁄2 c. (125g) wine. White (optional)

1⁄2 lb (250g) pork belly, cut into cubes

1⁄2 lb (250g) spareribs

1⁄4 lb (125g) chorizo sausage

1⁄4 (124g) blood sausage (optional)

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 bay leaf

1 onion

4 peppercorns

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1⁄2 lb (225g) potatoes, peeled and chunked (optional)

1 tbsp flour

1 tsp paprika

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Soak the beans overnight in cold water. Bring to boil, strain, rinse and strain again. Put beans in a large pot with a lid. Add enough water to cover, and the wine and bring to boil. During this time make sure meat and vegetables have been chunked and chopped. Add all the cut-up meat, the sausage, half the oil, the bay leaf and the peeled onion with the peppercorns pushed into it.

Cover and cook over slow heat for about 75 minutes until the beans begin to soften. If potatoes are used, they may be added 10 minutes before the beans are done. Remove the meat, take meat off the sparerib bones, chop and keep warm.

In a small saucepan heat the remaining oil, flour and paprika until the flour bubbles. Remove from heat and stir it into the bean mixture, Bring beans back to the boil, add the meat and let simmer for another 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom. It may be necessary during this time to add more water to maintain a stew-like consistency. Remove the onion and bay leaf. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

AVAILABLE FROM THE RECORD BOOKSHOP $19.95

THE MOST UNIQUE CATHOLIC COOKBOOK EVER!

COOKING WITH THE SAINTS

By Ernst Schuegraf

A feast of spiritual and culinary delights!

Over 170 recipes from 21 countries. Richly illustrated with colour photos of saints and dishes including inspiring short biographies of 73 saints.

jokes

A FIRST grader was sitting in class as the teacher was reading the story of the Three Little Pigs. She came to the part of the story where the first pig was trying to acquire building materials for his home. She said “...And so the pig went up to the man with a wheelbarrow full of straw and said ‘Pardon me sir, but might I have some of that straw to build my house with?’

Then the teacher asked the class, “And what do you think that man said?” and my friend’s son raised his hand and said “I know! I know!, he said..... ‘Holy smokes! A talking pig!’”

A SUNDAY SCHOOL teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to “honour thy father and thy mother,” she asked “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?”

Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, “Thou shall not kill.”

AN HONEST seven-year-old admitted calmly to her parents that Billy Brown had kissed her after class. “How did that happen?” gasped her mother.

“It wasn’t easy,” admitted the young lady, “but three girls helped me catch him.”

~ DEAR KIDS!~ ~ DEAR PARENTS/ GRANDPARENTS ~

If you have great kids recipes please share them with us and we will publish your recipe in kidz bitz with your name. If you would like poems, drawings or photos published please post or email : Justine Stevens, The Record, PO Box 75 Leederville WA 6902 or email production@therecord.com.au

kids pics

Joan of Arc

ONE DAY, a little girl is sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly notices that her mother has several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looks at her mother and inquisitively asks, “Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?” Her mother replied, “Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.”

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while, and then said, “So, Mum, how come ALL of grandma’s hairs are white?”

FOR WEEKS, a six-year old lad kept telling his first-grade teacher about the baby brother or sister that was expected at his house. One day the mother allowed the boy to feel the movements of the unborn child. The six-year old was obviously impressed, but made no comment. Furthermore, he stopped telling his teacher about the impending event. The teacher finally sat the boy on her lap and said, “Tommy, whatever has become of that baby brother or sister you were expecting at home?”

Tommy burst into tears and confessed, “I think Mommy ate it!” .

Panorama

A roundup of events in the Archdiocese

Panorama entries must be in by 12pm Monday.

Contributions may be emailed to administration@therecord.com.au, faxed to 9227 7087, or mailed to PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902.

Submissions over 55 words will be edited. Inclusion is limited to 4 weeks. Events charging over $10 will be a put into classifieds and charged accordingly. Inclusion is limited to 4 weeks. Events charging over $10 will be a put into classifieds and charged accordingly. The Record reserves the right to decline or modify any advertisment.

Sunday September 7

DIVINE MERCY

1.30pm at St Joachim’s Church, Shepperton Road, Victoria Park. Holy Rosary and Reconciliation. Sermon on St Gregory the Great, by Fr Terry Rag. Followed by Divine Mercy prayers, Benediction and refreshments. Video/ DVD on Holy Rosary, Part 3 by Fr John Corapi. Enq: 9457 7771.

Sunday September 7

FAMILY DAY - VIRGIN MARY’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

9am at Good Shepherd Parish, 42 Streich Avenue, Kelmscott: Mass, followed by Rosary procession and then fun fare. Enq: Fr Francis 9495 1204.

Sunday September 7

SOLEMN PONTIFICAL HIGH MASS

Archbishop of Perth, Most Rev. Barry J. Hickey will celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass at Kelmscott at 4pm (Not the usual time of 2pm). Experience the timeless beauty and sacredness of this ancient rite including Gregorian Chant. All most welcome at Good Shepherd Parish - 40-42 Streich Avenue, Kelmscott, with Rosary commencing at 3.30pm.

Monday September 8

OUR LADY’S BIRTHDAY

11.30am at St Joachim’s, Victoria Park, meditative Rosary led by Fr Paul Carey, 12.10pm Mass, Celebrant Archbishop Barry Hickey, 48 Hour Perpetual Rosary Bouquet Scroll to be taken up at Offertory. Enq: Margaret 9341 8082 or bowen@iinet.net.au, or Jan 9255 1382. Visit: www. rosarywa.info.

Wednesday September 10

UNDERSTANDING AND COPING WITH GRIEF

10am first session and second at 7.30pm at Saint Andrew’s Catholic Parish, 53 Belleville Gardens, Clarkson; by Mr Gerry Smith, a respected counsellor. Sessions are for anyone experiencing grief from whatever source - loss of job, death in the family, illness, etc. Free, sponsored by Catholic Mental Health Group. Enq: Sr Wendy 9305 0834 or Barbara 9328 8113.

Wednesday September 10

CHAPLETS OF DIVINE MERCY - MONTHLY DEVOTIONS

7.30pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church, Dean Road, Bateman; beautiful, prayerful, and sung devotions. All are welcome. Enq: George 9310 9493 home or 9325 2010 work.

Friday September 12 to Sunday September 14

SPRINGTIME WEEKEND WITH ST FRANCIS AND ST CLARE

ANNUAL RETREAT SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER 7pm at the Redemptorist Retreat House; come learn more of the Franciscan spirituality at the annual retreat. Presenter, Sr Shelley Barlow RNDM. All welcome. Bookings: Mary 9377 7925 by 31 August.

Saturday September 13

FEAST OF THE STIGMATA OF ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI

2.30pm at the Redemptorist Chapel, Retreat House, North Perth; all are welcome to join the Secular Franciscan Order, WA, celebrate the Feast with the readings of the Stigmata of St Francis. Concludes with tea. Enq: Mary 9377 7925.

Sunday September 14

THE WORLD APOSTOLATE AUSTRALIA INC

Fatima Devotions 3pm at St Joseph’s Church, Hamilton Street, Bassendean, all welcome. Enq: 9339 2614.

Sunday September 14

ANNUAL JENNACUBBINE PICNIC – MASS

11am at St Isidore Church, BYO picnic and drinks, chairs or rugs. Bon-fire or BBQs. Join us for a relaxing day by the

river, under the sheoks. Everyone welcome. Follow direction to the farm. Enq: Joe & Cath 9623 2264.

Thursday September 11 to Sunday September 14

FEAST OF OUR LADY MARIA SANTISSIMA DEL

TINDARI

7.30pm at Basilica St Patrick, Adelaide Street, Fremantle; Triduum Mass celebrated by Fr Christian Fini OMI –Melbourne. 9.45am Sunday concelebrated Mass, principal celebrant Archbishop Barry J Hickey. 2pm Sunday procession from the Basilica through Fremantle Streets. Enq: Joe 0404 801 138 or 9335 1185.

Tuesday September 16

ADVENTURES IN ST MATHEW’S GOSPEL

7pm at 8 San Miguel Drive, Leeming; for young women who are discerning where God is calling them, in life or Ministry. Matthew portrays Christ as the fulfilment of Scripture, true Messiah from God. The one Jews and all Israel have been waiting for. Let it be a light for your path!

Enq: Sr. Ann SSJG 0409 602 927.

Wednesday September 17

TAIZE MEDITATION PRAYER

7.30pm to 8.30pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church, 100 Dean Road, Bateman; come and spend an hour in Group Prayer and relax after a busy workday, in a candle light atmosphere of prayer, song and meditation. All welcome. Enq: Daisy or Barney 9310 4781.

Wednesday September 17

REUNION – THE ’52 MINTO GROUP 2008

2.30pm at Wollaston College, Wollaston Road, off Rochdale Road, Mount Claremont; all Christian Brothers and ex-brothers and their wives are invited to attend a re-union and afternoon tea. Enq: Brian 9371 6136.

Friday September 19 to Sunday September 21

WEEKEND RETREAT - TRANSFORMATION AND EUCHARIST

7pm at St John Of God Retreat Centre, you are invited to explore and deepen your understanding of the Eucharist. Enq: Sr Ann Cullinane 0409 602 927.

Saturday September 20

ONE-DAY INNER HEALING RETREAT

9am to 5pm at St Aloysius Church, 84 Keightley Road West, Shenton Park; led by the Vincentian Fathers and assisted by Brother Joe Fernandes, Singapore. No charges but donations are welcome. Lunch and tea provided. Bookings: 9381 5383 or vcparackal@rediffmail.com before September 17.

Saturday September 20

ST PADRE PIO PILGRIMAGE TO TOODYAY – FEAST DAY AND 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH

8.15am depart, route, Glendalough, Balcatta, Leederville, Morley, Bassendean and Midland. 10.15 Padre Pio DVD. 11.30am Mass. 12.45 Lunch BYO. 2pm Eucharistic Procession, Rosary, Adoration and Benediction. Confession available. 4.15 Return. Enq: Des 6278 1540. Victoria Park, Mirrabooka, Girrawheen, Nita 9367 1366.

Sunday September 21

SCHOOL AND PARISH FETE

9am to 2pm at St Jerome’s School, Corner Troode Street and Rockingham Road, Munster; lots of stalls, rides, hot food, refreshments and much more. The auction begins at 1pm. Come along and enjoy a fun day! Enq: Helena 0410466 074.

Thursday September 25

MOTHERS PRAYERS’ MASS

10am at Our Lady Queen of Apostles Catholic Church, 53 Tudor Avenue, Riverton; this is a wonderful and necessary opportunity for God to hear and act upon the hearts and minds of mothers and grandmothers joining together to pray for their children as one here on earth. Fathers and grandfathers welcome. Bring plate, tea and coffee provided. Enq: Veronica 9447 0671.

Friday September 26 to Sunday September 28

WEEKEND ALL-NEW SPRING RETREAT

7.30pm at Dardanup, all welcome. Enq: Trish 9728 1148 or visit www.dardanupretreat.com, http://www.dardanupretreat.com.

Friday September 26

MEDJUGORJE EVENING OF PRAYER

7pm to 9pm at St Gerard’s Parish, Changton Way, Mirrabooka; a prayer with Our Lady Queen of Peace, will commence with Adoration, Rosary, and Benediction ending with Holy Mass. All welcome. Free DVD on Medjugorje. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480.

Monday September 29

DIVINE MERCY PILGRIMAGE TO GINGINCHITTERING FEAST OF THE ARCHANGELS

11.30am lunch BYO at Gingin; 12.30pm Holy Rosary and Way of the Cross - with Pilgrim Cross. 1.30pm depart to the Divine Mercy Shrine for 2pm Holy Mass, followed by Divine Mercy Devotions and Benediction. 3.30pm Tea. 4.30pm return. Divine Mercy Prayer Groups welcome. Transport: Francis 9459 3873 or 0404 893 877. Enq: Sheila 9575 4023 or Fr Paul 9571 1839.

Tuesday September 30 to Thursday October 2

POST WYD TEENAGE CONFERENCE

10am-10pm at St Norbert College, Queens Park; all the fun you can pack into 3 days. Be entertained, inspired, motivated and moved with huge games, live bands, daily workshops, dynamic youth speakers and heaps more. Visit www.activ8.org.au, http://www.activ8.org.au or 08 9445 3700.

Friday October 3 to Sunday October 5

GOD’S FARM RETREAT

7.30pm at God’s Farm, Gracewood, Father Paul Glynn, renowned author, will celebrate Brother Andrew’s 8th Anniversary on Feast of St Francis of Assisi with talk; The Healing Dimensions of the Sacraments and Brother Andrew. The Tony Glyn Story - book will be promoted. One retreat in WA, book early, limited places. Bus enq: Yvonne 9343 1897 or Betty 9755 6212.

Friday October 3 to Sunday October 5

CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL – RETREAT

6.30pm at Advent Park, 345 Kalamanda Road, Maida Vale; Talk, God – I am yearning for you, longing for you and desiring you- Where are You, by Fr Gino Henriques, CSsR, an international speaker. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913, Rose 0403 300 720, Maureen 9381 4498.

Friday October 10 to Sunday October 12

POST WYD YOUNG ADULT CONFERENCE

7pm at Chisholm Catholic College, Bedford; the time has come to activ8! Each day learn more about how to activ8 youth ministry in your local community. Dynamic speakers covering topics such as, searching for answers, social justice, leadership development, youth resources, prayer experiences and more. Visit www.activ8.org.au, http://www.activ8.org.au or 08 9422 7944.

Saturday October 11

PERTH WORLD YOUTH DAY BALL

7.30pm to midnight, Burswood Entertainment Complex, Astral Room; as part of the Post WYD Conference, this spectacular Black Tie event will include entertainment, dancing and a three course dinner including beverages. Entry, 18 and above only. Get in early, limited tickets: Perth WYD Office, 40A Mary Street, Highgate. Visit: wydperth@highgate-perthcatholic.org.au, www. wydperth.com or 9422 7944.

Saturday October 25

CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE REUNION CELEBRATION

The Corpus Christi College class of 1988 invites students in the second stream of 1984 to 1988 to the 20th Anniversary Reunion Celebration at Tradewinds Hotel, Fremantle, commencing 6pm. Enq: Justine Rosevear

-Tavani 9314 1454 or Vickie Loveridge – Street, email: alan4vickie@bigpond.com

Every Sunday

PILGRIM MASS

2pm at Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation, 36 Chittering Road, Bullsbrook; with Rosary and Benediction. Reconciliation is available in Italian and English. Anointing of the sick; second Sunday during Mass. Pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin; last Sunday of month. Side entrance and shrine open daily between 9am and 5pm. Enq: 9447 3292.

Third Sunday of the Month

MEDITATIVE PRAYER IN THE SPIRIT OF TAIZEINTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE

7pm-8pm at Sisters of St Joseph Chapel, 16 York Street, South Perth; come and join in praying together for international peace throughout the world. You will be invited to light a candle as a symbol of peace. Bring your friends and a small torch. Everyone welcome. Enq: Sister Maree Riddler 0414 683 926.

Every Thursday until October 2 BE BAPTIZED BY FIRE: THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS ANOINTING

7.45pm 450 Hay Street, Perth. CATHEDRAL PRAISE MEETING. A Free Seminar on the Power of the Holy Spirit. Oil. Water. Light. Cloud. Seal. Hand. Finger. Dove. Fire, and a mighty rushing Ruah! Presented by Flame Ministries International - Ph: 9382 36689.

Third Sunday of the Month

OBLATES OF ST BENEDICT MEETING

2pm at St Joseph’s Convent, York Street, South Perth: we welcome all who are interested in studying the rule of St Benedict and its relevance to the everyday life of today for lay people. Will conclude with vespers and tea. Enq: Secretary 9457 5758

Every Tuesday

NOVENA MASS TO GOD THE FATHER

7.30pm St Joachim’s Parish Hall, Shepparton Road, Victoria Park; incorporating a Bible teaching, a Perpetual Novena to God the Father and Hymns. Light refreshments will follow. Bring a Bible and a friend. Enq: Jan 9323 8089.

Every Monday

ADORATION, RECONCILIATION AND MASS

7pm at St Thomas, corner Melville and College Roads, Claremont; Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Evening Prayer and Benediction, spend 40 minutes quietly before our Lord for the health, faith and safety of yourself and your loved ones; Reconciliation 7.30pm, Mass and Night Prayer 8pm. Come to all or part of this evening of prayer.

Every 1st Tuesday of the Month

HEALING MASS

7.30pm at St Joachim’s Parish Hall, Shepparton Road, Victoria Park. Incorporating hymns, spiritual reflection and Novena to God the Father. Enq: Jan 9323 8089.

Every Sunday MUSICIANS AND SINGERS

6pm at the Redemptorist Monastery Church, Vincent Street, North Perth; the Shalomites have been providing the music and singing for over thirty years. We are looking for new members particularly musicians. All interested singers and musicians are welcome. Enq: Stephen or Sheelagh 9339 0619.

Every 1st Sunday of Month DIVINE MERCY

Commencing with the 3 o’clock Prayer at Santa Clara Parish, Bentley, followed by the Chaplet, reflection and Benediction. All friends and neighbouring parishes invited. Tea and coffee provided. Enq: Muriel 9458 2944.

6

7

8

Virgin Mar y, and presentation of Rosar y Bouquet, St Joachim’s Pro - Cathedral - Archbishop Hickey

9 Opening of Per forming Ar ts Carnivale, Forrest Place - Archbishop Hickey

10

12 Blessing and opening of buildings at St Peter

chool, Bedford - Bishop Sprox ton

and Opening of Buildings at John Paul College, K algoorlieMgr Michael Keating

12-13 Retreat for Young Catholic Adults, South Per th - Archbishop Hickey

13-14 Confirmation, Por t Kennedy - Bishop Sprox ton

14 Mass for O ur Lady of Tindari Festival, Fremantle - Archbishop Hickey

15 NCP Conference Prayer Ser vice - Archbishop Hickey

Per forming Ar ts Festival Concer t - Bishop Sprox ton

Catenian Association Meeting - Fr Brian O ’Loughlin

17 Confirmation, La S alle College - Archbishop Hickey

18 Visit to Emmaus Community - Archbishop Hickey

Sex and city singles unhappy: study

Young, affluent, child-free singles slowly waking up to the lies of contraceptive mentality, Australian study reveals.

THEY are cashed-up and child-free, but Reuters.com has reported that Australia’s ranks of “Sex and the City” working singles are among the least satisfied in the country, according to a government study.

Reuters has reported that the study, which profiled Australia’s population of 21 million, revealed that a partner and happy home were now seen as more important than a successful career while single.

Only marginalised Australians, struggling to find food and a roof, were less satisfied, it added.

“Working Age Singles reported roughly average levels of feeling rushed or pressed for time, and also of having too much spare time, and low to middling levels of life satisfaction,” the Family Department study told Reuters.

At average age 33, “Working Age Singles” were the youngest of the five major population groupings, the study said.

Most were healthy and high-income renters, with low reliance on welfare and a quarter having completed a university

degree. But singles were less content than almost all other groups including socially connected retirees and time-pressured and stressed couples with children.

Singles were more likely to smoke, consume alcohol, spend big and avoid repayments on their credit cards, the study said.

They were also more in touch with friends and family.

But many were also unhappy renting in a country where home ownership is a national obsession, made more difficult by soaring house prices and mortgage repayment rates at 12-year highs.

“Because of their dissatisfaction with a number of facets of their lives compared with other groups in comparable or worse circumstances, this group is renamed ‘Dissatisfied Working Age Singles’,” said the study, based on a survey of 6000 adults.

The survey confirmed reports by the statistics bureau that Australians were steering away from marriage, with the proportion of singles rising from 20 per cent to 25 per cent in around a decade, while couples without children were also on the rise.

Reuters also reported that single households are expected to rise from 1.8 million in 2001 to more that three million in 2026, when Australia’s population will reach 24 million.

BUILDING TRADES

■ BRICK RE-POINTING

Phone Nigel 9242 2952.

■ PERROTT PAINTING PTY LTD

For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Phone Tom Perrott 9444 1200.

■ BRICKLAYING

20 years exp. Quality work. Ph 9405 7333 or 0409 296 598.

■ PICASSO PAINTING

Top service. Phone 0419 915 836, fax 9345 0505.

BOOK REPAIRS

■ REPAIR YOUR LITURGICAL BOOKS

General repairs to books, old bibles & missals. 2ndhand Catholic books avail. Tydewi Bindery 9293 3092.

HOLIDAY ACCOMODATION

■ MANDURAH

fully furnished, air conditioned two bedroom flat. 100m to Doddis Beach ring 08 9385 9732 or 0403 194 601.

■ MANDURAH

Townhouse in Resort Complex. Fully furnished. Sleeps 6. Phone 9381 3495 or email valma7@bigpond.com

EMPLOYMENT

■ CARETAKER COUPLE

For Catholic Church, Bindoon. Accom provided. Suit active pensioners. For details telephone 9571 1839 or 9576 0006.

SETTLEMENTS

EFFECTIVE LEGAL, family owned law firm focusing on property settlements and wills. If you are buying, selling or investing in property, protect your family and your investment, contact us on (08) 9218 9177.

HEALTH

■ DEMENTIA REMISSION

Do you, or your loved one, suffer Dementia. Get into Dementia Remission like me! http://www. wgrey.com.au/dm/index.htm or (02) 9971 8093.

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ CATHOLICS CORNER

Retailer of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for baptism, communion and confirmation. Ph: 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Road, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.

■ RICH HARVEST – YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP

Looking for Bibles, CDs, books, cards, gifts, statues, baptism/communion apparel, religious vestments, etc? Visit us at 39 Hulme Court (off McCoy St), Myaree, 9329 9889 (after 10.30am Mon to Sat). We are here to serve.

■ ALL SAINTS HANDCRAFTED ROSARIES AND CHAPLETS

View our current range of original Rosaries, chaplets and bracelets for all occasions. Custom orders in the beads and colour of your choice are welcome. Contact Elisa on 0421 020 462 or email allsaintscreations@iinet.net.au

■ KINLAR VESTMENTS

‘Modern meets tradition.’ Quality hand-made & decorated. Vestments, altar cloths, banners. Vickii Smith Veness. 9402 8356 or 0409 114 093.

■ OTTIMO

Shop 108 TRINITY ARCADE (Terrace Level) Hay St, Perth Ph 9322 4520. Convenient city location for a good selection of Christian products/ gifts. We also have handbags, fashion accessories. Opening hours Monday-Friday 9am-6pm.

WANTED

■ ORGANIST

St

MISSION MATTERS

Reflections on this Sunday’s Gospel; Matthew 16:24

two or three meet in my name, I shall be there...” I remember a Mass celebrated by my Jesuit companions on the banks of the Zambesi River on Zambia’s border with Angola. There was just three of us that evening. We were about 150 kilometres from the nearest Zambian village. We could hear a village some 30 kilometres away on the Angolan side of the river being bombed by Angolan government planes. After our Mass, there was just the peaceful sounds of a typical African night. The next morning over 1,500 frightened and exhausted children, women, elderly and war wounded people had crossed the Zambezi river from Angola into our care and the relative safety of Zambia. Call the Mission Office on 9422 7933 should you want to explore this idea further.

The Last Word

‘You will treasure all these things in your heart’

–

Mothering is an awesome, taxing and incred-

PRAYERFULLY EXPECTING

By Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle $29.95+postage

■ Reviewed by Sylvia Defendi

WHEN a close friend of mine announced her pregnancy, I soon realised just how many books there are on child development, good parenting, health and the practical preparation necessary for a coming baby.

It only seems logical that some form of spiritual preparation is also

needed for the imminent arrival of a child.

Donna-Marie O’Boyle, who has authored other successful books on motherhood and mothered five children of her own, obviously sees spiritual and contemplative preparation as an essential part of the pregnancy process.

She begins each chapter with scripture passages, followed by an exploration of the physical development of the child during that particular month of pregnancy.

The text includes informative excerpts from Pope John Paul II’s teachings on motherhood, marriage, the family and children.

Realising that the gift of preg-

nancy is as much a preparatory one as a reflective one, O’Boyle encourages mothers-to-be to write within the pages that call for their reflections each month.

The first chapter even calls for expectant mothers to record the date of conception, how they told their partner the good news and how they shared their joy with their family members.

Blank pages throughout the book encourage mothers to include photos of the pregnancy, the hopes both parents have for the growing child, along with space for suitable names.

This makes Prayerfully Expecting both an informative text

and a special keepsake for the new family.

Including a foreword by Mother Teresa of Calcutta and an Apostolic blessing from Pope John Paul II, the book also features prayers of thanksgiving, guided reflections, prayers for the family and for the child within, as well as reflections on each of the 20 mysteries of the Rosary.

While perhaps most suited to first-timers, Prayerfully Expecting can be a valuable tool for any mother who wishes to explore the deeper meaning of marriage, the family and motherhood.

Available from The Record Bookshop

rewarding job In this book, Anna Melchior seeks to help mothers in their hugely impor tant role by providing spiritual insight drawn from her Christian faith, and practical advice The reader will find here a radical role of mothering The authors show how mothers can imbue their ever yday tasks with meaning and purpose, demonstrates that mothering suppor ts society, and urges society to suppor t mothers in their mother

Says well-k nown author on raising boys Steve Biddulph: “Anna Melchior ’s solid and profound book rewards the reader with a depth and wisdom that gives mothering its real place ”

W H AT G O D

H A S J O I N E D...

The S amentalit y of lliot

Much has been writabout iage fr sociological and cholog but unique oach o the subjec fr a sacramental perspective Melbourne’s Monsignor Elliot provides the reader with ealth of inal insights into the “myster y ” of this beautiful unity and clarifies misconceptions as well as addressing issues such as contraception and the “sacrament of family ” $21.95 + postage A

‘the

Book

L : al Insights from John Paul II’s ‘L e and R bilit ’

unpacks the contents of Fr ol yla’s wonder ful 1960 on the meaning of human love, which was the fruit of his pastoral work among young people This book allows these penetrating insights to be accessible to ever y reader by emphasising the down-to- ear th nature JPII offers in areas such as authentic love, pornography, friendship, marital intimac y and much more

$19.95+postage

Sweetly