| November 19, 2007 | Volume 83, Number 2 | |
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NFP allows many blessingsOn Sunday, November 4, I had the pleasure of attending Mass at Transfiguration Catholic Church in Fincastle, celebrated by visiting priest Fr. Dan McCaffrey. While visiting on behalf of Catholic Relief Services, Fr. McCaffrey shared during his homily that he is primarily involved in a family life apostolate called Natural Family Planning Outreach. For the first time since I became Catholic six years ago, I heard a priest preach explicitly and unabashedly about the benefits of natural family planning and the harmful effects of contraception. As a priest who is 77 years young, Fr. McCaffrey has a unique historical perspective on how widespread acceptance of contraception and sterilization has affected the Catholic Church in America. One of his most salient points was that our current vocations crisis is directly related to the high numbers of contracepting Catholics. It just makes sense: fidelity to Church teaching on being open to life usually leads to larger families, since couples are more willing to accept God’s blessing of children. A couple with several children can more easily encourage their children to offer service to the Church as priests and nuns, knowing that there is a good chance some of their children will be called to marriage, too. One can support vocations usually without forfeiting the joy of grandchildren. The Church’s teaching on family planning is often misunderstood and Fr. McCaffrey encouraged parishioners during his homily to “seek the truth” about God’s beautiful plan for marriage. My husband and I know first-hand the amazing blessings that can come from opening yourself to that truth, having gone from a contracepting secular couple to joyful users of natural family planning. I encourage all readers who struggle with our Church’s teaching in this area to visit our diocesan NFP website at www.richmonddiocese/nfp for more information. “Be not afraid” to exchange the world’s wisdom about sexuality for the liberating truth Christ has given us through the Church!
Lapsed Catholics need prayerLast year an article by Scott Hahn appeared in the LaCrosse (Wis.) Catholic Times which stated that the second largest religious group in America is non-practicing Catholics. With deep concern and after much discussion, our Knights of Columbus Council 839 embarked on a prayer campaign for the return of those who have left us. I humbly ask your readers to keep in their prayers all of those who no longer attend Mass or receive the sacraments. May they be enlightened to return to the Catholic faith. The prayer: “Please, Lord, bring back into Your fold all of our non-practicing brothers and sisters, all of them who have left and given up on Your Church, may the Holy Spirit enlighten them to return.”
Fundraising plan questioned by readerIn reference to Bishop DiLorenzo’s new diocesan stewardship fundraising program, a statement is attributed to the Bishop in the October 22, 2007 “…and the Bishop says” column and is affirmed in a response by John Barrett, director of Diocesan Office of Finance, to a November 5, 2007 Letter to the Editor by William Johnson concerning campaign funding. The identical statements are as follows: “The expense of the campaign will be paid for by the diocese, not the parishes.” My understanding of diocesan cash flow is as follows: 1) Parishioners support the operation of their parish by their monetary offerings. 2) The Diocese taxes the sum total of these offerings at a rate of about 17 percent a year. 3) This 17 percent assessment is then forwarded by each parish to the Bishop, who uses these monies in a frugal manner to pay the costs of operating and administering the Diocese. On the assumption that parishes have minimal earned income and that the Diocese has minimal earned income, then what is the legitimacy of the statement that the DIOCESE will pay the expense of the fundraising campaign? My belief is that the offerings of the parishioners are paying the cost of the fundraising campaign, a campaign which will urge these same parishioners to increase their offerings. I perceive this to be the equivalent of being asked to beat myself with my own whip, while a one-half million dollar fundraising fee departs the Diocese. Correct my logic if I am in error, but I must tell you that I do not feel “warm and fuzzy” with this approach to funding fundraising.
(Editor: John Barrett, director of the diocesan Office of Finance, responds: “The funding of the cost of the stewardship program will come from appreciation in investment assets set aside for schools by a donor to the diocese, and not from funds assessed to the parishes. The cash flow process is: 1. Parishioners support the operation of their parish by their monetary offers. 2. The Diocese taxes these offerings at 9.5 percent, with no tax on capital improvement collections, building program collections, money raised for Haiti, parish charities, and the 50 percent of the increased offertory going to assist Catholic Schools. 3. This 9.5 percent tax is forwarded by each parish to the Bishop who uses these funds in a frugal manner to pay the costs of operating and administering the Diocese.)
Deacon warns parents of film“The Golden Compass,” a fantasy film starring Nicole Kidman, has been drawing fire from concerned Christians. The film is based on Northern Lights, the first offering in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy of children’s books, a series that follows the adventures of a streetwise girl who travels through multiple worlds populated by witches, armor-plated bears, and sinister ecclesiastical assassins to defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God. Books of the trilogy have sold more than 15 million copies around the world, with Northern Lights winning the Carnegie Medal for Children’s Literature in 1995 and in 2007 being awarded the ‘Carnegie of Carnegies’ for the best children’s book of the past 70 years. “The Amber Spyglass,” the final book of the series, won The Whitbread Prize in 2001, making it the first children’s book to do so. The series’ author, Philip Pullman, is an avowed atheist. He has said “I don’t profess any religion; I don’t think it’s possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words ‘spiritual’ or ‘spirituality.’” Critics of Pullman’s books point to the strong anti-religion and anti-God themes they incorporate, and although literary works are subject to a variety of interpretations, Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that “My books are about killing God.” Bill Donohue, president of The Catholic League, has condemned “The Golden Compass” as a “pernicious” effort to indoctrinate children into anti-Christian beliefs and has produced a 23-page pamphlet titled “The Golden Compass: Unmasked” in which he maintains that Pullman “sells atheism for kids.” Look, the movie is based on the least offensive of the three books. And they have dumbed down the worst elements in the movie because they don’t want to make Christians angry and they want to make money. Our concern is that unsuspecting Christian parents may want to take their kid to the movie. So the movie is the bait for the books which are profoundly anti-Catholic and at the same time selling atheism. Other critics, however, have described Pullman’s works as being more generally anti-religion rather than specifically anti-Christian or anti-Catholic.
Lourdes Jubilee to be held in 2008The Grotto of Lourdes, located in southern France, is the most visited Christian shrine in the world, attracting over 6 million pilgrims each year. The spot where Catholics believe that the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous, a French peasant girl, will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2008. Lourdes attracts visitors from all faiths seeking healing and spiritual peace. Here visitors bathe in the famous healing waters, uncovered by St. Bernadette during her apparitions. More than 67 medical cures have been documented by medical experts over the last 150 years. The principal event for the Lourdes Jubilee Year, running from Dec. 8, 2007 to Dec. 8, 2008, will be the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the shrine at Lourdes at the end of May 2008. In the United States, the main event will be the celebration of Mass by Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, on February 11, 2008 (the date of the first apparition of the Virgin Mary to St. Bernadette). This Mass, to be held at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., will also mark the World Day of the Sick. A new website, www.friendsoflourdesusa.com, has been established to help others learn more about the shrine in Lourdes as well as the Virgin Mary’s apparitions to St. Bernadette. The website is also designed to help prepare for the pope’s trip and answer basic questions about the shrine and local celebrations to be held within the United States.
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