What about Contraceptives?

Want to know a few of the reasons why the Church is against contraceptives? Check out a series of posts on http://josemariaadultformation.blogspot.com/ that begins today and will end at the end of the week.

The HHS Mandate and the Catholic Church

This past weekend, Bishops from across the United States of America had a letter read to their flock about the actions of the administration of Obama to mandate coverage for contraception for everyone, regardless of religious affiliation [Click here to read Bishop Callahan's letter]. This issue is not only about the hurtful consequences of contraception, but more importantly about religious freedom. Here is what the USCCB has to offer on the topic:

The HHS has issued a rule forcing nearly all private health plans to include coverage for all FDA-approved prescription contraceptive drugs and devices, as well as surgical sterilization. These are listed among "preventive services for women" that all health plans will have to cover without co-pays or other cost-sharing -- regardless of whether the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or even the woman herself objects to such coverage.

The exemption provided for "religious employers" is so narrow that it fails to cover the vast majority of faith-based organizations, including Catholic hospitals, universities, and service organizations that help millions every year. Ironically, not even Jesus & his disciples would have qualified.

During the public comment period last fall, the bishops' grassroots campaign alone generated over 57,000 comments to HHS opposing their mandate.
Now that the Administration has refused to recognize the Constitutional conscience rights of organizations and individuals who oppose the mandate, the bishops are now urging Catholics and others of good will to fight this unprecedented attack on conscience rights and religious liberty. [USCCB]

To explain this issue directly, Archbishop Timothy Dolan released a video addressing his concerns:

Click here to view the video. This is principally a matter of religious freedom, as the government is forcing the Catholic Church to go against her conscience and to provide something that we believe to be morally evil. But why is it that the Church is so against contraception? Here is an excerpt from an article from a well-known speaker that helps get at the heart of the matter:

 Only in the last 50-70 years has this been viewed primarily as a “Catholic” issue.  Until 1930, all Christian bodies stood together in their condemnation of any attempt to sterilize the marital act.  That year, the Anglican Church broke with more than nineteen hundred years of uninterrupted Christian teaching.  When the pill debuted in the early 1960's, the Catholic Church alone was retaining what in 30 short years had come to be seen as an archaic, even absurd position.

[...]

When Margaret Sanger and her followers started pushing contraception in the early 1900's, wise men and women – and certainly not just Catholics – predicted that severing sex from procreation would eventually lead to sexual and societal chaos.  Today’s culture of adultery, divorce, premarital sex, STD’s, out-of-wedlock births, abortion, fatherless children, homosexuality, poverty, crime, drugs, and violence was all foreseen.

[...]People throughout history have been tempted to commit adultery.  It’s nothing new.  However, one of the main deterrents from succumbing to the temptation has been the fear of pregnancy.  What would happen if this natural deterrent were taken away?  As history demonstrates, rates of adultery would skyrocket.  What’s one of the main causes of divorce?  Adultery.  Apply the same logic to pre-marital sex.  Such behavior has, indeed, skyrocketed.  Premarital sex, as a kind of “adultery in advance,” is also a prime indicator of future marital breakdown.

[Read More...]

This issue of contraception is almost commonplace in the modern world and yet, it has proven to be the source of many of our problems. Here are some more resources to help understand the issue: http://www.catholic.com/tracts/birth-control

Sean Duffy and the March for Life

To finish up the posts about the March for Life, I will post a recap of Sunday night's talks and a summary of the March on Monday.

First off, Congressman Sean Duffy and his wife Rachel visited our group in our hotel on Sunday night. Both Sean and Rachel gave excellent speeches encouraging us in the fight for life. The young students were inspired by this young couple, for they were on MTV's Real World at one point in their lives and yet are still faithful Catholics. Sean Duffy particularly talked about the Pro-Life House of Representatives and how there are so many good things happening in the House. Their six children were also there and were a further witness to the sanctity of life.

After they gave their short speeches, a fellow pilgrim gave her witness to Life coming from the Ukraine. She explained her new apostolate called "Chalice of Mercy," where she is trying to bring the Light of Christ into the Ukraine. You can learn more about this exciting apostolate here: http://chaliceofmercy.org/.

On Monday, we first made our way to the Verizon Center for a large Youth Rally and Mass. There were about 20,000 youth in attendance, with several Cardinals, Bishops and over 200 priests. All of the students were encouraged by the sheer number of young people in support of Life and helped them to be confirmed in their faith.

After the Rally, we joined the March for Life around the Capital building to the Supreme Court House. While the news media only mentioned thousands of protestors, there were in reality over 400,000 in attendance. Here are the pictures to prove it:

Lastly, before we left, we were invited to stop over by the office of Congressman Sean Duffy. He organized for a room to be available for all the Wisconsin pilgrims to stop by for hot chocolate and to listen to a few speakers. Those speakers included EWTN's Raymond Arroyo, Live Action Film's Lila Rose and several fellow Congressmen from Wisconsin. It was a beautiful thing to see so many Pro-Life Congressmen from our State (like Paul Ryan and Jim Sensenbrenner) and to hear from leaders in the Pro-Life movement.

Overall, the trip was a grand success and it proves that every year we are gaining ground in the Pro-Life movement. We pray that we won't have to go to Washington DC next year, but if we do, we will bring even more young people to witness to Life.

What can we do to turn the tide? Besides all the things already mentioned, we must pray and act. With God's help we must witness to Life every day and vote for those in office who support that basic right.

Touring DC

Today, we ventured out and took in the historic sites of Washington DC. We started out our day back at the Basilica and participated in Holy Mass with hundreds of other youth from around the country who have come here for the March for Life. Bishop Joseph Cistone from the Diocese of Saginaw celebrated Mass and gave an inspiring homily on the need to act in the Pro-Life movement. He compared our situation to that of Jonah in the First Reading and how we are prophets who are sent out into the city of Washington DC to call people to repentance.


After Mass, we prayed in front of Planned Parenthood even though it is closed on Sundays. The particular Planned Parenthood we prayed at was only a few blocks away from the White House. We prayed a rosary and a few other prayers for the closing of all abortion centers.
After that we visited the White House, the Air and Space Museum, the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. Another group visited a few of the other museums. It was a long day of walking, but the students seemed to enjoy the time in the big city.


Tonight we still have a few speakers, including Congressman Sean Duffy and his wife, Rachel. They are both very Catholic and very Pro-Life. Here is his website for more information on him: http://www.duffyforcongress.com/. I will post a synopsis of his talk when I have the time.

Tomorrow, we will be attending the youth rally and Mass at the Verizon Center, the actual March for Life, and then back on the bus to head home. The Verizon Center holds roughly 20,000 people and it will be packed tomorrow with youth from all around the country in support of Life. As a last reflection, since you won't hear about us on the news tomorrow, here is a video that explains why the media does not cover the March for Life year after year:

Youth Rally and Arrival in DC

To recap yesterday, we attended the energetic youth rally IGNITE in Milwaukee with Archbishop Listecki. We participated in Mass and then had some time of Eucharistic Adoration with a few speakers giving inspiring talks before adoration started. Vicki Thorn gave a stunning testimony that helped encourage the youth to be active in the Pro-Life cause. She reaffirmed that this generation of youth is the most Pro-Life generation since Roe v. Wade. There were over 300 hundred youth from across Wisconsin in attendance. The Diocese of La Crosse had the largest representation of young people. Here are a few pictures of the events:

Today we arrived safe and sound in Washington DC. After hours of driving in the snow all our busses arrived safely. However, it did take us longer than expected and so we had to adjust our schedule. We moved praying in front of Planned Parenthood to tomorrow and instead went to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. We attended evening Mass and toured the beautiful church.  After spending some time there worshipping our Lord, we came to our hotel, had dinner, and cleaned up. We look forward to tomorrow where we will spend some time touring the historic sites of DC. The most powerful evemt tomorrow will be praying at Planned Parenthood. This is always a moving moment for all the students and adults who attend. 

Here are some pictures of the beautiful Shrine church. All the kids loved the beauty of the church and spent a lot of time viewing the sacred art all over the church.  This Basilica is the largest Catholic church in the US.

What can we really do to turn the tide in the abortion battle? What we have learned so far points to seeing humans as made in the image of God. If we can start to love our neighbor, we can show the world how important every life is. However, there is always more that we can do. We will look into that when we listen to a few more speakers to tomorrow.

Marching for Life 2012: The Story of SSPP Parishioners Defending Life

By Mr. Phil Kosloski
   Today 20 students and 4 chaperones embark on the long journey to Washington DC to give a voice to the voiceless. We will board a bus this morning to begin our roughly 20 hour bus ride that is a part of a much larger group from the Diocese of La Crosse. In all we have 203 people traveling in our group from all corners of the Diocese. Groups that ride in our four busses come from almost every Catholic High School as well as many parishes from the area. Later today we are joining all of the youth from across Wisconsin in Milwaukee for a Pro-Life Youth Rally.  This youth rally, called IGNITE, will have present hundreds of youth from across our state who are on their way to Washington DC.  We will be joined in prayer with Archbishop Jerome Listecki who will celebrate Mass for us at the Archbishop Cousins Center. This is great news to hear as many times we can get pessimistic about the apparent darkness that has enveloped our country. In fact, the youth of our day are even more pro-life than any other recent generation! For example, a recent Gallup Poll found 47% of American youth between 18-29 years old supported a “pro-life” view while 45% supported a “pro-choice” view with 8% responding that they did not know. As you can see, the tide is turning in the young people of America!

You can see as well in the video below the enthusiasm for protecting life among college students. I highly encourage you to watch the video to see the good news! I can assure you, your spirits will be lifted after watching this short video.

   However, while this may be true, we still have a long way to go to protect the unborn. Abortion is still legal and thousands of babies are killed and thousands of women are taking advantage of and are forced to have abortions. What more then can we do?This is a topic I hope to explore in the next few days as we attend the various events in Washington DC. There are certainly many things we can do, but what is the most effective? I hope to offer my thoughts in the coming days.

__________________________________________________________________________
Mr. Phil Kosloski is the Director of Adult Formation and Liturgy at SS Peter and Paul Church.

Pro-Life Resources

At SS Peter and Paul Church, we strive to protect the unborn and to provide resources for those considering abortion. Below are many links and documents that are meant to assist anyone who desires to protect life and to help any women to see the great beauty and dignity of human life.

The Pill and Contraceptives
Contraception and Cultural Chaos
Contraception and the Language of the Body
Contraception versus Natrual Family Planning
Does Contraception Foster Love?
Resources on Contraception 
The Pill Kills
The Truth about Birth Control

The Truth About Abortion
Questions and Answers about Abortion
Showing What Abortion Really Is
Resources on Abortion

Natrual Family Planning
NFP Resources in the Diocese of La Crosse
NFP and More

Healing After Abortion
Rachael's Vineyard
Silent No More Awareness Campaign

Resources in Central Wisconsin
Catholic Charities
Diocese of La Crosse Pro-Life Resources

First Choice Pregnancy Resource Center
Pro-Life Wisconsin
Rachael's Vineyard

Local Organizations
Tri-City Right to Life
Servants of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Church Documents
Teachings of the Magisterium on Abortion

Practical Things You Can Do
What You Can Do

Organizations
List of Pro-Life Organizations

High Mass on February 5, 2012

Our next Tridentine Mass will be on February 5th at 4:00 PM with 3:30 confessions. We will be celebrating Septuagesima Sunday.

Here is an excerpt of an article on Septuagesima Sunday:

The Origins and Purpose of Pre-Lent

With regard to the origins of the pre-Lenten period, many liturgical writers attribute the beginnings of pre-Lent to the desire to accomplish the 40 days fast -- since there were non-fast days within the weeks of Lent proper which accordingly did not amount to 40 days of fasting. Through piety and devotion, this was extended further still. The specific time of origin is not agreed upon, but various dates surrounding the time of St. Gregory the Great in the 6th and 7th centuries are noted in various respects -- with the devotional extension of the fast being mentioned even earlier. According to Duchesne, the fourth Council of Orleans mentions Quinqagesima and Sexagesima around A.D. 541 -- albeit it by way of disapproval.

The purpose of pre-Lent seems to be the same in both the Byzantine East and more ancient form of the Roman rite; it is a period of progressive preparation and movement toward Lent and ultimately Easter.

Fr. Weiser, in his Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs speaks of it accordingly:

The liturgical preparation for the greatest feast of Christianity -- Easter -- proceeds in five periods of penitential character. As the observance of this preparation apporaches the feast, the penitential note grows progressively deeper and stricter. The first period of this season of pre-Lent, from Septuagesima Sunday to Ash Wednesday; the second extends from Ash Wednesday to Passion Sunday; the third comprises Passion Week; the fourth includes the days of Holy Week up to Wednesday; the fifth consists in the Sacred Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.) In these three days, which are devoted entirely to the commemoration of the Lord's Passion, the penitential observance reaches its peak, until it ends (at the Easter Vigil) in the glorious and joyful celebration of the Resurrection. (p. 154-5)

Read More...