I am glad that he has caught onto Pope Benedict's Theology of Ecology, I think this is an important new theological strand that can make some more obscure areas of Catholicism, like the Narural Law accessible.
This is why we have come on pilgrimage to Walsingham, to make reparation for the desecration of so many homes throughout Our Lady's Dowry, homes that should have been reflections of the Holy House of Nazareth but have been broken by abortion, contraception and the culture of death.
We also come to ask Our Lady to intercede for us that God continues to bless our homes with the life-giving grace of Nazareth, and to heal the broken homes throughout the UK that cause so much heart-ache and deprivation.
...
Through taking on a human nature, a human body in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, the eternally begotten Son of God, has united Himself with every woman, man, and child on this planet. By sharing in the same human nature as Jesus every human being born is somehow joined to the divine-human life of the Son of God who took flesh in the immaculate flesh of Mary, the Mother of God.
This means that each human person conceived shares in a triple dignity:
• Made in the Image of God
• The centre and crown of all creation
• Joined to Jesus Christ, the eternal begotten Son of God, through his incarnation in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This is why all people that sincerely care about nature, and that seek to protect the environment from being destroyed should care about the destruction of the pre-born child by abortion. Every time a child is killed through abortion a person who is created by God as the centre and crown of all creation is destroyed. This is why abortion is the greatest crime against the natural world, against the environment.
This is why all Christians that sincerely care about human dignity and human rights should care about euthanasia and assisted suicide. Every time a vulnerable person's heart is stopped by drugs or the withdrawal of fluids or food, a person who is united with the humanity of the Son of God is unjustly and sinfully tortured and killed. This is why euthanasia and assisted suicide is the greatest crime against humanity.
This is why all Catholics, and all people of good will, who defend human life through their support of the pro-life movement are the most radical environmentalists and most radical advocates of human rights. The most endangered ecosystem on the planet is the mother's womb and the most endangered human right is the right to life of our most vulnerable citizens. Protecting the ecology of man from destruction by abortion and euthanasia should be the foremost concern of every human institution and government, in fact of every ecological group such as Green Peace and Friends of the Earth and every Human Rights group such as Amnesty International.
But tragically for the future of life on this planet, the ecological movement and human rights movement are often the loudest advocates of so called 'reproductive rights', which as we know is just a cynical euphemism for killing unborn children.
The world needs reminding that Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises the right to life of every person. All are entitled to the rights of Freedom set forth in this declaration without distinction of any kind.
It is deplorable that so many states choose to allow the unborn child to be a victim and targeted for killing - a barbaric & evil practice. We must stand firm in our call for respect for human life from natural conception to natural death.
11 comments:
"Culture of death"? I can't help thinking it was far more of a culture of death when the Christian churches occupied centre space in the ruling establishment of society - extremes of injustice, immense wealth and privilege for some, grinding poverty and an early grave for most - and all endorsed by the churches as the "natural order."
Yes, society today has many problems, but church spokesmen need not exaggerate them or set the churches over against society as somehow a model of how things should be. It is a pity Bishop O'Donoghue does not concentrate on helping everybody (including those trapped in cycles of deprivation where abortion often seems the only way out) to know their human dignity as created and loved by God, rather than posing as a moral arbiter. It is always easier to stand on the sidelines and condemn, rather than engage with society, but if the churches are to be of any use this is surely what they should be doing. They exist to serve the world, not to congratulate themselves on their superior morality.
Excellent homily by POD.
We have missed him since he retired.
Ignatius,
...And who internationally is the biggest NGO in the care of AIDS & HIV, Health care, Education, Social Care etc, etc.?
The Church exists to serve God not "the world", I think Jesus has a few thinks to say on that.
Really fantastic.
I extravagantly used four buses today to receive my Flu-Jab,I did feel a bit guilty for taking advantage of the Government generosity of providing me with a FREE Bus-Pass.All the buses were packed with similar pass holders,the drivers were all their usual grumpy selves.
There are forces afoot who would dearly love to see us all driven over a precipice,the massive savings would surely save the Planet. They cannot see that the umemployed Bus-Drivers would clog the soup kitchens.
Another lot of "Planet Savers" would make it unlawful to have children and introduce compulsory Abortion and Sterilisation.
I knew Bishop O'Donoghue before he reconverted to the Catholic Faith. The incongruity in all of this is that he wouldn't have been made a bishop if he hadn't lapsed in the first instance.
My Goodness Ignatius you do have a bee in your bonnet. The Churches promoted 'Extremes of injustice', 'Grinding Poverty and an early grave for most' as the natural order. Thank God for the Atheistic moral relativism of our current age. Those nasty churchmen making rash judgements and broad statements condemning people. What a relief thats all over with.
Serving God and the world are surely not mutually exclusive? We can only serve God in and through the world - Christ present in the sick, prisoners etc. And of course the churches did and do splendid work in this way. I was commenting on the worrying polarisation apparent now in some Catholics, seeing the church as separate from and superior to the world, and indulging in febrile rhetoric about a "culture of death," opposing "aggressive secularism" and so on. As religion continues to diminish this attitude can only lead to increasing disengagement from the world and from God.
Ignatius,
No they are not, but we have nothing to offer the world unless we first love God with our whole being, only then can we see clearly, to love our neighbour.
Fr. Blake, you say, "we have nothing to offer the world unless we first love God with our whole being, only then can we see clearly, to love our neighbour." I quite agree, but this does not address the issue I was commenting on.
Forgive me, I thought you were saying POD ought to be rolling his sleaves up doing "something" rather than talking about God and morality.
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