Tell my rebellious people, Thus says the Lord! Whether they heed or resist, they shall know that you are my prophet. –Ezekiel 2:4-5

St. Francis Xavier

In the course of His teaching, Christ reminded His fellow Jews that they could not take their friendship with God for granted.

He taught them that being a true Israelite is not a matter of who your parents are, but of loving and obeying the heavenly Father. He taught them that the true Israelite is not the one who sacrifices bulls and goats, but the one who sacrifices selfish interests for the good of others. Above all, the Lord Jesus taught that He Himself is the Lord of Israel, Who became man to save His people.

For everyone seeking the truth, the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ is the most delightful and wonderful thing ever.

A Jesuit missionary once told an African chief that he would have to give up his extra wives. Of course the missionary also told the chief that the true king of the universe is God, Who had become man and died for him on a cross. The chief replied, ‘Where is this King, so that I might go, kneel at His feet, and offer my life to Him in return?”

There are plenty of people out there right now who do not know Catholic doctrine and morals. If we take the trouble to teach them, they will embrace it all with joy.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

When these couples heard that there is a better, natural way, they learned it. They found the joy of living in marriage according to God’s law.

The truth is beautiful and attractive. The truth convinces people on its own; all we have to do is propose it. It is a great gift we have to offer to our neighbors: to explain the teachings of the Church to them.

On the other hand, we know that the history of the Church is full of another kind of missionary story, too. I mean the kind when the missionary announces the truth and tells the people to reform their lives. Then the missionary gets his head chopped off, or he is skinned alive, or fed to wild beasts in the arena.

This kind of missionary story all began with our Lord Himself. He invited the people to live in the friendship of God—all they had to do was embrace the truth. And they nailed Him to the cross.

Being an apostle of the truth can be dangerous. It is an adventure. It requires Indiana Jones-like skills, the wisdom of the serpent, and the innocence of the dove. The apostle has to be all things to all men in order to save some. We have to be open-minded enough to sympathize with everyone and courageous enough to call sinners to repentance. No easy task, being an apostle of Christ.

St. Paul summarized all the difficulties of his evangelical life: “weaknesses, insults, hardships, constraints.” Through it all, the Apostle relied on the grace of God. In fact, St. Paul boasted of his weakness, because the Lord had told him, “My grace is sufficient for you.” (II Corinthians 12:9-10)

The Lord says the same to us. His grace is sufficient for us. If we are faithful to the truth, the Lord will see us through. Here is how our Holy Father put it in a recent speech:

Obedience to the truth purifies our souls and guides us to upright speech and action…Speaking with the hope of being applauded, governed by what people want to hear, according to the dictatorship of current opinion—this is a kind of prostitution of words and of the soul.

The purity of the apostle means not submitting to these standards, not seeking applause, but rather seeking obedience to the truth…Obedience to the truth makes us, although it may be hard, collaborators with the truth, mouthpieces of the truth. It is not we who speak in today’s river of words, but the truth which speaks in us when we are purified and made chaste by obedience to the truth.

Let us consecrate ourselves to this noble task. Let’s do everything we can to live in and for the truth. Let’s do it for our own sakes, and for the sake of everyone out there who needs to learn the truth from us.

Here is an article that nicely summarizes responses–both negative and positive–to Pope Benedict’s recent statement that condoms will not combat the AIDS epidemic in Africa, and in fact could exacerbate it (with my emphases and comments):

World Leaders, Condom-Promoting Forces Attack Pope Over Condom AIDS Remarks

By Hilary White

ROME, March 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two days after Pope Benedict XVI warned that more condoms would facilitate the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, the world’s condom-promoters and their political allies are leading an all-out attack on the pope and on the Catholic Church. However, at the same time, Catholic and other conservative leaders are defending the pope, pointing out that not only is science on his side, but also that in his remarks the pope was showing a welcome deference to the pro-family culture of Africa, which is opposed to the population control agenda promoted in the continent by many Western “aid” agencies.

The day after the Pope made his comments, the heavily anti-Catholic government of Spain announced it would be sending over a million condoms to African countries.  The Spanish health ministry said in a statement Wednesday, “Condoms have been demonstrated to be a necessary element in prevention policies and an efficient barrier against the virus.”

The French foreign ministry called the comments a “threat to public health policies and the duty to protect human life,” while the Dutch development minister said it was “extremely harmful” and that “the pope is making matters worse.” Former French Prime Minister Alain Juppé, interviewed Wednesday by France Culture, said, “This pope is becoming a real problem.”  [As a Catholic, I consider that a good sign.]

“To go say in Africa that condoms increase the danger of AIDS is, first of all an untruth and it is unacceptable for the African people and for everyone else,” Juppé said.

Aurelio Mancuso of the Italian group Arcigay said, “While across the world and especially in Africa thousands are dying of Aids, Ratzinger [Benedict] can think of nothing better to say than repeat the Vatican’s position on condoms.  [The way this is said makes the pope sound like a brainless idiot who does nothing but parrot sayings.  Give me a break--we're talking about one of the most brilliant, articulate, and eloquent people on earth!  But as for the position he holds and supports--what on earth do they expect from the pope?]

“We are now beyond the paradox, this view simply contributes to the spread of the disease and especially in Africa where there are not enough medical resources to treat patients.”

The Telegraph also quoted Lisa Power of Britain’s homosexualist activist group, the Terrence Higgins Trust, who said, “We deeply regret the continued misinformation around condoms, which remain the most effective way of preventing the spread of HIV.

“Both abstinence and condoms are valid weapons in the fight against HIV, but unfortunately abstinence has a far higher failure rate.”

Rebecca Hodes, of the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa, told the Guardian that the Pope’s “opposition to condoms conveys that religious dogma is more important to him than the lives of Africans.”  [Or could it be that religious dogma is important because it saves and improves the lives of human beings?  But only a stupid, unenlightened Catholic could believe that.]

However, while Pope Benedict in his remarks was merely reiterating Catholic teaching, backed up by research showing that the failure rate of condoms and the promiscuity they encourage significantly contribute to the spread of AIDS, defenders of the pope have observed that the Holy Father’s remarks had a further inspiration, beyond the science of the matter.  [Given what a thorough thinker Pope Benedict is, I'm sure this is true.]

Franciscan Father Maurizio Faggioni has suggested that the pope was in part responding to a grave cultural threat to Africa posed by the condom philosophy and the international population control movement that promotes it. Faggioni, who has advised the Vatican on sexual morality issues, told Catholic News Service that the pope sees condom campaigns as a question of “cultural violence,” especially in Africa, where there has never been a “contraceptive mentality.”  [The contraceptive movement is just the latest form of Western imperialism.   I'm  sure that this is something the Holy Father has in mind.]

This opinion is supported by local African AIDS activists who regularly complain that AIDS sufferers in their countries are being used in a massive international campaign both to reduce African populations and undermine traditional African family values. ["Being used" is the operative phrase here.  Whenever human beings are used as means to an end, when human beings are treated like objects, we're talking grave, intrinsic evil.  The fact that these particular human beings are already gravely ill and suffering just makes it more monstrous.]

Martin Ssempa, a key player in Uganda’s highly successful abstinence and faithfulness anti-AIDS programmes, [Hello!  This can't be ignored!] told LifeSiteNews.com that the hostility towards the Catholic Church of the international AIDS organisations is matched only by their hatred of traditional Christian sexual morality.  [Their alleged concern for AIDS and AIDS patients is their means of trying to bring down the entire body of Christian sexual morality.  By pressuring the Church to give up its stance on condoms, they expect that they can get the Church to give up its stance on everything else as well.  And they'd probably be right--but they aren't going to succeed.]

Ssempa, a Protestant minister, said in October 2007, during a previous media-sponsored wave of furor over the Catholic Church’s opposition to condoms, “Condoms have not reduced HIV-AIDS anywhere in the world … Higher condoms [rates] across Africa have resulted in higher HIV.”

Condom promoting international organisations such as UNAIDS, he said, are “demonizing the Catholic Church unfairly.”  [Again, I take that as a good sign.  If the Church were no longer demonized unfairly, I think we'd need to seriously examine ourselves.]

“In fact,” he said, “in countries where the Catholic Church is strong, there is lower HIV than places where the Catholic Church is not.”

In 2008, Sam L. Ruteikara, the co-chair of Uganda’s AIDS-prevention Committee wrote in the Washington Post that in the fight against AIDS, “profiteering has trumped prevention.”

“AIDS is no longer simply a disease,” he said, “it has become a multibillion-dollar industry … [And of course, those who cash in on it aren't really interested in destroying it.] Meanwhile, effective HIV prevention methods, such as urging Africans to stick to one partner, don’t qualify for lucrative universal-access status.”

Rutkara said, “Our wisdom about our own culture is ignored. [Because the West knows best, dontcha know?!] Telling men and women to keep sex sacred – to save sex for marriage and then remain faithful – is telling them to love one another deeply with their whole hearts. Most HIV infections in Africa are spread by sex outside of marriage: casual sex and infidelity. The solution is faithful love.”

In a meeting with the press on board the plane taking him to Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, on Tuesday, the pope set off a firestorm after responding to the assertion that the Catholic Church’s position on combating AIDS is considered “unrealistic and ineffective.”

“I would say the opposite,” Benedict said. [I love how he begins his response this way!  It is bold in its contradiction.  As I've said before, the Holy Father has an exquisite manner of calmness, gentleness, and charity--but he's no push-over.  He doesn't hesitate to draw sharp lines when it comes to ideas and beliefs and what's wrong and what's right.  God bless him for it!] “I think that the reality that is most effective, the most present and the strongest in the fight against AIDS, is precisely that of the Catholic Church, with its programs and its diversity.”

“I would say that one cannot overcome this problem of AIDS only with money — which is important, but if there is no soul, no people who know how to use it, (money) doesn’t help,” he said.

“One cannot overcome the problem with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, they increase the problem.”

Benedict said that combating the spread of AIDS requires “first, a humanization of sexuality, that is, a spiritual human renewal that brings with it a new way of behaving with one another.  [Sexuality must involve relating with another human being--not using them.] Second, a true friendship even and especially with those who suffer, and a willingness to make personal sacrifices and to be with the suffering.” [True compassion--something the secular world just doesn't understand any more.  " 'Make personal sacrifices'?  Sounds hard and painful--why on earth would we do that?"]

I definitely understand why his statements are making some people angry.  But I love that he’s willing to say things that make people angry.  If the pope can’t or won’t do so, then what hope is there for the rest of the Catholic world?  I’m so grateful that we have a Holy Father who is able to lead by example and inspire courage and reassurance in his flock.  May God bless him with continued long life!

And just in case we need further evidence that the pope was right in his statement, here’s another article to look at:  Harvard AIDS Expert Says Pope is Correct on Condom Distribution Making AIDS Worse

Related Post:

Harvard AIDS Expert: “The pope is correct”

Is it any coincidence that alarming rates of miscarriage, infertility and sterility are increasing as we approach our fourth decade of legalized abortion in America? Can we kill innocent children in the womb when their arrival is inconvenient for us, yet then demand children later when it suits our timing? The Catholic Church reminds us that we don’t, in fact, have a right to children – pregnancy and children are a gift from God.

We know that many good and faithful Catholic couples can’t get pregnant. Their pain is very real, and their cross is heavy. Catholic couples should pursue all licit medical procedures that do not separate either the unitive or the procreative aspects of marriage. Catholics are to refrain from immoral fertilization techniques that reduce procreation to nothing more than a laboratory procedure.

Mothers can pray to St. Norbert (Photo by Earlette)

The great St. Josemaria Escriva has tremendous words of hope and encouragement to couples who cannot get pregnant:

“The should not give up hope too easily. They should ask God to give them children and, if it his will, to bless them as he blessed the Patriarchs of the Old Testament. And then it would be advisable for both of them to see a good doctor. If in spite of everything God does not give them children, they should not be frustrated. They should be happy, discovering in this very fact God’s will for them. Often God does not give children because he is ‘asking more.’ God asks them to put the same effort and the same kind of gentle dedication into helping their neighbors as they would put into raising their own children.”

The Norbertine Sisters of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph in Tehachapi, Calif., have noted significant number of couples requesting prayers for infertility and sterility issues. In their newsletter First Fruits they wrote:

“Our fellow Norbertine Sisters have seen that in Europe, just as in the United States, there is a crisis in marriage and in family life, including abortions, the use of artificial contraception, great problems with miscarriages, difficulties in pregnancy for many women, and a high percentage of infertile married couples.”

Yet the Sisters have discovered that the Patron Saint of their order, St. Norbert, is a great ‘pro-life’ saint who can help married men and women:

“(Married couples) experience with invoking the intercession of St. Norbert in these cases has been amazing. After only a few years of spreading the devotion to St. Norbert as an intercessor for the unborn and their parents, there are hundreds of mothers who have prayed to St. Norbert and are now happy with children.”

The Sisters continue:

“There are also many infertile married couples who, through the intercession of St. Norbert, have conceived and now have children. And there are many instances in which women who were being pressured and forced into having an abortion, were able to save their unborn children because of a change of heart in those around them. “

Email the Sisters a prayer request

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us to pray to the saints, for they reside in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ:

956 “The intercession of the saints. ‘Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness. . . . They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus. . . . So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped.’”

Today marks the fortieth anniversary of the controversial Papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, in which the Catholic Church hierarchy dug in its heels and refused to regard artificial birth control as anything other than a “grave evil.”

To mark this date, a coalition of dissenting Catholic organizations placed an ad featuring the following letter in a high-circulation Italian newspaper:

An Open Letter to the Pope

Today, July 25, 2008, the Catholic church marks the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae—the foundation stone for the Catholic hierarchy’s anti-contraception policy that has had a catastrophic impact on the poor and powerless around the world, endangering women’s lives and leaving millions at risk of HIV.

When Pope Paul VI cemented the Catholic hierarchy’s ban on contraception in 1968, he over-rode the findings of a group of experts he had himself chosen.

That group, the Birth Control Commission, had voted overwhelmingly to recommend that the church overturn the ban on artificial contraception, saying that it was neither “intrinsically evil” nor were previous teachings on it infallible. Even after Pope Paul brought in 15 bishops to make the final report, they too were swayed by the logic of the case for contraception and voted to change the teaching.

A “minority report” was produced which said that the teaching on contraception could not change—not for any specific reason, but because the Catholic hierarchy could not admit it had been wrong: “The Church cannot change her answer, because this answer is true…It is true because the Catholic Church, instituted by Christ…could not have so wrongly erred during all those centuries of its history.” It went on to say that if the hierarchy was to admit it was wrong on this issue, its authority would be questioned on all “moral matters.”

Humanae Vitae continues to be a source of great conflict and division in the church. Catholics and non-Catholics alike continue to feel the impact of the Catholic hierarchy’s devastating policy.

The impact of the ban has been particularly disastrous in the global south where, because the Catholic hierarchy holds significant sway over many national family planning policies, it obstructs the implementation of good public health policies on family planning and HIV prevention.

However, even in the global north, Humanae Vitae affects public health policy. Earlier this year, lobbying by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in the US Congress resulted in the dropping of vital family planning services that can prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

The evidence is overwhelming that Humanae Vitae has been an utter failure in convincing Catholics to abandon modern methods of contraception. Studies the world over show that Catholics use contraception, and use and support the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV. The ban has, however, prevented many women and men around the world from accessing reliable family planning methods and condoms.

It is clear to us that the Catholic church cannot move forward until it honestly confronts the paradox of Humanae Vitae: Most Catholics use modern contraceptives, believe it is a moral choice to do so and consider themselves Catholics in good standing, yet the Catholic hierarchy completely denies this reality, forcing the clergy into silence on this and most other issues related to sexuality.

The past 40 years have been marked by a hardening of the Vatican’s attitudes at the very time that the world has moved to a different, more comprehensive view of sexuality and women’s role in society. Pope Paul VI did not succeed in turning back the clock 40 years ago and it is unlikely any other pope will succeed to do so in the future. But many people, especially women in poor countries, will continue to suffer as long as the church hierarchy tries to do so.

Pope Benedict, we call on you to use to use this anniversary as an opportunity to start the process of healing by being true to the positive aspects of Catholic teachings on sexuality and lifting the ban on contraception to allow Catholics to plan their families safely and in good conscience.

Complete list of Signatories to the Open Letter to the Pope

Catholics for Choice
A Critical Mass: Women Celebrating Eucharist – USA
Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church – USA
Brothers and Sisters in Christ – Ireland
Call to Action – USA
Catholic Women’s Ordination – UK
Catholics for a Changing Church – United Kingdom
Catholics for a Free Choice – Canada
Catholics for the Spirit of Vatican 2 – USA
Católicas pelo Direito de Decidir – Brasil
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir – Bolivia
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir – Buenos Aires
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir – Chile
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir – Colombia
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir – Córdoba
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir – El Salvador
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir – España
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir – México
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir – Nicaragua
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir – Paraguay
Centro Bartolomé de las Casas – El Salvador
Chicago Women-Church – USA
Chrétiens sans Frontières de Gironde – France
Colectivo Rebeldía Santa Cruz – Bolivia
Col.lectiu Dones en l’Esglesia – Spain
Comité Oscar Romero – Chile
Comunidad Santo Tomás de Aquino – Spain
CORPUS, National Association for an Inclusive Ministry – USA
David et Jonathan—Association Homosexuelle Chrétienne Ouverte à Tous – France
Demain l’Eglise – France
Dignity USA
Droits et Libertés dans les Eglises/Femmes et Hommes en Eglise – France
Espérance 54 en Meurthe et Moselle – France
European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups
European Network Church on the Move
Gehuwd en Ongehuwd Priesterschap – Netherlands
De Graalbeweging – Netherlands
KerkHardop – Netherlands
Landelijk Koördinatie Punt Groepen Kerk en Homoseksualiteit – Netherlands
Mandragora/Netmal – Brazil
Mariënburgvereniging – Netherlands
Movimiento También Somos Iglesia – Chile
National Coalition of American Nuns – USA
New Ways Ministry – USA
Noi Siamo Chiesa – Italy
Nos Somos Igreja – Portugal
Nous Sommes Aussi l’Eglise – France
Pax Christi Maine – USA
Plein Jour – France
Red Latinoamericana de Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir
Réseaux Résistances – Belgium
Roman Catholic Women Priests – Europe-West
Roman Catholic Women Priests – Canada Est
Roman Catholic Women Priests – Canada West
San Francisco Bay Area Women-Church – USA
Southeastern Pennsylvania Women’s Ordination Conference – USA
Stichting Kerk Hardop – Netherlands
Stichting Magdala—Voor Vrow en Priester – Netherlands
Voice of the Faithful/New Jersey – USA
Werkplaats voor Theologie en Maatschappij – Belgium
Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) – USA
Women’s Ordination Conference – USA
Women-Church Baltimore – USA

Source: Catholics for Choice