"Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties to the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife." - Humanae Vitae Paragraph 17. You can read the whole document here.
Pope Paul VI had great foresight into the current question facing our nation today. When the government is in charge of health care for all its peoples, when they dictate what private insurance companies must and must not cover in their policies, what is to stop them from declaring best practices that regularly violate the moral conscience of the faithful. What happens when the insurance companies and/or the government attempts to preserve the stability of the healthcare entitlement by implementing best practices which eliminate fetuses that are diagnosed with chronic disorders? To appease the Church and pro-life activits they might allow a mother to choose to keep the child at the mother's own expense (where no medical care would be covered for that child). They will say, "We are not forcing people to have abortions," when in fact they will be paying a virtual fine of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills each time they choose life. This is not the case today, but how far away is it really? What will prevent this?
Consider this, that we are not meant to take action only when social issues impinge on our faith. We were never meant to be at rest! Our mission to baptize all humankind into the saving mystery of God's love, through the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is incomplete and ongoing. We have been told to keep quiet about our faith so as not to offend others, we have been told to keep our morals to ourselves, and now we are being told we have to violate our morals. So what do we do? Write letters to congress? My solution is far more simple and practical. Here are the three difficult steps to changing the world into the Kingdom of God.
Pope Paul VI had great foresight into the current question facing our nation today. When the government is in charge of health care for all its peoples, when they dictate what private insurance companies must and must not cover in their policies, what is to stop them from declaring best practices that regularly violate the moral conscience of the faithful. What happens when the insurance companies and/or the government attempts to preserve the stability of the healthcare entitlement by implementing best practices which eliminate fetuses that are diagnosed with chronic disorders? To appease the Church and pro-life activits they might allow a mother to choose to keep the child at the mother's own expense (where no medical care would be covered for that child). They will say, "We are not forcing people to have abortions," when in fact they will be paying a virtual fine of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills each time they choose life. This is not the case today, but how far away is it really? What will prevent this?
Consider this, that we are not meant to take action only when social issues impinge on our faith. We were never meant to be at rest! Our mission to baptize all humankind into the saving mystery of God's love, through the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is incomplete and ongoing. We have been told to keep quiet about our faith so as not to offend others, we have been told to keep our morals to ourselves, and now we are being told we have to violate our morals. So what do we do? Write letters to congress? My solution is far more simple and practical. Here are the three difficult steps to changing the world into the Kingdom of God.
- Convert yourself completely to the teachings of the Catholic Church - For those things you do not understand or have trouble believing, research and believe in faith.
- Pray for the Church, our government, its leaders, and for the conversion of all.
- Live a life of outpoured love for all those you meet. Be a beacon of goodness that is not afraid to share the source of that goodness, Jesus Christ. Evangelize and convert as many people as you can to the faith.
In doing these three things, you will "win hearts and minds," to the cause of the gospel. In doing this you will be a part of the success of the church against all of its challengers. If the church should lose any of these particular battles, you will have no culpability. When the church wins the war, your reward will be great in heaven. Don't sweat the drama… Da Mihi Animas, Coetera Tolle (Give me souls, take away the rest).
