{"id":10161,"date":"2024-03-05T09:13:58","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T14:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=10161"},"modified":"2024-03-05T09:13:58","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T14:13:58","slug":"there-is-still-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/there-is-still-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"There is Still Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week I wrote about the hope I saw in the Alabama State Supreme Court\u2019s decision that \u201cembryos are children\u201d (\u201cThere is Hope in Alabama\u201d<\/a>).\u00a0 Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that many people do not get the significance of the decision that \u201cembryos are children.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes it clear that they don\u2019t get it?  I am not surprised that those who support abortion don\u2019t get it.  If they did get it, they won\u2019t support abortion because they would understand that abortion ends the life of an innocent child. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does surprise me is how many politicians who are against abortion are now rushing to enshrine in law a right to IVF (In Vitro Fertilization).  It seems they don\u2019t understand that the use of IVF involves the creation of \u201cextra\u201d embryos that are frozen and\/or destroyed.  Is this the way we treat our children?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not surprised that in the past that some people who are pro-life may not have understood all the issues involved in IVF (see my article from last week, \u201cThere is Hope in Alabama,\u201d<\/a>) but I would hope that the Alabama\u2019s State Supreme Court declaring \u201cembryos are children\u201d would make them think and, hopefully, change their thinking on IVF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does this take away the hope I saw in the court\u2019s decision that \u201cembryos are children.\u201d\u00a0 I would say that it does lessen my hope in humanity<\/em> for an immediate change to end all abortion and procedures that end the lives of embryo children.\u00a0 However, it does not take away my hope.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 First and foremost, because my true hope is not rooted in humanity.\u00a0 My true hope is based on my faith and trust in God.\u00a0 “For human beings this is\u00a0impossible<\/strong>, but for God all things are possible<\/em>\u201d (Matthew 19:26<\/a>).\u00a0 I know God is prolife.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is an aspect of what is going that keeps some \u201chope in humanity\u201d alive for me.  I have heard of no one arguing that the decision of the Alabama State Supreme Court that \u201cembryos are children\u201d under Alabama law.  Why don\u2019t they argue against it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it is because they know it is true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think of how many times in the Old Testament people tried to silence the prophets.\u00a0 The story of the prophet Jeremiah in the book in Old Testament that bears his name is a good example.\u00a0 (See my article, \u201cJeremiah Today\u201d) <\/a>\u00a0At times the people tried to silence him.\u00a0 They did not like what he was saying.\u00a0 If he was right, they would have to change their lives.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t try to prove him wrong.\u00a0 I suspect this is because they knew what he said was true.\u00a0 So, they wanted to silence him.\u00a0 Following the decision in Alabama that \u201cembryos are children,\u201d I think they don\u2019t argue against because they know they can\u2019t win and they don\u2019t want to draw any attention to the statement that \u201cembryos are children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think what we are seeing is the fulfillment of what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy.\u00a0 I used the following quote in my presentation, Where Do We Go for Truth<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

People have stopped listening to the real Truth and have begun making up their own truth.  They declare the truth to be what they want it to be.  Then, they expect us to \u201ctolerate\u201d their position (see my article “Tolerance, Hate<\/a> Speech, and Dialogue?<\/a>“)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relativism says everyone must be free to decide for themselves what they believe.\u00a0 I agree that we shouldn\u2019t force our beliefs on others.\u00a0 As I quoted in my presentation, Where Do We Go for Truth<\/em><\/a>, the Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/a> <\/em>says<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yes, people have a right to follow their conscience.  With this right, they have a duty to have a well-formed conscience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This means we can\u2019t just say we believe \u201cX\u201d and declare it to be based on our conscience.\u00a0 Contrary to what Justice Kennedy said in Planned Parenthood v. Casey\u00a0<\/em>(1992), “at the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life\u201d (Reilly, Robert R.,\u00a0America on Trial A Defense of the Founding<\/em>.\u00a0 San Francisco:\u00a0 Ignatius Press.\u00a0 2020. \u00a06.\u00a0 interior quote “Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. et al,. v. Casey, Governor of Pennsylvania, et a, 505 U.S. 833, 851 (1992) \u00a0https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/supct\/html\/91-744.ZS.html.\u201c), our meaning has to flow from something greater than ourselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christians say in the Lord\u2019s Prayer, thy will be done<\/u><\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 We do not pray solely for our own will.\u00a0 We recognize that God is the one who is all-knowing.\u00a0 To ask for something in Jesus\u2019 name is not to ask simply for what we want<\/u><\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 To pray in Jesus\u2019 name is to pray that God\u2019s Will be done just as Jesus prayed in the garden, \u201cMy Father,\u00a0if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will<\/em>\u201d (Matthew 26:39<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Church is God\u2019s instrument on earth.\u00a0 As Pope John Paul II wrote in Veritatis Splendor<\/a><\/em>, \u201cthe Magisterium itself is considered capable of intervening in matters of morality only in order to “exhort consciences” and to “propose values”, in the light of which each individual will independently make his or her decisions and life choices\u201d (Pope John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor<\/a><\/em>, \u00a0August 6, 1993, access date 3\/5\/24, paragraph 4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we read in Exodus 23:2<\/a>, \u201cYou shall not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When testifying in a lawsuit, you shall not follow the crowd in perverting justice,<\/em>\u201d the real Truth is not deciding by majority rule.  The Truth comes from the One who is greater all of us together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As \u201cPeter and the apostles said in reply, \u201cWe must obey God rather than men<\/em>\u201d (Acts 5:29<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God gives us the gift of reason to learn and understand.\u00a0 However, that doesn\u2019t mean we are going to understand everything.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t mean we get to pick and choose what we belief (see my article, \u201cCafeteria Catholic? Not!\u201d<\/a>).\u00a0 When we don\u2019t understand, we are called to trust in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is time to end the partisan politics.  It is time to end the war between Israel and Hamas as well as the Ukraine and Russia.  It is time to end religious murders and persecution in Africa.  It is time to end the hatred in our country towards illegal immigrants.  It is time to love God and to love our neighbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth?  The truth is not a burden.  The truth is a gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Pope John Paul II wrote in Veritatis Splendor<\/a>, \u201c<\/em>Those who live “by the flesh” experience God’s law as a burden, and indeed as a denial or at least a restriction of their own freedom. On the other hand, those who are impelled by love and “walk by the Spirit” (Gal<\/em>\u00a05:16), and who desire to serve others, find in God’s Law the fundamental and necessary way in which to practise love as something freely chosen and freely lived out. Indeed, they feel an interior urge \u2014 a genuine “necessity” and no longer a form of coercion \u2014 not to stop at the minimum demands of the Law, but to live them in their “fullness” (18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Peace,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I wrote about the hope I saw in the Alabama State Supreme Court\u2019s decision that \u201cembryos are children\u201d (\u201cThere is Hope in Alabama\u201d).\u00a0 Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that many people do not get the significance of the decision that \u201cembryos are children.\u201d\u00a0 What makes it clear that they don\u2019t get it?  I …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘There is Still Hope’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[10,678,1077,905],"tags":[1136,1138,1139],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-2DT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10161"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10161"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10169,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10161\/revisions\/10169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}