Fathers Know Best

What is HE? Chopped liver?!?

The following must of necessity be somewhat vague. If you have been following http://fructusventris.stblogs.org you have seen parts of this and understand why.

First let me say that my comments that follow are about something VERY REAL for one family.

More importantly PRAY for a family that the social services department in another state is trying their best to dismantle. Pray in particular that the TRUTH be brought to light.

The items in quotes are reputed to be from Social Services.

Graces and gifts

Lord open my eyes to see the gifts that you have given me.

I have been one of the confirmation teachers at a parish for three years now. We are usually paired up as man / woman wherever possible. It is important that the young adults learn that spirituality is not just a "girl/woman" thing. There are always too few men involved as teachers.

One of the areas stressed in the second year of the two year program is the gifts of the spirit. They are told that the action of the gifts are seldom immediately evident. I am emphatic with my students that the gifts are REAL. I tell them that they will see them "In the fullness of time" for them. They are marked by the spirit and the graces are given to them.

A while back I ran into one of last years students at a restaurant. He shared that he had only been to mass about three times since being Confirmed. I told him that there are graces within him that will lead him back when he is ready to listen to the voice of the spirit inside him. I remember that I did challenge him to try. He shared that he had been challenging one of his teachers at the local Catholic High School about her views. He had asked why she believed that it was wrong to send people to war while she never talked about it being wrong to kill unborn persons. That got him sent out of the classroom. And Yes, I do continue to pray for the students.

The Culture of Death Marches On

Deacon and lawyer Keith Fournier assesses the recent decision of the Supreme Court:

Suicide has long been against the law. Likewise, assisting someone in the act of suicide has long been illegal. Now, because of this opinion, those who kill themselves and the Doctors who help them, are protected, at least in Oregon. As a former prosecutor, the supplying of a substance intended to cause death used to render one an accomplice, now, it makes one wealthy, at least in Oregon, if the accomplice wears a white coats and holds what is now – understandably- called a terminal degree. Given the trajectory unleashed by this opinion, the delivery of the new hemlock will probably be covered by “health� insurance.

Advice from a businessman

Business guru Guy Kawasaki posted on his blog the text of a commencement address he gives occasionally. Don't look for it to be steeped in Truth about the meaning of life, but it does present some interesting ideas that would be worth discussing with young adults.

Father and son

Gerrit van Honthorst's Childhood of Christ, currently in The Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Food for the soul: