Compilation of links and commentary by John F. Wagner Jr. (jfwagner@cstone.net), a Roman Catholic husband and father living in rural Virginia.

Note: Due to family vacations and business trips this summer, "Out of the Woods" will not be published in July and August. Commentaries will resume in September.
posted by John Wagner at 6:43 AM

The worldwide release this weekend of the new Warner Brothers movie A.I. -- Artificial Intelligence, a work begun by the late Stanley Kubrick and completed by Steven Spielberg, is the latest salvo of a decades-long propaganda war being waged against human culture by those who believe that machines inevitably will attain -- and exceed -- man's capacities of thinking and loving.

The premise of the movie is that, after the catastrophic meltdown of the polar ice caps around 2050, pregnancy is restricted due to low food supplies. A couple whose terminally-ill son has been cryogenically frozen until a cure can be found agree to adopt a new kind of robot, in the form of a human boy, that has been programmed to respond emotionally and to love its "parents." When friction arises in the household after the sick child returns, the mother decides to release the robot into the woods rather than return it to the factory for deactivation. The robot, having come upon a copy of "Pinocchio," decides that it wants to become a real boy who can receive love from the mother. Reviews of the movie indicate that somehow, the robot's wish becomes true at the conclusion.

Artificial intelligence capability, in the form of a malevolent spaceship computer, was a subplot in Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey." Spielberg's films with alien or paranormal themes include "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "ET," and "Poltergeist." Perhaps neither director has been officially aligned with the political arm of the artificial intelligence movement, which has existed as an organized community since at least 1956, but it is of note that A.I.'s Warner Brothers web site offers detailed background information on the science of artificial intelligence, including a quote from Ray Kurzweil, author of The Age of Spiritual Machines -- When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence, that "[a]t some point in the future, there will be machines that are capable of loving their creators." The WB web site also highlights the "Turing Test," developed by British mathematician Alan Turing (1912-1954) -- if a human person acting as a judge cannot determine, after five minutes of communicating by written interrogatories with an intelligent human and a computer, which one was which, the computer can be deemed to be a thinking machine.

In his critically acclaimed book Brain, Mind, and Computers, Stanley L. Jaki – a physicist, theologian, and Benedictine priest – provides a well-documented rebuttal of contemporary claims that computers can attain intelligence. Fr. Jaki surveys the history of physics, mathematical logic, brain research, psychology, the philosophy of thought, and linguistics. Based on this evidence, Fr. Jaki reaches the following conclusions:

1. Significant contributors to the development and theory of modern computers – including such scientists and mathematicians as Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716), Leonhard Euler (1707-83), Charles Babbage (1792-1871), William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907), and James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) – were unanimous in their refusal to attribute thinking and consciousness to machines.

2. The scientific research conducted on the human brain to date has not only failed to reduce thought to the functioning of the brain's gray matter, it has failed even to reduce memory, the most elementary form of thought, to mere physiology.

3. Efforts to explain psychological activity in the brain in quantitative terms have been successful only where investigation has been restricted to one of the human person's complex and variegated psychological functions.

4. Philosophers who have justified the understanding of the mind in purely scientific terms, so as to support the possibility of thinking machines, have done so only by conveniently ignoring some of the mind's outstandingly creative and basic procedures.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs that "[t]he human body shares in the dignity of 'the image of God': it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul" (n. 364). Since every child has the right -- which sadly is sometimes violated -- "to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by marriage" (n. 2376), and "every spiritual soul is created immediately by God -- it is not 'produced' by the parents" (n. 366), it should be clear that humans cannot ensoul their own creations, Hollywood and the A.I. community notwithstanding.

In an age when animals, particularly pets, have attained quasi-human status, while numerous entities, as reported by Greenpeace this week, are attempting to obtain patents on developing human life forms, it is vitally important that everyone understand what man is, and what man isn't.
posted by John Wagner at 6:37 AM

Today is the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In the Litany so named, the Heart of Mary, "nailed to the cross" is invoked. Yesterday, on the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, His Heart, "bruised for our offenses" and "pierced with a lance" was specially called upon in prayer.

The Litanies of these two Hearts continue to offer to all Catholics the opportunity for sublime petition, not only on these special feast days but at all times. And the Lord Himself knows how frequently we have reason to seek solace from Him and His Holy Mother. Their hearts, as well as ours, can be saddened as man's inhumanity to man continues in our world despite the daily availability of so many heavenly graces.

Earlier this week, the Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a study on the sexual solicitation of children over the Internet. The study, a telephone survey of youth aged 10 to 17 who were regular Internet users, determined that 19 percent of the youth had been solicited online. Of those solicited, 25 percent reported high levels of distress after the incidents. Only 10 percent of the incidents were reported to police, school officials, or Internet service providers. (Incidents can be reported at http://www.cybertipline.com, a website operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.)

A member of the U.S. Congress, Rep. Nancy L. Johnson, is seeking to enact federal legislation that would enable the FBI to obtain surveillance wiretaps in child pornography cases. "My mother taught me where not to go at night," she said in a recent interview. "The Internet is the same way. We need to teach children where not to go." This is certainly an appropriate part of the pedagogy required in a communication-driven society.

In matters of purity and virtue, however, Christian parents must teach their children both where they should not go and where they should go, as they progress to sexual maturity. The guidance given by Pope Pius XII in a speech to Italian mothers in 1941 is timeless in its wisdom:

You have to prepare your sons and daughters so that they may pass with unfaltering step, like those who pick their way among serpents, through that time of crisis and physical change; and pass through it without losing anything of the joy of innocence, preserving intact that natural instinct of modesty with which Providence has girt them as a check upon wayward passion. ...

If imparted by the lips of Christian parents, at the proper time, in the proper measure, and with the proper precautions, the revelation of the mysteries and marvelous laws of life will be received by them with reverence and gratitude, and will enlighten their minds with far less danger than if they learned them haphazardly, from some disturbing encounter, from secret conversations, through information received from over-sophisticated companions, or from clandestine reading, the more dangerous and pernicious as secrecy inflames the imagination and troubles the senses. Your words, if they are wise and discreet, will prove a safeguard and a warning in the midst of the tempations and the corruption which surround them.

In this age of the Internet, let us not fail to call upon the Hearts of Jesus and Mary -- as well as St. Joseph, whom we petition as "most chaste" and "pillar of families" in his Litany -- in fulfilling our vocational duties to God and our children.
posted by John Wagner at 4:00 AM

For a Catholic father who wants to relax in peace as the United States celebrates Father's Day (and the Church celebrates the solemnity of Corpus Christi) on June 17, some of the family-related news items reported this week have served as a reminder of the unsettled cultural atmosphere that continues to encroach upon authentic domestic tranquility.

The June 13 edition of USA Today carried three separate stories on this theme. On the front page was a report on a recent Gallup poll conducted for the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University. The survey's subjects were men and women in their 20s. Among the results that ran counter to the traditional morality about marriage: only 16 percent of those polled believe that the main purpose of marriage is to have children; 43 percent would only marry someone if that person agreed to live together first; 62 percent agreed that living together was a good way to avoid divorce; and 62 percent said that it was acceptable for a woman to have a child alone if she lacked a "soul mate". However, apparently realizing what can reasonably be expected with the moral underpinnings of marriage removed, 68 percent of the twentysomethings polled believed that a good marriage would be harder to achieve for them than it was for their parents.

The second family-related piece was an article that reported on the ruling by a federal district court in Seattle that an employer's insurance plan that excluded contraceptives from coverage violated federal sex-discrimination laws. The judge said that such exclusion left "a fundamental and immediate health care need uncovered." Nationwide, it is estimated that 35 to 58 percent of health insurance plans now cover prescriptions for contraceptives, and 14 U.S. states have so-called "contraceptive equity" laws. Both of these percentages will likely increase in light of this week's ruling.

On the same page, directly beneath the article on insurance coverage for contraceptives, was a story about how some American cities are becoming "child resistant." The 2000 U.S. census results show that the percentage of children under 18 declined in San Francisco and Seattle over the past 10 years, and rose only slightly in a number of other cities. The nationwide under-18 population percentage also increased only minimally during the past decade. In San Francisco, dog owners demanding the right to unrestricted exercise for their pets have pressured the city to halt plans for a new playground in Mission Dolores Park. Gentrification brought on by affluence, with its accompanying lack of affordable housing, and sizeable homosexual communities are contributing to the decline in the youth populations. One author has characterized the demographic shifts at work in some urban areas as "a revival for singles, childless couples, divorced people, gay people."

These developments should come as no surprise to any adult who has been trying to live in contemporary secular society while adhering to the natural moral law -- and, a fortiorari, the teachings of Jesus Christ as given to His Church. When large segments of a culture no longer believe that fornication "is gravely contrary to the dignity of persons and of human sexuality," (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2353), the twofold ends of marriage, "the good of the spouses themselves and the transmission of life ... cannot be separated" (CIC, n. 2363), conjugal love "seeks to be definitive; it cannot be an arrangement 'until further notice' " (CIC, n. 1646), contraception "is intrinsically evil" (CIC, n. 2370), and man "should not direct to [animals] the affection due only to persons" (CIC, n. 2418), that culture has cut itself loose from its moorings. All those who live in such a culture are in danger of being either lost in a sea of apathy or run aground upon the rocks of selfishness and hedonism. Who will save us?

In his excellent pamphlet St. Joseph, Fatherhood and the Holy Family in the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, Msgr. Joseph A. Cirrincione interprets the title miracle as foreshadowing "the worst iniquity in the history of Christianity: the almost universal rejection of the Fatherhood of God." Such rejection, he observes, "inevitably has set in motion a chain reaction of consequences affecting fatherhood under every aspect we have been considering. The notion of fatherhood in families has been reduced to a biological fact, and the concept of the father as head of the family has completely gone out of style. Since fatherhood, as a reflection of the Fatherhood of God, was designed to be the pillar of the family, the disappearance of the head of the family has led to the collapse of that pillar and the disintegration of the family. But since the family is the fundamental unit of society, the disintegration of the family inevitably and inexorably is leading to the disintegration of society."

It is human fathers -- both husbands, who have been given the vocation to lead their families, and priests who have been given the spiritual care over their people -- who must, navigating by the grace of God, willingly assume the captaincy within the current culture so that all of us can continue and complete our perilous journeys, and sail into the safe harbor of our Father's omnipresent love.
posted by John Wagner at 11:23 AM

"You are the weakest link. Goodbye." Millions of Americans, and British television viewers before them, have heard Anne Robinson, host of the TV program "Weakest Link," utter these words to contestants who have been eliminated from that show's competition, and who now must proceed down the "Walk of Shame" as they leave the set. Is something wrong with this picture?

"Weakest Link" made its United States debut on NBC in April. Following on the success of "Survivor," one of the first popular television offerings of the so-called "reality" genre, and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", ABC's top-rated game show hosted by Regis Philbin, "Weakest Link" has been described as a hybrid of those two earlier programs. Like "Survivor," "Weakest Link" is built around a number of individuals who, for certain aspects of the competition, must work together as a team, but only one of the "team" members goes on to win the ultimate prize. Like "Millionaire," contestants on "Weakest Link" are asked general knowledge questions for increasingly larger amounts of money.

Notwithstanding these basic similarities, however, both the rules and the emotional atmosphere of "Weakest Link" take it beyond either "Survivor," with its strategic and shifting intrateam alliances as players are "voted off," or "Millionaire," which actually fosters cooperation by allowing those who reach the money rounds to ask the studio audience or phone a friend when they are unsure of an answer.

On the dark, futuristic stage of "Weakest Link," the individual contestants are totally on their own. The only sense in which the contestants are a "team" (although they are continually referred to by the host as such) is that larger amounts of money can be "banked," to be claimed by the eventual winner, if more consecutive questions are answered correctly. In every other respect, the best strategy that an individual contestant can employ to win the game is to look out only for himself or herself. As the game progresses to its later stages, tactics of self-interest actually call for the player who is the "strongest link," by virtue of answering more questions correctly, to be eliminated from the competition.

What sets "Weakest Link" most apart from anything that has preceded it is the demeanor of Anne Robinson, who is also the featured performer in the British version of the show. With a background in investigative newspaper and TV journalism, Ms. Robinson comes across as a "host/inquisitor" (so characterized on NBC's web site) who lacks any compassion or mercy for the contestants. Rather, she delivers biting putdowns at the conclusion of each question round prior to the voting, such as "Who is allergic to intelligence?", "Whose traffic light is stuck on red?", and "Who is the poster child for incompetence?"

The argument is made by some that programs like "Weakest Link" are simply entertainment, and thus the underlying philosophy of the show should not be taken seriously. Others would contend that "Weakest Link" and "Survivor" are only reflecting cultural reality, and thus should not be blamed for portraying competitions in which members of the same pseudo-society systematically eliminate each another until only one of them -- and not necessarily the "fittest" -- is left standing.

In a review of the British version of "Weakest Link" on the Brave New World web site, it is observed that the combination of the ruthless tearing apart of the team coupled with the merciless sarcasm of Ms. Robinson adds up to "a celebration of the miserable. It's an embodiment of the ethos of intolerance. It's a refutation of communitarian instincts, where we used to look out for each other."

In fact, "joy caused by the misfortune of a neighbor" is a sin against the Tenth Commandment. St. Gregory the Great, as quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church< (n. 2539), sees such sin as one of several that are born from the capital sin of envy.

Incorporating proverbial wisdom, as well as giving rise to the name of a questionable television show, the American philosopher William James said that "a chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and life is after all a chain." Indeed, as the Italian author Natalia Ginzburg observed last century, "the fates of men are so intimately linked to one another that a disaster for one is a disaster for everybody." Instead of adopting a mindset that would destroy weak links wherever encountered, we should "encourage one another daily while it is still 'today,' so that no one grows hardened by the deceit of sin." (Hebrews 3:13)
posted by John Wagner at 5:31 AM

The other night, my 9-year-old son's youth baseball team had practice. I'm an assistant coach for the team, and I was helping out by retrieving the relatively few balls that the players hit to the outfield during batting practice. I even managed to catch a couple of the balls before they hit the ground, although it took me a comparatively longer time to start running for the ball than it does for the typical fielder on our team. Although a handful of veterans, like Cal Ripken, whose lifetime odometers are close to my own somehow retain the necessary athletic skill, sports like baseball, at their highest levels of competition, are meant to be played by the young.

The current season of examinations and graduations is an annual underscoring of the importance of youth, and the rite of passage signified by the conferral of a diploma concretely brings boys and girls, and men and women, one step further toward full adult status in society and culture. Those graduates who have come from a home -- the "natural environment for initiating a human being into solidarity and communal responsiblities" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2224) -- where authentic family life has been lived will be especially prepared to fulfill the duty to discern their own vocations and professions. (Parents, of course, must not exert pressure on their emerging adult children with respect to professional or spousal choices, while at the same time being ever ready to provide "judicious advice" (CIC, n. 2230).)

Particularly in an era where, in the evocative words of Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, a "culture of death" has permeated the world, it is especially important that youth be taught by word and action to live their faith to the full, for their own betterment and society's as well.

The permissive abortion laws in the world's industrialized countries, which provide the legal underpinnings for the intentional killing of millions of unborn children each year, are a prime example of the moral depravity to which supposedly enlightened cultures can sink. As difficult as it may be to maintain a pro-life attitude in prayer, thought and action after more than three decades of governmental sanction of abortion in the West, parents must continually strive to insure that their growing children perceive how fundamentally evil it is that the liquidation of their brothers and sisters has been enshrined as a "right" by some.

The situation with respect to abortion is even worse in Communist China, where Hilary Clinton's dictum that "it takes a village to raise a child" has been turned on its head. As disclosed this week by the Washington Post, ultrasound machines that can detect the gender of unborn chidren are being used even in rural villages to kill girl babies, who are less desirable as farm workers and who leave their parents' families to join their husbands' when they marry. With males far outnumbering females in such locations, the social consequences as youth come of age are predicted to be disastrous.

Not only in the pro-life arena, but in other aspects of political, social, and religious life, we should be strongly encouraging our youth to gradually assume the full participation that will one day be necessary if the cause of living the Truth by the Lord's children is to be sustained this side of His return in glory. The celebration of Pentecost Sunday reminds us that the Holy Spirit's gifts are available to aid our efforts, to the extent that we are ready to cooperate with the graces that He bestows.

The respected baseball philosopher Yogi Berra once opined, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Along similar lines, but at a greater intellectual depth, civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy said, "I don't know what the future may hold, but I know who holds the future." Children are our future. The more infused that they become with the values of the culture of life, the greater is the likelihood that the banner of life will be raised higher in the world even in our lifetime. It is in our mutual interest for we "old-timers" to pray our youth Godspeed while we inpart life skills to them, so that when they take the field, they don't drop the ball.
posted by John Wagner at 1:03 PM

In the United States, summer unofficially begins with the weekend leading up to Memorial Day -- a national holiday now celebrated on the last Monday of May, on which Americans recall the sacrifices made by those men and women in the armed services who gave their lives for their country. It is not coincidental that this weekend was chosen for the release of the new movie “Pearl Harbor,” which recreates the 1941 Japanese attack on a Hawaiian naval base in which many military personnel were killed.

Without question, it is important to commemorate, so as to hold in high esteem and be ready to emulate if necessary, courageous souls who gave the last full measure of their devotion for a higher cause. This truth is not only recognized by national governments such as the United States, it is the reason that Catholics venerate martyrs, the holy witnesses of Christ who have died for their faith through all ages of Christianity. Thousands of Catholics were martyred during the century just passed, and Pope John Paul II has canonized hundreds of martyrs during his pontificate.

Just as only a portion of those called into military service are killed in action, however, only a minority of Catholic faithful worldwide will likely be called to martyrdom by the Lord. But this does not mean that sacrifices short of death may not also be the means of sanctification for those of all vocations who make them in love. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church observes, “[b]y uniting ourselves with [Christ’s] sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God” (n. 2100).

In a speech last month to an international university congress, the Holy Father instructed the assembled students that “[p]art of Christian realism is to understand that great social changes are the fruit of small courageous daily choices.” He went on: “You often ask yourselves: when will this world of ours be fully conformed to the Gospel message? The answer is simple: when you first think and always act according to Christ, at least a part of that world will, in you, be entrusted to him.”

In the everyday life of faith in the world, therefore, “Little Things Mean a Lot.” A popular song from years ago, so titled, lists a number of “little things” that a wife wishes that her husband would do to show his love for her. In the context of marriage, such things are definitely important. For marriage and other types of interpersonal relationships, the wellspring of authentic love is grace, and such grace is made available to all in the normal course of events by sacrificial self-giving in the little things.

Little things are not necessarily easy things. The daily demands of home, the workplace, and society generally provide many opportunities for sacrificing of one’s self-interest. It was the “Little Flower,” St. Therese of Lisieux, who through the publication of her writings after her death in 1897 set for the world the course to holiness known as the “little way,” which she described as “the way of spiritual childhood, the way of trust and absolute surrender.” In seeking to participate in redemptive suffering and thus gain precious graces from the Lord, St. Therese would endeavor to silently perform small acts of self-sacrifice in the course of her everyday tasks.

The “little way” has been lauded by popes and has inspired countless Catholics, including Japanese convert Francis Hirohisa Saito, who was born the year after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1942 and who has dedicated an Internet website to her teachings, in both English and Japanese. While acknowledging that he is “far away from what St. Therese practiced everyday,” Francis has found that “the Little Way works as the surest way to abandon myself totally to the Heart of Jesus no matter what I am doing or facing in everyday life.”

We do well to remember the great sacrifices of those who made them, for country as well as for God. At the same time, let us not forget the importance of “little” sacrifices, made along a path to holiness that can be followed by those of any country or walk of life, in the heroic footsteps of a French missionary who never left her homeland.
posted by John Wagner at 1:45 PM

In a culture that has placed principles of freedom of choice at a level equal to -- or, for some, higher than -- the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, it should not be entirely surprising that adoption has attained a respectable social standing.

The English word adopt is derived from the Latin verb adoptare, and the root verb, optare, means “to choose.” Modern law has continued the ancient Roman legal process by which citizens can become parents by opting to raise a child as their own. When a family makes the serious and loving commitment to adopt a child, each time furthering the cause of “Adoption, Not Abortion,” those who advocate the death of preborn children on grounds of choice as a paramount right are left with little to say.

As it has come to be understood in contemporary discourse, the concept of adoption has taken on a wider meaning, and adoption is now associated with various types of selection. A governing body can adopt a committee report. An environmentally-minded individual or group can adopt a portion of highway, and thereby accept responsibility for its upkeep. And one can adopt an otherwise unwanted animal as a pet.

It is in this latter context that a curious blending of the original and extended meanings of adoption is taking place. For example, a local chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been urging people to become a “mother” or “father” of an abandoned dog or cat. In the same vein, shirts and other consumer goods identifying the owner of an animal as its “mom” or “dad” are on the market, and at least some pet owners are receptive to such designations.

If “aninals are people, too,” as a Pax television series and animal rights activists maintain, then there would be no difficulties caused by assuming a parental relationship with a St. Bernard or a Siamese. After all, aren’t humans also animals, and so wouldn’t the denial of the legitimacy of an adoptive relationship with a dog or cat amount to socially unacceptable discrimination on the basis of species?

The short answer is no. Please understand that I appreciate animals within their established role in the created order. My wife and I are secular Franciscans, and our spiritual father, St. Francis of Assisi, is universally known for his love of animals. One of our daughters was even born on October 4, the feast of St. Francis (and she really loves animals).

But as much as we value animals, we value revealed truth even more. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CIC) teaches that since God entrusted animals to the stewardship of man, they may be used for food, clothing, work, and reasonable scientific experimentation (CIC, 2417). And while it is contrary to human dignity to cause the needless suffering of animals, “it is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery.” (CIC, 2418) Furthermore, while love of animals is legitimate, “one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons.” (ibid.)

Thus, while humans have responsibilities toward animals, animals themselves do not have rights. There is a place for owning, rather than “adopting,” domestic pets, but not at the expense of the family of man. The Father has adopted us through Jesus (cf. Eph. 1:5), and so we should reserve such a special parental relationship for those made in His image, even as we image the Father in so doing. Children are people, too.
posted by John Wagner at 11:37 AM

On a warm sunny day, we came together for the Mass. My bride-to-be, teary-eyed, was at the back of the church. Her father, ever the protector, was there with her to console her, even as he gave her away. Solemnly, but lovingly, he took her by the hand, and led her down the aisle to the flower-bedecked altar, where I awaited her. There, in the Eucharistic liturgy, we took each other, to have and to hold until death, in the life-giving Sacrament of Matrimony.

Our parents in the pews behind us, whose own marriage vows and holy unions had brought us into being, now added us to their family circles, while we joined to form a family of our own. In the nuptial blessing, we heard the priest say: “Bless them with children and help them to be good parents. May they live to see their children’s children. And, after a happy old age, grant them fullness of life with the saints in the kingdom of heaven.” We went forth boldly, fortified by so great a sacrament, to live together the vocation that the Lord had shown us. Perhaps it was in the knowledge of the graces now at our command, and the parental support that he would continue to provide, that my new father-in-law was content to limit his pre-honeymoon advice to his daughter to “eat your peas.”

In due time, the prayers of our wedding day were answered, and we were blessed with our six children. Early in our marriage, and with an infant daughter, my parents-in-law generously invited us to live with them temporarily as my wife and I sought to establish a regular means of support. This search eventually led us to move away from my in-laws, which meant that we and our children would not see them very often. But this did not diminish their love and support for all of us, manifested each year in birthday, Christmas, and other gifts, and shown in the few days annually that personal visits could be arranged. Our children especially treasured these times with their grandparents, since we lived the farthest away and thus were less able to benefit from the open-door hospitality that my in-laws continually showed to their children and grandchildren.

Late last year, my father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer. After months of increasing pain, during which he was attended valiantly by his faithful wife and strengthened in spirit by daily reception of Holy Communion brought to him by his parish deacon and other ministers, he died at home this past week. His wife and all of his children -- my extended family through marriage -- were with him at the end.

So on a warm sunny day, we again came together for Mass. My wife, teary-eyed, was at the back of the church. The body of her father, once her protector, was there. Her mother, husband, children, and other relatives were there to console each other, even as we gave Papa Egan back to God. Solemnly, but lovingly, we followed him down the aisle to the flower-bedecked altar, where the Lord awaited him. There, in the Eucharistic liturgy, we prayed for him in death, and for each other, as we await the eternal reunion when the family circle will be complete once more and forever.
posted by John Wagner at 1:33 PM

Erich Segal’s 1970 film Love Story contributed to American culture the memorable line “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” The apparent intent of such an understanding of love, particularly as applied to marriage or other close personal relationships, is that spoken apologies are unnecessary where those involved have a deep mutual understanding that transcends words.

The lived experience of humanity, however, runs strongly counter to this accepted cultural philosophy. Where disunity stemming from wrongdoing exists at the personal, familial, ethnic, or religious level, societal harmony is best served by expressions of sorrow for the wrong coupled with amendatory conduct.

Those who are living the vocation of marriage can testify to the validity of this principle. As discussed in a 1999 article by Eileen Silva Kindig in Marriage Partnership magazine, a sincere apology to a wronged spouse, accompanied by a change in the offending behavior, is the appropriate way to respond in affirming the marital bond.

At the ecumenical level, Catholics can look to the leadership given by Pope John Paul II, who in March 2000 left a message at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem expressing sadness for the behavior of those who had caused the children of Abraham to suffer, and who this past week in Greece offered an apology to Orthodox Christians for sins by Catholics against them.

In accord with this lived experience is the Catholic understanding of the necessity of reconciliation. Quoting the Council of Trent, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CIC) defines contrition, the first act of one who would seek the sacrament of forgiveness, as “sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again.” (CIC, 1451) When this contrition arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, it is called “perfect” contrition (CIC, 1452). Viewed in this way, true love -- the love from which all other loves are derived -- does mean having to say you’re sorry.

But again, saying so is not sufficient in itself. Actions speak louder than words, or as the updated version has it, “if you want to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk.” Our God is Love, and it was on the Via Dolorosa -- the Way of Sorrows, Jesus' Love Story for us -- that He showed us how to walk the walk. As repentent travellers with Him, however, we are assured that our burdens will be light.
posted by John Wagner at 6:17 AM

My wife and I can now officially be enumerated among soccer moms and soccer dads, with four of our six children now playing the sport that one of the unenlightened members of my daughter's high school athletic department disparagingly refers to as "communist kickball." In the political arena, the term "soccer mom" has become a shorthand reference for middle-class suburban mothers whose values are exemplified by the support they provide to their children's athletic and other extracurricular endeavors. This demographic category has been perceived as an electoral barometer, indicative of the success or failure of national and local candidates for public office. The political activities of soccer moms, however, are perhaps better understood as emanations from their moral views. Sometimes, one can obtain insight on these moral views without conducting so much as a single focus group. On two separate occasions recently, parents of our younger children's soccer teammates had no hesitation in their casual conversations with other parents in asserting, sometimes with a laugh, that one, two or three children was all that they planned to have. Without judging the parents, responsible spacing of births for just reasons seemed not to be at issue. These were not the first occasions that I have heard parents (usually the mothers) going out of their way to share the most intimate type of family information -- how many members the parents, as sole arbiters of the final number, would accept. What appears to be occurring in these instances are attempts by the parents to obtain social validation for their decisions to limit family size. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "conjugal love naturally tends to be fruitful," and, due to the inseparable connection between its unitive and procreative significance, "each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life" (paragraph 2366). Indeed, large families are seen as "a sign of God's blessing and the parents' generosity" (paragraph 2373). It is therefore not surprising to hear parents publicly seeking justification for decisions that attempt to circumvent the natural order of marriage. My wife and I know from 20 years of practical experience that life in the larger family is not always sweetness and light. But we also know that it is our vocation. We wouldn't trade in any of our children, even if the statute of limitations had not already expired on them. Perhaps there will be a budding soccer star or two in the bunch. But there is a better chance that some of them will be soccer moms and dads themselves some day. It is on the greater playing field of life that we hope our coaching of them bears much fruit, as all of us go to the Goal.
posted by John Wagner at 1:07 PM

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (Matthew 5:7) Tomorrow is the first official celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday, as the Catholic Church decreed last year that this universal feast be instituted on the Second Sunday of Easter (traditionally called "Low Sunday") as "a perennial invitation to the Christian world to face, with confidence in divine benevolence, the difficulties and trials that mankind will experience in the years to come." As the Lord revealed to St. Faustina, the Polish nun and apostle of the Divine Mercy devotion who was canonized last year, an individual's participation in sacramental confession in anticipation of the feast, coupled with reception of Holy Communion on the feast itself, obtains the grace of complete remission of punishment due to sin. The infinite mercy of God to mankind, whose offenses compelled Love to endure Passion and death, is so great a gift that it almost seems too good to be true. The truth, however, is that those to whom such mercy is bestowed are obliged to act mercifully themselves. Jesus told St. Faustina that "there must also be deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to our neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to absolve yourself from it." Pope John Paul II, in his 1980 encyclical letter on the mercy of God, Dives in Misericordia, has further observed that "[a]n act of merciful love is only really such when we are deeply convinced at the moment that we perform it that we are at the same time receiving mercy from the people who are accepting it from us." Opportunities to become instruments of the Divine Mercy are thus present in every personal interaction, within the broader social community as well as in the family circle. My father-in-law is dying of cancer at home, and this past Easter week my wife, children and I were witness to the heroic mercy of his "unfailing prize" (Prov. 31:11), my mother-in-law, who constantly attended him at all hours. It was thus within the same spiritual context that she gathered all of us to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet daily at his bedside. Later this week, I heard the Al Green hit song "Let's Stay Together," in which the singer proclaims to his beloved that he will be "lovin' you whether times are good or bad, happy or sad." Such a sentiment echoes spousal love, and also reminds us of the Divine Mercy, manifested to us as a result of the felix culpa -- the "happy fault", the "necessary sin of Adam" -- that gained for us so great a Redeemer (Exultet, Easter Vigil) who remains with us forever.
posted by John Wagner at 5:03 AM

Freedom -- liberation from captivity and an uncertain fate -- is being relished on this Good Friday by the 24 American crewmembers of the military surveillance airplane which had to make an emergency landing on the Chinese island of Hainan. The freedom from physical restraint, far from the comforts of home, that these men and women now savor is, in a tangible way, related to the faculty of human freedom. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) (paragraph 1731) observes, freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By conferring the dignity of personhood, in the divine image, on man, God gave created beings the capacity to reject their Creator. Tragically, in the Garden of Eden, the first man, Adam, chose to disobey God, and "human history attests the wretchedness and oppression born of the human heart in consequence of the abuse of freedom." (CCC, 1739) As the world news headlines daily attest, the unjust exercise of freedom continues to bring about all manner of human casualties. But it need not be so. Nearly two millennia ago, the Son of Man, the "New Adam," purchased eternal freedom by his suffering and death, solemnly commemorated today. "By his glorious Cross Christ has won salvation for all men. He redeemed them from the sin that held them in bondage." (CCC, 1741) Man is free henceforth, through the grace of Christ, to freely collaborate in the Holy Spirit's work in the Church and in the world (cf. CCC, 1742). And, Lord knows, there is plenty of such work to be done. The Truth has made us free. Let us continue in authentic liberty on our journey home, our hearts ever resting in Him.
posted by John Wagner at 9:02 AM

The United States military award known as the Purple Heart was established in 1782 by General George Washington, who would go on to become the first President of the United States. The award is merited by any service member, regardless of rank, who is wounded or killed in action against an enemy. Many Americans heroes have earned this award, my grandfather among them. Another American president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, reminded all that "those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them." Remembrance of the valor of countrymen seems especially poignant as the solemnities of Holy Week commence, and for good reason. Those men who have sustained injury or death for family and nation emulate the Son of Man, who in his farewell discourse to the Apostles after the Last Supper implored them to love one another: "Greater love than this no one has, that one lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). As the chief of the Apostles later wrote, "Christ also has suffered for you, leaving you an example that you may follow in his steps" (1 Peter 2:21). Isaiah had prophecied that the Servant of the Lord would say: "I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame" (Is. 50:7). Jesus was fully prepared for His salvific battle for all men against evil. In making the ultimate sacrifice, and giving the last full measure of His devotion by laying down his life, "he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed" (Is. 53:5). Let us not forget that Christ's passion and death have won for us the privilege of everlasting citizenship in His Kingdom. Not only those in the military, but everyone can seek supernatural fortitude to live their vocations in love, knowing that the God of Mercy will credit them for injuries sustained in the line of duty. Richard H. Duckwell's poem, "The Purple Heart", thus offers to all an Easter hope:

Once upon a time when most of us had died,

A soldier at the judgment seat applied.

"Show Me," the stern one said,

"Some proof that you are choice among the dead.

Some saintly act; some holy skill or kindly art."

The soldier replied,

"Only this, Oh Magistrate, Oh King, Oh God;

My life's blood for my country stained the sod.

For proof ... I have this Purple Heart."

He gazed long at it, the King, all mankind's mentor.

Then nodding, softly whispered ... "ENTER."

posted by John Wagner at 6:34 AM

On one of his classic "Life is Worth Living" TV programs from the 1950s, which EWTN aired last night, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen explored some of the characteristics of love. An observation that he made on that program was "you can never love in a hurry." This comment may or may not have been the direct inspiration for the Supremes' later Motown hit, "You Can't Hurry Love." But the similarity in phrasing is not coincidental. In the famous passage on love from St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, the primary attribute of love mentioned in his list is patience; a few verses later, St. Paul notes that "there is no limit to love's forbearance" (1 Cor. 13:4, 7). One of the seven chief spiritual works of mercy is to bear wrongs patiently. As a revised edition of the venerable Baltimore Catechism elucidates: "It is an act of love to accept the consequences of another's thoughtlessness or carelessness, and to suffer inconveniences which another should bear." Significantly, the English word patience has the same etymology as the word passion. Both words are derived from forms of the Latin verb patior, meaning "to suffer." One translation of perhaps the most famous hymn for the season of Lent, "O Sacred Head Surrounded," includes these verses: "O Jesus, by Thy Passion/Thy life in us increase./Thy death for us did fashion/Our pardon and our peace." Our Lord has provided us with the most cogent proof that you cannot love in a hurry. He endured the cross and grave for us, so that we can share everlasting love with Him. Drawing on the graces of the Passion, may our acts of love in bearing wrongs patiently convince our family members, and all with whom we come in contact, that eternal life is worth living.
posted by John Wagner at 3:52 AM

President George W. Bush is not a Catholic, and his views on some issues, such as the death penalty, do not correspond with the teaching of the Church. Nevertheless, if his speech at the March 21 dedication of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. were sincere, hopes that the Bush administration will bring a stronger moral outlook on the life issues to the presidency than did the Clinton administration remain firm. In his remarks, Mr. Bush noted with apparent approval that the Holy Father carried a message that "wealth alone is a false comfort," and that John Paul's vision of justice and human rights has "the unexpected power of a baby in a stable, of a man on a cross, of a simple fisherman who carried a message of hope to Rome." Mr. Bush went so far as to say that the Holy Father "is never more eloquent than when he speaks for a culture of life," thus citing the catch phrase used by John Paul in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, which was published exactly six years ago on March 25, 1995. The president went on to explain in detail what this fundamental phrase meant to him: "The culture of life is a welcoming culture, never excluding, never dividing, never despairing and always affirming the goodness of life in all its seasons. In the culture of life we must make room for the stranger. We must comfort the sick. We must care for the aged. We must welcome the immigrant. We must teach our children to be gentle with one another. We must defend in love the innocent child waiting to be born." This last reference to abortion gained him a standing ovation, joined by all present except for Senator Edward Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. President Bush has given himself a lot to live up to as our country's executive. Time will tell how well he conforms to the high standard that not only he, but all of us, are called to in our own vocations to bring about the culture of life. Let us continue to pray for Mr. Bush's success, and ours as well.
posted by John Wagner at 5:02 AM

"With God, All Things Are Possible." These words of Our Lord (Matthew 19:26), which were spoken in response to the disciples' anxieties about how difficult it was to be saved, now appear to have been an accurate characterization of the prospects of reversing a federal appellate court's judgment that Ohio's use of the phrase as its motto somehow established an official religion in the state. Although the motto had been in effect since 1959, the suit arose in the mid-1990s when the state government proposed to install the motto with the state seal into a plaza at the Ohio statehouse. The American Civil Liberties Union claimed that by adopting the phrase as its motto, Ohio had violated the Federal Constitution's First Amendment, in particular the clause forbidding the federal government (and, by extension, state governments as well) from passing any law "respecting an establishment of religion." An Ohio Federal District Court rejected this claim in 1998. On appeal, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit last year reversed the District Court's decision. The panel's decision in turn was reviewed by the full Sixth Circuit court. Yesterday, the full court ruled, in ACLU of Ohio v. Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, that the District Court's original determination was correct. It is interesting that the decision was rendered on the 250th anniversary of the birth of James Madison, who was the principal author of the U.S. Constitution and the "Father of the First Amendment." The majority opinion observes that Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, as well as Thomas Jefferson's Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, which eventually became law in Virginia, "clearly reflect an understanding of religious establishments as entailing coerced observance of, or monetary support for, a religion or religions." In contrast, said the court, Ohio's motto "involves no coercion. It does not purport to compel belief or acquiescence. It does not command participation in any form of religious exercise. It does not assert a preference for one religious denomination or sect over others, and it does not involve the state in the governance of any church. ... The motto is merely a broadly worded expression of a religious/philosophical sentiment that happens to be widely shared by the citizens of Ohio." Citizens everywhere are well reminded to continually recall the divine encouragement given by these words.
posted by John Wagner at 5:54 AM

"So, what's your sign?" This conversational icebreaker phrase, among those who are believers in the Zodiac, yields responses such as "I'm Gemini," or "I'm Aries." But according to some advertising agencies, as reported by Zenit, an increasing number of people might answer "I'm Microsoft," or "I'm Nike." The Young & Rubicam agency says that "[b]rands are the new religion. People turn to them for meaning. ... The brands that are succeeding are those with strong beliefs and original ideas. They are also the ones that have the passion and energy to change the world, and to convert people to their way of thinking though outstanding communications." It is true that in the business world, brand loyalty -- the propensity of customers to repeatedly purchase a particular brand of product from among several virtually identical competing products -- is a product value of high importance. The extent to which such brand loyalty can be taken is seen in an example given in a report by Fitch, another advertising agency. Increasingly, deceased customers of Harley-Davidson motorcycles are requesting to be buried in Harley-branded coffins. What should be the response of Christian believers to all of this? How about: Sic transit gloria mundi -- thus passes the glory of the world. As much as your correspondent is a devoted fan of the Chicago White Sox baseball team, his "belief brand" is not a White Sox logo. It is something that was designed for much more sinister purposes, but which has brought eternal Light to millions during the past two millennia. It is the Holy Cross, because of which we adore and bless Christ, for by that Cross He has redeemed the world. Let us ever lift high, and carry well, this life-giving Sign.
posted by John Wagner at 6:58 AM

This past Tuesday -- Mardi Gras -- my family and I celebrated the last day before Lent in a traditional manner by having a rare dinner out together. We enjoyed various entrees featuring meat, in the spirit of the ancient lenten practice of abstaining from meat ("carnem levare," from which the word Carnival is derived) for the entire period from Ash Wednesday until Easter. In New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Seattle, the focus was on a different kind of flesh. It appears to have become customary in these cities to engage in excessive alcoholic consumption and public nudity, sinful behaviors that in no way predispose the human soul to the coming liturgical season of penance and reform. Columnist Michelle Malkin, likening the debauchery in the cities mentioned to the golden calf scene in the movie "The Ten Commandments," noted that a Philadelphia woman bared her chest in front of her husband and 7-year-old son because "my husband told me to [for similar spousal advice, see Genesis 3]. It was fun, it was scary and it was crazy." The other traditional name for the day before Ash Wednesday is Shrove Tuesday, so called because it was a day on which the faithful would "shrive" -- that is, confess their sins to a priest so as to enter more readily into the holy season of Lent. My family followed this ancient custom as well by receiving the Sacrament of Penance today before another, infinitely better celebration -- the Mass of the First Sunday of Lent.
posted by John Wagner at 11:42 AM

"Are you a man or a mouse?" This question, until now, has been a colloquial way to inquire about someone's courage. But the inquiry has now taken on a much more sinister meaning. As reported in the Financial Times, a team of scientists led by Stanford University Professor Irving Weissman has produced laboratory mice in which as much as a quarter of the brain cells are human. In their experiment, the scientists seeded the brains of newborn mice with human neuronal stem cells (the article does not disclose whether these cells were byproducted from abortions, which is the subject of a separate, but no less critical public discussion). The mice had developed active human brain cells by the time that they were seven months old. The scientists who conducted this experiment are pausing for "a thorough debate about the ethics" before attempting to extend the technology so as to grow mice that have brains with mostly all human cells. The central philosophical question, "What is man?", has thus taken on renewed significance. Now that the fiction of Frankenstein is capable of coming to life, men and women of right reason in the scientific community, as well as all those who uphold the uniqueness of humanity as a creation made in the image and likeness of God, must be ready to provide the moral response. It was not a mouse who had the courage to go to the Cross for our sins -- it was the Son of Man.
posted by John Wagner at 4:15 AM

The new favorite song of pro-abortion proponents appears to be "The Morning After" the hit sung by Maureen McGovern for the famous disaster movie "The Poseidon Adventure." This past week, as reported by Catholic World News, a manufacturer of the abortifacient pharmaceutical product known as "Plan B" began clinical trials, with the goal of making the so-called "morning-after" pill available without a prescription. Both Plan B and Preven, another brand name, can both act to prevent the uterine implantation of a conceived human person and function as a contraceptive if fertilization has not yet occurred. While pro-abortionists claim that "There's got to be a morning after [pill]," the defenders of life will need to adhere ever more closely to the Lord's pro-life "Plan A." Ironically, pro-lifers can find solace and strength in the final lines of "The Morning After", applying them to the eternal reality: "It's not too late, we should be giving/Only with love can we climb/It's not too late, not while we're living/Let's put our hands out in time./There's got to be a morning after/We're moving closer to the shore/I know we'll be there by tomorrow/And we'll escape the darkness/We won't be searching anymore."
posted by John Wagner at 7:52 AM

French babies may take mothers' names, reports the BBC on a measure approved by the French National Assembly. I was unaware that this is already the law in most European countries. Moreover, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 1994 that national laws requiring children to bear their father's surnames were discriminatory. One member of the French National Assembly remarked that "the sponsors of this bill obviously have an unresolved Oedipal complex." I don't know about that, but such laws are clearly another swipe at the traditional family model of husbands and fathers as the heads of their households. Interestingly, French President Chirac's unmarried daughter secured the Chirac name for her son under the prior law, which limited the ability to use the maternal surname to unmarried mothers.
posted by John Wagner at 1:56 PM

From Pope John Paul II's general audience on February 7: "The Church in fact is born of God the Father’s eternal love, poured out on the world through the Son and the Holy Spirit. Like a mother, she continues through history to bring new children to birth in the waters of baptism and to proclaim Christ’s commandment to love one another as he has loved us. The certainty of God’s unfailing love inspires the Church to journey towards her heavenly home with joy and confidence, amid the trials and tribulations of the world." The Bride of Christ is Holy Mother Church, and her obedient children have nothing to fear in this life or the life to come.
posted by John Wagner at 2:17 PM

On February 1, Pope John Paul II delivered a discourse to the Roman Rota on the subject of the nature of marriage. The secular press saw fit to mention only those aspects of the Holy Father's speech that, unsurprisingly, continued the upholding of the natural moral law's proscription of "same-sex marriages." But the discourse touched on more fundamental themes. John Paul noted that "marriage is not simply any union between human persons, able to be formed according to a variety of cultural models. ... Looking at the historic and current reality of the family, not infrequently there is a tendency to emphasize the differences, in order to relativize the very existence of a natural design for union between man and woman." Indeed, he said, "reference to the natural dimension of their masculinity and femininity is crucial for understanding the essence of marriage. ... An ordering to the natural ends of marriage - the good of the married couple and the procreation and education of children - is intrinsically present in masculinity and femininity." On the subject of matrimonial consent, the Holy Father observed that "[i]t is necessary to see if the persons, besides recognizing the person of the other, have truly grasped the essential dimension of their conjugality, which by intrinsic necessity involves faithfulness, indissolubility, and potential motherhood and fatherhood, as goods which complete a relationship of justice."
posted by John Wagner at 4:44 AM

President Bush and Vice-President Cheney continue to sound a more pro-life tone for the U.S. federal executive. As Catholic World News reports, Mr. Bush -- unlike the British legislature, as noted directly below -- is opposed to using human embryonic stem cells from aborted humans in medical research, and remarks by Mr. Cheney appear to leave open the possibility that the administration will seek to make inroads on the virtual abortion-on-demand regime under Roe v. Wade. In the face of the anticipated vocal opposition to these moves by abortion proponents, it is to be hoped that Bush and Cheney will stand their ground. There can be no authentic, healing unity in the national body politic absent support for the civil rights of those who cannot yet speak for themselves -- the unborn future voters of America.
posted by John Wagner at 5:33 PM

Another bioethical issue has begun its descent down the slippery slope, as Britain has legalized the cloning of human embryonic stem cells for the purpose of researching disease treatments. The vote in both the House of Commons last year, and the House of Lords earlier this week, was 2-to-1 in favor. The latter vote was in the face of widespread opposition from religious leaders. If other nations follow Britain's lead, it won't be long before human cloning joins abortion, infanticide (which "partial-birth abortion really is), and euthanasia (starting in the Netherlands) as legally-sanctioned options that are in opposition to natural morality. The defenders of the natural moral law have a lot to do, on every level.
posted by John Wagner at 6:30 AM

Rae Carruth, a former National Football League player, has been acquitted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend in a 1999 drive-up shooting, as reported by CNNSI. However, Mr. Carruth, 26, was found guilty on three other charges, including conspiracy to commit murder and "using an instrument with intent to kill an unborn child." Cherica Adams, 24, died a month after the shooting, which the prosecution argued had been arranged by Mr. Carruth to avoid paying child support, but the child, delivered by emergency C-section, survived. There is tragedy all around here -- the untimely death of a young woman, the child who must now grow up without either of his parents, the criminal record which a gifted young man must face as he serves his sentence and attempts to rebuild his life. I was certainly struck by the irony that under some circumstances, those who use an instrument to kill an unborn child can still face criminal sanction. It all depends on whether the child in utero is wanted or not. The suction machine and curette wielded by abortionists in their deadly trade are certainly "instruments" that destroy unborn life. And for the newly-conceived human persons swept out of earthly existence by the abortifacient pill RU-486, that pill is certainly an "instrument" of their deaths. How long can the national consciousness endure this duality? The sad answer is, at least 28 years -- Roe v. Wade was decided on Jan. 22, 1973.
posted by John Wagner at 4:30 AM

As noted in the Scotsman Online, British actor David Jason, 60, is somewhat unsettled by the fact that he is about to become a father for the first time. The mother is his 41-year-old "partner" -- apparently not his wife. Said Mr. Jason, "I suppose I am happy and proud, but I don't really know." He added that he would "a wimp" when it came to the business of being present when his child was born. The objective argument is appreciably strong, however, that if you're man enough to be present at the start of the process, you should be man enough to be there at the end as well. Love that is "strong as death" -- the love that is only possible in sacramental matrimony -- should be more than enough to overcome any semblance of squeamishness. The Lord's grace for the lifelong race is available to all, even detective stars.
posted by John Wagner at 5:30 PM

The new television series "Temptation Island," to be broadcast by the Fox television network, is excoriated in E.J. Dionne Jr.'s Jan. 12 column in the Washington Post, aptly titled "Exploitation Island." While taking pains to distance himself from the "Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells of the world" -- who presumptively would censor the broadcasting of a program in which (unmarried) couples are separated from each other and placed in the company of men and women who essentially attempt to seduce them -- Dionne nevertheless states that such a show is "far worse than lascivious," in that "[i]t turns human relationships into trivial, commercialized exchanges in which couples trade what are supposed to be committed relationships for a free vacation." Fox is perceived to be a more politically conservative network, and Dionne rightfully skewers the network executives as "capitalist[s] who [are] perfectly willing to demean human beings to make a buck." Dionne also notes that he has been subjected to advertising for "Temptation Island" on the Fox football game telecasts. I wonder -- is there a connection grounded in dehumanization between scantily-clad "cheerleaders" (for a professional sport played by adults!) and the exploitation of intimacy in "reality" television programs like "Temptation Island"? So it seems to me.
posted by John Wagner at 1:24 PM

One of the results in a recent poll on politics and religion was that only 26 percent of Americans would be more likely to vote for a candidate that decided issues on the basis of religious convictions, while most respondents said that compromise was necessary for public officials. It's no wonder that U.S. Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft, who has been strongly pro-life during his career in state and federal public offices, is considered an "extremist" who is unworthy to hold high public office in the United States. How solidly President-elect Bush stands behind Ashcroft, particularly in light of how quickly support for Secretary of Labor-designate Linda Chavez was relinquished, will show the American public a few things -- one of them being how persons with strong religious views can expect to fare in an increasingly secularist nation.
posted by John Wagner at 3:54 PM

Pope John Paul II has officially closed the Jubilee Year 2000 by shutting the Holy Doors of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. He has also issued an apostolic letter entitled Novo Millennio Ineunte ("At the beginning of the new millennium"), which reviews the events of the Jubilee Year and outlines the Holy Father's thoughts on how the Church should proceed from this juncture in its history. The letter is both wide-ranging in its consideration of various aspects of the Church's pastoral mission and infused with the personal observations that have endeared this pope to millions throughout the world. My sense is that this document will be looked upon in the future as an important source of insight into the mind and soul of a pope already being referred to in his lifetime by some as "Pope John Paul the Great."
posted by John Wagner at 3:12 AM