Rights vs. Taking Life

Dear Editor: I am writing to urge all Catholics in the diocese and all those who support the Right to Life within the borders of the diocese to contact their elected representatives in New York State Senate to work against and vote against a heinous piece of legislation proposed by Gov. Spitzer, his Program Bill #16, S. 5829, also known as the reproductive Health and Privacy Act, or RHAPP.

This bill declares a fundamental right of privacy, i.e., a fundamental right to abortion.

It will, if passed, legalize abortion through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason; make abortion immune from any reasonable state regulation such as parental notification or informed consent; repeal current law that requires doctors to perform abortions and allow a “health care practitioner” to provide it; allow late term abortions to be performed in clinics that do not offer the full complement of support facilities necessary to assist women and any child born alive during an abortion. This means that the local Planned Parenthood office in your neighborhood can become an abattoir of human misery.

There are several other very harmful provisions in this bad legislation, and I respectfully refer you to the website nyscatholic.org for more details. You can also send an e-mail to your elected representatives asking them to defeat this terrible anti-life legislation.

Rudolph D. Parson
Holbrook, L.I.

A Teaching Moment

Dear Editor: There we were, riding along an upstate road on a beautifully bright summer day. The picturesque scenery surrounding us seemed too good to be true. Green leafy trees were thriving on sprawling hills and colorful wildflowers were bursting forth everywhere. My thoughts turned to God in His creation and I imagined Jesus and Mary (and a few of my saint friends) being right there with us. I thought about how Jesus traveled along during His ministry slowly and deliberately. If you read the Gospels, you can see that He truly lived in the moment. He knew all things past and future, yet he seemed to savor all that was around Him. He showed us how to live life “abundantly” to use His word. I thought that was the only lesson He was showing me then… to slow down so that I could be conscious of His presence more often, the way He remained conscious of His Father’s presence, but I learned more I’ll share with you.

So there we were, my husband and I, traveling along. My gaze was fixed on a sparkling stream we were passing, when suddenly this strange voice rang out.

“Prepare to exit to the right in half a mile.” It was the GPS we had borrowed. My husband, who had been quietly driving along, also enjoying the serenity of our surroundings, kind of whined back, “I don’t want to!” And you know what? He didn’t. He kept right on driving along the same road. Ten seconds later, the voice said, “Recalculating.” A few miles down the road, the voice once again told us to exit the upcoming ramp. And again my husband said, “No, I want to go this way...” and we happily drove along waiting for the voice to tell us it was recalculating our route again. But, I kid you not… as if in reply to him, the voice said, “There is a better way.” We had never heard it say something like that before. It had only barked out directions. A bit stunned, we looked at each other for a shocked moment, then burst out laughing.

The next day, I was at morning Mass and Father William Hoppe, our pastor, was explaining the Gospel. During one part, he told us about how we don’t always understand things that happen in life, but we trust that it’s all part of God’s plan of salvation for us.

Later on, I was thinking of our trip with the GPS. It’s connected to satellites above the Earth and “sees” the bigger picture of things. It was trying to guide us home using the most direct and uncomplicated route. We chose to call upon the system, and it was trying to oblige us. I thought then that we often call upon Jesus and he certainly sees the big picture. He gives us the Church as a way to direct us home to God, but we don’t always want to listen or follow along the way He chooses for us. But there’s more to the lesson.

We had been on a happy, beautiful and peaceful road and resisted exiting it even though doing so would have brought us home in a more direct manner. We didn’t want to leave the “mountain” like the Apostles during the Transfiguration.
We, of course, know that God knows all things, yet when He sometimes calls us to follow Him down a less comfortable or pretty road in life, we resist. To us, the way seems unpleasant and we can’t see that it’s a quicker and easier way to Him. But even when we choose to ignore His invitation, He doesn’t leave us or give up on us. He “recalculates” and tries again later to show us a better way to Himself. He never stops calling to us. And like the GPS told us that there was a better way, Jesus tells us the same when He says, “I am the way…”

So I learned a few things from this trip. The first was to remember to enjoy God’s creation. I learned to try to slow down so I can walk along with Jesus who certainly takes His time. These were the lessons that required no effort on my part. The hardest lesson is to trust God, even when He tells us to follow him along paths we might otherwise choose not to travel upon, just like the GPS did.

So what do you know? Even Jesus uses technology to teach us!

Linda Luberto
Woodhaven

Rosary for Life Coverage

Dear Editor: Thank you so very much for your magnificent coverage of Rosary for Life’s anniversary celebration held at Good Shepherd Church on Oct. 4.

We really appreciate your ongoing support for our Rosary for Life Apostolate.
May God bless you for all the good work that you do in His Holy Name and may Mary be our guide!

Winifred G. Powers
Marine Park

Dear Editor: It was with pride and delight I read the article (Oct. 20) by Marie Elena Giossi telling, as Msgr. Joseph Calise states, that “the best advertisement for Cathedral Prep is her students.” Msgr. Calise and Father John Cush and the students of the Prep are to be thanked for this ministry of presence. The positive impressions that such visits leave stays with people long after the visit ends.

I remember when Joe Hoffman (now Father Joe Hoffman, pastor of St. Bartholomew’s, Elmhurst) and the beloved late Father Ed Troike came to my parish in 1970. I had been pondering going to a minor seminary for a religious order but the presence, compassion and integrity that they demonstrated in their visit had me reconsider. Thirty-three years later, the rhythm of life at Cathedral Prep still resonates with gratitude.

I hope the pastors and principals in Nassau County will consider inviting Msgr. Calise and Father John along with the members of the student community for such a visit. My family moved to Nassau when I was entering my senior year at Cathedral and while some people saw it as a long trip, it was worth it.

Father Kevin Francis Donlon
Class of 1974
Tampa, FL 

Dear Editor: As a former Catholic elementary school teacher at St. Mary Mother of Jesus School, I feel blessed in receiving many benefits from working in a Catholic school. But one of them was not financial riches. It is a disappointment to read in The Tablet that employees may lose their prescription plans because the NYS Catholic Conference feels the need to supervise and limit the free will choice God gave all people, including Catholic employees. 

The idea that the Catholic Conference would even consider taking away prescription drug coverage that people need to live healthy lives boggles my mind.  People have enough trouble finding the finances they need for health care without the loss of a prescription plan.     

                                                             
Dolores Mellina
Middletown N.J.

Question on Centering Prayer 

Dear Editor: I am writing in regard to Father Robert Lauder’s column (Oct. 6) entitled, “Preventing Prayer from Becoming Routine.” 

Father Lauder encourages the practice of centering prayer in this article. However, it is my understanding that this practice is distinctly discouraged by the Catholic Church.   

It seems quite clear that centering prayer is not Christian and is not advocated by the Church, but in fact the Church warns against it, so why is it being promoted by Father Lauder in your paper?   

I would appreciate an answer to this question. 

Mary Griffin
Brooklyn

Editor’s Note: Centering prayer can be attributed to the Desert Fathers, early Christian monasticism, Benedictine spirituality, Carmelite spirituality (St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila) and Lectio Divina. It is a form of prayer that many have found helpful for personal growth and holiness and perhaps is not for everyone in style. There has been no official specific condemnation of this style of prayer by the Magisterium. The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, led by the then-Josef Cardinal Ratzinger comes close to putting down some aspects of Centering Prayer in its 1990 document entitled Some Aspects of Christian Meditation. It warns of the dangers of mixing certain aspects of Eastern prayer with Christian prayer.