GOD SENT

03/12/2023

02/09/2023

02/09/2023

SEPTEMBER 3 | Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
"For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life, for my sake, will find it." -Matthew 16:25

12/07/2022

What does the Church teach about divorce?

Corruption of God’s plan for marriage entered into the world even among the ancient Israelites and that Jesus restored marriage among his followers to the way it was originally intended. Unfortunately, in many cultures today, God’s plan for marriage has been corrupted again as the governing of marriage has been handed over to civil authorities, most of whom assume they have the power to dissolve marriages. Civil divorce is often thought to free spouses of their nuptial bonds so that they may go on to marry others.

Consistent with Jesus’ teaching (see Matt. 19:3–9), the Catholic Church continues to teach both the indissolubility of marriage and the gravity of divorce. The Catechism teaches, "Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery: If a husband, separated from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery, and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another’s husband to herself (2384)."

Note that the Catechism does not say divorce dissolves marriage but that it “claims to break the contract.” Civil authorities simply do not have the power to dissolve a Christian marriage. And since Christian marriage is to be a human image of Christ’s relationship with his Church, civil divorce seriously corrupts that image. When a divorced spouse goes on to civilly marry another, he enters into an adulterous relationship with someone who is not truly his spouse. This is a grave situation for both of them, but as the Catechism points out, it also harms the people around them: “Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society” (2385).

Even so, in many societies today, so-called no-fault divorce means that one spouse may civilly divorce the other through no fault of the latter’s. Does this type of divorce constitute a sin on the part of the spouse who does not choose it? Of course, the answer is no. The Church addresses this question in the Catechism: "It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral law. There is a considerable difference between a spouse who has sincerely tried to be faithful to the sacrament of marriage and is unjustly abandoned, and one who through his own grave fault destroys a canonically valid marriage (2386)."

But what about a spouse who does choose civil divorce as a way to protect himself, his children, or his assets, from an unjust spouse? If divorce is chosen as a necessary protection but is not viewed as a dissolution of the marriage, then it may be a legitimate form of legal separation. The Catechism states, “The separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law. If civil divorce remains the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense” (2383).
However, it is important to make clear that civil divorce does nothing in regard to the validity of a marriage. Even though civil authorities may claim that a marriage has been broken and the spouses are free to marry others, this is simply not the truth of the matter. The only legitimate authority governing Christian marriages is Christ, through his Church. This is not to say that Christians should not cooperate with civil authorities insofar as their actions are legitimate (e.g., issuing marriage licenses under the competence of the state), but Christians must never concede to civil authorities that authority which belongs to God and the Church alone. As Jesus proclaimed, “What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (Matt. 19:6).

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05/07/2022

What is abortion?
Defining abortion can be difficult because both sides of the issue tend to use language that favors their opinion of the procedure. For example, people who believe abortion should be legal (who call themselves “pro-choice”) often define abortion as the termination of a pregnancy or the emptying of the contents of the uterus. In contrast, people who believe abortion should be illegal (who call themselves “pro-life”) often define abortion as the killing of a baby or the killing of an unborn human being.

So is abortion a morally innocuous emptying of the uterus, or is it child-killing? If pro-choice people are right and abortion is harmless surgery, then restrictions on abortion would hurt women and make them second-class citizens. If pro-life people are right and abortion kills a valuable human being, then keeping abortion legal would be the continuation of a tremendous evil that has taken tens of millions of innocent lives. So which side is right, and how should we respond?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, abortion is “the expulsion or removal from the womb of a developing embryo or fetus in the period before it is capable of independent survival.” This distinguishes abortion from childbirth when an unborn child is removed from the womb when he can survive and there is no intention of killing him.

Abortions are either spontaneous (usually referred to as miscarriages) or intentional (called induced abortions). The majority of induced abortions are elective, meaning they are done for social and non-health-related reasons. The most common reasons women give for having an abortion are: “Having a baby would dramatically change my life” (74 percent), “I can’t afford a baby right now” (73 percent), and “I don’t want to be a single mother or am having relationship problems” (48 percent).

About 90 percent of the 1.06 million abortions performed in the United States each year occur in the first trimester of pregnancy. During this stage of pregnancy, the abortion provider administers medication that causes something similar to a miscarriage, or he uses a tube connected to a vacuum to suck out the unborn human being from the uterus. If the latter procedure is used, the abortion provider will usually collect the child’s body parts in a jar and examine them to make sure none were left inside the mother.
In the later stages of pregnancy, when the unborn human is too big to fit through the vacuum tube, the abortion provider uses a procedure called dilation and evacuation (or D&E). This brutal procedure is described in the Supreme Court case Gonzales v. Carhart (2007):

The doctor, often guided by ultrasound, inserts grasping forceps through the woman’s cervix and into the uterus to grab the fetus. The doctor grips a fetal part with the forceps and pulls it back through the cervix and va**na, continuing to pull even after meeting resistance from the cervix. The friction causes the fetus to tear apart. For example, a leg might be ripped off the fetus as it is pulled through the cervix and out of the woman. The process of evacuating the fetus piece by piece continues until it has been completely removed.

Another reason abortion is such an emotional issue is that millions of women are post-abortive. It is estimated that one in every three women by age 45 will have had at least one abortion. The grisly reality of abortion can cause these women and their partners to have deep feelings of regret and guilt. When talking about the reality of abortion, it is important not to lose sight of these men and women and to let them know that they can find healing and hope. In his encyclical The Gospel of Life, Pope John Paul II wrote a special message to post-abortive women:

The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. . . . The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. To the same Father and his mercy you can with sure hope entrust your child.

13/06/2022

What is Catholic social teaching?
Catholic social teaching is Jesus’ teaching on how human beings should live with one another—in the family, in society, and in the world. Obviously, all sorts of refinements and qualifications to that broad statement can be made. The point is to start with Jesus, lest we lose sight of a fundamental truth. There is, ultimately, one authoritative Teacher in the Catholic Church: Jesus Christ (Matt. 23:10; Luke 10:16; Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] 79, 85, 87). The Church sometimes adopts concepts and introduces ideas to help people understand and apply Jesus’ teaching. Nevertheless, we should think of Catholic social teaching as an aspect of the teaching of the Lord , even though it is presented by his Church (CCC 2422).

Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God on earth (Mark 1:14–15). That kingdom transcends specific location; it is the proper ordering of human relationships according to God’s purpose, wherever people happen to reside. Living according to God’s law, by his power, for his purposes, makes people subjects of his kingdom. By teaching about the kingdom and living in obedience to the Father’s mission for him, Jesus fully revealed God’s purpose for mankind. He taught us how to live. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church at Pentecost, he made his grace available to humanity and made all human beings able to become part of the family of God.

The Church is the beginning or seed of the kingdom of God ( Lumen Gentium 5; cf. CCC 541). The Church carries on the teaching of Jesus and, by the power of his Holy Spirit, interprets his teaching throughout history, applying it to the concrete situations of human life. Catholic social teaching is part of that teaching. It is the body of principles for reflection, criteria for judgment, and directives for action aimed at promoting the proper ordering of human relationships according to the standards of the gospel. In other words, Catholic social teaching helps us to understand how to live well together, as God intends (CCC 2423).

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