Easter Monday

He is Risen!

This morning we rejoice that Terri Schiavo has been given the last sacrament – spiritual food for her next journey.

Our pastor, Fr. John O’Holohan, SJ, talked on Easter of three snapshots of the world on this Easter morn. The first was that of the Holy Father, silently blessing the crowds, working in his last days, and suffering for the Church. The second was another person getting ready to die, but she has been told that her life is worthless as she is starved to death in Florida. The third snapshot was the war scenes in Iraq. Father made the point that the Resurrection gave meaning and hope to all – even in these times which may seem hopeless to some.

Mrs. Curley and I need to remember this last. We were up late last night discussing the future, the system, politicians. I read this morning in a little book, "The End of the Modern World", by Romano Guardino the following:

"The crisis which confronts democracy has arisen because it received its historical imprint from the attitudes of a personality culture. Thus democratic values presumed a small population. ...Man's relations with nature have been altered radically, have become indirect. The old immediateness has been lost, for now his relations are transmitted by mathematics or by instruments. Abstract and formalized, nature has lost all concreteness' having become inorganic and technical, it has lost the quality of real experience. ... Man can no longer experience the work he does; he can only calculate its possibilities and control its effects from a distance. This condition raises graver problems. Basically man becomes himself, is himself through his experiences. What can he be, however, if he can no longer involve himself "sensibly" in the work he does?"

What has this to do with Terri Schiavo? First, we see that democracy has run amok. The system is "god". No president, governor, congressman dare challenge it. The laws are too many and complex for anyone in the country to understand - because they encompass all and every situation - and no man supercedes what the 'system' has put in place

Further, if man has lost his identity, he has lost his place in the world. He no longer understands the cycle of life, the cycle of nature, the redemptive value of suffering - even though it sits before him. A woman suffers to bring forth new life and joy! Yet even this suffering has been profaned by our society. (Note I don't say 'culture' as we have none.).

So many people have bought the 'quality of life' product - that they are of no use past a certain age, or wellness. They have been convinced (or have convinced themselves) that to be a burden on another, on our children, due to age or illness is the ultimate evil! Oh no!

Please, O Lord, let me have these burdens! Please, O Lord, let my children have these burdens!

From the small holding in Bethune ...

Oremus pro invicem!