“While He was praying, His face changed in appearance and His Clothes became dazzling white.”

One of the greatest blessings of my life was the opportunity to have a private audience with Blessed Theresa of Calcutta (i.e. Mother Theresa), along with twelve other seminarians, after a morning Mass at San Gregorio in Rome. What an impact she had upon us. Each one of us listened closely to every word she spoke, not merely because of her message, but because of Mother Theresa herself, the person. Some quality came across her, over and above her words, which held our attention. A luminosity seemed to fill the room, a reflection of God’s light and grace, coming from this living saint. I don’t want to equate the two, but in some regards it was like the Transfiguration of Jesus. Mother Theresa was a simple Albanian nun, but because of her close union with Jesus Christ, she radiated a holiness that touched the lives of us seminarians. We indeed saw Jesus Christ in her. Her beautiful life challenges us to radiate the love of Jesus Christ to everyone we meet. Like Mother Theresa, we are called to be saints. What is a saint? A saint is simply someone who makes it easier for others to see and believe in God.

Difficult Moral Question, “Is it permissible for a woman to have a hysterectomy?”

Last week, in our series on difficult moral questions, we discussed the issue of vasectomies for men. Of course, a hysterectomy and a vasectomy are different medical procedures for the different sexes, but the end goal is often the same: they are a means to make the marital act infertile. The dire implications for marital unity, love, respect, and later regrets are very much the same for both medical procedures. For these implications, please refer to last week’s installment in the bulletin. In this segment, we will focus more narrowly on when a hysterectomy is permissible and under what conditions, calling upon the wisdom of Janet Smith and Christopher Kaczor in their excellent book, Life Issues, Medical Choices, pages 94-95.

The Church teaches that if a woman’s uterus is so unhealthy that it poses a threat to her well-being, it would be moral for her to have the uterus removed, that is, to get a hysterectomy. It is moral to remove organs and body parts that pose a threat to an individual’s well-being. For example, if a kidney or a uterus develops cancer and there is no hope that surgery, chemo-therapy, or radiation will eradicate the cancer, these body parts can be removed.

Sometimes, however, the uterus is not a threat to a woman’s health when she is not pregnant but may become a threat were she to become pregnant. For instance, a woman may have scar tissue on her uterus that might cause the uterus to rupture as it expands in pregnancy, thus causing life-threatening hemorrhaging. Many doctors recommend that such women get hysterectomies, in order to make a future pregnancy impossible.

Some doctors recommend not a full hysterectomy, to prevent pregnancy, but what is called a “uterine isolation”. This procedure is identical to a tubal ligation: a woman has her fallopian tubes “tied”, thus isolating the uterus from the fallopian tubes.

The Church, through a Declaration by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, has declared that hysterectomies to prevent future pregnancies and “uterine isolations” are not morally permissible. Both procedures involve the direct intent to prevent a pregnancy, and that is a contraceptive or sterilizing intent. The Church teaches that acts that cause sexual acts to be infertile are intrinsically wrong.

Couples facing serious medical situations of this type would want to learn a very reliable method of Natural Family Planning and follow it with due diligence. More importantly, they must daily place all aspects of their marriage, including their fertility and physical well-being, into the loving hands of our Father in heaven. He has a divine plan for their marriage and they must trust as it beautifully unfolds.

Saint of the Week

Saint Paul the Simple (d.339)

Hermit

Feast day: March 7th

Saint Paul the Simple was a farmer, who at the age of sixty, found out that his beautiful wife was having an affair, so he left her. He went out into the desert to become a hermit alongside Saint Anthony of the Desert. The latter tried to dissuade him, reminding Paul that it took many years for him to adapt to this radical way of living the Christian life. Anthony noted that Paul was advanced in years and could not possibly adopt the same vocation. Paul refused to take no for an answer and begged Anthony to give him a chance, for he was willing to learn. Paul camped out in front of the door to Anthony’s hermetical cell and finally after five days, Anthony took him in. Without food or water for five days, Anthony worried that Paul might die on his doorstep!

That night at dinner, Anthony took one piece of crust for himself and gave three to Paul, waiting to call him a glutton. But, Paul passed the test. He said, “If you have only one, then I will do the same, if that is all that a monk can have for the evening meal.” Anthony was impressed by his humility and self-control. With further tests of difficult labors, severe fasts, all night prayer vigils, and privations of sleep, Anthony tested Paul, who met every physical and spiritual challenge. Finally, Anthony consented and gave Paul his own hermetical cell.

Paul the Simple became known far and wide as a holy man, able to even read minds and to exorcise people of demons. Anthony actually referred possessed people to Paul, saying, “I have not received the power over the Prince of Demons. Paul the Simple, however, does have that gift.” When Paul died, Anthony, once so hesitant to accept this older man into the hermetical way of life said of Paul, “He was the ideal hermit.”

Parish Mission: Dr. Italy is Coming to Town!

Periodically, it is good for a parish to take part in a parish mission. With a mission, an outside person, gifted with intellectual, spiritual, and public speaking abilities comes to spiritually feed the parishioners and the pastor. A mission can be a “jump start” in the spiritual life, which deep down, we all need and desire.

This coming March (15th-17th) our parishes will be hosting a parish mission, which we have opened to anyone from throughout the diocese. Why such a broad invitation? Because we have an awesome speaker coming to lead our mission! His name is Marcellino D’Ambrosio, a best-selling Catholic author and sought-after guest on syndicated Catholic radio networks, such as EWTN and Relevant Radio.

In addition to leading the Lenten Women’s Retreat on March 14th at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary in Stanley (ladies, have you signed up for the retreat yet?), Dr. D’Ambrosio will lead three talks on three nights, March 15th-17th (all beginning at 6:45 p.m.) , also at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary: Talk #1, March 15th: “Why be Catholic?”

Talk #2, March 16th: “Getting More out of Mass”

Talk #3, March 17th: “Who Needs Confession?”

Maybe you have pondered these topics in your own spiritual life as a Catholic or want to help other Catholics struggling in their spiritual lives. These mission talks will be a great means to grow in your love for Christ and the Church and to help others do the same. You will be given the tools to be a true disciple of Christ!

I know the temptation is to cite how busy you are, how far you have to travel, how these talks are on school nights, how we get enough of Fr. Gary droning on Sunday after Sunday, etc. But, these are all mere excuses . . . excuses for not growing in our Faith. When we don’t move forward, we go backwards, especially in our spiritual lives.

Know that for parents with small children, daycare will be provided; there will be question-and-answer sessions after every evening talk; and the night will close with a fellowship. We look forward to seeing you at our parish mission. Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom . . . pray for us!

Stations of the Cross…a Lenten journey

A reminder that during Lent, every Tuesday at Saint Ann’s and every Wednesday at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, our parishioners take part in the Lenten Way of the Cross, or the Stations of the Cross. The Stations of the Cross at Saint Ann’s take place after the 7:00 p.m. Mass and at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary after the 6:15 p.m. Mass. To make them more prayerful and solemn, it would be great to have altar servers carry the processional Cross and lit candles in procession to each station.

I hope that you can make this journey every Tuesday or Wednesday up to Mount Calvary. There, thank Jesus Christ for His great Sacrifice of the Cross, a sign of His deep love for us and a reminder that the Holy Cross is the key that opened the gates of heaven to sinners, who were once barred from entering. We adore you O Christ and we praise you, for by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world!

Rest in the peace of heaven

We offer our prayers and condolences to Rudy Maurer and his family as they mourn the death of Karlyn Maurer, whose Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated this past week at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Parish. Karlyn will be greatly missed by her family, her parish family, her friends, and the community of Stanley. She was truly a faithful servant, always putting the needs of others before her own. May her dedication to others, rooted in love, be rewarded with the eternal love of God’s Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto her O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen

Rice Bowl . . . some facts to consider

  • In Nicaragua, more than forty-five percent of the population lives on less than $1 each day.
  • The highest concentration of the Nicaraguan poor live in the rural central-north region, where seventy-four percent of the population is poor and where children are much more likely to be chronically malnourished.
  • In Nicaragua, many farmers depend on coffee for more than eighty percent of their household income.
  • Catholic Relief Service, with the Rice Bowl program, is working with 2,714 small-scale coffee farmer families living in Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
  • The CRS Fair Trade Network provides technical and financial assistance to help farmers improve farming, harvesting, and processing techniques so that they can meet the demands of the market.

Thank you and your families for taking part in the Rice Bowl campaign of CRS. You are indeed making a great impact in the lives of the poor. May God reward you!

It was a blast!

Thank you to our youth who took part in last Sunday’s Laser Tag and pizza. It was a great competition, with lots of action and strategy. Even better was the great pizza afterwards. Thank God Sundays don’t count as days of Lenten penitence, so I helped myself to a week’s supply of pizza!

This day would not have been possible without the work of organizers and chaperones: Elonda Davidson, Heather Jenkins, Kelly and Denise Hanson, Jody Obert, Rhonda Hanson, and Shane and Mandy Lemer. Thank you as well to all who support youth fundraising events or make offerings to our youth activities fund. The youth are eternally grateful!

Don’t listen to the youth tell you stories about me getting only seventh place in the Laser Tag competition. You see, my laser gun was not working; I got a late start; they all ganged up on me; the lighting was poor; I ate too much pizza; and I was just being nice. If these excuses aren’t good enough, give me time to think of some more.

There will be a Benefit Spaghetti Supper for 3 families of Saint Anne Parish in Bismarck, ND.

The benefit will be on Sunday, March 8, 2015 from 3:00 – 7:00pm at Saint Anne Church Basement and Saint Anne School Gym.

The families include: Tonya Link & family, Marie Stiegelmeier & family and Darin Rohrich and family. These families are facing many medical bills associated with the treatment of Cancer and a Kidney transplant. The funds raised will be used to offset the uncovered medical expenses for each family.

Tonya is the wife of Dr. James Link and mother of 7 children undergoing treatment for Lymphatic cancer.

Marie is the wife of Paul Stiegelmeier and mother of 3 daughters treatment for leukemia.

Darin is the husband of Tara Rohrich and father of 6 children who recently underwent a kidney transplant.