Excerpt on the Justice of Penance

I am now more than 2/3 through the second draft. Here's an excerpt from the chapter on penance:

"Sin isn't committed in a vacuum; it affects other people. There is no such thing as a private sin. It's like the natural environment we all share. What we do on our own property touches others. Running a factory that emits billows of black smoke or dumps toxic waste into the waterways is going to affect many beyond our own boundaries. If, on the other hand, we plant trees, which absorb carbon monoxide and give off oxygen, that will freshen the air for everyone, beginning with those closest to us. It's the same in the spiritual world. Even the most private and hidden sins hurt others. Even the most hidden acts of charity help others.

"Furthermore, mankind is in a sense a single organism, so everything we do either spiritually helps or harms everyone else. In the First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul spoke at length of the ramifications of our being one body in Christ, concluding, “If one member suffers, all suffer together" (1 Cor 12:26). On a spiritual level, every sin we commit, even in secret, makes the world a little darker; every Christlike thing we do, even in secret, makes it a little brighter. Thus we need to make reparation to our fellow man as well as to God."

Time to Wake Up (Reprint)

In honor of the 59 million children murdered in abortion in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade was handed down 43 years ago today, I am re-posting an earlier piece (with some alterations) on the topic:

I recently found myself awake in the middle of the night thinking about abortion.

      With a nursing baby, it’s quite usual for me to wake several times a night. Being middle-aged, it’s not unusual for me to have trouble sleeping on occasion. But, sadly, thinking about the horrors of abortion is not something I often do.

     It’s not a pleasant thing to think about. 

     But is that a reasonable excuse? 

     It’s so easy to disparage those living in Nazi Germany for not doing enough—or anything—to stop the Holocaust. How could so many ordinary people let such atrocities happen in their midst? True, the system became very tyrannical and it would take heroism to oppose it. But how could they let that regime take over their democratic country and get so powerful in the first place?

     But am I in any position to criticize? In my own corner of the world, am I doing enough to stop the holocaust of innocents in my own community? Sure, the government has raised the stakes—I can’t peacefully block clinic doors and get arrested merely for a day anymore; now such peaceful civil disobedience could result in the loss of everything or years in jail. Paul’s words on how being single frees one up from such concerns come to mind.

     But even so, there are other avenues open to me. Besides praying, supporting pro-life organizations, educating myself and others, I can also participate in prayer protests. Soon another 40 Days for Life campaign will be launched. This is a particularly powerful effort, but I don’t have to limit my prayer to those 40-day periods. There are many groups who pray outside abortion clinics every Saturday year-round. I can also help pregnancy centers in a myriad of ways.

     Horrific as their plight is, it’s not just “little ones” (the meaning of fetus) who are affected. Both women and men suffer from post-abortion trauma. My friend and spiritual director, the late Fr. Blair Raum, was the head of Project Rachel in Baltimore and provided post-abortion counseling. He told me that, over and over again, these women would tell him, “The day I had my abortion was the day I entered hell.”

     Many of them have been lied to; they were told that the fetus is just a “blob of tissue.” The vast majority of women who see their little ones via ultrasound see a baby not a blob, and choose not to abort. They’re lied to about the possible complications, only to find themselves bleeding from unintended wounds, or sterile, or with breast cancer years later; some of them die. There are emotional wounds as well; many post-abortive women become depressed, turn to alcohol or drugs, or even attempt suicide. Very often the relationship with the father doesn’t survive the abortion; subsequent relationships are also negatively affected.

     A number of those who have left the abortion industry indicate that it is founded on deception. Dr. Bernard Nathanson admitted later that he lied before the Supreme Court during the Roe v. Wade proceedings, exponentially exaggerating the number of women who died in illegal abortions. Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” in that case, says now that actually she had not been raped, as she claimed. Carol Everett, who owned several clinics, reports in her book Blood Money a whole system of lies in the business. Notably, she states that the reason behind getting contraceptives to young people is to get them sexually active, producing more unwanted pregnancies and thus providing more clients for abortions, in other words, to keep the money rolling in. With regard to abortion, they lied about the fetus, they lied about the procedure, they lied about the risks. It was all about the money.

     Planned Parenthood, in particular, has a vile foundation. Margaret Sanger admired Hitler, promoted eugenics, and founded PP in part to reduce the births of African Americans. Many maintain that racism is still intertwined with the organization, including Black Genocide.org, which points out:

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America [and] 78% of their clinics are in minority communities. Blacks make up 12% of the population, but 35% of the abortions in America. Are we being targeted? Isn't that genocide? We are the only minority in America that is on the decline in population.     

Moreover, the recent videos of PP staff expose to the world the truth of what abortion often involves--killing little children who have livers and brains and other saleable organs--as well as the organization's crass indifference and brutal nonchalance.
      While little ones are being ripped apart, limb by limb, in their mothers' wombs, while mothers and fathers are suffering from post-abortion trauma syndrome, while I know all this, the surprising thing is that I can get any sleep at all.

Book & Campaign Update

The Gofundme campaign to help get my book out sooner is going well; thanks to all who have donated and shared it! To view it you can go to gofundme.com/letsgetthisbookout.

Here's an excerpt from the book, from a chapter called: "If You Love Me, You'll Spend Time with Me":

Somebody once said that the busier your day, the greater will be your need to pray. That is so counterintuitive for people living in a busy culture like ours. When I have a busy day, my inclination is to hit the floor running—not kneeling.

But, in reality, that is as foolish as dashing out the door to an important meeting across town, shouting over my shoulder, “I don’t have time to get in the car, strap myself in, turn it on, and all that. I’ve got to go now!” Sure, I could run down my driveway, and even get to the corner, before my husband could reach it by car. But he would very soon pass me by and leave me miles behind. (And just imagine what a sight I’d be, by the time I got there!)

Making prayer your top priority is like getting into God’s car and asking Him to take you where you need to go and get done what needs to be done—which, come to think of it, He knows better than we do.

Book Update: Oct 2015

Well, I launched a Gofundme campaign yesterday (Feast of Our Lady of Good Remedy) to help get the book out sooner. Here's the link:

https://www.gofundme.com/letsgetthisbookout

Please pray for this campaign and consider supporting and sharing it with others. 

Thanks so much!

What Do You Think?

Here's a question for you about my book in progress, If You Love Me:

As you may know, I have been writing a book about what it means to love God in your daily life. Here's a description:

While God’s love is a familiar topic, you don’t hear much about the flip side: how well do we love Him? Does He “feel the love”?

If You Love Me offers the motivation to grow closer to Him and guidance in that effort. It provides a deepened understanding of the faith and positive reasons to do what is right — out of love. It uses fresh, (at times quirky) perspectives, anecdotes, and spiritual analogies, backed up by Scripture, solid tradition, Church teachings, and insights of saints and early Church Fathers.

The book also promises to be easy to give almost anyone, employing a nonjudgmental, often lighthearted style, with plenty of humor, enjoyable vignettes, and lessons learned from the author’s own journey.

Presenting a new outlook on life, If You Love Me aims to inspire readers to shape their lives into a gift of love for Him. 

I've signed a book deal with Ignatius Press and, with the advance they gave me, have been able for some time to suspend my ordinary freelance work to write the book. However, that's about to run out, and though I've just about finished the first draft, I still have more work to do to produce something worthy of the subject. 

So I'm thinking about running a crowdfunding campaign, through which people can support this project and help bring it to fruition. I'd give out thank-you gifts such as a themed bookmark or autographed copy.

Thus, for the first time, I'm going to open up a comments section to this blog to see what you readers think. You have a sense of my writing from reading this blog. (Oh, and by the way, a number of essays from the blog are incorporated into the book, although there's scads of new material too.) 

Should I go back to freelancing to pay the bills, limiting my work on the book to my slim spare time? Or should I spend the time and effort to launch a crowdfunding campaign in the hopes that it will allow the book to be published much sooner? What do you think?

P.S. Adding a comment is now easier! It will pop up as a separate page. 
       If you're on the "Home" page, click on "2 comments" (or whatever number it may be) at the bottom of the post. 
      If you're on the page with just this post, then the comments will appear at the bottom. Click on "Post a comment."

Recommending a Great New Book

I'm excited to see Marcus Grodi's new book Life From Our Land is now available!

I was privileged to work with him a bit on this book, and so I know it well and highly recommend it. It's very readable, interesting, funny, and inspiring. It addresses many quandaries in which modern man finds himself and gives compelling, thought-provoking answers.

The book has many other warm recommendations. For instance... 

Author Joseph Pearce writes, "Read this book and you will receive the riches Mammon cannot provide and reap the harvest of hope and wisdom." 

And Dr. Timothy O'Donnell, President of Christendom College, says: "This book is a hymn of gratitude for the wonder that is creation, which manifests the deep purpose of things."

Also makes a great gift--I'm going to go order a copy right now.

Spin as Hard as You Like--I'm Not Buying It

The president of Planned Parenthood and certain politicians are trying to salvage the company's reputation after the recent video exposés.

          Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, apologized for the "tone" that Dr. Nucatola used when speaking of harvesting body parts from unborn or partially born babies. Excuse me, but what difference does her tone make? Do you think that if instead of being matter-of-fact she had used another tone everyone would have been just fine with her words? And what tone would be appropriate? Jocular? Sad? (Oh no, that would imply that there was something regretful in her actions.)
     I don't care how solemn someone might have said what she said: it wouldn't change the fact that she was talking about crushing less valuable body parts so that she could extract the liver, the lungs, the heart, and head intact. Who knew a blob of tissue could have lungs and liver, let alone a head or heart?
     Then Hillary Clinton came out in defense of Planned Parenthood, talking about all the good PP has done over the years and the services they offer that benefit society and women in particular. She even bemoaned the fact that PP should suffer such attacks. Poor Planned Parenthood.
     That's like responding to the discovery of the Nazi death camps by pointing out the good things the Nazis had done for the German economy and national morale and what a shame it is that they weren't properly appreciated. Poor Nazis.
     These attempts are really rather insulting to the intelligence of the American people. Just how gullible do they think we are?
     Do they think that if they spin it hard enough it will just float away?