BLACK HISTORY MONTH

February is Black History Month and recalls important African Americans and those who served in the cause of equal rights for all United States citizens. Our first Archbishop, John Ireland, was very much involved in the struggle for civil rights. As a young priest he was a chaplain in the Civil War and served in a number of the major battles. Afterwards he worked to ensure that our society would truly embrace its great ideal of the dignity of each person.

Archbishop Ireland was powerful in his words. The following is from an Emancipation Proclamation Anniversary address that he gave in 1891:

I have said that slavery has been abolished in America; the trail of the serpent, however, yet marks the ground. We do not accord to our black brothers all the rights and privileges of freedom and of a common humanity. They are victims of an unreasoning and unjustifiable ostracism. They may live, provided they live away from us, as a separate and inferior race, with whom close contact is pollution. It looks as if we had grudgingly granted to them emancipation, as if we fain still would be the masters, and hold them in servitude.

Often he spoke to African-American congregations. On one such occasion he said:

I know no color line, I will acknowledge none. I am not unaware that this solemn declaration of mine shall be deemed by many...as rash or untimely. Yet I fear not to make it. I am ahead of my day. But the time is not distant when Americans and Christians will wonder that there ever was race prejudice.

FEBRUARY 12, 1809

Although Presidents' Day is celebrated this year on February 19, the actual birthday of Abraham Lincoln is this coming Monday, February 12. He was born in the year 1809 and that very day also witnessed the birth of Charles Darwin. The bicentennial will be in 2009 and should be quite a celebration. These two people had very different personalities and backgrounds but there is one common theme in their lives.

In addition to both being well known to history, they also had an appreciation of the historical dimension of our lives. President Lincoln had to come to terms with the historical nature of our constitutional government and how over time change was needed to meet new challenges and circumstances. The scientist Darwin saw how change occurs in the natural world and specifically how biological life changes and develops.

The 19th century in which they lived was becoming more and more aware of the necessity of historical study. This was also true in the world of theology. During the 1800's the bible began to be studied from a more historical perspective. Archaeology and other historical sciences were used to better understand how the scriptures developed.

And another great personage of the 19th century was the Roman Catholic convert and cardinal, John Newman. One of his great works was on the develop of religious doctrine and how this too could be studied in a historical fashion to better appreciate the Gospel message.

Often we think of history as only a matter of dates, such as February 12, 1809. But dates do matter.

February 14, 2007

This is another example of a date that matters. Hint, hint, husbands.

RESPECT LIFE MONTH: DEATH WITH DIGNITY

Some years ago a person active in promoting euthanasia stated that if more people knew of the hospice movement he would be put out of business. Since then hospice programs have become more widely known and indeed many of our own parishioners have become familiar with them. Just last week the humorist, Art Buchwald, passed away after a long battle with kidney disease. Art was a living testimonial to the benefits of hospice care.

The health care reporter, Jane Brody recently quoted the medical director of a hospice, "We're not here to pull the plug. We let nature take its course, and we give patients all the things they need to be comfortable."

Dying "naturally" in hospice does not preclude treatment for common complications and hospice expenses are automatically covered by Medicare. Most employer-based and private insurers provide hospice coverage as well. It should be noted that hospice care often takes place in the person's own home.

The goal of hospice care is to refocus hope on what might be realistically achieved in the time remaining. A patient who enters hospice sooner rather than later can have the opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends, settle unfinished business and find closure to strained relationships.

In connection with end of life decisions there are some fine resources to help make these decisions in advance and to help facilitate discussions with loved ones. One of the best is called "Five Wishes" and is available for a small cost at www.agingwithdignity.org/ . The Minnesota Catholic Conference of Bishops also has some online resources including "The Minnesota Catholic Health Care Directives" which meet our state's legal requirements and reflects Catholic teaching on death and dying. This can be accessed at www.mncc.org but feel free to contact me for copies if you do not have internet access.

There is much misinformation in this area even in church circles. People do have the right to say "enough" when the burden of a particular treatment outweighs the benefits. Recently some Vatican officials criticized a man who sought to have himself removed from a respirator that had kept him alive for years. He was in fact denied burial from a Catholic church.

Addressing this case, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the former archbishop of Milan, urged the Vatican to allow terminally ill patients who ask "in all lucidity" the right to withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment. This is indeed traditional Catholic teaching and practice. Cases like these , "will be more frequent," said the 79-year-old cardinal, who suffers from Parkinson 's disease, and the "church should be more attentive to them, notably at the pastoral level." He said that while the distinction between euthanasia, which the Vatican rigidly opposes, and the refusal of excessive care is sometimes unclear, "the wishes of the patient cannot be ignored."

STEWARDSHIP IS CARING

During this time of stewardship pledge renewal for the coming year I appreciated some words from one of our parishioners who is unable to come out to church very often due to health considerations. I called her recently to see how she was doing and she responded that she really was thankful for two of our pastoral care volunteers who bring her communion and call her by phone on a weekly basis. She summed it up by saying, "You feel like you really belong." Good stewards do care. Thanks to all of you.


CARING FOR ONE ANOTHER

So often we feel helpless in the face of so many life's difficulties. It is good to remember that we can do something by our joining together. This is obviously true of efforts like our Sister Parish programs and volunteering at loaves and fishes. But let us also remember the power of our prayer together. This past week I received the following in an email:

During weekly Mass I always mean to come right home and send a thank you for remembering those men and women and their families who are in the military overseas.

Most parishioners would not know that they are praying for our dear son-in-law, ... and our family and yet it touches my heart each time I hear these brave, unselfish people remembered at St. Edward's.

Our daughter, ... is expecting their third child in August. She was one of the spouses who this past week received word before her husband that his time in Iraq was being extended.

I almost did not go to Mass this morning because I was feeling rather teary and some how music, etc. at church just exaggerates those emotions. However, when the very talented Cantor at the 8:00 service went into his great, energetic singing of the Alleluia before the gospel I had to smile, almost laugh because I was reminded of all the joys and gifts that our family, especially our daughter and her Children, have been blessed with these past 16 months.

I am so grateful for the family and friends that have stepped up to the plate to help her. People we love and people we hardly know have done the most unique and loving things, totally from their hearts.

Please continue to pray for our soldiers and their family's which include those of us that are parents watching our children suffer because of a war we really don't understand.

Thank you again...the parish of St. Ed's.

WELCOMING CHRIST IN THE MIGRANT

"Welcoming Christ in the Migrant" is the theme of the U.S. Catholic Church's National Migration Week which we celebrate this week.

"I invite you to welcome Christ in the migrant through prayer, education and parish outreach," said Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino, Calif., chairman of the bishops' Committee on Migration.

He said Jesus' biblical admonition that what one does to a stranger is done to him "is particularly timely" in the current immigration debate. "Our nation's legitimate security concerns have been distorted by some who would foment anxiety, fear and a distrust of migrants," he wrote in a letter accompanying parish educational materials for this year's migration week.

"The present immigration reform debate has lost much of its reason and is often being fueled by raw emotions," he added.

He urged Catholics to become involved in the Catholic immigration reform initiative described on the website www.justiceforimmigrants.org.

The National Migration Week poster distributed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops features an icon of the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt alongside a photo of a young Latino couple with a baby riding on a bus or train.

"Scriptures and Catholic social teaching call upon all of us to examine the issues and respond to the strangers among us as we would to Jesus himself," Bishop Barnes wrote.

"The Holy Family found safety and new lives in Egypt during their time of great need," he said. "Many migrants today follow similar paths as they embark on their journey of hope."

Offering aid and comfort to America's newcomers "is not only our Christian duty but a privilege."

IMMIGRATION MAP
Last year at another church I was visiting, I noticed a world map that had pins in it designating where parishioners had come from. It got me thinking as quite a few of our parishioners are first or second generation immigrants and most of the rest of us are descended from immigrants to the United States. It might be interesting to see the background of parishioners. We will have up on the foyer bulletin board a map of the world with pins available to locate where you or your ancestors came from.

This fits in well with the mass acclamations that we will be using for the next 6 weeks before Lent from the "Misa del Mundo" which we first used last year. This composition uses phrases in different languages. The parts that we use will include Tongan, Tagalog, Spanish, Polish, Vietnamese and English.

The composer, Jesse Manibusan, notes, "The Multicultural Church is not a new idea. We have always been, and always will be, a wonderful variety. God has always delighted in that...The process of teaching and learning Misa del Mundo is about taking risks and building trust...Catholics diverse in language and culture came together to create the prayer that is Misa del Mundo. May this spirit of fellowship and reconciliation guide us to a better understanding of who 'we' are as Church."