Approaching the Incarnate God

Homo sum; humani nil a me alienum puto.
I am a human being: nothing human is foreign to me.

     -Terence, 190-159 BC

Et Homo Factus Est. Only in the depth of God's Humanity am I raised to the height of God's Divinity. Deo Gratias.

The Episcopalian Message: A Response

Thanks to Bill Cork for pointing this out.

Episcopalian Rev. Kendall Harmon delivered this speech to the House of Deputies of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church today (Not the American Anglican Council as previously reported, thanks to the correction of an astute reader!), raising the very same issues that have been concerning me.

I rise on behalf of many members of this House in response to the action to consent to the election a person sexually active outside of Holy Matrimony.

Though many of you are celebrating, many of us are mourning. Let me tell you what some of us experienced last night.

A 24-year old woman, married just 5 weeks ago in the Episcopal Church, sobbed uncontrollably over what she felt was a betrayal by her Church.

A 56-year old layman said, "I've been faithful to God's sexual standards all my life and now my bishop and my church tell me it doesn't matter."

An anguished GenX youth minister feels his church now offers no support to his teenagers struggling to maintain sexual purity.

A rector has already received numerous emails telling him that faithful parishioners have now left his parish and your church.

...By contravening the "historic faith and order" [Preamble to the Constitution], this Convention sets itself against its own Constitution. And in thus acting unconstitutionally, this Convention now separates itself from the orthodox faith and breaks the ties that bind us to the rest of the Anglican Communion.

Let us please pray for all who are struggling right now.

Informed Consent? - Postfertilization Effects of Oral Contraceptives

Thanks to Fructus Ventris for the link to this article in the Archives of Family Medicine.

The primary mechanism of oral contraceptives is to inhibit ovulation, but this mechanism is not always operative. When breakthrough ovulation occurs, then secondary mechanisms operate to prevent clinically recognized pregnancy. These secondary mechanisms may occur either before or after fertilization. Postfertilization effects would be problematic for some patients, who may desire information about this possibility. This article evaluates the available evidence for the postfertilization effects of oral contraceptives and concludes that good evidence exists to support the hypothesis that the effectiveness of oral contraceptives depends to some degree on postfertilization effects. However, there are insufficient data to quantitate the relative contribution of postfertilization effects. Despite the lack of quantitative data, the principles of informed consent suggest that patients who may object to any postfertilization loss should be made aware of this information so that they can give fully informed consent for the use of oral contraceptives.

Are women really informed about all of the detrimental effects of the birth-control pill?

The Month of August

St. Augustine of Hippo

The month of August is one of my favorite months in the liturgical year. Not only is the Holy Feast of the Assumption in August (August 15th), but also the Feast Day of my beloved patron saint and friend, Augustine (August 28th). I'll be blogging more as the days approach. Holy Spirit, powerful Consoler, sacred Bond of the Father and the Son, Hope of the afflicted, descend into my heart and establish in it your loving dominion. Enkindle in my tepid soul the fire of your Love so that I may be wholly subject to you. We believe that when you dwell in us, yolu also prepare a dwelling for the Father and the Son. Deign, therefore, to come to me, Consoler of abandoned souls, and Protector of the needy. Help the afflicted, strengthen the weak, and support the wavering. Come and purify me. Let no evil desire take possession of me. You love the humble and resist the proud. Come to me, glory of the living, and hope of the dying. Lead me by your grace that I may always be pleasing to you. Amen. Saint Augustine of Hippo

More Schism in the Anglican Communion

On a more controversial note, I have some opinions regarding the recent confirmed election of Rev. Gene Robinson by the Bishops of the Episcopalian Church.

I've been following this story for quite some time now. For me, it was never so much about Gene Robinson, the man. I've never met him. It wasn't even so much about Gene Robinson, the man with a homosexual orientation, since in my opinion that doesn't necessarily provide an impediment to living a healthy, chaste, Christian life. Rather, it was about Gene Robinson, the man who openly endorses extra-marital sexual activity, even instrinsically disordered sexual activity, opposed to natural law, such as sodomy. In a world that is in dire need of strong Christian leaders, consider what a blow this is to Christian morality. In confirming Gene Robinson as Bishop, the Episcopal Church has blessed the desecration of the marital state by saying that it is okay for a Christian leader to engage in homosexual intercourse outside of marriage. It seems to me that implicit in this is blanket blessing of sexual intercourse outside of the marital state, homosexual or heterosexual, for any Episcopalian. Is this not true? How do the Episcopalian Bishops justify this to their flock? By arguing that pre-marital and extra-marital sexual intercourse is okay as long as there is love, or fidelity, and that sex doesn't really need to have anything to do with being married at all? What message do you think this sends to youth?

It is of no surprise to me that the Anglican/Episcopalian Church is teetering on the edge of more division amongst itself.

What a contrast this is to the beautiful, life-affirming sacramental definition of sexual intercourse within the blessed union of Holy Matrimony as the Catholic Church has consistently tried to convey. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has taken a lot of heat for releasing its new document, CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING PROPOSALS TO GIVE LEGAL RECOGNITION TO UNIONS BETWEEN HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS, particularly from the secular press. So basically, in recent days we have had two major statements from two major Christian communions. One stands up for the teachings of Christ and natural law, while the other is a complete compromise on those teachings to suit the world's good feelings. One is difficult to accept because it challenges us to live our lives for Christ, while the other is easy to accept because it says its okay to live our lives for ourselves.