Respect For Health

Let us examine in this post what the Church teaches about health. Your blogger spends a significant amount of money on medicine each year, so a little investigation was made.

2288 Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good.

This includes taking my medicine regularly! Why reasonable care?

2289 If morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an absolute value. It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the cult of the body, to sacrifice everything for its sake, to idolize physical perfection and success at sports.

Hence, Taking care of your health does not mean you get obsessed with it.

2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco or medicine.

Yes, don't eat too much, don't drink till you get drunk, don't drink too much cough mixture, don't take too much of my medicine till I get overdose (it's possible).

However, I'm puzzled that tobacco is lumped with food, medicine and alcohol . I'll put it this way - when I eat my favourite food, I don't put myself at risk of being addicted to it.

Let's see the next paragraph.

2291 The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offence.

There are no therapeutic grounds for nicotine, contained in all forms of tobacco, except to help people quit smoking.

UPDATES:

On 2291. "except on strictly therapeutic grounds". Its quite interesting to know that morphine (from opium) has therapeutic grounds as a painkiller.

Alcohol is removed from comment to 2290. A flip though the Merck Manual of Medicine shows alcohol as part of Drug Use and Abuse. Good reminder here for me.

Pipe smoking is seen to be harmful too.

nirvana

yes. you are not looking at the wrong title. if you feel really weird why such a title should appear on a catholic blog. you are on the right path.

if not. think about mentioning it to your priest in the confessional. and perhaps consider revising your catechism. recall the athanasian creed's last statement.

this is the catholic faith. and anyone who does not believe it fully and firmly cannot be saved.

gasp?

in a local church. your blogger has spotted the church bulletin has no mention of the catholic church in the read-up section. but to my utter horror. the front page shows the way to nirvana. the buddhist's version of sainthood.

no. i am not being judgemental here. it is not i who judge. but he. i mean. as a church bulletin. there should at least be the mentioning of the church. but the entire bulletin seems to be only promoting buddhism as the way to life everlasting.

the message i want to bring across is that the church. or more specifically. the catholic church of this particular region of southeast asia. in its quest for ecumenism. may have lost its the 2000 year old church teaching that only through this one catholic church may one be led to the almighty god.

buddhism. in its original meaning. is not a religion. a religion. being made up of the re and ligare. which meant again and join respectively. therefore. by dissecting the word religion. we will understand that a religion must be a path to reunite the two seperate parties. namely. human and god.

but buddhism is not intended to be a religion. buddha never proclaimed himself as god. neither did he reveal that he is of a divine nature. buddhism is meant to be more of a philosophy. a way of understanding life. and to attain inner-peace.

oops. i hope i have not been driving too far off the course. the crux and bottomline of all these is actually to show that the eight-fold way of buddhism cannot directly and definitely lead you to the one true god as the catholics believe.

but again. it is up to the mercy of him who judge them.

to a non-catholic who may have seen the bulletin. he may be thinking that the catholic church is promoting buddhism as the way of life. and perhaps other religions in the series that are yet to come.

and wait till the bulletin starts to endorse and encourage the protestant way to heavens. i am sure saint ignatius of loyola. will start plucking his hair in frustration to see that the horror he had tried to defend has seeped into the sanctuary of the holy mother church.

please correct me if any facts are wrong. and meanwhile.

sed libera nos a malo.

Abortion

These letters appeared in The Economist

Oct 27, 2005.

Catholic choice

SIR – It is important to note that Colombia's Catholics, who comprise 90% of the population, support the liberalisation of its abortion laws (“Last bastions”, October 8th). A poll, conducted by Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir (Catholics for the Right to Decide), in September 2003 demonstrated that the vast majority of Colombians support access to legal abortion when the woman's life is in danger, her health is at risk, the fetus has severe abnormalities or the pregnancy is the result of rape. The Catholic tradition is based on respect for the conscience of each individual person. Church law recognises the right of Catholics to follow their conscience, even when their decision disagrees with a teaching of the church. The record of respect for human rights demonstrated by the Constitutional Court of Colombia is legendary in the region and in the international human-rights community. We are certain that it will respond to Monica Roa's legal challenge to overturn the ban on abortion with the judicial independence and interests of Colombia's women that have marked so many of its historic decisions.

Frances Kissling

Catholics for a Free Choice

Washington, DC

Seems like "Catholic" is some kinda brand name. I'm sure many of you can spot the half-truth in the blue sentences. The reply is simply brilliant - appearing in a periodical read by many powerful people around the world!

Nov 17, 2005.

Catholics and abortion

SIR – Frances Kissling writes that Catholic law “recognises the right of Catholics to follow their conscience” on abortion (Letters, October 29th). Yet Catholic catechism states: “Since the first century the church has affirmed the moral evil of procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.” And with regard to conscience, it states that: “The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.” Regardless of the findings of certain opinion polls, abortion is not compatible with being Catholic. We are all made in the likeness and image of God, even if unwanted or imperfect, and must safeguard all human life from conception until death.

Dr Kathleen Raviele

Catholic Medical Association

Needham, Massachusetts

"Pastoral Consideration."

Norman brought up in a conversation with me, "Don't you think keeping 'pastoral considerations' at the top of the list all the time is going to be counter productive?"

My reply was that all along I have thought keeping "pastoral considerations" at the top of the list will not only be counter-productive, it leads to a lot of difficulty and problems that will be theological, liturgical and pastoral in natures. It is like a time bomb.

Another way to look at "keeping pastoral considerations at the top of the list" is basically just making God into man's image. You see the problem here, "pastoral consideration" may be any excuse to do away with anything that any one person will find uncomfortable. That is to say, if one person in a parish disagrees with one particular issue, and he is convincing enough to sway a horde of uncles and aunties, then "pastoral consideration" will demand that the parish give in to that person's agenda.

The issue with which the person disagrees with could be anything from Latin in the liturgy, to maybe even celibacy. And if matters of discipline are open to such attacks, it would not be long before liturgical and theological issues become targets of such "pastoral" time bombs e.g. contraception and abortion.

Norman noted this will eventually result in many of us becoming Catholic only in name, but Protestant in nature. If so, we will find that orthodoxy and faith becomes a matter of voting for what we want to believe in (like how the Anglicans and Methodists have been doing). Truth becomes nothing more than a democratic structure.

Parish Assembly

Recently my parish held its Parish Assembly. To cut things short, now I feel like writing a well-reasoned response to my parish priest regarding the questions posed. But anyway some anecdotes.

A couple of old ladies were screaming "Amen!" to everything that was said by those standing for election. "We must be more cohesive as a parish!!" "AMEN!!" and so on. I thought the charismatics had invaded my parish.

I was one of those taking notes for the meeting. Someone suggested better faith formation for the altar servers to enable them to serve mass with more reverence. Wrote that down without hesitation. Then the altar servers came by and I showed them the afore mentioned sentence. "More faith formation for our advisors!", they were indignant. Wrote that down without hesitation too.

The highlight of the day, however, was the Praise And Worship session at the beginning. I went "Oh dear!" and someone told me,"c'mon, PnW is a form of prayer too". Okay, let's see. One song went

In my life You`ve heard me say
I love You
How do I show You it`s true
hear my heart, it longs for more of You..
I`ve fallen deeply in love with You..

You have stolen my heart
I`m captivated by You
Never will you and I part
I`ve fallen deeply in love with You

You and I, together forever
Nothing can stand in the way
My love for You, grows stronger
each new day.
I`ve fallen deeply in love with You

I thought the boybands were leading the session, until this verse came up

Jesus, you've stolen my heart
I`m captivated by You
Never will you and I part
I`ve fallen deeply in love with You

Can I take any secular love song and tack the word "Jesus" in front of it and sing it in church? Or how about rewriting this song by Savage Garden to the words of the Creed?

Things to do in November

Visit a Cemetery

An indulgence, applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory, is granted to the faithful, who devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, even if only mentally, for the departed.

The indulgence is plenary each day from the 1st to the 8th of November; on other days of the year it is partial.

Your blogger is pretty sure that a columbarium counts as a cemetery.

Recite the Requiem Aeternam

Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. (Roman Breviary)

partial indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory.

And many others.