I have been reading about the devastation in Myanmar.
I’m actually afraid. The situation is described as incomprehensible. Is it enough to pray? I don’t think so, but it seems this is all I can do, and then to only imagine their suffering through my fear.
“If I should forget you… let my right hand be forgotten!” - Psalm 137
Simple and plain.
I was praying all alone in the church last night and noted the sanctuary decorated for Pentecost. The garden club of the parish purchased several planters of red geraniums for outside the church, and so these were used in the sanctuary until they get planted on Tuesday. I was impressed with how they were arranged and filled the sanctuary, as well as by the resourcefulness of the pastor in getting a double use out of the plants.
In the Trappist monastery I lived at, flowers were never used to decorate the altar, it just wasn’t Trappist. In the novitiate one of the brothers had a “flair” for floral arrangement. One day while we were cleaning the church, he took it upon himself to decorate the sanctuary. It was really pretty and rather lavish; ivy swags with assorted flowers, brother’s arms waving in the air - much like a maestro conducting an orchestra with great flourish - I thought it was spectacular.
When the Father Master came in and saw all of the flowers, he demanded everything be thrown out, and later explained to the novices the tradition of everything plain in Trappist monasteries. Poor brother was disconsolate. I placed my hand ever so lightly on his shoulder to console him saying, “Brother, it was beautiful, fit for a cathed…”
Brother abruptly shrugged off my hand, turned to me indignantly, and scolding me through clenched teeth said, “Don’t touch me ever again!” And he stormed off. I immediately thought of the novitiate in the Nun’s Story, when the Mistress instructed the postulants that they should never touch one another. Brother taught me that lesson with even greater drama than the movie - in fact, he was rather Joan Crawford about it. (Yes, a couple of the other brothers and I laughed pretty hard after he walked away.)
So. One of the greatest penances in monastic life are the brothers - and they are better than hair shirts to show you what you are. (When we are young, we can’t imagine anyone not liking us, but that changes as we get older.)
When entering a monastery.
The only thing the average man entering monastic life today gives up is his will - “sell your will and give to the poor”- as John of the Cross counsels. In modern times, nothing is really lacking to a man who enters monastic life, although he may have left behind a career or potential success. However, if he follows the rule of St. Benedict, he lives under obedience to an abbot and in stability within a particular house, while his primary duty remains the opus Dei - the Divine Office - to which “nothing is to be preferred”.
“The first degree of humility is obedience without delay… this is the virtue of those who hold nothing dearer to them than Christ…” - Rule of St. Benedict.
Thus we come to understand how extremely difficult monastic life is for contemporary man; why there are so few vocations, and fewer who “persevere in the monastery until death”.
Through their Health Plans.
One of the most important benefits in the life of Americans is their health plan - they can’t live without it. (Although many people do manage to live without one, those who can’t afford health care… They don’t do well mind you, but they manage.) I know of a few Catholic bloggers who praise the American health care industry up one-side and down the other.
One Catholic blogger in particular frequently disparaged those who were in favor of a universal health care system, as well as the poor people who sought health care but had no income; his advice - get a job wth health-care benefits! Then he and his wife moved to another city and he complained about how expensive COBRA is. I wonder what he thinks now that he may be supporting abortions through their health insurance premiums?
Here is the story on the problem:
The chances are good that your health insurance plan covers elective abortions since 46 percent of all health insurance plans in the United States do so. A leading researcher urges pro-life advocates to investigate their plans to find out whether they are unknowingly supporting abortion.
During the Reagan administration, Dr. Robert Moffitt was the deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The money, of course, comes from the premiums that all members of the health plan and/or their employers pay on a monthly basis — including pro-life advocates.“Forty-six percent of workers today in employer-based health insurance finance abortion,” he said, according to a OneNewsNow report. “I think this is critical.” - LifeNews
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So this is my question. Would pro-life employers drop employee health-care coverage if they, along with pro-life advocates were not able to persuade Insurance companies to stop funding abortions? Would a Catholic family opt out and stop their healthcare coverage because the insurance company covered abortions?Remember we live in a nation wherein our tax dollars are used to support organizations such as Planned Parenthood. There are also many voters who claim to be Catholic who vote for pro-choice poiliticians.
I wonder if all of us have innocent blood on our hands in one way or another.
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