CONSORTIUM NEWSLETTER (FEBRUARY 1, 2018)

POPE FRANCIS (CONTINUED) As we keep looking at what is happening in the Church today with our focus on Amoris Laetitia and what are Francis’ connections to and place in all this, we need to look also at negative reactions to this document; our earlier focus has been on positive reactions. A very clear negative response is the following: Carl Bunderson, “Bishop Schneider explains the Kazakhstani profession of truths on marriage,” News Agency, January 11, 2018. Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan (adjoining southern Russia in the central part) has clearly stated that fidelity to Christ’s words make it necessary for us to profess the truth about sacramental marriage. Bishop Schneider was one of the drafters of the “Profession of the immutable truths about sacramental marriage” issued by three Kazakhstani bishops on December 31, 2017. “The bishops stated it is not licit to admit to sacramental communion Catholics who are divorced-and-remarried” (as is) (ibid.). These bishops are very clear on their stand. “An approval or legitimation of the violation of the sacredness of the marriage bond, even indirectly through the mentioned new sacramental discipline seriously contradicts God’s express will and His/Her commandment” (ibid.). Since the open letter was issued, several more bishops have signed it. This included the to the United States and Bishop Andreas Laun of Salzburg (Germany); the latter was among the first to sign a declaration of fidelity to the unchangeable teaching of the Church and the uninterrupted discipline of marriage. “Cardinal , Vatican Secretary of State, told Vatican news January 10, 2018, that Amoris Laetitia is the result of ‘a new paradigm’ which he claimed promotes ‘with wisdom, prudence, and patience.’ The cardinal added that difficulties around the apostolic exhortation ‘are due to this change of attitude the Pope is asking of us,’ as well as ‘some aspects of content.’” (ibid.) This kind of approach has little credence for the opposing churchmen we are considering here. The approach of the opponents to the apostolic exhortation given above is the following. “Already for a number of years there has existed in the Church the obvious and undeniable situation of a widespread confusion regarding the sacramental discipline of those Catholics who are called ‘divorced and remarried.’ The relevant pastoral norms of several dioceses and regional and national bishops’ conferences ultimately give permission to these Catholics to receive Holy Communion in spite of the fact that they have not the intention to stop sexual relationships with a person who is not their legitimate spouse. Such norms in practice contradict divine revelation and the infallible universal and ordinary magisterium of the absolute indissolubility of a ratified and consummated marriage. Recently there was published even in the , the publishing organ of the , the approval which Pope Francis gave to the pastoral norms of the bishops of the Buenos Aires region [which we have already seen, above], which foresee ultimately, even though in individual cases and after a so-called discernment process, such a new sacramental praxis. However, this contradicts divine revelation, which prohibits always and in every circumstances sexual acts outside a valid marriage. Everyone who still believes in the

1 divine words of Christ and takes them seriously, must acknowledge how detrimental such norms are for the faith and for the unmistakable witness of the Church against the ‘plague of divorce’ and against the ‘hardheartedness’ of men/women towards the command of God, who demands unequivocally ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ To continue to be silent in such a situation or to pretend that the danger does not exist, would mean to deny reality or to eliminate one’s own thinking.” (ibid.) This is very clear language! “The appeal to prayer which was made a year ago had the aim to implore for the Holy Father Pope Francis the necessary gifts of God so that God may confirm in a most unambiguous way the immutable doctrine about the indissolubility of the marriage and the relevant sacramental profession or the immutable doctrine and praxis of the Church. But one thing is certain: no sincere prayers will be in vain. When a large number of faithful, and especially children and sick people, pray fervently, the moment will come when the will confirm again with clarity – as has been handed down by the infallible ordinary and universal magisterium – the immutable doctrine and sacramental praxis regarding people living in non-marital sexual relationships, i.e., people living in adultery. We have to believe in these words of Our Lord: ‘Will not God give justice to God’s elect, who cry to God day and night? Will God delay long over them?’ (Luke 18:7).” (Bishop Schneider, (ibid.)

Sometimes the language is very strong! “This pope who ever says one thing while manipulating events toward a different end. A cabal of advisors and surrogates empowered to spread the messages of the revolution through the Church, changing practice by altering perception while leaving doctrine untouched – the latter tactic making it possible for the useful idiots to keep saying that the pope has done nothing unorthodox.” (Steven Skojec, blogger on The Motley ’s Omnibus blog, near the end of the year 2017) This post “confirms that the sinister course of erosion of Catholic teaching under the present leadership looks set to continue” (“Changing Practice by altering Perception while leaving Doctrine untouched,” Catholicism Pure & Simple, January 12, 2018).

“The President of the German Bishops’ Conference and adviser to Pope Francis, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, has proposed jettisoning the ‘blind rigorism’ of the Church when it comes to sexual morality. Why? Marx believes it is ‘difficult to say from the outside whether someone is in the state of mortal sin.’” (ibid.) Take a case where a Catholic wife has been abused by her husband. Nothing helps and after five years she divorces her husband. A few years later, she falls in love and marries (without an annulment). Later in talking to a priest, he reminds her that if she wishes to go to Communion, she must live with her husband as and sister. “This case pinpoints the problem the Church has been confronting for centuries:  “Mercy.’ One side – today including Cardinal Marx – asserts that the pastoral situation calls for mercy. The ‘existential facts’ of the woman’s life history indicate the second bond is not seriously sinful but, in fact, God has blessed it because the chaos of the first bond has been replaced by the order of the second bond. Only hardhearted, blind rigorists would disagree.

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 ‘Justice.’ The other side – today including Cardinal Raymond Burke – asserts it must be established that, before the fact, there was no bond in the first marriage (thus, deserving of an annulment) and then to convalidate (sacramentalize) the second civil bond. Short of that, the woman and her second husband in the second civil marriage are living in a state of objectively serious sin. If the woman wants to receive Holy Communion, she and her husband must live as brother and sister. These are the only two options for resolving this dilemma because this is what Scripture and Tradition teach. Public opinion characterizes the former approach as ‘caring and pastoral’ and the latter as ‘unfeeling and uncharitable.’” (ibid.)

Carinal Marx gave an interview that included what his positon was. “Important as all of that above really is (and it is!), what is extremely important about this particular interview is that Cardinal Marx included not only men and women in what are called ‘irregular situations’ (like the case above of the remarried Catholic woman) but also those in very irregular situations, namely, homosexual relationships. Applying the same principles to the latter as he did the former, Marx opines that there must be ‘respect for a decision made in freedom’ as well as for the voice of ‘conscience.’ Marx adds that this requires considering an individual’s ‘concrete circumstances’ as well as ‘one’s own responsibility in light of the gospels’ which includes ‘listening to the voice of the Church.’ That’s what it means for the Church to jettison ‘blind rigorism’? … This is secular progressivism. It is aimed at co-opting and undermining Scripture, Church teaching, and worship with the objective of legitimizing a political agenda within the Church … The simple and straightforward truth is: That is not Roman Catholicism.” (ibid.)

TO BE CONTINUED

OUR SEPARATED/DIVORCED/REMARRIED WITHOUT AN ANNULMENT SISTERS AND BROTHERS

SOME BASICS UNRESOLVED OR HIDDEN ANGER Unresolved anger is often the hidden source of low self-esteem. - Bill Bartlow

What we don’t see, we can’t understand. What we don’t understand, we can’t influence. And when that blind spot relates to the source of our self-esteem, the results can be devastating.

Hurt that has been denied, mislabeled, or unrecognized still exists, no matter how long ago we were wounded. In fact, such hurt – that is the hard core of all anger – is all the more potent for not being recognized or for being called something else. The trouble with burying something alive is that it will devour us from the inside. Buried does not necessarily mean dead.

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At the core of much low self-esteem is just such a hard knot of anger. Anger over the way we were treated as children, rights that were denied, kindnesses that should have been there for us but were not. Love, encouragement, support, perhaps even the basic safety that everyone has a right to – none of these were to be had. Buried, that collection of hurts turned into anger and seeped out sideways. Sometimes the seeping turns into a flood. Often it becomes simply a prevailing state of being – we are just always angry, always hostile, always operating with a short fuse. That doesn’t make us very attractive people. To say the least, we’re not fun to be with. And so the anger over our long-ago hurt generates loneliness and rejection even today. Lest our tomorrows be affected as well, let us own up to our buried anger.

Hidden anger can kill me. I must recognize it and address it.

12 VALUABLE STEPS TO RAISE YOUR SELF-ESTEEM

1. Stop comparing yourself with others 2. Stop putting yourself down 3. Accept all compliments with “Thank you” 4. Use affirmations to enhance your self-esteem 5. Take advantage of workshops, books and other material on self-esteem 6. Associate with positive supportive people 7. Make a list of your past successes 8. Make a list of your positive qualities 9. Start giving more 10. Get involved in work and activities that you love 11. Be true to yourself 12. Take action

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n the page, just drag it.] (The previous materials come from the past newsletters on Divorce Ministry from the Diocese of Hamilton, Canada.)

This serenity prayer is a powerful prayer which helps with the grief process. Please use it daily.

Thank you!

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POWER Breaks

 These power breaks take up ten minutes of time or so. They are definitely needed by us: it is becoming very obvious that our culture’s pace (including relentless speed, multi-tasking, computerization, over-information, being machine-oriented) is truly bad for our healthy well-being and so we need to push back; and if we are grieving the loss of a marriage relationship, we still need to deal with that on an ongoing relationship. POWER breaks serve both purposes well and below you will discover what this involves.  Take three breaks a day (as described below): one about mid-morning, one about mid-afternoon, and one shortly after supper. Do this faithfully, especially if you are grieving.  Do the following at your place of work if it is not noisy or elsewhere if it is too noisy. Furthermore, you do not need to do everything given below at every break; do what serves your purpose of relaxing and slowing down at the time. o Sit down comfortably and do nothing. Try (gently) not to think about anything and try (gently) to make your mind a blank. Close your eyes, if this helps. If things come into your head, gently look at them, talk briefly gently to them, and gently dismiss them (send them on their way). And maybe you can find a spot at your work place on which you can focus with your eyes, if you like. o Stand up and stretch – really stretch. o Yawn (really yawn) and do some proper breathing. o Put a real smile on your face and hold it for a time. o Doodle on a piece of paper if this relaxes you. o At night, you can also focus on some television scenes. Most television packages include those stations with gentle music that show relaxing scenes of fireplaces with flames, aquariums with a lot of fish in them, glorious sunsets, etc. Use these to calm yourself down. o Make sure your electronic gadgets are turned off and keep your telephone off. o On your desk, have a picture of someone you really love: you can focus on this. Or have a photograph of your pet you really like and focus on this. o What emotion are you feeling as you go into this break? Speak to the emotion gently and tenderly (even if it is negative) and then gently dismiss it. o Drink some water. o Think of a couple of things for which you are grateful at this time. o Hold your hands together gently and firmly: using both hands softly, massage your hands. o Stretch your legs while you are sitting – stretch as far as you can without becoming uncomfortable. o Have a joke book around and use some of its material to make you laugh. Laughing is very good and powerful for this exercise. o Make a short or informal prayer to God on anything you like. o Make sure that you are sitting up properly with a good posture without being uncomfortable. o Think of one good thing that has happened to you so far.

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o Are you reading a good book you really are enjoying? Then, if you have the time, read a couple of pages from this. o Move your head, neck, shoulders, back around and loosen them up. o Hum semi-quietly to yourself. o Think of one good thing today that you have done up to now. o Have some small favoured object on your desk that you really like and fondle it for a bit, e.g., a nut from a field outside, a , a small medal, a small statue. o At the very end of this exercise/time, tell God that you love Him/Her and tell yourself that you love yourself too. Do not skip this step! Then go back to work slowly at the end of this exercise.

 If you keep up this exercise long enough, you will be surprised how your stress and anxiety and “being tightened-up” become reduced. Do not feel guilty about taking time to do this at work. You may sacrifice ten minutes to do the exercise but your productivity goes up, even so much that it compensates for more than the ten minutes used here.  For anyone doing grief work for any reason, e.g., a broken marriage or the death of a loved one or the loss of a job, etc., and is having difficulty really starting their grief work, this approach is a good way to move into starting their grief work. I think also of all those that are so “jittery” and unable to calm down who are really suffering and cannot even start their grief work: try to get them involved in these POWER breaks as soon as possible.  May God help all those who are grieving and bring them to peace. Amen!

MISCELLANY  Among the medical profession, there is developing a new approach to death. Near- death experiences have been studied now for some time but this is not the reference for the preceding first sentence. What I am speaking of is happening at the present time and in my research, I was not able to find out what percentage of doctors are involved in this new development which goes beyond near-death experiences and which includes some big studies. The area of which I speak has to do with post- death experiences and some resultant changes in our thinking when it comes to death and dying.  I have had the good fortune recently of listening to doctors who themselves personally had had new experiences themselves. It was fascinating to hear what they had to say and I learned a great deal from them. Not all of their stories fit together completely but there is no expectation that they should.  Some doctors today study thoroughly those who “die” and then return and a number of these doctors have had this experience themselves in their own lives. Even some children have had similar kinds of experiences (“heaven experiences”) and many of us have seen the books written on these.

 What are some of the findings here?

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 One finding that surprised me was that there is no pain (internally) connected with dying and so we should have no fear of dying (which is a natural event on our human journey). This was good to hear!  New questions are being raised. Take the following for example. We know that people who are almost dead and who have been resuscitated by doctors can see and hear what was going on during the resuscitation or “having left their body.” But now there have been pinpointed certain phenomena that are hard to understand. Let us say that a person’s heart stops and then the brain stops for a short period of time. Let us continue and say the brain and heart are restarted and the person recovers and returns to life (there are such cases); many of these people can tell what happened in between the heart-stop/brain-stop and the resuscitation. They were aware of what was going on around them even though the brain and heart had stopped. They could hear what was going on and were aware of some of their surroundings. WOW! How could they if both the heart and brain were not operative!? This raises questions, for the doctors and for ourselves, if we do have a “soul” or soul-like faculty, an entity of (some) consciousness apart from the heart and brain. In the past, medicine and psychology said “no to the existence of a “soul.” More work and investigation are needed now to answer this question.

 At this point, I need to say that my comments are not out to medically prove the theological aspects of death have a medical/scientific basis – I just am not out to do this! However, it is good to see now that there is a greater closeness between theological statements and medical/scientific statements. The conventional/traditional tension and opposition is less at work here and that is good.  Doctors who have had “beyond death” experiences state that in them they experienced God and phenomena of light; they also had the experience of people “spirits” welcoming them in their new state. The light experience seems to have been a happy God experience; in any case, the light experience and the God experience were happy experiences and occasions.

 It appears from the above that, whether a person is a believer or non-believer, death does not end our journey of being. So some of the doctors working in this field are looking forward to this “post-death” experience if they have had some of the experiences described above.  Medicine’s new view of this question or matter also seems to involve a new picture of the universe. What holds the universe all together is a form of consciousness. Therefore, we realize we are related to and connected with each other. Thus, God desires that we treat each other very very well. And in this situation, there is no experience of pain.  There are other elements to this new kind of thinking but we have covered enough to get the flavor of this kind of thinking, and that suffices for our purposes.  What does all this say to us about death? Death is a natural part of our journey that we should not fear; it is part of our present “post-death” journey that is handled by God Who really loves us. After I heard all this, how did I feel? I must say that I actually felt quite good, less fearful of my own upcoming death, and I am curious as

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to where this kind of medical thinking is heading in the future – I am going to try to follow it as it develops further.

Risen Lord, I love you and trust you and so I place my upcoming death and all my concerns into Your Holy hands that show me how great is Your fabulous love for me. Amen.

 What follows is an invitation to practice universal charity or charity on a very wide scale because of the present situation in which we find ourselves. Jesus told us absolutely clearly that the Great Commandment involves three loves: love of God, love of the other, and love of self. We can really follow the law/love of the other by how we conduct ourselves during the present flu epidemic. Love everyone by taking the following material very carefully and seriously. Thank you!  The American highly-respected Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tell us that we are in a deadly flu season that covers the whole country (except Hawaii). This condition extends to the full Canadian border on the maps the Centre used to show this flu’s extent, meaning that the situation is basically the same for Canadians. Normally flu shots are 60% effective but this year they were only 30% effective. About 40 children have died thus far (at the time of writing). Moreover, the flu is very hard on our elderly. And the flu season is going to last until April 2018. Getting a flu shot is really a very good idea: if you have not had a shot, get it as soon as you can.

 “Each time you sneeze or cough due to a respiratory infection [like the flu], you release a germ-filled projectile into the air. Those bacteria – or virus-filled particles can fly up to 6 feet – making anyone near you a target. You also spread bacteria and viruses when you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth and then touch surfaces with those germy fingers. Certain cold and flu germs can survive on surfaces such as countertops, doorknobs, phones, [hand-rails elevator buttons] for up to 24 hours [or more].” (Taken from “Am I Contagious?” at https://www.healthline.com  The call to charity/love is to do all you can to not to spread the flu to others (if you have it). Here are some of the steps to prevent that: o Wash your hands often with warm water and soap (soap is actually better than most commercial sanitary products) o Sneeze or cough into your elbow (making sure no one is below you), not your hands (either front or back) o Consider wearing a respiratory mask o Use Kleenex and throw it away after use so that you are not carrying infections around within your pockets o Warn others that you are or have been sick so they can remember also to wash their hands o When going into buildings, use the button used by those who are challenged but activate the button with your elbow (not your hands) o Keep your hands away from your face o Do not shake hands with people

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o Stay away from work until you are over the flu, i.e., no longer contagious o Keep a safe distance when speaking to others if you are contagious o Do not touch things like displayed fruit or books or newspapers or _____so that the disease spreads o Do not hand food to others without gloves when you are infectious o If you are in the habit of drinking the sacred wine at Communion, do not do so when you are infectious o Do not kiss anyone on the face.

 If we let Christ come back on the scene now, we could ask Him, “Lord, is this kind of stuff part of the Great Commandment?,” His answer would be: “Of course it is! Now do it!” If we did not ask Him anything, He in turn would say to us: “If you want to be my true , go and do all this – and more!” Yes, Lord!  Lord, help us to be your true Disciples even in these situations which may cost us energy and effort so that some of our brothers and sisters may not become sick. Amen!

New Year’s Resolutions  Did you make a New Year’s resolution or two this year? How is it going? Are these resolutions still going?  This is the time of year when our resolutions normally are disappearing; by the time we get into February, most of them are finished. And this happens every year. Why? The literature tells us all kinds of reasons for this ranging from we are trying to do too much and our past life continues with all the responsibilities we continue to have to the focus is not always on a good or appropriate thing and not having a plan of how to implement our resolutions.  I would like to make a suggestion to replace these resolutions which will also deepen our spirituality and our Faith. The Christmas readings and theology are exceptionally powerful and have had a big impact on us (but unfortunately are starting to wane in terms of their impact). Select the ones that spoke/speak the most powerfully to you and print up a hard copy from the computer. Take a quick look at this material daily and see what it moves you to do as a graced text.  Here below are some from my own experience. Feel free to use them for your own purposes if you like. Thank you.  We begin with two readings that came from commercial cards which are very good passages: o “May you find new meaning and hope in the joy of the Christ’s Child’s birth and in His everlasting presence in our world” (Hallmark Card). o “One of God’s greatest blessings is His gift of special people, the ones who touch our days with kindness, fill our hearts with happiness, and bring His love to life. For the love you share and the blessing you are – wishing you a beautiful Christmas and every happiness in the New Year.” (Carlton Cards) This powerful statement can be used to cultivate gratitude for the beautiful people in our lives daily.

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 You certainly can use any of the Christmas Season’s scriptural passages found in the Season – all are powerful!  I have a Spiritual directress who is excellent and she has the grace of making the Gospel come alive in what she says and writes. Here is a passage she wrote about Christmas that I find very powerful and can easily be heeded all year long. The example now. o “I love that Christianity is an Incarnational religion. I love that God became one of us and was not afraid to enter into human poverty, homelessness, crudeness, foul smells, etc. I love that God is with us as we struggle with our own messes – very human messes. May we find comfort and strength from this incredible truth – God is with us.” (Aleksandra Dobranowski)  Finally, how grateful am I to Christ for being born and for coming to us in the flesh because of His great and outstanding love for us? When was the last time I said/prayed, “thank you, Lord Jesus, for becoming one of us”? You may want to add, “Risen Lord, please help me to really become one of us, the Church, this year. Amen.” And “Risen Lord, help me to do powerfully what I have come to do upon earth. Amen.”

 Medical science constantly makes breakthroughs today. And we need to thank God for this daily! Let me give you just one example of this happening now at the present time. Blueberries have been discovered to be a superfood, anti-oxidants that are quite powerful. Scientists from the University of Missouri in Columbia have discovered that “supplementing radiation therapy with blueberry extract reduced cervical cancer cells by 70% – a significant jump from the 20% drop delivered by radiation alone” (“Blueberries beat cancer” in “health report – Medical news YOU can use!” in Globe magazine, January 29, 2018). “The extract tricks cancer cells into dying. So it inhibits the birth and promotes the death of cancer cells” (Doctor Yujiang Fang, study author). If you are receiving cancer radiation at the present time, you might want to check this out with your doctor. God take good care of you. Amen!

 There is one television scene that makes me cry. It is the depiction of a little girl, about five years old, who constantly is sobbing and shaking and emitting shrieks. She was playing in her yard in Syria when a bomb loudly went off near her and caused her to be totally and deeply frightened. It does not seem anyone can quieten her down in any way. She is a refugee child.  I know that refugees, such as this little one, are some of Pope Francis’ favourite people. This makes me think: when is the last time I have done anything for refugees?? Let me imitate the Pope here!

 I am sure that by the time you get this Consortium Newsletter, you will have run across the horrific news stories of the House of Horrors in the United States (in Texas) – a house where over a dozen children were kept shackled, starved, abused and isolated by two “parents.” These children were allowed to shower or bathe only once a year! They were mistreated in so many ways but now the police are involved and thank God!

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 From incidents like this, one can be forgiven for turning cynical and thinking most human beings are like this at base. But then, thank God, you run across new stories that show how good humankind can be. I think of the police officer from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who adopted the baby of a drug addict at birth. He and his wife already had four children but they adopted this baby with the addict’s permission and blessing. At the time of the story, the baby was doing very well and now has a chance of living a decent healthy life. The police officer also got help for the addict and her boyfriend (who was with her) as well. God really bless such good people who powerfully show us how good we can be with God’s grace! Amen!

May God always bless you, your loved ones, and all those you are privileged to serve in ministry. Amen.

Father Fred Scinto, C.R., Resurrection Ministries, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. ([email protected]) (519-885-4370)

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