feminine-genius

Come, Lord Jesus!

We'll take a short break from meditating on the approach of the Lord to see what happens when His light is not welcome:

A 20-year-old girl was auctioned at village Badani Bhutto of Taluka Kashmore in consideration of Rs2,70,000 on Saturday. Azizan, daughter of late Allah Bux Bhutto, was divorced on the allegation of Karo-kari [adultery] some time back. She is stated to be mother of two children and was residing with her brother who held the open auction for her 'sale' at village Badani Bhutto.

A large number of villagers showed interest in the auction that started with Rs50,000 and ended at Rs270,000. Bilawal Bhutto, 50, of the same village purchased her for the said amount. Initially he paid Rs210,000 for the girl [roughly, $3200}.

Maulana Azizullah Bhutto performed their nikah [marriage] later. It is irony of the situation that no one condemned the inhuman act. The groom will take the bride to his house after paying the rest of the amount. The auction money was distributed equally among all the brothers of the girl.

This story is from Pakistan, but is commonplace wherever Shari'a reigns. While we're well aware that Christ had another way of dealing with adultery, Muslims will shrug their shoulders and consider this generous, since she wasn't killed outright.

Somehow, I doubt her new family setting will mirror the nuptial imagery of Our Lord and His bride the Church -- if only women knew how they are treasured in Christianity. Come, Lord Jesus!

Beneath the gloss

While Christmas itself can be a time for warmth and wonder, for many it's torturous -- especially for those who believe they've fallen off the Norman Rockwell merry-go-round. Catholic Exchange has an excellent article along those lines:

For most people, January 1st marks the beginning of a fresh start-a new year, a new phase in life. For those who are divorced, however, January 1st is more of an ending; the end of the holidays, the end of having to celebrate when they don’t feel like celebrating. The end of the year marks the end of having to suffer through parties and good cheer and the moment they can relieve their faces of false smiles and their hearts of the imposing duty to act as though they are doing alright.

Divorced Catholics often face suffering more painful and lonely than many imagine. They commonly feel alienated by God, by His Church, as a result of their divorce.

For those suffering in this way, please know that our love and prayers are with you at this difficult time. For those who are not, kindly read this piece for the insights it can give concerning the compassion and understanding necessary in such situations. Let's support all who are alienated from the Christ-Child for one reason or another and see if this season can't be a time of healing for many. Who knows -- you may be called to be a bridge of communion in the coming weeks.

New blog unveiled

C-Fam is doing such a bang-up job keeping its finger on the pulse of the UN that it's set up a blog to help feed the critical information to those of us who care. It's not a good sign that there's so many anti-life, anti-family, anti-goodness measures being taken, esp. with UN sponsorship, but it's good that C-Fam is on top of it.

For Advent -- trust

The usual seasonal anxieties are wafting to the surface as December progresses, and we need to assess them in light of our faith. There are the school events, the parish activities, the job-related stresses (for those with work!) and the nearly insurmountable family expectations. This year adds “icing to the cake” with concerns about germs and recession, so that the price tag attached to each responsibility flashes neon in the dusky madness.

Is this what Our Lord wants for his birthday? Certainly not, but he’s not driving it. Our culture—steeped in materialism has led us down a dark alley with no seeming escape. But escape we must.

A great event looms concerning our salvation—both the stunning arrival of God amidst his creatures all those centuries ago and his promise to return. A single event straddles both and we’re sandwiched in between, fussing and fretting about what to get the teachers before school lets out.

No one would suggest letting the teachers (or the boss) go without, but at some point the frantic gym enthusiast on the treadmill needs to slow the machine down, and she may even need to get off. It’s okay. Actually a recession offers us the perfect time to crank things down from the perpetual power-walk to a leisurely stroll.

I know that you think that the ideal advice would be to find a moment and think about God and his impending arrival, but instead I would suggest that you take a moment and think of yourself. Not just “Why me?” or “I’m going nuts!” but “For some incomprehensible reason, I am.” Not only here, but now. Not only facing the holidays with so many demands, but without the usual resources.

And consider this. “[God] prepared for the possibility of my existence through the unthinkably long evolution of the world. He desired that the world find its meaning in me as in no other. He laid the foundations of the motives and capacities of my being through long series of generations.” Romano Guardini may never have imagined how meaningful his words could be to frantic mothers in a swirl of wrappings and ribbons, but helpful they are—and laden with truth.

Over the course of Advent, we will hear about the generations that led to Jesus’ birth in the stable. We will wonder at his family tree. We will be told what the various circumstances of his arrival mean in spiritual terms. But the same applies to everyone. This needs to be turned around so that an important truth can be recognized about your existence as well.

All the circumstances of this madcap season and the uncertain year to follow were known from all ages. It is not for us to beg that money and time be multiplied like fishes and loaves, but that the resources we have be used with love. Now of all times people will understand gently used and recycled gifts—treasures from heart to heart and wrapped in memories. Now of all times, a favorite prayer card and a beloved rosary will be not only gratefully received—but probably used. Now of all times will small bags of coffee and a promised visit resonate in lonely and equally anxious hearts. And the visit will quell both.

We can look at our uncertain finances as just an added stress to distract us from finding the elusive joys, or we can recognize in these conditions a gentle corrective to help us find the narrow path. And rather than a treadmill of woe, our new focus will reveal a path straight to the crib.

New column

Catholic Mom has my latest column:

Women who carry some genetic diseases may soon be offered access to a technique that will allow them to create children who do not inherit their condition. In an unsettling announcement, doctors hailed the creation of four baby monkeys who each have three biological parents. This was made possible through an IVF procedure that inserted the healthy DNA from their mothers into a donor egg and subsequently was fertilized and reintroduced into the female monkey. [Continue reading here]

Honouring the Immaculate One

Father Mark has given us a perfect prayer for today, so that on this great feast we can abandon ourselves to Our Lady. (I'll give it in both English and French, as he did, which allows us to remember France in our prayers -- the "Eldest Daughter of the Church." 

Père Croset's Act of Abandonment

O Marie, ma Reine et ma Mère, reçois en tes mains mon Acte d'Abandon à la volonté du Père de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, afin qu'à l'exemple de son Fils bien aimé et par le secours de ta Tendresse, je laisse conduire ma vie par l'Esprit-Saint selon les mysterieux desseins de la Trinité.

O Mary, my Queen and my Mother, receive into thy hands my Act of Abandonment to the will of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that, following the example of His beloved Son and with the help of thy tenderness, I may let my life be directed by the Holy Spirit according to the mysterious designs of the Trinity.

Aide-moi à livrer sans réserve tout mon être à Dieu dans la clarté obscure de la foi, l'élan austère de l'Espérance et l'étreinte crucifiante de l'Amour.

Help me to surrender without reserve my whole being to God in the dark brightness of Faith, the austere élan of Hope, and the crucifying embrace of Love.

Je veux m'enfoncer en ton Coeur Immaculé pour y devenir l'hostie que tu donneras à Jésus, afin qu'en son sacrifice Il me consacre à la gloire de son Père et à la fécondité de l'Eglise son Épouse. Amen.

I want to hide myself within thy Immaculate Heart to become there the host that thou wilt give to Jesus, so that He may consecrate me in His sacrifice to the glory of His Father and to the fruitfulness of His Bride the Church. Amen.

[For an explanation about the author of this prayer, go here.]

No fault, no sweat

This is a weeper, but should come as no surprise to marriage advocates whose driving concern is the welfare of children:

Nearly 10 percent of children from broken families say the process has left them suicidal, according to a new UK study. Other children from such families say they later sought solace in drink and drugs or turned to crime. The survey, by the London law firm Mishcon de Reya, also revealed that one in three children whose parents separated or divorced over the last 20 years said they had lost contact permanently with their father.

In addition, the study found that tens of thousands of children in the UK lose contact with their fathers every year because of a “failing” family court system and disastrous custody arrangements. Children involved in divorces complained of feeling “isolated” and “used”, and parents admitted having used children as “bargaining tools” against each other. Lawyers stated that the study showed that the court system itself was making family break-up more acrimonious with children used as "pawns”.

Kindly remember that these statistics are probably not accurate. Children look around them and see that divorce is part of the "normal" landscape, they are constantly told that there are "all kinds of families," and they have even been told that divorce would make their lives better (no more fights at home, etc.). Thus, the number of children who can actually pin their problems on divorce are fewer than the larger number who haven't connected the dots.

The conflagration of suffering was insultingly called the Children's Act twenty years ago, and now we see the results. It took the knife that was already injuring childhood (adultery, pornography, abandonment, teen pregnancies, and rocky marriages) and twisted it -- saying "no fault" divorces would limit the acrimony. Everyone could move forward as friends, the children would experience less trauma.

“The adversarial nature of the system invites people to come and use the courts system as a punch up and the children get used as pawns”, noted Sandra Davis, head of family law at Mishcon de Reya. “It polarises parents and it puts children in the middle of the antagonism”.

The report confirms findings from two major reports published last year, which also highlighted the damage that divorce does to children. The National Child Development Study concluded that divorce has “repercussions that reverberate through childhood and into adulthood”, and a report by the Good Childhood Inquiry warned that family breakdown was a major cause of harm to children’s mental health. A later survey of under-10s found that if they ruled the world, the first law they would enact would be a ban on divorce.

As I said, a weeper. Don't insult children with these insufferable word games. They know love -- and they know what hurts. Divorce can be deadly.

Latest article

I have a new piece up on Catholic Exchange, comparing God and Allah:

After two weeks of plunging into the waters of the Koran, I can finally come up for air — fresh air. After taking time to plow through the repetitive and garbled "revelations" given to Muhammad in the name of Allah, I can now proceed to rejoice in my Christian faith knowing with metaphysical certainty that Allah is not God. In fact, if Allah were truly God, I would be led to despair and self-destruction, for he is a tyrant and marauder of goodness, no matter what his "ninety-nine names" are. Praised be Jesus Christ! [continue reading...]