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Dear friends,
Hello and welcome to the October edition of LMF News. Welcome especially to our new subscribers.
For those of you who have joined us recently you might be interested to note the new button to the left where you can View Past Newsletters. We have also been busy adding new Recommended Websites further down to the left. There are now over 40 recommended websites which cover all areas of life, marriage and family issues. We'll keep adding to the list so make sure you have a look each edition.
As for articles, I recommend especially the brochures we just published for Respect Life Sunday and Marriage and Family Sunday in the Archdiocese. The articles are titles Life - A Gift Always Worth Living and God, Marriage and the Eucharist: One Love. We also highlight an excellent new website called Demand Your Dignity which encourages women to confront the lies that society so often sells to them about where their real value lies. And for those of you who are married you might find the links helpful at 'Check the Health of Your Marriage'. And don't forget the short video on overpopulation.
Anyway the entire list of articles is just here to the left. we hope you find one or two videos or articles which will speak to you.
Once again thank you for subscribing to our newletter, if you like what we put out each month please use the 'Forward to a Friend' button, were always looking for new subscribers.
Until next time...God bless you and your family.
The Life, Marriage and Family Centre Team |
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Life - A Gift Always Worth Living |
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Respect Life Sunday - October 2009
Each year, since 2004, the Archdiocese of Sydney has celebrated Respect Life Sunday. This initiative has been undertaken in direct response to Pope John Paul II's proposal that a "Day for Life" be celebrated by the Church to promote the meaning and value of human life at every stage and in every condition. (Evangelium Vitae, 85).
Each year a theme is chosen and the Life, Marriage and Family Centre produces high quality brochures which are sent to parishes for distribution. These are accompanied by prayers of the faithful for the the Sunday Liturgy. Brochures are often also ordered for use in schools, hospitals and other dioceses around Australia.
This year's brochure is entitled Life - A Gift Always Worth Living and it focuses on the value of all human life, especially in the face of what Pope Benedict describes as a 'new eugenics'. A lot of people do not consider this, but the very same ideas of human selection that inspired people such as Adolf Hitler and Margaret Sanger (the founder of Planned Parenthood, the world's largest abortion provider) are still alive and well.
One of the most common forms of eugenics today involves the prenatal testing and subsequent abortion of unborn children with disabilities. Today 90% of children with Down's Syndrome are aborted! Also, during IVF procedures, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis can be used to detect desired or undesired embryos ensuring that only 'wanted' embryos are transferred to the uterus. What we see is a dangerous new form of consumerism where children become objects and those who don't meet our expectations are rejected. This year's theme for Respect Life Sunday is about acknowledging God as the sole author of life and death, and the sacredness of every human life. Every Catholic, indeed every person is called to love and serve the gift of human life. We are called to be a people of life.
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Polls, Catholics and Abortion |
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Ray Campbell - There seems to be some confusion regarding what the Catholic Church believes about abortion and what individual "Catholics" do and believe.
 It is said by some that Catholics have abortions at about the same rate as do others in the population. This appears to be true. However, if we consider only those Catholics who actively participate in their local church through such things as weekly Mass attendance then the percentage is considerably lower.
Similarly it is said that more Catholics support the decriminalisation of abortion than oppose it. But once again for the statistic to be meaningful one would have to distinguish between nominal Catholics and Catholics who participate in their Church.
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Overpopulation: The Making of a Myth |
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Get the Facts, Spread the Word
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God, Marriage & the Eucharist: One Love |
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Marriage & Family Sunday 2009
For the last few years the Archdiocese of Sydney has celebrated in its parishes, Marriage and Family Sunday. This is a response to the challenges that are often placed upon marriage and family by modern society. The day also supports much of the work of Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI in supporting these essential vocations. Marriage and Family life are the paths through which most people will find their way to heaven. It is a beautiful vocation in which the couple are called to imitate the  free, total, faithful and fruitful love of God. God in his deepest reality is a family and our own families are the place where love is taught and nourished, the family is the place where the seeds of faith are first planted in the hearts of children; it is the place where virtue is learnt. There is no institution that can replace the family model of mother, father and children. Under that roof, boys become men, girls become women and all learn to love. This years Marriage and Family brochure is titled God, Marriage and the Eucharist: One and the Same Love. The brochure focuses on our creation as images of a God who is love and the way in which that love is concretely seen in both the Eucharist and Marriage. The brochure also looks at the difficult situation experienced by those who have divorced and remarried.
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When Life is Too Difficult |
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Sometimes when life feels like this...
...all we can do
is remember the words of the Lord,
"Be still and know that I am God"
(Psalm 46:10)
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Supporting People with Same-Sex Attraction |
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Courage and Encourage
Courage is the Catholic Church's only pontifically approved apostolate which is specifically committed to providing spiritual support for persons with same-sex attraction who are striving to live chastely, offering help to grow in understanding with others toward living more fully the Church's teachings.
Fr John Harvey (pictured) - Courage and Encourage are respectively two spiritual support groups helping Catholic men and women - and their families - to live in  accordance with Catholic Church's pastoral teaching on homosexuality. Courage was founded in 1980 by His Eminence Terence Cardinal Cooke, Archbishop of New York, and continues to be sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York. There are now approximately fifty chapters of Courage and Encourage through the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe.
Father John Harvey, the Founding Director of Courage, has listed the goals and purposes of Courage as follows:
1) To live chaste lives in accordance with the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality.
2) To dedicate our entire lives to Christ through service to others, spiritual reading, prayer, meditation, individual spiritual direction, frequent attendance at Mass, and the frequent reception of the sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist.
3) To foster a spirit of fellowship in which we may share with one another our thoughts and experiences and so ensure that none of us have to face the problems of homosexuality alone.
4) To be mindful of the truth that chaste friendships are not only possible but necessary in celibate Christian life - to encourage one another in forming and sustaining them.
5) To live lives that may serve as good examples to others with homosexual difficulties.
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Beware the New Compassion |
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How Much Do We Have to Accept?
Jennifer Hartline - I sense a growing weariness among Christians in the fierce cultural battles currently being waged, such as abortion and gay "marriage". Does it seem like life would be so much easier if we stopped making a big deal about things and just let people do what they wanted? Live and let live, right? Isn't that the compassionate attitude? The accusation goes like this: if you dare to call something wrong or immoral, or if you insist that some  things are inherently good and others are inherently evil and therefore should not be allowed, then you are being exclusive and insensitive, judgmental and without compassion. If you have the temerity to actually call something a sin, well, that's the new capital offense. With regard to the most serious moral and social issues of our day, those with an anti-Christian agenda are trying to redefine compassion - they equate compassion with tolerance and acceptance, and it just ain't so. Read the complete article
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Demand Your Dignity |
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A Website for Women from the Men who Love Them
Catholic News Agency - A new website for women "from the men who love them" encourages women to "demand their dignity" and attacks the "incessant, often conflicting" messages and "lies" about women's worth.
The site Demand Your Dignity says "enough is enough" to messages that depict women as a "collection of body parts."
"Demand that men rise up and BE MEN! Demand to be treated as the whole person YOU ARE!" the site tells women.
The site says it was made by men who want to love women, not use them. Demand Your Dignity characterises itself as a "plea" to women not to believe the "lies" the world says about them and not to give up hope.
The site was made for those who "desperately yearn for true love" but have a "skewed view of chastity" and wouldn't dare go to a church somewhere like chastity.com.
The site presents existing resources in a more flashy, engaging way. There are essays by Crystalina Evert, Wendy Shalit and Stasi Eldredge and videos such as the Dove Corporation's "Onslaught," in which the transformation of an ordinary woman into a digitally-altered supermodel is documented at high speed. Check out 'Demand Your Dignity' |
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Pope speaks to Families and Children |
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Stay close to Jesus
Catholic News Agency - In his first official act after his arrival in the Czech Republic, Pope Benedict XVI stopped at the church of Our Lady Victories, home of the famous  image of the Infant Jesus of Prague, where he delivered an emotional prayer for the stability of marriage and the family, as well as for the well-being of children around the world.
Speaking to a crowd of families with children, after adoring the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel of the Infant Jesus, the Holy Father said that "the image of the Child Jesus calls to mind the mystery of the Incarnation, of the all-powerful God Who became man and Who lived for thirty years with the lowly family of Nazareth."
"My thoughts turn to your own families and to all families ... as we call upon the Child Jesus for the gift of unity and harmony."
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Is French Kissing Bad? (When Dating) |
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Loving in Truth
Chastity.com - When it comes to sins of impurity, many people think, "If it's a mortal sin, then I don't want to do it. But if it's a venial sin, then I don't want to miss it!" We need to drop this minimalist idea that focuses on how much we can get away with before we offend God. Even the smallest sin divides, while purity ignites true love.
Elisabeth Elliot wrote in her book Passion and Purity, "How shall I speak of a few careless kisses to a generation nurtured on the assumption that nearly everybody goes to bed with everybody? Of those who  flounder in the sea of permissiveness and self-indulgence, are there any who still search the sky for the beacon of purity? If I did not believe there were, I would not bother to write."
I used to take for granted that everyone knew that French kissing is sexually arousing, especially for a guy. But I have met women who act surprised when they find out that a man is sexually aroused by passionate kissing (or before then). French kissing is deeply unitive, since the penetration of one person into another is part of becoming one with him or her physically. This passionate kissing tells a man's body that it should prepare for intercourse, and when a man is aroused, generally he is not satisfied until he is relieved.
Therefore, French kissing teases the body with desires that cannot be morally satisfied outside of marriage. For the couple that is saving sex for marriage, French kissing is like a fifteen-year-old sitting in a car in his driveway, revving up the engine while keeping the car in park because he knows he does not have the license to drive.
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Check the Health of Your Marriage |
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Resources for Married Couples
Too often couples think they have to discover everything about caring for their marriage on their own, but it doesn't need to be that way. There have been millions of great marriages that have gone before you, tap into them!
You might like to check out some of the following ideas to keep your marriage healthy:
~ Weekly Dating Tips
~ My Marriage & Parenting Journal
~ Books on Marriage
Don't be alone. As a couple learn from the experiences of other couples, spiritual leaders and those who work in the field of marriage and family.
So...have you planned the next date with your spouse?
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Catholic Podcasting Network |
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So Many Things to Listen Too...So Little Time!
SQPN (Star Quest Production Network) is a multimedia organisation specialising in the production of free internet audio and video programs faithful to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Its mission is to respond to the Church's call to use the media for religious information, for evangelisation and catechesis and for formation and education.
Their audio and video productions are made in different languages and are aimed at an international audience. They focus on building bridges between the dominant popular culture of the Western world and the religious culture and tradition of the Catholic Church in order to reach an audience that has little or no relationship with the Church or faith.
SQPN was founded by Fr Roderick Vonhogen who was in Australia very recently. Fr Roderick is a dynamic young priest who is passionate about using new media to bring the message of Christ to a new generation.
Fr Roderick records a daily podcast show called 'Daily Breakfast' which is a mix of music, news, movies, inspiration and more. It has a worldwide following. While in Australia Fr Roderick had as his guest on 'daily Breakfast' Cardinal George Pell, and you can hear and/or download that program here.
SQPN is a website well worth having a look at, it has a host of both audio and video shows that you can access online or download as mp3s for your iphone.
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Thank God I'm Single |
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From the 6th National Catholic Singles Conference
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When a Couple Can't Agree About NFP |
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Harmony Within the Relationship
Sara Fox Peterson - Ideally a Catholic's obligation never to use contraception or be sterilised would be something discussed, understood and agreed upon before the couple was married-while there was still time to call off the wedding if it became obvious that remaining faithful to Church teaching and marrying this particular person would be incompatible.
It often happens, however, that people marry and one experiences a conversion some years later, either to  Catholicism from another faith or to a fully-lived Catholic faith from one that was less serious.
Conversions are always difficult and converting to whole-hearted acceptance of the Church's teachings on sex and family planning can be a source of a great deal of tension between spouses.
Harmony within marriage is very important and marriage works best when each spouse is willing to compromise a great deal, but the end can never justify the means and "one may not do evil that good may result from it" (CCC 1756). Because contraception and sterilisation are always evil and always damaging, it is never acceptable for me to cooperate with either, even if refusing to do so causes a great deal of disharmony in my marriage. Read the complete article here
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More Events For You... |
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 There are a lot of different events coming up and here are a few that you should know about. If you are hosting an event that you think we should be promoting let us know!
Young Men of God. National Men's Conference. A great program with some terrific speakers. Have a look here and think about attending. 23-25 October.
FertilityCare Training Program. If you have an interest in education and in women's reproductive health, then consider this training program starting in January 2010. Help women and help couples. Find further information here.
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The Life, Marriage and Family Centre is an agency of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and has been established to extend the research, policy, educational and pastoral activities the Church undertakes with respect to life, marriage and family issues. Our website is lifemarriagefamily.org.au.
Thank you for taking time to read our newsletter, we hope it has been of interest. We welcome your comments and feedback at lmfnews@sydneycatholic.org. We hope we will be able to serve you in some capacity in 2009.
Yours in Christ,
The Life, Marriage and Family Centre Team
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