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Understanding Medicaid: Elderly and Disabled Cost the Most
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Medicaid provides health care coverage to many categories of lower income people, such as mothers and children, but the most costly to cover are the elderly and those with disabilities. The chart below compares recipient categories by participation and cost. It's a reminder that Medicaid helps not only young mothers but elderly middle class persons whose savings become exhausted from medical and skilled nursing care.  |
English Parliament Approves "Gay Marriage" Law
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The English Parliament this week approved a bill re-defining marriage to include the unions of persons of the same-sex. The bill, which was signed by Queen Elizabeth, who also serves as head of the Church of England, makes "same-sex" marriage legal in the United Kingdom. The Catholic bishops of the UK lamented the bill's passage, stating that it denies the centrality of children and puts religious liberty at risk. "With this new legislation, marriage has now become an institution in which openness to children, and with it the responsibility on fathers and mothers to remain together to care for children born into their family unit, are no longer central," they wrote. "That is why we were opposed to this legislation on principle." |
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Reflections on DOMA and Prop 8 Rulings
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The summer issue of the MCC Messenger, addresses the U.S. Supreme Court rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8. To read the Messenger online, click here.
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Annual Assembly Workshop Feature: The State of Marriage After U.S. v. Windsor
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The recent Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Windsor was a landmark case on marriage. By declaring the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional, the justices by a 5-4 vote granted same-sex couples the same rights allowed in traditional marriage in states that recognize same-sex marriages. What does this mean for the Catholic Church that has always taught that marriage is the union of one man and one woman? One of the workshops at our Annual Assembly on Saturday, September 28 will explore this important topic. Fr. James Knapp, assistant professor of Moral Theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, will offer a workshop that looks at the Church's teachings on marriage and the value of this union. He will also examine what lies ahead for Catholics in our state and nation now that same-sex marriage is recognized in some states but not others. To learn more details about the Annual Assembly and to register, visit our website.
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New Encyclical Completes Trilogy on
Theological Virtues
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Pope Francis has completed an encyclical begun by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. "It's an encyclical written with four hands, so to speak, because Pope Benedict began writing it and he gave it to me," Pope Francis said. "It's a strong document. I will say in it that I received it and most of the work was done by him and I completed it." The new encyclical - The Light of Faith -represents the third in a series that examines the theological virtues. The earlier encyclicals are Deus Caritas Est (2005) on charity, and Spe Salvi (2007) on hope. The new encyclical traces the faith of Abraham and Israel to the fullness of Christian faith: "At the heart of biblical faith is God's love, his concrete concern for every person, and his plan of salvation which embraces all of humanity and all creation, culminating in the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ." (par. 54). Such faith, according to Pope Francis, enables us to respect God's creation, build just governments and open for us the possibility of forgiveness. (par. 55). |
Your State Government:
Pertussis Vaccines Available from the Department of Health and Senior Services
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 Pertussis, better known as whooping cough, is on the rise. The respiratory disease most commonly affects children under the age of one, and is most commonly spread to infants from adults who did not even know they had pertussis.
The disease is preventable through vaccinations. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is advising people to get vaccinated, as the number of cases this year is the highest in decades.
In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that there were 41,000 cases of reported pertussis and 18 deaths, the most since 1955. The majority of deaths occur in children under the age of three months.
Pertussis can usually be identified by a horrible, uncontrollable, deep coughing noise. Click to hear the sound of a cough when the patient has pertussis.
While the cough is a trademark symptom of the illness, others may have a runny nose, a mild fever and a mild, occasional cough. It is important to get treatment as soon as you suspect pertussis. Infants are in the most danger from the illness.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has set-up free clinics across the state. Click here
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No Update Next Week
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There will be no Summer Update next week. Look for us the following week.
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