2018-02-16-eEdition

FEBRUARY 16, 2018 THE CATHOLIC WEEK PAGE 3 Thu., Feb 15 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. St. Michael Catholic High School, Fairhope, Visit Theology Classes 7:00 p.m. St. Columba Parish, Dothan, Rite of the Elect Fri., Feb 16 8:00 a.m. St. Joseph Parish, Tuskegee, School Mass and Classroom Visits 6:00 p.m. St. Pius X Mission, Union Springs, Mass and Confirmation Sat., Feb 17 St. Joseph Parish, Prattville, Rite of the Elect Tue., Feb 20 7:50 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. McGill Toolen Catholic High School, Mobile, Visit Theology Classes 6:00 p.m. Catholic Social Services Center, Montgomery, Annual Advisory Board Meeting Wed., Feb 21 7:50 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Montgomery Catholic Preparatory High School, Visit Theology Classes 5:00 p.m. Holy Spirit Parish, Montgomery, Called To Lead Men’s Conference Thu., Feb 22 7:50 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.Montgomery Catholic Preparatory High School, Visit Theology Classes 5:00 p.m. St. Thomas by the Sea, Mass for Annual Principals’ Retreat for the Archdiocese of Mobile and the Diocese of Biloxi Fri. - Sun., Feb 23-25 Orange Beach, Annual Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Conference Sun., Feb 25 3:00 p.m. Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Mobile, Rite of the Elect Tue., Feb 27 Leave for the Archdiocese of Mobile Holy Land Pilgrimage Archbishop’s Schedule February 15 - February 27 WJTC-Mobile/Pensacola/Ft. Walton/Wiregrass 11 am Sundays PROGRAM SCHEDULE www.catholicinamerica.com Check local listings February 18 ................................Discernment / The Priesthood February 25 ...........................................................Mary / Miracles March 4 ...............................................Teens Living Faith / WBBS March 11 ................... Confirmation / Making Good Decisions DAILY READINGS FEBRUARY 18 - FEBRUARY 24 Sun., February 18 Gn 9:8-15 Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 1 Pt 3:18-22 Mk 1:12-15 Mon., February 19 Lv 19:1-2, 11-18 Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 15 Mt 25:31-46 Tue., February 20 Is 55: 10-11 Ps 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19 Mt 6:7-15 Wed., February 21 Jon 3:1-10 Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19 Lk 11:29-32 Thurs., February 22 1 Pt 5:1-4 Ps 23:1-3a, 4, 5, 6 Mt 16:13-19 Fri., February 23 Ez 18:21-28 Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7bc-8 Mt 5:20-26 Sat., February 24 Dt 26:16-19 Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8 Mt 5:43-48 Sun., February 25 Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 Ps 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19 Rom 8:31b-34 Mk 9:2-10 Mon., February 26 Dn 9:4b-10 Ps 79:8-9, 11 and 13 Lk 6:36-38 Tue., February 27 Is 1:10, 16-20 Ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23 Mt 23:1-12 Wed., February 28 Jer 18:18-20 Ps 31:5-6, 14, 15-16 Mt 20:17-28 Thurs., March 1 Jer 17:5-10 Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 Lk 16:19-31 Fri., March 2 Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a Ps 105:16-17, 18-19 20-21 Mt 21:33-43, 45-46 Sat., March 3 Mi 7:14, 18-20 Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12 Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 FEBRUARY 25 - MARCH 3 February 22 The Chair of Saint Peter PopePaul VI aprophetwithHumanaeVitae WORD ON FIRE Bishop Robert Barron his coming July, we will mark the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s deeply contro- versial encyclical letter Humanae Vitae. Its fundamental conten- tion is that the moral integrity of the sexual act is a function of the coming together of its “pro- creative and unitive” dimensions. That is to say, sexual intercourse is ethically upright only in the mea- sure that it is expressive of love between married partners and re- mains open to the conception of a child.When, through a conscious choice, the partners introduce an artificial block to procreation — when, in a word, they separate the unitive and procreative finali- ties of the sexual act — they do something contrary to God’s will. I would like to draw particular attention to a remarkable passage in Humanae Vitae, namely sec- tion 17, in which Paul VI plays the prophet and lays out, clearly and succinctly, what he foresees as consequences of turning away from the Church’s classic teach- ing on sex. Though he is con- vinced that artificial contracep- tion is morally bad in itself, he’s also persuaded that it would, in the long run, adversely affect gen- eral societal attitudes regarding sex. Here is a first observation: “Let them consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to under- stand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation — need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law.” Does anyone doubt that, in the last fifty years, we have seen a profound attenuation of marital fidelity? Could anyone possibly contest that the last half century has witnessed a significant break- down of the institution of mar- riage? Is anyone so blind as not to see that during the last five de- cades “a lowering of moral stan- dards”has taken place?To be sure, there are multiple causes of these declines, and certainly not all the blame can be ascribed to artificial contraception. However, Paul VI was intuiting something of great moment, namely, that once we commenced to redefine the na- ture of the sexual act, we placed ourselves on a very steep and slip- pery slope toward a complete vol- untarism, whereby we utterly de- termine the meaning of sexuality, of marriage, and even of gender. And the rapid rise in pornogra- phy use, the sexual exploitation of children, and human trafficking are functions of this same arbi- trariness. What was only vaguely envisioned and feared fifty years ago is now accepted more or less as a matter of course. In that same section, Paul VI continues to prophesy: “Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accus- tomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the rever- ence due to a woman, and, dis- regarding her physical and emo- tional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should sur- round with care and affection.”In the post-Weinstein era, we hear practically every day of another celebrity who has treated women with disrespect, turning them indeed into objects for his own use and manipulation.The entire society is rightly outraged at this behavior, but precious few cultur- T al commentators have noted the link between this kind of objecti- fication and the conscious disas- sociation of the twin ends of the sexual act. When we are permit- ted casually to separate love from procreation — or as one analyst had it, to sever the link between sex and diapers — we place our- selves on a short road to reducing sexual intercourse to a form of self-indulgent recreation. Section 17 of Humanae Vitae concludes with a startling act of prescience regarding the political implications of countenancing artificial contraception: “Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same mea- sures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authori- ties from favoring those con- traceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone.” What might have seemed exaggerated, perhaps even slightly paranoid, in 1968 is now a commonplace. The HHS Mandate, which would require even Catholic institutions to pro- vide insurance coverage for con- traception and abortifacients, has been so aggressively pursued that even the Little Sisters of the Poor found themselves battling for their rights in court. Pope Fran- cis, an ardent admirer of Paul VI, has picked up on this theme, be- moaning the “ideological coloni- zation” that takes place when the Western powers attempt,through threat of economic sanctions, to impose their sexual program on the underdeveloped world. This coming 50th anniversary year would be a good time to take another look at Humanae Vitae. I might suggest we commence with section 17. — Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.