When can we stop supporting the dying?


Many people misunderstand the difference between relieving suffering, accelerating death and extraordinary means of preserving life.  Let’s try to get this right.  If the person is Catholic, the answer is straightforward.  In Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II, invokes the authority of Peter and declares that it is always wrong to euthanize or abort a human being.  Any Catholic who questions or challenges the authority of Peter to declare that something is always morally wrong places himself in a very dangerous position.  It begs the question, how can one be Catholic, but ignore what Peter has authoritatively condemned as evil?  This raises the discussion to a whole other level.  The question is no longer about the subject of euthanasia, but about fidelity to the Church.  Tonight, during compline, we sang “To Jesus Christ, Our Sovereign King.”  If we apply Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, (the law of prayer is the law of faith), then the answer is simple.  There is a verse in that hymn (prayer), “To you and to your Church great King, we pledge our heart’s oblation.”  I cannot pledge oblation to Christ and not to the Church.  Christ and the Church are inseparable.  What Peter binds, remains bound by Christ himself until Peter unbinds it.

Catholic law does not bind Non-Catholics.  This is a teaching of the Catholic Church.  There are many reasons why they are not bound, but that’s a topic for another thread.  However, natural law binds every created thing and being. Natural law commands that we do everything in our power to minimize and even eliminate human suffering.  However, natural law also says that suffering is part of the definition of being alive.  All living beings suffer, even plants.  Suffering takes on different expressions for different life forms.  However, there is no life form that does not suffer.  Why not?  Because suffering is built into the fabric of life.  It is one of the many threads that hold life together. 

Those who say that we are accelerating a person’s death to protect them from suffering are also protecting themselves.  As human beings, we suffer when our loved ones suffer.  The measure is not very altruistic.  The issue is not whether we should or should not try to minimize suffering.  The question on the table is whether we have the right to accelerate death.  To take away life support that does no harm to the patient accelerates the patient’s death. 

Human beings have two kinds of rights:  civil rights and human rights.  Under civil rights, the state has the duty to provide every person with the protection necessary to live until natural death.  I have a right to expect the state to protect my right to live.  When the state legislates that there are circumstances in which my death can be accelerated, even though I am not a threat to society, the state has overstepped its authority.  The State exists to protect the citizen.  When a democratic society, such as the USA, allows the State to pass legislation authorizing euthanasia, abortion and capital punishment, we are authorizing death by our vote.  That is contrary to what the State should be doing and the citizens are voting contrary to the concept of democracy.  No one ever said that democracy meant to do whatever one wishes to do.  In fact, that kind of thinking is nihilistic.  There have to be restraints in every civilized society.

Human beings also have human rights or natural rights.  These are written into our very nature.  Because we are human, we have the right to live as human beings, not as rocks.  Human beings often have to suffer, because it’s unavoidable.  To live with unavoidable suffering is part of being human.  To accelerate death to avoid suffering is an attempt to do away with a part of our humanity.  This raises a major ethical question.  Where do we stop?  What sufferings do we tolerate and what sufferings justify terminating a life or accelerating a death?  Parents suffer because of the poor choices that their children make.  The unemployed person suffers.  The wife whose husband cheats on her suffers.  The child who is struck by a bus and has to live in a wheelchair suffers.  People with chronic pain suffer.  We would have to make a list of what suffering is permissible and what suffering is not.  When a person crosses over into suffering that we arbitrarily decide is not permissible, do we allow them to take their lives or accelerate his death?

The issue is not whether a person should die a natural death.  The issue is this.  It is natural for a person to have: food, water, oxygen, antibiotics, pain killers, love, companionship, and whatever else makes him comfortable while waiting for death.    To take these away, when they are not contraindicated, knowingly and deliberately accelerates death.

Notice that I use the word “contraindicated.”  Contraindicated is any form of care that will hurt the patient or that will cause the patient unnecessary stress.  There are patients who cannot tolerate water, because it is painful.  In that case, water is contraindicated.  We should not cause pain unless there is a reasonable belief that it will heal.  It’s like giving you a vaccine.  Injections hurt and the flu shot often makes people very sick during the first 48 hours.  To give water to such a patient is cruel.  It is natural to withdraw the water.  Why?  Because it is natural to minimize the discomfort.  Your intention is not to accelerate death.

There are times, when the intention may not be to accelerate death.  There are times when the caregivers believe that certain supports are unnecessary, because the person is going to die, regardless.  In those cases, one has to examine reality.  We are all going to die.  However, we don’t stop eating and drinking today, because death is going to catch-up with us.  If more than one medical expert, independently, determines that the person will die within hours, regardless of what we do, there is no moral obligation to intervene.  We can allow death to arrive naturally.  In that case, we are not accelerating death.  It’s going to happen in a few hours.

If there is no immediate danger of death or we are unable to say how long before death arrives, then we have another ethical quandary.  We cannot accelerate it.  Therefore, we must continue to provide life support, even though the person has a terminal condition.  Terminal is not the same as imminent.  I live with three terminal illnesses.  Unless the brothers’ driving kills me first, one of these conditions or the complications will kill me.  There are days, such as this week, when the pain has been so severe that I have missed morning mass and morning prayers.  I have to take medications that knock me out and don’t let me get up on time.  I still get up and go to my pregnancy centers and I still go to the parishes and preach on the Gospel of Life.  The pain is excruciating.  Nevertheless, I have a moral obligation to live for the sake of the vulnerable.  I’m a social being.  God created us as such.  Therefore, I have a moral obligation to stay alive as long as I can, to fulfill my obligations to others.  I have an obligation to be here for my brothers, primarily.  I made vows to this community.  I am a widowed parent and I have a secondary obligation to remain alive for my children.  I have siblings and I have a moral obligation to remain in their lives.  Life is not about me.  Those who advocate that life be about the individual are advocating something that is contrary to natural law.  Human beings are not islands. 

Whether one is a Catholic or an atheist, the rules are the same; because Catholic moral teaching is based on four legs and one of them is natural law.  We must live and die as human beings live and die.  We cannot redefine humanity or natural law, because we have no jurisdiction over natural law.  We must work with natural law.  When natural law allows us to find means to alleviate suffering without terminating life, then we have a duty to use what is available to us. Natural law does not say that human beings terminate their lives or accelerate their deaths.  Human beings made that up.   It is in natural law that any living being fight for his life until death wins out.  If we accept euthanasia, abortion, assisted suicide, then why not accept the extinction of the human species or any other species?  We fight to save endangered animals of the lower species, but we easily give up on an endangered human being in the name of relief from suffering.

Published in: on August 14, 2010 at 5:23 AM  Leave a Comment  

My sister is dying . . .


I  just came back from spending two days with my sister who is in hospice.  I was in awe and greatly saddened by her situation.  One is always saddened by the imminent death of a loved one, but more when others take it upon themselves to accelerate a person’s passing.  When I arrived, I was expecting to see my sister in a weakened state because of her illness.  What I did not expect was to see that her feeding tube, hydration and antibiotics had been removed.

I quickly asked why this had been done and was told that the doctors had informed her husband that there was nothing else that they could do to preserve her life.  Unfortunately, her husband, who seems not to understand the concept of “death with dignity” authorized the removal of life support systems that are ordinary:  water, food, and medication.  After serious attempts to reason with him about the immorality of this choice, I found that I was talking to myself.  When I inquired about the legal way to get around this, I found out that the state considers such measures extraordinary and that the next of kin or the guardian appointed by the patient has the legal authority to authorize the removal of feeding tubes, water and medication.  There is no legal recourse.

We live in a society that has clouded the judgment concerning the dignity of life and the dignity of the terminally ill and redefined “death with dignity.”  One no longer dies with the dignity of sons and daughters of God.  One dies according to an arbitrary definition of dignity that is based on our fear of suffering and our desire not to deal with pain, forgetting all along that suffering and pain are as much a part of life as are joy and pleasure.

When I founded the Brothers of Life I never thought that I would be having this discussion and debate within my family; but here I am.  The devastating blow of the Culture of Death has permeated every family, from the pagan to the Christian family.  Men are no longer consumed with the search for the Will of God, but the search for escape.  More than ever do we need men who will protect and stand as prophetic voices that cry out in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord of Life.

As I spoke with my brother-in-law and other family members, I was reminded of the Gospels.  It is interesting to note that there is no single story in the Gospel where Jesus allows someone to die, except himself.  Even this was not an acceleration of the events.  He died at the time and in the manner determined by his Father from all eternity.  Through the Scriptures we see Jesus raise the dying, healing the sick and calling the dead out of their tombs.  This is the image of the Brother of Life.  This is the image that was presented to us in Scripture, not only for our brothers, but also for everyonSee full size imagee who believes that we may have life and have it in abundance.  It is not our call to accelerate the death of a person, even in the hope of relieving their pain and suffering.  Christ calls us to do as he did, to relieve the pain and suffering of the sick and the dying by treating them with dignity and doing all that is within our power to protect their lives.  Christ is the eternal Son of the Father.  He had the power to heal and to raise the death.  We may not have that power, but we have the power of Truth and of prayer.  Let us join together to proclaim the Gospel of Life within our families and to the world.  Let no man perish because he believes that he is a burden.  The only human burden is sin, but Christ relieves us of that burden through contrition and absolution.

Published in: on August 10, 2010 at 3:55 AM  Comments (1)  

Called to intimacy with Mary and the Angels


On August 2 the Franciscan family celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels.  It is no coincidence that the second chapel and the cradle of the Franciscan Family should be named after Our Lady and under such an auspicious title.  This was really an act of Divine Providence.

The Lord saw fit to gather the sons of St. Francis around his mother, just as the angels gather around her.  Mary’s connection with angels goes back to her life at Nazareth.  Let us remember that it was through the message that Gabriel delivered that she becomes the Mother of God in the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.  From scripture, we see the intimacy between Mary and God’s angels, in this case Gabriel the Archangel.  From the earliest days of the Franciscan Family, there is a clear call to the brothers to live in the same intimacy as Mary, the angels and man lived in Sacred Scripture.  Let’s not get too far ahead of the story.  It’s always better to begin a book at the first chapter.

In Genesis 3:15 God tells Satan, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  From the moment of creation, we see Mary’s role in the salvation of her people.  She will bear a son who will crush the serpent’s head.  There are two important details here.  First, this is a clear prophecy about the birth and mission of Christ and the Church.  Second, it is very clear that Mary will bring Life into the world.  Notice the upper case “L”.  Life is not only a biological phenomenon, but he is also a person, Jesus Christ.  If we are Brothers of Life, then we are brothers of Christ.  Like Mary, the Brothers of Life cooperate with grace so that Jesus can enter into the world and all will come to know him and love him.  Without Mary’s example and her prayers, this becomes a daunting task.  We would not know how to live as brothers to Christ or how to bring his life to others.  We look to Mary to teach us how to be brothers to her son.

Many Protestants would say that this is unnecessary, “We can go directly to Christ.”  The glitch here is that God has given Mary to the world to point to the Son.  “His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you’,” (Jn 24:5).  Like Mary, the Brother calls the world to do whatever He tells us.  While it may be true that one can bypass Mary and deal directly with Christ, it plays out very differently in Scripture, the early Church and the Christian tradition.  Mary approaches Life on behalf of her friends who were hosting the wedding.  Then she directs them back to Life.

In Luke’s Gospel, the angel approaches Mary and then she leaves to serve her cousin Elizabeth.   We see Mary intimately involved in the lives of the faithful and the not so faithful, from Genesis to the Book of Revelation.

“A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars,” (Rv 12:1).

We all know that there was a woman who came from one of the Abrahamic tribes, which happened to be twelve.  In addition, we know that there was a woman with the apostles who were twelve, reduced by one after Judas’ betrayal and back to twelve after the selection of Matthias.  That woman was Mary of Nazareth, the Mother of the Lord.  There is no doubt as to the intimate relationship between Mary, heaven and man.  As Brothers of Life, we aspire to this same intimacy with heaven and man.

Let’s look at one more passage in Rv. 12:6-7a.  “The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days.  Then a war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.”  Again, the writer of Revelation establishes a link between Mary and the angels, this time with Michael.  This is not extrapolation.  The two verses were written together.  The author intended to place Mary, Michael and the other angels into the same frame.  In addition, stop and ask, “Who took care of the woman for twelve hundred and sixty days?”  Just before this passage, Revelation tells us that the woman gave birth to a son who was threatened by the dragon and rescued by the angels, (Rv 12:5).  We have two images at work here.  There is the threat to the life of the unborn by the dragon that stood before the woman about to give birth.  We have a clear reference to infanticide.  The dragon wanted the life of the child born to the woman.  However, the woman and the angels do not yield to the dragon.  Instead, the child is “caught up to God and his throne,” (Rev. 12:5).  Mary not only brings Life into the world, with the angels she also protects Life.  The man who is to be a brother must be like Mary.  He must protect Life and like Mary, he depends on Divine Assistance to do so.

Finally, we conclude with the passage from Gn 27:29  “May peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you; be master of your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.”  To whom do the Franciscan Brothers of Life bow? Is it not to Jesus Christ?  Who is his mother?  Is it not Mary of Nazareth?

Published in: on July 31, 2010 at 7:16 PM  Leave a Comment  

Imagine Yourself . . .


Have you thought of serving God as a brother, committed to living the Gospel in total obedience to Christ, without any property of your own and in chastity?  God may be calling you to walk in the sandals of St. Francis of Assisi as a Franciscan Brother of Life.  Think about it.  Pray over it.  The Lord is looking for men to stand in his place serving the unborn and their parents.  Can you see yourself waking up early to spend time in prayer, then moving along the rest of your day to a pregnancy center.  There you’ll meet men like you.  But unlike you, they are in a state of despair.  They have discovered that they are going to be fathers and they’re afraid.  Their fear is driving them to want to destroy their unborn child in the womb.  No one is there to help them sort it all out.  Won’t you be Christ’s mouth and hands?  Won’t you speak for the unborn child?  He too is our brother.  Won’t you be a brother to these fathers who are about to murder their unborn children?  Maybe you see yourself praying in front of an abortuary or praying by the bedside of someone who is sick and dying.

As a Brother of Life you will walk in the footsteps of Christ, as St. Francis did.  But you will do so among the most vulnerable:  the unborn, the sick and the elderly.  We all want them to be protected from the Culture of Death, but few men are stepping up to the plate.  If we truly believe in the Gospel of Life, then we should be willing to do as St. Francis did, to leave everything behind to follow Christ and to serve those whose lives are threatened by abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, war, infanticide and other horrors against human dignity and human life.

The Brothers of Life will not happen unless men like you step up to the plate and like Samuel say, “Here I am Lord.  I’ve come to do your will.”  You will have to sacrifice much.  This is true.  This is not an easy path to follow.  You will be asked to give up the most prized gift that a man has received from God, the right to marriage and a family.  But like Maximilian Kolbe, the patron of the Brothers, you will be laying down your life so that a father and his child will have life.  Remember, there is no greater honor and no greater love than to lay down your life for your brother.

The Brothers of Life are just emerging and we’re looking for men just like you who are interested in building something beautiful for God from the bottom up.  St. Francis began as a builder.

While praying in front of an icon of the crucified Christ in the Chapel of San Damiano in Assisi, he heard the voice of Christ say to him, “Francis, go repair my house.  Can’t you see that it has fallen into ruins?”  Christ is calling again.  His house is falling into ruins.  This time its greatest threat is the threat against human life.  The life of the unborn, the vulnerable, the sinner and the elderly are threatened every day as a matter of convenience for those who don’t see that God has a plan for all of us.  As Franciscans, we proclaim to the world that God can be trusted, that he has a plan and that plan is to give us life in abundance, here and in eternity.

If you’re interested in becoming a builder, won’t you come to the Franciscan Brothers of Life and help build this young community for Love of God, your brothers and sisters and of his entire Church?  Go to www.franciscansoflife.org and check it out.

Brother Jay, FFV

Published in: on July 19, 2010 at 7:36 AM  Leave a Comment  

Fathers, Sons and Brothers to All


God is to be found in many places and in many ways.  However, some of us are fortunate enough to be found by God.  This was the story of our Holy Father, Francis of Assisi.  Francis looked for God in the world around him, but could not see him.  It was when he allowed God to find him that he saw him everywhere.

Today, God calls men to open ourselves and allow Christ to find us.  He wants to find us, but we have to want to be found.  God will not violate our wishes.  He is a gentle God, a loving God, a respectful God.  When we place ourselves in his path, we find ourselves in Christ Jesus.  Christ becomes our Lord and our all, as our Holy Father Francis said.  Again, there are many ways to find God and many places where God can find us, for nothing is impossible for God.   God, who from all eternity has loved us, today calls men from every race and every land to meet him in the most vulnerable members of society, the unborn, the sick and elderly whose lives are reaching their sunset in this world to enter the eternal sunrise of the next.

Our call is not one to be social workers or political activists.  That is the proper role of the secular world.  God calls us to be totally his, totally immersed in him through a life of prayer, penance, and brotherhood with all people.  This is the image of Christ and the Church that we find in Francis of Assisi.  Brother Francis was not a peace activist, an environmentalist, a social worker for the poor and the sick.  In his poverty, he was richer than that.  Brother was just that, everyone’s brother.  He knew and understood that Christ our brother was to be found in relationship with all men as sons and daughters of God.  Therefore, peace is not an option, but a vocation.  When we discover our brotherhood with all people, we discover that we cannot live in any other relationship with them than in a relationship of peace and grace.

As Mother Teresa once said, “Abortion is the greatest threat to peace.”   God calls brothers, through the child in the womb, to live in peace with the world.  We must be like John the Baptist, who hears the cry of the Lord even in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth.  And like John, we must respond to Christ in the womb, not with anger and hostility, but with great love and joy.  As brothers we embrace Mary.  We desire to become like her.  Mary took Christ to John the Baptist, while both children were still in the womb.  The Brother of Life takes Christ to the unborn, by serving his mother and father, as Mary served Elizabeth and Zachariah.

God is placing a challenge on the table for today’s man.  He is challenging us to remember him and not forget Love.  When we, who are men, forget the most precious gift that God has given us, the capacity to be husbands and fathers, brothers and sons, something that no woman can ever become, we forfeit part of who we are.  We cease to be true.  No man can follow Christ and forget Truth.  Francis understood this.  One day, while struggling with temptation, he ran out into the snow and built three figures of snow.  He then turned to himself and said, “This is my family, my spouse, my son and my daughter.”  In his celibate state, our Holy Father Francis acknowledged that he was given a gift to give back to the Lord, his manhood.  Only a real man can live and love as a man.  Only a real man can hear the voice of Christ in the preborn child who today’s Pilate has sentenced to die.  The unborn child whose life is threatened needs a father.  The elderly person who believes that he has become a burden to his family needs a son.  The sick individual who has lost all hope needs a brother.  Only Christ can be father, son and brother.  That is why we follow Francis.  Francis takes on the image of Christ in his life.  He responds to Christ’s call to be perfect as he is perfect.  Francis begins the journey toward perfection.  Along that journey, he strives to be a holy father to all men, a gracious brother, and a faithful son.

Published in: on July 12, 2010 at 3:23 AM  Comments (1)  

Calling Catholic Men


Hey Guys

Published in: on July 10, 2010 at 4:50 PM  Leave a Comment  

Artificial Contraception Can Do Irreparable Damage to Human History


I could probably sit here and rewrite every encyclical and Church document on contraception, but you have probably heard about it, read it or are not interested in hearing it again.  So I won’t do that.  Instead, I’ll share some thoughts on contraception, parenting, and family from a very purely Franciscan perspective.

 I don’t know how many people know this, but Francis of Assisi was one of seven children.  We only know the name of one of his younger brothers, Angelo.  Since we don’t know the rest, nothing is ever mentioned of them except that they existed.  There is also a passing reference in one of the early letters of one of the friars to a certain Brother Giovanni who was Francis’ nephew.  It’s very interesting, because that was Francis’ birth name.  He was baptized Giovanni Bernadone.  He was born while his father was away on a trip to France.  When he returned, he found his first-born son and gave him the nickname, Francesco, Little Frenchman.  As far as we know, he was the first person in history to be named Francesco. 

What does this have to do with contraception?  Well, let’s pretend that Francis had never been born in 1182.  There would not be over one million Franciscan men and women in the world.  There would not be over 100 Franciscan saints and blessed.  We probably would have had to wait for the Christmas crib to be invented by someone else or it may not have been invented.   The world would not have had all of the ministries that the Franciscan order has provided for the Church during the last 800 years.  Catholicism would not have come to the Americas the way that it did.  Many people do not know that Christopher Columbus was a Secular Franciscan or that the first missionaries to the New World were Franciscan Friars.  The City of Los Angeles was named after Our Lady of the Angels or the Portiuncula, the first house of the Franciscan order.  Sacramento, California and Corpus Christi, Texas were named after the Blessed Sacrament, which devotion was spread through Europe by St. Francis of Assisi and his sons.  Let’s not forget San Francisco, California.

Teresa of Avila would not have read the writings of Francisco de Osuna, the Franciscan mystic who inspired her during her early years as a Carmelite nun or she would not have had the strong spiritual guidance and influence of Brother Peter of Alcantara, a Franciscan saint who was her spiritual friend and often her confessor.  He was also her greatest teacher on detachment.

Mother Teresa would have had to look in another direction for her inspiration when writing her constitutions.  The two saints upon whom she drew were St. Benedict for his guidance on the contemplative life and St. Francis of Assisi for his guidance on spiritual childhood and total obedience on the Will of God.

This brings us to the most important question of this blog entry.  Are we aware of the value of one life?  Are we aware of how one life can change history?  How different would history be without Francis and his sons and daughters?  What great holiness, intellectual and pastoral achievements have been made within the Church and in the world, because someone allowed the grace of God to work in their lives rather than interfere with the natural process of love and procreation.

Francis of Assisi was just one person, a single man born 800 years ago in a small mountain town in Italy.  Nevertheless, his influence is very much alive.  Had his parents chosen to follow the path of contraception, none of this would have happened.  Francis would not have been born.  Under his guidance and inspiration, millions of men and women from every continent on earth, for eight centuries, have been inspired to serve God and neighbor in ways that have changed the world.  One single life, one drop in the great ocean of humanity, has served as the means through which God has given so many gifts to the world and so many graces to the souls of men and women. 

It is easy to think that we can use artificial contraception once and it will not make much of a difference.  However, what if that one time had been the time when Francis of Assisi was to be conceived?  What if that one time had been the moment when you and I were to be conceived?  If you have children, imagine the world without them.  Had your parents chosen to use contraception and you had never been born, those children whom you so love would not be here.  One single moment of interference with God’s plan for humanity can be the most destructive act that any human being can commit.  It can change history.

Published in: on July 4, 2010 at 2:31 AM  Leave a Comment  

Ministering From the Sick Room


Being sick can be a wonderful experience.  Did you know that you can learn about life when you’re ill?  A few days ago I was rushed to the hospital by ambulance.  In fact, I’m writing this blog entry from a hospital bed.  Not to bore you with the medical details, allow me to tell you about something else that affects us every day and that the Brothers of Life deal with in real time.

When I was admitted to the hospital the nurse gave me a form to sign.  I asked what it was and she explained that it was a healthcare surrogate assignment form and a living will.    In Florida most hospitals use the form that has been prepared by some state agency.  I can’t tell you which one.  But that’s not so important.  What was striking to me was that the form specifies that in the event that the patient becomes unresponsive the surrogate may make any decisions as to the patient’s care.  What the form does not tell people is that in the State of Florida feeding and hydration are considered extraordinary measures.  The person who signs this form does not know that he is authorizing someone to take away their food and water if the surrogate believes that these have been extraordinary.

That sounds fine on the surface, but there is a moral problem here.  In fact, there are several moral problems and these are some of the things that the Brothers of Life help families understand when they are dealing with end of life decisions on behalf of a loved one.  Sometimes, these are not end of live decisions, because the patient is not dying, but is seriously ill.  The first moral problem here is that food, water, oxygen, medication, CPR, hygiene and companionship are not extraordinary measures.  An extraordinary measure is anything that a person does not normally need to live.  In addition, an extraordinary measure is any procedure that will only cause more harm than good or that medical experience tells us will not prolong a person’s life more than a few minutes or hours.  However, when a person’s life can be prolonged indefinitely, it is very ordinary to seek to do so.  It is very ordinary for people to remain alive until God calls them home.  Granted, we are all going to die.  But we do not need to be helped along by taking away those things that are part of normal care for anyone, sick or not.

I felt very badly for the nurse who gave me the form.  She is a Catholic.  I took advantage of the opportunity to ask her if she understood the implication of the form the way that it is written.  She did not.  I proceeded to explain the law in the State of Florida and what moral law says you can and cannot do when someone is terminally ill.  She asked me what she should do.  As a Catholic, she did not want to violate the moral law, but the hospital told her that she must offer everyone the opportunity to sign the form.  I gave her a very simple plan.  Provide the form as directed by the hospital.  Explain to patients that the surrogate would have the right to make choices that are legal but immoral and ask the patient if he or she wants to know more about this.  If the patient does, either explain it yourself or have a Brother of Life come and speak with the family.  The latter is an option at this hospital because we live less than one mile from the hospital.  But many people do not live near a community of Brothers.  In that case, they should have a religious, deacon or priest come and explain to them what the options are and how to protect themselves.  They can even speak with the surrogate to help him/her understand his/her moral duties and moral limits.

When the nurse and I finished speaking, she thanked me.  I was in pretty lousy shape the two days.  By day three I was more alert.  I saw the nurse again and asked her if he she thought about what I had taught her.  She said that she had shared it with other Catholic nurses on the staff.  They did not know what the limits were.  They simply assumed that if it was legal it was OK.  We spoke a little more.  Before I knew it, I had seven more Catholic nurses stop by my room to ask me for clarification on Healthcare Surrogacy and Living Wills.  It was a wonderful opportunity to preach and teach the Gospel of Life to people in the healthcare field.

Published in: on June 29, 2010 at 5:20 AM  Comments (1)  

GOD IS HIRING!


First of all, I have to apologize to all of you kind souls who take the time to read this post.  You see, this is the first time that I have ever blogged, in my entire life.  This blog was created for us as a gift from a very good friend and admirer of the Brothers of Life, which leads me into the topic of this first post.  Who are these brothers?

If I were to describe us I would say that we are couple of ragamuffins who have embraced the spirituality of St. Francis and made it our own.  Actually, I have a long history with the Franciscan family, having entered the Capuchins when I was 16 years old, back in 1969.  If you can do math, you can figure out my age.

But the Brothers of Life are not part of the Capuchins.  Here’s what happened.  One day, many years ago, I went to visit a good friend of mine who was a youth minister at a Catholic Center in Washington, DC.  Before I knew it, she had me involved with a 16-year old girl who was pregnant and frightened.  I’ll never forget that.  You look into someone’s face and you can see fear.  It’s not the fear of any kind of visible threat.  This is another kind of fear.  It’s the fear of the unknown.  It’s the kind of fear that both paralyzes you and revs up your engines so that you can run away.  To make a very long story a little shorter, this is exactly what this girl wanted to do.  She wanted to run.  She wanted an abortion.

I remember spending a very long time with her and then she suddenly took off.  I went after her, crossing dangerous railroad tracks in pursuit.  OK, I would not have chosen to cross the subway tracks in a big metropolitan area, but that’s the route that she took and I followed.  When I finally caught up with her, she was more terrified and exhausted.  My friend, who is a Carmelite Sister of Charity, and I promised to be there for her and to help her deal with her situation.  The boy, who was the father of the baby, was also a very good boy.  He too was very frightened.  These were kids who were going to be parents.  Guess what?  That baby was born in 1980.  It was a little boy and he became the King of the Castle in both homes, mom’s and dad’s.

Sometime afterward, I was the last one up at the friary when there was phone call.  It was the hospital.  They had a newborn baby who was dying.   The nurse who was on duty was a very devout Catholic and she wanted to have this child baptized.  I asked her if she knew how to baptize, but she was very nervous about it.  I lived in a house of 12 friars, four of whom were priests.  But they were asleep, so I went down to the hospital and baptized this little boy.  There was no need to wake up my brothers, even though I’m not a priest, not for an emergency baptism.

After I baptized the baby I asked the nurse about his condition.  She proceeded to tell me that the baby was going to die because they did not have the proper technology or medicines at this hospital and the nearest hospital was in the big city about three hours away.  I asked to speak with the doctor who came very quickly and he told me exactly what the baby needed.  It was some kind of machine that they did not have in this rural hospital.  They were doing the best they could with the simple technology that they had.  But it was not going to be enough.  The little boy would be dead by sunrise.

When I turned to the parents I couldn’t help but feel their pain.  It just crushed me.  I wanted to do something about this, but I couldn’t.  There was no way of getting this baby to a big city hospital.  You see, in those days small rural hospitals did not keep high-tech ambulances on standby for these things.  I’m not sure if they do so today.  The parents did not have a car either.

It was a very weird night.  I remember getting this bright idea.  I knew who had a vehicle that was large enough to transport this little family and the machine that was keeping the baby alive.  After assuring the parents that I would be back shortly I step out into the night.  I ran down the street and knocked on the door of the town’s funeral director.  I had to wake him up.  The funeral home owned a hurst.  It could accommodate the little guy, his machine and his parents.   I really don’t recall what I said to this man.  I just remember that it was the middle of the night.

About a month later, while I was walking outside the church, the couple from the hospital approached me.  They were beaming.  I had not seen them since the night that we helped them pack their baby and his equipment into the hurst and sent him on his way to the big city hospital.  They had their little boy with them.  He was beautiful.  He had made it.   Life moved on and I went back to teaching.  That’s what I’ve always done.  I’ve taught theology and when not teaching theology I’ve taught mathematics.   The years passed and many things happened in my life.

It was the summer of 2008.  I was praying before the Blessed Sacrament and something suddenly hit me as if someone had thrown a stone at my head.  Millions of children are killed every year by abortion, children just like the two little boys whom I had tried to help save.  I remembered how much I wanted to see those little boys live.   I couldn’t stop crying.  I went to my spiritual director and told him about the pain in my gut.  It was like a knot that did not go away.  My eyes felt as if the scales had just fallen off them.  Abortion has been around a long time.  I’ve always been convinced that it is morally grave.  As I said, I did everything that I could to support a teenage mother way back when. . . .  I didn’t know where this came from, but I had to do something about it.  The crying babies had to stop.  There could be no more crying and dying.  No human being, baby or otherwise could be allowed to simply die because someone decided that this life is expendable, but how to get this message across to others, especially to Catholics?

After writing Cardinal Sean, OFM Cap, the Capuchin Franciscan Archbishop of Boston, I met Bishop Felipe Estevez, one of the auxiliary bishops of Miami.  I had shared with the Cardinal what I had heard in my heart.  “My Son wants to bring life into the word, both to the body and to the soul.”  Bishop Estevez and I discussed the great truths found in the Gospel of Life written by Pope John Paul II.  The more that we spoke the more strongly I felt that God wanted something from me.  Several times Bishop Estevez asked me if I was sure that God did not want me to be a priest.  Every time I responded the same way.  “God wants me to be the image of his Son, the firstborn among many brothers.”  But God wanted me to be a different kind of brother.

The more that I prayed, the more that I heard the same voice encouraging me not to lose sight of St Francis and to look at Mother Teresa too.   It hit me one day.  It was a call within a call.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m on Mother Teresa.  First of all, there is a big age difference between us and there is an even greater difference between her holiness and mine.   I’m tiny and insignificant compared to her.

But I believed that God wanted me to start a new community of Franciscan men.  I did not know anything about starting a new religious community.  The one that I had joined in 1969 came fully established and user friendly.  The Capuchin reform has been part of the Franciscan family since the 16th century.  The Franciscan family has been around since 1209.  So I began to write.  As I wrote the words just came to my finger tips.  The Lord was asking for a group of Franciscan Brothers of Life.

We had to be Franciscan.  We had to follow the Gospel with the same passion and simplicity as our Holy Father Francis.  Nothing should be changed.  Our poverty, obedience and chaste brotherhood was to be exactly as that of St. Francis.  But our target population would be Catholics who struggle with life issues:  abortion, end of life decisions about their loved ones, infanticide, embryonic stem cell research, capital punishment, and euthanasia. The Brothers of Life are to go to those who have not fully embraced the revealed truths about the dignity of life and to tell them about the incarnation of Christ.  The Brothers must tell them that Mary conceived a child who was human and divine, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that the Father loved the Son so much that he gave him the best thing that he had created, humanity.

Here is the most interesting part of this journey.  This awakening happened in 2008.  I had been in touch with the Cardinal, who had been my confrere when we were younger.  We were stationed at the same fraternity from 1980 to 1983.  He had said how my awakening to the horrors of abortion couldn’t be timelier.  Bishop Estevez continued to read my writings and point out some things that he felt were truths that the Holy Spirit was sharing with us.  Then came July 2009 and I became very ill.  I was in and out of hospitals six times between July and January.  Doctors could find no cure for my condition.  My teaching contract was not renewed, because of my health.  I must have dried up the local priest’s supply of oils, because I was anointed six times.

I finally looked at the Immaculate Heart one day and said, “OK.  I give up.  Whatever you want, I’ll do.”  From that day forward my health improved.  I had no money, since I was no longer teaching.  The Secular Franciscans and other people began to bring food, clothing, money and even dishes.  Someone on catholic.com read my story and read about the Brothers of Life and volunteered to create a website.  Someone else volunteered to create this blog.  I wrote down what the Lord had been telling me and sent it to the auxiliary bishop.  In brief, it was a proposal for a new Franciscan brotherhood that would follow the primitive rule of the Friars Minor, in the same spirit as the Capuchins, but with a fourth vow:  Total commitment to the proclamation and promotion of life, preached with the same charity and passion as St. Francis preached.

Most of the time, you send these things in to an Archbishop and it takes a lot of time to hear from them.  These are busy guys.  I sat down to wait for a response.  But I prayed to the Immaculate Heart that God’s Will be done.  About three days later I received a call from the Auxiliary Bishop.  He was calling to let me know that the Archbishop had said we needed to discern this.  I was unsure if I could or could not accept brothers.  But then he added that the Archbishop had put in a call to a priest in the Archdiocese who is a religious and has many years of experience with the formation of religious.  He asked the priest to serve as the spiritual guide and advisor for this process.  The priest had accepted.  When I met with Father, he told me about the call and he said that there was a green light to begin to discern if it is really the Will of God that there be a Franciscan brotherhood dedicated to the Gospel of Life.  He encouraged me to go forward and find the men.

I didn’t have to look long.  In less than one year, there have been 42 inquiries by men of all ages and all walks of life.  No, we don’t have 42 brothers.  Everyone is discerning.  But we are starting to gather together in community.  I call it my community of ragamuffin Franciscans.  We lead an intense life of prayer, with the Eucharist as the center of our day and the Liturgy of the Hours as the crown around the mass.  We have Lectio Divina every day, Grand Silence at night, daily rosary and time before the Blessed Sacrament.  We also go out to serve in the pregnancy centers of the Archdiocese of Miami.  We work with the Office of Respect Life on retreats, volunteer training, working in baby rooms where we gather and distribute baby articles to mothers and fathers who have decided to keep their babies, but are too poor to afford the necessary things for them.  We give talks around parishes and meet with pastors, offering to help their Respect Life programs in their parishes.  We also teach religious education and work with youth.  There is a lot to do and not enough workers.  We are now creating a spiritual formation programs for expectant fathers.

I’m not sure where the Lord is leading us, but I certainly believe that God will not allow his children to be destroyed by abortion, euthanasia and other heinous attacks on life without raising up different religious families in the Church to lead in the battle against the enemy.

That’s an awful lot to read in one sitting.  If you have read this far, thank you for staying with me.  I look forward to hearing from all of you and hearing what you have to offer on Franciscan spirituality and the Gospel of Life.

Remember, GOD IS HIRING A FEW GOOD MEN!

Br. Jay, FFV

Published in: on June 25, 2010 at 9:39 PM  Comments (2)  
Newer Entries »