Franciscans of Life

So, the United States allegedly now has more than 2,000 children at different facilities, where they remain separated from their families.  What are Christians to think about this situation?

There is a moral question that must be answered before proceeding to what the law allows and does not allow.  As Catholics we should always “Give to Caesar what belongs to him and give to God what belongs to him.”

The Law

          The first thing that belongs to God is the law. If we refer to Thomas More and John Fisher, who publicly stated that they were loyal servants of the King, but God’s first and Henry VIII had both executed.

            Scripture proves to us that one cannot violate God’s laws to obey those of the State when they’re in conflict.  This does not mean that we go out and put his or head on the chopping block.  “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  If the act or forcefully separating a child from his parent or other relative, is not a neutral act.  We’re talking about separating children from parents who can care for them.   As to those who execute the separation, we have no right to judge as good or evil, until they have been examined by a jury and judge.

The Franciscans of Life first seek to fulfill and proclaim God’s laws concerning human life concerning what the Gospel of Life has to say about life outside the womb.  It is equally sacred, has human rights, and, freedom to make choices, when we reach an age where we can reason for ourselves.  Children have a right to be part of their family if it’s safe.  Parents who have a proven track record of caring for their children, have a God-given right to care for and raise their children.

Daniel Soñé Photography

Children are a gift from God to a man and a woman.  Parenting is often the humanizing trigger in life of the parent.  If we take away from man that which makes him more human we create dangerous people

God gives us civil leaders to guide us in the fulfillment of his commands.  When those civil leaders are out of sync with revealed moral law, citizens with a well-formed moral conscience have the right and duty to insist that the government exercise restraint and good will.

Jews, Christians and Muslims agree that God reveals his law through prophets and their disciples.  Christians know that God revealed his will for humanity through his son, Jesus Christ as well.  He also made use of many great men and women through the centuries.

Good citizenship calls for us to exercise good moral judgment, before considering the law of the State.  God’s law always sets the path that human law must follow.  We must be ready to inform our leaders when they lose sight of the path.  Very often it’s because our leaders do not know God’s position on certain subject.

Rebelling won’t help get these kids back to Mom and Dad, reasonable dialogue and the desire on both parties to find the right path, not outdo each other will.  “Let the children come to me,” says the New Testament.  Muslim, Jew or Christian children first contact with God is through the lessons on justice, peace, and compassion they learn from through their parents.  Our first encounter with God should always be through our parents and family, not in a holding tents.

Undocumented migrant children detained and separated from their parents, waiting to be reunited. Reuters

Let me wish all our readers a Happy and Blessed Easter season.  Moving right along, I have heard several sermons and talks on the meaning of the Resurrection of the Lord, but something has been missing.  I believe that I may have figured out what has been missing for me.  One of the several gospels read on Easter Sunday includes the meeting of Mary Magdalen and Jesus in the garden and the race to see the tomb with their own eyes by Peter and John.  But there are some key details in John’s gospel that cannot be ignored, especially these days when people often believe that the Resurrection was a spiritual event rather than a truly physical rising from the dead.

Let us examine facts handed down to us by those who saw.  It’s interesting, if someone delivers a lecture on the structure of the atom or the source of human chromosomes, we accept as fact, what someone closer to the subject says even when their statements are theories that have yet to be observed through human experience.  This is not the case of John’s resurrection narrative.  Every statement was made by an eye witness, followed by many other witnesses.

When Mary Magdalen peers into the tomb, there is no corpse.  In the garden, she encountered a man whom she believed to be the caretaker and asked him where they had taken Jesus’ body.  But when the man responds, Mary’s eyes are opened, and she recognizes Jesus Christ.  She runs to the apostles and delivers the Good News, “I have seen . . .”   She does not describe Christ to be any different from before he was crucified, except for his wounds.

John tells us that Peter and the Beloved Disciple ran to the tomb, with the beloved disciple arriving first, because he was younger and faster. He does not enter the tomb until Peter arrives.  In this simple act of respect, John points to the primacy of Peter, an honor never applied to any other apostle.  Peter is always first.

Both men probably went to the tomb with mixed feelings.  The body could have been stolen or Jesus was truly alive.

Here we run into small but crucial details. Peter enters the tomb.  Apparently, John stood closer to the exit.  It is he who reports that the shroud laid neatly on the slab where Jesus’ body rested.  But there was another important detail.  The veil used to cover the face of the deceased was not with the shroud.

As John looks around, he sees the veil on another shelf, neatly folded.  This begs the question, since when do grave robbers tidy up after they snatch a corpse?  Robbers would have probably wrapped the body in the shroud to hide the identity of deceased, if they ran into anyone; but this is not what happened.  The tomb was left in perfect order.

The evangelists testify that Jesus appeared before them in the upper room, but came through the wall, not an open door.  If this point stood alone, one could consider the Resurrection a spiritual event or even a symbolic story to drive home the point that Jesus is alive.  But what happens after these sudden appearances of Jesus among the disciples and the travelers to Emmaus leave no doubt that they saw a physical Jesus, with a body scarred by the wounds of the cross.

In one narrative Jesus invites Thomas to place his hands inside the wounds.  On another occasion, Jesus asks the apostles for something to eat.  Spirits don’t eat.  They have to nutritional requirements.

The two travelers on their way to Emmaus reported that they had met a MAN.  He walked with them and spoke to them.  But they did not recognize him until be breaking of the bread.  It is at this point in the meal when the words of consecration are spoken.  “This is my body . . . This is the cup of my blood.”

First, those words had been spoken only by Jesus.  The Apostles were present at the Last Supper, but we are not told that there were strangers in the room with them.  Only the apostles and Jesus knew those words.  But here was a man who appeared to be a stranger repeating those words at the precise moment during the meal where Jesus first said these words, at the breaking of the bread.

The travelers then realized that this was truly Jesus who walked and talked to them as he explained the scriptures and then disappear.  This was not a spirit, but a real man of flesh and blood.  Yet, he could disappear in an instant.  Somehow, some way, this body had been stripped of human limitations.  He no longer needed to walk long distances, knock on the door or eat.  These narratives were handed down to the first-generation Christians by people who had seen Jesus alive, Matthew, John, Peter and by people who trusted the credibility of the eye witnesses.

There are too many details to include in one sermon, but some of the more salient ones could have helped those who still have doubts about the historical reality that was the Resurrection.  Unfortunately, too many preachers have failed to mention the greatest truth of all.  Jesus rose from the dead, was seen by others to whom he chose to reveal himself and there are details in the Gospels and other first century writings that are very important, such as the orderly tomb, and the invitation to Thomas to put his finger into the pierced hand of Jesus.

We must always remember that Christ died and rose for our benefit, to remove the shackles of Adam’s sin and open the gates of heaven for the just. This time of year, catechists, preachers and leaders must always remember to emphatically place the risen Christ in human history.  This single fact changed the course of world history.  People forget these things.   If they are not spelled out during Easter.  There will be something missing in the message.

English version:  CAN WE SAVE US FROM OURSELVES? 

Esta semana, muchas personas han escrito sobre la causa de justicia social representada por el Reverendo Martin Luther King, Jr. Es bueno recordar la importancia y la necesidad de que aún debemos vencer el odio y las diferentes formas de prejuicio. Además, hay marchas pro-vida, discursos y manifestaciones en todo el país, a pesar de las bajas temperaturas en algunas ciudades. No piense que Dios no nota tal sacrificio. Estos sacrificios son más significativos para él que los “holocaustos”.

A medida que avanzamos, es importante mirar hacia atrás. El que no mira hacia atrás para ver dónde ha estado y el progreso que ha hecho, no tiene idea de qué tan lejos llegar y cuánto más debe hacer. El problema provida es uno de los que debe examinarse en el contexto de una tradición de derechos humanos bien establecida.

Esta semana no es una protesta política contra el aborto, contra el racismo, contra la eutanasia o cualquier otra violación. Si reducimos nuestro lenguaje, nuestra actividad y limitamos todos nuestros recursos para derrocar el aborto y las leyes de eutanasia, existe la posibilidad de que esas leyes nos acompañen por mucho tiempo y puedan afectar muchas más vidas.

Debemos educar a otros. Hay quienes para quien el racismo, el aborto, la eutanasia, la trata de personas y otros crímenes atroces sean “guerras de la cultura católica” o “guerras culturales negras” o cualquier otra guerra cultural que podamos imaginar. Nuestro principal deber moral es ayudar a hombres y mujeres de todas las edades, todas las religiones, todos los grupos étnicos, todos los ámbitos de la vida y cualquier preferencia sexual a abrazar el DERECHO A LA VIDA, no crear más divisiones y más guerras. El derecho a la vida comienza con el derecho a nacer. Pero no debemos sentirnos cómodos porque la cantidad de abortos está disminuyendo mientras que la cantidad de personas mayores, enfermas y discapacitadas que están siendo sometidas a eutanasia está aumentando.

No podemos sentirnos demasiado cómodos con la idea de que personas de color, caucásicas y personas de diversas culturas puedan coexistir en cualquier comunidad. Eso es solo una ilusión. El hombre viene al mundo para más que convivir con otros hombres. El hombre viene al mundo a vivir. Somos el resultado de un principio natural básico llamado “generatividad”, del término “génesis”. Cuando interferimos con el nacimiento, la vida y la muerte, en lugar de seguir las leyes incorporadas en la naturaleza, nos encontramos haciendo lo antinatural. Negar a alguien el derecho de nacer y otorgarle a alguien el derecho de tomar la vida de otra persona o ayudar a otra a quitarse la vida, es un intento irracional de parte de la humanidad que pretende dominar la naturaleza.

Si bien es cierto que no somos bestias del campo que viven y cazan por instinto, somos criaturas de la Tierra. Si ese no fuera el caso, no estaríamos tan agobiados por la ansiedad sobre el medio ambiente y el futuro del ecosistema. Estos son importantes para nosotros ¿Por qué? Consciente o inconscientemente, reconocemos que somos parte del mundo natural y que el mundo natural es necesario para el desarrollo individual y comunitario.

En algún nivel, sabemos que somos seres naturales; entonces, luchamos para preservar el medio ambiente que necesitamos para prosperar. Negarle a un ser humano el derecho a nacer, el derecho a agua y alimentación, en lugar de cuidar del otro hasta que muera sin que nosotros los empujemos por un precipicio, es suponer que tenemos dominio absoluto sobre la misma naturaleza de la cual formamos parte.

Somos parte de la humanidad o somos dueños de la humanidad. La mano no tiene derecho a despedir al pulmón. Tampoco el oído tiene el derecho de despedir al pie. Cada uno es parte de un ser. El hombre o la mujer que autoriza el asesinato del niño, los enfermos, ancianos y discapacitados o que lleva a cabo tal acto, se ha puesto a sí misma por encima de la humanidad.

Un hombre o una mujer que gasta energía en el “derecho a terminar con la vida” en el útero o años después del nacimiento, pretended que ya no comparte la naturaleza humana. Esa persona se ha engañado a sí mismo y a los demás. Muchos creen que aquel que puede terminar una vida o sabotear un nacimiento es una persona poderosa. La verdad es muy diferente. Tal persona es un cobarde que le teme a la humanidad.  Dicho miedo los lleva a buscar dominio y el “derecho” a la intervención sobre quién nace, quién vive y cuándo otros mueren.

Los esfuerzos combinados del Dr. King y el movimiento Pro-vida tienen un solo objetivo y un solo fin: salvarnos de nosotros mismos.