Mission Accomplished!

No, I'm not referring to the elections. I tend to think that we're entering a "Brave New World". Huxley fans will understand.

Tonight I gave my talk to the RCIA class on the subject matter concerning the 10 Commandments and Catholic Social Doctrine. It went well. Upon arrival at the church, I went immediately to the Adoration Chapel to pray an offer my work to Jesus, to offer him my voice, and to ask that he speak through me and through my weakness. I did not feel prepared..how could I? The topic is far too large.

In the beginning, therefore, I gave my disclaimer: "Should anything I say contradict what is in this book (held up the Catechism), then disregard what I say and pay attention to what's official and true." In a nutshell.

I continued to hit on human dignity, that we are all created in the image and likeness of God and we are ALL God's children. I discussed embryonic stem cell research as an affront to human dignity and explained the basic human physiology which dictates that a child, not anything else, will arise out of those cells...but for the fact that they are being created only to be batteries. I discussed abortion and mentioned contraception, and said a little about the death penalty and how frequent it seems to be becoming. I discussed the family as the foundation of society, but didn't get into the Theology of the Body language...that would have been too deep for this particular talk. I discussed the interrelatedness of the individual, the family, and the larger community we all make up. I discussed how the "poor and vulnerable" doesn't only refer to the economically poor, and that those of us who were given much have a corresponding duty to give what we have in support of those who don't have enough. I discussed human cloning and the idea going back to Plato's "Utopia" which is resurfacing in Europe that since we've decided abortion is ok, then it must be all right to take it a step further and kill children who may be disabled in some way. I discussed how we are our brother's and sister's keepers, and this doesn't just apply to the clique of Americans, but to our larger world, and we have seen the entire world respond to tragedies before...because it's something we know is right.

Whew! Now that I look at that summary, I am really exhausted...because I said a lot more than that, and it all came out of the Catechism and the Bible. And other sources and summaries to explain the Catechism and the Bible.

I was able to relate the teachings to the Commandments and help everyone understand that the wealth of information I was passing on was a very very general overview, and really tried to drive home the point that the measure of any insitution, whether family, work, political, religions, is whether that institution affirms life or reduces it to a manufactured process.

When I began, I figured I'd speak for less than the time allotted. It ended up going longer, but still within the time. I finshed with the recent letter from Archbishop Chaput, which was an incredible summary of Catholic Social Teaching.

Thank you, everyone who prayed for this project and provided advice and resources. Thank you St. Charles Borromeo, St. Jude, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. John, St. Anthony, and Blessed Fulton Sheen...and all Glory to God!