Dear Catholic Exchange:
I just read Sacrificial Giving, and I find it very offensive. As a MOTHER of two adopted children, I find your emphasis on “three FULL-BLOODED siblings” particularly outrageous. My children are not related by blood, but they ARE as much siblings as biological ones.
Your message seems to be that biological mothers give up their children to “nice people” who raise them when they can't, and then, somehow, these “nice people” give them back when they are grown. The biological mother gives her child to its REAL parents. Perhaps you should contact one of the adoption groups in your area and learn some sensitivity and positive adoption language.
I read your article to my best friend, an adult adoptee with a biological child and an adopted child, and she was appalled as well. Yes, as adults, adopted children should be reunited with birthparents. They can not, however, replace the Mom and Dad who raised them, the Mom and Dad who will always be the REAL Mom and Dad and siblings who are real siblings whether “full-blooded” or not!
Thanks,
Santay
Dear Santay,
Thank you for taking the time to e-mail me and share your reactions and perspectives on my article. I apologize for offending you, and I appreciate you heightening my sensitivity toward adopting parents. Your suggestion to contact an adoption agency was a great one.
My only intended message in sharing my sister's story was one of hope for women facing a crisis pregnancy … that in choosing life, no matter how difficult the path may be at the time … will draw them closer to Christ and ultimately to true happiness.
May God bless you and your family.
Margot Kyd
“Pro-Life” Democrats
Dear Catholic Exchange:
I wonder how long it will take for some Catholics to realize that the “pro-life Democrat” designation is as much of an oxymoron as the “pro-choice Catholic” one is. Your decision to feature the article, Pro-Life Democrat: Why Is My Party Extreme on Abortion? did little to help others understand this.
In the article, writer Jeb Byrne laments the fact that the democratic party of today is no longer the “life affirming, egalitarian” entity that garnered his support many years ago. He explains the cause of his frustration by pointing out that the DNC has a “love affair” with abortion and that their platform slogan of being “a party of inclusion” rings hollow for anyone who affirms the sanctity of all human life. Just when it appears that Mr Byrne is going to give Catholic democrats some badly needed advice, he concedes that “there are many other issues [besides abortion] to consider” and concludes right where he started.
In “Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics,” the
U.S. Bishops demonstrate just how short-sighted and contradictory it is to resign oneself to life as a “pro-life Democrat” by speaking directly to how these “other issues:”
If we understand the human person as the “temple of the Holy Spirit” — the living house of God — then these latter issues [racism, poverty, hunger, employment, housing and health care]fall logically into place as the crossbeams and walls of that house. All direct attacks on innocent human life, such as abortion and euthanasia, strike at the house's foundation. These directly and immediately violate the human person's most fundamental right –the right to life. Neglect of these issues is the equivalent of building our house on sand.
I would like to encourage all Catholic Democrats to read Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics.
In Christ,
Louie Verrecchio MI
The Luminous Mysteries
What a great article Full of Light was. I, too, had misgivings about the Luminous Mysteries at first, but now I love them. They are clearly well-chosen; numerous mysteries of our Faith are revealed in them:
• Baptism of Christ = first public revelation of the Blessed Trinity
• Wedding at Cana = the Intercession of Mary
• Proclamation of the Kingdom = the coming Kingdom of God
• Transfiguration = the Hypostatic Union
• Institution of the Eucharist = Transubstantiation
And someone pointed out to me that the mysteries have certain parallels with the Sacraments as well:
• Baptism of Christ = Baptism
• Wedding at Cana = Matrimony
• Proclamation of the Kingdom = foreshadowing of the Anointing of the Sick and Penance (Christ heals and forgives sin, as in the story of the Paralytic)
• Transfiguration = foreshadowing of Confirmation (the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a bright cloud, much like at Christ's Baptism – only this time He descends upon Sts. Peter, James and John as well!)
• Institution of the Eucharist = Holy Orders and the Eucharist
The pope really knew what he was doing when he chose them!
In Jesu et Maria,
Rosemarie
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