Dear Mr. Shea:
Thank you for your article regarding the murder of Terri Schiavo.
I know you are a busy journalist and I don't want to take up too much of your time. Possibly an assistant can answer my questions.
I live in a parish where there was no support for Terri, indeed; on Easter Sunday, Terri was mentioned, but not in a correct fashion. According to our priest, it was a “private family matter.” Just a “circus” surrounding her. Our priest is an author and I asked him to help me compose a letter to Bishop R. Lynch requesting him to publicly aid Terri and to refute Father Murphy's court testimony in light of Holy Father's statements regarding feeding tubes. Silence. Complete and total silence, is what I recieved.
The question that keeps coming to our family is why there are so many “Catholic” priests and bishops who did not take a firm stand against the murder of Terri. Our family needs support; we need healing. We attempted to help Terri for two years, knowing full well that it is murder. So many, even in the Catholic communities, say, “I wouldn't want to live like that,” as if that somehow makes the murder of Terri justifiable.
We are so confused and hurting. I pray, I repent of my sins — our family does and will continue to do so. Where is the joy? Where is the “good” to come out of this? I know that our beloved Christ died for all of our sins. We are washed clean by His blood when we repent. Yet, the sorrow continues. The realization that innocent blood still spills, the realization that too many in our own Holy Roman Catholic Church do not stand firm against these diabolical attacks against humanity. We pray for them as well. That is all we can really do.
Please tell us. Where is the joy? These realities are extreme. Abortions, Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, Murder, embryonic stem cell research, cloning, same sex marriage, Oppositional University Professors/Administrators, sex education in the schools, and so on … and horrible indifference or opposition from our own Church leaders.
We love to attend Mass and receive the Holy Eucharist, yet as a mother I continually fret that what is said in the pulpit is scandalous for our children to hear. We are torn. Where is the joy? Thank you for listening.
Sheila Fogarty
Elkhorn, NE
Sheila:
The joy is where it has always been: in the Blessed Trinity, who is joy. The weakness and failure of men does not diminish the joy of the Blessed Trinity one iota. It only gets in the way of our willingness to enter that joy (if we let it). I make no excuses for the failures of those in the Church who let Terri down. I merely say that their sin is not an excuse for us to join them in their joylessness and weakness. We must keep our eyes fixed on heavenly things and continue to pray — particularly for our weaker brothers and sisters in faith, that they, too, enter into the joy. And, we should take heart that God has given us a Pope who has, himself, noted that the mark of modernity is its joylessness, and that true faith should be marked by joy.
The Church is about to witness a great pontificate and a fitting successor to John Paul the Great. Take heart. Have hope. And be not afraid!
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
Editor's Note: To contact Catholic Exchange, please refer to our Contact Us page.
Please note that all email submitted to Catholic Exchange or its authors (regarding articles published at CE) become the property of Catholic Exchange and may be published in this space. Published letters may be edited for length and clarity. Names and cities of letter writers may also be published. Email addresses of viewers will not normally be published.
