Archive for the ‘Archbishop Robert J. Carlson’ Category

Catechesis on the 5th Commandment

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Archbishop Carlson ordains 8 Priests this Summer

From Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, Archbishop of St. Louis:

God’s law in the Old Testament is clear and unambiguous: You shall not kill. Jesus is even more demanding: Every one who is angry is liable to judgment.

Sins against the Fifth Commandment are easy to commit. Any time we think, speak or act out of anger or hatred or jealousy or revenge, we abuse God’s commandment that we respect His most precious gift, the gift of life — especially human life.

Human life is sacred because, from its beginning until its natural end, it involves the creative action of God. The Fifth Commandment forbids direct and intentional killing as gravely sinful. God alone is the Lord of life. No one has the right to end arbitrarily what God has begun, and sustained, through the gift of His love.

In the account of Abel’s murder by Cain (Genesis 4:8-12), Scripture reveals the presence of anger and envy in humankind, consequences of original sin, from the beginning of recorded history. God declares this as wicked, and He asks the question to be answered over the ages: “What have you done?” Today this question is asked not only of those who kill someone, but also of those responsible for violence, anger, hatred and vengeance in any form.

It is a shame that there are so many violent words expressed between members of the same family day in and day out. Anger and intolerance are also pervasive in our Church and in society. Such attitudes are destructive and sinful. They are of the Evil One and not of God.

The Fifth Commandment does not stop someone from self defense, because someone who defends his or her own life is not guilty of murder. Legitimate defense can be not only a right but also a grave duty for someone responsible for another’s life, the common good of the family or the security of a nation. We risk our lives to protect ourselves and others because we value human life and freedom so dearly. They are gifts from God that we are bound to cherish and defend.

Since the first century, the Church has addressed the moral evil of abortion and the killing of a defenseless baby in the womb. People who are casual about the sin of abortion and who choose to view it as a political issue rather than the serious moral issue that it is are guilty of violating the Fifth Commandment. You cannot be “pro-choice” (pro-abortion) and remain a Catholic in good standing. That’s why the Church asks those who maintain this position not to receive holy Communion. We are not being mean or judgmental, we are simply acknowledging the fact that such a stance is objectively and seriously sinful and is radically inconsistent with the Christian way of life.

The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council said, “God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and human life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: Abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes” (“Gaudium et Spes,” No. 51.3). That’s why formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life (see canons 1398,1314, and 1323-1324).

The Fifth Commandment also directs us to work for justice and peace — avoiding war whenever possible — and to limit the use of capital punishment to the most extreme (and rare) circumstances required to protect human life. Only God has the right to take the life of another human being. When we take that action into our own hands — in self-defense or in defense of others — we had better be sure that all other options have been exhausted!

In addition, euthanasia or deliberately taking of the life of someone who is sick, dying, disabled or mentally ill is morally unacceptable. The Church calls for the ordinary care owed to a sick person, but medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous or extraordinary are not necessary. If you are unsure about the moral implications of health care procedures that are being proposed for someone you love, contact your pastor or the archdiocese’s Respect Life Apostolate. They will be happy to help you consider approaches that are in accordance with our Church’s teaching about care for those who are sick or dying.

Taking proper care of our health, respecting others and showing respect for the dead are all matters covered by the Fifth Commandment’s demand that we reverence God’s most precious gift — human life.

Posted in Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, Courageous Bishops, Culture of Death, Culture of Life, Morality, Triumph of Justice | No Comments »

Lives of Unwanted Especially Sacred

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Archbishop Carlson at Communion in St. Peter's, Rome

The Archbishop’s Column (from the Catholic Review)

January 13, 2010

by The Most Rev. Robert J. Carlson, Archbishop of St. Louis

Have you ever felt unwanted? It’s a horrible feeling that strikes at the heart of your soul. Rejection is always painful, but to be rejected for who you are is perhaps the most painful experience a human being can have.

When I was in grade school, we played games where two boys representing the leaders of opposing teams would take turns choosing their teammates. I was never the first boy chosen, but I also wasn’t the last. I wonder how that boy felt? Did he wonder why he wasn’t good enough? Did he feel guilty or angry or ashamed? As awful as it must have been to be the last boy chosen, he at least got to play with us. He wasn’t totally rejected (even if we didn’t know how to make him feel really wanted).

What about the boys and girls who were never chosen at all — the unborn, the handicapped, the homeless children who couldn’t go to school?

In his encyclical “Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life),” Pope John Paul II writes, “By his incarnation, the Son of God has united himself in some fashion with every human being. This saving event reveals to humanity not only the boundless love of God … but also the incomparable value of every human person” (“Evangelium Vitae,” #2).

Every human life is sacred. Every person is a child of God who possesses incomparable dignity and worth, no matter his or her state in life or personal gifts and talents. Regardless of who we are; what our background is; the state of our physical, emotional or mental health; our accomplishments; our race, religion or cultural heritage; our age; or our social status; every individual human being is precious in the sight of God and should also be valuable in the eyes of fellow human beings.

No one is unwanted by God. His love embraces all. Think for a moment of the power of that statement. Can it really be true that the God who made the universe in all its vastness and complexity knows and loves each and every one of us, including (or perhaps especially) those of us who have been rejected by parents, families, communities or society as a whole?

Can it really be true that God sees in us (all of us, everyone of us) something that is worth more than we can possible imagine — something that far exceeds silver or gold, power or prestige, fame or fortune?

Yes!

Every human is wanted by God because every person has been given the gift of life. This gift is a share in God’s own being that is more precious than anything we can possibly imagine. Life itself is the treasure given to us by God to be nurtured and protected and shared generously with others. Nothing on earth is more valuable than human life. That’s why deliberately taking a human life by murder, abortion, euthanasia, infanticide or any other means is such a grave sin. God alone gives life and only He can take it back again.

No one is unwanted by God. That’s why we reverence all life, why we help the handicapped and care for the infirm and the elderly, why we encourage and assist women with unplanned pregnancies through the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Fund and why we speak out forcefully against all attempts to treat society’s unwanted human beings as somehow less valuable than they truly are in the sight of God.

No one is unwanted in God’s family. We don’t always show it as clearly as we should, but all are welcome. All are valued. All are members of the Body of Christ, the Church.

All life is sacred — especially those who feel unwanted or who have been rejected by the unjust, unloving and inhuman laws, policies and social practices of this and every other age.

As Pope John Paul taught us, “Even in the midst of difficulties and uncertainties, every person sincerely open to truth and goodness can … come to recognize … the sacred value of human life from the very beginning until its end, and can affirm the right of every human being to have this primary good respected to the highest degree. Upon the recognition of this right, every human community and political community itself are founded” (“Evangelium Vitae,” #2).

When God chooses His team, everyone is first. No one has to wonder, “Does God really want me?” God wants everyone. That means He wants you and me, and every human being who has ever lived, and everyone who is yet to be conceived.

“Therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice, and cleaving to Him; for that means life to you and length of days” (Dt 30:16, 19-20).

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St. Louis: Holy Sepulchre Meeting

Monday, September 28th, 2009

From September 16 through 24, I attended the annual meeting of the Northern Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.  This year’s meeting was held in St. Louis, MO.  Here are some photographs from the closing Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis  in the “Rome of the West” :

Posted in Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, Catholic Culture, Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, Prayer/Spiritual Life | No Comments »

Photos from the Installion of Archbishop Carlson in St. Louis, MO

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Posted in Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, Courageous Bishops, Pope Benedict XVI, The Sacred Liturgy | No Comments »