Friday, May 3, 2024

Israel vs Palestine - IDF vs Hamas - Israelis vs Palestinians - Jews vs Muslims - How did the conflicts begin? What about the Christians?

At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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Israel vs Palestine - IDF vs Hamas - Israelis vs Palestinians - Jews vs Muslims - How did the conflicts begin? What about the Christians? 

        The latest development related to the ongoing crisis / war in what is called "The Holy Land" is pitting the IDF vs Hamas, which in October 2023 attacked Israel, killed many civilians, and took hostages.

        We have all doubtless read and heard many commentaries and analyses, and perhaps even done our own research in the Internet. We are brought back to waves of Intifadas on the one hand, and to Israeli settlements on Palestinian land on the other. Further back in time, we are brought to the 1948 establishment of the independent State of Israel and the associated clearing out of Palestinian villages, called Nakba or Catastrophe in the Arab world. Digging a little more, we are brought back to WW I, which ended the dominance of the Ottoman Empire in this land, succeeded by the "partition" of the land into two separate states: one Jewish and the other Arab.

What about the historical record? 

        Before the Ottoman Empire and rule (15th to 20th c. CE), there were the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods (13th to 15th c. CE), the Crusader period (11th to 13th c. CE), the Fatimid Caliphate (10th to 11th c. CE), the Abbasid Caliphate (8th to 10th c. CE), the Umayyad Caliphate (7th to 8th c. CE), the Early Muslim period (6th to 7th c. CE), the Byzantine period (4th to 6th c. CE), the Roman Province of Syria Palaestina (2nd to 3rd c. CE),  Religious developments and Jewish-Roman wars (1st to 2nd c. CE), the Herodian dynasty and Roman Judea (1st c. BCE to 1st c. CE), the Roman period (1st c. BCE), the (2nd c. to 1st c. BCE), the Ptolemaic and Seleucid eras (3rd c. to 1st c. BCE), the Hellenistic period  (4th c. to 3rd c. BCE), the Persian (Achaemenid) period (6th c. to 4th c. BCE), the  Babylonian period (7th c. to 6th c. BCE), the Assyrian invasions (8th c. to 7th c. BCE), the  Kingdoms of Israel and Judah (10th c. to 8th c. BCE), the Early Israelites and Philistines  (13th c. to 10th c. BCE), the Late Bronze Age collapse & the migration of Israelites from Egypt to Canaan (13th c. BCE), the  Egyptian dominance (16th c. to 13th c. BCE), the Early and Middle Bronze Ages (38th c. to 16th c. BCE), which included the emergence of Abraham and his descendents: both Isaac (father of Jewish tribes) and Ishmael (father of Arab tribes) (20th c. to 19th c. BCE).

A preliminary analysis of the historical record

        As you can plainly see, this particular and relatively small spot on Planet Earth has been from time immemorial a crossroads of conflicting interests and political maneuvers. We can see the origins of present day conflicts in two ways: internally and externally. From an "external" point of view, the land has been coveted by every successive empire ever to arise in the entire region. This means that whoever lived in the land, at any time, were at risk to be conquered and ruled by those powerful interests. 

        From an "internal" point of view, dissension was most definitely sown by the Patriarch Abraham and his wife Sara. Frustrated in their inability to bear a child, Sara drove her slave girl Hagar into her husband's arms and bed. They were glad when Abraham had a son by Hagar, Ishmael, who was better than no son at all. However, when angels visited them and Sara conceived and bore Isaac, she no longer wanted to have anything to do with Ishmael or his mother Hagar. Abraham was forced to send them out into the wilderness. There, she cried out to God and He rescued their lives.

Where conclusions meet observations 

        One can understand how this rejection grew into an intergenerational dissension and conflict whenever the two lines come into contact with one another. To this day, both Jews and Muslims look to Abraham as their Patriarch and father of their people, and to his two sons as the progenitors of their respective peoples, Jewish and Arab. 

        We could dig even deeper and go all the way back to the dawn of humanity and find Cain murdering his brother Abel out of jealousy and insecurity before God. Able was pure in his intentions when offering sacrifice to God; whereas Cain was deemed by God not to be pure of intention; perhaps only making sacrifice out of a sense of obligation. 

        Obviously, then, the roots of the present conflict between these two peoples run so deep as to have become ingrained almost into their respective strands of DNA. From a human point of view, there may never be any definitive resolution until one or both of them are entirely wiped out. Since both of them seem to have legitimate claim to God's favour and blessing, their annihilation is unlikely to happen.

        Hamas and some Muslim people seem dedicated to seek the entire destruction of the State of Israel and every last Jewish person living there; while Zionists and some Jewish people seem equally dedicated to seek the entire destruction of Palestine and every last Palestinian living there, whether Muslim or Christian. It now seems that the IDF is bent on the radical destruction of Gaza and its population.  

A perplexing and distressing question

        As we look at the historical record, there is a question that rises to the surface, and it is this one. Has God abandoned his Chosen People, or at least the Promised Land? The first Temple built by Solomon was destroyed some four centuries later when the people were conquered and deported on two occasions, in the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. The second Temple was still under construction during the time of Jesus of Nazareth, but it too was destroyed, this time by the Romans in 70 CE. Now there are rumours of plans to build a third Temple, but that would seem nothing more than a fantasy with the situation being as it is now. There are no doubt some fervent Jews who feel that the State of Israel is God's answer to the Shoah of the 1940's under the Nazis, and they may be right. However, it is unlikely that God would intend for them to "take over" the land as their ancestors did under the leadership of Joshua after their 40-year sojourn in the wildnerness after their "Exodus" from Egypt and their slavery under Pharaoh. 

What about the Christians?

        Whether or not the Jewish people recognize Jesus of Nazareth as their true Messiah, the fact remains that he truly existed, lived, preached, was unjustly condemned, tortured, and executed by the Romans at the insistence of the Jewish religious leaders. Christians believe that He rose from the dead, appeared to them and gave them final instructions, and ascended into Heaven at the right hand of his Father, and that shortly thereafter, He and the Father sent the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and disciples to give them power from on high. They spread out over the Mediterranean world and did as Jesus had commanded them. They proclaimed the Good News and made disciples for Jesus.

        This is now two millennia later, and the Christian faith has spread to a large portion of humanity, even as the human population has geometrically expanded to over 8 billion. It would appear that Jesus even now is proposing the only workable solution to the never-ending conflict in the Holy Land: mutual forgiveness. The time has come for Isaac and Ishmael to be reconciled to one another, and for Abel to forgive his brother Cain. Both of them in many ways are Abel and approach God with a pure heart; whereas both of them in other ways are also as Cain and are stained with the blood of their brother. 

This conflict is not unique

        This conflict in the Middle East is not unique, but it could be seen to be symbolic of every human conflict. All parties see themselves as innocent victims of the actions and policies of others. Their fears, insecurities, ambitions, greed, and drive to survive bring them to make war on those they see as enemies. To every wound, hurt, and destructive act there arises an equal and opposite reaction, and a spiral arises without a hint of ending.... Russia's war on Ukraine is a fratricidal war pitting against one another people with common origins. Both of them are Orthodox Christians. Like the conflict in the Middle East, here too there have been external forces at work. The U.S.A. never recovered from its fear of the U.S.S.R. and pushed European nations to join NATO to the very border of Russia. Hypocritically, when Russia sent missiles to Cuba, the U.S.A. was prepared to wage all out war. They don't like Russia to get too close, but hypocritically, they think it's fine for them to knock on the very door of Russia and its federation allies. 

        Mutual forgiveness. Fraternal love and respect. Justice for everyone. This is the only road to peace. Our mortal human condition precludes any possibility of walking such a road, which is why we human beings are in need of a Saviour who is God our Creator. Only He can lift us up to a higher level of being, where alone we can look upon one another and see brothers and sisters of the same family, occupying and living in our common home, Planet Earth. 

"Lord, have mercy on us. Christ is risen, alleluia!"

LINKS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Palestine

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At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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© 2004-2024 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2024 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Thursday, December 29, 2022

The Nativity of Jesus - How the Presence of God brings consolation, peace, and joy even in suffering and pain by his Love - Christmas 2022

At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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A Christmas Letter to the Nazareth Family which is the Madonna House Apostolate


Dear Sisters and Brothers in the Most Holy Trinity,

I hope this note finds you, the whole MHA Family, and your own families well; despite these trying times. Because we are often surprised by God with Good News in the very midst of our trials and in the darkness of doubts, struggles, and pain; I now post this letter for publication as a web log or blog.

Last night, Friday, December 23rd, 2022 around 9:30 p.m., I began suffering pain which was familiar... it was like the previous 4 times I endured kidney stones: 1984, 2008, 2014, and 2015.

There was a simultaneous grace, all the more surprising that it was not at all expected, to accept to endure this pain in solidarity with the suffering Body of Christ and for the Lord's intentions and Our Lady's intentions, Mary Mother of Jesus and our Mother.

After a few hours, I began to have doubts and called the "health assistance line" 811 and, after around 2 hours on the phone - most of it was waiting - I was advised to go to the hospital; since the pain could be caused by other conditions that may be more serious and dangerous.

After waiting for the first possible bus in the bus shelter for a good half hour... it was freezing cold.... I shared the shelter with what seemed to me to be a homeless man, an itinerant.... He occupied the entire bench with bags beside him and on the ground to his right, one of those home use little shopping carts covered with a large garbage bag. He wore a heavy winter coat with hood and seemed asleep. My heart would have wanted to acknowledge him, but my spirit warned me not to awaken him... he seemed well protected from the cold and slumber seemed more pleasant than waking....  

What a relief when the 360 bus finally came.... The seat and the warmth were so comforting as to be thrilling despite the pain in my groin. The driver kindly accepted to let me know when we got to the stop for the CHUM hospital. We got there around 3:00 a.m. It took what felt like ten minutes to walk around the block to the main entrance on the other side of the building. The security agent kindly pointed me in the direction of the Emergency Room. On arriving there, I was disoriented by the very formal procedure to be followed. Go to the "red machine" and get a number... wait to be called... then I got called to register and answered many questions after presenting my health insurance card.

Not too long after I was seen in triage, given a sample bottle, went to the toilet where I half filled it after washing my hands with the disinfectant packet, went to the designated room 6 to deposit the sample, returned to the waiting area and there I waited to be called. From 9:30 p.m. the previous evening until around 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning, the pain was pretty much constant. It was at its most intense over the first two hours. On two occasions a half hour apart, spasms upheaved all the contents of my stomach. The pain caused two more spasms upheaving my stomach even though there was no longer anything there... most unpleasant.... 

During the two hours on the phone waiting for an 811 consultation and receiving it, going out to the bus stop to wait, taking the bus, and arriving in Emergency, and until 7:00 a.m. or so, the pain was a bit less but fairly constant, but no longer so intense as to cause spasms; for which I was most grateful. 

A young woman doctor saw me around 8:00 a.m. In the next few hours I was served a simple breakfast, fitted with an intravenous water solution, and brought for an "iodine scan", which later revealed the stone had moved out of the kidney. That would explain why around 7 am the pain diminished considerably and became more discomfort than pain. Around 10 a.m. I even received a visit from a brother priest and fellow resident. Such visits have inestimable value and I am grateful....

The highlight of this ordeal was connecting with two women who turned out to be sisters, one of whom was in terrible pain, the result of cross-secondary effects from her many meds following heart surgery, and who was accompanied by her sister. She related that the pain was such that she could do nothing with her hands and needed her sister to do everything for her. She was obviously in excruciating pain at a moment when mine was diminishing. I was a bit hesitant to make contact, one never knows these days how people will react. 

At first they were cautious, but after a few hours, by the time we had both been seen and received both diagnosis and treatment; they revealed that they also believed in Divine Providence.... What began as a frustrating wait with no signs of progress in the queue with that terrible feeling of "How long must we wait before someone is called?" turned into an experience of competent, gracious, and courteous care and an unexpected encounter with pleasant strangers. When they left, both sufferers experiencing increasing relief, we heartily wished one another "Joyeux Noël!" It was the joy of the Gospel... the joy of the encounter with a stranger which reveals the Presence of the Lord....

A bit longer, and I was out of the hospital with a prescription and now, having filled it and begun taking the meds, I thought to write you before I take a nap. I sense the Holy Spirit's joy within me at the thought of going through with the Christmas Eve Mass in French in Église Sainte-Gertrude in Montréal Nord, one of 3 grouped together. Like many churches in Québec these days, the Sunday assemblies have dwindled to very few people scattered throughout the church, and several churches entrusted to each priest, who at various times feel overwhelmed or tired. 

That was why there was this church which was without a priest for Mass on Christmas Eve and I had offered to go. Now, I sense the Lord wants to use my experience of pain, poverty, helplessness, and trust in Him to touch those dimensions in the lives of the faithful and draw them to Himself; so that He may lift them up and make them new.... 

My perspective on the sufferings of others became much sharper from this recent experience of my own pain and gratitude to God and to health care workers, especially in the subsequent relief.... In previous months, I have been reading two biographies of Marthe Robin, a French woman living in a rural part of France from 1902 to 1981 who spent the last 50+ years of her life confined to her bed and unable to do anything for herself. The Lord Jesus called Marthe to found, with the help of her spiritual director, "Les Foyers de Charité", which became an international movement with the objective of providing spiritual retreats to help people to encounter the living God. 

During all that time she was even unable to swallow anything, neither food nor drink. Those who attended her would moisten her lips, and all she could take was Holy Communion every Wednesday. From Thursday afternoon until Friday, then in time until Saturday, later until Sunday, and finally until Monday, Marthe experienced the passion of Jesus as though it was happening to her. Then on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. she would be as one dead for around two hours, after which she would emerge into a state of ecstasy which over the years was extended to Saturday, to Sunday, and even to Monday.

People reported that her suffering was intense, but that for Marthe, it was never about the suffering or pain, but about the Love of God manifested in Jesus for us. It was her personal experience of God's Love that prompted her to accept this invitation of the Lord Jesus to enter into his passion for the sake of the Body of Christ; for all of us.

You see, my brief experience of pain caused by the kidney stone, turned upside down all that I had read about Marthe Robin and her stigmata, her vocation to solidarity with the suffering Christ. Although the pain from the stone was awful, the grace of desire to accept it in solidarity with the suffering Christ was quite unexpected, and truly a grace, a gift from God. Now I could understand how Christians since the time of Jesus have at various times and in different places boldly accepted atrocious sufferings but with almost ecstatic joy. They were carried by grace; as Jesus promised He would do, as reported in the Gospels when He told us not to worry about what to say in the moment of trial. The Holy Spirit will provide the words in those very moments. 

It was never God the Father's intention that we human beings should crawl through life under the crushing weight of all our world's troubles... no... rather, the Father has always desired for us that we would accept to enter into the communion of the divine community which is the Most Holy Trinity. This is why Jesus offers to enter into "partnership" with us in our daily life. Though we must taste at times the bitter and the painful; Jesus dwells with the Father in those who accept and believe in Him, and the Holy Spirit brings the sweetness with abundance of life.... 

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Mt 11:28-30

God is good! All the time! And all the time! God is good! 

I am with you all in spirit.... Christ is born! Glorify him! 

My Christmas Wishes for 2022 and Wishes for the New Year 2023!

CLICK HERE 

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At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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© 2004-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Monday, March 21, 2022

Let us join Pope Francis in prayer for Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and all peoples, all children of God, one family of humanity sharing one common home.

At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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Let us all join in prayer - in unity of mind, heart, and spirit - with Pope Francis and all the bishops of the world, pleading with Almighty God to consecrate Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and all their peoples and leaders through the Immaculate Heart of Mary to God, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the one Saviour of the world. 

Only in God can we find rest and lasting peace, in unconditional love and mercy - the same unconditional love and mercy that God, the Most Holy Trinity, has for us and shows to us most dramatically in Jesus on the Cross.

Pope To Consecrate Russia, Ukraine To Immaculate Heart Mary 

Set For March 25, 2022, Feast Of The Annunciation

Pope Invites Bishops To Join In Consecration Of Russia, Ukraine 

Consecration Set For Afternoon Of Friday, March 25

Pope to Russian Patriarch: 'Church uses language of Jesus, not of politics' 


The suffering Body of Christ in Ukraine - 
UPDATED DAILY – Briefings of His Beatitude, Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk


Lord, we are encouraged by the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the love of her Immaculate Heart, to join her in pleading with You to have mercy on your daughters Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Grant your heavenly grace, wisdom, and charity to all your children in Europe; that they may recognize one another and treat one another kindly as brothers and sisters of one family. 


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At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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© 2004-2022 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2022 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Thursday, February 11, 2021

Yes to palliative care available to all, but no to euthanasia under the name "medical aid in dying"

At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Québec


Approaching Death in the Company of Christ - 👉 download the letter 

Pastoral Letter (December 8, 2015) 

End-of-life Care in the Light of God's Word - 👉 list of documents to download 

a Journey of Reflection in Five Steps 

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH LETTER 
👉 SAMARITANUS BONUS 
on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life

👉 On Suffering and the End of Life - CCCB 

👉 Decoding Life with Archbishop Christian Lépine 

End of Life 

In today’s society, the end of life is seen by many as a time of prolonged suffering that must be shortened as much as possible, without waiting for natural death to occur. Why suffer, if the physical and emotional suffering serves no purpose and has no meaning? For Christians, on the contrary, the end of life—including the associated suffering—is considered a privileged time during which God wants to fill us with his love.

On the 👉 Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, February 11, 2021,

here is the thirteenth pastoral letter of the Archbishop of Montreal,
Most Reverend Christian Lépine. 


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At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Palestinians and Israelis - Learning Each Other's Historical Narrative

At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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LEARNING EACH OTHER’S HISTORICAL NARRATIVE: Part One 

Palestinians and Israelis - This is a preliminary draft of the English translation

LEARNING EACH OTHER’S HISTORICAL NARRATIVE: Part Two 

Palestinians and Israelis - Peace Research Institute in the Middle East

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"Learning Each Other's Historical Narrative" in Israeli and Palestinian Schools

A Joint Palestinian and Israeli Curriculum Development Project 

January, 2002 - December 2007

Prof. Sami Adwan, Bethlehem University - Prof. Dan Bar-On, Ben Gurion University

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BY H. S. LINFIELD, PH. D.,
DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION AND STATISTICS
OF THE BUREAU OF JEWISH SOCIAL RESEARCH - 1920-1926 

JEWISH POPULATION OF EUROPE IN 1933: POPULATION DATA BY COUNTRY

REMAINING JEWISH POPULATION OF EUROPE IN 1945 
Before the Nazi takeover of power in 1933, Europe had a vibrant, established, and diverse Jewish culture. By 1945, most European Jews—two out of every three—had been killed.

Vital Statistics: Jewish Population of the World
Jewish Virtual Library (1882 - Present)

World Jewish Population 1970 

World Jewish Population 2001 

World Jewish Population 2018 

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U.N. Demographic Yearbook 1948 

U.N. Demographic Yearbook 1955 

U.N. Demographic Yearbook 1965 

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At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Thursday, December 14, 2017

EUTHANASIA - Various issues around death & dying, suffering, the meaning of life, and palliative care

At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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Here follow only glimpses - follow the LINKS to read the complete articles 

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Killing people is not compassion – religious leaders unite against assisted suicide 

Ottawa, Canada, Nov 3, 2015 / 12:36 am MT ().- As Canada moves toward legalizing assisted suicide, Catholic bishops and a large Protestant coalition – along with Jewish and Muslim leaders – have joined together to reaffirm the need to help the suffering without killing them. “On the basis of our respective traditions and beliefs, we insist that any action intended to end human life is morally and ethically wrong. Together, we are determined to work to alleviate human suffering in every form but never by intentionally eliminating those who suffer,” the joint statement said.

The Declaration on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide is a joint statement from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, a coalition of over 40 affiliated denominations. The statement, released Oct. 29, also has support from more than 30 other Christian denominations as well as 20 Jewish and Muslim leaders. “Humanity’s moral strength is based on solidarity, communion and communication – particularly with those who are suffering,” the statement continued. “It is personal attention and palliative care and not assisted suicide or euthanasia that best uphold the worth of the human person.” “It is when we are willing to care for one another under the most dire of circumstances and at the cost of great inconvenience that human dignity and society’s fundamental goodness are best expressed and preserved.”

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DECLARATION AGAINST EUTHANASIA AND ASSISTED SUICIDE  
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada Wednesday, January 13 2016 - CCCB-EFC Joint statement This past October 29, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) launched a joint Declaration on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. At the launching of the Declaration at the National Press Gallery in Ottawa on Parliament Hill, the CCCB and EFC were assisted by Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka, C.M., from the Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ottawa, and Imam Samy Metwally from the Ottawa Main Mosque / Ottawa Muslim Association. At the time of its release, the Declaration had 56 signatories from Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders across Canada.

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MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN DYING: A PATIENT CENTRED APPROACH  
Report of the Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying - Hon. Kelvin Kenneth Ogilvie and Robert Oliphant Joint Chairs - FEBRUARY 2016 - 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION (70 pages) - (Pages 59-60) New Democrats see these issues as not only intrinsically linked to the issue of medical aid in dying, but fundamental to a successful model of public healthcare in Canada for the 21st century. Canadians want better access to primary care, as a well as a stronger continuum of care, including home care, long term care and palliative care. They want greater equality of access and outcomes, regardless of their postal code. They want a government that not only strongly supports the Canada Health Act, but that is committed to ensuring its full implementation from coast to coast to coast. And they want to see the shameful deficiencies in on-reserve healthcare addressed and Aboriginal peoples respected as full partners in the development and implementation of health programs. 

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Canadians will regret legal assisted suicide, Cardinal Collins predicts
By Kevin J. Jones - Toronto, Canada, Apr 17, 2016 - The coming legalization of assisted suicide in Canada will threaten the vulnerable, hide killing with euphemisms, and threaten the consciences of those who oppose it, Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto has said. On Thursday the Canadian government introduced legislation to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia under the federal criminal code. “We’re all deeply concerned that this is a sad day for Canada,” the cardinal told CNA April 14. While people see assisted suicide as a “simple solution,” he said, once people begin to consider what the practices really means to society, and its threats to the vulnerable, “they begin to realize that this is not the way to go.” Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, Jews, Muslims and the Salvation Army, all opponents of legalization, will hold an April 19 press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the Canadian capital. “The very people who are most involved in helping people by the bedside while they are dying or while they are suffering are the ones most opposed to killing those entrusted in their care,” Cardinal Collins said. The gathering would say to Parliament: “thus far and no further. This is just not right. It’s not right.” He characterized the effort as “the ecumenism of practical love.”

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June 20, 2016: Statement from Cardinal Thomas Collins
...on Passing of Bill C41 on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
        
Previous Statement from Cardinal Collins--April 2016On April 14, 2016, the federal government introduced legislation that, if passed, will amend the criminal code to make euthanasia/assisted suicide legal in Canada. At a time when our priority should be fostering a culture of love, and enhancing resources for those suffering and facing death, assisted suicide leads us down a dark path. At first sight it may seem an attractive option, a quick and merciful escape from the suffering that can be experienced in life, but fuller reflection reveals its grim implications, not only for the individual but for our society, and especially for those who are most vulnerable. Such fuller reflection is sorely need now. Just days ago, Pope Francis stated, “Care and concern for the final stages of life is all the more necessary today, when contemporary society attempts to remove every trace of death and dying…Euthanasia and assisted suicide are serious threats to families worldwide.”

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The Euthanasia Deception - 1 Hr. Documentary                 Belgium’s 15 year experiment with euthanasia has gone terribly wrong. This film is a dire warning for the rest of the world. The Euthanasia Deception is a one-hour documentary featuring powerful testimonies from Belgium and beyond - of those devastated by the false ideology of ‘mercy killing’. Director Kevin Dunn sets out to expose three main deceptions of doctor assisted dying: First, that euthanasia and assisted suicide are a form of compassion. The second is the myth of autonomy: that decisions made between doctor and patient operate in a vacuum. And finally, that government ‘safeguards’ can truly protect the vulnerable.

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Dutch want right-to-die for people who feel 'their life is complete' 
Amsterdam, Netherlands, Oct 15, 2016 / 03:02 am MT ().- The Dutch government is set to legalize euthanasia for people who don’t want to live anymore but are not necessarily terminally ill or experiencing extreme suffering. In a briefing to parliament on Wednesday, the health and justice ministers said that people who “have a well-considered opinion that their life is complete, must, under strict and careful criteria, be allowed to finish that life in a manner dignified for them.” The option would be limited to “the elderly,” though the briefing did not define an age limit. The move is the latest expansion of the country’s euthanasia policy, which critics have already have said does not protect vulnerable populations, including children, the disabled and those with mental illnesses.

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The dark side of a DC bill that no one wants to talk about  
By Matt Hadro - Washington D.C., Oct 18, 2016 / 05:15 pm MT ().- Treatable depression, financial gain from a patient's death, doctors who can write a fatal prescription with little knowledge of the person it's for – all things that supporters of physician assisted suicide in the District of Columbia would perhaps prefer not to discuss. But as the city council in the nation’s capital may soon legalize the procedure, both the Church and local citizens have taken up arms to label it as prejudiced against the “most vulnerable.” The bill is immoral, unethical, and unjust, said Dr. Lucia Silecchia, a law professor at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law, and a D.C. citizen. 
“Thus, while the Catholic and Christian understanding of the dignity of human persons, made in the image and likeness of God undergirds the moral critique of such statutes, the medical opposition long predates Christ, and the legal objections should compel anyone who observes how easily disregard for the life of one spreads,” she stated to CNA. On Oct. 18, the city council for the District of Columbia voted to put legalization of physician-assisted suicide on their legislative agenda. The bill was introduced in January 2015 by council member Mary Cheh. In the summer of 2015, citizens of the city showed up in large numbers to support or oppose the bill; a public hearing went on for hours as many advocates, one after another, insisted that the city not legalize the measure. Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington has been outspoken against the measure, and other assisted suicide measures that have been introduced in states around the country in what he called “a concerted aggressive campaign…which plays on people’s darkest fears and exploits their vulnerabilities to advance ideas and practices that have long been understood to be grave infamies opposed to human dignity and which poison human society.” What is at stake is nothing less than how society views human life, he maintained.

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Lack of love behind euthanasia, assisted suicide 
By PAUL PAPROSKI, OSB - The Prairie Messenger HUMBOLDT, SK — The legalization of suicide and euthanasia in Canada is more a sign of a culture dying for lack of love than a nation being open to choice, said Jackie Saretsky at a Dying Healed workshop held mid-November at St. Augustine Parish hall in Humboldt. The sick and the elderly may actually have less choice and feel pressure to end their lives prematurely, said Ms. Saretsky, chaplaincy co-ordinator with the Diocese of Saskatoon. Modern attitudes about independence and success have led many to believe that their lives are worthless or have less value as they age or become ill. People feel they have become burdens to their families or society when they are unable to work or need the assistance of others. Saretsky recalled a conversation with a patient who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and was terrified at the thought of needing help to bathe or use the bathroom. The idea of wearing a diaper was humiliating. "At what point in life do we become undignified?" Ms. Saretsky asked. 

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A Lesson in Dying - Margie Harper (1919-2017)
 
Sisters find joy, tears, and renewed faith thanks to palliative care - 
Posted in Archdiocesan News By Archdiocese Communications - By Thandiwe Konguavi, Staff Writer - Margie Harper entered the hospital this year on the first day of Lent, her forehead still bearing a dark smudge from the Ash Wednesday Mass. At first, her daughters Margo Harper and Carolynn Bilton thought their mother had pneumonia and that she would recover. But it quickly became clear that she would not be going home to Paintearth Lodge, the seniors home in the central Alberta town of Castor where she had lived her last years. So Margo and Carolynn settled into the palliative care room of Our Lady of the Rosary Hospital for the longest sleepover they’d had with Mom since they were children — and a life-changing Lenten journey by her side. “At one point in Mom’s last days, she asked … if we were all together in hospital on a spiritual retreat,” said Margo. “We didn’t know it then, but Mom, the answer is yes. ‘Yes we were, and yes we are.’” Margie died on April 1, a full 30 days after entering the Castor hospital. She was 97. Her end-of-life journey was featured in Lasting Impressions, the 2017 annual report to the community by Alberta-based Covenant Health, Canada’s largest Catholic healthcare provider. The story underscores the significant impact that palliative care — the practice of alleviating pain and suffering for patients as they near death — can have on a person and their family. It’s a growing discipline in medicine, but one to which the majority of Canadians have no access.

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EUTHANASIA AND ASSISTED SUICIDE: WHY NOT? QUICK ANSWERS TO COMMON ARGUMENTS - Catholic Organization for Life and the Family 

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At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Friday, October 16, 2015

Men and women are complementary – but what does that look like in practice? By Hillary Mast

At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/men-and-women-are-complementary-but-what-does-that-look-like-in-practice-41476


Washington D.C., Oct 16, 2015 / 03:25 am MT (CNA).- The idea that men and women are different and complementary has been part of the Catholic Church from its beginning.

But what exactly does this mean for the Church today? What does it imply for women serving in the Church – Should they fill the exact same roles as men? Should there be a quota for each sex in service to the Church?

Not at all, according to Mary Hasson, editor of the book, “Promise and Challenge: Catholic Women Reflect on Feminism, Complementarity, and the Church.”

“The point isn’t to tally up how many women are where … and at this level versus that level, the question is … have we integrated women fully so that we are living that complementarity in the way that God intends?”

After the Holy Father’s call for a deepening of the “theology of women,” a group of Catholic women under the leadership of George Mason law professor Helen Alvare gathered to discuss women’s role in the Church, with a particular emphasis on the idea of complementarity between the two sexes.

To read the full article go to the link : https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/men-and-women-are-complementary-but-what-does-that-look-like-in-practice-41476

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At this website by various means we seek to defend life, to encourage Christian faith, to promote Catholic tradition, to edify Marriage in its link to the Creator, to encourage families and individuals, and to support missionary disciples of Jesus.  G.S.

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© 2004-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2004-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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