David Ancell / Wednesday, February 15, 2012 / Comments(0)
A secular reporter was interviewing someone at a World Youth Day who loved Blessed John Paul II. The argument she made with the interviewee was ” . . . but he’s against birth control devices.” Indeed, if you say that you are against contraception, there are plenty of people who will look at you as if you had said that eating whole wheat bread will cause spontaneous combustion.
Contraception has very widespread acceptance in our society. Now, we even have government leaders who are telling us that it is part of the basic healthcare needs of women. Somehow, it’s just so vital that women have “access” to contraception that every employer needs to provide insurance that covers it with no cost.
Does that make it right? There are plenty of people who will tell you that the Church should “get with the times.” Well, who or what are “the times,” and why should we listen to them? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather listen to God. Some people will accuse Catholics like me of blindly following church authority. In doing so, they are really insulting people like me who took the time to study and work hard for what I know. These same people will blindly follow “the times” without really being able to define exactly what it is they are following.
Because people are willing to follow “the times,” it never occurs to them that there might really be something wrong with the use of contraception. They just assume that we Catholics who believe the Church are hopelessly stuck in the past. Most such people have never bothered to read Humanae Vitae. They may not even know it exists. The Theology of the Body may also be unknown to them.
Not only is the Church’s teaching regarding contraception true, it is also a positive good. There are plenty of people out there who have heard the message presented as the good that it is and wondered “Why haven’t I heard this before?” Indeed, this time in which our government wants to trample on us and our religious freedom may well be something that God is using as our penance for our long time failure to spread the message. That failure is a failure on the part of both our clergy and laity.
The new Obama Administration mandate that requires all employers to provide contraceptive coverage at no cost is a great evil. This is true whether it’s the employer or the insurance company who has to provide. After all, where is the insurance company getting its money? The problem with the mandate goes beyond the Church and organizations run by the Church. It means that a Catholic like me can’t start his own business without being told that I have to pay for birth control for everyone. It also means that we will all pay higher premiums.
However, God permits evil to bring about a greater good. During the past few weeks, I’ve seen bishops whom I’ve never known to be great defenders of the Faith come out of the woodwork to speak against this evil. The issue is now getting more attention than I’ve ever seen it get.
Now is the perfect time to educate people, especially Catholics who for some reason don’t know or don’t accept the Church’s teaching. Let’s get out our materials and brush up so we can explain it. This would also be a great time for parishes who haven’t already done so to have a study session on Humanae Vitae, Theology of the Body, or some other resource. The mandate must be fought and ultimately overturned, but please don’t stop there. This is the perfect opportunity to tell the world about the true meaning of human sexuality.
Category: Catholic, Morality, Response
David Ancell / Tuesday, February 07, 2012 / Comments(0)
At really long last, here is another podcast episode.
Yana got me Adobe Audition for Mac for Christmas, so I’m putting it to good use. The sound may be a bit different because I was doing completely new settings on my post-production plug-in. I think my Ozone 3 is due for an upgrade, don’t you?
Anyway, in the span of about 18 minutes, I make a valiant attempt to shed some light on two common misunderstandings of our day. This was prompted by the YouTube video that went viral entitled “Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus.” The first part is about the video and some things that are wrong with it. I end it with what’s right from the video.
Then, I tackle the irresponsible statement often heard, in some form or another, that obeying the law doesn’t matter as long as we love. This is one of those topics that inspired me to name the blog and podcast “It Really Does Matter.” The reason is that, as you may have guessed, it really does matter.
Category: Podcasts
David Ancell / Friday, February 03, 2012 / Comments(0)
I saw a number of people on Facebook who were excited to hear that the Susan G. Komen Foundation had stopped funding Planned Parenthood. As much as I was all ready to send them an e-mail thanking them for doing this, something told me that I should approach with caution. I have a tendency to be pretty slow to react, and it comes in handy at times.
Surely enough, we now have this statement from the Foundation. They decided to “amend their criteria” to support organizations under investigation if the investigation is “political” and is not “conclusive.” So, I guess PP’s willingness to violate mandatory reporting for statutory rape doesn’t constitute a criminal act under Komen’s criteria. It must be just politics driving those investigations.
Under this “revision,” Planned Parenthood keeps its existing grants and may apply for new ones. While writing about how they don’t want their mission “marred by politics,” it is hard for me to interpret their statement as anything but either 1) bowing to political pressure from pro-aborts OR 2) ultimately wanting to maintain their ties with Planned Parenthood. For those who might think Komen hasn’t really reversed their earlier decision, note that Planned Parenthood is declaring victory on their web site.
Perhaps some people reading this wonder why I would be concerned as long as the money granted is being used for mammograms or other screenings. The answer is that money given for breast screenings means that more money from their general fund can then be used for their immoral activities like abortion and contraception. No matter what other services they provide, the fact remains that they are a MAJOR provider of abortions in this country. While breast cancer does kill many women, abortion is a directly intended killing of millions of unborn children.
So, as much as I’d like to support breast cancer research, I cannot and will not do it by supporting an organization that is helping to fund an organization such as Planned Parenthood. The great evil of abortion far outweighs any good that PP could possibly be doing. I will not take any chance on donating money to them.
Category: Catholic, Morality, Response
David Ancell / Wednesday, February 01, 2012 / Comments(0)
I would urge anyone who values freedom of religion in this country, especially Catholics, to please take a moment to sign this petition to the President. We need 25,000 signatures by February 27, 2012 to get an official response. The US Department of Health and Human Services, in an unprecedented attack on religious freedom in the United States, has issued a mandate that all employer health insurance plans provide coverage for contraception and abortifacients.
In short, this means that nearly all Catholic employers, whether they are agencies of the Church or businesses owned by devout Catholics, will be required to pay for people’s mortal sin. At best, the Obama administration is attacking freedom or religion. At worst, the administration wants to stop the Church from providing health care and other social services or even wants to destroy the Church. We cannot stand by and let this happen.
This is not about “the Church getting into people’s bedrooms.” If people employed by the Church choose to use contraception, we aren’t performing bed checks. God himself will do that, and those people will have to answer for having abused the gift by which God gave us to help him in bringing new life into the world. This is simply about not requiring the people of this world who are standing with Christ on this not to have to pay the bill for people to sin.
David Ancell / Sunday, November 27, 2011 / Comments(0)
We made it through our first Sunday Mass with the new translation. I haven’t been so excited about going to Mass since the Easter Vigil Mass on which I was baptized. If you search for “language” or “translation” on this blog, you’ll find that I have written several posts about it, the earliest one being in May 2004. Yes, that’s right, we have been waiting for years for this translation!
Naysayers may want to call the new translation “stilted” or some similar less-than-flattering word, but I am convinced that our former translation was just too casual. We are doing the most important thing we will do all week when we worship God, and the one we are addressing in our worship is the one to whom we owe everything. For more on the reason I’m convinced that a kind of elevated language is needed, go here.
In my parish, everything went very well. I did have one occasion where I responded “And also . . . and with your Spirit” as my wife cracked a smile. That one will be the hardest habit to break. There was no detectable rebellion. Our pastor made a great effort to prepare himself, and he did an excellent job. I followed along using my Daily Roman Missal. The translation does flow nicely for one who is prepared. I only found one passage that seemed a bit awkward.
I am so grateful that we are now using the new Roman Missal. I’m even more thankful that Simon will grow up with this being the way he will worship God. I’m looking forward to using this text for years to come.
David Ancell / Friday, November 25, 2011 / Comment(1)
Here’s a topic that I needed to revisit months ago. The main reason that I was reluctant to give up my Palm Treo for a more an iPhone or Android was Pocket Quicken. I was disappointed when Intuit pulled the license from Landware, and I mentioned I was thinking about switching to something else. I looked for a substitute on my Android phone and found none, and I have no desire to use a cloud service like Mint. Well, for almost a year now, I have been happily using iBank.
iBank isn’t perfect, but it does have some features that are a great help to me and my growing family. Although it needs some polish, the envelope budgeting feature is very helpful. If too much is spent in one category, we have to find the money somewhere. Oh, and it has an iPhone version that will sync with the Mac. It is great for keeping up with transactions on the go and then putting them into the computer when I get home. I still have the ability to download transactions, and the import window is easier to use than Quicken’s.
I am hoping that they will add iCloud support, though. I would love to be able to enter stuff on the iPhone and have it just show up on the computer. I would also like to be able to see my budget on the iPhone app. Currently, the app shows me what I’ve spent that month but not what’s left in the budget.
While some may prefer cloud solutions, I still like having the ability to keep my own record and check it against the bank statement. So, I will always want to have an app like iBank that can also be used on a mobile device. I am glad that iBank picks up what Intuit abandoned with Quicken.
Category: Technology
David Ancell / Thursday, November 24, 2011 / Comments(0)
Today is Thanksgiving Day. It is Simon’s first Thanksgiving. He is currently asleep on my chest as I reach over him to type this on my iPhone using the WordPress app.
I have so much to be thankful for now. God has given me what I have desired for a long time. He has made me the father of a family. I may have started at a later age than most, but I have a beautiful wife and son. It has been especially nice to see the little guy smile and hear him coo lately.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers!
Category: News on My Life
David Ancell / Wednesday, November 23, 2011 / Comments(0)
Ok, I admit it. Sometimes when I’m online, I read the National Catholic Reporter. Am I expecting something uplifting that will boost my faith? No. I’ve known for years that that won’t happen there. It’s mostly bitterness. One thing about my time in North Carolina is that I was able to learn the underlying current of thought that drives the thinking of these people. I went to programs that used their resources and knew people who thought like these people do.
It was very apparent in this article. The author, one of the “young voices,” is “longing for a new, unbroken church.” She describes the Eucharist as a time when they “listened to one another’s stories” and “shared our brokenness.” The people in this church want to “be a part of a community that is relevant” and share with “those we break bread with” and “want our experience of others to be affirmed.” In her church, she is “looking for meaning and authenticity from ourselves, our friends and family, and our institutions.” I could go on as there’s a lot more of this in the article.
Indeed, it’s what is left out that is telling. All of the phrases of what the author longs for are about the people with whom she is present. She even says they went to “uncover the wholeness found in ‘we’.” There is no mention of having an encounter with the living God.
After all, God will “meet us where we are,” but he loves us too much to leave us there. Far more than “sharing our brokenness,” God wants to give us life to the full. There, we can find healing for our “brokenness,” which ultimately has its root in sin. The article seems to imply that the people at this church are content to remain in their “brokenness” and possibly also in their sin. Naturally, they will keep longing for happiness because they will never find it that way.
The Mass gives us our greatest opportunity to encounter Christ and be transformed. It gets better; he is wanting to give us eternal life with him in Heaven where there will be no more “brokenness.” We don’t need to make it “relevant” or “meaningful,” it must change us and make us “relevant” and “meaningful” to it.
We need not simply share our story. We need to know Christ’s. Let him transform our story into something beautiful and joyful for him.
David Ancell / Saturday, October 22, 2011 / Comments(0)
Today, my son Simon is seven weeks old. As I type, he’s sleeping in the Baby Bjorn carrier that I’m wearing. I’ve been wanting to post something to the blog about him for some time. Finally, I figured this was a good time to go for it.
It’s an interesting time for him to be seven weeks old. There were seven weeks between my first date and second date with my wife and another seven weeks after that before the third date. Four years ago today, right after our first date, I had the accident on I-65 which could have killed me. Someone crossed the median in front of me, and I couldn’t avoid him. Then, a tractor trailer ran over my trunk with his back tires. So, I needed recovery time and couldn’t easily travel for dates. Things got much better (and dates more frequent) after that.
Maybe I’m biased because I’m his dad, but I was struck from the beginning at how beautiful of a baby he is. Now, in the last week, he has become more interactive. We can hear him coo. We can shake a rattle in front of him and watch him follow it with his eyes. He smiles. I hear it won’t be too long before he can laugh. My challenge will be to try to make him laugh when he can.
So, God spared my life four years ago, and now he has given me a family. Yes, I have been blessed greatly. I just need to remember this, especially when it is 3 AM.
Category: News on My Life
David Ancell / Sunday, October 16, 2011 / Comments(0)
If you’ve seen my Twitter feed, you know he was actually born a just over six weeks ago. So, this is a bit late. In fact, it’s been busy. I recorded this when he was 15 days old, and I’m just now posting it.
I’ll post a blog for an update on him.
Category: Podcasts