Catholic Commission for Social Justice
…but still a long way to go
On August 30 and 31, I will be serving as one of several judges at London’s Notting Hill Carnival – Europe’s largest street festival. God has gifted his people with abundant talent. Artistic excellence is evident each year in many a band.
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
A few years ago, while I was still a parish priest, I observed a communion minister remonstrating with a young boy because the boy had put out his left hand to receive Holy Communion. I felt the little boy’s shame because I too am left-handed and remember the days when teachers tried to change me into a right hander. In fact I had to intervene and tell the communion minister to give communion to the child even though the child had held out his left hand to receive. Afterwards I had to ask the communion minister which was more important: receiving the Body of Christ or receiving in the right hand.
John 6:60-69
Here in Trinidad & Tobago, as the national elections draw near we hear more and more tales of unbridled corruption.
The saying that everyone has a price seems to be true. Corruption has become a way of life for many. This teaches us in no uncertain way that when the human heart grows coarse, ways of life which should be normal become extraordinary and are easily rejected by the generality of persons.
We are all ‘masterpieces of God’s creation’
“How great a lie…to make people think that lives affected by grave illness are not worth living!” (Pope Francis)
I am involved in London at the moment in encouraging individuals to contact their Member of Parliament to ask them to vote against a Private Member’s Bill – The Assisted Dying (No 2) Bill – introduced by parliamentarian Rob Morris. The Bill, which seeks to legalise assisted suicide, will be debated and voted on Friday, September 11 in the House of Commons.
The scandal emanating from the undercover videos revealing the sale of body parts of aborted babies by Planned Parenthood (PP) in the US should spur us on to stand up for life. About a dozen videos were recorded by a pro-life non-profit group, the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). They show PP officials talking about the sale of unborn babies’ organs. In one of these a PP executive jokes about pricing aborted baby parts and says: “I want a Lamborghini.”
In a third video released on July 28, a PP employee in the US is seen casually discussing over lunch the sale of the hearts, lungs, livers and muscles of aborted babies. The discussion was with a woman who says she worked in a clinic procuring tissue from aborted foetuses. The PP official said: “I think a per-item thing works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it.”