Journeys of a Catholic Poster Girl

Miracles do happen, and on the eve before Thanksgiving, I’m going to be grateful for them. Today’s NY Times (long regarded by conservatives such as moi as the anathema of our existence) has an article discussing whether or not a world free of genetic disease would be a good thing; if we’re aborting all these kids, what does that mean for the ones already born, and what about late-onset genetic problems, such as deafness or Huntington’s Disease? What about genetic diseases that don’t impair cognitive function? Etc.

I was thrilled to read this on several levels. As we know, I’m a member of this community, and the idea that women would intentionally abort folks like me because we’re “too much trouble” or something along those lines makes me shudder. Sounds a little like Nazi science to me, killing people because they’re inconvenient. Brrr. The article mentioned a study that says 16% of women are more likely to have an abortion if the genetic problem doesn’t affect the cognitive function of the child, which CF doesn’t, but that still leaves a lot of kids in the cold, especially those with Down Syndrome, etc.

My favorite part of the article is this bit:

Lisa Hedley, whose 10-year-old daughter has dwarfism, said the condition is usually not detected prenatally. It is so rare that it has traditionally not been considered worth the expense of the genetic test. Soon, though, pregnant women may be offered a gene-chip technology that can perform hundreds of tests at once for a few hundred dollars.

“It’s so complicated,” said Ms. Hedley, president of the Children of Difference Foundation. “Would I choose to have my child have a disability? Oh my goodness, no. It’s difficult for her. It’s difficult for everyone. But difference is what makes the world go round.”

Amen, Ms. Hedley. A lot of these kids can live normal lives, go to school, have friends, love, learn, go to college, etc. We just need help along the way, in the forms of therapies and other mechanisms. I never wanted to feel like a victim, and when people treated me like one it made me mad! Only by being in the world and with people do people learn to accept others that aren’t like them. Not that I loved being a first-person teacher on CF for most of the people I know, but it’s better for them and it’s better for me, because they can explain it to other people so that more people don’t carry around the wrong impression.

Also, genetic disease has a component of mutation involved; I’m pretty sure that’s what happened in my case. As much as we would like to be able to, we can’t control the human genome entirely. It’s a living thing that creates what it will. Spontaneous mutations will always happen. So no matter how much we try to manipulate it, we’re really fighting a losing battle. So isn’t it better to spend research money on treatments and cures as opposed to tests to find out if the babies have certain diseases? If we can cure/treat these conditions better, then the changes for a normal life, already pretty fair for a lot of cases, can go even higher, which will encourage parents to have the children. Everyone wins.

Apparently not in some places. From www.cnn.com….

–The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal discrimination complaint against a Catholic school, charging that it unjustly fired an unmarried teacher for being pregnant.

“I don’t understand how a religion that prides itself on forgiving and on valuing life could terminate me because I’m pregnant and choosing to have this baby,” Michelle McCusker said Monday at a news conference to announce the suit.

The 26-year-old preschool teacher was fired last month from St. Rose of Lima in Queens, according to published reports. (Watch what was in her termination letter — 1:36)

The Diocese of Brooklyn also was named in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint.

“This is a difficult situation for every person involved, but the school had no choice but to follow the principles contained in the teachers’ personnel handbook,” diocese spokesman Frank DeRosa said in a news release.

The handbook says that each teacher must “convey the teachings of the Catholic faith by his or her words and actions.”

Lawyers at the NYCLU, which filed the suit on McCusker’s behalf, argued that administrators enforced the policy in a way that disproportionately affects women.

“The school used her pregnancy as a marker,” attorney Cassandra Stubbs said. “How do they determine if male employees engage in premarital sex?”–

Oh, all this brouhaha over something simple. She doesn’t understand how she got fired? I could tell her. See, you teach in a Catholic school, and the handbook for your job says that you are to follow Catholic teachings and set a good exmple for your students. And you’re not doing that if you’re getting pregnant out of wedlock with no “wed” in the future. That’s not Church policy. So you probably shouldn’t be working in a Catholic school if you’re not too keen on following what the Church teaches. You knew what you were getting into when you took the job and (presumably) read the handbook. Kudos to the Diocese and the school for having the courage to do the right thing. The NYCLU is in on this, of course, so we’ll have to see how it turns out in court, but for now I’m happy that somewhere in this country bishops and principals are still standing up for what the Church believes in.

And as for the male employees–sure, premarital sex is against Church doctrine. But you can’t really (well, OK, I guess you could) pass around a survey every day asking the teachers if they’ve engaged in fornication. And how would you know they weren’t lying? Pregnancy, on the other hand, is pretty unmistakable. Is it fair to women? Probably not. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles, kids. Lesson? Don’t have pre-marital sex and teach at a Catholic school. Not a good idea.

If you were near a major media outlet today, particularly a newspaper, you probably tumbled upon an article reviewing the new Vatican Document about gays in the priesthood. I’ve talked about it earlier on this site (…go to the home page and read “and the winner is…orthodoxy!” for more), so I won’t burden you with more of the same, but I just have to get this off my chest–

since when did the Catholic Church in the West allow practicing *anythings* in the priesthood?? You must be celibate–that’s the way it is, heterosexual, homosexual, whatever. It’s a remarkably fair policy. If you want to be a priest, you can’t get married, you can’t have “sexual relations” as a priest, (and you should’nt’ve had them before! Ahem!) that’s just it. This is not new. And yet the press is acting like we’ve just said that you can’t be a priest if you have brown hair! Come on! Not that I expect parity fromn the press (Lord knows it won’t happen) but I would like a wee bit of fairness. Just a little. A tad. The document is expected to be released next week on the 29th, so I’m sure there will be more on this….sigh.

I just finished Thomas a Kempis’ landmark work, “The Imitation of Christ”, which is often called the world’s best-selling book, second only to the Bible. Given that it was published in 1418, that’s not too surprising, and the book is clearly a product of its age, although it does remain contemporary for today’s Catholic (and Christian…but they may have to skip the parts on devotion to the Eucharist).

The work itself is a series of short chapters divided into four sections: 1. Spiritual Admonitions; 2. Admonitions pertaining to inward things; 3. Internal Consolation; and 4. A Devout Exhortation to the Holy Communion. When I say these chapters are short, I mean it. They’re more like meditations, most only a page or two long, that make it perfect for daily reading. It can be difficult to read many chapters in one sitting, because the themes tend to run together or become repetitive, so I would recommend reading it daily, or choosing a day of the week and reading one or two and then spending 15-20 meditating on what you’ve read. All of his entries are chock-full of theological insight and inquiry, so they take some digesting in order to get the full effect.

The book focuses on living only for God and renouncing things of this world as much as possible, even other human relationships, making sure that every relationship you have and everything you do only brings you closer to God and Heaven. It’s a bit sparse for our modern minds to comprehend, and can seem somewhat tough to follow–it’s a very asture life he’s advocating here. It’s also a life of great self-sacrifice and self-denial, training yourself to only want Jesus and to follow His ways by becoming purer in prayer, life, thoughts, and practice, which involves sort of stripping yourself of the world and worldy cares and vices. Like I said, it can seem a little medieval (which is fitting, given when it was written), but don’t let that stop you from reading it. It still contains great pieces of religious advice and thoughts on prayer and Eucharistic devotion.

Some passages are written in the voice of Jesus (”the Beloved”) and some are written in the voice of A Kempis inquiring after Jesus (”the follower of the Beloved” or something like that…depends on the translation). Those dialogues, more toward the end of the book, are interesting and insightful, as is the book on Eucharistic devotion.

I just mentioned translation–I have one from 1900 (Barnes and Noble Library of Essential Reading $7.95) that is loaded with thees and thous and wiltnots and stuff like that. If you, like me, are familiar and fond of Shakespeare and high English dialect and translation, then this is OK for you. If you like a clearer, more modern translation, this isn’t. I’m sure your local library, bookstore, or the omnipresent Amazon.com will be able to help you track down a more modern version of the text.

This would make good reading for older teens (that are spiritually and intellectually mature) and adults. Parts of it can be hard sledding, so don’t give up if he loses you at some points. I found it helpful to keep a pencil handy and mark the sections that were particularly helpful or beautiful to me, in order to keep me focused and on-track. This would also be a useful trick in guiding meditations.

I would also recommend A Kempis’ “The Passion of Christ, According to the Four Evangelists.” It is also written in a meditation-style (v. short chapters) and I read it every Friday as my meditation for the day. It is extremly appropriate for Lenten devotion, and is less on the ‘thees’ and ‘thous’–I have the translation for Ignatius Press, which is very good; beautiful but clean and stylish. (But everything from Ignatius Press is good) Both these books would make wonderful gifts for others or yourself and will enhance your spiritual life immensely as you meditate on the ideas he sets forth.

Frivolous post of the day:

This morning on Good Morning, America, the anchors were discussing what I thought was an odd topic– B XVI’s sense of fashion. It appears that he regularly wears red Prada shoes and his papal aides also possess a sense of style. There’s no link to the story, but I thought it was nice to see a story on the Pope that didn’t criticize the poor man (although they did lead off the story with a connection to the novel The Devil Wears Prada….which they quickly turned into something funny). I always supported B XVI and his work, but now I can support his fashion sense, too.

Just when you thought there couldn’t be more….

More book reviews on the way:

–I’m just about finished with the Imitation of Christ, so look for that soon.
–New books to add to the pile: Spirit and Liturgy by Scott Hahn, The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis, and Mary: the Church at the Source, by two heavy-hitters– B XVI and Hans Urs Von Balthasar. That one might take awhile to get through!!
–Also look for my review of the great Peggy Noonan’s new book about JP the Great which comes out tomorrow.

All these great reviews…just in time for Christmas!! Make your shopping easier and read them! I’ll also post a “quick” review at the top so you can just skim them if you don’t have time to read the whole thing…but you *want* to read the whole thing, don’t you?

(great hymn, by the way…..)

It’s that time of year…Thanksgiving! And in that spirit, I’ve decided to offer the list of things I’m thankful for (both seriously and irreverantly), and invite readers to do the same in the “comment” section. God asks us to number our blessings, and to “give thanks in all circumstances”, so we might as well start with Thanksgiving, and get in the habit of being grateful for all the things, big and small, that God’s given us.

1. Obviously, this year I am thankful for my new gift of life (see the post “Donate Life!” for more info. here). I wouldn’t be celebrating this great holiday season with everyone if it wasn’t for the priceless gift of selflessness I received from a family I will probably never know. I am immensely grateful to them, and to all of you who are organ donors (if you’re not, please consider being one!).

2. My amazing family. I love them all–parents, brother, sister, and the great big extended family–that are so awesome and fun. I cannot wait to see them all (well, OK, most of them) on Thursday! Especially the kids! We all have a lot to be thankful for and it will be great to get together, eat the food, celebrate the season, and go shopping on Friday ( ) with my family. They are a great bunch. I thank God for you all!

3. My friends. Awesome, awesome, awesome. You’re lucky in life if you only have one or two good friends, and I’ve got more than that, so I’m really, really lucky. They’ve been so supportive this past year–thank you!! (Now, if you would all let me know what you’d like for Christmas…) Note to you guys: You are all witty, wonderful, intelligent, fun, and great Christian folk (even if we do argue about Tennyson at dinner….). I love you!

4. That Notre Dame will actually go to a good Bowl game.

5. That my clothes fit again! Yay!

6. My job, which I really enjoy and is a lot of fun. I’m especially grateful for coworkers who are both fun and intelligent and understanding about the craziness which has been my life since I’ve worked with them.

7. That it hasn’t snowed yet.

8. and, of course, I am grateful to God for seeing me through all this with the help of fabulous, intelligent, and fun (that’s very important) people who have made me into the great RoadRunner that I am today!! All the docs, nurses, PTs, RTs, LPNs, Father Mark at Children’s ( yay!)…you know who you are! You are the best and I am so grateful for everything you’ve done for me! I couldn’t hvae done it without you!! God knew what I needed when He sent you all.

PHOTOS: (clockwise from bottom)
1. My mom’s parents–Grandma and Pa–who have taught me so much about the Church and Catholic living. They are awesome! Here they are at my grandfather’s 80th birthday party in May.
2. Me and my other best friend, Amilia, at our friend Troy’s house after celebrating early Thanksgiving this week.
3. Some of the Gang of 24: Ryan, Andrew (Andy), Matt, and Carrie after playing basketball at Aunt Patty’s in May. Aren’t they great looking? Rematch on Thanksgiving (provided it isn’t snowing!)

I was reading on Catholic Exchange over the weekend (www.catholicexchange.com) an article about the “vocation of being single” and how it relates to the Church, since a lot of the vocation talk gets centered on married couples and vowed religious. Singles kind of get the shaft. Now I’m only 23, so it’s not like I’m an old church lady yet, but I will say it can be kind of a bummer to be Catholic and single, because there’s so much emphasis on family and children, which I want, but don’t have. In the meantime, though, I guess I’ll just have to take the article’s suggestions, which are that since I’m single, I have more “free time” and can do more for the Church, which is definitely true. I’m in the Church choir, on Spiritual Life Committee, and a Eucharistic Minister, and I volunteer at various things. I will admit it’s nice to be able to have the freedom to commit myself that way without having to check the family schedule or see what my boyfriend’s doing that night. I know there are plenty of ways I can serve the Church in my current “life state.” But I’ve always wanted a family. Isn’t it crazy how God will sometimes give you a yearning that isn’t yet fulfilled (or–gulp–might never be?). That always struck me as odd. But I guess I’ll just have to learn to let God work His ways and do with me as He pleases, since that’s the only way I’ll really be happy, anyway. But the holidays are coming, which means the inevitable, “So, are you seeing anyone?” Can we call a moratorium on that question, please?? Thanks! It’ll help me adjust to the vocation I’ve got now, instead of wishing for the one I had!

I will be on a brief break starting tomorrow and going probably through the weekend…I’m having minor surgery at “The Resort ” (aka Children’s…ha ha) tomorrow morning and I may be there until Saturday afternoon. So if there’s ‘radio blackout’ now you know why. The only thing that makes me mad is missing Harry Potter opening day!!!

Hit the link above, search abortion downs syndrome, read the article called “one woman’s choice”, then come back. We’ll still be here. (I couldn’t directly link to it…stupid WashPost!)

OK, so now that you’ve read it, let’s “discuss” (as they used to say on SNL). First off, I must say that the last line of the piece of rather chilling, at least for me….that the author is convinced she “did the right thing for the three of us.” OK, maybe the right thing for the *two* of you, but I certainly doubt that death was the best choice for your unborn son (to whom you had already given a name…clearly acknowledging his ‘personhood’. Mmmm….). But what really gets me, as those of you who know me know, is the fact that she clearly wasn’t willing to make the sacrifices required to raise her son. Just because he *may* have Downs Syndrome (and we all know that pre-natal tests can be wrong), doesn’t mean that his life isn’t worth living. It will still have value, beauty, worth, and can be fantastic. But a lot of that is up to his parents and the environment they surround him in. Already his mother decided that it wasn’t worth it. Sure, she tries to cloak it in the soothing talk of the pro-choicers, that by killing him he’s avoiding the pain that will come from his life, the struggles that will undoubtedly ensue as this burden comes upon them. but the thing is, it doesn’t have to be a burden.

Time for some true confessions. I was born with cystic fibrosis (CF), although I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 11, which makes me a late-comer to the CF party. In July I had a double lung transplant and am doing really well. But for twelve years, we battled CF daily in my house. There were hospital stays, IV therapy, pulmonary therapies, hospital stays, surgeries, the whole nine yards. A lot of people would look at that and go “no way would I ever willingly put someone through all that.” But here’s the thing. In between the hospital stays and the home IV regimens, I managed to do quite a bit. I graduated with honors from high school. I dated (I even got engaged…but that didn’t work out so well). I sang in honors choirs. I wrote for my high school and college papers. I was a double major in college and finished in four years. I was in two honor societies, a fraternity (of which I was a founding member of our college chapter), Vice-Chair and Chair of multiple organizations, including Student Government and College Republicans. I’ve been to D.C. and New York City on New Year’s Eve. I’m a godmother. I have some of the best friends a girl could ask for. I now have a job I love doing what I love to do. No one could say that my life was “unfulfilled” or “a burden”. I am perfectly happy with my life and love it. But if this woman had been my mother, I’d never have had a chance to do all that. Sure, CF doesn’t affect your mind/nervous system, like Downs Syndrome does. But I’ve met some Downs Syndrome kids in my time at Children’s, and they’re great. Most kids will serious illnesses are great kids…brave, sweet, genuinely caring and compassionate. They’re awesome–I’ve known a lot of them. At the same time, though, they’re just like all other kids, too. They want to watch SpongeBob and find Nemo and look at the fish in the hospital aquariums and race down the hall in wagons.

People can get so caught up in the “downside” of disability or illness that they forget that behind the labels are real people who are just like them. Sure, part of their bodies may not function properly, but does that means that we get to kill them before they’ve had a chance to live and contribute, and to enact the plan that God has for them? I don’t care who you are or where you live or what you do. God has a plan for each of us and we’ve no right to mess with it. Especially for the youngest among us. I suppose the author didn’t take into account how rewarding raising a kid with an illness could be. You learn a lot from them about perserverance and what really matters in life. But that never seems to enter into the equation. it’s all about “me”–how will this afffect me, how will this change my life, my schedule, my this, my that. And it’s sad, because even if you don’t want the child, so many others would take him in an instant and love them. I know I would. It’s tough sometimes. I won’t deny that. Life hasn’t been all “sunshine and Santa Clause.” But it’s been good.

Kids with disabilities/genetic diseases/ etc. are becoming an endangered species, which some would say is a good thing, like Scrooge in a Christmas Carol; we’re “decreas[ing] the surplus population.” But no one is “surplus”, at least in God’s eyes. And in the eyes of Catholics, and other Christians, it should be the same. No Christian should support abortion. It is in direct vioaltion of God’s Law. What we do to “the least of these”, we do to Christ. And I shudder at the idea of what Christ thinks of the daily murders of millions of His children. I wonder if I would’ve made it out of the womb, had I been given to a different family. Probably, I think…things were different in 1982 (at least medical science wasn’t so advanced). I was given the chance to live. And it’s a chance being denied millions every year in our country because of women like this author, who think that she’s doing “what is best.” I feel bad for her….I feel the genuine grief she’s going through. But at the same time, this all could have been avoided. There was another way. She just didn’t see it through the haze of self-protection.

Don’t mess with God’s work. It just doesn’t work out. Who knows what kind of children we’ve been killing? There’s that old argument that one of them probably would’ve been the next Mozart, or the scientist who found a cure for AIDS or cancer or something. That may be true (although I don’t think there will ever be a next Mozart, but I digress). But there also would’ve been a lot of just plain good people who love their dogs and their kids and their spouses and their God and who read the paper on Sunday morning and voluteer at the local library. Sure there would’ve been some dogs in there–a rapist, career criminal, what have you–but I think the overwhelming sense is that they would have been *good*. But we’ll never know, because we never got a chance to know them.