THE COURIER
May 2013
Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona
Volume 104, No. 5
Defending Motherhood By: Theresa Martin, ENDOW Coordinator, Associate Editor
basically the same began this erosion. This idea surfaced from a need to find equality between the sexes. “Equality” is a very trendy word right now and yet not well defined. In mathematical terms, equality means the “same.” Each number on either side of the equal sign must have the same value. Some people like to translate this to mean that equality of the sexes means “sameness.” In order to be equal, then, we must make both genders the same. In this line of thought, therefore, when they are “forced” to be
On his very first day as pontiff, Pope Francis desired to visit St. Mary Major, a Basilica dedicated to Our Lady. He gently laid a bouquet of flowers before an icon of Our Blessed Mother, prayed and lead everyone in a hymn. As he was leaving the Basilica, he greeted those who worked there. One man asked if he would bless their son, not yet born. His wife, five months pregnant, stood beside him. Pope Francis stopped the hand shaking to offer a special blessing for the unborn child. Many times during these first few months of his pontificate, we have seen the Holy Father go out of his way to bless mothers. Just last month, Pope Francis blessed the unborn baby of former Miss USA, Ali Landry (featured to the right). His actions reaffirm the gift God has blessed women with, the gift of the capacity to bear life, to bring forth new human persons into the world. That unique gift that God gave to woman has been recently undermined in our culture. It is a hidden, slow erosion, like waves lapping up on the shore, slowly taking more and more of the value of motherhood away. We can see women separated from their gift of child bearing Pope Francis blesses the unborn through abortion, contraception, and the child of former Miss USA, Ali Landry. pressure to make “more of themselves” through a career over family. Yet, it is different, this must make them unequal not just physical motherhood. Women and that cannot be tolerated. Women are also undermined by the push to set needed to be “freed” of the inequality aside their natural, motherly instincts that their gender created – and there(to nurture, cooperate, guard, and pro- fore be “freed” from their motherhood. tect) and take on more manly traits in If women were able to escape from order to find success. Yet, these pieces the “burden” of children, they could be are the effect of the erosion not the ulti- just as successful and “equal” as men. mate cause of it. Hormonal contraceptives (ie. “the pill”), The ideology that men and women are promised women the ability to rid them
INSIDE To Encounter the Lord Ministry Days 2013
"Our Lady Untier of Knots" is a favorite Marian devotion of Pope Francis. of the burden of their gender. This is not the Christian view of equality. We believe that God created all men and women equally, but uniquely. Every single individual is endowed with special gifts unique to him or her. Does this make him or her better or worse than the next person? Not at all! It makes them uniquely themselves and able to offer that gift of their unique self to society. In the same way, God created men and women differently. He created them equally; they both have the same value, the same dignity as a person. In His great goodness, He also created them complementary. Each one has unique gifts to offer to society that make them not less nor greater but that much more special! The equality of men and women should be sought through the elevation of each of their unique gifts not through the destruction of one for the other. The more we elevate motherhood, the more we praise every woman for whether she is a physical mother or not, the inherent stamp of that mothering nature upon her being affects all of who she is. Bl. John Paul II saw motherhood and fatherhood as the way in which women Motherhood, cont. on pg. 3
More on YOF page 2
The Theology of the Body and Marriage
More on page 4
The Harvest is Plentiful
More on page 6
Catholic Healthcare in Jackson
Dr. Hart gives a little one his check up.
In a world where healthcare is an issue of concern, one can still find bright lights of faithful medical practice. Many people in the Diocese of Winona may be unaware of the beautiful gift of Catholic Healthcare being offered at the Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center in Jackson, Minn. Yet, the Religious Sister of Mercy of Alma having been serving the people of Jackson since 1981. The Sisters first worked in the local hospital, and several years later were able to make a down payment on a local medical office building through the generosity of local citizens such as Clair Gilmore, Maylon Muir and others. The clinic was first called,
"Comprehensive Health Services". Sister Marie Paul Lockerd, RSM, was in medical school and residency during this time, and started practicing at the clinic in July, 1996. The clinic was re-named "Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center" to better reflect the charism of the Sisters. There is also a Sacred Heart clinic in Alma, Michigan, where the Motherhouse of the Sisters is located, and the mission of both practices is the same to extend the redemptive healing of Jesus Christ to the people whom they serve. The common website for both practices is www.sacredheartmercy. org.
Sisters Serving, cont. on pg. 4