ASK A FRANCISCAN
❘ BY FATHER PAT McCLOSKEY, OFM
Few Pro-life Homilies What explains the absence of positive instruction from the pulpit regarding the pro-life stance by the Catholic Church? I do not recall one sermon or discussion by a priest during a weekend Mass about why the Church believes that the decision of life over abortion is the only selection that a Catholic can make. Although Catholic organizations such as the Knights of Columbus do take a positive stand on this issue, why don’t the bishops and parish priests? I suspect that most people in the United States (Catholics and nonCatholics) know what the Catholic
Church teaches about the respect due to unborn life. In fact, approximately half the people in this country agree that there should be some restrictions on abortion, but they do not agree on which restrictions should be backed by law. Unfortunately, many US Catholics seem to reflect the common misconception that respect for life from conception to natural death is an authoritarian and undemocratic belief. Would more frequent preaching on this topic change Catholic minds? Perhaps it would, but I doubt it. You could encourage priests at your parish to preach on this more often. I think the present situation
Protocol for Graveside Committal Ceremonies
© FAR FLUNG GALLERY/FOTOLIA
If a Catholic does not want a formal funeral Mass when he or she dies, what would a Catholic graveside committal ceremony be like? The Order of Christian Funerals (in use in the United States since 1989) has separate sections for use with adults or with children. They follow the same format, but have adjustments based on the age of the person being buried. The rite opens with a welcome given by the presider (usually a priest or a deacon). After a short Scripture verse, there is a prayer to bless the place of committal. Another prayer for the actual committal precedes intercessions, the Lord’s Prayer, a concluding prayer, and a final blessing. In the situation you describe, a longer Scripture reading could replace the short biblical verse. A 1997 appendix includes prayers for the committal of cremated remains.
54 ❘ September 2014
flows more from hearts that need converting to the Lord’s ways, than from minds that need changing to reject the country’s conventional wisdom that a respect for privacy trumps all other issues in this discussion. Pro-life issues often occur in the general intercessions at Mass. In his 1979 book Aborting America, the late Bernard Nathanson, MD, explains how people favoring abortion manipulated public opinion to create a right to abort, a procedure that he performed an estimated 60,000 times before he recognized that he was denying a basic right to a human being, not to some mass of tissue. Five years later he directed and narrated The Silent Scream, a documentary about abortion. The prolife movement led him in 1996 to become a Catholic. A good homily helps listeners understand God’s self-revelation in Scripture and in the faith community; it helps them see their lives as God sees them. Then they make whatever choices will better reflect their dignity as people made in God’s image and likeness. I understand a good homily as helping people move forward on their faith journey. Trying to shame people into making morally good choices will not work in the long run. At least, that’s not the strategy that Jesus used in his preaching.
Response Much Appreciated Your answer “Did Those Bishops Sin?” (June 2014) provided a great course in corporate apologetics. My faith was formed by the Marianist community 60 years ago. I can’t walk away from what I believe, but I certainly am not impressed by St A n t h o n y M e s s e n g e r . o rg