Sr. Natalie Sayde Salameh
A recurring theme throughout the Conference was how do we,
as Catholics, stand up and defend our Christian values and beliefs in this
current secular age, an age that is increasingly relegating God to the
sidelines, if not trying to obliterate His presence altogether from the public
sphere. Let’s face it, as Christians, we are living in a tough world, a world
that is constantly telling us that there are no truths to uphold, there are no
moral absolutes, so why bother? Well, you and I know differently. Because as
soon as we start espousing the views of the world, and telling ourselves that
there really are no moral values to uphold or live by, then morally
reprehensible things like abortion and euthanasia become ‘ok’. But you and I
know that they are far from ‘ok’.
The whole line up of speakers over the weekend constantly
touched upon and/or alluded to this recurring theme. I want to share with you
one or two points from three of the speakers in the hopes that it might
embolden you to stand up and speak out in defense of our faith when called upon
or challenged to do so by the demands of our secular world.
Brandon McGinley spoke at length at how our secular culture
is increasingly encouraging ‘freedom’ and ‘personal autonomy’, at the expense
of procreation and fertility. Having a baby is becoming ‘ok’ in our society if
it expresses the parents’ autonomy, that is, it is ‘planned’ (the term should
be used loosely because we can plan nothing). The underlying current in all
this is that people in society today like to feel in control and procreation
becomes just one more thing that (they think) they can control. The use of
contraceptive devices becomes a key tool in this web of attempting to control
when life is produced or not produced. So what’s the remedy to this unhealthiness
where God is clearly absent? Brandon calls it the “courage of fecundity”, that
is, acknowledging that we are not in control, and relying on God’s grace to get
us through any difficulties or trials we may experience, which may be the
unexpected arrival of a little bundle of joy. The remedy is to be open to life!
Robert P. George of Princeton University asked the $64
million question – “are we ashamed of the gospel?” The gospel is not just the
writings of the four evangelists and the epistles of St. Paul, its not just the
New Testament as Robert P. George points out. The gospel is also believing in
the Church’s teachings on the dignity of the human person, the sanctity of life
and sexual morality. Are we ashamed of the
gospel, in its entirety because we live in a culture which attempts to deny,
suppress and silence us on these very issues? Food for thought….