Maronite Voice - Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn

The Maronite VoiceSt. Anthony’s Maronite Catholic Church4611 Sadler RoadGlen Allen, Virginia 23060-6108NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE PAIDPERMIT NO. 1370GLEN ALLEN, VIRGINIAJust LookContinued from page 19Adolf Hitler convinced himself and his subjects thatJews and homosexuals were other than human beings.Joseph Stalin did the same as regards Cossacks andRussian aristocrats. And this despite the fact that Hitler andhis subjects had seen both Jews and homosexuals with theirown eyes, and Stalin and his subjects had seen both Cossacksand Russian aristocrats with theirs. Happily, there are fewtoday who would hesitate to condemn in the roundest termsthe self - deceit of Hitler, Stalin or even their subjects to theextent that their subjects could have done something to endthe madness and protect living, innocent human beings.It is high time to stop pretending that we do not know whatthis nation of ours is allowing - and approving - with thekilling each year of more than 1,600,000 innocent humanbeings within their mothers. We know full well that to killwhat is clearly seen to be an innocent human being or whatcannot be proved to be other than an innocent human beingis as wrong as wrong gets. Nor can we honorably cover ourshame (1) by appealing to the thoughts of Aristotle orAquinas on the subject, inasmuch as we are all well awarethat their understanding of matters embryological washopelessly mistaken; (2) by suggesting that "killing" and"choosing to kill" are somehow distinct ethically, morally orcriminally; (3) by feigning ignorance of the meaning of"human being," "person," "living," and such; (4) bymaintaining that among the acts covered by the right toprivacy is the act of killing an innocent human being; and (5)by claiming that the being within the mother is "part" of themother, so as to sustain the oft - repeated slogan that a mothermay kill or authorize the killing of the being within her"because she is free to do as she wishes with her own body."One day, please God, when the stranglehold on publicopinion in the United States has been released by theextremists for whom abortion is the center of theirpolitical and moral life, our nation will, in my judgment, lookback on what we have been doing to innocent human beingswithin their mothers as a crime no less heinous than what wasapproved by the Supreme Court in the "Dred Scott Decision"in the 19th century, and no less heinous than what wasperpetrated by Hitler and Stalin in the 20th. There is nothingat all complicated about the utter wrongness of abortion, andmaking it all seem complicated mitigates that wrongness notat all. On the contrary, it intensifies it.Do me a favor. Look at the photograph again. Look anddecide with honesty and decency what the Lord expects ofyou and me as the horror of "legalized" abortion continues toerode the honor of our nation. Look, and do not absolveyourself if you refuse to act.+ Edward Cardinal Egan,Archbishop of New York The Virgin Mary in Maronite LifeContinued from page 12Maronite devotion to Mary highlights her relationship toher Son, to the life of the Church, and to each of uspersonally. This manifests itself in our liturgical practicesand various devotions. If prayer, liturgical prayer inparticular, is the true expression of faith, then Maronitesexhibit special veneration of Mary stemming from theScriptures, the teachings of the Fathers of the Church, and thefaith of its people. As Mother of our Redeemer she is alsothe spiritual mother of each of us, and leads us to her Son.Realizing this underscores the importance and need toreturn to and delve into the sources of our Marian heritage.This will energize our veneration of her and strengthen ourfilial attachment to her. This attachment to Mary is theattachment of children to a mother, and inspires us to havefor her a shrine in every town, an icon in every home, andfilial love for her in every heart. The Maronite Voice Volume V Issue No. III Page 20 March 2009