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| Articles about Priests |
| Who to Join in Helping the Poor: St. Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic Worker Movement, ... Priests for Life? | | 2007-10-01 01:15:02 | | Ministering to the poor is something that comes natural to Catholic Christians as we strive for greater union with Christ and love for our neighbor. One thing to keep in mind if we have entered the marriage vocation, is that we cannot sacrifice our family in order to work for the poor. However, as a family gets more established more free time becomes available to spend helping one's neighbor. If possible, do some volunteering as a family. This helps unify the family and parents set a great example for their children.
There are many types of poverty to address - lack of morality/spirituality, loneliness, lack of education, and lack of material need, just to name a few. Pray and decide which kind of poverty you are feeling called to minister to. The most common type of poverty when people think of the word "poverty" is the lack of material need. There are many Catholic and non-Catholic organizations one can get involved with to minister to the materially poor. But Catholics need to do some research before getting involved with these organizations because they can have very different philosophies on how to help the poor.
The main question these philosophies boil down to is: "What is their view of life?" Is it a burden or is it a gift from God? Secular organizations that help the materially poor often see life as a burden, since many of them deem anti-life measures such as abortion and sterilization to be good weapons in the war against poverty. Sadly, some Catholic organizations implicitly agree with this view on life by their deliberate silence on topics such as these. To me it seems like a Catholic organization cannot exclude the right to life in its work to help the poor. Who is poorer than the person without the right to live?
To my knowledge, the only Catholic group to successfully synthesize aiding the materially poor and the right to life is the Missionaries of Charity order of nuns started by Mother Teresa. If anyone reading this knows of any other group, I would like to know. The other Catholic groups that help the poor have been so silent in defending these poor that groups that focus solely on the abortion issue have had to be established. Sadly, they are often branded as "narrow minded" and "single issue" groups that ignore the needs of the materially poor outside of the womb.
So find out about the organization you choose to volunteer with, and if you find yourself in a situation hostile to the Gospel of the fullness Life, be not afraid to evangelize!
Pax et Bonum,
Daniel
... | | By: Living Catholicism | | |
| | The Mummified Priests for People | | 2007-05-11 21:32:00 | | You can do all sorts of things to save people you love; giving food, listening to one’s concerns, cheering up, and so on. However, can you kill yourself for them?There are more than 10 Buddhists in Japan who attained Buddha hood while still in the alive, and they are called Sokushinbutsu (即身仏). Sokushin is one of Buddha training ways to save people, take fears away and grant their desires by being a Sokushinbutu.To put how to be a Sokushinbutsu concretely, one stops to have the five grains, and have walnuts, hazelnuts, and nutmegs instead which take away moisture and fat in the body. Next, the one is buried in a pit, and s/he recites sutra with ringing a bell. When the bell ringing stop can be heard from a hollow bamboo utensil connecting ground and the pit as an air vent: means the one died, dig up it, fix the shape, and burry it again. After 3 years and 3 months, it is dug up and to be seen and prayed for people.You can still visit and see Sokushinbutsu as a complete mummy. E... | | By: Discover Japan! | | |
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