'The Children of God for Life' - unique weapon in the pro-life armoury!

     Saints Cosmas and Damian - Patron Saints of  Pharmacists          and Physicians.  (Source:- Bibliotheque nationale de France)

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Some eight years ago there was considerable public outcry about an American  company,  Senomyx, who were processing  fetal cell line products in the manufacture of artificial tasting  processes ,  which were then being utilised by major food production companies such as Nestles , Cadburys,  Kraft, and others in their own manufacturing processes.  As a result of the worldwide adverse publicity, most if not all of these companies have ceased this business with Senomyx , although regrettably some pharmaceutical companies were, and still are, prepared to allow fetal cell line processes to be used in the manufacture of their products. I recently had cause to visit the website of  'Children of  God for Life’, which is a unique pro-life Christian organisation founded specifically to  review  the ethical procedures in the manufacturing processes and products of the food,  pharmaceutical  and drug industry, in particular identifying those companies and their products in which fetal cell line processes have been used. Their records have been updated within the past few months, and as well as publicising  those companies and products utilising fetal cell processes ,  they  admirably  show  alternative products which are  morally and ethically acceptable.

‘The Children of God for Life’ is not to be confused with the religious cult organisation ‘The Children of God.’ The former has been in existence for  many  years, and is a highly professional and respected Christian organisation whose sole purpose is to identify those   companies  utilising fetal cells from aborted babies in the manufacture of their products, and to publicise their findings. ‘The Children of God for Life’ has the support of the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations, and all who support the pro-life agenda.  The religious cult ‘The Children of God’, has a nefarious history, to say the least, and has absolutely no connection in any way with ‘The Children of God for Life’. It is important to be aware of this, for if you Google ‘The Children of God for Life’, both this and the cult organisation come up on the same page, which can be confusing.

Whilst the companies listed by ‘The Children of God for Life’ are based in Canada and the USA, the manufactured products are found world-wide. The latest lists are available on the website of ‘The Children of God for Life’ and I attach the links below. There is no doubt that this pro-life work is of the highest importance. In the years that this organisation has been in existence, there have been major successes in the battle against the use of fetal cells in certain manufacturing   processes. The company  deserves  as much support as possible, the stakes are high, and the adversaries  powerful , wealthy, and diabolically orientated. To all intents and purposes it is a classic David v Goliath scenario, except of course that Almighty God is in David’s corner.

 There are three links below:-                                                                               

  1.          https://cogforlife.org/     -       ‘Children of God for Life’ website – home.   

   2..           https://cogforlife.org/wpcontent/uploads/vaccineListOrigFormat.pdf    -         USA  and Canada,  aborted  fetal cell line products and ethical alternatives (Feb. 2019)

   3.          https://cogforlife.org/wpcontent/uploads/fetalproductsall.pdf  -       USA aborted fetal products – updated December 2018

                                                                                        

I strongly recommend your support for this company. When you visit their website you will find much that is informative, interesting, and spiritually encouraging. Thank you ‘Children of God for Life’ for all your work for the Christian pro-life cause.  May God bless you all.   

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'One of the most effective means of having our faults forgiven by the Lord God, is the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass'    

Saint Padre Pio.

'Israel Folau' - 'blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven'.

Israel Folau, the Australian international rugby-football player and a committed Christian, recently posted a banner on his Instagram account that read: "Drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolators - Hell awaits you.".

Folau has apparently previously posted remarks in a similar vein on his personal website, which aroused controversy, and for which he received an official warning from the Australian RFU. His most recent comments above, aroused even more controversy, and as a result Folau has been banned outright from playing Rugby union in Australia, with automatic exclusion from the national team, and essentially deprived of his livelihood.

            Israel Folau - https://www.flickr.com/photos/125524007@N08/ - https://www.flickr.com/photos/125524007@N08/33121716755/in/dateposted/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57409585


A few observations are surely called for:-

1. Folau’s comment is taken directly from the Bible, the word of God.  

2. It was posted on his own personal Instagram website, and was not aimed at specific individuals.

3. It has been taken up by the Australian Rugby Union authorities, yet It was not aimed at them. They have made it an issue on which they consider that they have the right to intervene and authority to adjudicate. But what gives them this right?  Furthermore have they the right to deprive a man of his livelihood for quoting the word of God?

4..An English top class rugby player, Billy Vunipola, has expressed his agreement with Folau’s comments, as a result of which  he has been disciplined by his Club (Saracens) because of his Christian views.  Again what right does this Club have to act in this way?

5. The silence from ‘supporters’ of Folau’s views has been deafening!   Folau’s outspokenness may have been embarrassing to some, but what he has said is Christian teaching, yet I have not seen one letter or article of support in the national press. Of course this might just be because the Press have chosen not to publish them, although they may well have received them.

6 This matter has been headlines in the national press for nearly three weeks, yet I have not seen any support for Folau’s statement from representatives of the Christian hierarchy, of any denomination. This matter is newsworthy and  offers a real opportunity  for God’s word  to be preached to the world.

7. Folau’s statement does not advocate violence in any shape or form. It clearly is unpopular in certain quarters, no doubt  because  it advocates a way of life which flies in the face of today’s hedonistic and materialistic culture which prefers to ignore God and His commandments. Much of our society is uncomfortable when faced with unpalatable moral truths, to which it has no answer except unjust punitive reprisals. The cruel and barbaric punishment inflicted on Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the founder of Christianity, 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life', is the Cross that all Christians have to share in one way or another.

8. If the comment had been made by a different person unknown to the media, whose sole intention was to preach the word of God, as indeed was Fallou’s intention, would we have heard anything about it?. I doubt it.

9. Australian sport was recently in the headlines because a Tennis centre named after the famous woman Australian tennis player Margaret Court, eleven times winner of the Australian Open tennis championship, has been  the source of public controversy, with some players demanding that the Centre has a change of name. The reason for this is that Margaret Court, now in her seventies, had expressed no support during or after her playing career, for the LGBT cause, and in fact has alleged that since the legalisation of same- sex marriage in Australia,  lesbianism had become an unedifying and  undesirable fact of life on the women’s tennis circuit. The ensuing controversy has now reached the stage whereby  players opposed to Margaret Court's outspoken beliefs, are now refusing to use this centre, unless and until the name had been changed. 

10. In Folau’s case, I have seen  on the internet,  comments  from sportsmen and women  worldwide  criticising  Folau. I have no doubt that he has at least as many supporters as critics, yet I have not seen any of their  comments published. 

11. It is interesting to note how much  publicity the BBC has given this matter, clearly attributing  to it great significance. On the internet BBC Sports page, Rugby Union section,  it has published the same report about Folau  for 17 days, and it has only been removed in the last day or two. Additionally it has published details of  the punitive action of the English RFU against the Saracen's player, Billy Vunipola,  who had the temerity to support Falou. This report has been on the same sports page as above for 13 days, and is still there.There have also been other criticisms of Folau, creating the  impression of a witch-hunt against sportsmen and women who dare to profess their Christian faith? In the past, personal religious beliefs have rarely if ever, been a problem in sport, with personal religious beliefs  accepted and respected, and the game goes on.

12.It may be that Folau's statement was unusual in that he spoke God's word without fear or favour, somewhat rare in our  western society, but not so in many other parts of the world. But why has Folau been singled out among many other Christian proponents of Christ's teachings? Why is Australian Rugby Union so incensed? What has it got to do with them that Folau chooses to proclaim Christ's teachings on his personal website?

13. Is it that their criticism  applies  to the inclusion of 'homosexuality' in the list of sins? I suppose that if a homosexual lifestyle is not considered sinful, then to say that it is will be criticised   If people hold this view, then so be it, but there is no need for a visceral war of words, or threats to one's job  This situation is not new, neither is it unique.  Folau has been openly preaching the Christian message for years, a message which  itself has been around for 2000 years or so,  and yet suddenly it has become an international issue! Is there an agenda in this matter, an agenda pursued perhaps by the LGBT lobby, who continue to actively try to impose  the homosexual life-style on a generally  unsympathetic society, regardless of the cost to religious belief and individual conscience?

14. This whole matter is ongoing and there could conceivably be many developments. Is the  sandwich-board man with his message 'The Wages of Sin is Death' likely to fall foul of  local business interests? What about the preacher in the pulpit doing his job and what he believes in, repeating the very message published by Folau, and  leading souls to God? He may even publish details of his sermon on-line, to be seen by perhaps thousands of viewers, who will either accept or refuse his message. End of story!  So why the unnecessarily heavy-handed and punitive action against Folau? 

15. For those who appreciate appropriate biblical chapter and verse,  I include  numerous references relating to those sins high-lighted by Folau.
      

1 Cor.6 9/11 ‘do you not know that the unjust will not possess the kingdom of God. Do not err:  ‘neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers nor the effeminate, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor the evil-tongued, nor the greedy, will possess the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you have been washed, you have been sanctified, you have been justified in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.’

 1 Cor 6/13                 Eph 5/5
 1 Cor 6/18-19            1Thess 4/3
 1 Cor 5/1-3                Jude 1/7-8
 1 Cor 5/9-11              Matt 15/19
 1 Cor 7/2                   1 Cor 6/15-20

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I feel somehow, that this post is incomplete, in that it presents certain questions but almost certainly does not  provide the answers. I must admit that I wanted to express in writing some of my thoughts relating to this matter, without necessarily being clear in my own mind exactly what these thoughts were. I have done this to the best of my limited ability, and am aware that I have only  touched the tip of the iceberg. I do think that this situation raises serious questions, viz. freedom of speech, the right to criticise on matters of conscience and principle, the powers of state and other authorities  to become involved in controversial matters, what constitutes appropriate action in any particular case and the reasons governing it, etc .etc. Last but not least, I feel some satisfaction in being able to express my support and admiration for Israel Folau , an inspiration to us all. May God bless him. 

Memories - 1940's London - Caryll Houselander, 'Afternoon in Westminster Cathedral'; 'In an occupied Country'

(The following post was originally posted in 2015, and after I updated the 'label',  mysteriously appeared as a new post dated today! Rather than lose the post altogether it seems sensible to retain the post here. Thank you.)

Tragically, war is always with us. Every day through the media, we are assailed with details and images of death and destruction, terror and suffering, experienced on a wide scale in different parts of the world. We hope and pray that we will not be caught up in these horrors, and pray for peace in the world. I am of an age for which life in Britain during the Second World War has a particular relevance, for this was the time of my  childhood, a period which I lived through, and certain details of which I can remember quite well.This is no place to enlarge on these memories, however it so happened that in 1946 I was enrolled as a boarder at Westminster Cathedral Choir School when it re-opened after the war. As choirboys there were very few days on which we failed to be involved in one or other of the liturgical services in the Cathedral, and I have never lost that sense of mystery and of God ever present in the Cathedral, even to me as a small boy. The following extract from the poem 'Afternoon in Westminster Cathedral' reinforces these impressions.

'Afternoon in Westminster Cathedral'
 Caryll Houselander (1901-1954)

‘In the cathedral
through ages and ages of men,
the people come and go.
They sorrow, but One endures,
they falter, but One is strong,
they pass, but One remains,
they change, but One is unchanging.

Christ is there,
in a corner behind a lamp,
He is in the world,
as a man’s heart in his breast,
almost forgotten,
until a lover,
lays her head on the piteous ribs,
of the cage of bone,
and hears
the mysterious beat
of  the pulse of life.

We have rejected
the yoke that is sweet,
and  bowed to the yoke of fear.

We have feared discomfort and loss,
pain of body and mind,
the pang of hunger and thirst,
we have been abject
before the opinions of men.

We have been afraid
of the searching ray
of  truth.
Of the simple laws
of  our own life.

We have feared
the primitive beauty
of  human things.
Of love
and of  birth
and of death.

We have lost
the integrity
of  the human heart.

We have gone to the dying embers for warmth,
to the flickering lamp for light,
we have set our feet on the quicksand,
instead  of the rock.

We are the mediocre,
we are the half givers,
we are the half lovers,
we are the savourless salt.

Lord Jesus Christ,
restore us now,
to the primal splendour
of first love.
To the austere light
of  the breaking day.

Let us hunger and thirst,
let us burn in the flame.
Break the hard crust
of complacency.
Quicken in us
the sharp grace of desire.

Let us not sit content
by the dying embers,
let the embers fall into cold ash,
let the flickering lamp gutter and die.
Cover with darkness
the long shadows
thronging the lamp.
Make the soul’s night,
absolute and complete,
the shrine of one star.

Shine in us,
Emmanuel,
Shadowless Light.
Flame in us
Emmanuel,
Fire of Love,
Burn in us,
Emmanuel,
Morning star.
Emmanuel,
Go with us!’

 'Afternoon in Westminster Cathedral' (extract)
From 'The Flowering Tree'- selected poems by Caryll Houselander.  (Sheed and Ward)
                                               
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As a child during the war I was evacuated out of London, but occasionally was taken by my mother to see friends and relations who lived in London, travelling by train and bus or tram. I cannot remember much of these visits but the following description of London during the hours of darkness, with blackout regulations strictly enforced, has a familiar ring about it. I seem to recall in particular the blue lights in the buses, the lighted cigarettes of pedestrians, and the red, amber, and green crosses on the traffic lights. I am grateful to say that on these visits I was never in the vicinity of bombing raids.

The Blackout

'The weather continued warm, but the nights were lengthening. People looked forward to the winter and the long cold darkness with no relish.  The streets emptied now after dusk, and the black-out became largely the property of the wardens and the police; though in the West End there persisted a dogged and darkly hurrying crowd of revellers. A City bereft of electric and neon light took on a new beauty – by moonlight the great buildings assumed a remote and classic magnificence, cold, ancient, lunar palaces carved in bone from the moon; and angular overdressed Victorian eccentricities were purified, uncoloured, quietened by the moon’s ubiquitous sanity. But in clouded nights and moonless nights it was not so beautiful – in the total blackout nothing could be seen. Torchlight was rationed by a filter of paper, the insides of passing buses glimmered blue, cigarette ends became the means of demonstrating one’s passage. A match might not be struck, nor a headlight switched on. A glimmer of ‘starlight’ filtered down from some street-lamps in the main thoroughfares, the red, green, and yellow traffic lights were masked to show only thin crosses of their colour. This darkness flared into sudden relief – in the yellow flash of gunfire, in the whitish-green hiss of incendiaries, in the copper-red reflection of the fires, in the yellow flare of the burning gas main, in the red explosion of the bomb. In such light the gilt tracery of Big Ben’s tower flashed into colour, the sombre drab alleys round Covent Garden blazed with a theatrical daylight, the corrugated skylines of Park Lane and Knightsbridge showed black against the deep red sky, the streets of Pimlico and Soho saw the high scarfing columns of a naked gas flame flaring like some giant idealization of the naphtha flames that through the years had lit their fairs and their stalls.
    These were the lights – but there were also dark streets, streets where suddenly a house of blackness collapsed with a roar, shifting down heavily like some bricked elephant lumbering to its knees, thickening the darkness with a poisonous cloud of dust, shrouding the moment after its fall with a fearful empty silence broken only by small sounds, the whispering of broken water pipes, slight shiftings of debris, moans and little cries of the injured; then into the torchlight of the wardens there would stagger those un-trapped, lonely figures in the dust-fog, bleached grey with powder and streaked and patched with black blood; or – there would be nobody, and not a sound, only a living silence in the knowledge that under a smoking, spawning mass of timber and brick and dust there lay pressed and stifled the bodies of warm people whose minutes were slowly ticking away, whose rescue was absurdly blocked by a mass of intractable weight that angered those standing so few yards above.
These are not pleasant memories, but they must be written – otherwise the picture that was essentially one of dirt and anguish becomes too clean. Death and wounding from such explosives was never as neat as a bullet in the head; but the details shall be left to a Barbusse. One of the few consolations was that the explosive force proved in most cases so great as to shock its victim into unconsciousness or at least into a physical incomprehension of what had occurred.'
                                                                                                                                          ‘WilliamSansom’
 Westminster in War (1947) 
'London is London' by D.M.Low (Chatto and Windus) 1949.                                                                                                                                      
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Recently I saw a photograph of a dwelling house in the Ukraine, severely damaged by gun-fire. The photograph included two elderly women walking in front of the house, going who knows where. The whole scenario was one of tragedy and suffering, made worse by the knowledge of the futility of this war, and the helplessness of those caught up in it. The following short poem, again by Caryll Houselander, is particularly appropriate.

In an Occupied Country

Mother of God,
Save the walls of my cottage.
They are only bricks and mortar,
But they embrace
The memory of my son.

War is so cruel!
It not only treads
Our children’s faces
into the mud,
and waters the harvests of sorrow,
with their innocent blood,
but it shatters
the four walls,
where an old Mother,
(who asks no more in the end)
could cover her grief.

My home
Is only a ruin,
But the four walls are sacred,
They hold and embrace
The memory of my son.
They are the shell
That once was around
My little chicken.

Mother of God,
By Christ’s empty tomb,
Leave me the walls
Of my ruined home.

Caryll Houselander(1901-1954)
From 'The Flowering Tree' - selected poems of Caryll Houselander (Sheed and Ward)