Called to spread the Gospel of Life

Although I am not currently practicing medicine, the profession of medicine, and especially the specialty of obstetrics and gynecology, is something I think about on a daily basis.  Not surprisingly, I read with great interest Pope Francis' comments before an international conference of obstetrician/gynecologists at the Vatican today.

I so deeply admire Pope Francis.  I admire the way that he has exhorted Christians to be messengers of healing and mercy, reject a culture of waste, and adopt a simpler life of love in harmony with the richness of Christ's Gospel.

I also care deeply for my friends, former teachers and colleagues who are working as obstetricians.  I appreciate the struggles of the profession, including the responsibility of maintaining a balance of compassionate leadership and faithful service to their patients.

The Pope's loving, encouraging remarks are words that I want to remember.  I want to be prepared to share similar exhortations in the future with friends who need encouragement in their walk within obstetrics.

The full translation of Pope Francis' address can be read here.

"...We witness today a paradoxical situation, regarding the medical profession. On one hand we see – and we thank God – for the advances in medicine, thanks to the work of scientists who, with passion and without sparing themselves, are dedicated to research of new cures. On the other, however, we also verify the danger that the doctor loses his identity of servant of life. The cultural disorientation has affected an ambit that seemed unassailable: yours, medicine! Although being by their nature at the service of life, the health professions are induced sometimes not to respect life itself. Instead, as the encyclical Caritas in veritate reminds us, openness to life is at the center of true development. If  personal and social sensibility is lost to welcoming a new life, other forms of reception useful to social life are hardened. The reception of life tempers moral energies and makes possible mutual help. The paradoxical situation is seen in the fact that, while new rights are attributed to the person, sometimes even presumed, life is not always protected as primary value and primordial right of every man. The ultimate end of medical action always remains the defense and promotion of life.

A widespread mentality of the useful, the “throw away culture” which today enslaves the hearts and intelligences of so many, has a very high cost: it requires eliminating human beings, especially if physically or socially weaker. Our answer to this mentality is a decisive and unhesitant “yes” to life. The first right of a human person is his/her life. He/she has other goods and some of them are more precious; but life is the fundamental good, condition for all the others.  Things have a price and are saleable, but persons have a dignity, they are worth more than things and they have no price. Because of this, attention to human life in its totality has become in recent times a real and proper priority of the Magisterium of the Church, particularly for life which is largely defenseless, namely, that of the disabled, the sick, the unborn, children, the elderly.

Each one of us is called to recognize in the fragile human being the face of the Lord, who in his human flesh experienced indifference and loneliness to which we often condemn the poorest, be it in developing countries, be it in well-off societies. Every unborn child, condemned unjustly to being aborted, has the face of the Lord, who before being born, and then when he was just born, experienced the rejection of the world. And every elderly person, even if he/she is sick or at the end of his/her days, bears in him/herself the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded!

...Be witnesses and propagators of this “culture of life.”...

...Dear doctor friends, you who are called to take care of human life in its initial phase, all of you must remember with facts and words, that this is always, in all its phases and at every age, sacred and is always of quality. And not because of a discourse of faith, but of reason and science! There is no human life that is more sacred than another, as there is no human life that is qualitatively more significant than another. The credibility of a health care system is not measured only by efficiency but above all by the care and love of persons, whose life is always sacred and inviolable."

~Pope Francis, September 20th, 2013

Audience with the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations

Remembering Annie Rose

Today is a special day as T and I remember traveling to Houston to be with our dear friends,

Katrina and Ed and their family.

Today marks two weeks since the birth of their daughter, Anastasia Rose.  

Katrina has written about her daughter's life and death on the blog, Building Cathedrals.  Annie was born with a condition called anencephaly and lived just a few minutes after birth.  Annie's life is a testament to the truth that every life is precious and can have an powerful effect on the world, no matter how long or short.  Through Annie's life, countless health care workers, neighbors, friends, family members and even strangers witnessed the strength of a family's love, the beauty of Christian community, the power of loving parents living in grace amidst suffering.  

Me, Katrina, and Katrina's daughter, M, talking together after Annie's birth

T and I remain so grateful for the blessing of getting to be in Houston for Annie's birth.  Her life has left an indelible mark on our lives, as has the strength and loving witness of her parents.  We'll never forget holding her in our arms, the looks on her older siblings' faces, the smiles of her parents.  We'll never forget that Annie inspired G-Bear to give her most beloved paci, an act of generous love that we couldn't have inspired ourselves.  I won't soon forget the sense of tragic loss, watching dear friends bear such a heavy cross.  Annie's life reminds us that this life is short, we have but a little time here.  But, no matter how long or short our lives, we can leave a mark of goodness on the world, and thanks be to God that we have victory over death in Christ.  Her life is one marked by that very Joy and Hope that gives limitless light to the world.

Katrina's daughter, M, admiring Annie's feet with T.

I am grateful to Katrina and Ed for sharing Annie's life with us and for permitting us to share our memories of Annie here.  

Thanks be to God for sweet Anastasia Rose and for touching our lives with hers.

Welcome, Baby Seven Billion! It's time to re-think overpopulation.

We're taking a moment today for a public service announcement.

As Baby Bear and I sit here, playing on the floor with his ducky chew toy, the seven billionth person is projected to be born today.  How phenomenal! Across the world, seven billion of us lay, sit, crawl, or stand as precious individuals, each exquisitely different with a unique contribution to make to the world.

Overpopulation has long been a concern of many countries and erudite thinkers.  With all due respect, I have long found their assumptions to be fundamentally flawed.  Thomas Mathus predicted in 1798 that by 1890 the world would run out of food and the end of the human race would soon follow.  Over 200 years later, there are still those who share his fears.

I thought this article from The Public Discourse was a great, thought-provoking piece for the birthday of our seven billionth member.  The executive director of the United Nation Population Fund, an organization that has traditionally promoted family planning as the solution to population control, recently indicated a shift in the UNFPA thinking when he acknowledged publicly that, "problems stemming from population growth are actually issues of consumption, distribution and equity, not necessarily intrinsic to the number of people alone."

Amen!  Right on.

So let's celebrate the birth of each of our children, our future, by taking less for ourselves, living justly toward others and striving to meet our neighbors' need.

Feminists for Life, supporting families

Today some medical school peers and I met to finalize our plans to bring a speaker to our school from Feminists for Life.  If you aren't familiar with Feminists for Life, I hope you have time to have an encounter with this group sometime soon.  

Feminists for Life of America was founded in 1972 and is a nonsectarian, nonpartisan grassroots organization that seeks real solutions to the challenges women face.  The organization's efforts are shaped by core values of justice, nondiscrimination and nonviolence.  They aspire to continue the tradition of early American feminists like Susan B. Anthony, who opposed abortion.

I really appreciate that FFL recognizes that abortion is (at least in part) a reflection of the fact that the needs of many women go unmet in our society today.  Holding the conviction that women deserve better than abortion, FFL is dedicated to systematically eliminating the root causes that drive many women to abortion--especially lack of practical resources and support--through holistic, woman-centered solutions.

FFL recently released a great, practical resource to help support families.  It's called Raising Kids on a Shoestring, and it's fully downloadable and full of great, practical advice on how to thrive as a parent of young children, no matter your financial means.  It has great tips for any family--I gleaned a few ideas for myself!

Supporting a Culture of Life means supporting and affirming the lives of our fellow man, woman and child each moment of their lives--from the tiniest beginnings to the distant final days.  I love FFL's commitment to doing this.  It may ask more of us, it may cause us to stand for and with others in ways that draw us out of our comfort zone.  But as Jane Adams said in 1910,

"The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain...until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life."

Parents, thank you for all you do to preserve the hope that is the next generation.  Say a prayer for the women, men, and children who don't know the kind of support that you lavish on your loved ones everyday.