What does this have to do
with The Citadel?
EVERYTHING!
Freedom is the ability
to do the will of God
My wife Jen and I are greatly concerned about the current SCOTUS rulings and we see the critical need for the Church Militant to muster
and witness solidarity. We have been observing
the quickening, the movements on both sides of the Pro-Life battle for
the heart and soul of these once United States. Time is ticking and
with each passing day it seems we are being backed into a corner where
there may soon be no means of escape.
Personally, we have been participants in this struggle ever since
our first pregnancy, when at a Catholic hospital in Florida we received
professional medical counsel that “there are ethical considerations” in
our choice to carry our firstborn, John Michael to term (John Michael is
now a healthy, vibrant 16 year old). We have been intimately involved
in the Pro-Life apostolate ever since.
More recently, on July 6, 2010 my father, William, was most likely
euthanized while I slept in an adjoining bedroom. The 'live-in' hospice
workers on their first night of duty were told to wake me up if my dad’s
then current condition (sleeping peacefully) changed and they sure did. I was awakened to see him without his nasal cannula and with a death
mask that strongly suggested that he was gasping for air in his dying
moments. Yes, oral morphine was involved. The two workers had
different explanations as to what happened to precipitate my father's
sudden and unexpected death.
It was a tragic end to my family in Arizona. We were literally
destroyed by the event. In subsequent conversations with friends and
acquaintances, I have found that our experience was no exception.
Families are being ripped apart, one-by-one, at the explosive moment
when death comes at the hands of so-called palliative care. I have
since found out that there is both good hospice and bad hospice. The
great challenge is to make sure you have signed a contract with the
right one.
I felt commissioned by this personal encounter with euthanasia and
have made it a point to research the whole spectrum of EOL issues. Fr.
Anthony Blount, SOLT provided a welcome movement forward. When I heard
his taped seminar on End of Life Issues (delivered in Capulin, Colorado)
I lamented, ‘Why hadn’t I received this inoculation before my dad died
the way he did?’
It all revolves around five key words. If we get them right we
create a fortress, a citadel around our heart. If we get even one of them wrong, we have
a weak moral construct that the enemy of true light, life and love will
surely try to exploit. He will most likely succeed.
The five interrelated words I call The Citadel. Once I rearranged the order of Fr. Tony's presentation, I saw the key to easily remembering them.
Again, they are five key principles rightly or wrongly understood.
The teaching method is to start with what the world says and then
counter the prevailing 'wisdom' with "but the Catholic Church
teaches..." The principles: autonomy, dualism, hedonism, compassion (misguided), and utility. Rightly
understood, these five provide mutual support to protect
people/families with Catholic truth against any and all assaults on
human life (contraception->euthanasia).
At base level The Citadel is a battle drill. It
is simple to learn and transmit with your five fingers as a mnemonic.
As one develops each principle through practical exercises ("what if"
situational role playing) one grows in self-confidence. Since the best
defense is a good offense it is very likely that a seasoned sentry
manning the pro-life watchtower will be compelled to launch a
counteroffensive to challenge an anti-life opponent (that hopefully will
lead to his/her eventual conversion). I have field tested the base
level with my kids and it works. They have the principles committed to
memory.
Fort McHenry and the Star Spangled Banner's final verse
are key to relating a true American Cause
and the ultimate victory of Truth and Justice.
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
The fort was made a national park in 1925; on August 11, 1939, it was redesignated a "National Monument and Historic Shrine," the only such doubly designated place in the United States.
It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October
15, 1966. It has become national tradition that when a new flag is
designed it first flies over Fort McHenry. The first official 49 and 50
star American flags were flown over the fort and are still located on
the premises.
AN HISTORIC SHRINE...hmmm
sounds like the moral high ground
Yours truly graduated from the United States Military Academy at
West Point, where the honor code provided the key principles for
character development and moral conduct: "A cadet shall not lie, cheat,
steal nor tolerate those who do." As an honor committee rep for two
years I witnessed how the toleration clause was the weak link in the
chain. During the years 1980-81 there a great loss of institutional
integrity at the Point. It was due primarily to moral relativism and
the deliberate toleration of honor code violations. We couldn't get a
guilty verdict, even in the most blatant of cases.
My older brother William Jr. who graduated from the Citadel was
commissioned in the Marine Corps. He was also blown away by my dad’s
untimely demise which sadly, and/or providentially occurred on his 53rd
birthday. He can never forget.
If we had set down as a family, discussed and jointly agreed to The Citadel,
we would never have left my father alone in his bedroom that night.
Moreover we would have ensured that hospice was provided with our
Church-based moral guidelines before we committed ourselves to their “care.”
Jen and I believe it is worth a look at the method we have drafted
(based on Fr. Tony's teachings) to provide this critical teaching to all
Catholics, young and old.
To paraphrase a Founding Father, Thomas Payne in his great work, The American Crisis from 1776:
This is surely a time
that will try men’s souls.
