My Pro-Life Life

         Today is the feast of Ss. Cosmas and Damian, twin brothers and physicians from Arabia who were martyred during the persecution of Diocletian. A number of readings have recently presented themselves which make for good reflection in light of these saints' chosen profession.      First, from Divine Intimacy , part of the meditation on the beatitude, "Blessed are the merciful". What is medicine if not a work of mercy?  "I have inhaled the fragrance of Your mercy and I come to You to be strengthened by it. Blessed is the man who, following Your example, has a heart filled with compassion for the unfortunate. Blessed is he who is merciful and quick to help those who are in need, he who remembers that it is more blessed to give than to receive, who is quick to forgive and slow to anger, who never takes revenge, but in all circumstances considers the needs of others as though they were his own. O Lord, pour into my soul the dew of Your mercy, fill my heart with cha

 To open a private walk-in clinic, I estimate that $1,000,000 should be enough to get us going. The comercial property I want to buy in Nashville is $715,000; the rest should be enough to equip the place for day 1. I could really use some big donors to keep it going, though. Maybe I should explain what I'm talking about ...  My dream for not too long has been to open a clinic for the poor and underserved. It has developed to wanting an on-site clinic in Nashville, with a mobile clinic to go out east to Appalachia. This is partly something my brother has suggested, and also stems from my (extreme) dissatisfaction with the way the American healthcare system is run, from a nurse's point of view.  I want a clinic like the old medical offices: patient comes in, sees the doctor, gets treatment, and pays the doctor. The End. No insurance, no billing codes, no Medicare. Doctors could charge what they would. Doctors like St. Giuseppe Moscati could charge nothing to those who could not a

  14 th Sunday C 2022 Thanks to a good friend, we have a new angel statue in the back. It was made, like the large  crucifix we obtained during lent, by the Daprato company in Chicago, started by Italian  immigrants in 1860.   When revolution exploded in the late 1960’s, statues like these were hauled out of many of our churches and replaced with cheap felt banners and similar items that failed to raise hearts and  minds to heaven. The Daprato company nearly went out of business at this time, and many if not  most of the molds for its statues were lost or destroyed. So, our new angel and new crucifix are  not replications, but rather old originals, having detail and craftsmanship not found in modern  pieces.  It is essential for right worship to have crucifixes that reveal the sufferings of Christ. Gazing  upon them we tell ourselves, along with St Paul, “May I never boast except in the cross of our  Lord Jesus Christ.”  St Paul preached about angels too. That is why it is important to

From Fr. Z (https://wdtprs.com/2021/09/this-is-the-sort-of-person-whom-the-house-voted-that-its-okay-to-kill-up-to-birth/): Bl. Hermann of Reichenau (1054) Born with cleft palate, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida, he was placed in a Benedictine monastery at seven. A genius in astronomy, theology, poetry, math, music, Arabic, Greek, and Latin, he composed the Salve Regina and Alma Redemptoris Mater.

I don't think I'm alone in this, but I don't know where my comrades are. Who else out there wants to do this and can't: A lot of nurses (and doctors too, I imagine) are idealists when they start school (perhaps some are like me and go to school because they're idealists), idealists when they graduate, idealists when they interview and take their first job... And jaded after two weeks in the field. They want to be really good nurses, to really take care of their patients, but get swamped by the system, which makes them spend ninety-five percent of their shift passing meds, being behind, and sitting at the nurses station an hour after that shift is over (not having had a lunch break), hitting keys so that something acceptable is in the patient chart, just good enough so they can log off and go home. Ask me how I know.  All we want to do is take care of sick people, not fulfil Medicare requirements. We're exhausted and frustrated over mandates that come from people

     The Institute of Christ the King  is, for the sixth year in a row, organizing a pilgrimage to the March for Life in Washington, D.C. God willing, I will be there this year!       For the second year in a row, the Institute is fundraising to offset the cost of the pilgrimage with the Candle for Life campaign ( HERE ). For a donation of $25 or more, a pilgrim will carry your prayer intentions and a lighted candle at the March in January.      The Institute relies heavily on donations to make this trip possible; please help their pilgrims take a stand for life!