Saturday, March 24, 2007

Dear Ones in Standing Just,

I am late in the game on this one. I keep thinking I can live a quiet life in Coppell and not get drawn into the horrors around us, but even now when I hear of these horrors being done by agents of the Church--the largest Catholic health organization in the world--Ascension Health --Daughters of Charity...and the silence of yet another Catholic Bishop this time in Austin, Texas.

Ten years ago-when I was not yet fully Catholic in the midst of the horrors in Dallas, Texas a beloved priest told me that we were living in a time when it took the Courts to force a Bishop to do the right thing.... I call on good Catholics and believers everywhere to call on good Bishops and to raise a cry--a resounded cry against the willful killing of another human by neglect as they quibble on their "quality of life" debate. Did our beloved Pope John Paul II's end of life and natural death--faithful till the end, to the love and calling of God--teach us nothing?

This baby has been granted a reprieve until April 10 through the Courts--where are the Christian activist for LIFE? I have been told that Seaton refuses to allow a Doctor to perform a simple tracheotomy that would allow this baby to be able to be transported to another facility or even to home with his mother. Please read the blogs--Goggle the most recent news---reach out to Kyleen Wright, President Texans for Life Coalition www.texlife.org

MAKE PHONE CALLS
You can express your views in this case by calling Brackenridge Children's Hospital in Austin at 512-324-8000. Please let them know that you know they are Catholic and why are they not upholding Catholic teaching on offering ordinary care such as nutrition and hydration--trach,....

Flood the Austin Bishop's email and phone calls--he can do the right thing and get involved.

You Life advocates--hit the streets and media if you have to--even if it means in front of a Catholic hospital, order of nuns, and Bishops office. If you know Bishop Vann in Fort Worth or Archbishop Gomez in San Antonio....get them to talk to their brother Bishop...

WE must do something--so we Pray and then put your prayers to action as God leads,

For Life in His Sacred Heart,

daniel

Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Whether living or dying ... let's embrace baby Emilio
Emilio Gonzales is a 16 month old baby boy. He’s in has a degenerative neurological condition called Leigh’s disease. A Google search will reveal that Leigh’s disease --“is a rare inherited neurometabolic disorder characterized by degeneration of the central nervous system. Symptoms of Leigh's disease usually begin between the ages of 3 months to 2 years and progress rapidly. In most children, the first signs may be poor sucking ability and loss of head control and motor skills. These symptoms may be accompanied by loss of appetite, vomiting, irritability, continuous crying, and seizures. As the disorder progresses, symptoms may also include generalized weakness, lack of muscle tone, and episodes of lactic acidosis, which can lead to impairment of respiratory and kidney function. Heart problems may also occur.”“…The most common treatment for Leigh's disease is thiamine or Vitamin B1. In patients who have a deficiency of pyruvate dehydrogenase enzyme complex, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet may be recommended. Oral sodium bicarbonate or sodium citrate may also be prescribed to manage lactic acidosis. Experimental protocols are currently using dichloroacetate to treat patients with lactic acidosis.”“…The prognosis for individuals with Leigh's disease is poor. Individuals who lack mitochondrial complex IV activity and those with pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency tend to have the worst prognosis and die within a few years. Those with partial deficiencies have a better prognosis, and may live to be 6 or 7 years of age. Some have survived to their mid-teenage years.” (Taken from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/leighsdisease/leighsdisease.htm .)”In short, little Emilio is a very sick baby boy.
Texas Futile Care LawHe is ventilator dependent and under the care of the Brackenridge Children’s Hospital in Austin, Texas – but not for long. Under a Texas Futile Care law, his doctor is able to override the family’s wishes and withdraw treatment if he deems it to be futile. That’s exactly what has happened. Emilio’s mother Catarina Gonzales (23) was served the mandatory 10 days notice by the hospital ethics committee that baby Emilio’s ventilator would be turned off on March 23rd 2007. A brave and tenacious Texas Lawyer, Jerri Ward, has been able to get that ominous date postponed until April 10th in order to assist the baby’s mother to find another facility that will accept Emilio.Surely there is another medical facility somewhere in America that will accept this baby boy. (?) Surely there is a physician who will step forward to treat Emilio. (?) Surely there is somebody who is prepared to underwrite the cost of a medical flight for Emilio and his mom out of Texas to wherever that medical facility might be. (?)This baby deserves whatever life has been given to him and nobody has the rob him of it. If he dies, let it be from natural causes, not because somebody pursued his death by denying care. If baby Emilio dies of natural causes, at least America does not stand under the moral indictment of deliberately killing another disabled citizen.

Christian response to Terri SchiavoIn 2003, the disability organization I founded (HumanLifeMatters) tried to persuade the Canadian government to offer asylum for Terri Schiavo. HumanLifeMatters assembled a team of volunteer Christian physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals in Edmonton, Alberta, to provide need care for her. The Good Samaritan Hospital guaranteed a bed for Terri. A wealthy Edmonton businessman offered to underwrite the costs of a medical flight.Unfortunately the Liberal government of former Prime Minister refused to offer asylum for her.Now futile care has raised its ugly head to threaten Emilio Gonzales. I will try once again to explore similar medical arrangements in Canada. We have a new Conservative government. Perhaps they will be open to showing mercy and allow entrance into my country.I ask readers of this blog to explore possibilities for Emilio in there communities. Is anyone prepared to cover costs of ring Emilio and his mother to Canada if it comes to that?

Baby Emilio deserves loving care, regardless of whether he lives or dies naturally. He needs to feel loved and valued through our collective embrace. I can be contacted at HumanLifeMatters@shaw.ca or my personal email MPickup@shaw.ca

Monday, March 19, 2007

Dear Brothers,

Happy St Joseph Feast Day!!!,

We will meet tonight at Wayne's house at 7:00 PM for Mass and fellowship with Fr Steven Sanchez. We hope to see you all there tonight.

March 19th 2007
Feast of St. Joseph
Patron of the Universal Church

JMJ

A Meditation on St. Joseph from Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

As Joseph had a mind to put Mary away secretly, the Gospel lifts the veil of the mystery to him: "But hardly had the thought come to his mind, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take thy wife Mary to thyself, for it is by the power of the Holy Ghost that she has conceived this child; and she will bear a son, whom thou shalt call Jesus, for he is to save his people from their sins' " (Mt I:20-21).
Joseph's worries were overcome by a revelation of the dignity of Christ's Virgin Birth and of the nature of His mission-- namely, to save us from our sins. The very words of the angel: "Do not be afraid to take thy wife Mary to thyself" seem to support the view that Joseph already believed that miracle had taken place in Mary and that that was why he "feared" to bring her into his own house. It is unlikely that any man told of a Virgin Birth would ever have credited it if there had not already been in his heart a belief in the Messias, Christ, Who was to come. Joseph knew that the Messias would be born of the family of David, and he himself was of that family. He also knew of the prophecies concerning the Child, even the one of Isaias that He would be born of a Virgin. If Joseph had not already been described as a just man, the message of the angel and the honor that was to come to Mary would have been enough to have inspired great purity in him. For if a modern father were told that one day his son would be President of the United States, it would inspire a changed attitude toward his wife, the mother of the child. In like manner, all anxiety and anguish now leave Joseph, as his soul is filled with reverence and awe for the love of Mary's secret.

-From World's First Love (pages 90-91)

Protector of Holy Church, pray for us.
Light of Patriarchs, pray for us.
Pillar of families, pray for us.
Good Saint Joseph, your faithful love protected and nourished the Mother of God and Jesus Christ, her son.Your fatherly care led to maturity he through whom all creation began. Through your intercession, may God guide and protect all human life from conception to natural death, and lead this nation in the ways of truth and of love. Pray for us, good Saint Joseph, that joined with Christ Jesus, we might give praise to God forever. Amen.