Denver Catholic

9 DENVER CATHOLIC | AUGUST 10-23, 2019 Sacred Heart Jesuit Rereat House i i 4801 North Highway 67, P.O. Box 185, Sedalia, CO 80135 Phone 303-688-4198 ext. 122 (information/reservations) www.sacredheartretreat.org facebook.com/sacredheartretreat EVENTS Exercises Retreats are exercises. e body needs the spiritual life exercise to grow and remain powerful. Retreats challenge the whole person. Listening e aim of the retreat is to organize one's life in the eyes of Jesus Christ. e process can bring up important decisions that reorient one's life. Days of Prayer Tuesday September 24 Aging and Finding God Fr. Ed Kinerk, S.J. We will examine getting older and how we're more and more aware of the niteness of our lives. Quiet Weekend Retreats September 20-22 – Men & Women Everyday Life Fr. Vince Hovley, S.J. We will probe the deeper and sacred meaning of our everyday life. SAVE LIVES THIS SUMMER There's no summer vacation on the streets. You can transform and save a life. The summer months are challenging for those in need, especially families with children living on the streets. The unforgiving heat can make an already desperate situation more dangerous but your gift today could provide needed shelter for families. Donate at ccdenver.org/summer (720) 799-9311 utilitarianism than human formation. "The Church's own intellectual tradition – which gave the world the university system and thus formal education – demonstrates to the cul- ture that the integral formation of the human person is the fi rst priority of education," Donoghue explained. "We have seen that an approach to education that is devoid of virtue, and too nar- rowly focused on skills and job-market preparation, does not produce a citi- zenry capable of advancing a culture toward authentic freedom, charity and equal dignity. "Catholic education, which embraces the integration of faith and reason, can restore this to society." A CHANGE IN STANCE This declaration marks a shift from what the NEA has publically expressed in the past. In a previous document titled "The Truth about the NEA: The NEA Response to its Critics," they clearly stated that they do not have a pro-abortion policy, and that they have not "spent one penny under its legal services program defending [the] right to have an abortion." But some critics say the NEA has always supported abor- tion behind the scenes, and are now just being more forthright about it. "The NEA went from trying to have a stance that favored abortion but denying that's what they were doing, to open- ing avowing that they're favoring abor- tion," said Andrew Seeley, Director of Advanced —Formation for the Institute of Catholic Liberal Education, in a phone conversation with the Denver Catholic. "The NEA joins with other cultural orga- nizations in leading others to do this." This is cause for concern, Seeley said, because it presents various dangers for those who do not conform to this way of thinking, especially Catholics. "It is a great danger in that it's just going to seem more and more like all of society thinks abortion is a right, and it's going to increase the incomprehension and at least a subconscious tolerance for people who are saying abortion is wrong," he explained.— Of course, Seeley notes that it won't do much good to aggressively impose a pro-life stance in opposition to the pro- choice advocates. As Catholics, we must have compassion for those who seek an abortion and educate students properly about the nature of life. "We need to tell them the truth about abortion by going into the biol- ogy of conception and development and by looking at what abortion proce- dures really do," Seeley said. "It's really important that the young see that many women have abortions not because they're radical or evil, but because they feel like there's no other way out. They [need to] see how important it is to pro- vide help and support for young women who are facing a diœ cult situation. "Things are becoming clearer now. And that's an opportunity for us to show that we really care and then speak the truth in love in opposition to a clear enemy of life." The National Education Associa- tion, the country's largest teachers' union, recently declared their sup- port for abortion as a fundamental right. Catholic education experts say this is cause for concern. This has nothing to do with education, and everything to do with advancing an agenda that is rooted in an ideology that has separated the person from the Creator. It violates the naturally good ends of education: the formation of a child in knowledge, wisdom and virtue." MARY PAT DONOGHUE "

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