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Contents © 1999
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
LETTERS
OCTOBER 1999
A FORETASTE OF HEAVEN
I would like to second the comments of C.N. Santos (Letters, September 1999 Mission) that Catholics who visit an eastern rite Catholic church will "experience beauty, reverence, orthodoxy, incense, mystery, and a sense of the holy" in a church where the Mass -- which we call the Divine Liturgy -- is a "foretaste of heaven."
I would add that in addition to St. Anne's in San Luis Obispo, there are quite a few eastern Catholic churches in the Los Angeles archdiocese; they are listed in the archdiocesan directory under "Eastern Churches." One in particular that I would like to recommend is St. Andrew's Russian Greek Catholic Church, 538 Concord Street, El Segundo, CA 90245, (310) 322-1892, where the Sunday Liturgy is at 10 a.m.
There you will find the full richness of the Divine Liturgy in all its beauty, exactly as written by St. John Chrysostom in the fourth century and as celebrated by the eastern churches unchanged for all the centuries since. And since it is a Catholic Church, all Catholic are, of course, welcome to receive Holy Communion (which is, of course, always under both species of bread and wine). The liturgy is in English and is always sung.
Michael Tscheekar,
Santa Maria
SALVATION ARMY ON ABORTION
The Salvation Army store in Milwaukee is next to an abortion clinic. During a Freedom Tour type picket of the abortuary, the Salvation Army called the police to remove the anti-abortion picketers. That behavior was not out of context with previous Salvation Army behavior.
After hearing about this, I wrote the national headquarters of the Salvation Army and asked for their position paper on abortion. The Salvation Army's position paper is pro-abortion. Making this known is necessary.
Chet Kilgore,
Dousman, Wisconsin
Editor's note: the text of the Salvation Army's position paper follows.
The Salvation Army believes in the sanctity of all human life. It considers each person to be of infinite value, and each life a gift from God to be cherished, nurtured and preserved.
The Salvation Army supports efforts to protect and promote the welfare of weak and defenseless persons including the unborn. It takes seriously the rights and needs of both the fetus and the mother.
The Salvation Army holds to the Christian ideals of chastity before marriage and fidelity within the marriage relationship and, consistent with these ideals, supports measures to prevent crisis pregnancies. It is opposed to abortion on demand or as a means of birth control.
Termination of a pregnancy may be justified in those rare instances where in the judgment of a competent medical and allied staff the pregnancy poses a serious threat to the life of the mother or could result in irreversible physical injury to the mother; and in those instances of proven rape or legally defined incest or where reliable diagnostic procedures determine that a fetal anomaly is present which is incompatible with postnatal survival for more than a few weeks, or where there is total or virtual absence of cognitive function.
It is the Salvation Army's experience that when an unwanted pregnancy occurs, it is best to advise that the situation be accepted and that the fetus be carried to term, and to offer supportive help and assistance with planning.
In situations where our counsel has not been accepted and an abortion has taken place, The Salvation Army will continue to show love and compassion and to offer its services and fellowship to those involved.
A serious commitment to the protection and care of the unborn calls us equally to a commitment to the promotion of societal systems that are conducive to wholeness, a reasonable quality of life and the fullest possible development of the potential of all persons and ages.