Eight Sunday after Pentecost

ON THE SIN OF DETRACTION
And the same was accused unto him. (Luke 16:1)

The steward in the gospel was justly accused on account of the goods he had wasted; but there are many who lose their good name and honor by false accusations, and malicious talk! Alas, what great wrongs do detracting tongues cause in this world! How mean a vice is detraction, how seldom attention is paid to its evil, how rarely the injury is repaired!

When is our neighbor slandered?
When he is accused of a vice of which he is not guilty; when a secret crime is made known with the intention of hurting him, or when our duty does not require us to mention it; when we attribute an evil intention to him or entirely misconstrue his actions and omissions; when his good qualities or commendable actions are denied or lessened, or his merits underrated; when we remain silent, or speak ambiguously in cases where praise is due him; when we lend a willing ear to detractions, and make no effort to stop them; and lastly, when joy is felt in the detraction.

Is detraction a great sin?
Yes, for it is directly opposed to the love of our neighbor, therefore to the love of God, hence it is, as St. Ambrose says, hateful to God and man. By it we rob our neighbor of a possession greater than riches (Prov. 22: 1), and often he is plunged by it into want and misery, even into the greatest vices; St. Ambrose says: "Let us fly from the vice of detraction, for it is altogether a satanic abyss, full of deceit." Finally, detraction is a great sin, because it can seldom be recalled, and the injury done by it is very great, and often irreparable.

What should we do when we have committed this sin?
We should retract the calumny as soon as possible and repair the injury done to our neighbor in regard to his name or temporal goods; we should detest this sin, regret it, and be cleansed from it by penance, we should daily pray for him whom we have injured, and in future guard against the like fault.

Are we ever allowed to reveal the wrongs of our neighbor?
To make public the faults of our neighbor only for the entertainment of idle people, or for the sake of news, and to satisfy the curiosity of others, is always sinful. But if after having reproached or advised our neighbor fraternally, without obtaining our end, we make known his faults to his parents or superiors for the sake of punishment and reformation, far from being a sin it is rather a duty, against which those err who are silent about the sins of their neighbor, when by speaking they could prevent the sin and save him much unhappiness.

Is it a sin to listen willingly to detraction?
Yes, for we thus give the detractors occasion and encouragement. Therefore St. Bernard says: "Whether to detract is a greater sin than to listen to detraction, I will not decide. The devil sits on the tongue of the detractor as he does on the ear of the listener." In such cases we must strive to interrupt, to prevent the detracting words, or else withdraw; or if we can do none of these, we must show in our countenance our displeasure, for the Holy Ghost says: The northwind driveth away rain, so doth a sad countenance a backbiting tongue (Prov. 25: 23). The same demeanor is to be observed in regard to improper language.

What varieties of detraction are there?
There is a certain detestable kind of detraction which degrades and ridicules others by witty and sneering words. Still worse is that detraction which carries the faults of others from one place to another, thus exciting those who are on good terms to hard feeling, or making those who are living in enmity more opposed to each other. The whisperer and the double tongued, says the Holy Ghost, is accursed, for he hath troubled many that were at peace.

What should deter us from detraction?
The thought of the enormity of this sin; of the difficulty, even impossibility of repairing the injury caused; of the punishment it incurs, for St. Paul expressly says: Calumniators shall not possess the kingdom of God, (1 Cor. 6: 10). and Solomon writes: My son, fear the Lord, and the king: and have nothing to do with detractors; for their destruction shall rise suddenly (Prov. 24: 22).

Prayer
Guard me, O most loving Jesus, that I may not be so blinded, either by hatred or, envy, as to rob my neighbor of his good name, or make myself guilty of such a grievous sin.

CONSOLATION FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SUFFERED FROM DETRACTION
If your good name has been taken away by evil tongues, you may be consoled by knowing that God permitted this to humble you, to exercise you in patience and free you from pride and vain self-complacency. Turn your eyes to the saints of the Old and the New Law, to the chaste Joseph who was cast into prison on a false charge of adultery (Gen. 39), to the meek David publicly accused by Semei as a man of blood, (2 Kings 16: 7) to the chaste Susanna who was also accused of adultery, tried and condemned to death (Dan. 13). Jesus, the king of saints, was called a drunkard, accused and condemned as a blasphemer, a friend of the devil, an inciter of sedition among the people, and like the greatest criminal was nailed to the cross between two thieves. Remember besides that it does not injure you in the sight of God, if all possible evil is said of you, and that He, at all times, cares for those who trust in Him; for he who touches the honor of those who fear God, touches, as it were, the pupil of His eye (Zach. 2: 8), and shall not go unpunished. St. Chrysostom says: "If you are guilty, be converted; if you are innocent, think of Christ."

Prayer
O most innocent Jesus, who wert thus calumniated, I submit myself wholly to Thy divine will, and am, ready like Thee, to bear all slanders and detractions, as with perfect confidence I yield to land care my good name, convinced that Thou at Thy pleasure wilt defend and protect it, and save me from the hands of my enemies.

At the head of the post we have a page fragment from the manuscript kept in the Melbourne library with the drawing depicting envy carrying her daughters, treachery and detraction.

Read whole post......

More news on Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

I sent email to Lord Alton yesterday and he replied. I am posting here the message which contains a list of rallies organised in the next weeks over UK against Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill. More material on the bill has been attached to his email and if anyone wish to read more on the subject, please contact me. We live in the world we make ourselves because God gave us free will. Now, we are presented with possibility to have in the future 'human husbandry farms' developed. We need to protest, it is up to our conscience.

Quote:
Many thanks for your e-mail.

There will be a rally to draw attention to the provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, at 7.00pm on Ash Wednesday, February 6th. Please do encourage people to come. I know that our opponents intend to be out in force. Speakers will include the Rt.Hon Ann Widdecombe MP. Other rallies;

* London: Central Hall Westminster, SW1:- Wednesday 6th February, 7pm
* Liverpool: The Liner Hotel, Lord Nelson Street:- Tuesday12th February, 7.30pm
* Coventry: Coventry Cathedral:- Wednesday 13th February,7.30pm
* Widnes: The Foundry, Lugsdale Road:- Monday 18th February,7.30pm
* Cardiff: The City Temple, Cowbridge Road East:- Tuesday 4th March, 7.30pm

For further information tel. 01925 220999 or 0203 1760032 or email: gill@epiphany.org.uk or ian.lucas@appplg.co.uk It would be good to see big audiences and hopefully many other smaller meetings will be organised in the wake of these. It's vital that the public learn what is at stake in this Bill. Post cards are now available to send to MPs. Please e-mail Ian Lucas, who will be pleased to send them to you for local distribution. A power point presentation explaining the Bill is also attached and this may be used at local meetings or to forward to others.
Subject: FW: Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill Latest
Votes were taken in the House of Lords, on Monday, January 21st , on the child's need for a mother and a father. These votes were lost. Last Tuesday, January 15th, votes were taken on the creation of animal-human hybrids and saviour siblings. These votes were also lost. On Monday January 2 8th, the House debated the creation of a national Bio-ethics Commission. It also considered Baroness Masham's amendment on abortion of disabled babies up until birth and voted against it.

On February 4th the Bill will have its Third Reading and there will be a vote on the "Hunt" Test - proposed by Baroness (Shirley) Williams - on forbidding human embryos or animal-human embryos to be used unless the licence applicant can demonstrate that there are no alternatives available.

The Bill will then be sent to the House of Commons, with votes probably being taken in February on Second Reading.
The Government imposed a three line whip on its supporters in the House of Lords and is likely to do the same in the Commons.

Some or the arguments on these issues are set out below.

Read whole post......

From Catholic Action UK: The last chance to stop hybrid embryos for the House of Lord is on February 4th. Please read more on the post from Catholic Action blog: stop the hybrid embryos where one can find link to SPUC list of Lords addresses and advice on writing the letter. Time is running out. Read whole post......

Hybrid embryos - half human half animal.

'Scientists accuse Catholic priests of spreading embryo 'lies'

Scientists have accused Roman Catholic priests of spreading lies from the pulpit in an attempt to stoke up opposition to animal-human hybrid experiments. A statement attacking the controversial Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill was read out to parishioners across the country last week. The briefing, prepared by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, warned that the Bill would allow the creation of "half human, half animals" by combining eggs of women with the sperm of animals. It added: "To do this would be a radical violation of human dignity."

But scientists involved in animal-human embryo experiments accused the church of "blatant inaccuracy". Dr Lyle Armstrong, of Newcastle University, said the church's statement was "a gross and irresponsible misrepresentation of our position and our intentions". Hybrid embryos were designed to provide stem cells to treat human diseases - not to create half-human, half-animals, he said. He added: "We find their example of combining the egg of a woman with animal sperm even more distasteful and we wish to make it absolutely clear that our work does not involve this. We find it surprising and saddening-that the Catholic Church should resort to such blatant inaccuracy to support its message in these matters."

Under the Bill, which is going through Parliament, scientists would be allowed to create animal-human hybrids for medical research. They would take an animal egg cell, remove the blob in the centre which contains most of the animal's DNA and replace it with the nucleus from a human cell, taken from a donor. The resulting embryo is 99.9 per cent identical to the human donor - although it contains some animal DNA left over from the egg. The Catholic Church has sent every parish a pack of information including the one-page briefing document which some priests have read to congregations.

Chris Shaw, Professor of Neurology and Neurogenetics, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, said: "The bishops' statement on hybrids is not a radical violation of human dignity as they claim - it is a radical violation of the truth."

A spokesman for the church said: "Far from providing misinformation in our parish briefing, all we have done is draw attention to what this Bill actually allows. "Clause 4 allows licences to be given for the creation of hybrid and "interspecies" embryos, defined in the Bill as "an embryo created by using human gametes and animal gametes". This means half human and half animal."

I can only say how unethical, immoral and offending to God, who made us unto His image, is this kind of pseudo-scientific experiments and giving green light to this may lead in the future to any kind of abuse.

credits: New Oxford Review

and Daily Mail Read whole post......