In Brief

A busy couple of days.  I have Fr Mark Kirby and Br Benedict staying with me as they prepare to found their new Priory in our diocese - not far from here, in Stamullen.  You can catch up on the latest news on Fr Mark's blog, Vultus Christi, which is always an inspiring read.  Please keep the community and the new foundation in your prayers. 

Personally speaking, it is wonderful having them here as they bring the Benedictine life and horarium to the presbytery and it's like being back in community again.  Living on my own, it is also great to have the company of brothers in the faith.  Hilda the dog arrives tomorrow, so that will bring another dimension to life in the house! 

This quick post is to bring an excellent article to your attention.  IVF is all the talk at the moment as the Holy Father addressed the issue recently.  I wrote a post a few days ago and got an interesting reaction - one which saw IVF as okay because the end result made people happy.  Of course as Christians we know that the ends can never justify the means: we cannot do an evil thing in the hope of achieving good.  But secular society does not believe it - it is consequentialist - it judges moral actions by their outcome rather than by their moral status.  In such thinking there is no such thing as an action being intrinsically evil.  This is pure relativism and leads many astray.

The article is on multiple births: when supply exceeds demand - a common feature of IVF where 'surplus' embryos are discarded, frozen or experimented on.  And of course in recent times we have seen the growing practice of selective reduction in which 'surplus' babies are aborted to make room for the one chosen to live.  It is all barbaric and undermines the belief that society is progressing - we're not, we're regressing.  In our age human beings have become more brutal, less considerate and more selfish than people in the previous centuries.   Welcome to the real Dark Ages!