The Bulletin of the Catholic
Association of Scientists and Engineers
June 21, 2005
June Meeting Announcement:
There will be a meeting of the members of the Catholic Association of
Scientists and Engineers on Wednesday evening June 29, 2005 at 5:00 pm.
at the James Bates Hall at Ascension Catholic Church, 12700
Lanham-Severn Road, Bowie, Maryland 20720, Tel: 301 262 2227.
Stanley
L. Jaki
will speak on
Christ, Extraterrestrials and the
Devil
Stanley L. Jaki is an outstanding author and honorary member of the
Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He also won the Templeton
Prize. He has written extensively on the relationship of modern
science and religion. Recently he has been instrumental in the
re-publication of the works of Cardinal Henry Newman the great
nineteenth century convert.
His books are available either from Real View Books, 1436 Devonshire
Lane, Port Huron, MI 48060 Email: RealViewBooks@juno.com Tel
(877)247-6886 or from Catholic Information Center in DC .
John Marcus jmarcus@erols.com
writes: I don't usually write these things down or do things to
attract attention to myself, but my good friend, President Francis
Kelly asked me to document the following story.
About six years ago, my wonderful wife, Wendy was diagnosed with breast
cancer. We think that the hormone therapy medication that her doctor
prescribed for her to make menopause more agreeable brought this cancer
on. She has never had an abortion and never even tried birth control.
We met at the University of Maryland, agreed to have 13 children, and
got married on February 7, 1973, about 2 weeks after Roe v Wade. We
never talked about abortion, and when she first became pregnant, she
told me a friend suggested she have an abortion. I had thought that I
was "enlightened" and so I was mildly "pro-choice" on abortion because
I
read the Washington Post, and never thought about abortion very much.
In a fraction of a nanosecond I realized what abortion really was, and
I raised my voice saying, "If you ever have an abortion I will never
speak to you again." (As a good Catholic, I could not threaten her with
divorce.) Wendy cried and said she would never consider an abortion. I
prayed to God that if He allowed this baby to be born, I would do
something about abortion. Years later I was relieved to hear that the
Catholic Church agreed with me about abortion.
As Wendy was being homemaker, she supported me in all of my Pro-Life
endeavors. After about 20 years of marriage, Monsignor Hughes brought
her into our One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Wendy accepted
readily all of the Church teachings. She even reminded me when it was
time to go to Confession. She loved the Holy Rosary and had no
problem with devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as Wendy had a great
admiration for our Blessed Mother ever since she was a child growing up
in a Methodist household. The movie, "The Song of Bernadette" left a
positive a positive image on Wendy's young heart.
So, after the cancer diagnosis, Wendy went through the prescribed
chemotherapy treatments, and the cancer seemed to go away. About
three years later however, it showed back up on the tests. Knowing that
the previous chemotherapy almost killed her, she looked for alternative
medicines. Our good Pro-Life friend, Mercedes Wilson had my
Wendy see a doctor in Guatemala, who has pictures of the Sacred Heart
of Jesus in his waiting room, and the good doctor prays the Hail Mary
as he dispenses medications. Wendy seemed to be improving; then I
slipped on the ice here in Maryland, and went to the hospital for a
five month stay. Wendy cut short her cancer treatments to come home to
be with me.
With Wendy's prayers (and others') I miraculously survived. One doctor
thought he would have to amputate both feet, another doctor thought I
would have brain damage, another thought I would have a heart attack.
All the doctors thought I would die. Wendy kept praying. Her prayers
for me were answered with a "Yes." But her cancer came back, and my
prayers for her were answered with a "Watch this."
As her health deteriorated, we became very, very close to each other
and close to God. I became an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist,
so I could bring her Holy Communion at home. Monsignor Hughes made a
few trips to our home, where he heard her confession, gave her
Communion and the Last Rites. She had many friends come over, and they
spent hours with her. Wendy was always a good scientist, using logic,
and restraining her imagination. Even so, one day she pointed and said,
"I see Jesus. He is right there. He must be coming for me."
Meanwhile someone, but I don't know who, put a scapular on her bed. The
scapular stayed there for a few days, then one day I just put it around
her neck. Five minutes later, she stopped breathing and peacefully
died. It was our 32nd anniversary. She wanted to stay alive until that
date. She did everything like a great artist, even dying in a
beautiful, beautiful way on a special day.
The main celebrant at her Funeral Mass was Monsignor Hughes, and Father
Isodore Dixon and Father Joseph Jenkins concelebrated. Deacon Marty
Martin and John Glynn were also on the altar.
John Marcus is a longtime member of CAS&E and continues to pray the
Rosary at the Greenbelt Road abortion center every Saturday morning.
Future meetings: The tentative
dates for the next group of CAS+E meetings here in Bowie MD are as
follows:
End of July Tentatively Fr Jacques
Arnould OP CNES Jacques.Arnould@cnes.fr
August
Tenatively
Fr.Greg Coan
President’s Message: Angelita
and I have been blessed to have just returned from a visit to Cologne,
Darmstadt, Heidelberg, and Frankfurt, Germany. The Holy Father’s
World Youth Day to be held in Cologne, Germany in August should be a
memorable occasion. The relics of the proto-Catholic Scientists,
(the three kings or the magi) are in the cathedral. The relics of
Blessed John Duns Scotus, who defended the doctrine of the
Immaculate Conception of Mary, are in the Franciscan Church near
the Cologne Cathedral.
The scientific conference dinner was at a restaurant at Frankenstein’s
Castle near Darmstadt. A lecture on Frankenstein and the Shelleys
and the Grimm Brothers was given. I made videos of these sites
and lectures. If anyone would like a copy, please contact
me. They are very worth visiting.
Sincerely yours, Dr. Francis J. Kelly