Children in Adult Clothing

Anthony Esolen of The Catholic Thing wrote an article called Stamp Your Feet which gives a synopsis of what the conversation has been like between Cardinal Mueller, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). 

CDF: “Sisters, do you believe and affirm that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of the Father, begotten and not made, the second Person of the Holy Trinity?”

LCWR: “Why are you asking us that question? What gives you the authority to ask it?”

CDF: “Again, Sisters, do you believe and affirm that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of the Father, incarnate by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary?”

LCWR: “You have no right to pick on us simply because we’re women. You arrogant misogynists!  We believe that hierarchical structures must be dismantled!”

CDF: “Sisters, you seem to argue that you are ‘beyond Jesus.’ Do you in fact believe that man may be saved in the name of Jesus alone? That Christ alone reveals the Father to man, and man to himself?”

LCWR: “Why are you using sexist language? We are offended by your pronouns.”

CDF: “Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of the Father?”

LCWR: “We have advanced degrees in theology. We have received awards from our friends – we mean, from prestigious theological societies. Why are you suggesting that we are incompetent? Is it because we’re women?”
    More

Theology degrees are worthless IMO if people dissent from Church teaching.  If the nuns have a problem with apostolic succession and the authority that comes with it then they obviously need a refresher course on Catholicism, obedience, and doctrine versus prudential judgment.  These LCWR nuns need to grow up and answer the Cardinal’s questions.

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San Francisco Archbishop: Those Dissenting From Defined Church Teaching and Violating Moral Teaching “Are Not Properly Disposed To Receive Holy Communion”

 

 

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A Critique of Evangelii Gaudium

Judge Andrew Napolitano wrote an op-ed in which he is critical of Pope Francis’ comments on economics.  I am reposting part of Napolitano’s op-ed which Father Z has posted on his blog with added remarks of his own in red.  

 

NAPOLITANO: Pope Francis should be saving souls, not pocketbooks
Church teaching on personal freedom includes a moral imperative to work and share

By Andrew P. Napolitano Wednesday, December 4, 2013

What is the worst problem in the world today? Might it be war, starvation, genocide, sectarian violence, murder, slaughter of babies in the womb? Any of these would be a rational answer. When Pope Francis was asked this question recently, he replied, “Youth unemployment.”

To be sure, youth unemployment is a serious problem. In some parts of the United States, the richest country in the world, it has reached 25 percent. These are people who are no longer in school full time and are not yet 30 years of age. It is a problem for them and their families, for their communities and for the welfare states that are supporting them. Is it the worst problem in the world, though? Is it a problem for the Roman Catholic Church? Is it something the pope is competent to comment upon or to resolve?

The pope’s youth-unemployment comments recently were removed from the Vatican’s website. No sooner had that been done than the Holy Father issued his first encyclical — a formal papal teaching, as opposed to his now-famous, impromptu back-of-the-plane yet on-the-record comments.

His encyclical is about economics, [No.  It is neither an encyclical nor is it – primarily- about economics.  These errors of fact, however, don’t change the argument too much.] and it reveals a disturbing ignorance. [At least about economics.] I say this with deference and respect. I also say this as a traditionalist Roman Catholic who laments the post-Vatican II watering down of sacred traditions, lessening of moral teaching and trivialization of liturgical practices. [OORAH!] I also say this, though, as a firm believer that Pope Francis is the Vicar of Christ on Earth and, as such, personifies the teaching authority of the church. He is morally and juridically capable of speaking ex cathedra — that is, infallibly — but only after surveying and distilling traditional Church teachings and only on matters affecting faith and morals.

Thank God, so to speak, that his teaching authority is limited to faith and morals, because in matters of economics, he is wide of the mark.

His encyclical, [See above.] titled “Joy of the Gospel,” attacks free-market capitalism because it takes too long for the poor to get rich. [That may be the money quote.] “They are still waiting,” the pope wrote. Without capitalism, which rewards hard work and sacrifice, they will wait forever. No economic system in history has alleviated more poverty, generated more opportunity and helped more formerly poor people become rich than capitalism. The essence of capitalism goes to the core of Catholic teaching: the personal freedom of every person. Capitalism is freedom to risk, freedom to work, freedom to save, freedom to retain the fruits of one’s labors, freedom to own property and freedom to give to charity.

The problem with modern capitalism — a problem that escaped the scrutiny of His Holiness — is not too much freedom, but too little. The regulation of free markets by governments, the control of the private means of production by government bureaucrats, and the unholy alliances between governments, banks and industry have raised production costs, stifled competition, established barriers to entry into markets, raised taxes, devalued savings and priced many poor out of the labor force. The pope would do well to pray for those who have used government to steal freedom so as to satisfy their lust for power, and for those who have bowed to government so as to become rich from governmental benefits and not by the fruits of their own labors.

Traditional Catholic social teaching imposes on all of us a moral obligation to become our brothers’ keepers. [This isn’t just an imperative from Catholic social teaching, by the way.] But this is a personal moral obligation, enforced by conscience and church teaching and the fires of hell [When is the last time you saw that in a secular paper?  When is the last time you heard that from a pulpit?] — not by the coercive powers of the government. Charity comes from the heart. It consists of freely giving away one’s wealth. It is impossible to be charitable with someone else’s money. That’s theft, not charity.

 

Father Z is correct when he notes that Evangelii Gaudium is not primarily on economics.  I have only read about 10-12 pages of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation but the majority of those pages focused on spreading the Gospel, evangelizing, and spreading God’s love to others.  What I’ve read so far is very well written.  Pope Francis may be somewhat naive and too trusting of governments when it comes to economics and aiding the poor.  Some of the Pope’s words on economics are odd and had Kevin and I asking “what are you talking about?” Maybe we are misinterpreting his words? Or maybe Pope Francis’ words really mean something different than what his words mean if taken at face value?  Regardless, economics is a moral issue.  Feeding the hungry is a moral issue.  Whether persons believe that government does a better job of helping the poor or that charities do a better job of helping the poor is a matter of prudential judgment. 

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Seeking Wisdom

Seeking wisdom to know what is the best path for us to take can take a long time, can be frustrating, can be complex when you get mixed signals or a variety of suggestions, and can take a toll on the body physically and emotionally.  How do we know we are following God’s plan for us?  How do we know we are making the correct decisions?

Since my physical pain hasn’t decreased I have been thinking and praying on what God could possibly be calling me to do.  First, I had to take an assessment of myself, of what I am able and unable to do.  I can no longer do the types of jobs I have worked for the past 18 years since they would involve standing constantly.  Then I had to dig deep down inside me to figure out what I enjoy, love to do, and have a passion for that I would like to have as a career.  Third, I had to make sure my plan is feasible.

After thinking and praying lots and lots I have decided that I want and need to go back to college.  I have decided that I want to major in journalism and theology.  I have a number of credits already so depending on whether I attend school full-time or part-time it should only take me at most 2 years to finish my degree.

Now I have to apply to colleges.  I have two in mind – Duquesne University and Franciscan University.  Duquesne is much closer but I’m not sure how many of my credits they will accept.  Franciscan is about 45 minutes to an hour from where I live but I would only have to commute their 2 or 3 times a week.  Plus, most if not all of my credits would be accepted there. I already have an associate degree and additional credits from Franciscan.  I am going to apply to both and see what happens. It’s in God’s hands.

In praying to the Father, Son, and Holy spirit for guidance God sent me to this scripture passage:

Wisdom 7: 7-12

Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me;

I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.

I preferred her to scepter and throne,

And deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,

nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;

Because all gold, in view of her, is a bit of sand,

and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.

Beyond health and beauty I loved her,

And I chose to have her rather than the light,

because her radiance never ceases.

Yet all good things together came to me with her,

and countless riches at her hands;

I rejoiced in them all, because Wisdom is their leader,

though I had not known that she is their mother.

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Priests may be arrested if they minister to faithful in military during government shutdown

Priests who are contracted out to minister to the lay faithful may be arrested if they minister to Catholics in the military during the government shutdown.   Even if a priest volunteers he may be arrested. So if they practice their faith priests could be arrested.  Why the heck should a government shutdown determine whether a priest can say Mass, pray, do weddings and funerals, and hear confessions?  This is clearly a violation of the First Amendment. 

This was brought to my attention by Maggie’s Notebook yesterday.  This is from Maggie’s Notebook: 

Obama still has 129 staffers working directly for him during the shutdown. Biden has 12. Most don’t know how to do the lesser jobs that need doing – like send a news release! And that’s okay, but when it comes to the spiritual needs of our troops, contracted priests have been threatened with arrest if they voluntarily (unpaid) tend to the troop’s spiritual needs. Some Priests are “contracted” due to a “lack” of active-duty Catholic priests, so there is likely a shortage of Protestant pastors as well, although I can’t confirm it. Shutting down the Washington Mall Memorials and Monuments, which can cost nothing to keep open if done properly: post a few signs saying there is no security, you are responsible for your own safety, and ‘hey, please take your trash with you,’ could work. Just as Obama refused to divert funding to the Military during sequester, the goal seems to make those who give the most for their country, the least.

“With the government shutdown, many [government service] and contract priests who minister to Catholics on military bases worldwide are not permitted to work – not even to volunteer,” wrote John Schlageter, the general counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, in an op-ed this week. “During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to minister on base and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so.”

According to its website, the Archdiocese for the Military Services “provides the Catholic Church’s full range of pastoral ministries and spiritual services to those in the United States Armed Forces.” Read more at The Daily Caller

 

While it is not concrete that the priests will be arrested for practicing their faith the fact that it is a possibility really irks me.

From The Blaze: 

The arrest claim is a bold one — but is it true? Recently, Politico did report that furloughed federal workers could be fired for using their BlackBerry phones during the shutdown. One warning noted that there could be penalties for conducting any work outside of the office during this time.

“Due to legal requirements, working in any way during a period of furlough (even as a volunteer) is grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment,”read a recent letter from the House Administration Committee to nonessential employees. “To avoid violating this prohibition, we strongly recommend that you turn your BlackBerrys off for the duration of the furlough.”

Technically, this would translate over to faith leaders as well. As for events that might be scheduled on military bases — baptisms, weddings, etc. — unless a priest who is not contracted is found, Schlageter said that the event would potentially have to be canceled.

From CatholicVote: 

Our government is out of control.

First, it was the World War II veterans who had to break down barriers to see the open air, un-attended memorial erected in their honor.  A memorial which is on public land but is supported – including the National Park Service fee – with private funds. This week there was more security surrounding this memorial — just to keep elderly veterans out — than there was at our embassy in Benghazi the night it was attacked.

And for what? To inflict as much pain as possible through this government shutdown. It’s called Washington Monument Syndrome, and it’s pure political theater.

But now there’s a story just coming to light that takes things even further. According the Archdiocese for Military Services, GS and contract priests (who are paid by the federal government as independent contractors in places where there aren’t enough active-duty priests to meet the needs of Catholics in military service) are being forbidden from celebrating Mass, even on a volunteer basis.

If they violate this restriction, they face possible arrest. FOR CELEBRATING MASS. 

This shutdown impacts Catholics in the military worldwide. In the DC-metro area, it specifically impacts bases like Quantico. On the Facebook page for the Archdiocese, Catholic military members commenting on the story are not happy. Comments include:

“This is outrageous!!! Especially threatening them with arrest to voluntarily do their job.”

“Unbelievable! I was worried about this because our priest is contracted as well. It is bad enough to be furloughed but to not have a Mass to attend, is a real downer,”

“Just one example, a couple is getting married tomorrow at a large Air Force Base that is staffed by a Contract priest. That priest did all of their marriage prep, and has gotten to know the couple very well over the past few months. But with the shutdown, he cannot perform their wedding. Instead of the priest that the couple has come to know and love, an active duty priest has to be sent in to perform the wedding of two people who are strangers to him and he to them.”

” Is anyone up there going to start a protest?! A rosary ?!?!? A nice Catholic riot maybe?! PLEEEAAASSEEE?! SOMEONE?! ANYONE?! Any real Carholics out there?!!!!???!”

This is outrageous. It is a violation of the First Amendment. It is a prohibition of the free exercise of religion to order priests under penalty of arrest that they cannot volunteer their time to offer Mass to the faithful on base. This cannot be allowed to stand.

CatholicVote has a couple updates on this unconscionable situation.  Our government is indeed out of control. 

 

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Pope Francis Unequivocally Condemns Abortion

This may surprise the media that twisted the Pope’s so-called controversial remarks in an interview which came out yesterday.  Pope Francis has unequivocally condemned abortion. 

From LifeSiteNews: 

In a meeting with Catholic gynaecologists this morning Pope Francis strongly condemned abortion as a manifestation of a “throwaway culture.”

“Every unborn child, though unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of the Lord, who even before his birth, and then as soon as he was born, experienced the rejection of the world,” the pope said.

Speaking to the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, Pope Francis spoke of a paradox in medicine today. “On the one hand we see progress in the field of medicine, thanks to the work of scientists who passionately and unreservedly dedicate themselves to the search for new cures,” he said. “On the other hand, however, we also encounter the risk that doctors lose sight of their identity in the service of life.”

“While new rights are attributed to or indeed almost presumed by the individual, life is not always protected as the primary value and the primordial right of every human being,” said the Pope. “The ultimate aim of medicine remains the defence and promotion of life.”

The pope told the doctors, “Your being Catholic entails greater responsibility: first of all to yourself, in the effort to be consistent with the Christian vocation, and then to contemporary culture, to help recognize the transcendent dimension in human life, the imprint of the creative work of God, from the very first moment of conception. This is a commitment to the new evangelization that often requires going against the tide, paying a personal price. The Lord counts on you to spread the ‘Gospel of life.'”

As he has in the past, Francis condemned a “throwaway culture” that would eliminate the weak and vulnerable in society. “Our response to this mentality is a ‘yes’ to life, decisive and without hesitation. ‘The first right of the human person is his life. He has other goods and some are precious, but this one is fundamental – the condition for all the others’”.

 

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Why The Pope Should Not Give Interviews To The Media. Ever.

Did you know that the Pope had made a “surprising change”, even a “Radical Change” on gays and abortion?  According to Newsmax he did. That’s not how The New York Times characterized his words.  According to the Times, “Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control”.  The Detroit Free Press carried that meme: “The pope, in a published interview, said the Catholic church had become ‘obsessed’ with gay marriage, contraception and abortion “.  Fox 31 reports that “Pope Francis said the church has the right to express its opinions but not to ‘interfere spiritually’ in the lives of gays and lesbians,”

Did you get that?  Don’t miss that point.  The Church is obsessed with gays and needs to lighten up.  It can “express its opinions”, but it has to stop “interfering” with them “spiritually”.  Because of course that is all the Church has been doing.  It hasn’t had anything to say about people engaging in anal and oral sex acts with others of the same sex and demanding that the rest of society endorse such acts as fertile and possibly procreative by calling such relationships marriages.  No, it has been “interfering” with their spirituality, though how the Church has been doing that remains unclear.  Has the Church been lecturing them all this time about their unacceptably gay way that they pray the rosary, make the sign of the cross, take the Eucharist on the hand rather than on the tongue, and so on?  I haven’t seen anything like that, but apparently, somehow, the Church needs to refrain from “interfering” with people’s spirituality.  Somehow spirituality is now None of the Church’s Business.  It can just “express opinions”  Ok?  Are we clear now? Good, let’s go on.  Apparently, the pope believes that the Church’s moral teaching about refraining from murdering unborn infants and tearing them out of the womb in tiny bloody pieces as well as those doctrines reserving morally approved sexual intercourse for marriage and reserving marriage for potentially procreative pairs, i.e., men and women, is a bunch of “small-minded rules” that the Church must “shake off”.  At least that’s how it was reported at abc.net.

Back to Newmax.  What, according to Newsmax, does the Pope think will happen to the Church if it does not “find the new balance” between not offending anyone ever by telling them the hard truths they might need to hear and, well, not offending anyone ever by telling them the hard truths they might need to hear?  According to Newsmax, the “Pope Warns Church Must Find Balance or Fall ‘Like House of Cards'”. If the Church doesn’t stop offending gays by telling them that two individuals of the same sex are by nature unable to make a baby together and thus their sexual union cannot be blessed as a marriage, then the Church will “fall like a house of cards”.

In an [sic] remarkable change from his predecessor Benedict, who said homosexuality was an intrinsic disorder, Francis said that when homosexuals told him they were always condemned by the Church and felt “socially wounded”, he told them “the Church does not want to do this”.

So that is a “remarkable” change, according to Newsmax (is that the same as a “surprising” one or a “radical” one, I wonder?).  Because of course that is what Benedict did, in fact, “want” to do and “want” the Church to “want” to do, right?  Wound gays “socially”?  Of course!   And now, big big change, there is a new pope and now the Church no longer WANTS to wound homosexuals socially (whatever that means).

So what happened this morning when I was faced with these headlines?  Did I quiver in fear that the pope might have become a heretic and thus we might have a heretic pope?  Hardly.  My wife Teresa and I are both far too savvy to be taken in by this garbage.  This is how I  found out about these stories: my wife was at the computer, checking her email and reading the latest headlines.  She announced, “Newsmax has really gotten what the pope said wrong.”  My response was along the lines of “What else is new?”  It’s not just Newsmax.  Every single time any pope opens his mouth to give an interview to anyone in the media about anything whatsoever, everyone in the media carries it and they all get it dead wrong.  They never distort anyone so egregiously and so consistently as they do to a sitting pope, and it is not just the secular media.  Much of the Catholic media, too!   His Holiness gave this latest interview to America, a Catholic publication, and they carried every word of it, making it easy to look at his words in context and confirm that, yes, for the hundredth time, they all got it 180 degrees wrong.  That’s because people in the media no longer simply report the news.  They make it. They no longer consider themselves reporters in the literal sense.  They are now social engineers, molding public opinion toward favored political ends.  They do not want to report what the pope is saying, they want to make the pope say what they want him to say, and they will cherry pick quotes of words and small phrases and use them very differently than the pope did.  They always do this.

Time for the Reality Check.

Q: Did the Pope change the Church’s teaching that abortion, homosexual sex acts, and so-called gay marriage are to be condemned as sins?

A: NO.   The Church’s teaching remains the same.  Sin is sin.  When the pope was asked about homosexuality, he changed the subject from the sin to the sinner, emphasizing that it is wrong to condemn the person.  Big difference.

Q: Did the Pope say that the Church has been interfering with the spiritual lives of gays and lesbians and needs to stop doing that?

A;  No no no no no no!

Here is what the pope actually said, verbatim:

In Buenos Aires I used to receive letters from homosexual persons who are ‘socially wounded’ because they tell me that they feel like the church has always condemned them. But the church does not want to do this. During the return flight from Rio de Janeiro I said that if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge. By saying this, I said what the catechism says. Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.

A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.

This is also the great benefit of confession as a sacrament: evaluating case by case and discerning what is the best thing to do for a person who seeks God and grace. The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better. I also consider the situation of a woman with a failed marriage in her past and who also had an abortion. Then this woman remarries, and she is now happy and has five children. That abortion in her past weighs heavily on her conscience and she sincerely regrets it. She would like to move forward in her Christian life. What is the confessor to do?

We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.

The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently. Proclamation in a missionary style focuses on the essentials, on the necessary things: this is also what fascinates and attracts more, what makes the heart burn, as it did for the disciples at Emmaus. We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel. The proposal of the Gospel must be more simple, profound, radiant. It is from this proposition that the moral consequences then flow.

I say this also thinking about the preaching and content of our preaching. A beautiful homily, a genuine sermon must begin with the first proclamation, with the proclamation of salvation. There is nothing more solid, deep and sure than this proclamation. Then you have to do catechesis. Then you can draw even a moral consequence. But the proclamation of the saving love of God comes before moral and religious imperatives. Today sometimes it seems that the opposite order is prevailing. The homily is the touchstone to measure the pastor’s proximity and ability to meet his people, because those who preach must recognize the heart of their community and must be able to see where the desire for God is lively and ardent. The message of the Gospel, therefore, is not to be reduced to some aspects that, although relevant, on their own do not show the heart of the message of Jesus Christ.

.

Note that when the pope refrained from condemning the “homosexual person of good will” he was, as he said, merely quoting the Catechism.  That is the very same Catechism that Benedict was quoting when he said that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.

Here is the relevant passage from the Catechism:

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,¹⁴¹ tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”¹⁴² They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

What does this mean?  It means that when Pope Francis refers to the sincere homosexual of good will searching for God, the one His Holiness does not feel qualified to condemn, he is referring to a man who is seeking, in the teeth of his homosexual tendencies which are for him, “a trial” and the cross he has to bear, living out, to the best of his ability and with the grace of God, a vocation of chastity.   That means he is not, as rule, actively seeking, but rather doing his best to avoid, engaging homosexual acts which are by their very nature disordered.   But you won’t hear that from the media, will you?  Ever?

Let’s go through what His Holiness said line by line, because I think that nothing less than that will suffice to overcome the distortions of his meaning.

“In Buenos Aires I used to receive letters from homosexual persons who are ‘socially wounded’ because they tell me that they feel like the church has always condemned them. But the church does not want to do this. During the return flight from Rio de Janeiro I said that if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge. By saying this, I said what the catechism says.”

I just dealt with that above.  No radical change here.  No change whatsoever, remarkable or otherwise, from Benedict.

“Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.”

Religion?  I thought he was talking about the Church, right?  That’s what the media said!  Well, now you know different.  He was talking about religion in general.

But he was saying that religion should stop interfering, right?   NO, and if by “interfering” you mean, telling sinners that they are sinning, that he affirmed as a right of religion.  No, the “interference” he was talking about he declared, not undesirable but impossible.  It  simply does not happen because it is metaphysically impossible.  Man’s nature makes it impossible.  Man is free.  Therefore he cannot be interfered with in that way.  Not should not.  CAN NOT.   What Pope Francis said had nothing whatsoever to do with what the Church should and shouldn’t say about gays or abortion or anything else, and when the Church expresses Her teachings in this regard, that is NOT interference.  EVER.   Not according to Pope Francis, anyway.

“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: “‘

In other words, he did what Our Lord often did: change the subject of the question.  Get to the heart of the matter that the questioner is really talking about.  The heart of the matter is that while same sex acts are sinful, homosexuals are persons, children of God, not to be condemned or shunned by the Church or society in general.

“Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.”

There.  God loves gays.  God loves child molesters, within and outside the clergy.   God loves murderers, rapists, thieves, whores and degenerate gamblers.  God loves ordinary hard working people who don’t bother reading the news.  God loves exasperated Catholic bloggers.  God loves misquoted Bishops of Rome.  All of the above are sinners.  God love sinners.  That doesn’t mean sin is OK.  If the Church condemns an act as a sin, that is not done with the intention of hurting sinners, but helping them.  Get that.  Grow up.

“This is also the great benefit of confession as a sacrament: evaluating case by case and discerning what is the best thing to do for a person who seeks God and grace. The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better. I also consider the situation of a woman with a failed marriage in her past and who also had an abortion. Then this woman remarries, and she is now happy and has five children. That abortion in her past weighs heavily on her conscience and she sincerely regrets it. She would like to move forward in her Christian life. What is the confessor to do?

“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.”

There.  When he said that the Church “cannot” insist only in issues related to abortion gay marriage and contraception, he was NOT saying that the Church DOES THIS AND NEEDS TO STOP!  He was saying that the Church does not do this because it CAN’T!   He was saying that in the real world, where the rubber meets the road, when a sinner goes to confession, many sins can be intertwined into one sinful life, and thus they cannot be adequately dealt with in isolation.  There are not isolated in the lives of the sinners involved, so they have to be dealt with in the context of an actual human being’s sinful life, not just in the abstract as politically charged individual issues.

But try to find the media reports with the headline, “Pope recommends that gays and women who have had abortion go to confession”.  Go ahead.  I dare you.

“The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent.”  True.  And it is liberals in the Church who consistently get that wrong, conflating abortion with capital punishment (which is not an intrinsic evil) and with the social doctrine of the Church such as the preferential option for the poor (before over-emphasizing the latter and forgetting about the former entirely).

The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently. Proclamation in a missionary style focuses on the essentials, on the necessary things: this is also what fascinates and attracts more, what makes the heart burn, as it did for the disciples at Emmaus. We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.

The “moral edifice” not the Church itself, is in danger.  I agree.   A great deal of danger, but not from people who insist that the Church’s teaching on these matters will never change.  The danger is from the media, with its single-minded obsession with these matters, and the Church must not let the media set the tone.

The proposal of the Gospel must be more simple, profound, radiant. It is from this proposition that the moral consequences then flow.

“I say this also thinking about the preaching and content of our preaching. A beautiful homily, a genuine sermon must begin with the first proclamation, with the proclamation of salvation. There is nothing more solid, deep and sure than this proclamation. Then you have to do catechesis. Then you can draw even a moral consequence. But the proclamation of the saving love of God comes before moral and religious imperatives. Today sometimes it seems that the opposite order is prevailing. The homily is the touchstone to measure the pastor’s proximity and ability to meet his people, because those who preach must recognize the heart of their community and must be able to see where the desire for God is lively and ardent. The message of the Gospel, therefore, is not to be reduced to some aspects that, although relevant, on their own do not show the heart of the message of Jesus Christ.”

If the opposite is prevailing, it is not from the Church.   If anything, priests are far too timid to focus ENOUGH on these issues, let alone obsess on them.  Again, the danger is from outside the Church, the barbarians at the gates, if they are allowed to set the term of the discussion.

Q: What about when the Pope called the Church’s teaching about abortion, contraception and gays “small-minded”?

A: He did not

Again, here is the relevant passage that is being savagely misquoted:

““The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all. The confessor, for example, is always in danger of being either too much of a rigorist or too lax. Neither is merciful, because neither of them really takes responsibility for the person. The rigorist washes his hands so that he leaves it to the commandment. The loose minister washes his hands by simply saying, ‘This is not a sin’ or something like that. In pastoral ministry we must accompany people, and we must heal their wounds.”

Where is the mention of abortion?  Birth control?  Homosexuality?   It is not there.  So why do they think that he was referring to those teachings as “small-minded rules”?  Because that is what the media thinks, and, for them, that is more important than what Francis actually thinks.

But try to find the media headline that says, “Francis warns priests not to be ‘too lax’ and not to say that ‘This is not a sin'”, as this is just as bad as being ‘too rigorist'”.   Go ahead.  I dare you.   And if they have to relate everything he says to abortion and gays, why could’t he be talking about those sins when he warned against priests being too lax to call sins sinful?

And what was the real money line that everyone missed?  In this annoyed bloggers less than fully humble opinion, it was the folliowing sentence:  “The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.”

The Church’s teachings are clear.  Francis is a son of the Church.  He affirms them.  He has not changed them.  He does not want to change them.  He WILL NOT EVER CHANGE THEM!  But we don’t have to talk about them all the time!  Who is Francis saying this to?  THE MEDIA!  It is the media, not the Church, that is OBSESSED with these issues!!  Every single time a pope is interviewed he is asked about them.  Every time!  That’s an obsession.  Every time the idiotic talking heads in the media talk about the pope, and every time they bring up what we can expect from future popes, they talk about these issues.  Every time!  EVERY DAMNED TIME!   And they are so demented, so barking mad, that they think that the Church will change these teachings, all that needs to happen is the next pope has to come out and say that abortion is fine, anal sex between two men and oral sex between two  women is honky dory and we can all relax and just celebrate such relationships as socially approved marriages as long as everyone is having a great time (except the unborn babies being slaughtered, but, hey, there is no need to count them — they don’t vote or contribute to political parties and or candidates).

And it is here that I, also a loyal son of the Church and a loyal subject of His Holiness, publically express my regret that he gives such interviews.  It strikes me as inexcusably naive for him to talk the way he does when he gives such interviews, and the same was true of his immediate predecessor.  Even when he is sitting across from a sincere person and not a shark, the Pope needs to realize that the sharks are listening.  The sharks are watching.  The sharks are circling, and no matter which way he swims they will close in for the bite.  When they do, it is the Church that bleeds.

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Steubenville Youth Conference

I attended classes at Franciscan University and earned my associates degree from there. I spent a couple of summers there and thoroughly enjoyed attending the conferences. There are conferences for adults and teenagers. If you haven’t attended at least one conference I highly recommend you attend one. The atmosphere is amazing. Something I will never forget. Franciscan University helped me to become closer to God. Here are the different conferences: Defending the Faith,Summer Youth, Catholic Charismatic, Applied Biblical Studies, Priests Deacons and Seminarians, and St. John Bosco. Here is the site that has information on the various conferences — http://www.franciscanconferences.com/. I truly believe that Franciscan University is a special place. The video is of Life On The Rock spending a weekend at a Franciscan University Youth Conference.

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Catholicism 101: The Blessed Trinity

A couple of years ago I put together this post which shows evidence supporting the doctrine of the Trinity.  I thought it would be good to repost it here. I ended up only posting a few in the series but I’m thinking of picking back up where I left off and continuing with the series.

For awhile I have been thinking of starting a series of posts in which I write on the basic beliefs of Catholicism and evangelizing to people of other faiths and unbelievers. My Catholicism 101 Basics of Catholicism will cover but will not be limited to : the Sacraments, Tradition, Saints, the Trinity, Papal infallibility, Incarnation, Mary, the Mass, Popes, encyclicals, heresies, misconceptions about faith and science being at odds, the development of Doctrine, moral teachings, as well as other issues, controversies, and topics in relation to the Church. I will be posting this on both Teresamerica and Tu Ne Cede Malis Contra Audentior Ito.

Catholics believe in the Trinity – God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is three persons which is the Triune God, or God is three persons in one God, or one God in three persons. Here is a portion of the Athanasian Creed which will help to explain the Trinity:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father Uncreate, the Son Uncreate, and the Holy Ghost Uncreate. The Father Incomprehensible, the Son Incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost Incomprehensible. The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, and the Holy Ghost Eternal and yet they are not Three Eternals but One Eternal. As also there are not Three Uncreated, nor Three Incomprehensibles, but One Uncreated, and One Uncomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not Three Almighties but One Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not Three Gods, but One God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not Three Lords but One Lord. For, like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, there be Three Gods or Three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is One Father, not Three Fathers; one Son, not Three Sons; One Holy Ghost, not Three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore or after Other, None is greater or less than Another, but the whole Three Persons are Co-eternal together, and Co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.

God is all-loving, omnipotent, and omniscient. God is agape. God is pure unselfish love.   Therefore, since God has always been unselfish love, there must always have been more than one self in God.

Biblical case for trinity doctrine

The Bible makes these truths clear –

– The unity of God – there is only one God, one Divine Being, uniquely and supremely possessing one absolute Divine Nature or substance. There are not two or three Gods.

– The full divinity of God the Father of Jesus Christ.

– The full divinity of Christ the eternally begotten Son of God.

– The distinction between the Father and the Son (they are not the same Person).

– The Son is eternally equal to the Father in nature.

– The Son is in submission and obedience to the Father in love (this statement of truth is not in conflict with the one just above it AT ALL!).

– The full divinity of the Holy Spirit.

– The Personhood of the Holy Spirit (The Holy Spirit is not a mere impersonal divine force).

– The distinction between the Holy Spirit and both the Father and the Son (The Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son).

Proof texts —

– The unity of God is expressed very clearly in the opening of the ancient traditional Hebraic hymn, the Shema Y’Israel: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord” – Deuteronomy 6:4

– The full divinity of God the Father: Matthew 3:16 – “And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

“There is one [hen] body and one [hen] Spirit, one [hen] hope, one [hen] Lord, one [hen] faith, one [hen] baptism, one [hen] God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

– The full divinity of Christ as the only Begotten Son of God the Father: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth… And of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ…the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father…Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world…this is the Son of God.” (John 1:1-3, 14,16-17, 29, 34)

“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)

John 8:58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” [“I Am” (Ex. 3:14)].

– The distinction between the Father and the Son: “The Lord [the Father] says to my Lord [the Son]: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’” Psalm 110:1

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.  For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.  Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.  I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. John 17:1-5

– The Son is eternally equal to the Father: “Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness.” (Phillipians 2:5-7 – the Greek word translated here as “grasped” is ἁρπαγμός harpagmos. In the King James Bible, that part of the verse renders that word by declaring that our Lord “thought it not robbery to be equal with God”. The Greek word refers to siezing, as in robbery, but it can also signify clutching, clasping, cleaving to – i.e, retaining with vigorous security that which is already in one’s possession. The implication is that the Son of God, prior to the incarnation, already properly enjoyed “equality with God”, the state of being “equal with God”. This also affirms full divinity, for only God can be equal with God. Combine that with the fact that there is only one God, and you have an affirmation that the Father and the Son are one in Being or substance.

– The Son is in submission to the Father in love: John 6:38 – “because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”

“Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” (John 14:10)

– The full divinity of the Holy Spirit: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 27:19)

2 Cor. 3:16-18, “but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

– The Personhood of the Holy Spirit: “And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever. The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him: but you shall know him; because he shall abide with you, and shall be in you.” (John 14:16-17)

– The distinction between the Holy Spirit and both the Father and the Son: “But when the Paraclete cometh, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony of me.” (John 15:26-27) “But I tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7)

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Priest stands up for Catholicism in open letter and tells Nancy Pelosi to comply or renounce Faith

Nancy Pelosi answered a question on the difference between the abortions Gosnell performed and other late-term abortions from a reporter, saying this, “As a practicing and respectful Catholic, this is sacred ground to me when we talk about this. I don’t think it should have anything to do with politics,” she continued saying about the bill to ban late-term abortions after 20 weeks.

 

If she believes abortion is “scared ground” Pelosi is NOT a practicing and respectful Catholic.  She is NOT a Catholic in good standing.  To think that murder is “scared” is disturbing to say the least.  

This is utterly repulsive and quite sick.  Pelosi is a very sick individual IMO.  She has caused grave scandal to the Catholic faith and it irks me that her two bishops, one in San Francisco and one in Washington D.C., refuse to stand up for the Faith.  They need to openly rebuke her and other so-called Catholic politicians who support abortion and same-sex “marriage” which goes directly contrary to the Catholic faith.  With those two bishops staying silent this gives a bad message to other laity.  Complacency in our faith only allows Satan to grow stronger and influence many souls.  

Maureen Ferguson, Senior Policy Advisor for The Catholic Association, blasted Pelosi’s comments in an email to LifeNews:

“After witnessing firsthand the atrocious human rights abuses taking place inside America’s late-term abortion clinics it is amazing that this did not touch Nancy Pelosi’s heart. What we learned from the Gosnell trial and what we understand is going on inside other clinics is not only human rights abuse but it also puts women in harm’s way. The only difference between the Gosnell ‘after-birth’ abortions and legal late-term abortions is the location of the baby at the time of death. And contrary to Pelosi’s extreme claim that the Franks bill is ‘disrespectful’ to women, the majority of women are opposed to late-term abortions according to a recent Gallup poll.”

 

Fr. Frank Pavone from Priests For Life is the one who penned the open letter to Nancy Pelosi.  Here is the letter: 

Dear Mrs. Pelosi,

Last Thursday, June 13, you were asked a question in a press briefing that you declined to answer. The question was, “What is the moral difference between what Dr. Gosnell did to a baby born alive at 23 weeks and aborting her moments before birth?”

Given the fact that the Gosnell case has been national news for months now, and that Congress, where you serve as House Democratic Leader, was about to have a vote on banning abortion after 20 weeks fetal age, this was a legitimate question.

Instead of even attempting to answer the question, you resorted to judgmental ad hominem attacks on the reporter who asked it, saying, “You obviously have an agenda. You’re not interested in having an answer.”

Mrs. Pelosi, the problem is that you’re not interested in giving an answer.

Your refusal to answer this question is consistent with your failure to provide an answer to a similar question from me and the members of my Priests for Life staff. Several years ago, we visited your office with the diagrams of dismemberment abortion at 23 weeks, and asked the simple question, “When you say the word ‘abortion,’ is this what you mean?” In response, nothing but silence has emanated from your office.

In what way is this refusal to address an issue of such national importance consistent with the leadership role you are supposed to be exercising? Public servants are supposed to be able to tell the difference between serving the public and killing the public. Apparently, you can’t. Otherwise, you would have been able to explain the difference between a legal medical procedure that kills a baby inside the womb and an act of murder — for which Dr. Gosnell is now serving life sentences — for killing the same baby outside the womb.

Moreover, you stated at the press briefing on June 13, “As a practicing and respectful Catholic, this is sacred ground to me when we talk about this. I don’t think it should have anything to do with politics.”

With this statement, you make a mockery of the Catholic faith and of the tens of millions of Americans who consider themselves “practicing and respectful Catholics” and who find the killing of children — whether inside or outside the womb — reprehensible.

You speak here of Catholic faith as if it is supposed to hide us from reality instead of lead us to face reality, as if it is supposed to confuse basic moral truths instead of clarify them, and as if it is supposed to help us escape the hard moral questions of life rather than help us confront them.

Whatever Catholic faith you claim to respect and practice, it is not the faith that the Catholic Church teaches. And I speak for countless Catholics when I say that it’s time for you to stop speaking as if it were.

Abortion is not sacred ground; it is sacrilegious ground. To imagine God giving the slightest approval to an act that dismembers a child he created is offensive to both faith and reason.

And to say that a question about the difference between a legal medical procedure and murder should not “have anything to do with politics” reveals a profound failure to understand your own political responsibilities, which start with the duty to secure the God-given right to life of every citizen.

Mrs. Pelosi, for decades you have gotten away with betraying and misrepresenting the Catholic faith as well as the responsibilities of public office. We have had enough of it. Either exercise your duties as a public servant and a Catholic, or have the honesty to formally renounce them.

Sincerely,

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life

 

Bravo Fr. Frank Pavone!!!   Pelosi ether needs to follow doctrines and the dogma of the Church or renounce the Faith.  Prudential judgement is not permitted on the subject of abortion.  If you want you can also send a message to Nancy Pelosi here.  I commend Fr. Pavone for speaking up and standing up for the Faith.  God Bless him. 

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