Abortion to save the earth?

I was sent an article on the women who abort to "save the planet." It puts things much better than I could. I recommend taking a look.

Iraq

Some 44% of asylum seekers [from Iraq] in Syria are Christian, reported the United Nations' refugee agency, which has been registering refugees since 2003.

Will there be any Christians left in Iraq?

Coetus?

Read this on the blog Holy Smoke from Britain:

Meanwhile, here’s something that their Lordships don’t want you to know. The latest Newsletter of the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland carries an article by Mgr Gordon Read, a distinguished canon lawyer, which addresses the question of the new right of a “stable group” of Catholics to request a Latin Mass.

Here is Mgr Read’s interpretation, which flatly contradicts the nonsense being talked by English bishops who want to raise the bar for a “stable group” as high as possible in order to keep the number of traditional Masses as low as possible. Money quote, thanks to Fr Z:

"What is meant by ‘stable group’? the Latin reads ‘coetus fidelium traditioni liturgicae antecedenti adhaerentium continenter exsistit’. ‘Coetus’ means ‘group’ implying at least three people. The word order implies that ‘continenter’ qualifies ‘exsistit’ rather than ‘adhaerentium’. What does it mean? If the author had intended ‘stable’ in the canonical sense he would have used ‘stabilis’. The term does not, then, appear to mean a formal group with established membership. On the other hand it would go beyond the wording to require such a group to have existed continuously since 1970. What it specifies is an identifiable group with some kind of continuing existence, as distinct from a one-off request from an ad hoc group."

Would that these people worried this much about living the Gospel.

Doesn't make sense

The Latin Church seems determined to preserve mandatory clerical celibacy at all costs. If that's what they want to do then fine. I personally think it is a mistake, but I am not going to change Rome's mind. God knows that Bishops and Cardinals have been unable to do so. In the light of their intransigence on this issue, though, I have a huge problem with the exceptions being made. The "pastoral provision" that allows some married former ministers in other denominations (primarily Anglican and Lutheran) to be ordained as Catholic priests strikes me as a cruel joke. It is always claimed that this is a rare exception (although Rome is loath to publish any numbers). However, with the recent news that the Traditional Anglican Communion, numbering some 400,000 soul, has petitioned for union with Rome the trickle of married former Anglican/Episcopalian clergy being ordained as Catholic priests looks to soon become a flood. Either celibacy is a necessary constituent of the Latin Rite priesthood or it is not. Either it is binding on everyone or on no one. I don't think Rome should be able to have its cake and eat it too.

A good Blog

I came across another priest's blog which I find enjoyable. There are a few priests out there who aren't clamoring for the Latin Mass or worried about playing dress-up! Check out Msgr. James T. Gaston's blog On The Way To Church…. He writes from Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania. I think you will find much food for thought.

Insanity

"Having children is selfish. It's all about maintaining your genetic line at the expense of the planet," or so says a woman who aborted her child rather than "overburden" the earth. After talking about her abortion and sterilization she states the she and her husband "have a much nicer lifestyle as a result of not having children. We love walking and hiking, and we often go away for weekends. Every year, we also take a nice holiday - we've just come back from South Africa." I guess there is nothing selfish about that kind of attitude. And where did she meet the husband who shares her "unselfish" view of reproduction? At an animal rights demonstration, of course.

Read the entire depressing article from Britain's Daily Mail here.

Happy Shopping

With Thanksgiving out of the way the annual three-pronged orgy of materialism, commercialism, and consumerism has begun. Oh what I wouldn't give for the Christmases of yore when the trinity of faith, family, and friends was the focus of the holidays ... the days when we worshiped at the Temple of God and not the Temple of Mammon (read: the mall).

Happy Thanksgiving!

When we hear the story of the ten lepers who were cured with only one returning to give thanks we tend to assume that the other nine were merely ungrateful jerks. I'm not so sure of that. One line in this Gospel has always caught my attention and seems to hold the key to its interpretation. "And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice." Realizing he had been healed. Hmmmm. Perhaps it is just that the other nine were so caught up in their misery, so comfortable with the status quo, that they didn't even notice that the Lord had answered their prayer.

To what blessings have we been blind? We constantly beseech the Lord's assistance; how often have our requests been granted without our recognizing the fact?

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Hinglish

Read the following in another International Herald Tribune article entitled 'The Queen's Hinglish' gains in India":

Paul Theroux was criticized by one reviewer last week for dwelling on what one of his American characters in his new work of fiction, "The Elephanta Suite," describes as India's "mummified" form of English - a language, the heroine reflects, where words like utterance, miscreant, thrice and jocundity remain in daily use.

Geez. I use three of those four words myself. I must be in the wrong country!

Stem Cells

This eve of Thanksgiving here in the US brings some great prolife news. Scientist at two different laboratories have succeeded in reprogramming human skin cells to mimic stem cells. This is a major breakthrough which promises to provide a plentiful and morally acceptable source of stem cells for research into and treatment of various diseases. Of course further study will be required, but this is most definitely a promising sign.

In addition to solving the moral dilemma involved in creating and destroying human embryos for the purpose of obtaining stem cells it has the added advantage of significantly reducing the threat of rejection as the new cells are genetically identical to the patients' cells. If it pans out it looks like a win-win situation for all involved. (I am counting on Mike to offer some expert commentary on this one!)

The International Herald Tribune ran an interesting article today about the political impact of this scientific breakthrough.

Bullies

As I reflected on my new best friend Ken's remarks yesterday I realized that the mindset of many of these extreme right-wing people is the same as that of the school-yard bully. They really believe that if they just abuse you enough you'll be reduced to tears, shut up, and go away. This tendency to bully, incidentally, isn't just characteristic of religious right-wingers , but of political ones as well. This fact seems to lead credence to the recent claim that such extreme conservatism is in fact a mental disorder. To be fair, I think that it was also claimed that extreme liberalism is likewise a mental aberration. It all seems to bear out the common sense realization that extremes of any kind lead to trouble. In medio stat virtus - Virtue stands in the middle.

Somebody likes me!

My newest best friend has warmed the cockles of my heart with his kind words!

Ken said...

Father Charles,

You are a Priest, however I don't believe your vow of obedience compels you to "express your obviously feminine feelings" to the entire world. Hmmmm. Wonder what exactly is so "obviously feminine." Perhaps my emphasis on Jesus' teachings on such "feminine" notions as love, justice, peace.

Your rants are an embarrassment. THANKS!

And your characterization of Father Trosch as a "loon" is simply unacceptable commentary - especially from a supposed brother Catholic Priest. David Trosch, by virtue of his bizarre and hate-filled ideas, has separated himself from the Catholic Church, thus he is not valid Catholic priest.

Do all of us a big favor, STOP the carnage. Your writings are nothing but mind numbing platitudes and the tree hugging, chairs in a circle, guitar strumming, I'm ok, you're ok mentality that is the reason thousands of Catholics are losing the faith and running for the door. Go read the Catholic Caveman; that will be sure to unnumb (is there such a word?) your mind!

A little less writing and a lot more praying young "Padre".

End of the World!

As the Church year winds down the readings at Mass focus on the end of the world. Yesterday's Gospel is a perfect illustration of that fact. As I proclaimed the Gospel for the third time yesterday I couldn't help but realize that all the things that Jesus said would take place to indicate that the "end was nigh" - wars and insurrections, powerful earthquakes, famines and plagues - have been happening more or less nonstop since the moment He spoke those words. Quite clearly proof that, as He Himself said elsewhere, we know not "the day nor the hour."

Yet an unhealthy obsession with predicting the end of the world has long been a powerful undercurrent in Christianity. Late twentieth and early twenty first century Americans seem particularly prone to a fascination with "the end." It is primarily the province of Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians, but I fear that more than a few Catholics have gotten swept up in the hysteria.

Just last week I came across a pertinent book entitled Have a Nice Doomsday. The description on the back cover definitely aroused my interest; I my have to go back to the bookstore and buy it.

In Have a Nice Doomsday, Nicholas Guyatt searches for the truth behind a startling statistic: 50 million Americans have come to believe that the apocalypse will take place in their lifetime. They're convinced that, any day now, Jesus will snatch up his followers and spirit them to heaven. The rest of us will be left behind to endure massive earthquakes, devastating wars, and the terrifying rise of the Antichrist. But true believers aren't sitting around waiting for the Rapture. They're getting involved in debates over abortion, gay rights, and even foreign policy. Are they devout or deranged? Does their influence stretch beyond America's religious heartland—perhaps even to the White House?

Journeying from Texas megachurches to the southern California deserts—and stopping off for a chat with prophecy superstar Tim LaHaye—Guyatt looks for answers to some burning questions: When will Russia attack Israel and ignite the Tribulation? Does the president of Iran appear in Bible prophecy? And is the Antichrist a homosexual?

Bizarre, funny, and unsettling in equal measure, Have a Nice Doomsday uncovers the apocalyptic obsessions at the heart of the world's only superpower.

Today's Second Reading

We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others.

St. Paul hit the nail on the head here. So many people waste their lives 'minding the business of others" rather than worrying about themselves. But the world has never been changed by people minding other peoples' business. Change only comes about when people are wiling to busy themselves with reforming their own lives. Today's scripture challenges us, as Christians, to work for the coming of the Kingdom by honesty looking at - and changing - our lives. The spectator sport of worrying about everyone else's life just won't do; we have to get down and dirty on the playing field of our own lives.

People are funny!

Fr. Charles Ledderer, The Dakotas, USA you are impersonating a Catholic priest. Your identity is fictitious. There are people on here that are believing you. I am asking you not to trick people anymore.

An obviously obsessive person with way too much time on their hands took the trouble to post the above as a comment on not one, not two, not three, but on each and every single one of my posts on this blog. People never cease to amaze (and amuse) me!

It strikes me as funny that some people are so hell-bent on discrediting me, as though I am dangerous. As I have already stated once before, I am simply blogging because I enjoy the opportunity it affords to express myself in writing. What people think is ultimately of no consequence to me. People are free to believe that I am who I claim to be - nothing more than a priest blogging pseudonymously - or they can believe that I am a filthy liar.

Perhaps someone with an overactive imagination can make me the center of some vast left-wing conspiracy to destabilize the Church. If someone does, I hope aliens figure in somehow. I know! I could be a nefarious extraterrestrial (really gross and icky and oozing green stuff when not in disguise) masquerading as a priest, who has been sent to ruin the Church by forming an alliance with the dark modernist forces of Vatican II Catholicism. Using my incredible alien intelligence and wit I would trick the masses into accepting blatant heresy by means of a seemingly innocent and inconsequential blog.

Now to decide who will play me in the film version ...

I do believe it IS a sick world

A commenter has raised some questions about the veracity of my posting A sick, sick world. I appreciate the vigilance shown by this reader, as I certainly do not want to pass on falsehoods as truth. (I likewise appreciate his kindness in assuming good faith on my part!) Having been thus apprised of possible problems with what I had reported I dug a little deeper and I found information from an ABC 20/20 program on the subject. The price list I printed from David Trosch's website might be questionable, but it seems that the whole trade in aborted body parts is not a lie.

Blind?

In an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times Jason Berry (author/co-author of several book on the clergy sex-abuse scandal) asks the pertinent question Is the Church Really This Blind? What has him so questioning is the election of Francis Cardinal George to the presidency of the United Sates Bishops' Conference. Evidence would suggest, Berry writes, that the Cardinal has apparently not learned his lesson from the scandal. His election calls into question whether the Bishops as a whole have learned anything.

Others have also raised the same question, among them IronKnee, a recent commenter on this blog.

I can't help but think that if the Bishops truly wanted to make a statement that it is no longer "business as usual" they could have chosen a leader completely untainted by the scandal.

Fr. Francis Mary

The EWTN crowd is in an uproar over the the departure of Fr. Francis Mary Stone, host of the youth-oriented program Life on the Rock, whose has apparently fallen in love. Much figurative ink is being spilt in blogland over the situation, much of it (surprise, surprise!) condemnatory in nature. What really astounds me as I read over what people have written is the absolutely unrealistic and romanticized imagine many have of the priesthood. To a post and a long string of comments on the orthometer I added my own two cents. Here, I will simply share the second of those cents:

I mentioned in my previous comment that I found some of the other comments offensive. Perhaps I should explain. What I find offensive is lay persons spouting pious piffle about situations of which they know nothing. Many people who have commented have such a distorted image of the priesthood that it is laughable.

I am offended at the idea that if only the priest prayed he wouldn't leave, and the implication that those who leave obviously don't pray. Hogwash! I have personally know pious priests who made daily Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament and yet have left the priesthood.

I am offended at the suggestion that priests should basically lock themselves away and have no friends. Many will point to the "glory days" when the priest was on a pedestal and was more or less unapproachable by the hoi poloi. Older priests talk about what it was like when they were young priests in that clerical "boys club." It was cocktails every night in the rectory. A life of privilege. Driving the best cars. Some had their live-in "house-keepers" who cared for Father's everyneed. Not everywhere, of course. But it is a story heard often enough.

Now I will get to the crux of the problem. Not an inconsequential number of young men entering the seminary have not really been involved in relationships with the opposite sex. They might be socially awkward, lacking in self esteem, or merely "late-bloomers." I don't believe these things are the cause of their entrance into the seminary, but I believe it makes it easier for them to hear the "call." Others get distracted by their interest in the ladies; the Lord may be calling but they aren't prepared to hear Him. I think of all the young men whom I have personally heard say "I'd be a priest but ..."

And then these men get ordained and are thrown into a situation where they have to deal with women constantly. One person here wrote that she thought that Fr. Stone should have engaged a nun or laywoman to deal with the widow in question. She has no idea of the reality of the priesthood! MOST of the people we deal with are women! If a priest decided that, in order to preserve his vocation, he would have no interaction with women, he would be totally ineffective.

The reality is that women often "throw" themselves at priests. (A female college friend warned me before I entered seminary to be careful of the girls because "a woman's greatest desire is to steal a man away from God.") And these poor souls, with no experience with the opposite sex, suddenly find themselves as objects of intense interest. Many ignore the attention but others find it too much to resist. Some fall, pick themselves up, reconcile with God and continue as good priests. Some find the pleasures of the flesh too much to forsake and likewise the privileges of the collar and so live double lives. Others realize that they need the companionship of a wife and have the strength of character to leave the priesthood and start a new life.

The bottom line is that it is not as black and white as the naive laypersons who have spouted off here would like to believe. Rather than sitting in judgment of others I would like to see all the commentators here praying for Fr. Francis Mary and others who find themselves in such a difficult and painful situation.

A sick, sick world ...

Further perusal of David Trosch's website, while confirming that he is indeed a certified loon, did offer sobering food for thought. Actually sobering is far too mild a word; disgusting better fits the bill. No, not even that will do. The only word to describe the information he provided is evil - pure, unmitigated EVIL. So what deserves such strong language? The following list of prices for body parts of aborted babies does. I was physically ill when reading it. A powerful sign of just how sick our society has become. (I did some web research to ensure that this wasn't bogus.)

Opening Lines
A Division of Consultants & Diagnostic Pathology, Inc.

P.O. Box 508, West Frankfort, IL 62896
Phone: 800-490-9980 Fax: 618-937-1525

Unprocessed Specimen (> 8 weeks) $ 70
Unprocessed Specimen (< 8 weeks) $ 50
Livers (< 8 weeks) 30% discount if significantly fragmented $150
Livers (> 8 weeks) 30% discount if significantly fragmented $125
Spleens (< 8 weeks) $ 75
Spleens (> 8 weeks) $ 50
Pancreas (< 8 weeks) $100
Pancreas (> 8 weeks) $ 75
Thymus (< 8 weeks) $100
Thymus (> 8 weeks) $ 75
Intestines & Mesentery $ 50
Mesentery (< 8 weeks) $125
Mesentery (> 8 weeks) $100
Kidney-with/without adrenal (< 8 weeks) $125
Kidney-with/without adrenal (> 8 weeks) $100
Limbs (at least 2) $150
Brain (< 8 weeks) 30% discount if significantly fragmented $999
Brain (> 8 weeks) 30% discount if significantly fragmented $150
Pituitary Gland (> 8 weeks) $300
Bone Marrow (< 8 weeks) $350
Bone Marrow (> 8 weeks) $250
Ears (< 8 weeks) $ 75
Ears (> 8 weeks) $ 50
Eyes (< 8 weeks) 40% discount for single eye $ 75
Eyes (> 8 weeks) 40% discount for single eye $ 50
Skin (> 12 weeks) $100
Lungs & Heart Block $150
Intact Embryonic Cadaver (< 8 weeks) $400
Intact Embryonic Cadaver (> 8 weeks) $600
Intact Calvarium $125
Intact Trunk (with/without limbs) $500
Gonads $550
Cord Blood (Snap Frozen LN2) $125
Spinal Column $150
Spinal Cord $325

The Nut of the Day

The more one looks around on the internet the more one discovers that there are an awful lot of nuts out there. Sadly, more than a few of these nuts fuel their insanity with religion. Today, from a certain Fr. David Trosch, I learned that Michelangelo basically perverted all the papacies of the past four centuries by his "homosexual" paintings in the Sistine Chapel. That would include Pius V, Pius IX, and Pius X, great heroes of the Catholic right. Truly one of the nuttiest ideas I have yet encountered.

From the early 16th century to the present day no pope should be found to be worthy of being proclaimed a saint or considered for the titles of venerable or blessed.

During this span of time it is possible that some of these popes may have led lives that could eventually bring them into eternal life. Since all popes from 1504 A.D. to the present have fostered the homosexual life - even if unintentional due to oversights of their predecessors - through the art renderings of homosexual Michelangelo.

How should a pope be classified if he allows public pictorial nudity (largely homosexual in nature) to be present in the Sistine Chapel where popes are elected? Such paintings are pleasing to homosexuals in nature and are present in the service of Satan. Highly organized satanism includes the broad range of immoral heterosexual, homosexual, pedophilic, and bestial activity. What also does this reveal about the cardinals who elect popes?

While ignorance, licentiousness, partial blindness, or cowardice as such would not affect a popes moral holding of office (only heresy and other offenses calling for automatic excommunication would do so), legitimately such condition should have precluded them from being named to a position of revered honor in the Church. What can be said regarding the legitimacy of a pope who has elevated a former pope, from the fifteenth century onward, to the status of venerable, blessed, or saint?

Want to know more about this fascinating hypothesis? Go here NOW!

Sadduccees

The Sadducees who came up to Jesus in today's Gospel remind me of the political candidates who try to make their opponents look bad by asking idiotic questions. They thought that their whole scenario of the woman who married seven brothers in succession would reveal the foolishness of belief in the resurrection of the dead. Rather than being nonplussed by their "brilliant" argument Jesus wastes no time in showing that they just don't get it. They can't break free from their worldly way of thinking. The resurrection can't be understood merely by analogy with what we know in this world; the life to come is so much greater than anything we can conceive. And to try to deny the reality of the resurrection based on some contrived marriage example is what is truly foolishness.

Jesus' comeback is what is truly brilliant in the whole story: But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."

In the seminary we had a corny way of remembering the position of the Sadduccees: The Sadduccees were sad you see because they didn't believe in the resurrection. True theologians we were!

Vocations in the Philippines

I read this interesting note on the vocation situation in the Philippines on ZENIT today. A reminder that the vocations crises is not limited to the Western Church.

Far from being the oasis of vocations that some Westerners assume the Philippines to be, it actually has one of the worst priest shortages (calculated on a priest-to-people ratio) in the whole world, even worse than that of any Western European country, including the Netherlands. The seminaries in my country are full, but we ordain only half as many priests as the United States does every year because the great majority of Philippine seminarians drop out.

According to the catholic-hierarchy.org website, the Philippines, the third largest Catholic country in the whole world, has only 7,335 priests to serve 69,630,000 Filipino Catholics. That boils down to one priest per 9,000+ people. Even when it comes to the College of Cardinals, we are the most under-represented in it among the world's ten largest Catholic nations.

Social Justice

Why is it that conservative Catholics recoil in horror at the words "Social Justice?" Do they believe in an unjust God? Do they think that Jesus was kidding when he talked about our duty to the poor? Are the Old Testament prophets and their constant call to work for a just society to be utterly and totally ignored? I, for one, am at a loss to understand this hostility. And make no mistake - there is real hostility. I have been shocked at how readily and bitterly some Catholics condemn any talk of Social Justice. With their rolled eyes, disgusted tones, and exasperated expressions they imply that such talk has no place in authentic Catholicism. For many on the right the mere mention of Social Justice is enough to send them into orbit.

I just don't get it. I honestly don't.

The Evangelical Crackup

A kind reader of this blog sent me a wonderful article from the New York Times Magazine on the political "crackup" of the Evangelical Christian voting bloc. It seems that more and more of them are realizing that Christianity and the Republican Party are not synonymous. There is hope for the future!

After the 2004 election, evangelical Christians looked like one of the most powerful and cohesive voting blocs in America. Three years later their leadership is split along generational and theological lines. How did it all come apart? The article is quite long, but well worth it. Read the whole thing here.

St. Cyril the Lutheran?

I was really struck by this line in the second reading of the Office of Readings (from A Catechetical Instruction by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem) this morning:
For if you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved and taken up to paradise by him, just as he brought the thief there.
I wonder how the über-Catholics who disparage the 1999 Lutheran-Catholic Joint Declaration on Justification feel about St. Cyril saying that? We may have to dig him up and burn him at the stake for heresy!

Hypocrite!

The big news today is that Pat Robertson has endorsed Rudy Giuliani for President. (Well, I guess technically for the GOP nomination, but is there really any difference? I mean Hell would have to freeze over - to a depth of several kilometers - before Robertson would ever endorse a Democrat.) Now this is the thrice-married, twice-divorced, estranged-from-his-children, abortion-"rights"-defending, embryonic-stem-cell-research-supporting Rudy Giuliani. Hardly a model of upright Christian living and believing. Once again the Religious Right reveals what truly matters to them - Republicans running the nation. If the moral issues were really paramount Pat could have thrown his support to a Republican hopeful who shared the same convictions. But one of those candidates wouldn't stand a chance against the Democratic nominee.

I am beginning to think that the 700 Club types would support Beelzebub if he ran as a Republican. Clearly a Democrat is more to be feared than the Prince of darkness himself!

Anti-Catholic

Several days ago I quoted from a Southern Poverty Law Center report exposing the SSPX as a virulent antisemitic hate group. A very balanced site, it not only exposes (supposedly) Catholic hate mongers but anti-Catholic hate groups as well. Today I read there an interesting article that begins thusly:

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Clad in matching T-shirts with bejeweled cross logos, members of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries are once again saving souls on Hollywood Boulevard. Since the late 1960s, followers of notorious cult leader Tony Alamo have recruited and distributed literature on this star-studded sidewalk.

On this sunny summer afternoon, they're handing out heavily footnoted, paranoid screeds proclaiming the end of the world is nigh and branding the U.S. government an enemy agent of the "satanic" Catholic Church. Followers of Alamo (pronounced "ah-LAH-moe") tuck these same tracts — which Alamo claims have a circulation higher than "USA Today, The New York Times, L.A. Times and many other national publications combined" — under windshield wipers in parking lots around the country. Claiming "homosexuality is caused by demon possession" and "the Vatican, the one-world government and church are spiritually powered by that old serpent called the Devil," this white-hot propaganda comes straight from the mouth of a self-fashioned prophet and convicted tax cheat. Since his release from prison in 1998, Alamo has secluded himself within a guarded compound in a small town near Texarkana, Ark., as opposition from residents and ex-followers mounts.

Read the rest here.

BRRRRR!

Woke up this morning to COLD! Bone-chilling, single-digit COLD! Let's just say it wasn't a pleasant walk over to the church for Mass this morning. At least the sun is shining! I guess it is time to get ready for another winter. Tempus fugit. (Way too fast for me!)

Evil Cardinal!

The evil Cardinal Martino continues to enrage right-wingers with nonsense like this:

Christians are called to defend human rights, and particularly work for the abolition of the death penalty, says the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Cardinal Renato Martino affirmed this during a Friday meeting with the president of the International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture, Sylvie Bukhari-de Pontual, a communiqué from the Vatican dicastery reported.

The cardinal said: "Christians are called to cooperate for the defense of human rights and for the abolition of the death penalty, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment against the human person in time of peace and in case of war."

"These practices are grave crimes against the human person, created in the image of God, and a scandal for the human family in the 21st century."

Zacchaeus

Zacchaeus climbed up the sycamore tree merely to see Jesus and watch as He passed by. But the Lord wasn't content to simply let him watch. Instead he called Zacchaeus down and engaged him. Because he heeded the Lord's call his life was forever changed. We too are called like Zacchaeus to let the Lord engage us and to "receive Him with joy." It may be tempting to just watch from a distance as the Lord pases by. To do no more than that, however, is to fail to truly live as a Christian. Faith consists not in watching the Lord walk by, through, and ultimately out of our lives, but instead requires that we be actively engaged with Him who calls down from our perch.

God concurs!

I am choosing to take two "coincidences" at Mass this morning as Divine approbation of yesterday's post.

First, the reading from Paul's Letter to the Romans contained wonderful affirmation of the irrevocable status of the Jews:

Brothers and sisters:
I ask, then, has God rejected his people?
Of course not!
For I too am a child of Israel, a descendant of Abraham,
of the tribe of Benjamin.
God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah,
how he pleads with God against Israel? ...
In respect to the Gospel, they are enemies on your account;
but in respect to election,
they are beloved because of the patriarch.
For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.

Second, I had commissioned two extraordinary ministers to take communion to the sick. The instruction to the ministers ended with the following words: As Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion be, therefore, especially observant of the Lord’s command to love your neighbor. For when he said to them: “This is my commandment, that you should love one another as I have loved you.” Mere coincidence that I used that very command of Jesus to end yesterday's post? I think not!

SSPX

I must admit that, apart form their love of the Tridentine Mass, I really don't know much about the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). Some time ago I encountered a person who got mixed up with the SSPX. I was shocked by the anti-semitic and racial filth he spouted, but I didn't know that, when it comes to this most prominent of Traditionalist groups, such hatred is par for the course.

Several days ago, on the website for the Southern Poverty Law Center I read an expose of the SSPX, that included the following delightful piece of information:

Also in 1989, one of Lefebvre's "bishops," Englishman Richard Williamson, gave a speech to a Canadian church in which he decried the alleged persecution of Holocaust denier and neo-Nazi Ernst Zundel by the Canadian government. Williams, then rector of SSPX's main North American seminary in Winona, Minn., told his audience: "There was not one Jew killed in the gas chambers. It was all lies, lies, lies." [Emphasis mine.] The Canadian government reacted by banning all SSPX publications.

Surely just what our Lord had in mind when he told us to "love one another as I have loved you!"

This is priceless!

I have always said that it is the internecine hatred amongst "traditionalists" themselves that prove that they are not "of God." And, happily, it also dooms their movement to failure. The following attack against Michael Matt illustrates the fact perfectly. Matt is the editor of The Remnant, a radical right wing "Catholic" newspaper. His family founded The Wanderer, but it became too liberal (I swear I am not making this up!)for his father, who left and started The Remnant in 1967. In a tribute to his father Matt brags how he, his 8 siblings and their spouses, children, and grandchildren, have all attending nothing but the Tridentine Mass. And he routinely denounces all the right persons and causes. Yet, there is always someone more orthodox, more faithful, more traditional, to condemn him. "They will know they are Christians by their love." NOT!
"By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them"
Michael Matt Editor of The Remnant Affirms His Ecumenical Involvement

[Note: The following information was first posted on In Today's Catholic World's website on 11/14/05 as a Bullet Point Brief (BPB #5) - TCW]

Michael Matt Editor of The Remnant Affirms His Ecumenical Involvement: It was confirmed in a phone conversation with Michael Matt editor of The Remnant and with myself David Hobson, editor of this Catholic news service, In Today’s Catholic World, that he [Michael Matt] plays on a well organized Ecumenical softball league, that is officially and blasphemously called, "The *Church League". The "Church" League consists of Lutherans, Novus Ordo "Catholics", Protestant Pentecostalists, such as the like that call themselves "The Vineyard", Novus Ordo False Traditionalists (this is Michael Matt's team where he plays outfield) and also Jews with full braids from perfidious Synagogues!

Again, the official name of this league that Michael Matt Editor of The Remnant has been a fee paying member of for at least two years is officially called The "Church" League. I, David Hobson confronted Matt with the fact that it is an error and a total scandal to use the holy word, Church, to describe this league and he, (Matt) disagreed, as he still is a member of this ecumenical mob that refuses to play hardball.

*Note from Editor: If words like "Church" are of such little consequence then why does this full-time Journalist Matt, who claims to be Catholic, write? Words absolutely do matter, and this is precisely where the battle ground has always been fought. There is not a more sacred word than the word Church, as The Church is Christ's One and Only Undefiled Spouse that He willingly and lovingly gave his last drop of blood, and last beat of His broken heart to save (its members) from eternal suffering and separation from Himself. No one can support these attackers of the Catholic Church (i.e. False "Catholic" Journalists like Michael Matt and their vile pulp) without sin.

The original article can be found here complete with a picture of an unidentified player in "pink hat and tight black pants. (OMG! We know what that means!)

Reverence

Reverence. The world is surely lacking in it these days. Anyone "with eyes to see" can recognize that fact. I often find myself bemoaning the lack of reverence. What is the cause of the terrible irreverence in the world today? I am not sure that I can give a meaningful answer to that question. I can, however, say what is not to blame. Out in the blogosphere I frequently encounter the assertion that the demise of the Tridentine Mass is to blame for the rampant irreverence in society today. Hogwash! I do not believe for one moment that all would be well in our world if the Second Vatican Council had never happened. The world experienced a seismic shift - culturally, socially, politically - beginning in the 1960s. The irreverence so characteristic of this age has its roots in that shift. To somehow think that the Church could have escaped all that by burying its head in the Tridentine sands is to live in a fantasy land.

With that being said I believe that it is incumbent upon all of us to work to restore a sense of reverence, especially in our worship. It is easy to sit back and complain. But what are we concretely doing to remedy the situation? I don't for one moment accept the ridiculous assertion that the Novus Ordo is irreverent. Can it be celebrated irreverently? Of course! But so could the Tridentine Mass. It is just that most of what happened there was hidden from the congregation. A wise DRE once told me that the young people today who are into the "old Mass" are experiencing it being said by priest who really want to do it and aren't experiencing "how it use to be" with so many priests perfunctorily rushing through it. Those of us who preside at the altar today should make every effort to ensure that the celebration is reverent. Then hopefully our people will recover a sense of reverence in their own lives.

Other views

I came across two very interesting articles toady dealing with the question of priestly celibacy. A strong endorsement of a married clergy is offered by the grandson of a Ukrainian Orthodox priest. A passionate argument against is presented by the wife of a former protestant minister (now a Catholic layman). I do not imply total agreement with either article by including them here. I simply felt that since both have experience with the issue their insights might be more valuable than my mindless babble.

War

Without getting into the politics surrounding the war in Iraq I want to make one simple observation. It amazes me how the "Religious Right" (by which I mean Evangelical Christians and their Catholic "wannabe fundy" cohorts) have made this war such a religious issue. Even to the point, in some instances, of making support for it a litmus test of authentic Christianity. Something seems amiss when so-called Christians are the loudest, most zealous voices crying out in support of a war that is destroying Christianity in Iraq. For the Evangelicals I doubt there is a conflict; after all, the eastern-rite Catholics and the Assyrian Ancient Church of the East faithful, who make up the bulk of the Christian community there, aren't in their minds real followers of Christ anyway.

The Pharisee and "prayer"

"The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself ..."

In reading today's Gospel it was this line that immediately caught my attention. The main point of Jesus' parable is so obvious that we can easily overlook this very powerful line. The pharisee doesn't pray at all; he merely recites to himself a catalog of his own imagined virtues. Pray, by definition, is not talking to oneself, it is conversation with God. I need to continually ask myself whether I am truly or praying, or merely talking to myself.

Celibacy part trois

I have finally read the comments to the two posts on celibacy this week. (I don't want to dwell on that particular subject to the point that it seem to be the main focus of this blog.)

I thank everyone who took the time to respond and I recommend that all concerned with this issue take the time to read the comments. All are thoughtful and raise valid issues, pro and con. Any reasonable person realizes that there is no single solution to the shortage of vocations. And while I may favor abandoning mandatory celibacy I am not fool enough to believe that by simply eliminating that requirement we will have all the priests we need.

As many noted in their comments above all what is needed is prayer. Prayer for priests. Prayer for vocations. Prayer for the Church.

Autumn

A Saturday without a funeral, a wedding, appointments, nothing until confessions and Mass! I don't know what I will do with myself. Perhaps I will catch up on my reading.

I love this time of year. It has cooled off considerably from a few days ago; the autumn air feels great. When the temperature goes up a few more degrees (still a little bit of frost in the shade yet) I might head out for a long walk. A quiet walk, praying the rosary as I go, on a nice fall day does wonders for the mind, the body, and the soul!

More thoughts on Elizabeth

I guess I am too much of an idealist but what really has been on my mind and bothering me since I watched Elizabeth yesterday is the fact that anyone should have been punished by death for their faith. Whether it was protestants killing Catholics or Catholics killing protestants it just seems so wrong to me. Is that really what Jesus wanted us to do in defense of the Truth? Shouldn't belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God come to save humanity unite us even when our particular interpretations of what that means differ? Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And all of us as Christians accept Him. Is He as worried about our theological differences as we are?

I am not trying to say that such things are unimportant. I am not trying to suggest that there isn't "The" Truth. I just wonder if we may have allowed ourselves to become so preoccupied with the differences that we forget the overriding commonality we share in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Maybe I am nothing but an evil heretic. But I just have trouble thinking that God wastes His time watching out for our "orthodoxy"; I'd rather believe that He is most concerned about whether we are truly loving one another as His Son taught. I know that way-out traditionalists would condemn someone to hell for failure to believe each and every doctrine of the faith. I can't buy a God like that though. Take the notion of Purgatory, for instance. I believe firmly in it. To me it makes wonderful intellectual sense; it seems to befit the dignity of an all-merciful God. But I don't for a moment think that God would send someone to hell for not buying into the idea. I rather believe that such a person will quickly change their tune when they spend some time there themselves. It is hard to deny a reality in which one finds oneself resident!

In some people's eyes that would make me a manifest heretic I guess. But I don't care about what others think. To me, how God views things is paramount. And I don't think He's ready to condemn me. At least not for this.

Elizabeth Regina

This evening I saw the movie Elizabeth: The Golden Age. While it wasn't the best of movies I failed to see in it the anti-Catholicism which some have claimed. Anything derogatory towards Catholicism seemed to me simply to reflect the attitude of the 16th century English, from whose vantage point the story is told. I certainly find anti-Catholicism to be terribly offensive. And sadly it does seem to be the last "acceptable" prejudice. However, I think we do ourselves more harm than good when we see imagine anti-Catholic bigotry everywhere we look. It reminds me of the boy who cried wolf.

Funerals

I love funerals like the one this morning. The kind where the survivors feel compelled to keep telling you that they are "no longer Catholic" and ask for good protestant hymns like "Amazing Grace" and "How Great Thou Art." (Not that I have anything against those classics; I like them both.) I just tell the organist to throw in a Marian hymn as well. And I make sure that I wear my Our Lady of Guadalupe stole to the cemetery.

Evil computers!

Pardon the French, but I have had one hell of a day. My laptop got infected a while back and today it finally stopped working. I am not particularly computer literate but I managed to figure out how to reinstall windows and start all over. Unfortunately in the process I didn't get rid of the infected version of windows and the new version is running on a partition of the hard drive only 3.5 gigabytes in size. So the evil machine is running quite smoothly at the moment but soon I will be out of space. perhaps tomorrow I will be able to figure out how to remedy this. At the moment I am just relieved that it is working!

Celibacy part deux

I don't not know the laws of etiquette here in blogland and I don't know what is kosher and what is not. But from time to time I will repost as a stand-alone post something I wrote in answer to a comment on a previous post. Here follows the first such, in response a well thought-out comment disagreeing with my Celibacy posting:

I used to think a lot more along the lines of what you said here. But time has a way of changing one's perspective. Seeing good priests leave because they no longer want to "be alone," hearing countless young men say they would definitely consider the priesthood "if they could marry," and facing the prospect of being worked to death as the corps of priests shrink has caused my view to evolve over the past several years.

From what I see, many men feel quite isolated out there. The support of the parish community doesn't necessarily alleviate the sense of loneliness. Certainly a deep prayer life is necessary (without that no one would last) but even very devoted, prayerful men sometimes "throw in the towel."

Others try to deal with their loneliness in quite unhealthy ways. Alcohol is all too often abused. Some priests become obsessed with their "toys" and other material possessions. And celibacy in many instances isn't being lived. It isn't unusual for a man, be he gay or straight, to at some point fail in that department. Some have longterm, "secret" relationships. And in some parts of the world celibacy is joke; it is regularly violated and officialdom just looks the other way.

I am not implying that there aren't good men living celibate lives, fulfilled in their vocation. These would be the ones who have been authentically called to the celibate life by God. But there are many who, based on the evidence at least, appear not to have been truly called.

My chief concern here is that things are quickly reaching a crisis stage. In many Diocese a large "bubble" of priests is rapidly approaching retirement age. In a few years the Catholic landscape in many places is going to look startlingly different. And I can imagine a snowball effect; there could be guys who leave simply because they can't deal with the pressures that are going to placed upon them, further exacerbating an already bad situation.

I really believe the Church has to look honestly at this question.

Celibacy

As the wind whipped the leaves around the parking lot this morning on my walk over from Mass I found myself reflected on all the controversy "whipped up" in the church these past years by incidents all related, one way or another, to celibacy. I do not wish to suggest that all the scandals we have experienced are the direct result of clerical celibacy; I do, however, believe that many of these sexual scandals are exacerbated by the culture of celibacy. Don't get me wrong. I have great respect for the spiritual discipline of celibacy. But more and more I question whether making it mandatory for diocesan priests is the wisest policy.

Personally I think that Eastern Christianity has it right. Mandatory celibacy is the province of the monastic life, where it is by definition necessary. The parish clergy, for the most part, is married. Bishops are chosen from the monastics and thus are celibate. The reasons for this arrangement make abundant sense. In the monastery one has a built-in "family," a ready-made support network. In the parish, the priest is permitted the support of a wife and family.

Are there problems in Churches with a married clergy? Certainly! Would making celibacy optional solve all the pressing problems of the Catholic Church? Most assuredly not! But I can't help but think that it would make a difference.

More thoughts ...

... on Sunday's Scriptures.

Next time your friendly neighborhood fundy comes around spouting their sola scriptura nonsense ask them to show you the scriptural basis for that dogma. They will inevitably quote Paul's Second Letter to Timothy: "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (3:16-17). That's all well and good. But nowhere does that verse say that everything we believe must be spelled out in the Bible. The truth of the matter is that we will not find such a statement anywhere in the Bible. And that my friends, is a huge problem for the sola scriptura crowd. What we are left with is a big paradox: If one of my foundational beliefs is that everything I believe must be in the Scriptures, but nowhere in the Scriptures does it tell me that everything I believe has to be in the Scriptures, it then follows (using basic logic) that the dogma of sola scriptura violates itself!

Proclaim the Word

"Proclaim the Word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient."

These words of Paul to Timothy really struck me as I reflected on today's Scripture readings and prepared my homily. In a simple phrase the Apostle to the gentiles sums up our baptismal call, namely, to proclaim the word, the Good News, of the God-made-flesh Jesus Christ. Most Christians aren't called to preach this in the technical sense of standing up before a congregation Sunday after Sunday expounding the Sacred Scriptures. But all are called to proclaim the word by the witness of their lives. And when you boil it down to essentials, the word, the Good News, to be proclaimed is love. Thus we are each called to act with love towards others whether it is convenient or inconvenient. That's the bottom line. That, in its essence, is what it means to be a Christian. (Since some people seem almost hostile to the idea of the priest talking about love, like it is some dirty wordy from the Godforsaken 70s, let me make it clear that by "love" I don't mean simply warm fuzzies. I mean the real deal shown to us by Christ, above all when He willingly sacrificed Himself on Calvary.)

Confronted with such a herculean task - loving at all times in all things - we are tempted to cry out "Impossible!" However, we are instructed by the example of Moses in First Reading of today's Mass. He is given a nearly impossible task, being told by God to keep his arms raised for the duration of the battle with the Amalekites. He tries to go it alone for a while, but eventually his strength fails, his arms sag, and the battle turns against Israel. Note what he does at this point. He seeks the help of others. He has Aaron and Hur support his arms until the battle is won. Likewise in fulfilling our baptismal call to "proclaim the word" we cannot go it alone. We need the support of others. And so week in and week out we gather together to be supported first and foremost by the Lord who pours Himself out in Eucharist. But also to be supported by our brothers and sisters who join together with us. In gathering together we see that we are not in this alone. And that with the help and support of others we can indeed persist, no matter how inconvenient the task may become.

Come now Monsignor!

Came across this when googling to see if there was anything new on the Msgr. Stenico front:

ROME -- A high profile Vatican cleric suspended after he was shown on television making advances to a young man allegedly had a list of homosexual priests and bishops in the Roman Catholic Church's governing body, Italy's Panorama weekly reported Friday.

Father Tommaso Stenico, 60, had "a detailed dossier" of all the homosexual clerics at Vatican "with a list of names and circumstances implicating a certain number of priests and even bishops working at the Curia," Ignazio Ingrao, reporter for the conservative news weekly said.

Stenico also sent his superior Cardinal Claudio Hummes a report denouncing the moral degradation within the Curia, which could make the Vatican "tremble," Ingrao said.

According to Panorama, Stenico, who also worked for a Catholic television station Telepace and owns a white BMW car, also drew up the list out of resentment at having waited so long to be named a bishop.

The thing that really bothers me about this is that he supposedly drew up this list out of "resentment" at having to wait to be named a Bishop. People are so worried about gays in high places. I'm much more concerned about "climbers" like this (if indeed there is truth to the story) who use the Church as nothing but a vehicle for their own aggrandizement.

Bully?

Wow. I'm thinking Cavey must have been a big bully when he was in school. He likes to rip apart everyone else but he sure doesn't like any criticism directed his way! He left this comment today; I thought it deserved its own post:

Chuckie,
As I've already stated, you're a deceptive liar. you're just a fraud.... and now the whole world knows it.

You hide behind your alias claiming violence to be visited upon you, but the whole while, so you can take pot-shots at men such as Abp Ranjith. C'mon, Chuckie, be a man. Get those comments you made about Abp Ranjith and print them out, then have them published in your diocesan newspaper.

But of course, that'll never happen. You being the gutless punk that you are.

There are a number of priests who blog and proudly display their identities... but you won't. Not only does that make you a liar and a fraud, that makes you a coward. And the great thing about all this, Chuckie... we both know it's true.

How's that for a dose of the truth?

For those who do not know the Archbishop Ranjith story, here it is in a nutshell: The dear caveman had posted a quote from Rajinth (the number two man in the Congregation for Diving Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments) in which the archbishop seemed to suggest that the Tridentine Mass would fill our seminaries and churches. I commented that the good archbishop was living in "Fantasyland" if he thought that.

Now a normal person would realize that I had merely offered my personal opinion of the archbishop's statement and had not launched an attack against his archiepiscopal person. And I would have no problem in sending that to any Diocesan newspaper. Despite Cavey's delusions, any sane person recognizes that the entire weight of the Holy Office isn't going to be brought to bear on a me for expressing my opinion.

The funny thing is that Cavey feels free to say quite vile things about any hierarch with whom he disagrees. And as far as I can tell he is "hiding" behind a pseudonym. But I guess that's all right for him!

Thanks for the dialog Cavey. I'm really enjoying it! And may God bless you.

Fun, Fun, Fun

Just got back from talking to the parents at our Sacramental Prep session for Penance. I "hit them between the eyes" with the fact that they need to be practicing the faith themselves. (Read: going to Mass every Sunday.) I think I did it with just enough humor, though, so as not to come across as lecturing them. Even in my desire to "tell them like it is" I realize that lecturing them is going to get me nowhere. I can only pray that my approach reached someone.

Next it is a memorial Mass for a guy who died last week. Then a wedding in a parish forty minutes from here. Back here for confession and the anticipated Sunday Mass. Finally back out for the wedding reception. Then maybe (if it isn't too late) meeting with one of my spiritual directees. A full and fun day indeed!

Fraternal Twins

Back when I was taking some PolySci classes in college I realized that the political spectrum is not a straight line at all; rather it is a circle. Go far enough in either direction and you'll see that the extremes meld into one. The poster children for fascism - the Nazis - called their political organ Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (the National Socialist German Workers' Party). I always found it telling that they used two communist buzz words - socialist and workers' - in that title.

In many ways the situation in the church today bears out the truth of this observation. In the final analysis both the far right and the far are equally unfaithful to the Church. Both groups have abandoned the authentic Magisterium of the Church in favor of their own personal opinions and preferences. Thus both "ends" of the spectrum end up being quite similar, fraternal twins one might say.

As I "attack" the far right for their intolerance I think it only fair that I note that those on the far left are the most intolerant of all. And their sin is far greater because they preach tolerance to everyone else. At least the rightists have the decency to make clear that they have no use for tolerance whatsoever!

Bad news!

My heart has been cut to the quick. My despair knows no bounds. Life is no longer worth living. I have been BANNED from the Caveman's Lair! Lord take home NOW! I can't bear the pain.

Vir Speluncae Catholicus said...

Chuckie,

A priest friend of mine checked a publication called "The Kennedy something-or-other" that lists every single priest in the United Staes.
Guess what? These isn't a "Fr. Charles Ledderer" listed.

That makes you a deceptive liar. As I've stated before, you're just a fraud.... and now the whole world knows it.

Know that I will not allow you to use this blog as a soapbox for you to sprew forth your garage.

All further comments from you will be deleted without even so much as being read.

You're nothing more than a miserable wretch who masqurades behind the Roman Collar of a Catholic priest. *shaking head in disgust*

Wow. I wonder what "garage" I was spewing forth? Not quite sure how I'd even go about that. Garages tend to be really big!

As to identity perhaps the Caveman could have considered the possibility that I am a priest but writing pseudonymously. Dealing with such a hateful lot I'd fear for my safety if I posted under my real name. After all, the Cavemen does brags a lot about guns and such. And in fairness, I can't find his real name anywhere either.

BTW Cavey, it is called the Kennedy Directory.

I LOVE this guy!

Another great posting from The Roving Medievalist:

A Political Rant

Have a look at THIS and THIS. It seems some of the leaders of the "Religious Right" want to support a third party, since it appears Giuliani will win the Republican nomination. In other words, they want to hand the Presidency to Hillary Clinton, on a silver platter.
I'm sick to death of the political bullshit I've ignored in the political naivete of "Catholic" blogging.
First, the worst mistake the pro-life cause, which I support, made was allowing itself to be led by loony Evangelicals. It wasn't easy to support back when nutcases were blowing up clinics and shooting doctors and it's not easy now, with some of the baggage that's being attached. Who suffers from this? The children who die because the cause is ineptly led.
Second, the next worst mistake was allowing the cause to be made a partisan issue, which could easily have been avoided. There are a hell of a lot of pro-life Democrats, and ( Yes, hard as it may be to get through your thick skulls. ) pro-life liberals. The pro-life cause was hijacked by political opportunists for the advancement of one party. That party, in case you haven't noticed, is sick of the Evangelical buffoons and is distancing itself from them. Since most Republican politicians, in their personal lives, show the morals of polecats, the fact that the pro-life position isn't being advanced shouldn't be surprising.
And, for crying out loud! The pro-life cause needs to learn PR 101. NO MALE SPOKESMEN! Get women to do it. They're the ones who need to present the case publicly.

New favorite blog

I think I found a new favorite blog, The Roving Medievalist. Biting commentary combined with beautiful pictures of medieval architecture (mainly ecclesiastical). Having a great love for architecture myself (almost went that way in college)I am enjoying the beautiful photography. But it is the "no holds barred" writing that will keep me coming back. Like this entry from Monday:

Threshold of Crap Tolerance

That's what Daniel Patrick Moynihan would call what I've reached. I'm beginning to like the freedom it brings. The odd part is the fact that it's making me both more and less tolerant.
I'm more tolerant of...
1. Liberal and moderate Catholics, who, except for the full scale spirit of VII types have a damn sight more respect for the Church than the yapping pseudo-conservatives.
2. Non-Christian religions.
3. Democratic politicians, who may not have the issues perfect but who usually show a lot more evidence of having "family values" in their own families than their multiple-divorce opponents.
Good for them!
I'm becoming less tolerant of ...
1."Traditionalist" Catholics, in America, ( The situation is completely different in Britain. ) who are, almost without exception, pompous asses who are more "we are church" than the "we are church" people.
2. The yapping, whining, bitching, and moaning of the blogosphere.
3. "Faithful" young priests who have the theology down-pat but are more concerned with words than actions.
F**k 'em all!

Feast of St. Luke

From today's Office of Readings:

Beloved brothers, our Lord and Savior sometimes gives us instruction by words and sometimes by actions. His very deeds are our commands; and whenever he acts silently he is teaching us what we should do. For example, he sends his disciples out to preach two by two, because the precept of charity is twofold-love of God and of one’s neighbour.

The Lord sends his disciples out to preach in two’s in order to teach us silently that whoever fails in charity toward his neighbor should by no means take upon himself the office of preaching. (St. Gregory the Great, Homily 17)

Hmmm. Many out here in the blogosphere preaching away. And quite a few of these seem incapable of demonstrating the slightest bit of charity toward their neighbor. Sancte Luca, ora pro eis!

Caveman Comedy!

I was subjected to some abuse on The Lair of the Catholic Caveman (if you haven't had your Recommended Daily Allowance of Vitriol I urge you to visit IMMEDIATELY). I remarked that Cardinal Arinze's number two man was living in "fantasyland" for seeming to intimate that the restoration of the Tridentine MAss would somehow magically fill our churches and seminaries. For my troubles I was subject of a post titled A Spiritual Descendant Of martin luther Speaks! THIS is an example of an "obedient priest"?. My charitable friend then went on to conclue his post thusly: "I know a person or two who has connections in The Vatican. I'm sure the Apastolic Nuncio and Archbishop Ranjith himself would be just tickled to death to read this."

And people can blame me for suggesting that these types are hate-filled, judgmental, and self-righteous? Come on!

When merely expressing an opinion is equated with total disobedience to the Magisterium we have a problem. And for the record, my opinion reflects my personal experience. In the four years since my ordination, in the two parishes in which I have served, I have had maybe three people express interest in the "Extraordinary Form." Get real people. The average Catholic in the pew has no interest in this.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

Today we celebrate the feast of Ignatius of Antioch, who shed his blood, was "ground by the teeth of beasts into Christ's pure bread," in the opening years of the second Christian century. Ignatius is one of my favorites of the primitive Church; he is a strong witness at a very early date to much that we take for granted in the Church today. Thus I find him to be a poignant counterpoint to the oft-repeated Protestant claim that much that is "Catholic" is merely medieval invention.

I particularly rely on him in teaching that most Catholic of all doctrines, the Real Presence. In his letter to the Church at Smyrna Ignatius rails against the heretics (docetists) who "abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again" (7:1). How much more clearly could the case be stated? Here, within eighty years of the death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we have clear proof that the orthodox teaching of the Church was that the Eucharist was truly, not symbolically, the Body and Blood of Christ.

Great Article

I just read a great article on deaconsforlife.org dealing with the issue of clerical celibacy. Here is a snippet:

I find the tendency by some theologically "conservative" Catholics to discount the position of those who invite reconsideration of mandatory celibacy as somehow less "faithful" to the Church’s Magisterium both annoying and misplaced. Worse, I find efforts to lump anyone who disagrees with mandatory celibacy as dissenters to be offensive. The insinuation that anyone who proposes a return to voluntary celibacy chosen as a vocational response to God’s call - before ordination to the order of deacon- is less theologically faithful is historically, factually, and theologically wrong.

Read the whole thing here.

Raison d'Être

Despite the rather harshly worded title and subtitle of this blog I do not believe myself to be a heretic. In fact, I consider myself a faithful son of Holy Mother Church. I have just become so disillusioned with the poisonous and hate-filled blogs of so-called "Catholics" which seem to dominate the Catholic presence on the web. (Perhaps it might be better to say that they drown out the authentic Catholic voice.) Realizing the relative dearth of sensible Catholic blogs I decided to throw my hat into the ring.

I do want to draw attention to the hatred of so many on the right. I do not think it proper that these "traditionalists," or whatever else they want to call themselves, should be able to slander, accuse, calumniate, and otherwise vilify every single Catholic - from the Holy Father on down - who do not see perfectly eye to eye with them on each and every issue. Such a mindset very often leads trad to turn on trad, anathematizing each other for not being "orthodox" or "traditional" enough. The end result is that those most far out there (the infamous Br. Dimond and his "Holy Family Monastery" springs immediately to mind) end up being a magisterium unto themselves. (Can anyone say Luther?)

If I overstate something, feel free to call me to task (as some already have) and I will glad reevaluate the post to see if what I wrote is really what I meant. And I am more than happy to entertain your disagreements with my point of view. Let's just do it with Christian charity. Please.

Creation

It seems that some who have commented on my post about Scott Hahn want to stick to a fundamentalist and literalist approach to the Bible, the Book of Genesis in particular, the Creation story specifically. Let me try to set things straight here. First off, "creation story" is itself a misnomer; there are two different creation stories at the beginning of the Book of Genesis. (Genesis 1:1-2:3 and 2:4-2:25.) Read them yourself and compare them. Among inconsistencies between the two the most glaring involves the creation of man and woman. In the first account (the "on the first day, etc" telling) God creates man and woman together after he has made the plants and animals. "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (Gen 1:27). In the second, he first creates "the man" (ha-adam in Hebrew). Then he creates all the plants. The the animals in an effort to give the man a helpmate. Finally he puts the man in a deep sleep, removes a rib and creates a woman, whom the man names Eve.

If one insists on taking Genesis 1 and 2 literally then one is forced into mental gymnastics in order to make the two stories mesh. Do we believe in a God that would require us to do that? If he had intended the stories to be a literal retelling of exactly how he created don't you think he would have made them non-contradictory? I would think that the perfect God in Whom we believe would be able to get His facts right!

Fundamentalists (Protestant or Catholic) apparently have no such problem. They even take the absurdity to a higher level. In order to defend the 6,000-some year old age of the earth (as calculated by the 17th century Anglican Bishop James Ussher) they resort to the claim that God planted fossils that appear ancient in order to deceive nonbelievers. Give me a break! That's not the kind of God I want to believe in.

It is time for people to grow up intellectually and accept the Bible as the Word of God, not a history and science treatise.

Santa Teresa de Jesus

Today is the Feast of "big" Teresa (to distinguish her from the Little Flower, Therese of Lisieux). One of my favorite quotes from her is "May God protect me from gloomy saints." In her words I find perhaps my biggest beef with traditionalist and ultraconservative Catholics - they seem totally devoid of Joy. Touring around all their blogs and websites leaves one very depressed indeed. There is no joy, no love, no hope in what they write. And yet they consider themselves "the remnant," the "true Christians." But how can this be? Did not Jesus say He came that "My joy may be in you, and that your joy be complete" (Jn 15:11)? Of course He is referring first and foremost to our ultimate joy in Heaven. But geez! I think He also wants us to have some joy here below as well! And if we really believe the awesome Good News of our precious faith then why wouldn't our lives be overflowing with joy?
My absolute favorite story of Teresa (I'm cutting and pasting from another site rather than writing it out again myself; call me lazy!):

St. Teresa of Avila showed a like wisdom. One day at dinner she was heartily enjoying the roast partridge. Another nun, a little shocked, asked her if it wouldn't be better to be praying than to be enjoying dinner. Teresa answered, "When I pray, I pray; when I partridge, I partridge!"

Now here was a woman who knew that life was a gift from God to be enjoyed not merely suffered through! All of us who aspire to true holiness could learn a lot from here. Especially all those "gloomy saints" of the far right!

The Monsignor, part 2

Was doing a little bit more reading on the Vatican Monsignor gone bad. Does he really think anyone would be gullible enough to fall for his cockamamie story? The following is from a Times online (United Kingdom) article.

Yesterday he claimed that he was pretending to be gay in an attempt to unmask a Satanic plot to seduce Catholic priests to homosexuality and thus discredit the Church. “I only pretended I was gay to study how priests are seduced,” said Mgr Stenico, a frequent guest on television programmes discussing religious issues. “There are people who go after them . . . I really believe there is a diabolical plan by groups of Satanists.”

Mgr Stenico admits inviting a man whom he met on a gay website to his office, across the piazza from Saint Peter’s Basilica, after expressing an attraction to sado-masochism. What he did not know was that the young man was working for a TV investigation on homosexuality among Catholic priests and went to the tryst with a concealed video camera. The footage was shown this month by La 7, the national TV channel.

It shows the young man entering the lift to Mgr Stenico’s office and then speaking with the priest in his office. The faces and voices are heavily disguised to respect privacy laws but with the help of subtitles the topics being discussed are obvious.

Mgr Stenico asks the man, “Do you like me?” and tells him that he is very good-looking. When the young man expresses fears that having sex would be “a sin in the eyes of the Church”, the priest replies: “I do not feel it would be sinful.” Drawn on the subject of sado-masochistic sex, the monsignor says that these are “inner choices, the psychological basis of a personality”. The young man continues to raise moral and religious objections to actually having sex, until the priest becomes irritated, says that he has no time left and takes him back to the lift. On parting, the Monsignor tells him that he is “really tasty” and that he can telephone him or send him a message.

Do you buy it? I don't!

The Monsignor got stung!

Quite a story from Rome about the Vatican Monsignor caught in the Italian TV hidden camera sting exposing gay priests. I'm surprised they only managed to entrap one! Everyone knows there must be countless numbers of them running around the Church's inner sanctum. I have even heard it speculated that the Church's almost irrational determination to preserve mandatory clerical celibacy has its roots in the gay clerical subculture at the very top; too many risk being exposed as the flamers they are if celibacy is no longer required of priests. One would like to think that such speculation is totally off the mark. But is it? I wonder sometimes. It will be interesting to see how this story unfolds.

Wedding

Ah what a rare pleasure! I had a wedding this afternoon and both the bride and groom are actually church-attending, practicing Catholics. Sadly one doesn't see that too often anymore.

The best part of all was that the congregation actually participated in the Mass. yes, they responded to the prayers, knew when to sit, stand, kneel, and -get this! - even sang. Will wonders never cease!

I will go to bed a happy man tonight!

The Hahn Effect

A parishioner today shared with me some insights she had received from reading Scott Hahn. I had never really paid attention to him before; I knew the name and that he was a convert but that was about it. Well, after the discussion with "Doris" (the names have been changed to protect the innocent) I did a little google search and perused some of what Mr. Hahn had written about the Fall. I got the impression that he was treating the opening chapters of Genesis as though they were an historical account rather than a theological construct. Such literalism is most definitely not indicative of a Catholic approach to Sacred Scripture. I have to wonder if all the high profile evangelicals who have converted to the Catholic Church have truly shed their fundamentalist approach to the Bible. What do others think? Perhaps I am reading more into this. Perhaps I misread Hahn.

Reality check

One supposed "fact" so called "traditionalists" like to state is that the pedophilia/homosexuality problem in the priesthood is all the result of "evil" Vatican II seminaries. I recently read the Grand Jury Report on the the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's handling of sexual abuse cases. It is very telling that the distribution of miscreant clerics is almost evenly divided between those ordained before and those ordained after the council. Reality usual doesn't mesh mesh with the traditionalist's "fantasy land". But don't worry; they'd never allow reality to disturb their view of the world!

Don't believe me? Read the report for yourself. I have to warn you, though. It is very disturbing.

New to all of this ....

The following post on DYMPHNA'S ROAD led me to jump into the blogging world. I was just THAT disgusted!

On another blog, sorry I can't remeber which-- someone remarked that it's a shame that parishes were closed on Labor Day and glumly noted that the priesthood has become too much like a regular job. Well, in defense of priests everywhere I have to say that it's not Father's fault. Unless he's a tough old dude who's been there for 20 years or a bright, young fearless lad most parishes are run by grisled, bitter lesbians or grouchy church ladies in polyesther stretch pants. They run the office. They decide if your issue is worth calling Father. They make bad enemies. They write long letters to the bishop and get answered. They would be as fierce as harpies if Fr. dared to suggest that they work on a holiday. It's a rare man who wants to face down angry women.

My parish is blessed with high testosterone and no nonsense young priests so the church was open on Labor Day and Mass went on as usual but again, my pastor is a saint and the parochial vicar is as brave as Aragorn. How many parishes have that?

And I was moved to respond as follows:

Of all the crazy things I have read on the internet THIS takes the cake! Say what you will about priests. We are use to the abuse and have developed thick skin. But to dare to suggest that parish staff should be treated as slaves, not even deserving of a holiday off to spend with family/friends takes the total lack of Christian charity displayed by so many out there in cyberspace to a new level.

How dare the holier-than-thou set complain because a priest doesn't force a poor secretary to be there to wait on their every whim at their convenience! I guess a truly good priest, with "high testosterone," would even make the staff work on Christmas Day. Why should such people, who are so obviously "grisled, bitter lesbians or grouchy church ladies in polyesther stretch pants" be given the slightest bit of consideration.

Am I the only one able who can see the total self-centeredness in such an unchristian attitude? The last time I looked the Gospel of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ stressed service to others. These people seem concerned only with having others wait on them. What a disgrace!!!!

Our Church is truly in a sorry state! Mary Mother of the Church pray for us. PLEASE!