Cardinal at CUA: Obama is ‘Aggressive, Disruptive and Apocalyptic’
November 14, 2008 by Elizabeth Grden 
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His Eminence James Francis Cardinal Stafford criticized President-elect Barack Obama as “aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic,“ and said he campaigned on an “extremist anti-life platform,” Thursday night in Keane Auditorium during his lecture “Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II: Being True in Body and Soul.“
“Because man is a sacred element of secular life,” Stafford remarked, “man should not be held to a supreme power of state, and a person’s life cannot ultimately be controlled by government.”
“For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal. We will know that garden,” Stafford said, comparing America’s future with Obama as president to Jesus’ agony in the garden. “On November 4, 2008, America suffered a cultural earthquake.”
Cardinal Stafford said Catholics must deal with the “hot, angry tears of betrayal” by beginning a new sentiment where one is “with Jesus, sick because of love.”
The lecture, hosted by the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, pertained to Humanae Vitae, a papal encyclical written by Pope Paul VI in 1968 and celebrating its 40 anniversary this year.
Stafford also spoke about the decline of a respect for human life and the need for Catholics to return to the original values of marriage and human dignity.
“If 1968 was the year of America’s ‘suicide attempt,’ 2008 is the year of America’s exhaustion,” said Stafford, an American Cardinal and Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary for the Tribunal of the Holy See. “In the intervening 40 years since Humanae Vitae, the United States has been thrown upon ruins.”
This destruction and America’s decline is largely in part due to the Supreme Court’s decisions in the life-issue cases of 1973, specifically Roe v. Wade. Stafford asserted these cases undermined respect for human life in the United States.
“Its scrupulous meanness has had catastrophic effects upon the unity and integrity of the American republic,” said Stafford.
Humanae Vitae (“On Human Life”) reaffirms traditional Catholic teachings regarding abortion, contraception and other human life issues. Pope Benedict XVI said in May it is “so controversial, yet so crucial for humanity’s future…What was true yesterday is true also today.”
Monsignor Livio Melina, president of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, gave the opening address at the lecture and spoke about the importance of agape love to gain knowledge.
“Love itself is a form of knowledge, and this knowledge cannot be objectified,” said Melina. “It is a unique relationship between the believer and God.”
Stafford said the truest reflection of the love between the believer and God is that of the relationship between husband and wife, and that contraceptive use does not fit anywhere within that framework.
According to Stafford, the inner dynamic of a spousal relationship is much like the body itself, which ‘speaks’ in terms of masculinity and femininity.
“The experience of love introduces us in a specific way to moral knowledge,” added Melina.
UPDATED: Monday, November 17, 2008 at 3:40 p.m. Audio, Photo Slideshow added below.
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[...] Cardinal Stafford: Obama is ‘Aggressive, Disruptive and Apocalyptic’ http://www.cuatower.com/2008/11/14/cardinal-at-cua-obama-is-%E2%80%98aggressive-disruptive-and-apoca... [...]
Just because someone is a Cardinal doesn’t mean they can’t be a racist - they’re human, after all, not saints. There is no other reason for spewing this hatred about President (thank God!) Barack Obama. The Republican social policies actually increase abortions, so if you truly care about reducing abortion - not just chanting slogans and not having to think in a complex, nuanced way - you would vote for Democrats every time. The country under President Obama will truly be the kinder, gentler country we want. Read his actual beliefs and policies. There is no FACT-BASED reason for the things Stafford said - as an old white man, it’s possible he let his subconscious racist feelings show. President Obama’s policies, not McPain’s, are the ones that most closely adhere to Catholic social teaching. Reversing Roe v. Wade won’t end abortions. Making women feel less desperate - socially, economically, and emotionally - when they face an unplanned pregnancy will have the effect of making carrying their child more of an option for them. Isn’t that what pro-life supporters are supposed to favor? Or is it all about making public displays, waving signs and praying on sidewalks? Think about it.
A bit over the top, to my mind.
MaryW: “A bit over the top, to my mind.”
Not at all. It is this attitude that led to the kind of religious and moral complacency among Catholics that this country has witnessed for the past 35 years. That and the silence of the clergy - until now. I applaud Cardinal Stafford and other bishops who have raised their prophetic voices against the anti-Gospel, anti-Christian policies of President-Elect Obama and most politicians in the Democratic Party. That remark is not an apology for the Republicans. They did not serve us well, but at least President Bush managed to outlaw partial birth abortions. Obama has promised Planned Parenthood that one of the first pieces of legislation he will sign is the Freedom of Choice Act, which will bring this great evil back. No, His Eminence got it right and we Americans got the leader that we wanted and deserve. Now those of us who have faith better pray that we do not also get the divine punishment we deserve by these actions.
[...] James Francis Cardinal Stafford at CUA (Text): Obama is ‘Aggressive, Disruptive and Apocalyptic’ Posted on November 15, 2008 by james mary evans Hat/Tip - The Tower Newspaper [...]
I once got to thinking about why the world is such a mess with the Catholic empire having been around for so long having so much power in so many depressed areas of the world. For two thousands years the world has suffered under the tyranny of Kings anointed by the pope and then the popes themselves. It was only when mankind put the Atlantic Ocean between European escapees and Catholic tyranny that freedom breathed for the first time.
New American born ideals that originated out of Jesus mouth never actually got a chance to flourish until the human race was able to free itself from the evils of the Catholic church. But the whole human race can’t migrate to these shores to free themselves from child raping priests and their royal entourage that they provide human fodder for to feed their lust for flesh, power, and money. And it’s clear the Vatican is not going to change.
Statements like Father Newman’s about Obama remind me of how badly we need to end Catholicism forever by exposing its true history rather than put up with its arrogance any longer. We only hear about the true nature of how priests diabolically perform the most degrading and despicable evil acts against children here in the US because the Constitution our forefather wrote insures we had the right to talk about it. The founders of this country were wise in knowing first hand the evils of the Catholic Church and worked very hard to make sure we would be able to tell future generations about it if we were ever strong enough to stand up to Rome.
But in other countries who still haven’t mustered the power needed to throw off the shackles of their Vatican slave masters, child raping priests still rule the ghettos where they pimp out children to the highest bidder. Poverty needs to end. But it can never happen with the world’s poor being handed over to the Vatican to molest as they choose.
Obama wants to end poverty so the Vatican sees him as threat to their perverted traditions. If there’s a God, the devil is crying foul because he sees His hand working through Barack Obama. And I suppose the pope is crying in his soup praying another Hitler to come along and bring back the old days when his conservative movement shined like thunderbolts at the center of a rising Swastika.
Those days are gone King Ratzinger, your world is coming to an end. And I hope you and your corrupt army of pedophiles get to watch it dawn from behind the walls of the worst prisons in the world.
It was stunning how little attention was given to this issue (abortion) during the 2008 election. Concerns over the economy dwarfed this issue, and it’s a bit odd that this Cardinal is saying these things now after the overwhelming majority of Americans chose Obama to lead us during these troubled times.
BTW, I found this story from UWIRE: http://www.uwire.com/Article.aspx?id=3541518 … nice job!
This has nothing to do with racism. it has everything to do with a no brainer . Murder , not of a adult of a infant. A coward society that kills a baby and then says they did not. The polatics of denial will fade as the silver lining becomes so thin there is no value. Then they will find them selves EMPTY on both sides. No monitary value or heavenly value only the rope will be left. EMPTY
ROFL! “Racism”!!! Oh and killing a baby is subordinate?!!!
Jesus said judge not others lest ye be judged yourself. Are you not Christians yet you disobey your Lords commands? You say Jesus forgives but you have no concept of the word yourself because you think you are forgiven but others are not so you mercilessly persecute woman who have for whatever reason that is between them and God given their unborn child back up to to Him before they are born.
Do you not think that Gods plan for this world, His perfection does not cover them and their actions in His judgment but only in yours? Do you think that your doing Gods work means He no longer has to do it for Himself anymore?
Perhaps it is time for God to retire and let religious political parties rule heaven and hell from now on.
You should give your hypocrisy some deep thought if you truly believe in an all powerful God whom you think you can tread on without fearing. Surely the God you worship and the one in the Bible are two different entities. Perhaps you worship another, the other, for surely Jesus words do not resonate in your heart.
I am baffled when people accuse those who defend life of racism. As a long-time sidewalk counsellor I have stood outside abortion mills in all kinds of weather talking to mothers who are white, black, hispanic, muslim, or any other race/religion you can think of. I didn’t say, “Oh, that’s a black baby, let them kill that one.” No…I prayed and worked as hard as I could to save every precious child whose misguided mom went in to kill.
Barack Obama is an Uncle Tom, the black character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin who served like the Jewish capos in the death camps. They worked for the master/master race to subjugate their own people. Blacks represent about 12% of the population; they have about 34% of the abortions. The black family is under particular attack and Obama has promised to help Planned Parenthood kill more black babies than ever. Most abortion mills are in the inner cities. Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, was a eugenicist who considered the poor (and Catholics) “human weeds.”
Cardinal Stafford is right on target speaking with a prophetic voice. That some of you can’t see it shows your ignorance of both history and faith.
Mary Ann, I agree, and anyone who doubts the veracity of your statement that the black family is under attack should educate themselves at
http://www.blackgenocide.org/
Where they will learn the lessons from history before it is too late. Obama is helping Planned Parenthood carry water for Margaret Sanger, who admired the Nazis for their eugenics programs. Hers was a bit more sublte, but FAR more effective.
[...] Vatican official responsible for dispensing the fountain of mercy in the church offered an ominous impression of the state of things during a Thursday lecture at DC’s Catholic University of America: [...]
Ad Hominum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
His Eminence has some valid arguments based in fact.
Ultimately, it comes down to knowing a tree by its fruit. For those who take the time to do some digging in the President Elect’s background, his position on things of import to the people of the land, his voting record or lack thereof, and more, will begin to see a pattern.
What we can only hope for at this point is that the President Elect’s eyes, heart, and mind are opened by the reality he will get to experience every day with his morning coffee. The briefings on the world, the states of this world, and their relationship or lack thereof with the US should be an eye opener for him.
How much do we truly know?
First of all someone should monitor the messages on this site and delete the ones which obnoxiously spew the tired, sad tirades of Satan’s agents against the Church. It is amazing to me that those who wish that all faithful members and leaders of the Church were dead or imprisoned (so that they would never have to hear the voice of Truth) even bother to read articles such as this. (Although they do not read very well - who is Fr. Newman Mr Fontaine?)
It is so sad to see how many who call themselves Catholics make any excuse to justify their Faith-denying voting decisions. Doesn’t anyone remember their history anymore? Can this president or any president really supply a chicken for everyone’s pot? Is there really enough wealth for him to “spread around” and take care of all of the needs the young, giving money to students for tuition, who go into the peace corps etc, as well as provide universal health care, while refusing to use the natural resources of this country to truly make our nation independent? Perhaps all those ideas will have to take a back seat for a while anyway, since the very first order of this president’s term of office will be paying back those who helped put him in power. I mean what could help Obama’s supposed plan “to reduce abortions” more than to IMMEDIATELY reverse a presidential order so that our tax dollars will once again pay for abortions for those in the service etc. I mean Obama our new messiah already has decided that doctors who allow children to die slow painful deaths after failed abortions are not guilty of any crime or misdeed. He knows that the wealthy who don’t want the government to take larger cuts of their earnings are just unpatriotic for not wanting to let the President “spread their wealth” around. He REALLY just wishes to bring everyone together into one loving people agreeing with his agenda, and to see him as the all wise new messiah. He is just so good at rallying people around him and spewing these amazingly speeches which apeal to young and old, who are so addicted to the chant of “change” that they are completely unaware that they are part of a newest mindless mass of humanity . He sounds a lot like that young Hitler fellow if you ask me, and oh wait the Church was supposed to keep quiet then too. And oh yeah I must be racist for even thinking or talking like this, but I wonder why we hear so little about this black man’s white mother and white grandparents who actually raised him? Does his blackness cancel out the white half his heritage?
Cardinal Stafford is absolutely correct, our American agony in what used to be an amazing garden is soon to begin. May God have mercy on His faithful remnant!
[...] and Bishops are speaking up and have been spekaing up; the latest salvo from the Mitre is that of Cardinal Stafford. Kudos and well done, let us hope to hear more from other Bishops. Share and [...]
[...] Francis Cardinal Stafford head of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary gave a lecture on November 13 at the Keane Auditorium at Catholic University of America last week titled, “Pope [...]
Ridiculous and embarassing. Over the top, radical, hate mongering and uninformed. Do these guys ever take a stand on the death penalty or the many other ways that life is destroyed? Or does right to life end on the delivery table? Have they ever heard of the seamless cloak of life? This sounds like fear talking and it can’t be taken seriously.
Yawn.
I think that some of the leaders of the church are resorting to fanaticism because their efforts have not paid off and they simply refuse to look at in any other way. However, the statements, emotions, accusations, predictions, or what ever you wish to call all the recent rantings, are flawed to the very core. Frist, the statements of Cardinal Stafford would lead some to believe that the other candidate, in this case McCain, professed some adherance to the Catholic Church’s stand on abortion. The fact is, McCain supports abortion in the case of rape and threat to life of the mother. This is not the Catholic stance. OH, they may attempt to make the arguement that it makes McCain the lesser of two evils, but I am not sure that one is called to decide between the lesser of two evils in Catholic teaching - evil is evil. (I do not say that this is my stance on any of this - just pointing out how hypocritical some people may be) Yet, there have been no rebukes of McCain’s policy by any of the same heirarchy who are attempting to find their way to fame through this issue. Remember though, not all the heirarchy are in agreement with statements from those who fall into Cardinal Stafford’s likeness.
Second, radical, fundamental people like Stafford fail to see the real Gosepl call. They somehow believe that the making of laws is what they are called to do. The somehow believe that the mandate Jesus gave to disciples was to go out and legislate morality to the ends of the earth, condemning them in the name of hedonism, sinfulness and unholy actions. I am not sure why they continue to embrace and work for such a belief. The reality is, Jesus did not commission his followers to be lobbyists, legislators, legalists, or anything else that had to do with human laws. Jesus commissioned his followers to go out and serve. If those who spend so much time, money and effort to change a law would go out and figure out ways to convert one heart at a time, as Jesus did, there would be no need to worry about human laws - they would become powerless over more people. The law does not say - you must have an abortion - it says people can choose it. Well, let’s give them another choice. Let’s work harder to provide a place for every girl or woman who finds herself pregnant and afraid. Let’s work harder so that no one has to doubt that there is help available. Let’s change one heart and mind at a time so that we work to eliminate abortion, not the law. And that is the problem - to many care only about the law and not the people of God. I wonder if Jesus would say - Blessed are you who lobbied and worked so hard to change the law! or if he would say - Blessed are you who gave a pregant woman a place to live, a doctor to take care of her and food for her and her baby! We could get busy today - and start reaching out as Church to people. OH, but I guess we are too busy condeming others, predicting the apocolypse, raising money to pay for the buses to take people to the Washington DC rally in January, making signs to say we oppose abortion, polishing the saddle for our high-horses, and all the other things that are so much more important.
Lord, help us to remember that the Church is entrusted to all the faithful, not just those in postionsn of power. Give us wisdom to stay focused on your Word and lead us in the ways that will fulfill our commitment to the mission of your Son. Amen
I have lived in a country where abortion is outlawed. Women were ostracized when they became pregnant. They were kicked out of school. If there is compassion for the unborn the Church should be the strongest advocate to ensure these women can complete their education so that they can have a chance at a decent job and means of supporting another life. With out a practical answer to how to help women support themselves with a baby (education, jobs, health care) the Church’s stance on abortion will never gain majority appeal in the US. Yet Obama’s stances on all these practical matters merited no discussion by Cardinal Stafford.
Mary Ann Kreitzer,
Are you clinically insane? Your Church has whored herself to a party of eternal war and torture and taken away rights that English speaking people have had for 800 years.
Tell me, how do you and the other Catholics excuse the fact that the US army, by it’s own admission, has burned Iraqi children to death with white phosphorus powder?
It’s apparent that the only form of life the Catholic Reich respects is unborn life because it can’t disagree. Meanwhile you murder cancer patients who happen to be gay because you demand that they have inferior access to life insurance.
In the words of Joseph Biden, “This is a joke, right?”.
Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition! is all I have left to say.
To the rational people out there:
God has NOT given us a proclamation regarding embryos and fetuses. To say He has is intellectually dishonest.
The issue here is one of using terms that make your case sound good, but upon further reflection, there is no scientific or other basis except your own opinion.
Some BELIEVE abortion is murder. So, they call a fetus a baby or a human or a person. Others (in religion) BELIEVE the fetus is NOT a person and does not have rights. Science cannot answer that question. Without a transcent authority to tell us when personhood begins (remember Jesus and the Bible do NOT talk about the “soul”—that’s medieval theology), or whether personhood entails an absolute right to not be aborted, we aren’t going to get at the truth about whether or not abortion is moral. But people cannot admit that their moral arguments are based on believe not fact or science or reality. They are right; you are wrong.
The Catholic Church used to have a nuanced position about politics, correctly believing that the goverenment is NOT an agent of the divine. Our founding fathers realized that many people came to this country to escape religious persecution and then set up colonies banning other religions!!! So, they wrote a magnificent constitution that says you can believe what you want but you can’t impose your beliefs on others. Now the Church is increasingly run by uneducated, irrational, and right wing leaders who are an embarrassment to the Church and its long tradtion of following civil rights progress (slaves, voting,
children’s rights, etc. ) Now they still discriminate against women (can’t be a priest because you don’t have a penis) and gays (contrary to science and common sense) by calling them “extrinsically evil” and, in my state, spending $500,000 to deny them civil rights while begging for money for retired priests! Unbelievable! And sad.
I just keep hoping the “Over the top” responses, including the “priest” are not representative of the CUA student body. They are some of the most uninformed and stupid comments I have ever read on what I think is a Catholic website. I wonder if that “Priest” is actually a Catholic. If he is, that fellow needs serious help.
If only the good cardinal were as adamant about the evils of war, executions, and torture with the same zeal he uses to lie about President-elect Obama. This is the real scandal of contemporary catholicism - the alignment with the fundamentalists who always espouse a distorted theology leading to the abuse of women and political accomodation with those for whom certain persons are expendable. These elderly hierarchs need to remember the exploits of their brother Bernard Law who is sheltered the reach of justice by the Vatican. Shame on these puny men with their myopic views and loyalty to one another rather than to the flock they are to nurture.
People like this man is the reason I do not practice any religion and I am proud that I have never indoctrinated any of my children to any form of religion. They are good, happy, fair and most importantly kind and fair to others. I would NEVER allow this man anywhere near my children because the words coming out of his mouth are venom.
Regarding those that want to use the ‘black family is in danger” argument. You are wrong. I think this argument is used to make us believe that by keeping abortion legal we are killing our own race. the truth of the matter is that the one group of Women who are not having children are White Women.
“Birth rates for non-Hispanic white women, at 1.9 per woman, continue to remain lower than the rate that would be needed to replace the population (2.1 per woman), according to the report that details fertility rates in 2006 for women 15 to 44.
“The Hispanic population is growing,” Dye says. “The black population is staying about the same, and the white and Asian populations are declining. They’re not REPLACING themselves. So the population is growing more diverse.”
This the main reason ( in my opinion) that you are hearing all this rhetoric about abortion and birth control and ‘traditional family”. Not because women are having abortions,but because White Women are not having children. This why Obama bothers people so much it has NOTHING to do with his politics it has to do with WHAT HE REPRESENTS and what he represents is changing of the landscape of America. Let’s face it people, people of color will be the majority of this country in the very near future and THAT IS WAS SCARING YOU.
The combining of relgion and politics always confuses me, but I want to propose a thought to this Cardinal and like-minded Catholics. Why don’t you all leave the USA and move to a conservative Catholic centred country where abortion is illegal? My top choice for you would be Guatemala. I find abortion a vexing issue, but I have little confusion about my desire to live in the USA. Those of you who find abortion simple and your relationship with the USA complex (”cultural earthquake”?) might consider acting up to your beliefs.
NICE!Tax them now!!
Until the Catholic clergy becomes even half - no, one-tenth - as obsessive about the death penalty as it is about abortion, I am going to continue to have grave doubts about its credibility on the subject. When I was growing up in the Catholic Church 45 years ago, I never - the operative word is NEVER - even heard the word abortion. And, guess what, women were having them. Somehow, over the past several decades, this one issue has to come to define the Church more than any other (well, other than clergy raping children, but that’s a separate issue), under the facile rubric of “life”. Baloney. The Great Schism is coming. American Catholics aren’t going to endure this distracting nonsense forever.
Interesting. Every respondent who disagrees with the Cardinal ignored the simple fact that abortion is murder and that Obama has publicly and repeatedly supported groups whose sole aim is to institutionalize that abhorrent act. Each attempted to salve his own conscience and justify his complicity in these murders by attacking others. Truth is universal, regardless of one’s political leanings. Abortion is murder.
My God, practicing Christianity in the Catholic Church, is a forgiving God. He sent his only begotten Son to save us from our sins. God gave us our mind and intellect and our freedom of choice. We are ONLY beholden to him for our actions. Catholics focus so heavily on the right to life however what about all the Republicans who support the death penalty, why do Catholics who vote for republicans who support the death penalty get to receive communion but those who vote democratic (right to life issues) do not? What about the incredible loss of life in these wars we are “fighting” that republican support? When the Catholic Church is ready to give up it’s charitable organization status and start paying taxes on the churches weekly collections, then you can tell me who to vote for.. Until then, if you feel so strongly about right to life, which should not be only abortion but should also be war and death sentences, get out there be the profit Jesus calls to us to be, let me see you in my town and towns across America not picking a candidate based on one issue but trying to convince both candidates about your beliefs of the sanctity of life, whether in the womb, in jail or in a war zone. Challenge yourselves to really follow in Jesus’s footsteps and accept all people but try and bring them home to Christianity!
If you are so concerned about suicide and the lack of respect for life, then get out there, invite EVERYONE to our Catholic church, pound the pavement, give them hope and a place to go for life, companionship and hope instead of rules humans, no Jesus, set upon the catholic church.
Move on, welcome in, be the church that Jesus hoped we would be!!
Well said father.
Jesus is love, not ” Barack Obama is an Uncle Tom”. May Jesus spare us from that kind of evil.
[...] of Denver and now Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary in Vatican City. An excerpt from the story in the Tower, which is the student newspaper at Catholic University: His Eminence James Francis Cardinal [...]
Upon reading Cardinal Stafford’s screed, I had to re-check it to be sure I was not reading a 19th-century anti-American diatribe. The Vatican’s past hostility to liberty and pluralism–as represented by the United States–is, unfortunately, a matter of record. One had hoped that after Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council this temper of mind had passed, never to return. Alas, no.
I can only recommend that U.S. Catholics entirely cease from contributing to the ‘Peter’s Pence’ collection and instead divert the money to their parish, or to charities (including their local chapter of ‘Birthright’), the more local and specific their mission the better.
While I did not see the lineaments of a reformer in Pope Benedict XVI, I was under the impression that the knout he formerly wielded had been discarded in favor of sweet reason when he took up his present office. Evidently not. I see no reason in faith or morals for the continued support by American Catholics of a papacy that has degenerated into a kind of oriental despotism, and that seems as fanatically hostile to their country as the Soviet Union was.
Both Barack Obama and Bill Clinton said that they would sign a ban on Partial Birth Abortions if the legislation included an exception to “protect the health of the woman”. Republicans used that simple change in text as a wedge issue and called Clinton “The Abortion President”.
One of my great friends had to have open heart surgery directly after giving birth to save her own life. She knew the risks before hand and decided on the birth. I’m glad it worked out for all, but I would certainly be loathe to demand that she give birth even though the risk to her life was 50-50.
Imagine that your wife was given a 50-50 chance to die if she gave birth, but if she had surgery first, she could have birth again without such a risk. Would you abort the child or take the chance with your wife’s life? If you choose to save your wife’s life and abort the child, I don’t think Jesus woud condemn you… you were probably moved by Jesus’ compassion to make that choice in the first place.
As for others, it’s a matter of degree and it’s none of your business. Especially none of the business of celibate priests that have no “skin in the game”.
How does the Church speak its message of love and redemption through the false apocalyptic terror, the hysterical shrillness, the politicization, the blindness to all issues but one, and the rigidity of people like Cadinal Stafford?
I fear it will not be able to speak its true message until it finds people who value love over control and secular power.
I am a black 54 soon turning 55 year old caholic church and school female, who was told about this on another site, so I’m going to repeat this one more time , I said that this catholic faith works for me, and for those priests and nuns from my past who were in my life and are now deceased, especially Fathers Dayton D. Kirby, DeL -aney and Favors, who were exceptional men, who saw beyond everything and were so ahead of their times, and knew they were so loved by my family and our parish, SistersJoseph Ann and Pierre, same thing, women ahead of their times, I will say that if they were alive and heared this comment , they would know and not be suprised that it came from me,and that is what you priests, aux,bushops, archbishops, monsignors,cardinals, nuns and the Pope better do is say”Bless me God for I have sinned it has been how many? {Just Last Week}
since my last confession, what do we say in the mass? that I have sinned through my fault ,in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do ,The Catholic Church with all their faults,accusations
and blood on their hands, Do you Catholic Church after all these CENTURIES , really renounce SATAN, AND ALL HIS EVIL WORKS, AND ALL HIS EVIL WAYS?THAT IS JESUS’S AGONY IN THE GARDEN,
Most of the people on this blog speak of hatred. Look at what you have written and the see who is full of hate. How can these people say anything about someone else, they too are just as guilty.
“A priest” said:
“The reality is, Jesus did not commission his followers to be lobbyists, legislators, legalists, or anything else that had to do with human laws. … Let’s change one heart and mind at a time so that we work to eliminate abortion, not the law.”
Father, if American Christians had always taken your advice, you would have had an opportunity to free a slave when you moved into your rectory. (But what about her husband and children, who were sold to other masters?)
I guess you also condemned MLK and other civil rights leaders who campaigned against racist laws. And you preach against those who would outlaw the death penalty.
Or torture — better to show some compassion to the torturers and provide them with social services to help them deal with the real human problems that led them to seek benefit by inflicting pain on others. (But let’s be careful not to talk about the victims, okay?)
Good for you! It’s about time we started seeing these “Gospel values” applied consistently. Although virtually everybody I know in the pro-life movement spends a lot more time and money helping mothers (through crisis pregnancy centers, the Gabriel Project, the Rachel Project, etc.) than trying to change the law, it is so rare to find people like you who condemn pro-lifers for working to guarantee the human rights of the unborn in law, and who also condemn the political and legal advocacy for more politically correct causes. In fact, I never find anyone like this.
Why not? Apparently there is a real crisis of Gospel values out there — values like honesty, humility and fortitude.
“Rescue those who are being led to slaughter” … but only if you can persuade their captors “one heart and one mind at a time” …
Okay, I will speak my mind.
1. The Catholic Church’s foray into politics in this country is a further example of the philosophical, spiritual, and moral decay of this organization. It has gotten into politics because it no longer has the necessary spiritual connection and force to be otherwise. Therefore it is primarily a secular and political organization operating under the guise of a religious one. Not that there aren’t many profoundly and truly religious practitioners involved, but as an ORGANIZATION it’s primary concern is now more than ever, secular.
2. Abortion is not murder, period. But because Christianity is primarily exoteric these days no one is able to grasp (or even has an interest in) the subtleties involved in esoteric spiritual practice. Such esoteric spiritual practice is the real wisdom espoused by Jesus of Nazareth. Once one understands that the Bible is a result of ancient politics that stripped all mention of esoteric practice from the scripture, a different less childish view can be held. One can then start to see the similarities with other esoteric cultures and practices. Only then can one begin to understand the subtleties of birth and death.
3. The view of any religion that it itself has the exclusive and true view is itself pure heresy and is the naive residue of tribal cultures that still to this day refuse the modern reality. The absurdity of the Almighty being contained by the one true religion is lost in the secular exoteric narcissism of countless childish followers and their parental priesthood of crowd control. Yet so many of these religions would have you believe that God has forsaken countless millions. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Wow, this is totally amazing, we know that the Cardinal is not speaking of Obama himself but of all that follow the promote abortion mentality. The Cardinal’s words are but a few days old and already you can see exactly what he was talking about come forth. Read the above comment s and that is exactly what he was speaking of. The we hate Catholic crowd is already comming out with the let’s get rid of the church. The Prophecy already commeth true.
This man, yes, he’s a man, not god or Jesus … is a kook. And probably a KKK kook at that … hateful, rageful, spewing out his stuff as much as Palin does to instigate more hate and backlash. More bullcrap from these religious right wingers.
They’ll get so prolife, pretty soon, it’ll be an save every semen and fertilize every egg … as anything else is death. Any sex, even married, man to a woman, outside of procreation must amount to be stoning. I’m just waiting for these wacky Christians to unite with some Muslims to kill all of us infidels. Yeah, go terrorists, now in the Vatican too.
God, please save us from these people.
If they were so pro-life, maybe they do more to promote social justice issues. End wars. And so on.
But they’re just empty bobbleheads spewing hate as Jesus’ love.
John,
You wrote that “the Great Schism” [between Catholics in the US, and the rest of the Church] “is coming.”
The thought is laughable. When you were growing up in the Church 45 years ago, maybe Catholics felt boisterous and rebellious. Your generation has done its work well - most of you no longer go to Mass, nor do most of your children. In my experience, the bulk of practicing Catholics a generation younger (I am 31, and was growing up in the Church fifteen or twenty years ago) than yourself either support, submit to, or have no strong feelings about Humanae Vitae and related topics.
Nobody’s going to the barricades over this one, John. Sorry. If you like, of course you are free to leave the Church founded by Christ (or else, what’s the point, really?) and go to any one of the groups that has already committed schism. That would contravene our Lord’s express wish that we all be one (Jn 17:21), of course.
The argument that the Church isn’t as invested in the question of the death penalty is facile and tired. The analogy doesn’t hold because a convict’s guilt brings into the question an entirely different circumstance; to any reasonable thinker, the analogy only highlight’s the unborn child’s innocence. Moreover, how many criminals are executed in the US yearly? Compared to 1.1 - 1.4 million unborn children, the number is miniscule. Lastly, the analogy is usually hypocritical because those making the analogy aren’t often found on picket lines advocating for condemned criminals, either. The argument is just a way to attempt to trivialize the Church’s commitment to protecting innocent human life.
Of all the issues of the 20th century, the defense of innocent and vulnerable human life seems like the perfect one to which the Church should commit herself. In one hundred years, for better or worse, when this dark chapter of our national history is over, I will be proud to have been on the right side, and to have extended some small effort in contribution.
A last bit I’d like to add about your piece: you bring up, yet again, the abuse of children by priests. Right. Fine. Duly noted. Our priests our sinners. In your generation, you were perhaps hit for merely thinking an unpleasant thought about priests. In my generation, we have had no moral guidance from anyone whatsoever. I am grateful for the priest who speaks loudly against modern moral ills, and for the one who quietly counsels me in the confessional. I am grateful for their sacrifice, and for their dedication. I suspect the laziest of them has me beat. I am not going to throw in their faces their own imperfections, vices, or wickedness, let alone the sins of some small percentage of their brothers.
As far as I know, the Catholic Church is a haven and hospice for sinners of all sorts, being transformed in Christ, and reaching out to the world with truth in love by His grace, and was founded to be as much. It was not meant to be a group of people who never really do anything that bad, pillorying our leaders, and demanding that we all just go with the cultural flow - not to my understanding. If you are perfect, and would like to start casting stones first, John, maybe it really would be best for you to take your Great Schism and go elsewhere where you’ll be happier.
Janine, you wrote,
“If you are so concerned about suicide and the lack of respect for life, then get out there, invite EVERYONE to our Catholic church, pound the pavement, give them hope and a place to go for life, companionship and hope instead of rules humans, no Jesus, set upon the catholic church.”
Very well said. Of course, the principle that every human being is made in God’s image and likeness, and so is sacred and inviolable, is not a man-made rule. In fact, it is the foundation of exactly the sort of world we’d like to all live in. How can we say, “Respect and love everyone,” or even “Live and let live,” when we won’t even let them live? I am very grateful that the civil law and criminal law of our land protects my life by imposing sanctions on anyone who would harm it. I suspect that if you pause, you will feel likewise.
If human embryos and fetuses are human beings (what else are they? frogs? Lol.) then it will be very good to extend to them the same protection. In fact, I bet $50 bucks that nobody can produce a reason to take away those protections from the unborn that would not also take them away from you and me.
Just for the record, both political parties support the death penalty, and no presidential candidate was talking about immediate withdrawal from Iraq within a year of the election. That would be irresponsible and everyone knows it.
That said, I am not going to tell anyone how I voted. It does make me very sad that we as a nation decided about 35 or 40 years ago that we would solve our problems by killing them.
I’ve never read such ignorance. Cdl Stafford spoke the truth. I truly wonder if 9 out of 10 of these vitriolic responses were from Catholic people. Then again, they may be written out of self-justification. Worse still . . . . no I wont go there.
Well, Bobby Fontaine surely makes his position clear. He is an anti-Catholic bigot in the first order. While he attempts to educate the masses, perhaps he will include a few minor points.
1. The first 49 popes were murdered for their belief in Christ.
2. The Catholic church founded the university system (during the Dark Ages).
3. As for being against taking care of the poor, the Catholic Church is the second largest provider of funds dedicated to providing for the poor, the first being the US of A.
4. Please educate anyone who listens to you of the work of Mother Theresa.
5. 3% of Catholic priest engaged in terrible act with mostly young men. They were homosexuals, not pedophiles. And if 3% is enough to turn your back on the Catholic Church, then you probably would not have been a follower of Christ during Apostolic times. Afterall, out of the original 12 Apostles, 1 sold his identity, 1 doubted him, 1 denied him, 10 were so frightened that they hid during His crucifiction, Only John was present at the Crucifiction. That means 11 out of 12 did terrible things.
6.The Jesuits were considered the Society of Scientists because of their positive influence on science.
7. Please tell them of the story of Bernadette, who, after dying 150 yrs ago, lies in an open casket, without any preservatives, in perfect shape!
8. Don’t forget to teach them about Ignatius of Antioch who, prior to in the year 107, when he was put to death for celebrating the Mass, spoke of the true Body of Christ in the Eucharist
9. Don’t forget the persecution of Catholics during the Reformation when 10,000 Catholic priests were murdered by HenryVIII alone.
10. Fast forward to the year 1931 when, during the Mexican Revolution, 10,000 Catholic priests and lay people were murdered in one day because they were Catholic.
After you are finished educating your listeners with these points, please ask for more. I can provide thousands of examples where Catholics have shaped the world, including the US, in positive ways but have been martyred for this help. I offer to help you so you can spare your listeners the indignation of having to listen to a dope!
[...] reported in the The Tower, the student newspaper for the Catholic University of America: “For the next few years, [...]
Thank God that Catholics voted for Obama, 54% to 45%, according to the Los Angeles Times (below).
Thank God that the members of our church aren’t bigots clinging to hate like this irrelevant old cardinal.
To claim Obama is “apocalyptic” is simply disgusting. And it is indefensible by any measure of decency in a civil, multicultural, multi-religious (and some with no religion), modern society.
Is this the level of discourse and respect the church - and by extension - Catholic University wants? To call the first African American President, who won in a landslide, who won the majority of Catholic votes - APOCALYPTIC?
How reckless, how inflammatory, how immature, how disgusting.
Obama has the potential to be one of the finest presidents this country has ever seen. And I could not be prouder as a Catholic to have voted for him, along with 54% of my fellow Catholics.
Stop the hate, cardinal. Stop the hate. You are embarrassing the 54% of us who believe in God’s great gift of DEMOCRACY, not theocracy.
http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-na-godgap9-2008nov09,0,6126052.story
STAFFORD SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF: HOW INFLAMMATORY AND HATEFUL. HE SHOULD TRY TO REMEMBER WHAT AGAPE LOVE IS IN THE FIRST PLACE AND KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT!!
A DISGRACE AND A BIGOT IN BISHOP’S MITER.
DO YOU THINK THAT JESUS WOULD REACT THAT WAY TO OBAMA OR ANYONE, EVEN YOU????
SHAME ON YOU!!!
I WILL PRAY THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT OPENS YOUR MIND AND YOUR HARD HEART TO THE TRUE MESSAGE OF JESUS WHICH, OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE TOTALLY CHOSEN TO IGNORE!!!!!
For shame, that the Catholic Church has allowed it’s highest ranking members to become so openly judgmental. I don’t recall where the Catholics teach that Cardinals or any one else is able to read the sins in man’s heart. I was raised to believe that these deeply moral issues were between God and the self. No clergyman has any business to question the complicated choices involved in voting in a Democracy. We live in an imperfect world and have imperfect choices. Does any man have the right to say that one candidate is better than another in the eyes of God?
At last a high-ranking cardinal has the courage to speak the truth about the apocaplyptic nature of the Obama presidency: it will look and sound like the great Beast of Revelations: anti-life, anti-human, anti-democratic and anti-Christ. We must resist this terror with all of our spiritual strength for Obama clearly and forcefully represents the ‘rulers of this present darkness’.
Leave women alone frauds!
“Rome and its Speakers” has nothing to do with GOD, SPIRITUALITY or MORAL. Let’s end this bull.
Rome is infiltrated with God forsaken World Order cons of all sorts who have one thing in mind and its ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT. Had any government or religious institution been against ABORTION they would have first made sure WOMEN WERE PROTECTED. Law does not protect women in any way. Rapes of women and little girls happen every 4 min. on this God Forsaken planet and it is and always has been treated as ISOLATED cases! Pornography which encourages all forms of violence against women showing them as cold, ignorant, unfeeling creatures is not being controlled by the justice system well, as far as Religious orders have played… when did they protect women? On burning stakes?
Come on, people, wake up!
Charles, your statistic is correct. Considering all Catholics, Obama won. But counting good Catholics who practice their faith, John McCain won by about 8%. This is because practicing Catholics by and large realize that nothing compares to killing 1,200,000 million children a year. But if you don’t attend Church, you don’t hear the Gospels, you know nothing about Church teachings, you fail to grasp the connection between the Old Testament which contains the New Testament and the New testament which fulfills the Old. If you don’t go to Church you know nothing of Apostolic Succession and the authority that the Magisterium possesses. I, to, will criticize the Church. The ignorance of the Catholic faith demonstrated by those on this site, many of whom are fallen away Catholics, is the direct result of poor Catechesis on the part of the clergy. Take for example the comments written by Dr. Maria. If she attended Mass, every three years she would hear the entire New Testament. As such she would know that Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers in the Temple. She would have heard of Jesus teaching us to try to change people by a series of moves, and if they still don’t listen, treat them as tax collectors. She would realize that Jesus taught us not to be concerned about war, as wars MUST occur. She would have read St. Paul, who, in 1 Corinthians, taught that if we are conscious of grave sin, receiving Holy Communion is profaning the Body and Blood of Christ. The Cardinal is doing what he is supposed to do, to teach that certain actions have grave consequences for which we may be held accountable. You see, Dr. Maria, the Cardinal couldn’t care more about the salvation of each of us. And the people who support abortion couldn’t care less.
Bill Ronner, how DARE you judge the “good Catholics who practice their faith” from the presumably bad Catholics who do not.
Who gave you the right to sit in judgment of your fellow Catholics? Seems to me only God himself can judge. I don’t remember anything in the Bible about Bill Ronner sitting in judgment. In fact I sorta remember Matthew saying the exact opposite. Something about that log in your eye…
Sorry, sir, but you do not get to decide who is a good Catholic and who is not. Your response tells us everything we need to know about you, and it destroys your credibility.
Are you trying to impress Jesus? Are you trying to help him out?
“Gee, Bill Ronner,” said Jesus. “It’s a pretty busy day for me sitting in judgment on November 4. Can you help me out? Just let me know who the good Catholics are.”
“Hey, JC,” replied Bill Ronner, “no problem! It’s easy for me to tell you who the good Catholics are!!”
Also, mighty Bill Ronner, please explain why you think that according to your statistics (which you did not document), only 46% of “good Catholics” voted for Obama?
Are those 46% of “good Catholics” good but stupid? good but ignorant?
Please explain how any “good Catholic” as judged by you could vote for Obama?
Doesn’t voting for Obama, by your definition, make you a “bad Catholic”? Or can a “good Catholic” vote for an apocalyptic candidate, according to you?
Please, sir, explain. I think all of us, including Jesus Christ, are pretty interested to hear your rationale.
Charles, thanks for your response. I love you guys who roll out the argument that we can’t judge others, yet you judge Obama as a good guy and the Cardinal as a bad one. Unfortunately, you misunderstand the Gospels, probably because you don’t go to Mass very often. So here it is. You are permitted to judge the actions of others as good or bad. Hitler, for example was a bad guy. Agree? But we cannot judge who will be saved and who won’t. That is up to God, and God alone. But Jesus did say to the Apostles “those who listen to you listen to Me, and those who listen to Me listen to the one who sent Me”. Thus, when you don’t attend Mass, you ultimately rejecting Jesus and thus go into the category of a non-practicing Catholic, ie: a lousy one.
Bill Ronner,
You are a wise man! To judge my faith and the faith of 54% of Catholics as easily and self-assuredly as you believe Hitler to be a bad man. Permission to judge is granted indeed!
I think some of the people reading this will get a laugh from your bluster on that last response. (Here’s an old debate tip for ya - if you ever need to bring up Hitler, that’s a sure sign you are losing the argument).
So to keep the laughs coming, please reply once more.
Do you agree with the wonderful Cardinal that Obama is “apocalyptic?”
I assume you do. So, given that the Websters definition of apocalyptic is “the expectation of an imminent cosmic cataclysm,” I am wondering how much time you give us?
When can we expect total implosion of the cosmos? By definition, it’s “imminent” so do you think it will happen before the inauguration, or during the first 100 days, or is there a decent change the apocalypse might happen right as Obama puts his hand on the Bible to take the oath of office?
Conversely, if there is no apocalypse, during the first term, will you write me a letter saying you were wrong? If Obama turns out NOT to be apocalyptic, will you apologize for claiming that the first African American President was an “apocalyptic” candidate?
[...] election of Barack Obama to the presidency is a sign of the apocalypse, it [...]
Please don’t shower me with unearned praise. I am knowledgeable of my Catholic teachings because I have studied my faith. I understand why the Magisterium is authorized to teach and why the teachings of the Holy Father alone or in conjuction with the Magisterium are,under certain circumstances, Infallible. Each day Iattend Mass and listen tothe readings. Each day I am able to receive Holy Communion, the true Body and Blood of Christ. There are massive graces received through daily attendance.
The reference to Hitler was an attempt to demonstrate that we do indeed have a right to judge. To manipulate my reference to Hilter in any other way is disingenuous. As for whether the Cardinal is correct, I don’t know. I do know that Obama promised Planned Parenthood that he would pass the Freedom of Choice Act early in his presidency. This act would remove parental notification and remove the “conscience” exemption for Catholic medical personnel and hospitals. Thus, either these Catholics and institution will have to reject Christ or give up their professions. He is a very pro-abortion guy, very much an extremist. Of course, we have all heard of the Born Alive Legislation he refused to support. This law required medical personnel to give care to an infant “accidentally” born after an abortion was attempted. Obama voted against this act FOUR times. Before you distort his vote, let me add that he was afraid passing this law would create the impetus to overturn Roe. I guess his motto is “some must die so that many may die”.. Also, before you try to explain his vote, on one occasion in which no, the bill was identical to the one voted on in the US Senate, a bill which even the most pro-abortion democrats voted in favor.
Back to the apocalypse. Any way you define it, a rejection of the teachings of Christ could be considered apocalyptic by reasonable people. Thus could anything good come from the death of 1,200,000 in the US and 12,000,000 worldwide. Can anything good come from abortion of which 33% of the victims are black, yet blacks constitute only 12% of the population? Can anything good come from acts of which 650,000 victims are little girls? And can anything good come from electing someone with such a malformed consciience that he supports these acts? Shamefully, 54% of all Catholics, practicing or not, rejected the teachings of the Church. Can anything good come from that?
Truly prophetic words by the Cardinal. A combination of a pro-death commitment with Chicago-style political thuggery (i.e. Rahm Emanuel, chief of staff, sends dead fishes in the mail to his political enemies) by the incoming regime will be a test for all orthodox Catholics and other believers of good will. I am amazed at how gullible all of the “pro-Obama Cathoics” are in thinking that somehow, this new administration will do pro-life things. Obama is strongly pro Roe v. Wade, opposed the partial birth abortion ban (you know, the procedure whereby a baby about to be born has a scissor poked in his/her head, with the brains being sucked out), has vowed to sign the “Freedom of Choice Act”, and as a State legislator in Illinois, refused to allow on the floor for a vote a piece of legislation that would criminalize infanticide for babies who survived botched abortions. Now because he is going to be president, we are expected to believe that he will change his convictions? Doug Kmiec, an alleged Catholic & Law Prof who abandoned the pro-life movement to support Obama spoke at a local (Scranton, Pa. area) university prior to the election. I attended this event. He took the same line, and drank the same kool-aid as some of the pro-Obama posters on this forum. When he was asked about Obama’s support for FOCA, Kmiec’s response did not deny this, but said that we need not worry because FOCA “would not pass constitutional muster”. Great answer! I have heard from some local pro-lifers that Kmiec was passed over by the Republicans for a judicial appointment, and that he has been promised one by the Obama people. If true, that would serve to explian a lot!
Charles…take a little advice from George Carlin: Bill Ronner and his type love to mentally masturbate. They get off hearing themselves judge, mouthing platitudes
and generally stroking themselves until they are relieved! People who masturbate don’t engage others, don’t relate, don’t give and take. It’s all about them. That’s why they can’t convince anyone other than themselves.
And for you Bill, a little advice from George: try the real thing. At least at the end you will have something to show for it!
What is truly amazing is how the majority of the comments are political and have absolutely nothing to do with faith, God, the Gospel message, trust in Jesus or anything related. So many use the veil of religion to suport their political persuassion and agenda. Maybe the Cardinal is right in his apocalyptic prediction - but in the area of those who think that POLITICS = GOD or POLITICAL ACTION = SALVATION - it just may be the beginning of the end for such people to ever experience God. Jesus was right, we can’t serve two masters. So choose God’s way - let politics take care of itself. Let lawyers fight over the laws. Let the self-righteous condemn the actions of others. But if you want to know God, then serve God and no one else.
Bravo father! Our pastor this Sunday told us one of the “good men” of the parish came up to him after the election and was ranting about the election of Obama and predicting the end of the world! He then said: “I hope someone kills him!”
As some in the congregation gasped, the pastor said: “Oh come on. As if you haven’t heard that before!” Take many of the comments of the Cardinal and others on this site and the reasoning is the same. AND they think they are good
Catholics!!!!! Sad. The Pharisees are still with us. Again, an excellent, excellent
come father.
To Regis
You miss the hwole point. If “Christians” had lived by the example of Jesus, slavery would have disappeared long before it did. It would not have made it to America. If “Christians” had not lived by human laws, but instead by God’s laws, they would not have cared that it was legal to “own” slaves but would have seen each person as a child of God, created in God’s image and likeness. If “Christians” accepted the way of Jesus there would be no need to fight for women’s rights becasue “Christians” would be living Jesus’ model in spiite of whatever the civil law said. Apply it to so many of the human actions that continue to plague our world, and we can see how it would work. If “Christians” would see that God’s way is the right way, we would not care what many human laws say because we would be living Jesus’ law of love. The world is filled with things that need to be changed - we should not be spending any time trying to fight laws that say what we can do - those we can simply make obsolete by showing a better way. The only human laws we need to fight are those that say what we must do if they are unfair or are in contradiction to how we ae called to live. If they say women “MUST” have an abortion - then we need to organize and fight. If they say someone “MUST” be treated unfairly, we should become very vocal. But to spend all the money and resources that we do to fight laws that simply say we can choose to do something is a waste of time. Just show people a better way - and as human nature proves time and time again - they will want it. But as CHURCH, we have not done nearly what we should be doing to show that better way. Too often we simply want to say “NO” without giving any assistance to those who see no hope. As Church - we should care about human laws only when they prevent us from living God’s way. But we have grown lazy and think that laws take care of our responsibility. We need to remind ourselves that we need to trust in God’s ways - just as God has trusted us with all of God’s creation.
Yes!! Thank you, thank you father. The Truth is never easy to hear, especially for some Catholics, it seems, but that doesn’t make it less true. God bless you.
As for me, I see much fasting, penance, and prayer for our country in my future.
George - thanks and let’s just keep praying - and pointing out to the whole Church when needed - that yes, Jesus’ comments about Pharisees really do mean us. Too many say - well it doesn’t mean me.
Peace!
Remember always, yes God is a loving and merciful God but he is also a just God and every one of us will be givin what we desire. Those who truely desire God’s way will get to see him and those who do not want God’s ways will not. So who wants God’s way’s and who does not? Look at what you want and decide, you will judge yourself on the last day.
[...] President-elect Barack Obama as “aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic.” The accompanying story reads: “For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal. We will know that garden,” [...]
It seems to me that some, including priests, are missing the whole point of Catholic Social Teaching, or simply know nothing about it. It is for the hierarchs to teach the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, including the moral aspects, and it is for the laity to “put flesh” on those principles in society, via political action, legislation, etc. I recommend going to the Vatican website. You can download the entire Compendium of Catholic Social Teaching. Part of Catholic Social Teaching is that we, as Catholics, have an obligation to try and build a society which reflects the values of the Gospels. We have an obligation to build a society which makes it easier for it’s citizens to find Christ, and to save their souls. To not fight on issues involving intrinsic evil such as Roe v. Wade, partial birth abortion, infanticide, and embryonic stem cell research is to send a signal that we don’t care if our fellow citizens engage in the murder of the innocent, and, thus, we don’t care if they end up in Hell. That is NOT the message we want to send. If the government legislated that it is OK to go next door and murder your neighbor, am I to assume that it is OK for us not to fight that legislation because it does not COMMAND us to murder our neighbor? Please! We, as Catholics, have an obligation to be engaged in the politics of the day. We are not Gnostics, nor are we Christian Scientists. We do not see the Soul as “good”, with the “flesh” being evil, therefore justifying our lack of action in the political marketplace. Catholicism