Beginning 1 Aug of this year, health plans, by Government order, will no longer charge co-payments on contraceptives; the average monthly co-pay for a diabetic on their life saving supplies and medications is $105. In 2013 Catholics will be required to finance contraception, sterilization and abortion through the insurance plans Catholic institutions purchase, in violation of existing legal conscience protections and precedent. We have enabled this, as Catholics.
We now have Bishops finally coming out and saying what they should have said, explicitly and without waffling, years ago--social justice issues do not trump murder. For far too long, we Catholics have voted, largely, for candidates and officials that tout 'justice', all the while facilitating the murder of children for the convenience of others. The Catholic vote has been instrumental in the installation of the current regime which hates human life.
We have sat in our pews, Sunday after Sunday, and said nothing, simply trying to live our faith, and in doing that we have failed.
Even now, there are bishops--like the bishop of Salt Lake City Utah--who have appointed pro abortion, 'social justice" people who are at best shills for the statist and progressive wing of the liberals to confuse the faithful about their duty and the definition of social justice. And people will support murder and evil because of it.
We cannot obtain justice for someone after they have been dismembered in their mothers womb. We cannot be just to minorities and immigrants when we allow them to be legally murdered before birth in such disproportionate numbers. Make no mistake, the scourge of abortion falls most heavily upon minorities, and is a sign that no matter what the White Liberal Middle Class Establishment says, it hates minorities, or it wouldn't facilitate the murder of their children.
As a long standing part of the Democratic Core for over a century, we Catholics are part of the problem. The Progressives swear at the "Blue Dog" democrats--well we Catholics need to swear at the"Blue Dog Catholics"--Catholics who will vote for anyone who labels themselves as a Democrat, no matter how much they oppose Church teachings, and work to cripple the Churches mission of witness in the Public Square. (And just for the record, I was raised up to be a pro-labor Democrat, from a staunchly Democratic family until well after I left the home and struck out on my own.) We have allowed, as lay Catholics, groups like "Catholic for a Free Choice" (now calling itself "Catholics for Choice"), "Catholics for Obama" and others to speak out load in public, claiming to speak for us. We need to take a note from the old disputes in the Church, and BE the Church Militant--speak out courageously, loudly and incessantly for the truth, and live our vocation as laymen.
We are supposed to bring the truth, the Gospel, into the public sphere, where the Bishops, Priests and Deacons cannot. We are supposed to be on the front lines, defending the weakest, who are prey to the commercialized murder industry, supported by a government that seeks to silence us, and even to prevent us from living according to the dictates of our faith. And every time we sat silent in our pews, and let someone hijack our faith to promote a political philosophy that lead to murder, to fornication, to sodomy by distorting or omitting teachings of the Faith, we failed in our vocation. Until now, the Church is filled with the Smoke of Satan, the rot of systemic sin.
On the 19th of this month, His Holiness said to American Bishops making their Ad Limina visits that it "... is imperative that the entire Catholic Community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Churches moral witness presented by a radical secularism which find increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres." Without repentance, without prayer, without fasting, this isn't going to happen, and the Church in America will be crippled from within, for it will not find the strength to oppose the tyranny of conscience the progressives are laying upon us. We are desecrated by an internal divide, which is based not in an interpretation of the Gospels, or a disagreement over Ecclesiology, but upon a rejection of the possibility of absolute truth, of Revelation, or the Singular Event in human history which was the incarnation. Quite simply, we have too many people who think the Gospel can be made and remade into whatever pleases their own fancy.
And those who want to make the Church into something that Christ didn't found are powerful. Powerful indeed. I mentioned earlier in this post Bishop John Charles Wester, of Salt Lake City Utah appointing a pro-abortion "spokesperson" to explain to Catholics how to vote. In an earlier post, entitled "More Fifth Column" I explained that, and gave his contact information so that the faithful could make known thier disappointment at her distortions of Catholic Social Teaching to promote the election of the very people who are infringing on our Freedom of Religion and promoting Death in our culture. (Scroll down to it if you're interested.) But there are more examples.
Here in Louisville, we have something called "The Passionist Earth and Spirit Center". It's located at 1924 Newburg Rd, Louisville Ky, 40205, and their phone number is 502.452.2749. Now the Passionists were founded as a congregation by St. Paul of the Cross, with two characteristics--contemplation and missionary work. They were founded to be a Congregation of preachers spreading the Gospel of Christ. Yet the mission statement of this place doesn't mention Christ, or the Gospel--it mentions "..transformative...Eco-spirituality", "....an awakening of union with the Divine presence which permeates all life...", "..eco-justice". They are not going to further what is distinctive and essential to Catholic Teaching and Spirituality. And this in in a Congregation of Pontifical Right. And they are not going to work against a progressive faction that hides it's obsession with death and murder under the rhetoric of "green" politics.
Xavier University in Cincinnati Ohio is supposedly a Catholic School run by the Jesuits--and on their home page--I looked--is nothing about it being Catholic, Their "Campus Life" page doesn't mention Catholicism at all, or any religion. I looked. But most of all, after Kathleen Sebelius promulgated the regulations that mean that Catholic institutions must, by 2013, purchase insurance that pays for abortions, contraceptives and sterilizations, they nominated her for honors--in contravention of the Churches directives about honoring pro-abortion politicians, and politicians that work against the Church--in connection with the Gilligan Public Service Scholarship. The information on their web page has been scrubbed once it was published by faithful Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati who objected.
Catholic Healthcare West--you may remember that they were involved in quietly providing abortion services in 2010--has severed connections with the Church. They have changed their name to "Dignity Healthcare", because ripping children apart in their mothers belly is such an affirmation of human dignity. That's 40 hospitals suddenly not Catholic. Because of the actions of administrators, Catholics served by these hospitals in the expectations of Catholic ethical standards being adhered to, such as at a minimum the provision of nutrition and hydration for terminal patients, not euthanasia (which is more widespread than believed) and the provision of minimal care for children born moribund have no where to go. For generations, Catholics provided donations, patronage, prayers and support, and built these hospitals. Now they have been stolen by people who were supposedly Catholic. They weren't. No one who is Catholic can blythly separate themselves or their organization from the Church in the name of "expansion" or other goals. We have just been robbed by secularists masquerading as Catholics of forty hospitals. I don't know if "Sr". Margaret Mary McBride, who was one of the VPs of St. Joseph Hospital still works there. I wouldn't be surprised--she was obviously part of the problem.
Even portions of the Catholic Press are on board with this--the National Catholic Reporter has published an editorial saying that the fault lies in the bishops forcing the governments hand to do this, and that the governments reasoning is more in line with Catholic teaching on conscience than the Bishops themselves.
Every time we have set silently in our pew, or in our chair at Church functions, educational meetings and events and not called out such things, we have cooperated by omission. Every time we walk passed our parishes pamphlet rack and publication stand and seen publications which contradict or distort our Churches teaching, and not complained, we have cooperated by omission. Does your Parish sell the National Catholic Reporter? Complain to the pastor, in writing, with a copy to the Chancery, citing instances of this publication contradicting the Church. Send a copy to the Papal Nuncio, too. Does a speaker come to your parish and extol 'social justice" and the expense of Life? Stand up, in the event, and call them on the hierarchy of truth and the primacy of human life in social justice. Stand up!
Stand up, or we will never be able to walk our faith in freedom in this country.
We now have Bishops finally coming out and saying what they should have said, explicitly and without waffling, years ago--social justice issues do not trump murder. For far too long, we Catholics have voted, largely, for candidates and officials that tout 'justice', all the while facilitating the murder of children for the convenience of others. The Catholic vote has been instrumental in the installation of the current regime which hates human life.
We have sat in our pews, Sunday after Sunday, and said nothing, simply trying to live our faith, and in doing that we have failed.
Even now, there are bishops--like the bishop of Salt Lake City Utah--who have appointed pro abortion, 'social justice" people who are at best shills for the statist and progressive wing of the liberals to confuse the faithful about their duty and the definition of social justice. And people will support murder and evil because of it.
We cannot obtain justice for someone after they have been dismembered in their mothers womb. We cannot be just to minorities and immigrants when we allow them to be legally murdered before birth in such disproportionate numbers. Make no mistake, the scourge of abortion falls most heavily upon minorities, and is a sign that no matter what the White Liberal Middle Class Establishment says, it hates minorities, or it wouldn't facilitate the murder of their children.
As a long standing part of the Democratic Core for over a century, we Catholics are part of the problem. The Progressives swear at the "Blue Dog" democrats--well we Catholics need to swear at the"Blue Dog Catholics"--Catholics who will vote for anyone who labels themselves as a Democrat, no matter how much they oppose Church teachings, and work to cripple the Churches mission of witness in the Public Square. (And just for the record, I was raised up to be a pro-labor Democrat, from a staunchly Democratic family until well after I left the home and struck out on my own.) We have allowed, as lay Catholics, groups like "Catholic for a Free Choice" (now calling itself "Catholics for Choice"), "Catholics for Obama" and others to speak out load in public, claiming to speak for us. We need to take a note from the old disputes in the Church, and BE the Church Militant--speak out courageously, loudly and incessantly for the truth, and live our vocation as laymen.
We are supposed to bring the truth, the Gospel, into the public sphere, where the Bishops, Priests and Deacons cannot. We are supposed to be on the front lines, defending the weakest, who are prey to the commercialized murder industry, supported by a government that seeks to silence us, and even to prevent us from living according to the dictates of our faith. And every time we sat silent in our pews, and let someone hijack our faith to promote a political philosophy that lead to murder, to fornication, to sodomy by distorting or omitting teachings of the Faith, we failed in our vocation. Until now, the Church is filled with the Smoke of Satan, the rot of systemic sin.
On the 19th of this month, His Holiness said to American Bishops making their Ad Limina visits that it "... is imperative that the entire Catholic Community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Churches moral witness presented by a radical secularism which find increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres." Without repentance, without prayer, without fasting, this isn't going to happen, and the Church in America will be crippled from within, for it will not find the strength to oppose the tyranny of conscience the progressives are laying upon us. We are desecrated by an internal divide, which is based not in an interpretation of the Gospels, or a disagreement over Ecclesiology, but upon a rejection of the possibility of absolute truth, of Revelation, or the Singular Event in human history which was the incarnation. Quite simply, we have too many people who think the Gospel can be made and remade into whatever pleases their own fancy.
And those who want to make the Church into something that Christ didn't found are powerful. Powerful indeed. I mentioned earlier in this post Bishop John Charles Wester, of Salt Lake City Utah appointing a pro-abortion "spokesperson" to explain to Catholics how to vote. In an earlier post, entitled "More Fifth Column" I explained that, and gave his contact information so that the faithful could make known thier disappointment at her distortions of Catholic Social Teaching to promote the election of the very people who are infringing on our Freedom of Religion and promoting Death in our culture. (Scroll down to it if you're interested.) But there are more examples.
Here in Louisville, we have something called "The Passionist Earth and Spirit Center". It's located at 1924 Newburg Rd, Louisville Ky, 40205, and their phone number is 502.452.2749. Now the Passionists were founded as a congregation by St. Paul of the Cross, with two characteristics--contemplation and missionary work. They were founded to be a Congregation of preachers spreading the Gospel of Christ. Yet the mission statement of this place doesn't mention Christ, or the Gospel--it mentions "..transformative...Eco-spirituality", "....an awakening of union with the Divine presence which permeates all life...", "..eco-justice". They are not going to further what is distinctive and essential to Catholic Teaching and Spirituality. And this in in a Congregation of Pontifical Right. And they are not going to work against a progressive faction that hides it's obsession with death and murder under the rhetoric of "green" politics.
Xavier University in Cincinnati Ohio is supposedly a Catholic School run by the Jesuits--and on their home page--I looked--is nothing about it being Catholic, Their "Campus Life" page doesn't mention Catholicism at all, or any religion. I looked. But most of all, after Kathleen Sebelius promulgated the regulations that mean that Catholic institutions must, by 2013, purchase insurance that pays for abortions, contraceptives and sterilizations, they nominated her for honors--in contravention of the Churches directives about honoring pro-abortion politicians, and politicians that work against the Church--in connection with the Gilligan Public Service Scholarship. The information on their web page has been scrubbed once it was published by faithful Catholics in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati who objected.
Catholic Healthcare West--you may remember that they were involved in quietly providing abortion services in 2010--has severed connections with the Church. They have changed their name to "Dignity Healthcare", because ripping children apart in their mothers belly is such an affirmation of human dignity. That's 40 hospitals suddenly not Catholic. Because of the actions of administrators, Catholics served by these hospitals in the expectations of Catholic ethical standards being adhered to, such as at a minimum the provision of nutrition and hydration for terminal patients, not euthanasia (which is more widespread than believed) and the provision of minimal care for children born moribund have no where to go. For generations, Catholics provided donations, patronage, prayers and support, and built these hospitals. Now they have been stolen by people who were supposedly Catholic. They weren't. No one who is Catholic can blythly separate themselves or their organization from the Church in the name of "expansion" or other goals. We have just been robbed by secularists masquerading as Catholics of forty hospitals. I don't know if "Sr". Margaret Mary McBride, who was one of the VPs of St. Joseph Hospital still works there. I wouldn't be surprised--she was obviously part of the problem.
Even portions of the Catholic Press are on board with this--the National Catholic Reporter has published an editorial saying that the fault lies in the bishops forcing the governments hand to do this, and that the governments reasoning is more in line with Catholic teaching on conscience than the Bishops themselves.
Every time we have set silently in our pew, or in our chair at Church functions, educational meetings and events and not called out such things, we have cooperated by omission. Every time we walk passed our parishes pamphlet rack and publication stand and seen publications which contradict or distort our Churches teaching, and not complained, we have cooperated by omission. Does your Parish sell the National Catholic Reporter? Complain to the pastor, in writing, with a copy to the Chancery, citing instances of this publication contradicting the Church. Send a copy to the Papal Nuncio, too. Does a speaker come to your parish and extol 'social justice" and the expense of Life? Stand up, in the event, and call them on the hierarchy of truth and the primacy of human life in social justice. Stand up!
Stand up, or we will never be able to walk our faith in freedom in this country.
2 comments:
Amen!
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”--Edmund Burke
I think he might have been onto something there. As you point out, our silence is killing us.
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