I have no meds to hand out, and I am not a grief counselor. All I have is a good home remedy: prayer and penance.
Here is my homily from the election vigil. It is comprised of three parts: 1) our civil responsibility in voting; 2) the problem we confront; 3) the solution. The first part says nothing that will help us in our present plight, unless we consider that many Catholics still have not learned the lesson of what their obligations are. The second two parts are very much at the heart of what we must do in order to effectively confront cultural and moral pestilence which we face.
Unfortunately, the homily has not been uploaded to a share site so I am not able to embed the video here. If it becomes available I will.
Our crisis is one of sanctity. Be a saint. That is the only way the Antichrist will be defeated.
Now, I am not saying that the Obama is the Antichrist, as he does not fulfill what seems to be characteristics of the Antichrist described in Scripture and the Fathers; however, I do think that he is antichristic by his own camp’s definition. If the Mother Goddess of television can say things like this about Christ and then this about Obama, then, I think it is reasonable to not to mince words on the subject.
Obama’s own disicples are the ones who have chosen to adopt religious language. They may do so with a sense of irony, but in so far as their godlessness will continue to claim the lives of millions in the name of hopeandchange, then the indictment sticks.
Oprah says that “God is a feeling experience, not a believing experience. if your religion is a believing experience–if God for you is still about a belief, then it’s not truly God.” Obama is a feeling experience, not a believing experience. If that were not true then all those who could not even mention one of his practical accomplishments would never have voted for him.
One of Mother Oprah’s new age gurus is looking to establish a new cabinet level Department of Peace in the U.S. government. Oprah had a link to the Department of Peace idea up on her website that is now no longer functional.
For your true consolation read the words of the great Marian prophet, St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort (True Devotion, 46-48):
All the rich among the people, to use an expression of the Holy Spirit as explained by St. Bernard, all the rich among the people will look pleadingly upon her countenance throughout all ages and particularly as the world draws to its end. This means that the greatest saints, those richest in grace and virtue will be the most assiduous in praying to the most Blessed Virgin, looking up to her as the perfect model to imitate and as a powerful helper to assist them.
I said that this will happen especially towards the end of the world, and indeed soon, because Almighty God and his holy Mother are to raise up great saints who will surpass in holiness most other saints as much as the cedars of Lebanon tower above little shrubs. This has been revealed to a holy soul whose life has been written by M. de Renty.
These great souls filled with grace and zeal will be chosen to oppose the enemies of God who are raging on all sides. They will be exceptionally devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Illumined by her light, strengthened by her food, guided by her spirit, supported by her arm, sheltered under her protection, they will fight with one hand and build with the other. With one hand they will give battle, overthrowing and crushing heretics and their heresies, schismatics and their schisms, idolaters and their idolatries, sinners and their wickedness. With the other hand they will build the temple of the true Solomon and the mystical city of God, namely, the Blessed Virgin, who is called by the Fathers of the Church the Temple of Solomon and the City of God . By word and example they will draw all men to a true devotion to her and though this will make many enemies, it will also bring about many victories and much glory to God alone.
Mary Victrix 
Hello Everyone!
I believe that the root cause of this election is not those Catholics who are against abortion. I believe that the root cause is those Catholics who lost their way from moral relativity.
Fr. Angelo, thanks for your positive comments. I say positive only when compared to this letter that I received from a Christian pastor.
God Bless,
Post Election Thoughts
“This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men (Daniel 4:17).”
The election passed and no, you are not dreaming. Everyone just take a deep breath, sip extra strong coffee, set aside the grief, and let us courageously face the outcome of this year’s consequential election. Before anyone accuses me of racism, however, be forewarned that I voted for a black man with slave blood. No, it was not “The Messiah,” but statesman, Alan Keyes. With that out of the way, let us press on to matters of greater importance.
First, Patrick Henry once declared that Almighty God presides over the destiny of nations. The trumpet of the American Revolution agreed with the Prophet Daniel, the Triune God of the Bible rules and reigns in the affairs of men. God’s word clearly teaches that God judges and restores nations based upon the leaders He sets in positions of authority. In fact, He will grant a people the basest of leaders according to the counsel of His sovereign will. In other words, God will turn nations over to their lusts (Romans 1). They will receive what they richly deserve and find to their horror that they cannot live with it. Welcome to the new Amerika!
This election is God’s ex-ray that reveals the wretched condition of our nation’s soul. Our country, under strong delusion, elected a man influenced by Communism, Islam, Chicago Gangsters, Black Liberation Theology, and associates with terroristic backgrounds. Our nation rejoices in this selection, while our enemy’s abroad dance in the streets. What does this portend for our increasingly dangerous future?
Apparently, the decades of making void the knowledge of God in our schools, government, and culture has taken its toll. Many of our young were captured by the charm of Obama. Reminds one of the Hitler youth movement of yore. Is this too drastic a comment? Well, what does Obama’s call for a civil force patrolling America mean, a force with equal funding allocated to the U.S. military? Is that anything like the Black Panthers we saw standing guard at polling booths with clubs?
Void of the ability to think critically, our misguided youth swooned, fainted, and worshipped our new president as a rock star. Believing the Obama presidency will provide womb to the tomb coverage for their lives, many bowed to give homage to the man who would save us. It appears that Marxism has found a new champion in the USSA, United Socialist States of America.
As it stands, the Democrats now control all three branches of government. The party of death has risen to unprecedented power. Though the Democrats rightly view this as a mandate for their agenda, our system of checks and balances stands in jeopardy. Republicans have demonstrated for years that they do not have the moral will to resist the secular progressive’s agenda. All the Republicans mange to do is maintain ground, while the Democrats march on to capture more territory. As in 2006, this election sent the Republicans packing once again. Simply because they have refused to energize their base and implement the righteous mandates they were elected to achieve. Sane Americans desire our government to protect life, family, and our futures. It was an insult to many that the Republicans served up a John McCain candidacy, and all the Sarah Palins in the world could not rescue them from defeat. Regardless, it appears that Obama will have a rubber stamp to implement his new vision of change for Amerika.
What can we look forward to? More radical judges will be appointed to the Supreme Court and Federal benches. FOCA, the Freedom of Choice Act, if passed by the Obama administration, will serve to wipe out all legislative Pro-life gains in recent years. In fact, FOCA will make Americans more complicit in the crime of shedding the blood of innocent babies made in the image of God. We must remember, until Barack Obama, the Supreme Court was responsible in 1973 for unleashing this hell against our own children. When our nation voted for Obama, however, our nation voted in agreement with this covenant of death that pollutes and defiles our land. Surely, the increase of God’s wrath will reveal the greater degree of accountability every American will now have to face.
Next on the agenda is the passing of the infamous “Hate Crimes” legislation. At long last, the enemies of the cross have a president that will sign this tyrannical piece of legislation. Churches, pastors, and Christian business owners will be subject to fines, jail, and other penalties. Especially, if they dare state the self-evident truth that homosexuality is a sin, an abomination, and a treacherous act against God’s creative order.
Yes, there was a silver lining in this election as Proposition 8 in California passed its ban against “gay marriage.” Arizona and Florida did likewise. Don’t be fooled, however, “gay marriage” will still be pursued by God-haters who are strengthening their grip about the sword of civil government.
What is the Church to do in light of these dire days? Do what the Church has always done in the times of tyranny. Trust God and continue to do good. When men’s laws conflict with God’s law, we are to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). Remember, it is our civil government that is increasingly becoming the lawbreaker. It is our sacred duty to remain law keepers. Even when keeping God’s law becomes a crime in the land of the free and the home of the brave, we must not deny our Lord. And if we happen to suffer persecution, we are to cultivate hearts that thank God that we were found worthy to suffer shame for His name-sake (Acts 5:41).
Make no mistake here, our nation just crossed a major line that may take years to recover from. It has just opened itself up to receive a greater manifestation of an anti-Christ spirit. The enemies of the cross have been empowered by this election. Their hostility against our Lord, the church, and His everlasting truth will turn more overt.
Personally, I’m preparing the Thomas Nation for the difficult days ahead. The message to my children is “our faith is not for sale, it is non-negotiable. We are not turning back, we are not giving in, and we are not turning away. We will offer God a willing heart to bear His truth, though despised, penalized, and punished in America. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord, whether or not it remains legal in America to do so.”
I highly recommend churches and Christian families prepare as well. We can no longer pretend the noose is not tightening to strangle our Christian liberty. It is and we have to face the hard truth. Jeremiah warns, “If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan (Jeremiah 12:5)?”
Sunshine Christians will not survive what is coming. The boys will be separated from the men like the sheep from the goats. Our faith will be tried as by fire. Let us pray that we will come forth as gold. I will conclude with the words of Thomas Paine. His words, I believe, apply to our current distress. He stated, “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”
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IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE, Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas
To clarify my point above: Catholics should be against both, abortion and moral relativism.
I agree. Catholics in general don’t have the moral fortitude or political will to end abortion, and that, in my opinion is because of a contraceptive and unchaste life style. We won’t oppose the culture so we float downstream. Obamamania is soft and spineless.
Actually, Patty, I thought this was excellent! I don’t find it to be negative at all. I’m hopeful that not ALL of the gloom and doom he predicts will come to be, but in reality, I’d be naive to think that a good chunk of it wouldn’t come true. I think his overall message is that we must stay the course and stay focused on God and His laws.
I haven’t read Father Angelo’s excerpt from St. Louis de Montfort yet … I’m sure that’s excellent as well!
I’m hoping that the first thing that will happen is that MOther Goddess, as Fr Angelo called her, will be de-frocked! That her *lack of* wisdom will be revealed and she will be seen as she is. Once people like her are exposed, I pray the wool will be removed from people’s eyes. At that point is when the healing can happen. At that point, we must be charitable otherwise we will drive everyone away. For me, that will be the hardest thing, I will admit. sigh.
Trying to put a smile on my face!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Now is not a time for tepidity, especially considering that we live in a society that directly attacks Christianity (let alone Catholicism).
And Oprah has way too much money and time to allow herself to become “defrocked”, unfortunately. I don’t watch her, but I know she’s pretty full of it, excuse me, I mean herself…
The best document I’ve read in this political discourse is from the USCCB’s 1998 Statement “Living the Gospel of Life”. It rings so true for today ALL OF IT! If you haven’t read it yet, please do so.
Keep me in your prayers, as I’m about to be stoned to death on-line from an angry Obama Catholic mob?
Patty,
You don’t have to go down alone. There are a number of readers here that would like to go with you.
It almost become passe to repeat it, it seems – but we need to pray. I think that we’ve placed too much of our hope in politics – and God, in His mercy, is showing us in this election that our works are empty and frail apart from grace. We’ve placed our hope in the republican party, in Bush, in McCain, Palin. But Christ is our King. We are Catholic first.
There is a “movement”, of sorts, appearing around the Catholic blogosphere called Rosaries for Life and I suggest that we all join; the Knights, Other Marys, MIM, third order, and everyone else who is willing. It is calling for 68,000,000 (that’s 68 million) rosaries to be prayed from Nov 10 until the inauguration of Obama on Jan 20, for the intention of life and other intentions for our country (see the link.) 68,000,000 is relevant because it is roughly the number of Catholics in America, and it is also roughly the number of votes that Obama received.
In the light of Lepanto, we know what the power of prayer can do. We need to turn to Our Lord and Our Lady putting our trust in them. “Seek *first* the kingdom of God…”
Steve, please do not be discouraged. You stated that our works are empty. First off Our works are not empty nor are they in vain. God knows all things. Our prayers do not go unanswered! God has the last say.
Secondly you stated that we placed our hope in the republican party perhaps that is were we failed short of. Perhaps we need to put more of our hope and trust in Christ first and foremost.
I too, am very disappointed about this out come. We can not give up. We must get back up and FIGHT. FIGHT to the bitter end. When we are the weakest is when we are the strongest. We must PRAY! Pray and ask God to give us the strenght to do His will.
Finally, Look at what happened to Moses and all the first born. They were killing babies back then and what happened? God made a promise and he kept it.
Then what happened when King Herod ordered all of the babies to be killed. A promise was made at the beginning of time and it was fulfilled.
God Will Fulfill his promise he always has. Nothing has gone in vain, nothing.
Gods Will Be Done!
Your Sister in Christ
+JMJ+
Hello Darling Ones,
Amen to dear St. Louise Marie…and of course St. Maximillian Maria is an excellent example of a saint of latter times who totally allowed the Virgin to be his complete Mistress and surrendered to her his entire being. I look to him and to dear Papa John Paul. I am not afraid.
This time is all about Devotion to Mary and the Divine Mercy. Catholics need to fast–fasting is not an ‘option’ and not being “into fasting’ is not sufficient. Christ Himself very clearly stated that some demons can only be cast out by prayer and fasting.
Fr. Angelo, you are absolutely right re: unchastity among Catholics. The contraceptive world view directly feeds into the Culture of Death. With 87% of married Catholic couples using artificial contraception and a myriad of unmarried Catholics being sexually promiscuous, of course Catholics are lax in opposing abortion: abortion is a reminder of the sinful lifestyles. Abortion is a reminder that there are moral absolutes which they themselves ignore.
Now more than ever we need to pray and fast vigilantly. We must recall that we are not exempt from a fall. At any moment any one of us can be faced with a temptation and fall…even grievously. We must gaurd ourselves with the Mantel of Maria and beg God for steadfast Faith…and then we must BEG for the salvation of the world…
This is the Era of the Saints. Either you shall be a saint, or you shall not. And only you can make that choice. My deep desire is that each one of us may indeed choose the Cross, choose sanctity…and be willing to lay down our very lives for the Kingdom of Christ and out of love for our Heavenly Queen! AJPM!
In Their Hearts,
Alicia
Ave Maria,
Alicia,
That was very good.
Now for us who are M.I.M. members we truly need to embrace the Marian VOW reread
and reflect on the “Marian Seraphic Pathway”. We have everything we need for the “Last Crusade” we just need to put it into practice. Our Lord’s children will be transformed into little Mary’s once she his in the home of her children’s “hearts”. We need to spread the Marian VOW everywhere and build up our forces. This is the answer to the worlds problems, this is the Mission of the Immaculate Mediatrix M.I.M.
DEUS VULT!!!!
I wait patiently and ponder making the Marian VOW.
Fr. Angelo,
Thanks for your prayers. Unfortunately for me, I am still here (I figure at this point, the only way I’m making it to Heaven is through Martyrdom:) As one person pointed out, this isn’t going to be easy, as I’m being stoned to death with popcorn.
Steve, I also joined “Rosaries for Life” and posted it on “CatholicVote.com” where I’ve been working (wrestling?) with others for a while. Thank God for Mike who is able to be articulate (I’m blessed/cursed with being emotional) Thank God for philosophy and logic!
Father, I guess my biggest question is, how could a vote for Obama be considered a mortal sin for the 54% of Catholics who voted for him? Don’t you have to be culpable of the sin in order to commit a mortal sin? Most Catholics don’t know the tenets of their Faith, let alone how to apply those tenets to their political outlook. Could you break it down for me? I was able to articulate that it was a mortal sin to those who journeyed with me through the Bishop’s statements, through “Forming Consciences”, through “Humanae Vitae”, through “Evangelium Vitae”, through “Living the Gospel of Life”. However, some of these still chose to vote Obama in. But what about the other “99” shall we say? I just am not clear?
Do you think it’s a sign of God’s grace that more and more evangelical Christians are starting to sound more and more like Catholics? The Scriptures will lead them home, at least that’s my prayer!
Dear Champion of the Lord and the Preborn,
The Lord richly bless you! As I’ve wrestled more with the Lord concerning the historic meaning and significance of the Barack Obama’s presidency, here are some more thoughts. They may indeed offend, perhaps even scare some of you. But as Patrick Henry once stated, “Are we disposed to be of the numbers of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so concern our temporal salvation in America? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.”
Personification of Idolatry
There is a popular song performed by Casting Crowns. It is called “Slow Fade.” The following are some of the insightful lyrics. “It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away. It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray. Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid when you give yourself away. People never crumble in a day, Daddies never crumble in a day, Families never crumble in a day.” The only entity I would add to this list is “nations never crumble in a day.”
For the last several decades, America has been giving herself away. We have prostituted our godly heritage, gone a whoring after other gods, and sold our soul to the highest bidder. Our many lovers are more numerous than our cities and states. The election of Barack Obama is the culmination of pursuing this treacherous course.
I know this is a combustible statement, especially in light of the euphoria that has gripped America. “THE ANOINTED ONE” has descended from the clouds and will soon dwell amongst mere mortals at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Yes, change has come, hope is in the air, and finally America has reached, with cultish frenzy, the Utopia we all longed for. Not all that sparkles, however, is gold.
Since the 1960s, our nation has rejected the God of our fathers. Nature abhors a vacuum. Idolatry rushed in as the Christian faith was swept aside, under the guise of the Separation of Church and State, of course. At what cost? Let’s see, truth has gone from absolute to relative. We exchanged God and His laws for Washington DC and socialistic public policies. We have gone from being a prosperous nation to a debtor nation. We once protected life. We now abort life. We once honored virtue and punished vice. We now protect vice and punish virtue. We once rewarded work and corrected sloth. We now reward sloth and punish productivity. We once safeguarded the family. We now redefine it to suit our perversions. We were making great strides against racism, but now racism has become big business, political power, media talking points, and a club to punish political dissent. We were once the envy of the world, a city set on a hill and a beacon of light to the nations. Now, the nations seek our destruction.
Into this fray, steps Barack Obama. He represents the culmination of the paradigm shift that has taken place in the last few decades. In fact, he is the personification of the idolatrous course our nation has pursued, for lo, these many years. He is indeed God’s man for America. All that we hate about our country that is good and all that we should be ashamed of as Americans and celebrate with demonic glee, Obama represents to the umph degree.
It will not be long, however, until America will have to deal with the empty promises of our idolatry. All the health, wealth, peace, and prosperity pledged by the false Messiah, will turn to gravel. Proverbs 20:17 states, “Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.” Perhaps, America needs to prepare for a change of diet as empty promises become even harsher realities.
My Pastor, John Wachsmann, preached a powerful message yesterday. It was called “Jesus is Still on the Throne.” He was reminding the Church after the election that Jesus is still Lord over all the earth, history, and governments of men. One of the Scriptures ministered was Jeremiah 17:5-8, which states, “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”
Biblically, those who turned to idols for help, even to the point of cutting themselves until blood flowed, never received the promised answers (1 Kings 18). They looked for blessing, but found only a curse. They desired life and liberty, but only obtained death and bondage. Leaning upon Barack Obama and trusting in him to rescue America is like trusting the fox with the chicken coop. It is like Israel relying on Egypt to rescue them from the bondage of Babylon (Isaiah 31:1). Barack Obama is a broken reed, whereon, if our nation leans, will pierce our hands (Isaiah 36:6).
The writing has appeared on the wall. America has been weighed in the balance and Barack Obama is God’s pen. What is the Church to do? The Church in the midst of despair and destruction needs to stay the course in God’s Kingdom. Nations rise and nations fall. Political leaders appear and vanish. Elections come and elections go, but the Kingdom of Christ lasts forever.
The Church has survived greater disasters, endured harsher dictators, and outlived all her persecutors. Greater tyrants than what America may become against God’s people have sought to crush the Church, burn the book, and destroy the truth. They are dust and Jesus Christ is still at the right hand of the Father, expecting henceforth, till his enemies become his footstool (Psalm 110:1, Hebrews 10:11, 12).
In history, it was Christians equipped with true faith, biblical worldview, and family that on more than one occasion brought beauty from ashes to failed empires. The next four years will be difficult as Democrats remake America into their image of the world. It is, however, doomed for failure. It is nothing more than sinking sand. We must prepare now to rebuild the crumbling foundations and relay the altars torn down by America’s rebellion and idolatry. America will come face to face with the reality that we cannot live with the ideologies, philosophies, and worldviews that we have pursued apart from Christ and His truth.
Therefore, in the midst of this perverse and crooked nation, we must faithfully hold forth the word of life, even if we are prosecuted for being true Christians. Yes, we are to pray for president-elect Obama, perhaps God will have mercy and change him to be a leader that we desperately need. But if he is indeed God’s judgment against our idolatry, our prayers need to be, let there be enough evidence to convict us as Christianity becomes an enemy of the state.
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IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE, Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas
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Patty,
Three things are necessary for any sin: sinful matter, knowledge and consent. For mortal sin, there must be grave matter or what one believes to be grave matter.
Theologians make a distinction between material sin and formal sin. A sin is only material when, because of a lack of knowledge or consent, there is a violation of God’s law but no culpability. A formal sin occurs when the violation is culpable.
It may well be that many Catholics are not culpable of grave sin in their support of the Candidate of Death due to a lack of knowledge or deliberation. One reason for this is because many have not heard the Gospel of Life, and the consequences of not embracing it, preached clearly.
A further problem may be that not all the ignorance is what theologians call “invincible.” Some people have an erroneous conscience but are fully convinced that they are right and have no awareness of their need for enlightenment. Others have an ignorance which is not so invincible. Their real difficulty is that there are some teachings they don’t want to hear, and then they do what they can either not to hear it or to shoot it down before they have thought it through.
Yeah, I encountered a few people like this, and I called them “willfully ignorant”.
I was referring specifically to the War in Iraq. One woman was decrying the War in Iraq because that’s what our Pope and Bishops did. And she wasn’t going to vote for McCain because he was so “pro-war”. I told her to read what our Bishops have gone on to say about the War in Iraq and how far off the mark these perceptions are from Obama’s policy. She went on to say she didn’t care what the Bishops had to say or write on the War in Iraq, as they were so out of touch with reality. “Willfull Ignorance” is a better title for some Catholics than “Cafeteria Catholics”. They don’t want to learn what food is available, let alone being able to pick from the buffet! It hurts my heart because it makes me feel like the Catholic Church is being plundered instead of reverenced…
I know, I know, I’ll keep up praying 🙂
Ave Maria
Patty,
I, too, have really struggled with all of this. I learned a lot from just this one blog … I never heard of invincible vs non-invincible ignorance before. That’s what I love about our Faith … it’s so darn LOGICAL. I also like your term of Willful Ignorance. I struggle with this because most of my family members (not my husband or children, thank goodness) fall into this camp. I had to politely tell my mother that, as always with our Faith, you must SEEK to find. In this case, if you did not seek, all you would have heard was the evening news … which is rarely the view of the CAtholic Church. Many bishops spoke up about all of these issues … abortion, war, etc. But, my family didn’t hear it. Why? Because it wasn’t preached at their pulpit; they never heard any of it. So, the evening news became their gospel and from there, they surely heard Kmiec and that whole crowd and assumed that many Catholics were on board with Obama. So, are they guilty of mortal sin? They’re certainly intelligent enough to have dug deeper … but they don’t see the need. To say it’s frustrating is an understatement. Are they Cafeteria Catholics? Absolutely. Do they see that as a sin? Well, they see it as they being too intelligent to fall for nonsense. I think our Church needs to appeal to some of these types of people … it needs to be seen as an intelligent Church.
Or, does it? Those who choose to seek find that it is INDEED an intelligent Church. But, the initial step must be that you seek. Once you take that initial step, then you must be humble enough to accept that some of the teachings will be hard to swallow initially … they may go against all that you have ever been taught in the secular world. You will have to dig deeper .. you will have to keep seeking. I think the news has probably been a bigger downfall than most want to admit. The priests maybe relinquished too much over to the media … it caused them to question, too, possibly. We stopped learning from our Church and transferred it over to the secular world. We stopped seeing our Church as intelligent because we no longer really knew what it taught.
Oy … of course, i could go on and on. I share your frustration and concern for the souls of so many Catholics who are so far afield these days. We keep praying. Praying for souls and praying for bold, brave priests who begin preaching the TRUTH! I am thankful for the friars who worked tirelessly to get the word out, to push out messages from bishops, etc … they were bold when most are not! I pray that if nothing else, a few more priests and bishops were able to see their videos and will gain a smidge more courage for the future. We must be patient, I guess.
Blessings to all,
Jen
Hey Jen (et all)
I went to bed the night of the elections discouraged, I woke up Wednesday morning determined. Why does sin have to be the white elephant in the room for Catholics? We can talk about anything else, and I mean anything else, but bring up sin, and you’re a “holier than thou”, a “zealot”, or a “judgemental hypocrite”. I should know as all these titles have been thrown at me. Ah, I’ve been called worse!
Do not be afraid! The Church is right, we just need to allign ourselves with her, and we will be on the right path too! This is the Gospel, the good news of our Faith! Rock on! Do not lose heart! Check this out!
http://blog.catholicvote.com/?p=474
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