The Parable of the Fish

Christians are something like fish who live and swim in the sea of God's reality. But today, there are other kinds of fish who call themselves Christians. There is the fish who lives in the desert. Not a desert of contemplation, but a desert of nothing but sand and heat. This fish longs for the water, but cannot hear or see it because he has been led too far away. There is another kind of fish who lives in the forest where there is nothing but trees. This fish can hear the water and has seen it fall from the sky but has never had a thought of what the sea looks like or what it would be like to swim in it. For him, the trees and too tall and too many and the journey to the sea too far. Then there is yet another kind of fish who flies high above the ground in the sky. But he too has never felt the sea or swam in it. He has seen the sea from a distance and thinks he understands what the water holds. However, the sea appeares very small to him because he is too high above it. And there is the fish who lives by the shore of the sea. He thinks he understands the sea because it appears so near to him. But being at the edge, the sea appears to vanish if he looks wrongly at it and moves away if the waves seem to large. And then there is the fish who lives upon the sea in a boat of his own making. This fish is the worst kind of fish. More than any other he believes he knows the sea because he is nearer to the water than anyone else. He can observe the sea from every direction. By this he has fooled himself to believe he can control the sea and understand its waves and where they are going. But in his boat, he does not yet know the depth of the water and when frightened or challenged quickly rows for the shore. But still there is the real fish who lives in the sea and swims in the water even when frightened by the uncertainty of the waves. For all the movement of the water and the apparent imperfection of the fish, the sea is his home and all that has been created in it. The sea was made for him and he for the sea and his needs are provided for. This was meant to be from the beginning because he who made sea and the fish made it that way.

Homosexuality and the preservation of the Liturgy

No one need be reminded of the earth shaking effects that sexual abuse has had upon the Catholic Church in the United States and around the world. Catholics everywhere now carry the stain of these events in recent and past Church history and they are not easily ovecome in the minds of non-Catholics who remember them. The effects of this profound human failing will not soon be forgotten by anyone. No one need be reminded that these sexual acts committed shamefully in the darkness of secrecy, virtually to a one, were committed by male priests against young adolescent males. These reprehensible acts were, we must acknowledge, motivated in a larger degree by same sex interest, which suggests that homosexuality among the offenders was a key factor in precipitating these crimes, despite what some others may say to the contrary.

Which is I why I must now suggest that the Litrugy, perhaps more than any other place and time in the Catholic experience must be preserved from not only from the stain of personal same sex attraction but from any silent approval of the same in the life of the Church. We must not either by our silence or indifference ever be seen giving the appearance of condoning the choice of some to live out that homosexual lifestyle publically in opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church. That means specifically that even those who participate in the music of the Liturgy of the Mass, must be in good standing with the Church regarding Catholic teachings against same sex relationships which exist either secretly or publically. We owe it to Christ and to the Holy Sacrifice which takes place on the altar, the singular most important event that ever took place in human history, to preserve the Eucharist from the scandal of homosexuality and opposition to the Church.

An open letter: sex and the breakdown of the family

To the communities of northeastern New York:

How long shall we raise our children to become young adults who quickly become single parents of young children in unstable homes? This is not an accident and I am not one who is given to hapless moralizing. I am deeply concerned. Children are being raised in unstable homes and the people of this community are to blame. And this is not to blame these young individuals but ourselves entirely as a failed community. Evidently young people are not being given a proper example in the home. Our preachers and priests are apparently speaking nothing to these issues. I know that nothing has been said about abortion, teen pregnancy and the requirement of abstinance before marriage in the last 15 years in St Mary's Catholic Church. And what are they teaching our children in schools? Marriage is no longer commomplace. This is a sad fact but not an irreversible reality. And I do mean marriage between one man and one woman in the traditional sacramental manner that defined marriage from America's earliest days. I'm not on the other hand referring to the serial monogamy, aka, shacking up and living together that passes for marriage today. I am referring to men who ask women to marry them and witness to that fact before God, country and neighbor. I just read in this forum today a topic speculating as to the fatherhood of one young woman's child. Unfortunate that she is a mother so young and worse that such a young woman faced with this circumstance is made sport of by nameless ignorant individuals from the safety of their computer keyboards. Young mothers should be supported and comforted, despite the errors of their ways. I stated this earlier: Technology has robbed many people of their decency because it liberates them to do in the privacy of their cowardice what they would never do with conscience and consequence in public. This community is in a moral crisis and it has nothing to do with the price of gas or the lack of good paying jobs. It has everything to do with how we conceive and raise our children to become valued, respected and productive members of society. Time for a change and time for the leaders of this community to speak up and stop fearing whatever stigma might seem to be attached with doing and saying the right things. We need not fear or revile our own mistakes and sins and judge one another, but we can at least agree to what we should best strive to be. If we do not learn and act and teach properly and accordingly to these concerns this community will fail and fade into historical obscurity dying the death of gradual moral oblivion.

Abortion: a man's sin and a man's crime

As the 38th anniversary of Roe v Wade approaches, perhaps it is time to properly attribute an acount of blame for abortion once and for all upon it's principle enablers: men. Men are ultimately the perpetrators in the crime of abortion. Men are the initiators in human procreation and they alone in the end are the appointed safeguards and remaining failsafe against any child ever being conceived outside of the sacramental bond between one man and one woman. Men either through action or inaction precipitate the very events which lead women to seek out services for the purpose of killing their unborn children. Men who are upright, are properly the defenders of women and children, most especially the women with whom they would conceive a child in marriage. Many other men instead however are often the perpetrators of rape either violently and anonymously, or more often through what is known as date rape and even spousal rape. Men are the users who walk away after conception leaving women of all ages to raise children alone. Men are often the coercers as women are driven to the abortion clinic to have the precious contents of their wombs destroyed and killed. Men are the funding for abortion, paying to have the child of the woman thay have had intercourse with, who are their own child as well. Men are guilty both by inaction and indifference when they initiate conception through the sexual act and never show any interest and concern for the woman beyond the momentary desires of intercourse. Where there is an abortion there is a man who has failed a woman and his child. Some women without the father of their child choose life. Many more do not. 80% of women who have abortions are not married when they have the abortion. Nearly 60% have never been married. More than 50 million fathers have sat idly by while their children have been murdered in abortion mills across America. It is long past the time when all men need to stand up and take accountability for and speak on behalf of the actions and failures of their own kind and properly defend women and children. Abortion is a man's crime. The responsibility of men and their willingly contributed advocacy for the lives of the unborn is a much needed pro-life solution!

Catholic Bishops support illegal immigration

It seems that Satan has a strong foot in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops of late. Just recently Archbishop Timothy Dolan referred to God as "he", "she" or "whatever" without any apology at all and we now find the USCCB supporting illegal immigration through support of the DREAM ACT. The USCCB is supporting crimal illegal immigration into the United States of America and there is no way to rationalize this to any other effect. So much for Christ's mandate to respect legitimate authority and to render unto Caesar. You do not reward 12 million people for systematically breaking the law. People in the United States who are here illegally are criminals by any definition. Worse, in many instances they then become little more than indentured servants, slavery by another name; another practice roundly condemned by the Catholic Church. This amnesty that is being proposed is little other than mass absolution for people who are enaged in criminal activity by their very presense in a foreign nation. This does not include the law-breaking that is occurring after the fact apart from their mere presense. The Catholic Church should be ashamed of the USCCB for supporting the DREAM ACT and should immediately withdraw this support for this foolish and immoral legislation. By way of example, the Catholic Church doesn't recognize the "need" for abortion in America. Why should the Catholic Church recognize the "need" for illegal immigration? I'm sure that abortive women feel just as justified in their choice to kill the unborn child in the womb as illegals from foreign nations do when they choose to enter the United States illegally. Consistency and rational thought is required on these issues and concerns, not the sentimental platitudes of feel-good theology.

From the USCCB website:

U.S. Catholic Bishops to Congress: The Dream Act is the ‘Right Thing to Do’

If you follow the USCCB's line of reasoning the best thing for American Catholics to do if they disagree with abortion, our drug problem, unemployment, or the Obama administration, is to immigrate illegally to some foreign nation where they can get health benefits, work tax-free and eventually be granted amnesty and become citizens there. That's just wrong. Very wrong!

How do I love God with my body?

With the hands of my body that vote to defend with laws and statutes, the weak, the sick and the defenseless. With my eyes that look upon every man, woman and child created in the image and likeness of God and the beauty therein and without. With my voice that gives praise and speaks the truth always and sings in earnest worship. With my feet that steer me away from places of temptation and lead others from them to God and to justice. With my arms that do work and defend others impartially with dignity defrauding no one. With my ears to listen and discern between lies and truth and to hear the quiet voice of God. With my sexuality which honors my spouse with modesty and dignity in the covenant of marriage, open to life always and faithfully. With my back to stand strong against temptations and to weather every storm without complaint. With my knees to kneel in humble supplication before a loving and merciful God seeking forgiveness when all my other members have failed me.

The "Little Books" and the late Bishop Kenneth Untener

The "Little Books" are a series of books, six minute meditations that arrive during advent, lent and easter each year. In the last several books of these kind I have read through I have been concerned with what I felt to be un-Catholic and non-doctrinal ideas by the writer or writers of the books. It is at least a reductionist viewpoint of the Holy Scriptures and symptomatic of poor cathechesis or worse, subtle unorthodox leftist activism.

The "Little Books" for those who do are not aware of them are published by the diocese of Saginaw in Michigan. Looking up more information I learned that the Diocese of Saginaw was the diocese of the late Bishop Kenneth Untener, a noted "liberal" or "left wing" Catholic Bishop. I then wrote a letter to the bishop of my diocese and expressed my concerns about these books but received no reply. Bishop Untener was noted for taking stands not in line with the Catholic Church and Catholic teaching on more than one occasion, most notably his alarming views regarding birth control and abortion, gay rights and the ordination of women priests. He also was also involved in what were apparently rather controversial activities regarding human sexuality at the seminary where he taught when he was then a priest. The "Little Books" are based upon the writings of Bishop Kenneth "Ken" Untener and they are dedicated to him.

I hope that more people will take a careful look at these "little books" before investing time in them. As I said, they are being distributed at the churches and I think that their content in somewhat concerning, if not outrightly alarming.

What is alarming in my opinion, is that anything would be based upon the writings of such a controversial figure as that of Bishop Kenneth Untener,(close friend of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, another very controversial figure that once lectured that homosexuality was an acceptable lifestyle!) Bishop Untener did not certainly at all times embody the beliefs of the Catholic Church and was perhaps very emblematic of so much that is wrong in the Catholic Church in these United States today. Bishop Untener would appear to have often flagrantly disregarded the authority of the Holy See of Rome embracing or condoning behaviors that were clearly at odds with Catholic teaching.

As an example... April 5th the writer talks about the Gospel of John in which "there is the lengthy story of man born blind who gradually able to see Jesus through the eyes of faith" as if Jesus' miracle of restoring the man's sight did not occur. Are we to take the restored sight of the man as merely a story that is a symbol for something? In another 'reflection' the writer speaks of Jesus walking on the water in John 6:16-21 merely as a "reassuring lesson" and claiming that the "point of the 'story' is simply the unexpected appearance of the Lord- there is no miracle other than this." John 6:16-21 is not a parable, nor simply an invented story, it is an account. In the Gospel it says, "It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true."

Among some of the other things that this particular "little white book" expressed were the folowing...

March 31... claims that it was possible that Mary might have said no to God at the annunciation of Jesus' conception. The author writes "I wonder if before Mary was asked, someone else has said no?" and "We have no idea of course, but it's possible" in regards to one of the most profound expressions in all of Christendom, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."

April 5... reflection where the writer speaks of Jesus walking on the water in John 6:16-21 as a "reassuring lesson" and claiming that the "point of the 'story' is simply the unexpected appearance of the Lord- there is no miracle other than this."

April 8... tells us that "It appears that 'manna was a sweet resinous substance that oozed from some trees and shrubs. It was edible but not normally used as food."

April 18... refers to the Last Supper Discourse as a "great work of art" that "is best approached through prayerful meditation rather than intellectual analysis."

April 24... the meditation on "Belief in the Resurrection" is perhaps the worst example when it states, "What is compelling is that after the Resurrection, the Risen Christ appeared to the disciples" while it goes on to say, "While nothing forces us to believe that their experience of the Risen Christ was real, there is much that warrants belief in this". The writer calls the 'changes' in the disciples "only understandable in the light of an actual 'experience'" after the writer previously asks if the disciples had really seen the Risen Christ or had encountered "some kind of mystical 'experience'." Strange.

April 30... "Scripture gives us timeless truths, but the Bible is not a 'how to' manual with detailed directions on how to live those truths."

Past publications of these books have contained such peculiar items as well and yet parishes continue to distribute these "Little Books" to the faithful.

What is the purpose of Catholic schools?

Do children learn of where Sacred Scripture comes from?

Do they learn anything about the early Church Fathers?

Do they understand the Sacraments and where they come from?

Do they understand the Real Presense of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist?

Do they learn and embrace the moral precepts of the Catholic Church?

Do they understand who the Pope is and where his authority comes from?

What do we teach children until the age of 13-14, that ultimately forms them into lifelong Catholics?

A Catholic education, even in these early years of children's education, shouldn't simply be an alternative to secular institutions for the purposes of teaching math, history, English, etc. Children in what we call a Catholic school should be informed of our Catholic faith both by way of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Children should be surrounded with proper examples of good Catholic behaviour, even in the Liturgy of the Mass. The acceptance of the immoral lifestyles by way of participation of practicing homosexuals in the course of the music of the liturgy for example should be not only discouraged but promptly discontinued. Young children should not be allowed to roam freely about the altar, either before or after the Mass. Church is God's Holy place and here Christ resides in the Tabernacle. Proper reverance should be shown Christ and the Mass. Members of the parish not in good standing with the Catholic Church should not approach the altar for Holy Communion The Mass should be shown proper reverence and alterations should never be made to it or improvisations made in it. This also means that individuals who are unmarried and living together, individuals divorced and living with one not their wife, individuals who support abortion and/or birth control or who support same sex marriages/civil unions, should subject themselves to a proper examination of conscience and make a good general confession. This is how we set a proper example for children receiving a Catholic education: by living lives which are Christ centered. If we do not, we might as well close the doors and let our children be educated by seculars who do not at least falsely claim to be of Christ.

What did Pope Benedict XVI really say about condoms?

Much has been said about Pope Benedict XVI's comments in a book to be released tomorrow. Unfortunately I think that this has become Regensburg all over again: a narrow minded media working to portray the words of a great thinker in a negative light for the consumption of an uninformed public. Had the media reported on the Jesus' forgiving of the woman caught in adultry they would have reported the next morning "Jesus approves adultry". What the Pope is in fact saying is that for a person who uses a condom it may be a sign that they are experiencing moral awakening. They are realizing that their actions effect others and the Pope believes that this may be a step towards understanding the value of the human person and proper ordering of sexuality in life. It's the same as when a person realizes that certain types of abortion seem wrong to their mind which becomes a single step towards realizing that all abortions are wrong. To say for example that it's good that people realize that partial birth abortion is wrong in no way excuses other forms of abortion. It simply demonstrates a progression of increasing moral awareness. This type of 1+2=4 mentality is what the media is known for and I doubt that we are likely to see any kind of change soon.

The problem we are experiencing, if it can actually be called a problem, is that Pope Benedict XVI is highly intelligent and his responses are highly nuanced and are given to certain points of perspective. Pope Benedict does not simply provide quick answers for the purpose of handy media soundbites. So the medai creates them. At any given moment a single sentence either spoken or in print can be taken out of context as he explores ideas with questions and different points of view. The media is too willingly deceptive to accurately display his thoughts as they were originally expressed precisely I believe because of their strong anti-Catholic bias.

I am sure, that birth control, contraceptive means other than condoms are and remain, the silent abortion. I would certainly agree that using condoms cheapens the sexual act on every level. It reduces the human person to a thing: objectification. People should take the time to read Pope John Paul II's book, "Love and Responsibility". Also, there is no basis for a condoms or/vs abortion scenario. (Both are wrong and remain wrong according to Catholic teaching.) And herein lies the problem with birth control: that with the use of birth control, the person has proclaimed before the sexual act even takes place, that the conceived human person is an undesirable and rejected end. And if the condom or other form of birth control fails, many simply perfect this rejection of the unborn child through the use of legalized abortion. Many married couples do use condoms and they are wrong to do so, every single time. To have sex with a condom, one might just as well have sex with a person not their spouse. To divorce reproductivity from the procreative act of a fertile human persons, is to allow the body to simply become a means of reaching the end of one's own impulses and desires.

I am saying that married people should never have sex with a condom. Never! Some have said to me that this is laughable. But why is this laughable? The sexuality of the human body is made to be open to created life in the years of fertility. As sexual beings we are procreative by our very nature. Condoms are an ihibitor to life and the natural experience of the sexual act. Such sexual contact accepts the sexuality of the person, but not the person themself. It's really a precursor to abortion in many ways. Abortion violently ends the new life in the womb and rejects the fertility of the sexual act by proclaiming that life is an unwelcomed side effect, rather than a natural expression of the love between a man and a woman. Persons should be conceived in love and be received as the fruit of love and not obstinately rejected as something undesirable or unexpected. When condoms are used, they are a rejection of love and they are a rejection of the person. You can't love half a person. You either love them whole, or reject them whole. Birth control, either by condoms or other means are indicative of disordered behaviors that seek to only exploit aspects of the body, while rejecting the human person as a complete being created in the image and likeness of God.

These are the Pope's actual remarks as they appear in the book. In no way does he say that the use of condoms is okay, morally correct or permissable to an individual of informed conscience. Absolutely nothing has changed in the magisterium of the Catholic Church. The Pope is merely remarking that for a person who is engaged in immoral and dangerous behaviour, the mere fact that they begin to recognize the saefty of another person is a step towards their recognition of the value and proper ordering of sexual conduct between individuals and one towards a reform of their behaviour. The Pope have spoken bravely and simply on a matter of real concern. But the media however, even when they accurately relay the words that the Pope said, put their own spin on the very words themselves to produce a desired effect. For many people however, their knowledge of articles never moves beyond headlines passing briefly before their eyes.

Pope Benedict XVI from the new book "Light of the World":

As a matter of fact, you know, people can get condoms when they want them anyway. But this just goes to show that condoms alone do not resolve the question itself. More needs to happen.... Meanwhile, the secular realm itself has developed the so-called ABC Theory: Abstinence-Be Faithful-Condom, where the condom is understood only as a last resort, when the other two points fail to work.


This means that the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality, which, after all, is precisely the dangerous source of the attitude of no longer seeing sexuality as the expression of love, but only a sort of drug that people administer to themselves. This is why the fight against the banalization of sexuality is also a part of the struggle to ensure that sexuality is treated as a positive value and to enable it to have a positive effect on the whole of man's being.


There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection.


That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality.

The Catholic problem of being un-Catholic

The Problem. Is it any wonder that fewer and fewer people are attending church and more and more young people abandon their Catholic faith? Especially young people? Questions need to be asked. What does it mean to be Catholic? What is the purpose of the mass? How do we express proper respect for the Sacred Liturgy? Do we properly acknowledge the authority of the Catholic Church? There are many things that have become fashionable in the age in which we live and many ways that we have become prone to the dictates of political correctness and so-called tolerance. But how have some erred? And do we run the risk of becoming ostracized for speaking the truth in the face of error? It is not orthodoxy that has driven people from the Catholic Church and caused such a shortage of priests and religious but modernism and liberality. When the shepherd appears to lose his sense of direction, the sheep will wander and become lost and become prey to the dangers of the world. At the heart of these issues is the Catholic mass and critical to this discussion is the understanding that the mass and the liturgy are not forms of entertainment. We are not customers and neither are we an audience. But also we understand and accept the moral precepts of the Catholic Church, even when we may seem to be at odds with the modern world in which we live. Let us examine some of common stumbling blocks that Catholics encounter in the world.

Adherence to the Magisterium. We proclaim and embrace a Creed in the Catholic faith and we should not say this lightly. There are things which we say we believe because we know they are true, even when we do not fully understand them. We acknowledge as Catholics that the Holy Father has absolute and binding authority in matters of faith and morals. We as Catholics do not have the right to choose which things we believe and which things we will not. The Catechism teaches, The supreme degree of participation in the authority of Christ is ensured by the charism of infallibility. This infallibility extends as far as does the deposit of divine Revelation; it also extends to all those elements of doctrine, including morals, without which the saving truths of the faith cannot be preserved, explained, or observed and that the authority of the Magisterium extends also to the specific precepts of the natural law, because their observance, demanded by the Creator, is necessary for salvation. In recalling the prescriptions of the natural law, the Magisterium of the Church exercises an essential part of its prophetic office of proclaiming to men what they truly are and reminding them of what they should be before God.

The Sancticty of Marriage. Marriage is between one man and one woman alone. As Catholics we do not accept divorce as an acceptable way out from marriage. We reject adultry as something sinful. We acknowledge that sex is something reserved for the sacrament of marriage and for the sacrament of marriage alone. The Catechism teaches, The married couple forms "the intimate partnership of life and love established by the Creator and governed by his laws; it is rooted in the conjugal covenant, that is, in their irrevocable personal consent." Both give themselves definitively and totally to one another. They are no longer two; from now on they form one flesh. The covenant they freely contracted imposes on the spouses the obligation to preserve it as unique and indissoluble. "What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." Living together unmarried for a man and women is something which is considered sinful and should be rejected by Catholics. Catholics who enage in this behaviour should refrain from approaching the altar of the Mass and should not receive at any time Holy Communion until such time a proper general confession is made and the sinful behaviour is corrected either by ending the relationship or properly approaching the sacrament of marriage.

Homosexuality. The Catholic Church recognizes that same sex attraction, so-called homosexuality is a seriously disordered condition. The Church calls people who experience to abstinance and chastity. As Catholics, we must not recognize as valid so-called "gay marriages", same sex or civil unions. We have the obligation to instruct our young people that homosexuality is not simply another equally valid lifestyle or way of loving. The Catechism teaches, Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

Abortion. As Catholics we understand that every abortion is a grave evil. No abortion is permitted or excusable according to the Catholic faith. We as Catholics cannot support public funding for abortions or support organization that either fund, provide or make referrals for abortions. We certainly must never provide for any organization which may portray itself as Catholic which either supports abortion or provides abortion funding. While abortion is not the only "issue" in national elections, the right to life, to be born is the principal right upon which all other rights must be founded. If children are not defended in the womb, there is no other provision for the poor that could be deemed appropriate or timely. Candidates for elected offices who specifically espouse the right of women to procure abortion as a right, should be roundly rejected. The Catechism teaches about abortion and has much to say:

Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.

God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.

Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae," "by the very commission of the offense," and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.

The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation: "The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death."

"The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights."

Birth Control and Contraception. Married Catholics should know and be aware that marriage should always be open to the gift of new life. The use of birth control and contraception is considered gravely disordered. God's first command to man and women in Sacred Scripture is to be open to life. Birth control rejects life and rejects the whole person in the sexual act. Forms of birth control diminish respect between the married man and woman and it is also a precursor to abortion. The Catholic Catechism teaches, The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception).

Confession. Many Catholics today reject the Sacrament of Reconcilliation, what we often call confession. The Catechism teaches, "Christ, 'holy, innocent, and undefiled,' knew nothing of sin, but came only to expiate the sins of the people. The Church, however, clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal." All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners. In everyone, the weeds of sin will still be mixed with the good wheat of the Gospel until the end of time. Hence the Church gathers sinners already caught up in Christ's salvation but still on the way to holiness:

The Church is therefore holy, though having sinners in her midst, because she herself has no other life but the life of grace. If they live her life, her members are sanctified; if they move away from her life, they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation of her sanctity. This is why she suffers and does penance for those offenses, of which she has the power to free her children through the blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as "the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace."

Proper Respect for the Mass and Liturgy. The Catholic mass and liturgy are under assault across the nation and around the world. Too often the mass has become what the people want the mass and liturgy to be, which is to be about themselves. The mass too often has become more a form of entertainment, even competing with non-Catholic, non-ecclesial services. Often people speak of what they get out of mass rather than what the give or bring to mass. We come to mass to offer ourselves to God before His Holy Sacrifice, to receive the Living God in the Holy Eucharist and though unworthy, we must not present ourselves unworthily We must not cause any opportunity for scandal for the church through the course of the mass either through action or inaction. Those who participate in the Sacred Liturgy must be in good standing with the Catholic Church and not stand opposed to the teachings of the Church either in word or action. They should not engage in scandalous behaviours or live lifestyles contrary to Catholic teaching such as in homosexual relationships or unmarried cohabitation. Our conduct should be prayerful and reverential because even before and after the mass itself we stand before God in His Holy dwelling and before Jesus Christ, who resides in the Tabernacle. The Catechism teaches, It is this mystery of Christ that the Church proclaims and celebrates in her liturgy so that the faithful may live from it and bear witness to it in the world:

For it is in the liturgy, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that "the work of our redemption is accomplished," and it is through the liturgy especially that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.

Sacramental celebration is a meeting of God's children with their Father, in Christ and the Holy Spirit; this meeting takes the form of a dialogue, through actions and words. Admittedly, the symbolic actions are already a language, but the Word of God and the response of faith have to accompany and give life to them, so that the seed of the Kingdom can bear its fruit in good soil. The liturgical actions signify what the Word of God expresses: both his free initiative and his people's response of faith.

The liturgy of the Word is an integral part of sacramental celebrations. To nourish the faith of believers, the signs which accompany the Word of God should be emphasized: the book of the Word (a lectionary or a book of the Gospels), its veneration (procession, incense, candles), the place of its proclamation (lectern or ambo), its audible and intelligible reading, the minister's homily which extends its proclamation, and the responses of the assembly (acclamations, meditation psalms, litanies, and profession of faith).

The liturgical word and action are inseparable both insofar as they are signs and instruction and insofar as they accomplish what they signify. When the Holy Spirit awakens faith, he not only gives an understanding of the Word of God, but through the sacraments also makes present the "wonders" of God which it proclaims. The Spirit makes present and communicates the Father's work, fulfilled by the beloved Son.

And so we must treat what is God's as Holy, which is our Catholic faith through the name of Jesus Christ his Son, our Lord and Saviour. And so we hear said in Revelation: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."

Proper reverence for Christ and the Church

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5

The Church in which the Catholic prays is not merely a building crafted by human hands. It is the tent that covers the real presense of the Lord, Jesus Christ and which proclaims the presense of the faithful in the human community. Entering the church one should recognize the Tabernacle near the altar. In the Tabernacle is the Holy Eucharist, the Real Presense of Jesus Christ. Scripture says that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. Jesus speaks to us when he says "For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me." Here in the physical church is the real and living presense of Jesus Christ, the good shepherd. We should be humbled and moved. Time before the mass should be a time of quiet with the Lord. In Psalm 46 this is spoken to us which is spoken of Christ, "Be still, and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth!" The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. "

And so we should leave our thoughts between ourselves and the Lord as quiet time spent within a family in prayer and reflection and supplication, not leaving our troubles behind, but bringing them before the Lord in hope and unity of purpose. Our worldly conversations can wait until another time as time with Christ is precious. As we enter we reach for Holy Water and make the sign of the Cross, In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Here within the physical church, in the quiet of the confessional, we confess our sins before Christ in the person of the priest. Here as we walk the interior of the church, we are in the light of stained glass images which recall events in the life of Christ. Here we walk the stations of the Cross and recall the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on his way to Golgotha. This is Christ who was accused for our sins, stood trial, was tortured and sentenced to violent death on a Cross, the most humilitating death that the Jew could endure. This is Christ who rose on the third day! Here we baptise our children in the name of Jesus who is God born into the world. Here we commit our dead to God in expectation of the coming resurrection. Here we pray for the unborn lives in the womb upon whom the violence of the world is set against in ignorance and indifference.

The physical church is sacred space, consecrated for the sacrifice of the Holy Mass and in remembrance of God's greatest gift: Eucharist. The Eucharist, the real presense of Jesus Christ whom the Saints proclaim and for whom many gave their lives in bloody martyrdom rather than for a moment deny the Real Presense of God. Jesus teaches, "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever." Many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" and they left Jesus. But Simon Peter however responds to Jesus and for us, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." And so we should give proper reverence in the church in our thoughts and actions, before Christ, before, during and after the mass. We do this as so many have for centuries since that first Passover gathering in the upper room as Christ broke bread and spoke to his apostles, proclaiming to the world and to us, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." We should give reverence to the church when we recall Jesus' precious and powerful words, "I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. "

Abortion and Catholicism

"Abortion"

From the Catholic Catechism

Imprimi Potest, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI

Abortion

2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.


Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:


You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.


God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.


2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae," "by the very commission of the offense," and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.

2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation:

"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death."

"The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights."

2274 Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being.

Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual. . . . It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence."

2275 "One must hold as licit procedures carried out on the human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks for it, but are directed toward its healing the improvement of its condition of health, or its individual survival."

"It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material."

"Certain attempts to influence chromosomic or genetic inheritance are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings selected according to sex or other predetermined qualities. Such manipulations are contrary to the personal dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity" which are unique and unrepeatable.


2266 The efforts of the state to curb the spread of behavior harmful to people's rights and to the basic rules of civil society correspond to the requirement of safeguarding the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense. Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced by the offense. When it is willingly accepted by the guilty party, it assumes the value of expiation. Punishment then, in addition to defending public order and protecting people's safety, has a medicinal purpose: as far as possible, it must contribute to the correction of the guilty party.


From Evangelium Vitae

Evangelium Vitae

Pope John Paul the Great

The doctrine on the necessary conformity of civil law with the moral law is in continuity with the whole tradition of the Church. This is clear once more from John XXIII's Encyclical: "Authority is a postulate of the moral order and derives from God. Consequently, laws and decrees enacted in contravention of the moral order, and hence of the divine will, can have no binding force in conscience...; indeed, the passing of such laws undermines the very nature of authority and results in shameful abuse". This is the clear teaching of Saint Thomas Aquinas, who writes that "human law is law inasmuch as it is in conformity with right reason and thus derives from the eternal law. But when a law is contrary to reason, it is called an unjust law; but in this case it ceases to be a law and becomes instead an act of violence". And again: "Every law made by man can be called a law insofar as it derives from the natural law. But if it is somehow opposed to the natural law, then it is not really a law but rather a corruption of the law".

In the case of an intrinsically unjust law, such as a law permitting abortion or euthanasia, it is therefore never licit to obey it, or to "take part in a propaganda campaign in favour of such a law, or vote for it"

God's commandments teach us the way of life. The negative moral precepts, which declare that the choice of certain actions is morally unacceptable, have an absolute value for human freedom: they are valid always and everywhere, without exception.

In the proclamation of this Gospel, we must not fear hostility or unpopularity, and we must refuse any compromise or ambiguity which might conform us to the world's way of thinking (cf. Rom 12:2).

Faced with so many opposing points of view, and a widespread rejection of sound doctrine concerning human life, we can feel that Paul's entreaty to Timothy is also addressed to us: "Preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching"

In this sense, the negative moral precepts have an extremely important positive function. The "no" which they unconditionally require makes clear the absolute limit beneath which free individuals cannot lower themselves. At the same time they indicate the minimum which they must respect and from which they must start out in order to say "yes" over and over again, a "yes" which will gradually embrace the entire horizon of the good (cf. Mt 5:48). The commandments, in particular the negative moral precepts, are the beginning and the first necessary stage of the journey towards freedom. As Saint Augustine writes, "the beginning of freedom is to be free from crimes... like murder, adultery, fornication, theft, fraud, sacrilege and so forth. Only when one stops committing these crimes (and no Christian should commit them), one begins to lift up one's head towards freedom. But this is only the beginning of freedom, not perfect freedom".

Being Catholic

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus Christ was not a fallible man. Jesus Christ was the perfect man and divine man, true man and true God, human in all ways and yet without sin. Peter was a fallible man. Peter faltered on the water. Peter first drew the sword. Peter denied Christ three times. Of the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus, only John remained at the foot of the cross. Others ran away. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss and losing faith in God's mercy, hung himself. Human men are fallible. The Bible was canonized by a group of such frail human men who were Bishops more than 400 years after Jesus Christ was crucified and rose from the dead. The New Testament was not written by a handpicked group of authors. Quite conversely, it is not recorded that Jesus directed anyone to compile a written record of the events of his ministry. The New Testament was written by various disciples of Christ who were working to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and whose words were only later canonized by the Catholic Church. Men over time may make errors. The Holy Spirit however does not make errors.

The Bible is not an entity separate and apart from faith, somehow predating man's faith in God, but instead the Bible is the culmination of man's search for the face of God since Abrahamic Israel in the coming and ressurrection of the Messiah in Christ Jesus. For the most part, the work of those disciples involved the spoken word for which they bore much persecution and very often payed for their faith with their very lives. Their travels were many and far and the bore more hardships I am sure that even Scripture contains.

Perhaps we see the greatest evidence of personal witness in the last verses of the Gospel according to John 21:21-25, where we read, When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" The saying spread abroad among the brethren that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

The Bible tells us what the Holy Spirit intended for it to tell us. No more, no less. But the Bible alone is not the beginning and end of faith in Christ.

As the earliest Jewish "Christians" were celebrating the presense of the Lord in the Eucharist as passover barely 300 years after the ressurection, there was as yet no canonized Bible. There was the Gospel, the word of God passed from disciple to disciple. They lived the Gospel and were willing to die for their belief in the real presense of the Lord in the Eucharist. It was a time when such gatherings to celebrate the Eucharist were forbidden. No true Christian of the faith at that time doubted or disputed the real presense of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The Eucharist IS Christ. The Eucharist IS Life. Christians have known this since the first breaking of the bread at Christ's celebration of the passover with his disciples on Holy Thursday to every time and place that the Eucharist has been celebrated since that day around the world in every culture and language.

In 405 AD the Bible (all 73 books) was canonized by the Catholic Church under Pope St. Innoncent I, in Rome. Pope Innocent I was the 40th Pope before the Official Canon was closed on Sacred Scripture. There had been 39 popes prior to the Bible being finalized in Canonization in 405 AD.

What did Jesus do? Jesus as we know through the witness of those who wrote the Bible, instructed the creation of a Church, His Church to be led by by His apostles. He, Jesus in the Bible, selected Peter to be the head of that Church. The Catholic Church is that Church. The office that Peter held is the same that is held by Pope Benedict XVI today, John Paul II before him and by every Pope since Peter for more than 2000 years. Peter was the head of the Bishops, the Bishop of Rome, the very same office of the Pope. Matthew 16:18-19 And so I say to you, you are Peter (Kepha, meaning rock in Aramaic), and upon this rock (Kepha) I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Mere days after the ressurection Jesus made himself present in the breaking of the bread amidst two disciples on the road to Emmaus as recalled in Luke 24:30-31 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. And again in Luke 24:34-36 "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them.

The Eucharist is the Body of Christ because Jesus Christ says that it is. John 6:54-58 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."

John 6:60-69 then tells us, Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you that do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."

I have always thought that before one should discount the Eucharist one should carefully read these lines of Sacred Scripture. John the disciple was there and knows that these things are true. A number who had been with Jesus and who took his words literally walked out of the room and left him because he spoke those words. Those who remained with Christ in the room took Jesus no less seriously or literally and Jesus corrected no one and nor did he call back those who walked away.

I am Catholic and as such, I follow a line of disciples back to the breaking of the Bread at the last supper, the passover of Christ, the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb who IS Christ, the Son of God. Discipleship; in Baptism, as all Christians are Baptised, the confession of sins (reconciliation) and the imposition of hands (confirmation) the imparting of the Holy Spirit, as at Pentacost. I believe that the Creed speaks the truth of who we are as Christians and Catholics. To be Catholic is to be a part of the universal church, to be of Christ who was from the beginning, through whom all things were made. All the beauty of the heavens and all that is contained in them is so because of our loving God's good pleasure. And we are the thing that God loves most.

Catholicism is the very history of Christs disciples; Sacred Word in Scripture, and equally valid and important, Sacred Tradition in the very Church of Christ. Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ and it is she from whom the Word took human flesh; she who was without sin, herself conceived without sin. Mary was the first disciple, the first to say Yes to Christ and is the first work of God's redemption and salvation in Christ. The words of Christ to his youngest Apostle that day on Calvary can only mean to me that Jesus gave all of mankind his mother and we in turn became her children. For as we are brothers and sisters in Christ, so we too have the same mother and the same Father in heaven.

Luke 1:38 "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."

Luke 1:39-43 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechari'ah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

John 19:26-27 When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

John 16:31-33 Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone; yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

John 15:15-17 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. This I command you, to love one another."

I remember the first time that I read these words. They were perhaps the most powerful words that I had read in the Bible. I am thankful that John was able to write those words. Jesus says to his disciples, "I have called you friends". Jesus is sharing the will of his father with his friends and disciples and aclls those who he is sharing that with his friends. He prepares a place for us in his Father's kingdom. He promises us this and tells us he would not have said so were it otherwise. In the hours before he is to die on the Cross, Jesus is telling us to be of good cheer. God who is to bear all the sin the world in ransome for us, is comforting his disciples and friends, more concerned for us in that moment, than for his own suffering, just as hours later he will make excuses for those who nail his body to the Cross.

I should make no apologies or excuses for being a Christian. I am Catholic. I am a Christian. I should only be a better friend and disciple of Christ.

1 John 4:14-17 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so are we in this world.