Judge Roberts Confirmed As Chief Justice

Congratulations!

Am I A Homophobe?

Chuck Currie thinks I am. He said this in the comments to a post he wrote about the current "Witch Hunt" the Church is waging against homosexual seminarians:

"You two – Dana and *** – seem to always appear back on this site whenever the subject of homosexuality appears and there is nothing I can do to change your homophobic views (I’ll hope the Holy Spirit does that). I’ve really got better things to do than engage you in this conversation once again."

Here is my response:

Chuck, I just wanted to clarify something you have said. I don't appear here only when you discuss homosexuality, rather I appear here when you say things about the Catholic Church and Her teachings which are inaccurate and must be corrected and/or clarified.

Also, for the record, I am not afraid of homosexuals (that's the definition of homophobic), I have a number of friends who suffer from same sex attraction disorder - and I am sure they would tell you I am not afraid of them. I just want people who suffer from this disorder to know the Good News that God did not make them with these desires, and that they can overcome it and live a holy and godly life.  You, on the other hand deny the teachings of Christ and the constant teaching of the Church that homosexual acts are sinful, you would rather promote a watered down and easy Christianity (if you can even call it that) that denies the fact that Jesus calls us to walk the narrow road that passes by Calvary and includes suffering.  Jesus never, ever said that living a holy life would be easy.  Rather he said over and over again that it would require suffering and self denial.  If a man or woman who suffers from same sex attraction wants to live a holy life, then they must deny themselves and reject what is sinful, just like someone who is heterosexual must deny themselves illicit sex.  You seem to deny that, and you are wrong.

You also imply that you have actually engaged me on this issue.  You have not; all you have done is spew out your ideological and political views without really engaging in theological discussion.  I suspect this is because you know that on a theological/philosophical/logical grounds you cannot win.  Everything in Christian theology, philosophy, and logic goes against your position that homosexual acts are perfectly natural.  If you really and truly engaged yourself in academically honest study and prayerful refection about this issue you would come to the same conclusion that most major religions (Christian and non-Christian alike) have come to:  Homosexual acts are intrinsically evil.  The people who are attracted to these sins are not evil, they are good because they are created by God and thus have the dignity that all children of God have.

Mr. Currie reviews all the comments first, so my response may not appear until later today, if it ever appears at all.

UPDATE: Mr. Currie has not posted the above comments.  As one commenter on his site put it, "Great debate tatic ... can't answer the challenge, cut and run."  How true it is.

Click here to read his origional post and the various comments it elicited from his readers.

Barbara Walters At Her Worst

Via Catholic League:

"OPEN LETTER TO BARBARA WALTERS
The following is Bill Donohue’s letter to ABC personality Barbara Walters:

It seems you have a problem with the Catholic Church. On the September 22 episode of “The View,” you read a selection from the Catholic Catechism on homosexuality that you found disagreeable. To be precise, you wondered aloud what the Church meant by saying homosexuality was an “objective disorder.” To the approval of your co-hosts, you further added that celibacy was “unnatural” or “supposedly” so. Moreover, co-hosts Meredith Vieira, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar piled on by speaking in the most disparaging way about the Catholic Church’s teachings on women, celibacy and homosexuality. As the executive producer of this show, you watched approvingly.

You have crossed the line. You and your friends wouldn’t dare read selections from the Torah or the Koran and then castigate Jews and Muslims. Nor would you ridicule the sexual practices of Orthodox Jews or Muslims during Ramadan. That’s because anti-Catholicism finds a ready audience in this country today, and it is because of people like you that the bigots are so fat. You feed them well, Ms. Walters.

Sadly, you are no stranger to this issue. On the July 20 episode of “Good Morning America,” you dipped into America’s ugly history of anti-Catholicism by trying to establish a nexus between John Roberts’ Roman Catholicism and his ability to render an independent judgment from the bench. After noting his religion, you asked, “Do you think it might affect him as a Supreme Court Justice?” Yet when Ruth Bader Ginsburg was being considered for the high court, you never once cited her Jewishness as a possible impediment to clear thinking. No, it took a Roman Catholic to make you nervous.

We urge our members to contact her by phone at 212-456-7050; fax her at 212-456-0951; write her at “The View,” 320 W. 66th St., Bsmt Level, NY, NY 10023; or provide feedback at http://www.abc.go.com/daytime/theview/mail/walters.html."

My Thoughts Exactly

There is alot of hubub about the whole mysterious "homosexuals shouldn't be ordained" document that supposedly is to be released soon.  You know there is another solution to the problem.  How bout asceticsm.

Rather than create elaborate psychological instruments at great expense that might or might not actually work, and rather than looking and guessing (and whom can we appoint to make that highly scientific measurement?), seminary reformers could turn to a time-tested, simple method of ensuring the best outcome for those committing to a difficult state in life: asceticism.

It’s true that a diocesan seminarian isn’t signing up to become a Carthusian, but if he found a life closer to that of a monk than of a playboy, perhaps he’d have a chance to harden into a man of service. And if Spartan conditions were the norm for priests (and dare I add bishops?) perhaps we’d get the sort of men we need to be priests. If seminaries and rectories lacked TV, alcohol, soft furniture, and air conditioning, the kind of man who seeks pleasure in material things would self-select rather than have to self-report.

Amen! Preach on! Alot of soft, effeminate, homosexual men would fast leave the seminary if it were pervaded by a truly  sacrificial atmosphere.

Could It Be True?

From Catholic World News:  An influential Vatican official believes that Pope Benedict XVI  could soon expand permission for priests throughout the world to celebrate Mass using the Tridentine rite.

Homily:  26th Sunday In Ordinary Time

There was a young man by the name of Matt Talbot.  He was born in the late 1800’s into a poor family in Dublin Ireland , and he began drinking when he was only twelve years old, and not long after that he was sinking deep into alcoholism.  He even got to the point where he started every day with beer.  His mother knew he had had a problem and prayed very hard for him.  It was 1 or 2 every morning when he came home from drinking and partying, but he wasn’t happy. Deep inside he wanted to cry and shout and beg for help, but he wasn’t ready just yet. He did not have the strength to part with his addiction.

Then came his conversion.  Matt was 28 years old and had been drinking for sixteen years.  He knew it would take faith to quit, more faith than he had, but he knew his mother’s faith would help him to ask the Lord for courage.  He walked to the seminary of the Dublin archdiocese to find a priest so he could make confession and promise to stay sober. It had been three years since his last Confession and he had been drunk every single day except that day.  A kind priest helped him make his confession and he made a promise to renounce alcohol for three months. 

He thought three months of sobriety would be an eternity and he knew the first three months were going to be a terrible struggle.  He did not believe he could do it on his own, but he knew where he would get his strength - he would go to Mass the next morning.  In fact he went to Mass every morning after that for the rest of his life.  It seemed like the  church was the only place in all of Dublin where he felt safe from himself, so he decided he would fight his struggle in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. 

Having remained sober for three months he took the pledge for another three months and at the end of that he took it for a year and at the end of the year he make a lifelong promise of sobriety.  He wanted to do penance to make up for his sixteen years of drinking, so he slept on boards with a block of wood for his pillow, he fasted frequently and ate only enough food to stay alive.  He also gave a lot of his weekly wages to charities.  He was a changed man.  He had truly converted in the depths of his being, not just on the outside, and now all these years later the investigation by the Church to declare him a saint has begun.

I tell this story about Matt Talbot because it reminds me of today’s Gospel where Jesus calls us to true, deep down conversion – one like Matt Talbot had.  The gospel is quite clear that mere lip service will get us nowhere.  No matter how many times we say we have converted and changed our sinful attitudes and habits, until we really turn to God with all our heart and soul nothing will truly change.  Until we put our words into action, we are not really living our faith as fully as we could be.  Sometimes it is all too easy to tell the Lord like the man in the parable “Yes Lord, I will work in your vineyard, I will follow you,” but then do just the opposite.  It’s easy for us to say “I am Catholic,” but then reject many of the Church’s teachings.  It’s easy to say “I am pro-life” but do nothing about the problem, or to say that we love Jesus, but never show that love by our prayer.

So today’s challenge is this:  let’s all put our words into action – it’s never too late.  If even tax collectors and prostitutes can change and enter the kingdom of heaven before those who only pay lip service to their faith, then it’s never too late for us.  Like John Talbot we can make a good confession and reform our sinful attitudes and actions.

Now you are probably waiting for me to give you an example of something we can all do to put our words into action, so please put your pews in their full upright position and fasten your seatbelts, cause here it comes.  As Catholics we believe that every life is valuable and has dignity no matter how small.  We as Catholics are pro-life.  It’s easy to throw that phrase around and proclaim to those around us that we are pro-life, but when was the last time that we did something about it.  For many of us, we have, and I commend you wholeheartedly.  You are truly working in Gods vineyard, not just paying lip service to it.  For those of us who maybe haven’t put our words into action in a while your chance is coming soon.  Next Sunday at 2 in the afternoon is the annual life chain.  It’s a perfect opportunity for us to put our beliefs and words into action.  It’s an opportunity to publicly witness to the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death, and all you have to do is stand there and pray.  There are flyers available in the back of the Church for those of you who are interested.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every member of Holy Spirit parish who was available took part in the life chain?  Imagine the witness it would provide to the entire city – truly we would be doing the work of God in his vineyard.

Of course this isn’t the only way that we can put our words into action; there are plenty of other ways.  Things like finally committing to living your marriage as God intends, or if you are single living a chaste life free from impurity of any kind.  It’s so easy to talk the talk, but Jesus asks us to go further than that.  He calls us to walk the walk, so my brothers and sisters in Christ, strap on your walking shoes, and lets start walking.

Excellent Article On Mortification

I have been patiently awaiting the time when this article would be online since I first read it in Crisis Magazine recently.  It is a wonderful article by a priest that I became aquainted with in St. Louis while I was in the seminary.  He is a fine priest, an excellent confessor, and a good author too.  Here's an excerpt:

Mortification is an unpleasant word to the contemporary ear. For many, it has something vaguely to do with “being embarrassed”—but it also conjures up pain, humiliation, even cruelty. This is hardly surprising: What isn’t understood often produces shock and incredulity. In our world of high tension, uncertainty, and psychological stress, why would any sane person welcome more affliction?

Despite all this, voluntary mortification has an enduring power for both the body and soul. Self-denial helps a person overcome both psychological and physical weakness, gives him inner energy, helps him grow in virtue, and ultimately leads to salvation. It conquers the insidious demons of softness, pessimism, and lukewarm faith that dominate the lives of so many today.

In contrast to the extremes of sadism or masochism, corporal mortification is grounded in a healthy view of man and the world around him, namely, that all of us are flawed and have sinful tendencies within us. The practice itself dates back to biblical times and finds its greatest expression in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

But corporal mortification isn’t confined to Christians. Most religions throughout the centuries have recognized the need for powerful, even bloody sacrifices to appease the divine. At times, these sacrifices were grossly immoral—the Aztecs’ offering of their human victims’ hearts to their gods, for example. Others involved extensive fasting, as in the case of Ramadan in the Muslim world; or elaborate rites of purification along with the sacrifice of certain animals, as the Jews did for centuries before 70 A.D. There are also many passages in the Hebrew Scriptures that speak of wearing sackcloth and ashes as a way of obtaining favors and atoning for sin. The enduring message of the various practices is the same: Nothing valuable in this life is obtained without some voluntary sacrifice and suffering.

The postmodern world readily endorses the practice of voluntary pain regarding sports and physical fitness. Many admire those who adhere to long and rigorous diet and exercise regimens. Others endure painful, costly surgeries to add a few years to their lives. Some also find value in fasting and long days of labor to promote noble social causes, like solidarity with disenfranchised groups. Yet we’ve become strangely blinded to the great spiritual benefit of mortification and sacrifice for the sake of God and one’s own soul.

Fr. Giesler is right. Mortification is good and necessary if we want to achieve holiness for ourselves and others.  Check out the whole article here.

Female Chauvinist Pigs

Rich Lowry of NRO has an interesting little article with the above title.  Here is just a snippet:

We live in a world seemingly designed to gratify the teenage boy in the movie Animal House who is looking at a copy of Playboy when miraculously a cheerleader is thrown through his window and onto his bed. “Thank you, God!” he exclaims. Our “raunch” culture, as author Ariel Levy calls it, abounds in such moments for lascivious male teenagers of all ages. Among the forces supporting this pornified culture that gleefully objectifies women, according to Levy, are women.

Read the whole article here.

True Colors

One of America's most prominent Catholic politicians has killed a proposal by President Bush would have given families displaced by Hurricane Katrina financial aid to send their children to private or parochial schools, the Culture of Life Foundation reports.

A bipartisan student relief package put forth by Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy and Wyoming Senator Michael Enzi did not include a provision that would have given students up to $7,500, because Senator Kennedy opposed the provision, according to a high-level Congressional staffer...

Culture & Cosmos also reports that a prominent Church prelate said he was furious that aid to private schools had been kept out of the package and he was especially angry that it is being blocked by "four Irish Catholic Senators."

The proposal for financial aid came from the Bush administration and the Department of Education and noted that, "Communities in Louisiana significantly impacted by the hurricane had an above average number of children enrolled in private schools-- 61,000 students in private schools compared to 187,000 in public schools in four severely impacted parishes. These significantly impacted Louisiana communities averaged 25 percent of students attending private K-12 schools-- much higher than the 11% national average of private school students."

Out of the 61,000 students in private schools, 81 percent, or 50,000 attend Catholic schools. In fact, New Orleans public schools have long had a reputation for poor quality and the Catholic school system there is seen as an affordable refuge.

Senator Kennedy publicly criticized aid for private schools yesterday in a statement, saying: "This is not the time for a partisan political debate on vouchers." Despite the high percentage of New Orleans students who attend private school, Kennedy said that "we need to focus on rebuilding the public school systems which are the cornerstones of the Gulf Coast communities and economies."

Just goes to show how anti-Catholic a so called Catholic man can be.

Last Weekend

I'm sorry that things have been a little slow around here.  I was out of town last weekened attending the annual meeting of The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem which was held in DesMoines, IA.  This was my first year attending the event, and I was invested as a knight by His Excellency Raymond Leo Burke.  I had an excellent time visiting with friends. I also had the privelge of spending some time with Archbishop Burke who I have grown to respect and admire.  He is truly a saintly man doing the work of God.

For more information on the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem click here.

Arrr...Tis That Time O Year Again...Land Lubbers Beware!

Seminary Visitations

From the New York Times:

Investigators appointed by the Vatican have been instructed to review each of the 229 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States for "evidence of homosexuality" and for faculty members who dissent from church teaching, according to a document prepared to guide the process.

...

American seminaries are under Vatican review as a result of the sexual abuse scandal that swept the priesthood in 2002. Church officials in the United States and Rome agreed that they wanted to take a closer look at how seminary candidates were screened for admission, and whether they were being prepared for lives of chastity and celibacy.

The issue of gay seminarians and priests has been in the spotlight because a study commissioned by the church found last year that about 80 percent of the young people victimized by priests were boys.

...

The Rev. Donald B. Cozzens, a former seminary rector who set off a controversy five years ago when he published a book asserting that "the priesthood is or is becoming a gay profession," said in an interview yesterday that many in the church had come to accept his observation.

But he said he was concerned that the seminary review would lead the church to ask celibate faculty members and seminarians to withdraw.

"That would be a major mistake from my perspective," said Father Cozzens, who teaches in the religious studies department at John Carroll University in Cleveland. "First, I think it's unfair if not unjust for committed gay seminarians and faculty who are leading chaste lives. And secondly, I don't know how you can really enforce that."

The Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a sociologist who resigned in May as editor of the Jesuit magazine America under pressure from the Vatican, said that with the shortage of priests, the church can hardly afford to dismiss gay seminarians.

The seminary review, called an apostolic visitation, will send teams appointed by the Vatican to the 229 seminaries, which have more than 4,500 students. The last such review began about 25 years ago and took six years to complete.

At each seminary, the visitors are to conduct confidential interviews with every faculty member and seminarian, as well as everyone who graduated in the last three years.

A 12-page document with instructions for the review is now being distributed to seminarians and faculty members. It asks whether the doctrine on the priesthood presented by the seminary is "solidly based on the church's Magisterium," or teaching, and whether teachers and seminarians "accept this teaching." Among the other questions are these:

¶"Is there a clear process for removing from the seminary faculty members who dissent from the authoritative teaching of the church or whose conduct does not provide good example to future priests?"

¶"Is the seminary free from the influences of New Age and eclectic spirituality?"

¶"Do the seminarians or faculty members have concerns about the moral life of those living in the institution? (This question must be answered)."

¶"Is there evidence of homosexuality in the seminary? (This question must be answered)."

The questionnaire also asks whether faculty members "watch out for signs of particular friendships."

The Rev. Thomas Baima, provost of the largest seminary in the United States, St. Mary of the Lake, in Chicago, where the Vatican is sending nine interviewers, said such questions were no surprise.

"The reason we're having an apostolic visitation now is precisely in the aftermath of the clerical sexual-abuse scandal," Father Baima said. "Issues about screening our candidates, about formation for celibacy, about how we teach moral theology are going to get more attention than how we teach church history."

I am all for this seminary visitation.  I think it will help seminaries that are troubled to become more orthodox and seminaris that are good to be affirmed in what they are doing.  I also look forward to being part of the visitation process for the seminary I graduated from last May, the New York times article quoted above seems to imply that recent graduates are required to take part. 

Also, I wish this man were running all the visitations:

Send In The Clowns...

Now that the confirmation hearings have begun I just wanted to share a few of my favorite quotes from the Roberts hearings.

First a few little ditty's from Senator Specter telling Senator Kennedy to shut up:

Homily:  24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

It was a year ago that Joshua got a brand new bike for his birthday, and he loved that bike, he rode it every day that he possibly could. That is, until recently, when the bike was gone from its usual place. Running to his front yard, Joshua, who was nine years old, saw a man loading it into his car. He shouted, but the man drove off. His mother said that Joshua has strong faith, and told his dad he forgave the thief. What's more, he wanted the thief to know he was forgiven. So the next day, he dictated a message that his mother wrote on a large poster-board. He signed it, stapled it to a sawhorse and put it in the front yard. ''To the person who stole my bike: You really hurt my feelings when you took my bike. But I am a Christian and beause (sic) Jesus forgave me, I FORGIVE YOU!!'' When Joshua's father left for work the next day, the sign was face-down in the yard. But then, at the end of the driveway, the bike was back, and with new handlebars, grips and a shiny new paint job.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Gospel we hear about the importance of forgiving those who offend us just as we ourselves have been forgiven by our Heavenly Father.  Just as little Joshua forgave the man who stole his bike because Jesus had forgiven him, we too must forgive those who offend us.  I know that it isn’t not easy, but it is necessary because as we learned in the story about little Joshua, not only does forgiveness change us and set us free from anger and hate, but it also frees those who have hurt us …in fact our generous forgiveness might be the one thing that changes their heart like the thief in the story…the child’s wholehearted forgiveness touched the heart of the thief so much that he was able, not only to return the bike, but to return it in better shape than when he had stolen it. 

You know, I have a sneaking suspicion, just a hunch, that a lot of people here today could use a little dose of God’s forgiveness…after all, if we ourselves have not experienced the forgiveness of our Loving Father, how can we show it to others?  If we do not frequently receive the forgiveness of God…it will be very hard to share that forgiveness with others, and that is why we as Catholics are so blessed to have the Sacrament of Penance –confession.  It is an awesome gift to us from a God who desires more than anything to shower his forgiveness down upon us. So my friends, lets not waste that opportunity.  If it has been a long time since you have been to confession – Come!  Come to receive his mercy which he wants to pour out upon us.  It’s not easy…nobody likes to admit their sins, but I promise you that knowing the forgiveness of God is well worth the effort. Knowing that we walk into the confessional burdened with the weight of our sins and then walk out free as a bird is worth it.  This is why Fr. Morgan and myself have decided to add some more opportunities to go to confession here at Holy Spirit .  In addition to the regular 3-4pm time on Saturday afternoons we have also added a half hour from noon to 12:30 on Wednesdays and 5:45-6:15 on Thursday evenings.  Hopefully this will provide a time that is convenient for everyone.  But if it isn’t convenient for you, call us.  We are willing to hear your confession at any time.  We both gave our lives to Christ and to the Church so that we could reconcile everyone to God, so that we could be instruments of his mercy and love.  So, don’t worry about bothering us…you are not.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus our merciful and loving Lord waits for us in the confessional so that we might encounter him there.  He waits for us so that he can generously pour out his forgiveness upon us.  Won’t you visit him there?  Won’t you allow him to touch your heart and be forgiven for then and only then will we truly be able to forgive those who offend us.

Homily:  23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Eternal Rest Grant Unto Him O Lord

After battling cancer for the better part of the past year, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist  died late Saturday evening, bringing to an end his lengthy time on the bench and opening a second vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Jokes

via my pastor:

and

During a Eucharistic Congress, a number of priests from different orders are gathered in a church for Vespers. While they are praying, a fuse blows and all the lights go out.  The Benedictines continue praying from memory, without missing a beat. The Jesuits begin to discuss whether the blown fuse means they are dispensed from the obligation to pray Vespers. The Franciscans compose a song of praise for God's gift of darkness. The Dominicans revisit their ongoing debate on light as a signification of the transmission of divine knowledge. The Carmelites fall into silence and slow, steady breathing. The parish priest, who is hosting the others, goes to the basement and replaces the fuse.

Planned Parenthood:  Helping to Raise the Death Toll

"Victims of Hurricane Katrina are battling rising waters, destroyed homes and are seeking basic necessities like food, water and shelter. On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood sent an announcement to its members that the nation's largest abortion business is available to help -- with free morning after pills and birth control."

I find it to be sickening that the evil empire of Planned Parenthood is using this disaster as a way to push their latest death dealing pill.  Sick!  Just sick!

Now This Is A Stretch

"What a terrible casualty of the Iraqi war – one of our oldest and most beautiful cities, a famous city, a historic city. "

It seems to me that the Hurricane was cause by natural causes, not by the Iraqi War.  Anyone with half a brain could see that the above statement is not true.  Nothing, not even helicopters now being used in Iraq could have stopped the distruction of the city.  Some people want to blame everything - even natural disasters - on President Bush.  Maybe they should spend the time wasted on Bush-bashing to do something that will really help: pray for the victims.