Quote of the Week

“The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.”

- Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Catechism for the Year of Faith

Part of a continuing series.

A selected quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church in honor of the Year of Faith (October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013)

51 "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature."

52 God, who "dwells in unapproachable light", wants to communicate his own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons in his only-begotten Son. By revealing himself God wishes to make them capable of responding to him, and of knowing him and of loving him far beyond their own natural capacity.

53 The divine plan of Revelation is realized simultaneously "by deeds and words which are intrinsically bound up with each other" and shed light on each another. It involves a specific divine pedagogy: God communicates himself to man gradually. He prepares him to welcome by stages the supernatural Revelation that is to culminate in the person and mission of the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.St. Irenaeus of Lyons repeatedly speaks of this divine pedagogy using the image of God and man becoming accustomed to one another:

The Word of God dwelt in man and became the Son of man in order to accustom man to perceive God and to accustom God to dwell in man, according to the Father's pleasure.

Monday Musings

A few random thoughts and ponderings to stat the week...

Not much to say tonight... Waiting to watch the third and final Presidential debate. Remember to vote! And vote with your conscience.

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Speaking of "conscience" - that reminds me of a picture I saw earlier today:

Obama's disregard for the conscience rights of Christians at home is matched only by his inability to stand up to religious thugs abroad. This election is important! Your vote can help defend religious freedom!

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Continuing with the same theme, you may want to check out this article: Obama Wages War on Catholicism.

By the end of 2009, the real agenda of the Obama administration had become so transparent that even its friends at The New York Times felt obliged to come clean. That November the Times ran a news story showing how Obama had betrayed his promise. Reporter Robert Pear wrote that the president “was not comfortable with abortion restrictions inserted into the House version of major healthcare legislation, and he prodded Congress to revise them.” The pro-life community, largely faith-based, felt disabused by these shenanigans. But they had no idea how bad matters would soon become.

On Jan. 20, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius rolled out what would come to be known as the HHS mandate: Catholic institutions would be required to pay for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs in their healthcare plans for employees.

The inclusion of abortion-inducing drugs was striking. The administration could have settled for contraception, but instead it sought to stick the camel’s nose in the tent. Its real long-term interest was plain: eventually, as broached by FOCA, Catholic hospitals would be required to perform abortions.

On Jan. 31, Press Secretary Jay Carney stunned even Obama supporters when he said, “I don’t believe there are any constitutional rights issues here.” No one was buying it, especially not the bishops.

After Catholics pushed back, a new version was introduced three weeks later. But it was a distinction without a difference: It mandated that the insurance carrier of Catholic non-profits must pay for these services.

This was just a shell game. In reality, many Catholic non-profits are self-insured (for example, the Archdiocese of Washington is self-insured). Then there is the issue of Catholic entities that are not self-insured: Why should they have to pay their insurance company for services they deem immoral? Another issue that won’t go away is the right of Catholic business owners not to pay for services that violate their conscience.

It is important to acknowledge that Catholics are not asking for special rights — they are simply asking the Obama administration to respect the status quo. The administration won’t budge, saying the best it will do is exempt Catholic churches.

The entire article details the diabolical policies of this President. He must be stopped. Please spread the word and vote for real CHANGE this November.

This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like. I'll serve up more next Friday...

[Oops... One day late. I was busy last night and did not get a chance to post.]

Stand Up For 'Religious Freedom' this weekend! - "This weekend, thousands of faithful will gather across the nation to protest what is widely believed to be an unconstitutional mandate issued by the Health and Human Services Department. This mandate requires that all Catholic and other religious institutions must pay for anti-life services that violate the freedom of religion and conscience of the faithful."

Obama vs. Romney, Round 2 - [A round-up of commentary and analysis from the National Catholic Register.]

Presidential debate played like a prizefight - "Both routinely went well over-time in their remarks, and often spent the beginnings of new questions trying to get the last word in on the previous."

What Will Hillary Get Out Of This? - [I found this piece particularly insightful. And I have not seen this conclusion drawn anywhere else. But it makes A LOT of sense.] For more context see this: Hillary Clinton commits political 'seppuku'

Oops! Obama Accuses Planned Parenthood of Breaking the Law - "...President Obama stumbled into accusing one of his campaign’s largest benefactors—Planned Parenthood—of serially violating a federal women’s health law designed to protect breast cancer patients by claiming that the abortion giant provides mammograms even though it has no license to do so." See also: Obama Defends Funding Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz

Romney Will Cut Planned Parenthood Funds His First Week in Office - "Why on earth should American taxpayers be paying one-quarter of International Planned Parenthood’s budget?"

Ann Romney Would be First Pro-Life First Lady Since Roe - "Although Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush and George W. Bush were pro-life and crafted extensive pro-life records, their wives did not share their pro-life positions."

Economy, Not Abortion, Worries Women Most in This Election - "...according to poll after poll, abortion will not be the deciding factor for the majority of voters, including the majority of women voters. (Among virtual non-issues: the availability of free contraception. Go figure.)" 

Obama Wages War on Catholicism - "...the Obama administration’s willingness to violate conscience rights in pursuit of Obamacare was evident from the beginning."

More Than A Debate - On Ryan vs. Biden: "The most revealing moment was when both were required not to debate, but to articulate their positions, as Catholics, on abortion."

Politics, Social Justice and the Non-Negotiables - "For many on the Catholic left, the confusion of 'non-negotiables' in Church teaching with matters of prudential judgment has become all too common."

Chris Matthews Compares Paul Ryan’s Pro-Life Views to Sharia Law - [Uuuum...Can anyone say, "Media Bias"?]

Phony Attack on Paul Ryan's Catholicity - "...Catholics who exercise the virtue of prudence have no problem voting for a man whose position on abortion would save the lives of over 1 million babies a year. This is especially true when compared to a man who would not save one baby out of the 1.2 million killed every year."

Catholic Bishop: Pro-Abortion Biden Shouldn’t Receive Communion - "It’s clear to me that the Code of Canon Law, Canon 915, says that a Catholic politician who publicly espouses positions that are contrary, not just to any teachings of the Church, but to serious moral teachings, should not receive Holy Communion until they recant those positions publicly." [Could not agree more!]

A Plea to Catholics in Ohio: Help Us Win - "And if you do not live in Ohio, chances are you have friends and family who do! Get in touch with them and make sure they know their responsibility to exercise their right to vote!"

Evangelical Landslide for Romney? - "Full throttle evangelical support for Romney was not widely anticipated. Evangelicals do not see the former Mormon bishop as one of their own, as they did Bush."

To Abolish Abortion, You Must Vote Pro-Life First - [Remember this when you cast your ballot!]

Catholics and Voting Pro-Life: Social Justice Begins in the Womb - "Of course, the term 'social justice' makes some conservatives cringe because it has been co-opted by those who crave moral legitimacy for their political ends even as they seek to marginalize the Church. But these leftist distortions are meant only to mislead."

Obama, Romney trade light-hearted barbs at charity dinner - "Held at the Waldorf-Astoria, with Timothy Cardinal Dolan seated between them, Obama and Romney dined on epicurean cuisine before launching a volley of gags at the podium." [Includes video. Very funny.] See also: Romney Shares Pro-Life Views, Hits HHS Mandate at Al Smith Dinner

Do Our Possessions Possess Us? Learning the Logic of Giving on the Path to Evangelical Freedom - "Pope Benedict reminds us, no matter what our income, of the dangers of having our possessions possess us." [Includes video.]

Blessed John Paul II Added To U.S. Liturgical Calendar; Feast Day Set For October 22 - "The Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship has approved insertion of the optional memorial of Blessed John Paul II in the proper calendar of the dioceses of the United States."

What’s in a Name?: NFP vs. Fertility Awareness - "The Obama administration did not recognize the seriousness of its infringement upon religious liberty with the HHS mandate because it did not believe that Catholics cared about the Church’s teaching on contraception. It is incumbent upon all Catholics to prove that assumption wrong."

Catholic Myth Busting: One Step Is Often Enough - "If we are able to dispel one misunderstanding for a particular person, we’re well on the way toward dispelling all of that person’s misgivings concerning the Faith. This is true largely because of the hidden motives which tend to produce and govern such misunderstandings."

Submerged in the Ocean: Challenges Often Arise After Catholic Conversion - "The Church’s very oceanic vastness means that even inside one can be tempted to look at only one small corner of it and label it 'Catholicism.' Some converts become obsessed with Church architecture or a particular spin on Catholic social teaching or a Marian devotion or a particular aspect of the liturgy."

Atheism is on the rise. Catholics must do a better job at evangelizing - "It seems fitting, then, that Pope Benedict has called for a year of faith. Catholics must be vigorous in spreading their faith – the one true faith – to others around the globe."

What is a Demon? - "It may seem surprising that some angels would choose to hate God. But we need to understand that those who rebelled saw God no longer as a good—as the Good—but as the oppressor of their freedom."

“Domestic monastery” or “annoying introvert”? – it’s a fine line - [I had to laugh. My wife sent this article to me. It totally describes us.]

A New Monastery in the Midwest - [I'm a sucker for great architecture, and it's heartening to see such a beautiful new construction in the modern age.]

Male-only Priesthood, Part 5

Jesus as "High Priest" is the primary model for Christian priesthood. Our High Priest, Jesus, sets the standard for what it means to be a priest in the Church. We have already noted in this series of reflections that Jesus' own masculinity points to a male-only priesthood for Christians. Jesus is the Groom and the Church is His Bride. He lays down His life on behalf of the Church as the husband sacrifices on behalf of his wife. The male role is traditionally that of offering sacrifice. This is evidenced by the priesthood of the Old Covenant. Only men were called to offer sacrifice in the Temple. Only men were called to preach in the synagogue. Jesus is called "High Priest" as a direct reference to the male-only High Priesthood of Jewish tradition.

We have also noted that, in their capacity as priest, men who receive Holy Orders in the Catholic Church stand in persona Christi, that is "in the person of Christ." The Sacrament Holy Orders brings about a real change in the man's very being, so that not he, but Christ Himself ministers to the people. The person of Christ - that is, the man Jesus of Nazareth - is present in and through the priest. This permanent change in "being" is possible only for a man because Jesus is Himself a man. In human nature, the spiritual and physical are inseparably linked. Christ's spirituality is a male spirituality because He possesses a male human nature. Only a man can be configured to that spiritual reality.

However, the argument has been made, and continues to be made, that Christianity does away with any  differentiation between the sexes: Yes, the priesthood of the Old Testament is the model for Christian priesthood, and it was male-only. Yes, Jesus represents the model of priesthood for Christians and Jesus is a man. Yes, the Church is the Bride and Christ is the Groom, and this symbol points to the sacrificial role for men. But Jesus turns all of this on its head....so the argument goes. In Christ there is neither male nor female, and all are called to be priests and to ministry in the Church.

While this argument has a certain appeal - that men and women are equal in God's eyes and are therefore equally called to the ministerial priesthood - the argument fails in the face of reality. While it is true Christianity does teach that men and women are equal in dignity, equally loved by God, and equally offered God's grace and the gift of salvation, this does not mean that men and women are called to the same vocations. We have before us all of the arguments we have mentioned above, which point to a male-only priesthood, but we also have the witness of Christian history. Quite simply, history tells us that the Christian priesthood has always been male-only. Christians have always understood the priesthood in the terms we have outlined above, and thus only men have been called to ordination. Any other conclusion would be a break with Tradition.
 
Equality of the sexes does not mean sameness of roles for the sexes. And history shows that the role of priest has always been reserved for men. We need only ask ourselves: Who did Jesus call as ministers in the Church? Who were appointed by the Apostles in ministerial roles? Who then succeeded those originally called? Who received the laying on of hands and the gifts of the Spirit for ministerial priesthood in the early Church and in the centuries that followed? We will explore this in the next reflection in this series.

[See also: Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4]

Quote of the Week

"...true freedom is not advanced in the permissive society, which confuses freedom with license to do anything whatever and which in the name of freedom proclaims a kind of general amorality. It is a caricature of freedom to claim that people are free to organize their lives with no reference to moral values, and to say that society does not have to ensure the protection and advancement of ethical values. Such an attitude is destructive of freedom and peace."

- Blessed John Paul II

Catechism for the Year of Faith

Part of a continuing series.

A selected quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church in honor of the Year of Faith (October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013)

40 Since our knowledge of God is limited, our language about him is equally so. We can name God only by taking creatures as our starting point, and in accordance with our limited human ways of knowing and thinking.

41 All creatures bear a certain resemblance to God, most especially man, created in the image and likeness of God. The manifold perfections of creatures - their truth, their goodness, their beauty all reflect the infinite perfection of God. Consequently we can name God by taking his creatures" perfections as our starting point, "for from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator".

42 God transcends all creatures. We must therefore continually purify our language of everything in it that is limited, image-bound or imperfect, if we are not to confuse our image of God--"the inexpressible, the incomprehensible, the invisible, the ungraspable"--with our human representations. Our human words always fall short of the mystery of God.

43 Admittedly, in speaking about God like this, our language is using human modes of expression; nevertheless it really does attain to God himself, though unable to express him in his infinite simplicity. Likewise, we must recall that "between Creator and creature no similitude can be expressed without implying an even greater dissimilitude"; and that "concerning God, we cannot grasp what he is, but only what he is not, and how other beings stand in relation to him."