Lies.

From the Gonzaga Bulletin article titled Homosexuality & Catholicism: Misconceptions addressed by students and University Ministry by Joseph Suttner:

"First and foremost, [the Church] doesn't say anything in particular about homosexuality, per se. It does say that we are created in God's image, male and female created in God's image," Hightower said.

Hightower said the only document the American Catholic Church has to guide it on the topic of homosexuals within the Church is a document from the United States Bishops' Conference called "Always Our Children."

"They're not meaning to be experts on sexuality, they're not meaning to be experts on orientation, but they are providing pastoral ministry to parents and students at a very difficult time in someone's life as they come to terms and come to the freedom of their orientation," Hightower said.

Thanks to RealCatholicTV.com for initially getting this article out there.

*SIGH.* WHERE TO BEGIN?

1. The Church actually says quite alot "in particular about homosexuality, per se". She says it here, here, here, here, and in so many other documents that I can't link them all.

2. The "American Catholic Church" is not an entity. There is ONE Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

3. The document referenced was produced by a committee, not by the Bishops' Conference directly, and neglected to obtain any input from the majority of our Bishops. (Read this article by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz--again, thanks to RealCatholicTV for initially making it available.)

4. The Church's intent is singular: to provide for us the very means to our salvation, as Jesus Christ designed her to be. Thus Hightower's statement regarding the Church's "expertise" is laughable.

5. Homosexuality is, and has always been, considered DISORDERED, and therefore an obstacle to the grace of God and to our salvation which flows from His grace. Therefore, any member of the clergy either implying or outright stating otherwise is participating in the obstruction of God's saving grace and really needs to rethink his vocation.

Pray for our priests. Pray for Mother Church.

A Lie of Omission

I have three email accounts and all three are a junk mail nightmare. I know why, too. I shop online, I read books and periodicals online, I watch television and movies online, I pay bills online, I blog, etc. All that exposure to the World Wide Web, you're bound to get some unsolicited emails.

Like the one I got this morning from a group called Catholics For Equality.

The bad feeling welled up about 2 seconds after the site loaded. It wasn't so much their agenda as the manner in which they twist Catholic teaching to mislead the public and advance their agenda that made my stomach churn. Here's an example. They list on their Website five "freedoms" to which the LGBT community is entitled: to work, to serve, to become American, to create family, and to marry. They provide a number of quotations to support their overall position.

One of their quotations comes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition. (CCC, 2358)

It's no wonder recent polls show that a large number of Catholics support gay marriage. If this is what groups such as this tell Catholics that the Church teaches about homosexuality, then really, why is gay marriage such a big deal?

The problem is that they don't provide the entire teaching. In the Catechism, here's what appears before the aforementioned quotation:

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. (CCC, 2357)

...and here's what appears after:

Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection. (CCC, 2259)

All of this appears in a larger section under a heading titled "The Vocation To Chastity". (Funny, Catholics for Equality used "The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Article 6, The Sixth Commandment" as their little byline, but conveniently left off this heading, as well as the subheading "Chastity and Homosexuality") This entire section of the Catechism on the virtue chastity teaches about human integrity, self-mastery and the dignity with which all humans are created equally. So is it equality that Catholics For Equality is after; or is this group really trying to get some kind of preferential treatment?

Consider that of the five "freedoms" they've listed, two are diametrically opposed to the complete Catholic teaching on homosexuality. As Catholics, if we find ourselves in disagreement with the Church's teaching (which is the truth of Christ, by the way), then we prayerfully consider where we are going wrong by examining Her teachings and honestly looking at ourselves in Her light. We do not simply omit that which we find inconvenient. Truth is eternal and not subject to public opinion, and a lie of omission is a lie nonetheless.

The following video expresses the very heart of why Catholics really need to start earnestly learning their faith--NOW.



This program is from RealCatholicTV.com

One Spirit--One Call; One Hot Mess

I am constantly surprised at how wrong some people seem to get it--people who claim to love their Church, and cite their adoration as a good reason to dissent. Such was the case as I read an article my husband found at OregonLive.com and forwarded to me this past weekend, titled 'We've had enough': Portland Catholic women to skip Sunday morning Mass over treatment of women. As a Catholic woman, I'm a little bit annoyed with One Spirit--One Call, a quasi-Catholic organization that continues to push for, among other things, the ordination of women.

It's imperitive to get a single point straight--a point that has been evading Catholics since the Second Vatican Council, not to mention the secularists who continually jump on bandwagons like One Spirit--One Call in the name of equal rights and justice: Catholicism was not founded by 12 men, but by God Incarnate, the Word made flesh. Christ Himself established the priesthood among men, to be obedient to HIS commands and to serve on HIS behalf.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination."The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ's return. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.

No one has a right to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. Indeed no one claims this office for himself; he is called to it by God. Anyone who thinks he recognizes the signs of God's call to the ordained ministry must humbly submit his desire to the authority of the Church, who has the responsibility and right to call someone to receive orders. Like every grace this sacrament can be received only as an unmerited gift. (CCC 1577-78, emphasis mine)

The Priest's entire purpose is to teach, minister and govern on behalf of CHRIST, so that His people may be sanctified and lead to Heaven.

What we as creatures want in this world according to the conventions of this age (or any other age, for that matter) is irrelevant, because the Church is not about this world, but about eternity.

When this point is not understood, it all rolls downhill.

Here are some more specific observations from the OregonLive.com article.

"This is not a boycott of the Eucharist...It's an opportunity for women to tell their stories, for our voices to be heard."

Actually, since it's during Mass that we encounter Christ in the Eucharist, a boycott of the Mass is by default a boycott of the Eucharist, "the source and summit of the Christian life"...by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all (CCC 1324, 26)." What, exactly, about your stories will sanctify the faithful better than this? What could you possibly say that will make up for discouraging people from this encounter, thereby jeopardizing their eternity?

Women...do not help determine policy within the Catholic Church...

Neither do men. CHRIST HIMSELF set the policy of the Church. Catholicism is APOSTOLIC, which means the eternal truth is handed down through all ages unchanged. Church teaching is discovered and defined eternally, not debated and determined according to the current age, or any age for that matter.

[Women] are not allowed to serve as deacons, even though they may be as educated and as experienced as many priests.

The deaconate is not a matter of education or experience, therefore the argument is irrelevant.

Women fill a number of secondary roles in parishes...completing many pastoral duties but they are not allowed to preach publicly.

Would you also use this kind of logic to argue that the school janitor should be allowed to teach math class? Again, one has nothing to do with the other, so this is a pointless argument.

The crux of it is injustice and inequality.

Equality means regarded the same despite our being different. Women and men are different, but still equal. When a woman attempts to usurp roles reserved for men, are they a), behaving in a manner that celebrates equality, or b), putting themselves up in a role higher than men? I'll give you a hint: the correct answer is b.

Women are discounted. The hierarchy continuously passes over women.

...yet the Catholic Church is the ONLY Christian tradition that recognizes a WOMAN as the greatest of all humanity, calling Mary, the Mother of God, QUEEN OF HEAVEN.  And what of St. Therese of Lisieux?  St. Teresa of Avila? St. Catherine of Siena? Katherine Drexel? Edith Stein? Mother Theresa? Mary Magdelene? Monica? Joan of Arc? and the thousands and thousands of women who are elevated to sainthood? 

I think what disturbed me the most about this article were the statements provided by the clergy:

...my job is one that tries to promote the unity of the church, to encourage the church in our evangelization.

Actually, Archbishop John G. Vlazny, your job is to teach the faith, administer the sacraments and uphold Canon Law. From the Catechism:

"Bishops, with priests as co-workers, have as their first task "to preach the Gospel of God to all men," in keeping with the Lord's command. They are "heralds of faith, who draw new disciples to Christ; they are authentic teachers" of the apostolic faith "endowed with the authority of Christ (CCC 888, emphasis mine)."

The bishop is "the steward of the grace of the supreme priesthood," especially in the Eucharist which he offers personally or whose offering he assures through the priests, his co-workers. The Eucharist is the center of the life of the particular Church. The bishop and priests sanctify the Church by their prayer and work, by their ministry of the word and of the sacraments. They sanctify her by their example, "not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock." Thus, "together with the flock entrusted to them, they may attain to eternal life (CCC 893, emphasis mine)."

"The bishops, as vicars and legates of Christ, govern the particular Churches assigned to them by their counsels, exhortations, and example, but over and above that also by the authority and sacred power which indeed they ought to exercise so as to edify, in the spirit of service which is that of their Master (CCC 895, emphasis mine)."

Therefore, Archbishop, you may want to charitably explain to One Spirit--One Call the gross error of their thinking, encourage them to come back to the Eucharist, and offer your next Mass for their conversion.

[Monsignor Charles Lienert has] been a priest for 40-some years...and it's apparent to me the pain that women in the church feel many times -- being excluded from different things, not being able to have a real voice in what the church teaches, not being able to participate in all the activities of the church. There is a real reason for their pain.

The "pain" these women are feeling is nothing more than PRIDE, and you have not helped them by indulging their tantrums all these years. Please allow me to walk you through it: validating their "pain" is validating their pride, validating their sin and sending them straight to Hell. Monsignor, with all due respect, your vocation is to sanctify the faithful and lead us to heaven, not to validate our sin and let us fall.