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Year: 2006

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Current Events

I’m Going to be Sick—¦

It is all over the blogsphere and the net… Michael Schiavo is remarried.

Now you would not expect that from the world’s most selfish man (marriage, commitment, etc.) but get this, he’s remarried, to his long time live in ‘lover’, the well know and public adulteress Jodi Centonze, in a Roman Catholic Church ceremony!

I guess she wanted to make her family proud.

Here’s Michael Schiavo professing his vows:

Evil Mike

Oops, he let something slip…

It looks like the gates of hell are now located somewhere within the chancery halls of the St. Petersburg, Florida Roman Catholic diocese.

Among the comments I’ve seen:

From Stuck on Stupid

Michael Schiavo married his long time concubine a mere ten months after his legitimate wife’s death.

Mikey’s new wife better be sure that her life insurance is in a trust fund for someone other than her husband.

From Politik Ditto

Michael Schiavo, Noted Adulterer, Gets Re-Married

No word yet on whether or not the marriage vows included an addendum citing that if the bride were to unfortunately get into an accident that landed her in a vegetative state, that all bets would immediately be called off, like yunno, all that petty “for better or worse . . . in sickness or health” stuff.

From the Justice for Terri Schiavo site:

Terri Schiavo had to die in order for Michael Schiavo to make a mockery of traditional marriage vows for a second time.

From Thrown Back:

“The priest offered no homily”. Well, what could the priest say? “Don’t kill this one, Michael”?

I like this one.

From the St. Petersburgh Times:

“Except for the fact that the world knows their name, it was like any wedding you’ve ever been to,” said Michael Hirsh, who attended, and who is helping Michael Schiavo write a book.

Mr. Hirsh, it is not supposed to be like any other wedding, it is supposed to be a sacrament. Marriage in any truly Catholic Church is supposed to be holy. So I ask, why did they do it? Why be so evil? Go to the courts; get a judge or justice of the peace.

These people are sick across the board. They are also hypocrites.

Hey, Bishop Lynch (Bishop of St. Petersburg – his name is appropriate no?)

The adulterous couple you allowed to marry in your diocese:

  • Are both divorced;
  • Are the parents of two illegitimate children;
  • Have lived together in a public adulterous relationship for over 10 years, right up to the day of marriage;
  • Refused a Catholic funeral to a lifelong Catholic (Terri Schiavo)

But this is nothing for a bishop who:

  • Eliminates Eucharistic adoration across the diocese
  • Equates the —people of the Church— to Jesus Christ in the Eucharist
  • Pays over $100,000 to quiet an abuse allegation against him
  • Paid $25 million in no-bid construction contracts to a buddy of his
  • Stayed silent on the whole Schiavo situation, did not follow the directives of his superiors, and went on vacation while she died.
  • Will probably pay out millions in abuse settlements
  • Is the Chairman of Catholic Relief Services – I’ll not be donating thank you.

If I were Roman Catholic I would be deeply embarrassed that this Bishop never met a scandal he couldn’t help but be involved in. He must be accident prone (or just stupid). Dante was right, hell is paved with the skulls of bishops.

Current Events, Perspective

A Voice Crying Out

I was going to write a piece on the continuing evil of abortion in the United States and across the world. However, the debate generated by the Episcopal Church’s now outright support and financing of abortion and the commentary thereon does a better job than I could.

I previously highlighted the Pontificator’s stance on the issue.

Now, Gawain de Leeuw has replied to Al Kimel (the Pontificator) on the issue. Mr. Kimel has responded in kind and most excellently.

One general comment about Mr. de Leeuw’s posts —“ notice he calls the ECUSA the EcUSA, i.e., a church —“ small ‘c’. That, is a very powerful statement.

Mr. de Leeuw begins:

Al Kimel writes: “A Christian community that supports the unconditional legal right to abortion has ceased to be Christian; it has ceased to be Church. A Church that is not willing to stand against the evil of abortion cannot be the Church that Jesus Christ founded. The lampstand has been taken away.”

This author agrees as previously noted. Mr. de Leeuw goes on:

It’s pretty powerful rhetoric, and reveals the monolithic, totalitarian impulse within Roman Catholicism. It first removes legitimacy from its opponents. It renders the opposing church “evil” which permits the obvious: death.

In one sentence he does the same thing he claims Mr. Kimel does. He does so by resorting to threadbare reformation rhetoric about the Roman Church. How unfortunate for him. He is not marching with Luther, Calvin, or Henry VIII, for if he were he would be condemned just as heartily. To wit:

John Calvin (1509-64). “The fetus, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being and it is a most monstrous crime to rob it of the life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man’s house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light” (Commentarius in Exodum, 21,22)

Martin Luther (1483-1546). “Even if all the world were to combine forces, they could not bring about the conception of a single child in any woman’s womb nor cause it to be born; that is wholly the work of God.” (Luther’s Works, VII, 21)

He goes on:

In the end, Al wants ECUSA destroyed – what else can one do with such evil homophilic babykillers like ourselves?

While I cannot imply Mr. Kimel’s motives or goals, I can acknowledge my feelings on the idea and they come from this Sunday’s Gospel:

—This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.—

Mr. de Leeuw says:

And of course, this is part of Roman history. And it is justified, because we kill fetuses upon the altar of religious pluralism. Such extremism makes me quite glad that I am in the liberal, reformed end of the church. I do not need to worry about his damning me. I sleep well at night.

He starts again with rhetoric. Mr. Kimel has touched a nerve. I do not think Mr. Kimel personally damned him. However, the failure to worry over the fate of one’s everlasting soul is simply a failure to have any fear of God.

Mr. de Leeuw continues:

Although it seems that the issue is about babies, it is more properly about the church’s relationship to the state; and secondly about the church’s relationship to its own body.

Yes, it is about babies. Because you agree with the government’s sin you believe that no one has a right to stand against it? Abortion is wrong, evil, sinful, and murder —“ this is fact. Is the Church’s stand dependant on the state? Is a relationship required?

The choice to sin is the choice for evil over God. We can take a historical tour of governments that have actively promoted evil, but I’ll save everyone the time and energy right now.

And, sure, you can stand and work for the government. You can believe in the infallibility of the government and you can support it whole heartedly. Just call yourself a secular humanist, not a Christian.

Can Christians accept a government that permits people, of different religions, to have abortions? Or shall it provide a law that says, for example, Christians cannot have abortions, but atheists can – kind of like a Christian Sharia?

I say no on both accounts. Christians cannot accept such a law nor may they uphold it. Now notice, he says ‘government’. He would like to imply that real Christians are damning the United States. He fails to remember that any human power is from God and that right is right by God’s law.

As Christians we cannot permit evil and must stand against it. We must stand against evil on behalf of Christians and non Christians alike. Mr. de Leeuw, did Jesus Christ redeem the world? Is Jesus Christ God? Is Jesus Christ our arbiter and judge? Does this apply to all of mankind, regardless of what people think?

It may be that in the choice between a woman’s life and a child’s life, the Episcopal Church has decided to admit the law of the land – the choice that most of its baptized members agree. His claim, however, is that ECUSA is not a Christian church. Well that’s his opinion, and not Gods, but by the nature of their acts, it would not be the view of most Catholics, who would agree with most of the teaching of Episcopal churches.

Why do our parents tell us those funny little sayings that turn out true? It appears that Mr. de Leeuw never heard the one about everyone jumping off a bridge/cliff/building.

Also, please spare us the rhetoric about the ‘teaching of the Episcopal churches.’ What teaching? Where is it standardized? I can go from church to church, state to state, country to country and get a different message every time, right down to core beliefs about baptism (non-use of the Trinitarian formula). Basically Episcopal teachings are made up by whomever is there at the moment, high church, low church, and apparently, no Church.

Also, most Catholics of any persuasion would balk if they understood the phony priesthood and the rest of the phony sacraments of the Episcopal church. If you explained your views on the sacraments honestly you would have to tell them – no it is not the ‘Body of Christ’ —“ its just bread in the Episcopal Church. It is only a symbol, not reality – which again says a lot.

As the title of my post implies, powerful rhetoric is needed. Proclamation is needed. Make straight the way of the Lord, that is, the Lord’s way.

“They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. … You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Let’s pray that as Christians we can stand together and bear witness in the face of all evil.

Homilies

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B

Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
—Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,—
when the people of Nineveh believed God;

My brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

I imagine Jonah’s message was very clear to the Ninevites. —Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.—

The Ninevites did not wait for Jonah to personally announce God’s message to each and every inhabitant. Everyone from the smallest to the greatest got to work. Everyone, the king included, put on sack cloth, covered themselves in ashes, and did not eat for forty days.

We are very concrete people. We do not like it when we cannot get our arms around an issue. We want to understand and we want guarantees.

How many people have ever asked someone close to them if they love them? Do you love me? Whether said out loud or in the silence of our hearts, the question shows our inability to understand.

Love is not concrete. We can only grasp at the idea or emotion of love based on our experience. Even symbols of love – flowers, candy, jewelry (you can see I am a man), do not guarantee what is unfathomable.

I would dare say that you would have liked Jonah’s message. It was very concrete and was delivered as a guarantee. You might have tried to run away, some might even give in to a doubt about the existence of a God that delivers retribution, but I think the majority would do penance.

Even Paul, in the early Church, gave into the concept of an almost immediate end time. Early Christians believed that the world would pass away, and the kingdom would be ushered in, in their lifetime. They were a little shocked when people started dying and the end hadn’t come.

Listen to Paul:

I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.

Not quite as concrete as the forty day scenario, but nevertheless, pretty close at hand.

Now here comes Jesus:

Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
—This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.—

These words and our experiences tell us that we have no idea when the end is coming. Jesus himself was in the dark on this —“ and told us it was a knowledge reserved to the Father.

Suddenly it is not so clear. Suddenly we want to sing with the psalmist:

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.

I think he is asking God to give him a clue.

We want that more concrete statement. OK Jesus, give me forty days and I’ll get things fixed right up. And while we sit and wonder and dream and philosophize about God’s knowledge, our life passes away.

If it isn’t clear yet, let me say it again:

—The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.—

It is time for less talk and more action. Fewer meetings and more work. For the Kingdom is at hand. Take action, and work for the Kingdom. We are to make a major change in our lives, for the Kingdom.

I tell you, I know the Kingdom, and it is a wonderful place. It is fertile fields and a land flowing with milk and honey. It is the new and eternal Jerusalem descending from the sky. It is a marvelous mansion with a room prepared just for you. It is a banquet at the table of the Lamb. It is that place where we shall stand about the throne of the Lamb and sing Alleluia, Hosanna to the Son of David, the Eternal King, the Alpha and the Omega.

Jesus extended a gold plated invitation to us and sealed it in His blood. He is giving us every opportunity to make the choice for Him. He is giving us every chance we need to set ourselves aright.

—This is the time of fulfillment.—

Act now.

Amen.

Homilies

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B

Eli said to Samuel, —Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,
Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.—
When Samuel went to sleep in his place,
the LORD came and revealed his presence,
calling out as before, —Samuel, Samuel!—
Samuel answered, —Speak, for your servant is listening.—

Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him,
not permitting any word of his to be without effect.

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

Does God need man?

It certainly appears that way. Throughout the Old a New Testaments God called men and women into His service. Finally, at that moment in time determined by God, the Father sent His only Son into the world to speak to us as a man. To speak to us in a way we can clearly understand.

God called the men and women of biblical times, not because He had to, for God can do all things. God does not need to address us in ways we can fathom with our senses. But he called them nevertheless. He called them so that His action within our lives is consistent with the revealed truth.

What is revealed truth?

Revealed truth is that truth that can be seen and understood. It is universally acknowledged truth. It takes the form of what our senses can perceive, what our minds can know, and what our hearts and souls know is right.

The revealed truth is written into each and every one of us from the time of our conception. We call this the Natural Law. The natural law is the rule of conduct which is written into us by God, our Creator. It is how we can know God, how we can know right from wrong, how even heretics, pagans, and those not evangelized, can know God. It is part of the very depth of each human person’s nature written by the hand of God.

The fullness of revealed truth lies in Christ Jesus and His word as taught and interpreted by His Church. God is the truth revealed to us by His grace.

My family in Christ,

St. Paul writes of the humanness of God’s saving work. He tells us once again that our humanity has been paid for by the Son on the cross.

Do you not know that your body
is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
For you have been purchased at a price.
Therefore glorify God in your body.

God calls you today. The sacrament of God’s Word, proclaimed to you today, the sacrament of the Word, taught to you today, calls you.

Check your hearts. Examine whether the knowledge of God is within you. Stop, be quiet, and listen.

…

Your very nature is calling out, I believe! I have faith in God! You are here for a reason. Even if that reason is masked by other reasons, you cannot deny that the call to faith in God and His truth is within you.

God is calling you today. Like He called Samuel, He calls you.

Brothers and Sisters,

He calls you because God desires to communicate with you. He calls you by what He wrote upon your heart from the moment you were conceived. He calls you in ways you can see, feel, and hear.

Consider the great sacrament of the altar, the most holy body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. What we see with our eyes and taste with our tongues supplies us with something our senses cannot perceive —“ but that is known in our hearts; that which is known by God’s call and our faith. The sacrament is Jesus Himself. We physically take Him into ourselves.

St. Thomas Aquinas writing about the Holy Eucharist said: Praestet fides supplementum, Sensuum defectui. Faith supplies that which our senses fail to perceive.

In today’s Gospel St. John proclaims:

—Behold, the Lamb of God.—
The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.

When Father Andrew stands here and says: —This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,— will you stand up to receive Him?

I tell you, do not just receive Him, but like St. Andrew get to work, with joy in your heart, and let everyone know. Let God use you.

Like Andrew cry out:

—We have found the Messiah— – which is translated Christ

…and bring all people to Jesus.

Perspective, Saints and Martyrs

Where is your nose leading you?

Every Wednesday evening we hold Holy Mass, Exposition, a Novena to Our Lady of Czestochowa, and Benediction. The Holy Mass is attended by a small group of regulars who each have their own reasons for needing this time aside with the Lord.

Last night I paused to wonder about all that goes on in a parish community, at a diocesan level, and in the lives of the clergy. I wondered about some of my experiences as a young altar boy. Some clergy just didn’t seem ‘into’ the Holy Mass. Many did, they were devout and faithful, but for some the emphasis fell on politics (internal and external), their personal proclivities, or on business. Their nose was leading them elsewhere.

As I stand before the altar in my role as deacon —“ called to be an exemplar of holy service, I am still amazed, in awe, overcome by God’s infinite mercy.

He allows me to stand there, clumsy and awkward as I am. He allows me to hold His body and blood in my hands. I just want to scream out —“ look, this is Jesus, this is God, here for us. My own weakness grieves me in light of His great love and mercy.

When I enter Church I do not head for the sacristy or office. I stand there in front of the tabernacle, just to say thank you. Thank you for allowing me to come here and serve once again.

Will I loose it someday? Will my nose lead elsewhere? I pray not.

Michael Kwatera in his book The Liturgical Ministry of Deacons begins with a discussion of St. Lawrence’s glorious martyrdom. He says:

On the third day Lawrence made good on his promise: he gathered a great number of the city’s poor and placed them in rows: the elderly, the blind, the lame, lepers, orphans, widows. Then, instead of handing over silver and gold, Lawrence presented these lowly ones to the eyes of the greedy official: “Here are the true treasures of the Church.” This bold affirmation of their surpassing Christian dignity, which came easily from a man who had faithfully ministered the Lord’s Blood and the Lord’s charity to them, won him a painful but glorious death on the gridiron. St. Augustine linked Lawrence’s self-sacrifice in martyrdom with his self-giving in the Eucharist:

Lawrence, as you have heard, fulfilled the office of deacon in the church of Rome. There he ministered the sacred Blood of Christ; there he poured out his own blood for the sake of Christ. . . . The holy apostle John has clearly revealed the mystery of the Lord’s Supper by telling us: “As Christ laid down his life for us, so we must lay down our lives for our brothers.” St. Lawrence grasped that teaching; he understood it and practiced it. In a word, what he received at that table, he prepared to fulfill in himself. He loved Christ during life and imitated him in death.,’

The story of St. Lawrence shows that the liturgical ministry of deacons ideally was a seal they placed on their other duties.

All I want to say is this: Please, Lord Jesus, keep me firmly planted in the Holy Mass. Grant that from the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar, Your grace may flow into my heart, that it might fill me, so that Your glory may be seen through the work you have called me to do. Amen.

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