Let Me Put It In Simple Terms

Posted by thelarryd in Bishops, Cardinals, Catholic Stuff, Cult Of Catholic Celebritiease, Lila Rose, LiveAction, Media

Terry at Abbey Roads posted on Sunday a couple things he doesn’t get:

Cardinal Dolan bending over backwards to explain that Governor Cuomo is not a ‘bad Catholic’.

NEW YORK, May 16, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan appeared to suggest during a radio interview this week that he may not view pro-abortion Governor Andrew Cuomo as a Catholic “in good standing,” the archdiocese has issued a statement saying that this is not the case, and that Dolan’s remark was misunderstood.

“Cardinal Dolan would not, and did not, suggest the governor might not be a Catholic in good standing going forward,” archdiocesan spokesman Joseph Zwilling said in a statement originally sent to the New York Times, and forwarded to LifeSiteNews.

[...]

Cardinal Dolan is a Roman Catholic Archbishop, acting in the name of the Church, he is responsible for faith and morals and ecclesiastical discipline. I’m not criticizing the Cardinal – but I don’t get it.

[...]

2) Catholics condemning the tactics of an anti-abortion activist, Lila Rose and the organization she heads, Live Action. Rose is under fire for ‘lying’ because Live Action tactics include undercover sting operations at abortion clinics, and her critics are saying the ‘undercover work is deceptive to the degree that it cannot be justified.’

What strikes me as strange is that people have become so worked up over this. Lila Rose is Catholic, but Live Action is not a Catholic organization. It is a private, non-profit and Lila Rose is a lay person – she does not represent the Catholic Church. It’s her conscience – but at least she and her organization is working vigorously to expose the atrocities and illegal activities of abortionists and to bring an end to abortion.

Here’s the deal – Catholic politicians get away with supporting abortion and expanding access to it, while many Catholic leaders look the other way when they approach the Communion rail, but a Catholic laywoman, a private citizen, acting upon her own initiative to do everything in her power to end the abortion holocaust, is pilloried as a public sinner.

I’m not trying to vilify or justify anyone here – I just don’t get it. Sorry.

Let me put it in simple terms, so it’s understandable.  I answered Terry in his combox -

Lila Rose doesn’t run an archdiocese or make decisions on which Catholics are allowed to speak at archdiocesan events and functions.

I predict that the only prominent Catholic commentator or talking head – radio, internet, TV, whatever – to raise an eyebrow at Cardinal Dolan’s spinning will be Michael Voris. Everyone else will either ignore it, or attempt to defend it.  I could be wrong, but it wouldn’t surprise me if I’m proven right.

Should Catholic Bloggers Use Profanity?

Posted by thelarryd in All The World's A Blog And We Are Merely Posters, Catholic Bloggers, Catholic Stuff, Words

Short answer? @#$%^& no.

Last week, a tweet in my feed linked to a post by Bad Catholic (Marc Barnes) titled “Is Female Purity A Load of Male Bovine Excrement?”, except he didn’t say “A Load of Male Bovine Excrement”.  He used a much shorter word that I won’t reprint (long time readers might recall that when AoftheA was at Blogger, I had a “Cuss-o-Meter” in the side bar that consistently read 0%. I don’t say that to boast, just as an indicator that I avoid profanity in my blog).  I’m not going to link to his post either, but if you read his blog, you’ll know what post I’m talking about, and even if you don’t, you can head to his blog and find the post.

Basically, his post was a response to a piece written at Jezebel (sorry, no linky love for that piece either) titled “Female Purity Is A Load of Male Bovine Excrement”, so I can see why his post’s title is what it is: repositioning the exact words, posed as a question, one he intends to answer in his uniquely talented way. I haven’t read him in quite a long time, but from what I recall, Marc’s a gifted writer with a strong grasp and love of the faith, and is rather popular.  This particular post was no different from posts I’ve read in the past.

Now, my post has nothing to do with Bad Catholic’s character (I’ve never met him or spoken with him) or his intent for using profanity (I can merely guess at his intent, and thus will give him the benefit of the doubt). In fact, my post has very little to do with his post specifically. Instead, I want to expound upon the appropriateness of Catholic bloggers using profanity.

First of all, there is profanity, and then there’s PROFANITY.  Excluding taking the Lord’s name in vain for the sake of this piece, I think we can all agree that there’s a difference between, for instance, “cr*p” and “a load of male bovine excrement”.  There are gradations of profanity that, over time, have settled at different levels of acceptability in society.  Some words that are bandied about today were unacceptable a couple generations ago, and I daresay that some words that are unacceptable in polite company today might be hunky-dory a couple generations from now.  That’s the ebb and flow of linguistics and culture, although there are many people who would suck on a lemon soaked in motor oil and rolled in cayenne pepper, rather than let any sort of mild profanity pass their lips. And I say, more power to them.

But as far as Catholic bloggers go, is there any acceptable amount of cussing and swearing?

You know my answer – I’m interested in what you think about it.

Indulge me as I add a few more things. First of all, in Marc’s piece, the profanity wasn’t limited to the title. The word appeared several more times throughout the piece, and served to distract me from the arguments he was making.  To me, that’s one of the reasons why profanity shouldn’t be used – it’s like being blinded by an oncoming car’s hi-beams, and concentration and focus is momentarily sidetracked.

Secondly, I wasn’t offended or scandalized by its use. (Trust me.  I live in metro Detroit, for goodness sake). Surprised, sure. Offended, no. People react differently depending on what’s being said, and who’s doing the talking.  For instance, I don’t really care if my neighbor drops a few salty terms here or there that I happen to overhear, but my reaction would be completely different if I heard my parish priest say the exact thing.

Thirdly, I’m presuming that profanity use in Catholic blogs is the rarest of rare exceptions. I actually don’t read a large volume of Catholic blogs, and the ones I do read don’t engage in profanity, so my perspective might be skewed.

Finally, I’m not on a Profanity Witch-hunt here. Like I said earlier, I merely used Bad Catholic’s post as the impetus for this post – what he writes is between him and his editor, and his readers.  Bear in mind I won’t permit any finger-pointing or condemnation of any specific blogger in the combox. Such comments will be deleted. Take your concerns directly to that blogger, if you must, in private – but we won’t be engaging in any detraction, calumny or gossip here.

In other words, please stick to the question I posed: is there any acceptable level of profanity for a Catholic blogger, and please give reasons for your opinion. Or if you’re a blogger, what standards do you stick to at your own place? Let’s get a dialogue going.

Need Prayers? Got Intentions?

Posted by thelarryd in Eucharist, Prayer, Prayer request

10-Adoration-1

I’ll be at the perpetual adoration chapel at midnight tonight for my weekly hour of prayer and adoration (and the occasional dozing off).  If you’d like me to remember you in prayer or offer our Lord any intentions – specific or not – I’d be honored to present them.  Email me, or leave them in the combox.

The photo above is our parish chapel.

Kenyan Bishops Show How It’s Done

Posted by thelarryd in Apostates for Choice, Bishops, Catholycs, Catholycs For Choice, Contraception, News

I’ve written numerous times about the political action group Catholycs For Choice – or Apostates for Choice, if you will – and how they promote views and ideas antithetical to Church teaching on contraception, abortion and so-called same-sex marriage. They operate out of Washington DC, but they don’t limit their activity to the US. Lately they’ve been spreading their disinformation around Kenya, and the bishops there are having none of it.

From allAfrica.com:

Nairobi — The Catholic Church is embroiled in yet another controversy after a group calling itself Catholics for Choice (CFC) put up billboards advocating for the use of condoms amongst faithful.

Led by Cardinal John Njue, the Church says the propagators of the advert do not reflect its pro-life principles and wants the offensive advertisement pulled down by the end of Tuesday.

Njue noted that one of those adverts had actually been placed on a billboard about a kilometre away from the Consolata Shrine in Westlands.

He argued that the adverts invoked the Catholic name making it appear as if it got the green light from the Church.

“Who are they (Catholics for Choice)? Somebody somewhere somehow must be operating it and whether he is from here or not doesn’t really matter,” he said dismissively.

“The only thing we are saying is that this is a seed that is being planted for very wrong reasons,” he argued.

Kisumu Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth added that the pro-life stand held by the Church had not changed and they would not take the matter lying down.

Okoth maintained that it was only abstinence and faithfulness that could stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The advert states: “We believe in God, we believe that sex is sacred, we believe in caring for each other, we believe in using condoms and good Catholics use condoms.”

“Condoms came in to control births even before HIV/AIDS came on and we already rejected that. Condoms are not the answer for that. We are pro-life. Even if you get 10 children give us two to become priests,” Okoth quipped.

Eldoret Archbishop Cornelius Korir also affirmed the Church’s position accusing the ad’s sponsors of encouraging immorality.

“Prevention is the best way and so far they (CFC) have not told us the source of this HIV/AIDS. Why are they pouring money as if they know the source?” he asked.

An article posted on the CFC website however said that the advert had been sanctioned by the Church to prevent the spread of HIV.

“The campaign is vital because the bishops’ recent activities are not representative of Catholic teachings or beliefs. Catholics do support the use of condoms, and they do use them to protect themselves and their partners,” CFC president and campaign coordinator Jon O’Brien is quoted as saying.

This comes about two months after another advert, which encourages married women to use condoms when engaging in extramarital affairs, was pulled off the airwaves.

The prime time advert caused a huge outcry from several religious organisations that deemed it immoral.

In the advert, a married woman appeared to be having an extra marital relationship with a man who also seemed to be engaging in a similar relationship with another woman.

The woman is then asked to ensure that she uses a condom in her relations to ensure that she does not contract the dreaded virus.

The chutzpah of O’Brien and CFC is rather appalling. “The campaign is vital because the bishops’ recent activities are not representative of Catholic teachings or beliefs”?  Ex-squeeze me? Baking powder? Maybe in the realm of public opinion, or among those with badly formed Catholic consciences (Lord knows there are plenty of those in the US), but not when it comes to the catechism or magisterial teaching. But lying doesn’t matter to this group when it comes to advancing their agenda. Seems to me they’re seeking to take advantage of a 3rd-world populace and get them to dissent against their bishops.

Notice they don’t care about adultery, either. The message isn’t to be faithful to one’s spouse – it’s about being faithful to one’s appetites, and give in to the temptation. “You know you’re gonna cheat – so protect yourself when you do” is the message. Rather revolting.

And to their credit, the Kenyan bishops are speaking out against the group and their tactics and their message.

Which is more than any US bishop has ever done, at least to my memory. What we need here is another Bruskevitz moment. If you recall, years ago, when Bishop Bruskevitz was leading the Lincoln diocese, he excommunicated the Call-to-Action chapter located there. The whole lot of them. And Rome had his back. Too bad his brother bishops lacked his courage – but that was then. Perhaps now some others will stand in the breach with crozier held high.  Mind you, I’m not holding my breath, but it’s a hopeful image nonetheless.

It’s well past high time for such a statement to be made concerning this nefarious group of posers. Even if it’s only the USCCB – heck, that would be a step in the right direction. Stand up, make a pronouncement, set the record straight, and make it stick. The bishops’ job is to defend the deposit of faith, and to ensure it isn’t redefined by anyone purporting to be speaking for the Catholic Church. This group – and any other like it – must be pushed back. Time for dialogue is over. Get in there and kick some heretic butt.

If need be, ask the Kenyans how to do it.

12 Rejected Religious Book Titles

Posted by thelarryd in books, Catholic Stuff, Humor, Twitter

Had quite a bit of fun on Twitter today, kicking off a meme called Rejected Religious Book Titles. Here are a bunch of the ones I came up with:

Add your own to the combox – and if you’re on Twitter, search out the hashtag #RejectedReligiousBookTitles and check out all the other submissions. A bunch of them are very clever and quite hilarious.

For instance:

and

Priest Hires 80′s Metal Band To Lead Parish Music Ministry

Posted by thelarryd in Humor, Music, News That Could Be True, Satire

(AoftheAP) At every Sunday Mass, Fr Rick Rold would look out at the congregation and notice the glaring absence of middle-aged men – men his age. So he decided to do something about it.

“I love 80′s heavy metal music,” he told AoftheA News. “The power, the energy, the raw emotion. And I knew that a lot of guys my age loved it too. So I did the sensible thing – I let our music director go, and hired Frenzied Outburst to handle the music ministry.”

Frenzied Outburst originally formed in 1984, and was struggling to revive their career when Rold came calling. The band was ecstatic at the offer, and quickly accepted. Founder Mike Rofone considers this “gig” more than just a stepping stone.

“Rsidn jdngplw kkd da mnmddgt, brrsn ritopn nbbvefs to da hjprwt,” he said. “Prmnm, ggjp, adnmnxr grnmsfmlmkl, tdr JAYNRR HMTROFGJ MNJNMDODJN MMMVCHK!!! ROCK ON!!!!!!”

Suddenly, the quiet suburban Detroit parish of St Peter the Rock has become St Peter, Rock n’ Roll. Frenzied Outburst has been there for less than a month, and Fr Rold has seen a noticeable uptick in attendance. He reports a more than 100% increase in the attendance among the men, and several have approached him about starting a monthly Bible Study/Mosh Pit in the parish hall. It’s an idea he’s considering.

“It’s been great so far,” he said. “The biggest change I’ve had to make is canceling Sunday morning masses and setting up 1:00 PM and 2:30 PM masses, because the band can’t seem to wake up before noon. The attendance at both masses has been through the roof.”

Several parishioners told AoftheA News that if Mass had been like this the past 20 to 30 years, they never would have stopped attending. Tim Pannie, who had been away for 25 years, said: “It’s so awesome now! The way the band uses lasers and pyrotechnics during the Alleluia before the Gospel? Totally rocks!” Fellow parishioner Al Toesacks was equally exuberant. “Sure, they’re older now and don’t shred like they used to, but to see Frenzied Outburst for free every Sunday? Going to church is worth it now.”

Frenzied Outburst singing the processional hymn "Gather Us In"

Frenzied Outburst singing the processional hymn “Gather Us In”

Fr. Rold has an answer for his critics, of which there have been a handful. “As a pastor, I have to do everything in my power to get my parishioners to the sacraments. It’s right there in the Vatican II documents, at least that’s what I’ve been told. I’m happy to see this overwhelming positive response. Let me tell you, there’s no greater feeling in the world for a pastor, to look out across the congregation, and see all those lighters held aloft while the band plays “Be Not Afraid” during the offertory. It’s pretty special.”

The former music director, Claire Ennette, declined to be interviewed for this story.

Acts 15, Updated

Posted by thelarryd in Scripture, Thoughts, USCCB

Some who had come down from the offices of the National Catholic Reporter were instructing the brothers, “Contraception is not a hindrance to being saved. Go ahead and take the pill; it’s okay.”  Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Rome to the Holy Father and the Magisterium about this question.

The Holy Father and the Magisterium, in agreement with the whole church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to America with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers.

This is the letter delivered by them: “The Holy Father and the Magisterium, your brothers, to the brothers in America: greetings. Since we have heard that some of our number who went out without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, we have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of mouth:

‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to waver from our teaching on contraception. Along with that, we strongly reiterate these necessities, namely, to abstain from fornication, from homosexual activity, from abortion, and from unlawful marriage (ie: so-called same sex marriage). If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right. Farewell.’”

And when they read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words and strengthened them. Unfortunately, the National Catholic Reporter told their readers that they ought to follow the “spirit” of the letter. So the leaders gathered up all the copies of the National Catholic Reporter and set them ablaze, and the fire lasted many days. And the writers were driven from their midst, forced into the wasteland where CNN and MSNBC greeted them with exclusive interviews.

If everything from our bishops was as concise and direct as the letter from the Council of Jerusalem, we’d be in much better shape.

Principal Celebrant And Homilist At Dignity Detroit Anniversary Mass Is…Bishop Gumbleton

Posted by thelarryd in Bishops, Colleges, Homosexuality, So-called Gay Marriage

39thAnnvWebPoster

It’s not a surprise in the least.

This event comes on the heels of Gumbledore’s blatant disregard for Archbishop Vigneron’s statements back in early April, where he said that “Catholics who receive Communion while advocating gay marriage would ‘logically bring shame for a double-dealing that is not unlike perjury…’, though I’m sure the event was planned long before this media kerfuffle. The timing is just coincidental.

Still, Gumbledore told area Catholics the next day on Fox 2 News to basically ignore what Vigneron said, and do whatever the hell you want…with the emphasis on “the hell” that might await those who decide to take his advice. Of course, Gumbledore didn’t say that – those are my thoughts about the whole thing.

Let me add a disclaimer here. It’s quite possible that not every Dignity Detroit member supports so-called same-sex marriage. I have no way of knowing, and in no way am I ascribing that belief to every member. The point of this post is not to disparage any individual member – but to point out that a retired bishop is celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for a group who doesn’t exactly conform to all Church teaching when it comes to homosexuality and homosexual behavior.

In other words, this is a scandal. And I hope that Archbishop Vigneron makes a formal statement about this group and their Masses. Given that this has been going on for 39 years, I’m not holding my breath.

As far as Marygrove College is concerned – well, all you have to do is read their Mission Statement to get an idea of what they’re about:

Marygrove College, an independent Catholic liberal arts college sponsored by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, is committed to fostering Christian values, to educating students from diverse backgrounds, and to serving the people of Metropolitan Detroit and beyond.

The fundamental purpose of Marygrove College is to educate each student toward intellectual and professional competence; toward career flexibility through grounding in the liberal arts; and toward active compassion and commitment. To this end, Marygrove provides a personalized learning environment which, through excellent teaching in its undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education programs, sets for its students these goals:

Competence, the ability to understand and participate effectively in the promise of our evolving world.

Compassion, the capacity to care about and respect the worth and dignity of people.

Commitment, the will to act responsibly based upon one’s beliefs and to contribute to the building of a more just and humane world.

That was so riveting, I dozed off at the start of the second paragraph.  Another Catholic institution of higher learning sacrificing their identity at the altar of secularism. “Acting responsibly based upon one’s beliefs” is not the same as “forming hearts and minds to the wondrous richness and depth of Catholic teaching, and leading souls to Christ”.  But it probably helps bring in the donations. Oh, and it keeps teh gays from calling you a bigot, too.