I used to tell people, “The Catholic Church is big enough to include both people who believe the Doctrines and dogma, as well as those who disagree with most of that stuff.” And I counted myself among the disagreeing. I called myself a pro-choice feminist and advocated for total reform of the church.
That has all changed, through the action of the Holy Spirit. I came to realize, with a flash of sudden clarity, that there is something called Truth and it’s not a matter of picking and choosing what is “true for me.” I came to see that the Church is led by Jesus Christ, and the Church needs to stand up for the Truth about moral and faith issues no matter how difficult it may be.
My conversion came about through grace. But that’s really another story.
I started questioning the relativist attitude when my kids were in elementary school and they were taught math in a yet another “new way.” I always thought math was a pretty black and white discipline. There is only one right answer—right? Wrong—according to the new math.
Nowadays (at least in some public schools), kids are required to say “how” they got an answer and credit is given for any answer that is accompanied by a reason. So 1+1 can equal 3 as long as a student makes up a story about it. How about this: “such equations have 3 numbers and since this is an equation with ones that means the answer is 3.” Say what?
Relativism. It’s the road of “your truth is not my truth” and it leads from one justified immorality to the next immorality. If 1+1 can equal whatever you want it to, then surely if someone can give a sad-sob story about why they need to marry a little kid, we won’t be able to judge that either! Every sinner has a justification for sinful acts.
Last night, I heard a lecture on bio-ethics. The priest was talking about how scientists will put an embryo in a Petri dish and begin to dismember it in order to remove stem cells. Separated, the cells go to the sides of the dish frantically trying to come together again. These cells are the essence of a human being. Everything is there in the Petri dish even then. This is a life struggling to LIVE! And yet it will die at the hands of a scientist.
Abby Johnson, who left her job at Planned Parenthood, was awakened to Truth when she saw the ultrasound image of the baby inside a woman’s womb. The baby was trying to escape the abortion prod. The baby was struggling. It was a baby and she wanted to LIVE! Yet, she would die at the hands of a doctor.
And then there is the story of the twins who were born, each one weighing only two pounds. They were put in separate incubators and the weaker twin was pronounced as “dying.” Her heart was weak, her breathing was labored. A nurse said, “They were together in utero. They should be together now.” So she defied hospital protocol and put the weak baby in with her sister. The strong one put her arm around the other sister. Almost immediately, the weak baby began to improve. She wanted to LIVE and her twin helped heal her with a hug! These were two pound babies, who could have still been in their mother’s womb!
These are stories about life. Life is a gift from God that cannot be denied. Abortion is clearly wrong. And Truth is not relative. Catholics, who are struggling to be closer to God, will learn to stop being relative and return to the life-affirming, Bible-based teachings of our faith. And they will find Truth here at home, in our Church.
Showing posts with label abortion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label abortion. Show all posts
Monday
Friday
Judge Not? Is that Really What we Are to Do?
By Judith Costello
The priest who gave a Mission talk at our church talked about the whole issue of "judgment." It was helpful to me as I read the online discussions among Catholics about Fr. Guarnizo from Washington, DC. He’s the one who withheld communion from a Buddhist lesbian activist. The woman introduced herself and her lover to the priest before Mass, making their status clear. The priest explained to the entire congregation the conditions for reception of communion at a funeral Mass and apparently he had something of a conversation with this woman as well while they were in the sacristy. But the woman still felt she “deserved” to receive the Eucharist. When the priest quietly refused it, she went to a different line and received communion anyway. Then she went to the press to make life difficult for this priest.
Many of these kinds of situations remind me of family life. God gives us families as a microcosm of society so we can learn to make judgment calls like this priest was forced to make.
I remember a situation that happened to me. I was living in sin with a boyfriend, and I brought him home to meet Mom. Should she have said, “Well it’s not my job to judge. The Bible says ‘judge not, lest you be judged.’ So I’ll just give you one bedroom since that’s what you choose.” Would that have been the right the thing to do?
Well my mom didn’t think so. She said, “You may be living together, but not in my house. I won’t have that here. Here are two bedrooms. I expect you to sleep in your respective bedrooms alone.” She couldn’t change my lifestyle outside of her house. About that she was praying hard. But she certainly had a moral obligation to hold me accountable while in her house.
We can't condemn the souls of others. The state of their relationship with God is none of our business. That’s what the Bible passage means. But that is totally different from telling a child, "Don't do that. And what you just did was wrong." We as Catholic parents are morally obligated to tell our children they are living in a state of sin if they move in with a partner.
We should be gentle. We should accompany any correction with lots of prayer. God will move the soul to conversion. But we are called to be a light to the world, a voice for Truth.
As a priest, Father had a moral obligation to point out to this woman that she couldn't receive communion since she was introducing him to her active lifestyle without contrition. Had she not announced this to him, he says he would “assume good faith when a Catholic presents himself (herself) for communion; like most priests I am not at all eager to withhold communion.” But given that she announced her lifestyle and was not a member of the parish, Father was acting as any priest should. And as any "parent" should.
Too many of us say, "Well my friend is going in for an abortion, but I don't want to judge her. So I’m not going to say anything." Certainly if we hear about this after the fact, we can’t say, “You’re a sinner.” But we could say, “If you need someone to talk to about having made that decision, I’m happy to talk. I can also refer you to someone for counseling.”
We don't judge the state of her soul, but we do point out the immoral. To not act, when we have the opportunity, when a door is opened for conversation—that is sinful.
Sadly, we live in wishy-washy times. According to the world, there is only "my truth and your truth." I remember hearing that in school. It was what I believed back when I was living with that fellow I brought home to Mom. I wanted to define “right and wrong” for myself.
But my mother did the Right thing. Her ultimatum, “If you want one bed, you can’t sleep here,” made me embarrassed. But it was the challenge I needed to hear. And her constant prayers were what turned my life around.
We have an obligation to speak on behalf of God’s law within our circles of influence. And that will make a difference. Let’s pray for Fr. Guarnizo and all those involved in that situation. Father has been removed from priestly duties in response to his action. From the information available, that seems very wrong. So we will pray for our whole Church that our bishops and Cardinals will stand up against the pressures of the world that would re-define family.
Let us pray…and speak out.
This is a link to Fr. Guarnizo’s explanation of what happened: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/father-marcel-guarnizo-i-did-only-thing-faithful-catholic-priest-could-do
The priest who gave a Mission talk at our church talked about the whole issue of "judgment." It was helpful to me as I read the online discussions among Catholics about Fr. Guarnizo from Washington, DC. He’s the one who withheld communion from a Buddhist lesbian activist. The woman introduced herself and her lover to the priest before Mass, making their status clear. The priest explained to the entire congregation the conditions for reception of communion at a funeral Mass and apparently he had something of a conversation with this woman as well while they were in the sacristy. But the woman still felt she “deserved” to receive the Eucharist. When the priest quietly refused it, she went to a different line and received communion anyway. Then she went to the press to make life difficult for this priest.
Many of these kinds of situations remind me of family life. God gives us families as a microcosm of society so we can learn to make judgment calls like this priest was forced to make.
I remember a situation that happened to me. I was living in sin with a boyfriend, and I brought him home to meet Mom. Should she have said, “Well it’s not my job to judge. The Bible says ‘judge not, lest you be judged.’ So I’ll just give you one bedroom since that’s what you choose.” Would that have been the right the thing to do?
Well my mom didn’t think so. She said, “You may be living together, but not in my house. I won’t have that here. Here are two bedrooms. I expect you to sleep in your respective bedrooms alone.” She couldn’t change my lifestyle outside of her house. About that she was praying hard. But she certainly had a moral obligation to hold me accountable while in her house.
We can't condemn the souls of others. The state of their relationship with God is none of our business. That’s what the Bible passage means. But that is totally different from telling a child, "Don't do that. And what you just did was wrong." We as Catholic parents are morally obligated to tell our children they are living in a state of sin if they move in with a partner.
We should be gentle. We should accompany any correction with lots of prayer. God will move the soul to conversion. But we are called to be a light to the world, a voice for Truth.
As a priest, Father had a moral obligation to point out to this woman that she couldn't receive communion since she was introducing him to her active lifestyle without contrition. Had she not announced this to him, he says he would “assume good faith when a Catholic presents himself (herself) for communion; like most priests I am not at all eager to withhold communion.” But given that she announced her lifestyle and was not a member of the parish, Father was acting as any priest should. And as any "parent" should.
Too many of us say, "Well my friend is going in for an abortion, but I don't want to judge her. So I’m not going to say anything." Certainly if we hear about this after the fact, we can’t say, “You’re a sinner.” But we could say, “If you need someone to talk to about having made that decision, I’m happy to talk. I can also refer you to someone for counseling.”
We don't judge the state of her soul, but we do point out the immoral. To not act, when we have the opportunity, when a door is opened for conversation—that is sinful.
Sadly, we live in wishy-washy times. According to the world, there is only "my truth and your truth." I remember hearing that in school. It was what I believed back when I was living with that fellow I brought home to Mom. I wanted to define “right and wrong” for myself.
But my mother did the Right thing. Her ultimatum, “If you want one bed, you can’t sleep here,” made me embarrassed. But it was the challenge I needed to hear. And her constant prayers were what turned my life around.
We have an obligation to speak on behalf of God’s law within our circles of influence. And that will make a difference. Let’s pray for Fr. Guarnizo and all those involved in that situation. Father has been removed from priestly duties in response to his action. From the information available, that seems very wrong. So we will pray for our whole Church that our bishops and Cardinals will stand up against the pressures of the world that would re-define family.
Let us pray…and speak out.
This is a link to Fr. Guarnizo’s explanation of what happened: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/father-marcel-guarnizo-i-did-only-thing-faithful-catholic-priest-could-do
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