Call Him 'The God Father': Husband and Dad Will Become Catholic Priest -- and Take Vow of Celibacy

The New York Daily News ^ | 1/24/13 | Corky Siemaszko

[marshmallow]

John Cornelius, who is married, will be ordained this weekend -- and sex-free life begins

John Cornelius will be ordained a Roman Catholic priest this weekend — and with the blessing of his wife they're giving up their sex life. Cornelius, a father of three, will become the first married Roman Catholic priest in New York — and Sharyl, his wife of 33-years, has agreed to the whole celibacy thing.

“We have decided to do that voluntarily,” Cornelius told WGRZ-TV. “I have always had friends that are Roman Catholic priests and I appreciate what they've given up to serve God and the priesthood.”

Cornelius, 64, is a former Episcopalian priest who converted three years ago to Catholicism. He said his old church had gotten too liberal for him.

[metmom]

Wouldn’t loving God above all else include OBEYING His commands?

God was the one who created sex and DID command Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. I kind of have to presume that God knew what that would entail.

[Elsie]

HEY!!

[Elsie]

Can you provide validation for your claim? Evidence? Facts?

---

 

Deconstructing Linus: Portrait of a True Believing Pumpkinist as a Young Man

What does the Great Pumpkin offer Linus? Why does Linus spend every Halloween in the pumpkin patch, waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear? Is it about the toys?

"Each year on Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere and flies through the air with his pack of toys for all the good little children in the world."

No. This is about sincerity, a subjective standard by any definition.

I wonder if Linus blames himself every year for not picking the most sincere pumpkin patch for his vigil?

I wonder if other Great Pumpkinists castigate Linus by asserting if he were more in tune with the Spirit of the Great Pumpkin, if he were more prayerful, if he read the Holy Writ of the Great Pumpkin with a greater sincerity, that he could indeed rise to the challenge and, via the Spirit, be lead to choose the most sincere pumpkin patch?

I wonder how many years Linus will feel guilty for this failure and blame himself for receiving no answer no matter how sincere he believes himself to be?

I wonder if Linus ever gets frustrated because there is no objective way to measure sincerity? And if he realizes there is no objective standard for such a thing, I wonder if it ever creeps into his mind that his annual mission is nothing more than mindless busywork?

I wonder, does Linus ever has doubts?

For the time being, however, Linus will put aside his doubts and, perhaps as a means of proving his sincerity, begins to proselyte among his friends for converts. Most shrug him off. But Sally, who has a crush on him, believes Linus and agrees to spend Halloween in Linus’ Pumpkin Patch.

Linus then explains that by using positive language and positive thinking, they may be able to attract the Great Pumpkin to their Patch. He also cautions Sally that negative language and negative thinking will cause the Great Pumpkin to pass them by.

There is no room for doubt when one is a Great Pumpkinist. One should never say if the Great Pumpkin comes but always when the Great Pumpkin comes. "One little slip like that, can cause the Great Pumpkin to pass you by!" It’s hard to imagine a benevolent icon such as the Great Pumpkin punishing TBPs (True Believing Pumkinists) for such a minor infraction, but there you have it.

Sally: The Birth of an Ex-Pumpkinist

Because Sally loves her “sweet baboo” Linus, she sets aside her own Halloween plans of trick-or-treating and a Halloween party in order to spend the evening in the Pumpkin Patch. She converts to Great Pumpkinism because she loves Linus. She respects his opinion. And she wants to make him happy and be supportive. And besides, if it’s really true, WOW! Wouldn’t that be fantastic?

But in the end, the only Being that shows up in the Pumpkin Patch is Snoopy. Linus, believing Snoopy to be the Great Pumpkin, swoons into an ecstatic faint, happy in the knowledge that he has finally deciphered the Great Pumpkin’s standard for sincerity. But, alas, it is a misplaced hope, and when Linus regains consciousness, there is not only no Great Pumpkin there to reward him, there is one upset little girl.

"I was robbed! I spent the whole night waiting for the Great Pumpkin when I could have been out for tricks or treats! Halloween is over and I missed it! You blockhead! You kept me up all night waiting for the Great Pumpkin and all that came was a beagle!"

"I didn't get a chance to go out for tricks or treats! And it was all your fault! I'll sue! What a fool I was. And I could have had candy apples and gum! And cookies and money and all sorts of things! But no, I had to listen to you! You blockhead. What a fool I was. Trick or treats come only once a year. And I missed it by sitting in a pumpkin patch with a blockhead. You owe me restitution!"

Luckily for Sally, she only missed one Halloween. And though she is demanding restitution, because her participation was voluntary, she will never receive said restitution. She’ll simply have to accept the experience as one of life’s absurdities and move on.

However, one can hope that this experience has made Sally a more skeptical person, so that the next time she is presented with such fantastic claims, she’ll perhaps be inclined to do her research before committing any time, money or emotion.

After all, fantastic claims should be supported by fantastic evidence, right?

The question now becomes, has this experience made Linus a skeptic? After yet again not having his Pumpkin Patch recognized as sincere and after having endangered his friendship with Sally, will he continue to believe?

In spite of a complete and utter lack of evidence pointing to the existence of the Great Pumpkin, and a complete and utter lack of the Great Pumpkin’s Promise ever having been fulfilled, Linus is a True Believing Pumpkinist to the core. To even admit the possibility that he may be wrong would be to negate all those years of hard work and sincere belief. Linus simply cannot turn his back on his belief.

So if Linus doesn't become an ex-Pumpkinist, what is his strategy? Well, he’s going to keep on trying, isn't he?

"What do you mean, 'stupid'? Just wait until next year. I'll find a pumpkin patch, and I'll sit in that pumpkin patch and it'll be a sincere pumpkin patch, and the Great Pumpkin will come! Just you wait and see! I'll sit in that pumpkin patch, and I'll see the Great Pumpkin. Just wait until next year!"

[BlueDragon]

maybe the Great Pumpkin arrives on All Saint's Day instead of the eve of Halloween ?

Ok, fine. So Hallow's Eve is the night before All Saints, hence the name. So sue me for being ridiculous...but

That Pumpkin never sinned!
It's still a virgin!
It will point the way to Mary, who points the way to Jesus!

Hope and pray for the Pumpkin, to "pray for us"! Do it for the brussel sprouts.

Your FRiend,

Linus

[Elsie]

Don't you realize that Oprah says:

"It mattereth not just WHAT you believe; just do it with all your heart and you'll be just fine."

[terycarl]

As to your new truth claim about the Catholic Church being infallible, I will only say that history contradicts your claim in a legion of ways. Can you provide validation for your claim? Evidence? Facts?

it is of course, impossible to prove that the teachings of the church, from the Chair of Peter, thus infallible, are indeed infallible. If you do not agree that EVERY "INFALLIBLE" teaching of the church was true, point them out and explain why they are in error.

[xrmusn]

Being a ‘non practicing Catholic’ which goes along with my drinking ‘non alcoholic Budweiser (ODouls)’ and one who became disillusioned with Mass no longer said in Latin, lay people distributing Communion, Priests attacking vulnerable children, Nuns protesting issues I grew up with as ‘gospel’, I feel it is probably better I don’t respond to this particular event.
Guess laypeople will be hearing Confession before long.

So I still consider myself a ‘Catholic in Spirit’, I just do not partake in their or any other service.

[mlizzy]

As a good Catholic, I don’t understand why he would do this. sex is part of marriage and there is no requirement to give it up. This is weird to me.

Plenty weird to me too; if they wish to take on a tough discipline, they could consider fasting. With the drop of some unwanted weight (and the heightened spirituality that goes along with fasting as well), they might be once again interested in the marriage bed.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

” it is of course, impossible to prove that the teachings of the church, from the Chair of Peter, thus infallible, are indeed infallible. If you do not agree that EVERY “INFALLIBLE” teaching of the church was true, point them out and explain why they are in error.”

Let’s start with your truth claim - that the Catholic Church is infallible. It is not up to me to disprove your claims. It is up to you to demonstrate that they are reasonable claims. That a reasonable person can look at the facts, logic or evidence and conclude your claim is likely true.

Do you have any facts, evidence, logic, etc. that might buttress your claim of truth?

I know of zero to support your claim. Clearly, if you have more than just an opinion, it should be shared.

If on the other hand, your opinion is simply your personal belief, apart from facts, logic or evidence, just say so. That isn’t a very high standard, but I’m open to hearing whatever you have to offer.

Perhaps you can start with a low bar proof... is there anything the Church is infallible about that is not revealed in the Bible, or in Apostles’ tradition (provable via evidence in the first 100 years of practice)? Do you have any way to prove that this was infallible?

I believe you are in a real quandary here. Ultimately, it appears your truth claim is that you simply believe the Church is infallible - apart from any way to know if your opinion is valid. If so, fine. Many people use that standard to believe all kinds of things from Bigfoot to mormonism.

However, this will have a bearing on your earlier claims.

[old and tired]

If Deacon Cornelius is making a promise to be continent after ordination, then that is entirely of his own initiative - and all the more praiseworthy because of it.

Forgive my ignorance, why is a married man's promise to be continent praiseworthy? I can only see it as a good thing if his wife hates relations, otherwise, I think he's being unfair to her. Of course, I'm not in their marriage, but neither is anyone else, so why announce their decision to the world?

[metmom]

First, what defines an infallible teaching of the church?

The Catechism of the Catholic church?

Or the pope speaking ex cathedra?

Is it pronouncements from the Council of Trent or Vatican II?

Could you give us some examples of infallible teachings?

[metmom]

Ouch....

But true....

[metmom]

I can only see it as a good thing if his wife hates relations,.....

Considering that she's giving her blessing to his decision, that is the only conclusion one can arrive at.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“Considering that she’s giving her blessing to his decision, that is the only conclusion one can arrive at.”

I agree. Plus, it is clear that neither husband or wife understands or is unfamiliar with Paul’s commands in this matter.

Should someone be considered qualified as a priest, if he doesn’t understand the Scriptures or is unfamiliar with the Scriptures?

[metmom]

Should someone be considered qualified as a priest, if he doesn’t understand the Scriptures or is unfamiliar with the Scriptures?

Well, you've just opened another can of worms.

In Catholicism, it's what the Church teaches that you have to obey and follow. You see, they claim the Catholic church WROTE Scripture, therefore the conclusion is that they own it and they and and do claim to be the only infallible interpreters of it. Therefore Scripture means what they say it means, not what it says.

What they appeal to for final authority is the Catechism of the Catholic church, so it doesn't appear that familiarity with or competence in Scripture is a factor for becoming a Catholic priest.

[metmom]

OK, explain something to me.

God created Adam and Eve and created them with the ability to have sex, the need to have sex, the ability to enjoy sex, blessed them and it, married them, commanded them to be fruitful and multiply, knowing full well what kind of activity that would entail.

Now, WHY does the Catholic church portray a sexless existence, in spite of all the evidence that it is contrary to God’s design for humanity, as such a virtue?

[Elsie]

You REALLY wanna lose MORE people?

Luther did that a few centuries ago.

[terycarl]

Pope Stephen VI (896–897), who had his predecessor Pope Formosus exhumed, tried, de-fingered, briefly reburied, and thrown in the Tiber.[1] Pope John XII (955–964), who gave land to a mistress, murdered several people, and was killed by a man who caught him in bed with his wife. Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044, 1045, 1047–1048), who "sold" the Papacy Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303), who is lampooned in Dante's Divine Comedy Pope Urban VI (1378–1389), who complained that he did not hear enough screaming when Cardinals who had conspired against him were tortured.[2] Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), a Borgia, who was guilty of nepotism and whose unattended corpse swelled until it could barely fit in a coffin.[3] Pope Leo X (1513–1521), a spendthrift member of the Medici family who once spent 1/7 of his predecessors' reserves on a single ceremony[4] Pope Clement VII (1523–1534), also a Medici, whose power-politicking with France, Spain, and Germany got Rome sacked. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bad_Popes

you have stated throughout your postings that the Sacrament of reconciliation in the Catholic church is without merit....you have stated that Jesus died for the redemption of mankind and the forgiveness of all sin and that our actions have nothing to do with our redemption......you have stated that simply believing that Christ died for our sins is enough to exonerate us from any responsibility for them at all.......why then, do you continue to post this litany of "bad popes" who have long since been forgiven of their shortcomings and sins???????????

[aMorePerfectUnion]

You are asking many questions, but you haven’t answered any.

[boatbums]

Plenty weird to me too; if they wish to take on a tough discipline, they could consider fasting. With the drop of some unwanted weight (and the heightened spirituality that goes along with fasting as well), they might be once again interested in the marriage bed.

From the looks of them in the picture, they could BOTH use some fasting time. And, if they did, they should not be going around announcing it to the world:

"And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get." (Matthew 6:16)

I kinda think that principle applies to couples who want to "give up sex" for the sake of the Kingdom of God, too.