Posted on 08/03/2004 9:43:49 AM PDT by Phx_RC
How is it that a Priest like this isn't pulled from the Altar and the Pulpit post haste? How is it, that he is not accorded the Choice, teach the truth, or be defrocked, your call! Oh my goodness, you have no idea how shocked I am!
"No one wants to enforce dress codes."
Lots of people do.
Please pray for him, that he be given the Grace to keep the Faith, and to carry out the necessary work of cleanup and restoration in the DDR.
"How can we be so blind and stupid?"
Satan is a fallen angel, and therefore much smarter than a human being. Not to mention his supernatural powers. No human can win mano a mano with Satan.
"Minis, tank tops and other beach wear really puts pressure on young and old men to remain in the state of grace while receiving communion."
No kidding.
Question for anybody: Alicia the Hottie shows up for Mass clad in scraps of cloth that leave nothing to the imagination. In the instant that my eye accidentally falls on her for the first time, I experience a surge of involuntary lust and the thought, "Arrgh, strike yer sails and prepare to be boarded, me beauty" flashes through my mind.
I recover after half a second or so, but that much damage is done. Am I now in a state of mortal sin, or is that just venial, because I don't give my full consent to the temptation?
I will pray for him. Restoration is twice the work of a fresh start. I'm starting to feel quite lucky my Church is relatively sane, and not whacked out like this.
IMO: Neither. Yet.
Temptation is not sin. What you do after the "half a second or so" of temptation is what counts. If you consciously avert your eyes, and concentrate on the Mass, or the message of the stained glass, icons, statues, whatever, you have not committed sin.
Alicia the Hottie should not put you in the position of having to face this issue, though. She can't help being a knockout, but knockout or not, she should be dressing modestly. So should you.
Now, before the inevitable idiots compare me to the Taliban, there's a huge "space" of dressing modestly in between the extremes of "scraps of cloth that leave nothing to the imagination" on the one hand, and a burqa on the other.
Right out Loud! You must be Irish. Boy, was that funny!
Mrs. Bustard and I lived in the DDR when we were married; our marriage preparation (Engaged Encounter weekend) occurred there. Given the general goofiness of the place, it was surprisingly orthodox and useful.
You've a good parish, for which thank God. They can be found even in the worst dioceses. And conversely, bad parishes can be found even in the best dioceses.
"You must be Irish."
On my maternal grandfather's side. Jack O'Brien.
"Temptation is not sin. What you do after the "half a second or so" of temptation is what counts. If you consciously avert your eyes, and concentrate on the Mass, or the message of the stained glass, icons, statues, whatever, you have not committed sin."
Oh, good. It's annoying to be buffeted with those temptations all the time, though.
"she should be dressing modestly. So should you."
If I were to dress immodestly, that might be the occasion of sin for someone, but I guarantee that sin would not be lust. Is hurling in church a sin?
It is indeed annoying. My parish seems to have more than our share of very healthy young ladies. Unfortunately some of them, in the past, chose to dress in a less than ladylike manner. My pastor saw fit to dedicate a few of his weekly "From the Rectory" colums in the bulletin to the matter of proper dress. They (or their parents) seem to have gotten the message.
As to the other matter, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt. I shall assume, until proven otherwise, as a matter of charity, that you are toned, ripped, and buffed, and that all the ladies of your parish envy your wife. Or would if envy weren't a sin. :'}
"I shall assume, until proven otherwise, as a matter of charity, that you are toned, ripped, and buffed"
Well, you know what they say about assuming.
Think Jabba the Hut.
I'm not going to get in the middle of SSPXers, sedevacantists, vs. conservatives, neo-conservatives, or whatever. I'm too new and right now that is not my war. I'll leave that war for others. My heartburn is with the rad-lib-revisionist termites like Greeley, Chittister, McBrien. Intra conservative-traditionalist wars are not my focus now.
Having said that, if I was forced to choose between SSPX and the CTA, We Are Church types, the SSPX would win before the ink was dry on my ballot.
"No one wants to enforce dress codes. We don't have to go back to mandatory suits for men, but being surrounded by a gaggle of teenage girls in midriff bearing jeans is just a little bit distracting..."
Amen! What's worse is when the gaggle start yapping and getting the giggles and the parents won't do a thing to stop it. Shoot, in the Baptist church I grew up in, everyone in the congregation was expected to discipline kids that got out of line in church. Period. That sanctuary was for worshiping God and meditation, and they were very serious about keeping it quiet. That was back in the late 1950s and early-mid 1960s. I'd give my eye teeth to have the same discipline in the Catholic Church everywhere today. At some parishes I've visited when traveling, the buzz before and after Mass is get so bad I can't hear myself pray or think!
May God help you find a real Catholic parish in the Diocese of Richmond (maybe one where DiLorenzo has already come through and cleaned house)! I'm next door in the Diocese of Arlington, and there a a lot of Catholics there who have prayed for you real Catholics in the Richmond diocese, and who also delighed with DiLorenzo and his initial housecleaning moves. We hope the housecleaning will continue for you white-hats (the good guys).
Yes indeed. Every denomination has its white-hats and black hats. I may have become Catholic, but I'll take an Evangelical Protestant, high-church-Anglican, low-church-Anglican, or even Fundamentalist Baptist that are honest about what they believe and are faithful to the exent of the light and revelation they have. I'll take any of them over "catholics" (CINO) like Kavanaugh, "sister" Chittister, "father" Greeley, or "father" McBrien any day of the week.
I keep hoping that someday, somewhere, everyone will finally start waking up and stop putting all these wolves and goats in charge of the flock, whether the flock is Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, whatever.
I have my own thoughts and opinions. Does this mean I am unworthy to continue my lay ministry as a lector?
Yes. Any other questions?
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