Ping.
"Should I stay or should I go is a question that has occured to me on a fairly regular basis"
You should go. Find a religion that caters to the whims of public opinion and society, instead of banging your head against the wall of Catholicism's moral foundation.
I guess I knew they were out there but most of the ones I have met are more sly and clever I guess.
"It would be impossible to stay if I thought of the way the Vatican clean-up crews made their way from diocese to diocese, how I’d seen friends removed from their teaching positions at seminaries, course titles changed because they sounded too liberal, dynamic theologians suddenly unwilling to offer notes of their talks because they’d been reported to Rome one too many times for raising the “wrong” questions, and hopes of forward movement in the church dashed as more and more conservatives were elevated to Bishop. I can’t stay and still think of how one of our most vibrant city parishes, on fire with the Gospel, was lost to the crack-down on liberal dioceses."
When the heck did any of this stuff happen?
I myself would love for the new Pope to live up to such a description as this. Throw the liturgy changers out of the temple, re-instate that Latin Mass at every single church (as a choice, OK, just as a choice, not as an indult, which I assume means indulgence) and of course sweep the homosexual mafia out of power in the American church.
And if that makes the drunkard who wrote this piece unhappy, well, that would only add to my joy.
I thought this was a joke at first. Sadly, I take it "Nora" is a real creature. Would that it were not so.
Attention all dissidents...now boarding Track 1 is the express to excommunication...
This is exactly the kind of reaction shown by my parish's DRE.
I thought she was going to burst a vessel last week when PB XVI was announced. She was VERY upset and angry.
Have to admit...if it mader HER unhappy, it made ME very happy indeed.
Regards,
Also, this lady is in for a rude awakening. The young people going to Church today are not that concerned with women priests or birth control. Maybe they think both should be allowed (thanks mostly to teachers like her), but they just don't get all fired up about it. And as many of them mature in their faith they realize that these things will never be allowed and they will eventually accept, if not embrace the concepts.
Also, I like the way this gal throws in immigrants with gays and lesbians. Yeah right, the Church has really come down hard on those immigrants. What sinful tendencies they have!
There's going to be the head of the Church who will rule with a rod of iron for a thousand years. Something to think about...
>>I turned to the pastor and asked “This is a drinking lunch right?”
“I think it’ll have to be.” he told me.<<
Turning to booze instead of turning to the Lord.
Blaming your woes on a man, rahter than laying your cares at the foot of the throne of Jesus.
Expecting mere mortals to comprise and validate your faith (or lack thereof).
Laying the foundation of your faith on human beings, rahter than on the precious blood of Christ.
This would be funny if it weren't so freakin' sad.
She'll make a good Episcopalian. They have a crucifix with "Christa" on it hanging in their cathedral in NYC. That should warm the cold stone of her feminist heart! I'm confident we won't have to deal with her in Orthodoxy.
I am not Catholic. I do not accept the Papacy as an institution - nothing to do with individuals who become Popes - but I understand what it stands for.
This woman is not a Catholic at heart. She is way too secular and political in her thinking. She is so "this-worldy" and not "other worldly" in mind. In her mind, the Catholic church and even the Papacy is to be shaped and molded by HER AND HER ILK - regardless what the institution has stood for throughout the ages under many Popes or what the Catholic church takes from Scripture.
What IS this woman's guiding star? Well, exactly what this Pope and the late Pope have said...it seems all about HER OWN PERSONAL DESIRES AND EGO, AND THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH OR STANDARD BEYOND THESE. And Scripture itself tells us about people of this nature...
"Yet in like manner these also in their dreamings defile the flesh, and set at nought dominion, and rail at dignities. But Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing judgment, but said, 'The Lord rebuke thee'. But these rail at whasoever things they know not: and what they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason, in these things are they destroyed. Woe unto them, for they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. These are they who are hidden rocks in your love-feasts, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by wind; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved forever."
- Jude verses 8-13 -
I am talking about an attitude here, rather than making eternal judgments against specific individuals. Only God Himself can do that.
And the issue is much, much broader than the internal workings or the external image of the Catholic church. Obviously it is in my thinking, since, as I said, I am not Catholic and do not accept the Papacy.
I am glad that I don't have her mindset.
I live in Rochester, and this attitude prevails here. I have a decent priest though, who would not be afraid to dress down this impudent mole, should she speak up.
My first boss, Fr. Bill Trott who was sure the priest shortage was the work of the Holy Spirit “The leadership of the laity will only come to full fruit when the priests are the mystics of the community.”
These guys simply are not Catholic.
if this woman were a little more intelligent, she'd realize that she's disgusting.
She wanted a "the guy" from Brazil, where a Hugo Chavez clone is helping to spread communism throughout South America, or "the guy" from Belgium, where you can walk into your local drug store and buy a do-it-yourself suicide kit. Pretty much says it all, doesn't it?
Then you need to be FIRED. Under JPII, people like this just went their merry "I'm a practicing Catholic but" way. Under Benedict XVI, they may be in for a surprise.
I don't understand. The Holy Spirit moves the cardinals to choose a new Pope. He chose a conservative man that will help keep His Truths intact. Liberals, instead of looking inward at their souls, look for a way out. Denial. You'd think after awhile they'd begin to question why it isn't going their way. Maybe God has other plans and they are wrong? Maybe? I hope it eventually breaks through to them. I really truly do want everyone to see the Truth. It's not always easy to accept. It can be difficult to live your life according to God's plan instead of your own.