Posted on 05/10/2007 7:57:56 AM PDT by NYer
There is a group called “COURAGE” that is not found in every Diocese. It is a group which demands total chastity for those with same-sex-attraction—meaning, it is no different than what is expected of unmarried heterosexuals. The group has a support network and encourages chastity and the sacramental life. It is mentioned from time to time on Fr. Groeschel’s show (as he was involved in a small way in getting it started).
I have the greatest respect for people who undertake that road by joining this group. It is a life that is filled with grace, however, according to Fr. Benedict. You might Google it on the web! It is an answer and it works for many who love God above all and who wish to take up His cross as given to them.
“What’s the color for “FReeps too much and drinks cheap wine”?”
Red, White, and Blue...and then whatever color Wal-Mart uses for “On Sale...CHEAP!”
“crippled or converted”
LOL! The crippled ones can come back next year and the Charismatics can pray for healing :-).
I look stuning in burgundy :-).
Wrong, my little sash-wearing heretic. That this "primacy of individual conscious" heresy STILL plagues decades after it's debut at Vatican II is a testament on the dangers of any perceived ambiguity in Church teaching. Dissenters love to chain these little grey areas together to form entriely new religions and moralities.
A Primer on the Primacy of Conscience
One often hear liberals trotting out "the doctrine of the primacy of conscience" as if the Church actually teaches that "in case of disagreement between the register and the pump" the individual's feeling on a subject shall be taken as correct and true. In fact, this is not a doctrine of the Church. The "theory" took its current shape after Vatican II and its discussions around an “informed conscience.” The phrase “primacy of conscience” is just a 20 dollar phrase thrown around by dissenters who claim to be Catholic while opposing the teaching of the Magisterium.
There is a theologically sound concept of conscience which every Catholic must know and it can be summed as folllows.
Any rule regarding the following of one’s conscience must be referred to the absolute and dogmatic position of the Church that such conscience must be properly informed or it cannot be followed. “Properly informed” does not mean merely thinking about the topic and coming to one’s own conclusion. It means “thinking with the Church” — which in the context of Catholic theology means submitting to the will of God by submitting to God’s representative, according to the rule of faith which states that God usually works through secondary causes and secondary authorities rather than directly. In other words, this is a direct application of the gospel dictum, 'He who hears you hears me.
The whole idea of morality, and Christian life, is the conformity of one’s will to the will of God. ('Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.…') This conformity, according to Catholic tradition, is manifested in different ways at different levels of divine union.
1) At the most basic level, it is identified with obedience. Our moral theology teaches that beginners in the Christian way must make their beginning through resignation and the discipline of obedience, just as children are taught the rules of life. This is made necessary by concupiscence — the fallen state of man — in which his natural being rebels against the imposition of the divine will.
2) An intermediate level shows more agreement than obedience. As the Christian progresses in this way, there comes a gradual realization that the human will is increasingly "formed" (in the scholastic sense of the word), and conformity becomes a spontaneous response rather than a discipline."
3) And at the highest level it is an identity of wills in the divine union called the spiritual marriage or "theosis." The divine indwelling increases until there is no discernable difference between the human will and the divine will; they have become so united that it is impossible to distinguish them.
In this light, one can see that "following an informed conscience" means doing one’s best to be faithful to the teaching of the Church, first by working to know and understand that teaching and second by submission to the teaching in view of the authority accorded it by the will of God. Thus we can also see that there is in reality no such thing as "responsible dissent," nor is there such a creature as a "Catholic rainbow sasher"
The biblical texts which address the question of homosexuality directly or indirectly are:
In the Old Testament
Genesis 19:7-8: “I beg you, my brothers, not to do this wicked thing. I have two daughters who have never had intercourse with men. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you please. But don’t do anything to these men.”
Judges 19:23-24: “No, my brothers; do not be so wicked. Since this man is my guest, do not commit this crime. Rather let me bring out my maiden daughter or his concubine. Ravish them, or do whatever you want with them; but against the man you must not commit this wanton crime.”
Leviticus 18:22: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination.”
In the New Testament
1 Corinthians 6:9: “Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites ... will inherit the kingdom of God.”
1 Timothy 1:10: “... law is meant not for a righteous person but for the lawless and unruly ... the unchaste, practicing homosexuals, kidnapers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is opposed to sound teaching.”
Romans 1:26-27: “Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity.”
Even those who have a “so what” attitude are sinful.
LOL!
>>LOL! The crippled ones can come back next year and the Charismatics can pray for healing :-).<<
Well there ya go!
Give them a couple years, no problem.
I WILL look into them.
Thanks!
We live in an are heavily populated by “alternative lifestyle” pagans. Needless to say there are lots of tattoos, piercings, hair styles/colors. My wife finally made me stop telling the kids that these folks are clowns.
LOL! We don’t often see noticeably strange people here.
I suppose you could tell your children that they’re aliens.
"Monsieur Sheed, would you like me to remove ze screwcap or would you like to remove the screwcap yourself? It is a most intriguing wine with a fragrant bouquet of nutmeg, wild cinnamon and rare fusel oil! You will simply love it! Mais, you always do! Shall I bring another bottle as you swill zis one plus vitement?"
Hat-wearing Southern Church Ladies do not burp. Ever.
For Mother's Day, Mrs. Tax!
I'm not sure if you should drink it or just look at the bottle!
Fred Sanford said his favorite wine was Champagne and Ripple. He called it Champipple.
South African reds have much more interesting labels, like an art-deco cheetah.
Pardonez moi milles fois, s’il vous plait!
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