Posted on 05/27/2007 7:17:23 PM PDT by Gamecock
Not only that, but, a family with 6 or 8 kids might rejoice if 1 or 2 decided to take holy orders. But in a family with only 1 or 2 kids to begin with -- the kids joining holy orders is a tragedy, extinction in fact (unless, of course, priestly celibacy is revoked.) Perhaps that's the real reason for vocational shortages -- parents discourage their scarce offspring from seeking them, for fear of having no grandchildren.
I know the feeling. I was unwillingly single til almost too late -- I married at age 38 (my wife was 34). Now we have 2 kids and we're hoping for at least a 3rd soon, before it's too late... but if God had seen fit to bring us together at an earlier age, we both would have wanted a lot more. And we're Protestants! (BTW, I have run into a number of non-contracepting Evangelical families over the years, with anywhere from 6 to 14 children. If only... if only...)
Praised be Jesus Christ!
Yes, there are some “quiverfull” Protestants out there who let God choose the number of children they should have. God bless them!
Sadly, by and large, most Protestants and Catholics have bought into the contraceptive mentality. As priests we often encounter couples well past the age of conceiving wishing they had had more children, or couples who went the route of sterilization and later regretted it, or couples who ended up divorced because of the selfish, contraceptive motives of one of the spouses.
Sadly, also, no one ever talks about the bad fruits of the contraceptive mentality: abortion, divorce, adultery, homosexuality, cohabitation, etc. If it’s not about having children within the context of matrimony, then anything goes.
A lot to pray for. But there are signs of hope as pro-life families keep growing—evident at the annual March for Life each year. God bless...
No, it's just some severe pruning. Gibson's an apostate, himself. The good news is, Jesus prophesied that the fatihful would be far and few between, so everything seems to be going as planned.
There's still a billion or so Catholics in the world, even if the American flock is too busy sleeping in instead of going to Mass on Sunday.
Great post, Fr. Thanks for being here.
Ping to several people who I know would enjoy Father Maximilian’s excellent and very insightful comments! (I know that I am pinging a few non-Catholics, but you are dear FRiends of mine and I know you will appreciate his insight.)
God Bless
At any rate, your post draws a relatively accurate picture of the damage Satan has done to the Church, either by:
1. Restricting the Truth (heterodox bishops)
2. Destroying souls (pedophile priests)
3. Leading people away from the Church (New Ageism, lies, spiritual sloth, cultural poisoning)
I would even go so far as to say that, in the coming centuries, this will be regarded as one of the darkest ages of the Church. Among about ten or fifteen nominal Catholics in my workplace, I'm the only one who attends Mass. The rest are (almost) hopelessly suffocating in secular mindsets.
My local parish has roughly 30 weddings a year. Out of that, only two or three of those couples will actually follow the teachings of the Church and/or attend Mass regularly. If we do the math, that's maybe 10% of new families actually having a sacramental dimension to their marriage. This is mind-boggling.
Contraception (as Paul VI keenly predicted) is an epedemic among nominal Catholics. There is simply no perspective anymore on the place of mankind vs. God. Once we became insistent on restraining the hand of God from His creative right, it became that much easier just to ignore Him altogether. Once that happens, there's no point in attending Mass or going to confession. Add to that the hyper-social pressure to accept diversity and reject religion as an intolerant system of tyranny, and it's not surprising that there are fewer and fewer people in church. Those of us who stay and fight the good fight have our work cut out, but the outcome is already known.
Thanks for the ping!
I know that you are doing your part to keep the Catholic population up!
‘...The outcome is already known”
How true. This knowledge is what gives us the Gift of the Holy Spirit—Fortitude.
As St. Paul tells us—”we must keep our eye on the finish line.”
I am so grateful to God that when all the dust-up came in the aftermath of Humane Vitae, that we remained faithful. Because of God’s goodness to us, all of our children have remained in the Church and we have many grandchildren.
Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ!
thanks for the ping!
“I know that you are doing your part to keep the Catholic population up!”
Okay, I’m no Tax-chick but I’m trying my best!! ;o)
I’ve never claimed to be solely responsible for the Church’s population growth!
In fact, some people may leave after experiencing Mass with Pat and James ...
LOL! Father mentioned how nice it is to hear babies in church again. We attend a very small parish with lots of older families. It was a very sweet thing for him to say after Ella talked through Mass!
That would be kind! Our pastor is hard of hearing (he’ll be 70 later this year) so I don’t think he notices our little boys.
We have a lot of young children in the parish, but none as loud as James! My husband and I usually go to different services, so the little boys can stay home.
I don’t rely on “facts” that are 6 months old without believing this article
Oh but I have a clue to what Calvinism is, friend. It was so depressing to hear the 5 points that the Lord had to tell me clearly that this is NOT from Him. He wants all people to be saved but some will reject Him.
The source of the desire is of God but we have to decide to act on it. Some will reject, some will accept. The final decision lies with us.
Of course He knew. But the final decision lies with us. We accept His gift of eternal life or reject it. It would not be a gift if it was forced on us.
What part of the teachings of Calvin do you see in Phelps actions?
That’s a rhetorical question, right?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.