Posted on 11/05/2008 10:42:55 AM PST by Alex Murphy
November 5, 2008 (insidecatholic.com) - When the U.S. bishops hold their annual meeting in Baltimore next week, one item on the agenda will be approval of the new Order for the Blessing of the Child in the Womb.
The blessing, according to the USCCB, "was prepared to support parents awaiting the birth of their child, to encourage in the parish prayers for and recognition of the gift of the child in the womb, and to foster respect for human life within society." If approved by the bishops, the Blessing of the Child in the Womb will be incorporated into the Book of Blessings.
It couldn't come at a better time.
The election of Barack Obama sets the stage for a series of potential executive and congressional acts that could remove all the limits set on abortion since the Roe v. Wade decision. The most pernicious of these is the "Freedom of Choice Act," which Obama has promised will be the first bill he signs into law as president.
It is estimated that FOCA alone would result in 125,000 more abortions a year in the United States. That figure does not take into account other measures, such as Obama's pledge not to renew the Mexico City Policy and to repeal the Hyde amendment. As a result of Obama's victory, there will not only be hundreds of thousands of additional abortions, but American taxpayers will be paying for them.
Polls of Catholic voters prior to the election suggested that Obama might win a majority of self-identified Catholic voters. A more significant measure of Obama's Catholic support will be the percentage of regular Mass-attending Catholics who voted for him.
But regardless of the final statistics, it is clear that the Obama-Biden ticket received substantial help from Catholics working for parishes and chanceries, as well as a number of high-profile Catholic politicians and jurists. They successfully promoted the flaws of "Faithful Citizenship" to Catholics nationwide, neutralizing any advantage the Church's pro-life and pro-marriage teachings might offer to McCain-Palin.
"Faithful Citizenship" stated that, under certain circumstances, a Catholic could in good conscience vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights for "other grave reasons" as long as they do not intend to support that position (34-35).
It's a strange argument that allows Catholics to send a politician with an undeniably extreme abortion record into the Oval Office and yet somehow bear no responsibility for what happens to unborn children as a result. One can only wonder what "grave reasons" the bishops could have had in mind that would outweigh the 4,000 unborn children who are aborted each day.
Many bishops -- including Bishops Vann, Farrell, Vasa, Martino, and Chaput -- stepped forward in the last months to correct misinterpretations of "Faithful Citizenship," but it was too late. History will show that Catholics helped to vote into office a president whose record contradicts our most fundamental moral belief -- the sanctity of human life.
When the bishops meet next week and approve the Blessing of the Child in the Womb, just as important will be the steps they take in convincing the president-elect to change his mind about the Freedom of Choice Act.
Change, after all, can be a good thing.
In my Catholic experience I have been a seminarian (4 years) and an enigma among my Navy shipmates as a Catholic who made it a point to attend Mass even when I had to walk a pretty good distace to get there. It's never been "on my sleeve" as they say. I have never fretted when circumstances made it impossible for me to do the Catholic things. I even spent some time away when my oldest was quite young and she was but a HUGE distraction for anyone around her at Mass.
I have always been proud of my affiliation and made it a point to learn enough to speak intellegently about my beliefs, even to this day.
I can't, for the life of me, understand why the majority of my persuasion can revel in the cult of death that is the Democratic Party.
I read once that when Dwight Eisenhower saw what the Germans had wrought he said for the first time in his life he was ashamed of his heritage. Well I have never been ashamed of my heritage or any of my experience. These days I shudder to think that the majority of people supposedly taught what I was taught can go down that path. I can't believe they don't know what they are doing. So, I don't understand it.
TCH,
Fear not!
Today, I had the honor of hearing my priest and pastor give a homily at our EF Mass that was quite possibly the most terrifying masterpiece of oration I’ve ever heard.
He told the story of how, in 1964, the Kennedys invited Drinan, Milhaven, et. al. to Hyannisport for a confab on how a Catholic politician could address the issue of abortion. I could tell that many of those sitting in the pews had no idea this meeting had ever taken place — and this is a chapel full of traditionally-minded, observant Catholics.
Then he went on to describe, in gruesome detail, the “catastrophe” that has befallen our nation in the election of so radical a man. He reminded us that you CANNOT BE A CATHOLIC and vote this way. “Is that clear enough?” he asked. He lamented that the bishops of the past three decades had given only lip service to their stated beliefs, and mentioned the 54% of Catholics who voted for Obama as well as the shame they should feel because of it.
He finished up by telling us about the FOCA currently in the works in Washington and its cousin legislation which will now definitely be passed and signed in NY State. He reminded the congregation that both these new bills would remove the conscience clause for Catholic hospitals, doctors and nurses, and advised us to remember our history (I paraphrase here ):
“In England, a reigning sovereign was once given the title ‘Defender of the Faith’ by a pope. In only 10 years, St. Thomas More was martyred for remaining steadfast in his beliefs. Catholic churches were looted and burned, and Catholic priests and nuns executed.”
At least 90% of those in attendance were in tears by the end of his homily.
After Mass, I asked him if I could have a copy of the sermon, but he said he only had an outline. After about 50 more people asked, he said he’d try to write it out. If he does so and gives his permission, I shall post it here. It was breathtaking.
Regards,
I will do that, sandy, but just in case I forget, keep your eyes peeled for a post. I do hope Father gets us a copy and gives his permission for its publication.
Regards,
Yeah post that sucker and then ping one of the Catholic Ping Masters.
Freegards
Will do, Ransomed.
BTW, proving once again that memory does not always serve, I forgot to mention Father’s impassioned words about how Joseph Ratzinger once had to watch as the Nazis took his cousin (who had Down Syndrome) away, never to be seen again.
The Nazis told the family it was “compassionate” to do this.
It was tied in to the advice “Father” Drinan and the rest of the Kennedy bunch gave in Massachusetts all those years ago — that Catholic politicians should approach the subject of abortion as “sometimes more compassionate than giving birth to the child.”
Regards,
No matter who is in charge, whether they read their Bible and go to church, or not, doesn’t matter. Lenin, Marx, Obama, or Billy Graham can do absolutely nothing without the express will of God. The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. (Prov 16:9) God will take care of His sheep.
One young man in our church, who works at a radio station, played a tape by Dr. Dobson from his radio program. He spoke how prayer really turned this around. It was very inspiring since NY State is also going to be facing this now that we have a democrat legislature, governor, etc., etc. for the first time in God knows how many years. Pray for New York State and the gay marriage proposal. M
One of my dear friends, a Spirit-filled evangelical Christian and a democrat, voted for Obama. He was really angry with me when I asked him how he could vote for someone ready to kill babies and take his money. Whew. I’m afraid any of God’s children who voted for Obama will incur God’s wrath. And I’m not the only one believing that. They need to repent, but will they.
Good for him. Sounds like you have a good priest.
This is the reason the Catholic Church has lost my support.
JoMa
How many times are you going to post this article??? Seems like a lot of Christians voted for him too!
Are you experiencing deja vu? How many times do you think that I've posted it? How many other threads have I posted, using articles by Deal Hudson that appeared in LifeSiteNews on November 5 2008?
Indeed I do, Mary...he’s the best.
I hope to see him made Bishop one day — any diocese would be blessed to have him.
Regards,
From your vitriolic posts about Catholics it’s obvious you fear the Catholic Church,the one true Church.
I hope you realize I am in complete agreement.
I'm thinking along the lines of the role of the church (assembly of like minded believers). In this last election we have seen a large % of "Christians" support a candidate that embraces beliefs that are clearly not Biblical.
One of my OT heroes is Caleb. No matter how great the challenge, how old he was, or how few wanted to fight the enemy he was ready to go forward. I think we are at that point. A growing number of "Christians" embrace beliefs that are clearly in defiance of GOD and the question is how do we go forward.
My question is, are they really Christians?
Don't let it get you down brother. It's clear that some denominations are more caught up in defending themselves then seeing the bigger picture. I've found the voting breakdown helpful in identifying the problem.
Now the hard part, figuring out how to fix it.
It's difficult to reconcile Christian values with beliefs that are not Biblical. My pastor made a comment last Sunday that conservative Christians tend to vote for moral issues while liberal Christians tend to vote for social issues; but they were both Christians. My wife and I thought he was being a bit naive or trying to placate both sides. Christians must first reconcile the moral issues before they can address the social issues. A Christian cannot support abortion yet rally against a war. A Christian can (and should) be against abortion yet may be in support of a war. There is a subtle difference.
"Liberal" Christians are simply deceiving themselves or are not spiritually mature.
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