Posted on 04/26/2006 7:35:34 AM PDT by Salvation
Thank you! If you read further about Pope Vigilius, you will see he is the one of whom I spoke. He went to Rome with Theodora's blessing for the express purpose of supporting the monophysites and then, once in place as the Vicar of Christ, did not commit heresy.
He is a classic example of a papal succession full of intrigue and human frailty that did not compromise the faith--even when that was the purpose.
Aye, St. Teresa was a tough one too. I know. I love her mysticism. Yes the Church doesn't always make life cushy does it? The sexual abuse scandal has made it harder to be a Catholic. When the body is sick, it surely affects everyone. I pray for the Church to wonderful saints like St.Teresa.
Somewhat like St. Thomas Becket, who when he finally had the chance to do the King's bidding, did the Lord's instead. It does happen, and one has to hope that the graces of consecration will be stronger than any other allegiances the individual may have made.
Thanks to you both!
Amen. It's a wonderful Gift from God isn't it? The Mass and Eucharist? There have been many times coming out of Mass my faith was 10 times stronger than going in. Amazing how much power can be packed in an hour. ;) hehe
Hoo Boy.
I am soooo happy to be out of the loop in this dept.
My opinion does not mean beans!
However, if a condom is not fool proof for transmitting bugs then what good is using them.
In Africa where Aids is epedimic I would hope married couples could be granted use.
Kinda like those who are disabled and careproviders whom the Church will waive fasting and Holy Days of Obligation, even though ya do your best to comply anyway.
OK. But once such children are created, they need to be cared for.
Thank you for a post full of uncommon wisdom and insight. /sarc
If they're Catholic married couples living by the law of the Church, they wouldn't be sleeping around and picking up AIDS in the first place.
While it may sound cruel, sometimes the natural consequences of disobedience to God's law can be among the things that make people heed it. Interestingly, I read once that one of the reasons for the success of the Jews was that they tended to live fairly long lives, enabling them to have many children, as a result of the fact that they followed Jewish law and did not eat pork. Trichinosis was endemic in pigs in that area (because pigs were fed garbage and roamed and rooted and picked up larvae) and evidently non-Jewish neighbors who did eat pigs died in large numbers from the disease. Obviously, this is not the case anymore and it has now become more of a sign of identity; but at one time, it had a practical impact.
In the 18th and 19th century England, there was a phrase, the "Marriage Hearse," that described the fact that many men slept around and got syphilis, which was incurable at that time, and passed it on to the decent young women they married - who of course then died of syphilis, but without being in any way responsible for it.
Life is better and probably longer if you live it according to the dictates of the Church and God's law. And the Church has got to hold firm and tell people this; it may be better in many intangible ways, but it is also better in practical ways.
Did you know, for example, that black Catholics in the US have a higher average annual income than white Catholics (even though blacks as a whole have a lower one)? In other words, marrying, staying married, abstaining from violence and crime, and in general obeying the 10 Commandments and the commandments of the Church are a good basis for a successful life, as well as for avoiding death from STD's, and all this without even going into the consideration of eternity...
ping
They are and always will be cared for, although, ironically, probably only by the Church. The Church takes in humanity that most people don't even recognize as such - the lame, the halt and the blind.
But the point the Church is making is that humans should not be doing this sort of playing at God and randomly, or for money, setting off the process that results in the creation of new human life.
However, the Church is always there, just as Christians were there to pick up abandoned babies on the hillsides of Rome in the first centuries. Plain old sex outside of marriage is not okay, either, but the Church has always had orphanages for abandoned bastard children. But the fact that Catholics go along picking up the debris left behind by the world in its wild flight does not mean that the Church does or should approve the behavior that led to this.
It is indeed uncommon. The conventional wisdom, in this culture of death, is that such unwanted children should be discarded as garbage.
You must be dipping from the same well for quotes as my Priest. He mentioned the very same thing during his sermon this past Sunday. You were not visiting a different state this past Sunday where you??????
LOL! No, but the Saints have said it all for us...
During the Middle Ages, quite a few of them had help with the "keeling over".
Look at some of the anti-popes..Some of these loons were heading the church for 6 to 15 years and catholics were forced to decide who the real pope was......But,the church has never floundered,no matter how hard anti catholics in the church tried to destroy her...Over 2,000 years of heretics and haters trying to wipe out the catholic church and unable to do so....Over 2,000 years and counting...GO CATHOLICS!!!!!!!!!!
Personally, I always thought that JPI had had a bit of help in that direction.
But I can't stay to post any longer - I've got to go off and adjust my tinfoil hat. And maybe check to see if anybody's beaming anything into my fillings...
Fortunately, it seems that the Church has turned a corner despite folks like Martini still hanging around.
Check your e-mail...
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.