Posted on 07/19/2002 4:57:55 PM PDT by Polycarp
Ignorance on the part of the laity is an absolute requirement for these evil biships to do their dirty work. They know it would do no good to attempt to maul the Church and what she teaches if all the Faithful are knowledgable and informed.
I'm completely with the Church on the issue of contraception. There are many studies done that show that the contraception mentality leads to liberal views on abortion, increases the divorce rate, and STD's.
NFP -- when practiced properly -- is the best form of birth control. My husband and I have practiced NFP since we were married nine years ago, and have never had an "unplanned" pregnancy. NFP is more effective than any artificial birth control.
I suggest you go to the following website One More Soul which offers both moral and scientific evidence against contraception and for NFP.
God bless.
The Eucharist was a nice piece of raisin bread or pita (I'm not kidding) and the priest was just an amiable old fellow who showed up to "talk" to us. We even had a clown mass...
I'm not doubting your credibility rather straining at my hopes that the stories I've heard like this are the urban legends of Catholicism.
We have bible studies with the associate priest. It's really up to the laity to attend, to promote them, and to have subjects that we're interested in.
We have monthly adoration and our church is packed at every mass. I wouldn't say that our parish is ultra-conservative or orthodox, but I think that it is standard and definitely not liberal. Since reading articles here with the Catholic Caucus, I realize that we don't have the same abuses some other parishes have. I consider myself blessed. If I want to attend a Tridentine Mass, I only have to drive 10 minutes to another parish, where the Latin Mass is celebrated once on Saturday and twice on Sunday, plus during the week.
Anyway, I wish you all luck and will pray for an end to abuses in the Church. God bless.
Thank you, I had always wondered why we have had such poor catechesis from the Church over the past 30 or so years. I know we have the responsibility to teach ourselves, but if no teaching is coming from the Church (Church=individual parishes and priests in this case) then one would assume what you hear/don't hear in the Church is what you need to know.
One of the big things that irks me is the Extraordinary Eucharistic Ministers. My parish always has two for each mass (except the daily 9:00) and it doesn't matter if the Mass is half full (which it usually is). We have two priests in residence and one visiting (retired) for the 11:00 Sunday mass, so it is not an instance of not having the priests on hand to distribute Communion. The Eucharistic Ministers are very nice and kind and religiously attentive people and I always wonder what they would do and how they would react if they knew exactly what the Vatican teaches about the use of "extraordinary" Eucharistic Ministers. When I've tiptoed around the subject with a couple of them, they look at me like I am crazy and they seem to have the attitude that they were spiritually called for this contribution to God's work, no matter what the magisterium teaches.
I don't agree. Those Catholics who are profoundly in love with Christ in the Eucharist are joyful. The liberal catholics I know are sourpusses, with not a shred of a sense of humor. They take themselves so seriously that it is hard not to laugh at them. Give me a faithful, obedient Catholic any day. Believe me, I know the difference. I used to be one of the liberal, ordain-women, dance-at-mass, Jungian "Catholics." No THANKS.
Yep. I was a teenaged convert. The nuns of my experience during that time were kind, compassionate, simple, and faithful to their vows. In junior high and highschool, we had other orders of nuns. These women were HEROIC. My seventh-grade teacher had been interned in a Japanese concentration camp when she was arrested as a missionary in China. In high school, still another order, women who were strict but loving. I have not one single complaint, nor do I know of a single incidence of what might even by today's standards be considered "abuse." I hope every one of those kind, faithful women is in Heaven.
Thanks for putting this into words for me, Polycarp. I have often suspected, no, been CONVINCED that nearly every bishops was corrupted in some way. It is a relief to know that I am not the only one with suspicions in this direction.
American adult Catholics are big boys and girls, Polycarp. They will be responsible for their own decisions.
Forgive me Sinkspur, but neither of those statements appear to be defensible from a truly Catholic perspective. I am missing something?
Controlling conception is not the issue; the method is the issue, and there's work to do on a persuasive argument on the method.
Again Sinkspur, how can you reconcile saying those things with the Dogmas of the Church?
I have never heard a homily about contraception. Never heard preaching on Confession. Rarely on abortion. In my experience, 95% of the time the priest will talk platitudes for 7-10 minutes and when he is done, will have ended up saying nothing of import.
How many priests will preach a homily series on the Eucharistic encyclical that is said to be in the works? How many explicitly reference Papal teaching at all?
Can all this be done without being "confrontational"? Yes. Is it being done at all? Hardly.
The Truth must be proclaimed in season and out of season. Alot of what the Church proclaims is out of season and is not being taught, to the detriment of souls.
At our parish, the female EEM's do the homily at the childrens masses (no kidding).
They have the children come up to the front and do skits or talk.
I can't figure out why they are doing this at the Holy Mass since the children have religious instruction during the week.
That sounds worse than "cafeteria" catholic. :-).
I'm trying to sort out why I see some things the way I do. I used to attend churches all over town. In the one in the west end, people didn't seem very happy, nor did they in the ones downtown. Maybe I should say happily energetic. They turn out for all the activities, etc.
In the two more wealthy parishes I'm more familiar with, all the masses are packed and the people just exude energy and seem happier, more vibrant.
Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with liberal or conservative. It's probably just people. Our whole diocese is pretty liberal.
The last time I attended the church in the west end, it was St. (the throat guy) day. There was a woman standing with her candles crossed in front of the church blessing everyone.
What difference does that make?
When you have a woman standing in front of the church with crossed candles, you know you have got a problem :-).
And you used to have to attend mass in the parish where you lived. Now you can choose.
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