Mk 7:14-23 Talking PointsJesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand…From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”
A few recent events have reminded us that we cannot take our constitution for granted; our church for granted; our friends for granted.
Planned Parenthood and Komen. The Dallas Morning News (or “DaMN” for short) obviously leans far to the left and how I wish it would lose its balance completely and fall off the face of the earth! When it comes to social issues, its news reporting is more like one grandiose editorial page. About one week ago, the Komen Foundation decided to abort their partnership with Planned Parenthood (or "PP" for short). Like a good newspaper, The DaMN jumped to their feet to present its readers with four commentaries from four minds. You would have thought this newspaper would have presented fair and balanced viewpoints. On the contrary, just like any bad newspaper, of our four illustrious interviewees, three were in favor of continued partnership with PP and one was against. Interesting, if you consider the fact that the majority of Komen board members voted to terminate their relationship with PP. The next day, the darn DaMN lamented on how poor women with breast cancer would be harmed by such a “political” decision. Ken Lambrecht, CEO of PP of North Texas, Inc., stated that “ten women were diagnosed with breast cancer by Planned Parenthood, using Komen funds over the past three years. Really?
There are very few organizations in the world that I can honestly say are despicable, disgraceful, disgusting and dishonest; and Planned Parenthood is one of them. First of all, PP has never diagnosed a single woman with breast cancer. They can’t, since they don’t have a single mammogram in any of their clinics!!! What they may do is a manual exam, detect a lump and then refer a woman to a clinic that does not necessarily receive Komen grants for a diagnosis!
Did you know that PP does not perform a single mammogram in any of its clinics? So why in the world do they need grants from the Susan G. Komen foundation? And if they care so much about women’s health, then why don’t they use less than 1% of the billions of dollars they make every year and in buy some mammograms? The answer is simple: They are not in the business of diagnosing breast cancer. They are in the business of aborting babies!
Unfortunately, the Komen Foundation has become the umpteenth victim of Planned Parenthood. They went to them. They trusted them. And now they regret ever having gone to them!
The President and Religion. The case is being made by the President of the United States that women deserve the best health care affordable and available. I couldn’t agree with him more. He states that women have a right to take contraceptives if they so choose. Wonderful! Beautiful! The Culture of Death just gets darker and darker. For the sake of my argument, let us say that citizens in this country are free to take, inhale, inject and ingest whatever they want. But, when the President of the United States mandates that it must be paid in full by all Catholic institutions (except for Churches), I can only respond with three words: YOU ARE NUTS! No President, no government, no Court has the right to tell a religious institution, “You must suppress your conscience. You must restrict the free exercise of your religion.” It is well written in our Constitution’s First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” This mandate, approved by this President, will prohibit the free exercise of the Church’s greatest institutions of mercy and charity. If this mandate is not repealed, it will force the Church to either go against its conscience (which it will not do), pay a fine (which it will not do) or close its doors (which it will do!). People have a right to do or have whatever they want. But it doesn’t mean the Church has to pay for it, especially when it is in the business of serving others in education and illness!
All of these ills, all of our problems, come from people who wish to justify their own lifestyles and shove them down our throats as well.
I have asked myself a question for some time now, “Will we ever have all the rights that people seek?” In other words; will there ever come a day, when we can say…“Well, I think that was the last right we were waiting for!!!” I fear the answer will be, “Never!” Why? Because we keep moving the rock! We keep changing the mountain. We start painting a portrait and end up erasing it at the end of every day. We keep walking and walking and moving the signs.
Christ is the Rock. God is the Center. If we don’t keep the Lord of life as our compass, then what I do today may be judged as being evil tomorrow. I am not sure how future generations will look at me! In fifty years they may judge me unkindly for having consumed meat. In one hundred years, they may consider me a barbarian for sitting in a wooden chair. In a thousand years, they may ridicule me for having called my son a male and my daughter a female! In ten thousand years, they may have considered me awful for having had a glass of water.
We aren’t making progress! We’re making a mess!
It's "Susan G. Komen", Father. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I got it right 50% of the time!! :-) Just fixed it!
ReplyDeleteOn the question of accountability, what has the church done to advance the cause of sexual morality when it comes to contraception? When it comes down to brick and mortar solutions I would argue not much. Let’s just take the example of Natural Family Planning. According to Wikipedia, it is estimated about 2-3% of the world’s population roughly 7B practice Natural Family Planning, so not even 30% of the 1B Catholics subscribe to that practice. The data is probably even more dismal when it comes to abstinence. I think it does very little for the cause coming out with guns blazing but not affecting the real change of hearts and minds that is needed, and only barking with righteous indignation putting down others who think differently for whatever misguided reasons. It’s simply not enough to just talk about it with the loudest, harshest voice. In the gospel we read that Jesus tells Peter those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword. I’m not saying that the church should be silent, but this rule (yet to be implemented) has to be more than just an outrage of the conscience.
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ReplyDeleteHi Fr. Alfonse!!! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to post your meditations! I still read them frequently (even though I'm not a blog 'follower' ;). Election seasons always bring so many issues to the forfront and we need people like you fighting, and reminding us of what the 'issues' really are. God Bless!
-Jessica
P.S. Hope you are well!!
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteWhat is your solution? If the Church should not be silent and should not be outraged, then what? Where do we start?
Do you expect the Church to sit on Her hands while a plan to change the culture is drawn out? Because that is what it takes. Hearts and Minds don't change overnight and I have seen many, many changed the the 8 years I've been back in the Church.
There are programs out there but people have to choose to utilize them. There is a HUGE tug of war, for every mention of NFP, there are probably 100 endorsements for birth control, sex outside marriage, gay sex, porn and the list goes on, constantly in the faces of every man woman and child in our culture
What 'part' of the Church are you referring to? Because my understanding of who makes up the Church is you and I and every other Christian out there.
So as part of the body of Christ, what do you suggest we do while our rights are being taken away from us?
I don't mean to attack your comment, but I think you are expecting too much from 'some other' part of the Body of Christ.
the Komen Foundation has become the umpteenth victim of Planned Parenthood.
ReplyDeleteThe Komen foundation is no victim. They have known for years that PP never did any mammograms, they know that abortion increases a woman's chance of getting breast cancer by 25%.
Did you know that until 2008, they did not give one dime to research to 'find a cure'? They're whole deal was "breast Cancer Awareness" And what does that mean? MILLIONS and MILLIONS spent on advertising and paying their executives hundreds of thousands of dollars in salaries.
Komen has been educated and asked over and over for years to end their alliance with PP and they refused over and over for years.
Komen and PP are joined at the hip.
I hate, yes, hate the organization of Planned Parenthood, but they are more honest than Susan G Komen. At least they admit they do abortions. SGK is actually funding an increase in women getting breast cancer by giving to PP and they know it and have known it for years.
It sickens me every tine I see their commercials where they have all these 'real victims' believing that their efforts are helping end breast cancer.
FYI....OK, I feel better
Sarah
ReplyDeleteThank God those harsh loud voices are finally speaking up.
Do you remember a few years ago how many of those loud harsh voices spoke up when "Ardent" Catholics were putting a pro abortion, not just pro abortion, but a man who voted to not render health care or even comfort babies born from botched abortions? Not many and the ones that finally did speak up, waited too late to make a difference.
They may not have the 'plan' to change hearts and minds as fast as this society is trashing hearts and minds but Thank God they are finally speaking with a LOUD voice. If you ask me it needs to be louder.
If you think about it, why do the immoral minority come out on top so often. Because the moral majority keeps their mouths shut, sits down and doesn't want to make a fuss, say it's someone else's job, they don't want to get their hands dirty, they're too busy (they have actual jobs)or someone might see them.
The loudest, most persistent voice does get to make the rules and then make a law so everyone else has to pay for their 'rights' and privileges if they want to or not and it doesn't even matter if it is constitutional any more. Our great constitutional lawyer in the white house is making up his own constitution.
Funny everyone thought being a constitutional lawyer meant he knew the constitution and would uphold it, not that he was making up a new one to fit his agenda.
Many people may not realize that the HHS mandate applies to all religious institutions, not just Catholic (i.e. Christian, Presbyterian, Lutheran, etc.). However, it's the Catholic Church really taking a stand!! What happened between separation of church and state? What happened to our 1st Amendment rights? Clearly the "evil that defiles within" has corrupted the minds of our government officials. They do not understand or care to understand what conscience and religious liberty is all about. (They must have all earned an "F" in history class!) The fact of the matter is most of this "evil within" is fueled by money and greed - I scratch your back you scratch mine. Interesting how the entire HHS mandate and Komen scandal erupted at the same time. Planned Parenthood is obviously one of the major players in both the HHS and Komen decisions. It's time to flush "PP" down the toilet! It's sad that Komen reversed their decision and continue funding PP. I was a financial supporter of Susan G. Komen for years before I found out the truth about their ties to PP. (Most animal rights activists are not too fond of Komen either because of their research involves animal testing) Many other breast cancer foundations in this country support critical research without the controversy!
ReplyDeleteI pray that with a change in our federal government administration, the diligent work of our non-profit lawyers, and the education of the public we can reverse the HHS mandate and other decisions violating First Amendment rights.
I think education is the key factor in all this. Thank goodness for Internet mediums like this outstanding blog help spread the truth!:)
-J.
"If you think about it, why do the immoral minority come out on top so often. Because the moral majority keeps their mouths shut, sits down and doesn't want to make a fuss, say it's someone else's job, they don't want to get their hands dirty, they're too busy (they have actual jobs)or someone might see them."
ReplyDeleteThe data suggests otherwise. If less than 30% of Catholics practice the teachings of NFP, sadly the immoral are the majority. I think that’s because we haven’t been proactive in the mission...only reactive.
"What is your solution? If the Church should not be silent and should not be outraged, then what? Where do we start?"
The solution is to actually do something! Planned Parenthood offers little to no cost for their services albeit abortions included. Why do we not have clinics at a ratio of 1:1 if this means so much to us? And for the same little to low cost. NFP classes are few and far between mostly offered through churches....not exactly accessible to those likely to seek the easy and wrong alternative of contraceptives. Youth programs at church rarely delve into the topics of chastity and misuse of the body with pre-marital sex etc. in a real way to teens and young adults.
"Do you expect the Church to sit on Her hands while a plan to change the culture is drawn out? Because that is what it takes. Hearts and Minds don't change overnight and I have seen many, many changed the the 8 years I've been back in the Church."
Well, the church has been in existence longer than the country has been in existence, and it is said as early as the year 388 St. Augustine wrote about abstinence and purity of the body. The church also has statements on abstinence as far back as the 1800's...So this is not a doctrine that just recently went into practice…certainly not in 2012. My point is the culture of change should have come from us, one of the oldest institutions of faith in the world.
"What 'part' of the Church are you referring to? Because my understanding of who makes up the Church is you and I and every other Christian out there."
Yes, we (you and I are the church), but when the Bishops come out with marching orders with force and conviction asking us to protest, I would want and expect them to come out with marching orders mobilizing us to actually get our brethren to practice sexual morality. Why wait until something like this comes up when we’ve had many, many years to change minds and hearts to our understanding.
"I don't mean to attack your comment, but I think you are expecting too much from 'some other' part of the Body of Christ."
I love my church, and yes, I do expect a lot much from the leaders of my church...I think everyone should. But for me, I could never buy into this kind of disingenuous outrage.
would want and expect them to come out with marching orders mobilizing us to actually get our brethren to practice sexual morality. Why wait until something like this comes up when we’ve had many, many years to change minds and hearts to our understanding.
ReplyDeleteIt would also be nice if anyone had that kind of control. Do you remember Sodom and Gomorrah? GOD couldn’t even get them to practice sexual morality.
You are absolutely right about the mess we’ve ignored for decades. But this is what we have now, this is where we are. They haven’t been proactive, they haven’t taken care of business, they haven’t shepherded their flocks. Evil runs all through the Church, what better place for Satan to work? (Actually that's one sure sign that we're in the RIGHT Church, he knows Jesus' Church, just like he recognized Jesus in the scriptures)
Do you know about an addict hitting rock bottom? Sometimes a “person” has to hit the bottom before they do anything to help themselves. Maybe the Hierarchy of the Church is close to the bottom.
Whatever the case we can look back and point fingers, have woulda, shoulda, couldas all day long, but we can’t go back, we can only go forward.
I am not defending the Bishops here, believe me. I do not trust the USCCB. There is MUCH corruption there, but they are still the leaders of the Church in this country and the priests deacons and others who’ve taken that pesky vow of obedience only have so much power. (bummer, Father)
I love my church, and yes, I do expect a lot much from the leaders of my church...I think everyone should. But for me, I could never buy into this kind of disingenuous outrage.
Unfortunately our expectations are rarely met. I’ve had to learn that the hard way. REALLY, no REALLY, so I'm not patronizing you.
I do appreciate your zeal and it looks like you are quite young and have lots of energy, good intentions and you seem to be a fighter for justice, so I hope you will address this with the right authorizes and see if you can move them faster. I’m not being facetious or disrespectful. I have been fighting this battle for years and I am happy to see young people get involved. I am thrilled when the problem has been diagnosed and the solutions are being worked out. In my experience, it takes many tries to get it right. Just like any other area of life, it takes MANY failures before we get it right.
Well, the church has been in existence longer than the country has been in existence, and it is said as early as the year 388 St. Augustine wrote about abstinence and purity of the body. The church also has statements on abstinence as far back as the 1800's...So this is not a doctrine that just recently went into practice…certainly not in 2012. My point is the culture of change should have come from us, one of the oldest institutions of faith in the world.
ReplyDeleteYou are right it SHOULD have but it didn’t so now we have to fix the mess. You young people are left to deal with the effects of free love, sex and rock and roll of the past few decades. Sorry ..... and sorry about that deficit too.
The solution is to actually do something! Planned Parenthood offers little to no cost for their services albeit abortions included. Why do we not have clinics at a ratio of 1:1 if this means so much to us? And for the same little to low cost. NFP classes are few and far between mostly offered through churches....not exactly accessible to those likely to seek the easy and wrong alternative of contraceptives. Youth programs at church rarely delve into the topics of chastity and misuse of the body with pre-marital sex etc. in a real way to teens and young adults.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad you mentioned PP’s low cost services. They are really not low cost. They do not offer free services. That has been another lie they spread. AND we the taxpayers are paying for these "low cost" procedures.
The reason there are not other clinics offering the services that they do for free or at a low cost, is because PP gets all the government money and corporate donations which make up 2/3 of their ‘not profit’ for doing business.
There are plenty of people that would open those clinics if they were able to get the kind of government money and private donations that PP gets. PP has the market cornered and Satan is on their side with the facade of 'helping women'.
Abstinence programs in schools are great (when they are allowed. PP works like crazy to keep them out of schools) but there are some, but PP goes in and even many, many of the teachers follow up with “reality” and tell them that they are not really expected to be abstinent, that it is not possible. And they proceed to teach them how to have 'safe sex'. And often times THAT is what increases teen sexual activity because virgins feel like freaks because they are abnormal and all teens want to fit in. What a joke that is. SAFE SEX.
FYI PP's condoms have been tested against other ones, and they have the highest percentage of breakage. Why do you think they would hand out faulty condoms? Abortion makes them lots and lots of money.
The Catholic crisis pregnancy centers offer instruction in NFP. True, it is mostly only available at Catholic Churches because no one else cares about it except devout NFP only doctors and a few people who don’t use drugs for anything and most of them don’t have a problem with condoms.
Remember there is NO money in NFP, so who’s going to bother with it other than the Catholic Church, really?
Do you know anything about the teen program at St. Ann in Coppell. They have had Jason Everett speak multiple times along with many other Catholic ‘chastity’ speakers and abstinence is reinforced all the time. But I can’t say what other parishes offer. It is true I got NOTHING when I was growing up except the guitar mass singing kum by ya!
TOBIT, a group that teaches theology of the body all over the place is teaching young and old alike the proper use of sex in marriage.
The data suggests otherwise. If less than 30% of Catholics practice the teachings of NFP, sadly the immoral are the majority. I think that’s because we haven’t been proactive in the mission...only reactive.
ReplyDeleteMaybe our idea of what an immoral person is, is different. I don’t necessarily believe that persons who may or may not be misinformed about and engage in a particular ‘sin’ is necessarily immoral. If that was the case than any of us who commit a mortal sin would be considered immoral.
The immoral minority that I am speaking of are the people out there fighting for gay marriage, abortion, those that propagate and make LOTS of money off pornography, those who’s agenda is to remove God from our country, those who use the media to spread the immorality that is rampant,human trafficking, making and selling and killing with drugs and too many other things that they freely choose. If you look at my list, you will notice that most of these ‘evils’ are huge money making endeavors’. I’m not talking about Catholics who use birth control as immoral people. I know that sounds like a long list of evil pastimes, but there are still many more good people in this country. I’m sure Father would agree.
Yes we are coming out of a very liberal, lax and sometimes downright evil period of the Church. The devil has worked like crazy in the past few decades to tear the Church down (as always). Yes the Church works very slowly and is reaping what’s been sewn with the liberalism that has been running through Her for so long. Yes the hierarchy needs to be more pro active, I agree but when they miss the boat on that, they must react to what’s happening NOW.
"I’m glad you mentioned PP’s low cost services. They are really not low cost. They do not offer free services. That has been another lie they spread. AND we the taxpayers are paying for these "low cost" procedures."
ReplyDelete- I can guarantee you I could walk into a clinic tomorrow asking for some care and say I don't have money and they will not turn me away. It is low cost to the end recipient of whatever service and in the end that's what counts.
"The reason there are not other clinics offering the services that they do for free or at a low cost, is because PP gets all the government money and corporate donations which make up 2/3 of their ‘not profit’ for doing business.
There are plenty of people that would open those clinics if they were able to get the kind of government money and private donations that PP gets. PP has the market cornered and Satan is on their side with the facade of 'helping women'."
- I think that's a stretch. Catholic charities a huge non profit also gets government funding and private donations. I may be mistaken, but I think from time to time there is a second collection throughout the year to support them too. Like it or not, people value the services of planned parenthood....but anyway, I'm not here to defend them I just want our church to work harder for the doctrines we claim to care about. There's a story where Jesus tells the Pharisees and Scribes the law of Moses was not just meant to be carved in stone, but alive in our hearts (definitely paraphrasing). And this reminds me of that story.
The truth is, we will never achieve any progress by being reactive. It's just time to stop making excuses and making planned parenthood the boogeyman for these areas where we have not put out best effort to spread our truth.
Yes, I'm familiar with youth programs at St. Ann...We belong to that parish....
" It is true I got NOTHING when I was growing up except the guitar mass singing kum by ya!"
- That's really funny!
"Whatever the case we can look back and point fingers, have woulda, shoulda, couldas all day long, but we can’t go back, we can only go forward."
- Sounds good to me, forward we go! There's nothing like going forward!
Thank you Sarah for participating in our little conversation. I hope others were enlightened and maybe inspired to get involved to make our Church, The Church that Jesus would be proud of.
ReplyDeleteI love her and would die for her,... but...I am saying that without a guillotine hanging over my head...but I'm thinking...if the blade was plenty sharp.....it is a straight shot to heaven.
Yeah...I agree, great discussion. I hope we as a church don't let this prime episode pass without moving the ball forward on this important issue. This was a God-given opportunity to take action!
ReplyDeleteMy guess is the guillotine would be sharp enough! As a matter of fact, I think everyday we profess and practice our faith and beliefs with conviction among unbelievers it's almost a modern day guillotine effect.
Take it easy!