Been a While

A few folks -- a tiny remnant of the irregular readers of this blog -- have asked me why I haven't posted very much recently. Actually, they're very kind, because I really haven't posted a thing since June. The reason? I've simply been busy. 

I spent a lot of time preparing for a course on Biblical Typology that I'm now in the middle of conducting. The preparation demanded more time and effort than I had expected. And in the midst of it all, Diane and I went north for a couple of weeks to visit our children, grandchildren, and some old friends. I've also been wrapped up in some of the administrative details related to a pilgrimage to Italy that Fr. Glen and I will lead in January. So, you see, I have plenty of good excuses.

But I'm also disheartened by our nation's political landscape, and how things seem to be moving. And for weeks I've been left without words, wondering whether I should address the issues publicly. I guess I will. Please understand, though, these are my personal views, and I do not presume to speak (or write) for the Church. 

I look at today's Democrat party and wonder how it moved so far to the political left and so quickly. I've always believed that Marxism (and, folks, socialism and communism are both founded on solid Marxist principles) is attractive to two kinds of people. 

First, there are the "useful idiots" as Lenin purportedly called them. They listen to the false promises of an ideology that will never deliver, and they actually believe what they hear...at least for a time: 

"We'll pay off your student loans; we'll make the downpayment on your home; we'll guarantee wonderful healthcare that will cost you nothing; we'll bring true democracy and equity and diversity and inclusion and anything else you cry for..."  

The second, much smaller, group are the Marxist elites, those that feed the masses with all those promises. Ironically, few of the elites actually believe in Marxist ideology, because they're not hoping for equality or democracy or the people's happiness. No, they seek only one thing: power. And, conveniently for them, the consolidation of power into the hands of a few happens to be a guaranteed byproduct of Marxism's full implementation.

Marxists also despise religion...well, not all religion because they offer the masses their own version of religious faith. Perhaps more accurately, they despise the faith and values of Jews and Christians, and will join forces with anyone else who mirrors their hatred. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend...for a while.

To the Marxist, religion is a serious competitor because it shifts the allegiance of the individual from the state to God and His Church. They can't have that, and so they attack the Church, at first through the media and laws and regulations. But once they have power, the attacks become viciously physical. Just look at Marxism's history in the USSR, China, Cuba, etc.

Remember when Joe Biden told the TV host, Charlamagne Tha God, “I tell you if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”

Of course, it was just another of Joe's racist statements in which he assumes all blacks, really all minorities, must think alike, that they must hold identical political and moral beliefs.

So, let me one-up him, and tell the faithful: "If you vote for today's Democrats, you ain't Catholic." 

In this instance, though, I appeal to the deposit of faith, the Church's foundational beliefs, beliefs that are rejected by this political party. Not only do they support abortion and infanticide, but they also attack Church teaching on virtually every moral issue. And did you happen to hear how the Democrat vice presidential candidate, Governor Walz, called his opponent, Senator Vance, "Weird"? Why? Because Vance is an intelligent, religious, family-loving, pro-life, Catholic. Yep, all those traits really bother today's new Democrats.  

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no big fan of the Republican party either. But at least their platform and values seem more closely to mirror my own. Yes, some of them wander off into the bullrushes and support that which helps them personally, forgetting the needs and freedoms of those they represent. But most appear to toe the line that runs between life and freedom.

I suppose the problem with politics is that it's plagued by politicians; that is, men and women who think of politics as a career instead of an opportunity to spend some time helping others live better and more rewarding lives. Term limits have always seemed like a good idea to me: ten years in the House; two terms in the Senate. After that, go back and do some real work in the world, growing our economy rather than draining it. 

And maybe Christians who fill political offices should also be thinking about how they can help others on their journey to salvation. After all, the First Amendment of our Constitution is very specific:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

So, if, like me, you are a believing, practicing Christian, feel free to exercise your religious beliefs whenever and wherever the need arises. Of course, the Constitution protects you only from government interference; you may have to deal with others who are not so open to expressions of religious beliefs. In those instances, I find actions are often more effective than words. Practice your faith and show the world what you believe. Let them see how a Christian lives.

God's peace...and don't forget to vote.

“The Evil One Is At Work Here”

The words in the title of this post are words spoken by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone who has had to cope with a mayor and a governor that seem to be doing all in their power to shut down churches, especially Catholic churches, in San Francisco and throughout the state. Of course, Archbishop Cordileone and his brother bishops in California are not alone. Almost all American bishops, and many others throughout the world, have had to cope with some level of anti-religious control from local and state governments. It’s as if the political forces were just waiting for an opportunity to separate the people from the practice of their faith. Evil will, of course, fail at this, but in the meantime the faith of many will be challenged.

The celebration of Mass has been effectively banned in many cities and states. The same is true of most other sacramental rites. To understand how specifically anti-religious these controls are, one need only look at other permitted gatherings. Here’s just one example, In San Francisco even the celebration of an outdoor Mass, regardless of the size of the venue, must be limited to only 12 people, including the priest. And yet Black Lives Matter “protesters” can congregate in the streets, with no separation whatsoever, and are encouraged to do so by local politicians.  

In a recent interview, Archbishop Cordileone stated that there is a definite “spiritual” connection between these Mass restrictions and the defacing and destruction of Catholic statues that recently plagued His archdiocese. He went on to say, “I performed a minor exorcism at the site of the statue of St. Junipero Serra in Golden Gate Park because statues of holy saints are sacramentals; their destruction is a sacrilege. The Evil One is at work here.” The photo below shows the Archbishop blessing the site.

The Archbishop continued by addressing what this means to us as Americans: “To take something as beautiful and holy as the face of Our Mother and desecrate it? What demons these poor, battered souls must be fighting. In the midst of all our troubles, to be deprived of the Eucharist is both a serious imposition on our rights as Americans and a serious spiritual deprivation.” He went on to say, “I’m not sure the governing authorities here in San Francisco really realize the pain they are imposing on people.” The Archbishop is much kinder than I am, for I believe they know exactly what they’re doing and the effect it has on the Catholic faithful. Yes, indeed, there is evil at work here. 

As for the Catholic faithful, Archbishop Cordileone tells them to “Pray, fast, say the rosary. Focus on living your Catholic faith in the home, with your family, praying the rosary as a family, reflecting together on the Scripture readings for Sunday Mass, watching good Catholic programming together. Reach out to help your neighbors. Let your priests know you care about them. And if you must attend Mass via livestream, don’t just ‘watch’ the Mass: worship.”  

Personally, and I am speaking here only as an American and a Catholic, I honestly believe all the restrictions placed on religious activity by government authorities are unconstitutional. Nowhere in the U. S. Constitution does the government have the power to restrict the religious activity of the people. Indeed, exactly the opposite is true. The primary right of the people, the first God-given right mentioned in the Constitution, is the right of the people to worship freely, as specified in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”

Can anyone not see that those who wield governmental power are preventing American citizens of the right to freely exercise their faith? While I certainly respect Archbishop Cordileone for what he is doing, or attempting to do, as he battles the power of evil that confronts the Church today, I believe it's time for our bishops to resist this evil strongly and openly. We are a Eucharistic Church and, as the fathers of the Second Vatican Council declared, the Eucharist is the "source and summit of the Christian life." Because of the interference of secular government, most Catholics today are deprived of the Eucharistic Bread of Life, as well as the graces that flow from the other sacraments.

It’s time for our bishops to stand tall for religious freedom. "Blessed are the meek," Jesus promised, but the meek are not the indifferent. We don’t need the government to dictate how we may worship, and should resist their attempts to do so. The Church can care for its own people and devise safe conditions to ensure the health of the faithful. Our bishops should demand the freedom to exercise the Church's First Amendment rights and do so safely. They should also be willing to suffer the consequences, even if it means imprisonment and fines. Over the past 2,000 years, beginning with the Apostles themselves, many bishops, in a spirit of courageous meekness, have paid a far greater price for such courageous acts of faith.

Remember, too, how Jesus completed the Beatitudes, this time speaking personally to His disciples:

"Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me..." [Mt 5:11]

Years ago I used to conduct a course on negotiating for businesspeople, and one of the more effective strategies was that used by those who were perceived as powerless: the power of no power. If you are willing to accept whatever consequences your opponent can inflict, you have just given yourself significant power, especially in the court of public opinion. Here's a wonderful example...

Perhaps our bishops and all Christian churches should look to Evangelical Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles County (photo at left). Pastor MacArthur has been threatened with jail time and fines because he refuses to accept Governor Newsome's restrictions that prevent his church from conducting in-person services. 

According to the pastor, "We believe the governor, the county, the city, and the health department are going against the Constitution. And just to remove one obvious question, the rate of COVID in California is 1/100 of 1% of 40 million people...and that eliminates freedom of worship from the entire state?"

The pastor went on to explain that his church has "been meeting together now for weeks and weeks and weeks, and...nobody in our congregation has ever been to the hospital with this...There's another virus loose in the world and its the virus of deception, and the one who is behind the virus of deception is the arch-deceiver, Satan himself. And it's not a surprise to me that, in the midst of all this deception, the great effort that is going on is to shut down churches that preach the Gospel." How did Archbishop Cordileone put it? "The Evil One is at work here."

Pastor MacArthur then added, "We received a letter with a threat that we could be fined or I could go to jail for a maximum of six months. Of course, my Biblical hero, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, is the apostle Paul...so I don't mind being a little apostolic if they want to tuck me in jail. I'm open for a jail ministry. I've done a lot of other ministries and haven't had the opportunity to do that one, so bring it on."

You have to love the man. And as Catholics we should join hands and minds and hearts with other Christians, with men and women like Pastor MacArthur, as we fight the battle against the powers of the world. I really believe that it will be through our common suffering and persecution that the unity Jesus Christ longs for will come about.

Power and Precedent

I suspect some of my regular readers might not be pleased with this post, but that's fine. We can always agree to disagree. But I thought this had to be said, given some of the comments I've received during the past few weeks.

COVID-19, this microscopic virus, has apparently generated so much fear in the hearts of so many that they're willing to stop working, avoid public worship, and hide in their homes, unconcerned that doing so may well bring about a future far worse than the present. So many brush aside any concern for the abdication of their freedoms, that they willingly allow government officials at all levels to control the minutia of their lives. They have apparently concluded that our Constitution applies only when things go well. Once faced with a societal hiccup, they toss aside those God-given rights, all for the sake of safety.

Now don't get me wrong. I understand the need for precautions when dealing with such a nasty disease as the coronavirus. But to use it as an excuse to shred the Bill of Rights is a very dangerous precedent. Things might well return to some version of normal once the pandemic has passed -- although I doubt it -- but the die has been cast. The American people, at least a good number of them, have demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice freedom for safety. By doing so they display more than ignorance of their constitutional rights; they also display ignorance of human nature. 

People to whom we delegate power -- and since in this nation "we the people" are sovereign, the government has only the power we give it -- will almost always tend to abuse that power. James Madison recognized this when, in the Federalist Papers, he wrote:

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary" [The Federalist, 51].

Men, of course, are not angelic, so we need the controls Madison mentions. The internal controls on government are found in the Constitution and its Bill of Rights, while the controls external to the government are most evident when people petition the government or protest its abuse of power. And we've certainly seen much of the latter in recent weeks.

James Madison (1751-1836)

It's the violations of the First Amendment that most trouble me. Have you read the Bill of Rights lately? Just check out the language of the First Amendment:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

How does forcing us to close our churches and prohibiting the public celebration of the Mass and other sacraments not violate the prohibition of the free exercise of religion? 

Churches, like citizens, can adapt to the needs of safety without giving up their most basic rights. Believe me, once we allow government to ignore its foundational documents for the sake of a viral pandemic, it will find other reasons to do so in the future. When I encounter such corruption in government, I cannot help but recall the famous words of another of my heroes, Lord Acton:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Lord Acton (1834-1902)

According to Acton power "tends" to corrupt. In other words, if it isn't resisted, it will lead to corruption. But when it comes to absolute power, Lord Acton believed it is simply too great a temptation to resist. Several of our nation's governors and mayors have apparently fallen prey to this desire for absolute power. One can only hope that "we the people" reward them the next time they're up for reelection.

What's the solution in the face of a pandemic? I don't know. I'm not smart enough. But I do know there are enough intelligent, honest, and humble folks out there who can offer us reasonable means to achieve an acceptable degree of safety while still protecting our rights from those who would abuse them.

My biggest concern, though, is that too many folks seem to be afraid for their lives, while so few are afraid for their eternal life. Faith over fear!

God or Nothing

Every Sunday morning you and your family make your way to your church where you join together with others to worship God freely. You don't worry that the police officer who directs traffic at the church entrance might have a colleague who's busily taking photos of every license plate in the parking lot. You don't expect to see a state or federal official standing in the back of the church and recording everything that is said. And on Monday morning you certainly wouldn't expect your boss to question you about your religious beliefs. 

Such things just don't happen here in the United States, where religious freedom is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution...at least, not yet. For those of you who might have forgotten, that First Amendment in the Bill of Rights reads:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. - See more at: http://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment1.html#sthash.y9Ibq8pC.dpuf

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. - See more at: http://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment1.html#sthash.y9Ibq8pC.dpuf

Notice that the very first right of the Bill of Rights is freedom of religion. It comes before freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the freedoms of assembly and petition, and all the other rights enumerated in the remaining nine amendments. The Founders obviously considered the freedom of religion more important than any other.

Notice, too, that many people -- including, sadly, many of our courts -- speak only of the so-called "establishment clause" assuming that any mention of things religious by the government is a violation. The Founders, of course, were concerned only with ensuring there would be no established state church like England's Anglican Church. They did not intend to remove religious thought and speech from the public square. The new nation was, after all, already a nation of many faiths and the Founders wanted to ensure all Americans could exercise their faith freely, without government interference. This is evident by the wording that follows: "...or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Even the United Nations still pays lip-service to its Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 18 of this document, supposedly agreed to by the UN member nations, states:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."

This clearly stated right is, of course, violated daily by dozens of the UN's member states. All communist governments -- and probably a third or more of the world's population still lives under some form of Marxist rule -- reject  Article 18 in its entirety. And most Muslim-majority nations, especially those that accept sharia law, reject it as well. But we're also encountering growing threats to religious liberty among many of our so-called Western democracies.

It would seem that in Western Europe and increasingly in the United States, political correctness trumps just about everything, even the rights clearly enumerated in the Constitution. Same-sex marriage, for example, has become a cause célèbre in our country, particularly among those on the political left, and if a small business refuses to cater to a homosexual marriage for religious reasons, it is prosecuted. Religious freedom -- the free exercise of religion -- is in the Constitution. Can the same be said for same-sex marriage?

It's no different when it comes to abortion or contraception. The ACLU, a supposed protector of civil liberties and an organization well-loved by the Obama administration, has been suing Catholic hospitals, trying to force them to provide abortions and other forms of "reproductive care" that violate Catholic moral beliefs. So far they have been unsuccessful in court, but that could easily change depending on who replaces the late Justice Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. You can read the ACLU's take on the issue in which abortion supersedes religious freedom. Here's the link to their website: ACLU.

Ever since the court's infamous Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, abortion has become the most important issue of those committed to a culture of death. Sadly, the Democrat Party has completely embraced the issue, and any pro-life Democrat, regardless of his or her stance on other issues important to the party, will experience the party's wrath.

Here are just a few other areas where freedom of religion has been cast aside as meaningless in the face of political correctness:

• Adoption and Foster Services. Catholic Charities can no longer offer adoption or foster care services in many states (e.g., Massachusetts, Illinois, Washington D.C....) because they will not place children with same-sex or unmarried couples.

• Human Trafficking. The federal government no longer allows the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services to provide services for victims of human trafficking because the USCCB will not give referrals for contraceptive services and abortions.

• University Discrimination. The University of California Hastings College of Law denied student organization status to the Christian Legal Society, because it required its leaders to be Christian and to abstain from sexual activity outside of marriage. This is the only group that has ever been denied such status.

Little Sisters of the Poor

• Little Sisters of the Poor. Of course, unless you're a hermit, you've heard about the Little Sisters of the Poor and their legal battle with the Obama administration over the HHS mandate to include sterilization, contraception and abortion-inducing drugs in the health care provided to the Sisters' employees. 

There are many, many more examples at the federal, state and local levels. Certainly they don't even approach the kind of vile and murderous religious persecution Christians are encountering overseas, but as God is eclipsed by the kind of demonic nihilism on the rise in our country, and as man's flawed law increasingly pushes God's Law into the dustbin, don't be surprised when those who engage in the "free exercise" of their faith are told to shut up or else.

Cardinal Robert Sarah, Congregation for Divine Worship

The majority of our electorate seems to think that the upcoming election is about jobs and the economy. Don't believe it! It's about the very soul of our nation. Will we remain "one nation under God" or will we choose to serve another. As Cardinal Robert Sarah recently said while discussing the increasingly sad state of religious freedom in the United States, "In the end, it is God or nothing."

Homily: Independence Day - Wednesday, 13th Week of Ordinary Time

Readings: Amos 5:14-15, 21-24; Ps 50; Mt 8:28-34
_________________

How blessed we are to be Americans!

223 years ago, our Constitution, drafted by our founders and ratified by the states, went into effect. In the first ten amendments to that Constitution, what we call our Bill of Rights, the God-given rights of the people were protected from the government. That’s right; the Bill of Rights limits the government, not the people. It protects us from our government.

And to ensure future generations understood its importance, the very first of the rights guaranteed by the founders was the right of religious freedom. The First Amendment begins with the words:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

And so, we have the right to worship freely without the threat of government interference.

Yes, how blessed we are to be Americans!

And how fitting, too, that today we should hear this Gospel reading from Matthew as we celebrate our independence, including our nation’s commitment to religious freedom. But before we touch on the issues that face us today, let’s first look at Matthew’s Gospel.

This visit by Jesus to the land of the Gadarenes is truly a remarkable incident, a unique event in His public ministry. Jesus, who spent virtually all of His public life among the Jews, does something very different. He crosses the Sea of Galilee and enters the province of Gadara, a place populated largely by pagans. Gadara is depicted as a district especially under the sway of the Evil One – God’s name is not invoked there, His law is not obeyed – and so we shouldn’t be surprised to find demoniacs dwelling there in their natural habitat.

It must have been a disturbing visit for the disciples, as evidenced by the fact that we hear nothing from them. They were accustomed to people coming to Jesus for healing and instruction and forgiveness. Indeed only moments before, on the way across the Sea, the disciples themselves had begged Jesus to save them from the freak storm that had arisen. Yes, they had heard many people pleading with Jesus for help; and had even
uttered some of those pleas themselves…

Heal my servant, Master…

Lord, that I might see…

Lord, save us, we are perishing…

How different were these cries for help from the cries they heard this day in this strange place…

What have you to do with us, Son of God?

"What have you to do with us, Son of God?"

What a remarkable question these demons ask. How darkly urgent is their need to separate themselves from Jesus. And how do they do it? By denouncing him as the Son of God! Imagine that! Yes, in spitting out their hatred, their poison, they can do nothing but proclaim the truth. We sense some tiny remnant of goodness in their nature, but one that is exclusively intellectual. They know who Jesus is. But knowledge isn’t love.

Through their own choice they’ve totally disfigured the beauty of their souls, a beauty created in the beginning by God. Now, no beauty remains. No moral order remains. And so this acknowledgment of Jesus’ identity escapes from them, just as everything else does, with destructive violence.

What have you to do with us?

Yes, indeed, what can the spirit of evil have in common with the Son of God? In a sense, this question, what have we in common, is the same question the centurion asked of Jesus when he uttered, “Lord I am not worthy…” But for the demons it’s not a matter of unworthiness, but rather a question filled with hollow pride:

“How dare you come to us. Don’t you, Son of God, have better things to do? Leave us alone.”

You see, the demons can lie to everyone except to God.

“Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?”

These demons can’t believe that Jesus has entered this place among the tombs of the dead where evil believed itself safe from God’s Word. But now…now they know that Jesus’ redeeming work knows no boundaries. The Word of God must spread throughout the earth, and no place is exempt. They know, too, that their hold over a portion of humanity is only temporary, for they scream at Jesus, reproaching him for coming before the kairos, before the appointed season of definitive judgment and the expulsion of the forces of evil.

How odd. While they clearly know who Jesus is, and hate him for it, they appear pathetically misinformed about the extent of their authority. And so they resign themselves to being cast out. But unlike the centurion who saw his servant’s illness as an evil that needed Jesus’ healing intervention, these demons, having made evil the cause of their very being, find only torment in their Healer. Rather than surrender to Jesus’ healing presence, they beg Jesus to send them into a herd of pigs – a choice that reveals their true condition.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus offers each one of us healing and life. There is just one other choice, and it leads only to death.

How humiliating this must have been for Satan. Satan, the pure spirit, is routed by the mere presence of this Divine Person who embraces the weakness of our human physical and psychological nature. And Satan still lurks about seeking souls who will admit him. But at the same time, in the presence of Jesus Christ, he is powerless. When Jesus is present, in our individual souls, in our families, in our parish, in our community, in our nation, Satan has no power. He can do nothing.

But when a people and a nation turn away from Jesus Christ, when a people decides that the presence of God is an embarrassment, that the name of God is an insult to their intelligence and freedom…then they create a vacuum that Satan is only too ready to fill.

For most of its history our nation turned openly and willingly to God for help and guidance. “In God we trust” is still embossed on our currency. And we still pledge ourselves as “one nation, under God.” But sadly, although religious freedom is a fundamental human right, one that comes not from man but from God, much of recorded history is the story of men trying to deny it, to take it away.

Throughout the history of our own country many have sacrificed their lives so you and I can reap the benefits of religious freedom and the other rights enumerated in our Constitution. But even today, these rights are threatened, and sadly by our own federal government. The Department of Health and Human Services has mandated that the private health care plans of Catholic institutions must cover sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. And so the Church – and brothers and sisters, that’s you and me – faces a severe attack on our religious liberty by forcing us to pay for that which violates our deepest religious and moral convictions. This mandate, then, first and foremost, is an attack on religious freedom.

Like those who came before us and sacrificed so much to guarantee the freedom that you and I take for granted, we too are called to defend these rights. As the prophet Amos told the people of Israel in our first reading: “Seek good and not evil, that you may live… let justice prevail.” God expects us to act, brothers and sisters, so justice will prevail!

You and I may think we’re not important enough for our voices to be heard, but that’s simply not true.  Just consider how God has called on the weak and the obscure to be His messengers.

Consider Amos, the simple sheep herder of our first reading, the pruner of sycamore trees, and how he bravely confronts the hypocritical and unjust leaders of Israel.

Isaiah and Jeremiah, both called from the womb to be God’s great prophets.

David, the young shepherd, raised up by God to be King of his people.

John the Baptist, dwelling in the desert, but destined from the moment of creation to be the herald of Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters, we too are called by God, just as Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, David and John were called from obscurity to take God’s word to the world. Like that tiny mustard seed in the Gospel, wondrous things can come from even the smallest voice. Today, as we face this challenge to the most fundamental of our rights, you and I are that seed. We must speak up. We must defend our right to religious freedom, in both the public square and the ballot box. Doing so is a responsibility, an obligation that derives not only from our citizenship, but even more so from our faith.

Satan would love to turn us into another land of the Gadarenes, but believe me, that will not happen if we, as the People of God, as the Body of Christ, as a nation of free men and women, turn always to Jesus Christ as our sole guide, as our Lord and Savior.

Yes, how blessed we are to be Americans.

Let us pray that our children and grandchildren will always be able to say those same words.

Late Night Questions

As I have aged, my sleeping habits have become less...well, habitual. Some nights I find myself waking at odd hours, unable to get back to sleep. I usually get up, tiptoe out of the bedroom, plop down in my nice comfortable easy chair, and read until I once again get sleepy. Tonight, however, my mind turned from the book I was reading and began asking itself a series of presumably rhetorical questions. And so I reached for the iPad and began to tap them into its memory, which is far more reliable than my own memory.

One would think that the true welfare of children is not a very high priority among pro-abortion politicians. Abortion, after all, has an obvious, fatal impact on the unborn child. Why, then, do so many pro-abortion politicians inevitably claim that the economic and social programs and policies they champion are all done "for the children"?

Why do so many seemingly intelligent people turn to socialism when it has been an abject failure whenever and wherever it has been tried? And why do an even greater number of people assume that the government will be the best provider of needed services when all evidence tells us otherwise?

In both business and engineering, I found that problems inevitably recurred unless their root causes were addressed and eliminated. Most people would agree that illegal immigrants don't flock to this country because life is better where they came from. Why, then, is all the attention focused on this side of the border when the root causes of the problem are the corrupt governments, dysfunctional economies, and oppression on the other side?

Christmas Day, the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, was declared a national holiday over 140 years ago by both houses of congress and the president. The Supreme Court has not ruled this declaration unconstitutional. Why, then, do so many governmental entities, at all levels, attempt to prohibit employees and citizens from using the word "Christmas" in any public venue?

The First Amendment to our Constitution begins with the words, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Why have the courts expanded the "establishment clause" to include almost any mention of religion, while at the same time they have completely disregarded the second clause about prohibiting the free exercise of religion?

As dear Diane and I trimmed our tree and decorated our home in preparation for Christmas, I couldn't help but notice that almost every item -- ornaments, the large creche set, and most of the other decorations -- were made in China, a communist country with an official policy of atheism. What do the Chinese workers think when they design and make a ceramic Madonna or a Baby Jesus, or a rosary or crucifix? Does it cause them to question why so many people buy such things? I suspect so. Human beings are, after all, naturally religious and atheism is a rather modern aberration. I've, therefore, decided to pray for the conversion of all these workers, that the Holy Spirit will use these objects, these as yet unblessed sacramentals, to enlighten all those involved in their manufacture and lead them to the Way, the Truth and the Life.

At this point I've tired myself out once again...off to bed.

Freedom of Religion Threatened...in the U.S.

I usually don't get political here -- well, not  too often and not too political -- but I'm making an exception today. Actually, what I'm going to address is political only to those who want the Church to remain on the sidelines, far outside the public square, and who believe religion should be practiced only behind closed doors. They don't like it when the Church speaks out on moral issues affecting the country and the world, believing that the Church crosses some ill-defined line between the religious and the political. But when politicians wander or stumble into the moral sphere, the Church has both a right and an obligation to speak. By denying the Church's right to do so, these folks ignore a few thousand years of human history during which political action has always been influenced by the religious values of a society, the values that define its culture. Indeed, once the "cult" is removed from a culture, the society inevitably begins its decline. Of course, it's no surprise that these same people will be profuse in their support of the Church's right to speak and act so long as the Church's position on a particular issue supports the preferred political agenda.

A few years ago, when Diane and I joined tens of thousands of others to take part in the annual March for Life in Washington, I heard a bystander shout out to us, "Just shut up and don't force your bleeping religion on us." I surprised myself by ignoring him, and just marched on holding my "Choose Life" sign a bit higher. But I found it interesting that an American would make such a comment. By demanding that a fellow citizen -- and from a political perspective the Church is certainly an assembly of citizens -- keep quiet about things religious, this man and others like him openly reject the clear language of the U. S. Constitution which guarantees freedom of religion to all Americans. Too many, including some of our federal justices, ignore that little "free exercise" phrase in the first sentence of the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech". That bystander in Washington was, therefore, doubly guilty. He not only wanted to deny me the right to exercise my religion freely, but he also wanted to limit my speech to subjects of which he approved.

How sad that the clear language of the Constitution has been so strangely interpreted. After two-hundred plus years, one thing is clear: our Constitution is too important a document to place in the hands of constitutional lawyers. After all, it was written in the name of and ratified by "We the People". I can't help but recall Jesus' words,

“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will." [Mt 11:25-26]

I have no problem being numbered among the "childlike". This is why theologians with all their degrees and all their knowledge do not represent the Church's teaching authority, its Magisterium. That authority remains with the apostles and their successors, the pope and the bishops...something that seems to drive more than a few theologians to distraction. But I'm drifting off the subject...

Our bishops are beginning to take notice of the fact that some in positions of political power in this country take a rather narrow view of religious liberty. The Church -- and here I mean the Catholic Church -- because of its positions in support of life and against the culture of death, has been singled out by government agencies who are trying to prohibit it from taking part in any government sponsored programs from adoption services to refugee assistance. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is also mandating that all health insurance programs offer coverage of "reproductive" services to include contraception (including abortifacients) and sterilization. Such services are completely contrary to the Church's teaching for the past 2,000 years. The intent, of course, is to present the Church with a lose-lose situation. It can either cave in to these threats by agreeing to ignore the truth of its teachings for the sake of participation in government programs, or it can further isolate itself from an increasingly government-heavy society and lose the funding on which it has come to rely.

Of course, this tactic completely ignores the Constitutional guarantees that prohibit our government from denying us the right to exercise our religion freely. If a Catholic college, for example, is forced to offer its employees health insurance that contains coverage directly contrary to Church teaching, such a requirement is in obvious violation of the First Amendment. Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina is one such Catholic school that has been singled out by the federal government. The college is engaged in a legal challenge to the HHS mandate. To read more about its struggle, click here.

As I mentioned above, the U.S. bishops are responding to this threat to our religious liberty. Here, for example, is a brief video by  the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, in which he encourages the faithful to pray, to become informed, and to act in defense of religious liberty in the United States [Hint: this last means to vote only for those who will defend religious freedom.]

For more information see this article on the bishops' latest efforts in defense of religious liberty: US Bishops' Committee on Religious Liberty. The U.S. bishops are also in the midst of a three-day assembly in Baltimore at which they are discussing such issues as religious liberty, the sanctity of marriage, and the Church's call to be a force for good by bringing God's love to a sinful world. Here's a link: Bishops' Assembly in Baltimore.

I am truly pleased that such an effort is underway. My only suggestion is that the Church back away from government-funded programs whenever possible. Perhaps in the future, instead of trying to ensure a place at the federal funding table, the bishops should devote more time convincing the faithful to provide the funds necessary to carry out the Gospel mandate to care for those in need. I'm going to be cynical here and suggest that those in the government who create the programs to feed the hungry or care for the poor do not do so in response to the Gospel mandate. They do it to create dependency, to ensure votes, and to dampen any potential unrest. (I told you I was cynical.)

Sadly, some of our Christian charities are no better. A few years ago, during a local weather emergency, the head of one religious-based charitable organization called me to ask if our soup kitchen could use some ready-to-serve meals. When I told him we had plenty of food on hand to deal with the current emergency, and really had no place to store any more, he said, "Oh, that's too bad. If I can get rid of this stuff and document that it went for emergency use, I can get a bunch more federal funding." From this and subsequent comments it was obvious he cared less about helping those in need than in maintaining his government funding. I eventually suggested he call the Red Cross.

Our Wildwood Soup Kitchen is actually a very good example. Diane and I spend some time working there every week and truly enjoy it, as do over 200 other volunteers from almost 40 local churches. We do this because as Christians we take seriously the Gospel mandate to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and welcome the stranger [see Mt 25]. We do it because Jesus in His overwhelming love for us commanded us to love God and neighbor. And after experiencing His love, we can do nothing else. We don't do it to achieve any political ends or to guarantee sources of funding. Our soup kitchen has maintained its independence from government by relying solely on donations from individuals, churches, businesses, and civic organizations. Such sources of funding are generally more reliable, and certainly less intrusive, than government.

Yes, I realize it's just a little soup kitchen that serves about 250 free meals each day, six days a week, but I suspect those first deacons in Jerusalem [see Acts 6] served only a few widows and orphans at the start; and look how we've progressed since then.

Pray for our country, and pray for our bishops, that they have the courage and wisdom to do what is right and just.

Pax et bonum...

A Word from the Persecuted

If you're a Christian, and especially if you're a Catholic, you're being persecuted. Maybe you didn't know this, but it's true. Even here in the good ol' freedom-loving USA, we are undergoing all kinds of persecution, some subtle and some not so subtle. We're not being killed or imprisoned, at least not yet, but there are other forms of persecution, some already in place and others planned.

Ironically, those responsible for much of this persecution justify it based on a very strange interpretation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It's really remarkable how those plain words written by our nation's founding fathers have in the minds of many of today's supposedly educated intelligentsia come to mean exactly the opposite of their original intent.

If it's been a while since you last read those first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights, I suggest you take a few minutes to read them again. Here's a link: Bill of Rights, and here are those plain words of the First Amendment:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

I'm certain it's no accident that the first right, the first freedom, addressed by the founders was freedom of religion. Note that the words clearly are not intended to protect us from religion, but to protect us from the government, to ensure the free practice of religion without government interference.

Yes, religion was the number one freedom in the minds of the founders. Only after guaranteeing our religious freedom did they go on to enumerate freedom of speech and the press, of the right to assemble peaceably, and the right to petition the government.

James Madison clearly believed that freedom of conscience was a right that no government could viloate:

"More sparingly should this praise be allowed to a government, where a man's religious rights are violated by penalties, or fettered by tests, or taxed by a hierarchy. Conscience is the most sacred of all property; other property depending in part on positive law, the exercise of that, being a natural and unalienable right. To guard a man's house as his castle, to pay public and enforce private debts with the most exact faith, can give no title to invade a man's conscience which is more sacred than his castle, or to withhold from it that debt of protection, for which the public faith is pledged, by the very nature and original conditions of the social pact."

It was a belief upheld as well by Abraham Lincoln who stated:

"That the guarantee of the rights of conscience, as found in our Constitution, is most sacred and inviolable, and one that belongs no less to the Catholic than to the Protestant; and that all attempts to abridge or interfere with these rights, either of Catholic or Protestant, directly or indirectly...shall ever have our most effective opposition."

And yet today, Catholic charities have been forced by state governments to cease running adoption agencies that, in many instances, have have operated for over a century because they will not place children with homosexual "parents". This, of course, is a direct abridgement of the rights of conscience and religious belief of Catholics and violates the Constitution in both letter and spirit. This, folks, is religious persecution, plain and simple. Yes, "Conscience in the most sacred of all property..."

In the same way, across the country politicians are floating legislation and/or executive orders to demand that all physicians and other medical personnel be forced to refer patients for abortions or contraceptive services even when such actions would violate the religious beliefs (i.e., the rights of conscience) of the physician involved. I can think of no more direct violation of one's conscience. Can you imagine the uproar if the state tried to force a physician to perform an execution? Well, for the believing Catholic who accepts the Church's magisterial teaching on the inherent evil of abortion, forcing a doctor to participate even peripherally in an abortion is really no different. And again, "the guarantee of the rights of conscience...is most sacred and inviolable."

As an ordained permanent deacon in the Catholic Church I have witnessed many marriages over the years, but always between a man and a woman. The Catholic Church does not accept same-sex marriages and never will, and yet homosexual activists are strongly lobbying state and local governments to demand that all those who are permitted by the state to"perform" marriages -- and that would include Catholic priests and deacons -- also perform same-sex marriages. As one deacon friend said to me recently, "I'll be damned if I'll ever do that." He expected his words to be taken literally.

Contrary to the clear intent of the Constitution, students have been prohibited from the free exercise of their religion in school for 50 years, despite the fact that prior to the Supreme Court's June 1963 decision prayer had been an active part of schooling throughout the country for almost 200 years. Suddenly it becomes illegal to pray in school because a group of robed ideologues decide the people have been wrong for two centuries.

I'm afraid that very few of today's politicians or judges still believe, if they ever believed, that in the United States the people are sovereign, that the government  "derives their just powers from the consent of the governed",  and that they are part of a "government of the people, by the people, for the people."  

Political correctness has already run amok in Western Europe and Canada, and led to far more severe persecution of Christians, including fines and prison sentences, than we have yet to encounter here. But I have little doubt we will soon see similar things in this country. Keep your eyes and eras open, folks. And when you see such acts of religious persecution, raise your voices, let those elected to represent you know that they won't represent you for very long unless they fight against these overt and subtle violations of our Constitution.

Jesus didn't tell us to sit on our hands. We are to "Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." And we should certainly not allow Caesar to lay claim to what is God's. Over the past twenty centuries, millions of Christian martyrs have given their lives to prevent that from happening.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:The Great State of Florida

It Ain't Over...Yet

A week ago I wrote about Professor Ken Howell who had been fired by the University of Illinois at Champaign for explaining Catholic teaching on homosexuality and homosexual activity while teaching a course on -- you guessed it -- Catholic teaching. (Click here for my earlier post.) One student apparently made an anonymous complaint, and that was all the university needed to dismiss Professor Howell. It seems, then, that the Church's magisterial teaching on moral issues has, for this publicly funded university, become hate speech.

Well, it seems the story's not over. The Diocese of Peoria has stated that it will meet with university officials on Tuesday to discuss Professor Howell's termination as an adjunct professor. As I recall from earlier coverage of this story, Howell was receiving some legal assistance on this matter since it is clearly a violation of both his constitutional rights and of academic freedom. The threat of legal action just might have encouraged the university to revisit its unjust action and discuss it with the diocese. According to a diocesan spokesperson, “The Diocese has had direct contact with the President of the University of Illinois, who has reiterated that academic freedom is at the core of their teaching and he is willing to have a review of this action so that all the details related to this situation can be investigated..” That's certainly encouraging, and we hope Professor Howell will again be teaching at the university. I'll keep you informed.

Click here to read the latest on the upcoming meeting between the Diocese of  Peoria and the university. And keep Professor Howell in your prayers.

Blessings...

The Latest ACLU Attack on the First Amendment

The American Civil Liberties Union, the far-left litigation factory, has decided once again to take the wrong side on an issue of constitutional civil liberties. It seems the ACLU is very upset that "religiously affiliated hospitals across the country inappropriately and unlawfully deny pregnant women emergency medical care." Stated more plainly, the ACLU wants Catholic hospitals to provide abortions. Accordingly they have written a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a federal agency, complaining that by failing to provide abortions these hospitals have broken the law. The apparent catalyst for the letter was the recent incident in Phoenix in which the local bishop took on a Catholic hospital in his diocese for performing an abortion. (See my earlier post on the subject.)

What I find particularly galling is the ACLU's concern that Catholic hospitals deny women this so-called "right" to abort their children -- a right, by the way, not mentioned or even alluded to in the Constitution -- while at the same time it completely ignores the very explicit right stated in the First Amendment to the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." (To read more about this latest attack on freedom of religion by the ACLU, click here.)

Pray for life...and pray for courage on the part of our bishops.

Here it comes...

Well, folks, brace yourselves for the imminent arrival of the dictatorship of relativism. It's already made an appearance in academia, leaving intellectual and moral wreckage in its wake, and it won't be too long before it plows through the workplace and even the family home.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, today's relativists are not susceptible to logical arguments. Truth and justice mean absolutely nothing to them because they see these concepts as tools to be manipulated and changed as necessary to further their immediate agenda, whatever it happens to be. Here's the latest example of relativists at work in our nation, in this instance at the University of Illinois in Champaign.

Professor Ken Howell, a convert to Catholicism and a former Presbyterian minister, has taught courses on the Catholic faith and the Catholic intellectual tradition at the university for years. Recently, however, he was fired because he actually had the nerve to explain Catholic teaching on homosexuality and homosexual acts during one of his courses. His comments, which were stated in terms of natural law and utilitarianism, were apparently too much for the university's Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Concerns. (Doesn't it just warm your heart that Illinois tax dollars are spent to maintain this office?) In other words, Professor Howell was fired for explaining Catholic teaching in a course whose subject matter is Catholic teaching. What a country! Academic freedom and first amendment rights to free speech apparently mean little when the subject of your speech conflicts with the current political correctness.

If you want to read more about Professor Howell, including a clear and concise statement by Howell himself, click on this link: Catholic Professor Fired for Being Catholic. And if you want to see Professor Howell's academic qualifications for yourself, just visit his page (not yet removed) on the University of Illinois website and then click on his curriculum vitae (in MS Word format).

Pray for our nation.