It continues...

On several occasions in recent years I've mentioned how our society is moving not simply away from God, but actively against God and His Church. I'd like to be able to say that this movement is happening only slowly, but I'm afraid Satan realizes he has a better opportunity to work his evil if he acts quickly.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley

Although it's been going on for centuries, the Scatterer has been particularly busy in Western Europe and the USA. For example, some years ago the legislature of the commonwealth of Massachusetts decided that the Catholic Church would have to stop its foster parenting and adoption services unless it agreed to place children with same-sex couples. Ultimately, the Church, in the person of Cardinal Sean O'Malley, refused to agree and, therefore, ceased providing these services. The courts supported the state, in effect saying that these family services had nothing to do with religion. The prohibition, therefore, was not considered to be a violation of religious freedom. In fact, the state courts maintained that any organization refusing to place children with same-sex couples acted for one reason only: it must hate gay people. Although the state legislature that enacted the legislation was (and remains) overwhelmingly Democrat,  the Republican governor at the time -- Mitt Romney -- and the Republican lieutenant governor both did little or nothing to encourage the legislature to revise the law. Although state laws vary, this same prohibition has been adopted by a number of other states causing Catholic Charities and other Church-related agencies to cease adoptions. You can read more about this here and here and here.

Massachusetts, of course, wasn't satisfied with abolishing freedom of religion for its citizens. No, it still has work to do because people might actually speak openly against its enforced political correctness. The state legislature has now enacted legislation designed to protect transgenders from a variety of evils, including the evils of religious belief and religious speech. This new law will be enforced by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, an agency dedicated to eliminating discrimination against everyone but believers. And so the commission has decided that all churches must comply with the new law. This includes prohibiting the use of improper pronouns by Church leaders and volunteers since doing so would constitute harassment. Bre Payton, of The Federalist, writes:

"The potential infringements upon religious freedom are vast, as this new law basically provides the state and trans activists with a legal tool to force pastors into using terms that violate their beliefs (and basic biological facts).

"It also raises some serious constitutional questions. The Bible states that humans were created as man and woman in part so they would procreate, a blessed event. So if a pastor faces legal consequences for preaching the Bible, these new rules threaten their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion."

You can read more about this latest governmental assault on the Church in a recent article published in Boston's Catholic weekly, The Pilot.

Archbishop Charles Chaput

One of our great bishops who never shies away from the front lines of this battle is Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia. In his weekly column, dated October 19, the archbishop shows us exactly where these battle-lines are drawn and who the enemy really is. Read it before you cast your ballot in the upcoming election. Here's a link: About Those Unthinking, Backwards Catholics.

Our nation's founding fathers not only included religious freedom in the Bill or Rights, but placed it in the very first amendment to our constitution. And even there they gave it primacy of place, listing it before freedom of speech, or the press, or assembly. They considered religious freedom to be the most important of all our freedoms. 

Today, however, our society has not only rejected religion, it has largely rejected God Himself. Despite all their religious allusions in stump speeches and public addresses, most of those who enact and enforce our laws are tacit atheists. By this I mean that they have essentially chosen themselves over God. They are convinced that their laws supersede God's laws, and by doing so they have chosen darkness over light. 

So far it's been a bland sort of atheism, but lately it's becoming far more virulent. It exchanges a belief in God for a belief in technology and science as the future saviors of humanity. It thrives on a kind of materialism that seems to have no moral or ethical boundaries. It argues for prosperity and peace but brings only hardship and strife. It's also a clueless form of atheism because it doesn't understand or refuses to accept that it is largely responsible for most of the growing ills confronting our societies today.

Pope Paul VI

I'm reminded of something Pope Paul VI said during a General Audience almost fifty years ago:

"In the world of thought everything is doubted today, and consequently, religion too: It seems as if the mind of modern man finds no peace except in total negation, in abandoning any kind of certainty and any kind of faith. He is like a person with infected eyes who finds no rest except in obscurity, in darkness. Is the realm of darkness to be the final end of human thinking, of man's unquenchable thirst for truth and of his encounter with the living and true God?" [General Audience, 14 June 1967 - Italian Only]

I don't fear the future, because at my age I don't have that much of a future to fear. Anyway, Our Lord told us only a few dozen times: "Be not afraid!" And so I'm determined to do just that until the day He calls me home. But what do we do in the meantime? I suppose we just continue doing what we've been called to do: we make disciples of all nations, starting right here at home. We preach the Word; we teach God's people all that He commanded us; and we touch those who need to feel God's healing hand on body and soul.

And for those of you -- and there are many -- who are worried sick about the upcoming elections, don't be. Each of us can only do our duty as citizens and Christians by voting. Just keep in mind that God's will must always surpass the ways of the world, and we should vote accordingly. And regardless of the outcome, the Lord of History will ensure His New Covenant with His people will be kept.

Back Home Again

Eddie

Verionica

As you know -- if you're a regular reader -- Diane and I spent the past three weeks in Massachusetts visiting our children and grandchildren. Despite the horrible weather, we had a wonderful time making the rounds from Cape Cod to New Bedford and then to North Andover. As we drove south we took the inland route so I could avoid the insanity of I-95. It also allowed us to visit our good friends, Nancy & Joe Hathaway, in Ocoee, Tennessee, as well as a few of Diane's cousins in the Atlanta area. For obvious reasons I didn't spend much time posting things on the blog, but now that we're back home and warm once again, I hope to ease back into my previous routine. I've included photos of all eight our beautiful grandchildren here -- photos I took during our trip -- so you can see what keeps us going north, even when the weather is less than inviting.

Carlos

Ben

Even though we didn't get home until last night, Diane was up at 5:30 this morning so she could resume her duties as the Thursday cook at the Wildwood Soup Kitchen. After running some necessary errands, I joined her and her team of volunteers later this morning. My time at the soup kitchen is what I miss the most when we're away, and so it was wonderful to be there again after our three-week absence. Of course working at the soup kitchen also leaves me with sore muscles, tired feet, and a need for an afternoon nap -- all symptoms of my senior citizenship.

Pedro

Ezekiel

Advancing age has brought with it some other interesting side-effects, one of which is increasing absentmindedness. This morning, for example, my errands included a stop at Sam's Club to pick up two pair of glasses I had ordered before our trip. When I entered the optical shop, one of the opticians greeted me and asked me to take a seat. I told him I was there to pick up my glasses and he immediately went across the room to a cabinet and selected two pair from the hundred or so in the cabinet. He returned, handed me one pair and asked me to put them on. I recognized them as a pair of bifocals I had ordered, put them on, checked them for both reading and distance, and told him they were perfect. I did the same with the other pair, but throughout it all I wondered how he could have known who I was since I had never given him my name. I also knew I had never seen him before. When I ordered the glasses the optician on duty that day was a woman. Finally, as he handed me my new glasses, along with my prescription, and thanked me, I had to ask, "Excuse me, but we've never met. How could you have possibly known my name? I'm certain I never mentioned it." He just pointed to my shirt on which was clipped a name tag from the Wildwood Soup Kitchen. I had attached it there earlier that morning and forgotten to remove it when I left. I'm glad I asked him; otherwise I might have thought he had psychic powers and I really don't believe in such things. It would have been hard to explain, if only to myself.

Camilla

Phineas

I've actually come to accept most of these age-induced side-effects. I've never been an extremely physical person but for most of my life was blessed with a good metabolism that kept my weight down and allowed me to stay in shape with only very moderate exercise. This is no longer true, but the fact that I would probably not survive a three-mile jog really doesn't bother me. It does, however, bother Diane, and so tomorrow she is inaugurating a serious diet and exercise plan with the goal of returning me to a more mature version of my former slim, trim and healthy self. I'll try not to cheat or allow my inevitable grumpiness to infect future posts.

Curt Schilling, Yankee Fan?

Until this morning I really didn't think that Republican Scott Brown had a chance to win Tuesday's senatorial special election in Massachusetts. But now? Well, all has changed. His opponent, Democrat Martha Coakley, has committed perhaps the one unforgivable sin in that great New England commonwealth: she publicly dissed retired Red Sox pitcher and 2004 World Series savior, Curt Schilling, by calling him a Yankee fan. This could lead to a major change in voting patterns. Many of those knee-jerk Democrat machine voters who normally vote a straight party line simply because...well, they've been told to do so, might find it more than difficult to vote for someone so ignorant of one of the true heroes of Red Sox Nation.

On his official blog, Schilling wrote, "I've been called a lot of things, but never, and I mean never, could anyone ever make the mistake of calling me a Yankee fan. Well, check that, if you didn’t know what the hell is going on in your own state maybe you could." You can listen to candidate Coakley's exact words below.



It's all very interesting.

The World Turned Upside Down: Massachusetts' Senate Race

Tuesday's special election in Massachusetts for the U.S. Senate pits Republican State Senator Scott Brown against Democrat State Attorney General Martha Coakley. The seat has been held by a Democrat since 1962 and the idea that a Republican could win was considered ludicrous...until recently. The momentum seems to be all Brown's as the election nears, with a recent poll giving him a four-point lead. Should Brown actually win -- and President Obama will visit Massachusetts on Sunday to try to prevent this -- the repercussions will be significant. It would remove the Democrats' super majority and give the Republicans the ability to use the filibuster. This could stop health care reform and other Democrat legislation in its tracks.

Coakley, by the way, seems to shoot herself in the foot whenever possible. Yesterday she made the remarkable statement that those who for religious reasons (that is, Catholics) don't want to give rape victims an abortifacient, shouldn't work in emergency rooms. A pro-abortion Catholic -- assuming such an animal can actually exist -- Coakley pushes the abortion agenda at every opportunity. Click here to read the article from the Catholic News Agency.



By the way, Brown's earlier proposed legislation was for contraceptives not abortifacients, and also included a conscience clause for pro-life emergency room personnel.

Should be an interesting election.