Bishop Robert Hermann, Administrator of the St. Louis Archdiocese is setting the bar high for his brother bishops with his excellent teachings in The St. Louis Review, the diocesan weekly paper. In recent weeks he has written articles articulating the necessity of a correctly-formed conscience, another calling on "good Catholics" to vote to "save the children," and a reminder that "Judgment Day is on the way." After reading a number of his articles, I have decided that I love this bishop! If you're a faithful Catholic I think you will too after reading the excerpts below.
"'My conscience is my guide.' For many people, following this principle is a disaster. Some terrorists follow their conscience. Some suicide bombers follow their conscience. We can use this principle to justify whatever course of action suits us.... conscience must be informed by objective truth, not subjective desire.
"For anyone really willing to grow in the spiritual life, I would encourage such a person to select either the Scripture passage or a Church teaching that bothers them deeply. Then I encourage such a person to study all that the Catholic Church teaches about such an issue, especially in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I also encourage such a person to prayerfully reflect as to why such a teaching bothers them so deeply. It usually points to rebellion or self will. Yet, such an approach has often resulted in a profound conversion. If a Scripture passage or a Church teaching rubs me the wrong way, then it is clear that I am called to transformation. There is no freedom in trying to justify myself if I disagree with the Church’s teaching. Such efforts are relentless and exhausting. Humbling myself to find out how embracing truth consecrates me in a deeper way leads me to repentance, freedom and joy. This is life uplifting!"
"Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that take the life of innocent children, when there is an alternative? If there were two candidates who supported abortion, but not equally, we would have the obligation to mitigate the evil by voting for the less-permissive candidate.
"Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that justify the killing of a child that survived a botched abortion? How can such a so-called good Catholic receive the Holy Eucharist?
"Save our children! Have some of our so-called good Catholics become so hardened against the Gospel of Life that they believe that other issues outweigh the Gospel of Life? Have some of our so-called good Catholics put politics ahead of the Fifth Commandment, in which God states: 'Thou shalt not kill'? Do some of our so-called good Catholics, who may go to Mass every Sunday and receive the Holy Eucharist, really believe that voting for a pro-abortion candidate, when there is a clear alternative and therefore no justifiable reason for so doing, is really not voting to have children killed? This election is all about saving our children!
"Save our children! You can see by now that I do not believe that this column by itself will change hearts. The issue of abortion involves serious sin, and to overcome serious patterns of sin requires grace. If you are still with me, may I suggest that you join me and many others in praying the daily Rosary from now until election day for the sake of life. Why not pray the family Rosary every night between now and the general election. The Rosary brought down the Iron Curtain. It can also help us turn around the culture of death to a culture of life.
"Save our so-called good Catholics who ignore Catholic moral principles when applied to our political life. Pray the family Rosary daily. Pray the family Rosary for our so-called good Catholics who could use your love and your charity. Pray for our so-called good Catholics who ignore serious Catholic moral teachings and still receive Holy Communion. Love them by praying the family Rosary for them. Don’t debate with them. Intercede for them. Praying for them is more fun than fighting with them.
"Prayer is our protection. Let it also be a protection for our country. If you want to make Satan angry, pray the Rosary for the sake of Life. Pray that as a nation we will choose leaders that will say ‘no’ to the culture of death and say ‘yes’ to the culture of life. Save our children! Pray the Rosary!"
"Judgment Day is on its way. We cannot stop it. We don’t know when it will come, but just as surely as the sun rises daily, the Son of Man will come when we least expect.
"Judgment Day is on its way. For many, this coming election may very well be judgment day, for this election will measure us. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us in 10:32-33: 'Everyone who acknowledges Me before others, I will acknowledge before My heavenly Father. But whoever denies Me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.'
"Judgment Day is on its way. When my time comes, I will be measured by my Savior for the decisions I have made. I will either be acknowledged by Jesus or denied by Him in the presence of our heavenly Father. The question I need to ask myself is this: What kind of witness will I give to Him when I go into the voting booth this election day? The decision I make in the voting booth will reflect my value system.
"If I value the good of the economy and my current lifestyle more than I do the right to life itself, then I am in trouble. Pope John Paul II, in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation Christifideles laici tells us: 'Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights — for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture — is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.'
"The right of our children to be protected from destruction is greater than my right to a thriving economy.
"Judgment Day is on its way! I may deny it. I may pretend that it is still far away, I may deny that my actions are sinful, but that will not change God’s judgment of me.
"Perhaps having to face these issues during this coming election can turn out to be a grace that truly awakens our need to learn more about the teachings of the Catholic Church, and then to use the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we can receive His mercy and bring our behavior into conformity with the mind and heart of Christ. It is not too late to admit our sinfulness and turn to the Lord in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we do this, both we and the heavens will be filled with joy!
"Judgment Day is on its way. Pray your way into conformity with the teachings of Christ and His Church."
And finally, let me leave you with one more quote from this dear bishop:
"My parents got married about one year before the stock market crash of 1929, and yet they raised 15 children in the midst of the Great Depression. They had no money. My mother made her own wedding gown and her own bouquet of flowers. I have my parents’ wedding picture on the wall of my office, and I am reminded every day of the sacrifices they made for life.
"We had no money, but we had each other! My parents were at home with us for three meals every day. We had plenty to eat because we raised almost all of our food. We seldom got new clothes, but we wore hand-me-downs, unless my mother would buy materials and make our clothes. We lived in poverty, but we learned the value of hard work. We had no running water or electricity. We had no TV, Internet or cell phone. Yet, we were very happy because we had life! We had each other! Today, all 15 children in my family of origin are most grateful for the sacrifices Mom and Dad made so that we could have life. Making sacrifices for each other brought us incredible joy and enhanced our dignity, because it gave us a chance to participate in serving each other!"
God bless you, dear Bishop Hermann, and thank you for giving us the example of your heroic Catholic parents!
if you'd like to have a saint for 2009, stop by my blog and go to the post where it says, get your saint for 2009.
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