I can't imagine, for example, Clemens von Galen Bishop of Munster preaching about Hitler's euthanasia program and then inviting him to dinner for a happy old time of respect and civility. And then there's Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty tortured by the commies. I'm sure they would happily have appeared arm in arm with him for a photo op if he would only play nice. He preferred house arrest and isolation in the American Embassy. And then there's John the Baptist who made Herod feel just a little uncomfortable. Do you think he would have attended Herod's birthday party? And what about St. Maximilian Kolbe on whose feast day Cardinal Dolan was writing. These are men from the past with the backbone to stand up to evil men and call them to repentance. I can't imagine them even making the silly statements we've seen coming from the Archdiocese.
But then the Nazis and the Commies were killing "born" people not tiny out of sight, out of mind babies in the womb. As for Herod...well, that was so long ago and everybody knows John was pretty eccentric and not really to be imitated. Besides, the unborn aren't really quite like the rest of us. They're just fetuses and you can't expect a cardinal of the Church today to act like they deserve the same kind of respect and civility as a President of the United States.
Cardinal Dolan, with all due respect, I don't buy your excuses for inviting Obama to dinner. The little murdered peers of my grandchildren deserve better. And for that matter, so do my children and grandchildren.
Here's what I posted as a comment on the Cardinal's blog responding to his defense of inviting Obama for dinner :
Christ ate with the low level outcasts of the culture. He never broke bread with Herod or Pilate. If we believe what we say about the babies being equal to the rest of us, eating with Obama and giving him a photo op laughing it up with you, Your Excellency, is like sitting down for a yuck with Hitler while his administration was killing the Jews, the gypsies, Catholic priests, political enemies, etc. As a mom of five and grandmother of twenty-one I can only say that I see little evidence in your act that you believe unborn babies are actually as important as bishops and cardinals. If Obama favored stabbing a bishop in the head and sucking out his brains there is no way you would entertain him for dinner. I will certainly pray for you and your brother bishops who have treated faithful Catholics in the pew like bothersome and brainless poor relations. Inviting Obama to the dinner is a scandal and there is no way to put a gloss on it that makes it less of a scandal!
Thanks, Mary Ann! Give him what-for!
ReplyDeleted'ya think anyone could find a bishop's brains to suck out Obama would be the wunderkind of the century if he could do that
ReplyDeleteWell said!
ReplyDeleteI would never have shaken hands knowlingly with Ex-President Bill Clinton, so why would I even shake hands with this President who is far worse. Thank you, Mary Anne, for speaking up so clearly for those of us who feel betrayed by all this as I am lost for words as to what to say to Archbishop Dolan, except how does it make up for unrepentent sin and to sign for the death of children and then throw, yea I said throw, clothing to children who might be lucky enough to not be aborted as the others are torn apart. I just do not understand it. Perhaps the Presidents heart will soften, but I doubt it. I really, really doubt it.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThank you for this, Mary Ann.
I was thinking the same thing when you gave the example of St. John the Baptist.
Excellent reply to the archbishop.
CK
Perfect!I do feel a bit alienated and put down by Cardinal Dolan. He is referring to his "critics" as the same who persecuted Jesus. Cardinal Dolan is not being persecuted, his flock is.
ReplyDeleteCardinal Dolan is AWOL on Church teaching: He keeps insisting that the Church's opposition to the Mandate "is not about contraception." Apparently, neither is the Church's teaching.
ReplyDeleteHe admitted in March (to the WSJ) that the bishops haven't preached the Church's moral teaching for fifty years. They have "laryngitis," he says.
Are we to believe that he will suddenly find his voice as dessert is served at the Al Smith Dinner?
Unlikely. We must pray for our bishops. Great saints have observed that the soul of every bishop is a special target of Satan.
Thank you for the clear thinking.
ReplyDeleteExcellent!
ReplyDeleteGod bless you for your clear and insightful and hard-hitting response in this scandal. Seems like we are taking shots from all points of the compass in this moral war.
ReplyDelete"P. J." Houston, TX
I am so disappointed in Cardinal Dolan. Thank you for hitting the proverbial nail on the head.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Feast of Stephen of Hungary yesterday, he is a prime example of what we as lay faithful need to do during this time. We need to fast, pray and give alms. Our Lady warned us of Diabolical Disorientation that would come if we did not repent of our sins and here we are in the midst of it. Please fast pray and give alms for all those who can not see clearly. Especially our preists and bishops. Who more does the diabolical want than those who have the power to give us Christ in the Eucharist. Remember it is the innocent who pay for the guilty.
ReplyDeleteAll of this craziness is tearing me apart. I know that I am not alone in feeling betrayed. In my own parish, last Sunday, there were Right to Life people displaying the truth about abortion outside the Church. At the end of Mass our pastor got up and told us that he threatened to call the police on "those people with the signs outside". He proceeded to say, "this is not what we believe, this is not how we look at right to life". He then told those in attendance that we were to go to our cars after Mass and ignore the Right to Life people. Recently in my prayers I have been praying for the conversion of people to the Catholic faith. How can I continue to do this, when those who adhere to the faith, those who adhere to the true teachings are being trampled on. This is all very sad.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your clear and incisive stand on Church's Teaching with the stout heartedness of one who takes the stand for the Unborn.
ReplyDeleteToo bad they don't create cardinals by popular vote nowadays...or else you will have mine....unfortunately there can never be women priests either....(yet another example of a wonderfully clear stance by the late JP2 the Great.!!to clear an ambiguous situation then of having women priests)
Oh well,....nothing like the Gospel Truth in all its clarity....no matter from which quarter of the Church it comes from!!
Thank you for standing up for Truth, and Goodness and Right...
My prayers for the Church in the USA.
Kenneth James Tan
(SSCC 3rd Order.)
Malaysia
Thanks to all you dear ones for your supportive comments. Kenneth, I appreciate very much your prayers.
ReplyDeleteDoug, remember the beatitude, "Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted." I have been mourning for the unborn since 1972 when I first woke up to the abortion holocaust. It has been enabled by the silence of our shepherds on contraception. Even now with the contraceptive mandate they are not preaching Humanae Vitae only religious freedom. And the bishops "charities" continue to fund the holocaust.
But discouragement is useless and a temptation from the evil one. We need to take up the weapons of the spiritual war, as Anon at 1:09 says - pray, fast, and give alms. A respectful note to your priest with promise of prayers might prick his conscience. A friend of mine used to put "00 bogus bucks" in the collection that had printed on them something like "This represents the amount of truth in the sermon today." If you aren't getting the truth at your parish look for another or stay and fight. I do believe this is the age of the laity, not in the dissenters' view of women priests and urging heresy, but defending the faith without fear. Fr. John Hardon told me once if those with authority won't defend the faith, those without the authority must. Thank God for men like Michael Voris who clearly bears the sword of the spirit, the word of God.
ReplyDeleteMary Ann,
Fr. John Hardon also said:
"You can't trust bishops."
Seems apropo, yes?
He also told the story of getting a ranting phone call from an irate bishop over something Fr. Hardon had taught a group of people in the bishop's diocese.
Exasperated the bishop said, "Fr. Hardon, all you are concerned about is following the rules."
To that Fr. Hardon replied: "Your excellency, I don't know what you think you just said to me, but that is the geratest compliment anyone has ever given me."
This bishop hung up on him.
CK
I think Mrs. Kreitzer hit that one out of the park.
ReplyDeleteYou are my hero!!!!! We are a homeschooling family struggling with so many similar issues, albeit on another level, in our homeschool group. It is time to draw the line in the sand. Let the American church say it is what it is. And may the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church of Rome glorify Almighty God once again as a bright light in this dark world! We shouldn't negotiate with terrorists-- ever.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the explanation is that the Al Smith Dinner is not a "dialogue", but a temporary suppression of dialogue for the sake of "civility". Also the cardinal overlooks the importance in our modern world of visual images, which can be manipulated to lead people to overlook serious moral issues. Our media strongly stresses personal charisma, rather than personal integrity of character, as the basis of deciding who should lead us. I must ask, how many pictures of Cardinal Dolan condemning the desecrating policies of Obama will be shown on the secular media. I dare say it will be far fewer than those showing his smiling civility as he welcomes Obama to the dinner.
ReplyDeleteThe dinner can easily serve as an opportunity to degrade the important issues confronting our nation, so as to make them appear to be merely a minor family
disagreement. After all, the world tells us it is more important to be nice than to be virtuous. It is also why the proper polite protocol in many "Catholic" colleges is
to go to study in the library, so as to give one's roommate the privacy needed for a hot tryst with his/her "lover".
Obama is a master manipulator and deceiver. And all the publicity about the Al Smith Dinner is going to improve both his ratings and the ratings of whatever television company covers the event. His masterful harmonizing of civility and slander in his campaign organization is going to promote further dissent and division
in the Church, so that he will again be able to garner a majority of the "Catholic" vote.
God save us!
Fr. Tom
I completely agree, and well said. I only hope the Cardinal reads your comments.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was recently having lunch with two priests. One a military chaplain (he's a soldier in the Army) and the other a chaplain from Australia. My husband brought up something similar to this scandal and was scolded by the US chaplain/priest, "Don't listen to him! He's just a layman."
Unfortunately, this is prevalent among Catholic clergy. They think we, the faithful, are uneducated boobs with nothing theological to offer. Meanwhile, so-called Catholics who live their lives in disobedience to Christ and His teachings are coddled and cared for at our expense.
This is sickening. The only comfort is that these all knowing leaders will some day be held to account by God and if they make it in, they will be shining our shoes in heaven.