I was just going to post this - you beat me to it! Thank you. Everyone needs to hear this and pray for this holy Priest. We need many more like him!
I ask your prayers, my friends. One of my annual commitments as deacon is to submit a paper on a situation that speaks to the concerns of my ministry. Actually, in post #2 above, Fr. James speaks to a concern of the whole Church. Discernment likewise comes to the fore when I minister to patients in the hospital and/or nursing home; though the ones I visit may be listed as Catholic, I have no freedom to indiscriminately offer the Blessed Sacrament without discernment. For instance, my experience shows that about half of such patients have either left the Holy Church, or haven't lived out the Faith for many years. Do I give such individuals the Blessed Sacrament? Not in good conscience. Similarly, Fr. James addresses what our bishops have stated this year is the preeminent issue of this election: abortion. I do want to say that this issue doesn't always play out in local town elections, but certainly on a State and National level, virtually all Democratic contenders back abortion. Therefore, since one's position on abortion is a matter of life or death for their spiritual souls as well as each baby's life, it is impossible to vote Democrat. Even Thomas Jefferson who actually was a Deist, in the Declaration of Independence, constructed a list of inalienable rights in correct order: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. LIFE first! And so, in a convocation of deacons which I attended yesterday, the speaker referred to a certain priest, whose youtube clip stated no faithful Catholic can vote Democrat; the speaker also spoke of, without mentioning a name, a bishop who endorsed the priest. The speaker concluded that such a stand violated the Church's teaching on "freedom of conscience." And so I am brought back to a concern mentioned on MOG: a Council whose documents, or at least the interpretation thereof, muddied the waters of what freedom of conscience truly involves. On this I shall write and since my conviction is slightly elevated, I will probably be able to pull this together in about two weeks. I believe such a paper will rock the boat, so I ask for your prayers. Include Pope Saint John Paul II in your intercessions for me. He wrote a marvelous encyclical which speaks in part to this very issue: Dominum Et Vivificantem (On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World), 1986. Also, please say a pray for the marvelous Melkite priest who instructed us on this encyclical when my brother deacons and I were in training. Fr. Saba is very sick with cancer! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
You have just moved to the top of the list for my prayer intentions. May the Holy Spirit guide you and St. Michael protect you. Looks like Fr. Altman has decided to be silent no more. Padraig posted this video on another thread. It's only three hours old and already has had over 12 thousand views. That speaker at your convocation sounds like a real creep. Perhaps part of Fr. Altman's appeal is that he isn't isn't a creepy crawler. I've already listened to the video three times. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=yVt10eZMN1M&feature=emb_logo
I will start the Sacred Heart novena for you Terry. I'm sorry this "freedom of conscience" mantra has become a get out of jail free card. We are never free to be morally wrong. We may have incomplete knowledge which mitigates the guilt since full knowledge is a requirement for mortal sin but the fact remains that aiding or abetting a moral evil makes us a party to it. How these people squirm around this astonishes me.
You have a wonderful sense of the irony in all this. The paradoxes, "Axe of mercy" is right on target.
Mario I will pray for your holy intention. St Pope John Paul II Pray for Mario and his address and prayer. Amen Pope John Paul II Quotes An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded. Pope John Paul II. ... As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live. ... Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought. ... The future starts today, not tomorrow.
Prayers for Fr Sabe and yourself Terry. Only very good people get to rock the cradle. You rock it for me. Give it a good big rock.
https://www.breitbart.com/2020-elec...of-catholic-democrats-support-legal-abortion/ Interestingly, I just came across a Pew Research poll which gives credence to Father Altman's position:
I'm on a good roll tonight. This is the final snippet I'll inject, taken from the encyclical of John Paul II which I mentioned in post #5 above. It speaks of the darkening of the conscience which allows for the spiritual fallout demonstrated in post #14. 60. When, under the influence of the Paraclete, people discover this divine dimension of their being and life, both as individuals and as a community, they are able to free themselves from the various determinisms which derive mainly from the materialistic bases of thought, practice and related modes of action. In our age these factors have succeeded in penetrating into man's inmost being, into that sanctuary of the conscience where the Holy Spirit continuously radiates the light and strength of new life in the "freedom of the children of God." Man's growth in this life is hindered by the conditionings and pressures exerted upon him by dominating structures and mechanisms in the various spheres of society. It can be said that in many cases social factors, instead of fostering the development and expansion of the human spirit, ultimately deprive the human spirit of the genuine truth of its being and life-over which the Holy Spirit keeps vigil-in order to subject it to the "prince of this world." I won't further discuss my rebuttal until the paper is finished. Thanks again for your prayers! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Will be adding you to my daily prayers. We have to be brave and make a stand. And it is hard. We don't like to be uncomfortable. May God Bless you and give you the grace to complete your task at hand. Sounds like God wants you to do this. May He give you His Peace.
Mike Nificent @MikeNificent813 BREAKING: The unfortunate death of RBG has ended the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, we can officially vote in person. Praise God: https://twitter.com/MikeNificent813/status/1307777262457102338?s=20
