I Am a Sinner Not a Hypocrite

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Susan Kehoe

Hypocrite and sinner are not synonyms. 

Leila over at the Little Catholic Bubble explains the difference :

When one of our regular commenters, Mary, mentioned that her friends on the left viewed “hypocrisy” as the worst of sins, it gave me pause.

First, I have long known that the word “hypocrite” is misused generally, and misused against religious folks in particular: “Look at those self-righteous Christians! They are no better than anyone else, they sin all the time, preaching one thing and doing another… hypocrites!!”

The word “hypocrites” in this context never made sense to me. Are we sinners who are falling all the time? Yes. But “hypocrites”? No. It just didn’t sound right.

So, in responding to Mary’s comment, I looked up the definition of “hypocrite” online, and up popped something from Wikipedia, which is worthy of sharing [all emphases mine]:

Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie.

Hypocrisy is not simply failing to practice those virtues that one preaches. Samuel Johnson made this point when he wrote about the misuse of the charge of “hypocrisy” in Rambler No. 14: Continue reading….

Yup. All Christians sin. Some people claim to be Christian, but do not believe, therefore, they commit the sin of hypocrisy.  Christians try to be holy but fail and sin. But not all sinners are guilty of hypocrisy.

Isn’t it a tad judgmental–oh the horror–to label all orthodox Christians as hypocrites?

The Church is a hospital for sinners and not a spa for saints. 

There is always room in the pew for one more sinner even a hypocrite. I will slide over in the pew for you.

Posted in Discipleship | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

On Being an Authentic Christian Witness

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Susan Kehoe

There is much to munch on in a post entitled, Father Corapi and Authentic Christian Witness, by Anthony S. Layne on Outside the Asylum.

Excerpt:

So it is with authentic Christian witness. Ideally, a Christian properly formed and catechized isn’t simply Christian for an hour or so once a week; rather, he stops practicing his faith only when he falls asleep. And even then, his Christianity may shape his dreams.

That’s ideally. Many Christians aren’t properly formed or catechized. As well, Christian morality has to contend with the subversive influences of the journalism and entertainment industries (if they’re really separate any more), which are actively promoting a sort of lounging hedonism. But mostly, Christians are humans capable of making bad choices and rationalizing immoral acts, just like anyone else.

Now, it’s fairly easy to be a blogger, especially an obscure Catholic blogger like myself — the byline could just as well be A. N. Onymous as A. S. Layne. There’s no obsessed paparazzi trying to photograph my every scratch and record my every belch, no investigative reporters seeking skeletons in my closet, no PAC filing FIA requests for my tax records to expose me as a tax cheat. (At least, I hope not!) That’s because, when it comes right down to it, I’m just another face in the pews.

But moreover, it’s easy to write about the Catholic Faith. Much easier than it is to actually live the Catholic faith. Especially when your conversion comes later in your life, after a harum-scarum formation in a decade now generally recognized as the nadir of Catholic catechesis, as well as a couple of decades of spotty devotions and Mass attendance, combined with a general laissez-faire attitude to sexual morals only occasionally dented by qualms and doubts.   Read more here.

FYI: He ties in Father Corapi at the end of his post.

I am behind on several projects, but I will try and link to interesting posts by fellow bloggers.

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Need a Laugh?

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Susan Kehoe

Impressionist Jim Meskiem performs Clarence’s monologue from Shakespeare’s King Richard III in the voice of several celebrities.  I dare you not to laugh!

H/T Deacon Greg.

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Health Insurance, Contraception, and Catholic Institutions

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Susan Kehoe

Another possible assault on Freedom of Conscience? The Wall Street Journal reports:

By KATHERINE HOBSON

A new report recommends that health-insurance plans offer women all forms of approved contraception without charging out-of-pocket fees.

The report was released Tuesday by the Institute of Medicine, which advises the U.S. government on health issues. It was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to identify gaps in the department’s list of preventive health services already covered for women.

It recommends that insurers cover “the full range” of contraceptive methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration as well as sterilization and patient counseling as a way to prevent unintended pregnancies and to help women space their pregnancies over time. There is an increased risk of adverse outcomes for pregnancies that occur within 18 months of a prior pregnancy, the report said.

“As we looked at the evidence on preventing unintended pregnancies and promoting healthy birth spacing, the evidence was pretty clear,” said Paula Johnson, a member of the IOM committee and head of the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “Both counseling and providing contraception are very important.”

Continue reading…  Note: The article is probably behind a subscribers only fire wall. You can also read about it here. H/T Catholic Vote.

It seems that we will be free to worship, but we will not be as free to practice our religion. But we are called to live our faith in the world. That might mean that Catholic institutions, and Catholic business owners, may have to refuse health care coverage to their workers even if it means incurring a fine.

Posted in Church and the Public Square, Freedom of Religion | Tagged | 2 Comments

Catholic Innkeepers Sued for Refusing to Host Lesbian Wedding

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Susan Kehoe

Deacon Greg has the scoop:

A Vermont inn violated state anti-discrimination rules by refusing to host the wedding reception for two New York City women, the couple said in a lawsuit Tuesday.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union’s Vermont chapter on behalf of Kate Baker and Ming Linsley, said the Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville turned away the couple last fall and that at least two other same-sex couples were also refused because of the inn’s owner has a “no-gay-reception policy.”

“When the Wildflower Inn told us last fall that they don’t host gay receptions, we were obviously saddened and shocked,” said Baker. “It was frustrating to be treated like lesser than the rest of the society, and we were also surprised that it happened in Vermont.”

Vermont has been a pioneer in gay rights, creating the concept of civil unions for same-sex couple in 2000. In 2009, it legalized gay marriage. Many of its tourism businesses actively market to gay clientele.

The inn’s owners, Jim and Mary O’Reilly, issued a statement saying they are devout Catholics who believe in the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. Read more here.

I suspect it is going to get tough for faithful Catholics in the US. Fine bring it on.

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Catholic Charity in Secular America

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Susan Kehoe

First Things has an excellent article up by Archbishop Chaput.  In it he points out that the United States is becoming a hostile place for faithful Catholics.

I would like to offer three reflections that focus on the “Catholic” identity of Catholic Charities and, by extension, the identity of all Catholic social work.

First: What we do becomes who we are. A man who does good usually becomes good—or at least better than he was. A man who struggles with his fear and overcomes it and shows courage gradually becomes brave. And a man who steals from his friends or cheats his company, even in little things, eventually becomes a thief. He may start as a good man with some unhappy appetites and alibis, but unless he repents and changes, the sins become the man. The habit of stealing, or lying, or cowardice, or adultery, reshapes him into a different creature.

What applies to individuals can apply just as easily to institutions and organizations. The more that Catholic universities or hospitals mute their religious identity, the more that Catholic social ministries weaken their religious character, the less “Catholic” they are, the less useful to the Gospel they become.

Second: The individual is sacred but not sovereign. For Catholics, every human person—no matter how disabled, poor, or flawed—has a unique, inviolable dignity. Sanctity of life and the basic rights that go with it begin at conception and continue through natural death.

But civil society consists not just of autonomous individuals. It also consists of communities, which have rights of their own. Catholic institutions are extensions of the Catholic community and Catholic belief. The state has no right to interfere with their legitimate work, even when it claims to act in the name of individuals unhappy with Catholic teaching. The individual’s right to resent the Church or reject her beliefs does not trump the rights of the Catholic community to believe and live according to its faith.

To put it another way, Catholic ministries have the duty to faithfully embody Catholic beliefs about marriage, the family, social justice, sexuality, abortion and other important issues. And if the state forbids those Catholic ministries to be faithful in their services through legal or financial bullying, then as a matter of integrity they should end their services.

The third point gives context to the other two: A new kind of America is emerging in the early 21st century, and it’s likely to be much less friendly to religious faith than anything in the nation’s past. That has implications for every aspect of Catholic social ministry. Continue reading….

The article is a shorter version of a talk that Archbishop Chaput gave to the Catholic Social Workers association.  In it he addresses what makes Catholic social work, well, Catholic. The National Catholic Register has a transcript of the talk here.

I really hope that Pope Benedict gives the good bishop a red hat soon!

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Archbishop Chaput Is Moving to Philly

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Susan Kehoe

The Catholic blogosphere has been a buzz with the rumor for days. It broke yesterday while I was at a meeting at our diocesan center.

This is great news! Archbishop Chaput is a strong and loving shepherd. Philadelphia has been rocked with by sex abuse scandals, and if anyone can strengthen the policies, protect children and heal wounds it is Chaput.

John Allen, the only good thing about the National Catholic Reporter, has a lengthy but excellent interview with Archbishop Chaput.

It seems that he thought  that he was safe in Denver from being chosen for such an important appointment.

Excerpt:

How and when did you learn you were going to Philadelphia?

I found out by a call from the Nuncio [Archbishop Pietro Sambi] on Tuesday, July 5, about 11:45 in the morning here in Denver. I was getting ready to go to a staff luncheon when he called and informed me that the Holy Father had asked that I serve the church as the Archbishop of Philadelphia. After talking with him for a while, and discussing what it meant, I said yes.

Was there any part of you that considered saying no?

No. There were parts of me that were afraid, because every change is difficult. I’d never imagined going to Philadelphia. I know there are always rumors about these kinds of things, but those of us who are close to church matters know that those rumors don’t necessarily have any basis in reality. So I’d heard rumors, but I didn’t take them seriously.

I’ve been trained in my Capuchin formation that you do what you’re asked to do, and you think about it later. Even to have thought about it for a while before saying ‘yes’ would have been contrary to my formation. If the Holy Father asks me to do something, I’ll do it, with joy and enthusiasm, as best I can.

Quite honestly, though, I had thought I was safe in Denver, in part because of my age. I’m not a kid!

In ecclesiastical terms, being 66 makes you still a young buck.

I know, but to embrace a new responsibility, especially one that’s bigger, is something that most 66-year-old people in this society don’t do. I had thought the older I got, the safer I was!

Please read the interview here.. Archbishop Chaput is honest and humble.

H/T New Advent.

Posted in Catholic Church, Clergy | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Same Sex Marriage Debate and the Origins of Love

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Susan Kehoe

I have tried several times on this blog to explain and defend the Church’s teaching        concerning homosexual acts. I have failed. That is why I am going to yield the floor to those who have same sex inclinations and choose to live as faithful Catholics.

Last Friday we heard from Steve via the Little Catholic Bubble   .  Leila has another post up from a woman who turned away from the gay lifestyle because she heard the call of Christ. It is a wonderful and honest post. The entire post is worth your time, but it is her observations on what real love is that really spoke to me.

Excerpt:

The root of this fight is not about sexuality or equality, it’s about love. Everyone wants to be loved, to feel love, to express love and to give love. The difference extends to the origin of that love. As human beings, we love on a physical plane, yet are called to something greater. It can be hard to grasp this if you don’t understand the difference and unity of love – eros, philia and agape.

Eros is the love between man and woman that is neither planned nor willed but somehow imposes itself upon human beings. Philia is the love of friendship, akin to the relationship of Christ and the disciples. Agape is divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love. It is the love of God, grounded in and shaped by faith. They all are the essence of God, as He is love. The problem is that man has taken these gifts and has chosen to maintain the separateness of them instead of unifying. “An intoxicated and undisciplined eros is not an ascent in ecstasy…but a fall, a degradation of man.”(ii) The love between a man and a woman has become worldly and broken, creating a disordered union between eros and philia, and a complete division from agape. That is homosexual love. It is still real. It is still love. But it is not love in its full, true being. It is a fascination for the great promise of happiness, but because it has lost its proper unity in the one reality and true nature of love, it is impoverished and loses its truth.

So here is where I ponder: How did we get to this point? How did the beauty of God’s most precious gift become reduced to a mere commodity of sex and pleasure? How did marriage become a debatable issue of rights, desires, and benefits? Why is the societal hot topic “gay marriage” when real marriage has been broken? “To love and to be loved was sweet to me, and all the more when I gained the enjoyment of the body of the person I loved. Thus I polluted the spring of friendship with the filth of concupiscence and I dimmed its luster with the slime of lust.”(iii) Thanks, St. Augustine… 1,600 years later, you took the words out of my mouth. Man, gay and straight, has fallen victim to disordered love. This is why the issue right now may appear to be a fight about sexuality, equality, and freedoms, when truly it’s about love. Until man unifies the fullness of love, there will always remain this struggle between those who know and those who don’t want to know; there will be no purification or healing.

So please, “Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”(iv) However, with this armor please never stop loving and praying for those against you in this battle.  Read the post here.

Posted in Catholic Moral Teaching, Marriage | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Why Confession?

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Susan Kehoe

Because there is great rejoicing in heaven when one sinner repents and turns back to the Lord.

But why do I ask?

Well a commentator on this post on the National Catholic Register proposed a throw down.

“What does the sacrament of Reconciliation mean to you? Personally? Not the definition from the Catechism.”

Well I am not one to blink away from a challenge. But I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I answered it in this older post.

Chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke consists of three Parables: The parable of the Lost Sheep, the lost Coin and the lost Son.   The “moral” of these stories is that God rejoices when sinners repent.  All of Heaven rejoices!

God’s mercy for sinners goes beyond our ability to understand. Many people would say “how dumb to leave a whole flock of sheep to go after one; what a waste of time and energy for a woman to search her house for one measly coin.  Gee what a gullible Father to take back such a useless son—and throw him a party!  The younger son wasted his inheritance and turned his back on God and his people to live with pagans!   He spent all of the father’s hard earned money on wine, woman, and gambling. Certainly most parents today would take such a son back—but throw him a huge party. Are you kidding?

Did you catch the most amazing verse in the parable of the lost son? “While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and he was filled with compassion.  The father ran to his son and he embraced and kissed him.” Wow. The father was watching for his son’s return.

Now that would be very unusual for a Jewish Father in this situation.  The son had demanded his inheritance while his father was alive. This son had freely decided to break his relationship with his father—with his family. Even worse he freely decided to break God’s law. He chose to exile himself. When he had squandered his inheritance he took a job tending pigs. This was against God’s ordinances. It made him unclean—outside the law. He was a big time sinner. This young man had broken the Covenant with God. He had severed his relationship with God and with his earthly father.

A Jewish father would have not have been looking for his son’s return. The son, by choosing to go against God, had cut himself off permanently from his father and his family. This son was dead to his family.

Yet this Father was watching for his return. When he saw him way out in the distance, the father ran to meet his son—not a very dignified thing for a Jewish Patriarch of that time to do.  It was such an unbelievable thing to do that the elder son couldn’t believe it, and he refused to acknowledge the lost son as his brother.  He refuses to call him brother despite his father’s pleading. He calls him (to his father) Your Son. Not my brother.

Of course, the Father in the parable is God. He wants us to repent—turn back from sin—to go through a conversion of heart. He is watching for us to return to God’s family. When we do there is great rejoicing in heaven. God wants us to turn away from sin and enter into a new life with him. A life lived in the trinity of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is where our joy is. Continue reading …..

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He is Gay, he is Catholic, and he is Fine

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Susan Kehoe

The Little Catholic Bubble, has a terrific guest post by Steve Gershom (pseudonym) who is a faithful Catholic who happens to be gay and chooses to be celibate.

Excerpt:

When Leila asked me to write about gay marriage, the first thing I found out was how little I know about it. If I wanted to say anything coherent, I’d have to have definite beliefs about some deeper, thornier subjects first: the relationship between civil and moral law, just for starters. Even if I were sure enough of myself to talk about those things, I doubt I could do it in a blog-sized article.

So I’ll have to do it in a more personal way. That might be better anyhow.

I have heard a lot about how mean the Church is, and how bigoted, because she opposes gay marriage. How badly she misunderstands gay people, and how hostile she is towards us. My gut reaction to such things is: Are you freaking kidding me? Are we even talking about the same church?Read the whole enchilada here.

Interesting. In the post he says that he is treated with respect by Catholics, but not so much by others:

Actually, the only time I get shock or disgust or disbelief, the only time I’ve noticed people treating me differently after I tell them, is when I tell someone who supports the gay lifestyle. Celibacy?? You must be some kind of freak.

In all fairness to gay people, I think that there are many people in our cesspool of a culture who think that celibacy is weird and unnatural. You should have seen the faces on my favorite deacon’s family and friends when they learned that widowed deacons may not re marry.

Oh and did I mention that Steve has his own blog?  Please keep Steve in your prayers.  Life long celibacy is a very heavy cross to carry.

Posted in Catholic Moral Teaching, Discipleship, Homosexual agenda | Tagged , , | 1 Comment