A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics

Everybody else is covering it, so will I August 3, 2010

A priest in El Paso had an op-ed in the paper clearly stating Catholic doctrine, and many heads across the country started exploding:

I sincerely hope and pray that all El Paso Catholics will take to heart the precious and infallible teachings of Holy Mother Church in the moral sphere, particularly those most relevant to our city at this critical juncture.

Remember: Every single Catholic, out of fidelity to charity and truth, has the absolute duty to oppose (1) the murder of unborn babies, and (2) any and all government attempts to legalize homosexual unions.

Any Catholic who supports homosexual acts is, by definition, committing a mortal sin, and placing himself/herself outside of communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

Furthermore, a Catholic would be guilty of a most grievous sin of omission if he/she neglected to actively oppose the homosexual agenda, which thrives on deception and conceals its wicked horns under the guises of “equal rights,” “tolerance,” “who am I to judge?,” etc.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published a pastoral letter on marriage in November 2009, which is endorsed by our own local bishop, his Excellency, Most Rev. Armando X. Ochoa.

This pastoral letter states the following:

“Among the many blessings that God has showered upon us in Christ is the blessing of marriage, a gift bestowed by the Creator from the creation of the human race.

“The Church has taught throughout the ages that marriage is an exclusive relationship between one man and one woman.

“One of the most troubling developments in contemporary culture is the proposition that persons of the same sex can ‘marry.’ This proposal attempts to redefine the nature of marriage and the family and, as a result, harms both the intrinsic dignity of every human person and the common good of society.

“It is not unjust to oppose legal recognition of same-sex unions, because marriage and same-sex unions are essentially different realities. The denial of the social and legal status of marriage to forms of cohabitation that are not and cannot be marital is not opposed to justice; on the contrary, justice requires it.”

I urge all of the Catholic faithful to treat homosexuals with love, understanding, and respect. At the same time, never forget that genuine love demands that we seek, above all, the salvation of souls. Homosexual acts lead to the damnation of souls.

Recently, a couple of letter writers claimed that in a democracy, it’s up to the majority to decide between right and wrong. This form of reasoning is not only false, it’s ludicrous!

While it’s true that a majority of the citizens in a democracy has the political power to impose its “morality” on society, this juridical reality has no bearing whatsoever on the intrinsic moral value of actions.

That which makes something right or wrong is the objective moral order established by God, which can also be grasped and appreciated through the use of human reason. In philosophy, this is known as natural law.

Even the ancient Greeks had a basic respect for the principles of natural law.

To simplify: One would have to be ghastly morally decrepit to think that if 51 percent of Americans opine that rape is OK, then rape becomes, in effect, all right. Sure, the majority is politically capable of such a vote, but this could never make rape morally right.

There is such a thing as a corrupt democracy, you know!

Abortion and homosexual acts are unequivocally intrinsic moral evils. And friends, this objective truth doesn’t depend on the opinion of the majority. Frighteningly, if the majority chooses to deny the objective moral order, then we will all suffer the pestiferous consequences.

A few months ago frequent commenter Steve B sent me some extracts from this same El Paso newspaper that contained a debate between a priest defending the traditional Catholic doctrine, and one who said homosexuality was just peachy to the Church, or some derivation thereof.  Steve, is this that same priest?

So a Catholic priest states Church doctrine clearly and unequivocally, without all the usual paeans to the culture and hemming and hawing about the potential eternal consequences, and folks freak out.  Why?  Because we so rarely hear the unadulterated Truth these days.  More like this, please.

Incredible – Rosary saves British soldier in AF August 3, 2010

This is incredible.  A British soldier claims he was saved by a rosary after he stepped on a landmine.  The even more incredible part?  His great-grandfather claimed HE was saved by HIS rosary in WWII.

A soldier who stood on a landmine and was shot in the chest in Afghanistan is convinced a rosary saved his life in exactly the same way as his great-grandfather towards the end of the Second World War.

Glenn Hockton, 19, who is now home from a seven-month tour of duty with the Coldstream Guards in Helmand Province, was on patrol when his rosary suddenly fell from his neck.

His mother Sheri Jones said today: ‘He felt like he had a slap on the back. He bent down to pick up his rosary to see if it was broken. As he bent down he realised he was on a landmine.’

Glenn had to stand there for 45 terrifying minutes while his colleagues successfully managed to get to him.

Mrs Jones, from Tye Green, Essex, said she was physically sick when her son rang to tell her of his ordeal.

His great-grandfather Joseph ‘Sunny’ Truman also credited a rosary with saving his life in a World War II blast that killed six members of his platoon.

He was with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and after being captured towards the end of the war, he and other prisoners were forced to march away from the advancing Allied armies.

Mrs Jones, 41,  recalled: ‘He was walking across a field with half a dozen of his platoon. He bent down to pick something up and was the only one to survive a sudden bomb blast. He had picked up a rosary.’

I knew the Blessed Mother loved those who prayed the Rosary, but how about that?  And a slap on the neck?  Another corporal manifestation of the Blessed Mother or an angel?  I know many in our oh-so-cynical culture would scoff at such a notion, and routinely do, but I would not be so quick to dismiss a Marian intervention.  While I have never had such a tactile encounter with the supernatural, our God is Great and He and His Saints and Angels can act in many ways we cannot begin to understand.  God be praised for saving this young man, and his great-grandfather!  What an incredible story.