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Westminster Diocese Offers Monthly Masses for Homosexual Catholics

I’m a little late in addressing this, and many have already commented on it. But Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, after being smacked down by Tony Blair over the gay adoption issue, has instituted a special Mass for gays and lesbians. Whether intended or not, the consequence of this is to give legitimacy to the gay lifestyle, instead of offering the true teachings of the Church and the opportunity for repentance and reconciliation.

As others have, I’ll quote Amy Welborn:

What I would like to know is this:

What, in the present situation, in the Diocese of Westminster is preventing “homosexual people so as to enable them to enter more fully into the life of the Church?” What?

Are  persons who experience same-sex attraction being stopped from coming to Mass?

Are persons who experience same-sex attraction being prohibited from praying?

Are they not allowed to purchase or read copies of the Bible or the Catechism?

Are persons with same-sex attraction who dwell in the Diocese of Westminster being banned from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, from access to spiritual direction?

Are persons with same-sex attraction not allowed to visit the sick or assist the poor?  Are persons with same-sex attraction not allowed, in the Diocese of Westminster, to pour their lives out in sacrificial discipleship of Jesus Christ?

 

Lowly Metuchen

Crisis magazine’s latest cover story has the results of a survey, The State of the Catholic Church in America, Diocese by Diocese.  The survey was last done in 1995.  The current survey ranks the dioceses by factoring in the changes in number of active priests  between 1995 and 2005, the number of ordinations in 2005, and the number of receptions of adults into the Church in 2005.

My diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey fell in overall ranking from 80th in 1995 to 173rd in 2005, fourth from the bottom.  There were no ordinations in 2005. 

You can argue whether statistics alone measure the spiritual health of a diocese, but if less than one-tenth of one percent of Metuchen’s Catholics were adult converts and no man was ordained to the priesthood, you have to wonder the impact the local parishes are having on the community.  Are they preaching the true Gospel?  Are they adhering to and communicating the teachings of the faith and of the Magisterium?  Are the liturgies solemn and reverent?  Is there devotion to the Blessed Sacrament?  Is the Sacrament of Reconciliation promoted and made widely available.  These numbers suggest not.  Nothing seems to be attracting converts nor men who may be called to serve Christ and His Church in the priesthood.

It seems like a sad state of affairs here in Central Jersey, and the Church here needs our prayers.  She has mine for sure.

Gay Conversion Not Biblical, Says Former Homosexual | Christianpost.com

Wilkins is on to something here, I think. I find the psychology behind reparative therapy interesting but vague, and not guaranteed to rid oneself once and for all of the temptation to SSA. I prefer what the John Nash character in A Beautiful Mind says in terms of his delusions, which have never totally left him even after years of treatment. “It’s a diet of the mind,” he says, being visited by such thoughts but refusing to entertain them. In terms of SSA, I think the same approach should apply. If therapy helps one do that, I guess that’s OK. A life of prayer and penance can also accomplish this. I do not think SSA can go away completely, however.

God’s love is focus of Pope’s Lenten Message

Via Catholic World News :

In his Lenten Message for 2007, Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) invites Christians to reflect on the mysterious depth of Christ’s love for mankind, exhibited on the Cross.

The theme of this year’s Lenten Message is “They shall look on Him whom they have pierced.”

The full text is available here.

Pope: Weak are at mercy of others when laws not based on morality

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When laws are based on compromise or consensus instead of moral values, anyone too weak or without a voice to participate in the debate is left at the mercy of others, Pope Benedict XVI said.

The pope decried the loss of a firm moral foundation in law and scientific research when he met Feb. 12 with participants in a Feb. 12-14 conference on natural law and morality.

The multiplication of the sharing of the loaves

The priest at 7:00 Mass started his homily by describing what was meant by “poor” when Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor.”  He got off today’s gospel slightly to describe the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  He then repeated the canard that Jesus didn’t really multiply the loaves and fishes, but got his listeners to share the food they had brought with them.  A divine picnic!

First of all, Jesus says in Mark 8:2-3,

I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days [emphasis mine], and have nothing to eat; and if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come a long way.

So even if the four thousand had brought food with them, it’s unlikely they would have brought three days’ worth.  Otherwise why would Jesus have worried about sending the crowd away hungry?  How would there have been seven baskets full of leftovers after they ate?

Second, even if Jesus did not multiply the loaves and fishes, the point of the story is not to show how the crowd learned to share their food.  The point is to show how Christ is enough to satisfy us, good measure and flowing over.

This is not the first time I’ve heard this nor the first homilist who’s said this.  I’m reminded of Fr. Benedict Groeschel’s answer to those who would deny Jesus’ miracles: “You were there?”

Only in Amsterdam

Teen participants approved for gay-rights parade – Catholic World News

Society for a Moratorium on the Music of Marty Haugen and David Haas

Just the title of this website is worth your checking it out. You’ll want the head of the society to “gather you in” for membership.

FANS?!

Fans upset that retired bishop not given OK to talk here –Tuscon Citizen

Here’s a related story:

Vatican clamps down on controversial bishops

There will no doubt be wailing and gnashing of teeth over at Commonweal, America, National Catholic Reporter, etc. about a “chilling effect.”  But it’s about time.