Catholic Culture Clash Links - 12-12-10

 LifeSiteNews has reported on a survey of 13 to 16 year olds in the UK which shows that teens prefer to have information on being a parent and the responsibilities which go along with that rather than information on safe sex, sexual intercourse, contraception and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This may be a hopeful sign.  It could also be a signal that these teens don't want to hear any advice on sexual matters.  Perhaps this is a kind of rebelious streak coming out on the part of teens but the fact that they want information on the responsibilities of parenthood may be a be a positive indicator that these teenagers will think with their brains about the consequences of their actions before they act to please their hormones.  What is your opinion on this?

According to an article by the Christian Telegraph if the legislation Don't Ask, Don't Tell is repealed or changed to allow gays to openly serve in the military this would have devastating affects on our millitary, especially on those serving overseas - more than 250, 000 troops may leave the military.  The Left claims that it isn't fair that gays can't openly serve in the military.   But are homosexuals forced to enter into the military or is it their choice?   Should the military be perverted and bend over backwards to accommodate gay soldiers?  Our troops don't want Don't Ask Don't Tell changed so why cause tensions and do damage and possibly irreparable harm to the United States military?  More than 60 chaplains sent a letter to Obama fearing that repealing this could harm religious liberty.  Thank goodness the bill which would repeal this was defeated by Congress this week but we must continue the good fight because the Left will not stop in their efforts to get this repealed.  I am so sick of the term fair and the way this word has been and continues to be distorted by the Left to promote gay rights or taxes when it is self evident that what they really want constitutes much more than fairness, but things they feel they are entitled when life unfortunately doesn't go the way that they would like.  They are whining like a bunch of crybabies acting out until they get what they want.  The liberal politicians enable their irresponsible behavior and stand by cheerleading them on, encouraging the perverted thought that they somehow have a "right" to the wealthy person's money, when they haven't done a darn thing to earn that money and the wealthy person has.  Liberals discourage and penalize success and reward failure.  This has simply got to stop!  While it is just for the wealthy to be paying more in taxes than those who are financially challenged it is unjust and unchristian for them to be excessively taxed.  Excessive taxation is theft. 

In a recent address Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone stated that Christians are the most persecuted and discriminated against group and called on the International community to fight against this discrimination of Christians with the same zeal that they show in opposing discrimination of other groups.  He is so right!!  Christians are under attack by Satan and all his little devils everyday.  We must continue to fight the battles today and ask St. Michael the Archangel to defend us in battle as we face the evil attacks on Christianity in our society each day. Secular society today specifically wants to break the bonds of Christian Truths as to promote a relativistic world without truth and morals.  As Christians we must speak truth and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

Remembering Our Military on Veterans Day

God Bless those troops who have served and are serving today.  Thank you for both your sacrifice and service to our country.

Veterans Day Video @ Yahoo! Video

ANGEL FLIGHT

Baltimore Priest Who Served in Iraq To Become Bishop of the Archdiocese for U.S. Military Services

On one of the bloodiest days of the Iraq War – April 9, 2004 – Father F. Richard Spencer became the link between this world and the next for many of the mortally wounded.

Insurgents had attacked a large convoy of gas trucks that Good Friday, firing multiple mortar rounds at a United States base on the outskirts of Baghdad International Airport. Father Spencer, a U.S. Army military chaplain, administered the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and prayed with men and women whose faces wore what he remembered as glazed looks of shock and disbelief.

“In the moment, you do your prayers, then move to the next situation, because it’s continuous chaos,” said Father Spencer, then attached to the Army’s 1st Calvary Division.

“You just offered prayers that they would see the face of God that very day and you trust and hope,” he said. “We had both Iraqis and Americans die. I didn’t know who was Muslim or who was Christian – but they all got a prayer.”

Once Father Spencer and his soldiers made it into a concrete bomb shelter, he stood on a trash can and offered general absolution as the shelling continued.

“It was a life-changing day for me,” he remembered. “Our men and women in uniform are able to face hardships and they’re trained to make good decisions in the midst of chaos. Their resiliency is inspiring.”

Father Spencer is about to expand his service to U.S. military men and women around the world.

In May, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to be the next auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for U.S. Military Services. The 59-year-old Baltimore priest will be installed Sept. 8 during a 2 p.m. liturgy at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Remaining on active duty, the Alabama native will become the first auxiliary bishop for the U.S. military archdiocese able to enter war zones. He will have unprecedented access to military personnel serving in most difficult circumstances.

“I have known Father Spencer well for many years, first in my capacity as archbishop for the military and now as Archbishop of Baltimore,” Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien said. “We are proud the Holy Father has chosen him, one of our own, to continue serving our brave and generous women and men in the military.”

Bishop-designate Spencer is humbled by the appointment. He believes his experiences in the Baltimore archdiocese, as a pastor of St. Peter the Apostle in Oakland, associate pastor and director of the Monsignor O’Dwyer Retreat House in Sparks, have given him invaluable pastoral experience.

“I will listen that I may serve” will be his motto – borrowed from the late Archbishop William D. Borders, a World War II Army chaplain and one of Bishop-designate Spencer’s spiritual mentors. He prays he can live up to it.


Heart For Service

When Bishop-designate Spencer’s parents migrated from Wisconsin to Alabama in the 1940s, they faced discrimination because of their Catholic faith. They were only allowed to live on one street – “Canon,” which had originally been named “Catholic Street.”


“I remember playing baseball in a friend’s yard and his mother coming out the back door and informing me that I could not stay and play because I was Catholic and would be a bad influence,” he recalled.

With a heart for service, he transcended those religious barriers. He was an altar boy and an Eagle Scout. At Jacksonville (Ala.) State University, Bishop-designate Spencer earned a degree in law enforcement and served in Kappa Sigma, the social service fraternity.

“All those experiences were stepping stones toward the expression of service found in ministry and the religious life,” he said.

Commissioned an Army officer in 1973, he went on active duty a year later. For eight years, he served as a military police officer.

In 1980, Bishop-designate Spencer traded in his military uniform for a Franciscan habit. Having always been interested in social justice, he became a religious brother with the Order of Friars Minor.

In his first year as a Franciscan brother, Bishop-designate Spencer ministered in New York with Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement.

“I washed dishes at the soup kitchen side-by-side with her,” he said.

Bishop-designate Spencer, who later ministered as a counselor in prisons near Boston, acknowledged that it was highly unusual for a former military man to be so closely connected with the Catholic Worker Movement, recognized for its strong anti-war and pro-peace activism. His fellow Franciscans gave the young brother a nickname: “Captain.”

“We would sit around at nighttime on the floor and (the Catholic Workers) would run the printing presses of their newsletter,” the bishop-designate remembered. “We had wonderful conversations – challenging, enlightening and encouraging.”

It was his service as a brother that inspired him to become a parish priest. Bishop-designate Spencer turned to the Archdiocese of Baltimore, a Catholic community he had known while stationed at Fort Meade. Conversations with Archbishop Borders convinced him that he was meant for the priesthood, and he entered St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park.

“Archbishop Borders was so gentle in his ways,” he said. He was able to balance a life of activity with contemplation.”

Father Spencer was ordained May 14, 1988. 

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