Faithful Dog Attends Mass

Ever since the dog's owner died last year the dog, Tommy a 7-year old German Shepherd, has been attending Mass daily for the last couple months where the funeral was held for his owner.

What a loyal and faithful dog! Awesome!

From Yahoo: 

After Lochi died, the dog "joined mourners at her funeral service" according to locals and "followed after Maria's coffin" as it was carried into the church.
Tommy, a stray who was adopted by Lochi, has been showing up "when the bell rings out to mark the beginning of services" ever since.
"He's there every time I celebrate mass and is very well behaved," Father Donato Panna told the paper. "He doesn't make a sound."
None of the other parishioners has complained, Panna said, and villagers give the dog food and water and allow him to sleep nearby.
"I've not heard one bark from him in all the time he has been coming in," Panna added. "He waits patiently by the side of the altar and just sits there quietly. I didn't have the heart to throw him out—I've just recently lost my own dog, so I leave him there until Mass finishes and then I let him out."

Struggles, Piety, and The Church

What is causing the decline in church attendance while a majority of people say they believe in God? Father Ronald Rolheiser O.M.I. hypothesizes on this by saying "declining church attendance is paralleled everywhere:families and neighborhoods are dissipating and breaking down as people guard their privacy and individuality more and more. No wonder that our churches are struggling."

I definitely agree that privacy is one reason for the decline in church attendance. Individuality could be part of the reason, too. Most folks generations ago used to go to church for guidance. Do secular activities fill that vacuum today? Are people looking for guidance in the wrong places? Could part of the reason for the decrease in church attendance and the fact that it is so arduous for some people to come together in Church be that our society is so culturally divided in belief of values and worldviews today?

Has the Church ceded its influence over peoples' lives as it has become more indebted to the government? How often do you hear a sermon on abortion, contraception, sin and hell, or any of the tough or controversial issues from your parish priest today? Are priests worried about offending those who donate money? There are plenty of people who are yearning for a hard-hitting sermon and feel empty inside that may fill that monetary void if priests would just have more faith and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With the priest sex abuse scandal and other issues involving the Church could it be that some people see the Church as having lost it's way and not leading by example, like it used to?

Some may see the Church as flawed but the Church that Christ founded is perfectly and wonderfully made. It is the fallen people within the Church who are fallible. Here is a most apropos ode to the Church from Carlo Carretto:

"How much I must criticize you, my church, and yet how much I love you! You have made me suffer more than anyone and yet I owe more to you than to anyone. I should like to see you destroyed and yet I need your presence. You have given me much scandal and yet you alone have made me understand holiness. Never in this world have I seen anything more compromised, more false, yet never have I touched anything more pure, more generous or more beautiful. Countless times I have felt like slamming the door of my soul in your face - and yet, every night, I have prayed that I might die in your sure arms! No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you, even if not completely you. Then too - where would I go? To build another church? But I could not build one without the same defects, for they are my defects. And again, if I were to build another church, it would be my church, not Christ's church. No, I am old enough, I know better."

The Bible, Inerrancy and Faith

In my post Biblical Inerrancy and The Challenge of Faith I talk about how hard it is for us to have faith and truly *believe* that certain things did in fact happen in the Bible.  There are some Catholics and Christians who assert that God did not punish the Amelakites and command Samuel to commit genocide in 1 Samuel 15 but that it is more of a fable which tells a lesson.  I know there are certain passages in the Bible where figurative language can be applied, such as in the case of the Creation Story and the number of days it took God to create the universe and all that is living but I am not sure how someone would apply a figurative meaning to the scripture in Samuel.
Some people are so certain that God would have never ordered genocide.  But then, what about Noah and the Flood? Moses and the Red Sea when he saved the Israelites?  Uza and the Ark of the Covenant?  Are we to assume that these things didn't happen in scripture?

The kind of thinking that rejects God's very words and twists the words very meaning is contrary to Church teaching with regards to inerrancy and scripture.

Pope Pius XII in his encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu stated:
"...Later on, this solemn definition of Catholic doctrine, which claims for these books in their entirety and with all parts a divine authority such as must enjoy immunity from any error whatsoever, was contradicted by certain Catholic writers who dared to restrict the truth of Sacred Scripture to matters of faith and morals alone, and to consider the remainder, touching matters of the physical or historical order as obiter dicta and having (according to them) no connection whatsoever with faith. Those errors found their condemnation in the encyclical Providentissimus Deus..."

Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Providentissimus Deus stated:

"It is absolutely wrong and forbidden, either to narrow inspiration to certain parts only of Holy Scripture, or to admit that the sacred writer has erred. The system of those who restrict inspiration to things of faith and morals cannot be tolerated. AU the books which the Church receives as sacred and canonical are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost."

 and


"By supernatural power He (the Holy Spirit) so moved and impelled them (the sacred writers) to write - He was so present to them - that the things which He ordered, and those only, they first rightly understood, then willed faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in apt words and with infallible truth."

In Dei Verbum the Church makes it know that we as faithful Catholics are supposed to believe this "Since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation"

It is evident what the Church has taught throughout history with regards to Scripture being asserted by the Holy Spirit and it is without error.

Dr. Mark Miravalle Discusses Catholics Obligation To Obey The Magisterium

The Crisis within the Crisis!

The Devil Strikes: My Thoughts on the Accusations Against Fr. Corapi

Satan is using his wicked ways to attack the Church.  There are a number of priests who have been falsely accused of sexual abuse and other improprieties all due to the vindictiveness of people who have a grudge against the Church for some reason or another, in the name of evil.   While there has been legitimacy with some priestly abuse accusations with others Satan has used persons to attack Christ's Church because She represents Truth, Christ, and stands against the moral relativism of today.

Fr. Corapi has been battling against Satan and his evil ways for a long time now.  He has long been a target of Satan.  I haven't bought into these allegations for even one second.  Fr. Corapi has been a stalwart in speaking out against sin, immorality in our secular society, and in fighting against unbelievers' attacks on the Church.  This man is so, so popular for his charismatic speeches which don't pull punches. He says it like it is and doesn't sugarcoat reality and the threat that sin and Satan poses to the world.   Again, I will say that Fr. Corapi has long been a target of Satan.  And, yes, Satan used relatively small number of priests, the majority of which were homosexual and liberal, to work to obfuscate the Church's mission and Tradition to subvert that mission and to harm souls.  The Church's mission is to save souls, and to bring people to Christ.   These priests violated the precepts of the Magisterium.  Satan now uses people to attack the Church with malice in their hearts out of revenge in wanting to destroy the Church that stands for Truth and Christ.

I have firsthand knowledge of being falsely accused (not for any sort of abuse) and greatly empathize with what Fr. Corapi is experiencing at this time.  The experience of being falsely accused causes great anguish.   After dealing with much pain, having hate for those who accused me, who declared me to be guilty before I had a chance to defend myself,  and then going through a stage of purgatory in my life I have come to the realization that God has us experience suffering for a reason.  We as Christians are called to be like Jesus.  Would Jesus ever have his followers experience a bit of what he went through?  I believe that those who experinece suffering do not experience more than they can handle.  I also believe that my harrowing experience has made me come out all the stronger.  I believe that those who suffer persecution for their beliefs or simply standing for Truth or what is right will ultimately come out stronger for having to bear what they dealt with.

This zero tolerance policy is an unjust system in which good priests have become targets by those who hate religion and show bigotry against the Catholic Church, and their end goal is to destroy the Catholic Church.  Faithful priests like Fr. Corapi are presumed to be guilty without there necessarily being credible evidence to support the allegations while in the judicial system in the United States accused criminals are given the benefit of the doubt, being given the presumption of innocence before being found either guilty or not guilty by a judge or a jury.  This accusation is not about priest pedophilia, it is not about protecting kids, for it does not even involve kids.  This involves a former coworker whom I suspect  was used by those who would do anything to attack the Church.  Fr. Corapi was speaking truth and spreading God's Word by leaps and bounds and the enemy of Christ's Church had to make sure to stop Christ's message from being spread far and wide.

My thoughts and prayers are with Fr. Corapi.  I am planning on posting at least one speech/homily of his per week to fight against this evil attack and help spread Fr. Corapi's message, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here is Fr. Corapi's response: 

On Ash Wednesday I learned that a former employee sent a three-page letter to several bishops accusing me of everything from drug addiction to multiple sexual exploits with her and several other adult women. There seems to no longer be the need for a complaint to be deemed “credible” in order for Church authorities to pull the trigger on the Church’s procedure, which was in recent years crafted to respond to cases of the sexual abuse of minors. I am not accused of that, but it seems, once again, that they now don’t have to deem the complaint to be credible or not, and it is being applied broadly to respond to all complaints. I have been placed on "administrative leave" as the result of this.


I’ll certainly cooperate with the process, but personally believe that it is seriously flawed, and is tantamount to treating the priest as guilty “just in case”, then through the process determining if he is innocent. The resultant damage to the accused is immediate, irreparable, and serious, especially for someone like myself, since I am so well known. I am not alone in this assessment, as multiple canon lawyers and civil and criminal attorneys have stated publicly that the procedure does grave damage to the accused from the outset, regardless of rhetoric denying this, and has little regard for any form of meaningful due process.


All of the allegations in the complaint are false, and I ask you to pray for all concerned.


Here is a prayer for those who are falsely accused which I found on the blog, A Catholic Mom in Hawaii : 

They cried out, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
Pilate said to them, "I find no guilt in him.
Take him yourselves and crucify him." (John 19)


Jesus Christ, Lamb of God,
falsely and maliciously accused by the mob,
have mercy on us.


Jesus Christ, Lamb of God,
handed over to death by cowardly authority,
have mercy on us.


Jesus Christ, Sun of Justice,
vindicated by your Resurrection,
grant us justice.


Father of Truth,
send the light of your Holy Spirit into the darkness
of every false accusation and unjust condemnation.


Give strength to the innocent to stand firmly in truth,
as you gave to Jesus, in the face of torture and death.


Give courage to church and civil authorities
to grant justice and due process to the innocent,
in the face of the mob.


Father of Mercy,
deliver your innocent ones from evil;
grant them speedy justice and vindication,
in the name of Jesus Christ, our Victim and Savior.


Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on all
innocent victims: the abused and the falsely accused.


(Follow with Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be)

Is Collective Bargaining a "Right" According to Catholic Social Teaching?

Jake Tawney of The American Catholic has some great analysis on the issue of Collective bargaining.  Is collective bargaining a "right" according to Catholic Social Teaching?  Is collective bargaining a necessity to have a just wage or humane working conditions?  I would argue that since we have the health department today, that in a majority of the cases working conditions are humane.  I would argue since we have a minimum wage requirement that more often than not we don't have to worry about wages being unjust.  Jake Tawney outlines what the CST encyclicals have to say about just wages, working conditions, and collective bargaining.

From Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum: 

Let the working man and the employer make free agreements, and in particular let them agree freely as to the wages; nevertheless, there underlies a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man and man, namely, that wages ought not to be insufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner.

Here is a quote from Quadragesimo anno by Pope Pius XI: 

It is an intolerable abuse, and to be abolished at all cost, for mothers on account of the father’s low wage to be forced to engage in gainful occupations outside the home to the neglect of their proper cares and duties, especially the training of children.

In determining the amount of the wage, the condition of a business and of the one carrying it on must also be taken into account; for it would be unjust to demand excessive wages which a business cannot stand without its ruin and consequent calamity to the workers. 

Hence it is contrary to social justice when, for the sake of personal gain and without regard for the common good, wages and salaries are excessively lowered or raised; and this same social justice demands that wages and salaries be so managed, through agreement of plans and wills, in so far as can be done, as to offer to the greatest possible number the opportunity of getting work and obtaining suitable means of livelihood. 

The first two paragraphs shows the balance between the worker and employer.  The last paragraph makes no mention of collectively bargaining.

Next, we have text from Paul VI’s Populorum progressio: 

Every form of social action involves some doctrine; and the Christian rejects that which is based on a materialistic and atheistic philosophy, namely one which shows no respect for a religious outlook on life, for freedom or human dignity. So long as these higher values are preserved intact, however, the existence of a variety of professional organizations and trade unions is permissible.

Then, Jake quotes from Pope John Paul II's Laborem exercens: 

Union demands cannot be turned into a kind of group or class “egoism”, although they can and should also aim at correcting – with a view to the common good of the whole of society – everything defective in the system of ownership of the means of production or in the way these are managed. Social and socioeconomic life is certainly like a system of “connected vessels”, and every social activity directed towards safeguarding the rights of particular groups should adapt itself to this system.

In this sense, union activity undoubtedly enters the field of politics, understood as prudent concern for the common good. However, the role of unions is not to ‘play politics’ in the sense that the expression is commonly understood today. Unions do not have the character of political parties struggling for power; they should not be subjected to the decision of political parties or have too close links with them.

Lastly, he quotes from Pope John Paul II's Centesimus annus: 

Furthermore, society and the State must ensure wage levels adequate for the maintenance of the worker and his family, including a certain amount for savings. This requires a continuous effort to improve workers’ training and capability so that their work will be more skilled and productive, as well as careful controls and adequate legislative measures to block shameful forms of exploitation, especially to the disadvantage of the most vulnerable workers, of immigrants and of those on the margins of society. The role of trade unions in negotiating minimum salaries and working conditions is decisive in this area.

Jake Tawney contends that none of the encyclicals that he researched and quoted from designate that there is an outright mandate for collective bargaining  as a "natural right."  The Church states that you have a right to associate. But, the Church also makes it clear that you have a right to refuse to associate.  The way that unions today force an individual to join, forces them to hand over wages and doesn't give the person the choice to refuse to join is a violation of individual freedom and Catholic Social Teaching.  I agree with Jake Tawney's analysis.  


H/T TheAmericanCatholic 

Fr. Rodriguez Defends Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality

St. Augustine of Hippo

Cleveland Catholics Defy Bishop and Risk Excommunication

 
Bishop Richard Lennon of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese wants to meet with the priest and lay leaders of a breakaway congregation to try to bring them back into the fold, a spokesman for the diocese said Monday.
 
The diocese was reacting to an unauthorized Mass celebrated Sunday by the Rev. Robert Marrone and about 350 communicants in leased commercial space they set up as a church, independent of the diocese.


 Diocese spokesman Robert Tayek said Lennon "has an obligation, as shepherd of the diocese, to try and reach out to these folks in the hopes of keeping them in communion with the church."

Leaders of the new Community of St. Peter, facing possible excommunication for disobeying the bishop, have stressed that they still consider themselves practicing Roman Catholics, but disagree with the diocese over the closing of their church, St. Peter, in downtown Cleveland.

When Lennon, carrying out a diocese-wide downsizing plan, announced in March 2009 that he was mothballing the 151-year-old building on the corner of Superior Avenue and East 17th Street, members of the congregation began considering other options to stay together.  CONTINUED

This is bizarre. Is ensuring that parish members are able to stay and worship together by starting a new parish without the permission of the Cleveland Diocese and the Bishop worth risking being excommunicated from the Church?  Do they deserve to be excommunicated? Should the Rev. Robert Marrone be held more responsible for spreading scandal than the parishoners? These parishoners seem misguided IMO.  The priest and the parishoners are causing scandal and it must be stopped.

The Vortex: The Horse You Back