A blogger / singer / songwriter…

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 A.D. 3 Comments
Blogger Singer Songwriter

This blog has just passed its 2nd month anniversary. It really seems much longer than that, in a good way! One of the unexpected blessings is meeting so many kind, supportive folks on-line. Some also have blogs.

Two people in particular were very helpful by introducing this blog to their own, well established readership. Julie Davis at Happy Catholic (Not always happy, but always happy to be Catholic) and Russ Rentler at Crossed the Tiber (An Evangelical Converts to Catholicism). Both Julie and Russ are converts themselves.

Russ offered to send me a CD of some music he made. I expected to receive a homemade CD with some heartfelt, but probably amateur tunes. What I got blew me away — a professionally published CD entitled Way to Emmaus. It turns out that Russ is an awesome singer / songwriter and this is his latest of several CDs.

You may remember that Emmaus was the destination of two disheartened disciples on the first Easter Sunday. Luke 24:13-35

The tracks are entitled Late I Have Loved You, Upsy Daisy Angel, Stained Glass Windows, Holy God, Nicean Blues, Whisper, Old Time Religion, Sing of Mary, The Offering, Room of Tears, Way to Emmaus, Untier of Knots and Jewel of the Caribbean.

They are all very nice, but two in particular are my favorites. First is Untier of Knots. In the early Church Mary was known as the “untier of knots.” In her obedience to God, Mary untied the knot of disobedience set by Eve. The song is a cross between the Hail Mary and Mariology 101. A sample:

The first Eve’s rebellion, led to the fall
The new Eve said yes, brought life to us all
You gave us Jesus, at fullness of time
Then He gave you to us, from the cross as He died

My second favorite song is Nicean Blues. It is a cross between the Nicean Creed and dispelling some common myths. Ornery but humorous!

I heard some people talking trash, about the Catholic Church
Listen to my story, learn from my research
It all got started, about 33 AD
When Jesus gave the keys to Peter and said keep an eye on things for Me
Rocky you’re gonna let me down and even fall into sin
But against this Church the gates of hell are never gone to win

The CD is available from CD Baby, Amazon, iTunes and better music outlets everywhere! It is inexpensive, so pick-up your copy and one for a friend.

Important Note: All proceeds from the sale of this CD go to the St. Simon and Jude Medical Clinic in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

Filed Under: review

Separation of church and state

Friday, March 5, 2010 A.D. Leave a Comment
Separation Of Church State

We have all heard of the Separation of Church and State doctrine. Most of us have learned about it in school. Few remember the details and without too much thought, many assume it means an absolute separation of all things government from all things religious. That is seriously incorrect.

Our founding fathers assumed the Christian morals and values of political representatives would be reflected in their leadership. Our very law has its roots in Judeo-Christian teaching. The concern expressed in the first amendment was not to protect government from religious influence but rather to protect the free exercise of religion from government.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

First Amendment

This has become so contorted in the minds of many as to almost mean the exact opposite. That is, the duty of elected officials is to somehow strictly partition their religious faith from the exercise of their public office. Moreover, it is apparently now correct for the government to impose actions on religious organizations contrary to their beliefs. For example, requiring Catholic adoption agencies to not “discriminate” against homosexual couples or force Catholic doctors to perform abortions.

John F. Kennedy, our first and so far only Catholic president, made the problem much worse. Worse not only for Catholics, but for all faithful Christians. In his famous speech given in Houston on September 12th, 1960 he said:

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute…   I believe in a President whose religious views are his own private affair…   and whose fulfillment of his Presidential oath is not limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual or obligation…

These were his personal beliefs, not those of the Church or required by law. To our detriment these words have been taken as gospel by many. Catholics, and all Christians, have a duty to live their faith. While it is obviously true that politicians would be wrong to be proxies of their religious leaders, they are not exempted from knowing their faith and reflecting it in all that they do.

When a politician runs for office claiming to be a Catholic or other Christian, voters assume that person will reflect the faith they profess, to the best of their ability, if elected to office. If not, why would the religious affiliation of a candidate ever come up? If the candidate has no intention of living their faith then they should at least have the integrity Kennedy did and say so.

Some of our political leaders are exemplary. Catholic Democrat Brad Stupak has garnered a great deal of attention in his determination to see that much needed healthcare reform does not come at the cost of taxpayer funded abortion. The pressure on him to back-down and put the interests of his political party first have been enormous. Congressman Stupak’s efforts are in-line with Church teaching and are no less than that required of every faithful Catholic.

There are many other politicians, while claiming to be Christian, are pro-abortion – often stridently so. Sadly that includes several Catholics in the highest leadership positions. If it were not already bad enough to ardently support abortions under the Catholic banner, they have repeatedly misrepresented the teaching of the Church and US Catholic Bishops. This has required the bishops to take the extraordinary step of issuing public statements in response to those false claims.

I believe these pro-abortion politicians simply place politics ahead of their faith. The harm that they do through abortion promotion is obvious. They also bring scandal to the Church and mislead the faithful from the truth of the Church’s teaching. Their public actions speak volumes about their character.

On Monday, Archbishop Charles Chaput (Archbishop of Denver) spoke at Houston Baptist University. His talk covered these and related points very well. He is worth listening to:

Update: see also the excellent post from Joshua Mercer: A Faith that is Personal, Not Private.

Filed Under: essay, faith, politics

Catholic divorce

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 A.D. Leave a Comment
Catholic Divorce

There is no such thing.

I touched on this topic earlier in Family, sex, life quoting Mark 10:6-12. Jesus explained the nature of marriage. When pressed further by His disciples, Jesus was unambiguous with no “wiggle room” for misinterpretation. This is what the Catechism says:

By its very nature conjugal love requires the inviolable fidelity of the spouses. This is the consequence of the gift of themselves which they make to each other. Love seeks to be definitive; it cannot be an arrangement “until further notice.” The “intimate union of marriage, as a mutual giving of two persons, and the good of the children, demand total fidelity from the spouses and require an unbreakable union between them.”

CCC 1646

The Church recognizes all valid marriages between a man and a woman. Marriages may be invalid for a variety of reasons, such as:

  • The free intent to enter into, or understanding of, marriage was not present
  • Either party was previously married
  • A direct blood relationship exists
  • A party is bound by a vow in Holy Orders or religious institute
  • Murder of spouse in order to marry another (crimen – possibly why Henry VIII simply could not kill Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn)
  • Impotence, incompetence and fraud are some additional reasons, among others

Civil authority plays no role in the Church’s recognition of a valid marriage. In this regard, there is no civil authority. Valid marriages are valid and invalid marriages are invalid regardless of secular decrees. For this reason civil divorce simply can not dissolve a valid marriage and is not recognized by the Catholic Church.

Yet there are some situations in which living together becomes practically impossible for a variety of reasons. In such cases the Church permits the physical separation of the couple and their living apart. The spouses do not cease to be husband and wife before God and so are not free to contract a new union. In this difficult situation, the best solution would be, if possible, reconciliation. The Christian community is called to help these persons live out their situation in a Christian manner and in fidelity to their marriage bond which remains indissoluble.

CCC 1649

While it is impossible to dissolve a valid marriage, it is possible to petition the Church to officially annul an invalid one. This is not divorce but recognition that the parties were in fact, never married to each other. The annulment process is intensive, exhaustive, time consuming and expensive. Evidence must be gathered and carefully examined by a tribunal established by the local Bishop. Catholics who recognize their marriage as valid do not go down this path. Of those who believe their marriage was in fact invalid, nullity is not found for a significant percentage. It is a myth that annulments are as easily obtainable as civil divorce, that annulments are “Catholic divorce” or that the Church makes any profit in their investigation.

Note that no consideration may be given to anything occurring after a valid union as Jesus Himself gave no such “out.” The validity of a marriage could not change if for example, one spouse became adulterous, abusive, or committed despicable crimes. We would pray for the couple and their family and offer the support we could – but the marriage would remain.

Annulments themselves create complications. Children are the most important (Canon law declares them legitimate in this unfortunate circumstance). Other obligations of the previous union must be resolved. If the annulment is due to a prior marriage, that prior marriage remains valid.

Filed Under: essay, faith

Resources: Catholic Answers

Friday, February 26, 2010 A.D. 1 Comment
Resources Catholic Answers

This is a great time for learning the Catholic faith, both for those interested in exploring what Catholics believe and for Catholics to deepen their own knowledge and understanding. In addition to the resources of the parish, books and Catholic media — the Internet is rich in quality content. It has been, and continues to be, very helpful to me. Sometimes I am just looking for an answer and other times just soaking it in.

A few words of caution are in order. Mixed in with the real gems are those who preach, out of ignorance or purposely, against the teachings of the Church. It is not safe to assume that a website speaks the truth simply because it has “Catholic” in its name. There are obvious groups such as “Catholics for Choice,” “Gay Catholic Forum,” “Roman Catholic Womenpriests” plus other less obvious groups who dispute core, infallible facts and settled truths. In time these heretical and schismatic groups, like the devil himself, will surely fail.

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

From time-to-time I hope to bring some Internet resources to your attention that I have found to be trustworthy and invaluable. One of my very favorite websites is Catholic Answers (Catholic.com). Catholic Answers is really a “mega” website combining several useful elements:

  • A library of excellent articles
  • Radio shows (live online and archived)
  • This Rock magazine (back issues are online)
  • Discussion forums

I particularly enjoy the discussion forums and so do a lot of other folks! They were visited over a million times last month alone. All together, there are over 20 million pages of archived discussions. CAF (Catholic Answers Forums – forums.Catholic.com) is the largest discussion community out there. It is organized into a dozen different areas with sub-forums in most.

Everyone is welcome, Catholic or not, as long as respect is shown. You often see those in consecrated life participating (I have read that the staff vets those claiming religious titles).

One forum is different than the others – Ask an Apologist. In this moderated forum, a small number of very knowledgeable apologists respond factually to submitted questions. Sometimes docents respond to questions which were previously answered. The apologists include many well known names: Fr. Vincent Serpa, Michelle Arnold, Peggy Frye, Jim Blackburn, Jan Wakelin, Jimmy Akin, and Karl Keating. AAA is a reliable place to get answers on Church teachings.

Filed Under: resources

Lent

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 A.D. Leave a Comment
Lent

No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Lent has begun. During this part of the liturgical year we prepare ourselves for Easter through reflection, repentance, prayer and conversion. Conversion of our hearts away from sin and to God. Marcel LeJeune has a nice FAQ over on the Aggie Catholic blog summarizing the Lenten season.

Catholics fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstain from meat on all Fridays during Lent. These acts of penance increase the self-discipline needed toward holiness and bring us closer to God.

Lent is a season full of tradition and a rich liturgical calendar. Important dates include Ash Wednesday, the Sundays of Lent, Feast of St. Patrick, Feast of St. Joseph, The Annunciation of the Lord, Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter. Many parishes also offer a wide variety of special programs and activities.

Every day in Lent is important but a few are extra important to me: Ash Wednesday because it marks the beginning, Holy Thursday because it remembers the last supper from which Jesus gave us the Sacrament of Communion, Good Friday because it remembers the high price paid for our salvation and of course, the resurrection of our Lord on Easter.

This year I also have a special interest in the Easter Vigil Mass during which the Catechumens from my RCIA class will be baptized and confirmed. After Easter these folks, together with those of us who were recently confirmed, will again meet for several weeks of mystagogia. It is a special time of reflection on our journey and sending as fully active and participating members of the Catholic Church. I am looking forward to it.

Filed Under: Church
show