Bishop Slattery's wholesome response to HHS Mandate; and, my commentary

Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa, Oklahoma has offered what may be the most wholesome response to the HHS mandate which violates religious liberty.  I kept checking his website, knowing he would release something in due time, and he did not disappoint.  In his statement, he also discusses the immorality of the services and drugs at the heart of this issue.  Not many Catholics hear this from the pulpit.  You can find text for this video at the Diocese of Tulsa.


My Commentary: Bishops Need to Change Something

Let me preface this by saying that I agree with the many who say this is not about contraception, but about religious liberty.  Hold that thought a moment....

A thought came to me as I listened to Bishop Slattery that something is seriously backwards - not with the Bishop's words, which were great and wholesome.  It was the thought that Catholics are not learning why contraception is considered objectively evil - from the pulpits; rather, they have to stumble on Catholic TV, radio, and internet to find those discussions.  Potential converts sitting in RCIA classes are also taking to the internet to discuss the truth.  In many cases I've seen online, these folks know more about Catholicism and it's teachings on sexual morality than those charged with their instruction!  Still worse, many more Catholics get malformed by the secular media which distorts the authentic teachings of the Church and reduces some important issue to a catchy soundbite, often advancing an irreligious, secularist agenda (and it is why I believe bishops need to get themselves in the secular news more).

Why are Catholics learning more from those sources above (for good, or for evil) than from the pulpits in their parishes and from the office of bishop in their diocese?

Let's face it, the New Evangelization is suppose to involve lay people and lay-led organizations.  No problem there.  But, it should be accompanying teachings that are equal or greater in strength coming from the bishops' offices and priests' pulpits.  The lay-led arm of the New Evangelization (NE) cannot be a replacement which frees-up bishops and priests to talk about the comforting things; rather, NE should augment and support what they teach.  For the last 40+ years, there has been a vacuum.  That vacuum is going to work against the bishops and their efforts to fight the assault on our religious liberty.  This needs to change, and it needs to change fast.

There has been a deafening silence from the pulpit for as long as I can remember.  I could go to Mass 52 Sundays out of the year in any number of local parishes and never hear a word about abortion, contraception cohabitation, or other topics involving sexual morality.  I can tell you when I first heard about these things was soon after joining Assumption Grotto in 2005.  I wasn't offended at hearing the truth; I wanted to learn more and for God's sake, as well as my own, I decided to keep an open mind.  Today, I am aware of a small network of parishes in metro Detroit where these things are taught and they are usually, but not always, led by younger priests who are more concerned with the salvation of souls than with preservation of people's self-esteem. 

Even Jesus would be reassigned by some bishops or priest-assignment-boards these days for making people uncomfortable, no matter how nicely something is taught.   In fact, withholding certain, uncomfortable truths at the pulpit is a way of reassigning Jesus himself.


Why should people who go to Mass every Sunday have to learn from a lay person or online forum that their contraceptive pill is actually an abortifacient which does not allow a fertilized egg, carrying an ensouled person, to attach itself to the uterine wall?  It is not preventing conception, but permitting it, then flushing that new life, authored by God, down the toilet. This is one chief reason the Church considers the use of such pills, gravely sinful.  Humanae Vitae has been out for over 40 years now.  In many parishes, in many dioceses,  you wouldn't even know it existed.  It's time this generation of bishops start teaching and encourage their priests to do the same.  In fact, it is those priests who do teach about it who should be assigned to the large, prime parishes, not those afraid of the white martyrdom needed for the task.


Back to that thought I said to hold: The bishops need to take a wholesome approach to this problem.  They need to go after the religious liberty issue while simultaneously teaching about sexual morality, especially, "the why".  They might start with the 10 Commandments because there are a good many Catholics who believe that the New Testament and Vatican II did away with them.  This may explain why cohabitation, fornication, and adultery are probably at an all time high (and those things lead to contraception, abortion, and  very likely - a dismissive attitude towards the bishops' beef with the Obama Administration over religious liberty).

Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Heb 13:7-8)

One more thing: Pray for bishops and priests

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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

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Of Bishops and Holy Boldness

The Martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket

Most bishops and priests today won't need to suffer a physical martyrdom; rather, the martyrdom they must suffer is a white one.  It starts at the pulpit.

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There is a discussion going on in two posts at Father Z's blog that are topics I think we should talk about in greater depth. I am linking to his posts because of the discussions taking place in his comboxes. You can pick up original links in his posts.

Respected philosopher, Dr. Peter Kreeft, recently stated something to the effect that it would be wonderful if 100 bishops were thrown in jail for marching with graphic images of aborted babies.

Yesterday, Dr. Ed Peters responded, respectfully, with a few interesting thoughts.

My own thoughts can be found in both of those comboxes.   If you want to discuss those topics, do it there where there is a good flow of dialogue already.


On to the main topic of this post....



Holy boldness begins at the pulpit, not on the street



Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith. (Heb 13:7)



One commenter in the post on Peters' response suggested it would be good just to hear the bishops talk about abortion from the pulpit. I agree. There are ways to talk about things like abortion in a way that goes right over the heads of small children.

I think bishops and priests need to go back even further.  There seems not to be a problem talking about things like imigration reform (which is not the subject of this post, btw), but when was the last time you heard the word "cohabitation" in a homily, or fornication, or adultery - things that lead to unwanted pregnancies, some of which end in abortion.   Chances are, some people engaged in these things openly are distributing Holy Communion as EMHC's, or serving as catechists.

When was the last time you heard a priest or a bishop preach on sin, or the "four last things".   Incidentally, if you don't know what those are because the walls of your parish church haven't echoed them in nearly 40 years, I direct you to the blogging Msgr. Charles Pope who is unafraid to talk about such things, and he does it in a thought-provoking way, without condescension.   Make this man a bishop!  That's right; I said it!

I'll take it a step beyond the pulpit.  There are too few pastoral letters on subjects like those I mention above.  I pray for the day when I can visit the USCCB website and see a statement on cohabitation right smack on the front page.   I'll bet the New York Times would give it some publicity as they gasp at the audacity of  such "judgmentalism".  If you are wondering how so many young, unmarried Catholics today can be living and sleeping together, seemingly ignorant of the 10 Commandments, I'll tell you how it happens...

Kids are taught the 10 Commandments in the 2nd Grade.  Of course, they really can't be taught all of the Commandments at that age for obvious reasons.  Many do not come back for catechesis until the 8th grade when they want to make their Confirmation.  Does the material revisit the 10 Commandments at this time?  I know it didn't when I went back.  It seems to me we were still reflecting on how much God loved us without any mention as to how we were suppose to love God back, which starts with those Commandments.   Parents,  often ill-catechised themselves, or thinking that their kids are hearing it in catechism, or just plain lazy, or uninspired and running on empty for lack of hearing it from the pulpit, do not cover the 10 Commandments in the home with their older children, and there you have it: A generation of young people who get shocked when they go into the parish office, want to get married and are lucky enough to find a pastor who then tells them that they ought not be living together.  Why is this the first time they hear it?  Many a priest, and many a parent will have to answer for not teaching these things.  God have mercy on them.

In these days of often anemic homilies, our bishops and priests need to do a serious, collective self-examination on why they cannot bring themselves to talk about things like those mentioned above.  We don't need them  thrown in jail for carrying graphic pictures of abortions; we need them to understand what it is that must die within the self  for them to begin preaching about the fullness of the faith, rather than just parts of it. They ought not worry about the handful that are going to walk out of Church on account of pride when they discuss difficult topics.   If someone starts shouting from the pews, stop preaching, stand there humbly and wait for them to leave, which they usually do.  Consider that an entire town told Our Lord to stay away because they didn't want to know the truth.  Don't yield to these types who are sitting in the pews and thus refrain to teach the rest of us the fullness of the faith.    There is way too much concern for the self-esteem of a few and not enough concern for the eternal souls of the many.  In these times, there is no room for such false charity and spineless reserve.


For our part, we need to do a serious, collective examination on how much time we spend on our knees praying for the sanctification of bishops and priests, and for them to get the holy boldness they need.   Perhaps we in the pew, through lack of prayer for them, have earned the banalities we have been lamenting for so long.  We would do well to start spending no less than one hour per week in a holy hour for this purpose, most especially on Thursday evenings - meditating on Our Lord's passion, asking for vocations, and praying for the sanctification of the priesthood.  Don't let the lack of an adoration chapel in your area stop you; just shut the TV off, get off the internet, and do it in the home if it is all that is available.

For those who live locally, Assumption Grotto has a holy hour every Thursday following the 7:00 pm Mass for the sanctification of the priesthood.  There is secured parking. 


EDIT SEPT 21:  Quick, go read a column by a bishop who just mentioned cohabitation (and a few other things).  Bravo! Bravo, Bishop!

EDIT SEPT 20: I have been getting some positive responses in email from priests and deacons.  There are some additional points I would like to offer with regards to "how" sensitive subjects should be approached in homilies (and how they should not be discussed).  I can't speak from experience on the preaching end because I'm not a priest; rather, I have experience on the receiving end which might yield some fruit if I "think out loud" about it.  I hope to do this within a few days or a week, at most.  Stay tuned. 

A few words were added for clarification on a couple of points I was making, as well.

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Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!

Note: The recommended links below are automatically generated by the tool, so they are not necessarily related content.

Rosary for the Bishop: Archbishop Vigneron

Please consider participating in the Rosary for the Bishop project.  I'm using my own archbishop's page as an example.  All US bishops have been added to the database, so if you want to find your bishop click here and type in the diocese or  his name.  The auxiliary bishops are loaded in there too, let's not forget them.

To see the statistics on those offering to pray the Rosary for Archbishop Vigneron, and/or to sign up, click here.  Here is the page for Bishop Francis Reiss, the lone auxiliary left in Detroit.

If you are already praying the Rosary daily, ask the  Blessed Virgin Mary to automatically apply the intentions for the day(s) of the month that you choose to that particular bishop. If you can do an extra Rosary on that day, that's wonderful, but if you cannot pray two Rosaries in one day, just ask that graces on the day you choose go to your chosen bishop(s).

Rosary for the Bishop is now expanding globally.  In a recent post at the blog of Rosary for the Bishop, it was announced: Now Available for Bishops in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.  The blog also has a list in the sidebar of ..... blogging bishops!

What some bishops are saying about Rosary for the Bishop:

We bishops rely each and every blessed day on the prayers of the good and holy people of our diocese and of all those who have gone before us. We have no better intercessor than our Blessed Mother, the Mother of all the Apostles, the Mother of the Church. It gives me great serenity to know that so many women and men are turning to Mary, asking her special care and intercession for the bishops. As the Lord blesses the bishops through the intercession of Mary, may every person who takes part in the Rosary for the Bishop project also be blessed.



- Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Diocese of Madison

And...

As a Bishop, I am humbled and privileged to be prayed for by name each time Mass is celebrated in my Diocese. Knowing that many others are also praying for me every day by participating in the program Rosary for the Bishop, is a special blessing and source of encouragement for me. The intercession of our Blessed Mother through the praying of the rosary is a powerful tool to help me in my mission as a Shepherd of the Church. Thank you to all who participate in the program and for all who make it possible. It means more to me than you will ever know and I do indeed feel the grace of your prayers for me.

- Bishop R. Walker Nickless, Diocese of Sioux City

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!