tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19680942.post5080622512074659904..comments2023-05-12T04:18:21.875-04:00Comments on Googling God...: When starting a blog..expect something like thisUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19680942.post-77640544450697372622009-02-13T11:18:00.000-05:002009-02-13T11:18:00.000-05:00Gramps--Some comments:1) I'm not a priest. I'm a...Gramps--<BR/><BR/>Some comments:<BR/><BR/>1) I'm not a priest. I'm a layperson and you can see more on my background by clicking the about me link on the blog. But thanks for thinking I could be. That's an honor in my book!<BR/><BR/>2) I noted that you mention the numbers of Jews killed in the holocaust and contrast that with the many more babies killed by abortion each year. Let me just say that ONE baby is too many and ONE person killed for simply being who they are is also too many deaths.<BR/><BR/>3) The Pope did not lift an excommunication. He is far from doing that. What he did was start the process of reconciliation. The end of that process would be to bring these people back into full communion with the church. I pray that the good people who simply want the Latin Mass and who don't agree with the extremist theories put forth by others in the SSPX will be welcomed back into the faith.<BR/><BR/>4) Your overall point, of people longing for more traditional or orthodox to use your word teaching within the church has validity. However, we might not want to dismiss those who call the church to re-examine some of it's teaching in light of current scholarship and science. The Pontifical Biblical commission for example has brought our thinking on scripture into a much more healthy place, especially when discussing things like the literal interpretation of the Genesis creation stories, etc.<BR/><BR/>But I agree some people take things too far and should be called to the carpet for what may even be outright heresy. I would also add that this is rare but it does happen.<BR/><BR/>Where I think most people are, is that they look to the church to explain what their teaching is in light of the current times. We are in a new world where a simple google search can place people's faith in a precarious situation. We need spiritual mentors who are open to these questions, especially from young people and who treat those questions not with hostility but rather with care and pastoral judgment. We need, in some cases, to listen a lot more than we need to preach. Moreover, we are the translators of tradition in light of the modern age. How can we make sense of a tradition to people who haven't been catechized but already long for the faith of an adult when they've never had the faith of a child? It's a tough job but somebody's got to do it.god googlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08406526986427583673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19680942.post-73052429509534232402009-02-12T23:03:00.000-05:002009-02-12T23:03:00.000-05:00Father, I was a lifelong Catholic that drifted awa...Father, I was a lifelong Catholic that drifted away after Vatican II but not because of it, but because I of my own weaknesses. I was not a person who left because of anything in particular the church was doing or not doing. On return, I found a church that had changed radically. I first came back with a priest I would imagine most would call a liberal who brought me to Christ. However, I soon began to search for more of what I saw as a child and young adult. I saw a lot missing in the Church, but I also saw some priest and bishops who seemed to have an agenda that was almost opposed to the actual teaching, canon law, and documents of Vatican II. What I saw as I travelled around and went to mass and heard sermons was a lot of junk that was in outright dissent. At the same time, I noticed in a lot places that there was the abuse issue and bishops covering it up. I began to notice that many of these priests seem to come through the same seminaries and that some of the leaders of those seminaries where now bishops in the church and part of this problem. <BR/><BR/>At the same time, John Paul II was really beginning to shine alond with Cardinal Ratzinger and what they were saying was there was a need to stop much of what happened that was wrong after Vatican II. The young people were attracted to this and began to study what the church actually taught versus what they had been taught in schools and even Catholic Universities. We saw John Paul II try to get the bishops to step in and get the Universities in their area of responsbility back in line and again many of the same bishops did nothing even to this day. John Paul and now Benedict tried to open the door to the Latin Mass in its full beauty and the same bishops tried to block this in their areas. The same is true of Eucharistic Adoration being pushed aside. Those same bishops often had people in their headquarters that were out teaching heresy. <BR/><BR/>So when a Pope is trying for decades to get bishops and priest to be Catholic, and not more protestant than Catholic, it seems like it is crying sour grapes when what is being sought is not anything other than the actual teaching of Vatican II, the Cathecism, Canon Law, and the traditional teaching of the Church. <BR/><BR/>The other thing that bothers them is when bishops do not seem to understand that there are indeed issues in elections where life trumps a lot of other issues and in many cases these same bishops are pushing back against every effort to stop the holocaust of infants that now numbers over 50,000,000. Yet when a bishop who denies belief that 6,000,000 were killed in the holocaust, some of the same liberal bishops call for the Pope to apologize and some call for him to resign even though his relationships with Jews over time and his belief in the holocaust in WWII is in agreement with history. So what is behind the left wing yelling has more to do with strong Orthodox people being added to the church. By the way, most news people get what was done is wrong. What Benedict did was to end the excommunication. None of them were made bishops or even priests and they still need to go to confession to join fullness in the Catholic faith. <BR/><BR/>It is my hope that you will allow this to be posted in your comments section. God Bless.grampshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15458042134293544734noreply@blogger.com