If Parishioners Are Ready To Be Warriors Should Then Not The Priests?

So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin.
James 4:17

In my life time, the Catholic Church has not experienced such brutal attacks coming from the President of the United States of America. It even hurts typing that line. Never have Catholics and other Christians been so assaulted for trying to live their faith.

I have to remind myself as to why the Conservatives in Action came to be. It was because Obama began his assault on the Catholic Church early by using Joe Biden, a joke as a Catholic, to bring in the Catholic vote. And immediately after Obama’s inauguration, the day after the Right to Life March in 2009, and three days after taking his oath to protect us on January 20th, he signed the Executive Order on January 23rd to repeal the Mexico City policy thereby having the American taxpayer pay for abortions overseas.

It is imperative that as Christians we understand that politics do play a significant role in our lives. Politics dictate our every move. The amount of times we flush the toilet, the light bulb we should use, how fast we should drive, the age of retirement, how many septic tanks we can have on our property, these are a mere drop as to the hundreds of thousands of restrictions that are upon us today. Until Catholics understand that politics and religion are indeed intertwined, we can kiss our faith good bye.

Politics also gave us the ‘right’ to abortion with Roe v. Wade; Politics is also changing how we know marriage between a man and a woman by legislating same sex marriage. The ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy presently allows gays to openly serve. This in the end will prove detrimental to our armed services. The situation is not going to get better. It will only continue to deteriorate if we do not stand up now.

More and more Catholics want to stand firm against the Obama administration, but now it is time for the Catholic Church to stand firm against the predator, Obama. I can tell you that not all our Catholic priests are in sync. It seems that some priests did not receive the message from Pope Benedict XVI that America is on the precipice of losing its Freedom of Religion. This is from the Pope’s address to the American bishops, “It is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres. The seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreciated at every level of ecclesial life. Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion.” 

This past weekend the letter from the San Antonio Archbishop on the ruling from the Health and Human Services commission was read to an approximate 173 different parishes and missions throughout the diocese. The San Antonio diocese has an estimated 702,000 registered Catholics who live in Atascosa, Bexar, Comal, Edwards, Frio, Karnes, Kerr, Kendall, Kinney, Gillespie, Gonzales, Guadalupe, McMullen, Medina, Uvalde, Val Verde and Wilson counties.

We had planned on going to mass at our parish but decided at the last moment to attend mass at St. Mark the Evangelist instead. I was prepared to hear the priest read the letter nothing more. Instead what happened was a great disappointment. The priest began his homily by saying that during this election time we were going to hear so many different people asking us to vote this way or that way, Republican or Democrat or other parties but that we just needed to follow our conscience. That we should do right by everybody and not just a small segment of society. In essence, the message he sent out, ‘continue voting as you have done in the past’. There was absolutely no guidance to the about 2,000 in attendance. Furthermore, the priest did not read the letter from the Archbishop concerning the critical mandate telling the Catholic Church it had one year to change their conscience concerning abortion and contraception. Instead the priest opted to read the Archbishop’s Appeal letter at the end of mass. What a missed opportunity to challenge Obama and to lead his flock away from this dreadful administration.

St. Louis Cathedral - New Orleans

A few Conservatives in Action sent me information on their parish, and I am happy to report that most parish priests complied but we should not rest until all the parishes stand in unity to defeat Obama and his agenda to rid America of Judeo-Christians and his fiercest enemy, the Catholic Church. I also received the letter from the Lutheran Church that they sent out to their congregation explaining the stance against Christians. A friend from New Orleans wrote to say that she heard retired Archbishop Alfred Hughes, since Archbishop Gregory Aymond is at the Vatican this month, read and explain the letter to the congregation while attending mass at St Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.

I have listed below links to the San Antonio Archbishop’s letter in both English and Spanish, so you can pass the letters to friends and neighbors. There is also a link to the entire Bishop’s letters from different dioceses. It is time for us to be warriors in Christ’s name. Do not let this moment pass. If your parish did not read the letter, communicate to your pastor about his omission in letting his parishioners know the truth.

San Fernando Cathedral – San Antonio, TX
PARISHES FROM TEXAS AND OTHER PLACES

San Antonio, Texas
St. Mark the Evangelist – the letter was included in the bulletin. The letter was not read at noon nor at the Sunday evening mass. It was read on Saturday evening.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton – the priest not only read but encouraged parishioners to contact elected officials. The letter was distributed.

Out Lady of the Atonement – the letter was read and distributed

St. Padre Pio – the letter was read

Saint George Maronite - the letter was not read nor distributed

Saint Gregory the Great – letter read and included in bulletin

Spring Branch, Texas
St Joseph Honey Creek – the letter was read but no printed copies were provided

New Braunfels, Texas
Mission of Divine Mercy – letter was read and copies were distributed

Our Lady of Perpetual Help – letter not read nor copy in the bulletin or distributed

Selma, Texas
Our Lady of Perpetual Help – Letter was read and copies were provided at the back of the church for parishioners to pick up, if they wished.

Castroville, Texas
St. Louis Catholic Church – The letter was read by the priest during the homily but the letter was not included in the bulletin.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
St. Matthews Catholic Church – letter read and in bulletin

NEW BRAUNFELS, TEXAS
Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church – letter read but not distributed

New Orleans, Louisiana
Saint Louis Cathedral, also known as Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France - The archbishop's letter was read after Mass last week. The homily on 2/5 included concerns about the multiple attacks on the Roman Catholic Church, to inform and to know they also include same sex marriages and adoptions, contraception, abortions, etc. and that a dead line for resolution is less than one year.

Herndon, Virginia
St. Joseph – the letter was read and included in the bulletin

Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops LISTEN TO TIMOTHY DOLAN EXPLAIN
CONSCIENCE PROTECTION
http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/index.cfm

U.S. BISHOPS VOW TO FIGHT HHS EDICT
http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-012.cfm


February 3, 2012

A Statement on Recent HHS Decision and Religious Freedom

We are deeply distressed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) recent decision to require nearly all private health plans, including those offered by religious employers, to cover contraceptives. This will include controversial birth-control products such as “Ella” and the “morning after” pill, even though the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that such drugs can cause the death of a baby developing in the womb. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) objects to the use of drugs and procedures that are used to take the lives of unborn children, who are persons in the sight of God from the time of conception, and we are opposed to the HHS’ decision mandating the coverage of such contraceptives.

This HHS action relates to a provision in the “health care reform” legislation (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) signed into law in 2010. The church’s benefits partner, Concordia Plan Services, which provides health care coverage to nearly 48,000 people, has been actively monitoring this legislation and, as a result, Concordia Health Plan (CHP)—the LCMS church workers’ health plan—has been maintained as a “grandfathered” plan. As such, employers and workers participating in CHP would not be subjected to the mandate. However, many religious organizations do not have grandfathered plans and cannot avail themselves of the extremely narrow religious-employer exemption, which only is applicable to religious employers that primarily serve and employ members of that faith.

For centuries, Lutherans have joyfully delivered Christ’s mercy to others and embraced His call to care for the needy within our communities and around the world. In a nation that has allowed more than 54 million legal abortions since 1973, we must consider the marginalization of unborn babies and object to this mandate.

In addition, I encourage the members of the LCMS to join with me in supporting efforts to preserve our essential right to exercise our religious beliefs. This action by HHS will have the effect of forcing many religious organizations to choose between following the letter of the law and operating within the framework of their religious tenets. We add our voice to the long list of those championing for the continued ability to act according to the dictates of their faith, and provide compassionate care and clear Christian witness to society’s most vulnerable, without being discriminated against by government.

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, a church body of sinners redeemed by the blood of Jesus, has affected the lives of millions of people with care, aid, housing, health care, spiritual care and much more. We have been a force for good in this nation, promoting education (the nation’s largest Protestant school system), marriage and giving people the tools and assistance to be good citizens. We live and breathe Romans 13:3–7. The governing authorities are “God’s servant for good.” We pray constantly for our President and those in authority. We have sent our sons and daughters to fight for this country. We have provided military chaplains, elected officials, officers, including some who have held the highest military offices and other appointed positions in this country. Our people have and are serving as congressmen and women and senators.

Increasingly we are suffering overzealous government intrusions into what is the realm of traditional and biblical Christian conscience. We believe this is a violation of our First Amendment rights. We will stand, to the best of our ability, with all religious and other concerned citizens, against this erosion of our civil liberty. Come what may, we shall do everything we can, by God’s grace, to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison
President
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

1333 S. Kirkwood Rd. • St. Louis, MO 63122-7295 • 314-965-9000 • www.lcms.org

THE BATTLE BEGINS AT HOME! US SENATORS: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

US CONGRESSMEN: http://www.house.gov/representatives/

TEXAS SENATORS

SENATOR JOHN CORNYN 202 224 2934
SENATOR KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON 202 224 5922

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