The following was sent to me anonymously as a comment. . .it deserves a post all its own:
Father,
I just don't have the time to read every comment in detail and ponder every point you have made. Can I just say this. . .? I am a "modern, educated" woman who has had the experience of contracepting, trying to be Protestant, and now, currently living in a Catholic, sacramental marriage with a Catholic man.
Trying to be humble, trying to integrate the beauty of Church teaching with the reality of Originl Sin and the fall from grace... isn't easy, simple, or a done-deal. It's a daily battle.
But. . .I THANK GOD for good priests like you, and good husbands like mine, imperfect as they may be (like mine), who help me to understand that I am not at war with my spouse, my fertility, my children, or patriarchal humanity; what I am at odds with is satanic influence (yes, it exists as surely as the molecule), and with my own lack of humility and fall from grace.
I love men who, while battling their own concupescience, acknowledge the grace of God, the beauty of His plan, and embrace fertility, fidelity, and children. This is the way to combat the sorrowfully deficient arguments of Tony Blair's wife, and those who would like to embrace God's beautiful plan for the complemetarity of humanity yet are held back by. . .well. . .sin.
Father,
I just don't have the time to read every comment in detail and ponder every point you have made. Can I just say this. . .? I am a "modern, educated" woman who has had the experience of contracepting, trying to be Protestant, and now, currently living in a Catholic, sacramental marriage with a Catholic man.
Trying to be humble, trying to integrate the beauty of Church teaching with the reality of Originl Sin and the fall from grace... isn't easy, simple, or a done-deal. It's a daily battle.
But. . .I THANK GOD for good priests like you, and good husbands like mine, imperfect as they may be (like mine), who help me to understand that I am not at war with my spouse, my fertility, my children, or patriarchal humanity; what I am at odds with is satanic influence (yes, it exists as surely as the molecule), and with my own lack of humility and fall from grace.
I love men who, while battling their own concupescience, acknowledge the grace of God, the beauty of His plan, and embrace fertility, fidelity, and children. This is the way to combat the sorrowfully deficient arguments of Tony Blair's wife, and those who would like to embrace God's beautiful plan for the complemetarity of humanity yet are held back by. . .well. . .sin.
Although prayer for Mrs. Blair will no doubt be powerful, we have to stand up and be counted in our opposition to her views. We should let Mrs. Blair know that the Church will not continue to welcome her, while she is espousing views contrary to Catholic teaching, as it is damaging the Church.
ReplyDeleteNot all of us are sure that a more liberal Church is a "good" thing.
Deborah
Last night I went to a party. A woman there had shot photographs of the interiors of Mexican churches. I don't know how to explain it, but I KNEW those places were precisely where God resides. I would have kneeled but it was a party, after all. That would have been kinda nuts.
ReplyDeleteA woman came in and was absolutely INFUSED with joy and loveliness. She had nothing but glowing, positive things to say. She seemed utterly brimming with grace.
I didn't want to leave her presence.
I later learned from a friend that she is commonly regarded as a "saint." I have little doubt that it's as accurate assessment as one might be able to make. It was rather astonishing.
There were political discussions going on all around. She didn't engage in any of it. She managed to remain above the fray without seeming ethereal.
This is all so difficult to describe.
In a word, I think more Catholics should aspire to this [hard to define what this "this" was] but it doesn't bode well when people become so doctrinal that their 2 feet of space seems to be Zion itself.
I am all about a little tolerance. What is the phrase from Faulkner?
"Curing it as we go?" It's been a while but something like that.
Patience and reverence go a long way and offer better examples than sniper fire.
I'm sure I'll get mine.
Dot
As was outlined in a past post, the most effective remedy for feminist creep in liberal (or even just mainstream parochial) Catholic thinking is the voice and presence of virtuous men living out joyful lives of sexual continence and chastity, no matter their marital or religious status in life. Our human sexuality and fertility need to be given the respect and honor they deserve (indeed, along with free will our fertility is the characteristic that carries our stamp of being made in the image and likeness of God), or we have no integrity at all as a people. This example MUST come from the fathers, husbands, and priests in society!
ReplyDelete"Birth control" is not a virtue, no matter what the world says -- The contraceptive mentality sees children and motherhood as a burden, something to be managed, something to be controlled -- not a great, awesome gift to be accepted IN TOTO with grace, humility, reverence, and gratitude. In endorsing any part of a contraceptive mentality, parents unwittingly teach their children that their very existence is contrived, controlled, and calculated, instead of a free gift lovingly and with trust accepted from God. And they learn that their own sexuality/fertility is a weapon that needs to be manipulated and controlled, instead of a God-given gift that needs to be cared for properly and used wisely, always relying on His grace.
Having had a similar epiphany (in essence, if not in detail) as your 'modern, educated' woman commenter, I often want to shout from the rooftops when it comes to this issue. In many ways, it is not the rabid, foaming-mouth feminists that are the stumbling block, it's the garden-variety parochial Catholics that personally or philosophically accept bits and pieces of the contraceptive mentality -- especially the ones that seem politically, economically, or fashionably expedient: these well-meaning but lukewarm, confused, or undercatechized Catholics are our true stumbling block... like Cherie Blair, perhaps?
Contrary to popular belief, the way to decrease abortions is not to increase contraception -- it's to make people see the contraceptive mentality for the loveless, base existential sinkhole that it is for so many people today. The fact that it so often hides underneath a cloak of medical credibility/endorsement makes this baseness even more nefarious! God have mercy on us all.
Sorry, Father, for the long comment, but I am always compelled to rant about this subject (having fallen victim to this thinking in my pre-metanoia life). Please feel free to abridge/truncate this comment as you see fit. Thank you for always speaking up for the Truth!
Buon Natale -- The Prodigal Daughter
I loved the way she put it: "I am not at war with my spouse, my fertility, my children, or patriarchal humanity; what I am at odds with is satanic influence"
ReplyDeleteYes, a wise woman indeed, as are many (if not all) of the commenters here.
ReplyDelete