Wednesday, November 7, 2012
St. Augustine . . .Words of Consolation after the election . . .
A priest in the great state of Texas sends:
From a sermon by St. Augustine sometime after the sack of Rome in 410:
“Do not hold on to the old man, the world; do not refuse to regain your youth in Christ, who says to you: “The world is passing away, the world is losing its grip, the world is short of breath. Do not fear,Thy youth shall be renewed as an eagle”
He likened the decline of his civilization to the olive press. Christians who are faithful under pressure yield a higher quality of pure oil.
More than 16 trillion reasons to be worried . . .
Although the 2008 election was somewhat understandable as to the winner, I still shudder thinking about the fact that 54% of the Catholic vote went to procuring that win for the re-elected president. According to The American Values Survey, Catholics are still divided on matters of morals as 49 percent were for obama and 47 percent favored Romney who was running on a much more pro-life ticket. It saddens me to think that the United States Catholics are not a ‘universal’ group when it comes to politics. When the political platforms for each party are so straight forward, you have to wonder about the mind set of Catholics that they can happily vote for the platform that strongly endorses abortion at any time for any reason in a pregnancy. I guess one cannot say they are part of the Catholic vote because so many Catholics are not voting . . .Catholic and in line with the Church’s moral teachings.
This train of thought is not reserved for the Catholics in the pews as the percentage of bishops speaking out was small in comparison to how many should have been outspoken. There was little information forthcoming from the Sunday pulpit in many dioceses. Yes, we vote our conscience but the shepherds of the flock are supposed to offer guidelines and information to help us form a Catholic conscience.
The Huffington post mentioned some interesting percentages. According to their poll, Catholics who attend Mass at least weekly - six out of ten supported Governor Romney. Those who showed up in the church once a month or less, six out of ten supported obama. That is an indication in itself as the fact is that if you are truly Catholic and abide by the Church Law, you wouldn’t be attending Mass once a month or less. Given the lack of respect for the Church in that, it kind of lends itself to the outcome of the election . . . again.
To date, about thirty lawsuits have been filed by Catholic and evangelical businesses, hospitals, schools, etc. in regards to the obama administration’s high handed assault on religious freedoms by way of his illegal and controversial mandate against people of Faith. It is amazing that the Catholics I spoke to didn’t find this unnerving or a matter to be considered when it came to voting. Unfortunately, again, the ‘universal’ Catholic Church was not a united front as there are certainly more than 30 dioceses, bishops, organizations, or schools that would be affected by the mandate.
I’ve seen this in our own diocese and it is obvious that it is a ‘belief’ in many others that ‘social justice’ should be addressed firstly even over pro-life. I think the powers that be feel that if we get all the living people taken care of, then the unborn will have a better chance. Sacrificing the unborn is not a means to an end. Death is death no matter what you want to call it. According to a survey, 60 percent of Catholics buy into the ‘social justice’ rhetoric over the abortion issue and right to life.
So, I guess that upon reflecting on the above percentages, we can understand the outcome of the 2012 election. One wonders, however, how any thinking person can actually agree with the outcome. One elderly woman at daily Mass said she didn’t know that obama was in favor of abortion. I gave her information on that topic and she refused to read it. None so blind as those who refuse to see . . .
I know that real Catholics for life were doing a lot of praying for this election. My husband and I realized that the next four years will require even more prayer and sacrifice and started a four-year novena to St. Jude because he is the Patron Saint of Hopeless Cases . . . need I say more?
This train of thought is not reserved for the Catholics in the pews as the percentage of bishops speaking out was small in comparison to how many should have been outspoken. There was little information forthcoming from the Sunday pulpit in many dioceses. Yes, we vote our conscience but the shepherds of the flock are supposed to offer guidelines and information to help us form a Catholic conscience.
The Huffington post mentioned some interesting percentages. According to their poll, Catholics who attend Mass at least weekly - six out of ten supported Governor Romney. Those who showed up in the church once a month or less, six out of ten supported obama. That is an indication in itself as the fact is that if you are truly Catholic and abide by the Church Law, you wouldn’t be attending Mass once a month or less. Given the lack of respect for the Church in that, it kind of lends itself to the outcome of the election . . . again.
To date, about thirty lawsuits have been filed by Catholic and evangelical businesses, hospitals, schools, etc. in regards to the obama administration’s high handed assault on religious freedoms by way of his illegal and controversial mandate against people of Faith. It is amazing that the Catholics I spoke to didn’t find this unnerving or a matter to be considered when it came to voting. Unfortunately, again, the ‘universal’ Catholic Church was not a united front as there are certainly more than 30 dioceses, bishops, organizations, or schools that would be affected by the mandate.
I’ve seen this in our own diocese and it is obvious that it is a ‘belief’ in many others that ‘social justice’ should be addressed firstly even over pro-life. I think the powers that be feel that if we get all the living people taken care of, then the unborn will have a better chance. Sacrificing the unborn is not a means to an end. Death is death no matter what you want to call it. According to a survey, 60 percent of Catholics buy into the ‘social justice’ rhetoric over the abortion issue and right to life.
So, I guess that upon reflecting on the above percentages, we can understand the outcome of the 2012 election. One wonders, however, how any thinking person can actually agree with the outcome. One elderly woman at daily Mass said she didn’t know that obama was in favor of abortion. I gave her information on that topic and she refused to read it. None so blind as those who refuse to see . . .
I know that real Catholics for life were doing a lot of praying for this election. My husband and I realized that the next four years will require even more prayer and sacrifice and started a four-year novena to St. Jude because he is the Patron Saint of Hopeless Cases . . . need I say more?
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