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The Pastor’s Corner
Last weekend we addressed the United Nations report regarding the Catholic Church, primarily addressing what the Church has done for the protection of children. This week, we address the issue of the United Nations declaring that the Church should, among other things, change it's teaching regarding marriage and the dignity of life from conception until natural death.
First, we have discussed in homilies over the past year or two the continued widening of the gap between secular morality (the morality of our society) and our Catholic morality (what the Church teaches us is moral) in the United States, with particular examples being the new health care law (Obamacare) and the recent Supreme Court decisions on marriage. We can now safely say that this widening of the gap is not only in the United States, but also worldwide. Second, we can see that in this widening of the gap that secular governments and authorities will attempt to force Catholics to accept their morality by the use of their power over those they govern, even if it violates legitimate religious beliefs. Third, in the attempt to force secular morality upon us, we will be impugned because of our religious beliefs, whether being called or thought of as bigots (as happened during the debate on marriage) or unenlightened/ignorant as is common in secular media commentary. At some point, if this widening of the gap continues, we may be made to make certain choices between the practice of our faith or submitting to laws that require us to violate our religious beliefs.
Our response as Catholics is simple, but may be difficult. The widening of the morality gap is being caused by changes in secular morality instituted by governments. Our morality is rooted in Our Savior, Jesus Christ, and what He taught us. His teachings have not and will not change, because they are the Truth. We are not at liberty to change God's teachings, nor will we try. Our job is to simply live by them in imitation of Our Savior, not trying to make Jesus into who we want Him to be, but rather letting Him make us into who He wants us to be. Catholics have always been good citizens in just societies, but the less just a society becomes, the more tension increases between governmental authorities and the Church. This is nothing new, as it has occurred repeatedly in societies all over the world since the founding of our Church by Jesus Himself some 2000 years ago, and at times has led to persecution.
For now, our mission remains the same: To know our faith and to live it so that we can be with God in eternity, resisting the temptation to "go along" with societal norms that violate our faith. We must properly educate our young in word and especially in deed so they will also be able to live and be firm in the faith given to us by Jesus. We cannot compromise our faith, because eternal life is the most important and precious gift we have been given by God. We must not be afraid or ashamed of our faith, but rather know it and share it, especially by loving each other as Jesus loved us. As good citizens, we also do what we can to make our society more just and truly good by the changing of hearts and minds. Let us resolve to continue to remain firm in the Truth taught to us by Jesus and His Church!
First, we have discussed in homilies over the past year or two the continued widening of the gap between secular morality (the morality of our society) and our Catholic morality (what the Church teaches us is moral) in the United States, with particular examples being the new health care law (Obamacare) and the recent Supreme Court decisions on marriage. We can now safely say that this widening of the gap is not only in the United States, but also worldwide. Second, we can see that in this widening of the gap that secular governments and authorities will attempt to force Catholics to accept their morality by the use of their power over those they govern, even if it violates legitimate religious beliefs. Third, in the attempt to force secular morality upon us, we will be impugned because of our religious beliefs, whether being called or thought of as bigots (as happened during the debate on marriage) or unenlightened/ignorant as is common in secular media commentary. At some point, if this widening of the gap continues, we may be made to make certain choices between the practice of our faith or submitting to laws that require us to violate our religious beliefs.
Our response as Catholics is simple, but may be difficult. The widening of the morality gap is being caused by changes in secular morality instituted by governments. Our morality is rooted in Our Savior, Jesus Christ, and what He taught us. His teachings have not and will not change, because they are the Truth. We are not at liberty to change God's teachings, nor will we try. Our job is to simply live by them in imitation of Our Savior, not trying to make Jesus into who we want Him to be, but rather letting Him make us into who He wants us to be. Catholics have always been good citizens in just societies, but the less just a society becomes, the more tension increases between governmental authorities and the Church. This is nothing new, as it has occurred repeatedly in societies all over the world since the founding of our Church by Jesus Himself some 2000 years ago, and at times has led to persecution.
For now, our mission remains the same: To know our faith and to live it so that we can be with God in eternity, resisting the temptation to "go along" with societal norms that violate our faith. We must properly educate our young in word and especially in deed so they will also be able to live and be firm in the faith given to us by Jesus. We cannot compromise our faith, because eternal life is the most important and precious gift we have been given by God. We must not be afraid or ashamed of our faith, but rather know it and share it, especially by loving each other as Jesus loved us. As good citizens, we also do what we can to make our society more just and truly good by the changing of hearts and minds. Let us resolve to continue to remain firm in the Truth taught to us by Jesus and His Church!
Fr. James Brady
The bulletin for the week of February 16, 2014 has been posted. Click here to see it.The calendar on the website has been updated with all events for the coming week along with prayer intention information and information on the second collection for all of the masses. Take some time to look at our calendar here.
Updates are also being made to our St. Landry Catholic Church blog. You can get to the blog from the church home page under the Bulletins and News section or you can just click here to go to it.
Don't forget, we're also sending out live updates via Twitter. Our Twitter name is StLandryCath. You can see updates by clicking here.
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