Posted on 08/27/2009 10:22:18 PM PDT by STARWISE
Truer words have not been spoken on this thread.
Well God did tell you in the Bible that we would be treated this way. :) I try to keep that in mind when the holier than thou’s try to do this each and everytime Catholism is mentioned. They are bigots plain and simple.
So I will sit on the sidelines and silently grieve and try to find to find the grace to pray for mercy for us all.
I guess God is allowing this to happen, but we are told that He is not mocked. Jesus had the authority to get ugly with the moneychangers (rightfully so), but that authority has not been delegated to we ordinary people just trying to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling".
With few notable exceptions, it has always been thus. Church leaders are blinded and intimidated by the moneyed and powerful and bend the rules for them. Not for Henry VIII though. All England was lost to the church, and many suffered the aftermath of that. Now the pendulum is starting to swing the other way after the passing of many generations.
It's a long time since it was a "mission church", in the sense of an outpost. The present church is, properly, the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It's urban, large -- and very beautiful. According to the website, it's staffed by "Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province." They have always run the church -- it's full of pictures of Redemptorist saints. I have no way of knowing what may have gone on between the Redemptorists and Cdl. O'Malley. I do know that there have been no public prayers for Kennedy in my parish (in Boston) at daily Mass this week, except -- as I said above -- the one petition that politicians who profess to be Christian should act that way.
Mission is close (probably a mile or so) to Boston Children's Hospital, so there may well be that connection (I do remember that JFK's baby died there). Still sounds like a last-ditch choice, though -- he would have expected the Cathedral and a Mass said by the Cardinal.
Kennedy’s letter re: a change of law where the apt. of his successor was concerned was written [and dated] months before it was mailed. Howie Carr, the local talk show bigwig, covered this extensively. He pointed out that Kennedy’s camp offered no explanation for the mysterious/long delay between the writing and sending of the letter. My personal theory is that after he wrote it Kennedy instructed that it not be mailed until he gave the go ahead. As those around him saw that he had slipped past the point where he could cognitively make that call, they sent the letter on their own authority.
Yes, I am aware of that fact by now.
That said, we do not know Ted's state of soul at death. By the Grace of God he may have confessed and repented. We are all subject to the Mercy of God which is profound and eternal and is available to those who seek It.
We don't know the state of his soul at death, yet we should continue to pray for his soul in hopes that he indeed found his way back Home. Confessing to another sinner is not going to grant you pardon and entrance into Heaven. The only way to the Father is through the Son, Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of all.
It was on Howie Carr that I heard the auto-pen theory.
The only thing I heard about auto-pen on Howie Carr was a theory that it might have been signed that way. That was not the only theory offered. The other ideas were that the signature looked strange either because Kennedy’s hand was unsteady due to the illness or else that someone had forged his signature. If you heard that Howie had proved it was definitely done via auto-pen then I wonder when he said that. I certainly missed it, and I’ve been listening steadily since Kennedy’s passing.
I never said anything was proved.
....and all thanks to the the intentional disorganization designed and implemented at the infamous Vatican II from hell.
My characterizing the relationship as “rocky” certainly understated the problems with it and they all were because of Kennedy’s descending into the politics of personal destruction along with most other national politicians of the political left. But you said it so much better than me.
You have Freepmail. :)
This is such a misdirected statement, one hardly knows where to begin. But I'll try:
"Nary a word" is a pretty ridiculous assertion, since "over the centuries" the Church has constantly done just the opposite: has taken such a 'heteronormative,' marriage centered view of sex that gays worldwide see Catholicism as Global Enemy #1.(Here's just one example of a historian who complains of the Catholic Church's "relentless denunciation" of buggery.)
Sin has always been sin and has always been called sin in the Catholic Church; and, heart-breakingly, there have always been sinners, of which I am one. 'Nuff said.
Second, the Church does not do "holy smackdowns" of people at their funerals. The service itself is intended to remind us all of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.
Will that happen at Ted Kennedy's funeral? (Sigh.) We shall see.
Perhaps we can derive some comfort from some facts that have escaped many people's notice:
I will pray, as all Christians should, for God's mercy, of which I too am in need.
another bigotted response...
nope, I was a devout catholic, went to catholic school, and so on. I left the church because of the double standard.
Kennedy was excused for murder and his feelings on abortion,
Obama had religious articles covered so he could make a speech at a catholic college.
They cave when it means MONEY.
I called and was directed to the ‘comment’ line. Left my message. In essence, I hope the Cardinal will do what is RIGHT and not what is popular - it takes integrity to do that. Lots more said but that’s the short of it. Thanks!
Liberals don't give money to the Church, they give opinions.
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