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Posted on 01/29/2012 6:32:38 AM PST by NYer
Fr. George Rutler was kind enough to share his latest parish bulletin concerning the recent HHS mandate with the Cardinal Newman Society.
He writes:
Our many fellow Catholics now enchained for the Faith of our Fathers in such places as China, Syria, and Egypt are, as Father Faber’s hymn says, “in heart and conscience free.” But what happens when a government tries to chain the conscience itself?
A few weeks ago, in a remarkably unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the attempt of the present Administration in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC to restrict religious freedom. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the Administration’s argument that the First Amendment does not guarantee the right of religious organization to choose its leaders, was an “extreme” infringement of the free exercise clause.
Undeterred, and menacingly on the cusp of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Department of Health and Human Services has issued an “interim final rule” which requires all private health plans, including those of Catholic hospitals and schools, to include coverage of prescription contraceptives, female sterilization procedures, and abortion counseling.
For a while, various Catholic leaders had hoped that they might reach an understanding with the Administration, and some even felt more at peace with the president’s assurances. But “peace for our time” only lasts until Poland is invaded. Cardinal Mahony, whom no one would fault for intransigence, now says, “I cannot imagine a more direct and frontal attack on the freedom of conscience than this ruling today. This decision must be fought against with all the energies the Catholic Community can muster.” Our own archbishop said, “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences.”
At the time of the last presidential election, some may have thought that I overstated things in finding parallels with the dystopian world described in Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World, in which Julian Felsenburgh makes eugenics “a sacred duty.”
Since our Lord did not humiliate the frightened apostles by saying “I told you so” when he rose from the dead, I shall not say “I told you so” to any who underestimated the plottings of social engineers whose audacity is only an audacity of despair.
Blessed John Henry Newman, in Discussions and Arguments on Various Subjects, cited the prediction of an eighteenth-century Protestant bishop and scientist, Samuel Horsley:
“The Church of God on earth will be greatly reduced, as we may well imagine, in its apparent numbers, in the times of Antichrist, by the open desertion of the powers of the world. This desertion will begin in a professed indifference to any particular form of Christianity, under the pretense of universal toleration; which toleration will proceed from no true spirit of charity and forbearance, but from a design to undermine Christianity, by multiplying and encouraging sectaries… For governments will pretend an indifference to all, and will give a protection in preference to none.”
That final paragraph is stunning!
When are the fools in America going to figure out our First Muslim President is better described as a terrorist rather than a politician!
The seeds of a second American revolution are being planted right now.
Christians had better wake up and understand that OBAMA is NOT a Christian. He goes into church as a ploy, to give te appearance he is a Christian, but is in fact a devil in sheep’s clothing. He is a MUSLIM, from his own words and actions!
He and his adminstration are attempting to destroy all Christian teachings. The sooner you realize this the better.
May God place his foot on the head of the serpent and crush it.
This pastoral letter needs to be spread throughout the Protestant community as well.
We can't put all the blame on Barry.
The blame lies DIRECTLY with our very own culture which elected the fool and tolerates murder of our own MOST innocent Americans.
The blame is on the HHS which is long established by both parties.
The blame is on the Christians who go along with prescription contraceptives, female sterization and abortion.
There are even non-Christians who are totally against abortion and theirs is also the blame for tolerating the RIGHT for females to murder their own flesh and bloon in the name of "reproductive rights," which, unfortunately include murdering babies because the babies are INCONVENIENT or IMPERFECT.
How do we Americans have the GAUL to proclaim ourselves the land of the free when we allow murder of the MOST innocent?
Thank you NYer. Fr. Rutler is one of my heroes. I brought my daughter back to college (her dorm is in Brooklyn Heights) 2 Sundays ago and we made a detour off the FDR highway into Manhattan to go to his 59 Park Avenue church.
It was stunning!! The Christ the High Priest icon was to die for. Father’s homily was outstanding.
I used to read the Latin mass magazine and loved his writing.
“Christians had better wake up ...”
You are so right. The man was formed a muslim in Indonesia during his growing up years. In the process of raising daughters, I know how important those years are in a persons formation.
He is a Muslim - through and through!! Remember the wedding ring not being worn during ramadan? Also they (the Muslims)are allowed to lie as much as they want to hide their religion.
Not to those who are familiar with the Bible. Jesus said "they" would hate us because we loved Him. God told us that Men (not just Christians) will be greatly reduced in the end times. Have you noticed the stories about reduced fertiltiy and child birth through many parts of the world lately?
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
That's it...We have the leader that the people wanted...
And I have a feeling that the churches would empty out if the priests and pastors suddenly started poking at the congregations about stopping the use of contraceptives and start building those big families...
A day late and a dollar short...
I’m glad you posted this — you saved me the effort. Fr. Rutler I trust implicitly; the Bishops, not necessarily.
>>And I have a feeling that the churches would empty out if the priests and pastors suddenly started poking at the congregations about stopping the use of contraceptives and start building those big families... <<
You might be surprised.
When I joined our parish, I was pleasantly surprised to listen to one of our priests speak of sin and tell us that if we didn’t start defending Jesus, we were going to be saying “Allah Akbar”. (in Michigan, mind you)
The priests DO speak of the sin of contraception, they have seminars on Natural Family Planning. Our pastor refuses to marry any couple that has been living together. We have more “family buses” in the parking lot than the local car lot up the street. 4 children is the norm, 12 is not unknown. Our “new mom” ministry is hopping. I know of two families that joined our parish and the father had his vasectomy reversed. Each mom started popping babies soon after. Adoption is a huge thing with us too. We looked into it but can’t afford it yet. God will provide if He wants us to.
When I got there 10 years ago, our envelope number was 756. Today, they are handing out the 2000s. People want to be told the truth.
Very good! People do want to be told the truth.
That doesn’t mean they’re going to like it after years of listening to untruths (or, more often, hearing nothing at all). We had a parish priest who gave a homily about contraception and sterilization a few years ago and the pastor told him he was never to discuss these things again, because he had received so many irate calls from parishioners. (Also, I don’t think the pastor himself supported the Church’s teachings.)
So it does take a priest with courage to start talking about these things, but once they do, people respond.
I have to say that one of the reasons why our Pastor is so strong is because he is native Slovak. He lived under communism and knows what is important.
"...and the pastor told him he was never to discuss these things again, because he had received so many irate calls from parishioners."
So which is it?
re: “He is a MUSLIM, from his own words and actions!”
You may be right, but I think it is even worse than that. Obama is a marxist/communist through and through. He doesn’t believe in any God (or Allah) beyond that. Marxism is his faith.
He uses religion to suit his purposes. He uses religion as a necessary step to get support from some Christian groups or Islamic groups - mainly votes and money.
I believe he is really an atheist. He obviously hates the United States and Israel - which plays into the idea that he is really a Muslim - except that I don’t think real Muslims are into marxism or communism - which Obama obviously is.
He’s using Islam for his own purposes - not because he really believes in it. At least that’s how he looks to me.
>>So which is it? <<
Reread it. The Pastor seemed to be against what the Priest had given a homily on. Who knows if the number of calls were low or high, the Pastor was using it to manipulate.
Understand that all of America has been fed a bunch of bull for years. Liberal Catholics invaded the Catholic Church and nearly won. People hunger for the truth but it sure isn’t comfortable when some hear it the first time.
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