Condoms and Catholicism

The mainstream media has once again gotten all excited about what they've perceived as a weakness in the Church's stance on something.  In this case it's condoms.

The Pope, bless him, made a statement about how the use of a condom by a male prostitute may show that he's developing a moral sense.

No, this does not mean that the Church endorses condom use...ever.

But is the Church against condoms?  Is the Church against guns?  Garden tractors?

A condom is a piece of rubber (or something).  In and of itself it has no morality.

It is its frequent use as a means of birth control that is the problem.  If a male (presumably homosexual) prostitute uses a condom, it is not going to be for birth control.  So the Holy Father can actually see the USE of a condom, with the intent to reduce harm, as a sign of a good development.  That there is a condom involved is rather peripheral.  The user is showing concern for the other party and attempting to prevent further evil from occurring, in the form of disease. 

I've seen this likened to someone seeing that a murderer stops torturing his victims before killing them as a sign of a developing sense of compassion.  The murder is still obviously evil, but it is not compounded evil.

The Holy Father, by making statements such as the latest one public, is showing that he believes we have the intelligence to understand what he is saying.  He is not dumbing things down for us.

Let's respond by showing that we do have the intelligence he knows is there, and thinking with the mind of the Church.

And I do thank the poster at Catholic Answers for being the catalyst for this post.

I think I Caught a Live One...

Hi Folks


Blessed Trinity Sunday!


I found this in my com box today.  Aside from my excitement of having a comment, I see it could provide me with months of blog-worthy material.


Sadly, I need to eat and sleep:

"Anders Branderud has left a new comment on your post "The Roots of Christianity"

Quote: “ if we have not drifted to far from the Jewish moorings of the Christian faith.”

I want to comment on this. 

Le-havdil, A logical analysis (found in www.netzarim.co.il (Netzarim.co.il is the website of the only legitimate Netzarim-group)) of all extant source documents and archeology proves that the historical Ribi Yehosuha from Nazareth and his talmidim (apprentice-students), called the Netzarim, taught and lived Torah all of their lives; and that Netzarim and Christianity were always antithetical. 

The original words of the pro-Torah teacher Ribi Yehoshua were redacted by Roman Hellenists, and the redaction is found in the “gospels”. J…. is described in the “gospels”, and le-havdil the teachings of the historical Torah-teacher Ribi Yehoshua from Nazareth are found in the reconstruction (using a logical and scientific methodology to create the reconstruction), Netzarim Hebrew Reconstruction of Hebrew Matityahu (NHM). 

The historical Jew Ribi Yehoshua is not the same as the Christian Jzus The historical Ribi Yehoshua was a human.

The above website proofs that the roots of Christianity are Hellenism, not Judaism".

Sorry, Anders.  All this website proves is that the writers knew/know very little of Christian History.


The "core message" of the Netzarim says this:

"The original—and only authentic—plan of salvation is found only in Tor•âh′ . Everything subsequent is a supersessionist "pretend salvation" of Displacement Theology."

Included on the website is a  book quoted called "The Da Vinci Code: A Jewish Perspective".  It is written by Rabbi Michael Skobac.

Where to begin?

At the top of page 15 of the excerpt, we are told that the real title of the 'Book of Acts' is "The Acts of the Apostles".  No!  Really?  Any legitimate, English Catholic Lectionary would have told you the same thing.


Rabbi Skobac says:

First, a little tangent.  The Gospel writer Luke did not meet Jesus either.  


History is written by the victors.  Should we be surprised?  As Protestantism increased its hold on the Christian world, anti-Catholicism became rampant.


Denying St. Paul's teachings is just 'Historical Jesus'-speak.  Jesus was most definitely a practicing Jew, as 'revealed' on another part of this website.  Paul was Pharisee.  God's salvation plan was for all people, and in order to get the message out (Some Jews will credit Christianity for spreading the Torah.  The Jews were not doing it)  there would have to be some assistance given once Jesus had ascended.  Saul/Paul was a Jewish Pharisee and a Roman Citizen.  His conversion to Christianity gave him a certain authority which made him able to reach the Gentiles.


The excerpt supplied effectively ignores the presence and teaching of Roman Catholic, and later Orthodox, Church during the first 1500 or so years of Christianity's existence.  The excerpt (pg 17) says that Martin Luther did not wish the Epistle of James to be included in the Christian Canon.  Is the writer unaware that the Epistle of James HAD been included in the Christan Canon since the Canon itself was settled (the full Christian Canon) about 1000 years earlier?  This was sanctioned by the Catholic Church!  Martin Luther was an unfortunate and unsettling presence in Christian History, and many Christian have been limping along with a shorter Bible ever since (although not without the Epistle of James!).


The Epistle of James includes teaching very clearly present in the teaching of the Catholic Church.  So who, other than Luther, was trying to mute James?


Besides, what is this to the Netzarim if they believe that Salvation is written completely and exclusively in the Torah, as stated in their core message?


In another part of  the core Netzarim message:

 "The doctrine that Tor•âh′  is the "law of sin and death" is a Christian canard, the epitome of misojudaism"

This is not a "doctrine" I have ever encountered in the Catholic Church. In fact, The Catechism of the Catholic Church says this:

 121 The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value, for the Old Covenant has never been revoked.

Also in the 'core message' is a link to the glossary entry "Displacement Theology".


This is also new to me.  Reading the glossary entry, I am linked to "misojudaism".  We are told here that Christianity is antinomian.  Wrong again! Catholicism actually considers antinomianism to be a heresy.


This is all I can deal with for now.  If anyone cares to look at the site, please feel free, but be warned!


PS  The spacing of the lines you are seeing is NOT what is in my compose box.  Sorry for the spaciness...

Comings and Goings

This is a response of sort to an American article.

http://blog.siena.org/2008/03/pew-again.html

One can tell from my name that I am Canadian, however I think much that is said in the article applies.

Evangelical churches are scooping up Catholics at an alarming rate. Just how alarming?

As one who once dabbled in evangelicism, and then discovered the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, I know what the attraction is (or was at the time). Warning...the peanut butter I ate for breakfast has stuck my tongue firmly to my cheek.

It is entertaining. There's some pretty girl standing up front wiggling and singing into a mic while a band of sorts plays behind her. She's singing choruses; short songs that are catchy and easy to remember. Emotions begin to run high. Oh yes, one can just FEEL the Holy Spirit moving in this place.

Once the music slows down, you know that it's time for Pastor X to come out and start expounding on his favourite bit of scripture. Or perhaps today it's expounding on his favourite shortcoming. Maybe (and many denominations seem to be founded on this one) he will give his views on the Catholic Church. He is anointed (if not always accurate).

The pastor's anointed status lasts until he hits a sore point with someone, who promptly leaves this gathering which he now feels has lost the Spirit, and finds another where he finds the Holy Spirit has taken up residence. Interestingly, the Holy Spirit will here condone whatever weakness or belief that causes M. Pewsitter to find himself at odds with his previous congregation. Perhaps M. Pewsitter decides HE has the spirit...and starts his own church.

The pattern is so predictable.

This year I have the privilege once again of helping people who wish to become Roman Catholic. Last week, someone made the comment that he thought he knew quite a bit about the Church when he started coming to meetings. He'd learned it from the other churches he'd attended. Now he knows that most of what he thought he knew was wrong.

Does that not sound like what Archbishop Fulton Sheen said?

There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church—

which is, of course, quite a different thing.

Radio Replies (1938)

Earlier in the evening, the same fellow made a comment that maybe the Church needed to do more work to get its actual teachings made public. I truly hope that someday this fellow will join the ranks of catechists, apologists, evangelists who do their best to teach the Catholic faith!

I think Pope Benedict XVI, who does not seem to be one to back away from genuine Church teaching...even that which does not sit well with society or certain members thereof, will inspire many to confidently proclaim the Church.

I hope that B XVI may actually inspire some dissenters within the Church to leave it in peace. They can go and start a denomination built upon their pet belief, weakness, desire, or sin, as so many have before them.

I suspect that if one really analyzed the demographics of ex-Catholics in evangelical ranks, one would find that many are there because of a sin that the Catholic Church does not accept: Divorce and re-marriage, the use of artificial birth control. Or perhaps this new church lays out in black and white a teaching that the RC church leaves to the informed consciences of its followers. M. Pewsitter may desire the support that a clearly defined teaching can give.

I wonder if we have statistics concerning the backgrounds of people entering the Church, or perhaps re-entering the Church. How many come back and bring friends and family with them?

We have been promised that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the church. Neither will public opinion.

Where did the Summer go?

Well, here we are. It's September already and evenings are becoming cool. Apples and tomatoes are ripening, and we are discovering that our attempt at growing carrots in our new garden was a failure. Such is soil in this area.

It's been an eventful Summer. Dh, the kids, and I went West for the first time in twelve years. It was nice to see friends and family after so long, but it was really nice to be home.

The Holy Father finally released the long awaited (by some of us, anyway) motu proprio freeing up priests to celebrate the extraordinary form of the Mass. This would be known by many as the Tridentine Mass. This came into effect on the fourteenth of September. It will be very interesting to see what happens. Already, a good friend of mine has arranged to be trained in the "old" style Mass. I expect he is not alone.

It will be VERY interesting to see what new priests bring from the seminaries.

I was able to read some good books this season, too. In July, I read a novel called "The Kiterunner". It is a novel about two young boys growing up in war-torn Afghanistan. It was heart-wrenching in spots, but a very interesting read.

A real surprise was a book called "A Song for Nagasaki" by Father Paul Glynn. This book is the true story of Takashi Nagai, a man who came to Catholicism from Shintoism through atheism. The book ties together Catholic history, Japanese history and culture, and a touching (can you imagine?) account of the bombing of Nagasaki. It is a pity this book is out of print. I will be spending some time finding a copy for us, as dad made it clear he wanted his copy back!

I was given a copy of a book called "Plain Reasons Against Joining the Church of Rome" by a man named Littledale. It was published in the 1880s and did not escape the notice of John Henry Cardinal Newman, who accused the book of falsehood.

Alas, attacks against the Church have not changed much. So many of the arguments in this book are still lobbed in our direction. They show ignorance of our doctrine, misunderstanding, sometimes I'm sure, malice. Some are not untrue, but show that the Catholic Church is being held to a different standard than the denominations.

I have to admit it was a bit breathtaking to read a paragraph on priests and Bishops who have committed some impropriety being moved around, rather than being dealt with. Sadly, this has been said far more recently. Fortunately, it now seems that we have finally learned our lesson and face up to the problems rather than masking them.

Now it is time for us to think about our callings for the coming year. Music, catechetics, organization...the choices are many. And as has become usual the past couple of years, the labourers are few. As usual there is a balancing act. Family commitments should have priority, or course. Ministry is also a way of sharing ones gifts with others. It allows for the development of a particular spirituality characteristic of the ministry itself, or to the person called to that ministry.

An example of this would be the ministry of lector (or reader). Such a person is tasked with proclaiming scripture to the assembled congregation. Ideally such a person would be particularly called to develop their love and knowledge of scripture. A person in music ministry would logically see the prayer in the music they produce, as well as striving to deliver it in the best way that they are able.

It looks like Dh and I will be coordinating RCIA, which is the group which helps those who wish to join the Church. It has proven very exciting in the past, and this group looks every bit as interesting.

God Bless!