Archive for the ‘Church doctrine’ Category

It’s [Bracket away Jesus Talking About Hell] week at your Local Catholic Parish

Posted: July 23, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, Church doctrine, culture
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Fr Lou: Hmm. Sadly, movies and TV have filled our heads with images that are largely metaphorical. Not meant to be taken literally. I’m not here to hurt you, Edward. I’m here to help you. To put you at your ease. Make sure you’re comfortable. Personally, I’ve never met a demon. I’ve never been part of an exorcism, nor do I expect to be. Many of the things that bother us are just our own fears and disordered thoughts.

Nefarious (though James): [Suddenly calm] So… You… You don’t consider demonic possession to be a possibility?

Fr Lou: Our understanding has evolved beyond that.

Nefarious: Huh. Well, I appreciate you telling me that. I feel… I feel much better. And, Lou, I was wrong about you. I should’ve had you come and visit sooner.

Fr. Lou: I am glad that we’re all getting along. Would you like me to stay?

Nefarious: No, we’re done.

Nefarious 2023

One of the most basic teachings of the church is that the mass is the mass and the sacraments are the sacraments even if the priest who preforms the mass or delivers the sacraments is a lukewarm, priest or a bad priest or even an unbelieving priest. Thus the mass obligation doesn’t disappear if the priest you have isn’t up to snuff, one just has to be careful to know their catechism so as to accept the sacraments and any should teaching while reject anything contrary to church teaching that might be thrown in.

But sometimes the problem isn’t so much what is preached being contrary but what is not taught at all and the next two weeks are a good measuring stick along those lines:

Today’s Gospel for example is the parable of the sower and the weeds:

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:

“The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘”

Matt 13:24-30

Now that passage above will be read in every catholic parish in the nation, but the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has, for some reason, made the rest of the full Gospel scheduled for this week “optional”:

He proposed another parable to them.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'”

He spoke to them another parable.

“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened.”

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:


I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation
of the world.

Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply,

“He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Matt 13:31-43

What jumps out at you right away in the part of the Gospel that is “optional” is Jesus explicably talking about those who “cause others to sin and evil doers” being thrown into the fiery furnace, in short, Hell.

So the USCCB is giving parishes the option to duck away from a core teaching of the church. Why? Perhaps because it might be off putting to those who sin or cause others to sin (think of all those pro-abort Catholics out there) who might otherwise think twice and want to give pastors the option to skip it.

“But DaTechGuy” you might say, “It’s the middle of summer and it’s a long gospel. If it’s a hot day perhaps a shorter Gospel might be better in a church without AC.” Well one might give that innocent interpretation to such options , that is if next weeks’ Gospel didn’t do the same thing with the following passage from Matthew’s Gospel mandatory on the joys of the kingdom of heaven:

Jesus said to his disciples:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”

Matt 13:44-46

And this part about eternal punishment “optional”:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. “Do you understand all these things?”

They answered, “Yes.” And he replied,

“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

Matt 13:47-52

Those extra five verses doesn’t make it a very long Gospel, but they again explicitly talk about damnation of the wicked and the USCCB has again made them “optional” in this post Vatican II world.

I’m sure there are many Fr. Lou’s out there who aren’t comfortable reading that Gospel or teaching about it because it challenges the congregation to see themselves in the light of truth and that just won’t do. I guarantee you that those are the parishes that have short or non-existent lines for confession every week because nobody there ever sins and has to worry about hell.

My advice is this: if you find yourself in such a parish, find another if you’re able. If you’re not then go to Mass and take the sacraments where you are but make it a point to read all the bracketed text and find a good solid outlet either online or on radio or TV with solid Catholic teaching to feed your soul.

Whoever has ears let them hear.

Ending Celibacy in the Catholic Church A Solution that Causes Problems and Solves None

Posted: July 13, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, Church doctrine
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Today I noticed this tweet from Church Militant:

The fact is while the motives for those pushing this might not be all that pure I find this issue interesting because unlike Gay Marriage or communion for the divorced this isn’t an issue that involves making mortal sin licit.

Many people forget that the imposition of celibacy on the priesthood was itself a reform to stop inherited parishes being passed down to sons as a family business rather than being about the worship of God, so if this reform was rolled back while it would be a big change from what we’re used to it would not be an assault on the doctrine of the church.

But there is a difference between this change being “licit” and it being wise. Let me give you a few reasons why this would be a rather foolish idea.

  1. Time: If there is one thing that you will notice about your parish priest is that his time is at a premium. Between masses, hospital and nursing home visits, and various duties attending parishioners in need, a priest is very busy particularly give these duties are a 24/7 situation. Add to that the administrative duties and you leave very little time to take care of a wife and family.
  2. Cost: Right now the cost of medical care for retired priests is a significant expense. Consider what costs you would be adding to the church in general and to parishes in particular if you added the cost of insuring a priest, his wife and children.
  3. Housing: Once you are housing a priest his wife and his family you suddenly need bigger accommodations. While this might not be a disaster when you have a rectory that has a single priest when it was built to house several, if you have a parish with multiple priests suddenly housing one or more families becomes a real problem.
  4. Scandal: What do you think will be the situation when a priest and his wife quarrel? Or a priest and his son? What happens when a priest’s son or daughter gets in trouble or if you run into a situation where a wife wants to leave? All of these things not only consume time to try to repair but have the potential for scandal within the church.
  5. Jealousy: Anyone who has been in a parish for any amount of years will notice that there are a group of women who tend to pursue priests some more subtle than others. What do you think will happen when it is suddenly licit for a priest to get married? The pursuit of eligible priests in a parish will be a lot more brazen with results that will generate a lot of difficultly in for a man trying to fulfill his pastoral duties. And can you picture the type of trouble a woman whose advances are rejected by a priest can cause? Does the church really need that?

And of course none of this will solve the problem of predatory priests when you consider that four out of five cases involve homosexual behavior, in fact you might end up with the horrible situation where a priest uses a wife as a “beard” to cover such behavior. And these are just the problems that I’ve come up with today.

July 4th Adoration for the Nation

Posted: June 19, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions, Church doctrine
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“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

Two weeks ago my parish priest approached me concerning our weekly adoration (Mondays 8:30 to 7 PM, Tuesdays 8:30 to 4 pm) at our parish. Because July 4th falls on a Tuesday and the parade would block one of the regular routes to our church he wanted to know if we (myself and the other person who organizes the Adoration schedule) wanted to call it off for the day, after all many of the adorers might be attending the parade and/or spending the day with family and may not be free to come.

Now my wife being a nurse doesn’t have the 4th off but I do so I figured I could cover anyone who didn’t make it but the more I thought about it, looking at things like Minnesota going all in on abortion to the date of birth, Maryland, a state founded by Catholics going all in on Transgenderism and stuff like the Dodgers embrace of an anti Catholic group that even the San Francisco Giants had backed away from in the past, it struck me that if there was ever a day that we needed to approach God in the Blessed Sacrament it would be the 4th of July.

So in addition to telling our priest that we will have adoration as normal, I am urging Catholics across the USA to find a church or chapel that has Adoration on the 4th or if there is no such church or chapel available go online to one of the many perpetual adoration live streams offered and spend an hour with Christ in prayer for the country.

We’ll call it Adoration for the nation.

After all Christ urges us to persistence in prayer, let’s trust his word and ask.

Some Catholic Thoughts Under the Fedora: Pope Nails One, And Another, Trouble in Germany, Practical Reasons to support Priestly Celibacy and the Post Christian Experiment

Posted: March 16, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, Church doctrine, culture, under the fedora
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The Pope had something to say about all this Transgender Nonsense.

“Gender ideology, today, is one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations,” the pope said in an interview to Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper. “Why is it dangerous? Because it blurs differences and the value of men and women.”

Always good to hear him get one right. He also has been strong on coining a phrase:

He has frequently used the term “ideological colonization” in reference to cases in which influential organizations and governments require developing countries to accept abortion, contraception and Western values before they can receive aid money. For example, he lamented to Catholic bishops in 2016 that schoolchildren were being taught that they can choose their gender. “Why are they teaching this? Because the books are provided by the people and institutions that give you money.”

That nails it.

Even better Francis is two for two

“With great respect, I have no choice but to think about a derangement (“desequilibrio”) in the person who leads [Daniel Ortega]. There we have an imprisoned bishop, a very serious, very capable man. He wanted to give his testimony and did not accept exile. He is a something that is outside of what we are experiencing, it is as if it were bringing the Bolshevik communist dictatorship of 1917 or the Hitlerite dictatorship of 1935, back to life… They are a type of rude dictatorships, or, to use a nice distinction from Argentina, “guarangas” (vile), assured the Pope in the interview published on Friday.

Via Babalu Blog who notes how this contrasts with his treatment of Cuban communists:

 In its 64 years of existence, Castro, Inc. has committed millions of crimes, and its cruelty dwarfs that of Daniel Ortega. Yet, Papa Che [Francis] has never uttered a single word of condemnation — or anything close to it — against Cuba’s communist dictators.

Its’ a fair critique but it’s such a nice change to see him get things right I’ll take it.

Meanwhile in Germany things aren’t so good:

The German Synodal Way has voted to adopt “implementation texts” related to same-sex blessings, lay preaching during Mass, and a request for Pope Francis to reexamine the discipline of priestly celibacy in the Latin-rite Catholic Church.

If you think that’s bad it gets worse

While the Vatican has not explicitly condemned the Synodal Way’s promotion of heterodox proposals related to same-sex blessings and women’s ordination, the Holy See has been increasingly clear about its rejection of this form of ecclesial governance, which involves bishops and laity “sharing responsibility.” In the German proposal, laity could even overrule a bishop (or bishops at the national level) with a two-thirds majority.

Hey who needs confession when the sinners can just vote to cause sin to be legit?

Pray for these folks they need it.

There is one issue that these folks have brought up that I have mixed feelings on, that’s priestly celebacy.

This is because it was introduced as a reform to stop the practice of heredity parishes and dioceses which is no longer a problem.

I do have some practical objections.

Given the workload of most priests I don’t see how a married Priest would have time for a family and given the commitments a family involves I don’t see how you could make time for the 24/7 nature of priestly duties.

My primary objection to the idea is that as a parent I would not want priests to be in a position where there is a conflict between church and family. Furthermore the insurance costs for families might be prohibitive, particularly at a time when there is so much trouble in supporting retired priests.

Then again Anglican priests who have converted and kept their wives and families have managed to pull it off.

Anyways those are the practical objections I see, but in terms of theology I see no objection to the Vatican changing the rules, just as long as they think long and hard about it because if they think this is a solution to the sex scandals that are primary homosexual they’re wrong.

Finally one of the advantages of being my particular age is I’ve been able to observe the difference between a Christian culture and a “post Christian” culture.

We see the promotion of vice, the sexualization of children, the redefinition of basic terms we have understood for centuries. We see people unable and unwilling to deal with basic situations that our society was able to cope with less than 50 years ago without issue.

We see youth confused and unable to cope, we see people without direction grabbing different fads, dissatisfied with themselves and their positions in life without hope.

Put simply the world, as it does by it’s very nature, is chewing people up and spitting them out because they can’t cope.

One can only think of this verse from scripture:

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.

Matt 9:36

That is what happens always happens when you remove Christ from the picture. Because he respects our free will if you choose the world he will step back and let you face it alone if you choose, but fortunately he always has a hand extended if you change your mind. No person or nation is ever so far gone that God will not bless it if it repents.

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