Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Can anything good come from California?



Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento.
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Bishop Soto is a very courageous bishop - remember when he 'crashed' the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries Conference back in 2008?  He gave the keynote address - which flipped out several traditional Catholics who felt he should have ignored the conference all together.  I agree with Soto's tactic - don't send spies or just issue press statements and letters - meet the problem head on - face to face.  He did.  He told the gathering: 
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"Sexual relations between people of the same sex can be alluring for homosexuals," Bishop Soto told the conference, "but it deviates from the true meaning of the act and distracts them from the true nature of love to which God has called us all. For this reason, it is sinful." Bishop Soto also urged Catholics to support Proposition 8, a ballot measure to protect marriage as a sacred covenant between a man and a woman. 
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Bishop Soto began his speech with a meditation on Jesus as he is frequently portrayed in modernity - the compassionate, lenient benefactor found in the Gospel miracle accounts.  "This can oftentimes lead us to the conclusion that Jesus always said 'yes.' He always gave people what they wanted. He was an agreeable person," said the bishop. This, however, is not the complete Gospel picture of Jesus, he warned. - Finish reading. 
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You have to be a man about it and step out of your paradigm - tell the truth.
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Bishop Soto is also one of the very few bishops or priests to actually address the issue of contraception - the 'original sin' of the 'sexual revolution'.  Nobody talks about this, just as most have been preaching watered down catechetics for the past 40 years.  Soto grabs the bull by the horns and gets to the root of the problems society is experiencing today:  Contraception.
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Writing in the Catholic Herald, the diocese’s new bimonthly magazine, Bishop Soto said that building a culture of life is “more than a political agenda.” The gospel of life has the power to “transform hearts and habits as well as laws.”
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“One habit that has taken hold of many marriages is the use of artificial means of contraception,” Bishop Soto wrote. “The prevalence of the practice in and outside of the Catholic community has made contraception the unquestioned default mode of marriage. As a consequence, sexuality and relationships are misunderstood and misused; and their true purpose is misplaced.”
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“The habit has shaped the hearts and minds of many, especially the young,” he continued. “Marriage is no longer understood as the covenant of love between a man and a woman that creates life, because procreation is no longer associated with sexual intercourse,” Bishop Soto continued.
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He said that in this situation, many people cannot understand why a sexual relationship between any two people who care for each other cannot be called a marriage. - Finish reading.
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How many bishops and priests do we ever hear this stuff from?  How many actually go out and face the dissenters head on?  God bless Bishop Soto.
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Image:  The personal coat of arms of Bishop Soto.  "To the upper left (to chief dexter) is a blue seven pointed star taken from the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe to reflect the Bishop’s deep devotion to the Virgin Mary, in this title, but also that all that he does as a bishop will be under her watchful protection. "

10 comments:

  1. I SO needed to read this today! I can't really get into it online so thanks for posting this.

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  2. To answer the post title, yes: Beer by Russian River and Anchor Bay.

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  3. To hear a bishop speak with such clarity, insight, and yes, compassion, is balm upon my soul.
    May his tribe increase!!

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  4. VSO - I have heard of Russian River beer. I also forgot about the wine - and the medical...

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  5. Hey--I'm from California..born and raised..:)

    I'm just currently in exile...or maybe just a long long walkabout :)

    Raisins and strawberries also come from California...as well as happy cows :)

    Sara

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  6. Tancred: No!...what? No to what? can you elaborate?

    And Sara: We have plenty of happy cows in WI..our neighbour cows actually sun themselves, laying on their sides (very unusual)...it's probably the Mennonite "easy going" way there...but the cows are happy here in WI:-)!

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  7. Great post, Terry. For commentary on the destruction that contraception has wrought, go to the below commentary for cystal clear Truth:

    http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Chastity/Chastity_004.htm

    I had a remarkable experience in the midst of my conversion, without having read anything about Contraception, but I woke up one morning understood with the most amazing clarity all the different ways the contraception destroys the life of the soul...It is very hard to explain

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  8. Father NP..not according to THESE girls.. :)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HUgugXQKvI

    Cut and paste link into browser..

    and I PROMISE it's not naughty :)

    Sara

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  9. Father, kidding, I'm sure there are good things that come from California.

    The thing that kills me about this is that Terry is right that there are few Bishops who will talk about this. I remember Bishop Sheen back in the day, I thought all Bishops would be like him. Boy was I disappointed. I've never seen a Bishop like him, except perhaps unapproved, exiled and discredited and scorned Bishops, or priests who should have been Bishops but never were.

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