Saturday, September 17, 2016

The lost feast of St. Francis

Sacred Stigmata of St. Francis
Peter Paul Rubens


Today I think it is pretty much only Franciscans who celebrate this feast, and maybe Traditionalists.  When I was little it was allowed universally - I think - at least it was included in my daily missal.  Of course, the event was recalled in art and literature as well.  Images as shown above inflamed my heart with devotion and attracted me to prayer, while piquing my interest in religious life.  What developed has been a lifelong devotion to St. Francis, whose intercession I ask today, that love may once again inflame my heart and purify my conscience.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who when the world was growing cold, in order that the hearts of men might burn anew with the fire of Your love, did in the flesh of the most blessed Francis reproduce the stigmata of Your passion: be mindful of his merits and prayers; and in Your mercy vouchsafe to us the grace ever to carry Your cross, and to bring forth worthy fruits of penance. Amen.




"If you now yearn to know how that happens (mystical communion with God), ask grace, not doctrine; desire, not the intellect; the groaning of prayer, not the study of the letter; the spouse, not the teacher; God, not man; darkness not clarity; not light but the fire that inflames everything and transport to God with strong unctions and ardent affections. ... We enter therefore into darkness, we silence worries, the passions and illusions; we pass with Christ Crucified from this world to the Father, so that, after having seen him, we say with Philip: that is enough for me" (Ibid., VII, 6). - Taken from Idle Speculations

Friday, September 16, 2016

"Hillary is poison" is maybe what Dr. Omalu meant to say ... but just like Lochte, he's sticking to his original Tweet.

I'll have what she's having.
Or did she just drink the water from Flint, MI?



Blaming the Russians - works for me.

[I pray for Hillary too - to get better and that God's will be done in her life.]

Not exactly what the other Scalia said:
'Rest. Weigh your options. Consider what matters. 
Pray for guidance, and wisdom in discernment...'
but maybe look for another job?


No way in hell is Hill gonna listen to that crap. She will never voluntarily drop out or quit ...


Viva il Grand-Papa



Pope Francis has made two more of his impromptu visits to hospitals and social service centres as part of his regular Friday initiatives during this Year of Mercy. - Read more here.

Him likes. 

Dishing Pope Benedict's 'Last Conversations'

Yes Holiness, I wrote everything you wanted me to say 
- they all think I resigned on my own.
Can I get a kitty now?
What?



Endless fodder for discussion.

Nothing wrong with that.

But first.  Did anyone notice that Fr. Z stepped into it?  In wondering if Benedict is the last Pope of the old era or first of the next?  Or was JPII the last?  My first thought was - let's get through this now - let history decide.  We can't decide these things while living in the midst of it.  Is someone looking to a more glorious past, attempting to revive it, hoping to re-establish the old traditional structures of European life  - such as courtly choir dress, galleros with tassels down to the elbows, cappa-magnas swept onto the street, and ornate heraldic crests on letterheads, door posts and vestry?  But I digress.

Fr. Z stepped into it when he pondered out loud, the Garabandal prophecy about the end of the era and the last Pope: 
“After His Holiness Paul VI, there will be only two more popes before the end of the present period (el fin de los tiempos) which is not the end of the world. The Blessed Virgin told me so, but I do not know what that means.”
Why do people do this?  Why do they keep spinning this stuff which gets embedded in 'popular' piety, feeds conspiracy theories, and actually contributes to 'faithful dissent'?  Not to mention leading to the boast of being more Catholic than the pope.

Garabandal - despite what everyone seems to say, is not approved.  Not approved.  I actually visited there on my way to Compostella.  It's a lovely place.  I never got the impression it was authentic or false, what impressed me at the time, was the poverty of the place and very few pilgrims.  I met one of the seers without knowing who she was until after my visit.   I was concerned about the veracity of the phenomena after reading the Bishop's letter posted to the parish church door, rejecting the claims, stating there was no supernatural validity for the apparitions.  It doesn't make me an expert, but I know well enough that the local ordinary, the bishop of the place has the authority to discern the authenticity of the claims.

The recognition of apparitions are not considered a requirement of faith.

Nevertheless, there have been numerous claims that saints and popes have 'believed' the events at Garabandal.  In fact I know many good priests and contemplatives who still believe in the authenticity of the apparitions.

They can do that, I suppose, but it adds nothing to the faith.  In some cases it may even 'retard' belief.  Not a few focus upon things such as 'the last pope at the end of an era' prophecy - which can lead to rejecting one and accepting another, to give credence to one and reject the other, and so on.  Likewise, spiritual life can be left in a sort of 'suspended animation' if you will - waiting for the warning and chastisement, hoping you get 'raptured' or saved in the process.  It can become an obsession and a subtle 'replacement for an authentic spiritual life' if one is not careful, leading to faulty interpretations as regards the 'signs of the times' and real life.

That said, Fr. Z is getting some notice for his speculation - and he will continue to get more as he decodes Last Conversations.  Nothing wrong with that - it's what he does.  He's also met, and spoken with the man, and so he really knows Benedict Joseph Ratzinger.

I'm just pointing out these discussions are pretty much parlour games, little more.  I'm just the footman muttering to himself about the guests ...

Second speculation on Last Conversations.

A friend sent me a very interesting article/letter from Dr. Robert Moynihan on a discussion regarding the Dark Night, as discussed by Pope Benedict in Last Conversations with Peter Seewald.  It must be a letter to subscribers, since I can't find Moynihan's article online.  It is an excellent essay on the subject of the dark night of the soul understood in the Carmelite sense of John of the Cross.  Because I can't find the text online, I include it below - edited for brevity.

The Dark Night of Emeritus Pope Benedict
The term "dark night (of the soul)" is used in Roman Catholicism for a spiritual crisis in a journey toward union with God.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a 19th-century French Carmelite, wrote of her own experience. Centering on doubts about the afterlife, she reportedly told her fellow nuns, "If you only knew what darkness I am plunged into." 
But St. John of the Cross, the 16th century Spanish Carmelite mystic, tells us that this "dark night" is not something to be feared or avoided, but rather a great grace and a healing experience for the soul that seeks to draw ever closer to the ultimate it may experience, that is, the soul's Beloved — God.
In his new interview-book, published on September 9 in German and Italian as Ultime Conversazioni ("Last Conversation"), German author Peter Seewald asks Emeritus Pope Benedict whether he has ever experienced a "dark night" of the soul.
And the former pontiff responds "no," adding, with humility, "Perhaps I am not holy enough to have plumbed the depths of that obscurity."
Benedict then tells Seewald that he has had difficult spiritual moments, moments when things have happened to the people around him, causing his to question how God could have permitted such a thing, moments when he has asked himself "how all this evil can be reconciled with the omnipotence and the goodness of the Lord."
So we know that Benedict has suffered from the things he has seen occur around him.
And we know he has even questioned the dispositions of God in these circumstances: How could these painful and evil events be reconciled with God's goodness?
Benedict doesn't dwell on this. His words are concise. He doesn't give examples of what he is referring to. So, in a sense, he is revealing his experience of passing through a sort of "intellectual" night of darkness, when he did not understand, try as he might, how a good God could allow such things to be.
Seewald asks him: "How do you face such problems of faith?"
Benedict replies: "I face them first of all by not abandoning the underlying certainty of the faith and remaining, one might say, immersed in it. And knowing that if I do not understand something, it is not because it is wrong but because I am too small to understand it. Sometimes it has happened that I arrived bit by bit at understanding. And it is always a gift when, unexpectedly, one sees something that one did not see before. One understands that one must be humble, that is one does not understand the words of the Scripture one must wait until the Lord discloses them to our comprehension."
The striking thing about this answer is that it gives us a clear insight into the working of Benedict's mind and soul.
We all know that he is a profound intellect, a man of deep study, much knowledge, and brilliant insight.
And yet, he is revealing to us here that he not only has had difficulty with accepting the evils of this life, but also with understanding the words of the Scriptures.
And we know more: we know that he has experienced moments of understanding as he has sought to comprehend the meaning of those events, and of those Scriptures.
He tells us that these moments have been "gifts" to him.
He tells us that he has received these "gifts" of understanding after patient waiting: "one must wait until the Lord discloses the meaning."
And Seewald, rightly, asks: "And does he disclose the meaning?"
Benedict replies: "Not always. But the fact that there exist moments in which he does shows me the grandeur (or "the greatness") of that experience."
Here we are being given an invitation to contemplate the daily experience of Benedict as he sought to understand the mind of God and the meaning of the Scriptures. Benedict is telling us that, in those moments when he could not understand why something had happened, in those moments when he could not understand the meaning of a passage of Scripture, he waited in an attitude of patience for the Lord to give him light, understanding, insight. And he tells us this happened to him more than once.
Partly for this reason, I think -- because Benedict has explained how his intellect, in moments of lack of clarity, has been enlightened by the Lord -- Seewald then asks the rather odd question: "Would you consider yourself an enlightened one?" (In Italian, the question is: "Si considerebbe un illuminato?")
"No, no," Benedict replies, and Seewald tells us that he was laughing. "No," he says, a third time.
Seewald then asks: "But doesn't the life of a Catholic-Christian also tend by definition toward illumination (or "enlightenment") as it does toward holiness?"
Benedict replies: "The concept of the 'enlightened' one (Benedict uses the word "illuminato" in Italian) has in it something of elitism. I am an entirely normal Christian. Naturally our task is to recognize the truth, which is a light. And through the power of the faith, even a simple person is enlightened ("illuminata"). Because he sees what others, even in their wisdom, do not perceive. In this sense, the faith is enlightenment ("illuminazione"). The Greeks called baptism Photismos, enlightenment ("illuminazione"), coming to the light, acquiring sight. My eyes are opened. I see a dimension which is entirely different, that I cannot perceive with the eyes of the body."
And with these words, the first chapter of this book ends. - Moynihan
"Perhaps I am not holy enough to have plumbed the depths of that obscurity."

Thanks to Ray for sending me the article.  It is indeed edifying.

My very first response is that this is very insightful. Pope Benedict is genuinely and authentically humble - very much like the saints - it seems to me he considers himself unable to judge himself - in the sense St. Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 4:3, although in a different situation of faith. I'm not sure St. Therese was able to judge her night, nor more recently, if Mother Teresa of Calcutta was able to judge her experience. Spiritual directors and mystical theologians have that job. I think what Benedict does beautifully in this interview is demonstrate these things are common to the ordinary Christian.

 I wish I was smarter - but I think - if we ponder what is revealed in this conversation, the Holy Father is explaining what it means to live from faith. A living faith is supernatural - so he speaks of the underlying foundation of faith while he continues to puzzle as to why and how God permits evil - to the point it seems to triumph. That is the cross, that is the dark night of faith. I think that the dark night of the soul should always, in cases like this, be identified as the dark night of faith - it is not purgative for the soul as much as it is an actual participation in the passion of Christ - in the loftiest sense - and in that way it is an act of reparation.

I could be wrong.

However, I think it is more important to consider the life of faith which Pope Benedict reveals, than the novelty of this or that obscure prophecy from here or there.  Know what I mean?


Yeah, you can still drink and be holy.
A toast!
Now let's turn the bar around ad orientem!

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Madonna dell'Addolorata


My devotion stems from the patronage of
St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows,
when I was very little.




The Seven Holy Founders
who dedicated themselves as
Servants of Our Lady of Sorrows
also obtained for me devotion
to Our Lady under this title.


Coming of age in an Italian neighborhood
may have 
instilled in me an even deeper devotion.


My devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows
began to 'hurt' as I got older ...


until now perhaps ...
 as I understand better, how present the
Sorrowful Mother is in our conflicts
and difficulties today ...


We now know how at Fatima, Our Lady 
appeared as Our Lady of Sorrows
the day of the miracle.


More recently, Our Lady of Sorrows
appeared in Rwanda at Kibeho.
Demonstrating how present she is
in our conflicts
and difficulties today ...

+ + +


"At Rwanda, the Virgin Mary said that the rosary was one of the most powerful tools in the world to defend us against temptation and evil. She pleaded with everyone to pray the rosary at least once a day, no matter what religion they belonged to, and promised all who did would receive special spiritual graces and blessings." - Read more here,  and here.




Wednesday, September 14, 2016

The Army will now pay for gender transition surgery.


“I am unendingly relieved that the military
 is finally doing the right thing. 
I applaud them for that. This is all that I wanted
– for them to let me be me,” Manning said
in a statement provided by her lawyers.
- Chelsea Manning


Manning was convicted of treason and sentenced to 35 years in prison, as well as forfeiture of all pay and allowances, including a dishonorable discharge. So this action by the military is indeed extraordinary.

If the military allows sex change surgery I bet it's a new wartime strategy, secret-weapon type of operation soon to be implemented after Trump is elected.  (Mostly to catch rapists.)

Song for this post here.

Unusual straight-talk from Cardinal Schönborn




"Will there be an Islamic Conquest of Europe?"**

Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn made the warning on Sunday during the church festival "Holy Name of Mary", which was first introduced 333 years ago in gratitude for the victory over the Ottomans in the Battle of Vienna.
According to the Archdiocese of Vienna, the cardinal said: "Will there be an Islamic conquest of Europe? Many Muslims want that and say: Europe is at the end."
He asked God to have mercy on Europe and to show mercy to its people, which he said "are in danger of forfeiting our Christian heritage".
Schönborn explained that people could already feel this loss, "not only economically, but above all, in human and religious matters".
The cardinal's statement came as many places across Austria commemorated the 333rd anniversary of the Battle of Vienna. During the battle on 11-12th September 1683, combined Christian forces defeated over 100,000 soldiers from the Ottoman Empire.

The battle was fought by the Habsburg Monarchy, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Holy Roman Empire against the invading Muslim Ottoman Empire. Polish King John III Sobieski famously commanded the Christian army toward its victory. - Finish reading here.

+ + +

O Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary,
save us!


*Sobieski's defeat was thorough and humiliating. This was the beginning of a decline of militant Islam until the 21st Century. Now you know why Osama bin Laden chose 9/11 for his attack on America for revenge. Terrorists often use some significant date or anniversary for a strike. In gratitude Pope Innocent extended this Feast of the Holy Name of Mary to the Universal Church. MOTHER MARY, WE ASK YOU TO INTERCEDE FOR PEACE in our world as a revived radical Islam again threatens us. BRING US BACK TO YOUR SON and NURTURE OUR FAITH . - Source


**H/T EP 

Too Much Information ... Tell-all books and interviews from the popes.

Super-Ratz


It's all so confusing.

No wonder everybody foams at the mouth these days, with criticism and nasty comments about two popes and orthodoxy and all the daily pull-quotes and sound bites, apparently trying to prove they are more Catholic than the pope.

It hit me yesterday when I read:
Retired Pope Benedict XVI reveals in a new set of interviews that he was among those who were dissatisfied with Pope Paul VI's 1968 teaching prohibiting Catholics from using artificial birth control. - Benedict reveals dissatisfaction...
So?

Did you know Bl. Pius IX was a liberal before he became pope?  Did you know that as Cardinal, Pope Francis criticized Pope Benedict for his Regensburg speech?  Benedict was a liberal - he says progressive - explaining he was not like the heretical progressives - but they were friends.  He was a liberal/progressive - we knew that.  He loves Pope Francis - it's the hermeneutic of continuity.  Popes are popes.

Careful reading and close examination of the men who sit in the Chair of Peter is not necessary for salvation.  It may even be harmful to the faith.  It's too much to think about or get involved in for ordinary Catholics.  Even for professional Catholics.  For me it is amazing that churchmen have any faith at all when everything is nit-picked to theological tedium and they get themselves embroiled in papal intrigue and gossip.

Just pray, go to Mass and confession and communion and let them write and talk and give interviews - it doesn't affect me.

Oh.  And then Benedict says he struggled with celibacy or something?  Like he had a girlfriend before becoming a priest?  (I didn't read the book - just a headline.  What?)  So.  Who wants to know that?  Not a need to know.  I was content thinking he and Ganswein were close friends and that he had a cat.



He should have slapped Fr. Z too.


What?

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Now Hillary has a body double? The disturbing collapse of Hillary Clinton.

It's Pope Paul VI and Sr. Lucia all over again.


I'm actually serious about the disturbing part.

It is disturbing - something appears to be wrong with Mrs. Clinton's health, and speculation is running wild.  It's even crazy - especially the idea of a body double.

But I think she's fine.  I'm sticking with my first impression too.  Mrs. Clinton just wasn't feeling well.  She was up late the night before - had a few drinks.  On September 11 she was dressed too tight - meaning, she probably was wearing Spanks as well as a bullet-proof vest, her feet are too small for her body - she has huge legs, she was overheated, dehydrated, and just not feeling well.  She probably had diarrhea and went to Chelsea's to change her pants.  She just pretended to collapse rather than admit she pooped her pants.

Hillary with the doctor 
pretending to be her new
best friend.


Oh.  Oh!  She had her doctor with her too - so the ER wasn't necessary.  The doctor checked her vital signs to make sure she didn't need to go to the ER and to demonstrate she was there for her and all that.  They went to Chelsea's, got her cleaned up, gave her some sort of energy shot, and she walked out alone to show she was fine.  And her hair was a very Henri Bendel weekend dyke-do.  Very New York.  Very Vogue.

So that's it in a nutshell folks.  She's  fine - still full of piss and vinegar.

All the health reports and rumours are coming from the vast right-wing conspiracy-basket cases of deplorables, trying to spread their phobic lies across social media.

Hillary, one day earlier.


What? 

The Fourth Apparition: September 13, 1917


At least 30,000 people gathered at the Cova on this date.

When the apparition concluded, Lucia called to the crowd, "If you wish to see her --- look! Look!"

Many who were there saw a golden globe of light carry the Blessed Virgin to and from the site above the holm oak.

"Continue to say the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, to obtain the peace of the world and the end of the war, because only she can obtain it." - July 1917 request.
At every apparition Our Lady asked for the daily recitation of the Rosary, this day in September 1917 was no different:
"Continue the Rosary, my children. Say it every day that the war may end." - September 1917

Lucia also asked Our Lady about those who were asking for cures.
"And the conversions that some have asked to have brought about? The cures of the sick ones?"
Our Lady responded: "Some I will cure, and some I will not. In October I will perform a miracle so that all may believe."

Our Lady understands her children.  Her call is to conversion and for us to believe.  In some cases, a healing could be deleterious to ones faith and devotion.  Consider her response to Lucia's request in July:
Thus assured, Lucia began to place before the Lady the petitions for help that so many had entrusted to her. The Lady said gently that she would cure some, but others she would not cure.  "And the crippled son of Maria da Capelinha?"
Our Lady responded: "No, neither of his infirmity nor of his poverty would he be cured, and he must be certain to say the Rosary with his family every day."

We may wonder why Our Lady refused to cure some?  (To be sure she would aid in their conversion, as she promised to those who faithfully recite her rosary.)  In fact, sometimes, even after many years of prayer, some people are not healed of their disabilities.  I think the reason Maria da Capelina's son wasn't cured, was because the infirmity, the poverty, was the thing which would keep him from falling away from the faith, provided he continued to pray the rosary every day - which in turn ensured for him Our Lady's protection and intercession for his salvation.

Today we think we must be healed or something is lacking - we must have a profitable, secure life, without poverty - we think we need success and esteem, to be fashionable and admired.  We see being crippled as unsuitable, being poor as some sort of failure.  Yet it was to these Our Lord came, sending out messengers to invite the lame and the blind, the crippled, the poor.

If we can't do anything - we can pray the rosary every day.  Our Lady knows us better than we know ourselves.  It may not be necessary for us to be healed or delivered from our poverty ... lest we begin to imagine we have no need for God, or Our Lady, or anyone else, and we lose faith and stop praying.

 
Understanding and accepting our limitations makes it more difficult for us to look down on others.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Amy Winehouse spirituality

Our Lady of the Forsaken, 
patroness of the insane, abandoned, 
avoided and excluded and despised,
the no good, 
pray for us!

Yesterday's Gospel helped me realize something.

It's an old guy's Gospel.  Not some young guy coming to his senses and going back to the sacraments - like I thought I was the prodigal son returning.  No. No. No.

Because I kept falling back.  I squandered my whole life ... I'm not going to make a public penance here - but believe me - I squandered just about every grace I was ever given.  And ... I am brought to nothing.  I went to confession with that.

Now my prayer really is the sinners prayer ... 

I cheated myself
Like I knew I would
I told ya I was troubled
You know that I'm no good ...
That's what I mean by Amy Winehouse spirituality, or prayer.

So, in prayer we need to be honest and straight with our Lord. We need to tell him about our temptations and sins and fears.  Who or what I like and don't want to give up - and I need to talk to him about it. Prayer has to be real.  Say - 'look at me, Lord!'  'Have mercy on me a sinner!'  'I told you I was troubled, you know I'm no good.'  St. Philip Neri used to pray, 'Lord, you can't trust Philip.'  It's the same thing ...

We, I need to ask him to help me at every step, and to supply for what I can't do on my own. 

"Lord - what am I supposed to do? How?" This kind of prayer, before the rosary or the hours, lets him know we don't want to be rigid and isolated, that we finally acknowledge how powerless we are. In effect, we give up all our lies and affectations, confessing our failure to will or accomplish. We need to surrender, and ask him to make us holy the way he wants us to be holy - not a carbon copy of this or that model of holiness. Without decorous pretending. No dressing up and pretending.

Repeat as necessary. After every fall.  After every betrayal.

Know what I'm saying? It's my Amy Winehouse approach 'you know I'm no good'. I can't be trusted. I have no merits of my own. I can't do anything by myself. I need Jesus and his merits - transmitted through the sacraments. Know what I'm trying to say?



Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.




Song for this post here.

Pope Francis on divisions.

Holy Name of Mary



“The devil has two very powerful weapons to destroy the Church: divisions and money.”



Today's first reading for Mass really struck me, and now online, I discover the Holy Father discussed what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, and I think it is prophetic.
“And the divisions in the Church do not allow the Kingdom to grow; they do not allow the Lord to be seen as He is. Divisions make you see this part, this one against the other. Always against! There is no oil of unity, the balsam of unity. But the devil goes elsewhere, not only in the Christian community, he goes right to the root of Christian unity. And this happens here, in the city of Corinth, to the Corinthians. Paul rebukes them precisely because divisions arise, right at the heart of unity, that is, in the Eucharistic celebration.” - RV
"Right here - at the heart of unity, that is, in the Eucharistic celebration."

I'm so glad the daily homilies are back.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine ... believes the Church will approve gay marriage.

Tim Kaine goes to Mass


What did I tell you?

In my post Thursday - Gay network forming in the Church again? - I suggested that it never left, that it has pretty much influenced popular opinion among Catholics regarding rejection of Catholic teaching on sexual ethics and marriage. I wrote, rather clumsily I think, but I tried to point out how embedded this notion is in many Catholic 'communities':
That said, there are priests and lay people who approve of homosexual activity and same sex marriage, as well as adoption by homosexuals. Religious-ed and youth ministers and others in parishes currently believe that Church teaching can and will change, and therefore they promote, support, and encourage acceptance and approval of homosexuality - quietly and discreetly. They protect one another's secrets and try to help one another inside the system - be it the parish, the diocese and it's ministries, or the Vatican. No one seems to be able to break that up - since in many places, there is also parental (lay) approval.
VP nominee Tim Kaine just proved my point.

I have to say I like the guy - I don't agree with his pro-choice politics, to be sure, and I completely disagree with him regarding gay marriage and his misconception that the Church can or will come around to accept and approve gay marriage.  He doesn't understand Scripture or Catholic teaching on faith and morals - and if he believes Pope Francis will approve gay marriage, he is very much mistaken.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine is predicting that the Roman Catholic Church may eventually change its opposition to gay marriage.
Kaine is a Roman Catholic as well as a U.S. senator from Virginia and a former governor of that state. He told the Human Rights Campaign during its national dinner Saturday in Washington that he had changed his mind about gay marriage and that his church may follow suit one day.
“I think it’s going to change because my church also teaches me about a creator who, in the first chapter of Genesis, surveyed the entire world, including mankind, and said, ‘It is very good,'” Kaine said. He then recalled Pope Francis’ remark that “who am I to judge?” in reference to gay priests.
“I want to add: Who am I to challenge God for the beautiful diversity of the human family? I think we’re supposed to celebrate it, not challenge it,” Kaine said. - Finish reading here.
 

People will say anything to get elected, but Mr. Kaine is ill informed, and he's given LGBTQ people false hope.  If he changed his mind to favor gay marriage in 2005 - he can change it again - let's hope he does so, and returns to the truth about marriage and family.  Perhaps someone will point out to Kaine what Pope Francis actually teaches regarding gay marriage?

As Cardinal Bergoglio, Pope Francis made clear his concerns regarding gay marriage:

 [Letter of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, to the Carmelite Nuns of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (June 22, 2010)]

I write this letter to each one of you in the four Monasteries of Buenos Aires. The Argentine people must face, in the next few weeks, a situation whose result may gravely harm the family. It is the bill on matrimony of persons of the same sex.
The identity of the family, and its survival, are in jeopardy here: father, mother, and children. The life of so many children who will be discriminated beforehand due to the lack of human maturity that God willed them to have with a father and a mother is in jeopardy. A clear rejection of the law of God, engraved in our hearts, is in jeopardy.

I recall words of Saint Thérèse when she speaks of the infirmity of her childhood. She says that the envy of the Devil tried to extort her family after her older sister joined the Carmel. Here, the envy of the Devil, through which sin entered the world, is also present, and deceitfully intends to destroy the image of God: man and woman, who receive the mandate to grow, multiply, and conquer the earth.  - Link
Elsewhere, Pope Francis clearly stated:
"Let's not be naive, we're not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God." - Source 


 
Next!