Eric Johnson – Page 72 – Catholic Light

How long, O Lord?

Despair is one of the seven deadlies, and I’m not tempted to it, but I can understand why many orthodox Catholics want to withdraw from the world in disgust. One of two men who will be president is a Catholic who openly defies Catholic teaching and dares Church leaders to do something about it. Yet it looks like the shepherds will be as sheep once again:

Rev. John Ardis, director of the Paulist Center, said the Kerrys had received Communion [at the Paulist Center in Boston] and were always welcome to do so. Asked if he had been instructed not to offer Kerry Communion Ardis said: “No. Definitely not. I got a call from them (the archdiocese) an hour ago … They wanted me to know that the archbishop has not taken a stand and he is free to receive the Eucharist.”

How long will we have to endure this? Why are people who try to keep the faith constantly marginalized, and powerful and arrogant men are accomodated?
If you’ve read my postings, you know that I believe Catholics should engage and transform the culture, not shun it. It would be nice if bishops would try harder to restrain the wolves among us who mislead the faithful into thinking that abortion and Catholicism can somehow be reconciled.
Here is a United States senator and presidential candidate who doesn’t just look the other way if women procure abortions, he goes out of his way to make sure they do it. He even thinks it’s okay to deliver a child partially and violently murder it by stabbing it in the head and sucking out his brains — and he went out of his way to vote against prohibiting that type of murder.
This problem isn’t going to go away. The bishops need to collectively correct John Kerry or people will continue to make excuses for attacks on innocent children. There are plenty of laity who are pointing this out, but it is bishops and priests who bear the primary responsibility for teaching the faith and protecting the faithful. Some of the clergy have begun to contend for the faith; others must join them. On my knees, I pray they will do their duty.

The Islamists’ favored candidate

Today, Senator Kerry thinks it’s good time to excoriate the president in an NPR interview while soldiers and Marines are dying. At this very moment, there are men fighting to capture or kill the enemies of the United States and the Iraqi people. Doesn’t he grasp that? Can’t he come out of his fog of preening self-absorption and think, “Maybe there is a better time to offer my criticisms”?
I have no problem with criticizing Bush administration policy per se. But there’s are proper times to do it, and there are better and worse ways to phrase it. You should not do it in a way that helps murderous, anti-American thugs. When Kerry recommends handing Iraq over to the U.N., or criticizing the arrest of someone openly fomenting rebellion against the Coalition, it can’t do anything but gladden the hearts of the insurgents and their Islamist cheerleaders around the world.
When it comes to destroying armed, lawless militias, is the U.N. going to do a better job than the U.S. Marines? Let me put that another way: if you had to live in a war zone, would you feel safer being with a battalion of Marines, or with a battalion of blue-helmeted soldiers under U.N. command?
I listened to the interview as NPR broadcast it, and I’ve read several articles about the interview, and I don’t think Kerry bothered to make a perfunctory statement such as, “Whatever my differences with the president, I want our troops to emerge victorious, and may God protect them and comfort their families.” With all that money, he can’t even buy himself an ounce of class.
Later today, Kerry is speaking at Georgetown University, which isn’t that far away from my office. I want to go and ask, “Do you think encouraging the enemy is a good idea during wartime?” Of course, he did the same thing during the Vietnam War, so the answer is “no not really.”
UPDATE: Kerry said in his Georgetown speech that the Iraq War was “one of the greatest failures of diplomacy and failures of judgment that I have seen in all the time that I’ve been in public life.” He said “we’re all united as a nation in supporting our troops” but said nothing about the troops winning.
He repeated his charge that the handover was predicated on the timing of the presidential election. He’s wrong. The administration’s original timetable called for the handover in 2005, but Ayatollah Sistani demanded an earlier date and so we compromised. It had nothing to do with the election, which one would think journalists might remember (it was in all the papers last November), but there are so few real journalists these days.
UPDATE #2: We’re also “mak[ing] war against the Iraqi people” and the Hezbollah-backed Muqtada al-Sadr is a “legitimate voice.” Is it fair to say he’s making excuses for the enemy?

A prayer for success in battle

Lord Jesus, protect the soldiers and Marines who are fighting the enemies of peace. Save the people of Iraq from the wolves who seek to dominate them. Pour out your wrath on the bloodthirsty men who kill and terrify the innocent. Have mercy on their souls, but crush them utterly, and may their humiliation lead the wicked to repent their evil deeds.

Stem Cells: The New Viagra

“The promise offered by the use of stem cells is virtually boundless,” DiPrima said. “There is no reason why stem-cell-based cures can’t be found for such unfortunate afflictions as wrinkles, cellulite, excessive flatulence, chronic halitosis, and erectile dysfunction.”

Read the full article.

Kerry: Communion from Protestants, not Catholics

Two stories about Senator Kerry from a Catholic perspective:
1. Kerry attended an African Methodist Episcopal church on Sunday, which was really a political rally dressed up in churchly garb. “[T]he Rev. Gregory Groover recognized him from the pulpit as ‘the next president of the United States,'” AP reports. But AME churches are predominantly black, and so it’s okay for them to have tax-free political rallies on Sunday mornings. Kerry also received communion. Yes, communion in a Protestant church.
2. An article in the Telegraph about how American bishops are thinking of collectively refusing Kerry communion. The piece is well worth reading, because if true, this could really help turn the Church around: by showing that institutionally, the Church is willing to fight up for its beliefs even though it might not go over well with the liberal media. (As if the media loves the Church right now.)
Buried in the story is another item that Kerry avoided Mass in favor of attending a Baptist Church. Kerry’s rejection of Catholic teaching on life issues, his rejection of the Eucharist in favor of Protestant services, and his defiance of the bishops, can only lead to one conclusion: he’s really a Protestant. Refusing him communion is more of an act of public truth-in-labeling than anything else.
Postscript: He’s sold out Christianity if he supports a pro-abortion purist like Kerry (and his own people — abortion kills black babies disproportionately more than any other group). However, “Reverend Groover” is the coolest name for a preacher I’ve ever heard.