A View From the Pew

And don't let the screen door hit you on the.....

I checked up on St. Joan's in Minneapolis today--- I was curious to see if their new pastor was "installed" yet--- not that Fr. James will be any different from Fr. George----but was curious what the buzz was--- not much being said yet---although I found a couple things worth commenting on----like this little article "Visioning the Church men and women desire" from which I clipped this gem:

"And what if these changes don’t occur? It was pointed out that even if the archbishop wanted to, he has little power to make these things happen unless the Vatican alters dramatically. Suggestions on how to remedy that situation were not timid. Many of the participants say that unless the Church recognizes the equality of women and changes the male hierarchical way of governing, unless it changes its views on sexuality issues, and unless it recognizes primacy of conscience, they will take dramatic steps. They will participate in boycotts, withhold money, and, if all else fails, split from or abandon the Church. As one participant says, "We will find a new Joan of Arc to lead the way."

I can only say please, please please--- just leave. Oh--- I know that that sounds uncharitible but you know this whole mindset is very much on my last nerve--- it is one of the reasons I haven't posted much lately--- I needed a break. I don't think I am being "judgmental" or unfair--- it is obvious by their own words they have already left the Church intellectually and spiritually a long time ago--- so why live in a duplicitous manner--- so much agnst--- they need to go find a place where their ideology is accepted--- we and more importantly they would be so much happier.

Then I stumbled on to their Pastoral Council meeting minutes--- kind of a loopy bunch but I found this little tidbit very revealing:

"New Business:

1. Responding to the Archdiocese: The majority of the meeting was spent discussing this issue. Specifically the issues discussed were: developing a relationship with the Archdiocese........The question was raised; does building a relationship with the Archbishop really do anything? Some felt that he knows us well already. Others felt that strengthening the coalition of Inclusive Catholics would be a good strategy. Ray pointed out that we need to be thinking politically, not theologically."

Says a lot--- a parish of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul is wondering if they *need* to develop a relationship with the diocese and their bishop??? Here's a suggestion--- just make the schism formal and be done with it.

Katie, Katie, katie....

Katie Now "Shame"-less

It seems Katie Holmes had to quit her latest project to "focus" on her pregnancy. What does that mean??? Having been pregnant twice I do not remember needing to quit my job and focus on the fact---- I swear each new thing I read about this wacky duo is more bizarre then the last. Katie is beginning to look like a real life Stepford wife--- oh-wait! she isn't even a wife yet!!!!

The only sane person involved in the whole Tom-Kat situation appears to be Katie's father Martin Holmes who is reportedly very displeased with his daughter's behavior and upon being told the "good" news scolded his daughter and told Tom Cruise "You're no good". Way to go Martin! High 5!

The Arrogant and the Asinine

I don't know why I do this--- "this" is checking the links on the Catholic World News Synod page--- it is a descent into the inane rantings of the arrogant and the asinine-- as well as the ignorant and heterodox---each time I come out I swear I won't go back---but I do--- once again inviting myself to a near occasion of sin---

In this category of asinine, ignorant, arrogant and heterodox try this one by Ina Hughs Talk - and walk - message of inclusion Ina says in part:

"The Catholic Church has now gone on record blaming their recent scandals on the gays. Messing with little boys, they decided, is what gay men do. Therefore, the pope is systematically sending emissaries to schools and seminaries to purge the priesthood of all gay men. If you are gay, they say, God doesn't want you. The church doesn't want you. Why?

Because you are a pedophile.

To equate "gay" and "pedophile" is loony. A pedophile is an adult who messes with children."

Ina, Ina--- my dear--- please, please---PLEASE get the facts straight. My dear woman it is secular journalists like you that continue to perpetrate the myth linking pedophilia to homosexuality by falsely claiming that the "recent scandals" are based on pedophilia--- or as you phrase it "priests messing with little boys". If you took the time to check the facts as revealed by the John Jay College Report you would know that those whom the priests were "messing around" with were not "little boys" but big boys--- most of whom (80%) were pubescent or post pubescent teenagers---- while preying on pubescent and post pubescent boys is reprehensible--- it is NOT pedophilia. So those priests were not pedophiles--- they were/are men who in most cases self identify themselves as homosexual---most of whom were also sexually active with ADULT males as well as  boys---some of whom were even engaged in long term homosexual relationships. If you did even a little more research and checked out the many bishops who have resigned over the past few years (according to my last count 19) thirteen of them resigned due to scandals involving same sex relationships with ADULT males--- like Rembert Weakland.

What is really loony Ina is that journalists like yourself need to obfuscate and misrepresent the facts in an attempt to divert attention from the truth--- the Catholic Church did not have a problem with pedophile priests--- truth be told that there are no more pedophiles in the priesthood then there are in any other vocation--- the bigger problem was with certain homosexual priests preying on older boys and young men--- and a bunch of sexually active homosexual bishops and seminary rectors trying to keep their trysts with young men inside and outside the seminary on the QT. When you are busy trying to keep your own skeletons in the closet it is much easier to ignore and accommodate the skeletons in others closets.

By questioning whether homosexual men should be admitted to the seminary the Vatican is not conducting a witch hunt---it is not even saying that homosexual men cannot be good priests---- it is simply looking at the facts placed before them over the past few years and trying to decide not only what is in the best interest of the Church but also what is in the best interest of homosexual men who are discerning their vocation in the Church. The Church is concerned that an all male environment--- being forced to live in close community with other men may be a burden that many homosexual men may have difficulty bearing--- is it fair to place them in an environment where there could be great temptation---especially if living with other homosexual men under the same roof year after year--- To keep it sweet and simple---Let me put it this way Ina--- I know many heterosexual priests who maintain their vows of celibacy but even you would have to admit that it would be "loony" to place such a priest in a house with a bunch of women--- not only sharing their living space and but also spending the vast majority of his leisure time with them as well--- not to mention being his main source of confidence and camaraderie--- do you think that would be a prudent thing to do to a heterosexual man who must live a vow of celibacy? Did you ever wonder why religious orders seperate the men from the women? Come on Ina--- all it takes is a little common sense---- ahhh--- but common sense and truth get in the way of your agenda--- don't they?

Angela Bonavoglia won't let Catholic Church silence her

Angela Bonavoglia won't let Catholic Church silence her

You know--- I am so grateful that for the most part the people that buy into this are the baby boomer hippie types --- so that means many of them are well into their golden years and through attrition their ideological death grip on the American Church will soon give way to the young and the orthodox.

I cringe every time I see or hear one of my peers still trapped in the past---holding fast to the faded ideals born in the Summer of Love  --- Angst and rebellion can look cute on a starry eyed, idealistic, twenty something in hip hugging bell bottoms with flowers in her hair but it looks silly and trite on mature, well educated, successful women who have never really lived an oppressed day in their lives. Unless of course having to accept the teachings of a church *they can leave at any time* ---or perhaps staying home and raising children are your definitions of being "oppressed".

St Edith Stein in one of her many writings on the vocation of women said that "woman will always set the quality of a given time acting either as the "demon of the abyss" or the savior for all the life around her." Long ago it became obvious to me that women were the humanizing element in society. This is primarily through the influence of mothers being home to raise their children and the predominance of women in primary education --- places where young human beings are civilized and formed. Edith Stein recognized this too---way before I was born. Somehow---despite my secular-feminist education something inside me screamed "no-no-no" after the birth of my first child when I reached the end of my maternity leave.  I could not leave him with strangers at the tender age of six weeks. So despite the gasps of my "sisters" I chose to be a stay at home mom. Intuitively, somehow I realized he needed me more then I needed to further my career or more then we needed the four bedroom house on the north shore.

Of course I was frequently asked by friends and family since I wasn't working if I was going to take advantage of the situation to get my graduate degree. The message was loud and clear---staying at home to care for my six week old baby was a waste of precious time--- I should be doing something to further myself--- to reach my fullest potential--- of course I could never do that by staying at home! Heck it was bad enough I had chosen nursing instead of medicine as a career--- I should at least get my masters in health care administration or become a nurse practitioner!

I disappointed everyone by deciding to be just a mom--- I wish I could say I knew what I was doing but the truth be told I am one of those people who by "nature" has committed the gravest of secular/feminist sins--- that is putting others needs before my own. So I was just a mom until one year after my divorce when my daughter entered first grade--- then I took a job that allowed me to drop them off at school in the morning and then be there at 3:40 to pick them up. I remember many years later when my daughter was 16 a friend asked me what my "secret" was. "Huh?--- my secret?" Yes she said--- "Compared to what your kids have gone through my kids have had it made." She was referring to the fact that my kids had all the bad breaks---drug addicted dad, divorce, financial struggles, remarriage and step-parent struggles---while hers lived in a huge house--- original mom and dad, never a financial worry or nary a need or want neglected--- they were active in church, traveled extensively--- had private tutors --- but had already had drug and alcohol problems, two wrecked cars, and two pregnancies terminated by abortion  (one a son's girlfriend and one her daughter). Her oldest son dropped out of college, went to Amsterdam and called every so often when he was in trouble and in need of cash. I remember I didn't have an answer for her question at the time but it became a shadow that followed me for many months.

After some serious reflection the only answer I could come up with was that through the way I lived my life my children knew that people and relationships take priority over things. They learned that having dinner together is more important then voice lessons or karate class--- that it is more important to do without the extras and have time to make memories together--- They knew they were number one to me--- they were my life--- not my career and personal success. When I thought of my friend's life (and even worse--- the fact that I had envied her at times) I realized that while she appeared as the shining example of the modern woman--- a career, a family, a home right out of House Beautiful--- cleaning ladies and nannies--- membership the most exclusive health club--- a handsome and successful husband--- she was living a lie and her children were the ones paying the price. She really believed she was there for her kids when she kissed them goodbye as their nanny made breakfast for them in the morning, she was there for them when she met the nanny and the kids at their games and recitals, and then waved goodbye as she rushed off to the big closing she had---she was an attentive mother because she would be home just in time to tuck them in ask if they finished their homework and then take a few minutes to read a story before they fell asleep--- she was a concerned mother because after then nanny would take them to the doctor---she would drive by Walgreen's and pick up the needed prescription on her way home--- and most importantly she planned marvelous "family" vacations during every school break at only the nicest resorts where they had the best children's programs and day care available.

My secret I discovered was that inadvertently and instinctually (I wish I could say I was wise enough to have figured it all out) I had taught my children very different lessons about the purpose of life and their value and dignity as human beings. They knew that they were more important then stuff and because of that I put them and their needs before my own--- I squeezed my needs and wants into my spare moments--- my friend squeezed her kids into her spare moments. That realization was a philosophical tsunami--- it was swept away the debris left behind from my feminist brainwashing. I remember thinking--- wow--- the difference was that I raised my kids and my friends kid's were raised by a series of strangers--- strangers have no vested interested in your children--- other then they provide a paycheck for them--- ultimately the success and well being of your children is not their concern--- I suddenly realized that moms who invest their time and energy in raising the children they bear raise better adjusted adults--- well adjusted and productive adults are the foundation of a civilized society. Now--- you want to talk about the power to affect and change society???

One would have to be purposely ignorant not to see how contraception, abortion, liberal divorce laws and runaway capitalism has fostered the deconstruction of American families--- and now we are faced with the prospect parents being any two people--as long as they "love" the child (this automatically deprives the child of either a mother or a father)--- and how this deconstruction of the family is  an attack on children but also it is an attack on the very fundamental and God given nature and vocation of women--- it is an attempt to strip women of their innate power and essential contribution to the well being and development of the human race. Edith Stein says that women have a unique redemptive role in society--- She believed that God combats evil through the power of a woman's maternal love independently of whether she is married or single and that this power should be extended to every person she comes in contact with. Everywhere there is a need for this love and it is essential to a woman's nature that she give it. Should it be a surprise then that in a culture that devalues the vocation of motherhood,the importance of maternal love, that insists women can only be successful if they control their reproductive organs even to the point of killing the children in their wombs that in this culture among children and women depression, suicide, substance abuse, promiscuity, violence are epidemic?

There is a reason Satan approached Eve and not Adam--- and why he tempted her with becoming like a god by knowing good and evil--- it is found in Genesis 3:15--- the proto-evangelium--- " I will put enmity between you and the woman--- between your offspring and hers". The woman has the power through her maternity to end Satan's grip on humanity--- we see this as well in the last book of the Bible in Revelation Chapter 12 where the ancient serpent waits to try to devour the Child which is about to be born--- it doesn't take too much of an imagination to see the connection to our present day attack on motherhood and family--- and the devaluation of woman's innate gifts and role in society.

Frankly-- to put it bluntly--- Thank God the Church has the courage to put woman in her proper place (tic)--- and to remind us not only of the great dignity we possess but also the great esteem God has for woman--- and to be the one voice in the world right now begging women to be women and to take their unique genius and power and use it to redeem our society--- the Church seems to be the only entity that realizes how important women really are--- as St. Edith said--- we can be either the "demon of the abyss" or the "savior of life" --- In that choice lies the ultimate human power.