Sloppy Catholicism

I saw this article and cringed.

The title is Welcome Home Lance Corporal Alex Sanford.

The editing was atrocious:

- While in Afghanistan he was part o the force that pushed into Trek Nawa...

- Alex and his fellow Marines subsisted on MRE's (meals- ready- to -eat), while makin their quarters...

- He looks forward to connecting up with friends an purchasing a truck...

- He and his family would like to thank the community for their continue support of our troops.

This is indicative of the casual approach we take to so many things these days, including our own Catholic Faith.  We don't dot the i's or cross the t's or spell things correctly.  It sends the wrong messages and leaves us more distant from God.  In parallel to the errors listed above:

- Leaving out one letter of a two letter word is like leaving out Joseph when talking about the parents of Jesus, or leaving out Abel when talking about the children of Adam and Eve.

- Adding unnecessary spaces in the explanation of an acronym is like keeping people confused about the Truth.

- Omitting the "g" in an "ing" word is like listing all your sins but never going to Confession.

- Leaving out one letter of a three letter word is like leaving out Jesus from the Trinity.

- Forgetting the "d" at the end of a past tense verb is like telling people the Passion is occurring today, not way back in Jesus' time.

With these oversights, we have to constantly re-interpret what we are reading, if we take the time, that is.  It is an annoyance and a distraction and we miss out on what the author really wants us to know. 

The same thing occurs with our Faith.  When we are less than thorough in things like learning the Catechism, or doing our Confession, or receiving the Eurcharist, others have to re-interpret what they are observing, and at the same time, we are personally missing the fullness of God's plan of salvation for us.

What are you doing to deepen your knowledge and practice of the Catholic Faith?


image - personal files

Sean Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop Of Boston, Blogs About Homosexuality

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Cardinal Seán O'Malley

Divine Providence is at hand.  Sean Patrick Cardinal O'Malley, O.F.M. Cap. Archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts, just blogged about some of the same things I did in Part 2 of my series, Separating The Sin From The Sinner - and on the same day.  :-)

Here are some excerpts:

"I want to begin this week addressing a very important issue. [emphasis mine]

Some say that the Catholic Church hates people with same-sex attractions. This is not true. In fact, if there are any members of the Church who hate people because of their sexual orientation, they need to go to confession..."

"As Catholics, we must oppose the hatred and rejection of homosexual persons that exists in our society. We do not want them to be the object of discrimination or violence. We believe, however, that God’s law is written in our hearts [natural law] and that to lead a fully human life we need to embrace His commandments."

"The Church’s efforts to defend the institution of marriage has been interpreted by some as an indication of the Church’s hostility toward homosexual persons. The way that the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts framed the issue is unfavorable to Catholics or others who do not oppose anyone, but rather support an institution which is the cornerstone of society."

"It is encouraging that a number of Catholics who are homosexuals have expressed to me their conviction that marriage between a man and a woman is important for children and therefore for society." 


"Sometimes we are told: 'If you do not accept my behavior, you do not love me.' In reality we must communicate the exact opposite: 'Because we love you, we cannot accept your behavior.'”


It is worth reading his blog post in its entirety.

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images - http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/
http://www.imarksweb.net/642/written-on-the-heart-the-case-for-natural-law
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