Grace-filled wedding day

I am about to collapse into a week-long coma, but before I do, here is a snapshot of the family after my daughter's nuptial mass yesterday. It was a dream.

Thank you for all your prayers and well-wishes, and I will post the official photos once we get them from the photographer!

Half a Quick Takes!

Wedding on the brain here, so sorry if there is not a lot of thought or meat to these Quick Takes! Of which there will only be four. Yep, half-baked Quick Takes. 


1) Just a week after my last post about the media distortion of Pope Francis' words and just a day after JoAnna Wahlund wrote her excellent piece about journalistic opportunism ("Pope Francis has single-handedly destroyed Catholicism"), the press did it again. They distorted and spun a very long Pope Francis interview, highlighting only the parts that serve their secular agenda. (What? You didn't see any news reports about the Pope's discussion of confession or his criticism of lax priests who denied sin? That was in there, too.)

This Catholic Vote piece is an excellent response for you to link to your facebook pages and email to your Aunt Martha:

Old, Good News

Also, this piece from Dr. Gerard Nadal:

What Pope Francis Really Thinks About Abortion and Homosexuality

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Christianity is not a philosophy. It's not a list of rules nor is it a moral code. It's rooted in a Divine Person named Jesus Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega, and who came to save us poor sinners. As Pope Francis says: 

"God is in every person’s life. God is in everyone’s life. Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything else—God is in this person’s life. You can, you must try to seek God in every human life. Although the life of a person is a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God.”

Trust God, not the media.


2) One of my most poignant real-life experiences with a stranger was reprinted at Catholic Stand this week. Remember my conversation with the air conditioner man who got "fixed"?


A friendly young air conditioner tech came over to check the system at our home.

Small talk led to him asking, “So how many kids do you have, anyway?”

“We have eight.”

Shocked, laughing, “Oh, are you crazy?!”

I was not offended; I could sense a good heart. ”Ha ha, well, two are in college, and so only six are in the house right now.”

Then he went and said it: “We had three, and then I got fixed.”

I didn’t even hesitate, and said with a smile:

“Oh, were you broken?”

Nervous laughter, hesitation. He really was not expecting that….


Read the rest, here.



3) Made me cry!! (Well, I didn't actually cry because I am not a crier, but if I were, I would have been in a puddle!) Sweetest thing ever. Nearly a hundred years old, and his spirit has not aged, nor his undying love for his bride:

4) Please, someone, go save Janna…. She is so precious, and so in need.

From someone who met her at the orphanage:

What touched me the most was every time I would rub her head or hands she looked at me like it was the most soothing thing that had ever happened to her – I will never forget that look.   It was as if years of horrible memories were released and she soaked up the gentle attention.

May God grant a family to this little princess.

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Quick note: I have gotten incredible feedback from my "Women: Save your marriage. In five minutes" post. If you have read the book(s), please let me know if your marriage was helped; I will be reprinting your stories for a follow-up post designed to help and encourage others. I will keep all responses anonymous. My email is littlecatholicbubble@gmail.com

Have a great weekend, everyone! And thanks to Jen for hosting!

Yawn. The press gets it wrong again.

Catholics can always count on the press to get it wrong.

The next time the press says that some !!New Teaching!! is bursting forth from Pope Francis that will change the Church and bring her into the modern day (man, they do get giddy when they report such things), just remember that it's a bunch of bunk.

If a family member, friend, or co-worker asks you about the headlines, you are on safe ground by responding, reflexively, that none of those teachings are new. And then yawn just a little yawn for emphasis. Because this is boring, honestly.

For example when the 4,623rd headline screams, "OMYWORD THE POPE SAID THAT ATHEISTS HAVE A SHOT AT HEAVEN AHHHHHHHHH!!!!" …that is boring. That is old news. About 2,000 years old to be precise.

I summarized the teaching way back in 2011, before there was a Pope Francis:

Can Non-Catholics Be Saved?

Am I a fortune teller? A soothsayer? Or, is this perhaps the same-ole, same-ole teaching of the Church throughout the ages? Yawn. You see what I mean? Boring.

When the press screams a headline like "HOLY CANNOLI POPE FRANCIS MIGHT CHANGE CHURCH TEACHING ABOUT PRIESTLY CELIBACY (EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T HE WHO MENTIONED IT, WHOOPS) AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! …that is also boring. The discipline (not doctrine) of priestly celibacy has always been changeable and debatable. And there have always been married Catholic priests (I know two personally). That is old news.

I summarized the difference between discipline and doctrine way back in 2010, long before there was a Pope Francis:

Catholics, You Must Understand This

Am I special? Do I have super-secret decoder-ring information that no one in the press has the ability to access? Or, could this always have been understood and accessed with minimal effort? Yawn. Again, boring.

And yet it's not only boring, it's inexcusable. How on earth does the world media get away with reporting on a subject without any knowledge of the subject? And since the teachings of the Church are so readily available, why aren't these reporters and pundits profoundly embarrassed and ashamed of themselves for their shoddy work?

As others have noted, the one good thing about all this journalistic malpractice is that Catholics have an opportunity to learn more about their Faith when this nonsense about our Church comes to the fore. I'm hoping that Catholics who wonder about these headlines and are faced with questions from others will being a study of Catholicism in earnest.

And maybe if they are corrected enough, some of the reporters will start to study the basic truths of Catholicism, too? That may be too much to ask, but hope springs eternal!

"I've often said that if a sports reporter was as clueless about his subject as the typical religion reporter is about his, he couldn't keep his job for a week."  -- Paul Thigpen

*Go here for a translation of the Pope's letter that has resulted in such a media frenzy.

Women: Save your marriage. In five minutes.

This is going to sound like a cheesy testimonial, but stay with me.

Ladies, if you have been struggling in your relationship with your husband (and sooo many women do), I know a way that you can begin to change -- even save -- your marriage. In five minutes.

Trust me on this. I've seen it happen first hand.

Caveat: If what I'm about to say doesn't apply to you, then it doesn't apply to you. The women to whom it applies will know it. I knew it. Countless other women have known it and will know it.

If your husband is physically abusive, or if he degrades and is cruel to you as a rule, then this post is not applicable. Most husbands, however, are not physically abusive nor willfully cruel. Most husbands are generally decent guys. If you are married to a generally decent (if imperfect!) man, then what I am about to recommend will likely improve your marriage, even to the point of a complete renewal. And the results and changes will begin in less than a day. Perhaps even in five minutes. And no, I'm not kidding. You will save a lot on therapy bills and get a markedly better outcome.

Some background: Over the past few months, I have been shocked and dismayed by the number of women -- faithful Catholic women -- who have contacted me to tell me of their unhappy marriages. Some (not all) of these women were hinting that they even wanted out. I was shaken by the frequency of these conversations as well as the seeming lack of sin and guilt in the husbands -- at least nothing that should be the basis for divorce, a broken family, and devastated children. That these sentiments were and are coming from devout Catholic women who do not believe in divorce and who understand marriage as a sacrament is deeply troubling.

And yet at one time, I might have felt similarly.

Let me be clear: Divorce was never, ever an option for my husband and me, nor was it even in our lexicon. But there was a time in our marriage when tensions were high, feelings of affection were low, and things had generally broken down. Communication was terrible, and we had ceased assuming the good intent of the other. For my part, I had lost respect for my husband, whom I felt was not "a real man" (gosh, it's hard to type those words!). I almost disdained him, and I nagged, nitpicked, and criticized my way through most of our days.

Then one day about ten years ago, something happened that was the equivalent of getting a 2x4 smashed over my head. It was nothing outwardly dramatic, but in this event I recognized in one instant that I had created in my husband all the things that I in turn despised. I was immediately ashamed of what I had done to this man who had married me and who loved me, and I made a paradigm shift on the spot. Nothing has been the same since the day I had my epiphany, and our marriage is now strong and happy. I love and respect my husband dearly.

Cheesy shot, but yes, I love him!

Not long after that redemption of our marriage, I heard about a book by Dr. Laura Schlessinger called Woman Power: Transform Your Man, Your Marriage, Your Life, which I learned was the companion and follow-up to her best-selling book, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. After reading the first few pages of Woman Power, I recognized my past self, and I knew that every woman in America needed to read it (including those not yet married).

Years passed, and of course, the book(s) left my mind.

But the recent conversations I've had with these Catholic women brought the books to mind again. Where one might expect that I would recommend a religious book or spiritual reading for these crises, I knew that the women needed something right now, something practical and immediate, to turn their marriages around. And so I started recommending The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands to the women who came to me. My only fear was that they would not follow through. Praise God, at least two of them did, and I want you to hear from them now.

First, a lively and intelligent Catholic woman with a Ph.D, children, and a lot going on outside of the home. She had written to me several times over the months about the sad state of her marriage, blaming it almost entirely on her husband and his "unreasonable demands". Her myriad complaints about this generally decent man were painful for me to read, and even more excruciating was hearing of the cutting, hurtful way she spoke to him.

I urged her to read Proper Care. To her credit, she did finally pick up the book and began to read. Before she even finished it, I received the following:

Started the book today. Yea, embarrassed. You nailed it. And all the little things I thought made our situation different...don't. So really we are just one more example for her book.

You saying you were ashamed of your behavior. I couldn't identify until I started the book. I couldn't see outside of how justified I was. I am so embarrassed. 

Here I work in positive behavior support and couldn't apply it to my home. I even knew of the author and didn't want to be seen with the book and be judged by other women. Ha! 

We even went to therapy. The result? The therapist listened to me gripe, somewhat made me feel justified, and [my husband] got nothing out of it and finally asked if we could stop going. I felt like we failed therapy, but I also knew it wasn't a match for us and therefore wasn't helping. 

And thanks for being someone I could go to. I am careful to only choose people to speak to that will support our marriage and not fuel the fire, but still I felt so alone because I wanted to protect my husband. Also, I didn't feel like I could identify with the Catholic women and their incredibly holy marriages. I was just feeling worse about mine. I am so thankful I had the wild hair to contact you about this. That must have been all God! And desperation. Thank you times 1000! 

Here is a quote I told to [my husband] just a month ago -- "You are not my world. I know you want to be, you just aren't." And I felt justified to hurt him that way because it was true. 

I conveniently ignored that part about leaving my family to become one with my husband. I regularly chose my family over him, among many many other errors like giving everything I had to the kids and expecting him to take care of me. Despite the fact I didn't even shower three days in a row, get dressed, etc. He would ask me to exercise, be healthy, want time to talk, be intimate. All ridiculous requests from someone who clearly didn't get how exhausted I was. I thought he was another demanding child instead of a helper with the kids. I was resentful. Exhausted. Felt justified. 

The therapist didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with what I was saying. 

My husband loves me, provides for us, loves his kids, plays with them, spoils me, gives me affection, takes me on regular dates, sends flowers to my house, bought me the biggest diamond when he proposed. And my response? I don't like roses, I like lilies. (I didn't say that out loud.) And he knows I love chocolates but none of those. Or, I didn't want a big diamond -- he clearly doesn't he know me and that I don't care about that stuff (I told him before we got married I preferred quality to size -- he bought both).   

You know what I sounded like? One big spoiled brat. All the while he works long hours at a job the last 8 years where he is verbally abused by his boss. A job he absolutely hates. But can't leave. Because our lifestyle doesn't afford him to make less. I say step down, we will make it work, but he has told me time and time again my spending habits don't back up my words, so while the sentiment is nice...I just kept thinking when he leaves the job, things will be better. The truth is, our marriage maybe wouldn't have lasted to another job. 

And also, what about "for better or worse"? He was going through one of the most trying things of his life and I was focused on how much it was negatively affecting me. Most of his anti-my-family is really attempts at protecting me from the drama. He is a good man. He is trying. I am ashamed. I don't deserve him. But I will make it better.

I asked her if I could use her words for this post and she readily agreed:

Anything I can do to help others. I felt so trapped, lost. I thought, "I blew my one chance at happiness and now I have to live with this man forever. Poor me. My bed. Now lie in it." Feeling so hopeless and alone. Very much felt controlled and indignant. Fighting mad. I would not be walked on, etc. He isn't perfect, but I never considered his point of view. Never thought I could be even half the problem. And there is something very wrong with that.

Ladies, let's be honest. We all know women like this, and it might very well be ourselves. But reading just a few pages of one book has saved her marriage. In minutes.

And then, another woman who was a virtual stranger reached out to me telling me how alone she felt in her marriage. She laid out her complaints against her husband and sounded, to me, like she was near despair. I asked if her husband was a decent man and she said he was a "great man". I asked her if he was a faithful Catholic and she said that he certainly was. After hearing that, I proceeded to gently, lovingly "let her have it", and I recommended The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. A few months later, I received the following:

I've been meaning to tell you that I did read The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands after I spoke with you a few months ago, and it helped tremendously!!!! 

…I love my husband very much and sometimes I need a new perspective to help me realize how good things really are. Anyway, thank you for recommending that book….

When I asked her if I could share, I got this generous response:

Yes of course!  With so much divorce and brokenness in the world, I told [my husband] I want our marriage to be in protest of that. Thank you for sharing the testimonies that will only help so many hurting couples!

Now to the second caveat: Dr. Laura is not Catholic (she is Jewish), so these are obviously not Catholic books on marriage. I hope it goes without saying that I do not endorse or condone anything in these books that contradict the Catholic Faith. But the bulk of the content is sound and takes into account the inherent dignity of man and woman, and the truths of human nature.

Also, feel free to read Woman Power first (as I did). It is can stand alone, and will lead you to want to read Proper Care anyway (though by then you may not even need to!). In fact, I read Woman Power first and only read Proper Care last week for the first time, as I wanted to make sure both were fresh in my mind when I wrote this post.

Women, I want us to love our men -- our decent, loving husbands -- in the self-donative way that God intended, and not with the disposition of the current toxic culture. We can crush our husbands or uplift them with a word, a glance, or an attitude. Honestly, ladies, we hold all the power to destroy or save our marriages. Read the book(s) and tell me what happens in the aftermath (either here in the comments, or email me privately).

Too many marriages end in divorce or go on for years and decades with both spouses in misery. It does not have to be that way. Marriages can be saved, children's homes and stability preserved, right now. Change your marriage in minutes. No joke. Please, try it. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.


*I did a follow-up post of women's reactions after reading the book, here.

Also, I was thrilled when the Diocese of Omaha linked this blog post to their website!

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I should state that I am not a paid promoter for Dr. Laura or her books (although I have always loved her work). In re-reading both books last week, I checked them out of my local library. No doubt your library has a copy or two. Check them out! And if you buy through a link on my blog, not a penny goes to me -- all amazon proceeds go to the orphans and the families working to bring them home.

Do you think she caught the irony? Can you?

So, I was terribly saddened to read an article about Christian bakery owners who had been bullied by gay activists into closing their doors, and I ventured into the comments.

At one point, a Christian who upholds natural marriage was answered by a pro-gay "marriage" Christian named Patricia. Patricia said to him:

Sending unconditional Love to you, in the spirit of the Christ in whom I believe. Peace be with you. 

And could you please share the passages in which Jesus told us not to love someone? My Bibles don't seem to include them.

I decided to jump in and answer:

Patricia, I would be glad to show you what Jesus said very explicitly about marriage: 

http://catholiclane.com/was-jesus-really-silent-on-same-sex-marriage/ 

It would be the height of disingenuousness to claim that gay "marriage" could fit in with his words.

Patricia came back with a comment that left me shaking my head at the magnitude of the irony! See for yourself:

If you or the writer of that post has an original copy of the Bible, please share. 

Your evidence is from a book that has been documented to contain thousands of mistranslations and errors, and reflects the limited knowledge of the writers. My goodness, if you're going to promote adherence to everything the Bible mandates about a man sleeping with a woman, we must demand that every husband and wife who have slept together during her menses should be banished from town. 

Let's be real: There is a lot of truth in the Bible; but everything in the Bible is not true. Earth is not flat, and it's not the center of the Universe. Jesus was not born in a barn AND in Mary and Joseph's home in Bethlehem. The Bible commands us not to kill, but gives us 52 reasons that we should kill each other, ranging from murdering adulterers to impudent children. 

We have absolutely no way of knowing what Jesus actually said. None. And it amazes me that those who call themselves followers of Jesus go through great pains to obfuscate his overarching message: Love ye one another. 

Jesus taught that we should love everyone unconditionally, including our enemies. He taught that even if someone has offended us, we should forgive them seventy times seven. He said that we are One: Whatever we do to the least of us, we also do to him. 

How anyone could conclude that Jesus would object to people who love each other making a lifelong commitment to each other is beyond my comprehension. But, I respect your right to believe it.

I responded:

Patricia, you may not recognize the irony in your own comment. Let me ask you a simple question. You say you are a follower of Jesus: By what authority do you know about or believe in Jesus and what he said? Thanks!

Not sure where it will go from here, but as an exercise in critical thinking, can anyone spot the myriad ironies in Patricia's thinking?

Pope Francis calls for a day of fasting and prayer for Syria

Tomorrow, Saturday, is a day of prayer and fasting for Syria and the Middle East:

On Sunday, the Pope declared in his Angelus teaching that Saturday Sept. 7 would be an day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria. The prayer rally will take place in St. Peter’s Square from 7 p.m. to midnight, on the vigil of the birth of Mary, the Queen of Peace. “Let us ask Mary to help us to respond to violence, to conflict and to war, with the power of dialogue, reconciliation and love,” the Pope asked people around the world. “She is our mother: may she help us to find peace; all of us are her children!”

As a Christian Arab myself, the conflicts in the region are particularly heart wrenching for me and for my extended family. Prayer is the only hope for this largely hopeless part of the globe.

For those unfamiliar, fasting means that we restrict ourselves to one main meal during the day, with two smaller meals not adding up to the larger meal. We also forgo snacks. Many people choose to live on only bread and water during a day of fasting.

As for our prayer, I can't think of a stronger spiritual weapon than the Rosary.

Mother Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for all your poor children!




**Thanks to Margo for the USCCB guidelines for this day!

Dawkins is no Einstein

…I'm too lazy to do a Quick Takes...

Forgive me, but this is funny. The audience's laughter confirms that this is funny. Dawkins is not a logical thinker, and I am not sure why he is held in such high esteem? After all, he not only believes that nothing is something, but he is a biologist who said that "any [human] fetus is less human than an adult pig". Uhhh, science much, Mr. D.?

Anyway, atheists should disavow this guy, seriously:

+++++++

And one small follow-up to the whole Joseph Bottum controversy. Mr. Bottum (a very gracious man who wrote a terribly unfortunate article) stated that Phil Lawler's critique of his piece was worth thinking about. I agree, and here it is:

To defend marriage, the truth is enchanting enough

Amen, and thank you, Mr. Lawler.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend, everyone!

We don't need to reinvent the wheel

We are Catholic. We think with the mind of the Church. It is beautiful, and it is freedom.

I am linking the following 2003 Vatican document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved by Blessed John Paul II and written by Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), which addresses all the questions that exploded around the internet in the past couple of days, sadly putting even orthodox Catholics publicly at odds. We don't need to be at odds on this issue, as the Church has spoken, and very clearly:

Considerations Regarding Proposals

To Give Legal Recognition

To Unions Between Homosexual Persons

If you don't know what internet explosion I'm talking about, simply search "joseph bottum same-sex marriage" and dive in if you'd like. I dove in yesterday and today, and I am wiped out.

Why faithful Catholics are arguing the point is so sad and confusing to me, since our marching orders have already been given, both in the above document (please, read and digest every word of it), and in the subsequent words of Pope Benedict in a 2006 speech to European politicians:

As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the principal focus of her interventions in the public arena is the protection and promotion of the dignity of the person, and she is thereby consciously drawing particular attention to principles which are not negotiable. Among these the following emerge[s] clearly today... 

Recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage and its defense from attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different forms of union which in reality harm it and contribute to its destabilization, obscuring its particular character and its irreplaceable social role….

There is no confusion in either the document or the speech, no suggestion that Catholics may simply "give up" the political and legal battle, exit the public square on this issue, and instead work to "re-enchant" the world in other ways. If someone can show me where that approach is even hinted at, I am willing to listen. But from what I'm reading, that avenue is not even an option for a Catholic.

And by holding the principles she does, the Church is not "mean" nor lacking in compassion. The Church is a Teacher and a Mother, upholding the common good, i.e., what is good for all. As the wonderful Brandon Vogt told me today:

One thing I see often among well-meaning Catholics is that they misunderstand why the Church vigorously defends conjugal marriage. It's not just because God established marriage this way, or because we should uphold the sacramental meaning of marriage, though both are certainly true. 

The main reason Catholics defend the traditional, civil understanding of marriage is because a strong marriage culture benefits everyone -- Catholics, atheists, poor people, children, singles, senior citizens, etc. And a failing marriage culture harms everyone. 

To say it another way, a strong marriage culture benefits the common good. Whenever ideas or political movements threaten the common good, the Church must defend it, even at great cost, even when its own people don't understand why, and even when the outcome seems hopeless. 

The Church rejects the idea of "same-sex marriage" not just because it contradicts natural law, or God's divine plan for marriage, but because it's deleterious for society, children most of all.

Amen.

That's all. I'm still exhausted. But before I go, I want to leave you with the link to the Church's teaching one more time, just in case you missed it up above, and just in case you decide to jump into the debates raging on every blog and site:

Considerations Regarding Proposals

To Give Legal Recognition

To Unions Between Homosexual Persons

No need to reinvent the wheel.

Should Pope Francis "take on" birth control? A response

Hi folks, JoAnna here. I recently wrote the following post for Catholic Stand, 
and Leila asked if I'd mind running it on the Bubble as a guest post as well 
while she is on hiatus. 

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Robert McClory recently wrote an article for the National Catholic* Reporter, opining that Pope Francis should revisit the question of the morality of birth control. As per usual for the Reporter, this dissent from Church teaching contains many problems.

Problem #1: Terminology. This is a widespread problem, so I can't really fault McClory, but his terminology is problematic. The Church does not, in fact, teach that “birth control,” when used to refer to spacing pregnancies, is intrinsically immoral. In fact, the words “birth control” do not appear in the Catechism. The closest term is “regulation of births,” about which the CCC states, “The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception).”

In other words, it is not intrinsically immoral to use “birth control” to space pregnancies, provided that the method of birth control used is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. The Church teaches that there are only two such methods: periodic abstinence or complete abstinence (see CCC 2370).

Contraception, however, is a form of birth control that is intrinsically immoral and is not permitted under any circumstances. As Humanae Vitae states, contraception is “every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible.”

McClory is specifically speaking about the Church’s teachings regarding the intrinsic evil of contraception when he refers to birth control. He also states that the Church “forbids any form of artificial contraception” (emphasis mine), implying that moral methods of birth regulation are some sort of natural contraception, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Problem #2: Too Many of Them, Just Enough of Him. McClory begins his article citing Pope Francis’ general audience on June 5, in which the Holy Father laments the plight of children who are starving and encourages Catholics to do what they can to remedy that issue.

McClory’s solution is not to feed the children, or donate food, money, or other resources toward that end, or work toward reforming corrupt governments that hinder adequate food distribution. No, his solution is... wait for it… contraception!

Frankly speaking, this attitude is one of eugenics smothered with a thin veneer of false compassion. “We must think of the children!” is camouflage for this sentiment: “The hungry of the world are the poor, unfit, unwashed masses, so of course there should be less of them. We wouldn't those undesirables to breed, would we?”

If McClory did his research, he'd know that the World Food Programme – the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide – states that “There is enough food in the world today for everyone to have the nourishment necessary for a healthy and productive life.“ The problem is access, and throwing contraception at people who'd much prefer to have nutritious food is not going to solve that issue. (Incidentally, a search for the term “contraception” on WFP's site yields no results; obviously, unlike McClory, they don't believe it's the magical panacea for solving world hunger.)

Problem #3: The Holy Spirit Got It Wrong. McClory claims that he's “not suggesting the pope announce he is rescinding the church's position as dictated by Pope Paul VI in his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae.” No, not at all! He just wants Pope Francis to re-examine Responsible Parenthood, which was issued by the Vatican's Pontifical Commission on Population, Family, and Birth in 1966. This document encouraged Paul VI to amend the Church's current position on contraception, arguing that the Pill should be an “exception” to the contraception ban since it didn't alter the physical aspects of the marital act (unlike condoms, which placed a barrier between man and wife).

Interestingly, it was Paul's VI intention that this document was for his eyes only, but unfortunately a copy was leaked to the press and its contents became available for public dissemination. The document caused many Catholics to believe that a change in teaching regarding contraception was imminent, as it was portrayed as the “majority opinion” of the Commission. The fact that, to quote Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, “Truth is not determined by majority vote” was a concept apparently lost to many Catholics at that time (and is a concept still lost to many Catholics today, including the entire staff of the National Catholic Reporter).

Paul VI, however, knew that the Commission was largely composed of pro-contraception advocates from its inception. According to Dr. Germain Grisez, emeritus Professor of Christian Ethics at Mount St. Mary’s University, “Paul VI was aware of the ideological leanings of those he had appointed to the Commission, and had composed the Commission in this way in order to give their argument a fair hearing.”

Their arguments did not convince Paul VI, however, and two years later he issued Humanae Vitae, restating the Church's constant, unchanging teaching on artificial birth control and making several dire predictions about the negative changes that would come to pass if contraception became accepted and widespread among the populace – predictions that have all come true.

You'd think that the fact that these predictions have come true is simply evidence that Paul VI was correct in his decision, and that his words and actions in continuing to uphold the Church's ban on contraception were inspired by the Holy Spirit, wouldn't you?

Not so, says McClory's article. He believes that the Commission was “ahead of its time,” and his implication is that Paul VI went against the "correct" teaching and instead taught error as doctrine. Moreover, using this logic, the Church has continued teaching error as doctrine – the ban on contraception is reiterated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (which is, according to Pope John Paul II, “a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion“), and JPII also reaffirmed the evil of contraception in his encyclical Evengelium Vitae.

In short, McClory believes that the Holy Spirit got it wrong when He inspired the Church to reaffirm the ban against contraception, which means that the gates of Hell have prevailed against the Church and Jesus was a liar. Therefore, Catholicism is a false religion. Given this logic, why does McClory bother to remain in a Church that he firmly believes teaches error as doctrine and has proven itself, by his own reasoning, to be a false church? How can he trust any of the teachings of the Church if he knows that She has taught error on one important aspect of doctrine (and if he's in favor of women's ordination, as are most of the NCR staff, that's another crucial area of doctrine the Church has allegedly gotten wrong)?

Problem #4: Pope Francis is Going to Change Church Teaching. McClory “couldn't help noting how the language of the document [Responsible Parenthood] so resembled the calm, non-argumentative, pastoral style of the current pope.”

I can't think of a single papal document issued in the last forty years or so that could be described as angry, argumentative, or non-pastoral, but his implication is that Francis' style is markedly different than that of Paul VI or JPII or Benedict XVI – yet reading any of the documents issued by any of these popes shows that they were all (or are still, in Pope Benedict's case) thoughtful, reasonable, pastoral shepherds of our Church.

I think McClory is projecting his own feelings of anger and dissent on the writings of the popes with whom he disagrees, and he's hoping that Pope Francis, whom he sees as more "liberal," will change all that by also changing Church teaching – because to accept the recommendations of Responsible Parenthood would be to do just that.

So no, Mr. McClory, Pope Francis will not “take on birth control,” because the teaching that contraception is an intrinsic evil is a teaching of the magisterium and is part of the Deposit of Faith. Pope Francis has neither the authority nor the desire to change this doctrine, and his pontificate so far has only served to emphasize that fact.

Stop fantasizing about what you hope Pope Francis will say and start listening to what he has actually said, such as in Lumen Fidei:

As a service to the unity of faith and its integral transmission, the Lord gave his Church the gift of apostolic succession. Through this means, the continuity of the Church’s memory is ensured and certain access can be had to the wellspring from which faith flows. The assurance of continuity with the origins is thus given by living persons, in a way consonant with the living faith which the Church is called to transmit. She depends on the fidelity of witnesses chosen by the Lord for this task. For this reason, the magisterium always speaks in obedience to the prior word on which faith is based; it is reliable because of its trust in the word which it hears, preserves and expounds. In Saint Paul’s farewell discourse to the elders of Ephesus at Miletus, which Saint Luke recounts for us in the Acts of the Apostles, he testifies that he had carried out the task which the Lord had entrusted to him of "declaring the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). Thanks to the Church’s magisterium, this counsel can come to us in its integrity, and with it the joy of being able to follow it fully.”

*While this publication still identifies itself as Catholic, they were requested to remove that identifier from their name as early as 1968 – and the current bishop, Robert W. Finn, has also identified them as a problematic media source when it comes to authentic Catholic reporting.

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While I'm away...

Well, I'm really not going anywhere, but I do have to get some stuff done here -- some of which has a deadline -- and I need to stay off the blog until I get that done.

So, a couple of things in the meantime.

First, I so enjoyed the last post that I thought I would dig up a couple of the old "Just Curious" posts that also had great comments, one serious and one light:

What was your excuse [for sin]?

Just Curious: Practical advice

Whether you're reading everyone's comments for the first time or have read them previously, I think you'll be edified. I just spent way too long reading them when I should have been working on that stuff I just mentioned in paragraph one!

And, I can't promise anything (since I never actually plan anything I write), but if you'd like to give me suggestions for future blog post topics, please feel free to do so in the combox.

Finally, if you can spare a moment, I'd love your prayers for a couple of special intentions, both good things (no, I'm not pregnant)!