A Few Good Posts

Here are a few good posts to take a look at:

“Martini Meets His Maker” by Wendell at Catholic Sacristan. Here’s an excerpt:

Have mercy on him, O Lord.

…Alas, his literary works prove a long history of promoting brainless theology…He is on record quite enough as having called into question the Church's teaching on contraception and for challenging celibacy for Latin Rite priests. He promoted the cause of ordination of women to the diaconate and suggested that artificial contraception was acceptable. There is little doubt he made a habit of contradicting the Magisterium. And so, for many misguided souls, Cardinal Martini was an alter-magisterium who/which allowed CINOs to avoid conversion from sin.

“New Study about Catholic Women and Contraception” by Dr. Stacy Trasancos at Accepting Abundance.

Dr. Stacy writes, in part:

Mary Rice Hasson, J.D., a Fellow in the Catholic Studies Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C., and director of the Women, Faith, and Cultureproject together with Michele M. Hill who has been active in lay ministries within the Archdiocese of Baltimore have issued a preliminary report, What Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience, and Contraception, in which 824 church-going Catholic women ages 18-54 were surveyed.

While the data indicates that most Catholic women do not fully support the Church’s teachings on contraception, the results also do not show the sweeping rejection of Church teaching the media portrays either. This first report provides some useful insight.

The report shows that about one-third of church-going Catholic women incorrectly believe that couples have the right to decide for themselves the moral acceptability of contraception regardless of Church teaching. When Church teaching was explained, 44% were receptive to learning more. These results suggest the problem is in part catechetical, and that women want more instruction.

I’ll be writing more on this report, too; there is a lot of interesting information in it. Of course, it’s important to consider that it purports to present the views of “church-going” Catholic women – those who attend Mass at least weekly. We know from other studies that the percentage of Catholics who attend Mass every Sunday is, at best, 20%. Sad. But that’s why the study doesn’t reflect the “sweeping rejection of Church teaching the media portrays”. I think that there is a sweeping rejection of Church teaching, which is reflected in that statistic about low Mass attendance.

“The Devil Wants the Church to Be Relevant” by Anita at V-F0r-Victory. She includes the video of “relevant” church music (a la Protestant “worship” services) which is a kick, especially if you’ve ever been a Pentecostal type.

Here’s Anita’s opening paragraphs:

The last time I found myself in the unfortunate situation of attending a LifeTeen Mass, it made me so damn mad I felt I couldn't receive Holy Communion. The music (average age of the band: well over 30) was as sophomoric as it was objectively sacrilegious, and a football stadium atmosphere prevailed inside the Church. And as if all that weren't bad enough, (a) the celebrant was the bishop, and (b) he was singing along with the tunes.

I can already hear the howls of protest. It's no use trying to inform me that rock music at Mass "can be reverent," and "brings the kids into church" and "draws them closer to Christ." Secular music is not fit for worship, period. There was a time, still within living memory, when the consensus on drums and steel guitars inside a Catholic church would have been that they're simply sacrilegious. And before you start getting on my case about "rash-judging" the souls of those who like and participate in rock concert Masses, go back and notice that I called the music at the Mass I got stuck at "objectively sacrilegious," thereby giving the band and the organizers the benefit of the doubt. Persons who are poorly formed in their faith cannot be expected to know any better, especially when they have priests and bishops setting a bad example.

Last but not least is Leila’s Orphan Report. Yesterday she wrote:

Half of the battle in saving international special needs orphans is getting the orphans seen. The more exposure, the more chance a family will come for them. My last few posts have been all about the exposure.

Exposure works, and there's been an exciting success story on this blog recently! One of the boys who had been on my tabs since the beginning, Nicholas, is soon to be an orphan no more! A new reader was clicking through the tabs last month, and when she saw his face, she was stopped in her tracks. She felt like she had found her son. She and her husband, neither of whom had any thoughts of adopting to that point, quickly committed to bringing Nicholas home! This whole blog has been worthwhile.

Leila is doing a huge service for these orphans. I know that I am not “called” to adopt one of these little souls, but there are other things one can do: pray; donate money (see the post to find that the second half of the battle is getting the foreign orphans to their new homes); or just give the little faces some exposure on Face Book, a blog, email, or whatever. Even if YOU are not in a position to adopt, someone you know may be.