A Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right and Some Fun About Being Catholic
Last Sunday we saw how our Lords words and actions were meant for us, for each of us as individuals, as both teaching and specific example for how we should live our daily lives. Referencing the particular prayers and devotions we Catholics use in our daily lives, we concluded that while this prayer or that devotion will help us along
in our journey, let's start this new week right and keep our minds and
hearts focused on the whole point of the this and that: Jesus Christ.
Thinking more about this, it's easy to see how some Catholics use the centrality of Jesus Christ in our lives as an excuse to ignore or reject certain teachings of Holy Mother Church. The most ubiquitous example these days may be the rejection of the Church's teachings of marriage, having children, and, most of all, contraception. An awful lot of Catholics sit passively by while the state enforces laws that purport to legitimize "gay" marriage. Many live together before marriage, and if they do get married, aren't open to having children, typically by limiting childbirth through the practice of contraception.
Here we have long lists of Catholics in private and public life choosing this over that teaching. It's gotten so out of whack that recently Cardinal Dolan of New York, commented favorably about the drafting of the first openly homosexual football player as well as the decision to allow homosexuals to march in the St Patrick's Day parade under banners proclaiming their "gay-ness," leaving the impression that he "had no problem" with such sinful behavior. I don't know if that's what he intended to communicate, but it sure did look and sound that way, to the great consternation of many Catholics who try each day to live their faith in conformity with Church teachings. How a leader of the Church puts himself in the position of seeming to bless what the Church has always taught is unnatural and disordered behavior certainly escaped me. Has his eminence become a "cafeteria" Catholic?
While it's important to recognize the existence of Catholics, including some bishops, who don't follow the faith in all its richness, let's not leave these Sunday thoughts on a sour note. In fact, let's start our week off with a little fun, by tuning in to the hardly sour notes of George Gershwin in combination with some brilliant lyrics by his brother Ira and a song written for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers great 1937 movie, Shall We Dance. Better still, let's listen and watch as Fred and Ginger sing and dance to the wonderful melody and music, a typically great Gershwin effort combined with a typically stunning Fred and Ginger interpretation. (I just love anything these two did on the silver screen, don't you?)
Okay, it may be a stretch to match this with a discussion those Catholics who prefer to choose this and that over the fullness and richness of the teachings of Holy Mother Church, but being Catholic doesn't mean we can't have fun, does it? So take a few minutes if you can this blessed Sunday, put your feet up and let the feet of Fed and Ginger do the rest.
Thinking more about this, it's easy to see how some Catholics use the centrality of Jesus Christ in our lives as an excuse to ignore or reject certain teachings of Holy Mother Church. The most ubiquitous example these days may be the rejection of the Church's teachings of marriage, having children, and, most of all, contraception. An awful lot of Catholics sit passively by while the state enforces laws that purport to legitimize "gay" marriage. Many live together before marriage, and if they do get married, aren't open to having children, typically by limiting childbirth through the practice of contraception.
Here we have long lists of Catholics in private and public life choosing this over that teaching. It's gotten so out of whack that recently Cardinal Dolan of New York, commented favorably about the drafting of the first openly homosexual football player as well as the decision to allow homosexuals to march in the St Patrick's Day parade under banners proclaiming their "gay-ness," leaving the impression that he "had no problem" with such sinful behavior. I don't know if that's what he intended to communicate, but it sure did look and sound that way, to the great consternation of many Catholics who try each day to live their faith in conformity with Church teachings. How a leader of the Church puts himself in the position of seeming to bless what the Church has always taught is unnatural and disordered behavior certainly escaped me. Has his eminence become a "cafeteria" Catholic?
While it's important to recognize the existence of Catholics, including some bishops, who don't follow the faith in all its richness, let's not leave these Sunday thoughts on a sour note. In fact, let's start our week off with a little fun, by tuning in to the hardly sour notes of George Gershwin in combination with some brilliant lyrics by his brother Ira and a song written for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers great 1937 movie, Shall We Dance. Better still, let's listen and watch as Fred and Ginger sing and dance to the wonderful melody and music, a typically great Gershwin effort combined with a typically stunning Fred and Ginger interpretation. (I just love anything these two did on the silver screen, don't you?)
Okay, it may be a stretch to match this with a discussion those Catholics who prefer to choose this and that over the fullness and richness of the teachings of Holy Mother Church, but being Catholic doesn't mean we can't have fun, does it? So take a few minutes if you can this blessed Sunday, put your feet up and let the feet of Fed and Ginger do the rest.
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