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Contents © 2006
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
LETTERS
November/December 2006
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
I read your graphic article on the homosexual parade and the exultation of their lifestyle. (City Council Shames Itself over Pride, September/October 2006, by Nicholas Owen) It was quite sad and jolting to hear of it and the various people who seemingly joyfully took part. How did this happen! At about the same time I read other articles in this subject showing it not only here but worldwide. Many attempts to portray what you wrote on as good and acceptable are being put forth worldwide and in the curriculum of our schools for the consumption of our children. How did this happen! One can only think of Sodom and Gomorrah. Many countries have, it would seem, given up on Christ and pursue a purely secular universe. I'm reminded of the early 70s when I was in Monsey, New York. The hamlet proper was about six blocks long with a coffee shop in the middle and a medical clinic opposite. Arriving for breakfast as usual before work, I was surprised at a long line of woman, two or three abreast three blocks long, waiting for entrance to the clinic. There was, or seemed to be, a strong sadness and even death in the air. Entering the coffee shop, I noticed many patrons watching the scene. I asked what was going on, and I was told these young girls and women were getting abortions. Many, including me, were shedding tears. An orthodox Jew remarked that it reminded him of the Holocaust. How did this happen! I used those words of exclamation, and others, at the time. Perhaps the best answers are Pius V's statement, "All the evils of the world are due to lukewarm Catholics," and Pius X's, "All the strength of Satan's reign is due to the easy going weakness of Catholics." Saint Catherine of Sienna sees the world as rotten because of silence, our silence. In these media days, we're aware or what's going on if we're honoring our duty to be informed. But thanks to your sad and jolting article, I pray for their conversion daily as well as for the end of abortion.
James,
San Diego
PSYCHIATRIC HELP
Regarding the gay pride parade, I attended said parade on July 29, stood on the curb near the end of the parade for two hours. I help up a sign that said, "CHASTE GAYS CAN BE SAINTS --Bishop Brom." The bishop said that about five years ago in the Southern Cross. Needless to say, some people told me to leave. These LGBT people need psychiatric help. We have to pray for them.
Thanks for the News Notes.
Sincerely,
Raymond A. Olow,
San Diego
APPRECIATES NEWS NOTES
Thank you so much for ministering to the San Diego Community. Thank you for the tribute to Bob Murphy. (He Loved Like No One Else, July/August 2006, By Janet Howard) It was truly one of the saddest events, especially to the pro-life community in which he dedicated his gifts from God to the community, to all of us. May we be the blessing now that he was to us.
I especially appreciated News Notes coverage of the homosexual takeover of minor children at the gay and lesbian center. Many teens struggle with finding their identity and want to rebel against their parents, the Church, et cetera. The gay community is preying on this vulnerability, offering companionship, shelter, and drugs. (Chemical dependency in the heterosexual population is around 10 percent. In the gay and lesbian community it is 30 percent.) They offer a drug/sex elixir to minors. God bless you in your efforts to bring truth forward.
Debra Gerke,
San Diego
GRATEFUL TO BISHOP BROM
Robert Kumpel's April 2006 article on the lack of priestly vocations in the San Diego diocese offers readers some interesting local opinion on this issue. It is unfortunate that most of the respondents hide behind a wall of anonymity, such as "Father Feinberg, not his real name."
The majority of those polled find fault with Bishop Brom for the lack of local "orthodox" priests added to the clergy ranks. The implication seems to be that local Catholics must suffer through life with modernist priests and their teachings. Pope Saint Pius X defined Modernism as "the synthesis of all heresies." In today's Church, one symptom of modernism is the teaching that we are all headed to a welcoming party in heaven with Jesus after this life, rather than a judgment (Heb 9:27). I would submit that no group endorses this idea more passionately than the self identified "Conservative Catholics", both priests and laity, who hold open the gate of heaven to those who reject Jesus, Baptism and the Catholic Church, because to them what matters most is a person's "sincerity", and not offending others.
Finally, the article failed to note that the total number of parishes in the San Diego diocese is on the rise, and all are staffed with priests. These priests come from Mexico, the Philippines, Africa, Vietnam, and other countries. This is the good news that was not reported. The important issue is not our rank in the number of local priests ordained each year, but rather, are there enough priests to serve the diocese. Bishop Brom is doing his job by supplying the priestly staffing needs of the San Diego diocese, and for that we should be thankful.
John Giery,
La Mesa
STRONG WORDS FROM SAINT PAUL
Doris Lane of Campo says of my letter "Come back to Tradition," in the June issue of News Notes (Letters, July/August 2006) that De Lalla is no theologian, she's right. But then she says this: "He says the Charismatic Renewal is a novelty, stating it's Protestant, and scoffing at the Holy Spirit speaking in tongues and to the congregation."
Charismatic Renewal, I contend, is a novelty and it is Protestant -- very Protestant! But she also says: "scoffing at the Holy Spirit...." No, I would never "scoff" at the Holy Ghost, but what I try to do is to point out those who would "use" the Holy Ghost as the Protestants use Him -- for private interpretation; revealing Himself to "certain" individuals only, not to all.
Then, Doris Lane refers me to the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 10:41-48 and Corinthians 14. Let me take the Acts of the Apostles first. Doris Lane misses the entire point of these verses, which is, the Baptism of the Roman centurion, Cornelius, by the miraculous vision of Saint Peter instructed to go with the centurion's servants to his house and baptize him and his whole household. That is the main point of those verses! In fact the whole chapter is about the centurion's baptism and coming into the Church. The above verses have nothing to do with the so-called Charismatic Renewal or "speaking in tongues" per se.
As for I Corinthians, chapter 14, the great apostle to the gentiles, Saint Paul specifically condemns those who speak in tongues with no one to instruct or interpret. In verse 23, he states, "If therefore, the whole church come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in unlearned persons, or unbelievers, will not they say that you are mad?"
"Mad." Pretty strong words from Saint Paul! How many "Charismatic Renewal" folks know or understand what is being channeled to them? Can it be from the Devil? That is my point, that this new-age stuff is not traditional Catholicism.
Eugene R. De Lalla
Troy, New Hampshire