I have a question.
Church doctrine teaches us that the Church is made up of the Church Triumphant (those in heaven), Church Suffering (those in Purgatory) and Church Militant (those still on earth).
Where do the souls of those who died professing other faiths fit in? Or do they fit in at all?
Want to include this box on your own web page?
The weakness of the public position of those opposing same-sex marriage
by Father Thomas Dowd
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
"We just don't feel threatened." I think Eric captures the essence of the attitude of so many Canadians. This point needs to be taken seriously. I remember visiting my parents' parish and hearing my very first homily on the subject. The preacher said, and I quote, "If this goes through, same-sex marriage will destroy the family." The thing was, he never said *how*. I asked him about that in the sacristy afterwards. "Can you connect the dots for me on that one, please? How will it do this? I need for you to show me how legalizing same-sex marriage on Day 1 will lead to the destruction of the family on Day 1000. I'm not saying there isn't a connection. I'm just saying that the connection isn't obvious. So what are the intermediate steps?"A question I always had: Since there are technically a lot of marriages
that aren't "official" from the point of view of the Roman Catholic Church (took
place outside, legal-only, Buddhist, etc.), why is so much being made of gay
marriage? Aren't they just one more on the list?I am Roman Catholic and married, with a child and another on the way.
Apparently, this definition of family is supposed to be threatened by the idea
of gay marriage. We just don't feel threatened. I'm open to the idea that I am
viewing this incorrectly, so if someone could tell us why, that would be
cool.In an age of rampant divorce, cheating, etc. why would we get concerned
that a loving couple would want the same civil (and only civil) rights as
others? I would NEVER want to see legislation to force the church to marry gays
and lesbians, but if it remans a civil matter, aren't they just one more on the
list?
(crickets chirping)
I'm still waiting for an answer. In the meantime, the teacher in me is looking for the necessary pedagogy to be able to provide an answer to honest people like Eric, an answer that will be more than clever rhetoric or an argument from authority. One thing I always admired about St. Thomas Aquinas is that he really understood the points his intellectual opponents were trying to make, sometimes better than they did. And he never shied away from addressing those points square on, with great humility and unassailable logic. It was never ad hominem with St. Thomas.
Nor can it be with us. I do not begrudge those who will defend traditional marriage with their flyers and their bullhorns. Go for it! You are defending a good cause. As for myself, though, I'm a teacher, not a social activist. My charism is to clarify and explain. And so that is what I am going to try and do. Eric, thank you! I hope any answers I can provide can do your question justice.
This article is taken from the web site Waiting in Joyful Hope,
Courtesy of the Waiting in Joyful Hope blog by Fr Tom Dowd.
Tomorrow night and again on Sat night, there will be two Latin masses celebrated in the Tridentine Rite at the Church of the Holy Cross.
Fri 5 Aug 7.30pm
Sat 6 Aug 8.00pm
The priest is from the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter.
Our very own John Goh will be singing in the schola cantorum.
This is a one-off event, and is not likely to be repeated anytime soon. Please don't miss this wonderful opportunity to experience the Liturgy of 1962.
To get an idea of what it will be like, see the text of the Mass here.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | 'I kept saying, "Help me, help me." But no one did'
Paul's blog pointed me to this story.
It is something that could have happened right here in Singapore too. And I wonder how I would react under such circumstances. Would I have melted away with crowd? Washed away in a sea of indifference? None of my business?
Honestly I don't know how I'd react, and that scares me.
This matter was brought up to me by someone a few days ago. I suppose it's not new, since our church bulletins have probably been having reminders to dress properly for Mass.
Do you think it is appropriate for people to come for Sunday Mass dressed in slippers and bermudas? Should their clothing be neatly pressed? Should ladies be dressed in what some might call sexy outfits? Where should the line be drawn?
This same person also brought up to me that brides are wearing more and more daring outfits for their weddings.
So I ask again, where should the line be drawn as to what Catholics can and cannot, or rather, should or should not wear for Mass?
I am of the opinion that a person must consider why he is wearing what he is wearing and if it has never occurred to him, it falls on his community to point it out.
How about you?
QuizFarm.com :: What is your model of the church? [Dulles]: "You scored as Servant Model.
Your model of the church is Servant. The mission of the church is to serve others, to challenge unjust structures, and to live the preferential option for the poor. This model could be complemented by other models that focus more on the unique person of Jesus Christ.
Servant Model
83%
Mystical Communion Model
78%
Sacrament model
78%
Herald Model
50%
Institutional Model
33%"
Yesterday, I decided to drop by Church of Holy Cross just to take a break, to pray and to read the Sunday Missal. Just to take one of my occasional 'retreats'. Holy Cross is my favorite place to pray, I do not know if it's because this church is convenient, where the parking is just beside the church or is it because this church is single-storeyed so there is no need to climb stairs.
Anyway, what came to my mind is that at 4pm in the hot afternoon, is that there are already a few others in the church before me. I wondered to myself how many people are there to pray for desperate cases or simply there like me just to pop in and say "hello!" to God.
Not that it matters which is the reason, but I find that very encouraging that the faithfuls or desperates are taking time off during their daily schedules to make time to go to a church and pray or just to spend a quiet moment.
(Actually if any of you had gone to Novena church, the turnout is excellent, you can never find the church empty no matter what time of the day you are there. )
So I guess to these people, myself included, praying in a church is very different from praying "anywhere for God is everywhere". It is just different psychologically, for somehow knowing that Jesus' body is in the tabernacle or perhaps just the grandious size of His Crucifix just creates an awe-effect to focus our attention.
I encourage all of you to take time off to your own parish and pray sometimes, not for mass or for other activities, but just to pray and spend some time with Him. It can be very gratifying and interesting. You might actually hear God speak.
He usually does when I'm there.
Nick Teo
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Fascinating turn of events as reported by the New York Times.
Kenneth R. Miller's book Finding Darwin's God is on my reading list. You can read an excerpt here. See the book itself here on Amazon. A critique of the book is here.
As you probably know, our diocesan priests have gone on their annual retreat from 11 - 15 July 2005.
Have you ever wondered what priests' retreats are like? What do they do? How do they interact with one another? Do the priests welcome the annual retreat or look at it as something that they have to do? Have you ever spoken with your priest about it? What did they say?
My friend, Paul, blogged about Church architecture sometime back. One point he made which struck me was this:
My parish church is about to undergo extensive remodelling. Many churches in Singapore have recently been renovated or rebuilt. Sad to say, they sometimes lose their distinctive characteristics in the process. My hope is that the same will not happen to my parish church.When I look at those religious buildings in Singapore, I know immediately which one is which. Were I to seek a Muslim house of worship, I would enter the mosque. The photo on the left of the Purajaya Mosque in Malaysia is instantly recognizable as a mosque. It's geometric shapes and patterns, the dome, the small minarets in the four corners are all hallmarks of the Islamic house of worship.
The same should be true of our churches. There should be
certain hallmarks that set them out as Christian house of worship, apart from the cross... and a number of modern churches don't even have these!
