Love vs Toleration
26/08/06 14:52
"Toleration" is to the
Godless what Love is to the Christian. Jesus
called us to love
not merely to
tolerate. Love and Truth cannot be
separated.
A recent article in The Los Angeles Times proclaims St Vincent Catholic Church a beacon of diversity. It is the ideal Catholic Church if there ever was one from the standpoint of Liberals.
"The present-day uniqueness of St. Victor's, said Msgr. Jeremiah Murphy, who is 69 and has been pastor at the church since 2000, is traceable in part to the congregation's sizable contingent of entertainment industry hopefuls and gays.
"Catholic doctrine forbidding gay marriage and Pope Benedict XVI's declaration that men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies should not be allowed to enroll in seminaries have fed the widespread perception that the church and gays are adversaries. The perception, Murphy said, is a false one.
"I find the gay community takes religion seriously and are very faithful to religious exercise — saying the rosary, doing meditation, going to church," he said. "That may be the reason they're hurt more when the church is portrayed as against them."
"Sexual orientation is irrelevant to religious belief, said church member John Aiello, a 46-year-old former casting director. Aiello is chairman of the church's finance committee and life partner of 52-year-old Bryan Smith, a lawyer and recent Catholic convert who sings bass in the choir.
"Our faith is our faith," he said. "It's spiritual. It's not political. It's not an orientation thing."
"Gay church members include those who have committed themselves to chastity — a requirement for receiving the Eucharist — as well as those who are sexually active.
"We try to shepherd them toward the ideal," Murphy said, "but we also accept them as they are and honor their contributions to the church and to society."
"St. Victor's also has fostered candidates for the priesthood. One of four newly ordained priests from Los Angeles County is from St. Victor's, with six other parish men in various stages along the route to priesthood.
"A lot of them say if they don't make it in Hollywood, they'll enter religious life," Murphy said with a grin.
"Unlike some other parishes, St. Victor's has no organizations that are exclusively for gays. Gay congregants, Murphy said, are active in all parish organizations and include among their numbers lay chaplains and Eucharistic ministers who bring communion to hospital patients."
These souls who identify themselves as "gay" and adopt a lifestyle contrary to the Gospel are led down the "Broad Road" by the toleration of their Shepherds. Cardinal Newman said "the goodness" only and not "the severity of God", no wonder they ungird their loins and become effeminate; no wonder that their ideal notion of a perfect Church, is a Church which lets every one go on his way, and disclaims any right to pronounce an opinion, much less inflict a censure on religious error."
"I fear it must be confessed that our kindness instead of being directed and braced by principal, too often becomes languid and unmeaning; that it is exerted on improper objects, and out of season, and thereby is uncharitable in two ways, indulging those who should be chastised and preferring their comfort to those who are really deserving. We are over tender in dealing with sin and sinners." Cardinal Newman.
A recent article in The Los Angeles Times proclaims St Vincent Catholic Church a beacon of diversity. It is the ideal Catholic Church if there ever was one from the standpoint of Liberals.
"The present-day uniqueness of St. Victor's, said Msgr. Jeremiah Murphy, who is 69 and has been pastor at the church since 2000, is traceable in part to the congregation's sizable contingent of entertainment industry hopefuls and gays.
"Catholic doctrine forbidding gay marriage and Pope Benedict XVI's declaration that men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies should not be allowed to enroll in seminaries have fed the widespread perception that the church and gays are adversaries. The perception, Murphy said, is a false one.
"I find the gay community takes religion seriously and are very faithful to religious exercise — saying the rosary, doing meditation, going to church," he said. "That may be the reason they're hurt more when the church is portrayed as against them."
"Sexual orientation is irrelevant to religious belief, said church member John Aiello, a 46-year-old former casting director. Aiello is chairman of the church's finance committee and life partner of 52-year-old Bryan Smith, a lawyer and recent Catholic convert who sings bass in the choir.
"Our faith is our faith," he said. "It's spiritual. It's not political. It's not an orientation thing."
"Gay church members include those who have committed themselves to chastity — a requirement for receiving the Eucharist — as well as those who are sexually active.
"We try to shepherd them toward the ideal," Murphy said, "but we also accept them as they are and honor their contributions to the church and to society."
"St. Victor's also has fostered candidates for the priesthood. One of four newly ordained priests from Los Angeles County is from St. Victor's, with six other parish men in various stages along the route to priesthood.
"A lot of them say if they don't make it in Hollywood, they'll enter religious life," Murphy said with a grin.
"Unlike some other parishes, St. Victor's has no organizations that are exclusively for gays. Gay congregants, Murphy said, are active in all parish organizations and include among their numbers lay chaplains and Eucharistic ministers who bring communion to hospital patients."
These souls who identify themselves as "gay" and adopt a lifestyle contrary to the Gospel are led down the "Broad Road" by the toleration of their Shepherds. Cardinal Newman said "the goodness" only and not "the severity of God", no wonder they ungird their loins and become effeminate; no wonder that their ideal notion of a perfect Church, is a Church which lets every one go on his way, and disclaims any right to pronounce an opinion, much less inflict a censure on religious error."
"I fear it must be confessed that our kindness instead of being directed and braced by principal, too often becomes languid and unmeaning; that it is exerted on improper objects, and out of season, and thereby is uncharitable in two ways, indulging those who should be chastised and preferring their comfort to those who are really deserving. We are over tender in dealing with sin and sinners." Cardinal Newman.
