David Ancell / Sunday, June 19, 2011 / Comments(0)
Right now, you can find truckloads of articles and blog posts offering commentary on the recent news about Fr. Corapi, a priest who was once known as a great defender of orthodox Catholic teaching. He has announced that he is leaving active ministry as a priest but will minister under another title. Other people have written far too much about his situation, and I’m not going to pretend that I can add much to the discussion. Besides, there are a few people who accept the possibility that the whole thing may be a hack job. It’s not out of the question to me because the video doesn’t show him actually speaking, and the audio doesn’t sound quite right to me.
The more troubling part to me is that he isn’t the first on-fire, orthodox priest to do this. Over the last few years I’ve seen a number of priests who appeared to be holy, orthodox, and happy priests leave their ministry. Some just picked up and left; others were caught in scandal. It has left me wondering what is going on.
I have to remind myself that there are a lot still standing, and they really need our prayers. They have an indelible mark on their souls and a target on their backs, as Fr. Z explains very well. Perseverance to the end in service to Christ is difficult for any of us. All of us who wish to attain eternal salvation much support each other and especially our priests. There are just so many traps set by the enemy for all of us that I can’t name all of them in this post. We can easily grow tired of fighting the good fight, especially in today’s world. Our priests are often on the front end of this battle, and their perseverance is often what brings the salvation of many.
Category: Catholic, News, Response
David Ancell / Sunday, June 05, 2011 / Comments(0)
This weekend, the news has come out that Dr. Jack Kevorkian has died. We know full well that he was a man who did much to bring about the Culture of Death. It would be easy to be glad that he is gone, but be careful. The same goes for any man who has done great evil. One who comes to mind for me now is George Tiller.
It’s one thing to be glad that they cannot do their evil deeds anymore. However, to actually desire or rejoice their demise is quite another. To desire their damnation is even worse. There is a point at which we can desire the justice of God, but often the line between that and desiring their damnation is a very fine one that is difficult to walk. It would be very dangerous for our souls to end up on the wrong side of that line.
Simply put, we know that God would much rather have had their repentance. Can you imagine what a powerful witness either Kevorkian or Tiller would have been had they repented? Let’s not forget that the rejoicing in Heaven would have been tremendous.
Even now, we can still hope and pray, as I always do men like these die, that they repented at the last minute. You and I may never have done anything like what these men did, but we are sinners. By hoping in the mercy of God for them, we realize that we, too, are in need of his mercy. If they did repent because of our prayers, they could become a powerful intercessor for us. By being merciful, we have hope of receiving God’s mercy.
Category: Catholic, News, Response
David Ancell / Wednesday, June 01, 2011 / Comments(0)
File this one in the “I wish I had this a long time ago” category. I got an e-mail from Ascension Press, whose works I really like, about a new book named Disorientation. It’s about the “-isms” (ideologies) that college students are bombarded with from the very beginning. The site itself is worth seeing even if you don’t plan to buy the book because it gives a short description of each “-ism.” Even though I’m twelve years past college and my son isn’t born yet, I just might go for a copy of this book.
Several years ago, I can remember someone saying that the best defense against false teaching is to know the true Catholic faith. Well, this has a lot of truth to it. Still, I do believe that it sharpens ones knowledge of the faith to learn about ideas that are opposed to it and what is wrong with those ideas. This is why books like this provide great resources that I wish I had just before I entered college.