The Church has specific moral guidelines (such as celibacy) in place for priests to follow in order to benefit the parish community they are serving. On the other hand, homosexuality is wrong whether or not one is a priest as the Old Testament states in Leviticus 18:22 and in 20:13. On the same note there is a three-year latten period set into place to allow God’s forgiving grace to change people’s sinful habits so that it is possible to receive the sacrament of priesthood. The key to the whole Bible is Jesus, and Jesus is love, but he cannot tolerate the existence of sin. So when the quote “blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven,” was used Jesus is in fact referring to the people that endure affliction because they do God’s will. Homosexuality is not God’s will.
Through ordination a priest gives himself completely to the Church, symbolically, he marries it. Unfortunately, some priests commit horrible acts of sexual abuse and dishonored this vow. Nevertheless, that is no reason to bash the Catholic Church; the Church is infallible. However, its priests and laity are still human and still chained by sin. Jesus taught his disciples that false believers would be an integral part in the church yet, in the parable of the weeds among the wheat he tells them to let him (God) separate them in the end (Matthew 13:24-30). It is not our job as Christians to judge one’s soul. So, do not claim that Pope Benedict, a holy man and the leader of God’s Church, is going to hell.
A point of advice: Next time you write a column to express your hate towards something as great as the Catholic Church, please do some research to understand what is truly going on.
Peace be with you.
Grant Desme
Business sophomore
Dear Mr. Grant Desme,
I am very proud of you for your willingness to deny your physical desires and choose a life of celibacy, poverty,and service to God!
I am not Catholic; but, my parents were, and i respect obedient Catholics very much!
I am evangelical.
I would mention that God does not love everyone. The Bible says in Psalm 11:5, and Psalm 5:5, and in Romans 9:13, that God does hate those who never come to His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, in repentance, faith, and baptism. I’m an evangelical that believes in baptism for salvation that the letter of 1Peter3. confirms…i think its around verse 19–but, not sure. However, i believe that someone who is not baptized but, truly believes in The Lord Jesus with their heart will eventually make it to Heaven–as Mark 16 would confirm…but, i believe all believers who haven’t been baptized, will get baptized in the “prison” or in purgatory. That’s another topic where i side with my Catholic friends, and not with my church. I believe the Scriptures teach purgatory, contrary to evangelical brainwashing.
The one thing that drew me away from Catholicism was their weakness to dive into God’s word in depth and breadth, and the fact of Mary worship in some parts of the world, and some remaining vestiges of it in this country. If there is one thing for certain, it is that your God and my God–The Lord God–hates idolatry probably more than any other sin there is! It is the first of the ten commandments! Forgive me Mr. Desme if i am not understanding or interpreting the evidence i see correctly. I am not trying to say that the Catholic church is definitely guilty of the worse sin there is! I don’t know for sure.
Anyway, God bless you Mr. Desme as you seek to love and serve God with all your heart, mind, soul, and body. You are an excellent model for our country, and in the body of Christ!!!
Love in Christ, your brother in Christ, moses tracy–719-231-1662
Dear Grant,
Gay people = bad, Pedos = good?
You are a bigot moron.
To Name, who isn’t confident enough to even put a first name:
Homosexuality is one of the sins God calls an ABOMINATION! Being gay isn’t a sin; practicing it is. Understand it before calling someone out without knowing what you’re talking about.
The bible also says that you should keep kosher laws,not to shave and to keep the 613 commandments (Yes, 613). I doubt you all of follow those….don’t pick and choose stuff from the bible to follow, it’s either all or none.
Moses Tracy: Catholics do NOT worship Mary; we never have, nor has it ever been encouraged. She is venerated at the Mother of God (Mother of Jesus). Please do not perpetuate those statements that Protestants seem to not ever want to realize are falsehoods..
Thank you !
As a Catholic, we worship Mary. Call it veneration, call it May Crowning, whatever. It’s worship of a female deity. I was an altar server for ten years, and received 13 years of private Catholic education.
See it for the religion it is – we worship saints and multiple deities. When you pray to St. Anthony, that is worship. It’s polytheism with multiple demi-gods.
You are completely wrong. Must not have payed attention in school. You ask for the Saints and Mary to pray for us, we are not praying directly to them. Since they are in communion with God and have found His favor (they are Saints after all.) It’s like asking someone who is a close friend of your boss to put in a good word for you.
the Church will always be a target of those who will not do their due diligence. if they did they would understand. let’s stay focused on what is important. we can get more good work done. hey we can pray for those who persecute us. this would be time well spent. God bless!
Bob,
How can someone be gay and not practice it?
You still haven’t addressed the "Priest Pedo’s are OK" claim.
Name,
How can someone be single and not have sex outside of marriage? (Which is a sin).
They do so by not HAVING it, same as being gay. If I were gay and practiced what is preached in the bible, I would just not be able to have sex with another man. Would it be tough? Sure, I’m not claiming it’s easy. Just like when I was single for many years, I had the urge to having sex with a woman, my faith held me strong to not doing so.
As for Priests: It’s NOT ok a small percentage where abusing children, they should have been prosecuted to the full extent of the law, but it doesn’t make all priests or the Church guilty of the sins of the few.
Do teachers who have sex with their students make all other teachers ‘evil’? Jesus had 12 men he taught; 1 fell away, does it make the other 11 wrong/evil?
No to both those questions…so you can’t judge the many for the sins of the few.
Great stuff here 🙂
Thanks for your post about phone..I got a lot of info from this post.
Sorry to enter the fray but just some interesting quotes.
“Hail Mary Full of Grace”
The Archangel Gabriel
As she is full of grace she was ‘perfect’ and as she is full of grace she is also their dispenser, thus making her the “Mediatress of all Graces”
“I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head”
Thus there is a woman who was never under the power of Satan, meaning free of all original sin and all imperfection; A New Eve. This is Mary the Mother of God. God/Jesus would never have allowed himself to be under the control of one who was under the control of the devil.(The Immaculate Conception)She is also the New Arc of the Covenant.
We ask others to pray for us, so why can’t others (Saints) pray for us?
“Blessed are though amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus”
Elizabeth
Praying to Mary ultimately helps us to come closer to Christ.He is the Mediator of Justice, while Mary is our Queen and Intercessor.
Well said!
Mary spoke, through the Holy Spirit, “And all generations shall call me Blessed…”
And so we do, because she was the One perfect soul to be created; the one soul who never offended God in anything she did, perfecting all her attributes in God’s eyes.
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