Amen. Although I am very much sadden observing moral fall of our society, I realize that God knew about it before choosing Death on the Cross. What makes me so sad is we, Catholics in this generation, are the reason for that failure. This generation will be judged for failure to love. Generation of Diocletian will be praised for love of the other. The Face of the Bride of Christ needs to be washed, and there is only One Thing that can wash Her Face when there is no one willing, like Saint Catherine of Siena, for instance, to offer herself for that purpose. It is the Blood of the Lamb which comes from His Body which is the Church. The Blood of the Martyrs. Here it comes. It may be not today, it may be not tomorrow, but is is coming. Oh God, why am I such a pathetic looser, and selfish. Why am I failing so miserably responding to your call! Why am I so weak to say no to my desires. Why am I so proud, so lazy, so gluttonous. I desire to be changed, not only not to be hurt by my sins, and not having others being wounded by me, but for You, Oh Lord. But I think about myself instead. All my actions are rotten with self love. How damned am I, and how much love others people need, which I could give. I am a wretched sinner who are terrible upset with myself. Lord, I need You, and You know it. Please punish me, bring me to my knees again, and again, but change me. I beg You, for I want to Love You, and to Love others the way You loved them. Yes, it will cost me my life, which I cling to so much. These broken pieces of the vase that broke into million parts is stuck to the dirt with a glue of sin. Tear me off the ground, and lift me high. Use Your Grace as a glue to put be back One. I beg You in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. I implore You. Saint Catherine of Siena, pray for me. Holy Mothers, beg these things for me for the Grater Glory of God. Amen.

Thank you.  Feeling overwhelmingly frustrated at the outcome of the election, this is exactly what I needed to hear this morning.

Thank You I enjoyed that.  I just wish I could see what was ahead.  I know every thing will be alright with hard work. . .for I always work hard. I feel that we have something but I don’t know what it is.  I guess your article is related to what has happened on Tuesday that I should say to us; I have lost so many times and happy for losing only because I knew that God had it for me to lose.  but this time he makes me feel that I/we did not lose.  We have a victory some where now.

Thank you for this post. When I woke up and found out the news, I felt very sad and a bit anxious, especially with so much at stake….but reading this helped to calm my soul a bit and remember than Jesus is King, above all political offices. Our hope truly is in God. A verse that seems very applicable for today: Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
~Philippians 2: 14-18

God has chosen to abandon America.
Because THIS is where we live, in the here and now, THIS is what we must deal with.
One can say stuff about our “eternal home,” not being here and while true, once again, THIS is where we live, work, and play.
This is the society that is crumbling from both the inside and from the outside.

There are no bright sides….there are no silver linings.
There is only the reality of an immoral country becoming even more so.
After all the special masses, the fervor over religious freedom, all the rosaries, all the adoration hours, and the result, Satan laughs.

Maine and Maryland affirm Gay Marriage, the first states to do so and Washington will probably follow.

And, most important of all, the genocide of the unborn will be even more unrestricted.

At least two Supreme Court justices will be appointed in the next 4 years.

Yes, to the degree that God ever gets involved in anything, God has chosen to move beyond America.

This is typically where one says, “May God have mercy on us,” but you see, He has chosen exactly against mercy.
He has chosen wrath and we are told that vengeance is His.

Perhaps, He finally just decided, “Whoa, these Americans are way too stupid for me and I am a pretty forgiving guy.”

Thank you so much for this beautiful reflection, Father. It brought a spark of joy to my saddened spirit. There is always hope!!

IT"S OVER.

God bless you for writing these words of hope. This was the first place I had to turn to when the results of the election came in. Maybe we get too focused on political figures but, instead, should be focused on God.

This so ,coherently expresses my sentiments felt in my heeart with tears in my eyes as I feel to my knees and thanked God for a peaceful.election process and the.precious liberties we still have. Thank you.

Thank you so much for your helpful note - “the race is lost and so are we”, is the natural reaction to the Election results.  But thanks to your timely comment, we have some wisdom and understanding on the subject. 

We know as Catholics that God NEVER abandons us - though our pain may blind us so that we do not see Him.  I counsel grief recovery sometimes. After all the counseling and readings , mostly I listen and say , to start:  “HANG IN - IT GETS BETTER ! ”  especially if we watch and act to MAKE it better.   

“It’s about life”  does not change just because an election has been lost   “IT’S ABOUT LIFE”

The idea of AMERICA is no more. The “50 Year Plan”. Decades of socialist policies, un-education, greed accompanied with cronyism, excessive pop culture. Destruction of our morals, borders, culture, language, currency and now the ballots have been cast by the"useful idiots”. The communists have taken political power from us and now it will be full blown communism. 

The end result of communism is to destroy the Catholic Church. America. LIFE. Liberty. And the pursuit of happiness.

My faith is dying along with AMERICA. The devil is fighting for my soul.

Mr. Schultz—God has NOT abandoned America, but many American’s have abandoned God. God is all loving and all merciful God.  How do we know?  He gave us free will.  How we, and those around us, exercise that free will is the challenge.  All choices have consequences.  “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” ~Blessed John Paul II

Like so many other peple of faith and who are so disturbed by what seems like a rejection of our constitution piece by piece, I did take comfort in this article.  I would simply like to underscore the combination of prayer and of the exercise of the principle of subsidiarity.  We lead by doing and example in our own families and communities, all rooted in our faith in God.  Any example or change starts and ends with the family.

God is God and abandons no one. Some abandon Him and his teachings.
.
Catholics have not let us down this election; people have. The same people descended from Eve who let God down. Catholics are those that we expect to identify with and honor the Church and Her teachings. Those who do not do this do no fit the description. They are merely people with a different identity and a desire to be Catholic.

Every time I am diapointed I move closer to God because this world is not mine. Jesus told us to give up the ways of this world and be perfect as the Father is perfect. We all are sinners and strive to be close to God but many times we fall short. I am always telling myself did I do enough.
There is work to be done in the vinyard. We cannot lose hope.
I to my family last year if this man is elected we are going to move.
I just want to be closer to God. I don’t know if I want to subject my children to this place. Lot left Sodum because it was so corupt and the angels from Heaven came down to tell him to leave.Will this happen to us, will the 3 days of darkness be in the near future? I am sad for the future of the U.S.

Today’s first reading from St. Paul, in Phil. 2 talks about being a light “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,” and we are still called to be that no matter how hard it is.
-
Being in Maryland, my family and I are especially saddened but we have come to accept that we (faithful American Catholics) are like so many other Catholic Christians around the world who are oppressed, ridiculed and rejected because of our faithfulness.  We can now more clearly join Catholics in China, Russia, the Middle East, Germany, Australia, England…...and the list goes on and on.  We are those who listen to Christ as He speaks through Scripture, Pope Benedict and his bishops.  We are not alone but seem to be.  And, more and more, we are becoming the Church suffering rather than the Church militant we are supposed to be.

I was also feeling very low when I heard the results of the election.  I told my son, “God help America.”  But after reading the above article,  my thoughts and feelings have been put into perspective.:  I will put my turst in God, I will be more hopeful, have faith and courage, and put my trust in God.

Today I will also attend 12 o’clock Mass and Eucharistic Adoration to pray, to be with like-minded people, and find peace.

Kathy,
Love trumps hate and fear. The Light of Creation shines in all beings - even beings brimming with hate and fear.

I would first like to say praise the Lord our God for the defeat of doctor assisted suicides in MA. I would also like to point out that 12% Obama"s total vote yeild was “catholic women” and in that, against the principles held directly by RCC doctrine. I pray for these women and beg them (and their male counterparts)to take some time, pray, take stock of their lives and review their personal relationship with God. I beg them to go to confession and reconcile with the Lord of Hosts before taking the Eucharist. There is no reason to compound the dubious and egregious nature of there defiance and waywardness. Lastly,I would like to tell them that in each moment choice exists. Since each moment was created by the divine all moments are sacred.It is in that sacred moment we choose to turn our cheek or our backs to God. Thats where our choice is made and our free will expressed. But It is also where our reward is gained and our punishement warranted. Our glorious and ever merciful father waits patiently for us, with arms open waiting for our return… Return home sisters your Daddy’s calling.

Is our church being faithful to us?  With all their powers we lost yesterday , anyway!    I have Catholic school and action and mission work and yet I am critical of my own church these days and pray for guidance and insights and yet remain faithful.    So far, I don’t see us getting what we want and KNOW Is right until we evolve to
1. FULL RIGHTS NOW FOR WOMEN - even the Jewish people have lady rabbis.
2. Married priests and nuns allowed,  rather than de-frocking if their homones change - they preach honor for all , but practice otherwise.  Our church loses the investment made in training these men and women when love and marriage come to them. With chaste and faithful and holy lifelong marriage in such dire straits, allowing clergy to marry would be wise. I grew up in the church and miss so painfully the absence of the beauty of the life the priests and nuns showed us - Modern times took it one way and we must be inspired now to fix it to NEW beauty for all. NOBODY SHOWS UP FOR A BAD TIME.
3. ABORTION always a NO ....but birth control and ” morning after” YES.  Some of this has begun but far from “there ” yet. 

We are suiciding as we have in the past when we refuse to find loving and inspired ways of growth. But our church has weathered more and survived and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”

I think the thing that we are all forgetting here, including myself, is

that a promise was made to us.  The promise was and still is that we will

be persecuted for his name sake.  How we respond to this persecution is

what will determine our future.  Our Christian example will be taken

notice of.  So my message of encouragement to those disheartened like me

is to hold your chin up high, continue to lead by example, and never

cease to pray even when we feel abandoned by God, because the one set

of footprints in the picture today is our God’s footprints carrying us.

Much love in Christ Jesus.

Thank you - I needed to read your words today. Puts priorities into perspective.
John

What a wonderful commetary- thank you so much for these Truthful, encouraging words of wisdom

Thank-you all for your comments.  I can’t let myself “get down”, although it would certainly be easy to do so with the election results.  The thought:  “It’s better to light just 1 little candle than to curse the darkness” keeps going through my head.  Tomorrow I go in for major surgery .. . at the same time the Noreaster hits.  I’m praying for a break in the “wintry mix” and rain in order to get to the hospital.

Thank you, Father Mullady.

The real message of Democracy is not one of us against them, win or lose, one up or one down. No the real edge of DEMOCRACY is involvement, engagement, vision. Our leaders both national and local are what we want them to be. This is not new. Somewhere in a dusty bible you may find a passage where the Children of GOd demanded a King. They wanted to be like all those around them. They were informed of the risks by a prophet but were given one by God at their demand. Things have not changed much since that dusty book was written. We demand to be like the others around us! We demand that the King do for us so we do not have to for each other and ourselves. There is a poem where “they” came for the others one by one but I did not object because I was not one of them. Then they came for me and there was no one left to object. I am sure they took him in silence, the silence of the lamb. It need not be so. Look into the silence of the Lamb. Look also to the Good Shepherd. The Shepherd is a verb. The Lamb listens to the Father and obeys. The Shepherd guards, protects and defends his own. He looks for the lost to bring home. Engagement in the political process both within and without is the only way to any real lasting postive change.  If you are silent, they will come for you and for me in time. Quite time with the Rosary, that dusty Bible,the Mass and just some time with HIM wherever you may be is the begining… The walk out in the Light and share it…

The negative responses to Fr. Mallady’s reflection show the reasons for what happened: some Catholics, a lot of Catholics, think that political philosophy is the same as belief. The American system has never been open to Catholic political theory, so Catholic belief cannot affect political outcomes.  What will work is Catholics actually practicing charity toward all by staying out of politics or by establishing a specific Catholic political party whereby it will not skew and destroy mainstream possibilities for compromise and progress on issues that matter to the majority of the country.  If Catholics really believe in the value of moral action, it will be apparent in their behavior.  They do not, which is the point of confession, so as a group Catholics have no claim against the majority of this country.  Catholic political theory in a democracy is a contradiction in terms.  It will never work.  Christianity is about forgiveness of those who persecute, not about establishing a political order.  The leadership of the American Catholic Church has failed its people again by failing to understand the difference between politics and genuine belief in and not just cheap talk about love.

From the Patriotic Rosary

To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation, either through unbelief, or the corruption of its
doctrines, or the neglect of its institutions; in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom, and approximate the miseries of complete despotism.”

“All efforts to destroy the foundations of our holy religion, ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness.”

“Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them.”

Jedediah Morse, 1799

Thank you for this message of hope, and a reminder that our hope truly is in God, not in government.  Unlike a previous commentator, I do not believe that God has abandoned America, but that now we are in a time of chastening, just as the Israelites were when they chose themselves and other “gods” before God.  We are reaping the harvest of our own choices (or lack of good ones), and our recent efforts regarding religious rights, etc. have really been “too little, too late”.
I have been telling people for a while now that we as Catholics really stink (not the actual word I used) at evangelizing our own people.  Two whole generations have not had any real formation.  Just because we have Catholic schools does not mean the children are being formed, just educated—which helps for sure but is not the same thing at all.  Our Catholic core(and Christian core as a nation) has eroded.  Formation comes from living an experience of God’s love and as a result, finding the true way to serve Him, in love and in service of others.
Now is the time to put our trust back in God and start walking the walk.  I too am guilty of just “talking the talk”.  Let’s get back into some good Scripture Study, Let’s serve each other and the community all year long and not just when we are in warm fuzzy mode at Christmas.  Let us spend more time in Eucharistic Adoration for our country.  Let us educate ourselves and develop the passion we need to be reflective and honoring of the Passion of Jesus, who gave it ALL.

Thank you, Fr. Mullady. Your thoughts and words are very important and valuable. I sense the Catholic Church will come under persecution so I appreciate you reminding us to “look at time from eternity”. May the Holy Spirit guide all of us in our efforts to live the Gospel with love while we live in the world but are not of the world.

Thank you Father for posting this. My heart is broken at how much we have disrespected our Lord. I often ask, why would he have mercy on us? Why should he save us when all we do is stomp on mercy. Now I fully understand what other Christians worldwide go through when they are oppressed for their faith, beliefs and values. My only hope is while we undergo the dark ages and end of times, that God be merciful for the little Christians left who revere his principles.

PLEASE…PLEASE….PLEASE
Most assuredly, Catholics (or those charlatan frauds pretending to be)
have without any doubt in any logical mind, let those who have tried for 5 long, socialist-enduring years to be faithful to traditional American values, to natural law, and to our God-given rights….those Catholics have let us down to a degree I cannot estimate at this time, but it will be significant.  To those charlatans in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Colorado,  PLEASE repent and become a Presbyterian or maybe a Muslim.  Obama thinks a lot of the Muslims and it is obvious, you think a lot of Barack Obama.

Father said: “True, in a democracy or a democratic republic, the clergy should not have an active role in the political process as clergy. But, as citizens, each of us as Catholics must be aware that the kind of behavior that is necessary to preserve democracy is not necessarily the kind of behavior democracies like.”
This is what saddens me personally. The two Priests at my Church never said anything about these elections,[how to vote] but they could have had something in the bulletin about what the Church is going through because of Obama’s healthcare.  How many Catholics read the Catholic papers….very few…they went to Mass…they did their duty…The church I attend has 2,000 families and confession is once a week for 1/2 hour.
I gave a friend a copy of what a Bishop spoke of on NCR and she ignored it. I told her to read a Catholic paper on the internet or watch EWTN and her answer was “I will be 80 soon and I will live the rest on my life enjoying it and not getting involved with the news”. She loves her fiction books, she loves going out to lunch with Sr. Citizens and playing croquet with them, etc. but won’t listen to what I had to say abt what the Church is going thru and what bothers me most is that so many Catholics are like that.
Back to my Argentinian born friend,[ancestry,Italy/Spain] who had a terrible childhood under dictator Peron and yes the Catholic Church was complicit in this “Dirty War” under the leadership of their Dictator. The Church did not kill anyone but did help] My friend is a devout Baptist [I wonder why] and said to me….this is how Peron started, get the people to love you, give them this and that and take control little by little. “Take control little, by little”?, isn’t that what is going on now with our government? [tell you what food to eat, we don’t want fat people…{Hitler did not want deformed babies born}....Take “God” out of school, off coins, etc. [even out of the Dem.Convention] Placate the atheists, dictate to the CC so that we have to sue them, ruin the sanctity of marriage, etc. This Argentinian lady knows exactly what she is saying and I saw it during WWII. I am scared, not for me but for my country.

Score card.  Catholic Church - 0; Democrat Party - 1.

Thank you, Father.  This helps me so much today as I,like many Americans,am quite depressed.  I put my hope on God but I still have to live in the world.  I worry for the future of my grandchildren but I realize there is nothing I can do about it - it’s all in God’s hands.  Maybe this is our chastisement for all the aborted babies and for our country abandoning God.

Darkness before the Dawn. But know that the Light will come. Fear not little flock…

The sacrament of Confirmation bonds us to witnessing for our church ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE.
Some here said things about our responsibility to speak up for LIFE as an “iffy” thing and it is NOT AT ALL iffy in any way.

Our priests have died for it since the Apostles, but they must witness for the tenets of our church whenever the issues arise.  We are seeing the kind of stuff we read about in Catholic school Church history.  And probably there will be our grandchildren reading about these times with fear and respect and that safe distance time brings.

WITNESS…it is not just you and a few folk - society is a ONE and its message MUST be GOOD or we die.  Every time we support the wrong stuff we get death disaster and destruction and disease much much more than when we have the sense to choose good work and love and LIFE above all.

These are scary times and I have fear - and I never have fear.  But I will continue to witness, to encourage our clergy and anyone else in my reach.. IN fact since my art wins prizes I will do some art on it. Christmas is coming and I do art about life anyway. 

God bless you all ..Bless me.

This election was a victory for truly pro-life forces—stop being so glum!  The GOP is not pro-life—it never has been and never will be.  As Catholics, we should be able to agree that it is in the best interests of the unborn to support the unborn’s mothers through pre-natal support, child support, health services and child care.  These are all things Obama has fought for.  As long as conservative Catholics continue to think that the GOP is pro-life there is going to be much unnecessary hand-wringing and doomsday Eeyoring like Fr. Mullady’s column.  The Democratic Party is our natural ally—let’s support pro-life Democrats like Bob Casey in Pennysylvania and pray for President Obama’s conversion on the issue of abortion.

I find it interesting (and not surprising) the Bishop of the local diocese nor the parish Pastor encouraged anyone to vote this past Sunday and to support candidates holding “biblical” values.  Why not?  Obama and Biden both advocate same-sex marriage and abortion on demand.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU is so true for We The People in America!  Like Augustine, we look forward to the City of God.  And while here, we are salt and light, a Standard of Righteousness, a strong Remnant, of Truth.  Histoircally, “The gates of Hell shall not prevail” against the Church and for 2,000 years has not prevailed!  To say that “It’s all in God’s Hands” is deceptive and a blatant lie of the Adversary.  We are the Church Militant and most have forgotten, or don’t have time for, activating all this means, as well defined in our Catholic Catechism.  GO TO YOUR CATHOLIC CATECHISM NOW AND IMPLANT IN YOUR SOUL WHAT THIS MEANS!  God is not looking for people who are neutral and passive and flippantly saying, “Let God do it.”  We are His Hands and Temples of the Holy Spirit!
Don’t fatalistically volunteer into the cult of softness, for through very convincing rationalizations, that is Satan’s plan for your life!

There is always the virtue of theological hope,but why could we blame God for rejecting a nation that kills 59 Million of its own children? Democracy bears the seeds of its own destruction that have sprouted and caused the majority to accept evil and reject the God our founders trusted.  If we had maintained the Republic, we might still be viable.  How am I supposed to feel when my military career and the lives of those who died to give us freedom go up in smoke, when the enemies we fought against manage to take over our nation without an outcry from our citizens that have been brainwashed to accept socialism since the Communist John Dewey began his mission in the Thirties to remove God from our public schools and the public square.  I knew the Socialist Norman Thomas said in 1936 that they would take over our nation without firing a shot.  I never believed that freedom-loving Americans would allow that to happen.  How wrong I was.  Those who voted for Obama, were consummate traitors that now deserve to lose what they have always taken for granted.  Unfortunately those of us who still trust in the God of our fathers did too little too late and must now pay along with those who have rejected Him.  The actions of now excommunicated apostate Catholics that eschewed salvation and the Declaration of Independence are the greatest scandal and indeed merit the greatest wrath of God if they fail to recant.  None have since the last election, and now have strike two.  We must pray and do penance with the fervor of Nineveh, if we are to regain the American dream and City on the Hill.

What do faithful Catholics do when it comes time to pay taxes for having not purchased Obamacare insurance by April 15 next year? What do faithful Catholics do whent it comes time to say no to paying for others abortions? Will we all rally together when they come to take us to jail? Right now, I know this is God’s will.  This is our challenge.  I pray for the courage to withstand what is coming.

@Polly O. Hohn - Although God does what is the best, but sometimes He waits for us to ask for things. So I pray for you, Polly, that God grants all blessings to the doctors, so He could be glorified in them by healing you. I also ask all blessings for you, so in case of pain, you could know what to do with it, and be able to offer it for someone in needs. Holy Mother, pray for us!

I can’t imagine how did the Apostles felt in the upper room on Black (Holy) Saturday…
Can’t wait for Sunday, though, and I know it will come!!!

First of all, Jesus would NOT be a republican. That’s not even disputable.  He would be happy to see a very extreme plutocrat and his cronies (who pander to racism, homophobia, anti-science/intellectualism, etc.) sent packing.

I understand people’s position on abortion.  I believe it is wrong at any time but it is a highly complex issue.  Just because I think it’s wrong and according to my religious beliefs it is a sin, does not mean I can impose laws on others that control their bodies and their decisions, especially in very early pregnancy when the unborn child is literally cells/DNA, and in my mind, so much potential. It’s wrong but I can not control other’s decisions here.  Plus it will continue illegally and unsafely anyways. Later in pregnancy is a different story.

Now to my biggest issue with the Catholic Church and why I left: abuse of children. The church has no moral ground to stand on until it admits to and deals with the widespread of abuse of children that has taken place in what should be a holy place where our most innocent and vulnerable human beings are safe. The level of widespread abuse of children and the cover up at all levels of the Catholic Church, is so incredibly sinister that I would not raise a child in this church/branch of Christianity. While there are many good people in the catholic church, this has not been dealt with in an honest and just manner. Until then, zero moral ground to stand on.

Mr. Schultz have you lost your mind?  God has not abandoned America.  He will not harm the wheat for the tares.  His abandonment would harm the wheat.  He is Emmanuel, God-with-us, even in the most extreme and sickening sink-holes.  He was with St. Kolbe in his starvation pit.  Right there with him.  He was starving with him.  He had already starved with him and for him, 2000 years before, but, He starved with him again, later, just for good measure and to suffer with him yet again.  It is tremendously, cosmos-shatteringly insulting for the sheep to think, let alone trumpet, that the Shepherd is not there with him, even when the sheep knows in his heart that the Shepherd’s good crosier is about his neck, still, as always.  Praise God.  We are sorry, Lord, for this offense.

personwhocares: You would blame God and the Church He promised would be free of error for the actions of those who openly flaunted its doctrines?  How will you explain that when you face judgment? You must not care about your immortal soul.

@Person who cares:The Catholic Church is NOT imposing their beliefs (laws) on other people. They are suing the HHS (Obama’s Healthcare) for forcing Catholic hospitals and adoption agencies, universities,etc. ‘to offer health insurance to their employees that INCLUDES coverage for abortion,contraceptives, etc.’ which goes against the beliefs of the Cath. Church.  They are not pushing it on any other people, religion or race or ethnicity.
As to the pedophilia: check it out. There is more of that going on in the public school system than anywhere. On your search line, put “pedophilia and the (name) Church or Public Schools and you will find it in most churches, boy scouts, girl scouts, athletic teams, etc. You “think” it is only the CC, because the news media only mentions the CC in regards to child abuse.  You have to separate the people in the church from what our Lord teaches us. Pedophilia is a societal problem., not just our Church. By the way the Church has admitted to it and has done something about it. Also, if you check enough you will see that even the public school system has hidden it. Teachers telling students not to say anything otherwise they will fail class. Please check it out because in the beginning I felt as you.

I mourn! 
Luke 16:8   “......for the sons of this world are wiser in their own generation than the sons of light”.
Indeed!

By the way Mr. Schultz, it is a horror that you would wish any of your fellow men to leave St. Peter’s boat.  Leave Holy Mother Church, the source of confession and His Body and Blood?  You breezily condemn men you happen to disdain to live without the very Sacraments that our Lord came and installed here on Earth through great suffering, His suffering, even death on a cross.  Can you really be like this?  This is bald horror.  He would have come to Earth for one man.  And you try to keep souls from Him in His Sacraments?  Without them they (we) are already dead men walking.  It is the demon’s job to alienate men from their God in His Church.  Do not cooperate with the demon.

I too woke up sad and didn’t understand what people were thinking but I know in my heart that I was at peace with with my choice but knew I was really trying to do what I think GOD wanted me to do.  I will pray for the United States that they will turn to GOD again.  I have family members who probably voted for Obama, it breaks my heart but I will not stop praying for all of us.  St. Padre Pio said pray, hope and don’t worry.  GOD BLESS AMERICA

Father, this is a rather timid response to recent political events in America.  Your tone is suffused with sadness, even though your words are hopeful.  Rather, you should insist on joy! EVEN JOY!!  Especially in view of the coming persecution.  When St. Cyprian expressed his artful melancholy, it was not uncommon for Catholics to be fed to the flames, or wild animals.  Is the praise we heap in the Roman Canon just florid speech?  Your problem, Mr. OP, is that your veins run with printers ink, and your walls are covered with degrees, instead of a crucifix.  Jesus ran up Calvary, but we’re running down.  Every adversity is an opportunity.  Every disaster is a great and cherished gift.  Love,

The year for priests purified (and still does) our priesthood by putting the light on the false shepherd leading their sheep to the wolf. Isn’t it amazing?
Now, when the persecution will finally start, lukewarm and fake Catholics will leave the Church, and the prayer for increase of faith will become answered. And again we will be all amazed.
The only thing I have to make sure of is that I do not loose Christ from my sight lest I will become one of these vomited by Him.

@Sue (old) on Wednesday, Nov 7, 2012 3:57 PM (EST):

Thank you for your wise and true comments.  It has been an unfairness in sensational press, to emphasize CC fault on the topic of pedophilia. The problem is everywhere and moreso in environments where the morality on the topic is undefined.  Scouts have been the headlines recently over it - look it up. Public Schools - ditto.  I am so proud of my Catholic Education and my love and romance and marriage were ones for the book and at least I knew God was with me , when my Handsome Prince died suddenly, because everyone else is only human at such a time when the experience gets a little unique and “overmuch”.  My church helped me to find healing and happiness on my own and I date and will remarry.  They do good work!  :-D Do not malign my church.

If you get into the readings, the things that we long for in our church ARE under way or done but not widespread.

I am devout and fine in my church and do art for them at times but that does not mean my “moment” with it all has not been:    because we were in a mission state, in the 70s and 80s, the latest things to appeal to new converts were made available; since we were new and easier to measure. 

So my daughter was among the first female altar attendants . 

Then her Dad passed away and we returned to Connecticut roots where the girls were not serving yet in spite of Connecticut’s strong Catholic representation - 36.6%.     

Still grieving I shrank in horror to see my daughter flayed for her profligacy in daring to present herself for service - while she cried in new horror, wondering what she’d done -  and my first “moment’ with my church.

It was resolved three ways - quiet apology, bed rest for my ailing daughter, and the change of the law in this state to allow female altar attendants. 

What I did not know , since when the children grew up they moved distant, was that she was too intensely traumatized by the incident due to overdone rudeness on the part of the offending church person and because of puberty and our sudden-death grieving.  Her experience of it was so intense she still finds it difficult to worship normally with the Church and even today is sometimes a fine Catholic and sometimes not, whereas before she was devout and always so happy about it. 

I am not God’s own because he was always so good to me and mine; not because it has always been easy,  and yet ... So, do not malign my church.

We have lost a battle but we, as the book of Hebrews says, have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. And yet God is God. How God will bring good out of what seems evil to us He only knows. One thing though, after both the sheep and the shepherds have been mostly silent on many of these moral issues for the past 40 years or so, the persecution from without is finally beginning to wake us up. I believe we should all offer penance to God for our slothfulness and our lukewarmness and be grateful to God that he has had mercy on use and not spit us out as our laziness deserves. So let us bear patiently the small persecutions, compared to what the saints have suffered, which God is allowing us to endure in the present.

Good heaven…this was one election! Some you win and some you lose. If we lost this one we will live to vote again. Meanwhile we continue to fight the good fight and with faith and hope we face tomorrow. God is still in charge…not Obama, not the Democrats, not any manly prince or authority. What is the purpose of faith if not to lift high our crosses
and take joy in the face of adversity. Run the race to the finish, Paul advises us, with perseverence and confidence in the Lord. Do not be a person of little faith, especially this Year of Faith declared by Pope
Benedict XVIth.  Courage, brothers and sisters! Take this opportunity to grow stronger in your resolve to love.

Personwhocare(but only up to a point) - I had a good laugh reading your diatribe, but in this case I would classify it a monotribe.  Especially amusing was your indignant argument against child abuse in the Church, placed immediately after your justification of child murder in the world at large.  And I wonder who you mean by “plutocrats?”  The label covers just about every politician.  I guess the unnamable accusation “homophobic” sells it.  My conclusion is that you need to move over to the Disney channel, or Animal Planet.  Come back after 50 billion years of evolution.  Sincerely,

Matt B, your mention of our Lord reminded me of a quote of St. Ambrose that I think you’ll enjoy:
“Let us see him leaping; he leaped out of heaven into the virgin, out of the womb into the manger, out of the manger into Jordan, out of Jordan to the cross, from the cross into the tomb, out of the grave into heaven.”

“And there arose a great storm, and the waves were beating into the boat, so that the boat was now filling. And He, Himself (Jesus) was on the stern of the boat, on a cushion, asleep. And they woke Him and said to Him, ‘Master, does it not concern You that we are perishing?’ Then rising up, He rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind fell and there came a great calm. And He said to them, ‘WHY ARE YOU FEARFUL? ARE YOU STILL WITHOUT FAITH?’ ...”
St. Mark 4, 37 - 40

Our Lord rebuked the apostles, as well as the wind, questioning if they had faith! We have the benefit of hindsight! What excuse have we?

HAVE FAITH IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!!!

“Pray, hope, and don’t worry!”—Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

It will be a beautiful Divine Beginning: A new Heaven, A new Earth, A new Life as ONE IN GOD….

Like many of you, I was in complete despair after the election.  I saw what could have been, a man of great integrity, that would have been an example to the whole world.  I thought of this country that crucified him just as they did Christ.  I hated many in my church, the bishops, priests and nuns that voted for this awful man we call president.  I hated my brother and sister who is a nun, feeling I would never want to see or speak to them again.  I hated the sacrament of reconciliation.  Why would I confess to a priest who is a hypocrite.  After not watching any television or reading any papers I woke up this morning in a new frame of mind.  I will urge the church to call these so called priests, nuns,and bishops to task.  They took this calling to spread the work of Christ not to defend abortion, gay marriage and stealing from the rich and the government.  In many cases they plead poor to cash in on medicaid and other government gimme programs while enjoying trips and freebees from all their fellow catholics who think they work so hard and have so little.  Baloney! I pray that my brother and sisters will find the truth.  They can’t be happy for how they have voted.  A union is more important than God. These people are not Christian in my view.  All we can do is pray for them.  We include them in the very sick.  After all that is what they are.  We now have a president who must bend a bit.  We will sue for our religious liberty.  Just as we supported Romney before, now support the people who are suing to bring justice.  I say, real catholics unite and don’t give up until we get our religious freedom back!

Rejoice in the Lord, always! Again, I say Rejoice! 

This admonition by St. Paul was given to people who really faced mockery, discrimination, beatings and even torture and death for their beliefs.  And yet he says, rejoice.  I have been been battling the last couple of days between what my faith tells me and what my feelings are.  I work among many Christians and Catholics that are lovely people and are so happy with the results of the election.  I struggle mightily to rejoice because it feels like clapping at a funeral.  But then, I know that the hallmark of the Christian is joy.  The martyrs sang to their deaths. 
One of the most powerful Christian witnesses in my life is a woman who lives near me from Ruwanda.  When she was six she witnessed the death of her father and her uncle by public dismemberment by an angry mob that took delight in cutting pieces off of them and handing them out until the two men were no more. She survived and one day testified against the leaders of genocide in her village.  She had to flee as a refugee to this country to escape alone the revenge for her testimony.  But she is so joyful!  She exudes God’s love and she inspires me with so much hope.  She loves and forgives and puts all her trust in Jesus for whom she lives.  I hope I can be such a light too!

For Lamont,
I agree. Somehow, when I heard the news I felt that this is how it is supposed to be for some reason. There is a victory somewhere somehow as you said. I do not know what it is, but I sense it. Pray.

Fr. Mullady offers us a timely reminder after this election (and 4 more years of God knows what) that our citizenship is in heaven, in the City of God.  Father is correct that we should not be given to despair when it appears the City of Man (i.e. America) has embraced a political party given to grave immorality and disorder in the moral order.  This is bad enough, but my lament is that it should not rely on Catholics to get it there!  If there was need for proof of the moral confusion of the Church in America, we need look no farther than the Catholic vote for Obama and the Democrats – the party that “opposed the name of God” (remember August 26th at the DNC?) and thus no surprise, whose party platform includes explicit support for abortion and same-sex marriage – both intrinsic evils opposed by the Church – that war against life and the pillar of all cultures, the family.  Too many Catholics are fiddling while America burns.  I was not surprised, but sincerely saddened to read an earlier post to this article, of a misguided soul that sincerely believes Obama (not the Republicans) are “pro-life.”  This makes my point perfectly - we have uncatechized Catholics who are “too blue to have a clue.”  Not that Republicans are perfect, but their platform clearly affirms the “sanctity of life.”  Don’t take my word, read it yourself.  The “battleground state” still in play is the Catholic Church in America where (ala today’s Gospel reading) not just 1 sheep in 100 has gone astray, but according to AP exit polling, 50 sheep have morally wandered off the reservation, up from 47 sheep in 2008.  The moral compass of the faithful in our Church is getting worse!  And this would be cause for depression, except the eternal perspective that Fr. Mullady reminds us to maintain: Hope in God and continue the good fight as St. Paul admonishes, for our final end is not here, but basking in the beatific vision of union with God upon a new heaven and a new earth, and borrowing the Marine Corps motto, we should be: Semper Fideles.

Matt B., ease up there partner.
  The good padre spoke his peace.  There is a time to mourn.  This is that time.  But, prudent mourning is just what he is proposing.  The Lord wept over Jerusalem. It would be irrational to look at the present situation and not shed a tear of sorrow.

Fr. Mullady, thank you for the words of encouragement.

Just a follow-up to my earlier post: the correct date of the DNC floor vote that opposed the name of God in their platform was September 5th.  Thanks.

Thank you Father. I am grateful for your teaching and your words of consolation and encouragement here. I pray that we may all awaken in this the Year of Faith to what our faith really means and how we can proclaim it to all we meet.

@Elle Fagan: I moved to WVa. in 1962 & went to a Mission Church and had a great experience there. I first saw the “Altar turned around” before those in larger states like NY where I came from. We then moved to a larger town and I saw the first Altar-girl.[same state] I also had trouble with my early Church experiences in NY, going to Cath. grade school. I am just beginning to “like” Confession because I had to go every Sat.in order to go to Communion on Sun. Sister said so! [and she watched who went]I used to make up sins because I had to say ‘something’. Now it is a bit funny to me but to me, as a child, hated it. I literally “lied” in Confession. I never said the word “damn” yet I told the priest I swore. Funny, yes, but things like this stays with kids. To me, Grade School is the most important time in a child’s life. I have lived in the South quite some time now, WV, Va.,NC and SC. and the Catholic Church has moved South…you would not believe the huge churches in NC & SC. The church I go to now has 2,000 families. Personally, I like smaller churches.  The Catholic Church has always leaned Democrat because of Social Justice and I do feel this election has changed them. They are just too liberal for the Catholic Church now. I still find fault with things in the CC, like the priests/bishops catering to such as the Kennedy’s. But in my old age I have learned to separate the people of the Church, meaning Priests and Bishops also from what Jesus has taught us. The Nuns taught us that the closest people to God were Priests.  It took me a while to learn that all of them are just people of God, just like me. I pray your daughter can come to terms with what was imbedded in her mind as a child.

@Sue ...how nice of you to respond. I love my church and do well, and “yes” we all lied in confession as littleones the whole thing was just too much and Father was busy - he felt we could not sin if we worked at it and so he’d suggest we keep it light.  :-D   My daughter is a fine person in every way - too fine sometimes - and I have faith she will find her way. She is not fearful in the personality but respects her sensitivities past a certain point as we all do.

This time is awful for people - just awful. We enjoy so much in some ways but things have gone too far and we seem to be choosing things that will most certainly destroy us.  Then I go out and my day and evening is good and full of things and people who are aimed right, and I feel better but more perplexed at how such horrid issues can go so far.

Prayer has power. We can pray - sincerely - to empower, not just to fidget.

Better get back to work, Sue and I enjoyed your words.

Elle Fagan

I forgot a few points in my 11/7; 11:45pm post. I want to thank Fr. Mullady for his consoling, yet revitalizing reflections! That “Mr. OP” slur was so ignorant! St. Paul preached through writing too! Maybe he had ink in his veins! The Order of Preachers is naturally going to use print, as well as all other media!

Another point from St. Mark’s Gospel is that Jesus also rebuked the apostles for questioning his “concern” for them! We know that we can trust Jesus whatever comes our way!

I was going to apologize to Mary for inadvertently repeating her St. Pio quote, but it bore—and bears repeating, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry!”

Br. Skip Thompson

I mourn with you in realizing that abortion-on-demand remains the law-of-the-land because of church-going Catholics.  Not all Catholics, just those who give their name identification and votes to the pro-abortion party.  It grieves me knowing this, and the clergy are silent about it.  As for your explanation why this is, I have to say that it is even worse than having, as you said, “uncatechized Catholics who are ‘too blue to have a clue.’”

Twelve years ago, a priest gave a talk during Mass on the importance of registering to vote, and to vote.  It made me curious about how many of the clergy in the diocese are registered to vote.  I got a copy of the diocesan directory, went to the Registrar of Voters, and checked the registrations of the priest.  Of the 261 priest in the diocese, 110 were not registered to vote.  Of the those registered, 27 were Decline to State, 53 were Republican (I live in conservative O.C.) and 61 were Democrat, with 9 others something else.  So, of those priest registered to vote, the majority were Democrat; and this is 27 years after Roe v. Wade. That included 2 bishops and the sweet, kindly Monsignor in charge of the diocesan Respect Life Program. 

The fact that so many priests are still giving their name identification and votes to the Democrat Party explained to me why nothing is ever said by the Church about registering in the Democrat Party.  It also explained the conflated teaching that I find in Faithful Citizenship and elsewhere which enables the clergy and laity to remain in the Democrat Party as long as they do so for the “right reasons,” reasons which all concern the prudential judgment issues that the U.S. bishops added to the word “pro-life” some 10 years after Roe v. Wade.  And that, itself, is infuriating to me because it implies that the “other” party is “guilty” of not being on the “right” side of those issues.  And then you have Bishop Blaire of Stockton CA., Chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice, Peace and Human Development, publicly criticizing pro-life Congressman Paul Ryan for the Republican budget passed by the House this year, saying it “did not adequately provide for the care of the poor and the vulnerable.”  So, I deduce the reason for so much continued support for the Democrat Party by Catholic voters comes from the fact that so many Catholic clergy’s self-identity is tied to the Democrat Party and that influences the Church teaching. 

Thank you, Father.

@Stillbelieve: I agree with your post. I have said in other posts that the Catholic Church has always leaned toward the democrat party for as long as I can remember and I am 85. I have also commented on the fact that my present Parrish church has said nothing in the past 3 months about the presidential election, only to have a letter in the bulletin from our Bishop 3 weeks before the election.  Last night I watched EWTN, Raymond Arroyo who had George Weigel on…..a lady called in and said “our priest in my Parrish said nothing at all about the election”  George Weigel said “Oh?I am surprised at that”. Really, he did not know?  According to Raymond Arroyo close to 50% voted democrat. It was close to being half for, half against.  So as far as I am concerned our Church has failed us again and my personal opinion is it is all “politics”. Again on Raymond Arroyo’s program, it was stated that the people should go out and tell others about the pro-abortion beliefs of the CC.  Personally the woman I ride to church with every Sunday, is democrat and when I told her that Obama was for abortion she stated “oh, I don’t bother with all that stuff, I just live according to my bible. Huh?  I tried again with her and she said she only listens to the news early morn and that she expects to enjoy the rest of her life, so she reads fiction and plays games and goes out to lunch with the ladies. I even mentioned, she watch EWTN or NCRegister on the internet and she won’t. She watches games on T.V. I am new in this parrish and she is the only Catholic I associate with as she is a neighbor. When I brought up politics her answer was “nobody gives him [Obama] a chance”. Another thing I will mention. At Church one Sunday [4th pews back from the Altar} a couple with two grade school kids were next to me, the husband being closest and he played games on his i-phone all through Mass. I thought “well, maybe he is Protestant and was forced here as an example to his kids” but he went to Communion and while the Priest and E-ministers were giving out Communion, he continued his games. I was appauled and almost gave him a poke & I will, if he ever sits next to me again. This Parrish is really different from what I am used to. I won’t go into it all, and yes it is a Roman Catholic Church.

Thank you Fr. Mullady for lighting the candle of Hope in this hour of darkness. Let us walk by Faith and not by sight. In “Walking With God” by Tim Gray & Jeff Cavins we “see” that “God’s story looks FORWARD…to the time when the New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven and all that began anew in Christ Jesus will be fully realized. As history works towards that glorious moment, God calls each of us, just as He called Abraham,Moses,Ruth,David,Mary,Peter&Paul; to say “yes” to His invitation to enter into His covenant and take up our role in His story as witnesses to Jesus Christ.” The darkness can never overcome the Light. Jesus I Trust In YOU.

Sue (the senior :)

It is sad that so many Catholics voted against the Church, again.  But this time it is worse because the Church had skin in the game, i.e., they were going to be directly impacted by the election outcome.  And it didn’t matter.  Now the Church is going to have to spend a lot more money on lawyers in court trying to save her First Amendment Rights.  Thanks a lot, Catholic Democrats, you’re not satisfied with the murder of 55,000,000 human babies that you profess to believe God created, now you want to infect civilization based on man and woman marriage with the sin of homosexual marriage, and destroy our Freedom of Religion Constitutional Rights, while making us pay a lot more money for gasoline and food, and waste Church donations on lawyers’ fees.  I shake my head every morning waking up realizing this is not a dream.  And almost all the bishops just don’t get it.  Cardinal Bernardin destroyed the Church here in America, which I now call the United States of Chicago, when he got the bishops to add social justice prudential issues to the word “pro-life” while implementing within the Bishop’s Conference – “collegiality,” making eunuchs out of bishops who used to be men.  There are a few bishops that are still men and who spoke up with courage the past couple months, which was nice to see, but only a handful of the hundreds needed.  I think we should start a movement calling for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to disbanded, and fire the 350 staffers that have made the Church so ineffective to the point that government is now dictating to us what we have to do regardless of what our beliefs are.  It is a sad, sad day and I am sure you never expected to have to live with this in your later years after living threw the Great Depression and WWII.  And I’m expecting it to get even worse with Iran about to blow the Israelis off the face of the earth as soon as next summer with a nuclear bomb; and what plans Obama has for us concerning Russia; not to mention the decline in living standards here with his continued attack on the productive sector and killing jobs.

Joe K, my fire is completely out on this.  While the country will down-trend under Obama, it will down-trend anyway.  As we are fond of telling out evangelical brothers and sisters, “The United States of America” does not equate to “The Kingdom of God.”  In fact, our bible tells us that the Northern Kingdom of Israel was obliterated by the Assyrians, and the Kingdom of Judah was all but annihilated by Babylon, in golden days of yore.  And all for abandoning that elusive covenant relationship with God, Father and Creator.  Why should the US be any different?  Why should God tolerate our arrogant indifference when he has not done so in the past?  A quick note: all the past prophets were in general big failures.

The following associations come together too precisely to be “chance.”  I will let the facts and the Holy Scriptures speak for themselves.

1.  Barack Hussein Obama, has the dubious honor of being the most pro-abortion (and now first gay marriage) president in American history.  He will be sworn into his second term of office on January 22, 2013
2.  His re-inauguration occurs exactly 40 years, to the day, of the Roe v. Wade, decision legalizing abortion, January 22, 1973..
3.  A majority of American Catholics voted for Barack, 50% in 2012, up from 47% in 2008.
And now…
4.  “Forty years I endured that generation; I said they are a people whose hearts go astray and they do not know my ways; so I swore in my anger, they shall not enter my rest.”  (This is the last strophe of the daily invitatory psalm 95 for the Office of Readings).

After my original post, one our our good co-readers, Matt B. asked me to “ease up.”  I well understand the reluctance to face the implications of the Obamination’s success, fueled in part by our failure to communicate with our wandering flocks, who, sadly, ignorantly, voted for Obama.  But, I am not the one Matt needs to ask, to “ease up.”  Instead, I will join him (I hope) in asking God for mercy (i.e., please “ease up” Lord), because our nation has gone “barack-ward” as the culture of death has indeed gone “forward.”

Now, given these sobering facts and the words of Scripture that coincide, we have work to do in this Year of Faith in the context of the New Evangelization.  Obama’s slim win gives us greater urgency and that is not a bad thing in itself.  “Blessed is the servant whose master finds him (working) when he returns.” (Matt. 24:46)  Our post-mortum examination should give us wisdom and energy (not despair) for the task ahead.  As Fr. Mullady originally admonished, our hope is in the Lord.  And we need to remember the old adage that “it is better to light a candle, than curse the darkness.”  That is what it truly means to go “forward.”  Blessings.

The following associations come together too precisely to be “chance.”  I will let the facts and the Holy Scriptures speak for themselves.  1. Barack Hussein Obama, the most pro-abortion (and now first gay marriage) president in American history will be sworn into his second term of office on January 22, 2013   2. His re-inauguration occurs exactly 40 years, to the day, of the Roe v. Wade, decision legalizing abortion, January 22, 1973.  3. A majority of American Catholics voted for Barack.  And from the daily reading of the Psalms: 4.  “FORTY YEARS I endured that generation; I said they are a people whose hearts go astray and they do not know my ways; so I swore in my anger, they shall not enter my rest.”  (This is the last strophe of the daily invitatory psalm 95 for the Office of Readings).  After my original post, one our our good co-readers, Matt B. asked me to “ease up.”  I well understand the reluctance to face the implications of the Obamination’s success, fueled in part by our failure to communicate with our wandering flocks, who, sadly, ignorantly, voted for Obama.  But, I am not the one Matt needs to ask, to “ease up.”  Instead, I will join him (I hope) in asking God for mercy (i.e., please “ease up” Lord), because our nation has gone “barack-ward” as the culture of death has indeed gone “forward” AND WITH THE HELP OF so-called CATHOLICS.  Now, given these sobering facts and the Scriptures that coincide, we have work to do in this Year of Faith in the context of the New Evangelization.  Let Obama’s slim win give us greater urgency (not a bad thing in itself) to do our part, as we discern it to be as part of HIs Body, to advance His Kingdom, for the Lord reminds us, “the gates of hell will not prevail.” (Matt. 16:18)  “Blessed is the servant whose master finds him (working) when he returns.” (Matt. 24:46)  Our post-mortum examination should give us wisdom and energy (not despair) for the task ahead.  As Fr. Mullady originally admonished, our hope is in the Lord.  And we need to remember the old adage that “it is better to light a candle, than curse the darkness.”  That is what it truly means to go “forward.”  Blessings.

The following associations come together too precisely to be “chance.”  I will let the facts and the Holy Scriptures speak for themselves.  1. Barack Hussein Obama, the most pro-abortion (and now first gay marriage) president in American history will be sworn into his second term of office on January 22, 2013   2. His re-inauguration occurs exactly 40 years, to the day, of the Roe v. Wade, decision legalizing abortion, January 22, 1973.  3. A majority of American Catholics voted for Barack.  And from the daily reading of the Psalms: 4.  “FORTY YEARS I endured that generation; I said they are a people whose hearts go astray and they do not know my ways; so I swore in my anger, they shall not enter my rest.”  (This is the last strophe of the daily invitatory psalm 95 for the Office of Readings).  After my original post, one our our good co-readers, Matt B. asked me to “ease up.”  I well understand the reluctance to face the implications of the Obamination’s success, fueled in part by our failure to communicate with our wandering flocks, who, sadly, ignorantly, voted for Obama.  But, I am not the one Matt needs to ask, to “ease up.”  Instead, I will join him (I hope) in asking God for mercy (i.e., please “ease up” Lord), because our nation has gone “barack-ward” as the culture of death has indeed gone “forward” AND WITH THE HELP OF so-called CATHOLICS.  Now, given these sobering facts and the Scriptures that coincide, we have work to do in this Year of Faith in the context of the New Evangelization.  Let Obama’s slim win give us greater urgency (not a bad thing in itself) to do our part, as we discern it to be as part of HIs Body, to advance His Kingdom, for the Lord reminds us, “the gates of hell will not prevail.” (Matt. 16:18)  “Blessed is the servant whose master finds him (working) when he returns.” (Matt. 24:46)  Our post-mortum examination should give us wisdom and energy (not despair) for the task ahead.  As Fr. Mullady originally admonished, our hope is in the Lord.  And we need to remember the old adage that “it is better to light a candle, than curse the darkness.”  That is what it truly means to go “forward.”  Blessings.

Thanks to Dominican Father Brian Mullady, author of the above article.  The governments and nations of the earth come and go, and are not that significant one way or the other.  Only the Kingdom of God is eternal.  Book of Revelation 21: 1 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” Notice that in that verse it is not a BAD think that this present worldly system of nations is deceased and replaced by a “new earth.” Rather, its a joyous good thing!  I think it can be due to a sort of idolatry of the State to think that the progress of the Church or the victory of Christ or the salvation of souls is somehow dependent on elections in one country or any country or group of nations whatsoever.  Christ did not come to establish any nation, but to establish the Catholic Church.  This messages is all over the New Testament.  Hebrews 13:14:  “For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”  John 18:36:  “Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world’.”  We Catholics want the best possible government in the secular states in which we reside during our earthly sojourn to eternity, and we should do what we can to make those passing governments as good as possible as much of the time as possible.  But, as Father Mullady pointed out, from time to time the wicked barbarians will get the upper hand in the City of Man, even though these barbarians are totally incapable of affecting the Temple of God (in the souls of the faithful) even in the slightest bit.  Yes, some Tea Party types, some of whom may have little or no faith in the Sovereign God, may be sunk in cosmic despair regarding the re-election of a liberal secularist president and may be declaring the end of the world, but as I interpret Father Mullady, such is really the cry of a person who has misplaced their faith in a worldly false political messianic ideology of patriotism, constitutionalism, or political conservativism.  As good as the U.S. Constitution is (as amended over the centuries), as good as the work of the American Founders and latter Reformers (e.g., Lincoln) was, it all has no eternal significance, and is destined to pass away.  The U.S. Constitution and the Gettysburg Address do not save souls, do not lead persons into supernatural Catholic faith, or into baptism and the other sacraments in the Catholic Church.  So, again, thank you Father Mullady.  Please keep on keeping our eyes on God.

Thank you Father Mullady for your words of hope… but I too, am saddened by the deafening silence of my CC church when it comes to instructing the congregation on voting in a manner consistent with Catholic moral teachings and fundamental human rights.

So many of today’s Catholics, including priests, are more faithful to their liberalism than to their Christianity… and this reflects a failure of the CC to teach the “non-negotiable principles” in regards to Abortion, Euthanasia, Homosexual Marriage, Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Cloning and the added responsibility of each catholic to vote consistent with those principles.

As a serious catholic I agree that to say, “It’s all in God’s hands.” is deceptive and a cop out. We are all called to be soldiers for Christ and this calls for not giving up… but to give MORE to change the hearts and minds of those around us. It is imperative that, in trusting God, that we do our part.

Br. Skip, thank you for your kind request for prayers.  I will quote you a proverb however: “There is none so blind, as he who will not see.”  As you read the Elijah accounts from I & II Kings, it’s easy to wonder about the prophet’s lonliness, fear and isolation.  And it’s difficult to understand how a royal couple as evil and deranged as Ahab and Jezebel could exist among God’s chosen people.  However, I’m learning that Ahab and Jezebel were the “normal” ones; and that the entire people of Israel was nursing on the royal benevolence.  Prophets like you are doomed to be just “voices in the wilderness;” tormented by the enormity of the crime, and relegated to a marginal existence.  Welcome to the club.