Pastor’s Corner — April 3rd, 2022
Parish Penance Service April 9th at 10 AM
Just a reminder that our Parish Penance Service is Saturday, April 9th in the Church.
‘Engagement’ Coordinator?
For those who were wondering the new position we’re hiring for is not about marriage or engagement for marriage. (We are doing quite well with Dcn Dave as our Director of Marriage and Family Life and Mackenzie Compton as our Marriage Preparation Coordinator.) The new position is perhaps more accurately named Parish Engagement Coordinator, which is about engaging parishioners in volunteer service in the parish and in the community, such as Christian service and even evangelization initiatives. Sorry for any confusion.
Unlimited Abortion Petition Drive in MI. Do Not Sign.
See Patricia’s article in this weekend’s bulletin for information about a petition in Michigan circulating right now called the “Right to Reproductive Freedom” initiative. Please do NOT sign this petition, because if they get enough signatures it would be on the ballot in November, which if approved, would enshrine abortion as a constitutional right in Michigan. Of course, pro-abortion people are doing this because if the US Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade, our prior Michigan law against abortion would take effect. Again, do not sign that petition.
What is a Woman? A Portrait of Where We Are
A lot has been said already about how the current US Supreme Court nominee wasn’t able to provide a definition of the word “woman.” When you think about it, that’s a big problem not just for rendering justice for women, but also for civilization itself. Whatever the reason for the judge’s response, it’s clear that in the span of a few years the word “woman” has all of the sudden become unclear and/or controversial. The culprit? Gender ideology. This ideology essentially rejects and deconstructs what we know about our human sexuality for political purposes. The bad ideas of this ideology are the full flowering of the really bad ideas behind the sexual revolution. These ideas aren’t harmless either; they eat away at the foundations of human civilization and we’ve been reaping the rotten fruit the past fifty years. (It’s critically important to note that, contrary to popular belief, promoting this false and self-contradictory ideology also doesn’t really help people who are struggling with gender dysphoria or same-sex attraction either.)
In this excerpt of her book (the book I’ve recommended multiple times) Noelle Mering explains the cultural and societal chaos that results when our common language about reality such as male and female breaks down. When we can no longer define what a man and woman are because they are too controversial or we somehow think that we no longer know the answer, the ideology has our culture in a stranglehold which will eventually choke the life out of our shared common life. Since we as Christians know the truth (by reason and by divine revelation) and can breathe freely, we have the responsibility of speaking the truth in love and defending it.
I’m thinking of doing a preaching series on all of this. But Mering’s book, referenced in her excerpt above, is really good but it can be challenging at times. For those who want to read about the philosophical and historical foundations of the sexual revolution read The Sexual Revolution: History, Ideology, Power by Bishop Eliot. For those who want to know the antidote to all of this, read, Theology of the Body for Beginners: Rediscovering the Meaning of Life, Love, Sex and Gender by Christopher West.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias