At any rate, the Beginning of the Year Convivience started on Thursday night October 16th and ended on Sunday, October 19th. There were approximately 400 people at the retreat, and that is mainly the Responsibles and Co-Responsibles. There are about 1400 people in the communities of Guam. Also, we found that many of the brothers who have not been walking have returned to the Neocatechumenal Way. It is always great to see them back in the community.
We also learned that it was Pope Benedict XVI who started the Neocatechumenal Way in Germany when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. That was a time when the Statutes of the Way have not yet been approved and then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger started the Neocatechumenal Way in many of Germany's parishes. So, before he was a Pope, he already saw the Holy Spirit working in the Way.
The video they showed was very inspirational. Who would ever thought that hundreds of families are willing to become mission families. I noticed that in the video, Father Mario mentioned "Purgatory." You see......the NCW believes in everything Catholic simply because it is Catholic. The Magisterium discussed the attacks on the family and reinforced the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding sexuality and family. The Church still believes that marriage is between a man and a woman. The doctrines of the Catholic Church has not changed for over 2000 years, and it will continue to carry on the same doctrines.
One of news we heard in the retreat was that Kiko Arguello received a Doctorate Honoris Causa. Of course, this was already old news and I had posted this in my blog months ago. At any rate, I was able to find it on the Internet:
The Pontifical John Paul II Institute today gives Kiko Arguello an honorary doctorate because it recognizes a special fertility full assessment of the family as a social and ecclesial subject, fully in line with the thinking of John Paul II, through itinerary of Christian formation post-baptismal-initiated with Carmen Hernández and has generated abundant fruits worldwide...............
First having accompanied a path of fertility in family. Second, have offered a concrete way of family worship. And third, they have encouraged the mission of the family.
Kiko Receives Doctorate Honoris Causa
Here we had you buried. Was going back to readIng for my self. So you really don't have to copy and paste for me. But you can't tell about the meeting either, cuz it is secret, right?? So what are you going to blog about.? The disobedient priests? The PDN Videos of Mr. Lastimoza . More statistics about the NCW. The New seminary? Looking forward to your evangelization, Diana.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous at 10:02 pm,
DeleteWhy would you think that our retreat would be about the disobedient priests or the PDN videos of Mr. Lastimoza? The theme of the retreat is the mission family, which is more important. The video that was shown to us along with the information given at the retreat were all in line with the theme.
Father Pius spoke about the variety of gender identity, such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transvestite, cross dressing. He also spoke on the importance of marriage, which is defined as the union between one man and one woman. In the retreat, there were meditative prayers, questionnaires, and group discussions on the family and the mission family.
Why do those who oppose the way think everything we do is a secret and always about them?
DeleteDear Anonymous at 3:58 am,
DeleteThat is an excellent question. They must think that we are planning some conspiracy against them. Really! :)
Diana, you mentioned at 10:36 PM that "Father Pius spoke about the variety of gender identity, such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transvestite, cross dressing"
DeleteIt sounds as though Fr. Pius may not be the most qualified person to speak on the topic of "gender identity" which is described as a person's subjective sense of being (traditionally) "male" or "female" and which has now been expanded in some places to "male, female, both, neither."
A person's sexual orientation (gay and lesbian as mentioned by Fr. Pius) or gender expression (transvestite and cross dressing as mentioned by Fr. Pius) are not considered "gender identity."
I hope he was better informed in the other areas of his talk.
Dear Anonymous at 1:51 pm,
DeleteYou have to be there to understand what Father Pius is saying. The whole point is that in today's society, there is no longer a "male" and "female" gender because people decide for themselves what their gender is. In the beginning God made male and female, but today man decides for himself whether he wants to be a transvestite, a gay, a bisexual, etc. It was man who made these labels. Man decides if he wants to change his gender to a female through surgery or even by cross dressing.
Diana, Fr Pius has no business with other people's sexual identity. These people don't need any permission from anyone to call themselves who they are. Your concept of blind obedience, taught by the NeoCat, is against the free expression of one's identity. Fr Pius want to look like a liberal, however he promulgates the oppressive views of outdated conservatives.
DeleteWhen it comes to the views of family like in the Church, the big issue will be contraception, This is especially so in Guam where blind obedience prevents men and women from exercising meaningful family planning. This leads to overpopulated families and a cycle of poverty that is impossible to break through. Has Fr Pius any idea what social justice and gender equity means?
Dear voice of faith,
DeleteThe NCW follows what the Church teaches. Tim Rohr has 11 children, and I do not see him living out in the streets. My grandparents also had many children, and they always had food on the table and a roof over their heads. They may not have a lot of money and did not live in a mansion, but they were also not living in the streets.
Mother Teresa once said that the worse poverty is loneliness. That kind of poverty has led to many senseless killings in the United States that one often hears in the news.
Diana, food on the table and roof over one's head is not everything. The problem in Guam is that poor people have many kids because they are uneducated of the ways of meaningful contraception. Church conservatives push for Ogino-Knaus which is a joke. It is also contraception, only called "the natural way". But what is the difference? If a family has means to raise 3 or 4 children under acceptable conditions, then why force them to have 7 or 8? The conditions would not be acceptable for 7 or 8. Because they do not receive a culturally minimum attention from their parents, they start to fall back both in intelligence and morale. Some of these kids will even end up becoming a prostitute or a criminal in jail.
DeleteSocial justice means that folks including kids in Guam have the same chance in succeeding as people on the mainland. Do you see that happening? The Catholic Church could be a driving force behind social progress and improvement. Rather than interfering with people's sex life through ridiculous regulation, the Church should focus on emphasizing the social equity our good Lord talked about. We are all equal creations of God. Luke 4:18-19 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,[a]
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
Dear voice of faith,
DeleteNo one is forcing couples in the Way to have more children. If a wife is ill, for example, the husband is not forced to have sex with his wife simply to have more children. Children are gifts from God. It is a stereotype to think that children coming from large families would end up in jail. There are children coming from small families who also end up in jail. However, studies shows that the majority of inmates come from either broken homes or abusive homes.
If you want to see Guam's kids having the same chance of succeeding as those in the mainland, you need to lobby the government, not the Church. The Church is more concern with spiritual and moral matters such as abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, human rights, sin, etc. The Church is not responsible for increasing the SAT-10 test scores of Guam's students above or equal to the national level so they would have the same chance of succeeding in the world as those in the U.S. mainland. That role belongs to the Government.
But Diana, social justice can prevail in fair conditions only. The Church has an obligation to educate people to avoid overpopulation that creates unfair condition especially for the poor. When NeoCats push their poor members into abandoning meaningful contraception, they work against social justice and against the government's intentions to create fair conditions for all.
DeleteYes, a good Catholic can vote for Democrat and even support President Obama in his efforts of achieving higher level of social equity in America!
Dear voice of faith,
DeleteDo you know how much food restaurants would throw every day simply because they cannot use it the next day. Many people who work in diners (like my mother) would take home food every day otherwise it goes into the trash. America and the western world throw so much food; yet, people in third world countries starve to death. These people are not starving because of overpopulation. They starve because of the greed of the western world who would rather throw away so much food. Man is able to clone sheep, cows, pigs, and other domestic animals. There is your food supply.
@voice-of-faithOctober 21, 2014 at 7:06 AM
DeleteWhat you wrote is ridiculous and untrue. The Church never "pushed" for Ogino-Knaus, which is a calendar based method to be aware of a woman's fertility (that says nothing abut what couples do with that knowledge: it can be used both to achieve and to avoid pregnancy). Today there are better fertility awareness methods that work more effectively. For example, using fertility awareness methods correctly to avoid pregnancy has a possible pregnancy rate of 1% a year, while this number for the typical use of oral contraceptives is 9% (I got the data from Wikipedia).
The Church simply says that using methods to be aware of a woman's fertility is not immoral. The moral issue comes as a next step: whether they are aware of fertility or not, couples are called to be open to the will of God and be responsible (which again, does not tell them to have or not to have babies, it helps them to make the right decisions according to their conscience). What the Church's Magisterium does condemn (whether someone is conservative or liberal, this is an indisputable fact) is contraceptive methods that separate the unitive and procreative aspects of the conjugal act (condom, pill, surgery, etc). The Church condemns these methods because they harm families and individuals as well (mind you, a lot of the oral contraceptives have abortive effects as well: they might also kill innocent lives). The conjugal act which is supposed to be an expression of total love and self-giving becomes a lie and objectifies the other person by using him/her to one's self gratification and satisfaction. This creates emotional and psychological wounds in people and damage relationships. Fertility awareness methods, if they are used with openness to the will of God and responsibility, don't do that.
Most oral contraceptives, for example, trick a woman's body with hormones to act as she were pregnant, so she won't ovulate. These hormones have a lot of undesirable and even dangerous effects. So yes, there is a big difference.
Your voice is not of faith. You should consider changing your name, to avoid deceiving others and yourself.
Diana,
DeleteMan has not really been able to achieve successful cloning producing healthy animals; at least not yet. The only creator still remains God alone for now. Also, all the attempts of cloning have not supplied an ounce of meat to anyone's table. Neither is it needed for providing food. God has created animals to be able to procreate (have baby animals without cloning).
Otherwise I agree with you, overpopulation is not a problem. My country, for example, is decreasing in population. And it is definitely true that if anyone is going hungry is not because someone had too many babies. Some economists actually say that the financial crisis of the western world is exactly because people stopped having enough babies. But don't worry, the future of humanity will be made up of the children of those who still have them (muslims, gipsies, and neocatechumenals :) )
Tim Rohr,Chuck White, Gerry Taitano,John Toves, Msgnr Benavente and Paul Gofigan are not center of the Universe. Focus in the family mainly.
ReplyDeleteDear El Camino,
DeleteI find it amazing that they actually think that we would spend 3 and half days discussing Tim Rohr, Chuck White and the rest. :) The retreat was on the family because attacks are being made on the family by gay activists and the liberal media. In fact, it was mentioned in the retreat that the media is implying that the Catholic Church would change her stand against same sex marriage.
The goal of the jungle is to remove the Archbishop. But the Archbishop and the NCW has more important things to attend to such as strengthening the vocation of marriage in the family.
That's right El Camino and Diana...time to focus on the family now especially after what you did to the Lastimoza family.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 10:59 pm,
DeleteWhat exactly did we do to the Lastimoza family??? Didn't you hear what Joseph Lastimoza say in his interview? He was asked if he actually did those crimes, and his answer was YES. So, did David Mills lie when he said that Lastimoza was a rapist and murderer? Of course not. He only brought out the truth to show that the removal of Father Paul had nothing to do with the NCW, and the interview only confirmed it.
Joseph Lastimoza even admitted in his interview that Father Paul terminated him because he is on the sex offender registry. He made no mention of the NCW. The only one who brought up the NCW was Father Paul when he spoke with Patty Arroyo on the radio talk show. And then Tim Rohr jumped on the bandwagon. So, why did Father Paul mentioned the NCW??? Nowhere in the Archbishop's letter was the NCW even mentioned. So, what has the NCW have to do with his removal?
You are also forgetting that complaints were brought forth to the Archbishop that a sex offender was working at the Dededo parish. The Archbishop simply responded to those complaints. Those who complained were worried for their children. If it was YOUR daughter who was raped and murdered, you would most likely be singing a different song and dance.
As David Mills pointed out....the fact that Mr. Lastimoza may have been rehabilitated is a tragedy because his crimes is something he has to live with for the rest of his life. There is a reason why a sex offender registry exist. Not everyone on that list have been rehabilitated so that list exists to protect the public and to monitor the offender. So, when people saw his name on the list, it was only natural that they brought their concerns to the Archbishop, who also has to look at the legalities of the issue.
AnonymousOctober 20, 2014 at 10:59 PM regards to Lastimoza family. Why are you blaming me and Diane that PDN publish. Did hurt you? We did not ask for it, it was archive since. Yes he serve his time but how bout the individual lost their time and expressing their opinion. Is the media take not this blog, your beef is with PDN. So therefore your barking at the wrong tree.
DeleteThe PDN published it, but Diana copied & pasted the same to her own blog with his picture? For what reason other than to attack Mr. Lastimoza and his family? And then to say that your retreat was focused on the family? What hypocrites you are indeed.
DeleteThe NCW was the ulterior motive in the removal of Fr. Paul from Santa Barbara since he didn't embrace the Way for Dededo. Everyone already knows that. It surely wasn't about Mr. Lastimoza since he had been working at the church since 1999 as part of a court-directed community service for his parole. Surely Archbishop Apuron knew about this and to use it as his reason for removing Father Paul in 2013? The pieces of the puzzle just started coming together.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 9:10 pm,
DeleteIt was about Mr. Lastimoza because complaints about him started coming in to the Archbishop's office in 2011.
Dear Anonymous at 8:50 pm,
DeleteWould you say that the PDN was attacking Lastimoza and his family by publishing it? Of course not. You only complain about my copy and paste because your goal is to suppress the free expression of members of the NCW. My post was simply a copy and paste. I did not even say anything about it other than allow the pasted material to speak for itself.
Sorry Diana, the intention is not to suppress the free expression of the NCW but only to show the hypocrisy. After all, isn't the NCW's agenda supposedly to bring the fallen back to Mother Church? This only goes to prove it isn't.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 5:46 am,
DeleteIt proves nothing. The NCW is not even in Dededo and therefore has nothing to do with Lastimoza. On the other hand, when the Archbishop hears complaints from Dededo parishioners about Lastimoza, then the Archbishop has every right to act. The only one who ever brought up the NCW was Father Paul. Why did he bring it up? Perhaps, because deep down inside he knew that he was guilty of disobedience. Terminating an employee does not mean to take away his paycheck. It also means to take away the duties that came with that paycheck.
Is the NCW homophobic Diana?
ReplyDeleteDear Isaias,
DeleteNo, the NCW is not homophobic. There are a few people in the Way who have had same sex relationships, but they have come to accept the Church's doctrines on sexuality. They are not like the gay activists who force their agenda on the rest of the populace by calling for same sex marriage.
Fr Pius and Kiko Arguello have no business to tell anyone to stop practicing what they do according to their gender identity. When NeoCats embrace gay Catholics, they actually want them to change back to the gender 'God has given" to them. This is ridiculous. Liberation through faith means something completely different. Liberation through faith means you are free to follow Christ no matter what. You can be who you are. It is not the embrace of Church hierarchy and NeoCat leadership that counts, it is the embrace of God!
DeleteWhen NeoCats forbid meaningful ways of contraception, applied by either the husband or the wife, they actually push people out of marriage. This ban is a call for unnatural sexual relation, preferably outside of marriage, that excludes pregnancy. This is one reason that blind obedience to Catholic Church conservatives leads people out and get involved in gay relationship. This must stop! Pope Francis will lead the way out of the past. NeoCats have to decide if they stick with the outdated and stale old fashioned views or grow up to the mature intentions of Pope Francis to liberate the Catholic Church from conservative bondage,.
Dear voice of faith,
DeleteYOUR liberation through faith actually means liberation FROM faith. You preach that people should follow what they want rather than what God created them to be. As Christians, we accept all people, but we also preach the truth.
Being gay or lesbian is a preference. There are some people who prefer blonds rather than brunettes. There are also some men who find Asian women more beautiful. That is a preference. Everyone lusts, but in different ways. Some lusts for the opposite sex, others lust for the same sex, and others lusts for blonds rather than brunettes, and then are also those who lusts after children.
No, Diana, liberation through faith is not liberation from faith. Liberation through faith is deeply rooted in the firm believe of the saving power of Jesus Christ. He is the One who was, who is and who will be forever. Nobody will remember what NeoCat was when the saving power of our Lord will still empower and liberate the oppressed, the downtrodden and the poor by the hundreds of thousands.
DeleteWhat you say is that no human preference is tolerated by God. But this is untrue. God won't tell you which food should you prefer or which movie, book, music you should prefer until you keep these things decent. It is left to your own mature and personal choice. If those in NeoCat teach otherwise, then you should not listen to them. The same goes with sexual customs. Until you live a decent sex life, it is completely yours, nobody has any business to it. It is your personal preference. Why are some self-appointed church leaders so eager to interfere and dictate of what can you choose and can't? Why don't they mind rather their own business? Especially those who refrain from sex by their own free will should not tell others how to live their sex life.
God gave us free will that no Church leader, anointed or self-proclaimed, can take away from you. The only person who can take away your freedom is the devil, but only if you offer to him willfully and free. Then you lose it forever and end up in hell. But otherwise this freedom is yours to live by because God himself gave it to you. You may love blonds or brunettes, Asian or American, young or old, according to your gender identity, it is nobody's business. But chasing after kids is a crime and you will end up in jail even in hell if you choose that one.
Dear voice of faith,
DeleteYou stated: "God won't tell you which food should you prefer or which movie, book, music you should prefer until you keep these things decent. It is left to your own mature and personal choice."
If you read the Book of Leviticus, it DOES say that God told His chosen people what foods to eat. He also told His chosen people about sexual morality. It specifies in the Book of Leviticus that a man is not supposed to lie with another man as though he was a woman.
In the New Testament, St. Paul also tells the Gentile converts what to do with their sex life. He told them not to commit acts of homosexuality, fornication, and adultery. You simply have the free will to either obey or disobey God.
Ecclesiasticus 15:18 Before man is life and death, good and evil, that which he shall choose shall be given him:
This is the free will that God gave before us......life and death. It is your choice to choose.
Diana, please, read the exchange of St Peter and St Paul in the Book of Acts. They called a great gathering of the early church at about 50 a.d., the Jerusalem Council, because of the food issue and they settled it once and for all. Haven't you ever read this part of the Bible? How could you refer back to the book of Leviticus? Do you think it applies to Christians? You cannot be serious... Read from the Wiki:
DeleteAt the Council, following advice offered by Simon Peter (Acts 15:7–11), the apostle James submitted a proposal, which was accepted by the Church and known as the Apostolic Decree:
It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.[2] For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath. (Acts 15:19–21)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Jerusalem
Dear Voice of faith,
DeleteWhen they were telling the Gentile converts to abstain from food polluted by idols and from meat of strangled animals and blood.......that is telling them what to eat. Those were rules given to them on what to eat and what not to eat. The Church also gave us rules of fasting. During Lent, we fast on Ash Wednesday and on Fridays. On Fridays during Lent, we eat fish.
Isaias, homophobic means turning away from gays in disgust. We are not homophobic. We do not turn away from gays, we call them out of their sin! Do you grasp the difference?
DeleteDear Isaias, define what you understand by homophobic. As far as I know, "homo" means "same" and "phobia" means "fear". Fear of the same as oneself in the homosexuality context would mean that I am afraid of or repulsed by people who are the same as I am: heterosexuals. I'm in the Neocatechumenal Way and I am not repulsed by heterosexual persons like myself. I hope that answers your question, unless you have another definition for homophobic.
ReplyDeleteThe synod did very well and i know the NCW will not be happy as 'fresh' avenues continue to be made.
ReplyDeleteHuffington Post describes it as a break after 49 years.
Diana, who said the church is not a democracy. Here in the Synods as in the previous synods, bishops vote on issues, discuss, and debate.
"That those topics--LGBT issues and the reception of Communion for divorce and remarried Catholics--will be discussed at the next session of the Synod. Second, that the church will know that these votes, both of which he himself has addressed, were close. This may give encouragement to those in favor of more openness on these issues to rally support and fight more vigorously next time. (Conversely, it may perhaps strengthen the resolve of those bishops opposed to greater openness.)
And Anonymous 8:29, do not pretend to be ignorant of the word homophobic. To spell it out this is what it means, you dislike and are prejudice against homosexual people. NCW is known for its campaign to 'cure' homosexuality because they see it as an illness, disease.
Dear Isaias,
DeleteThis was what was discussed at the convivience. The media makes people think that a change in the Church's doctrine is going to take place. This is false. Pope Francis said to welcome homosexuals without changing the doctrines. Homosexuals are always welcome in the Church because they are no different from anyone else. They sin like all of us. The act of homosexuality is a sin, and the act of fornication among heterosexuals is also a sin.
However, the doctrines of the Church will not change. It is clear when Pope Francis said that marriage is between one man and one woman. This means that the Church is not going to accept same sex unions or same sex marriage. As for those in the community who have had same sex relationships with others.....they are NOT cured. They still lust like we all do. The difference is they practice the virtue of chastity. Single people in the Way are also finding that there is nothing wrong with being celibate regardless of whether one is gay or not. The youths in the Way are being taught the virtue of chastity and to wait until after marriage.
Diana, are you saying chastity is demanded from gays in the NeoCat? Are your catechists saying that sex out of wedlock is sin? Really? Who are they to tell you? The reality of life, in particular of life in Guam, is that most young people begin their sex life before getting married. This is the reality of the matter and Pope Francis will face this very soon. He will face this and related problems because he wanted to. He can do that because he is the Pope!
DeleteDear voice of faith,
DeleteThe virtue of chastity is being taught by everyone in the Way. No one can force a person to have sex or not. That choice is theirs. If a person in the Way commits pre-marital sex and regrets it, they cannot blame their catechists because the catechists teaches according to what the Catholic Church teaches....that pre-marital sex, fornication, and adultery are sins. It is up to them to listen to their catechists or not. If they choose not to listen and later regret it, the fault is theirs because they made the choice not to listen.
That is the problem with liberal Catholics. They do not see sin in anything.
voice-of-faithOctober 21, 2014 at 10:07 AM - So are you saying to continue the sin? Have you heard of free will? Adam and Eve were given freedom but not to eat the fruit from the middle of the garden, as for our Catholic Church we love the person who is a baptist Catholic but not support the sin.
DeleteYes reality but you have to obey, so do you encourage your children to play house before marriage which is common here on Guam. At the age of 13 their purity is lost.
El Camino - How dare you generalize that here on Guam the purity of the 13-year old is lost!!
DeleteDear Anonymous at 5:50 am,
DeleteEl Camino was addressing voice of faith who apparently sees nothing wrong with pre-marital sex. When a person favors pre-marital sex, they are sending the message to everyone including teenagers that it is okay to have sex before marriage. It is unfortunate that SOME teenagers on Guam have lost their virginity.
I don't understand you voice... Do you think Pope Francis is a liberal? How did you get this false idea? I'm afraid you will be disappointed in your expectations. Our Pope is not a liberal and looking at the family is not going to change what we had learned about the family. Gay relation is sin by the Bible as Diana pointed out to you and the Bible is not going to change about it. Do you want to rewrite it? Lol! Sorry, it is impossible.
DeleteYou say you favor a better acceptance of pre-marital and non-marital sex. Are you crazy? This is a sure way to sexual immorality. If you observe pre-marital sex in Guam, it would not mean it is okay. Not at all! It is absolutely not okay as long as you are a Catholic. By the way, other denominations do not support pre-marital sex either. What is your denomination, voice? Are you a Catholic at all?
AnonymousOctober 22, 2014 at 5:50 AM - How dare me generalizing? Is a known fact, take look around you. Better yet visit the Social Security office you'll be shock the age of who were impregnated. Couple a years a single mother allow her pre-teen daughter to have sex with her daughter in her room. This is the reality here on Guam, play house before marriage. Some family are suffering and struggle morality with in the family and insist exist on Guam.
DeleteDear El Camino, you obviously meant with a man, not with "her daughter". Also you say incest, not insist, right? I completely agree with you. It is just too sad that this is no exaggeration at all. Anon up there, what do you think? Is this the true what you read here or not?
DeletePeople who say that sex of any kind taken out if marriage (man-woman only) is good, deeply misunderstand the teaching of the church. We were created by God with love and for love. Anything that we do that goes against the law we have inscribed in our being is a cause of suffering. To use sex as a mean of gratification either of sexual pleasure or of emotional need, goes against the law of love and necessarily causes the death of our being deep suffering hopelessness and loss of meaning in life. The church does not say that promiscuity is bad because of prurience. It is that promiscuity gay straight whatever is bad because it kills the divine life within us. How can we be happy if we destroy the source of love? How can we go and receive Love in communion when we are using his abode in a way that he did not create it for? Homosexuality is a disorder because it acts contrary to the law of love that Love made us with in the same manner that any sexual act outside of marriage does.
ReplyDeleteSex outside of marriage destroys the person. The church was made to announce the love of God. How can it say that what destroys is good? The teaching of the church will not change because the Holy Spirit guides the church. The church will re-phrase things so that people in different times can have more access to its meaning but its teaching will not change. Jesus did not change one iota of the Old Testament. The church cannot change anything in either old or new. Stay faithful to the pope in the storm and he will steer us right.
Dear anon, what you say is so true, it should be heard by everyone. Both our human and divine sides are nourished and celebrated by the Eucharist. One cannot be part of this celebration if one has committed non-marital sexual relation without repenting. Life and love are both divine because it came from God. But without repenting we don't have either one! Sex out of marriage is not love but self gratification that leads to ultimate death.
DeleteWe as Christians follow the Old and the New Testament's teaching in our family relation. Both Leviticus and St Paul applies, no exception. We must keep everything that is written in Holy Scripture. Catholics, in particular, must follow every iota, yes every iota, from the Books of the Bible without omitting any. God's word is eternal.
Diane, the parole board says that Lastimoza was not a threat to the community.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous at 11:50 am,
DeleteThe parole board says pretty much the same thing of every sex offender they released into society. Does this mean that every single one of them has been rehabilitated? If so, what is the purpose of having their names registered on the sex offender list? The purpose of the sex offender registry is to protect the public and monitor the sex offender. Here is some statistics:
Among nearly 300,000 prisoners released in 15 States in 1994, 67.5% were rearrested within 3 years. A study of 1983 releases estimated 62.5%.
The issue about Gofigan and Lastimoza is not forgiveness. Not even rehabilitation. The issue is safety of environment. When a priest is found guilty of having committed a sexual offense, he is banned for life from exercising his priesthood. So why should Lastimoza work in the rectory and in the Church as general maintenance officer? He is most welcome to come to Church but not work regularly and have the keys of the Church and rectory and be in constant contact with so many people. It is simply not safe. Prevention is better than cure.
Delete