1 - 10 of 11 Comments

1. Rob

   3 months ago

   I still think ultimately this mandate will fall away. Let the system work, the government will lose and this will fade away. But in this debate I see a lot of hypocrisy.
   
   I have yet to hear of anyone who has dropped their employer provided health plan because they cover contraception etc. I have no one protest just about every grocery store chain in the country or pharmacy chain for the availability of these products.
   
   Seems like we care more about institutions than we do people, otherwise the fight would have been happening long ago. I think the bishops would be better served fighting for the souls of their flocks than worrying about insurance plans. I personally believe its the reason that so many are not connecting with any of this. I really view this as one of those things that is Caesars. If the people running these organizations have done their jobs, not a penny will be spent on people in their organizations using these things.
   
   The law is never going to convert people's hearts. You can pass around the 5 nonnegotiables all you want....would be better if you shared the good news versus the list of things you can't do. Expectations are too high for those who have never given their lives to Christ. And all the screaming and yelling does nothing to do that.

2. Robert

   3 months ago

   JoAnn,
   
   I concur. It is our responsibility to inform ourselves and yet I learned the teachings as I aged. I had many teachers who provided me insight along the way.
   Sadly, I fall short and find myself asking the Lord's forgiveness. My point is that I don't place a great deal of blame on the Church leaders but a certain amount must apply.
   
   I do not write to point fingers. I write to encourage others to speak to their pastors and clergy about speaking up. Let them know when their sermons are good and when they are lacking. Let them know they may have to offend someone when preaching the Lord's message. Ask them about the five non-negotiables and if they understand them to be as their title suggests.
   They are the shepherds and we are the flock.
   
   I wish to follow the shepherd that will me to heaven. The pathway may be more difficult and yet the reward is greater we can imagine.
   
   May God bless his Church and this nation.

3. JoAnn

   3 months ago

   Robert: Thank you for your explanation. I guess it is difficult for me to understand why every Catholic doesn't know about the 5 non-negotiables. I hear it from the pulpit in my parish all the time. And, even if some Catholics belong to a more "liberal" parish, it would seem that common sense and the "natural law" would already be written in our hearts that the "big 5" are abominations. I think, it is not that Catholics don't know, they don't care. These people are apostates. I have the utmost privilege of being able to kneel before the Blessed Sacrament twice a week. There is also another woman who has the same hour that I do. She kneels before Our Lord, yet strongly supports Obama. She is my age, so I'm assuming she has been a Catholic? as long as I have. There is no way that she is unaware of the "big 5." I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it breaks my heart to see so many people blaming the Church's clergy. If we love our Faith as we should, it is up to us to make sure we know it inside out. Jesus said "Seek and you shall find." I guess there are too many Catholics? that don't care enough to learn their Faith Learing about our Faith is a lifetime journey. Like one of the priests in my parish said one day in his sermon. "Are you Catholics really practicing your Faith or are you "pagans" that just come to Church?" I enjoyed the dialogue with you. You made some very good points. Especially, about Pelosi, Fluke and some bishops. But these bishops can do no harm to Catholics who really know and love their Faith. God bless.

4. Lisa Bannister

   3 months ago

   We must support Cardinal Dolan. He is fighting on behalf of all Christians of conscience- not just Catholics.
   I personally loathe the whole health care legislation. It's just one step in trying to get the U.S. into "universal" health care. This country is too large for that to be managed effectively.
   

5. vance

   3 months ago

   Robert, I share your opinion. So far, very little has been said about Religious Liberty from the pulpits of my diocese.

6. Robert

   3 months ago

   Dear Joann,
   
   If my comments implied that Cardinal Dolan assisted the Democratic Party in bringing us to where we are now I chose my words poorly.
   
   What I meant to convene is this: Several Catholic groups provided voters with the 'FIVE NON-NEGOTIABLES ISSUES FOR A CATHOIC VOTER". The list included:
   1. Abortion 2. Euthanasia 3. Fetal Stem Cell Research 4. Human Cloning 5. Homosexual Marriage
   
   My canvassing of comments from Cardinals, Priests and Bishops found no mention of the five non-negotiables referenced with Cardinal Dolan. The USCCB voter guide was ambigious at best.
   
   Cardinal Dolan's voice is enormous for Catholics in the United States. His voice could have been clearer prior to the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.
   
   The point I tried to make is that Cardinal Dolan, Cardinal DiNardo and all members of the USCCB could have made the five non-negotiables the bedrock of their conversation points prior to the past two elections. This lack of clarity on their part has played a role (however large is undeterminable) in allowing many Catholics to accept the loss of unborn lives, stem cell research, homosexual marriage to be the aceeptable price of providing healthcare for all, making millions more dependent on the government for food, enslaving future generations with an enormous debt, regardless of their underlying evils. Isn't it troubling that Sandra Fluke, Cecile Richards, Nancy Pelosi, and some Bishops all stand in an unforseen lock of arms behind the Democratic Party while at that same time they vote to take God out of their platform. Did anyonelse hear the cock crow three times during the Democrats convention?
   
   By not speaking clearly many Catholics have equated feeding the poor with American Tax Dollars taken by force as the same moral equivalent as saving the unborn.
   
   I hope this better expains my thoughts. Am I proud of Cardinal Dolan, YES. Am I wanting more from the leader of our Catholic faith in the U.S.A. YES.
   
   
   These thoughts are those of a humble sinner.
   
   
   
   

7. Vincent A. Lewis

   3 months ago

   It is time for the Bishops to start treating the HHS mandate as a moral issue. If religious liberty means that you can believe and behave according to your beliefs, then religious liberty is worthless. At some point, the arbitrator of religious liberty must decide whose religious liberty takes precedence. Ultimately, either Catholics will not be allowed to impose our beliefs on the culture or the culture will impose its beliefs on Catholics. The HHS mandate is an attempt to do the latter..

8. JoAnn

   3 months ago

   Robert: Could you be more specific? Maybe my old mind missed something, but how did Cardinal Dolan "help" get us where we are? Since Roe vs. Wade, "true" Catholics have never supported the Democratic party. God bless.
   

9. Joe

   3 months ago

   Thank you, heed the advice, we must speak up, the time is now. All Americans.

10. abey

    3 months ago

    In the first place instead of "appreciating" , amounting to profess faith in the wrong person, to the Obama gesture, he should have taken it with a pinch of salt like some other sects of Christianity did.

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