Comments on: Sacrament of Penance http://blog.archny.org/index.php/sacrament-of-penance/ Sun, 19 May 2013 11:55:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Brian Murphy http://blog.archny.org/index.php/sacrament-of-penance/comment-page-1/#comment-87601 Brian Murphy Sun, 25 Nov 2012 03:03:55 +0000 http://blog.archny.org/?p=3446#comment-87601 Repentance is a good start. Then, I believe that the New Evangelization will not begin until there is a courage and willingness to repent of proclaiming the "sugar gospel" and return to proclaiming the full gospel, which must include an announcement of God's Judgment. Cf. Rev 21:8. Repentance is a good start. Then, I believe that the New Evangelization will not begin until there is a courage and willingness to repent of proclaiming the “sugar gospel” and return to proclaiming the full gospel, which must include an announcement of God’s Judgment. Cf. Rev 21:8.

]]> By: Patrick Johnston http://blog.archny.org/index.php/sacrament-of-penance/comment-page-1/#comment-86358 Patrick Johnston Fri, 23 Nov 2012 06:27:58 +0000 http://blog.archny.org/?p=3446#comment-86358 I am near death so what I write comes from the heart. The church is trying to be liked as if it were a desert. It will not challenge those left wing politicians who sell their souls for votes. I want to see Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden stopped from receiving Euchrist. Make people think the clergy has a backbone. Until the bishops put their foot down, they are just blowing smoke until, at length, the politician dies or is defeated. Patrick Johnston I am near death so what I write comes from the heart.
The church is trying to be liked as if it were a desert.
It will not challenge those left wing politicians who sell their souls for votes. I want to see Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden stopped from receiving Euchrist. Make people think the clergy has a backbone. Until the bishops put their foot down, they are just blowing smoke until, at length, the politician dies or is defeated.
Patrick Johnston

]]> By: Craig Manoukian http://blog.archny.org/index.php/sacrament-of-penance/comment-page-1/#comment-85210 Craig Manoukian Sun, 18 Nov 2012 19:53:03 +0000 http://blog.archny.org/?p=3446#comment-85210 Your Excellency, I am not sure how to contact you and apologize if this is the wrong venue. I for years have been concerned about the Liberalism that is eroding the fabric of the American Catholic Church. I pass this along from a conservative political blog I participate in: What is happening to the Catholic Church? The other day I visited the website of The Basilica of Saint Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, to fill out and application for membership to the church. I was distracted by the headline of an article at the bottom of the site which reported the news of Alexia Kelley, an Obama administraion official being named the new president of the Catholic Church's FADICA. The FADICA is The Foundations and Donors Interesed in Catholic Activities! Alexia Kelley was also a $1000 donor to both the Barack Obama campaigns and the Hillary Clinton campaigns. So the Catholic Church named a woman who donated to and worked for Barak Obama who supported infanticide by aggressively defeating The Born Alive Infant Protection Act while in the IL state senate. For a state senator who voted present over 100 times he must have been passionate about the right of an abortion doctor to toss a fully birthed infant into a hospital waste bin. What kind of donors will Ms. Kelley attract and how will they shape the agenda of the Catholic Church? Thanks Catholic Church for selling out! Of course I never did fill out that application. Your humble servant in Christ, Craig Manoukian Your Excellency,

I am not sure how to contact you and apologize if this is the wrong venue. I for years have been concerned about the Liberalism that is eroding the fabric of the American Catholic Church. I pass this along from a conservative political blog I participate in:

What is happening to the Catholic Church? The other day I visited the website of The Basilica of Saint Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, to fill out and application for membership to the church. I was distracted by the headline of an article at the bottom of the site which reported the news of Alexia Kelley, an Obama administraion official being named the new president of the Catholic Church’s FADICA. The FADICA is The Foundations and Donors Interesed in Catholic Activities! Alexia Kelley was also a $1000 donor to both the Barack Obama campaigns and the Hillary Clinton campaigns. So the Catholic Church named a woman who donated to and worked for Barak Obama who supported infanticide by aggressively defeating The Born Alive Infant Protection Act while in the IL state senate. For a state senator who voted present over 100 times he must have been passionate about the right of an abortion doctor to toss a fully birthed infant into a hospital waste bin. What kind of donors will Ms. Kelley attract and how will they shape the agenda of the Catholic Church?

Thanks Catholic Church for selling out! Of course I never did fill out that application.

Your humble servant in Christ,
Craig Manoukian

]]> By: Eden Johnson http://blog.archny.org/index.php/sacrament-of-penance/comment-page-1/#comment-85186 Eden Johnson Sat, 17 Nov 2012 20:29:34 +0000 http://blog.archny.org/?p=3446#comment-85186 ArchBishop Dolan, your remarks were very insightful and inspirational, truly striking at my heart. What's wrong with the world? I am. I take that seriously. Please command every church to have a room for the 24 hour Blessed Sacrament Adoration. And remind Catholics to dress appropriately in Church, not in picnic clothes (shorts, etc...) And bring back the wearing of veils or hats by women. Also, people get out of the Church as soon as the priest says, Ita Misa Est. Per St. Peter Eymard, the hour after Holy Communion, is very important and very powerful. Jesus, Savior. Miracle Worker and Divine Physician, is in us and that's when we can pray boldly for our personal intentions. That hour after Communions, should be a sacred one. Tell priests that their silent prayer after Communion should be on their knees and be lengthened to at least 15 minutes. Or else the congregation immediately get out of the Church. Also, remind Catholics who can, especially the retired, that they should attend Holy Mass everyday and visit the Blessed Sacrament daily. On the Internet is the Divine Office, which we much also pray. Every prayer should be done representing every soul, specially sinners, in the whole world, the saintly and devout, the conversion to Jesus of every one (God does not want any soul left behind and Jesus said that he does not want only the sheep assigned to Him but also those who are not yet, in his folds. We must surely pray for the healing of the planet, global warming, and the poor sould in purgatory. Retired Catholics by unceasing prayer on behalf of all souls, living dying, and the dead, can save the world and ready themselves for their own deaths. Priests, headed by you, should preach about purgatory, based on Dante's inferno. because many Catholics do not believe in it. And write about the penitential site in Ireland and encourage pilgrims to go there. We should also say the even penitential psalms and thanksgiving prayers daily. Also would you please offer the defrocked priests, after they have serve their prison sentences, a penitential monastery? Many of them want to remain catholic and they need our support. As a rule, they go on their individual ways in shame, not realizing that they, having had their sins exposed and penalized, have a real opportunity for sainthood. They need our support. Don't just leave them without our assurance that they are still loved and supported. Retirees are the most potent resource for the new evangelization if only we would re-cathecize them about their vocation. Per Father Barron, we should counter aggressive secularization, and for seniors, we can do unceasing prayer. Most Catholics have no education about this responsibility and are part of the consumerist/secular society. Also make it clear that we love homosexuals/lesbians, but that we expect them to be celibate just as we expect heterosexuals of the single state to be. The problem is that many Catholics have also bought in to the examples of promiscuity (Sex in the City and 50 Shades of Grey). Every priest should be as bold and hardworking as St. John Vianney. Anymore, sermons are unchallenging. Priests are afraid to speak up boldly about sin, mortal and venial, and their consequences in this life and after. This is why few go to confessions. Confessions are generally scheduled for 45 minutes before Mass. Catholics are not aware of their sinfulness, generally speaking. They are not devout. ArchBishop Dolan, your remarks were very insightful and inspirational, truly striking at my heart. What’s wrong with the world? I am. I take that seriously. Please command every church to have a room for the 24 hour Blessed Sacrament Adoration. And remind Catholics to dress appropriately in Church, not in picnic clothes (shorts, etc…) And bring back the wearing of veils or hats by women. Also, people get out of the Church as soon as the priest says, Ita Misa Est. Per St. Peter Eymard, the hour after Holy Communion, is very important and very powerful. Jesus, Savior. Miracle Worker and Divine Physician, is in us and that’s when we can pray boldly for our personal intentions. That hour after Communions, should be a sacred one. Tell priests that their silent prayer after Communion should be on their knees and be lengthened to at least 15 minutes. Or else the congregation immediately get out of the Church. Also, remind Catholics who can, especially the retired, that they should attend Holy Mass everyday and visit the Blessed Sacrament daily. On the Internet is the Divine Office, which we much also pray. Every prayer should be done representing every soul, specially sinners, in the whole world, the saintly and devout, the conversion to Jesus of every one (God does not want any soul left behind and Jesus said that he does not want only the sheep assigned to Him but also those who are not yet, in his folds. We must surely pray for the healing of the planet, global warming, and the poor sould in purgatory. Retired Catholics by unceasing prayer on behalf of all souls, living dying, and the dead, can save the world and ready themselves for their own deaths. Priests, headed by you, should preach about purgatory, based on Dante’s inferno. because many Catholics do not believe in it. And write about the penitential site in Ireland and encourage pilgrims to go there. We should also say the even penitential psalms and thanksgiving prayers daily. Also would you please offer the defrocked priests, after they have serve their prison sentences, a penitential monastery? Many of them want to remain catholic and they need our support. As a rule, they go on their individual ways in shame, not realizing that they, having had their sins exposed and penalized, have a real opportunity for sainthood. They need our support. Don’t just leave them without our assurance that they are still loved and supported. Retirees are the most potent resource for the new evangelization if only we would re-cathecize them about their vocation. Per Father Barron, we should counter aggressive secularization, and for seniors, we can do unceasing prayer. Most Catholics have no education about this responsibility and are part of the consumerist/secular society. Also make it clear that we love homosexuals/lesbians, but that we expect them to be celibate just as we expect heterosexuals of the single state to be. The problem is that many Catholics have also bought in to the examples of promiscuity (Sex in the City and 50 Shades of Grey). Every priest should be as bold and hardworking as St. John Vianney. Anymore, sermons are unchallenging. Priests are afraid to speak up boldly about sin, mortal and venial, and their consequences in this life and after. This is why few go to confessions. Confessions are generally scheduled for 45 minutes before Mass. Catholics are not aware of their sinfulness, generally speaking. They are not devout.

]]> By: Bob Kelly http://blog.archny.org/index.php/sacrament-of-penance/comment-page-1/#comment-85139 Bob Kelly Sat, 17 Nov 2012 02:47:34 +0000 http://blog.archny.org/?p=3446#comment-85139 "The work of our Conference during the coming year includes reflections on re-embracing Friday as a particular day of penance, including the possible re-institution of abstinence on all Fridays of the year, not just during Lent." Your Eminence, I appreciate your call for a renewal of the practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which I have not availed myself of as often as I should. But the possibility of mandating meatless Fridays seems like 'pouring new wine in old wineskins'. Meatless Friday does not have the same penitential meaning in an age when many of our young people are vegetarians. Is this the best our 'NEW Evangelization' can do? In all of the Catholic Church, we must have smart people, inspired by the Holy Spirit, who can come up with penitential practices for the present age. Please don't pine for the 50's or the 1500's. We can inspire the present generation if we have solutions that speak to the present-day person who seeks God, just as Blessed John XXIII did when he opened the windows of the Church to see the world around us and to allow the world to see into God's Church. “The work of our Conference during the coming year includes reflections on re-embracing Friday as a particular day of penance, including the possible re-institution of abstinence on all Fridays of the year, not just during Lent.”

Your Eminence, I appreciate your call for a renewal of the practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which I have not availed myself of as often as I should. But the possibility of mandating meatless Fridays seems like ‘pouring new wine in old wineskins’. Meatless Friday does not have the same penitential meaning in an age when many of our young people are vegetarians.

Is this the best our ‘NEW Evangelization’ can do? In all of the Catholic Church, we must have smart people, inspired by the Holy Spirit, who can come up with penitential practices for the present age. Please don’t pine for the 50′s or the 1500′s. We can inspire the present generation if we have solutions that speak to the present-day person who seeks God, just as Blessed John XXIII did when he opened the windows of the Church to see the world around us and to allow the world to see into God’s Church.

]]> By: Andrew Humphreys http://blog.archny.org/index.php/sacrament-of-penance/comment-page-1/#comment-85136 Andrew Humphreys Fri, 16 Nov 2012 22:18:23 +0000 http://blog.archny.org/?p=3446#comment-85136 I agree with Steven. It is a strong sign of identity, a needed reminder and a good way to teach our children that we have to put God above all else. Thank you to Telecare for their coverage of the USCCB conference this week. I agree with Steven. It is a strong sign of identity, a needed reminder and a good way to teach our children that we have to put God above all else.

Thank you to Telecare for their coverage of the USCCB conference this week.

]]> By: Robert Fox http://blog.archny.org/index.php/sacrament-of-penance/comment-page-1/#comment-85134 Robert Fox Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:56:32 +0000 http://blog.archny.org/?p=3446#comment-85134 Your Excellency: Nobody takes the sacrament of penance seriously because nobody takes canon 915 seriously. The man in the pew may not know the number of the canon and he/she may not even know canon law... but they sure know when a public representative who is a proponent of violating sacred law approaches the altar for Holy Communion. And the man in the pew CERTAINLY understands that PUBLIC silence is PUBLIC permission. So, with respect, these small moves toward orthodoxy... while laudable... will only really amount to "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Why? Because our liturgy has been essentially stripped of anything which is "offensive to even the most modernist Protestants". As I move my family out of New York permanently... and head for the nearest FSSP parish in some other state which I can find to call "home"... it is with the understanding that nothing in the Church will change spiritually or demographically until we restore the heart of the Catholic Faith... which alone is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And that won't come from tinkering with a few words here and there or the agonizing of some large committee somewhere. We live in a crisis of faith... the crisis of culture is a RESULT of a crisis in faith! The crisis in faith is connected to the crisis in liturgy. It's the biggest elephant in the room! The council document on the liturgy is beautiful. Too bad it was never implemented. Save the Mass, save the world! Your Excellency: Nobody takes the sacrament of penance seriously because nobody takes canon 915 seriously. The man in the pew may not know the number of the canon and he/she may not even know canon law… but they sure know when a public representative who is a proponent of violating sacred law approaches the altar for Holy Communion. And the man in the pew CERTAINLY understands that PUBLIC silence is PUBLIC permission.

So, with respect, these small moves toward orthodoxy… while laudable… will only really amount to “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Why? Because our liturgy has been essentially stripped of anything which is “offensive to even the most modernist Protestants”.

As I move my family out of New York permanently… and head for the nearest FSSP parish in some other state which I can find to call “home”… it is with the understanding that nothing in the Church will change spiritually or demographically until we restore the heart of the Catholic Faith… which alone is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And that won’t come from tinkering with a few words here and there or the agonizing of some large committee somewhere.

We live in a crisis of faith… the crisis of culture is a RESULT of a crisis in faith! The crisis in faith is connected to the crisis in liturgy. It’s the biggest elephant in the room! The council document on the liturgy is beautiful. Too bad it was never implemented.

Save the Mass, save the world!

]]> By: Bryan Hofmann http://blog.archny.org/index.php/sacrament-of-penance/comment-page-1/#comment-85133 Bryan Hofmann Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:38:19 +0000 http://blog.archny.org/?p=3446#comment-85133 Your Excellency, Thank you for this very needed message. You are a successor to the Apostles, how awesome that must be! With the utmost respect for your Office and the deepest desire for the salvation of your soul I pray that you consider first your need for repentance and penance. Would you have dined, laughed and joked with President Obama had he been activily promoting a culture that tolerates the murder of Jews or Catholic priests? I pray not. If not, then why are the lives of unborn babies less worthy of your defense? Why is the slaughtering of unborn babies not sufficient to cause you to flip over the dinner table rather than laugh and joke at it? I pray you will be heartily sorry, do penance, and amend your life, Your Excellency. The rich Mercy of our Blessed Lord awaits. Bryan Hofmann LOVE SO AMAZING Your Excellency,
Thank you for this very needed message. You are a successor to the Apostles, how awesome that must be! With the utmost respect for your Office and the deepest desire for the salvation of your soul I pray that you consider first your need for repentance and penance. Would you have dined, laughed and joked with President Obama had he been activily promoting a culture that tolerates the murder of Jews or Catholic priests? I pray not. If not, then why are the lives of unborn babies less worthy of your defense? Why is the slaughtering of unborn babies not sufficient to cause you to flip over the dinner table rather than laugh and joke at it? I pray you will be heartily sorry, do penance, and amend your life, Your Excellency. The rich Mercy of our Blessed Lord awaits.
Bryan Hofmann
LOVE SO AMAZING

]]> By: Joe Nichols http://blog.archny.org/index.php/sacrament-of-penance/comment-page-1/#comment-85131 Joe Nichols Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:55:45 +0000 http://blog.archny.org/?p=3446#comment-85131 Wonderful remarks. The biggest challenge for my wife and me, as parents of six children, has been to keep them going to confession after High School and through college. There is a "darkness" to confession that turns them off, and it is too bad. However, one thing should be noted. Respectfully, you have Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, and also democrats and republicans alike who are Catholics but reject the life issues. Yet, most all bishops and cardinals simply do not say, "Joe Biden, you are wrong." "Nancy Peolosi, you are wrong." Our kids don't hear that loud and clear without equivocation. So, when a Catholic like Joe biden calls transgender rights the biggest civil rights issue of our time, or calls for gay marriages, why doesn't Cardinal Dolan call Biden up and say, "Mr. Vice-President, you are wrong." He suffers no consequence to misleading millions of Americans. Yet, (and rightfully), the divorced Catholic who did not get an annulment cannot accept Holy Communion. I think quite often, our Bishops and Cardinals enjoy the spotlight at the "Al Smith dinner", fail to unequivocally call these Catholic politicians out for misleading our Youth, and scratch their heads in confusion when our Young Catholics fail to go to confession because they do not perceive just what is sinful and what is not. Time for the Bishops and Cardinals to quit giving lavish dinners for politicans "for laughs" and start proclaiming the truth. Here's a radical idea! Have a lavish dinner for the Young Catholics. It might not get you as much fame and would not allow you to cozy up with the big shots who don't listen to you anyways, but at least it would not mislead our young Catholics into thinking that you endorse their platform. This desire to be well thought of and famous by our Cardinal is tragic, it really is. Wonderful remarks. The biggest challenge for my wife and me, as parents of six children, has been to keep them going to confession after High School and through college. There is a “darkness” to confession that turns them off, and it is too bad.
However, one thing should be noted. Respectfully, you have Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, and also democrats and republicans alike who are Catholics but reject the life issues. Yet, most all bishops and cardinals simply do not say, “Joe Biden, you are wrong.” “Nancy Peolosi, you are wrong.” Our kids don’t hear that loud and clear without equivocation. So, when a Catholic like Joe biden calls transgender rights the biggest civil rights issue of our time, or calls for gay marriages, why doesn’t Cardinal Dolan call Biden up and say, “Mr. Vice-President, you are wrong.” He suffers no consequence to misleading millions of Americans. Yet, (and rightfully), the divorced Catholic who did not get an annulment cannot accept Holy Communion. I think quite often, our Bishops and Cardinals enjoy the spotlight at the “Al Smith dinner”, fail to unequivocally call these Catholic politicians out for misleading our Youth, and scratch their heads in confusion when our Young Catholics fail to go to confession because they do not perceive just what is sinful and what is not.

Time for the Bishops and Cardinals to quit giving lavish dinners for politicans “for laughs” and start proclaiming the truth.

Here’s a radical idea! Have a lavish dinner for the Young Catholics. It might not get you as much fame and would not allow you to cozy up with the big shots who don’t listen to you anyways, but at least it would not mislead our young Catholics into thinking that you endorse their platform.

This desire to be well thought of and famous by our Cardinal is tragic, it really is.

]]> By: Philip Ferrato http://blog.archny.org/index.php/sacrament-of-penance/comment-page-1/#comment-85109 Philip Ferrato Fri, 16 Nov 2012 05:11:42 +0000 http://blog.archny.org/?p=3446#comment-85109 I hope you'll find it in your conscience to speak out– perhaps even as a unified body– against the impending passage of legislation in Ghana punishing gays and lesbians with imprisonment and death for being simply as God made them. Philip Ferrato I hope you’ll find it in your conscience to speak out– perhaps even as a unified body– against the impending passage of legislation in Ghana punishing gays and lesbians with imprisonment and death for being simply as God made them.

Philip Ferrato

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