Connecticut Catholic Parishes Beware – Prepare!

March 12, 2009 by Be Holy

Connecticut Catholic and the bishops of the Catholic Church had better get their ducks in order for the next volley.

Ed Morrissey writes that Connecticut lawmakers “finally got around to reading the founding documents”

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

As a result of the mass outcry,the bill that would have deprived bishops of legitimate power in their parishes was cancelled on the grounds of it being clearly unconstitutional.

As soon as word spread about the bill, the Legislative Office Building was flooded with telephone calls and e-mails on Monday. The bill, virtually overnight, became the hottest issue at the state Capitol.

The cancellation came less than 24 hours after Senate Republican John McKinney of Fairfield called for the cancellation, saying that his caucus was unanimously against the bill because they believe it is clearly unconstitutional.

The bill itself according to Morrissey, and the agreeing protesters, was “a piece of work”

(a) A corporation may be organized in connection with any Roman Catholic Church or congregation in this state, by filing in the office of the Secretary of the State a certificate signed by the archbishop or bishop and the vicar-general of the archdiocese or of the diocese in which such congregation is located and the pastor and two laymen belonging to such congregation, stating that they have so organized for the purposes hereinafter mentioned. [Such archbishop or bishop, vicar-general and pastor of such congregation and, in case of the death or other disability of the archbishop or bishop, the administrator of the archdiocese or diocese for the time being, the chancellor of the archdiocese or diocese and the pastor of such congregation shall be members, ex officio, of such corporation, and, upon their death, resignation, removal or preferment, their successors in office shall become such members in their stead. The two lay members shall be appointed annually, in writing, during the month of January from the lay members of the congregation by a majority of the ex-officio members of the corporation; and three members of the corporation, of whom one shall be a layman, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.]

(b) The corporation shall have a board of directors consisting of not less than seven nor more than thirteen lay members. The archbishop or bishop of the diocese or his designee shall serve as an ex-officio member of the board of directors without the right to vote.

We do live in interesting times. Sleep only with one eye open!

Fear of Technology, Fear of Government & Fear of the Lord

March 12, 2009 by Be Holy

This made perfect sense to me. The Anchoress is talking about our magical gadgets demonically influencing our lives, and Buster sees the demons of government stealing and cataloguing our lives or something akin to that.

You know, that’s very true, and very much wisdom from God. All of this is ‘moving on air,’ and who rules the air, is “the prince of the air?” The same being who is the Father of Lies. As with the internet which seduced us with information and confused us by laying “the whole world” at our feet, this will seduce us with insta-everything then befuddle us to where we don’t know what is real anymore. Diabolical disorientation disguised as a fun new toy!

Buster shot back:

Ummm…I wasn’t calling it the devil. I just meant it could very easily turn into a means for the government, or even media and advertisers, to track every action you make. After all, it has a camera and will have wifi. They could know everything you read, who you see; they’d know your politics and everything. Nothing secret would be hidden. Btw, you sound like that old woman who sits on the porch in a rocking chair with a shawl, sneering at the children as they pass by your house, and muttering soft condemnations of their new 12-speeds, proclaiming all new toys of theirs to be ‘the devil’…like the mother in Waterboy.

That response cracked me up. I laughed out loud and then, because of my cold, coughed for a few minutes. Well, I am the old lady in the chair, with the shawl, sneering at too much.

You playin’ de foosball, son?

What puts the fear of God in me, is that I can see, how the biblical description of Judgment Day as revealing to all eyes the record of my life, is not some medieval fear and impossibility, but possible even in this world.

Fear of the Lord – St. Hilary

March 12, 2009 by Be Holy

From the Office of the Day – St Hilary, Early Church Father & Doctor of the Church:

“Fear” is not to be taken in the sense that common usage gives it. Fear in this ordinary sense is the trepidation our weak humanity feels when it is afraid of suffering something it does not want to happen. We are afraid, or made afraid, because of a guilty conscience, the rights of someone more powerful, an attack from one who is stronger, sickness, encountering a wild beast, suffering evil in any form. This kind of fear is not taught: it happens because we are weak. We do not have to learn what we should fear: objects of fear bring their own terror with them.
From the Office of the Day – But of the fear of the Lord this is what is written: Come, my children, listen to me, I shall teach you the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord has then to be learned because it can be taught. It does not lie in terror, but in something that can be taught. It does not arise from the fearfulness of our nature; it has to be acquired by obedience to the commandments, by holiness of life and by knowledge of the truth.

For us the fear of God consists wholly in love, and perfect love of God brings our fear of him to its perfection. Our love for God is entrusted with its own responsibility: to observe his counsels, to obey his laws, to trust his promises.