Latest / The Uncensored Catholic / Show 105: Pope Francis Does Not Okay Blessings of Gay Unions

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Show 105: Pope Francis Does Not Okay Blessings of Gay Unions · The Uncensored Catholic

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A Hey, y'all, welcome today's show. I think we'll dispense with the
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radio replies for this one episode because I have to address the elephant in the
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room. I am sure most of us woke up to the headlines or discovered
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the headlines later in the day that Pope Francis has said that the Catholic Church
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will bless gay marriage. That's not true. That's not true at all.
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Once again, we have a very unclear pope whose words are easily misinterpreted by
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a media that would like to convince liberal Catholics there on the right side and
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traditional or conservative or however you want to put it Catholics that our church has
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abandoned us and try to convince us to leave the church. That's what they
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want to do. I mean, the number one goal of all, uh,
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it's whether it's some Masonic order, the Communist Party, the you know,
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progressive liberals, whatever you wanna call him, is to destroy the Catholic
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Church. And so and Pope Francis gives him wonderful opportunities, plenty of fodder
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for them to use. He is certainly, as I said, I don't
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think he's a very good pope, but he's still the pope and he has
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not changed Catholic teaching on marriage. My friend Christine, try that again.
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My friend Christina s. Serentino s O R R E N t I n
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O has written an excellent article on missiodaye site. Go if I mean read
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it. It explains everything I'm going to kind of well, I'll read most
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of it and kind of synopsized bits the let's see what the U r L
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is of this. It is, uh, Missio Day Catholic dot O r
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G. Just a long U r L. I'm not gonna read that to
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you. Just just go to Missio Day's website, which is m I S
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s I O D E I C A T H O l I C dot
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org Missio Dacatholic dot org. Again. Her name is Christina M. Sorrentino.
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It's a very popular Catholic author, and uh, the name of the
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article is navigating Pastoral Compassion without Compromising the faith slash breaking news on Pope Francis
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and the declaration Fiducia supplicants. All right, so she starts out the declaration
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issued today by the Vatican di osc How do you pronounce that de osca terry
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d os di ostory. I don't know. For the doctor, thanks for
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the faith. The d def as they abbreviated, articulated a distinction between liturgical
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imparnhcies, sacramental blessings, and pastoral blessings, which may be given to a
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person who desire God's loving grace in their life. The church teachings on marriage
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has not changed, and this declaration of firms that, while also making an
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effort to accompany people through the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs
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God's healing, love and mercy in our lives. I probably didn't read that
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quite right. Firms that, while also making an effort to accompany people through
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the imparting of pastoral blessings because each of us needs God's healing and loves in
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our lives. That's very poorly written. That is actually a statement from the
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United States Catholic Conference of Bishops via Chico Noguchi, Executive director of Public Affairs.
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I think chiechu Ugucci could he's a little help with his syntax. I
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guess it would be syntax anyway. Once again, you know what's really needed
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mostly in Catholicism today, people who can write and speak plainly and clearly it
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is needed at all levels, from the papacy down to the smallest parish priest
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and certainly the writers. I mean, turn on EWTN. If you can
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watch a program for more than thirty minutes without being bored to sleep by it,
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you know, good for you. Like I said, one time,
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I missed Mass and I saw my priest in the grocery store and he said,
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I didn't see it Mass today. He's a good priest, he was
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a good friend. He has a good friend. Actually he's the priest who
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confirmed me. And we're about the same age, you know, so he
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always gave me a hard time And I said, yeah, but I watched
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Mass on e WTN. He said, my son, you have suffered enough.
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But no, I was a little under the weather that day. It
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didn't make it, and he understood. We really the main reason Catholics have
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such a hard time communicating with Protestants is nine times out of ten Protestants can't
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understand what the heck we're saying because we use a lot of lofty languages and
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very very long compound sentences and a lot of jargon that only educated Catholics understand.
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I mean, do you really think the Catholic Church would have grown in
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the early centuries before universal literacy, which is I mean literacy is still not
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universal, but in the Western world it pretty much is. Before widespread education.
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If everyone was talking like official statements issued from the Vatican long, overly
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complex, compound sentences, using a lot of words people don't understand. Well,
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that's a big problem. That's one of the big problems with the mixed
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messages to keep coming out of the Vatican. It's almost like the Federal Reserve
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chairman, you know, he'll put out a statement and everybody thinks they heard
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what they wanted to hear in that statement. I mean, Alan Greenspan was
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purposely ambiguous, he said, so as not to disrupt the markets. In
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other words, he would put out statements that nobody understood and everybody would read
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their own meaning into it. I think that's a loadum crap. I mean,
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and the de man, you know, was not a good fed chairman
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in the first place. He never should have had that job. But I
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think when it comes to matters of Christianity and spirituality and the things that matter
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most in this world, we need a lot more plain speak people just simply
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you know, short sentences, pithy words, words that are not difficult for
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the average person to understand. Now you can write a separate document for scholars
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and theologians, all right, you want to talk about you know, all
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these like you know, scatological and all kinds of references to the writings of
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Augustine and the you know, Gregory the Great and all that. Fine,
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it's cool, yeah, do so there should be as William F. Buckley
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put it, can't we have a mass for the educated? When they stripped
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Latin form the mass? Buckley did not approve. Well, he had spent
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decades going to Catholic school and learning to be very fluent in Latin and he
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wanted to go to a mass for the educated. Well that's great, but
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can't we have documents also for the non someone who doesn't have a degree in
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theology or canon law or something. I mean, shouldn't the average layman be
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able to understand what the pope just said or what the bishop's decree. I
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think. So that's one of the main reasons I do this podcast. You
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know, you listen to my podcast, you know exactly what I'm trying to
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convey to you. Some one of the reasons I love follows Spirago's book with
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the Catechists we've been working through. That was literally his mission in the eighteen
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nineties was to write a catechism for the common man, an explanation that anybody
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can understand. And I think it was brilliant and it remains a classic today.
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Thomas Kempis on the imitation of the Christ. It's another reason why it
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remains a classic. Saint Teresa of Lesseau's what was the name of her book
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anyway, but all about the little way, I mean, that's again very
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much part of that message. And it's like, you know, you don't
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have to show off your fancy vocabulary, just say what needs to be said.
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In most documents issued officially by the Catholic Church would actually be more clear
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in Latin than they are in English, because Latin is less a less ambiguous
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language. So anyway, now they'll step off my soapbox for a minute.
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Christina goes on to say, Fiducia's supplicants a recently issued declaration by the Dicastery
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for the doctrine of the Faith. I think that's the way you pronounce it,
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and approved by his Holy Father, Pope Francis addresses the pastoral approach to
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blessings, particularly in the context of irregular situations and same sex couples. The
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document focuses on the importance of pastoral closeness and discernment, while making it clear
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that there must be the maintaining of fidelity to the Catholic teachings on the sacrament
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of holy matrimony. Now that's the opposite of what's been reported in the news
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today. Right, we are still faithful to the Catholic teachings of the sacrament
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of holy matrimony, She writes. It is the utmost important that Catholics,
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especially American Catholics, do not turn to secular secular media outlets for breaking news
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on the Catholic Church, especially on this matter. When we look at a
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number of catchy headlines from today, such as Pope Francis allows priests to bless
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bless same sex unions by DPA International, or Pope Francis permits police priests to
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bless same sex unions in radical change to Vatican policy, which was the headline
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in the Staten Island Advance, which if you subscribe to that newspaper, I
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think you should call them and cancel your subscription. And tell them why because
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they just lied about what the Pope said, and then burn your copy of
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it use it to start your fire and your fireplace. It would seem that
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Pope Francis has changed the teachers of the church or the matter of blessings of
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same sex unions that equates them to marriage and validates them. This is far
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from the truth, because Pope Francis does not have the authority to call for
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the blessing of the union of a man and a man, or a woman
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and a woman, because the Church cannot ever bless sin. That's really all
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you need to know. But it is not possible for same sex unions to
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be blessed in a liturgical manner. Divine revelation, which comes from God cannot
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be changed by mortals. Scripture is clear that God created man and woman for
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one another and bless them see Genesis five to two. Humanity did not institute
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marriage, it was designed by God. The decoration recognizes the pastoral need to
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respond to those who, despite living in situations contrary to Christian moral norms,
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humbly seek blessings. It explicitly states that an ordained minister may consent to bless
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two people even in irregular situations, while avoiding any element resembling a marriage.
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Right, what does that mean? Well, you know, you go to
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Mass and you realize, well, I didn't get a confession of time to
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go up for the eucharst this week, I'll go up for a blessing.
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And so you cross your arms over your chest and you walk up and you
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receive a blessing. That's all they're talking about. It's well, and she's
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going to spell this out. Sacramental blessings and such. The document distinguishes between
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liturgical and pastoral blessings, acknowledging that certain blessings, especially those related to human
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relationships, should be evaluated as acts of devotion rather than requiring moral perfection.
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According to the Catechism of a Catholic Church. Of the Catholic Church, a
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blessing comes first among sacramentals Articles sixteen seventy one. Among sacramentals, blessings of
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persons, meals, objects, and places come first. Every blessing praises God
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and prays for his gifts. In Christ, Christians are blessed by God the
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Father with every spiritual blessing. That is why the church imparts blessings by invoking
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the name of Jesus, usually while making the holy sign of the Cross of
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Christ Articles sixteen seventy two. Certain blessings have a lasting importance because they consecrate
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persons to God or reserve objects places for liturgical use. Among those blessings which
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are intended for persons not to be confused with sacramental or ordination are the blessings
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of an abbot or an abbess of a monastery, the consecration of virgins and
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widows, the right of religious profession, and the blessing of certain ministries of
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the church, readers, accolytes, catechists, etc. The dedication or blessing
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of a church or an altar, or the blessing of holy oils, vessels,
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investments, bills, etc. Can Be mentioned as examples of blessings of
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certain objects. The declaration makes it clear that liturgical blessings, such as those
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in the sacrament of marriage, cannot be extended to irregular or same sex couples.
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However, it opens the possibility for spontaneous blessings in informal settings such as
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pilgrimages or encounters with priests, where the ordained minister may join in prayer with
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those seeking blessings. While the documenting knowledges that such blessings should not become the
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norm, it encourages practical discernment by the ordained minister in specific circumstances. The
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emphasis is on blessing individuals rather than validating the relationship status of the couple,
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making it clear that the blessing is for the persons involved, not for their
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union. That's actually that's the most important point right there. Uh, they're
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blessed, the blessed the priests blessing the individual persons as a means of pastoral
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care, you know, hoping for their conversion, and they're to turn away
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from sin and become embrace the teachings of the Catholic Church, not their sinful
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union, which you know, the church cannot bless sin. To prevent confusion
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or scandal, The declaration provides guidelines for when the blessings are requested by couples
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and irregular situations, or same sex couples. It explicitly states that the blessing
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should not be imparted in connection with civil union ceremonies. That's you know,
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that's what the headlines the news media has been lying to you, trying to
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convince you that it does mean that it explicitly states will say it again that
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these blessings should not be imparted in connection with civil union ceremonies, and the
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gestures, clothing and words used should avoid any resemblance of a wedding. Faduciaus
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Supplicans highlights the possibility for individuals, even in situations clouded by sin, to
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seek blessings as a way of reaching out to God. It underscores the pastoral
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approach of extending blessings to those in need while maintaining fidelity to the teachings of
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the Catholic Church. Despite the popular headlines popping up all across the Internet today
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via secular media outlets, please know that Pope Francis did not change Church doctrine
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and priests cannot bless the union of same sex couples. Thank you Christina for
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making that very clear. Sees Christina can write in a clear way. You
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would think there might be somebody in the Vatican who could do the same.
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Apparently not. They need We probably ought to just hire people from like Central
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and Eastern European countries. Yeah really, you know, hardcore Central Eastern European
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Catholics that are no nonsense. Get some Romanians in there and forget it.
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Some Hungarians they will tell you exactly what is what without all the flowery language.
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I get along so well with people from that part of the world because
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there's just no nonsense. I mean, they'll joke around, you know,
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they do have a good sense of humor, but they don't. I mean,
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they are like so precise in their language. Germans in the same way
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to some extent Russians, maybe even a little too much. Sometimes they can
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almost be a little like aggressive or confrontational. But yeah, I get along
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really well with all of them, Ukrainians, Poles, especially Poles. I
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mean, come on, who can't get along with a Polish person. They're
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like the most friendly, really delightful people on earth. Honestly, I love
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Poles. Anyway, let's get on. Well, I'll just recover a couple
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of points. We'll continue with the Catechism explained and we were talking about let's
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see, we were under the chapter last week of the Divine Attributes of God.
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We left off on point five, So let's see what point six is.
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God is almighty, i e. God can do all that he wills,
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and that by a mere act of his will. God can do things
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which appear to men impossible e g. The preservation of the three young men
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in the midst of the fiery furnace of Babylon. A thousand similar wonders occurred
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in the time of the persecutions of the Christians. Our Lord said, with
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God, nothing is impossible. Yet God cannot do that which is in contradiction
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with his own perfections. God cannot lie, and he cannot deceive. God
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could always have done more wonderful works than he has done. He could have
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created a more beautiful world than this, and more creatures than He has actually
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made. When any of the creatures that God has made desires to do anything,
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he can only make use of the things that God has made and in
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accord and in accordance with the laws that God has established. But God is
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bound by no laws save those of his own infinite goodness and truth. He
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has only to will a thing, and what he wills happens. At once
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He spoke, and the heavens were created. He commanded, and they were
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created that psalms. I'm not even gonna try to decipher that one. You
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know, I'm pretty good with Roman numerals. But when we get to c
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XLV, I have been come on the omnipotence of God, Yes I do.
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If I think about it, I can tell you what it means.
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But I'm going to go on. The importance of God shows itself, especially
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in the creations of the world, creation of the world, in miracles wrought
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by our Lord, and in those miracles which before and after Our Lord's time
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God worked for the confirmation of the true religion. The Earth is twenty fourth
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thousand, an eight hundred and ninety nine miles in circumference. The Sun is
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far larger, for its diameter is one hundred times greater than that of the
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Earth. Some of the heavily bodies are far greater. Some of them,
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if they occupied the place of the Sun and were beginning to rise at six
20:15
am, would not have completely risen above the horizon by six pm. Our
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Earth is over ninety one million miles distant from the Sun. A body traveling
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from Earth to the Sun and an ordinary rate of a cannon ball. This
20:30
is before rockets. Remember this eighteen nineties would take twenty five years to reach
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the Sun, and actually probably longer than that. The planet Neptune, according
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to the latest information, is two billion, seven hundred and ninety four million
20:45
miles distance from the Sun. A cannon ball would take eight hundred years to
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travel. Thence from the Sun, there are stars outside our planetary system which
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are a million times further from us. Light, which travels at the rate
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of twenty four thousand miles a second, would take many millions of years to
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reach these stars. Around our sign there move eight larger and two hundred and
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eighty smaller planets. The nearest Mercury is thirty six million miles distant from the
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Sun, and the most distant Neptune over two billion miles. There are also
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in heaven thirty million fixed stars, all of them real suns and mostly larger
21:26
than our Sun. And around these move many other heavenly bodies. All these
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God created out of nothing. How infinite then is the power of God.
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Think also of the miracles wrought by Christ, and the raising of Lazarus,
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and the stealing of the tempest, etc. The healing of the lame Man
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at the beautiful gate of the Temple, the wonders that are now being worked
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at lords who should declare the powers of our Lord or set forth his praises.
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It's also from psalms. Since God is almighty, we can hope for
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help from him in our greatest needs. God has a thousand different ways of
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helping us. He can send an angel to help us, as he did
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Saint Peter in prison, or work miracles as he did to feed the multitude
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in the desert. As a rule, he makes use of the most unlikely
22:15
means and thereby shows the greatness of his power. He freed Bethulia from the
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Assyrians by means of a woman. He saved the Israelites from their enemies by
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making a path through the sea. It is easy for our Lord save by
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many or by few. You know, we'll wrap it up there, you
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know, Yeah, there's Yeah, the main thing we needed to talk about
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today we've talked about, and then we've got some really beautiful inspiring words from
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Father Sparago. So I think it's a nice time to wrap it up.
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Now we're quickly closing into on Christmas. I hope you are going to be
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able to spend time with friends, family in love once. Even more than
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that, I hope you make time to go to Mass, go to confession,
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then go to Mass. This is, you know, one of the
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holiest days of the year, I mean, second only to Eastern right,
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and such a beautiful time. And you know, maybe toward the end of
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the week, since I guess Christmas is what next Monday, So the last
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show I do this week will be the last one before Christmas. I'm going
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to tell you a beautiful story of a Christmas Mass that really touched my heart.
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So y'all have a good one and I will talk to you tomorrow.
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Remember, don't believe the fake news. And for the Pete's sake, if
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anybody has the ear of anyone of the Catholic hierarchy, can you say,
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Look, I know you think it's dumbing it down, but literally, most
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people don't read things like you write. Most people don't write the way you
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do. Most people don't understand the words you use. And if you could
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just give us, say the cliff notes version, you know. That's what
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I had to learn in journalism. I had to learn to be very pithy
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and specific. I had to take a column. I wrote a weekly column
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was read by millions, actually under a pen name, and that's how I
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got to know, you know, so many of the political figures and such
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that I know. I had to learn to make do a weekly article on
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the most complex topic imaginable and make it between five hundred and seven hundred words
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five point fifty to seven hundred. Some would say five hundred and seven and
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fifty. Well, I hit about the five fifty mark every time. Sometimes
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I go six hundred. I never went seven hundred. After you know,
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I hone my craft. I was told cut at least one word out of
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every sentence, one sentence of every paragraph, and one paragraph out of every
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article, out of every column, basically, and then do it again.
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I mean you learn it's literally like honing a blade. And we need we
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need a well, we need a lot fewer priests that have degrees in ps
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psychology and philosophy and all that. We actually need some people who can write
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with terse, pithy words. They always said, if you can't put it
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on a bumper sticker, most people won't understand your point. Think about how
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many words can fit on a bumper sticker that you see on a car in
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front of you that you can actually read. It's not very many, a
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right, five seven words at most, and then after that the type gets
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too small. That's the way it said in advertising. This way it said
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in politics. If it won't fit it on a bumper sticker, it's too
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long. Well, you may say these are like huge, lofty concepts,
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you know, not so much in this case. I could have just said,
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Pope says good to bless, okay to bless homosexuals, Still you won't
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allow gay marriage. Pope says okay to bless individuals, gay marriage still as
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send, that would have been my headline. I mean seriously, well what
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I don't know how many words that is. I could probably cut it down
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and and it would be even a sharper arrow, and this is what we
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need. Anyway, talk to you next time. M hm, m hm