Monthly Archives: April 2014

On ‘Discussing’ a Married Priesthood

30 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by in God's Will, Priesthood, Update

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Below is my response to a good friend of mine who happens to be a canon lawyer. In her email to me she made some very good points and has changed my thoughts on 'discussing' a married priesthood.

Your points are very good and perhaps you are right – perhaps there should not be any discussion of this at all – at least not by those without any decision making ability. And maybe I didn't even really mean to bring up the idea of “discussion”. I think, for me, the problem resides in the fact that almost all the faithful Catholics that write or speak on the subject (many of them priests) seem to either simply dismiss the subject or speak against it angrily. And I, believing myself to be a faithful Catholic priest, am very hurt when they seem to be so vehemently against the idea. The result is that I feel like a second class priest or that I am not a real priest somehow – at least in their minds.

Nevertheless, the more I think about it the more I think you are correct. This kind of discussion amongst the members of the Church can too easily lead to very bad situations. But, does that mean we don't discuss it at all? I don't know. After all, as you said, we can and should support all those celibate men now studying and who will study to enter the priesthood; but what happens if we run out of those men? Perhaps God is giving us the answer with having more married men as priests but we are not willing to see it? But then again, we must trust that the Holy Spirit does guide the Church and we don't want to be found fighting against Him. And, ultimately, it is up to the Pope and Bishops in communion with him to discern where the Holy Spirit is trying to lead us. But in contrast to that we cannot forget about the sensus fidei, although that applies not just to those members of the Church here and now, but throughout all time. I guess this could go on and on and that is why this is such a difficult topic.

But, I just realized something else. This is not just about my hurt feelings, although that probably is what spurred me on to track down Dr. Peters' email in order to contact him. Another issue that should be considered is this – my two boys (along with other married priests and their boys). The only thing my boys know and experience on a daily basis is a married priesthood. This is how they are being formed as Catholics and therefore what do we do when one or both of them desires to be both husband and priest?

So, what is the answer? I do not know and the decision to have a married priesthood or not in the Catholic Church does not reside with me. As I said in yesterday's post on this subject – I am not trying to start a crusade. But, I will continue to encourage my boys (and of course my girls as well, but we are talking about the priesthood here) to follow God's will and plan for their lives. And if one or both of them feel God calling them to be both a husband and a priest then I will encourage and support them in that and do all I can to help them fulfill God's plan for their life.

In Regards to a Married Priesthood

29 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by in Canon Law, Catholic Obligations, Christian Unity, Priesthood

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Below is an email I sent to Dr. Edward Peters, a canon lawyer who I have referred to before on my blog. The purpose for my email to Dr. Peters was in regards to his article on clerical celibacy which can be found here. It would be helpful to read what he wrote in order to understand my response. This is in no way to be seen as a retaliation of what he wrote, nor from his response to me did he seem to take it that way. My concern is that good, faithful Catholics do not just dismiss out of hand the idea of a married priesthood, which it seems they are wont to do because the subject is often wrongly attached to progressive ideas like women priests and other such innovations. Dr. Peters response to me was very cordial and he has given permission for this to be published. I have edited it by taking parts I found unnecessary for this post.

…let me say that I find your blog to be very helpful. I have also read your book Excommunication and the Catholic Church, which I also found to be helpful. As a convert to the Catholic Faith from being an Episcopal priest, your writings are helping me to understand some of the ins and outs of canon law. Having become a Catholic priest through the Pastoral Provision I did not have adequate training in this area and so I appreciate what you have to say, especially because you are so faithful to the magisterium.

Having said I was ordained through the Pastoral Provision you would be correct to assume that I am a married Catholic priest. Ellie, my wife, and I have been married for 19 years and have four children. And, being a married priest, the topic of clerical celibacy can be a touchy subject for me. And that brings me to the main reason for contacting you directly.

It is your post from April 10 on clerical celibacy I would like to discuss. Let me be the first to say that I am not necessarily advocating for married men to become priests. On the one hand, I believe it could help with the priest shortage. I also believe there are men who are called by God to be both a husband and a priest but who, because of the current law of the Church, must choose either marriage or the priesthood. On the other hand, I recognize that opening the priesthood to married men could cause just as many problems as it solves. For instance, in the divorce culture in which we live, it is very possible that a married priest's wife might leave him and therefore, what would be done about the priest? In the least, this situation would cause scandal in the local parish where he serves but would more likely have a farther reaching impact.

Some people, though, think a married priesthood is a crusade that must be pursued at all costs, especially those who have lumped it in with progressive ideas like women priests and homosexual ‘marriages’. But, of course, a married man can become a priest, whereas the two examples just mentioned are not possible at all.

I have often wondered if it is not the progressives who have pushed good people away from the idea of a married priesthood. The association it has with progressive ideas causes faithful Catholics to shy away from it it seems. But it is not a progressive idea at all but instead, was there from the very beginning. True, the Latin Church stepped in at a time in history and put an end to it for various reasons, but if those situations have changed then it does not seem to be to be ‘progressive’ to consider returning to it.

I bring all this up because in your post you compare the ‘merely disciplinary’ aspect of a celibate clergy with the ‘merely disciplinary’ Sunday obligation. It does not seem to me that these two things are even in the same ballpark. You, being a canon lawyer, would most definitely better understand all the implications of the term ‘merely disciplinary’. But it does not seem that these two things are at all similar.

The Sunday obligation, which is a requirement of canon law, is more than ‘merely disciplinary’. To do away with it would, I believe, be to go against one of God's commandments – keep holy the Sabbath day. The same cannot be said in regards to a married priesthood because there is no commandment of God forbidding it.

I do not say any of this in support of any progressive agenda whatsoever. I always strive to be completely faithful to the teachings of the one true Church that Jesus founded – the Catholic Church. And that is why I become saddened when other faithful Catholics dismiss out of hand the idea of a married priesthood.

My purpose here was to try to express myself clearly in regards to this subject. I hope I have done so. I do hope to hear from you and will also look forward to your blog postings. Also, with your permission because it involves you, I would like to post this letter on my blog. My hope would be to promote a sincere discussion about this subject and not agenda-ridden Church politics. May God bless you and all you do for His Holy Catholic Church.

Sincerely,

Fr. Jeffery W. Moore, Parochial Vicar

Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church

Your thoughts and comments are welcome. And please understand that I am NOT on a crusade to change the Church's position on priestly celibacy. I simply want faithful Catholics to be open-minded in regards to the subject of married men becoming priests and not to dismiss it without serious thought.

Our Need to Surrender to God

28 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by in C.S. Lewis, Salvation, The Problem of Pain, Thought for the Day

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Sorry I did not post anything at all last week. My kids were on Easter break, my parents were in town and I was enjoying not having anything in particular to do. Today, just something quick from Lewis.

If the happiness of a creature lies in self-surrender, no one can make that surrender but himself (though many can help him to make it) and he may refuse. I would pay any price to be able to say truthfully 'All will be saved.' But my reason retorts, 'Without their will, or with it?' If I say 'Without their will' I at once perceive a contradiction; how can the supreme voluntary act of self-surrender be involuntary? If I say 'With their will,' my reason replies 'How if they will not give in?'

The Problem of Pain, by C.S. Lewis

The Rise of Aggressive Emotivism

20 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by in Dictatorship of Relativism, Morality, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, Truth

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The quote below is from an article by Fr. Dwight Longenecker and can be found in its entirety here. The whole thing is worth reading.

Emotivists contend that words which suggest an objective morality like “good”, “bad”, “right”, “wrong”, “should”, “ought” have no basis in reality. They are merely the emotional expressions of the speaker and that he uses these words to bully someone else to do what he wants. It’s called “boo-hurrah” morality because the morality consists of nothing more than one person saying, “Hurrah! to this” or “Boo! to that.” Morality is thus reduced to “It’s right because I said so loudly” or “It’s wrong because I objected loudly.” Emotivism excludes social, historical, cultural, spiritual, and religious considerations from the discussion of morality.

The Proof of the Resurrection

20 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by in Icons, Resurrection, Salvation, Sermons, Truth

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Sermon for the Solemn Vigil of Easter

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Tonight we celebrate the most significant event in the history of mankind – the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And I am sure all of us here tonight believe this to be true. However, outside the walls of the Catholic Church, the world would have us believe something else. The world tells us, “Resurrection from the dead – that is sheer nonsense. That is just a story made-up by people 2,000 years ago to try to bring hope and meaning to our earthly existence. It didn’t really happen. Where is your proof?”

To this question I respond that the proof of the Resurrection is the existence of the Catholic Church. What I mean is this – the Catholic Church, and therefore no other form of Christianity, would have ever existed if Christ did not truly rise from the dead. After all, the Church was founded not just on the teachings of Christ and miracles of Christ but on the witness of the Apostles. Think about this – why would those men give their lives for Christ unless He truly was who He said He was? Jesus did not keep it a secret that He was the Son of God. He spoke openly about it and that was why He was crucified. But if He had remained dead and stayed in the tomb then what possible reason would there be for the Apostles to go around telling people that He had risen from the dead? They wouldn’t have. Instead, they would have gone back to their former lives wondering why they had followed a crazy-man around for the last three years of their lives. And, more importantly, they would have gone back to the practice of their Jewish faith.

But, they did not do that. Instead, their teaching and witness became the very foundation of the Catholic Faith. All of them, except St. John the beloved disciple, gave themselves as martyrs – a word which means witness – of the Truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And through this witness countless others throughout the ages have also given their lives in witness to the Truth of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead.

But what about ourselves? What is it that we believe? In our first set of readings tonight we heard the recounting of salvation history – of everything leading up to the advent of Jesus Christ. We later heard from St. Paul – that we have been buried with Christ through our baptisms and will, therefore, rise again with Christ. And finally we heard an account of the Resurrection of Christ from the Apostle St. Matthew. Then, to all these Truths, we have reaffirmed our belief through the renewal of our Baptismal Vows.

In those vows, those solemn promises we just made, we reaffirmed our renunciation of evil and all the works of the devil and renewed our commitment to the risen Jesus Christ. Three times we uttered the words ‘I believe’ in regards to Father, Son, Holy Spirit and the Catholic Church. Next, five times we promised to live out our faith in Jesus Christ with the words ‘I will, with God’s help.’ Lastly, we reiterated our commitment to all these promises by saying together ‘Amen,’ which signifies that we are truly in agreement with everything we promised.

But too often today people do not understand the seriousness of a promise, much less a promise made to God. People today routinely promise things to get what they want: for example, in business deals, in politics and in marriage. And then when we break those promises we console ourselves by saying, “Oh well, my intention was pure. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you thought they would.” Of course they don’t! But does that mean that you can just break a promise because it is no longer convenient for you – especially a promise to God?

After the sin of Adam and Eve, God promised to send to us a Savior. He fulfilled His promise and tonight we celebrate the fulfillment of that promise – the rising of Christ from the dead and the victory over sin and death that comes with it. But if we want the benefits of that victory to apply to us then we must keep our end of the bargain. If we truly believe that Jesus rose from the dead – which is evidenced by the existence of the Catholic Church – then we will do that which we have promised.

In the end, the final question that must be answered is this – do you believe or not? If you do, then would you give your life in witness to that belief? It was this that the Apostles did in their witness to Jesus' death and Resurrection. Are you willing to do the same? Here I am not just speaking of dying the death of a martyr. Although, we should be willing to do so rather than deny Christ. On the other hand, we are all called to die to our selves: our sinfulness, our pride, our concupiscence. If we will not do this then we will not be worthy of the Resurrection to the life to come.

If we are not willing to die to our selves then we simply do not believe enough in the Truth of the Resurrection. Christ, the Son of God died for you – but He did not remain in the tomb. And He does not wish for a single one of us to remain dead in our sins. His Resurrection is an offer to each of us to rise from our own tomb of sin and death – but will you accept it?

 

A Moment of Clarity, part 2

19 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by in Thankfulness

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From an email to me from a reader. A very good insight.

I wanted to tell you about a strange event that happened to me this morning. I awoke at about 4:20am and was struck by a thought or a brief moment of clarity. Everyday my cell phone has an alarm that reminds me at noon and 6pm to pray the angelus. I am ashamed to admit that more often than not I find myself 'too busy'. My thought this morning was this; If I didn't have the blessing of hearing, sight, speech, strength to walk and run, would I plead with God that if he were to give me those precious gifts I would in turn promise to pray everyday, never miss a Mass or Holy Day of Obligation and so on. The thought struck me that I am again forgetting that God has already given me those gifts and countless others. The problem is that I forget to recognize and appreciate all that God has done for me and the world. I am not sure why I felt compelled to share this with you but maybe there is something in this thought that you can use in your ministry.

Our Need to Depend on God

18 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by in C.S. Lewis, Thought for the Day

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Sorry I have not posted anything of my own lately. What can I say but that it is Holy Week. In the meantime, here is something from Lewis to reflect on while we journey toward Easter.

For it is a dreadful truth that the state of (as you say) ‘having to depend solely on God’ is what we all dread most. And of course that just shows how very much, how almost exclusively, we have been depending on things. That trouble goes so far back in our lives and is now so deeply ingrained, we will not turn to Him as long as He leaves us anything else to turn to. I suppose all one can say is that it was bound to come. In the hour of death and the day of judgement, what else shall we have? Perhaps when those moments come, they will feel happiest who have been forced (however unwillingly) to begin practising it here on earth. It is good of Him to force us: but dear me, how hard to feel that it is good at the time…

The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume III

 

God & Ourselves

17 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by in C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Thought for the Day

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The more we get what we now call ‘ourselves’ out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become. There is so much of Him that millions and millions of ‘little Christs’, all different, will still be too few to express Him fully. He made them all. He invented— as an author invents characters in a novel—all the different men that you and I were intended to be. In that sense our real selves are all waiting for us in Him. It is no good trying to ‘be myself’ without Him. The more I resist Him and try to live on my own, the more I become dominated by my own heredity and upbringing and surroundings and natural desires. In fact what I so proudly call ‘Myself’ becomes merely the meeting place for trains of events which I never started and which I cannot stop. What I call ‘My wishes’ become merely the desires thrown up by my physical organism or pumped into me by other men’s thoughts or even suggested to me by devils. Eggs and alcohol and a good night’s sleep will be the real origins of what I flatter myself by regarding as my own highly personal and discriminating decision to make love to the girl opposite to me in the railway carriage. Propaganda will be the real origin of what I regard as my own personal political ideas. I am not, in my natural state, nearly so much of a person as I like to believe: most of what I call ‘me’ can be very easily explained. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give myself up to His Personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own.

Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

Through us, He died; through Him, we Live

14 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by in Liturgy of the Hours, Salvation, Thought for the Day

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Something to think about as we move closer Easter.

In other words, he performed the most wonderful exchange with us. Through us, he died; through him, we shall live.

The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves.

He loved us so much that, sinless himself, he suffered for us sinners the punishment we deserved for our sins. How then can he fail to give us the reward we deserve for our righteousness, for he is the source of righteousness? How can he, whose promises are true, fail to reward the saints when he bore the punishment of sinners, though without sin himself?

Brethren, let us then fearlessly acknowledge, and even openly proclaim, that Christ was crucified for us; let us confess it, not in fear but in joy, not in shame but in glory.

From a sermon by Saint Augustine

A Moment of Clarity

12 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by in Salvation, Truth

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It is ironic that the thing I went to great lengths to avoid as a student (both K-12 and college) is now one of the things that I most enjoy and desire to do – to write. My desire to write stems from the desire to be able to effectively inform others of the Faith. Specifically, I would like to be able to write like Lewis, von Hildebrand, Thomas Howard or others who I greatly admire. These men inspire me because of their great ability to explain what is in their minds and I am not suggesting that I have reached such a level (or that I ever will). But I want to try and that is part of the reason for this blog and why I am posting today about an experience I had yesterday.

Yesterday, while I was in the Chapel for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, I was meditating on happiness and the false idols that people pursue to try to fulfill that happiness they seek. It was one of those moments that you can see the Truth so clearly, but which is always hard to put into words. Nevertheless I tried to do so and below is what I wrote immediately after this moment of clarity.

They catch a glimpse of it but instead pursue the wrong thing, thinking that which they pursue is what will make them happy. As a result, due to never pursuing the right thing they never obtain that which they truly seek – Heaven. If they end up in Hell they then can clearly see what they wanted (Heaven), but then can never and will never reach it. What on earth they could have obtained is forever lost to them.

Like I said, I am no C.S. Lewis. I have not changed any part of it in order to stay true to my initial impression. Tomorrow (if I have time) I will try to explain better what it means. Until then, perhaps I could get some feedback from you. What do you think? Does it even make any sense?