NOT EXACTLY THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW
HASTA LA VISTA, LIBERAL CATHOLICS?
MEL GIBSON, AN UNSURE GUIDE
WHY LENT AND WHY ASHES
Dear Friend of Catholic Answers:
He looks a bit like my spiritual director, only younger by more than two decades. I wonder whether the similarity ends there.
Fr. Thomas Faucher is the pastor of St. Mary's Church in Boise. For the February 25 issue of the "Idaho Statesman" he wrote an op-ed piece titled "Stable marriages, even gay ones, are what society needs." That certainly isn't something my spiritual director would agree with.
Faucher said:
"The argument says that allowing two people of the same gender to form a legal union would weaken marriage and weaken family life. I strongly disagree and, in fact, believe that allowing same-gender legal unions would strengthen marriage and family life.
"What weakens marriage and family life are people who live together, have children together, without any legally recognized commitment. There are thousands of children in Idaho today who have never known a stable marriage or any stable family life.
"Many people in the gay community want a stable union. They want to publicly make a commitment. The effort for 'gay marriage' or 'civil unions' is a movement reaffirming the importance of commitment and family life. The gay lifestyle is criticized for its lack of structure, its promiscuity, its disregard of convention. But society has worked very hard to deny homosexual people any opportunity to have structure."
While it's true that the institution of marriage largely has fallen apart, it isn't true that instituting "gay marriage" or "civil unions" will help fix things. Marriages have fallen apart largely because people no longer know what marriage is for. Granting legal status to homosexual unions would do nothing to help this. Quite the contrary: It would multiply the confusion.
Faucher was moved to write his op-ed piece because the Idaho legislature has put on the ballot a constitutional amendment that would affirm that marriage is between a man and a woman only. Early in his piece Faucher said that "I have not always been particularly wise, and this issue calls for some comments to be made about morality and legislation."
He's twice right. The legislation does call "for some comments to be made about morality and legislation," and Faucher is not being "particularly wise" in opposing Catholic teaching.
A Christmas Day profile in the "Idaho Statesman" included this paragraph about Faucher:
"Faucher was a 'Jeopardy' champion in 1971 and spent his $1,750 prize on a purple Dodge Barracuda, a car Monsignor [John] Creegan thought inappropriate. Faucher can exhibit an unpriestly vanity: He loves travel and, following the footsteps of St. Paul, has led tours to the Holy Land, Turkey, and Greece; favors fine food and single-malt Scotch; spent a week quartered at Windsor Castle when Prince Andrew was about; and starred in an episode of 'Unsolved Mysteries.'"
TIME TO JUMP SHIP
In a newspaper at the other end of the country, a columnist asks, "Should liberals leave the Catholic Church?"
Writing in the March 5 edition of the "Boston Globe," Joan Vennochi complains that the bishops in Massachusetts want to "prohibit gays from adopting children from their Catholic social service agencies" because such adoptions would be "gravely immoral."
"If you agree with these principles," says Vennochi, "you are, according to the Vatican, a Catholic in good standing. If you don't, you're not."
Such principles don't sit well with liberals, she says. "We think we can be pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-gay adoption, and in favor of married and female priests and still call ourselves Catholics. ... Every pronouncement from Pope Benedict XVI draws another line between official Church doctrine and liberal ideology. When do liberals choose one side or the other?"
Fair question. While Vennochi doesn't say just what she herself will do, the implication is that it's time to jump ship. Why remain with the Barque of Peter if it's taking you where you don't want to go?
MEL GIBSON: A WORD OF CAUTION TO ORTHODOX CATHOLICS
At the other end of the theological spectrum is Mel Gibson. He became a favorite of traditional Catholics when he produced "The Passion of the Christ." He took a lot of flak for doing the film and deserved the plaudits he received for not backing down from his project. But that was then and this is now, as the saying goes.
Now Gibson is moving ahead with what may end up being an independent church. He already has built a 9,000-square-foot private chapel on a hill in Malibu. The chapel is not recognized by and is not under the authority of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The Tridentine Masses celebrated there, while valid, are not approved by anyone in authority, and the priests who officiate have not been granted an okay by the Church.
Gibson is funding a similar church in Pennsylvania, apparently at the urging of his father, Hutton Gibson. The elder man is widely known as a sedevacantist, and the new church presumably will reflect that point of view. It is unclear to what extent Gibson fils has adopted his father's opposition to "Conciliar Rome," but it appears that his thinking goes far beyond a mere preference for the old Mass.
Many traditionally-minded Catholics have been cozying up to Gibson, whose pockets are very deep. He may be the richest high-profile Catholic in the country. He is perceived by many who reject Vatican II as a potential savior, at least in checkbook terms. They may be wise to keep him at arm's length, since there's no telling where Gibson's church-making may end up.
DID YOUR PARISH PRINT THIS EXPLANATION OF LENT?
From a church's web site:
"Why should I observe Lent? What purpose would it serve?
"It is a call to prepare for Easter. During this period of serious reflection, you spend time in self-examination and spiritual redirection. It is a time for you to acknowledge your shortcomings and to seek forgiveness for where you have fallen in your faith. Lent offers you the opportunity to seek spiritual renewal through the practice of prayer and self-denial.
"Why ashes [on Ash Wednesday]?
"The people of the Old Testament used ashes as a sign of mourning (Esther 4:1-3, Job 42:6, Jeremiah 6:26). Even today, ashes are considered a symbol of death and of nothingness. Ashes remind us of our helplessness and dependence on God. They remind us of our need to mourn our sinful nature, to feel contrition, and to repent so that we may receive God’s forgiveness. They are a symbol of sinfulness and of our commitment to spiritual renewal.
"I heard that Mardi Gras has something to do with Lent. How can that be?
"Mardi Gras means 'Fat Tuesday' in French. For those who fasted by severely restricting their diets, the Tuesday before the beginning of Lent was the last chance to 'eat-up' until Easter. They celebrated with food in a big way. The secular world has seized upon this day as an excuse to 'party hard' . . . much like the commercialization of Christmas."
Not many Catholic parishes have produced such a good explanation of the current liturgical season. If you want to read the full text, though, you'll have to visit the web site of the Troy, Virginia, based Beaver Dam Baptist Church:
www.beaverdambaptist.org/lent.html
p.s., If you have a comment about anything appearing in this E-Letter, please do not hit your Reply button. Instead, go to Catholic Answers' discussion forums at
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