“The Five Non-Negotiables”
In this talk, Tim explains how the “five non-negotiables” are deal-breakers when it comes to Catholics voting in political elections. Abortion, Euthanasia, Embryonic stem cell research, cloning, and so-called homosexual “marriage” are all matters of the Moral Law that have been definitively taught to be intrinsic evils that can never be voted for or supported in any way by Catholics. Tim explains how that according to Pope John Paul II, quoting St. Thomas Aquinas, these so-called “laws” are not laws at all; rather, they are “acts of violence” Catholics can never obey and are obligated to oppose using every licit and reasonable means at their disposal. In this presentation Tim answers such perennial questions as, “What does the Church teach about when human life begins?” “When does ‘ensoulment’ occur?” “What is the difference between using ‘extraordinary means’ for nutrition, hydration, or ventilation, vs. means that are ‘out of the ordinary?’” “How can you say a newly fertilized egg or ‘embryo’ is a person?” “Do we not have a moral obligation to help those with debilitating and/or fatal diseases if there is reason to believe embryonic stem cell research can bring healing to them” “What is cloning?” “If we are bringing a new human life into the world, even through cloning, is this not an intrinsic good? How can we say this could be evil?” Or, “Isn’t the Church discriminating against and violating the ‘rights’ of homosexual persons to marry?” Tim answers these questions and more, including, “What if there are only pro-abortion candidates on the ballet in a given election? What should the Catholic do?” “Are Catholics ‘one issue’ voters, or even ‘five issue’ voters?” “Do Catholics even need to be knowledgeable on all the issues?” Tim will give every Catholic in attendance the tools to be able to respond to these, the most important moral issues of our day, while empowering Catholics to truly “act like Catholics” in every area of their lives, including in the voting booth.
“The Gospel of Suffering”
In this talk, Tim demonstrates the profound meaning of suffering and its relationship to a Catholic and biblical understanding of justification. As Tim explains, “Jesus did not suffer and die on the cross so that we do not have to; He suffered and died on the cross so that our suffering and death can be made salvific in him.” One of the many unfortunate by products of the so-called “material principle of the Reformation,” “sola fide,” is this loss of understanding of the role of suffering in the life of Christians. This talk not only gives you the theology of salvation from a Catholic perspective, but it will touch your heart as Tim shows how the Catholic understanding of suffering brings hope and a sense of purpose to the darkest moments in the lives of Christian men and women.
