Soap Opera in Miami

When the news broke in early May, I wasn't going to give much mental time to Fr. Alberto Cutié. He was a man who'd stumbled, fallen, and needed to pick himself up, stand as a man, and keep carrying his cross as he should. I prayed for him, hoped that he'd resolve the situation and stay true to his faith.

Well, he had other ideas:

The Rev. Alberto Cutié, the celebrity priest removed from his Miami Beach church after photos of him kissing and embracing a woman appeared in the pages of a Spanish-language magazine earlier this month, has left the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami to join the Episcopal church and announced that he will marry the woman he has dated for two years.

I guess since the vow of chastity was quietly tossed, any notion of obedience to his bishop and Church went with it. Were I either the Episcopal Church or this man's paramour, I'd be leery of accepting any vow or promise he makes in the future. Caveat Emptor.

From the CNN story:

"This is something I've struggled with," he[Cutié] said this month. "I don't support the breaking of the celibacy promise."

I beg to differ with him, as his actions over the last two years indicate his tacit support for breaking the celibacy vow, and his leaving the Catholic Church most publicly indicates such support. Had he taken his vow seriously, he would have ended the relationship once it crossed the line, and sought Reconciliation, counseling, and the advice and guidance of his bishop. Instead, after his duplicity has been exposed, he's running to another church.

The Episcopal church is doing itself no favors in proudly scooping up notoriously integrity-challenged men like Fr. Cutié and former governor and catholic Jim McGreevey. If these men could not uphold their commitments to Christ, Church, or spouse, why is the Episcopalian church so eager to throw them into vestments and a pulpit?

The Episcopal bishop, Leo Frade, speaks to Fr. Cutié's vow of celibacy:

"That promise is not recognized by our church. If you can find it in the Bible that priests should be celibate, that will be corrected,"

Episcopalians have become deft at dismissing things that are IN the Bible, so this challenge to "find it in the Bible" is laughably ironic. Others have tackled this topic at length, but here are a couple highlights:

1 Corinthians 7:

32 But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;

33 but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,

34 and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

35 This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.

And this from the Gospel via both Luke and Matthew, which makes it even clearer, with those having ears to hear:

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other.."

There was a time when men were unconcerned with the raising of their children and the running of the household, and there are still men today who behave that way. But, we've come to the conclusion that a man needs to be engaged in the family, and not some distant provider, a socio-economic god, ruling from his reclining throne in the den. Being a husband and father requires a man's full attention and devotion.

A Catholic priest is not just a sacrament-dispensing ATM that works a couple hours on Saturday, and a couple hours on Sunday. He not only guides, but is intimately involved in the spiritual life of the parish: Morning Mass, visiting the sick, memorials, funerals, weddings, baptisms, counseling, confessions, vigil masses, etc, etc.. It's a full-time, mom's hours, vocation that requires a man's full attention and devotion.

A man seeking to undertake both priesthood and family life will end up giving short shrift to one or the other. He cannot be fully devoted to both. He cannot be two men.

The Catholic Church understands both the biblical admonitions and the practical implications on this, and so its discipline reflects these realities. Candidates for priesthood in the Catholic Church are taught this in the seminaries, so Fr. Cutié has made his choice not in ignorance, but in spite of what he's been taught.

Lift High the MDGs

I caught this picture over at Titus One Nine (T19), a fairly conservative Episcopalian blog. Can you see "something wrong in the photo (beyond the hippie fashions and female 'priests'.)



The U.N.'s "Millenium Development Goals"(MDGs) have effectively replaced the Gospel, so naturally the MDGs should be given the preferential placement during their worship services. While many of the MDGs are erstwhile goals that would be corporal works of mercy, the elevation of them as commandments by a supposedly christian church is disturbing because it makes no mention of God nor Jesus, which we are all called to proclaim.

The U.N. goals would try to save Man with rice in stead of Resurrection, with troops in stead of Truth, with condoms in stead of Christ, and abortions in stead of Absolution. Instead of free people, they will have created well-fed sex slaves, breeding only the replacement amount of proles to keep the diamond mines, textile mills, and computer factories working.

Episcopalian Discernment

All the news organs are a-twitter over Jim McGreevey, former NJ Governor and Catholic, entering the Episcopal church and joining their seminary. Here's the very first paragraph in USA Today's version, which tells you why it's newsworthy, and exactly why the Episcopal church wants McGreevey:

The nation's first openly gay governor has become an Episcopalian and been accepted into a seminary, according to a published report.

The Episcopal church, in recent years, has laboured hard and fast to build its reputation as a "Gay Church". These endeavors have made others in the Anglican Communion uncomfortable, and have infinitely widened the gulf between them and Rome. Back to McGreevey, for a moment:

McGreevey was an altar boy and attended Catholic schools. While in office, he continued to practice the religion, but differed from church teachings in several areas, including his support of abortion rights.

I would also add, to his list of disagreements with Rome, his penchant for buggery. By joining the Episcopal church, he's found a religion that has all the outward ceremonial appearances of the Catholic faith, but without the inconvenient theology. In the Episcopal seminary, he'll learn about:

• The United Nations' 'Millenium Development Goals'
  
  
• How to get people to give money to fund futile attempts to achieve The United Nations 'Millenium Development Goals'
  
  
• How to parse the Bible to justify sinful behavior
  
  
• How to ignore the Bible when you can't parse it to justify sinful behavior
  
  
• How to distract attention to the fact that you're ignoring the Bible to justify sinful behavior, by focusing your attention on The United Nations 'Millenium Development Goals'
  

Pray for this confused man, as he thrashes wildly in the jaws of a wolf.

That Explains It

Amy Welborn asked about the political climate in the Episcopal Church, and boy did she get a response from one commenter:

Big, well-monied parishes all over the U.S. are splitting off from The Episcopal Church (or TEC, formerly known as ECUSA, formerly known as PECUSA) to form splinters run by Africans.

These parishes are, in fact, being manipulated by Count Dooku, who is in reality a Dark Lord of the Sith and attempting to foment all-out galactic war.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Chancellor, Archbishop Rowan Williams, bumbles at Lambeth Palace in London, to the derision of his critics. Few know, however, that he is a Sith Lord himself, skillfully using compromise and concessions between the two groups to rule the galaxy and resurrect Darth Cranmer.

Ahh, so that explains it. I laughed so hard that I cried. A later commenter also posited that ABp. Roger Mahony was a Sith apprentice, to which I shall not add to the allegory.

Speaking of Episcopalians, Unseen Blogger also noticed that the recipient of my tender ministrations last week wrote a blog entry complaining about the episode:

I've been getting some very nasty notes from some of the neo-puritan, so-called orthodox, conservative evangelical crowd who seem to have cornered the market on nastiness.

...

They say that when I don't allow them to post their noxious messages in this space, I'm not being 'inclusive'. That's because the world they live in so certain and smug and secure, so black and white without any nuances or shades of gray, they wouln't recognize "discernment" if it stared them in the face.

They have "Jeeeesssssuuuuussss," remember? I don't. My faith is "apostate," "in authentic" and the bible I read is "counterfeit."

Man, she's a veritable fount of pantywaist theological sentimenality, where does one begin? I won't. The commenters to the above pity party were all comforting and sympathetic, or just pathetic, in a very "ohh, poor misunderstood, persecuted you." tone. If I continue to give her lessons on Scripture, she just may start to cry, at this rate. Consider the dust shaken off. It's time for Math Class.

Spiritual Disarmament

H/t Titus One Nine, Anglican Mainstream

From the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop-elect Jefferts Shori's sermon this morning:

"Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation and we are his children. We are going to have to give up fear. Do not be afraid. God is with you. You are God’s beloved and God is well pleased with you. When we know ourselves as beloved. We can recognise another beloved in a homeless man, a rhetorical opponent. We can reach beyond the defences of others. Our invitation in the last work of this convention is to lay down our fear and love the world. Lay down our shield and sword, lay down our narrow self interest. Lay down our need for power and control, and bow to God’s image in the weakest, poorest and most excluded."

Whoa, nelly! Our mother Jesus? Gives birth? Uhm, she seems to be preaching an entirely different gospel. Ahh, yes, love the World, slide into it's warm and fuzzy embrace, there is no sin here, only goodness and light. Lay down your shield (Eph 6:16)and sword, take off that cumbersome armor(Eph 6:10-12), you don't really need it. Bow to God's image (Man) in the weakest (sinful), poorest(corrupt), and most excluded (proud).


I'm not one for the schadenfreude, but this is really telling for what lies in store for not only the Episcopal Church, but via gradual osmosis, the entire Anglican Communion. The frightening thing is that there are many in the Roman Catholic Church who already think Shori's way, and would use this language if they could get away with it. If the Chittisters, Gumbletons, and McBriens in the Catholic Church had their way, we would be following the Anglicans down the same rabbit hole.

Ephesians 6:10-16
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.