Rick Warren tweets: ‘I’d go to jail rather than cave in’ on Obamacare mandate

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Ben Johnson
LifeSite News

LAKE FOREST, CALIFORNIA, February 9, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Rick Warren, perhaps the nation’s most influential evangelical pastor, has tweeted he would “go to jail” rather than cave in to a government mandate that violates God’s commandments.

Pastor Rick Warren, pastor of the 20,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, tweeted his defiance of the Obama administration’s requirements that religious institutions cover all forms of contraception, including abortifacients like Ella and the IUD, as part of their health care plans.

On Tuesday, Warren addressed the issue three times on his Twitter feed.

“I’d go to jail rather than cave in to a govement [sic.] mandate that violates what God commands us to do. Would you? Acts 5:29,” he wrote.

The second message quoted that verse of Scripture: “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name” The apostles replied “We must obey God rather than men!” Acts 5:29

Pastor Warren’s third tweet stated, “I’m not a Catholic but I stand in 100% solidarity with my brothers & sisters to practice their belief against govt pressure.”

Rasmussen ~ 50% Oppose Gov’t Mandate for Religious Organizations to Provide Contraceptives

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Half of voters do not agree with the Obama administration’s action forcing Catholic institutions to pay for birth control measures that they morally oppose. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 39% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the government should require a church or religious organization to provide contraceptives for women even if it violates their deeply held beliefs. Fifty percent (50%) disagree and oppose such a requirement that runs contrary to strong beliefs, while 10% more are undecided.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on February 6-7, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC

Source ~ Rasmussen Polls

8 February ~ Cuthman of Steyning

Posted on by Fr. Peter
He was born around 681 possibly in Devon or Cornwall, or more probably in Chidham near Bosham, about 25 miles from Steyning. His life was one of simple filial piety and charity…
According to legend, he was a shepherd who had to care for his paralysed mother after his father’s death. Due to their poverty, he built a one-wheeled cart or wheelbarrow (with a rope from the handles over his shoulders taking part of the weight) in which he moved her around with him.
They set out east from his home and, when the rope broke, he made a new one, deciding that if the rope broke again he would take it as a sign from God to stop at that place and build a church. The rope broke at the place now called Steyning. After building a hut to accommodate his mother and himself, he began work on the church (St Andrew’s, Steyning). As the church was nearing completion and St Cuthman was having difficulty with a roof-beam, a stranger showed him how to fix it. When Cuthman asked his name, he replied: “I am he in whose name you are building this church.” This church was certainly in existence by 857, for we know that King Ethelwulf was buried there in that year.
Here he died and was buried. King Edward the Confessor handed over responsibility for the Steyning church to the monks of Fécamp in Normandy; they enlarged the church, but took the saint’s remains back to their French abbey to be enshrined. He died at an unknown date in the 8th century. A local cult of his sainthood predates the Norman Conquest.

Source

7 February ~ Richard of the West Saxons

Posted on by Fr. Peter
St. Richard of Swabia also known as St. Richard, King of Wessex (Kingdom of the West Saxons) is the brother of St. Boniface. It is uncertain whether or not he was crowned a king in this life, but he is certainly numbered with the “kings and priests” in the Kingdom of Christ.
St. Richard was the father of Saints Willibald, Winnebald, and Walburga. He and his two sons left England to undertake a pilgrimage of penance and devotion. They made their way through France. Then Richard fell ill and reposed in Lucca, Italy, in 722. He was buried in the Church of St. Frediano. Miracles were reported at his tomb and he became greatly venerated by the citizens of Lucca, who embellished accounts of his life by calling him “king of the English”.
His sons, joined by their sister, were recruited by their uncle, the newly elevated Bishop Boniface of Germany, to evangelize Germany. St. Walburga was the first abbess in Heidenheim. St. Willibald settled in Eichstatt. Some of St. Richard’s remains were then translated to Eichstatt, and many there were healed through his intercessions. His connection to Swabia is apparently due to devotion to him after his repose for miracles worked through his intercession.
Troparion: Tone 3
Accepting Christ our God as King, O Father Richard, thou didst leave thy native Wessex to be a pilgrim. Pray that in our pilgrimage we may find salvation for our souls.

Source

Mother Teresa’s humility list

Posted on by Fr. Peter

1. Speak as little as possible about yourself.
2. Keep busy with your own affairs and not those of others.
3. Avoid curiosity.
4. Do not interfere in the affairs of others.
5. Accept small irritations with good humor.
6. Do not dwell on the faults of others.
7. Accept censures even if unmerited.
8. Give in to the will of others.
9. Accept insults and injuries.
10. Accept contempt, being forgotten and disregarded.
11. Be courteous and delicate even when provoked by someone.
12. Do not seek to be admired and loved.
13. Do not protect yourself behind your own dignity.
14. Give in, in discussions, even when you are right.
15. Choose always the more difficult task.

h/t Young Fogeys

Another Whack at Religious Freedom

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The National Review – In Catholic churches across the country, parishioners were read letters from the pulpit this weekend from bishops in their diocese about the mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services giving Catholics a year before they’ll be required to start violating their consciences on insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization, and abortifacient drugs. But not in the Army.

A statement released this afternoon — which happens to be the 67th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Dorchester, on which four chaplains lost their lives – from the Archdiocese for Military Services explains:

On Thursday, January 26, Archbishop Broglio emailed a pastoral letter to Catholic military chaplains with instructions that it be read from the pulpit at Sunday Masses the following weekend in all military chapels. The letter calls on Catholics to resist the policy initiative, recently affirmed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, for federally mandated health insurance covering sterilization, abortifacients and contraception, because it represents a violation of the freedom of religion recognized by the U.S. Constitution.
The Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains subsequently sent an email to senior chaplains advising them that the Archbishop’s letter was not coordinated with that office and asked that it not be read from the pulpit. The Chief’s office directed that the letter was to be mentioned in the Mass announcements and distributed in printed form in the back of the chapel.
Archbishop Broglio and the Archdiocese stand firm in the belief, based on legal precedent, that such a directive from the Army constituted a violation of his Constitutionally-protected right of free speech and the free exercise of religion, as well as those same rights of all military chaplains and their congregants.
Following a discussion between Archbishop Broglio and the Secretary of the Army, The Honorable John McHugh, it was agreed that it was a mistake to stop the reading of the Archbishop’s letter. Additionally, the line: “We cannot — we will not — comply with this unjust law” was removed by Archbishop Broglio at the suggestion of Secretary McHugh over the concern that it could potentially be misunderstood as a call to civil disobedience.
The AMS did not receive any objections to the reading of Archbishop Broglio’s statement from the other branches of service.

So not only were chaplains told not to read the letter, but an Obama administration official edited a pastoral letter . . . with church buy-in?

Didn’t people flee across an ocean-sized pond to be free of this kind of thing?

UPDATE: Army spokesman confirms “the Army asked that the letter not be read from the pulpit.”

h/t Byzantine Texas Blog

Why we do What we do

Posted on by Fr. Peter
If you have been following these pages you know that my parish, St. Michael Orthodox Church in Southbridge, Massachusetts has been hosting a Community Meal for the last two years. The idea of this meal is to provide a meal for members of the community, regardless of the position and economic situation. It is also designed to bring community together. People come to the church hall around 4 pm and sit over a cup of coffee and chat and visit with each other. Sometimes a person sits alone at a table but before long they are joined by others and community starts to form.
We have a wonderful crew here that helps serve this meal and clean up and the parish has made the commitment these last two years to fund the meal. We do not charge for the meal but if you like you can leave a little donation in the basket on the table.
We started the meal once a month which then grew into twice a month and has now gone to three times each month starting in February. We were supposed to start in January but the floor in the hall was being replaced. It has been a joy to meet people and sit with them and listen to their stories. A joy and sometimes a heart ache as people share stories about how hard it is to make ends meet.
Last night, as I was “working the room,” I heard one of those stories. There was a man sitting at the table and as I walked by he called out to me and said thank you for providing this meal and thank you for adding another week. He told me how difficult it is to make ends meet with the little bit of money he receives, he is disabled and gets a little money from the State and after paying rent, utilities, and medication there is little left for food. He told me how he has watched the price of food continually increase yet his income has stayed about the same over the last few years. But with all of that said he was still a very happy guy, happy to be with other people and happy to have a meal that he said, “he did not have to cook!”
I walked away thinking, this is why we do this! He is the reason why we do what we do. He is our neighbor and providing a meal for him is showing love for him and that is what we as Christians are called to do.
Sharing a meal with someone is one of the most basic things we can for them. When Jesus met with people he was always concerned for their needs and food was always part of His ministry to them.
I am thankful that we at St. Michaels have decided that we are going to be a church of action and church where her people roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. I have said this before, Christianity calls us to action. We cannot call ourselves Christians if we do not GO and DO.

Orthodox Bishops Speak Out Against HHH Mandate

Posted on by Fr. Peter
– The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, which is comprised of the 65 canonical Orthodox bishops in the United States, Canada and Mexico, join their voices with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and all those who adamantly protest the recent decision by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and call upon all the Orthodox Christian faithful to contact their elected representatives today to voice their concern in the face of this threat to the sanctity of the Church’s conscience.
In this ruling by HHS, religious hospitals, educational institutions, and other organizations will be required to pay for the full cost of contraceptives (including some abortion-inducing drugs) and sterilizations for their employees, regardless of the religious convictions of the employers.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion. This freedom is transgressed when a religious institution is required to pay for “contraceptive services” including abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization services that directly violate their religious convictions. Providing such services should not be regarded as mandated medical care. We, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops, call upon HHS Secretary Sebelius and the Obama Administration to rescind this unjust ruling and to respect the religious freedom guaranteed all Americans by the First Amendment.

Massachusetts Death with Dignity

Posted on by Fr. Peter
For several years different groups in Massachusetts have attempted to pass a law that would make Physician Assisted Suicide legal in the Commonwealth. One such bill is making its way through the Massachusetts State Legislature at the present time. The aim is to place this on the ballot for the General Election in November.
H 2233 An Act relative to death with dignity was filed By Stoughton Democrat Louis Kafka on January 24, 2011 with the support of six Representatives and referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. At the time of this writing the bill is sitting the Join Committees hands and no public hearing has been scheduled. The State Legislature has to act by the end of May of the question is to appear on the ballot in November.
In September of 2011 Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley certified the measure and the backers had to collect 68,911 signatures state wide. That is what led to the filing of the legislation. Legislatures can pass the legislation which would then become law send it to the ballot for the voters to decide, or do nothing. If the latter route is chosen the organizers would then have to collect an additional 11,485 signatures to place the question on the ballot.
In essence the bill would allow, “for legislation to allow for physician assisted suicide for qualified patients to end their lives” and this is unacceptable for an Orthodox Christian. In his book, Contemporary Moral Issues Facing Orthodox Christians, Orthodox Moral Ethicist Fr. Stanley Harakas states; “The Orthodox Church has always taught that euthanasia constitutes the deliberate taking of human life, and as such is to be condemned as murder.”
At the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Medical Society in December of 2011, the President of the Society, Dr. Lynda Young had this to say about the pending legislation; “Physicians of our Society have clearly declared that physician-assisted suicide is inconsistent with the physician’s role as healer and health care provider. At the same time we recognize the importance of patient dignity and the critical role that physicians have in end-of-life care,” (emphasis added)
In this writers opinion this Legislation needs to be defeated. The Legislature is the first place to make our voice heard. Let your Representatives know how you feel on this issue. Contact them by phone, letter, or email it only takes a few moments. If you are unsure of who your Representatives are you can look them up here. A text of the bill can be found here, and the members of the Joint Committee on Judiciary can be found here.
Let your voice be heard, the time to act is now.

The Sacrament of Holy Unction and the Care of the Sick

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The Most Reverend Ioan Cassian
Auxiliary Bishop
Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas

The year 2012 has been dedicated by the Romanian Patriarchate to the Sacrament of Holy Unction and the Care of the Sick. Just as last year we concentrated on the two Sacraments of Baptism and Crowning seeking to discern their meaning, effects, and their ethical-moral repercussions in the life of the Christian believer this year we will examine another Sacrament: Holy Unction with one of the subjects related to it: illness, which has always been a concern to the human spirit with regard to understanding the profound reasons for its existence.It is not surprising that the first Gospel Reading from the Holy Unction service has a dual focus: the motive or profound rationale for the Christian ethos, which is love for God and one’s fellow man, reflected in the dialog between the lawyer and the Savior, and illustrated in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Through all this we realize that, in fact, the essence of the Sacrament (and I would add, of each of the Sacraments) is love; the love that is the essence of the entire message of the Holy Scriptures. The sum total of the Law and the Prophets, of the Holy Scriptures, is love for God and one’s neighbor. What follows in the manifestation of the Christian ethos is nothing other than the making visible of the law of love in the actions we undertake. St. John the Evangelist puts the problem this way: how can someone show his or her love for God, whom he has not seen, if he does not prove it through his love for his brother or sister whom he has seen (I John 4:20)? In fact, care for one’s neighbor is the visible or concrete expression of one’s love for God.
The word love is thus visibly incarnated in our life and our actions, continuing to manifest the love of the Son of God and of the Trinity felt by the Holy Apostles, who then endeavored to put it into words and deeds as an eternal witness to all ages. It is the central and eternal message of the true Church, which remains a partaker in the presence, ministry, and grace of God that creates it and sets it as a sign and reality of His existence and economy.
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