A Sick Mind

This (i.e., report on illegal elephant tusk trade) is related to Church’s championing life against RH bill. The present government desires to weaken all institutions that defend our country from being oppressed by foreign powers. But I know they will not succeed,’ (Bishop) Arguelles said.

So the ‘good’ kuno bishop accuses the Aquino government of manipulating events in favor of the RH Bill’s passage.

This is the MOST STUPID statement I have read from a supposedly respected person of the Church hierarchy.  First off, anong pakialam ng National Geographic sa affairs ng Pilipinas?  The said article is about wildlife conservation.   It is about the abuse of man on the environment that God commanded us to protect. That and nothing else.

If one would read the article, there is a discussion regarding ‘Buddhist monks, Chinese factories and Japanese experiments’.  Nothing was mentioned about the RH Bill.

The problem with the Church hierarchy is that it has become a paranoid, that when controversies like this arises, it immediately accuses the government of dirty tactics.

I would not be surprised if the Church hierarchy would accuse the government of such if developments involving the money laundering activities in the Vatican is reported on the radio… or if Fr. Groeschel’s infamous statements on the sexual misconduct of clerics get broadcasted on local TV news.

So what does the Church hierarchy want us to do?  Ignore this incident and all other suspicious incidents involving bishops and priests simply because they hastily conclude that these could be concocted by the government?  Hello!  Hindi kami tanga!  

That goes to show how SICK the bishop’s mind is. 

A Reaction to the Homily

Last night, at the feast day mass of a saint, our parish priest hit a sour note during the homily.  He charged devotees who support the controversial bill as a grave scandal to the Church and to the saint himself.  He added that their mere support for it contradicts the unfailing obedience of the saint to the Church. I believe that such an accusation was uncalled for.  I doubt very much if he is a reader of souls and knows the intentions of the said devotees hearts. Based on the reader reactions on virtually ALL news articles on the Internet, one would observe that the very reason why most people would tend to support the bill is that they are affected by the number of hungry street urchins wandering on the streets.  They further observe that it is the urban poor who bear more children that they could support that would benefit from this measure.  The second most glaring observation is that they believe that the Holy Mother Church is doing virtually nothing to alleviate the sufferings of the urban poor. No matter how flawed their reasoning may be in the eyes of the parish priest, I for one would not think of these people as a scandal of the Church.  Tell me, is it a scandal to believe in all sincerity that this could be the only solution to the problem of poverty?  Or perhaps it is more a scandal that despite being raised as a Catholic, one is not convinced of its teachings?  If such is the case, who is to blame for the mess? A few blocks away from our house is Baranggay Sulokan.  A favorite ‘immersion site’ of religious congregations, it is a slum area where people live and breed like dogs and rabbits.  Based on a study conducted by missionaries a few years back, people living there never go the nearby religious institutions to attend Mass or attend Catechism. Except for ‘immersions’, which last of a few days, the people living there rarely get visited by the do–gooders of the Church.  If ever they get visited, they are treated as objects for a study in Missiology.  They DO NOT know anything about God, and Christianity to them is just fiesta time where they get free dole–outs and food boxes.  To them, life is revolves around begging and living like rats. Now then I ask you, and the parish priest, WHO IS THE SCANDAL TO THE CHURCH?

A Letter to a Confessor

Dear Father,

Just this lunch break, my close friend here at the office, asked me this question:  His cousin, is finally having her first baby in her forties.  She and her husband were unsuccessful for many years or decades and now have one.  Unfortunately, the child in her womb is a product of IVF.

I told him the Church’ usual stand based on the CCC.  I told him that his cousin and her husband were guilty of a mortally grievous sin.  Even if such an act brought life!  They should have instead adopted a child no matter how problematic it would be or they should have engaged in charitable works in the name of the Holy Mother Church. 

Imagine, how could they do it?  So what if they are so desperate?  So what if the child would make them complete, be a bundle of joy who would either resemble the father or the mother? So what if the child would grow up into a responsible person some day?  As long as the commandment of the Holy Mother Church is violated, they did a condemnable act!   For all we know, the child the mother is carrying is soulless or worse, is the devil incarnate since it goes against infallable Church’ law, ergo, against God’s holy will!

Then again…

Deep in the very core of my being, I know that there is a loving God who looks beyond our ridiculous laws.  I know too that God created a world that is not just black and white, but made up of different shades of gray.

Deep in the very core of my very being, in the silence of my heart, I believe they did not sin.  I believe that what they did is good in the eyes of God.

For what I believe, I am condemned.