Sunday homilies

Sorry I didn't post my homilies (I had two) for the weekend; but I never actually wrote them. Some weeks, I am floundering around all week for what I think I should say, and come Saturday, I have perhaps a couple of ideas developed, and that is sometimes what I go with. Such was the case this past weekend.

I had two homilies because in Lent, we have rituals at certain Masses related to those who will enter the Church at Easter; and these occasion different readings. For the third, fourth and fifth Sundays of Lent, these are called the "scrutinies." So this affected the 10:30 am Mass.

My principal homily for the weekend began with the first reading and the context--Moses leading God's people out of Egypt to Mount Sinai where God gave his commandments. I pointed out that when Moses confronted Pharaoh, he consistently said something like, "Let my people go that they may worship me."

I pointed out that the first reading spends a lot of time developing the first several commandments--having to do with worshiping God; and then the remaining commandments are ticked off succinctly; as if to say that if we get worship right, the rest fits and works better. For some reason, however, I neglected to make this point at 7 and 9 am Masses.

To make the point further, I suggested folks look up the passage where--upon arriving at Mount Sinai, God invited Moses and the people to come up the mountain, "so that you can tell me how you wish to worship." After a pause, I said--I'm kidding; that never happened. Instead, God spent 40 days showing Moses how his people were to worship. Similarly, when our Lord gathered his Apostles, he showed them again: "do this in memory of me." And with some changes, we still are.

Also, along the way, I said that we often have discussions about Mass, about various aspects of Mass--music, the new translation, Latin-English, etc.--and it's usually in terms of, "I like/I don't like." But that misses the point. It isn't really about what we like or don't like. If we come to Mass with a checklist of the things that have to be just right--we are bound for disappointment. My homily may or may not be good; the music may or may not sit well with folks. Something will go wrong.

But when we see Mass for what it is: Mount Sinai happens here; Calvary happens here; God acts here; that will always happen. I think I ended by saying, "we're at Mount Sinai now: let's see what God will do."

In my 10:30 am homily, I talked about the ritual of the "scrutiny": it isn't so much the Church "scrutinizing" the Elect--those chosen for baptism at Easter--but the catechumens scrutinizing themselves and their choice for Christ. I honestly don't recall all I said, but I developed that point, explained the ritual, emphasized to the rest of the assembly what it means that these folks want what we have, talked about sharing our faith, etc. I also invited everyone to the Easter Vigil, so they could continue the Elects' journey to baptism. Keying off the first reading--in which Moses strikes the rock to provide God's people with water--I pointed out our baptismal font. Notice it's made out of stone, that's not an accident; that's the Rock from which the water of life will be drawn! I won't strike it--it's an antique!--but that's where the Elect will be led!

If anyone heard either homily, please add comments, especially if it was something you liked, didn't like or didn't understand or agree with.

Mass for Annunciation in Piqua

For those who are interested--and I know you're out there!--you are invited to participate in the Holy Mass on the Solemnity of the Annunciation, at the beautiful, newly renovated St. Boniface Parish Church, Monday, March 26, 7 pm.

We will have a Missa altissima cum omnes nidores et camparae (I'll let you google that and let me know what you come up with!), with the schola providing some beautiful music--although the prayers of the Mass will be principally in English, but there will be some in Latin.

I like to let people know about these things, both for those who like it, and for those who don't! Something for everyone, as Zero Mostel so memorably sang!

There might even be a special surprise, but you'll have to watch this space to find out what it might be!

This Astonishing Moment

Blessed Jose Sanchez del Rio, 14 year old 20th century martyr of Mexico

I've been thinking about how remarkable this moment is for the Catholic Faith; there are so many things bound up in the seemingly sudden assault on religious freedom and on the Catholic Church in particular, and what follows will certainly not do justice to it.

But there is something profound at work. If this plays out as it seems it will--events can easily intervene to short-circuit the trajectory I describe below--then we are talking about an epochal event in the life of the Church. This is no mere blip. This is huge.

Here's what I see, presented inartfully, because if I wait until I can really polish this, I may not post it for awhile, or ever...

> We have a mounting confrontation between the government--and a very significant share of the culture--of the world's pre-eminent nation, and the Catholic Church. Moreover, the Church in the U.S., while not the largest national body of Catholics, nor the most energetic or enthusiastic, is, nonetheless, one of the healthier portions of the Church worldwide. It is certainly the richest and and plays a huge role in the life of the Church.

> This is a confrontation that goes to the heart of the Faith. Because it is national, there is little or no way for the Church to evade it, to seek a work-around, as she might if it were a state battle only (as has happened many times on this very issue of contraception and abortion). The bishops have rightly sensed they must take a stand. They have, thus far, made it hard for themselves to back down.

> Here is something I find very remarkable and providential: it involves at least two parts of our Faith that have either been under serious attack, or have been neglected. It involves our Church's teaching on human sexuality, particularly contraception, and it involves the fundamental constitution of the Church as built upon, and led by, the bishops.

Let me dwell on this.

For how many years have we experienced, in the precincts of our Church, a silence, punctuated infrequently by embarrassed, half-hearted perfunctory statements, on the subject of contraception and deliberate refusal of God's gift of fertility? We clerics have said just enough to refute, technically, the charge that we are silent or do not accept Church teaching; yet the subject has been widely neglected.

For myself, I do talk about it; if you search this blog, you'll find a number of homilies. I know many other priests have done the same. Yet we have not raised this subject nearly as forcefully as we have assaults on the unborn. And very candidly, it is far, far easier to deliver a strong homily on the Real Presence or on the imminence of divine judgment than it is on contraception. Even those of us who are willing to address the subject do so aware of the eggshells we're walking on.

This moment--these events--viewed from a supernatural perspective seem to mean only one thing: God has spoken and acted. He has allowed things to transpire such that we pretty much have to do so. Sooner or later, as this plays out, it will become necessary to explain why we Catholics are making such an issue about this. We clerics are duty-bound to do so; yet meanwhile, more and more of the laity are doing so.

> At this moment, we have the advantage, such as we've never had before, of means for the laity to fill the gaps created by clerical inaction.

I am praying--and I beg you to pray--that all our bishops and priests provide exactly the sort of teaching needed. But in the meantime, the laity are well able to act without us.

Consider that we have--whether from Vatican II or prior teaching--a strong notion that the laity must be engaged and speak out. And, at the same time, cable and satellite TV and the Internet and twitter all create a climate in which that is easier to do than ever in human history.

> This is not only about contraception; it's not only about religious freedom; it's also about the constitution of the Church.

Another doctrine under assault--from within as well as without--is the governance of the Church and the teaching authority.

One can visit the National (so-called) Catholic Reporter almost daily and see yet another installment of that wretched outfit's campaign to destroy the governance of the Church which our Savior himself instituted. It is the dream of the NcR and many others to overthrow the authority of the bishops to teach and govern. The running commentary from the NcR's own readers--who have been fed these lies for so long--tells the story, unfiltered by the euphemisms and doubletalk of the NcR's editors and polished contributors: they despise the bishops and utterly reject the doctrine of the Church about her teaching office. Namely, that the bishops, together with the pope, guide the authority of the Church as a whole to teach in the Name of Christ. The NcR and others long to seize the ring of power, to appoint themselves, or some Rousseau-ian "general will" as the true teaching authority; or they claim, falsely that this has already happened, either by action of the Second Vatican Council, or by some other sort of revolution.

Make no mistake, this is a big part of what's going on, and President Obama and his allies are only too happy to join in, for their own interests.

You have folks like Sister Keehan of the Catholic Health Association who has twice ridden to the rescue of Obama, in opposition to the teaching authority of the bishops. First when the bishops were withholding support from Obama's health care bill, until sufficiently pro-life protections were included. And again, when the bishops were united against Obama's contraception mandate.

Sister Keehan is only one of many players, within the Church, who either want to overthrow the teaching office of the bishops, or else are willing, for whatever reason, to cooperate with those efforts. Please understand--I have no idea whether all these folks realize what they are doing. I cannot read hearts so I will--until I have concrete reasons to do otherwise--assume they do not realize the harm they are doing. In the case of NcR, I cannot defend them--they knowingly and explicitly advocate the downfall of the bishops' teaching authority. And when they protest against my accusation, I will point out their own, regular readers certainly see it clearly enough. The NcR has very effectively "catechized" them in this view. Read your own readers' comments, NcR editors.

So here again, note how God has superintended this battle on this very ground.

This battle forces us to grapple with the question: who exercises the teaching office? Who speaks for Christ?

> This is also a time of purification and renewal.

In all of this, much will be demanded of all of us. I don't say that as though I am there yet. I am no paragon of virtue or self-denial. But it seems clear to me that as this unfolds--again, assuming the crisis is not averted, as it may be (see below)--that all of us who must defend the Church's teaching will be called to profound conversion.

Brace yourselves. It will get bad, often in unexpected ways.

Prepare to see people you trust and count on, fail--just as the Twelve saw Judas betray the Lord and Peter deny him.

Prepare to see the enemy and his cohorts find a weakness and exploit it. Dirty laundry will be aired. Any weapon to hand. Some of us clerics who speak out will be embarrassed by the fact that we are not perfect.

Prepare for temptations to remain silent, to remain passive, to trim and to get bogged down. The enemy will seek to sow confusion among our ranks. Our leaders are not perfect and they will make mistakes in judgment and execution. If we want to find fault, we will succeed. Our leaders almost certainly will not do everything right, so it will be very easy, from the ranks, to resent they didn't do it our way.

> All that said, do not despair or be discouraged. Recall the many times our Lord--presaged by many passages from the Old Testament--warned us of such times, of being overwhelmed by fear of the situation, of family and friends turning against each other, of very dark times.

These may or may not be such times--how can I know? But there is nothing that can happen that we have not been prepared for. Remember that.

> This is a remarkable ecumenical moment. It may bear fruit such as we cannot imagine. Please pray for that!

Consider who is lining up together:

The Catholic Church
The Orthodox Churches
Evangelicals
Many Jews
Many Muslims
Many others of various faiths, or none.

These are mighty forces who have centuries, if not millenia, of distrust and hurt to overcome. But it is so often true that, if you want to bring squabbling folks together, present them with a common enemy. The enemy has just done that.

One possible fruit of this moment could be healing of divisions within Christendom. I am not so smart nor courageous enough to predict more than that. All I can say is, you can see the forces lining up the same as I can. Make your own predictions.

> I truly believe the Obama Administration has made a fundamental mistake. The President has chosen a course that, if it plays out, will awaken and unite the Catholic Church and many other allies as a powerful force. It may be that he will realize this and find an escape route--and it may be he can still quiet down the forces he has awakened. It may not. I just don't know.

I wonder if the President doesn't cynically count on the courts to save his bacon. It may be he expects that even before the election. Then he gets the benefit of this--his allies are charged up and turn out--while his opponents relax once the danger seems to recede.

Alternately, he may have bargained for that after the election.

Or, he may even plan to give a gracious concession on religious liberty after the election, when he doesn't care so much about the outrage of his allies.

Consider this: the mandate, even with some, superficial, modifications, goes into effect. The courts (improbably but not impossibly), uphold it. Our bishops choose varying paths, but let us hopefully suppose they mostly choose either to close or sell off institutions, or else defiance (I call this more hopeful, only in contrast to the option of capitulation). Then comes the confrontation: when the fines are levied but not paid; and the Obama Administration must take enforcement action.

And here I raise a question--not being familiar with the legal issues involved--might not the Administration simply choose to refrain from enforcement? Tolerate the disobedience, and by doing so, discredit the bishops who predicted a terrible outcome? Could he not allow that to go on for some time, until our side is lulled back to sleep?

> In all this, the hand of God seems undeniable.

If you do not believe in God, or you wonder if he is largely absent from human affairs; if you wonder if the Catholic Church's claims really hold water, consider these events.

Why should this battle even be happening?

Why on this ground--over claims the Catholic Church almost alone makes?

Had this been a battle over abortion or same-sex marriage, then it would not involve claims that are uniquely those of the Catholic Church.

I predict there will be many folks who will, in these events, realize God is validating the Catholic Church--with all her blemishes and wounds--as the visible Body of Christ on earth.

Fellow Catholics, if you have ever wondered about, or doubted, the claims of our Church--if you have wondered about the teaching on contraception, if God really cared about it--then consider this moment. Why would God put his Church on trial over this issue--if it did not matter to him?

Consider what I just wrote. God is choosing to allow his Church to enter into a terrible trial...over contraception. Do you think it possible that this matters quite a lot to God?

Something momentous is at work. We may be frightened, and perhaps we should be; yet isn't there something exciting and hopeful about this as well?

Let our hearts and voices resound with the thrilling last words of the martyrs of Mexico and Spain: Viva Christo Rey!

Update 1: Welcome New Advent readers! And thanks for the Advent-alanche! Feel free to look around...)

Update 2: welcome readers from The Pulp.it and Over the Rhine and Into the Tiber!

Walking by faith in a gathering storm (Sunday homily)

The first reading is strange—and easily misunderstood.
But let’s be clear about one thing:
God did not want Abraham to slay his son Isaac.

So why did this happen?

It helps to recall the rest of Abraham’s story.
Remember, Abraham and Sarah couldn’t have children—
yet God promised they would have descendants
as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Along the way to answering God’s call,
Abraham took several wrong turns.
This reading represents the climax
of Abraham’s arc of faith—
after failing so many times,
this is when Abraham passes the test.

If we ever feel we’re being tested,
remember it isn’t for some need of God
that we’re tested.

After all, when we take a test in school,
it isn’t really for the teacher.
We’re the ones who need to know our arithmetic—
we’re the ones who need to know we passed.

And while God knew what was in Abraham’s heart,
it was Abraham who did not know
he would pass—until he did.

What Abraham wanted to give,
but found so hard to give—
what you and I find so hard to give—
is total commitment.

Offering his only son back to God—
that is how he finally did it.

Let’s make this personal.
What in your life is most valuable? Most treasured?
Who, or what, would you hold tight against yourself
until your last breath died away?

Now: can you imagine bringing that to God?
As precious as my spouse, my children,
my career, my dreams are—I offer them back to you!

It’s not that God wants to take them away.
The point is, can we dare to say to God:
I am willing to give you
that which means everything to me?

That’s what it means to walk by faith.
That’s what Abraham finally discovered—
and if we could hear him speak to us, he would say,
“that’s what I want you to discover.”

Lent can be a powerful way we share our faith.

To the extent that we Catholics take Lent seriously:
making real sacrifices, and really turning from sin,
and really giving of ourselves to others,
how powerful a witness to Christ that would be!

We’ve talked about the changing social climate.
Very suddenly, as Catholics we are facing growing hostility,
from our government in particular.

This week the Senate refused to overturn the order
that will force us, as Catholics,
either to violate our consciences,
or else to shut down our schools, our universities,
our hospitals and our charities.

The Archbishop of Chicago has announced
that if the President’s mandate is not overturned,
Catholic hospitals in his diocese will cease to exist.

Powerful forces are gearing up against us.
The head of the National Organization of Women—
along with the former speaker of the House*
are saying that we Catholics want to kill women.

No—let’s get the facts right.
All we are asking is to be able
to operate our Catholic institutions,
and for us as individuals,
to live according to our Catholic beliefs.

And right now, the message is
that we won’t be allowed to do that anymore.

So let’s put it plainly. In the next few years,
if things don’t change,
it’s going to be a lot harder to be a Catholic.

Brace yourself. Worse is coming.

When our Lord took James, Peter and John
up the mountain and he showed them his glory,
he was preparing them for the storm.

Even after, Peter still lost his nerve;
James ran away; only John stood firm.

There’s no soft answer and there’s no short-cut.
We’re going to have to dig the foundations very deep—
or we’ll be swept away in the gathering storm.

But if these realities are shocking,
do not let them overcome you.

Remember, the Lord told us ahead of time
this would happen.
And he gave us very straightforward instructions
about how to live our lives until he comes again.

And it goes right back to the example of Abraham:
everything we treasure, we give to God.

He will usually give them back to us to safeguard,
but we always remember:
God, this is your family; this is your job;
this is your business. It’s all yours.

In a few days, you will get a letter
from Archbishop Schnurr
about the Catholic Ministry Appeal.

One of the things we keep doing—
till the Lord comes—is caring for one another.

This appeal funds campus ministries.
Our college students are whipped by strong forces:
they need Christ on campus!

This fund pays the pension of our retired priests.
It pays for Catholic Social Services
to help the neediest members of the community.

It helps our seminary—
and in recent years, we are seeing our numbers increase.
Good news! But costs are up too.

It also helps St. Rita’s School for the Deaf
and ministry to prisons and hospitals.

I give to the Catholic Ministry Appeal
and I hope you will join me in doing so as well.

When Abraham gave his only son back to God,
God told him his countless descendants
would triumph over their enemies.

We are those countless stars that Abraham hoped for.
And we will see the Lord win the battle for us.
What did we hear St. Paul say:
If God is for us, who can be against us?

Amen? Amen.

* After the 4 pm Mass, I omitted reference to ex-Speaker Pelosi. I double-checked the story I'd seen, and found that while she did, indeed, refer to killing women, she merely made that accusation against Republicans, not specifically against Catholics.

What does a pastor do? Some of everything!

Well, it's been crazy, and it will get crazier.

The last two weeks, I've been working on a lot of things (beyond the usual):

> Helping put together a retreat for our students preparing for confirmation.

We have a vacancy in our religious education/youth ministry program, so that makes me the DRE. Anything involving kids means lots of record-keeping, making sure every permission slip is turned in, and then there are checks from families, and volunteers and chaperones to line up.

We have a group of four seminarians leading the retreat, but a mother kindly reminded me that some of the 8th grade girls might, if they have any problems, prefer to talk to a mother, not a seminarian. Point taken! So I made sure we have a mother and female teacher there overnight.

Also, I went out to get the snacks the kids and leaders will consume. I have no idea how much to buy, but I didn't want to run out. It doesn't help to have 50 grumpy 8th graders. I was also advised to avoid anything with red dye in it and peanuts. Good advice!

So what did I get?

In addition to hotdogs and buns and ingredients for 'smores--for the campfire--I purchased:

- Oreos and Nilla wafers (generic where possible; except generic Oreos had peanuts so no-go)
- Pretzels and cheese crackers
- Lemonade--no red dye!--to make up in 5-gallon coolers. No pop!
- No candy or chocolate; I thought it would be unfair for those who may have given them up for Lent and, after all, it is Lent!

I warned them I'd get pickled herring and Limberger cheese, but I relented.

> I have a penance service to organize for my two parishes, plus a neighboring parish that joins in. I have six of the eight priests needed. More calls to make.

> I just made a call to one of the families, whose son won't make the retreat because he's ill.

> I have a dinner I organize for priests for Holy Thursday--just got the invitations out and I have some other work to do for that.

> There is a stack of things on my desk, and several emails, that need attention. I've been apologizing to folks this week for being late in returning calls and not giving their items the attention they deserve. Next week, God willing.

> I'm a member of Kiwanis and they had their annual pancake breakfast today. I was there two hours, then I had to hit Wal Mart for the snacks and then here to write my homily. Just finished it before writing this post.

> The 8th graders will be checking in at 3 pm today before Mass, then heading up for the retreat. I'll be heading up there around 7:30, to lead exposition and to hear confessions, along with another priest.

I have that unsettling feeling I'm forgetting something. Pray for me!

Fill this ark! (Sunday homily)

Why do we have the readings we have for this Sunday?

Noah and the ark; deliverance through water; baptism.
Our Lord--who is a man like us--
driven to the desert to wrestle with evil.

The readings make sense when you remember
that there are people preparing for baptism.
We have three people from each parish
who look forward to baptism this Easter.

Lent is their time
to wrestle with that decision for 40 days.

For those of us who are baptized,
we wrestle with the things that are in our lives
that are at odds with our Faith--which pull us away.

Remember: when our friends are baptized at Easter,
all of us will renew the promises of our own baptism
at the same time.

And while the sacrament of confession
is a good idea all year long,
this time of year reminds us
that confession is a kind of second baptism.
Fresh and clean. New life. Start over.

There’s something else.
God chooses us to be like Noah,
offering life to a world inundated by evil.

Here’s a curious fact about the story of Noah.
You have to go read the whole story in Genesis 6 and 7.

Now, everyone knows that God sent Noah
to get a pair of every animal.
What many don’t notice is that God send Noah
a second time to get more animals.
You can see for yourself in chapter 7 of Genesis.

Why would God send Noah for even more animals?
Clearly there was more room
in the ark than originally intended.

Perhaps God was hoping for more people
than only Noah’s family?

Our Church, our Catholic Faith,
is the ark of our salvation.

Those folks preparing for baptism,
not just in our parish, but worldwide,
are the folks we’ve drawn to the ark.
Good work!

But look around: there’s a lot of room
in this ark for more people!

'40 Days of Spiritual Battle' (Sunday homily)

As you probably know, Ash Wednesday is this week.
So it’s time to get ready and make our plans.

Lent has two purposes that go together.
It’s a time of preparation
to celebrate the heart of our Faith:
Jesus dying for us and rising from the dead,
to give us life that lasts forever.

When someone has a wedding
or an anniversary coming up,
you don’t just put it together the day before.
That is…I guess you can if you want,
but I’ve never met a bride who was satisfied with that.
So, gentlemen…good luck with that!

If it’s really worth doing, it’s worth preparing for.

But Lent has another purpose: conversion.

At the heart of our faith we admit something that humbles us:
We are sinners. We turn from God,
we bring pride and greed and lust and wrath
to our daily lives, that creates conflict
and when you multiply that by six billion souls,
There’s the sad story
of most of the suffering in the world.

As bad as a tornado or a crippling disease is,
the disasters spawned
by our sinful choices or neglect are even worse.

Changing the world starts with changing ourselves. Ouch!

So, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday,
if you’re between 18 and 59,
and in good health, you are obliged to fast.
That means just one meal,
and maybe a snack or two besides.

Also on Ash Wednesday, as well as each Friday,
everyone over 14 is obliged to abstain from meat.
If you’re traveling or a guest of someone else,
use common sense.

Beyond that, we all make our own decisions
about some extra sacrifice,
Extra prayer, extra generosity, as what we “do for Lent.”

Why do we do these things?

It’s not that we’re “paying” for our sins.
Jesus already did that.
It’s because conversion is hard work.
These are the tools.


A lot of folks struggle with bad habits.
And they often fail over and over.
They ask, what can I do?

Well, one thing I suggest is go to confession frequently.

Yes, it does humble ones pride
to go to confession week after week,
or even more often than that.
Sometimes what we need
is to have our pride knocked down a peg.

But remember, these are sources of grace—
God’s power to help us change.
Why do people take vitamins? To fortify their bodies.
The sacraments are what we take to fortify our souls.

Also, if you find you have a habit involving appetite—
eating, drinking, or some other pleasure—
you may want to try fasting.

Now, let me be candid: I don’t like to fast!
As if that wasn’t obvious!

But the thing about fasting,
or other forms of self-denial,
is that it is kind of like
what people in competitive sports say:
they need to be “keyed up” and focused on the game.

Fasting does that.

When you give up something you like,
and then you get that craving,
it forces you to make a choice.

Either you can say, “Darn, God made me do this!”
Or, you man up and say, “No—I chose this!”

The truth is, we are engaged in spiritual battle.
Battle for our own souls and that of others.
But we can easily be lulled into sleeping through it.
Fasting and self-denial
help keep us awake to the battle—
It’s a way of saying, “I don’t want to be AWOL!
I want to stand for something!”

And this isn’t just about our own conversion—
it starts there, but it’s even more about
the conversion of others.

Most members of my family don’t practice the Faith.
What about your family?
When we pray for their conversion,
we’re like the men in the Gospel
who bring their friend to the Lord.


After all, a lot of us
are going to start Lent with big ideas;
and somewhere along the line, we’re going to regret it!

So when we pray intensely during Lent,
we’re praying to support each other.
I confess I will waver in my Lenten promises.
Pray for me, please!

Finally, we pray for our nation.
In the Scriptures, whenever
God’s people were faced with a crisis,
They put on sackcloth and ashes, they fasted and prayed.

The alarm bells are sounding for religious freedom
in our country.

I know you’ve heard in the media
that the President backed down.
But it’s just not true.
Most of you know
the President proposed to force all of us to accept,
as part of health care,
that we’d have to pay to provide
contraception, sterilization and abortion-causing drugs.

Then we all heard the President say
he would change his mandate—
and the media said, “problem solved.”
Now, let’s skip over, for a moment,
the fact that many problems remained
even with his proposed “accommodation.”
Let’s skip over that for a moment.

How many of you knew
that after the President promised a change…

He went ahead and put into effect—as law—
the original rules?

Let me say that again:
he didn’t pull it back to be reworked.
The mandate he put into effect as law
was not changed AT ALL.

In any case, as Archbishop Schnurr
explains in a letter in the bulletin today,
even that promised change
doesn’t do much about the problem.

Let me give you an example.

There’s a religious order called the Sisters of Life.
They are dedicated to promoting the dignity of life.
As sisters, of course, they take a vow of chastity.
They won’t marry.


Under either version of the President’s order,
they are forced to buy health care
that includes contraceptives and sterilization
and drugs that cause abortion.
Since they take a vow of chastity,
they obviously don’t need it.

More to the point,
it violates their conscience to have to be involved in it.
Yet if they refuse, they break the law,
and they will be fined and punished by our government.
Of course, it’s the same for all our religious orders,
all our Catholic schools and hospitals, for all of us.

So if you’re wondering why
you’re being summoned to 40 days of spiritual battle,
there it is.