WCR Letters to the Editor

Catholics, pray for priests

If that is hard to grasp, then perhaps we should try and imagine sitting and hearing Confessions for 30 minutes each day? How many of us would get sick of that after the first month? Or how about getting up in the middle of the night to go to the hospital?

Or better yet - maybe we should just try being holy for a week and see how easy it is to hold our tongues, our tempers, while suffering from irritation, anxiety or temptations against purity.

The priesthood is not a 9-to-5 job, where they can leave their work behind and go home to refresh themselves with whatever pleasures they desire. It is a 24-7 job that never ceases, and many days they simply have nothing to look forward to.

These difficulties are further compounded by the fact that the evil one has a particular interest in stopping them from celebrating the sacred mysteries. And no, I'm sorry - Satan doesn't go after lawyers like he does priests. Since priests provide the body of Christ with such an invaluable service, the evil one has all the more reason to be aggressively attacking them.

Just think about it for a moment: if Satan can knock out one priest, he knocks out the entire parish - say "bye, bye" to Confession, Mass, adoration, anointings, Baptisms, marriages, funerals, blessings, these all go with him.

So we should be quick to pray for our priests if their behaviour seems to be out of line rather then attack them. Criticizing is easy, all it requires is a few minutes and the movement of lip muscles; prayer and fasting on the other hand require much more effort.

I hope this letter will serve as a suggestion to disgruntled Catholics that if they are not willing to pray and fast for our priests, then they should just keep quiet, for Scripture says: "Touch not my anointed!"

Lonny D'Agostini
Edmonton

Support for lesbians, but not pro-lifers!

While too often giving the cold shoulder to the pro-life movement, quite a few appear, on the other hand, to befriend the feminists with unusual dedication.

Our prime minister meeting with radical pro-abortion pro-lesbians at the World March of Women to listen to their demands - more money, more rights, specifically same-sex rights, greater access to abortion, etc.

Six of our Catholic bishops presiding over a service for the feminist march at Notre Dame Cathedral. No matter if this march featured waving banners so contemptible one would not want their details released.

Giving public support to this group is, in my perspective, passing the wrong message: Let's not feel threatened by their anti-life, anti-family agenda; let's only dwell on the positive things they promote.

When will we see these leaders participate in pro-life activities? Because, if they are sincere in wishing to support "only the good things" the march promotes, then they should give at least as much time and public assent to the pro-life cause.

Remembrance Day just went by with its usual message of keeping in mind the approximately 111,000 Canadian soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom. Lest we forget, every year, well over 111,000 Canadian babies are being sacrificed for the sake of sexual "freedom."

We would be well advised never to forget this horrendous reality and to work and pray so that abortion be very, very soon abolished.

Jeanne McCusker
Edmonton

Nazi metaphor tiresome, offensive

In light of the Catholic Church's policy of non-intervention during the Holocaust, I don't think the word "Nazi" should appear in a Catholic publication, except in apology to the Jewish community.

But Moore uses it freely in his denigration of others (i.e. in an earlier article entitled "The jackboot attack on Dr. Laura," and most recently in "The 'Kristallnacht' of Christianity").

Clearly, the Canadian government's attempt to commodify the spiritual and historical treasures of any group is heinous. Lest we forget, however, imperialists of all sorts (including us Catholics) were guilty of a harsher kind of religious and cultural intolerance.

Indeed, that is why the question of reparations has arisen. We cannot take back the past, and in many ways we cannot make amends for it, but we can certainly learn from it.

Hatred, borne out of fear, makes humankind capable of any act of brutality. The Holocaust is a testament to this. I would suggest that classifying a large section of the population as "Nazis," simply because their views conflict with yours, is a hateful act. Such spiteful, bitter diatribe has no place in a publication that claims to spread the word of Christ.

How did Jesus' message of peace, love and forgiveness evolve into a platform from which one may judge and condemn others?

I sincerely hope the opinion of Moore does not reflect the present views of the Catholic community.

At any rate, Mr. Moore, the Nazi metaphor is both tiresome and offensive. If you must cast your stone, perhaps you should find one that is milder and more substantiated. Not everyone who opposes you can be labeled a fascist.

Jessica Hagel
Calgary

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