Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010

WCR Letters to the Editor

Moral impact concerns

We want to join the many who have written about the redefinition of marriage as a union of any two persons - a law which our government has resolved to push through in spite of the opposition of many people.

This can never be acceptable because it is a lie - a sin against the eighth commandment. Ever since the creation of the world, marriage has always been defined as the union of a man and a woman. No two partners of the same sex have ever been able to produce a child - only a heterosexual couple.

The message of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops entitled Marriage in the Present Day (WCR Sept. 15), giving us a beautiful reflection on the sacrament of Marriage, explains succinctly why it must remain defined as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

According to the statistics given in the endnotes of that article and mentioned in Bishop Fred Henry's Sept. 22 article, only 0.5 per cent of all couples are same-sex partners. It is to satisfy the whims of this very tiny minority that our politicians are going to discriminate against all the rest of society. It is not fair!

Now it might be argued that 0.5 per cent will not affect society greatly. Let us allow them to "marry." It will make them happy and it won't affect the rest of us. That, too, is a lie!

To quote just two examples from "Face Homosexuality Now" (WCR Sept 8) "Homosexual teachers will marry, speak about their 'spouses' and bring them to school events. Homosexual couples will become a norm, not an exception, on television programs."

That is why homosexual marriage must be defeated now. If it is not, there will be many social, financial and moral consequences in which our already weakened society will be harmed in ways that we cannot imagine.

Our bishops are giving us great leadership but we must do our part. Bishop Fred Henry has told us Catholics to stop sitting on our hands and more recently, pointed to wider repercussions for society. Since our prime minister has totally shut his ears to all who have appealed to him, ignoring even the admonitions of his own bishop, it is perhaps now time to focus on Paul Martin instead. He also, although Catholic, endorses same sex marriage.

Our clergy can't do it all. We need lay people who are willing to take the lead. Christian judges and lawyers, especially, need to raise their voices.

Most importantly, all people must pray - not only Catholics - but everyone, of all religions, who believe this to be wrong. We have allowed the loosening of divorce laws and abortion on demand. If homosexual marriage becomes the law in our land, what will come next?

Blanche MacDonald
Ann Brown
Theresa Brown
Lloydminster, Alta.

Don't stop applause for the glory of God

I read with alarm your recent article on a draft Vatican document which would ban applause within a sacred building. There would probably be no quicker way to throw confusion, tension and suppression of emotion into our already conservative congregations than such a law as this.

Applause is a means of expressing one's gratitude, appreciation or agreement. It is the physical form of the word "Amen." Catholics are already accused of being "dead-beats" when it comes to expressing our faith.

Indeed, youth have left in a mass exodus to other more expressive Christian communities, or left the faith altogether. This draft proposal, if accepted, would only further sterilize our parish environments and quench the spirit of joy.

Also, as one of a handful of Catholic artists pioneering new Catholic music in the form of in-church concerts, I can't even begin to imagine how forbidding applause would affect our ministries and the community climate: awkward silences, suppressed feelings, and I believe, an increase in unhealthy fear of the sanctuary.

As Catholic artists, it is a given we cannot afford to rent halls or theatres; most turnouts are poor by worldly standards. It would not be a stretch to suggest this ban could effectively kill our ministries, and certainly put a chill on parish missions and travelling evangelists who dare to excite their listeners with the truth.

Given that Pope John Paul is often interrupted by applause during Mass, especially at youth events, I doubt this prescription came from him. I have spent the past eight years of my ministry helping Catholics to express their love for Christ, particularly in the liturgy.

It seems even applause for Jesus would be banned under this proposed law.

Mark Mallett
Vegreville

Judgment of humanity comes in many forms

I would like to respond to the article Sept. 22 by Sister Louise Zdunich "Does God judge people?" In my view she did not address the core of the question.

According to Genesis, God created man in his own image. He gave him great intelligence. This intelligence had to be tested. So he planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He told Adam and Eve they must not eat the fruit.There would be a consequence - death.

Man's actions have consequences. When they ate the fruit, sin came into the world. And without judgment sin is no sin. Sin demands judgment.

Who is to be the judge? According to the New Testament it is Jesus. The contradiction of Jesus is that he is judge and intercessor of man at the same time. The whole of the Gospel is Jesus telling what to do to avoid judgment and the pitfall and cunning snares of the devil.

The Gospels in no way eliminate judgment. Matthew 25:31-46 describes the last judgment and the surprise that people will show and the realization that "each of us will get what he deserves for the things he did in body, good and bad" (2 Corinthians 10). We will realize on that day that even in his mercy God was and is just. "When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of him" (Luke 12:48).

That is why the angels and saints cry out in their unending praise "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of heaven and earth are filled with your glory."

Johann Sacher
Morinville

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