FrJoe Dondanville

FrJoe Dondanville

Get Off That Rocky Ground- Our Stand Against "Enlightened" Voices

I never thought in a million years that I would begin a homily referencing Bruce Springsteen.  If you know anything about Bruce’s early life, you might know that he grew up in a catholic household and attended a catholic grade school.  As an 80’s teen, of course, I grew up idolizing the Boss, as most of us did back then.

He’s wandered a bit from those traditional catholic roots and values of his youth, and he’s not really known for his conservativism on social and political views anymore.  His newest album recently released has a rather angry tone to it.  The title itself, Wrecking Ball, tells us that much.  It really is a anthem of our current financial crisis.

You really have to be wondering right now where I’m going with this, right?  There is a track on this album that I have been listening to a lot this week.  It has challenged and humbled me, and I’m sure I am interpreting it differently than he might, but it struck a cord with me especially in light of recent events involving Washington and our Church.

This song is entitled Rocky Ground.  The chorus that repeats throughout the song says, “We’ve been traveling over Rocky Ground”.  No truer words have ever been spoken.  As Catholic’s and Christians we are journeying together to eternity, the road that we walk is often hard.  There are obstacles, pits, debris that constantly get thrown in our way.  These things challenge our beliefs and make us question who we are and who God is.  Our society and culture today tells us that we must conform our way of thinking to what is popular, not to what is true.

The problem with that, is when we do change our way of thinking from the truth revealed to us by God, we lose ourselves and the rocky ground we travel on only gets more perilous to the point that we walk that road absent of God. He will allow us to walk that path if we choose, but He will NOT follow us down it.

Listening to this song this week has made me feel like I owe you all an apology. Sometimes we priests steer too far away from those topics that are distasteful to our congregations.  Much like a child at the dinner table who will pick around his plate those things that are palatable, but leave the pile of brussel sprouts in the middle of the plate.

St. Paul says, “I have a gospel to preach, and WOE to me if I do not preach it.”

Bruce woke me up this week:

Rise up shepherd, rise up

Your flock has roamed far from the hills

Jesus enters the temple today in disgust of what he sees, overturning the money changers tables.  Turning his Fathers house into a marketplace.

If Jesus can get his ere up this week, his priest should be able to as well.  I ask you to please listen with open minds and hearts, as this has been on my heart for weeks.

  

Bruce:

Forty days and nights of rain have washed this land

Jesus said the money changers in this temple will not stand

Find your flock, get them to higher ground

Flood waters rising and we're Caanan bound

Flood waters are indeed rising.  Cardinal Dolan was in the news again this week releasing details of a private conversation he and other bishops had with top White House officials.  If you did not see it, he essentially said that there will be no attempt to iron out the wrinkles of the health care mandate on providing contraceptive and abortifacient coverage to employees of Catholic institutions.

He went on to say that these White House officials advised the bishops conference to listen to the “enlightened” voices of accommodation that is the American editorial.  Folks, this is NOT enlightened thinking.  It is this kind of thinking that has set so many people down that Rocky road with no Divine companion.

This is not the first time we’ve heard this termed “enlightened” in our church’s history.  This idea nearly destroyed our church in the 18C.  Age of Enlightenment sought to understand the natural world and our place in it based on reason alone-  in absence of God.

Why is this president’s administration so intent on trying to destroy the Catholic Church’s ability to perform it’s ministries which we do better and for less than the government can do?  Why, with all of the problems in this world, our economy, terrorism, Iran becoming a nuclear power, is this administration so obsessed with reproductive services and obsessed with forcing us to go against our faith and conscience in this matter?

The Catholic Church is the largest non-govt provider of health services, social services and education.  If the govt can put us out of business, and make no mistake, bishop Jenky, and Cardinal Dolan are right, we will not follow this law.  We will close down our schools, hospitals, nursing homes.  We will go out of business in these areas before we will pay to have a child murdered!

Once we are out of business, there will be millions of people suffering because who will provide services for them.  There will be a gap, a crisis in our nation and then we’ll see the real issue- govt comes in and provides more costly, ineffective services.

Folks, what this administration is attempting to do is wrong because it is a violation of our first amendment rights, but Contraception is wrong because is violates Divine law.

God made us in his image and likeness, allowing men and women to share in his creative power.  JPII in his Theology of the Body mentions 4 qualities of the sexual act between husband and wife: it must be free, total, faithful, and fruitful.  When contraceptives are used, it is not free- why is it being used? Fear of pregnancy, motivated by material need?  Not Total:  not giving all of self.  The marital act is the most perfect communication of love.  You are saying with your bodies, “I love you with all of my being.  But when Contraception is used you communicate a lie in the language of the body.  You say rather, “I love you with all of my being except that part that might make us parents. Not faithful: against God’s command; Not Fruitful: not cooperating with God’s creative power.  Missing opportunity to love a child into existence.

So then what?  Is there nothing we can do then to manage our family?  YES there is.  There is a better way that is healthier, holier and more successful and we have experts in our own parish who’d love to help.

If we would rather listen to these “enlightened” voices, we may as well take our Bibles and throw them in the trash.  This (hold Bible up) is the only “enlightened” voice that matters, and He is clear about what our response should be.

Bruce:

Tend to your flock or they will stray

We'll be called for our service come Judgment Day

Before we cross that river wide

Blood on our hands will come back on us twice

The measure with which we measure will be measured back to us.  When we meet our Lord and he asks us for an accounting of our life, how will we respond?  If we have found that we are traveling on that rocky ground, do we have the courage to turn around and come back to our divine companion who so desperately wants to walk with us down a more righteous path?

Folks, the temple that is the MB of Christ, the Church is indeed in need of cleansing.  May we be courageous enough to begin that cleansing now with our prayer and action.