[Magdalen] No more attacks on Tim Kaine's faith | FaithfulAmerica

Tue Aug 2 14:57:00 UTC 2016

I am deeply sorry for your loss, and your experience.  I wonder if your
letter might be a good idea. It might cause someone to think about what
they are doing. Then again, one might guess that they don't care. Then
again, it might be that there's more to the full story.

Why does the RCC seem to have this incredibly impersonal feel? Don't they
follow Jesus? Don't they have any idea what Our Lord did in those hard
moments?

We were visiting the Long Island area and it happened that my relatives
lived there and attended a church, Blessed Mary, Help of Christians, so my
resourceful spouse ascertained that this parish is still there, and we
resolved to visit it. I've seen a lot of churches, and I certainly did not
expect what we found.

Mary, Help of Christians is a huge room which I suppose ought to be called
a nave, with stained glass windows (no details, no pictures, nothing). I
remember it as being like a factory. My wife remembers the linoleum floor.
It was not as if it was unused; there were a few people praying. But if
they wanted to make a nasty anti-RCC movie, and intentionally put together
a building designed to convey a complete lack of personality, they could
not have done better than this place.  I had to get out of there.

I recall Fr. Greeley often wrote of this trend in his church, and he
obviously thought it was just dreadful.

I read so much and hear so much of parishes with imported priests who do
not have a good command of the English language, and I wonder if those few
priests who actually have talent are stretched to the breaking point.

Still, I suppose the old men in the Vatican, looking at RCC as far as they
can see, just don't get it. Perhaps it is time for another reformation to
save the dying RCC from itself. Perhaps it is far too late.  Not too late
for God, of course -- just too late for this attempt...

I lost my Mom just a year and a half ago at 99.  For her it was a very much
overdo blessing, but it still hurts. Everything I am I literally owe to
her. And that is no hyperbole.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Mon, Aug 1, 2016 at 6:07 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com> wrote:

> along the lines of the RC being *mystifying*...
> The RC churches that have intersected my life in recent decades completely
> befuddle me....
>
> I attended 9am mass this morning because 2 months ago I received a formal
> 'Mass card' in the mail from "the Senior Friends" group at my mom's church,
> sent to me by one of the members of the group.  The mass card indicated
> that on this date, at 9am, the rector (who was too tied up to officiate at
> my mom's memorial) was going to be the celebrant, and the mass was being
> offered in my mom's memory, and had been dedicated so, on the card, by the
> Senior's group of which she was a member. I did not want to miss this
> especially because I knew the group had gone out of their way to do this
> for my mom, and I also thought it was nice that the rector was going to be
> the celebrant after he could not be at my mom's memorial service.
>
> Mass cards usually are given in the name of someone or in thanksgiving,
> and usually a monetary donation is included by the giver to the church or
> the clergy person who will say the mass. That is how I understood them from
> when my father died in 1975 and on several other occasions that touched my
> life in this manner since then.  I went to church today, and the only
> service was the 9am daily mass-as-usual. The rector no where in sight. My
> mom's name was in the prayers but without definition. I am in the process
> of getting over this.
>
> A month after my mom's memorial service I received a form letter in the
> mail from mom's church - the envelope was addressed to me, the salutation
> on the letter and the reference to my deceased family member were
> completely un-personalized. The letter was an invitation to participate, at
> no cost, in a 6 week long bereavement group.   I naturally thought that
> people at this church must be dying over there in droves for the level of
> distance and insensitivity I experienced with this invitation.
>
> I am keeping myself from writing a note to the rector telling him I
> missed him this morning..... : (
>
> Lynn, thankful instead for the caring religious communities and
> individuals that I have known and have in  my life.
>
> website: www.ichthysdesigns.com
>
> When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have not
> a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave me."
> attributed to Erma Bombeck
> "Either Freedom for all or stop talking about Freedom at all" from a talk
> by Richard Rohr
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "James Oppenheimer-Crawford" <oppenheimerjw at gmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, August 01, 2016 3:53 PM
> To: "Magdalen at herberthouse.org" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
> Subject: Re: [Magdalen] No more attacks on Tim Kaine's faith |
> FaithfulAmerica
>
> I wonder if they also were influenced by the fantasy that by being open and
>> accepting, they might erode their authority.
>>
>> Folks in the back ground pull the strings "If we do this, your authority
>> will be damaged." Hey, if The Holy Spirit has ever in fact given His
>> Holiness this Authority, then don't the faithful consider that maybe She's
>> able to take proper care of it, and all we have to do is accept?  Nah,
>> that
>> can't be right....
>>
>> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
>> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
>> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 1, 2016 at 11:44 AM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
>> magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>
>>> In a message dated 7/31/2016 11:54:53 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>>> oppenheimerjw at gmail.com writes:
>>>
>>> The  Vatican ignored the recommendations of its panel because they
>>> figured
>>> a
>>> rethinking -- no matter how justified -- would erode Papal  authority.
>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Rome is very good at this ignoring their own investigative panels.
>>> They did it twice in the matter of validity of Anglican Orders.
>>>
>>> Thus, on two occasions a RC panel set up to investigate Anglican
>>> Orders found the Anglicans to be valid but irregular.  On
>>> both occasions, the panel opinion was quietly buried away.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> David S.
>>>
>>>