Betrayal at Boston: The Ted Kennedy funeral

The following e-mail has been published by Father Brian Harrison, O.S.

I am sending this e-mail to all those on my list of contacts. Many of you will sympathize with what I have to say; some of you, however, may disagree strongly, particularly those who may be "pro-choice". ["Pro-choice" is the politically correct euphemism for "pro abortion" -- being in favour of killing unborn babies. ed]

Why, then, am I emailing even those of you for whom this message may be not only unsolicited but unwelcome - perhaps even offensive? Simply because, as a Roman Catholic priest, I feel a duty in conscience today to register...my emphatic dissent from a message that was projected around the nation and the globe this morning to millions of viewers and listeners by certain other members of the Roman Catholic clergy.

I refer to this morning's televised funeral Mass, celebrated in Boston's Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, for the recently deceased Senator Edward Moore Kennedy. It was a Mass I regard as a scandal comparable to, if not worse than, the scandal given several months ago when the nation's most prestigious "Catholic" university bestowed an honorary doctorate upon Barack Hussein Obama, the most pro-abortion and "pro-gay" president in U.S. history.

Why, you ask, should a Catholic priest raise such objections to a Catholic funeral for a Catholic legislator? Well, I am afraid this funeral was no ordinary Catholic funeral. For to those innumerable viewers and listeners of many religions (or none) who were aware of Sen. Kennedy's public, straightforward, radical, long-standing, and (as far as we know) unrepented defiance of his own Church's firm teaching about the duty of legislators to protect unborn human life and resist the miltant homosexual agenda, this morning's Mass, concelebrated by several priests, presided over Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, and adorned by a eulogy from the aforesaid U.S. President, effectively communicated a tacit but very clear message: the Church does not really take too seriously her own 'official' doctrines on these matters!

I feel impelled, therefore, to make known to anyone willing to read these lines that there are many other representatives of the Catholic Church, such as the undersigned, who take those doctrines very seriously indeed.

How would our Church leaders act if they really did take seriously an official Church position from which a prominent deceased Catholic had publicly dissented? To answer that question, we need only imagine a situation in which some well-known Catholic legislator had for years supported "across the board" the Church's social teaching in regard to human life, marriage, compassion toward the poor and underprivileged, etc., but had then, in old age, lapsed into supporting some ideological position that was strongly opposed not only by the Church, but also by the dominant Western elites in government, law, education, commerce and the media.

Suppose, for instance, that he had come to endorse white supremacism or holocaust denial. Now, when the moment for this Catholic legislator's funeral came, could we imagine for one moment that our cardinals, bishops and other leading clergy, mindful of this man's sterling and thoroughly orthodox contributions to the common good over so many years in Congress, would "compassionately" overlook his latter-day lapse into racism or antisemitism? Would they agree to give him a free pass in regard to this defect? Would they speak and act as if it were non-existent? Would they grant him a televised funeral Mass in a large basilica, presided over by a cardinal, in which he would be publicly eulogized by both family and public figures?

These questions really answer themselves. Of course none of that would occur! The local bishop might go as far as allow our hypothetical Catholic racist or antisemite a Church funeral, if it was known that (like Senator Kennedy) he had confessed sacramentally to a priest before death. However, the bishop would allow the use of church property for this funeral on the strict condition that only close personal family and friends would be admitted. All media transmission or even presence during the service itself would surely be forbidden.

It would, of course, be unnecessary for the bishop to ask his fellow bishops and other high Church dignitaries not to attend the service; for all of them, like the bishop himself, would already prefer to be anywhere else on earth than at the funeral of one who had lapsed so unspeakably from society's ruling canons of acceptable behavior.

Yes, society's canons. There, I am afraid, lies the difference between our two scenarios. Is it that official Catholic doctrine is incomparably more opposed to racism and antisemitism than it is to abortion and sodomy (as a visitor from Mars might suppose on observing the radically divergent reactions of our bishops to the two respective ex-politicians)? Not at all.

The big difference is simply that most members of the Catholic hierarchy in Western society today -- and there are of course a number of honorable exceptions -- are lacking in prophetic courage. They are ready and eager to take vigorous and resolute public disciplinary action only against those deviations from Church teaching which also happen to be excoriated by the cultural and media elites.

But if it is our prelates themselves who will be excoriated by those elites -- as would certainly have occurred had they required for Ted Kennedy's funeral the kind of severe restraint we envisaged above for that of our hypothetical bigot -- then all eagerness for just discipline will evaporate as fast as dew in the morning sun.

"Pastoral compassion", "forgiveness", "tolerant respect" and "Christian charity" will now be instantly invoked as reasons for cloaking in total silence the public enormities committed decade after decade by an ecclesially heterodox but socially orthodox legislator.

So it was, in this morning's funeral Mass, that the homilist, Fr. Mark Hession (pastor of Kennedy's Cape Cod parish), made his sermon a eulogy about what a wonderful Catholic Christian Ted was, assuring us that we could be "confident" that he is already with Jesus in glory. So it was that the principal celebrant, Fr. Donald Monan, S.J., Chancellor of Boston College, not only repeatedly told those present, and the whole watching world, that Sen. Kennedy was a man of "faith and prayer", with a deep devotion to the Eucharist, but also assured us that this "faith and prayer" in private was precisely what inspired and motivated his public policies, so that there was (surprise, surprise) a real integration and unity between his private and public life!

Well, a lot of us didn't quite manage to see any private-public unity based on Roman Catholic principles. On the contrary, Kennedy's huge political influence, based on both the family's prestige and the personal dyamism of this "Lion of the Senate", if anything made his U-turn on abortion (yes, he was pro-life in his younger days) an even more scandalous counter-witness: a sign of conflict, not union, with that Church to which he professed loyalty.

Here are two comments I have just lifted off a Catholic blog:
1. "There's this big, 'What if?'" said Catholic author Michael Sean Winters. "If Ted Kennedy had stuck to his pro-life position, would both the (Democratic) party and the country have embraced the abortion on demand policies that we have now? I don't think so."
2. "Russell Shaw, former spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that when Kennedy defied the church on issues such as abortion and later, gay marriage, he reinforced a corrosive belief among Catholics that they can simply ignore teachings they don't agree with."

I myself remember several years ago a conversation with a young woman who had been brought up Catholic but had recently been "born again" as an Evangelical Protestant. One of the arguments she threw at me was, "Even your Church leaders don't really believe what Catholics are supposed to believe. Why don't they excommunicate Ted Kennedy? He's blatantly, 100% pro-choice! Yet they do nothing!"

What could I say to her? And what can I say now, after today's public scandal? That young lady's complaint was simply that this man remained a Catholic in good standing. I find I must now complain to you of something worse. Before the whole world this morning, my fellow Catholic clerics in Boston did not just accord him the "good standing" of a normal, flawed Catholic whose soul we can hope is in Purgatory. Rather, clad in triumphant white vestments instead of penitential violet (never mind the traditional black!), they have placed him on a pedestal, granting him an unofficial "instant canonization"!

The Church's teaching is already abundantly clear that all this is very wrong. So perhaps we can legitimately discern the hand of God's Providence, which rules all things, in a 'coincidence' that suggests a manifestation of God's grave displeasure at this kind of mockery -- injustice masquerading as "pastoral charity".

In our liturgy, Sunday has begun as I write at the hour of Vespers on Saturday. But the earlier part of this day, August 29, including the time of the Kennedy funeral, was observed by Catholics round the world as the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. In normal Masses celebrated today, the biblical account of his martyrdom was read (Mark 6: 17-29.)

The parallels are striking: (a) We see two powerful civil authorities; (b) both of them flip-flop in a morally bad direction (Herod originally respected and defended John, and Kennedy originally respected and defended the unborn; (c) both of them abuse their power by authorizing the shedding of innocent blood; and (d) both of them do so under peer-group pressure and at the behest of unrighteous women (then, Herod's guests, his wife and her daughter; now, the radical feminists and their fellow travellers).

As if that were not enough, the longest Scripture reading in today's liturgy also grabs our attention. It is prescribed not for the Feast of John the Baptist, but independently, for the Saturday of Week 21, in the Office of Readings. This is a part of the daily 'Liturgy of the Hours' which is required spiritual reading for us Roman Rite clerics. And today's reading just happens to be Jeremiah 7: 1-20, in which the prophet vigorously denounces -- guess what? -- the hypocrisy of Israel's religious leaders who proudly identify with the temple and the rites they celebrate within it, while at the same time they are living unrighteously (including "shedding innocent blood", v. 6) and even "pouring out libations to strange gods" (v. 18). God therefore warns, "my anger and my wrath will pour out upon this place" (v. 20).

Orthodox Catholics will surely ask whether God can be any less angered now by those clerics who today carried out temple rites giving undeserved honor to a legislator who for decade after decade poured out the 'libations' of his eloquence, influence and Senate votes in the service the 'false gods' of Planned Parenthood and NARAL -which regularly rewarded him with 100% ratings for his 'pro-choice' record.

Enough. If, in your charity, you pray for God to be merciful to the soul of Edward Moore Kennedy, please pray for all of us Catholic priests as well -- and be cognizant of the fact that some of us are profoundly indignant at what we saw our brethren doing today.

Sincerely,
Father Brian Harrison, O.S.
Oblates of Wisdom Study Center,
St. Louis, Missouri

That's when the fight started

Walt doesn't feel angry about anything today. Must be the weather. So, thanks to Agent 61 for the following...

While we were in bed, my wife and I were watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire while we were in bed.I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have sex?"
"No," she answered.
Then I said, "Is that your final answer?"
She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying "Yes."
So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."
And that's when the fight started....

I asked my wife, "Where do you want to go for our anniversary?"
It warmed my heart to see her face melt in sweet appreciation."Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said.
So I suggested, "How about the kitchen?"
And that's when the fight started....

Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, grabbed the dog, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the truck, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing at least 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and heard that the weather would be bad all day.
I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible."
My loving wife of 10 years replied, "Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"
And that's when the fight started....

A man and a woman were asleep like two innocent babies. Suddenly, at 3 o'clock in the morning, a loud noise came from outside. The woman, bewildered, jumped up from the bed and yelled at the man "Shit! That must be my husband!"
So the man, scared and naked, jumped out of bed, and out the window. He smashed himself on the ground, ran through a rose bush and to his car as fast as he could go. A few minutes later he returned and went up to the bedroom and screamed at the woman, "I AM your husband!"
The woman yelled back, "Yeah? Then why were you running?"
And that's when the fight started....

I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Coors Light for $24.95. Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95. I told her the beer would make her look better at night than the cold cream.
And that's when the fight started....

A woman was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. She was not happy with what she saw and said to her husband, "I feel horrible. I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment."
The husband replied, "Your eyesight's damn near perfect."
And that's when the fight started....

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. My wife asked, "Do you know her?''
"Yes," I sighed. "She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since."
"Really!" said my wife. "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?"
And that's when the fight started....

After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's licence to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later. The woman said, "Unbutton your shirt."
So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, "That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me" and she processed my Social Security application.
When I got home, I told my wife about my experience. She said, "You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too."
And that's when the fight started....

The year of no summer; the summer of no politics

The Canadian political scene this summer has been as quiet as Walt can ever remember. It's as if all the rain (in the Ottawa area) has dampened everyone's spirits along with their clothes.

"Call me Steve" Harper went on a tour of the Arctic. "Let me drive the boat! Let me fly the chopper!" After securing Canada's Great White North, he turned his attention to the Senate, appointing another nine hacks, flacks and cronies to sit with Mike Puffy on the government side. (Is it true that the Duffster has a double-wide chair?)

As for the Liberals, their "war room" looks like the Marie Celeste. Everyone, up to and including the Iggster, has apparently taken the summer off.

This week they trotted out El Hacko Supremo, David Smith (one of the masterminds behind the great victories of John Turner, Paul Martin and "Call me Stephane" Dion) to say the Grits are in no hurry to force an election. You damn betcha!

The Liberal war chest is still closer to empty than full and in many ridings, including Walt's, the Grits can't even find a credible candidate. By the way, Walt lives in Ontario -- not Toronto, but the real Ontario -- where the next federal election will be won or lost.

Walt's prediction: December 31st will see Harpoon still in office, thanks to the fecklessness of the gutless Grits. You read it here first.

Perils of a Baptist upbringing

Thanks to Agent 71 for this one...

As I walked down the busy sidewalk with my wife, knowing I was late for church, my eye fell upon one of those unfortunate, ragged vagabonds that are found in every city these days. Some people turned to stare.

Others quickly looked away as if the sight would somehow contaminate them.Recalling my old pastor, Brother Mike, who always admonished me to "care for the sick, feed the hungry and clothe the naked," I was moved by some powerful inner urge to reach out to this unfortunate person.

Wearing what can only be described as rags, carrying her treasured worldly possessions in two plastic bags, my heart was touched by this person's condition.Yes, where some people saw only rags, I saw a true, hidden beauty.A small voice inside my head called out, "Reach out, reach out and touch this person!"

So I did.

I won't be in church this week.

CBC Toronto: voice of the ghetto?

Walt listens to CBC Radio. For readers outside of Canada, CBC is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (sometimes referred to as the Canadian Broadcorping Castration), the government-owned public broadcaster. CBC's Radio One has a number of excellent news and current affairs programs -- As It Happens, The House, The Current -- some of which are picked up by NPR or models for NPR programs.

Since the CBC network stretches over six time zones, from coast to coast to coast -- A mari usque ad mare and all that -- it naturally has local programming suitable to the differing needs of audiences in Toronto and "the regions".

The top programs on Toronto's "flagship station" are Metro Morning (the wake-up show) and Here and Now (the drive-home show). Both programs feature affable hosts, friendly on-air personalities and lots of news and chatter.

In recent years, though, in the CBC's eternal quest to be all things to all people, they've started to include bits of "music" in what used to be an all-talk format. And since CBC Toronto panders shamelessly to its "vizmin" audience (both of them), the so-called "music" is mostly what I would call "ghetto pop". If it's not black African, then it's black American, or African-American (the ultimate oxymoron). Every now and then, for a change, we get some salsa or other Latin-American sounds.

Walt is sick, sore and tired of it! If we must have music (why?), then how about some music for the rest of us? How about some chansons canadiennes? Or down-east fiddling? Or country? Or, if we must "sing with many voices", how about some μπουζούκι? Or a polka or Гопак? Or a tarantella or a Bollywood number or something in Chinese? Anything but this endless stream of "ghetto music" -- another oxymoron!

Memo to Susan Marjetti, Regional Director of CBC Radio: You have listeners outside Toronto's black and Latino ghettos! "Multiculturalism" includes our cultures too!

Susan Marjetti's phone number is 416-205-5791. To send her an e-mail, follow the link on this page.

Follow-up: Reform of the reform

A survey conducted by Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate has found that American Catholics with an opinion on the subject favour the availability of the "extraordinary form of the Mass" -- i.e. the Tridentine Latin Mass -- by a two to one margin.

When asked “Do you favor as an alternative to the newer Mass, bringing back the older Latin Tridentine Mass for those who would prefer this option?” 25% favor the option, 12% oppose it.

Significantly, 63% had no opinion. Apparently nearly two-thirds of American Catholics don't care which form of Holy Mass is used. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that, since the introduction of the "ecumenical" Novus Ordo (NO) mass following Vatican II, the majority of Catholics no longer regularly attend mass on Sundays and Holy Days.

Whether a return to the traditional Latin Mass, or a reform of the NO mass would reverse this terrible trend remains to be seen.

The priest's calling card

A newly-ordained priest assigned to a large suburban parish was told by the pastor that he'd better get out and visit some of the parishioners, since the pastor was way behind in that aspect of his ministry.

At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to the curate's repeated knocks at the door. So he took out a business card, wrote 'Apocalypse 3:20' on the back and stuck it in the door.

When the offering was processed after Mass the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, 'Genesis 3:10.' Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter.

Apocalypse 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the gate and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard thy voice...and I was afraid because I was naked."

Thanks to Agent 46 for this. Proverbs 17:22