First I'll let you read one homily and/or watch another, then I'll add my own comments.
This was sent in an email as a PDF attachment. I don't know who the priest is or where he is from (if you prefer to only watch a video, scroll down to the blue text):
"29th Sunday Ordinary Time:
As I was laying on the floor in the Cathedral of our Diocese, I asked
Jesus Christ, literally moments before I was ordained a Catholic priest of
Jesus Christ, 'Please give me the strength to be a good, holy priest. Please
help me through every Cross I will encounter.'
In doing so, it means that as a priest one is always compassionate and
always merciful, just as our Heavenly Father is. This also demands that a
priest says the cold-hard truth when necessary, so that is what I am about to
do.
Our Savior Jesus Christ says from today's Gospel, 'When the Son of
Man comes, will he find faith on earth?' Wow! Will He? Today?
We are now less than one month away from voting for our next
president of the United States. As Catholics, it is our civic duty to vote, AND
at the same time, to practice our Catholic Faith when we vote.
As the Catholic Church teaches, we need to have an informed
conscience to help direct us how it is we are to vote, and voting in a way that
is in accord with our Catholic Faith.
There are issues to vote on that are subject to the prudential judgment
of Catholics. This means Catholics do not have to agree on the issues being
voted upon. These include the economy, healthcare, and yes even
immigration.
There are issues, however, which relate to intrinsic evils. Intrinsically
evil acts are acts that are evil at the object, meaning, what it is that a person
is hoping to achieve. Intrinsically evil acts can NEVER at any time, at any
circumstance be endorsed, enabled, or even promoted by a faithful Catholic.
Thanks be to God neither candidate is wanting to legalize an intrinsic
evil, at least on the surface, such as making it legal for one to murder their
neighbor, whether they are white, black, or Hispanic, simply because one
does not like them.
Now, out of the possible presidential candidates, we do have one who
wants to sanction the killing of whites, blacks, and Hispanics and in fact this
candidate wants to make it even more available, under a very specific
condition, which is this: As long as the white, black, or Hispanic person is in
the womb of their mother.
Yes, this particular candidate wants to kill babies in their mother's womb. Not only that, but this candidate is striving to increase the availability
of this killing, which we know as abortion. Additionally, this candidate, if
elected president, wants to make you and me pay for it with our tax dollars,
which has so far been illegal.
Now, this candidate does not use the word 'abortion.' Instead the
candidate uses words such as 'choice' or 'Women's Health' or
'reproductive rights' to make the reality of what each of these are, meaning
abortion, sound much more pleasant, maybe even nice, and probably good,
which abortion is not.
Abortion is what I referenced to earlier as an intrinsic evil. It is an
intrinsic evil because it is evil at its object, meaning there is nothing that can
make abortion somehow 'good.' Absolutely nothing. When a new life is
formed from the joining of the appropriate parts of the mother and father, a
new, brand new cell that has never existed before in either the mother or
father is formed.
This new cell, this fetus, this baby, this child's heart begins beating at
just three to four weeks after conception. Additionally, this child feels pain
after twenty weeks after conception. Did you know that, 'Over 88% of abortions occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy'
(http://www.womenscenter.com/abortion_stats.html). This means that in
2005, two hundred twenty seven thousand, four hundred and eighty abortions
were done to babies who had a heart
(http://www.womenscenter.com/abortion_stats.html).
Nothing except something that is alive feels pain, and nothing but a
living organism has a heart. If this heart does not belong to the mother, then it
must belong only to the this newly formed living organism that somehow is
forming within the mother, and that newly formed organism is a child.
Abortion is a horrific evil that is somehow looked upon as a possible
good. Think on these following words with regards to abortion, 'One may
not do evil so that good may result from it'(CCC 1756). If you are wondering
where those words came from, they certainly did not come from me. They
came from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, so that is your Catholic
Church speaking to you. 'One may not do evil, such as an abortion, so that a
good may result from it.'
God has told us vividly when He knows us from the prophet Jeremiah,
'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.' From that short phrase of Sacred Scripture, one realizes
that God considers that newly formed organism in the mother's womb to be a
person, a human being. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states,
'Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be
defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like
any other human being' (CCC 2274). Once again, those are not my words.
Those are the words of the Catholic Church.
Now, to take a breather, if one has had an abortion or who has been
somehow involved with one, do not think for one second that God does
not love you. As long as you go to the Sacrament of Confession and as long
as you are sincerely contrite, God the Father, Who is Mercy itself, will
lovingly embrace you back again into His undying love for you. God loves
you. Your God loves you. He knows that your pain is real, He knows that you
are so tired of carrying this excessive burden. Jesus Christ, your brother, He
is extending His hand out to you, inviting you into His peaceful gaze so that
you may find true peace again. The Holy Spirit is urging you, to allow the
power of the Cross overwhelm you in the Sacrament of Confession so that
you may realize that there is no sin that God cannot forgive. This God loves you so much that He died for you on that Cross 2,000 years ago. Why? So
that of all things, you...can...come...home.
Now, back to our 2016 election. This pro-abortion candidate wants to
expand the availability of abortion, and even make abortion available even
until the baby is fully formed and ready to be born.
If you do not know the candidate of whom I am referring, then you
need to find out before you vote, and so you can share the truth about
this presidential candidate with others that you meet at work, family
members, and friends. There is no room for excuses. This election is so
important because it really is a major turning point in our nation's history,
and the possible election results should frighten you as a Catholic.
Remember what Jesus said today from our Gospel? 'When the Son of
Man comes, will he find faith on earth?' That's such an interesting question
for Jesus to ask. Did you know that this same candidate who wants to expand
abortion wants to limit religious liberty even more? In other words, this same
candidate wants to make it very difficult for you to practice your Catholic
Faith, if not wipe it out altogether? And this is not just Catholics, but all
faiths that want to speak out against the evils that our government is condoning as a good, such as abortion.
So, now you all have the knowledge, if you did not beforehand. Some
of you may have a little research and Google searching to do to figure out
which candidate I'm referring to. Now you know that abortion is an
intrinsically evil act, and that nothing can make it good, which includes the
supporting, enabling, or promoting of abortion. Since you have this
knowledge now, and if you still vote for this particular candidate that will
undoubtedly expand abortion, because this candidate said they would, then
your eternal salvation is at great risk, especially if you come to receive our
Lord's Body and Blood in Holy Communion.
Why? Because if you are supporting abortion, especially by your vote
for a candidate who not only supports abortion but wants to expand abortion,
you are committing a mortal sin. According to the Catechism of the Catholic
Church, 'For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met.
Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed
with full knowledge and deliberate consent.' Now, abortion is grave
matter, which does include supporting a candidate who endorses abortion
and seeks to expand it. Full knowledge: as of now, from my preaching, you do have full knowledge about abortion and it being an intrinsic evil.
Deliberate Consent: You still support, by your personal choice, this
particular candidate, especially with your vote, given the full knowledge of
the intrinsic evil of abortion that this candidate supports.
So, if one is wanting to still vote for this particular candidate, given the
knowledge that you know have, then you will be committing a mortal sin,
and you should not go to Communion until you have sincerely, and I do
mean sincerely confess your sins in the Sacrament of Confession.
Please my friends, save your soul. You want to know why I am so
concerned about this election and pointing out this particular candidate's evil
agenda? It's because I want your soul to be saved. I can safely say that it is
the primary reason why I answered the call to the priesthood. I want your
souls to be clean of committing sins so that you may indeed go to heaven.
I am telling you these hard truths in this homily today because when we
all die, we will have to answer to God for our actions and inactions, whether
we voted for or against a candidate who clearly supports an intrinsic evil,
such as abortion. Not voting is also not the answer because that will only help
the pro-abortion candidate. Me personally, I want to see you in heaven. Simply put I want to see you in Heaven and not go to Hell. That is my
greatest fear for me as one of your priests.
St. Paul hits the nail on the head regarding this tough topic and this
election with regards to the candidate who wants to support abortion. Listen
to his words from our Second Reading, 'I charge you in the presence of God
and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his
appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it
is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all
patience and teaching.'
This homily, my friends, is me preaching the Gospel Message of Jesus
Christ. This is NOT convenient for me, just as Saint Paul said. More than
likely, I will have angered some people here, which is not my intent. My
intent is to spread the truths that Jesus Christ lived and died for, through the
living instrument that is His Church, the Catholic Church, Whom He founded
on the Rock of St. Peter. If you do not want to shake my hand once this Mass
is done, I will take no offense. If I am to receive any reprimands from anyone
because of this homily, then I will take it as a Cross for our God Whom I love
more than anyone else, and I will take it as a compliment and as a spiritual bullet...for my country.
If I as your priest do not tell you these truths that the Catholic Church,
the faith which you profess to believe in, then I am not doing my job as your
priest. I want you all to be happy, and the only way that you all will be happy
is if you live in the Truth, which is Jesus Christ. As this same Jesus Christ
said from St. John's Gospel, 'If you remain in my word, you will truly be my
disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free' (Jn.
8: 31-32). That is my job as your priest. True freedom is found within Truth
itself, and if you believe in this Truth, then you will indeed have found True
Happiness, which is in Jesus Christ.
May God bless you all, and I pray, please God, please bless America.
(The credit to the approach and some of the content of this homily [particularly pages 1-3, 5-6] is
accredited to Fr. John Lankeit, the Rector of The Cathedral of Saints Simon and Jude Cathedral in
Phoenix, Arizona of the Diocese of Phoenix. He preached his homily on the election (which I used
some of his content and approach in this homily) on October 2, 2016. The text for his homily on that
day, which I attribute some of my homily to, can be found here:
https://14031.sites.ecatholic.com/documents/2016/10/Homily%20OT%2027%20-%20October
%202%202016%20Year%20C.pdf
A link to the video of him giving his homily can be found here: https://tomperna.org/2016/10/."
And here is a link to the actual video of Fr. John Lankeit giving his own homily: https://youtu.be/881aDDE5qFY
Someone I respect once told me she didn't understand how a person could vote based on only one issue. I have been a one-issue voter for as long as I can remember, because to me, it has always been THE issue. Everything else stems from it. Our morals and values have sharply dropped, and I think it reflects back to our lack of respect for life. The same with our "I want it and I want it NOW" mentality. If we have no respect for life, we have respect for nothing. How can we accept responsibility for our actions if we don't accept responsibility for the most innocent of lives?
The Church has slowly been coming around the last several elections, although it's a shame it only focuses on pro-life issues during an election and the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. And although it may be too little, too late at this point with society's "me first" thinking, we have an obligation to make an attempt.
God bless,
Flo
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