ElephantS in the Sacristy

4th Sunday of Lent (3/31/19) (audio) (signed homily)

• Made for Love (MUR e-news) April 2019 
• "Regular churchgoers have known for a while now that Mass attendance is not what it used to be....Not so well known to Catholics are the steep falloffs in infant baptisms, weddings, and funerals....estimates are that church weddings are off by two-thirds in heavily Catholic areas compared with only thirty years ago.....One thing The Official Catholic Directory will not be able to tell you is the massive decline in sacramental confessions. For that, you will have to show up in your parish church at the regularly scheduled period for celebrating the Sacrament of Penance.... The problem we need to face up to, pastorally, is why so many Catholics choose to forsake sacramental celebration as a regular feature of Catholic life....As [per] then-Father Joseph Ratzinger..., 'Church and sacrament stand or fall together.' Right now, these two pillars of faith are not standing all that well" (Crisis Magazine, 3/28/19)
• Adultery and Homosexuality. The Two Vanished Words (LEspresso, 3/8/19) 
• "In a recent column, I introduced the concept of weaponized self-pity. I noted how often I’ve seen divorced parents become defensive when I talk about the impact of divorce on children....The priest who is publicly (and often very loudly in the secular media) identifying himself as gay resembles the divorced parents who cannot hear the children say that divorce has hurt them" (Jennifer Roback Morse, PhD, National Catholic Register, 2/27/19).
• "Church leaders, religious media personnel, and faithfully practicing older Catholics desperately need to go outside of the narrow circle of various Catholic media outlets to discover what tens of millions of Catholics, especially young adults, are really thinking about annulments....thousands of young adults hold such a low view of a sacramental church wedding that they are increasingly avoiding it altogether....overall there is a shocking lack of pastoral and parish support for those experiencing marital difficulties.... What Catholic marriages really need, especially in Europe and North America, is practical and effective assistance in healing hurting marriages in order to reduce the Catholic divorce rate" (Steve Wood, August 2014). 

• "There are days when everyone in the Church seems angry....Many of our people in the lukewarm middle are leaving the pews....ongoing cultural realignment will shake many of our Church institutions, from urban parishes, to schools, universities, hospitals, and other agencies – even seminaries" (Archbishop Chaput, 3/27/19)
• John Haas, PhD, and his National Catholic Bioethics Center have the USCCB's ear in promoting two positions which faithful Catholic physicians say have tragically wrong assumptions! Haas now doubles as the head of moral theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
• Emergency so-called contraception in Catholic hospitals - a position opposed by the Catholic Medical Association and the Catholic Pharmaceutical Association.
• Prominent voices very much disagree with John Haas' acceptance of so-called brain death criteria!

• Contact your senators and representative today and urge them to oppose the [so-called] Equality Act! (USCCB)
• "As of 3/13/19, Rep Brian Fitzpatrick is 1 of 2 Republicans nationwide (239 in total) leading an latest assault on religious freedom.  TEN REPs from PA and ELEVEN REPs from NJ are ACTUALLY CO-SPONSORS!  From Pa, Rep Fitzpatrick (R), is joined by Rep's Boyle (D), Cartwright (D), Dean (D), Doyle (D), Evans (D), Houlihan (D), Lamb (D), Scanlon (D), and Wild (D) in leading this assault on religious freedom. From NJ, Rep's Gottheimer (D), Kim (D), Malinowski (D), Norcross (D), Pallone (D), Pascrell (D), Payne (D), Sherill (D), Sires (D), Van Drew (D), and Watson Coleman (D) are leading the attack.  The Family Policy Alliance has set up a link to facilitate contacts to your own representative.

• Born-Alive Legislation Deserves a Vote in the People's House (HLA, 3/28/19) 

• Speak Up and Tell the USDA to Protect SNAP Recipients (USCCB)


• Contact your U.S. senators and representatives today and ask them to support the LIFT for Charities Act! (USCCB)

• Tell the Senate to Reject Religion Tests for Judicial Nominees (USCCB)

• Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (USCCB)

• Ask the Department of Homeland Security to Rescind the "Remain in Mexico" Policy and Support Asylum Seekers by Following Existing Law (USCCB)  
• The Mysteries of the Mandorla in the Our Lady of Guadalupe Icon (New Liturgical Movement, 3/19/19) 
• Mexican St. Patrick’s Day tribute (Angelus News, 3/16/19)

• Support the Born Alive Survivors Protection Act (HR 962) (NCHLA)

• I Cherish Life: I call on Congress to ban late term abortions when babies feel pain!(Family Policy Alliance,)
  

• Save the Hyde Amendment (March for Life Action)

• Stop Taxpayer Funding of Abortion (Click for Pa Pro Life Federation petition)

• Sign the Petition to Repeal the Abortion Law (NYS Catholic Conf)

• Please Urge Lawmakers to support an increase in the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference, 2/26/19)

• Please urge your [Pa] Representative or Senator to suppot or co-sponsor Down Syndrome Protection Legislation (Pa Catholic Conference, 2/13/19) 

• Please ask your State Representative to Co-Sponsor the "Heart-Beat Bill" proposed by Stephanie Borow (Pa Catholic Conference, 2/11/19)

• Urge your State Senator to co-sponsor Sen. Judy Ward's bill on Keystone Scholarship Program (Pa Catholic Conference, 2/8/19)

• Urge your lawmakers to support [Pa] House Bill 51 which helps individuals looking to receive nursing care (Pa Catholic Conference, 2/4/19)

• [Pa] Lawmakers want to take away our right to vote for judges (Pa Pro Life Federation, 1/28/19 email

• Contact Murphy to Oppose Assisted Suicide [i.e., A1504/S1072] (NJ Catholic Conference)

On the right side of the home page, you will find links to email Church leadership about "Catholic" health care, Bucks country representation in DC, Bucks County representation in Harrisburg, Central NJ representation in DC (some updates needed) and Central NJ in Trenton (as per most recent update from NJ Catholic Conference)