Bill O’Reilly, losing your religion?

"Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." Mark 8:32-33. Jesus said this to His Rock, His foundation of His Church, Peter. This extremely harsh statement came shortly after Peter correctly stated that Jesus was the Messiah, but, more importantly, after “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him” about God’s Will and His coming Passion.

Bill O’Reilly’s article, “Losing Your Religion” rebukes the Church and the Archbishops when he states the following:

“After Caroline Kennedy's speech, not one American Catholic leader publicly criticized her. There was complete silence from the Archbishops. Given a huge opportunity to explain why all life should be considered sacred and why Ms. Kennedy is misguided to say the least, the clerics passed. Call it the silence of the lambs.

It was obvious at the Democratic convention that President Obama and the Democratic Party are extremely bullish on "reproductive rights" and are using the issue to promote a fabricated "war on women" by the Republican Party. In response, the GOP has little to offer. It fears being branded "anti-woman."

But theologians don't have to run for office or curry favor with any group. They supposedly have a moral obligation to define their beliefs and stand up for what they consider God's will.

Abortion eliminates life. That's what the procedure does. Human DNA is present upon conception. If the Catholic Church believes that abortion is against what God intended, then it should be just as adamant about stating its case as Caroline Kennedy is about stating hers.

It is not.”

Wow, Bill!! “It is not”? Who lost it here? You could not be more wrong.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan appeared to give the closing prayer at the RNC & DNC. The prayer is as follows:

With a “firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence,” let us close this convention by praying for this land that we so cherish and love:

Let us Pray.

Almighty God, father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, revealed to us so powerfully in your Son, Jesus Christ, we thank you for showering your blessings upon this our beloved nation.  Bless all here present, and all across this great land, who work hard for the day when a greater portion of your justice, and a more ample measure of your care for the poor and suffering, may prevail in these United States.  Help us to see that a society’s greatness is found above all in the respect it shows for the weakest and neediest among us.

We beseech you, almighty God to shed your grace on this noble experiment in ordered liberty, which began with the confident assertion of inalienable rights bestowed upon us by you:  life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Thus do we praise you for the gift of life.  Grant us the courage to defend it, life, without which no other rights are secure.  We ask your benediction on those waiting to be born, that they may be welcomed and protected.  Strengthen our sick and our elders waiting to see your holy face at life’s end, that they may be accompanied by true compassion and cherished with the dignity due those who are infirm and fragile.

We praise and thank you for the gift of liberty.  May this land of the free never lack those brave enough to defend our basic freedoms.  Renew in all our people a profound respect for religious liberty:  the first, most cherished freedom bequeathed upon us at our Founding. May our liberty be in harmony with truth; freedom ordered in goodness and justice.  Help us live our freedom in faith, hope, and love.  Make us ever-grateful for those who, for over two centuries, have given their lives in freedom’s defense; we commend their noble souls to your eternal care, as even now we beg the protection of your mighty arm upon our men and women in uniform.

We praise and thank you for granting us the life and the liberty by which we can pursue happiness.  Show us anew that happiness is found only in respecting the laws of nature and of nature’s God.  Empower us with your grace so that we might resist the temptation to replace the moral law with idols of our own making, or to remake those institutions you have given us for the nurturing of life and community.  May we welcome those who yearn to breathe free and to pursue happiness in this land of freedom, adding their gifts to those whose families have lived here for centuries.

We praise and thank you for the American genius of government of the people, by the people and for the people.  Oh God of wisdom, justice, and might, we ask your guidance for those who govern us:  President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden, Congress, the Supreme Court, and all those, including Governor Mitt Romney and Congressman Paul Ryan, who seek to serve the common good by seeking public office.  Make them all worthy to serve you by serving our country.  Help them remember that the only just government is the government that serves its citizens rather than itself. With your grace, may all Americans choose wisely as we consider the future course of public policy.

And finally Lord, we beseech your benediction on all of us who depart from here this evening, and on all those, in every land, who yearn to conduct their lives in freedom and justice.  We beg you to remember, as we pledge to remember, those who are not free; those who suffer for freedom’s cause; those who are poor, out of work, needy, sick, or alone; those who are persecuted for their religious convictions, those still ravaged by war.

And most of all, God Almighty, we thank you for the great gift of our beloved country.

For we are indeed “one nation under God,” and “in God we trust.”

So dear God, bless America.  You who live and reign forever and ever.

Amen!

An extremely powerful, intelligent, thoughtful, etc. prayer supporting Life! Bill O’Reilly wishes as a man does. He wanted Cardinal Dolan to rip into the democrats and Caroline Kennedy. Calling herself a Catholic! How dare her!!??

As a representative, a Prince, of the Church, Cardinal Dolan handled the extremely delicate situation deftly. If he had acted like Bill O’Reilly wanted, Cardinal Dolan would have made himself and the Church the focus of attention at the DNC, and the election. A focus which would have further polarized the “politics” of the issue, rather than give people a powerful prayer worthy of deep reflection. I wonder if Mr. O’Reilly would have criticized Cardinal Dolan for trying to upstage the convention or to make the convention about the Cardinal, if he directly attacked Caroline Kennedy.

The Gospel calls the laity and the Church to be shepherds and go after that 1 lost sheep. “Catholics” who mistakenly think that they can be for abortion are lost in utter darkness. Does the Church slam the door on them, or go after those lost souls? I believe Cardinal Dolan chose to be the shepherd, rather than the butcher, when he offered the prayers at the convention. I think the Cardinal knows a bit better what God may want, rather than man’s desires.

In the past, I know the clergy has attempted to privately meet with and write the public “catholic” figure regarding the issue of abortion. We do not know if this was done privately with Caroline Kennedy. I would imagine that the Church would hold out hope that this lost sheep would repent and return. What I do know is that Catholic laity has the calling and obligation to become involved in the political discourse. I would refer you to an outstanding presentation by Cardinal Dolan at the 2012 Public Policy Convocation on 3/9/12 http://www.telecaretv.org/mediaPortal/player.dbml?catid=13308&id=853665 . All Catholic laity ought to take the time to watch this presentation. In short, the burdens of the Church ought not to be on the shoulders of the clergy alone. We have a moral obligation.

In Bill O’Reilly’s March 2012 interview with Cardinal Dolan, Cardinal Dolan explains that his duty is to describe the principles of the Church. http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/03/28/bill-oreilly-interviews-cardinal-timothy-dolan-believes-its-not-about-contraception-its-about-religious-freedom/

Making the point with a “personal” attack is not Cardinal Dolan’s role. Bill, do you want the catholic police to show up at Kennedy’s house? (How was that? Kind of like a “Factor” question?)

Unfortunately, the plank in my eye is as great as Mr. O’Reilly’s splinter. In my Catholic Church and the

Marxist Sword:

http://andrew1218.blogtownhall.com/2012/02/10/the_catholic_church_and_the_marxist_sword.thtml

I commit the same sin. We have to get beyond the notion that the Archbishops have an easy vocation. They have to be spiritual leaders, school & Church administrators, employers, fundraisers, teachers, great communicators etc, and be politically savvy. They deal with the worst of human suffering from the death of children to the struggles of the least among us. With these crushing burdens that would weaken the resolve of any man, they do their best to navigate the complexities of life and death, just so they may shepherd our souls to God & Jesus. We sit back on our couches watching football and, from a distance, while they are in a hospice or administering to a child dying from cancer, we set forth our criticisms and what we demand of them.

If you ever volunteered, you would know that it is always the same people in the community carrying the burdens of the many. The Catholic Church has been the greatest charitable institution in the world. In my lifetime, I remember Catholic hospitals and charities taking care of Aids patients, even when some in the gay community desecrated the Eucharist. Recently, when a secular organization was praised in a local paper for raising $15,000 for Haiti over a long period of time in a large county, my local Church did that on one Sunday without praise or news coverage.

I would respectfully ask Bill O’Reilly, the Kettle, to do a TV special on Catholic Charities and the great work that they do, and have Timothy Cardinal Dolan back on his program calling for the laity to get more involved in the Church. Since being the couch potato, I have in a small way tried to rectify my sin of inaction, and I hope I can be forgiven for my transgressions. I know Mr. O’Reilly is very charitable and maybe in the future he will call Cardinal Dolan about his concerns, or maybe listen to the prayers of his Church a little closer, before someone incorrectly says that he lost his religion, which is not the case. Sometimes, we just have to pay better attention.

Thank you for your time.

Yours in Christ,

The Pot