Unveiling the Light

When the Bush administration revealed that it was monitoring international phone calls for key words that could indicate a conspiracy to attack the United States, many people were upset and cried about our loss of privacy, freedom and the grab for power by the White House. Arguments that the conversations were only listened to by human hears if certain "hot phrases" came up did nothing to alleviate their fears. I felt the monitoring was necessary and reasonable but was very conscious of the dangers it opened us up to. But this writing is not about the issue of wire taps or monitoring of international calls.

My question is how come so many were upset about this security measure but these same critics are now silent when there is a real power grab, a real attack on freedom and a real loss of loss of privacy going on increasingly everyday in the current administration. This White House has taken over our largest industrial companies, has really taken over management of our largest banks, is about to launch a commission of "fair compensation" to dictate what salaries may be paid and is clearly using its political influence to favor its supporters such as the United Auto Workers. It has politicized the census and is using government funding of an organization proven to be corrupt in its registration practices as it funds ACORN with billions of our tax dollars.

The power grab seems to increase everyday and nobody seems worried and no cries are raised about loss of freedom or privacy. Indeed, the popular media seems to be in love with the idea of government controls, even when all evidence of history indicates that this can only come with a loss of freedom and privacy. The fact that things are moving in a political direction more to one's liking is no excuse to overlook thug tactics and dictator like moves that threaten the freedoms on which this nation is founded.

I for one am very worried about a government that has quadrupled the deficit in four months but which has shown no restraint in using its money to bailout favored businesses and unions and which is going about restraining and regulating closely those parts of the economy it has not taken a direct ownership of. The fact is that economics and freedom are tethered at the roots. If Uncle Sam controls your paycheck, mortgage and employment, then you have no freedom. You have traded it for the promise of security and that too will be lost as soon as Uncle Sam runs out of money.

One might wonder what all of this has to do with religion but the fact is that religion needs freedom to operate. Even in those countries where public religion is strictly regulated, the outside influence from free nations has restrained the oppression of religion by government. What happens when the once freest of nations itself takes on the task of restricting that freedom? This country is on that path and thus I fear the implications on all aspects of life. Our economic freedom is directly related to our political and religious freedom. The latter cannot exist without the former.

This nation was always strong because of the freedom we enjoyed. It was the freedom of independent thought, the freedom of political views, the freedom of religion and it all revolved around our economic freedom. The freedom to aspire to be more than we are, to support causes with surpluses we generate through our own worth and the freedom to speak out against and seek to overthrow our government through the ballot box. Take away the economic freedom and we are on the road to oppression that was once unthinkable for this nation. Add in some very undemocratic moves by this administration and the danger becomes palpable.

Many on the left are content because the economic machine is moving towards a socialist economy but I doubt that they have really thought out the end game. Many are even calling for the government to bailout failing newspapers. Others are calling for a return of the fairness doctrine. Are you really willing to give up the freedom you once said was under attack, simply because you like the way things are moving? Hitler was once very popular among the liberals of Germany ... until he decided they too were a threat. Don't give up your principle beliefs for the sake of short term gain. If you do, you may find the end results far less desirable then you hoped.

This weekend I was forced to read Jaime O’ Neill’s column. I usually avoid his opinions as I find them to be untenable and shallow but a few of my parishioners apparently read him to moderate their otherwise low blood pressure and called my attention to his column. I was not shocked, surprised or even scandalized by what he wrote. He writes from a biased point of view where he is his own best source of wisdom and I doubt he has formed a new opinion in decades. As for what Mr. O’Neill wrote about the Catholic Church; it reveals more about Mr. O’Neill, who seems to have scoured the world for ammunition against the Church, than it does about the world’s one billion Catholics.

Dear Mr. O’Neill:

As Catholics, we believe that in the Sacrament of Reconciliation we are able to confess our wrongs and repent against our actions, so as to receive the Mercy of God. We do so knowing that our confession will never be revealed. A priest cannot even bring up a confessed sin to the one who made the confession. This is not about knowing what someone does. It is about the seeking of Divine Mercy. The priest is the minister of the Sacrament but it is to God that we give our sins to seek His forgiveness. Quite frankly, your opinion of how we administer this Sacrament holds no water with us. It is not your forgiveness or mercy we seek nor that of society and we certainly do not rely on your judgment. We remain true to the faith handed down by Jesus Christ, even when the choice is unpopular

Yes Mr. O’Neill, what happened to the nine year old in Brazil is horrible but such horror does not cause the Church to change its stance against abortion. Two evils do not make a right. And yes, Mr. O’Neil, if the father repents and seeks forgiveness, the Church will grant it to him but it will also grant the same for the mother and daughter if they recognize and repent for the evil they participated in. That is the nature of the Sacrament of Reconciliation which is open to all sinners; even those who abuse others or who are involved in heinous crimes. The one exception is that priests are unable to forgive another priest for abuse of a child unless that abuse has been made public.

As much as we stand against it, even abortion is able to be forgiven in the Sacrament of Confession. The Church also runs Rachel’s Vineyard which offers healing to those who have had abortions in the past. We deal with that part of abortion the media won’t talk about; the long lasting negative effects an abortion has on those involved, especially the mother of the aborted child. Unlike the pro abortion crowd, we stand with those once potential mothers and fathers in their struggle to find God’s Grace and peace in their lives. The “Roe” of Roe versus Wade that gave us abortion rights is now a staunch Catholic and she is very much anti abortion. She has found her home in our Church.

We do not change our faith when some aspect of it becomes unpopular to society. Most Christian churches faced with a child having a baby or an abortion would have made the same hard choice. It is simply a fact that we love all human life and cannot condone discarding it for any reason, especially reasons of convenience. There was not an overly high risk in the case you spoke of and the damage that had been done by the father is now only doubled by the assent to abortion.

Your crack about pedophilia in the Church is a simple minded attack that lacks merit. You probably know that studies reveal pedophilia in the Church to have been a problem caused by less than one percent of priests, far less than is found in other organizations, religious or otherwise. How many of those organizations have taken the steps we have to prevent future occurrences? The National Institute of Ethics estimates that at least 3.7 percent of public teachers are involved in sexual abuse of students. I would love to see the results of a study of abuse by newspaper columnists. But these are facts and you seem to not be interested in the truth of matters.

You also failed to report that although Pope Benedict XVI held out reconciliation to the St. Pius X splinter group by bringing Bishop Williamson back into the Church, he clearly stated that the bishop’s views on the holocaust are unsustainable and against the views of the Church. But Pope Benedict XVI recognizes that individual bishops are allowed varying opinions on non-doctrinal matters. He also understands that the teaching authority of the Church lies within the Magisterium, the bishops together and united with the Pope. Bishop’s Williamson’s minimalist views on the Holocaust are outside of Church teachings and extreme when compared to other bishops but opinions in themselves are not sin, unless they are maintained by deliberate ignorance. Still, one bishop does not make the Magisterium. Also, you must know that infallibility in the Pope is true only in matters of faith. Whether the Pope’s decision was right or wrong, this was a matter of administration, not of faith.

The facts stand on their own merits! The largest non-government organization providing regular services for the poor is Catholic Relief Services, an entity of the U.S. bishops. It encompasses 1,700 member agencies and serves 7.5 million people of all faiths each year. The Catholic Church invented public education in its parish schools, formed the first universities and embraces responsible science. The Catholic Church gave the world its first hospitals. It is by far the largest charitable organization in the world. If you put the works of the parishes, bishops’ organizations and Vatican together, no other government or group of agencies gets even close to the help we provide for those in need. If you count our low paid or volunteer workers, other organizations aren’t even on the same playing field.

What really got you riled, Mr. O’Neil, is the Pope’s stand against homosexuality and birth control. You forget that although we stand against homosexuality and its influences on society, we stand with homosexuals in their suffering and have never referred to them as evil. Nor have we failed to minister to them however they come to us. No organization provides more help for AIDS victims in the U.S. or the world than the Catholic Church. 25% of all help to victims of AIDS comes from the Church but that is too radical of a fact for you to absorb; just as you are unable to absorb that prominent condom use has not slowed down AIDS while those African nations which have promoted chastity and abstinence have shown dramatic progress against the spread of this disease.
World Factbook (Central Intelligence Agency) shows that African nations with a high Catholic population have the lowest AIDS infection rate in Africa. This includes Burundi (62% Catholic, 6% infection), Angola (38% Catholic, 3.9% infection rate), Nigeria (50% Catholic, 50% Muslim, 5.4% AIDS rate) and Ghana (up to 33% Catholic and a 3.1 % infection rate.) This compares with countries like Botswana (only 5% Catholic, infection rate of 37.3%) and Swaziland (less than a fifth of the population Catholic and an infection rate of 38.8%). These are facts Mr. O’Neill, not biased opinions.

We treated women as equals when much of the world considered them property and our all male clergy, as dictated by scripture, does not mean that women don’t hold positions of esteem and leadership in the Church. My first pastor made sure I understood the value and power of our women religious, a lesson that was often repeated in the seminary. What about the primacy we hold for Mary, the Mother of God? She is venerated in all Catholic Churches and is recognized as the first Christian both in primacy of dedication to Jesus and in her continued role as model for us all. Our largest Catholic hospitals are run by women religious organizations, the local Sisters of Mercy being a prime example, and you will find both lay women and women religious in positions of authority throughout our diocese and in our parishes. .

You refer to the Church as being ‘criminally insane cloaked in silk and satin,’ a scandalous, unsupported charge ignoring facts and a way to insinuate that the Church is out for money when the truth is that its clergy, brothers, sisters, bishops and especially the Pope live sacrificial lives for the benefit of others, backed up by a host of lay employees and volunteers. The silk, satin and gold remain in the Church for the benefit of those who helped build it to the glory of God. The only rich religious or clergy you will find are those who inherited wealth from their family. Many take vows of poverty, and the “ignorant” clergy you speak of are usually the lowest paid among staff members while each studied five to seven years after college and each holds at least a masters degree, many having multiple degrees and some even doctorates. Much of our clergy comes from all walks of life and our diocese in particular enjoys a very multicultural clergy. Our seminary studies are widely cast because our faith is not hidden to the side but is to be part of who we are in the world. We bring our faith into the trenches. Who are you to call such dedication, education and experience ignorant?

We are the largest caregiver for unwed mothers. I helped to set one of these homes up in Placerville. It is a safe environment where a mother is helped to stay healthy and happy during her pregnancy and up to three months after the pregnancy. If she keeps the baby, they go home fully outfitted with everything from diapers to food, from carriages to car seats. We do not just give people food and medicine today. I have witnessed programs in Africa that help the locals to help themselves and stand on their own. We remind them of how much God loves them and bring them the hope that comes in Jesus Christ.

So Mr. O’Neill, I suspect that you will continue to hold the Church guilty of all the world’s sins while never looking at your own complacency in the sin of the world. That is okay. We heed the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:18. But while you use your pen to poison the well for those who seek to do good, we are out there in this messed up and needy world seeking to do something about the evil we see. We are a small parish in the Church of Sacramento but we do what we can. We may not be as eloquent as you in writing skills but I will put the good we do in the name of the Church against the work of your column any day.

Come by someday and I will give you a tour of our Table of Plenty program that, working out of what was once my rectory’s garage, each Friday supplements food for nearly 150 families, on its way to serving 175. Come to our Hot Lunch program on Wednesdays where we will serve even you and never demand payment. Sit in the office during public hours as St. Vincent de Paul reaches out to those of any faith who find themselves in temporary need or help our Reach Out efforts for parishioners. We don’t spend our days condemning others, spreading falsehoods or printing outrageous allegations. We are too busy bringing Christ into the world by our actions. This small parish in this community of which you think so little, has over forty ministries and nearly 250 active volunteers. We love our brothers and sisters on the Ridge and feel privileged to serve them, no matter their age, race, religion or even political view.

Talk to the families who receive coats, Christmas gifts, and food for home feasts at Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. (Our children and families will be handing out Easter baskets of food on April 7th). Look at the many diocesan and worldwide needs we support with our financial aid. Come attend a Mass where nobody will ask you who you are before you can enter. All are welcome here ... even you Mr. O’Neill. But please does some real research before you pick up that mighty pen. Maybe you will find that those who hold different beliefs than you are not necessarily evil, bigoted or ignorant. Look hard enough and you may find that you are simply accusing others so as to not look too hard at your own closely held beliefs. I wonder just who is the ignorant one in the matter?

God bless you Mr. O’Neill. May the Lord give you sight to see and ears to hear. Perhaps then you will cease to judge and begin to act on the injustices you claim are the fault of others. Perhaps you will find that like most sin, the seeds of the problem can be found in the soul of the beholder.

Yours in Christ,
Father Steven Foppiano
Pastor, St. Thomas More Catholic Church

Every wonder how socks can suddenly become lonesome singles? You start off with however many pairs of socks but over time you end up with a bunch of unpaired singles. Does the washing machine eat them? Does the dryer make them burn up into the atmosphere? Maybe they have little divorces and one packs up for Hawaii while the other tries to fulfill its dream, to find that other single sock which is a good match and willing to join it in become a pair.

I thought I had solved the problem. I went out and purchased small plastic clips. I figured that if I kept them together at all times and immediately clipped them together when I took them off and kept them clipped during the washing cycle, then how could they disappear? It actually worked for awhile but recently I started finding that single sock with no match to pair with! How did this happen?

I thought I had been negligent in my clipping duties and began to make double sure that socks were never left on their own, but the problem persisted. I became particularly upset when I found a sock still attached to its clip, but its partner was no where to be found. I had visions of this missing sock sneaking out of the clip at night so as to not wake its partner. It was probably on some Greyhound headed for southern California.

This mystery, however, has been solved. My socks have not been stealing away quietly in the night. They have, in fact been kidnapped by the sock fairy. I actually found five of them hidden in a secret location that, until now only the sock fairy knew about. This location is no longer a secret and her antics are to be severely curtailed. Yes, I know the sock fairy is a she and I can even describe her to you.

The sock fairy is about 9 inches tall and 18 inches long. She has perky ears, is light on all four of her feet, she wags a small nub of a tail and has twice the energy of that battery bunny on TV. Her name is Gracie and she is a little rat. Actually she is a rat terror err, rat terrier, who has taken to stealing my socks and absconding them through her doggy door and off to here secret hideaway in the yard.

Well, the gig is up and my socks will never fall prey to her again. I informed her that such behavior is not acceptable, along with things like having a pillow fight with herself and spreading stuffing all over the house, tearing wrappers into as many pieces as possible and spreading them as far as possible, destroying her dog bed and picking out choice fruit to peel at her leisure. I am sure she heard my scolding. I know because now when I enter a room she has torn apart, she immediately escapes out the doggy door before I even have a chance to say something.

Gracie is only 9 months old so I am patiently waiting for her to get older. Unfortunately she is fixed so I can’t get even by her having a litter of terrors err, terriers to watch over. On second thought, the idea of a whole litter of these demons sends shivers up my spine. She really is a great dog and I love her. I just hope she survives to adulthood. There are times that I wonder what terror stew would taste like. I wouldn’t do it but thinking of it somehow makes me feel better.

Every American should be afraid of what is happening in Washington. It is clear that this government is unable to understand the extent of the financial crisis and lacks the competence to gain control of institutions it is pumping trillions into. What’s worse is that they are not telling the truth of what happened and are instead seeking vengeance on American citizens, using all the power the government can bring to bear, without consideration if this is what our government should be doing. Do we want a government that can throw its anger at and destroy a small group of citizens? What if you someday fall into that category?

It is hard to stand up for those who received outrageous bonuses in return for staying with AIG, Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch and others who received government bailouts but we should ask if the U.S. government, the most powerful entity in the world, should turn its power against individual citizens. The idea of Congress passing a law that would tax 90% of one’s earnings, which with state taxes can easily equal more than 100%, because of an agreement they made with their employer, should send chills up one’s spine. Barney Frank is calling for their names to be made public while another senator actually said that we would find them with “pitchforks and torches”. Are we going to hang them or burn them at the stake? Is this a government you can trust?

What others will the government turn its wrath upon? Will it be gun companies? Oil Companies? What if the administration changes? What if the government turns on abortion clinics, churches, men’s groups, golf courses? Do we want a government that can destroy those citizens they find irritating? Such tactics are the same as deployed by Hitler’s brown shirts. Demonize a segment of society and bring not just the wrath of government against them but also the wrath of their fellow citizens. It was such thinking that brought about the persecution and murder of millions of Jews. It is such actions that bring about dictatorships and intolerance. It is always the method of despots to have a villain to hold everyone’s attention, especially to hide their own incompetence.

Let there be no mistake that the taking of excessive bonuses was fully known by Congress and the President when they voted for the Tarp bailout. Senator Chris Dobbs has now admitted that he put in the wording that allowed such agreements at the behalf of the Administration but won’t name the person that told him to do so. The list of people who gave up to $200,000 to Senator Dobb’s campaign and that of the President reads like a list of Financial Officers of Wall Street. This was a sweet heart deal that got exposed and once exposed, Congress and the President were quick to throw those employees to the dogs, or in this case, mob of outraged, pitch fork toting citizens.

Whatever is going on in Washington, this is not what was promised. We were promised a new tone and new competence. We have received neither and instead have measured incompetence in the Treasury Secretary and in Congress’s rush to vote in trillions of dollars of bailout funds at the urging of a President who now claims he knew nothing of these problems and that he inherited the mess. He forgets that during the campaign he went to Washington and chaired the meeting that led to the first bailout and that the largest happened under his watch. He also conveniently forgets that it is his administration who told Dobbs to write in legislation that allowed such bonuses.

Of all the sins of this Congress and Administration we should be most fearful of; it is the public lynching and turning of the power of the state upon fellow citizens. Surely some of these had rights to some compensation, even if that is more than what a Senator makes, and even if they were wrong, we all have the expectation that a contract will be honored and that the government won’t change the rules after an action has taken place. Yes, its hard to stand up for those who helped to make this mess but those most responsible for the mess are the one’s now throwing citizens to the wolves as Congress seeks to hold itself above the fray it caused. God help us if they realize they power they have grabbed and the unwillingness of us to stand up against it. Then we will all be in jeopardy of our lives, not just those scrap goats we have conveniently pointed out to us by those with real power.