As an adult, I made the mistake of reading the book The
Great Apostasy by James Talmage before I was sufficiently formed in the
Catholic faith. I began to view Scripture through “Mormon glasses” and was
closer to becoming Mormon than I should have been.
What saved me? A long story short: I happened to (by divine
Providence) come across a tape series by Scott Hahn titled “Finding Christ in
the Old Testament” and learned about a word I had never heard of — typology.
At a much later date, I asked Father Mitch Pacwa (seconds
before he was to begin Mass at our church) if he could think of any Catholic
dogmas not prefigured in the Old Testament. He said, “No.”
If God had taken his “chosen people” status from the
Israelites of the Old Testament and given it to another Old Testament people,
it would have pre-figured what the LDS teach about the apostasy and
restoration. Net result: I’d probably be Mormon today.
I began to consider what the Catholic Church taught. I
discovered it was all pre-figured in the Old Testament, from Mary being Queen
of Heaven and Co-Redemptrix to the sacraments. I also discovered what was
missing from the Old Testament: the basic Mormon teachings, especially the “apostasy
and restoration.”
An interesting side note: One of the Reformation’s
foundational teachings is sola scriptura (Bible alone). That is also
interestingly missing from the Old Testament.
As the LDS missionaries came by my house dozens of times, I
asked many questions and discovered that artificial contraception is okay;
abortion, although counseled against, is acceptable; a temple-sealed marriage
“for time and for eternity” can be unsealed. This allows for divorce and
remarriage, which is contrary to Jesus’ teachings. The communion service of the
LDS is called their sacrament. The bread is blessed and becomes holy. It
imparts a blessing to those who partake of it. After the service, the left over
sacrament bread is thrown out into the common garbage. Joseph Smith corrected
the “errors” in the Bible, yet the LDS use the (heretical?) KJV of the Bible
even though it is filled with errors.
Joe Marincel
Flower Mound, Texas
Candidate Stood Out
Your Jan. 6 issue containing a short article, “Primary
Looms,” resonated with me. Bishop John McCormack of Manchester, N.H., was
quoted as stating, “in order to sustain a healthy democracy, all citizens have
an obligation to vote.”
In the Jan. 5 televised debates from St. Anselm College in
Manchester, N.H., Mike Huckabee stood out as the one presidential hopeful who
mentioned “sanctity of life.” When asked what principles would guide him as
president, he quoted the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to
be self-evident, that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life ...”
Dorothy Boyle
Bristol, Connecticut
Zero-Population Bomb
I was surprised to see that you bothered to print the letter
“Population and Nature” (Dec. 23) that was repeating 50-year-old false
“Population Bomb” scare tactics.
With Europe and Russia facing social and financial collapse
due to their birth rate that, at 1.3 per woman, will cause them to lose
one-third of their population every generation, to worry about overpopulation
is ridiculous.
Who will support all the old folks till they die is the
question.
America is on the edge. Minorities have largely helped to
increase the rate to 2.1 children per woman, when 2.2 is needed to break even.
Muslims, with their strong religious beliefs, are at 5.6 but falling. Japan’s
economy is in a permanent decline due to its low birthrate (especially as they
abort 17% more girls than boys). China’s forced one-child policy will end its
great rise in one generation.
What was even more surprising to me that his letter was
followed by an editor’s note, not pointing out the above statistics that are
now common knowledge, but saying that all those people could fit in Alaska.
Roland de Marcellus
Piedmont Triad, North
Carolina
Divine Mercy Update
I am writing in reference to the interview of me, “Divine
Mercy Devotee” by Patrick Novecosky, which appeared in the Feb. 10-16 edition
of your paper.
First of all, I wish to thank both you and Mr. Novecosky for
the opportunity that you gave me to share about the first-ever World Apostolic
Congress on Mercy, which will be held in Rome on April 2-6.
I believe it is a very important event in the life of the
Church. It will be followed up by national and regional congresses on mercy in
2009-2010 — including a U.S. Mercy Congress.
I did want to share an update on the Holy Father Pope
Benedict XVI’s participation in the World Congress on Mercy. On April 2, the
opening day of the World Congress, Pope Benedict will celebrate Mass in St.
Peter’s Square to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of Pope John
Paul II and open the congress. The Mass will honor the legacy of John Paul II,
who worked tirelessly to promote the message of Divine Mercy during his
pontificate.
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the archbishop of Vienna,
Austria, will celebrate the concluding Mass on Sunday, April 6. Pope Benedict
will then close the world congress in St. Peter’s Square with his Regina Caeli
message.
Let’s pray that through the World Congress on Mercy and then
the national and regional congresses that will follow, the message of God’s
mercy will spread as never before in the Church and in our world.
Father Kazimierz
Chwalek, MIC
Marians of the
Immaculate Conception
Stockbridge,
Massachusetts
Dancing With Death
Relevant to “Massive Protest” (Feb. 3):
The words of the old song tell us, “New York, New York, A
Helluva Town,” but if Gov. Spitzer has his way, maybe a different quotation
will become more appropriate.
Can you say, “Going to hell in a handbasket?”
There is a strong likelihood, that since it is now
acknowledged by many experts in the legal profession to be “bad law,” Roe v.
Wade will be overturned in the foreseeable future. It was decided upon through
erroneous reasoning, based on the so-called “right to privacy,” which was not
even mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.
The Supreme Court justices also based this ruling on their
conclusion that there was no proof in existence of when human life begins.
Modern science and technology (i.e., sonograms and intrauterine photography)
now refute this conclusion.
When Roe v. Wade is overturned, “abortion rights” will be
decided by each individual state. Some states are already preparing to abolish
legal abortion within their boundaries when Roe v. Wade is abolished.
In New York, the opposite is occurring. Spitzer apparently
wants New York to once again become the abortion capital it was before Roe v.
Wade. Spitzer is proposing Bill 16 (S.5829), the “Reproductive Health and
Privacy Act,” which provides for:
• the right of non-physicians to perform abortions
(jeopardizing women’s lives),
• allowing abortions for minor girls without parental
consent,
• requiring doctors and hospitals (even Catholic facilities)
to perform abortions despite objections on religion- or conscience-related
ground, and
•requiring even faith-based insurance companies to provide
abortion coverage.
Mayor Bloomberg also strongly supports legal abortion,
requiring New York City’s teaching hospitals to teach streamlined abortion
procedures.
This “Dynamic Duo of Death” seems to have forgotten the
message of 9/11, about how precious and sacred human life is, and the biblical
admonition to “Choose Life.”
Those who believe in the culture of life truly have an
uphill battle to fight. Get involved. Demand that your representatives vote
against Spitzer’s culture-of-death legislation.
Edwina and Gene
Cosgriffs
Staten Island, New
York
Suffering Mexico
I was encouraged to read in the Feb. 17 issue your
article “Mexican Bishops: NAFTA Is Leading to Country’s Cultural Death.”
I recently spent a weekend in Juarez, Mexico, experiencing
up-close the cultural and economic dynamics of the border region. I was
shocked to find that even when both parents and several children work full-time
in foreign-owned factories, they still struggle to obtain sufficient food and
shelter, let alone education and time for cultural growth.
The factories so blatantly consider their workers as mere
extensions of machinery that many force women to take birth control and fire
them if they get pregnant.
Overcrowded, violent, immigrant-producing Juarez will
continue to worsen if southern Mexican farmers cannot make a living from their
crops, which flounder unprotected against subsidized U.S. agribusiness.
The immigration debate in the United States is incomplete if
it ignores the tenuous condition of countless Mexican farmers and workers,
conditions often induced by our own trade policies.
I hope that the Mexican bishops find U.S. Catholic
legislators willing to put the needs of their suffering Mexican brethren ahead
of large corporations’ profit when renegotiating trade treaties.
Bethany Musser
Denver, Colorado
True Happiness
In Father Dwight Longenecker’s article “The Tale of 2
Churches” (Feb. 10), he aptly describes the two opposing views as “happy here”
and “happy hereafter.”
He attributes the former philosophy to the adoption of the
“pursuit of happiness” as the overarching goal in life. Such a shallow, myopic
outlook is surely doomed to failure. He wisely declares that what is needed is
“a supernatural transaction between God and mankind.”
Simply stated, to find true “happiness,” we must be at peace with God.
As St. Augustine put it, “Our hearts are restless, Lord,
until they rest in you.” Jesus made this clear when he said, “My peace I give
to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you” (John 14:27).
How can we describe God’s peace?
St. Paul tells us, “The peace of God surpasses all
understanding” (Philippians 4:7). It’s sad to know that some choose ephemeral
happiness while on earth over the transcendent joy which comes from being at
peace with God.
Joseph Markey
Sandy Hook,
Connecticut
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