Homily Response to the Mandate

This is a lesson in preaching the truth.

     Now, I'm not a political guru and I never claim to be the smartest man in the room, but I do see the obvious. I think most of us see the obvious. What is happening right now is wrong and we need to get fired up about it. There should be some righteous anger, but before we go activist let's all remember Matthew 5:44: "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

     Make no mistake the Church is being persecuted, but our first action in response to this needs to be to pray for those attempting to impose so blatantly on our liberties. Love is always our goal but hate and/or sin can never be a means.

     With that said, I just want to put an excerpt from an awesome blog called Bad Catholic and this is directed at Protestants. This doesn't just impose on our rights as Catholics, but it tramples upon all Christian beliefs, at least according to the founders of the first few Protestant denominations. These are a few possible responses to the biblical argument that contraception is wrong.

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A) But Jesus changed all that!


Really, where in the Bible does he take back this particular divine action? The Early Church certainly couldn’t tell:


“Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted” (A.D. 195, Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor of Children 2:10:91:2).


“…on account of their prominent ancestry and great property, the so-called faithful [certain Christian women who had affairs with male servants] want no children from slaves or lowborn commoners, [so] they use drugs of sterility or bind themselves tightly in order to expel a fetus which has already been engendered” (A.D 255, Hippolytus of Rome, Refutation of All Heresies 9:12).


B) But the Early Church was all corrupted by Catholicism, Martin Luther reformed all that!


Actually, Martin Luther was much meaner about the whole contraception issue than any one I’ve read so far.


“[T]he exceedingly foul deed of Onan, the basest of wretches . . . is a most disgraceful sin. It is far more atrocious than incest and adultery. We call it unchastity, yes, a sodomitic sin. For Onan goes in to her; that is, he lies with her and copulates, and when it comes to the point of insemination, spills the semen, lest the woman conceive. Surely at such a time the order of nature established by God in procreation should be followed. Accordingly, it was a most disgraceful crime. . . . Consequently, he deserved to be killed by God. He committed an evil deed. Therefore, God punished him.” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 5, p.332)


C) But John Calvin–


Nope. “Deliberately avoiding the intercourse, so that the seed drops on the ground, is doubly horrible. For this means that one quenches the hope of his family…” (John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis.)


D) But John Wesley–


Stop that. “Those sins that dishonor the body are very displeasing to God, and the evidence of vile affections. Observe, the thing which he [Onan] did displeased the Lord—and it is to be feared; thousands, especially of single persons, by this very thing, still displease the Lord, and destroy their own souls.”


E) But some one –


No. Not one, single Protestant denomination before the 1930′s held that the use of artificial contraception was anything but sinful. May I ask, what on earth has changed, besides the fact that we now live in a culture that really, really wants birth control?


D) But I —


Precisely.

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Read Marc's whole article here. 

     You see. We're all in this together. We need to unite in prayer. Then unite in action. This is a scary situation so we can't afford to be divided on this anymore.