Tired of foolishness

My desire for sleep has waged war with my desire to post something. Think of the two William Shatners in the priceline commercials, and you'll have a good idea on how it's playing out in my head.

Oh sleep. How you torture me! Fortunately, my desire for sleep doesn't torture me nearly enough as the stupidity I can find with a few keystrokes and a click of a mouse. For fun, let's type in the word Catholic into Google and see what we find.

Wow, that didn't take long.

The third link brings me to a blog written by some guy named Jon O'Brien, head of Fake Catholics For Choice. Really, there's a group called Catholics For Choice? Might as well start a Jews for Hitler group, as the two terms completely contradict each other. Or Smart Lakers fans.

Anyways, O'Brien tries to make the tired point that most Catholics in the country believe abortion should be legal, and that killing babies is fun! Sorry O'Brien, I didn't realize that objective truth was a matter of opinion. It may work on American Idol, but just because the majority of people in the U.S. might believe something (and I have serious doubts about the "majority" of Catholics believing abortion should be legal), doesn't mean we should throw out morality.

Yes, O'Brien apparently can be.

Then there's a school in New Haven, Connecticut who is removing the label "In The Year of Our Lord" from its diplomas. Why? Because one person complained.

The school district has removed the traditional phrase from high school diplomas after someone complained.

“It’s a religious thing,” Superintendent Reginald Mayo told the New Haven Register. “I’m surprised it took this long for someone to notice it. We certainly don’t want to offend anyone.”

Last year, former alderwoman Ina Silverman filed a complaint about “in the year of our Lord" when her daughter was a student at Wilbur Cross High School. According to the newspaper, Silverman took her concerns to the mayor, who then asked the superintendent to remove the words.

Wow, I had no idea that would have worked in high school. I wish I would have complained about math or something like that. Trigonometry offends me! Let's stop doing this because it infringes on my religious beliefs! All those numbers are too liberal!

Seriously, we do things because one person got upset? What about the other people who are offended that the language isn't there? Do we not count, or were we just not the first in the tattling line?

Let's end the night on something positive, shall we? A few weeks ago at the Huffington Post, the Rev. James Martin had a blog entry entitled "Sexual Abuse and the Sacred Heart of Jesus." With all the hammering The Church takes nowadays, it's refreshing to see such a good-hearted man of the cloth blogging away with common sense and a pure heart. Says Martin,

How much the Sacred Heart still has to teach Catholics -- especially today. For narcissism and grandiosity are the opposite of the way that Jesus loved. He did not love to serve himself, nor did he love to be seen as "more than" others. Indeed, he "emptied himself," as St. Paul said in the Letter to the Philippians. And though Jesus naturally attracted people to himself, it was never to fulfill his own desires for grandiose plans: indeed, he rejected all of those plans in the desert.

The Sacred Heart is not narcissistic and grandiose but selfless and humble. Jesus's heart is the model for the hearts of all in Christian ministry, and for all who wish to be his "faithful servant and perfect friend."

Very well said Father. Thanks for brightening my night!