Jesus Doesn't Care About IQ

 Pretty obvious. No need for any comment. Yet, I feel I should include a personal one--something I still feel guilty about no matter how many years went by. And no, I won't share how many. I was a teenager. We were attending Mass at a seaside resort. In front of us, a mother and her child with Down syndrome went for Holy Communion. The mother gently coached her son to leave his seat, get to the aisle, and move forward to receive the Sacrament. Whereas many children and adults with DS have fervent religious beliefs and fully participate in Mass or another service of their faith, that boy didn't seem to be aware of What he was about to receive.

After Mass was over, I told my Mom something I still feel ashamed of today. I'll share it publicly anyway. I told her I didn't see the point in having a child receive a Sacrament he didn't seem to fully comprehend. Immediately my Mom, E. Nydia Soracco-Godone, now with God, kindly replied that it was only normal for a mother to want her child to participate in the Sacrament the same as she did. And she added that Jesus and His Blessed Mother welcomed that boy to Holy Communion with no reservations.

Well, I still had another argument I'm not proud of at all: What if the boy bit the Holy Host? I still remember my Mom's words. And I still hear it next to me--even though God called her over eight years ago. And I'm crying. Not one single day or one single hour goes by without missing my parents and trying to find comfort in the thought that one day I'll see them again. She told me that, first of all, she didn't think that the boy would bite the Holy Host. She had been able to see in him a sense of fervor and reverence that apparently I had missed. Yet, she continued, even if the boy bit the Eucharist, Jesus would be much happier to be bitten by pure teeth than going down the throat of any adult modern version of a Pharisee, pretending to love God while unable to love their neighbor. As I looked a little disconcerted, she put her arm around my shoulder and assured me that her statement was not at all addressed to me because of my comment but referred to those who failed to care about the poor and the disabled, failed to welcome the immigrant, exploited their workers, and/or dealt with others in contemptuous ways.

She was ahead of her time as many people then still thought that Holy Communion could be received only with a clear intellectual grasping of the concept of Transubstantiation. But, again, I won't share how many years ago that was.

God bless.

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/12/03/pope-francis-disabilities-sacraments-239396?fbclid=IwAR2saWJs54PIXyCbME76Z7D1Mdz6Ig0n3NZRn_JkeD70EKfrKxIm5R8A_9M

Pope Francis kisses Peter Lombardi, 12, of Columbus, Ohio, who has Down syndrome, after the boy rode in the popemobile during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on March 28, 2018. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

According to Catholic Social Teaching, Proudly Part of the Catholic Left

A moderator in "Catholics for Social Justice" posted this awesome article. Trying to summarize it herein would be a waste of time--and a disservice to the Church because this article is just perfect with no need for any summaries. Yet, there are two considerations that are pertinent herein, as follows: First of all, Rerum Novarum, the first Encyclical Letter on Catholic social issues, by Pope Leo X!!!, is from May 15, 1891. From 130 years ago. It predates the Human Rights Movement. It predates all the changes that an increase in social consciousness has been operating over the years. Therefore, it clearly shows that the Catholic Church has always been in the vanguard of the fight for equality, social and economic justice, and social sensitivity.

And that leads me to my second conclusion--which is the crucial one. The Rerum Novarum principles are a clear, eloquent, conclusive, and unambiguous condemnation of conservatism and of hard-line agendas of any sort. In plain language, they're a drastic condemnation of any and all right-wing policies and position no matter what variations they may come up with. Those principles, such as the "preferential option for the poor" and the "priority of labor over capital," just to mention only two, exactly amount to what hard-liners and right-wing supporters of all denominations dismiss as "leftist" and "socialist".

Great news!!! We can proudly be leftist and socialist--not in an atheist godless way but in a Catholic way, in light of Catholic Social Teaching.

There's no such thing as "conservative Catholicism". Because Catholicism is compassionate, socially and culturally sensitive, progressive, welcoming, and caring. That's what the lives of the Catholic saints give vibrant testimony of. That's what the martyrdom of most of them engraved in blood. That's the Catholic Church that in word and deed from very early childhood my parents and grandparents taught me to follow and love.

God bless.

https://catholicstrength.com/2018/02/08/nine-social-justice-principles-of-the-catholic-church/?fbclid=IwAR3oylkGklmO6g-1LSxckE01yh-HBgCbk4Kx7Qamp86x7AAh81sWeHs9E6M

(POPE LEO XIII, AUTHOR OF THE FIRST SOCIAL JUSTICE ENCYCLICAL, RERUM NOVARUM, PUBLIC DOMAIN, U.S.A.)

Four Catholic Missionaries to be Remembered

Typically, I mentally write my posts well in advance --quite often for a very, very long time before I actually get to actually type them up. This one, though, came up spontaneously from an excellent article in America Magazine-The Jesuit Review, entitled, "Ita, Maura, Dorothy, and Jean:  The Legacy of Four Missionaries Murdered in El Salvador 40 Years Ago," by Margaret Swedish, Dec 2, 2020. 

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/12/02/four-catholic-churchwomen-murdered-el-salvador-40th-anniversary-239378?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6684&pnespid=k_5gq_hDAlaNUesjby2Y.oetVUky3MD2L6_xBB6U

Maura Clarke, M.M., Jean Donovan, Ita Ford, M.M., Dorothy Kazel, O.S.U.

The atrocities committed by the military dictatorship in El Salvador and other Central American countries are unimaginable. As an immigration attorney, I used to have clients who had been through those horrors. When I was in Guatemala for about a week many years ago, the military period was already over---but the military and police forces were still on the streets with a bullying attitude, and the poverty was heartbreaking.

Let's think about these three Catholic sisters and one lay Catholic missionary who were massacred for standing up for the sake of the poor and the oppressed. Let's think about St. Oscar Romero, the El Salvadorean Archbishop who was murdered too because of for action on behalf of the needy and against the brutal right-wing Central American military dictatorships.

This is the Catholic Church in action. This is the Catholic Church that my parents and grandparents taught me to love. This is the Catholic Church they modeled for me. When on their honeymoon. my parents, E. Nydia Soracco-Godone and Armando C.E. Godone-Signanini made a trip all across the American Continent. In the U.S. there was still segregation. While in NYC, they made it a point to use public transportation so as to sit on the black seats so as to deliver a powerful message. They could have ended up the very same way--because their message could have cost them their lives. This is the Catholic Church that Jesus established. He had reached out to the sick and the foreigner and had shared His table with sinners. This is the Catholic Church that all Catholic saints, both canonized and not formally canonized lived up to. This is the Catholic Church most of them died for, quite often in atrocious ways.

Was St. Oscar Romero deemed to be on the left? Yes, on the Catholic left. On that religious, compassionate, caring, fervent, devout left my family and I proudly belong to.

There's something I want to say--in straightforward words. If someone dislikes it, I'm very sorry. I need to address three different groups of people, as follows:

- To those who from outside the Catholic Church criticize it because of some mistaken Catholics who believed Trump's false claims to be ProLife and support him.

Please remember that "empty vessels make the most noise". They may vociferate--but they're still there are not so many of them. Moreover, most Trump supporters are white Evangelicals--and they hate Catholicism and Catholics. Some Trump supporters don't speak for all Catholics. Or would you say that all U.S. citizens are Trump supporters and racist? Would you say that all Germans are Nazis or neo-nazis? Would you say that all Italians are fascist? Obviously not. So, when you think about Catholics, please think in terms of refugee camps, immigrant shelters, missions serving the poorest of the poor, Catholic Worker houses... Think about how many Catholics were murdered because of embracing the causes of the poor, the marginalized, the discriminated against, and the oppressed.

- To those within the Catholic Church who were gullible enough to believe Trump's false claims to be ProLife and a Christian. Please think that Pope Francis referred to Trump's Mexican border wall as anti-Christian, and Catholic Bishop Stowe clearly stated that Trump's agenda was anti-life. So, for all those who drank the KoolAid, it's time to find an antidote for that. Do you want a good, great, amazing antidote? Listen to Pope Francis, read some Encyclical Letters, and learn more about the lives of the saints. Then maybe your hearts will open up again and overcome the immobilizing and desensitizing effect of the poison you were given, Maybe you'll start to feel and care again.

- To those who got stranged from the Church because those mistaken or bad Catholics drove you away. Please keep in mind that Pope Francis is the Head of the Church. Listen to his homilies and speeches. Read his writings. Let the lives of the saints inspire you. They all want you back. Jesus wants you back. Now that the pandemic doesn't allow you to go back in person, a virtual comeback may be a more gradual and perhaps easier one. Think that, starting with Jesus, all those who risked their lives and quite often lost them for the sake of those most in need, also did it for you to come back.

God bless.