ASK FATHER: A Blessing For Guns

  • Thread starter Thread starter yankeesouth
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
No kidding. Many people who live there aren’t paid enough to live there. 🙁
 
Last edited:
Those are all hunting rifles. In the middle ages they would bless swords, and in WWI and II they would bless the weapons.

Peace and God Bless
Nicene
 
Better take that up with the Nuge’

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
31 years carrying badge and gun. Never shot anyone - and thanked God for that blessing. That sidearm was of much comfort on innumerable occasions. As Hemingway wrote: “the comfort of the checked wood grip…”

Peace is not established or maintained voluntarily. Look at it this way: Those who own guns are not nearly as thankful for those who do not as those who do not will be for those who do.
 
Praise God!

I only have 15 years on but I pray every day that I never have to shoot anyone. I’ve come very, very close a few times. One time in particular still keeps me up at night as to whether or not I should have.

I love the fact that my parish prays for military and law enforcement at every Mass. That really means a great deal to me.
 
do_justly_love_mercy said:
it is a tool that has a very specific purpose, namely, to kill.
Click to expand...
But not necessarily to kill people.

I’m no fan of guns but I live in a rural area and people use them as pointed out by others, to hunt (and for some poorer folks hunting is an important way to supplement their diet), and farmers can use them to protect livestock and crops from vermin and predators.

Not sure about blessing them though.
 
From the beginning this topic has been reminding me of the following exchange from Fiddler on the Roof:

"Rabbi . . . is there a proper blessing for the Tsar?
“A blessing for the Tsar? May God bless and keep the Tsar . . . far away from us!”

I am sure that there are many people who would use the same blessing for guns.

(Full disclosure – I own an AR-15 for target shooting, and a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol for personal protection.)

D
 
Yours is a very reasoned, articulate defense of gun regulation and I appreciate it. There is no “right” or “wrong” to any of this — it is just a matter of temporal prudence, and the Church does not have a teaching or doctrine on the free ownership of guns, so I won’t belabor a debate that has been going on forever, with good will on both sides, but I would just make the following points:
do_justly_love_mercy said:
For many Americans, the right to keep and bear arms is an essential part of their sense of what it means to be American.
Click to expand...
That is correct. We are the only country on the face of the earth where a large percentage of the population has the means to defend themselves, and others, from any threats that might emerge on a very large scale, either from within or without. Some say, and I am coming to believe this myself, that the United States is the modern-day katechon, the force that prevents all chaos from breaking loose in the world. I always say, that if any foreign invader were to try to invade the United States, when they get to that very large swath, let’s say, east of Albuquerque and south of Cincinnati, they’re going to have their work cut out for them.
do_justly_love_mercy said:
2A only recognizes a pre-existing right in common law, and prohibits its infringement.
Click to expand...
The common-law right to bear arms goes back at least 600 years. The natural-law right of self-defense goes back to the beginning of mankind. Abel would have had the right to defend himself against Cain.
do_justly_love_mercy said:
I live in San Francisco, where we have to be prepared for earthquakes. I follow the advice to have enough water and food for at least three days. We have an early warning system and buildings are supposed to be designed to withstand an earthquake, so I don’t worry too much. What I am certainly not preparing for is the scenario in which I have to use a gun to fend off a roving band of marauders.
Click to expand...
The breakdown of civil order would last far longer than three days. I am not a “prepper”, one reason being that my family circumstances don’t allow it, but I do have anywhere from a week to 10 days’ worth of food and water at all times. I would certainly hope that civil authorities (police, guard and reserves, et al.) would round up and deal with any looters or brigands, but it is always possible that the last line of defense would be one’s own home.
Click to expand...
 
do_justly_love_mercy said:
Other countries manage to have strict gun control.
Click to expand...
Yes, and the people in those countries are defenseless against those who would attack them or invade their homes. The United States is not perfect and it has flaws that go back to its very beginning — the false assertion that government derives its authority from the people (not from God), Masonic “Enlightenment” ideals, the baldfaced assertion that we have God-given “rights” to liberty and the pursuit of happiness (the right to life is indeed God-given), and a judicial framework that allowed abortion and gay marriage to become legal — but there are some things the founders “got right”, and non-infringement of the right to keep and bear arms is one of those things. Trial by jury and presumption of innocence until proven guilty were two more of those things. I am deeply thankful to be an American.
 
Last edited:
otjm said:
Looking more closely at the picture, it appears that the closest to the bottom is a shotgun; there may be one that is a black powder rifle, and another shotgun closer to the priest; as mush as can be seen of the rest, they appear to be bolt action, indicating a high likelihood that the scene is of hunting rifles; and my guess would be that it was at or just before hunting season.
Click to expand...
I don’t know of a hunter, though, who doesn’t agree that it is a grave responsibility when one takes up a firearm with the intent to take life, even game animals. The hunters I know are very adamant that you don’t kill an animal (except for euthanasia) unless you both intend to eat it and have taken every measure you can to kill the animal in the most humane way you can. (I mean that a shot that doesn’t kill the animal immediately or close to it is counted as a problem because of the suffering of the animal.)

In areas where the population of predators that prey mainly on large game animals has been greatly reduced, hunters really do need to take their place in keeping the numbers of those animals within boundaries that the ecosystem can support. That’s why the states regulate hunting based on the state of wildlife populations. That doesn’t remove the need to have hunters who are mindful of their duties as human beings towards the animals they are hunting and the ecosystem they are hunting in.
 
Last edited:
HomeschoolDad said:
…the baldfaced assertion that we have God-given “rights” to liberty…
Click to expand...
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Lk 4:18-19

Liberty actually is a God-given right–that is, freedom from being unjustly fettered–as is the right to pursue blessedness, which is our only happiness.

Honestly, where in the New Testament is there a right to bear arms? Find it for me. I think the command to Christians to turn the other cheek could be taken as infringing on the right to self-defense, the way some people talk.
 
Last edited:
spiritualsamurai said:
That’s not true. While murder rates might be lower in, say Singapore, than in the US, what about that one person in Singapore who could have defended himself if he had had a gun? That one person has a right to a gun to defend himself with.
Click to expand...
Why draw the line at a gun? Why shouldn’t we all have the right to any lethal weapon we like, on the theory that we could concievably need it for self-defense?

Our culture’s glorification of guns is a real curiosity. In my state, I can get a permit to carry a concealed gun, but I can’t get one to carry a concealed sap. Figure that one out. Is that because I couldn’t need a sap to defend myself? Please.
 
Liberty in the constitution and the liberty spoken of in that passage are two very different things. It’s a misapplication of what Jesus is saying. The liberty He speaks of is being liberated from sin not the liberty to pursue our desires for what will make us happy.

The captives are those who are captive to sin.

Peace and God Bless
Nicene
 
Last edited:
PetraG said:
Our culture’s glorification of guns is a real curiosity. In my state, I can get a permit to carry a concealed gun, but I can’t get one to carry a concealed sap. Figure that one out. Is that because I couldn’t need a sap to defend myself? Please.
Click to expand...
That would be the result of bureaucrats banning things they find “scary” without actually understanding them.
PetraG said:
Honestly, where in the New Testament is there a right to bear arms? Find it for me. I think the command to Christians to turn the other cheek could be taken as infringing on the right to self-defense, the way some people talk.
Click to expand...
Where in the New Testament does it say we can’t protect ourselves or others in our care?

Turning the cheek has more to do with insults and slights. The Catechism speaks of a right to self defense, as well as the defense of others:

"2264 Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one’s own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:

If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful. . . . Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one’s own life than of another’s.

2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility."

This is based off 2000 years of studying, teaching, and tradition. That being said, having to protect one’s life is not something that should be taken lightly, as this could well result in the loss of another person’s life.
 
melonhead said:
Where in the New Testament does it say we can’t protect ourselves or others in our care?
Click to expand...
Where does it say that God doesn’t give us a right to liberty?
(I originally made the comment in objection to the idea that the right to liberty is some made-up humanist thing and not from God as the right to life is.)
 
Last edited:
do_justly_love_mercy said:
I’m not saying it could be achieved easily, but our constitution has been amended 27 times already, so it is not impossible.
Click to expand...
Couple of things: Any weapon (rock, stick, baseball bat, blunt object, kitchen knife, hands or firearm) is morally neutral. Let us remember that the human heart is the source of all evil and violence.

Guns made solely to kill? Methinks you should consider broadening your view just a bit. They are made to defend, to harvest game and to deter.

Read that last bit again. If you have a catechism, check section 2265 on the defense of INNOCENT life.

Does death occur at times? Yes, as an unintended consequence of lawful defense, and almost 100% of the time when thugs illegally possessing weapons kill other thugs. Why are there so many thugs? Ever ponder that?

While so many are wetting their pants over guns, 103 souls lose their lives each day in the US - men, women, children, babies, grandparents - you name them - in traffic accidents. Do they count? Are you as concerned about traffic and vehicular safety?

If not, why not? Don’t all lives matter?

Oh, (only if this applies) I strongly suggest that you disconnect from the media. All forms or commercial and social media. Why? Slowly, insidiously, it is teaching you a specific viewpoint - programming your thoughts if you will. When I used to watch/listen to it, it was programming mine. No more.
 
Last edited:
Jesus said that those who live by the sword shall die by the sword, so was he wrong? He also said that we are to be as wise as serpents but as harmless as doves, so was he wrong about that too?

I am not anti-gun, but I am not one who puts guns ahead of people’s lives. In the Just-War Theory that the Church teaches, weapons are only to be used against others as a last resort, and even then there are quite restrictive stipulations: Just war theory - Wikipedia
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top