Flynn's new letter affirming marriage!

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This is a letter to be read in all parishes in Minneapolis/St. Paul today, from the Bishops of Minnesota, in which the bishops take a united stand for marriage!!

(So much for the Rainbow Sash folks thinking that Flynn was their best buddy, see rainbowsashmovement.com/Pope_Stop_Gay_Bashing.html)
Feast of the Holy Family
December 26, 2004

Introduction:
We have just celebrated the wonderful feast of Christmas and the minds and hearts of believers everywhere are focused on the love of God made present among us in the birth of Jesus Christ, true God and true man. With Simeon in today’s Gospel from St. Luke, we give thanks for the fulfillment of God’s ancient promise which our eyes have now seen: “A revealing light to the Gentiles, the glory of your people Israel.”

Renewed in that ‘revealing light’ and motivated by God’s “glory” made manifest among us, the Bishops of Minnesota take the occasion of this Feast of the Holy Family to reflect on the profound importance of marriage and family in our society. We do so with a two-fold hope: first, encouraging the great number of families who witness daily to the permanent reality of the state of marriage and secondly, sharing our concern over growing social influences that aim at the breakdown of the marriage bond and threaten the well-being of family life.

As Catholic leaders, our message is directed primarily though not exclusively to the members of the Catholic Church. The good of marriage and family life redound on the total human community in providing the basic building blocks for a stable social environment in which each person’s growth and happiness are fostered and encouraged. All men and women of good will have a stake in the proper understanding of the role that marriage and the family have for the social, political and economic order.

God is the author of human marriage (cf Gaudium et Spes, 47.2) and God’s own Trinitarian life exempliefies what married life should be like. The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father so completely that this mutual self-giving is the personal bond of the Holy Spirit. It is from the Church’s contemplation of God’s own revelation of himself that she defines marriage as a union that is total, exclusive, faithful, fruitful and indissoluble. In the act of creation, God made man for woman and woman for man (cf Genesis 2:18), so that their love would result in their own mutual good and in the gift of new life in their children. For this very reason, God commanded husband and wife to “be fertile and multiply; fill the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) The proper ordering of marriage, therefore, is destined for the procreation and education of children, and find in them their ultimate crown.

(continued…)
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(…continued)

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, raised this understanding of marriage between the baptized to the level of a sacrament, that is to say, an “efficacious sign” of God’s love, dispensed to us through the action of the Holy Spirit (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1131).

Jesus did so by recalling the plan of the Creator “in the beginning,” namely, that husband and wife are to be two-in-one flesh. (cf Matthew 19:6). This beautiful vocation of man and woman, intended “in the beginning,” was distorted by sin, which resulted in the subsequent experience of discord, domination, jealousy, infidelity and separation. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1606). Regrettably those same forces are still present in society today to such an extent that they appear to be receiving a legitimacy and acceptances that is detrimental to a right understanding of marriage fromt he viewpoint of Scripture and Tradition. Here we refer to divorce, contraception, cohabitation and same-sex unions as social realities that undermine the sacredness of the marriage covenant and thwart its God-given potential. While the Church’s voice may be rebuffed in a culture imbued with secular values, she must continue to address the evils that are present in society in order to protect the inherent dignity of each man and woman as well as the understanding of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

As our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, said so succinctly last November: “The family, founded on marriage, is a natural, irreplaceable institution and a basic element of the common good of every society. Whoever destroys this basic fabric of human coexistence, not respecting its identity and distorting its duties, causes a deep wound to society and provokes often irreparable damages.”

We, as pastors, must never fail to affirm, encourage and seek to strengthen the hundreds of families who remain bound together in Christian love and who demonstrate through the weal and woe of daily challenges their determination to live the voews they have made and to fulfill the obligations that they have assumed.

To these faith-filled believers, we offer as our own the advice of St. Paul in today’s second Scriptural reading: “…clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy, with kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. Over all these virtues put on love, which binds the rest together and makes them perfect.”

Confident in the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about conversion in our lives and finding in the Holy Eucharist the source of strength for fulfilling God’s intended plan for our salvation, we, the Bishops of Minnesota, offer our collective prayer for the promotion of loving, faith-filled families. We also pray for a resolve on the part of all Catholics and persons of good will to support public works and legislation that will secure the dignity and integrity of marriage and family life throughout our society.

May God’s choicest blessings be yours throughout this Christmas season!
  • The Bishops of Minnesota:
    Archbishop Harry J. Flynn (Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis)
    Bishop Victor H. Balke (Diocese of Crookston)
    Bishop Bernard J. Harrington (Diocese of Winona)
    Bishop John F. Kinney (Diocese of St. Cloud)
    Bishop John C. Nienstedt (Diocese of New Ulm)
    Bishop Dennis M. Schnurr (Diocese of Duluth)
    Bishop Richard E. Pates (Auxiliary Bishop, Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis)
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I guess Arinze had more of an impact than the media would like to think. No such thing as homosexual marriage. Get over it.
 
Re
Confident in the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about conversion in our lives and finding in the Holy Eucharist the source of strength for fulfilling God’s intended plan for our salvation, we, the Bishops of Minnesota, offer our collective prayer for the promotion of loving, faith-filled families. We also pray for a resolve on the part of all Catholics and persons of good will to support public works and legislation that will secure the dignity and integrity of marriage and family life throughout our society.
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I see a lot of confidence in God, prayer for His action, hope for action by the voters and legislature. I don’t see any resolution for action by Bishops. :rolleyes:
 
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EddieArent:
Even a broken clock is right twice in a day’s time.
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The recent contremps with the Legionaries won’t play too well in Rome, thus you have to say sumpin about sumpin …remember the Legionaries will be telling their side of things - so while I am glad to see it…I won’t get all dewy eyed.
 
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HagiaSophia:
The recent contremps with the Legionaries won’t play too well in Rome, thus you have to say sumpin about sumpin …remember the Legionaries will be telling their side of things - so while I am glad to see it…I won’t get all dewy eyed.
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FYI, the date on the cover letter the Archbishop sent to the parishes with the public letter was December 15th… and you know that letters like this don’t just “happen” all of a sudden, for what it’s worth they must have been working on it for awhile. I’d imagine this was in the works well before the election (too little, too late, IMHO).

I agree with the other poster that this isn’t really a “resolution for action” – but, if you knew our Archbishop, you’d know that this was a pretty strong letter coming from him…

+veritas+
 
+veritas+:
and you know that letters like this don’t just “happen” all of a sudden, for what it’s worth they must have been working on it for awhile. I’d imagine this was in the works well before the election (too little, too late, IMHO).
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Yeah but when questioned, you whip it out, produce it to show you did “something” and no one will look at the date too closely. It meets the request the Vatican made of all the bishops to say something.
+veritas+:
I agree with the other poster that this isn’t really a “resolution for action” – but, if you knew our Archbishop, you’d know that this was a pretty strong letter coming from him…
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I don’t know your bishop, but I certainly know “of” him, (he’s rather “famous” in church watching circles) and believe me I agree with you - coming from Flynn this is “dramatic” - but as I said, I won’t be getting all dewy eyed.
 
Dear Friends of the Archdiocese of ST. Paul/Mpls.,

This is not the work of Archbishop Flynn. I’ve mentioned to you before that there are at least a couple of Archbishop Flynn amanuenses. Maybe more. This is no more the writing of Archbishop Flynn than are his Catholic Spirit columns when he’s out of town or tied up with “important” things. Then he takes some statement of the USCCB or one of its committees, divides it in to sections and runs with it for several weeks. At most, the first paragraph is a folksy, homey intro, but that’s it.

Your evaluations are, however, right on target as to the convenience of coming up with something that resembles Catholic doctrine at this time. Please note that Bishop Kinney is also a signatory to this, and posters have earlier reported his reluctance to confront contemporary problems.

Interestingly enough, I missed the reading of this at my home parish or the adjacent one I frequently attend. Instead, I went to the Tridentine Mass where today was the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas as well as the Feast of St. Stephen. I’ll bet that the letter wan’t read in many of the churches in the archdiocese, anyway!

Too little; too late. 😦

Anna
 
**Thank you bishops of Minnesota! **
The priest read this letter in our parish today for the homily, and it was the best Christmas present I recieved! This is an answer to my prayers.

Fellow forum members, please stop the criticism for a moment to give thanks to our dear Lord and the Holy Family that our bishops may have found their voice! Let’s keep praying for our bishops, and God will surely reward us with shepherds who care for their flocks.
 
the words were fine. Now its time to back it up with action…which speaks much much louder.
 
I don’t know a lot about the politics of this particular bishop, but let’s not try to be too cynical. It’s hard, I know, with the current state of things, but this is a good letter. For meeting some particular agendas, it may be too little too late, but for what it is, it is a very good thing and a cause for great hope, even if only a little one. We’re always complaining that our bishops don’t teach the truth or remain silent when the media and culture slings around lies. This letter is the kind of thing we need to be thanking our bishops for and encouraging them to do more of. Not throwing cold water on it because it’s not as good as we’d hoped.

This letter is solid Catholic teaching. We must wholeheartedly stand behind it and our bishops while encouraging even stronger and more timely action.

Pax et bonum
 
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luke2219:
I don’t know a lot about the politics of this particular bishop, but let’s not try to be too cynical. It’s hard, I know, with the current state of things, but this is a good letter. For meeting some particular agendas, it may be too little too late, but for what it is, it is a very good thing and a cause for great hope, even if only a little one. We’re always complaining that our bishops don’t teach the truth or remain silent when the media and culture slings around lies. This letter is the kind of thing we need to be thanking our bishops for and encouraging them to do more of. Not throwing cold water on it because it’s not as good as we’d hoped.

This letter is solid Catholic teaching. We must wholeheartedly stand behind it and our bishops while encouraging even stronger and more timely action.

Pax et bonum
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👍
 
The letter was not read in the suburban parish I attend, instead the homily was delivered by a lay preacher.

I wonder how many parishes neglected reading it.

How was the request (or directive) to read the letter made?

Was reading the letter meant to be mandatory or voluntary?
 
a wonderful letter written in the pastoral style that so many of us hope for rather than the harsh and unbalanced language used by so many of the hate groups of the right wing.
 
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katherine2:
a wonderful letter written in the pastoral style that so many of us hope for rather than the harsh and unbalanced language used by so many of the hate groups of the right wing.
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I thought the letter was wonderful too.

Don’t you think your post contains some contrasing inflammatory rhetoric?
 
Thanks for posting that, +Veritas+

I picked it up at the Cathedral at Midnight Mass. A wonderful service. This is the first chance I have had to read it.

Someone has criticized the message because it wasn’t written by Archbishop Flynn. Of course it wasn’t!

This is the first time that I have ever seen a joint statement about anything by all of the Bishops of Minnesota. It must not have been easy to get seven independent, strong-willed individuals to agree on such a document. I think it’s wonderful.

All of the Bishops signed the letter with Archbishop Flynn’s name at the top. But he has no authority over the others. At most he is a conduit for Rome in dealing with issues here.

Sunday, the Feast of the Holy Family, at my parish, which is accused of a lot of things, the pastor, who has a heart (and a brain) as big as his building, led off his sermon with with a ringing statement on the sacredness of Marriage.

I have never heard anything like that coming from the pulpit in the 23 years or so that I have been attending here.

Holy Mother Church moves slowly, and like a huge ocean liner, it takes a long time to stop and turn around. There might be some glitches now and then, we, including our Bishops, are all human, and as such, subject to error.

I don’t think we want to see the tumult happening here that is taking place in other dioceses. I’m not a big fan of the Luminaries of Christ letter. And I can think of a dozen things I would like to say in response to it. But I’m not prohibited from using their readings and meditations. They’re just prohibited, for now, from using Church facilities.

St. Maria Faustina, the Apostle of Divine Mercy, perhaps the greatest saint of the Twentieth Century, had her diaries condemned for a while; Padre Pio (Now, St. Pio) was prohibited from hearing confessions for a long time; calumnies and detractions have always been thrown at our Saints; because they weren’t perfect too. They were just Holy! And they went to Confession a lot and begged for and received forgiveness. That’s how they stayed Holy!

Let’s continue to pray for Archbishop Flynn and all of our other Bishops, in Minnesota, and elsewhere. Jesus promised that He would be with us to the end of time. I know that. But He didn’t say that He would not be calling upon us to support Him in that endeavor.

There’s going to be a big Evangelization Initiative launched in the Archdiocese this Lent. There is going to be a two evening “entertaining survey of Catholic Evangelization”, from the time of St. Paul to its importance for contemporary Catholic Doctrine. It will be Jan 4 and 6, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Cathedral. It would be nice if some of us will be able to attend. I will be there.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and I wish you all a very Happy and Holy New Year 2005.

Ray
 
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katherine2:
a wonderful letter written in the pastoral style that so many of us hope for rather than the harsh and unbalanced language used by so many of the hate groups of the right wing.
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The right wing claims that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. How is that harsh and unbalanced? :confused: I think you’re talking about the Christianophobic left wing. 😉
 
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Agomemnon:
the words were fine. Now its time to back it up with action…which speaks much much louder.
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I am from a diocese across the river, and have to say that the “action” of composing and deseminating this letter appears to me to be pretty fine. I am at loss to think of what further effective action would be possible in this situation. You have excommunication, interdicts, and all that sort of thing, but I am afraid that in these times those that one would hit with such actions will just give you the one finger salute. A lot of good that will do anyone. Course maybe it will make you feel better cause someone has “acted.”
 
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