Catholics From The United States

"Trump is not the first president to deploy the military over a governor’s objection. But it’s the first time since 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson ordered troops to protect civil rights protesters in Alabama. President Dwight Eisenhower similarly overrode objections from Arkansas’ governor, deploying troops to help enforce the desegregation of public schools. When presidents view state and local authorities as being ineffective or recalcitrant, those steps may be justified, some experts say. “Usually the President calls out the troops with the cooperation of the governor, which happened in LA itself during the Rodney King riots,” said John Yoo, a legal counselor to President George W. Bush. “But there have been times when governors have been tragically slow, as during Hurricane Katrina, or actually resistant to federal policy, as with desegregation, or, arguably, in this case. “Trump, when speaking about the decision with reporters Sunday, said he warned Newsom a few days earlier of the possibility. “I did call him the other night,” Trump said. “I said you’ve got to take care of this, otherwise I’m sending in the troops.” Newsom has railed against Trump’s unilateral action, saying it will inflame rather than ease tensions on the streets and that state and local law enforcement were appropriately responding to the unrest outside federal buildings. Newsom got backup from Democratic governors across the country, who signed a letter calling Trump’s National Guard deployment an “alarming abuse of power.” “The military appears to be clashing with protesters in the streets of our country. That’s not supposed to happen,” said Elizabeth Goitein, a national security law expert at New York University’s Brennan Center. “It’s such a dangerous situation. It’s dangerous for liberty. It’s dangerous for democracy.”"

"Newsom asked a federal court on Tuesday to block Trump from using the military in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, activists are planning larger demonstrations against Trump and his administration's policies across the country on Saturday to coincide with the president's birthday and a planned military parade through Washington D.C."

"California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes."

"I put a high priority on communications. I think we can't over communicate."

"Look, I'm a progressive, but more is not better. Better is better. We need to hold ourselves to higher level of accountability and reforming the Old Mental Health Services act, which is a point of pride in California, but no longer is relevant to the world we're living in."

"CEO of Target Brian Cornell selling out the LGBTQ+ community to extremists is a real profile in courage. This isn’t just a couple stores in the South. There is a systematic attack on the gay community happening across the country. Wake up America. This doesn’t stop here. You’re black? You’re Asian? You’re Jewish? You’re a woman? You’re next."

"... neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024."

"I don't know one state, if DeSantis stuck it out that he can win, not one."

"I got to be quite the fish, I must say."

"This is about authoritarian tendencies. This is about command and control. This is about power. This is about ego. This is a consistent pattern."

"It is called a genocide. That's what it was... No other way to describe it and that's the way it needs to be described in the history books. And so I'm here to say the following: I'm sorry on behalf of the state of California... It's humbling for me, having believed I was educated, to have been so ignorant of our past, to have been so unaware of how ashamed I should be, as a Californian, 5th generation... I'm sorry that we've had generations of your kids and grandkids, your ancestors, that have had to suffer through indignities, lack of capacity, empathy and understanding..."

"When we walk away from communion with the Church, what are we saying to the Jesus Who entrusted His words and His sacraments to her bishops and saints? Has His promise to be with His Church to the end of the world ceased to be true? Can He Who is The Truth be entangled in a tissue of lies?"

"Only one thing never changes – the human heart. Revolutions and ideologies may lacerate it, even break it, but they cannot change its essence. After Fascism and Communism and Capitalism and Socialism are over and forgotten as completely as slavery and the old South, that same headstrong human heart will be clamoring for the old things it wept for in Eden – love and a chance to be noble, laughter and a chance to adore something, someone, somewhere. (Ch. 3)"

"I never heard them over their juleps express a philosophy of life, and if I had it would have been incomprehensible to me, but a philosophy was implicit in all their thoughts and actions. It probably made the Southern pattern. Perhaps it is all contained in a remark of Father's when he was thinking aloud one night and I sat at his feet eavesdropping eagerly: "I guess a man's job is to make the world a better place to live in, so far as he is able – always remembering the results will be infinitesimal – and to attend to his own soul." (Ch. 7)"

"Not only is it important for us to daily read the Scriptures, but we need to prayerfully reflect on its passages and see how those passages touch our hearts. If we are really lucky and faithful, we will come across passages that really pinch us —they hurt because they make us aware of how we are offending God. The more the word of God pinches us, the more we hunger for relief. This is one of God’s greatest desires for us. Prayer for the grace of repentance is a prayer Jesus jumps at. He longs to give us more of His mercy. He longs to give us more of His wisdom."

"There’s this great mystery that I cannot understand — of how God decided He wanted to use me to try to be a witness to His love, to the importance of justice in our world, to the fact that the only way to true peace is when we all live and are striving to be just. That is what I’ve been trying to do for these past 50 year"

"God has a great sense of humor about timing. I trust the Lord's timing more than I trust my own."

"The work of the liturgy transcends us because it is Christ’s work, and it is our privilege to participate. This work is an art, sanctioned by the Church, which is Christ’s Body. In the liturgy we present what He has intended to make lasting for the salvation of mankind until all is consummated."

"People think that I have more power than I do. As the archbishop, I have to live not by "fiat" or by decree, but I have to live by gathering the people of God. Some people say that all I have to do is say it to be done, but it doesn't work that way. It is a position for great responsibility within the Church, but it is a ministry of the Church. I think that any power that I exercise has to be exercised with humility and in the light of the Gospel."

"I make decisions consultatively with others, not in a vacuum, and I know in doing so I'm listening to the Holy Spirit and to those who advise me to look out for God's people. I really compare it to being a parent in a family. Sometimes parents have to make unpopular decisions that might not be understood by everyone in the family, and they might be disliked for a while, but I think parents have to make decisions for the good of the whole family."

"Be a true shepherd to your people — caring, loving and available. Although you will not always succeed, a loving shepherd will make an impact for years to come. Don’t neglect your own spiritual life. The temptation, when priests get busy, is to give up times of prayer and spiritual development in order to do more pastoral work."

"You've got that personality that people are drawn to and like to be around, and it's because of the joy you bring. If we believe what is in the Gospel, how can we not be filled with joy? You exemplify it."

"I'm just a simple kid from south St. louis. I remember looking out the veranda of where the holy father lives and thinking how in the world did I get here? By the grace of God."

"A Catholic in major public office cannot not be a prominent example to others of how a Catholic lives the Gospel. That is the essence of evangelism."

"I maintain that rather than the sin of pride, the transhuman advocates—much like the transgender advocates—are more likely suffering from the effects of the sin of envy. They envy those—including the God of creation—who have the power to create life and live forever on this earth. But faithful Christians know that such a quest for power like this is more demonic than divine."

"The Latin Mass has been the Mass for the past 1500 years that all these great saints went to. They were saying the same Latin prayers. It’s just very beautiful, you know? I feel very united."

"A serious examination of conscience requires that we recognize that there are times in the life of each Christian when one's faith is seriously and urgently challenged by the events taking place around him or her. Like it or not, these challenges show us just how seriously—or not—we are living our baptismal commitment to Christ. Most of us, most of the time, would prefer to keep our heads in the sand, ostrich-like, than to face truths about ourselves. This is why the Church has found it so vitally necessary to have seasons, such as Lent, during which we must pull our heads out of the sand and take a good, hard look at the world around us and how we are living in it."

"You are here for the love of your family and friends. You need to keep speaking. Don't stop. Don’t give up. Don't give up on the love. Don't give up on your loved ones."

"Despite everything else that's facing us, and despite all the bleak news about people not believing and everything, it's obvious that people do believe. The people of the archdiocese are people of wonderful faith."

"Science doesn't stop when it comes up with a nice answer. It looks for more data. It comes up with new ideas. It's willing to admit it's wrong."

"Science books go out of date. We throw the old one away when a newer one comes out, when we have new theories. But we don't throw away our old data; we merely interpret them differently. New theories try to account for old data (and new data) in new ways."

"Something like 10000 meteorites hit Earth a year. Three-quarters land in the ocean. Given how long they last, and how fast they come down, you might expect to see a meteorite roughly every two square kilometers. But in fact, you don't. They're completely lost."

"Church officials in the past may have looked with great suspicion on the writings of, say, Teilhard de Chardin; but this same Church did, after all, produce a Teilhard. Even earlier, John Henry Newman was made a cardinal notwithstanding his liberal views. Prominent theologians in every era, going back to the most ancient Church fathers, argued cogently and consistently against a literalist interpretation of scripture. On the other hand, I'm sure you could find closet creationists in the Catholic Church today."

"Once an idea gets turned into a story, people pay attention long enough to listen. And they'll remember it. The images from Dante are far more vivid than the arguments of Aquinas."

"It is very hard to promote and create a society with generations of people that all they have known is violence."

"Even an atheist has to believe that the concept, at least, of "God" does exist, whether or not that concept is true or useful or the best way to approach things."

"I find being a pastor very rewarding. It’s great being close to people, accompanying them in birth and in their final days, being with them in their ups and downs. You participate in the full spectrum of ministering to families"

"I always tell young people discerning vocations that, if it is your call, you can expect to enter into a life that is full of joy and serenity of spirit, that the faithful will invite a priest to enter into their lives at a depth that sometimes they won’t even permit their own spouses. That’s not because we have any particular talent; it’s because Catholics look at priests as bringing into their lives the love of Christ and the Church, which will lead them home to a place in heaven."

"The pleasing part is not that you say things that people want to hear but that your message is attractive to people and they want to engage it."

"I've always been a happy priest; I plan on being a happy bishop."

"The stance against abortion is the pre-eminent priority. How could it not be? We have to get it right from the beginning. Our stance on life, that is our pre-eminent priority. We have to fight against this evil."

"The truth as given to us by God is the only path to freedom and to peace and to the joy that we are seeking. For us, to convey that truth compassionately is what we do to help others. We are not going to try to help and support others beginning with an error or falsehood. A falsehood cannot bring about peace and happiness in one’s life. While the answer to a problem might be complicated, we cannot begin with that which is untrue, that's not the loving thing to do."

"The priest as a man needs to be courageous enough to welcome his masculinity, embrace it, and express it in a balanced way. Ironically, the priest who’s not able to do this is prone to lapsing into one of two destructive extremes. He may either repress his masculinity and become “wishy-washy” and indecisive, feeling guilty and apologizing for his maleness, or he may fall into the other extreme, becoming aggressive, power-hungry and domineering. Becoming a mature male means being comfortable with one’s masculinity, not needing to hide it or exaggerate it. We ought not to apologize for being a man. At the same time, we should not use our masculinity as a weapon."

"You can't give to the people all that you wish to offer unless you're rooted in a deep spiritual life. I was on fire as a young priest, and wanted to conquer the world, which was good, because the priesthood is about service. However, I learned quickly that that enthusiasm must be rooted in a deep prayer life, or it can’t be sustained. It was a great lesson to learn early in my priesthood. I also learned I needed to stay in touch with my priest friends. It's important to have family and lay friends, but you also need contact with your brother priests, who understand from firsthand experience the challenges you face and can help you to become better."

"I was sure it wouldn't be here because it was my home parish, I received all my sacraments here and I expect I will be buried here. This is a densely populated archdiocese and the work is staggering."

"I've had so many incredible experiences and I've been influenced by so many people I've served, I see this as a new chapter. I'm living out something that I'm convinced is what God wants me to do, and living out God's will for me has been the joy of my life."

"Closing the parish is the last thing I want to do, it's sad. I would rather be opening a parish."

"Bishop John is a kind and noble man who has served God, the Church and the community-at-large with dedication, both as a priest and as a bishop. Throughout a life that began in great danger and hardship he remained faithful. In my first months of service Bishop John has been for me a most valuable and reliable guide for understanding the pastoral history and current issues of our archeparchy."

"At this critical moment in the life of the institutional Church I do not see how it is possible for anyone who is well informed regarding the issues that are involved in the controversies surrounding the present pontificate to remain silent. While I have every confidence that the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ will survive the present crisis as Our Lord promised Peter, I am not so sanguine about the number of souls that will be lost as a result of it."

"I've been through a lot of life's changes, but it's always my faith that I've been able to fall back on; that I draw strength from. I come from a family of Christians, also a long military tradition. So, faith in our family has always sustained us as a family, but also as individuals. It's because of that upbringing, because of that trust, that there is something greater than myself"