Anderson Cooper goes for jugular right away bashing Trump about the tapes.

Trump says we need to focus on ISIS.

Donald Trump's Lewd Comments: A Catholic Perspective

So by now you've all heard about Trump's derogatory, base, sexual comments about women. This happened about 10 years ago when he was with Billy Bush from one of those celebrity shows kind of like Entertainment Tonight. It's not clear to me if he knew the mic was on. But anyway, let's just say Trump made some very vulgar comments about women. That footage was released in the past 24 hours.

They say the comments were made in 2005, not sure the exact day. But that means Trump was probably just married to his new wife Melania, whom he married in January 22, 2005. So he just got married and he was making some very explicit and lewd comments about other women. So let's analyze this from a Catholic perspective.

Guys and Lust

So clearly Donald Trump's comments showed a level of lust towards women. But the comments were also degrading and vulgar. In any event, many men have lustful or lewd thoughts when seeing or interacting with women. This is not uncommon. Now, in Catholicism we are called to be chaste and pure. Sexuality is reserved for the marriage bed and we must try, to the best of our ability, to be respectful and not lust after women.

But I don't think this was just about lust. It was also a show of dominance on his part. He wanted to show the other guy his sexual prowess. Keep in mind also during this interaction, Trump is in his late 50s. He just married a woman (third marriage). You'd think he would have learned by now.

So the point of this section is simply to say a lot of guys have lustful thoughts, but really it's up to us to try to contain them and to look upon women with respect and love, not as objects of our base desires.

It Was Done Publicly

One of the problems with these comments by Trump is the public nature of them. Again, I don't know if he was aware he was being recorded. But he spoke them out loud. They weren't private thoughts. He was announcing them for other people to hear. I think this adds to the severity of it.

Asked Forgiveness

In the end, once this footage was released, Trump immediately apologized. He didn't make excuses, he just apologized and said he is sorry for saying those lewd comments. I, for one, accept his apology. For one thing, many many guys unfortunately engage in this type of banter. That doesn't make it good, but it does happen. Secondly, we as Christians are obliged to accept someone when they apologize for their actions. He said it was wrong and he's sorry, we should leave it at that.

Plus, let's not act like we've never looked upon a woman with lust or done something immoral or talked a certain way. Why are we holding everyone else up to a higher standard than ourselves? This happens a lot. And if the person apologized, then leave it at that. Trust me, Jesus has forgiven you for a LOT more than this. "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Who is Overall Better President

When you look at it overall, Trump is still obviously much better than Hillary. Hillary doesn't apologize for promoting and encouraging abortion. No number of comments, no matter how lewd, can ever equal the killing of an innocent person. Yet Hillary never apologizes. She is unapologetic of her promotion of abortions all throughout pregnancy. The Democratic party thinks it's a wonderful thing! I don't think there's any comparison.

Then you look at her running mate's comments which basically amount to saying "I know it's immoral and wrong to promote abortion, but I don't care what my church (read: conscience and morality) think about this, I will promote it and fund it ANYWAY.

You tell me who is acting more in line with moral law.

My Own Life

Sadly, this kind of talk toward women is all too common. Most workplaces, especially ones with predominantly men or blue collar workplaces, this type of talk is ubiquitous. If you refrain from engaging in it, you soon become the butt of jokes yourself. A true moral superhero could withstand this, but to many guys the pressure is too much. Obviously there are some who want to talk like this, but many others are pressured into it. That's a sad part of culture. The point is, it exists. Trump does it here. But he's not the first and will not be the last. We must use our good Christian witness to show people how to talk about others respectfully.

Bishops and their Wrong Emphasis [LINK]

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/10/christopher-manion/importing-criminals/

OH BOOM, A QUESTION ABOUT FAITH #vpdebate

Kaine absolutely LIES throughout this entire question!

Moderator asks Kaine how faith has influenced his politics.

Death Penalty
First of all, Kaine makes a HUGE mistake saying Catholicism is opposed to the death penalty, so he was as well as governor. First of all, the Church isn't opposed to the death penalty. That's a prudential judgment people must come to, including politicians.

But why doesn't Kaine use this same philosophy when answering about other things. He says he cannot impose his beliefs on others, because of the first amendment of something.

BOOM
Mike Pence pushes back hard and really holds Kaine's lying feet to the fire and saying basically listen, I'm opposed to killing nearly-born babies, but you're not for some reason. Aren't you a complete hypocrite??

Response by Kaine:
Kaine comes back and ONCE AGAIN contradicts himself by saying he can't push his beliefs on others. Um, what are you even doing as a public service? You didn't mind imposing your beliefs about the death penalty. What a philosophical lightweight. He just does and says whatever it takes to get ahead. I'm actually a little surprised by what Pence said when he said he appreciates Kaine's faith. What faith?

Like I said, Kaine looks out for himself only. If he needs to accept abortion and legalize it to succeed, you can rest assured he will. Kaine, don't give me this stuff about living out your faith every day.

VP Tim Kaine Turns his Back on Catholicism

Tim Kaine who is currently debating Mike Pence is supposedly Catholic, but in reality he stands in public opposition to it. He is hugely in favor of gay marriage, equating it with real marriage between a man and a woman. He openly admits this puts him at odds with Catholic teaching, but he doesn't even care. He even says this is his personal belief.

Furthermore, he is a big time proponent of abortion. He believes it should be not only legal, but paid for by taxpayers, many of whom oppose it. He thinks it should be available in every community, at any time, for free.

Obviously he's thrown out his allegiance to his faith in favour of political positions. Now he's the potential vice president. Does he think his sacrifice of his very own faith was a good calculation? I mean really this is just a job, and he is sacrificing his faith for it.

On the other hand, the Trump Pence ticket believe abortion is wrong and are seeking ways to reduce it - the opposite of this so-called Catholic. Kaine is so concerned about nuclear proliferation, but is apparently unconcerned about abortion proliferation.

Well, basic bottom line is Kaine has openly rejected his faith.

P.S. While writing this, Fr. Zuhlsdorf from the famous blog just made a great point. From his Catholic formation which he seems to have forgotten, Tim Kaine shoudl realize for something to be good overall, it must have good means and ends. If Clinton got donations from evil empires, it doesn't matter if she does good with it.

October 4: Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi

Happy Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi which we celebrate today. St. Francis loved God's creation just like every Christian ought to. It is, after all, God's Creation. But some people push this too far. Animals are not sacred, they're not holy. They're animals. Some churches have turned today into a travesty by bringing in every dog, cat, bird, and horse into churches all over the world to be "blessed" by a priest.

This is not okay and does not make sense. I know a lot of people will be indignant. "My animal is so amazing, he is so loving! and St. Francis loved animals! Who are you to tell me not to get a blessing for my beloved pet!"

Well, first of all, pets are animals. They do not have a conscience and cannot choose between good or evil, therefore none are morally praiseworthy. They might be companions and helpful and so on, but they are not rational actors. They are animals, and therefore do not have a rational soul. Blessing an animal is no different than blessing any other random thing in your house.

People like to think animals are human and in many cases they believe animals are better than humans, but animals act upon instinct. They do not make moral choices, only our personification of animals tells us they do.

So stop walking in these dirty animals, traipsing in mud and dirt and everything else into a sacred and holy place such as a church. Here, the Eucharist is consecrated, it's not a barn. Animals cannot pray, they cannot worship. And people who attend these blessing of animal events aren't there to pray either. They're there to make their animals more than they really are.

Fortunately at my church, even though they do this, it's done outside the church. So at least these animals aren't allowed into the actual church.

Jesus doesn't show the way - He IS the way.

I came to a profound realization the other day as I was watching a movie about Jesus. It was just a clip where Jesus is summoned because Lazarus has died. Lazarus's two sisters - Mary and Martha - are there along with a huge crowd. Then the following dialogue takes place:

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life”

He does not say he shows us the resurrection or teaches how to attain it. No, he IS the resurrection. He continues by saying "Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She affirms that she does.

Jesus is the only person to ever claim to BE and not just SHOW the path or the way. There are many more examples throughout the scriptures:

2) I am the Bread of Life
3) I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life
4) I am the vine, you are the branches
5) I am
6) I am the Light of the World
7) I am the Gate
8) I am the Good Shepherd

The point is Jesus isn't saying "I will bring you to the way, the truth, and the life" or "I am your guide" or "follow me". Although he does say to follow him, the ultimate destination is him. Jesus is God and it is through him, through the eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood that we rise to new life like Lazarus did. Jesus lived a perfect and holy life and he tells us he is the way. We have no choice but to follow him.

Holy Couple Goes from Celibate to Spectacularly Fruitful

I was just reading about the parents of St. Terese of Lisieux, since today October 1, is her feast day. They were extraordinary people. First her father, Louis Martin, wanted to become a priest, but was refused since he didn't know Latin. Her future mother wanted to join a convent but was likewise rejected. This was back in a time when people could be rejected because there were tons of vocations to the religious life.

So her mother, Marie-Azélie Guérin, known as Zélie, became a lace-maker, something she excelled at and opened her own business at the age of 22.

Louis and Zélie met in 1858 and married in July of that same year. At this is the amazing thing. At first, they decided to live celibately in order to devote themselves to God. However, after speaking with a priest, he discouraged them from doing this. Did they at this point end up having one or two children. Nope! They had 8. Unfortunately 3 of the children died early, but 5 daughters survived.

Here's the next amazing part: All 5 daughters became nuns! You can just imagine the level of piety and holiness in that family.

Sadly, Terese, the youngest, died at the age of just 24 years old of tuberculosis on September 30, 1897. She was canonized just 27 years later on May 17, 1925 by Pope Pius XI. Her parents were canonized as well, an extremely rare occurrence, some 90 years later, on October 18, 2015.

Clearly this family wanted to do everything possible to glorify God. What an amazing story.