Dear Parishioners,
With each passing week, it seems the experience of faithful Christians is becoming more like that of the Church in its early years. Undoubtedly their situation involved more open and blatant persecution than ours, but surprisingly the differences narrow with each passing year. The latest example, as you probably know, is the LA Dodgers baseball franchise's decision to honor the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” (SPI) on the feast of the Sacred Heart.
To be clear, the “Sisters” being “honored” are not consecrated women. The history of the group begins in 1979 when three men dressed like nuns walked the streets of San Francisco, shouting obscenities on their way to a nude beach. Since then, they have held “Condom Savior” Masses, mocking everything sacred in saying “the latex host is the flesh of the life of the world”. They have walked the streets carrying sex toys and large replicas of male reproductive parts. Their history is dark.
It is because of this that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) made an official statement condemning the LA Dodgers’ decision to honor the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” (SPI) on the feast of the Sacred Heart. The Bishops are asking Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart and make acts of reparation, which is offering prayer and penance to the Lord with the intention of repairing the spiritual damage inflicted by sin. Their statement is as follows:
Catholic Christians traditionally recognize June as the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. During this time, we call to mind Christ’s love for us, which is visible in a special way in the image of His pierced heart, and we pray that our own hearts might be conformed to His, calling us to love and respect all His people.
This year, on June 16—the day of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus—a professional baseball team has shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity in mocking our Lord, His Mother, and consecrated women cannot be overstated. This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere, it is blasphemy.
It has been heartening to see so many faithful Catholics and others of good will stand up to say that what this group does is wrong, and it is wrong to honor them. We call on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart on June 16, offering this prayer as an act of reparation for the blasphemies against our Lord we see in our culture today.
Why don’t the Dodgers honor the religious sisters who daily contribute to the good of society in countless ways? These women have given every day of their lives to serve humanity regardless of people’s sexual orientation. There are even religious sisters who specifically reach out to the LGBTQ community. What about the deceased sister in Missouri whose body was recently discovered as being incorrupt? The answer seems to be that real religious sisters also serve God, and God is the unwelcome guest, even the enemy, of much of our society.
Sincerely,
Fr. Miller
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Fr. Miller
Pastor