January 2017

Dear Friends,

      This election, we might all agree, was interesting and contentious for a variety of reasons. For instance, many contend that Trump is an “Illegitimate” president; that he won the election only because Vladimir Putin tipped the election in his favor by hacking into the DNC computers. It’s not my place to comment on the politics of this election. But I would like to address the religious issue raised by this hacking incident.

       It’s not the hacking per se that caused some voters to think twice about voting for the Democratic candidate. The Russians and the Chinese have been wrecking havoc with the internet for years. We already knew that. We’re all vulnerable. That’s not really news. It was the content of the revelation that was disturbing to some voters. One email exchange was particularly shocking.  Sandy Newman wrote to John Podesta as follows: “There needs to be a Catholic Spring, in which Catholics themselves demand the end of a middle ages dictatorship and the beginning of a little democracy and respect for gender equality in the Catholic Church.” Podesta made this astonishing reply, “ We created Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good to organize for a moment like this. But I think it lacks the leadership now to do so. Likewise Catholics United. Like most Spring movements, I think this one will have to be bottom up.”

       Since when is it the work of political parties to change or influence the churches in America? This admission by Clinton’s campaign manager that the DNC has plotted to corrupt the Catholic Church is one of the most outrageous violations of the principle of separation of church and state ever exposed in this country. My question is: who cares? No one seems to be talking about this. No actual laws have been broken. No one is going to jail. The truth is that Catholics in Alliance and Catholics United have been around for so long advancing the cause of liberal theology in the church that no one notices anymore how corrupting all of this is. Almost all of the churches in America have been pulled so far in the direction of the poltical left in the last forty years and are so strongly influenced at the highest levels by those who identify with the progressive movement, that most people met this revelation with a yawn.

     It’s sad but common knowledge now out in the open that the whole liberation theology movement was created and pushed on the church by the KGB. As part of their cold war strategy they infiltrated the seminaries in Europe and quietly worked to corrupt the church from within by making Marxism, state sponsored atheism, acceptable to the church. Liberation theology is no small thing. It gave us the Reverend Wright, who Barack Obama said was his spiritual mentor; and it radicalized the Jesuit order of which Pope Francis is a member. The DNC is a party of the left. I guess it’s no big shock to see them doing the kinds of things that the KGB has done. The Catholic bishops don’t seem to care. You don’t hear them crying out for justice.

     But that is just the point. No one that I can see, besides the very few conservative Catholics left in this country, is shocked or scandalized by this revelation. Did anyone really change his or her vote because of this? I doubt it. So, for what it’s worth, I don’t think that the hacking scandal did much to affect the outcome of the election, but I do think our reaction to it says something about the direction that the churches in America are moving; none of which is good.

    Our Lady of Fatima appeared one hundred years ago this July to warn the world against the evils that were about to spread around the world because of the Russian revolution. They will continue to spread evil and to diminish the influence of the church upon the world until the church unconditionally stands up to it and rejects it. That has yet to happen. Until it does, Russia is going to be a terrible problem. Therefore, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Russia is working to corrupt our democracy, our elections and our churches. That’s what they have been doing for a century now and will continue to do. We need to be vigilant and pray for our nation and for our leaders. God is faithful and so too must we be.

Faithfully,

Fr. Jansen String

Dates to Remember

Sunday Jan. 29 and Feb.5: Holy Eucharist @8 and 10 am. Fr. Bill Dunning will preach and celebrate.

Sunday Feb 12 Family Breakfast 9 am.

Sunday Feb. 19 Coffee hour following the 10 o’clock service

Wednesday March 1 Ash Wednesday Holy Eucharist 7pm

Sunday March 12 Vestry mtg.

Thursday March 23 Easter Egg making begins

We’ll resume the Bible Study this spring after we complete the Easter Egg making.

You will find a lot of good information on our website, including the sermons, some in written and some in audio format. I have also written meditations for Holy Week that I think you will like.

Remember that we have a prayer chain ministry. If you need prayer for yourself or a loved one call Cindy Kopicki to start the chain 410 284 1665.

If you or a loved one have to be hospitalized, or have a problem and just need to talk, call Fr. String 410 262 2005. We’re here to support you.