“You are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of My mouth. For you say 'I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.' You don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." Revelation 3:14-19

These words by Jesus to the Church of Laodicea in the Book of Revelation are frightening words and they should be because they are accusing words. They accuse the Catholic Church in America and particularly in Boston of 2008. I am a Catholic and most or all of my readers know this by now. My Catholic Faith means very much to me and it has been my most prized possession for almost 15 years. It was 15 years ago when through a personal tragedy I rediscovered my Catholic Faith and it saved my life. I began to read and study everything I could about my Lord and His Church. I couldn’t help myself- I loved my faith and I wanted to share it. I began to become part of the life of my parish-becoming at first a lector, then a catechist and even a choir member. I was excited about being Catholic and bringing the Light of Christ to a dark world. I really took to heart the words of Our Lord: “You are to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth”. I was helping to build the kingdom of God on earth.

At the time of my re-conversion I was working in a medical lab and saw firsthand the “products of conception” or POCs as they were called but I called them by their real name- murdered babies by abortion. I saw the little heads with closed eyes, and little arms and legs of aborted babies in a large pickle jar. This gruesome sight which appeared day after day in this lab changed me forever- I became a Pro-Life Catholic. It is truly the only issue that matters and that is my only criteria for voting. As a lay catechist of 7^th & 8^th grades I had my run-ins with parents who thought it perfectly reasonable to be both Pro-Abortion and a Catholic. I don’t know where they may have got this idea. But though it wasn’t being taught by the Church, it wasn’t being reinforced by our priests and bishops either. I can’t remember when it was, that I heard my parish priest give a Pro-Life sermon. Come to think of it, I have never heard one but I continued to walk in my faith. Then the Priest Scandal happened and even that didn’t shake my faith. So, why am I writing this now? What is my point?

Well, my point is that during this last Presidential Election many and I mean millions of Catholics believed it reasonable and reconcilable to vote for Barack Obama for President. Our Religious Education Director was a big supporter, a few fellow Catechists and Eucharistic Ministers as well. But most disgusting of all was that on the Sunday before the most crucial election in our nation’s history, our pastor made no mention of it whatsoever. I sat there shaking my head in disbelief waiting for just one mention to defend life in the voting booth. The subject was totally ignored. Barack Obama’s position on ALL moral matters is in direct contradiction to our Catholic Faith. The silence from our bishops and clergy is deafening. The state of Massachusetts has one of the highest numbers per capita of Catholics in the United States but yet- we have the most liberal abortion laws and homosexual marriage. Am I missing something?? How can the Catholic Church in Boston have any relevance if it ignores the most pressing Moral issues of our time. Issues in which literally hang the lives of millions! How am I to continue teaching religious education with any conviction, knowing that my pastor and director do not support me when I speak of the “Life” issues? I am taught and instructed during weekly sermons to “be strong in my faith” and “tell others about coming back to church” and "take my faith with me beyond the doors of the church" etc. WHY should I? The people I expected to uphold the faith do not take it with them when Mass has ended. They seem to be able to divorce their faith from their public lives and political choices. The Pope, and especially Cardinal Burke spoke of the Democrat Party as the “Party of Death” and that no Catholic could morally support their candidates by casting a vote for them. The Church in America had the moral obligation to speak out against the Culture of Death and it lost its nerve. The lukewarmness of the Catholic Church in America almost makes the Church irrelevant. I am utterly disgusted and appalled by the cowardice of priests and bishops and in particular of Cardinal O’Malley and his brother bishops and priests. The blood of 48 million Holy Innocents cries out and these worthless “ministers” of God are mute. It was the silence of the German clergy both Protestant and Catholic which allowed Adolf Hitler to ascend to the Chancellorship and now history repeats with the election of the next Hitler- Barack Obama. How can I and my family be spiritually fed at a church which will not defend the sanctity of the most helpless and innocent lives? How can I look at my fellow parishioners with any respect knowing full well that they cast their vote for a candidate who supports full term abortions, partial birth abortion and even supports denying life-saving medical treatment to infants who have survived an abortion? As of this writing I am seriously considering resigning and looking to find another church to attend.

May God have mercy on all of us!!!