tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800715528740636917.post9206456583659159515..comments2023-05-04T09:58:46.608-04:00Comments on Living The Faith On A High Wire: The Pope, the Dictator and my Wife…Carlos Espinosahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714149763127456271noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800715528740636917.post-58492252728279631322012-02-06T09:51:52.496-05:002012-02-06T09:51:52.496-05:00Thank you, Anneg. You're right about the pray...Thank you, Anneg. You're right about the prayers for the leaders in Cuba, regardless of all the harm they have caused, and about my wife.<br /><br />Robert, you're absolutely right. Each one of us will be judge according to our actions for the hungry, thirsty, imprisoned and least of our brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, I often find myself looking at the speck in my brother’s eye and don’t notice the log in my own. <br /><br />God bless you all and thanks for the remarks.Carlos Espinosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16714149763127456271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800715528740636917.post-40550173998951133202012-02-05T15:37:13.276-05:002012-02-05T15:37:13.276-05:00While I have not made it a secret as to how I feel...While I have not made it a secret as to how I feel about the church leadership in Cuba (let's just say I'm more in Costales' camp), this point made in the post made me stop and think: <i>it must be noted that the Church’s primary mission is not to free men from oppression and ties that bind them in this world. It is to free men’s soul from the ties that bind them in the eternal one.</i><br /><br />We can't ever think we know God's will for us, and if that will is for us to suffer...and we ALL do as today's 1st reading from the Book of Job spelled out...then suffer we will. <br /><br />However, as Christians, all of us from the pew-warmers to Cardinal Ortega to Pope Benedict XVI, we are commanded to love one another including our enemies. Just as we are to assist each other on our way to eternal salvation, we are obligated by our love to help our oppressed bretheren in any way we can. This means with material, earthly goods as well as spiritual ones. They go hand-in-hand. If we see a starving man in the street, do we give him some food or do we depend solely on his spiritual strength for his well-being? <br /><br />Feed and clothe the oppressed with love and Christian charity, and he will surely see the Lord.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01028084814683627950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800715528740636917.post-31395236660233349732012-02-03T19:48:49.135-05:002012-02-03T19:48:49.135-05:00Carlos, as an old wife (40 years), probably, yeah,...Carlos, as an old wife (40 years), probably, yeah, it was worth it. She will get over it and she will learn to trust you more. Be nice, bring flowers. And pray for Cuba,and even for that s*****n Fidel's soul, even if he doesn't deserve it. He will not live forever. And only God knows what BXVI's visit will accomplish. I pray it is what needs to accomplish and pray for Mexico,too.Anneghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12858120820470784593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800715528740636917.post-25173560295532040762012-02-03T15:54:33.132-05:002012-02-03T15:54:33.132-05:00Again, thank you all for your comments.
But, the m...Again, thank you all for your comments.<br />But, the most immediate (and important) question for me, was if it was worth it to get in the dog house?Carlos Espinosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16714149763127456271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800715528740636917.post-2137540408703596872012-02-03T15:36:55.562-05:002012-02-03T15:36:55.562-05:00Unfortunately, Cardinal Ortega is not just guilty ...Unfortunately, Cardinal Ortega is not just guilty of remaining silent while his flock is ravaged. Ortega has actively helped the Castro regime achieve its means, including a trip by the Cardinal to D.C. to lobby members of congress to lift sanctions against the dictatorship.<br /><br />Dr. Carlos Eire, a devout Catholic and professor of religious history at Yale University (also author of Waiting for Snow in Havana & Learning to Die in Miami), has written two excellent pieces regarding the Church in Cuba and its relationship with the Castro dictatorship. I suggest everyone read these two pieces, as it goes much further in explaining the issues with Cardinal Ortega's complicity with the Cuban government.<br /><br />http://babalublog.com/2012/01/dr-carlos-eire-the-catholic-churchs-long-history-of-compromise-a-babalu-exclusive/<br /><br />http://babalublog.com/2010/09/an-open-letter-to-cardinal-jaime-ortega-y-alamino/Alberto de la Cruzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17278569051208419091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800715528740636917.post-82759474183586248102012-02-03T15:08:23.115-05:002012-02-03T15:08:23.115-05:00To press the point - gently of course - the "...To press the point - gently of course - the "wholesale judgments" you note are less wholesale when you take into account the numerous dissidents [some believers, some not] who are willing to take those risks and believe likewise.<br /><br />So then the point that those safely in Miami are engaged in the much dreaded "judging" -- btw my new goal in life is for someone to explain to me the difference between thinking something through and being judgmental -- is besides the point. Calling out Ortega is a way of supporting the dissidents.<br /><br />Is it unreasonable to ask the Bishop of Cuba to show support for those who are persecuted by a totalitarian regime? Is an additional parish [or 10] allowed to start-up at the tail-end of communism worth the real spiritual and psychological harm that is caused by watching a Catholic Bishop turn his back on Las Damas en Blanco?<br /><br />People who criticize Ortega think the answer is no. Catholics who criticize Ortega expect more, not less, from an avowed servant of God.Jorge Costaleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00446489264985375034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800715528740636917.post-72775423310091546162012-02-03T13:31:27.594-05:002012-02-03T13:31:27.594-05:00Hey, remember, it is a political year. I sound li...Hey, remember, it is a political year. I sound like I'm ready!!!Carlos Espinosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16714149763127456271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800715528740636917.post-11399595379175157462012-02-03T13:19:45.371-05:002012-02-03T13:19:45.371-05:00Thanks, Tito and Jorge.
As for Cardinal Ortega, a...Thanks, Tito and Jorge.<br /><br />As for Cardinal Ortega, at the risk of taking a more liberal approach, and please don't tell my wife!, not having lived in an oppressive state, where anything I say and do is watched and Cuban security are constantly bugging phone lines and following dissenters around, it is hard for me to make wholesale judgments.<br /><br />Let’s remember that Pope Pius XII was sometimes accused of not being more outspoken during the Nazi death camps, while he was maneuvering quietly behind the scenes and saving lives of Jews, and Catholics, alike, by providing safe houses and protection. In recent years, Jewish historians have admitted that if the Pope had been more vocal, more lives would have put at risk. <br /><br />So, while it doesn’t look good from the outside, I cannot make an assessment on what’s going on in the trenches.<br /><br />It’s a fine line to have to walk and some are better at it than others.Carlos Espinosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16714149763127456271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800715528740636917.post-18026126247844293802012-02-03T12:25:49.601-05:002012-02-03T12:25:49.601-05:00Interesting post - I thought that you were too -- ...Interesting post - I thought that you were too -- as is commendably your nature -- charitable towards Cardinal Ortega. Here's why.<br /><br />As a fellow practicing Catholic, priests like Cardinal Ortega present a challenge to the faithful similar to the point in time at which there was no denying the acts of pedophile priests and how some in the Church protected them. How to reconcile shameful acts by those who we believe to be apostolic successors. <br /><br />For me, the answer lies in the realization that priests really are human, with all that entails. In the case of Cardinal Ortega, it highlights how unfortunate Cuba has been, say in comparison to Poland, with the person to whom the flock was entrusted. While I have no idea how Cardinal Ortega will be judged at the end of his life -- in other words, I am not suggesting that my opinion of his ongoing cowardice constitutes unforgivable acts, that is my understanding of what it means to be judgmental, assuming to know the judgment of God -- but we have learned the hard way that our Church is not well served by ignoring priests who have demonstrably -- as in public actions over an extended period of time -- failed to live up to their challenging roles.<br /><br />In the case of Cardinal Ortega cowardice may be the most charitable assessment. If he were in the Garden of Gethsemane, the odds would have been great that Judas would not have been alone in taking flight. Again, his cowardly lack of action over the years do not make him evil, just a depressingly human and unworthy apostolic successor.Jorge Costaleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00446489264985375034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2800715528740636917.post-52363544631818899152012-02-03T12:09:21.233-05:002012-02-03T12:09:21.233-05:00Excellent post.
I feel for you.
In the end I wou...Excellent post.<br /><br />I feel for you.<br /><br />In the end I would make my wife happy, but the right thing to do is to go.<br /><br />To plant seeds among the Cuban people.<br /><br />I liked the quote from G.K. Chesterton, "Marriage is an adventure, like going to war."<br /><br />LOL!<br /><br />In Jesus, Mary, & Joseph,<br /><br />TitoTito Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12218771096085701665noreply@blogger.com