Comments for Sheep at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 13 out of 13 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Tue, 21 May 2013 02:52:10 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10835 The implication that strict adherents to any religion are not the epitomy of conformist sheep is ludicrous. There is no pride to be found in mindless obedience no matter who you're obeying. If pride is too "sinful" a word for you, then let me put it more bluntly: it is shameful not to question the dictates without quetion, especially when those order bother your conscience. - Frank Sellers Fri, 13 Apr 2012 06:31:08 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10757 They say "obedient sheep" like it's a bad thing. Who else was famously innocent and obedient? Let me think... - enness Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:31:00 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10339 Thanks Kevin - great post! - Tim Flynn Sun, 11 Mar 2012 08:12:17 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10337 I'll follow the Lord, Jesus Christ...as to "his shepherds on earth" I'll reserve judgment. - Tom Sun, 11 Mar 2012 06:10:05 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10333 I lived in New York for many years, eight of which I worked in trade book publishing. I also earned a law degree there. But one evening I attended a Broadway show by the dancer and actor Bill Irwin. I don't recall what the show was about -- it was a series of routines. But a recurring motif was a large group of men and women dressed in academic caps and gowns. They would occasionally pop up on stage and march in lock-step military style from one side to another. A funny and clever way to send up intellectual conformity. The audience laughed everytime this occurred. As did I. Yet, except for out of towners, I bet most people there voted Democrat, supported the unending and imaginative series of civil rights struggles (leaving racism and Jim Crow far behind), and were pro-choice. It's really the incoherence of liberal/leftism that drives me out of the room. Deep down, they're aware of the rot; they can't bring themselves to consciously acknowledge it. But laughter; that comes from deep down. - Graham Combs Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:33:04 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10330 This is an excellent piece. I fell away from the Church as an adult, and was led back precisely because it became clear to me that the family was threatened by all the "freedoms" promised by the sexual revolution and the abandonment of tradition. I may be a sheep, but I am fully aware of who my Shepherd is: Jesus Christ, assisted by the priests, brothers and nuns who have devoted their lives to protecting the Faith through the Church. - Paul Musial Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:56:00 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10328 It is exactly what I've found in academia, all my adult life. When I was an undergraduate at Princeton, I could predict what my classmates' views would be on almost any subject. That predictability extends to faculties generally. Human beings are made for obedience. Whether or not they'll obey isn't the question. The only question is whom or what they will obey. And if they think that they will obey only themselves, they are most pitifully deluded. - Tony Esolen Sat, 10 Mar 2012 05:23:08 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10324 God or man - that is the choice - to the Shepherd or to the slaughterhouse. Note well; on the road to slaughter, they fatten you up first and that’s great fun as long as you don't know why and where it ends up. - Other Joe Sat, 10 Mar 2012 02:39:37 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10323 One "spiritual excercise" I find extremely helpful and simple to accomplish is to read again Fatima in Lucia's Own Words. You may also Google a lot of this information from reliable sources. I reread the three childrens (the oldest, Lucia, was nine)Vision of Hell which was shown to them by the Virgin Mary. Rivetting. I also reread the part of the apparitions where Lucia asks whether young adults from the area who had died were in Heaven. Mary responds that the sixteen year old was in Heaven, but that Amelia, who was twenty to twenty-two years old, "will be in Purgatory until the end of the world." These apparitions were deemed by the Church to be worthy of credence. Mary did not come to show three children Hell. She came to show it to US so we might follow her advise how to avoid it. Lucia asked if she would be saved and our Lady said yes. Jacinta (her cousin), yes. Francisco (her seven year old cousin) "Yes, but he will have to say many Rosaries." Think of these episodes when you you hear the homily on Sunday in your parish and then ask yourself if there are, at least, two Catholicisms, one true, one false. - Manfred Sat, 10 Mar 2012 02:06:57 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10322 It was in thinking about Mary and about God's purposes for women that I came to some understanding of Pope John Paul's "acting person" who makes a decision for "willed obedience" to God. "Apart from you, I have no good." When one has begun to grasp that precept, true penance can happen and life begins to make sense. This is a beautiful Lenten post, comforting to those who live in communities inhabited by the often generous and, in many ways, good but close-minded people described by Dr. Bezner. - Bangwell Putt Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:53:26 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10321 Wonderful read, thank you. "There is more rejoicing in Heaven . ." - Regina Coeli Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:34:38 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10320 Fr Richard John Neuhaus coined the phrase, "the dull herd of independent minds" - Michael PS Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:33:46 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/sheep.html#comment-10319 excellent...God bless during this Lenten season of desolation, preparation and beyond... - Patrick Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:09:41 +0100