It’s Not the Contraceptives, Stupid–UPDATED

• At the Patheos Catholic Portal, Sr Mary Ann Walsh, Media Secretary for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, lays out the legal case.

• Deacon Greg Kandra picks up a New York Times piece on the implications of the ruling for Catholic colleges.

• A post from Look in the Mirror shares a patriot’s sense of betrayal and includes a good roundup of reactions to the ruling from Church leaders.

• At Why I Am Catholic, Frank Weathers dares you to put your name where your faith is, on a petition to the President–Skinner, the Smoking Man, and the black helicopters be damned.

And on a personal note, here’s a link to the homily I heard Fr Tim Ralston preach at the 12:15 Mass yesterday. It blew me away with its strong, faithful, uncompromising message. I’m still wrestling with the Church’s teaching on contraceptives–as are the vast majority of Catholics in the pews, if the polls are even partially correct–but I appreciate Fr Tim’s courage in taking this to the pulpit in our politically diverse and liturgically progressive assembly. The reaction to the homily told me I wasn’t alone in feeling that, like the crowd at the synagogue in yesterday’s Gospel, we had just been surprised out of our complacency by one who teaches with authority. After a moment of silence, the congregation erupted into spontaneous and sustained applause.

Finally, just a caution to those who think this problem will go away after the November elections. Candidates–any candidates, from any party, of any religious background–will tell you anything they think you want to hear. That’s always been true. Why else would the sound of someone “teaching with authority” strike us as miraculous?