Rorate Caeli takes time out of their busy schedule…

…to spit on the grave of a good man who served God with all his heart and to remind us, once again, that for many Reactionary Catholics, it is not enough that somebody who struggles with homosexual temptation is obedient to the Church, a faithful witness and a grateful and humble disciple of Jesus Christ and Our Lady. No matter how hard they try to be faithful, such same-sex attracted people must still be condemned and rejected, not for their sins, but for their temptations. In short, many Reactionary Catholics are, in the matter of homosexual temptation, functional Calvinists who reject the Church’s teaching on concupiscence. For those not familiar with that teaching, here it is:

1263 By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin. In those who have been reborn nothing remains that would impede their entry into the Kingdom of God, neither Adam’s sin, nor personal sin, nor the consequences of sin, the gravest of which is separation from God.

1264 Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, “the tinder for sin” (fomes peccati); since concupiscence “is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ.” Indeed, “an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”

Perry Lorenzo, the dead man and faithful witness to Jesus Christ Rorate Caeli decided to spit on, provided a sterling example of a man who competed according to the rules, who strove to live chastely, and who bore faithful, grace-filled and beautiful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, not only to other Catholics, but to a gay community in Seattle who imagined that all Catholics were, well, like the people at Rorate Caeli and bent on rejecting them whether they were obedient to the Church or not.

One of these days, I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody opens the cause for Perry’s canonization. And when a thorough study is made of his life, I won’t be terribly surprised if they canonize him. No prophecies, just an educated guess based on my knowledge of the man and his dedication to the Catholic faith. And should that day come, the people at Rorate Caeli, who excuse concupiscence in themselves, but condemn it as sin in faithful, chaste, and saintly men like Perry Lorenzo will be remembered to history, if they are remembered at all, just as the Reverend Dr. C.M. Hyde is remembered. Happily for them, they will have a heavenly intercessor: Perry Lorenzo. God forgive them.

My suggestion for people who want to avoid the fate of Rev. Hyde, Rorate Caeli and similar mockers of good and holy men?: Listen to the wise counsel of Michael Voris: