“You have forgotten God who gave you birth.”

I’d say that today’s Responsorial Psalm is the Lord whacking our bishops with a clue-by-4.

You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

“The LORD saw it, and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

And he said, `I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

They have stirred me to jealousy with what is no god; they have provoked me with their idols. So I will stir them to jealousy with those who are no people; I will provoke them with a foolish nation.

Read that in the context of the PA grand jury report and tell me it isn’t a warning to the men who would hide the sins of their brothers.

Sadly my own bishop, Cardinal Tobin, refuses to see. He wrote a letter to the priests of the Archdiocese addressing another round of allegations. Frankly I’m, underwhelmed. Especially by this:

“No one – including the anonymous ‘sources’ cited in the article – has ever spoken to me about a ‘gay sub-culture’ in the Archdiocese of Newark.”

Sergeant Schultz, please call your office. “Uncle Ted” is on line 2.

His Eminence’s protestation beggars credibility. Perhaps he needs to spend a day or 3 with Bishop Morlino in the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin. The fact is the Church has become too accepting of sin, too willing to sacrifice dogma to the needs of “pastoral care.” The Nuns On The Bus embraced Obamacare, including contraception, sterilization, and abortion because they believe the pastoral need for access to health care outweighs the spiritual need to be true to the Gospels. Cardinal Tobin embraces dissident priests who “reach out” to LGBT communities out of a desire to show mercy and love to all God’s children. But what about their immortal souls? What happens when LGBT “pride” translates into sacrilegious actions by supposed men of God?

Sin.

Sin happens.

Pope Francis wants us to do penance. OK. But it won’t be enough. Yes we are all sinners, and yes we must all return to the path of righteousness. Yet His Holiness does not address the decades of coverups, deceit, stonewalling, and debauchery which has permeated every layer of Holy Mother Church. And I’m not just singling out the homosexuals. We have bishops who are determined to sanction adultery by admitting divorced and remarried Catholics to Holy Communion. We have supposedly Catholic institutions which gladly promote contraception, pre-marital sex, gender fluidity, and same-sex relationships.

They have forgotten God who gave them birth.

Pray for them. Pray for their repentance. Pray for their salvation. Pray that the priests, bishops, and cardinals who have not succumbed to temptation will remain steadfast in their faith and be a beacon of hope to the wayward among them. Pray too for the children and young men whose lives were destroyed. Pray that God will not forget us.

Dick Codey and Loretta Weinberg line up to abolish the First Amendment in New Jersey

NJ Democrats’ hysteria over 3D printed “ghost guns” has reached Full Fascism. Two of our most powerful state senators are contemplating banning the blueprints and software which could be used to create one. Which kinda goes against that whole “freedom of speech” thing, but hey, Guns Are Scary! And Gurbir Grewal and his myriad of lawsuits might not succeed, because Trump!

But Senate Democrats aren’t willing to chance the outcome, and tell NJ Advance Media they plan to introduce at least two pieces of legislation that would seek to ban guns made from such downloadable files in New Jersey.

“We have to use whatever ability we have prevent this from getting into the wrong hands,” said Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Richard Codey, D-Essex, will re-introduce a bill calling for their outright ban for the general population.

“We need to ban them,” said Codey on Tuesday.

New Jersey already makes it impossible for average citizens to legally own a gun, so I’m not sure what their motives are here. Except there’s this:

But Codey said it’s not yet clear if the legislation would ban the final “printed” product or even the downloaded plans.

The question turns on at what point a 3D gun file becomes an actual firearm: When it’s blueprint file is loaded into the printer, or only after it’s finished printing.

“I don’t know,” said Codey. “We’d want to reach a consensus on that issue.”

Now I’ve met Dick Codey. And to say that our former Acting Governor In Waiting For Life is a pompous blowhard would be an understatement of megalomaniacal proportions. But he’s not stupid and he ought to be familiar with the First Amendment to the US Constitution. It’s pretty clear, you can’t restrict freedom of speech. You can’t stop people from having information. Unless you’re looking to follow in the footsteps of Josef Stalin.

“Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas.”

The Democrats really do want to create The Peoples Republic of New Jersey, where the government decides what we’re allowed to know.

And sadly our state’s newspapers are on board with this blatant act of censorship and prior restraint. The Star-Ledger’s daily bloviating on the evils of 3D printed guns is already over the top. But to endorse outright censorship of information? From the same people who cheered Daniel Ellsberg leaking the Pentagon Papers? Do they know where that sort of tyranny leads?

They don’t want to know. I mentioned it in a comment on one of their pearl-clutching editorials, something along the lines of “I for one await the day when the Trump Administration uses this newfound power to suppress information to order you not to print a story.” Tom Moran and his fellow travelers deleted that one within 5 minutes of it being posted.

The truth hurts.

Or in this case The Ends Justify The Means. Which is why the Founding Fathers wisely instituted the First and Second Amendments in the first place. “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Victor Davis Hanson is right, a second American civil war is coming. May God have mercy on our souls.