Thursday, November 20, 2008
Obama Victory Celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes Massapequa Park
President-elect Barack Obama got an enthusiastic thumbs-up from Fr. Ed in last Sunday's sermon, a preview of things to come in the fresh, new, politically-correct climate at OLL.

One of the most distinctive characteristics of Our Lady of Lourdes parish used to be oft-repeated reminders from the pulpit at election time of the serious obligation to vote for candidates with the best record on moral issues.

OLL parishioners were typically instructed weeks in advance of every election that if even if a candidate promises voters to give a little extra money back in their social security checks, but also promises to vote to kill babies, then voting for that candidate makes the voter responsible for the evil that elected official approves once in office.

Now OLL parishioners no longer have to dread long tedious lectures on their moral responsibility in the voting booth. In fact, all you OLL Catholics who voted for our ardently pro-abortion, pro-gay-marriage, pro-Planned Parenthood, pro-FOCA President-elect should feel right at home in Msgr. Lisante's politically hip new parish. Believe it or not, you won't see any stern faces or finger-wagging about the 61% of Catholics who helped push Barack Obama to victory two weeks ago at OLL.

Obama supporters will be gratified to learn that last Sunday, Fr. Ed Seagriff, Msgr. Lisante's assistant pastor, openly rejoiced over the prospect of an Obama presidency, declaring it a triumph over long-standing racial prejudice, regardless of the dire consequences Obama's victory signifies for pro-life and pro-family efforts.

An indignant and heartbroken reader has sent me this riveting account of Fr. Seagriff's landmark pro-Obama sermon last Sunday:

"He began with a story about how his father was a lifelong bigot. After establishing clearly to the parishioners that his father was, as he put it: “the Archie Bunker of the family”, he told us a story about this family that moved into the house next door to them.

"Their name was Malone and both Fr. Seagriff’s parents were elated that “good Irish Catholics” were moving into the neighborhood. Following the tradition of the day, they brought Holy Water, a loaf of bread, salt, etc. over to the new neighbors to welcome them. When the man of the housed opened the front door, Seagriff’s father said: “We’d like speak to the man of the house”, his father was mortified to learn that the man who opened the door WAS the man of the house; a black man.

"They handed over their welcoming gifts politely and headed back home where a huge fight ensued between Fr. Seagriff’s mother and father....why?....because Mr. Seagriff was horrified that the new neighbors, the Malones, were black!

"Mrs. Seagriff put her foot down and threatened to divorce Mr. Seagriff if he did not mend his ways there and then. He continued that he subsequently attended Mass with his father one Sunday and he was shocked to see his father go down on his knees and kiss the hand of a visiting Nigerian (clearly black) priest.

"Fr. Seagriff relates that when he and his father got into their car to head home, he asked his father (in a very confounded tone) “Why did you DO that??”. His father’s reply was: “Because my son, that was not a black man, that was Jesus.”

"From THIS story he led into his opinion that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated because of bigotry and racism, much like the ignorant hatred that his father exhibited.

"It became clear by the end of his sermon that he regarded his father as a bigot, while his mother was the pillar of Catholicism, but, in spite of his bigotry, his father could “see” Jesus in a black man.

"He went on to further establish that it was 'because of this great man, Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation that TODAY....Barack Obama was able to break through the ‘glass ceiling’ of racism and become President-Elect Obama. What a glorious time in history this is.'

"THIS led into another equally dramatic story about how he has some other relic/historical document?? I don’t remember what it was...but after the election, he took this historical document and wrapped it in the American Flag and brought it to the second graders at the school.

"He told them how Abraham Lincoln fought for equal rights for black people and how he was killed for this and how his death and sacrifice paved the way for this extraordinary historical event of Barack Obama becoming president. He said that when he unwrapped the picture/document...the children stood in awe of it and began to touch it and clap and cry and scream and he made it sound like they were all “slain in the spirit” or something equally dramatic. The whole story was dripping with drama!

"As if this wasn’t bad enough....he went on to compare Obama to Kennedy and how his father, 'A lifelong Republican, and his mother... a lifelong Democrat fought like cats and dogs when Kennedy won the election.... His mother was elated that an Irish Catholic Democrat had won; his father was furious that a Democrat had won and vowed to never accept Kennedy.'

"He then swung back to how wonderful it is that Barack Obama has accomplished this awesome task of becoming the first black President and how lucky we all are to be witnessing this momentous event in history.

"He wrapped it all up by recounting again the story of his father with the Nigerian priest and how his father uttered the words: 'That was no black man, that was Jesus.'

"My father, mother, husband and three kids all just sat there stunned. My mother – who is always quiet and reverent in church was so angry and appalled that she actually shouted the Apostle’s Creed... I had to shush her more than once!

"We all felt like storming out of the church...even our misguided Monsignor did not have the audacity to support Obama and now this irresponsible priest takes a church full of parishioners and basically tells them 'it’s ok if he’s pro-abortion...he’s black and we should be happy about that over all.'"

The reader relates how her whole family walked out of church, completely astounded that Fr. Ed had compared Obama to Jesus, despite Obama's rabidly anti-life positions, which the young Illinois senator has not hesitated to elaborate upon on numerous occasions in his campaign.

It hardly needs to be emphasized here that the color of Obama's skin does not matter a particle to pro-life Catholics like this reader and her family, and they would be equally approving of the first black president if he had only been pro-life. I assure you if Alan Keyes, a pro-life black Republican Presidential candidate had won the election, there would be enough cork-popping and celebration among white Catholics to satisfy anyone that bigotry and racism is almost completely dead in the Catholic Church in America.

So, be prepared for many more sermons along the same lines in Msgr. Jim Lisante's ever-tolerant and welcoming parish, sermons where fine distinctions and careful definitions are no longer necessary, where blurred lines, fuzzy theology and moral vacuousness predominate. Fr. Ed and the new pastor are apparently only too happy to erase from OLL's collective memory all these antiquated notions and grim-sounding words:

sin, (oh, brother!) responsibility, chastity, (what's that?) sacrifice, confession, heaven, judgement, purgatory, hell, (puh-leez!) modesty, expiation, magisterium, (magi-who?) obedience, virtue, immorality, dogma, pornography, (yawn) abortion, (well, Msgr. Jim might mention that once in a while) homosexuality, (gasp!) contraception, (shudder!) catechism, and commandment (you mean you still believe in that? What a dinosaur!).

Better take one last look. You won't be seeing or hearing any of these any time soon in the new and improved OLL