Tuesday, October 14, 2014

A ‘Pastoral Earthquake’: Catholic Church Proposes Extraordinary Shift On Gays And Lesbians


Vatican Pope Germany
CREDIT: AP

A panel of high-ranking Catholic officials has proposed a dramatic change in the way the church treats gays and lesbians. The group of Cardinals, known as a synod, suggested the church is capable of “valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine.”

The Cardinals stopped well short of endorsing gay marriage, stating “unions between people of the same sex cannot be considered on the same footing as matrimony between man and woman.” But they also acknowledged, in a section called “Welcoming homosexual persons,” there “are cases in which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners.” The Cardinals also suggest that same-sex couples should never be discriminated against in ways that could impact their children. 

The document was called a “pastoral eathquake” by John Thavis, a prominent journalist who covers the Vatican. It was produced by Pope Francis’s ongoing extraordinary synod on the family. That group previously polled Catholics about their opinions on issues including same-sex marriage, divorce, and contraception. The document produced by the synod, however, does not represent a formal change in church policy. 

To read the full article make the jump here

Flower of the Day: 10/14/14

"Sanatana dharma is the path to enlightenment, the way of the eternal religion, which leaves us some inheritances. These act like footprints of love that serve as a map, a guide to the path of the heart. All the names and forms of the Divine I allude to refer to the higher self that inhabits each one of us. They’re like frequencies of light. Just as white light is composed of all the colors of the rainbow, the higher self consists of many aspects that act as virtues or qualities of the Being. Such virtues are emanations of the same Being. They are scents of the fragrance of love."
 
Sri Prem Baba

Via Daily Dharma


Discovering Truth | October 14, 2014

Trees bend and birds are tossed high. Lives are thrown onto new courses by the spiritual tide. In our ordinary struggles with life and our interminable retreat into the compulsiveness of ordinary being, if we can look honestly, we may experience our religious sense as fully as in many high-flown writings. Looking deeply at our foolishness, we discover truth. 
- Caroline Brazier, "Discovering Truth"