400-408 – Sean McDowell, (seanmcdowell.org, "Worldview Ministries"), one of the best young apologists in the country, head of the Bible department at Capistrano Valley Schools, and author of over 15 books including his latest project entitled Godquest, a DVD-based, 6-week curriculum for the whole church, that over 2,000 churches are already using.
• This Saturday, at Capistrano Valley Church, there's a free BBQ at 6pm and at 7pm, there's a free preview of the docu-drama Undaunted: The Early Life of Josh McDowell. And they're giving away free copies of More Than a Carpenter, as long as supplies last.
• LAT (01/04/2012) L.A. bishop retires after admitting he fathered two kids.
A Los Angeles bishop stepped down from his duties with the Catholic church on Wednesday after acknowledging he fathered two children.
Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala, 60, told the archdiocese in December that he was the father of two teenagers who live out of the state with their mother, the Associated Press reported.
Zavala submitted his resignation with the Vatican shortly thereafter. Under Catholic doctrine, priests must take a vow of celibacy.
Zavala filed his resignation under the code of canon law that allows bishops to apply for retirement before the age of 75 for medical purposes or for reasons making them unsuitable for their jobs, according to the AP.
Zavala grew up in L.A. and, after being ordained in 1977, was assigned to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in East Los Angeles, according to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He was named rector of St. John's Seminary in 1992, and two years later, Cardinal Roger Mahony ordained him auxiliary bishop for the San Gabriel region.
The Vatican accepted the early resignation of the bishop Wednesday.
In addition, the archdiocese has offered spiritual guidance and financial support to help pay for the children's college costs, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez said in a letter posted to a blog.
413-423 – • Catholic Education Resource Center (Crisis e-Letter, 2002) 5 Arguments Against Priestly Celibacy and How to Refute Them.
// 3. Celibacy is historical. – Most people assume that the celibate priesthood is a convention introduced by the Church fairly late in history. On the contrary, there is evidence that even the earliest Church fathers, such as St. Augustine, St. Cyril, and St. Jerome, fully supported the celibate priesthood. The Spanish Council of Elvira (between 295 and 302) and the First Council of Aries (314), a kind of general council of the West, both enacted legislation forbidding all bishops, priests, and deacons to have conjugal relations with their wives on penalty of exclusion from the clergy. Even the wording of these documents suggests that the councils were not introducing a new rule but rather maintaining a previously established tradition. In 385, Pope Siricius issued the first papal decree on the subject, saying that "clerical continence" was a tradition reaching as far back as apostolic times. While later councils and popes would pass similar edicts, the definitive promulgation of the celibate, unmarried priesthood came at the Second Lateran Council in 1139 under Pope Gregory VII. Far from being a law forced upon the medieval priesthood, it was the acceptance of celibacy by priests centuries earlier that eventually led to its universal promulgation in the twelfth century. //
• Catholic Answers (2005) "Celibacy and the Priesthood." Chap. 24 in The Essential Catholic Survival Guide: Answers to Tough Questions About the Faith, (San Diego: Catholic Answers Inc., 2005), pp. 192-198.
The first and most basic confusion is thinking of priestly celibacy as a dogma or doctrine -- a central and irreformable part of the faith, believed by Catholics to come from Jesus and the apostles. Thus some Fundamentalists make a great deal of a biblical reference to Peter's mother-in-law (Mark 1:30), apparently supposing that, if Catholics only knew that Peter had been married, they would be unable to regard him as the first pope. Again, Fundamentalist time lines of "Catholic inventions" (a popular literary form) assign "mandatory priestly celibacy" to this or that year in Church history, as if prior to this requirement the Church could not have been Catholic.
These Fundamentalists are often surprised to learn that even today celibacy is not the rule for all Catholic priests. In fact, for Eastern Rite Catholics, married priests are the norm, just as they are for Orthodox and Oriental Christians.
Even in the Eastern churches, though, there have always been some restrictions on marriage and ordination. Although married men may become priests, unmarried priests may not marry, and married priests, if widowed, may not remarry. Moreover, there is an ancient Eastern discipline of choosing bishops from the ranks of the celibate monks, so their bishops are all unmarried.
The tradition in the Western or Latin-Rite Church has been for priests as well as bishops to take vows of celibacy, a rule that has been firmly in place since the early Middle Ages. Even today, though, exceptions are made. For example, there are married Latin-Rite priests who are converts from Lutheranism and Episcopalianism.
As these variations and exceptions indicate, priestly celibacy is not an unchangeable dogma but a disciplinary rule. The fact that Peter was married is no more contrary to the Catholic faith than the fact that the pastor of the nearest Maronite Catholic church is married.
// "Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom it is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of God. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it" (Matt. 19:11-12).
Notice that this sort of celibacy "for the sake of the kingdom" is a gift, a call that is not granted to all, or even most people, but is granted to some. Other people are called to marriage. It is true that too often individuals in both vocations fall short of the requirements of their state, but this does not diminish either vocation, nor does it mean that the individuals in question were "not really called" to that vocation. The sin of a priest doesn't necessarily prove that he never should have taken a vow of celibacy, any more than the sin of a married man or woman proves that he or she never should have gotten married. It is possible for us to fall short of our own true calling. //
413 – Looking for some fun stuff for your family to do? Check out the cool events posted on our Community Calendar over at kkla.com.
428-438 – Calls – Would it be a good thing if the Roman Catholic Church allowed priests to marry, just as the Eastern Rite Church, Lutheranism, and Episcopalianism?
• For passages relating to celibacy, see 1 Cor 7:7, 27-35, and Matthew 19:10-12.
443-452 – Calls –
458-508 – Tom Doyle, Vice President of Church and Ministry Partnerships for E3 Partners (e3partners.org, "Equip, Evangelize, Establish"), and author of Breakthrough: The Return of Hope to the Middle East (goodnewsfromthemiddleeast.com). Next week, his new book comes out entitled Desperation: A Call to Prayer for Israel and the Middle-East. He's also finishing another one entitled Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World.
512-523 – Tom Doyle,
523 – Download a free Daily Devotional from your favorite KKLA teacher, maybe it's Chuck Swindoll, Alistair Begg or Greg Laurie by clicking on Program Guide over at kkla.com.
528-539 – • ABC News (01/04/2012) Cop Issues Speeding Ticket, Asks Driver for a Date and She Sues Him.
544-554 – Calls – What's the strangest situation in which you hit or got hit on?
558-608 – Mark Baker, Clinical Psychologist and Executive Director of La Vie Christian Counseling Centers (laviecounseling.org, KKLA Helpline (800) 801-5242) in Pasadena and Santa Monica, and author of the million-copy bestseller Jesus, The Greatest Therapist Who Ever Lived. Hear Mark teach on emotional and spiritual growth at DrMarkBaker.com. The first session for my KKLA listeners is just $35.00. There are 9 basic emotions: Anger, Fear, Sadness, Hurt, Surprise, Disgust, Shame-Guilt, Joy-Happiness, Love.
612-623 – Mark Baker.
628-639 – Mark Baker.
644-654 – Mark Baker.
• AP (01/04/2012) Squeaker of a victory in hand, Romney looks to NH.
• Washington Times (01/04/2012) Obama defies Congress with 'recess' picks: Nominations could provoke constitutional fight.
• Phil Kerpen (Fox News, 01/04/2012) Obama's Cordray Appointment Mocks the Constitution.
• NRO Editors (01/04/2012) After Iowa.
• WSJ Editorial (01/05/2012) Iowa's Opening Skirmish: The Romney coronation will have to wait.
