Psalm 137 (DR)

Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion:
On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments.
For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion.
How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.
Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy.
Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem:
Who say: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.
Blessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock.

Chris, just stating my own ongoing lived experience, but I think it's really lex orandi statuat legem credendi et legem vivendi. ; )

. . . and to think that come this October, Catholic bishops and cardinals will be discussing and apparently voting on matters of established Church doctrine and dogma with the same relativistic mindset.

I can get as annoyed with the bishops as anyone, but they are not solely responsible for relativism. This is society-wide not just in the church. I retired, after teaching a number of years in public and Catholic schools. I taught mostly middle-schoolers, so there may not be much sanity left, although I actually liked that age group.

It is no surprise the younger generations support same-sex marriage. They have been indoctrinated with political correctness from kindergarten on. PC is in public schools and Catholic schools are not much, if any better. The teacher colleges and teacher education programs are PC to max. The teachers are educated using the same texts, the same materials, and learn to teach to the same tests. There is little difference. It is not just the teachers. Parents sock the kids in school and often don't pay much attention to how they are being indoctrinated. The younger folks are not to blame. Who didn't see all this coming?

It is interesting that one local wedding-related merchant posted a sign stating gays are not welcome in his shop. He said he will take their money and deliver a product, but wants them to know they are not welcome and he doesn't want to be around them. That's one approach, I guess.

There is absolutley no reason to expect that thia won't happen to anyone involved in proving any service to wedding couples.

I think you are right. I suspect those in that industry will have to rethink whether or not they stay in it.

A side note. I remember Lester Maddox of civil rights and later Georgia governor fame, closing his restaurant because he wouldn't serve blacks. I had eaten at that restaurant and found that Lester was a charming, gracious, and very kind man. He had that one blind spot he couldn't get around. Some people are like that and just have to do what they have to do.

Thanks, Charles. It's in the next county and miles from us. It hasn't affected any of us as far as I know. Noel doesn't live in Knoxville, so he may or may not be closer.

Chris, how are things in Sacto?
Having retired from 20 years in secondary public ed choral, and with now 10 annums in our parish school, I take a bit more nuanced look at incremental changes among generations of students. I do clearly see creeping secularism as regards social mores increasing in our parochial school. OTOH, with an inconsistent influence of our clergy upon them in the school setting, I have extraordinary opportunities to teach, infuse and influence kids from PreK-8 through the connection of music to "Lex Orandi, lex credenda, lex vivendi" (did I get that last one right?) And now that I've seen ten classes graduate, I've noticed an encouraging trend of more kids staying involved with the church past commencement in college, in high school (my eldest grandson clearly has a sense of morality, justice and the role of one's faith.) When little accretions in the pop culture show up such as kids imitating their parent's and others when say "What the...." and leave off the last word of that colloquialism, I don't let that slip, I call them out not as individuals, but as a community: that is unacceptable, I will not tolerate that in my classroom. Years ago, a very talented kid in 8th grade first mentioned the emergence of Lady GaGa into the culture. I had no clue other than having heard her name. Rather than assuming this entertainer was a rung lower on the ladder to Dante's rings, I made a point of checking her out and found out that besides all the grotesquery, the woman was a very talented musician/singer. I wouldn't offer her up as a Psalmist in her bacon dress, but neither would I invite Sarah Hart with her guitar up to the ambo. And explaining that axiom to the students, I give them the straight story about what we're DOING in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Again my friend, all politics are local. We have to keep our lamps lit and stand awake and ready at the gates for whatever is coming at our young souls.

Gotcha, Richard!
How'd you do in the Faure, I'm sure you were "in the zone."?
Ben's videos are a wistful joy and reminder of the grace of colloquium.

The post that started this thread asks, “With the Supreme Court of the United States having decided that weddings may not be denied to sodomite couples, may we expect that we will be required to play, to use our musical skills, for such occasions?”

It has been correctly pointed out that the decision applies only to the civil and not the religious aspects of the wedding ceremony. The Catholic Church cannot be forced to allow same sex weddings. The problem then arises primarily for catholic musicians employed in other denominations. It is worth examining how catholic moral teaching can guide individuals involved in this situation.

Catholic moral teaching talks of “formal” and “material” cooperation with evil. Formal cooperation occurs when the individual agrees with and somehow assists in achieving the objective of an immoral act. In material cooperation, an individual assists in the activity but does not agree with the goal. A catholic musician working in an Episcopal Church, which has announced it will allow same sex marriage, would presumably be engaged in material cooperation if playing at a same sex wedding.

Going further, if the material cooperation involves some form of compulsion, say in the form of a contract and/or a civil anti-discrimination law, the individual would be free of moral culpability and would not be committing a sin. While it is certainly understandable that a catholic musician would not want to provide music for a same sex wedding ceremony, the individual refusing, depending on the particular circumstances, could be doing more than the Chuch requires of him or her.

I don’t know that CMAA has to make a formal statement on this subject. Understanding the church’s teaching and discussing your particular situation with your priest should allow you to determine how to act in your particular situation.

Apropos what may be in store for churches and religious organizations in the wake of
Obergefell v. Hodges, the article I linked to above reports that former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom Delay told Steve Malzberg that the Obama administration's Dept. of Justice has "a whole list of strategies to go after churches, pastors, and any businesses that try to assert their religious liberty. This is coming and it's coming like a tidal wave."

Of course I don't know if this is true or not, but the article was quite disturbing since
DeLay also claims the Justice Department "has drafted a memo that spells out a dozen "perversions," including bestiality and pedophilia, that it wants legalized."

More:

"We've … found a secret memo coming out of the Justice Department. They're now going to go after 12 new perversions. Things like bestiality, polygamy . . . and making that legal," DeLay said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"Not only that, but they have a whole list of strategies to go after the churches, the pastors and any businesses that try to assert their religious liberty. This is coming and it's coming like a tidal wave."

The Texas Republican's bombshell claim comes four days after the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is now legal in all 50 states — a landmark decision DeLay strongly opposes.

When Steve Malzberg repeated to DeLay his assertions that the Justice Department seeks "to legitimatize or legalize" practices such as bestiality — defined as sex acts between humans and animals — DeLay responded:

"That's correct, that's correct. They're coming down with 12 new perversions … LGBT is only the beginning. They're going to start expanding it to the other perversions."

He did not list the other nine "perversions" he said are mentioned in the Justice Department's memo and did not share it with Newsmax TV.

DeLay, who represented the Lone Star State's 22nd District from 1985 to 2006 and was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, said that with the high court's ruling last Friday, "all hell is breaking loose

Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsmax-Tv/Tom-DeLay-Justice-Department-perversions/2015/06/30/id/652929/#ixzz3eyjpiETJ

.

I do not yet have a boy friend to ask his opinion,

I don't have one either. I imagine if I did, h'd be fine with me singing at gay weddings.

This is down the rabbit hole.

Very disturbing to see at least one faculty member for the upcoming colloquium celebrating the decision quite openly.

I don't think this is fair to the rest of the faculty. If you have a specific issue with one member, and you feel it appropriate to make it public, do so, but for those of us with no insider knowledge this casts a slur on all.

Also, it seems to me that the bible principles still apply -
If someone sins and it is not a mortal sin, then pray for them.
If it is serious, the speak to them privately, then with one or two witnesses if necessary, and finally bring it to the church.
Not withstanding our rights in canon law, I feel it is uncharitable to not to be more specific, for the sake of the innocent.

Quite right, Bonnie. I wish Daniel would either tell the whole story he seems to want us to know or stay out of other people's business. Daniel, your hinting at this or that is childish.

Chris, neither do I. But I don't want a whole group of people included unfairly. It would all be better left unsaid, in my opinion.