"Soundoff" Entries from the Chesterfield Journal

The Post Dispatch's edition of the Chesterfield Journal contained a few more nuggets of foolishness.

Allman and Burke
Catholics should question how much of their donated money is used to pay the salary of Jamie Allman, who left a good job to make a fool of himself as a voice for Archbishop Burke.

I wonder how it is that people who make these kinds of comments are even permitted to roam the streets of St. Louis without proper supervision. Clearly, this troubled individual is simply regurgitating what he has heard repeated by others.

First, monies which are freely given to the Church, unless designated for a special fund, are given with the understanding that the Archbishop is fully capable of disbursing those funds as he sees fit. He is aware of the needs of the Archdiocese where we, the faithful scattered about the Archdiocese, are not. Would Archbishop Burke be in a position to determine how this caller should spend his money? For food? For a new car? For utilities? For a charitable cause? Of course not!

Secondly, for those whose hold opinions similar to the above individual, one should know and understand the facts before speaking, lest one demonstrate his own foolishness. The Archdiocese has employed a spokesman and Director of Communications for quite some time. It is a position which was, in all likelihood, already budgeted for the current fiscal year and perhaps for years in the future. Mr. Allman was hired to REPLACE the man who held the position previously.

Why did we hear nothing about this spending of donated money then? Perhaps, because the previous spokesman was, to a great extent, silent, not well known, or rarely covered on the local news.

Mr Allman, as a well known public figure of the media and a vocal defender of the faith, is well suited, it seems to many, for the position for which Archbishop Burke hired him. Who are we to question his judgment in hiring a man with excellent credentials and experience? Our responsibility is to support our Archbishop and those whom he has chosen to speak in his behalf.

No role model
The archbishop of St. Louis is going against what he stands for. He is not acting as a role model for Catholics. He has done nothing but turn Catholics and others in St. Louis against him. He needs to leave St. Louis. He is out of control.

Those who are uncomfortable with being exposed to the light, quickly return to the darkness from whence they came. Their thinking is confused and their minds are cloudy. This is obvious in the caller's sentences.

The Archbishop courageously stands up for Christ, His Blessed Mother, the truth and for the teachings and disciplines of the Church. He stands up to help those who need his help and his direction. Those who turn away from him or turn against him do so, not because of him, but because they have problems with what he says to us, what he teaches us. He calls us, as does the Holy Father, and as Christ Himself calls us, to conversion - to become heroic examples of holiness and sanctity by following in the footsteps of out Lord and by responding to the graces He bestows on us. Sometimes, this call is hard to listen to and hard to accept, but that does not diminish its importance or its necessity.

Christ calls us "to be perfect as His Father is perfect." The Holy Father as the successor of St. Peter exhorts that we listen with attentiveness to the call of our Lord and respond obediently to it. Archbishop Burke, as a legitimate successor of the Apostles whom Christ chose to feed and tend His flock, reminds us over and over again of these same things. Numerous times, he has called upon us to, not only hear the words of the Mother of our Lord, but to open our hearts to her call, "Do whatever He tells you." Are we doing what Christ wants us to do?

It is unconscionable for one to suggest that this man needs to leave St. Louis. Those whose hearts are hardened, will no doubt, feel this way. Those, however, who are alive with hope and anticipation are thankful that he is here. In His Divine Providence, God has bestowed countless blessings and graces on the faithful of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, especially with the appointment of Raymond Burke as our Archbishop.

Maybe those who feel anger or bitterness or hatred toward the Archbishop or the Church will seek our Lord's assistance in overcoming their difficulties if we pray for them? We might pray as well, that the Post Dispatch will one day exhibit some fairness in what it chooses to put on its pages. Miracles do happen!

The Link is here.