July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.

Don't turn away any from church

Letters to the Editor

To the editor:
I am Catholic. There is no conservative Catholic or liberal Catholic. What is right is right; what is wrong is wrong.  
I am reminded of this by a very good interview between Cardinal Bergolio (now Pope Francis I) and Chris Matthews which never aired but is a must read for all.  
As a Catholic, I feel the need to defend our faith after reading the article from “the Conservative Holiness Protestant.”  Catholics believe that God will judge all at the end of one’s life.  
How can we turn away people from a church just because they have sinned? Abortion, judging others, not honoring the Holy Sabbath day, and homosexuality acts are all sins but we all need to ask for forgiveness for our sins as well as for the sins of others and truly be sorry for them. Who on earth is to say what sin is worse than another?  
Saying gays shouldn’t be allowed to join a church is like saying they are worse than someone who committed murder by having an abortion.
As for the Protestant denomination poll reporting 70 percent of priest in seminaries as gay, I cannot help but think what would a Catholic seminarian or a priest be doing filling out a poll like that. It just doesn’t make sense why they would devote their whole life to God to become a server to God and then fill out a ridiculous poll asking their sexual orientation and number of sexual partners.  
Catholics believe in the Sacrament of Reconciliation for us sinners (including religious servants) to ask for forgiveness. We don’t need to publicly announce our sins or to shun others who have sinned. Why would priest and seminarians want to bring down the Catholic faith? I have been a Catholic my whole life, been to church every Sunday except for maybe after the birth of one of my children, and never have I heard a priest give a sermon shunning a sinner away from the Church or supporting homosexuality.  
I have never heard a priest give a sermon that does not support the Catholics’ belief of God’s endless love and forgiveness.
To be human is to error. We are all sinners and all children from God. We will be judged by God and not everyone will make it to heaven.
I pray for all of those who have fallen from the church. I pray for all people, including priests, to spread the Good News of the Gospels, and I pray that everyone makes an honest effort to live a life that is moral, productive, and follows God’s laws.
I also pray that marriage should be held as it was meant to be as a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman.
With Christ Love,
Tina Dirksen
Portland

Correction
To the editor:
Thank you for printing my letter to the editor on Monday. My “Response on gay marriage,” had one error in it, whether mine or a CR typo. It really doesn’t matter, but it does need to be corrected.
A paragraph should have said “One denomination reports that 70 percent of priests in their seminaries are gay.” The letter said “Our” but should have said “One.”
We are not affiliated with any denomination, only Wesleyan in doctrine. Which simploye means that “whosover may come” unto God through Jesus and receive forgiveness and salvation.
Wesleyans believe that people not only can receive forgiveness but also can be deliver from their sins (Matthew 1:21).
Let me also say that the challenge to the church is to stop hating and rejecting gays and pray for them for their healing.
It’s time for the church to put these sins behind us. Our gay friends are knocking on our doors saying “either heal me or let me have peace with my condition and lifestyle.” Do not torture them, or others we disagree with, and then refuse to show the love of God. If the church was having revival, people from all walks of life could find help and deliverance.
There is hope in the precious blood of Jesus. We do not anyone to lose their soul. If the 100 churches in Jay County could be soul-saving stations as they were supposed to be, we would see people who are wounded, hurt, depressed, addicted, hell-bound and hopeless that are given a second chance.
Churches, are you listening?
Pastor Phill Jellison
Portland
(Editor’s note: The error was made by an editor in typing Jellison’s letter).[[In-content Ad]]
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