Lunch With Mormons

There is no more evident sign that anyone is a saint and of the number of the elect, than to see him leading a good life and at the same time a prey to desolation, suffering, and trials.
-- St Aloysius Gonzaga

Gleanings From Today's Mass Readings:
1 Kings 19: 4 - 8
7
And the angel of the LORD came again a second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you."
Psalms 34: 2 - 9
2
My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and be glad.
3
O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
4
I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5
Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.
6
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8
O taste and see that the LORD is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!
9
O fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want!
Ephesians 4: 30 - 32
31
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice,
32
and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 5: 1 - 2
2
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
John 6: 41 - 51
41
The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."
48
I am the bread of life.
49
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
50
This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die.
51
I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

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I had 3 very nice Mormon men over for lunch yesterday. A few weeks ago, 2 very clean cut, friendly, intelligent young men came to the door in white shirts and ties. I know the urge to turn all the lights off and close the blinds and pretend like we aren't home is kind of overwhelming when that happens. I always talk to them, whether they be Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons or some other denomination. Maybe its because I'm a single mom of 10 month old twins and I'm desperate for grown up conversation, no matter what the topic. At any rate, when they came by I had just moved into this apartment and literally had no furniture for them to sit on. They very graciously gave me their phone number and offered to help me move the furniture once I did buy some. Sure enough, a weeks later when I called for help, they were there within the hour with a pickup truck, and loaded and unloaded and entire room of stuff with smiles, bless their hearts. So as a way of saying thank you, I had them come back yesterday for lunch, also knowing they would bring the Book of Mormon and evangelize to me. This doesn't bother me in the least, as I am confident in my Catholic faith and figure the Holy Spirit may want to plant a seed in them, as they try to plant one in me. I'm not into arguing the faith; in my opinion, there is no argument and I do know that the Lord allows us to walk down all kinds of wrong paths in this life, so that the right Way becomes ever more obvious and shines ever more brightly.

The two young men, elders (how hard it is to call them "elder" when they still have acne and braces and can't be more than 18 years old!) and a fellow Mormon man in his mid-40's showed up promptly at 9 and we sat and ate while my son tried to chew on their shiny black shoes. We read from the book of Mormon, which sounded a bit like Holy Scripture rephrased. The older man teared up every time he read from the book and I felt bad for him. He is a convert from Catholicism, come to find out. Of course, I agreed to attend their service this morning.

I looked up the official Mormon website- www.Mormon.com- and wasn't terribly surprised to find that a lot of their belief is actually Masonic and Kabbalistic in nature. I read an interesting article about a couple who advanced in mormonism far enough to enter the Temple, which apparently is a goal in the religion. You go through elaborate rituals and adhere to certain life principles and then make the grade. They were disappointed because it felt so stringent and devoid of love as compared to Catholicism. The man that came to my house explained that Catholicism is valid but only the "milk" or the beginning of what is possible with regard to a relationship with God. I suppose he was referring to the outward rituals, signs, tokens, and secrets that mormonism and freemasonry incorporate. I have to agree, I think there is a lot of validity to these things- from a magical standpoint, these secret things were given to man in ancient times, when he had purified himself and sought God purely out of love. I think the problem today is we go searching for higher wisdom and knowledge before we get the basics straight. Take me for instance; I can't walk and chew gum at the same time yet and fall, miserably, many more times than 7 a day. Left to my own and without God, I'm a wretch in all aspects. Once I can say that I have mastered humility and the other 6 virtues, can absolutely adhere to all 10 commandments consistently and faithfully, and make sure not to leave my keys in the door when I come home from Mass, then I suppose I can ask God to go up in His Chariot and have lunch. Until then, I like being a baby and feeding on milk. It does my body and soul good.

I also don't agree with their views on abortion. I am very much of the opinion that abortion across the board is absolute murder and even in cases where the mother's life may be in jeopardy I still adhere to it. (What mother wouldn't put her life on the line for her child?)

I understand that in the case of ectopic pregnancy and other very rare cases Catholicism defines as "indirect abortion", it is an option. But justifying it in the case of rape or incest, as Mormons do, is still an abortion out of convenience. Ask any person who is the product of rape or incest if his or her life is any less worthy of being lived than children produced through mutual consent of the sex act and I think they would probably say no. In the case of rape or incest you have one person terribly violated and nothing can erase that fact. We can instead recognize that out of this heinous event God, as is His Way, Has moved and created something beautiful out of someone's cruelty and selfishness. I believe if the child could not be cared for or loved to the utmost degree, then adoption is the answer. Let that child be the blessing to parents prepared to raise him or her. In the case of a child being aborted solely on these grounds, then you have one terribly violated person and one dead baby. The child is not the rape.

So I called the elder and begged off service. I did invite them to come around and visit anytime. Maybe I can get them to come to Mass :)