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article: Catholic author says his haunted house deepened his faith

Sunday, October 31st, 2010

Gary Jansen walked into his 3-year-old son Eddie’s bedroom one winter night and experienced a strange sensation.

Someone was standing behind him. The sensation was so strong that he jerked his head sideways to see who was there. He saw nothing except a night-light he’d installed in Eddie’s room.

Jansen shrugged it off, but when he grabbed the pair of socks he’d come for he felt something even more eerie.

“As I was walking to the doorway I experienced something quite out of the ordinary – sort of like an electric hand rubbing the length of my back,” he would write later.

That moment marked the beginning of one of the most terrifying years in Jansen’s life.  He says he discovered that his Long Island house was haunted. The discovery, he says, deepened his Roman Catholic faith and ultimately led to him ridding his house of ghosts.

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Father Connell Answers Moral Questions

Sunday, October 31st, 2010

by Very Rev. Francis J. Connell, C.SS., S.T.D., LL.D., L.H.D.

Viaticum To A Child

Question: May a child in danger of death be given the Viaticum, even though he has not attained the use of reason?

Answer: A categorical answer to this question could be given only if the meaning of the phrase “use of reason” were clearly defined– which is not the case. As this expression is commonly used in the Code of Canon Law it evidently means that degree of intellectual maturity which renders one capable of moral judgments even to the extent of grasping the notion of grave sin (cf. Cappello, De sacramentis [Rome, 1938, I, N.462). The use of reason in this sense is presumed to be attained at the age of seven (Can. 88 § 3). When a child has reached this stage of mental development he is bound by the precept of paschal communion (Can. 859, § 1).

However, when there is question of the administration of the Viaticum the Code requires only that the child have sufficient intellectual development and instruction to be able to distinguish the Body of Christ from common food and to adore It reverently (Can. 854, § 2). Evidently, this is something different from the “use of reason” as defined above. It does, indeed, imply some understanding of what the Holy Eucharist is, but it does not necessarily postulate the ability to understand and to commit grave sin. Indeed, the Code does not demand that the child perceive even those mysteries of faith which must be believed by necessity of means for salvation, and which must be known by the child who receives his first communion outside the danger of death (Can. 854 § 3).

The child of five years, or perhaps even four, who has received proper religious training from his parents might well fulfill the conditions for the reception of the Viaticum. And it should be noted that the Code not only permits but even commands that the Holy Eucharist be administered in such a case (Can. 852, § 2).

It is possible, therefore, that a child may be sufficiently intelligent and instructed to receive the Viaticum, yet could not be given Penance and Extreme Unction, for these sacraments demand the attainment of the use of reason in the sense of sufficient maturity to understand and to commit sin. However, it would seem that in practice, usually when a child is judged capable of receiving the Viaticum, he can be given enough instruction in a short time to dispose him for at least the conditional administration of Penance and Extreme Unction also.

Confessions of Children

Question: If a child confesses only trifling faults which objectively can hardly be considered sins, such as the forgetting of morning prayers, disobedience to an older sister, and it is impossible to get any certain matter by questioning, what is the proper procedure for the confessor?

Answer: Some would recommend that in the case described the child should be given a blessing and dismissed. However, whenever there is a probability that the little one was guilty of a venial sin– even though the guilt was subjective and there was no objective violation of any commandments– it would seem both permissible and advisable for the confessor to impart conditional absolution. The axiom Sacramenta propter homines should urge us to give children the benefit of conditional absolution whenever there is even a reasonable probability that they have provided sufficient matter for sacramental pardon.

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Father Connell Answers Moral Questions

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

by Very Rev. Francis J. Connell, C.SS.R., S.T.D., LL.D., L.H.D.

Fulfillment Of A Priest’s Mass Obligations

Question: About a year ago I was willed some money for Masses by an aunt who died in Ireland. Informed of the fact by other relatives immediately after her death, I began at once to offer Masses for the repose of her soul. Recently, on receiving official notification of the bequest from the lawyer, I learned that she had stipulated that the Masses should be offered, not only for her own soul, but also for the souls of her deceased husband, her parents, brothers and sisters, and a number of other relatives and friends. Now, I am wondering if my intention sufficiently covered her stipulation, or whether I must repeat the Masses already offered. At the same time I should like to know just when my obligation to celebrate the Masses began– when I heard unofficially from my relatives of this provision of her will or when I received official notification from the lawyer.

Answer: The questioner does not state whether or not the number of Masses already celebrated equals the amount stipulated in the will, or whether on the contrary a number still remain to be said. In the latter supposition, the solution seems easy, at least if those remaining represent a considerable proportion of the entire amount. For, it is to be noted, the will did not stipulate that every Mass should be offered for all the persons mentioned. Apparently it was the intention of the testator to leave some discretionary power in this matter to the priest. Presumably he was to be free to offer some Masses for his aunt alone, others for her father, others for her mother, etc. If, therefore, a good proportion of the Masses are still to be celebrated, he could apply some or all of them to the other persons besides his aunt designated in the will, either singly or in a group.

However, if the priest has already celebrated all (or practically all) the Masses required by the terms of the will, he should freely offer a number of other Masses for these other deceased persons. For, the intention he had in offering the Masses already said was the repose of the soul of his aunt only; he does not seem to have included the other beneficiaries even implicitly. Hence, he has not yet fulfilled a substantial condition of the bequest, the application of some fruits of the Holy Sacrifice to the other persons mentioned in the will. This does not mean necessarily that he must now offer for these souls a number of Masses equal to that of the Masses already celebrated. For, it would be reasonable to bestow the greater portion of the spiritual benefits accruing from the legacy on the donor herself. But, at least a third of the number of the Masses which he has offered for his aunt should now be supplied for the others mentioned in her will.

The obligation of the celebrating the Masses began only when the priest received the stipends, from the executor of the will, since no other stipulation was demanded by the terms of the will or by the executor (Can. 837). On the other hand, the priest was justified in beginning the celebration of the Masses as soon as he heard unofficially of the bequest. There is no objection to such a procedure from Canon 825, § 1, which states that it is unlawful to retain a stipend for a Mass previously applied, in the event that the priest celebrated the Mass before the person asked for the application and gave the stipend. In our case, the will itself, even when unofficially announced, can be regarded as a request for the Masses, even though the stipends are to be given only subsequently. In the words of Augustine: “It would not be contrary to law if one said Mass for the intention of a person who requested the favor, but would offer the alms only after the Mass had been applied.” (Commentary on Canon Law, IV, 181)

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Father Connell Answers Moral Questions

Friday, October 29th, 2010

by Very Rev. Francis J. Connell, C.SS.R., S.T.D., LL.D., L.H.D.

The Way of the Cross

Question: In order to gain the rich indulgences attached to the Way of the Cross, is it necessary to add a Pater, Ave, and Gloria (Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father) for the intention of the Holy Father?

Answer: No. All that is required for making the Way of the Cross and gaining the indulgences attached to this devotion is that one pass from station to station, meditate on the Passion of Our Lord, and perform this devotion without too great interruption between the different stations. When a considerable number of persons are making the Way of the Cross together, it suffices that a priest go from station to station and say some prayers, while the others join with him from their places. It is even permitted to have the prayers said from the pulpit by another priest, if the one performing the devotion could not be heard. A similar “group method” of making the Way of the Cross is permissible in religious communities with one of the members (not necessarily a priest) going from station to station. But it would seem that the indulgences would not be gained if this method were followed by a group of lay persons. In any event, prayers for the Pope are not a necessary condition for the gaining of the indulgences of the Way of the Cross.

Immoral Actions of Children

Question: I am chaplain in an orphanage for boys between the ages of six and ten, most of whom come from broken homes and are consequently regarded as “emotionally disturbed” children. Many of these boys, without any attempt at concealment, perform actions with themselves in the course of the day that are manifestly indecent, though they are apparently quite unaware that what they are doing is wrong. Some persons, especially psychiatrists, say that we should not ascribe any moral imputability to these actions, but should try to correct the boys by arguments that have no relation to morality– by telling them that these actions are not polite, etc. From the Catholic standpoint, what should be the proper course to follow in such cases?

Answer: Very probably these boys acquire such bad habits without any subjective guilt. Nevertheless, is our effort to correct them, especially when they are in the care of a Catholic institution, there would seem to be no reason for concealing from them the fact that the actions in question are objectively sinful. It is the traditional practice of the Catholic Church to train the young in the principles of God’s law applicable to them; and in the present case, such instruction seems called for. There is a tendency on the part of some persons nowadays to eliminate, from the reasons for right living proposed to the young, motives based on the natural law. Boys and girls are supposed to be deterred from evil by arguments of a utilitarian or aesthetic nature– for example, that impure actions are not courteous or will lower the culture of the community. This is not the Catholic way. We should teach our children from the earliest dawn of reason that the law of God forbids certain actions, and that in obedience to God we must avoid such actions. This ruling would apply to the case presented by our questioner. The boys should be told that the actions described are violations of God’s law, and that if they are performed with the knowledge of this fact they must be told in confession.

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A Reader Asks: “What Heavenly Relief Can Catholics Obtain In the Absence of the True Mass?”

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

From: Benny

Dear TRADITIO Fathers:

In so many countries there are no Traditional Catholic priests. In some of these countries, there is a host of problems ranging from floods to famine to persecution. What heavenly relief can Catholics obtain in the absence of the true Mass?

The TRADITIO Fathers Reply.

First of all, the principal purpose of your prayer should be not to save your body, but to save your soul. All kinds of prayer exist for that: meditation on the Scriptures, spiritual reading, litanies, chants, etc. Those without regular traditional clergy can avail themselves, like the Saints in similar situations, of Spiritual Communion. For further information, click on DIALOGUE.PDF: The Method of Hearing Mass Spiritually for the Absent in the TRADITIO Network’s Library of Files (FAQs and Traditional Apologetics).

Remember that in the history of the Church, it was more common not to have regular access to clergy. What did the pioneers of the American West do? What did the Japanese do after the Jesuits were expelled? What did Catholics living in Protestant Germany do?

Also, you need to be sure that you are supporting, in every way possible, the traditional priests that you do have. So many moan about this or that inconvenience or deficit, but what are they doing to support their traditional clergy? The Newchurchers support their immoral and unCatholic presbyters, but do traditional Catholics pray every day for their traditional priests and support them in their work?

We TRADITIO Fathers think that in the current situation, traditional Catholics are being tested, as God has often tested the Faith of His people. And we are not passing the test. Traditional Catholics more often moan than help. Many, like the Motarians and many SSPXers, have lost faith and are selling out to the New Order. We should all be rereading and meditating upon the Book of Job for an example of what to do in such times as ours. Job received his reward, but only after his faith was thoroughly tested.

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Is a Traditional Catholic Permitted to Celebrate Halloween?

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

A Drawing of the “Danse Macabre”
From the Time of the Black Death (1347-1351)
On the Walls of Christian Cemeteries, Artists Depicted the Devil
Leading a Daisy-chain of People into the Tomb
To Remind Us of Our Own Mortality

At this time of year the question often arises about the celebration of Halloween by traditional Catholics. Is it, for instance, “pagan” to dress up and go about as ghosts and goblins? The question often comes up because many modern Christians (mostly non-Catholic ones) believe that Halloween has something to do with worshipping the devil and participating in witchcraft. The fact is that the origins of Halloween are rooted deeply in the theology and popular customs of Catholics.

It is false to say that our modern celebration of Halloween has origins in pagan Druid customs. It is true that the ancient Celts celebrated a major feast (the Celtic New Year) on October 31st, but the fact is that they celebrated a festival on the last day of almost every month. Halloween, a contraction of All Hollows Eve, falls on October 31st because the Feast of All Saints or All Hallows” falls on November 1st, a great feastday and Holyday of Obligation for Catholics. The feast in honor of all the Saints used to be celebrated on May 13th, but Pope Gregory III, in 731, moved it to November 1st, the dedication day of All Saints Chapel in St. Peter’s in Rome. This feast spread throughout the world. In 998, St. Odilo, the abbot of the powerful monastery of Cluny in France, added a celebration on November 2nd. This was a day of prayer for the souls of all the faithful departed. Therefore, the Church had a feast of the Saints and those in Purgatory.

It was the Irish Catholics who came up with the idea to remember those souls who did not live by the Faith in this life. It became customary for the Irish to bang on pots and pans on All Hallow’s Eve to let the damned know that they were not forgotten. In Ireland, then, all the dead came to be remembered. This, however, is still not exactly like our celebration of Halloween. On Halloween we also dress up in costumes. This practice arose in France during the 14th and 15th centuries.

During the horrible bubonic plague, the Black Death, Europe lost almost half of her population. Artists depicted the plague on walls to remind us of our own mortality. These pictures and representations are known as the “Dance of Death” or “Dance Macabre.” These figures were commonly painted on cemetery walls and showed the devil leading a daisy chain of people into the tomb. Sometimes the dance was re-enacted on All Soul’s Day as a living tableau, with people dressed up as the dead. But the French dressed up on All Souls, not Halloween, and the Irish, who celebrated Halloween, did not dress up. The two were brought together in the colonies of North America during the 18th century, when Irish and French Catholics began to intermarry. Thus, the two celebrations became mingled, and we began dressing up on Halloween.

Trick-or-Treating is a very odd addition to Halloween. It is the (unwilling) contribution of English Catholics. Guy Fawkes Day became a great celebration against Catholics in England. It celebrated the day on which the plot to blow up Parliament and King James I was discovered. This occurred on November 5, 1605. Guy Fawkes was the rather reckless man guarding the gunpowder. He was arrested and hanged. During these times of persecution of the Catholic Church, bands of revelers would wear masks and visit Catholics in the night demanding they be given cakes and beer. Guy Fawkes Day arrived in the American colonies with the first English settlers. Old King James had long been forgotten, but Trick-or-Treating was too much fun to give up. Eventually, it moved to the Irish/French Catholic masquerade. This practice of Trick-or-Treating was simply moved to coincide with the Catholic celebration involving dressing up. The ancient Druids did contribute the candy, which was used to welcome the good spirits, and masks (jack o’lanterns), which were used to scare away the evil spirits.

Halloween can still serve the purpose of reminding us about Hell and how to avoid it. Halloween is also a day to prepare us to remember those who have gone before us in Faith, those already in Heaven and those still suffering in Purgatory. Halloween is a time to let people know about our Catholic roots and significance. Catholic parents who are not comfortable with the worst secular aspects of Halloween, which are admittedly increasing, can avail themselves of alternative activities on that day: family prayer and fasting for the Vigil of All Saints Day, visitations of houses in the garments of non-devilish personae, the reading aloud of stories of the Saints or of seasonal literature such as Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death and Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and the playing of seasonal music such as Saint-Saens Danse Macabre, Modest Moussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead. As in all things, traditional Catholic parents must be sure to teach their children the proper balance in such matters, erring neither on the side of defect or excess.

-Traditio

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A Judgment Scene for Five Categories of People, Including the Pope

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

Chapter 41

The Creator’s words, in the presence of the heavenly host and the bride, in which he complains about five men representing the pope and his clergy, the wicked laity, the Jews and the pagans. Also about the help sent to his friends, who stand for all mankind, and about the harsh sentence passed on his enemies.

I am the Creator of all things. I was born from the Father before Lucifer came to be. I exist inseparably in the Father and the Father in me[ 1 ] and one Spirit in both. Accordingly, there is one God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and not three gods. 2 I am he who made the promise of an eternal inheritance to Abraham[ 2 ] and led my people out of Egypt through Moses. I am he who spoke through the prophets. 3 The Father placed me in the womb of the Virgin, without separating himself from me but remaining inseparably with me, in order that mankind, who had abandoned God, might return to God through my love. 4 Now, however, in your presence, heavenly host, although you see and know all things in me, for the sake of the knowledge and instruction of this bride here, who cannot perceive spiritual things except by means of physical ones, I state my grievance before you regarding the five men here present, for they are offensive to me in many ways.

5 In the same way as once I included the whole Israelite nation under the name of Israel[ 3 ] in the Law, so now by these five men I mean everyone in the world. 6 The first man stands for the leader of the church and for his priests, the second for the wicked laity, the third for the Jews, the fourth for the pagans, the fifth for my friends. 7 With regard to you, Jew, I make an exception for all the Jews who are secretly Christians and who serve me in sincere charity and upright faith and perfect works in secret. 8 And with regard to you, Pagan, I make an exception for all those who would gladly walk in the way of my commandments,[ 4 ] if only they knew how and if they were instructed, but who try to put into practice as much as they know and are able. These will by no means be sentenced together with you. 9 I now state my grievance about you, head of my church, you who sit on my seat. I gave this seat to Peter and his successors to sit on with a threefold dignity and authority: first, in order that they might have the power of binding and loosing[ 5 ] souls from sin; second, so that they would open heaven for penitents; third, so that they would close heaven to the damned and to those who scorn me. 10 But you, who should be absolving souls and presenting them to me, you are really a slayer of souls. I set up Peter as shepherd and servant of my sheep.[ 6 ] 11 But you scatter and wound them; you are worse than Lucifer. He was envious of me and longed to kill none but me so that he might rule in my stead. 12 But you are all the worse in that not only do you kill me by cutting me off from yourself through your bad works but you also kill souls through your bad example.

13 I redeemed souls with my blood and entrusted them to you as to a faithful friend. But you hand them back to the enemy from whom I redeemed them. 14 You are more unjust than Pilate. He only sentenced me to death. But you not only sentence me as if I were a worthless lord of nothing, you also sentence the souls of my chosen ones and let the guilty go free. 15You are more merciless than Judas. He only sold me. But you not only sell me but also the souls of my chosen ones for your own base profit and empty reputation. 16 You are more abominable than the Jews. They only crucified my body. But you crucify and punish the souls of my chosen ones for whom your evil and your transgression are harsher than any sword.

17 And so, since you are like Lucifer and more unjust than Pilate and more merciless than Judas and more abominable than the Jews, my grievance about you is justified. 18 The Lord said to the second man, that is, to the laity: “I created all things for your use. You gave your consent to me and I to you. You pledged me your faith and promised by your oath that you would serve me. 19 Now, however, you have departed from me like someone who does not know God. You regard my words as a lie, my works as meaningless. You say my will and my commandments are too heavy. 20 You have violated the faith you pledged. You have broken your oath and abandoned my name. You have disassociated yourself from the company of my saints and have joined the company of the devils and become their associate. 21 You do not think anyone is worthy of praise and honor except yourself. You find difficult everything having to do with me and that you are obliged to do for me, while the things you like to do are easy for you. 22 That is why my grievance concerning you is justified, for you have broken the faith you pledged me both in baptism and subsequently. On top of that, you even charge me with lying about the love I have shown you in word and deed. You say I was a fool for suffering.” 23 He said to the third man, that is, to the Jews: “I commenced my love affair with you. I chose you as my people, I led you up from slavery, I gave you my law, I brought you into the land I had promised your fathers and sent you prophets to console you. 24 Then I chose a virgin from among you and took a human nature from her. My grievance concerning you is that you still refuse to believe in me, saying: ‘The Christ has not yet come but has still to come.’”

25 The Lord said to the fourth man, that is, to the Gentile: “I created and redeemed you to be a Christian. I did you every good. But you are like someone out of his senses, because you do not know what you are doing. You are like a blind man, because you do not know where you are headed. 26 You worship the creature instead of the Creator,[ 7 ] the false instead of the true. You bend your knee before things inferior to yourself. That is the cause of my grievance concerning you.” 27 He said to the fifth man: “Come closer, friend!” And he addressed the heavenly host directly: “Dear friends, my friend here stands for many friends. 28 He is like a man closed in among the wicked and harshly held captive. When he speaks the truth, they throw stones at his mouth. When he does something good, they thrust a spear into his breast. 29 Alas, my friends and saints, how can I endure such people and how long shall I put up with such contempt?” 30 Saint John the Baptist answered: “You are like a spotless mirror. We see and know all things in you as in a mirror without any need for words. You are the incomparable sweetness in which we taste every good thing. You are like the sharpest of swords and a fair judge.” 31 The Lord answered him: “My friend, what you said was true. My chosen ones see all goodness and justice in me. Even the evil spirits do so, although not in the light but in their own conscience. 32 Like a man in prison who had earlier learned his letters and still knows them, even though he is in darkness and does not see them, the demons, even though they do not see my justice in the light of my clarity, still know and see it in their conscience. 33 I am like a sword that cuts in two. I give each person what he or she deserves.”[ 8 ] 34 Then the Lord added, speaking to Blessed Peter: “You are the founder of the faith and of my church. While my army is listening, state the sentence of these five men!” 35 Peter answered: “Praise and honor to you, Lord, for the love you have shown to your earth! May all your host bless you, for you cause us to see and know in you all the things that have been and will be! 36 We see and know all things in you. It is truly just that the first man, the one who sits upon your seat while doing the deeds of Lucifer, should ignominiously surrender the seat he presumed to sit on and become a sharer in the punishment of Lucifer. 37 The sentence of the second man is that he who has abandoned your faith should descend to hell head down and feet up, for he despised you who should be his head and loved himself. 38 The sentence of the third is that he will not see your face and will be punished for his wickedness and greed, since unbelievers do not deserve to see the sight of you. 39 The sentence of the fourth is that he should be locked up and confined in darkness like a man out of his senses. 40 The sentence of the fifth is that help should be sent to him.” 41 When the Lord heard this, he answered: “I swear by God the Father, whose voice John the Baptist heard at the Jordan, I swear by the body which John baptized, saw, and touched at the Jordan, I swear by the Spirit who appeared in the form of a dove at the Jordan, that I shall do justice to these five.”[ 9 ]

42 Then the Lord added, saying to the first of the five men: “The sword of my severity will go into your body, entering at the top of your head and penetrating so deeply and firmly that it can never be drawn out. 43 Your chair will sink like a weighty stone[ 10 ] and not come to rest until it hits the lowest part of the deep. 44 Your fingers, I mean, your advisers, will burn in an inextinguishable and sulphurous fire. Your arms, I mean, your vicars, who should have reached out for the benefit of souls but reached out instead for worldly profit and honor, will be sentenced to the punishment of which David speaks: ‘May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow and may strangers take over his property.’[ 11 ] 45 What does ‘his wife’ mean if not the soul that is left out of the glory of heaven and will be widowed from God? 46 ‘His children,’ that is, the virtues they seemed to possess, and my simple folk, those who were placed under them, will be separated from them. Their rank and property will fall to others, and they will inherit eternal shame instead of their privileged rank.

47 Their headgear will sink into hell’s mud, and they themselves will never get up out of it. Thus, just as through honor and pride they rose above others here on earth, so in hell they will sink so much more deeply than others that it will be impossible for them to rise. 48 Their limbs, I mean, all the fawning priests who followed them, will be cut off from them and taken apart just like a wall that is torn down where stone is not left upon stone[ 12 ] and the cement no longer adheres to the stones. Mercy will not come to them, for my love will never warm them nor build them into an eternal mansion in heaven. Instead, stripped of every good, they will be endlessly tormented along with their headmen. 49 I say to the second man: Since you do not want to keep the faith promised to me or show love toward me, I will send to you an animal that will come from the impetuous torrent to swallow you. 50 And as a torrent always runs downward, so the animal will carry you down to the lowest parts of hell. As impossible as it is for you to travel upstream against an impetuous torrent, it will be just as hard for you ever to ascend from hell. 51 I say to the third man: Since you, Jew, do not want to believe that I have come, therefore, when I come for the second judgment, you will see me not in my glory but in your conscience, and you will ascertain that all the things I said to you were true. 52 Then there remains for you to be punished as you deserve. 53 I say to the fourth man: Since you do not care to believe or want to know, your own darkness will be your light, and your heart will be enlightened to understand that my judgments are true, but, however, you will not come to the light. 54 I say to the fifth man: I shall do three things for you. First, I will fill you inwardly with my warmth. Second, I will make your mouth harder and firmer than any stone, so that the stones thrown at you will bounce back. Third, I will arm you with my weapons so that no spear will harm you but everything will give way before you like wax in the face of fire.[ 13 ] 55 Be therefore made strong and stand like a man! Like a soldier in war who awaits the help of his lord and fights as long as he still has some fluid in him, so too you, stand firm and fight! The Lord, your God, whom none can withstand, will give you help. 56 And since you are few in number, I will give you honor and make you many. 57 Behold, my friends, you see these things and know them in me, and thus they stand before me. The words I have now spoken will be fulfilled. These men will never enter into my kingdom, as long as I am king, unless they mend their ways. For heaven will be given to none but those who humble themselves and do penance.” 58 Then all the host answered: “Praise be to you, Lord God, who are without beginning or end!”

Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden

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response to Steve, an atheist, who rejects God

Monday, October 25th, 2010

This Steve person responded to the “Stephen Hawking– the Grand Delusion”:

“The ignorance and idiocy of you people astounds me! You are the ones propagating a lie!

I’m sure you haven’t even read the bible and in the small possibility that you were literate enough to do so, you have most certainly ignored the complete hypocrisy that it “teaches”.

Hawkins is infinitely more intelligent than you and in my eyes is more of a “god” than the one you delude about. You would be wise to pay heed to his teachings!”

No, it is you who is living a fantasy. The fact is there is a God. If God doesn’t exist, your existence is meaningless. Nobody should care about what you think because you are worthless, neither should they care about Hawkins’ delusion, he who can’t even save himself from being physically impaired.

God exists and the force of the universe cannot be the first cause of itself; there has to have been mover who is God. You idolize man rather than God and it is a grave sin against the First Commandment.

Man is comprised of a body and a soul. His very intellect is proof of the existence of a spiritual soul. Otherwise, how do you reflect with the words that you write? Am I to think that you are less than me, an animal without a rational soul? You are living contradiction, who is constantly rebelling against yourself and God, speaking as if you have a rational soul, to which you have used to reject God. Instead your god, Hawkins, will not be able to save you from eternal punishment that awaits you, neither will he save himself without faith in God.

People who make it to eternal life will be far more intelligent, far more transcending than damned souls, because they will have continued on with their spiritual existence on the supernatural level in union with God, who is the author of all created and creative intelligence. They will be able to travel at the speed of thought from the intellect and even influence the material universe, which was created for man’s delight. All that awaits you and Hawkins will be suffering, pain, and agony at the center of the earth. Eternity doesn’t end and your rebellion against God will be fixed at the moment of your death.

Haven’t seen the power and intelligence of the fallen angels? They who can even break laws of physics and influence the heavenly bodies. Haven’t seen paranormal things in life? Wait until they punish you will their power in the next life for all eternity. Yes, spiritual intelligence far surpasses the human nature of the damned souls.

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Benedict XVI’s Letter to SEMINARIANS, examined [more Modernist talks] part 3

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010

”The importance nowadays of ecumenical theology, and of a knowledge of the different Christian communities, is obvious; as is the need for a basic introduction to the great religions, to say nothing of philosophy: the understanding of that human process of questioning and searching to which faith seeks to respond.”

What is ecumenical theology?  What are the great religions of the world, Benedict? I thought there is only one great religion? What am I missing from these great religions? What are the different Christian communities? So vague, and you probably mean those who do not profess the Catholic Faith in entirety, don’t you?

“Law is the condition of love. I will not go on with this list, but I simply say once more: love the study of theology and carry it out in the clear realization that theology is anchored in the living community of the Church, which, with her authority, is not the antithesis of theological science but its presupposition. Cut off from the believing Church, theology would cease to be itself and instead it would become a medley of different disciplines lacking inner unity.”

Law is the condition of love? What does that mean? Theology is anchored in the living community of the church? Cut off from the believing Church, theology would cease to be itself? I give up! I don’t know what you are saying!

“To the theological virtues the Christian tradition has always joined the cardinal virtues derived from human experience and philosophy, and, more generally, from the sound ethical tradition of humanity.”

What?

“This also involves the integration of sexuality into the whole personality.”

Huh?

“Sexuality is a gift of the Creator yet it is also a task which relates to a person’s growth towards human maturity. When it is not integrated within the person, sexuality becomes banal and destructive.”

What about continence? Where’s the human maturity in that? Are your priests missing out? What cannot integrated within the person?

see Vatican document

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Benedict XVI’s Letter to SEMINARIANS, examined [more Modernist talks] part 2

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

“It follows that the most important thing in our path towards priesthood and during the whole of our priestly lives is our personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ. The priest is not the leader of a sort of association whose membership he tries to maintain and expand. He is God’s messenger to his people. He wants to lead them to God and in this way to foster authentic communion between all men and women.”

The first sentence could mean what it means in the Catholic sense, but we also understand that it is, in the mind of Benedict XVI, to be ecumenical toward the Protestants. Hence, the usage of the Protestant vision in the context of membership and communion “through a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ”. Here Benedict XVI is going off on a tangent, being a Modernist that he is. When you think about it, it is really Modernism in a distorted way, becoming heretical altogether. The idea that the priesthood is no longer about maintaining and expanding of the Catholic association contradicts the very role of the priesthood. That is because the Vatican II religion no longer accepts as a requirement for salvation the membership in the Catholic Church or even being within the Catholic Church in order to be saved. Benedict XVI is very inclusive in his vision for the “people of God” Here we see that all men and women are the “people of God” in a sense and the called to communion is the goal of the priesthood.

“As I can state from personal experience, it is inspiring to learn how it all developed, what a great experience of faith is reflected in the structure of the Mass, and how it has been shaped by the prayer of many generations.”

We try to think of the best of what Benedict XVI is really saying, with “experience of faith” that should instead be “experience in faith”. Here we see Benedict XVI taking on the idea that faith is an experience, which is contrary to Catholic teaching. As a result, we get the impression from Benedict XVI that the liturgy is a product of religious experience, which can be changed and shaped at will by any human authority through “experience of faith”. In fact, “experience in faith” should force us to recognize that the Mass in unchanging and the content and context should always be expressed in the same way and same manner. How ironic that Benedict XVI could make such a remark.

see Vatican document

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