Keep
your eyes open!...Keep
your eyes open!...
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 28- "On holy and blessed prayer"
39. We should always perform every virtue, especially prayer, with great feeling. A soul prays with feeling when it gets the better of bad temper and anger.
(Luke 1:47-49) And my spirit hath
rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of
his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me
blessed. Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me: and
holy is his name.
ARTICLE VIA GOOGLE TRANSLATE: The pilgrims remain faithful to Garabandal apparitions half a century later
EWTN on Garabandal: http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/garabandal.htm
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Workers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel:
Today (06/18/11) marks the fiftieth anniversary of the commencement of
the apparitions at Garabandal by the appearance of the Archangel Saint
Michael to the four seers on this date in 1961. Saint Michael came to
announce the appearance of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary which was to
follow on July 2.
We would like to honor this day by spreading devotion to Saint Michael
as Our Lady recommended throughout the course of the apparitions. Our
treatment of the devotion which we sent via email on September 29 of
last year is entitled The Angel of Garabandal and is located on the
Joey's Message page of www.garabandal.us.
The response to the article drew over one thousand requests for Saint
Michael Chaplets from around the world. We have but a few cord chaplets
left but would like to offer them at this time gratis to email
subscribers who wish to increase their devotion to Saint Michael.
Please send an email with CHAPLET in the subject line to
[email protected] with your complete mailing address. This offer
remains open as long as our supply lasts.
These are times of crisis and with so much violence and catastrophe
around us we do well to heed Our Lady's request to increase our
devotion to the Prince of the Holy Angels and secure for ourselves and
our families the assistance and protection of all the angels that we
may be delivered from the evil of this age.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With her permission, we reprint a brief note from Conchita to the
present pastor of the village of Garabandal, Padre Rolando, to
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary.
AVE MARIA
May 17, 2011
Dear Father Rolando,
I join with you in the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the
events of Garabandal. It is for me fifty years of contemplating the
most beautiful thing in the world. I give thanks to God for having been
a part of those experiences, impossible to describe adequately, but
which have pressed upon my soul the secure assurance of faith and hope.
I thank you, Father Rolando, for granting me the opportunity to recite the Message of Our Mother in the village yet again.
[ October 18,1961-We must make many sacrifices, perform much penance,
and visit the Blessed Sacrament frequently. But first, we must lead
good lives. If we do not, a chastisement will befall us. The cup is
already filling up, and if we do not change, a very great chastisement
will come upon us.]
The Angel said:
As my message of October 18 has not been complied with and has not been
made known to the world, I am advising you that this is the last one.
Before, the cup was filling up. Now it is flowing over. Many cardinals,
many bishops and many priests are on the road to perdition and are
taking many souls with them. Less and less importance is being given to
the Eucharist. You should turn the wrath of God away from yourselves by
your efforts. If you ask His forgiveness with sincere hearts, He will
pardon you. I, your mother, through the intercession of Saint Michael
the Archangel, ask you to amend your lives. You are now receiving the
last warnings. I love you very much and do not want your condemnation.
Pray to us with sincerity and we will grant your requests. You should
make more sacrifices. Think about the passion of Jesus.
Father Rolando, there is nothing of greater importance that I can speak about than this Message of Our Mother.
In Union of Prayer,
Conchita
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 28- "On holy and blessed prayer"
37. Do not be puffed up if you have prayed for another and been heard, for it is his faith that has been strong and effective.
THE TRIB TIMES WILL
RETURN NEXT WEEK, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
(Job 38:1-4) Then
the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said: "Who is this that
darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a
man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. "Where were you when
I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked
off its dimensions? Surely you know….!
MEDITATION: God in the Midst of the Storm – A Meditation on the Mystery of God's Providence
EDITORIAL: Tragedy, Prophecy and Divine Providence - I
US CATHOLIC NEWS VIA CNA
US bishops approve first collective statement on assisted suicide
US bishops revise abuse charter to reflect new Vatican norms
US bishops approve Spanish translation of Mass texts
FROM THE MAILBAG:
VIA HLI:
I am very delighted to announce a brand new initiative and valuable
resource from Human Life International to affirm the culture of life,
and fight the culture of death around the world: HLI World Watch.
At HLIWordWatch.org, our
team of international pro-life experts and missionaries will monitor
events and trends that affect the pro-life and pro-family movement, and
help you understand the larger context behind the stories.
Why is this important? Too often anti-life forces operate under the
radar implementing their destructive agenda. We must shed light on this
agenda in every corner of the world by recognizing and refuting their
false claims, and by pointing toward the truth and hope offered by a
culture of life."
VIA Mary Brescia:
I have been guided by the Holy Spirit to present a conference on behalf
of St. Joseph's Church in Middletown, NY, entitled, The Divine
Mercy of God: Healing, Deliverance, and Spiritual Warfare. This
conference will provide rich opportunities for physical, emotional, and
spiritual healing and restoration. Come and experience the grace
and freedom only Jesus Christ can provide. I sincerely encourage
your taking the opportunity to experience each speaker and the special
charisms Our Lord has given them with, as their gifts for healing,
teaching, and touching your heart are sure to be what our souls truly
thirst for in an age where we combat so much sickness and evil.
Come and receive the tools the Lord intends all Christians to have in
order that we may have the knowledge and peace we truly need to
navigate these challenging times.
I would sincerely appreciate you forwarding the attached to everyone in
your address book as well as making copies to share in your places of
worship and workplace.
Link to flyer: Rosary Conference 2011.docx
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 28- "On holy and blessed prayer"
35. He who is busy with something, and continues it when the hour of prayer comes, is deceived by demons. Those thieves aim at stealing from us one hour after another.
(Luke 23:31) For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?
REVIEW: Update in Middle East: Turmoil Continues, Christians Live in Fear
STUDY: The worst places in the world to be a woman
RELATED HEADLINES
Pakistan: bishop urges release of woman forced to convert to Islam
Prisoner for Christ; An Iranian Christian Rejoices in Suffering
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Jim J. McCrea:: How the Radical Transcendence of God in Islam Undermines His Greatness
Muslims attempt to preserve the absolute greatness of God by affirming
an idea of his absolute transcendence in which he has nothing in common
with creation.
That actually undermines the greatness of God and limits him.
For then God is something "over there" and creation is something "over
here," each with their own attributes that defines it, which makes it
what it is. God's attributes then cannot include what is in
creation since they are radically different.
With Catholic Christian metaphysics, on the other hand, creation is not
distinguished from God because it is "something over here" different
from God. Rather creation is distinguished from God by a mere
relation. Creation is distinguished from God because it proceeds
from God's creative power and is finite whereas God is self-existent
and infinite.
Everything good, true, and beautiful in creation is contained within
God. For example the truth of every good thing in creation is
pre-eminently contained within God as its archetype and exemplar
cause. The essences of all things in their integrity are
contained within God's being. For example, "catness" "treeness"
"birdness" exist in God - that is, the intelligible principles of all
things exist in God, not as separate essences as they do in creation,
but as identical with each other and with the very being of God.
Therefore, creation in sharing what is true in it with God, points to
His infinite greatness, for then something does not exist that has a
truth other than what is in God.
As Bishop Fulton Sheen said in his book: "God and Intelligence in
Modern Philosophy," when God created, there were more beings, but there
was no more being.
Creation plus God is not greater than God alone.
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 28- "On holy and blessed prayer"
34. Your prayer will show you what condition you are in. Theologians say that prayer is the monk's mirror.
(Act 2:1-4) And
when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all
together in one place: And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as
of a mighty wind coming: and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues, as it were of fire:
and it sat upon every one of them. And they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost: and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as
the Holy Ghost gave them to speak.
VIS NEWS: THE CHURCH WAS CATHOLIC FROM THE VERY FIRST MOMENT
In his homily the Holy Father said that "the Spirit which created all
things, and the Holy Spirit which Christ caused to descend from the
Father upon the community of disciples, are one and the same.
Creation and redemption are mutually intertwined and constitute a
single mystery of love and salvation".
"The Holy Spirit", he went on, "is first and foremost the Spirit of
creation; and so Pentecost is the feast of creation. For we
Christians the world is the result of an act of love by God, Who made
all things. ... Thus God is not the Absolute Other,
indescribable and obscure, God reveals Himself, He has a face, God is
reason, God is will, God is love, God is beauty".
Benedict XVI explained that "the Holy Spirit is the One Who enables us
to recognise ourselves in Christ the Lord, and causes us to pronounce
the Church's profession of faith: 'Jesus is Lord'". In this
context, he also pointed out that "by reciting the Creed we enter into
the mystery of the Pentecost. ... The Creed brings us
together from all over the world. Through the Holy Spirit, it
ensures we understand one another though speaking different
languages. Through faith, hope and love, the new community of the
Church of God is formed".
"The Holy Spirit animates the Church", the Pope said. "The Church
is not the result of human will, of reflection, of man's abilities or
his capacity for organisation. If this were the case she would
have passed out of existence a long time ago, just as all human things
pass. She is, rather, the Body of Christ animated by the Holy
Spirit".
"The Church was catholic from the first moment of her existence.
Her universality is not the result of the subsequent inclusion of
different communities: from the first instant the Holy Spirit created
her as the Church of all peoples. She embraces the entire world,
crossing frontiers of race, class and nation, breaking down barriers
and uniting mankind in the proclamation of the One and Triune
God. From her beginnings, the Church was one, catholic and
apostolic. This is her true nature and as such she must be
recognised. She is holy, not thanks to any capacity of her
members, but because God Himself, with His Spirit, continuously
creates, purifies and sanctifies her".
COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL (John xiv. 23-31) for Pentecost Sunday from the St. Andrews Daily Missal (1937)
"This is the day," says St. Gregory, "on which the Holy Ghost
descended upon the apostles, and changing the hearts of those carnally
minded men, led them to the love of Himself. While the tongues of
fire appeared externally, the hearts of the disciples were enkindled
within, and as they beheld God under the appearance of fire, they
became aflame with love together with unspeakable sweetness of
soul. For the Holy Ghost is love, and therefore St. John
says : "God is Charity." Now love is proved by action. St.
John says again : "Whosoever says: I love God, and does not keep his
commandments, is a liar." Our love for God is genuine if we resist the
attractions of pleasure in order to obey Him, and anyone who goes on
devoting himself to pleasure does not truly love God, since he acts
contrary to His will. Do not think, then, that you love Him
unless you prove it by good works. Let your speech, your mind,
your whole life be consecrated to the quest for God's love, for in that
love inertia has no place" (Homily at Matins).
Christ was the model of this love, since He always did what His Father commanded.
EXCERPT, Pentecost on Mount Athos:
Vassilios, igoumenos of Ivíron, another of the monasteries, echoes the
sentiment: "In the West, action rules; they ask us how we can stay here
for so many hours in church without doing anything. I reply: What does
the embryo in the maternal womb do? Nothing, but since it is in its
mother's womb it develops and grows. So it is with the monk. He
preserves the holy space in which he finds himself and he is preserved,
molded by this same space. The miracle is here: We are entering into
paradise, here and now. We are in the heart of the communion of saints."
THE TRIB TIMES WILL
RETURN NEXT WEEK, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
(John
14:23) Jesus answered and said to him: If any one love me, he will keep
my word. And my Father will love him and we will come to him and will
make our abode with him.
CHRISTIAN POST: 54 Anglican Clergy to Defect to Catholic Church in Pentecost Ordinations
The first of a series of ordinations are set to take place, which will
see former Anglican clergy defect from the Church of England and become
Roman Catholic priests, on Saturday.
Overall more than 50 former Anglican clergy will complete their
defection over the next two weeks in a series of Pentecost ordinations.
The first of these will see seven former Church of England clergy be
ordained in London by the Most Rev. Peter Smith, Archbishop of
Southwark. The event will further establish the new Ordinariate
formed by Pope Benedict XVI for Anglicans that wished to defect from
the Anglican Church of England in protest against its moves to accept
women bishops.
In excess of 900 laity have already moved to the Catholic Church and
have been waiting for their clergy to complete training for Catholic
priesthood at a seminary in West London.
As the former Anglican clergy become ordained as Catholic priests, they
will lead groups of former Anglican laity to branch off from the core
Catholic congregations to worship as a separate Ordinariate
group. The Vatican will soon publish a separate liturgy for these
Ordinariate groups to follow.
According to The Times in London, Keith Newton, who heads up the
Ordinariate, has explained that dozens more Church of England clergy
are currently also considering their positions within the Anglican
Church.
ST. LOUIS REVIEW: Episcopal community's faith journey led to Catholic Church
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Christian Witness: The grave harm of underestimating the divine plan
God is ready to shed His graces upon us as abundantly and as usefully
as those He shed upon the first Christians. He does not love us less
than He loved them. All the means of sanctification that they had, we
too possess; and we have besides, the examples of the saints who have
followed Christ to encourage us. But we are too often like Naaman the
leper who came to consult the prophet and beg his cure; he was on the
point of not obtaining it because he found the remedy too simple. That
is the case with some of those who undertake the spiritual life; who
are so attached to their own way of seeing things that they are
scandalized at the simplicity of the divine plan. And this scandal is
not without harm. Why is this? Because all that our human ingenuity is
able to create for our inner life serves for nothing if we do not base
our edifice upon Christ.
Blessed Columba Marmion
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 28- "On holy and blessed prayer"
32. Psalmody in a crowded congregation is accompanied by captivity and wandering of the thoughts; but in solitude, this does not happen. However, those in solitude are liable to be assailed by despondency, whereas in congregation the brethren help each other by their zeal.
(2Ti 4:7-8) I have fought a good
fight: I have finished my course: I have kept the faith. As to the
rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice which the Lord the
just judge will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to
them also that love his coming.
NEWS ITEM: Twin friars, 92, die within hours of each other
POPE BENEDICT TO CROATIAN YOUTH:
Referring to the reading in which St. Paul invites the community to
"rejoice in the Lord always", the pope said that the Apostle's
experience, which he writes while imprisoned, "reveals how it is
possible, along the journey of our lives, to preserve joy even in
moments of darkness".
"We all know", he stated, "that lodged in the heart of every
person is a strong desire for happiness. Every action, every decision,
every intention holds hidden within itself this deep, natural desire.
But all too often we realize that we put our trust in things that
cannot fulfill that desire, things that turn out to be shifting sands.
At such moments we recognize our need for something 'greater', capable
of giving meaning to our daily lives".
"This time of youth...", he continued "is a time of vast
horizons, of powerful emotions, but also a time of concern about
demanding, long-term choices, a time of challenges in your studies and
in the workplace, a time of wondering about the mystery of pain and
suffering. What is more, this wonderful time of life is marked by a
deep longing which, far from canceling everything else, actually lifts
it up and fulfils it".
"Jesus speaks to you today, through the Gospel and his Holy
Spirit. He is your contemporary! He seeks you even before you seek him!
While fully respecting your freedom, he approaches each one of you and
offers himself as the authentic and decisive response to the longing
deep within your hearts, to your desire for a life worth living. Let
him take you by the hand! Let him become more and more your friend and
companion along life's journey. Put your trust in him and he will never
disappoint you!".
"Jesus enables you to know at first hand the love of God the
Father; he helps you realize that your happiness comes from his
friendship, from fellowship with him. Why? Because we have been
created and saved by love, and it is only in love, the love which
desires and seeks the good of others, that we truly experience the
meaning of life and find happiness in living it, even amid
difficulties, trials and disappointments, even when it means swimming
against the tide".
EXCERPT, ST. LEO THE GREAT: We Must Despise Earthly Things and Rise to Things Above, Especially by Active Works of Mercy and Love.
And so, dearly-beloved, let us rejoice with spiritual joy, and let us
with gladness pay God worthy thanks and raise our hearts' eyes
unimpeded to those heights where Christ is. Minds that have heard the
call to be uplifted must not be pressed down by earthly affections,
they that are fore-ordained to things eternal must not be taken up with
the things that perish; they that have entered on the way of Truth must
not be entangled in treacherous snares, and the faithful must so take
their course through these temporal things as to remember that they are
sojourning in the vale of this world, in which, even though they meet
with some attractions, they must not sinfully embrace them, but bravely
pass through them. For to this devotion the blessed Apostle Peter
arouses us, and entreating us with that loving eagerness which he
conceived for feeding Christ's sheep by the threefold profession of
love for the Lord, says, "dearly-beloved, I beseech you, as strangers
and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul."
But for whom do fleshly pleasures wage war, ifnot for the devil, whose
delight it is to fetter souls that strive after things above, with the
enticements of corruptible good things, and to draw them away from
those abodes from which he himself has been banished? Against his plots
every believer must keep careful watch that he may crush his foe on the
side whence the attack is made. And there is no more powerful weapon,
dearly-beloved, against the devil's wiles than kindly mercy and
bounteous charity, by which every sin is either escaped or vanquished.
But this lofty power is not attained until that which is opposed to it
be overthrown. And what so hostile to mercy and works of charity as
avarice from the root of which spring all evils? And unless it be
destroyed by lack of nourishment, there must needs grow in the ground
of that heart in which this evil weed has taken root, the thorns and
briars of vices rather than any seed of true goodness. Let us then,
dearly-beloved, resist this pestilential evil and "follow after
charity," without which no virtue can flourish, that by this path of
love whereby Christ came down to us, we too may mount up to Him, to
Whom with God the Father and the Holy Spirit is honour and glory for
ever and ever. Amen.
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 28- "On holy and blessed prayer"
31. Prepare yourself for your set times of prayer by unceasing prayer in your soul, and you will soon make progress. I have seen those who shone in obedience and who tried, as far as they could, to keep in mind the remembrance of God, and the moment they stood in prayer they were at once masters of their minds, and shed streams of tears, because they were prepared for this beforehand by holy obedience.
June 3, 2011
THE TRIB TIMES WILL
RETURN NEXT WEEK, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
(Matthew
17:17-20) And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the
child was cured from that hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus
secretly, and said: Why could not we cast him out? Jesus said to
them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you
have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain:
Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove: and nothing shall be
impossible to you. But this kind is not cast out but by prayer
and fasting.
NEWS REPORT: The Return of Meatless Friday
FASCINATING REVIEW OF THE TRADITION: Fish on Friday: The One That God Away
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA:
From the dawn of Christianity, Friday has been signalized as an
abstinence day, in order to do homage to the memory of Christ suffering
and dying on that day of the week. The "Teaching of the Apostles"
(viii), Clement of Alexandria (Stromata VI.75), and Tertullian (On
Fasting 14) make explicit mention of this practice. Pope Nicholas I
(858-867) declares that abstinence from flesh meat is enjoined on
Fridays. There is every reason to conjecture that Innocent III
(1198-1216) had the existence of this law in mind when he said that
this obligation is suppressed as often as Christmas Day falls on Friday
(De observ. jejunii, ult. cap. Ap. Layman, Theologia Moralis, I, iv,
tract. viii, ii). Moreover, the way in which the custom of abstaining
on Saturday originated in the Roman Church is a striking evidence of
the early institution of Friday as an abstinence day.
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Christian Witness: Six reasons to keep Meatless Fridays:
1. The tradition of eating fish and not beast flesh (now beef,
pork, poultry) goes back to Noah's Ark where for the 40 day flood, they
ate only fish and not beasts.
2. The mystical institution of Friday penance is Luke 5:35 "The
days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them: then
shall they fast in those days." Christ was "taken away" from us on
Friday and so we fast on "those days," i.e. on Fridays.
Every Sunday is a "little Easter," which means that every Friday is a
"little Good Friday." If you're going to party on Sunday, you need to
do penance on Friday.
3. The Friday abstinence from meat goes back to the
Apostles. The first-century document Didache records that the
earliest Christians observed fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays: “But let
not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on the second and
fifth day of the week. Rather, fast on the fourth day {Wednesday}
and the Parasceve {Friday}."
4. Saint Thomas Aquinas says that abstaining from beast flesh and
animal products inhibits your libido and reduces lust. See Summa
theologiae II-II q. 147, a. 8 for more details!
5. A pejoritive slur for Catholics is "fisheater" or
alternatively "mackerel snapper." Wear these slurs as badges of
honor. Eat fish on Fridays.
6. Christ expects us to fast. In Matthew 6:17-8, Jesus says
"But when you fast." He does not say, "But if you fast." So then, why
not try to work in a penance related to food every week? If you
don't make it a habit, you'll never do it. Friday penance is the
time-honored practice. It's hard and it will be inconvenient when
you have to go with the cheese nachos instead of the hot-dog at the
baseball game...but it's worth it.
If you get discouraged, just think of Saint John the Baptist. He ate locusts!
VIA David J Sheehan: We are Roman Catholics; we are different. In the rush of ecumenism, we have sometimes forgotten that.
We are the Prodigal son, still out feeding the pigs. So, I am
asking you to consider taking the first step back to the Father's house
with meatless Fridays.
If Sunday is our day of rest, then let Fridays be a day of joy and also
contemplation as we consider the Cross and how our Saviour used it for
our salvation.
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 28- "On holy and blessed prayer"
30. A convict does not fear his sentence of punishment so much as a fervent man of prayer fears this duty of prayer. So if he is wise and shrewd, by remembering this he can avoid every reproach, anger, worry, and interruption, afflicton, satiety, temptation, and distracting thought.June 1, 2011
CARDINAL SARAH:
"Undoubtedly, since the beginning of his papacy, Pope Benedict XVI has
considered this 'religious indifference' and 'silent apostasy' as the
major challenge the Church has to take up today in her relations with
the modern world. Therefore, he is more determined than ever to make
our minds more aware and our faith more visible and more active, in
order to show the world that the Church's mission is deeply rooted in
faith in God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit."
THEOLOGY FOR THE LAITY: Cafeteria Catholics
EDITORIAL: I do believe in God, but…
If I were presenting a talk show and a member of the audience begins to
express an opinion on a known scientific or geographical fact, I would
certainly stop him/her from continuing further. I would not accept
someone saying "They say that the world is round but my opinion is that
it is flat" or "We were taught that two and two are four but my
opinion…"
Similarly, I would also interrupt anyone who starts saying "I do
believe in God, but…" because the proclamation "I believe" means I
accept all the truths about God revealed to us, even though there may
be some of these truths that I cannot understand fully (mysteries).
"… in God" means the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the Almighty;
Creator of heaven and earth; God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Three
Persons in one God; God the Father revealed to us through the prophets
in the Holy Scriptures; the Son, Jesus Christ, who came on earth to
redeem and save us; the same son who was born of the Virgin Mary, died
for us on the cross and rose again from the dead; the Holy Spirit, who
fills people with His seven gifts and turns weak, illiterate and humble
men into courageous apostles full of divine wisdom.
Our Lord Jesus Christ ordered the members of His Church to "go and
teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Those who believe and are baptised will be
saved (heaven); those who do not believe will be condemned (hell). The
sins of those you forgive on this earth will be forgiven in heaven; the
sins of those you do not forgive on this earth will not be forgiven in
heaven".
So the statement "I believe" includes the acceptance of Christ's
teachings and of the Catholic Church as the only authority to interpret
these teachings.
One day, when Jesus Christ was preaching, He said: "Unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you cannot enter the
kingdom of heaven." Many disciples could not take this teaching and
left Him. So Jesus turned to his apostles and said: "Do you also want
to go?" And Peter replied: "To whom do you want us to go, Lord? You
have the words of eternal life". Although the apostles could not
understand what this statement meant, they had the patience to wait for
the Last Supper, where Jesus Christ showed them the manner in which He
was to become our spiritual sustenance and eternal salvation.
There is no compromise in Christ's teachings. The same applies when
Peter tried to interfere with the will of the eternal Father that
Christ had to suffer and die on the cross. Here, Christ chides Peter
for letting sentiment cloud his judgement. Peter is called Satan for
tempting Jesus to stay away from Jerusalem and the crucifixion.
In the same way, there cannot be any compromise with any of the
articles in the Creed which we pronounce every Sunday during Holy Mass.
So, if anyone says to me: "I believe in God but not in the Catholic
Church or the virginity of Our Lady or Jesus Christ, etc," I will
reply: "You may be sincere in your statement but I am afraid you are
wrong. You either believe in a god other than the one outlined above or
else you do not understand what the word 'believe' fully entails. If
you wish to remain a committed Christian, you are invited to rediscover
the richness of the Christian faith, some aspects of which you might
have forgotten. If you truly believe in God, then you have to believe
in heaven, hell, the Catholic Church, the virginity of Our Lady, Holy
Communion, confession to a priest and, in short, all the other articles
of the Creed."
"I believe" is a package. One cannot pick and choose at random from
this package (what some are now referring to as the supermarket
syndrome), accepting what I like and discarding what does not tickle my
fancy. One either accepts the whole package or none at all.
"But am I not supposed to follow my conscience," some might rightly
ask. Rather than expressing my ideas I would like to offer those of an
expert in the field – Richard M. Gula – who, in his book Moral
Discernment, states among other things:
"If we are going to grow in our loving relationship with God and
neighbour then we need to discern what is truly loving. Conscience is
our capacity for making such discernment."
We must not confuse conscience with the superego. The superego is like
a recording in our heads reminding us of all that we should do in the
process of growing up under the influence of authority figures. It
commands us to act for the sake of gaining approval or out of fear of
losing love. The wants of conscience look to personalised and
internalised values or acquired virtues.
Conscience responds to an invitation of love and is oriented towards
the future – "the person one ought to become". In the depths of his
conscience, man detects a law which he does not impose upon himself but
which holds him to obedience. Man has in his heart a law written by
God. In fact, conscience is the place where God speaks to us.
However, the obligation to follow conscience presupposes that we have
properly formed our conscience. This is a lifelong task and an ongoing
process of conversion. We are often blinded by sin to recognise moral
truth all by ourselves. So we have to consult the established sources
of wisdom. For a Catholic, these sources include our own experience and
those of others around us; the testimony of the sacred scriptures and
our creeds; the moral instruction of the teaching office (magisterium)
of the Pope and the bishops: this office carries a weight of truth for
Catholics that no other teacher can rightfully claim; and the informed
judgement of theologians who are in communion with the Church's
magisterium.
What we do ultimately shapes our character.
US CATHOLIC: Is there a list of infallible teachings?
LINK: Doctrinal Commentary on the Concluding Formula of the Professio fidei
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 28- "On holy and blessed prayer"
29. Do not say, after spending a long time at prayer, that nothing has been gained; for you have already gained something. And what higher good is there than to cling to the Lord and persevere in unceasing union with Him.
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