Pope Benedict and the Catholic View of Justification

Hey everyone!

I want you to be aware of some great information about the doctrine of Justification. Go here to read about it at the Catholic News Agency. It it he discusses the difference between justification that comes from grace in the Gospel and the Jewish distortion of it.

You'll love it.

WHAT A GREAT POPE WE HAVE ALREADY!

I LOVE THIS CARDINAL!!!! MAKE HIM THE NEXT POPE!!!!

I copied this article in its entirety from the Catholic News Agency. By the way, the CNA is an awesome news agency. I refer to it daily.

Get rid of your 'false hang-ups' and be disciples of Christ, cardinal says
Cardinal Stanyslaw Rylko

Rome, Nov 14, 2008 / 11:49 pm (CNA).- The president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Cardinal Stanyslaw Rylko, said this week, “The time has come to free ourselves from our false hang-ups of inferiority towards the secular world and courageously be ourselves, disciples of Christ.”
During his remarks at the opening of the Council’s plenary assembly, which this year is focused on the theme, “Twenty years after Christifideles laici: memory, development and new challenges and tasks,” the cardinal stated that “our true problem is not being a minority, but rather having voluntarily become marginal, irrelevant, because of our lack of courage, so that we will be left alone, because of our mediocrity.” (Bold mine)
According to the L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Rylko denounced the “dictatorship of relativism” that Pope Benedict XVI has correctly identified, in which universal truth does not exist.
“The rush to create a ‘new man’ completely detached from the Judeo-Christian tradition, a new ‘world order,’ a new ‘global ethic,’ is gaining ground,” the cardinal said, and thus a “new anti-Christianity” is emerging that makes it politically correct to attack Christians and Catholics in particular.
“Whoever wishes to live and act according to the Gospel of Christ in the Western liberal democracies must pay a price,” he stated. (bold and large font mine)

Oh yeah, I am so with this cardinal. I LOVE this man!

I Forgot to Tell You...!

I forgot to tell you the assignment for the last session. Please read chapters 22, 35 & 36. Prayer is the fourth pillar of the catechism, and an often forgotten and misunderstood practice. In fact, the state of the Church today can be seen in how people pray, or recite prayers.

Be ready to put into practice Thursday the rudiments of prayer as we look at the covenantal nature of prayer. Remember, covenant with God is total self-giving. Prayer looks just like that. Read, prepare, and pray my family so that God may give us a true spirit of prayer.

Recap Week Eleven: Moral Requirements of a Moral God

If you look at the commandments four through ten, you will see a revelation of God's nature that is important for us as Christians. Too often, people disregard the Ten Commandments as either outdated for today or the erroneous view that since Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law, the Decalogue has no more use. This is entirely untrue.

The moral law can be summed up as follows: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Look at the commands as a revelation of the Love of God for us and the practical ways the love of God in our hearts is to be reflected back to God and to others.

1. No other Gods. God is the only God, and as God, he gives of himself entirely to us in covenant. We respond accordingly, in love, and embrace him as our one and only God.

2. Treat his name with infinite care. God's name represents himself. He reveals himself to us in the utmost intimacy. To know His name is to know him. Knowledge in this case, is the most intimate means of knowledge. We cannot, must not treat his name with casual disregard. How we treat his name is how we treat him.

3. Keep the Sabbath holy. Our time is the outworking of our covenant commitment to God. What we do and how we order our lives matters. Do we take this sublime calling to be God's own in this glorious covenant seriously? If we do, we will order our lives accordingly, and that being around the premier covenantal event of our lives: the sacred sacrifice of the Mass and the day it falls on.

4. Honor your Parents. Imagine...we as eternal beings, got our life from our parents, who good or bad, made it possible to experience the life of the Holy Trinity. If you've had bad parents or not. Get past this. You are completely free to embrace our Lord because of your parents. This is why we honor them. We couldn't have an eternity of bliss without them. Simply awesome!

5. Do not murder. God loves and looks out for the innocent. He is entirely just. He is a champion of the weak and dispossessed. He is the life giver. Only He can take life, and does so justly. We cannot take the place of God and take the lives of the innocent. Included in this is the issues of abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research.

6. Do not commit adultery. God is entirely faithful. He never fails on his commitments. When he gives of himself to us, he never holds back or sneaks around to undermine his commitment elsewhere. He gives completely and unreservedly. Neither should we. Marital faithfulness is hard work, chastity doesn't come passively, but the blessings of chastity are heavenly!

7. Do not steal. The integrity and justice of God is found in His creation. When he gives something, he doesn't take it back willy-nilly. It is true gift. The things we have have been given to us by the Lord. As he honors what he gives us, we honor this in others as well. This forms the foundation for private property rights of all civilized societies where private property is held in esteem. In fact, ALL rights are founded upon the existence of a Creator and the life he gives to us. When a culture allows theft, you have a culture that is chaotic and has lost it's faith in the existence of God.

8. Do not bear false witness. What would happen to a society where everything you hear and read is untrue? This isn't so hard to imagine, isn't it? Perhaps it's because we experience this in media and advertising; we have been made vulnerable by the lies of others. We have to be skeptical in order to protect ourselves. This is because lying undermines life in any and all relationships. How can you know someone if you cannot trust them? How can you know them if what they are saying about themselves is possibly untrue? How can you believe? This is the crux of why the God has given the Catholic Church the gift of infallibility. Infallibility allows us to have the utmost trust in the Catholic Gospel. We are at the complete mercy of God since we have absolutely NO WAY to check to see what has been revealed is true. How do you verify the truthfulness of a revelation? It's impossible for us humans to do this. Seeing our vulnerability, God stands completely behind His revelation and protects it by the Holy Spirit. People of the Covenant of Christ are to have the same level of integrity in our relations with others.

9 & 10. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, husband, and belongings. Purity in the heart is requisite in our relationship with God. To desire that which is utterly opposed what God desires it completely contrary to the covenant. It to this that Christ levels his warning: to desire another besides your own spouse is to commit the act of adultery. Our thought life and desires is an act just like any outward action. God desires for us are completely pure. There is no darkness in thought or deed in him. We are to be a reflection of him in our thought lives as well.

As Christians, participators in the New Covenant of Christ, we have the graces to accomplish God's will for us: to become Jesus Christ...to actually become divinized by participating in the life of the Trinity. Let's not shirk our responsibilities as New Covenant people, but use the Decalogue as a guide it was meant to be. God bless you in your journey!

Lesson 10 Recap: The 10 Commandments and Moral Law

Greetings again, dear hearts!

Well, as our series "The Four Pillars of Faith" winds down, it seems the class times become more special to me. As I get to know you all as time goes, you are becoming more dear to me. I am honored to have met you all and know you as my friends. I'm sure our friendships will continue into the future. I look forward to see how God uses us in advancing the Kingdom of Christ.

The First Three Commandments:

1. I am the Lord your God...you shall not have other gods before me.

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

3. You shall keep the Sabbath Day holy.


These first three commands deal specifically with the relationship we have with God, and from these, the rest of the commandments flow. From our previous class, we are justified by faith in the sacrament of baptism, the gateway sacrament to all the sacraments. Justification means we are adopted as sons and daughters of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus becomes our elder Brother! And what a Brother he is, eh? God pronounces us righteous through the merits of Christ's sacrifice and infuses justice into our souls. Grace and the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity are imparted to us. YET, our wills are liberated to do God's will. This is NOT a permanent condition; we can always reject this life that God gives us. It is an ever present danger that we can walk away, should we allow concupiscence to reign in our hearts instead of Christ. The reality of the existence of Hell should be a constant reminder: we could still end up there, for it is made for those who reject God, whether people are unbaptised or baptised. God will grant the ungodly what they choose... an eternity without Him.

Freedom, in Catholic teaching, is the ability to do God's will and accomplish the end that he has set for us: participate in the life of the Holy Trinity and unity in the Trinity in Christ at the consummation of the ages, heavenly bliss.

We can begin to enjoy that bliss now as we continue to avail ourselves to God's grace. The moral life is NOT a treadmill of works designed to get God's grace, as some detractors of the Catholic faith would say. God is the initiator of this wonderful grace life, from the prevenient graces given to unbelievers, prompting them to move toward God; the actual graces God gives us for special situations where we need to be supercharged; sanctifying grace that comes through baptism and sustained by the sacraments, our prayers, our good works--all of which are empowered by God's grace in cooperation with our wills. A perfect scripture to illustrate this is St. Paul's statement in Philippians 2: 13; "Work out your salvation in fear and in trembling, for God is at work within you do will and do of his good pleasure." In essence, we must work out what God is working in. And we must do so in fear and trembling, without presumption. If we don't, we are in a heap of trouble.

So the commandments, in light of the Gospel of Grace, are a moral guide for us to accomplish the building of virtue with the grace God gives us. We never work outside the realm of grace. This is foreign to our thinking. However, outside the Catholic faith, those who see justification as merely a pronouncement of righteousness only, will often separate works from faith. WE DO NOT AND CANNOT MAKE THIS SEPARATION. Listen again the St. Paul in the Book of Romans:

God...will repay everyone according to his works: eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness. Yes, affliction and distress will come upon every human being who does evil, Jew first and then Greek. But there will be glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good, Jew first and then Greek. There is no partiality with God. Romans 2:6-11

Some key points covered were:

1. Sins against the First Commandment are sins against Faith, Hope and Charity. Sins against Faith are heresy, which can be either the belief in something that is contrary to Catholic teaching or, unbelief in stated doctrines; apostasy, where someone rejects faith in Christ altogether; and schism, a refusal to submit to the teaching authority of the Church and as a result, create a party in conflict with the Church. The Society of Piux X is an example of a schism.

Sins against hope is despair, since hope, the forgotten virtue, is God's ability and intent to fill what is lacking in us to accomplish the goal He has for us. He's confident that His grace will sustain you through difficulty. Despair rejects the possibility of God's help and sustaining grace and yields to a personal judgment of God that is contrary to God's character and faithfulness. Do YOU have confidence in His grace? You have EVERY reason to! And finally, Charity, where indifference, ingratitude, lukewarmness and lack of spiritual fervor due to slothfulness can easily mar and destroy the principle of love in our souls.

2. The issue of idolatry is very close to us. With the Money, Sex and Power schemes in our culture, in our businesses, sometime in our homes and Churches, we are always confronted with threats to our faith. Just as important, though, is the effect of our imagination on our faith life. We can inadvertently build images of God that areagainst the teaching of the Church, which often hold more power and sway over our moral choices and faith life than the teachings of the Church. You must reduce the influence of your imagination and subject it to the authority of Christ in the Magesterial teachings of the Church. For instance, say someone imagines God to be an anal-retentive, moral prude that bops us on the head when we sin, without lifting a finger to help us. I t is reasonable to see why these people have NO passion, love or interest in faith and religion. However, the solution is not running away from the Church. WE MUST BE COMMITTED TO PROPER ADULT FAITH FORMATION. The problem in this instance and most irreligious behavior is this: OUR GOD IS TOO SMALL. Below is a list of few common idols in our mind that distort and destroy our faith and devotion to God:

1. Milquetoast Savior: A feminized Jesus who is nice, mild, and a bit smarmy; he wants everyone to just get along. Cold and limp is his handshake. Ew.
2. Divine Policeman: He simply finds fault and condemns others. He strictly enforces the law, ma'am; there's no help in reconciliation.
3. Absentminded Grandfather: He's got so many people in his Kingdom, he can't keep track of them all to even remember their names. Because there are so many, he gives minimal attention to all . The loving look you get from him is vacant; he's already forgotten your name.
4. The Pure and Ice-Cold Prude: God is holy, just and waaaaaay far away. He doesn't want to get his hands dirty with the likes of you.
5. Party Hardy Deity: It doesn't matter what you believe, just believe and enjoy life. "No pain...No pain" is his motto. Rock on, dude!
6. Absentee Father: God made us in the world and is gone to do his own thing. The throne is empty. He has no care to help; We are on our own, baby!
7. The Overbearing Deity: He constantly in your face, verbally abusing, correcting, cajoling, and intimidating us into submission; there is no encouragement from this ogre.
8. The Co-dependant Deity: God somehow needs you to love him; like a puppy he will do or be whatever you want him to do or be. You're in charge--you get to choose, he'll meet your every desire so long as you love Him. Yech.
9. The Manager: God is a cold-blooded control freek, whose more interested in order, schedules, and avoiding inconvenience. Interrupting schedules are a huge irritation to this false god. Don't interrupt him with your prayers. To him, showing Love is an inconvenience.
10. The Sadistic Deity: God gets great pleasure condemning people to Hell. We are his property and he gets to do whatever he wants, send calamities, allow crime, murder and rape. Sorrow in life and the presence of evil gives him pleasure.
11. The Helpless Hands-are-tied Deity: God cares about us, he just can't help us. Somehow his hands are tied and he cannot help. Wuss.

These are just a few of the potentially unlimited amount of false gods that can drift in and make themselves at home in our minds. Evict them. Grab them by the scruff of the neck and pants and give them the mighty heave ho! SEND THESE HELLISH IMPOSTOR TO HELL WHERE THEY CAME FROM! Also, give your concupiscence notice, 'No Deity but the Deity as taught by the Catholic Church resides in your heart." Formation of your conscience IS YOUR DUTY. Don't be passive here!

If you find yourself lethargic in faith, passionless, tending toward spiritual sloth, the very first question you need to ask is: "Is my God too small? Is my belief about God infinitely beneath Him, affecting my mind, will and emotions?" You need to examine this. You may have to take some time to look back at the source of these beliefs, if in fact they do exist. You must challenge any conclusions you or others have given you that are contrary to the teachings of the Church about God. Once you find these false beliefs, DESTROY THEM AS THE PUTRID IDOLS THAT THEY ARE!!!!! And then, REPLACE them with proper catechesis, building your thoughts and emotions on that which is TRUE about God. DON'T LET THE IDOLS IN YOUR IMAGINATION DOMINATE AND DESTROY YOUR FAITH!!!!

3. We spoke of God's name, how holy it is. The modern Jew never speaks of the Tetragrammaton in Ex. 3:14. They call Him Heshem, meaning "the name" or Adonai, meaning "Lord." Elizabeth, when Mary came to her, cried out:

"Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord (Adonai) should come to me?" (Luke 1:42-43)

We do well to learn from our Jewish brothers and sisters here and speak always with complete respect for the name of our Lord. Remember, in Hebrew thinking, the name of someone represents that person.

4. Finally, we spoke of the Sabbath in terms of covenant, where the Hebrew work "shebah" is both the number "seven" and also a word meaning "cutting", as in cutting a covenant. This is illustrated vividly when God "sevened" a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, and also in Genesis 21, where Abraham and Lamech "sevened" a covenant regarding a well that was previously fought over by by both parties. The covenant cut essentially formed a family bond between Abraham and Lamech to cease hostilities, forming a family bond that is tighter than than a blood bond. The name of the place is called Beersheba, "Well of the Covenant." The sacrifice victim is symbolic of what will happen to any in the covenant that breaks the covenant: what happens to the victim will happen to those who break this covenant. The covenantal oath is serious business. And when God "sevens" himself in covenant, you know He'll keep it.

So, God's seventh day, called "Shebah" or Sabbath, is God's covenant with His creation, where He gives of himself entirely for the sake of creation. Our life in the New Covenant in Christ, binds our entire lives, our selves in our time, life purpose, goals, daily and even seemingly mundane decision to the Covenant God makes with us. Our time is precious to God; it's how we live out our covenant committment to God. Our covenantal response to God always will involve our time committment.

Sundays, which commemorate the Resurrection of Christ, is also called the "Eighth Day," symbolic of eternity. God, through Jesus Christ and our assisting in the Mass, participate in the eternity that is God's nature and life. Our Sundays matter to God. It is our way to develop the intimacy that God longs for with us and meets our deepest core needs as human beings. "Our hearts are restless until we find ourselves in Thee, O God."

Feel free to comment or ask good questions. I will be monitoring this posting and the rest of this site. Only those with good will can enter. If anyone attempts to subvert the dialogue on this blog in any way, I will ban them from entry and send their comments into Internet purgatory. Nuff said.

We Are The Church Militant--LET'S ACT LIKE IT!

Caution: The language used in this post is a bit rough in its clarity, but true nonetheless. Sometimes it's the only way to get people's attention.

I love J.R.R Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." I've read the book twice, I've seen the movie countless times. I'm convinced we can benefit from good tales that illustrate the exercise of virtue, identify the difference between good and evil, and inspire us to fight for the protection of the good and the beautiful. It shows me that though evil is everywhere and sometimes overwhelming, if we stand up to it together with everything in us, WE CAN WIN. I love LOR because it inspires me to a greater commitment to be a soldier in the army of the Church Militant.

We are the Church militant. It was given this name by the Church fathers because of the nature of life here on earth. Earth is not a playground, but a battleground filled with evil, sorrow and untold suffering. There is goodness we need to fight for, souls who hang in the balance who need the message we hold dear. One of the greatest issues of our time is the issue of Child Killing. The beauty of life, found in the faces of the infant unborn and their mothers, is being attacked by a satanic barbarism that is unmatched by anytime or epoch. We have systematically destroyed and are destroying countless souls without seeing any of the macabre details. There are Frankensteins in our country who have violated their Hippocratic Oath and sold their souls for paychecks written in innocent blood.

I do not use the term "Abortion" any more. "Abortion" is a euphemism, a sophisticated sugar-coating that hides the horrific reality that occurs about 5000 times each day in America, or 1.5 million times each year, over 50 million times since 1973. It is matching the number of people killed in World War II. And these numbers are just from America. It is Child Killing-- it is the whole-sale chopping of children and sucking pieces of their precious bodies out of their mothers' wombs and into a sink. This "medical procedure" is an idea belched out of hell. Is anyone still not convinced of Satan's hatred of humanity?

The most intense emotion I feel as a man in the Child Killing issue second to the seething hatred toward sin that causes this, is shame. I feel shame towards the silent, cowardly, orgasm-driven sperm donors (I refuse to call them men; they do not fit the the definition of men.) who don't step in to protect the women they've impregnated from emotional, psychological and physical harm, and their children from death. They refuse to take responsibility for their actions and run to find the next set of legs to feed their lust. I know that it takes two to tango, but if sperm-donors acted like real men instead of unprincipled Orks, we wouldn't have this problem.

Our first priority is to bring the possibility of conversion to these people with love and humility. We need to reach out to these women who have been used and harmed. But with them, these men need our prayers and evangelism too. They too are slaves to the Evil one. If we are going to win this battle, we must be willing to influence the hearts of these people and love them towards conversion in spite of their brutish behavior. Our battle is with the principalities and powers of the dark lord that are driving them. It is with Satan and his minions whom we must do battle, and fight with the weapons our Lord Jesus has given us. We are defeated only if we resort to using our Enemies weapons against them.

Our second priority is to change our culture through the legal means at our disposal. This is also why I think we need to vote like the Church Militant in this election. Our vote against Obama is a vote against the culture of death. YES, it is this serious! There should be no question on who we are to vote for in this election cycle--John McCain. Yeah, I'll say it again. If you are Catholic in your moral thinking you WILL VOTE FOR JOHN MCCAIN. He is not perfect by any means, and there will be work to do when he wins. However, this is a no-brainer.

The popular "seamless garment" analogy doesn't illustrate the fact that there is a hierarchy of moral truths, a hierarchy the Holy Father speaks about. When you have two choices to make, you need to base your decision on which of the moral truths are the most important and best served. You can vote in favor for the rights of the poor, the immigrants, the war-torn, racially denigrated. But as far as rights go, people have rights only as they are alive. The dead have no rights.

So what is happening with Catholics is this...a moral equivalence is being made between the right to life of an unborn baby and say the rights of those in Iraq and the casualties of war. In each case, the objective nature of the actions, human beings dying, are the same, but the intentions and the circumstances surrounding these are quite different. As to intentions, an unborn baby is not killed collaterally as are the innocent in war, the baby is the focus of the kill. On the other hand, the U.S. has not instituted an intentional killing campaign of civilians like say, Al Qaida does. Thus, the intentions are very different. Second, the circumstances are not the same. Killing unborn infants comes as a form of birth control which is to relieve the mother the responsibility of raising a child. Ergo, Mr. Obama's statements about not having his daughters be burdened with a child. (See, Mr. Obama knows unborn babies are children!) . We are not killing innocent Iraqis because of the burden they put on us in regime change. Besides, the number of Iraqis killed doesn't come remotely close to the amount of American babies killed (50 million plus).

So, Mr. Obama's empty sophisms will never bring the results that half of America's Catholics are hoping for. He may promise a reduction in Child Killing with economic growth, a chicken in every pot, a Hybrid in every garage, and a job for every American. But he has no intention to deliver on this promise. He intends to remove every restriction to Child Killing we have put in place in the last three decades with the Freedom of Choice Act. So with every economic reason removed to destroy unborn children, he gives every reason to pursue unencumbered access to the killing of infants. With this new law, self-absorbed, well fed, mobile and employed Americans can continue to pursuit a life of unrestrained recreational sex. You see the contradiction?

If you Obama supporters are insistent that "Senator Government" is sincere with an intent to reduce Child Killing, then you have a malformed conscience. There can a as many as four causes for this:

1. You are not using the common sense God has given you and have become naive and gullible. You have been bamboozled.

2. You are not catechized correctly or you lack it altogether. You need to talk to your priest on the pre-eminent issue of abortion as the Holy Father has time and again expressed to us.

3. You are following the voting tradition of your family; your parents did, you believe that's what Catholics are supposed to do. You are not thinking.

4. You are willfully resisting Catholic moral teaching on the subject of Abortion, having adopted a counter-magisterial attitude from such notables as Fr. Charles Curran, or from groups such as Catholic Action.

It's up to you, my family. If you think I've been a bit over the top, then please read what Bishop Finn says to his diocese. He really nails it, and hard. God bless you in the battle for the Good, the True and the Beautiful. Remember, in the Spirit of St. John the Beloved, here's an adaptation: "those who say they love God and allow their innocent neighbor to be killed in the womb, the love of God is not in them." Strength and honor!!

Sam

Recap Week Nine: The Catholic Gospel is a Gospel of Grace

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry I did not post a summary of last weeks class on October 23rd, so I'm making sure I do that this week!

I received a request from a class member to explain the issue between grace and good works in our salvation. There are those outside the Church who misrepresent the Catholic Gospel and unfortunately, draw un-catechised Catholics away from the Church. Here's the summary:

The Catholic Gospel is pre-eminently a Gospel of Grace. Grace is the forerunner, grace sustains, and grace will lead us home. Grace allows us to have faith; grace empowers us to do good works, which builds merit before God. God, who sees the merit of our good works inspired by His grace, blesses us with even more grace, whereby we do more good works, which builds more merit before God, who sees the merit we gained by our good works and blesses us with more grace...on and on it goes. Praise God for his grace. As in Ephesians 1: 4: "In love he predestined us to the adoption as sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with the favor of his will, to the praise of the glory of His grace." Our lives are to praise the glory of God's grace and the Catholic faith does that above all other protestant variations out there.

There are reasons why these misconceptions by our Protestant brothers and sister exist. It is due to the fundamental differences in the doctrine of justification. This is key; you must get this so as to at least explain the difference.

The Catholic Church teaches dogmatically that justification is by faith. Period. End of sentence. No ifs ands or buts. Justification in Catholic teaching is an infusion of sanctifying grace in the soul of the believer, whereby justice is imparted and resides in the soul making us a part of the New Adam, Jesus Christ. If you were to come up with a synonym of justification, it would be "adoption." Trent declared in Session Six in the Decrees of Justification that in justification, we are made sons and daughters of God. This includes our sanctification and elevates our status before God as family members. It is out of this that our teaching of "merit" occurs. We, because of our status of being in God's family, because of the grace of justification in our souls, God assures that the blessings we gain from our obedience and good works are rightfully ours...because of His grace.

Protestant Christianity usually follows Luther's view of justification, which is only a shell of Catholic thought. John Calvin has a different approach, but we won't cover that now. To Luther, justification was simply a forensic act. By forensic, I'm saying that is a matter of declaration as in a court of law. Luther draws from the forensic approach in St. Paul's Letter to the Romans in chapter 3 & 4, but skips the adoption motiff in Chapter 8. To Luther, God declares the sinner righteous by his faith, as he did to Abraham for his faith with a justification that is not imparted, but imputed. It's as if righteousness is placed in an account for the believer to draw upon with his faith. Therefore, the sinner who believes according to Luther, remains essentially a sinner but with the grace of justification declaring him to be righteous. It is like a person who is covered in filth is cloaked with a robe of Christ's righteousness, or a dung heap covered with clean white snow. The sinner is justified before God because God sees the righteousness of Jesus covering the sinner, but not the dung of the dungheap. The sinner, then, does good works with the assistance of God on account of this forensic justification, but the works do not count as advancing the believer in any way. The believer only need to believe; the good works should come on account of the faith and are expected, but are not meritorious.

To sum up:
1. Luther's version: justification occurs with the believer being declared righteous by decree of God, through the merits of Christ for those who believe. There is no infusion of grace in the believer, it's simply by a declaration and Christ's justice is applied to the believer. Therefore there is no need for any sacraments. The sacramental system to Luther is not only unnecessary, but a distraction to true faith, save baptism.

2. Catholic version: justification occurs when sanctifying grace and the justice of God are infused in the believer's soul as the person is given the gift of faith. This justification occurs with the sacrament of baptism. Though the mark of baptism is indelible, the sanctifying grace and justice in the believer is not. Grace is to be increased in the life of the believer through meritorious good works that increase grace, that again gives the believer greater ability to increase merit. So again, grace inspires the entire enterprise, sustains it and brings it to completion, in accord with our will.

If I have missed something, please feel free to comment. For more information, use the Catechism of the Catholic Church under "justification and grace." Awesome section that explains this and refers you to the decrees in Trent. When we sing the song amazing grace, there are some doctrinal confusion of which we need to be aware. Here's my version:

Amazing Grace (infused in my soul), how sweet the sound (yes Amen!),

that saved (is saving, but not finished yet by any means!) a wretch like me (with

concupiscence, not sin, we're NOT snow covered dung heaps!)

I once was lost (orphaned), but now am found (adopted!).

Was blind (to the truth), but now I see (Catholicly! Oh yeah!).

Lesson Seven Recap: The Sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation

Hello everyone!

Well, we have only five sessions left in our "Four Pillars of Faith" series, and I must say, I am proud of the students who attend. Of the fifty-five plus in attendance, all of you seem very motivated to live out the teachings of our Church. This blesses my socks off! You all are so encouraging to me! God bless you for your faith-filled response!

As a recap, I want to briefly go over the previous week's lesson, since I posted only that which pertained to the one hour fast before Communion. I'll make it brief.

LESSON SIX REVIEW:

Lesson Six dealt with the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist.

Baptism: Is the gateway sacrament that initiates one into the life of Jesus. We are baptized into Christ, his life, death, burial and resurrection. We are made a part of the "New Adam", we share in His history and future, His Life, His Spirit, and His MISSION. We participate in his role as Prophet (proclamation of the Gospel in words and work), Priest (we mediate God to the world in our prayers, sufferings, and reparations with Christ) and King (we are servant leaders of the human family to lead them into the Kingdom of God and meet our King.)

Confirmation: This sacrament is an empowerment sacrament, meant to give you the Holy Spirit in power and abundance to give you the supernatural gifts and abilities in your unique mission for Christ.

Eucharist: The Source and Summit of our Faith! It is Jesus Himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity that is given to us so that we may participate in Trinitarian life in our soul, spirit and body. Remember, in the general resurrection, we will receive our bodies again, in a resurrected state like Christ's. So, your bodies matter!

The Sacrifice of the Mass, where we receive the Eucharist, is a transformation of the Passover liturgy that was the quintessential feast of the Jews. It was THE feast that gave them their identity among other nations. Israel was God's people, and the Exodus was God's supernatural advertisement to the world that He covenanted with Israel to be their God, and they were to be His people. The Passover memorialized that event and "made it present to the Jews" every year it was celebrated.

To us Catholics, the Sacrifice of the Mass is THE quintessential sacrament that gives us our identity and the New Israel, the Church, God's Holy People. Jesus, who died on the cross, made the Lord's Supper and the Cross essentially one. So it is primarily a sacrifice, although it is also a sacred meal. We CANNOT supersede the meaning of sacrifice with meal. The covenantal meal is in light of the sacrifice of Christ where we, the people he died for, consummate the "marriage" between Christ and us. It is the "marriage supper of the Lamb" with His bride, the Church. So we enter into intimate communion with our Lord and with each other. We receive his life in the Eucharist, we pledge Him our lives in response, in true marital self-giving.

Yet, sacrifice is what gives the covenantal meal its meaning. We see in the death of Christ and his resurrection, the lengths that Christ went to re-establish humanity as a community of worshippers, with Christ as THE worshipper of the Father as the New Adam. Our assisting at Mass is an assisting of Jesus Christ as He worships the Father with the total self-giving of his life, which is death. It is an act of adoration on Christ's part, thanksgiving, prayer/supplication for others, and reparation for the sins of the world. Since Christ's sacrifice includes all of us and our lives, with the suffering setbacks and good works, our assistance is both a privilege and responsibility. This is why your presence is required in the offering of Jesus to the Father. You mean something to God--in fact, you mean everything to the Father, you mean the death of His Son. Won't you come and worship?

LESSON SEVEN REVIEW:

We only made it through Chapter 18 in the USCCA, the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The importance of this sacrament can never be overstated. Since the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, we must not enter into it with a cavalier and presumptuous attitude. These attitudes are faith-killers! Even if we have "pet sins" that we have considered to be venial (light), the attitude that allows these sins to grow and be sustained are sustained by presumption, which can become mortal. This is why it is incumbent that we reject all sin! The difference between venial and mortal sin is as different as getting shot in the chest by an arrow that misses the heart by 3 inches and getting shot through the heart and dying. The casual and careless attitude toward venial sin must be eliminated from our disposition. Thank God that our venial sins are eliminated in our partaking of Holy Communion. But let's not take this for granted. Let's develop the grit to pursue holiness.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a sacrament as the others, where there is a minister (the priest with juridical authority from the Bishop), form (the words of absolution) and matter (our contrition, confession of all mortal sins in kind and number; our purpose to amend our ways and not sin again, and the fulfilling the works of penance and satisfaction). Like the matter in the Eucharistic feast, the bread and wine are consecrated and thus transubstantiated into the Flesh and Blood of Christ. The matter in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, contrition or sorrow, confession, purpose of amendment and satisfaction, are "transubstantiated" into grace, power and peace with God. The grace that we lost in mortal sin has been revived, restored, and with theological certainty, the accumulated graces you had before are restored as well. The words of absolution are not merely declarative, meaning, they don't just state the obvious that has occurred, they in effect cause the transformation of the matter into power, just as the words of consecration transform the bread and wine into Christ's flesh and blood!

So, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is not just the forgiveness of sins, like our dear Protestant brothers and sisters like to define our sacrament. It is the absolution, and transformation of the penitent, with the energies, sins, repentance, sorrows, purpose of amendment and satisfaction and confession into Divine Power! It's a sacrament of healing of souls due to the poison and death darts of sin!!! THIS IS WHY WE HAVE IT! JESUS WANT TO HEAL OUR SOULS! Phew, I do get excited, don't I?

FOR THOSE WHO MISSED MY AUGUST 12th POST ON CARDINAL NEWMAN AND VENIAL SIN, SEE IT HERE. You'll love it, and it will change your views towards your "pet sins", believe me.

So don't let others define what this sacrament means. Let them know how the Church defines it. Priests don't forgive sins, Jesus Christ does. The priest only acts in Christ's name. It is as if you are seated before Jesus, naming your sins in kind and number and he, gives you counsel, gives you the means to atone, and absolves you of sin and it's eternal punishment. Praise God!

Now, as your brother and friend, I urge you, no, I beseech you, no, on my knees I plead with you, be reconciled to Christ. Go, examine your conscience; make a good confession, be restored to the graces you had before so that the Mass you assist at and the Eucharist you partake in is done with a disposition to receive the infinite graces. Please...I don't want ANY SACRILEGIOUS COMMUNIONS from ANY of you! Don't break my heart, for it breaks the heart of Christ. That's all.

God bless, dear ones!

Sam

One Hour Fast Before Eucharist: Is Water Included in the Fast?

Our discussion last night included the question, "Is water included in the one hour fast?" Well, brothers and sisters, here's the quote from Canon 919, in the book of Canon Law:

Can. 919 #1 Whoever is to receive the Blessed Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before Holy Communion from all food and drink, with the sole exception of water and medicine. #2 A priest who, on the same day, celebrates the Blessed Eucharist twice or three times may consume something before the second or third celebration, even though there is not an hour's interval. #3 The elderly and those who are suffering from some illness, as well as those who care for them, may receive the Blessed Eucharist even if within the preceding hour they have consumed something.

Now, for those of you who had to do the fasting from midnight on before Sunday Mass prior to the change in Canon Law, rejoice! Our fathers and shepherds are trying to remove unnecessary restrictions for people to come and receive Jesus in the Eucharist. It's a pastoral change they are able to make and rightly so, given the implications medically, spiritually and even emotionally that comes from too harsh of restrictions.

For those who are irritated at the change, why are you irritated? Permit me to list several questions to help you see what applies to you to help you through this:

1. Have you someone you care about suffered enormously in the past because of the previous restrictions and are needing some soul care?

2. Are you angry that people nowadays don't have to go through the trouble you went through when you were younger? You want them to go through what you went through?

3. Do you have too high an expectation that changes like this should never have to occur? The shepherds should have gotten it right in the first place and eliminate the needless suffering?

4. You have seen people leave the church over what you consider silly rules, and therefore harbor a grudge or grievance for them?

5. You misunderstand the presence of a hierarchy of teachings in the Catholic Church, where disciplinary rules such as this are lower on the list?

6. Are you afraid that changes like this means that there is no infallibility in the Church, or that infallibility is a joke?

7. Do you feel like you're kept in the dark and because of this, feel set up?

Feel free to enter into the discussion. Let's open it up, so that if there are roots of bitterness that have been unearthed in the cultivation of our souls in the Four Pillars class, let's identify them and get rid of them! Life is hard enough without this stuff distracting us from our mission. Right?

The Normal Catholic Life...

Hello everyone,

I'm working on an idea of a book I may write someday entitled "The Normal Catholic Life." I'm not sure if there is an actual book with that title, or if one is in the making. If you know of one, please let me know. I Googled the title in quotes to see what could be found and I didn't find anything except quotes by schismatic SSPX'ers saying that as long as the Vatican allows the Novus Ordo, a "normal Catholic life cannot be lived." PHOOEY!!! I say!

The title works off an equivocal understanding of the term "normal." Webster defines normal several ways, as 'conforming to a typical standard; functioning in a natural way.' If "normal" concerning the Catholic life is governed by a standard, then which standard do we use? If we turn to the status quo, it certainly is a standard to choose, but is it truly Catholic, if by Catholic, we mean that which is part of the whole, including Christ and the Most Holy Trinity? So far, status quo Catholicism has closed the doors of many churches in the Green Bay Diocese, and will probably close many more. Is this normal? I say not if Jesus is the standard. If boring dead-head ritualism is the norm, then it's time we change the norm.

I want to propose another meaning of normal, a standard that is natural to what it means to be Catholic...supernatural. The life of Jesus Christ in us is what is normal, if we're faithful to what it means to be Catholic. I would suspect that anything that exemplifies, say CHRIST! would be normal.

As I shared in last week's class about what the Little Flower says about Purgatory, I am convinced that Catholics choose a route of mediocrity in life that does not draw people, that does not inspire people, because they see God as grace-pinching skinflint who wants purity at the expense of joy, love and life. This view of God is not our God!! He gives grace to desire a holy life and the grace to accomplish it in magnanimus ways, ways which blows our mind! He gives himself completely to us as an oath, a sacrament of salvation. Is he going to hold back so that we spend useless time suffering for that which he gives grace for us to overcome? Why settle for Purgatory when heaven is available to all who respond? That is the message of the Little Flower!

There is a rampant form of Catholicism, better a Catholic Phariseeism, which calls itself "orthodox" and has a de facto primary purpose of straining at liturgical gnats, analyzing any statement coming out of the mouths of Catholics for doctrinal purity, and consequently is destroying love. Now, I'm NOT advocating slip-shod liturgies or messy doctrine. I'm talking about taking what are important means, sound doctrine and solid liturgies, and making them ends in themselves instead of Christ and the Holy Trinity. It is mediocrity on parade, a loss of "First Love" that is pale and lifeless in comparison to a passionate love for God found in the likes of St. Catherine of Siena, who calls God her Heavenly Lover..."a Divine Madman insane with love"or "drunk with love" for His creatures.

This pervasive mediocrity, finding its home in clergy or laity alike, sets the standard for what is normal. It is this mentality that sees a vibrant joyful exuberant Catholic life as odd; as if something is wrong. Catholics who are on fire are a strange phenomenon, quirky folk whose devotion is a matter of a high strung personality trait...or even a personality disorder, or God forbid, someone who is acting "too Protestant!"

It is time for Catholics to be serious followers of Jesus Christ, beginning with ourselves, whether people join us or not--a people who are not afraid to be lumped as people who are quirky, strange, personality-disordered people. Normal means we follow the standard of Jesus Christ. And as we do, it is eternally important that we be people who will not fall into the trap of spiritual pride--a pride that takes the easy route to devotion by simply lamenting the state of the Catholic Church, false devotees who "wonders" why more people are are not devout. We need to stop this! It is futile and self-promoting; it is bragging in reverse. How do I know? BECAUSE I HAVE DONE IT. YES. I HAVE DONE IT AND IT IS A DEAD END.

The book I would write would include excerpts of the lives of saints who were joyful, charismatic, and evangelistic. It would include writings by Popes like John Paul the Great who exhorts us to non- characteristic living of the life of Christ in our own unique states in life. It would pull liturgical prayers and blessings common in the life of the Church that show HOW INTENTLY OUR GOD WANTS US TO LIVE THIS SUPERNATURAL WAY.

That's what I'm thinking...I'm wondering if it will catch on. If someone else beats me to it, more power to them!!! Or if someone wants to join me...interested?

Whata'yall think?

How We Got Into This Mess

Hi everyone!

I read a great article at the New Oxford Review by Michael McIntire in Secularizing the Catholic University that spells out the history of the culture of death over the last 100+ years. Very enlightening, with things like John D. Rockefeller III's interest in Eugenics, a Darwinian notion that we have the capability to develop a super race, who funded research in 1930's Germany. Can you imagine the horror of it? After WWII, his network of trusts and research groups changed the name "Eugenics" to "Population Control", putting pressure on the Vatican to accept contraception as a viable means to control overpopulation.

This is a must read that shows WHY the Church rejected contraception outright as being beneficial or good. Praise God for a faithful and courageous Church! Take your time, if you have it, and give it a look over. Then when you're done, pray. The issues have not died, but are alive and well. And pray for my school Marquette University, who is in the same "death throws". Lord, have mercy; Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy...

The Grace That Sustains Us...

Dear Ones:

The grace that sustains us in not off and on, capricious or sparse. The grace that flows from Calvary is with us today. As you begin this new week, having partaken of Christ in the Eucharist on the first day of the week, yesterday, walk in faith today. Love our Lord Jesus with all your heart in EVERYTHING you do today. Make everything count, even the most mundane of tasks, as love to Christ. And may the God of Peace be with you today. Enjoy our dear brother Michael W. Smith and "Agus Dei." Pax!

All Things New

My heart is overflowing today with the joy and love of Christ on this First Friday in commemoration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I thank our Lord Jesus for helping me find this wonderful music video that I want to share with you. Watch, listen and worship our Lord right where you are sitting as you see how the heart of Jesus and Mary are woven together in this beautiful and moving video. This illustrates how True Devotion to Mary will ALWAYS be focused on devotion to our Lord Jesus. May God bless you today on this First Friday, and if you can, attend Mass. You'll be blessed, the Entire Trinity will be blessed, the Blessed Mother and all the saints will rejoice with you! After you see the video, I have a link to a wonderful article on "The Two Hearts and Consecration," John Paul II's teaching on Mary. But, first, enjoy the video.




IF YOU WANT FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF JESUS AND MARY, go to The Alliance of the Two Hearts covering John Paul the Great's teaching on this awesome bond between Jesus and Mary.

First Friday Meditation: The Very Glory of Jesus is in the Eucharist, Though Veiled

I love to listen to Scott Hahn speak of the Eucharist. He's passionate, he's clear, he's intelligent, and he's provocative. In preparation for next week, take about 10 minutes of your time and consider with Dr. Hahn, the glory we celebrate in the Eucharist. In fact, he shares that when Jesus returns to judge all mankind, coming in the clouds, in glory, will have no greater glory than He does RIGHT NOW in the Eucharist! Come back as often as you like. He shares a lot of information and you'll learn something new each time. God bless you!

Lesson V Recap

We covered chapters 12, 13, & 14 in the USCCA.

By the way, what a wonderful class last night. Great participation, and an eagerness to learn our faith always blesses my socks off! Also, I'm wanting all of you to be on the lookout for "Holy Spirit moments", where you have experience God's presence, intervention, or answer to prayers in your life, whether in private or public times, at work or at home, in the most mundane or sublime moments. The Holy Spirit is with you at all times. Develop that sensitivity to His leading, His voice, His promptings and make a point of remembering. You'll be blessed at how active the Holy Spirit is in your life. Okay?

Now for the recap.

Chapter twelve deals with Mary, our Blessed Mother. She was chosen by God to bear His Son, the Word of God, the Second Person of the Trinity. Below are some De Fide doctrines you must believe as a Catholic:

1. Mary as Mother of God--Declaration by Council of Ephesus, 431 A.D. Defended an attack against the divinity of Christ by the Nestorians, who believed that the Word of God rested on Christ after birth, but ascended before Christ's death. Based on a Neo-Platonic belief that the Word of God is entirely transcendent and could never become human. A later council at Chalcedon in 451 would finalize the dogma of the divinity and humanity of Christ in one Person. Here, the Nestorians were attacking Christ's mother...da bums.

2. Immaculate Conception, declared ex cathedra by Pope Pius IX in 1859: For Christ to be sinless and human, he had to acquire his humanity from Mary. It would mean that Mary had to be sinless too, but how? By grace. Because of the grace from the redemption in Jesus, Mary was prevented from having Original Sin. She was "full of grace". The USCCA says that Mary was redeemed, which did raise the hackles of a few students. Upon further discussion, we identified that we think of redemption in terms of saving sinners. Mary didn't sin, so how could she be redeemed? Redemption is a purchase. In fact all of humanity, past, present and future have all been redeemed. But, not all are saved. That is an important distinction. So, Mary, being fully human, needed grace like we all need grace. However, the grace she received was prior to sin; we on the other hand, after our sin. Her choice of Motherhood of the Son of God was a gift to her. She received this honor because of grace. Remember, folks, Mary is a human being. She's not a goddess--she's one of us, but without sin. She's a creature of grace, like us, yet without sin.

3. The Perpetual Virginity of Mary: Beware, there are Catholic theologians who cunningly lead their readers to conclusions to doubt this de fide doctrine. You cannot doubt this and have Catholic faith!! Mary was virginal prior to the Annunciation, during birth, and afterward until the end of her earthly life. She conceived of the Holy Spirit, so she did not have relations with Joseph. She gave birth Jesus in her virginity, so her virginity was not violated by Christ's birth. Virginity is lost in sexual intercourse. Afterward, she remained a virgin. Think of it, you have a woman who has a child. There is a husband involved in the creation of this child. In the case of Mary, who is the husband? Think...RIGHT! The Holy Spirit! Mary is called the spouse of the Holy Spirit, so in terms of fidelity, Mary had to maintain her spousal integrity. She could not join to another, in this case, Joseph. Another thing, since she carried the Second Person of the Trinity in her womb for 9 months, she became a living tabernacle of God. Literally! For that matter, one could never profane such a glorious womb with a human being. Lastly, a student reminded me that the term "brothers ?of Jesus mentioned in the Scriptures were not actual brothers, born of Mary, but were cousins. The names James, Joses, Jude were sons of Mary, wife of Clopas. Jesus action on the cross to give Mary to John is the action of an only child. After His death, no sibling would take care of Mary since none existed. John, and ultimately, you and I, are to take Mary in. Thank you Jesus for giving us your Mother!

4. Assumption of Mary, excathedra pronouncement by Pope Pius XII in 1950: A declaration not found in Scripture, BUT not contrary to Scripture. We have two, perhaps three people in Scripture who were bodily assumed into heaven. Do you remember? Yes, Elijah, who went up in a fiery chariot. The other one is Enoch, in the Book of Genesis, who pleased God so much that God took him without dying. The other possibility was Moses, who appeared with Elijah to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. So, is it possible that God can do this without it having to be written down and verified by an Affidavit, made official by a notary public? Sure. Also, if God can do it with those who have sin, it is even more possible that God can do it with those without sin, right? Besides, another student remarked to me last night that if you're Jesus, do you leave the one person who gave you your humanity, to death and decay that is the result of sin, which this person does NOT have? Of course not.

As to our Devotion to Mary, all true devotion to Mary will ALWAYS have devotion to Christ as the central focus. There is NO competition between the Mother and Son. The Mother, as a human creature, adores Her Son and urges us to do the same. True devotion to Mary honors her as the greatest disciple and follows her example in devotion to her Son. She shows us how to adore Him perfectly! Second, we love Mary as Christ loves her. In this case, we have much room for growth, do we not. Here's a link to St. Louis DeMontfort's "True Devotion." Take some time to look it over. See if you too, can become a slave to Jesus through Mary. If you want to consecrate yourself, go St. Louis DeMonfort Act of Consecration. For more on what DeMontfort thinks, read, Love of Eternal Wisdom. Good stuff!

Chapter 13: Our Eternal Destiny

I will not take up much space here, other than to summarize. We have two choices, heaven or hell. Purgatory, though often viewed as a third option, is really a part of heaven. However, Purgatory, whether it has actual fire or not, is a place where the restitution we need to fulfill is finalized before we enter heaven. Status quo thinking among Catholics is that we expect to go to Purgatory. Going directly to heaven is very rare. One very precious doctor of the Church, St. Therese, the Little Flower, teaches that our expectations are too low because we don't believe. We have such a poor view of God and his grace that we grieve Him. We need to be children again. BELIEVE! Here are some links about St. Therese that you will enjoy: St. Therese's teaching on Purgatory and Von Balthasar's Take on the Little Flower. Good stuff!


Chapter 14: Celebrating the Paschal Mystery

We ran out of time on this chapter, but the salient points are these.

1. The Paschal Mystery is Christ's Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven.

2. Our participation in this Mystery comes to us through the Liturgies, the Sacraments.

3. The term "liturgy" means a public work, and in our case, the public work is the work of Christ, the Christus Totus, the entire Body of Christ, lead by Christ in worship, thanksgiving, prayer and reparation to the Father. We are included in this glorious public act, which is obligatory, but more so, an infinite honor and privilege.

4. The Sacraments, or oaths, are the actions of Christ to us and in us.

5. The ministers of the Sacraments, the priests, act in persona Christi. So when your priest processes up to the altar in Mass, in faith, in reality, it is Jesus Christ who enters and leads us to worship. Kinda changes our viewpoint a bit, don't you think?

We'll be weaving this chapter in the next several classes.

NEXT WEEK'S READINGS: Chapters 15, 16 & 17, with a majority of the time spent in class on chapter 17, the Eucharist. The Eucharist, is the source and summit of all the Sacraments. So we will cover Baptism and Confirmation, but prep for the Eucharist.

Peace to all of you, dear family!!

Sam

Lesson IV Recap

Well, week four is come and gone; we're a third of the way through already! Let's recap week four, covering chapters 9-12.

Chapter Nine:

Chapter Nine discusses the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church and believers. Jesus says in John 16:7, "I tell you the sober truth: It is much better for you that I go. If I fail to go, the Paraclete will never come to you, whereas if I go, I will send Him to you."

Remarkable that Jesus thought our receiving the Holy Spirit was more important to us than Jesus remaining on earth. Our need for the Holy Spirit is so critical to our lives that Jesus died for Him to be sent. Ponder this...Is the Holy Spirit this important to you? My prayer for you is that He is this important.

Also, the Holy Spirit is the One who guides the Church into all truth, whereby all the doctrines of the Church regarding her infallibility in faith and morals, her indestructibility and indefectability. The Holy Spirit resides in the Church as a temple, the one who make the sacraments so efficacious. Without the Holy Spirit, we have NO SACRAMENTS AT ALL.

Our relationship to the Holy Spirit is indispensable. We must cultivate a sensitivity to His leading, guard our hearts and lives so as not to frustrate or grieve Him. We are to be filled with the Spirit by our reciting and singing psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, our prayers, both the prayers of the Church and our own mental prayers. We are to walk with Him, stand in Him, allow Him to move and motivate us to do God's will. Be not afraid, God the Holy Spirit is with you!

Chapter Ten and Eleven:

These chapters were combined into one segment Thursday evening due to time. Ten deals with the Church as the light and reflection of Christ and the Holy Trinity. The activity of the Holy Spirit spills into the life and work of the Church. The Church is a sacramental of the Holy Trinity. The Church was born out of the precious bleeding side of Jesus, when Longinus thrust the spear into Christ's side after he expired. From the cross, the living Church came forth from the side of our dead Savior. Sobering, inspiring love and gratitude within us, eh?

Therefore, the Church, which is both human and divine, becomes the saving agent for the human race. Any salvation that comes to humankind, comes through the activity of the Church and her members. Amazing the mystery of God, that he would choose a lowly people, in ourselves, unable to do anything for ourselves let alone others. Yet, with the sacrifice of Jesus, and the power he provides us in the gift of the Holy Spirit, we participate in Christ's Mandate. Again, sobering and awe-inspiring!

Chapter Eleven covers the four marks of the Church, which are realities we can bank on, yet are a challenge we must continue to maintain in our lives. The marks are:

1. One
2. Holy
3. Catholic
4. Apostolic

1. One: the Church is one since she reflects the unity of the Trinity in whose life she shares. There is no alternative Gospel, or a democratic choosing of Truths. As God is One, so is His Church.

2. Holy: the Church is Holy because her origin is from the Trinity, who is holy. Though the Church is both human and divine, God allows his graces to flow to us through his members, however flawed we are.

3. Catholic: Like friendship bread, though passed from person to person, to whatever location on earth, or to whatever time period in the future, if the recipe remains the same, the bread is the same, no matter when or where. This is how the Church is Catholic. Her identity is in the Holy Trinity. Her life, no matter what century or continent, is a share of the nature of the Holy Trinity. That would mean that the Trinity is Catholic. Jesus Christ is Catholic; the Eucharist as his flesh and blood, baptism for the remission of sins, every thing that is Catholic is such because Jesus is Catholic, the Father is Catholic, the Holy Spirit is Catholic. Everything Catholic is God's idea. Who are we to argue, right?

Next week:

We will be looking at chapters 12-14, with the emphasis being on fourteen, "Celebrating the Paschal Mystery." We will be going over the Virgin Mary's role in the Church, and will also see her action in the Paschal mystery. You will not want to miss this important lesson next week!
God bless!!!!

Just Another Beggar

If You Want to Know More About Limbo...

Since the topic of Limbo is such a controversial one, it may be good for you to read more on what the Vatican says about it. I'm sure you will be encouraged. Check out "The Hope of Salvation For Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized." It's a long one, but if you read the summary at the beginning, you'll see why the Church is taking the stance it does.

Limbo was never a defined doctrine of the Church, though the theory has been mentioned in Church writings up to Vatican II. The conclusion of the discussion of the idea of Limbo is this, that though it exists as a possibility, it also is too restrictive of the mercy of God, especially when we know through revelation that God wills that all humankind be saved. Does God's mercy apply to helpless infants incapable of using will or reason? Of course!

Be blessed and be at peace...Mother Church comes through again!!!

Pax!

The Dictatorship of Relativism

The title I have here comes from how Pope Benedict XVI describes relativism. Since the topic of Relativism was a part of our discussion last Thursday, check out this great article by Christopher Cuddy, "The Year of St. Paul in an Age of Relativism" in the National Catholic Register.

In this article, Cuddy gives us disturbing trends that must be addressed by Catholics. Results from a Pew Research Institute poll cites 77% of Catholics thinking that "there is more than one true way to interpret my religion"; 57% believe that Catholic teaching "should adjust to fit new circumstances." Bewildering to say the least. There is no doubt that relativism is a dominant philosophical idea; an illogical one at that, but dominant.

This is why I think attending the class "The Four Pillars of Faith" is so important. The Bishops of the United States have a good thing going; we need to learn our faith so that we can counter the spread of relativism.

If you have comments about this article, feel free to jump on board. Pax!

This is the End and the Beginning

Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I hope that this Saturday will be a time for you to prepare to receive our Lord in Holy Sacrament. To assist you, I've embedded a Matt Maher music video of his song, "End and the Beginning", which proclaims and praises our God who is present in the Holy Eucharist.

Be blessed and hey, if you got time, go to confession!!! It'll do your heart good!

God bless and peace!

Sam

Lesson III Recap: Four Pillars of Faith

There is a lot of material to cover in these lessons, which can be a bit overwhelming. If you find yourself becoming dismayed, never fear. Adult faith formation is a lifelong process that requires continual revisiting of topics and doctrines. Here's an analogy: Learning is like throwing gobs of paint (teachings, doctrines, etc.) on a blank wall (our mind)...much of the paint globs fall to the ground, but still some paint sticks to the wall. The more paint to toss on the wall, the more will stick. For example, in the evening class, you students are submerged in the idea of Trinitarian self-donation--the Persons of the Trinity give of themselves in complete donation to each other, which colors and defines how God creates, sustains, and covenants with us. It describes the nature of discipleship and lengths we must go in love for each other and for our neighbor. The Christian life is participation in Trinitarian life.

Here's the breakdown of Lesson III:

Review: The Catholic Church's authority does NOT come from the Bible. In fact, anyone who places the Catholic Church in opposition to the Scripture create a false comparison. The existence of the Church precedes the existence of sacred scripture. This does NOT deny the infallible and inspired nature of scripture, but the source, power and inspiration of scripture flows from the authority of Christ and the Trinity. Jesus calls, confirms, installs, gives prophetic authority, sacramental authority, etc. to the apostles 35 years before the New Testament was written. The Church's authority, flowing from the authority of Christ, created the Scriptures, where holy men, mostly the apostles, wrote the letters which were eventually put into a Canon by 413 A.D. This does not mean the scriptures are subservient or inferior to the Church...the Bible is the Catholic Church's book.

USCCA Chapter Six:

This chapter sets the stage for the good news of the Gospel of Jesus. God creates all things good, in harmony, and with original justice and holiness. The fall, the sin of Adam and Eve, is an act that ruptures creation's trinitarian harmony, injecting selfishness, suffering, pain and death into the world. Original sin, is not an act that we commit, but a state in which all humankind are now born. This enmity is removed at baptism.

USCCA Chapter Seven:

Jesus Christ enters into the stream of humanity, which is described in the theological concept of "recapitulation." Jesus, by becoming man, becomes the Head of a new race of human beings where humanity and divinity are united as one. The paschal mystery, described in all four Gospels, is the core event of Christ. The teachings, actions, and miracles of Jesus are wrapped around Christ's passion and death, and as we see in each of the four gospels, uniquely as each of the authors saw Jesus and try to relate His life to specific readers: Matthew to Jewish Christians; Mark to Roman Christians, Luke to a larger Greek readership in the Roman Empire; and John, to the Church at the end of the First Century, who were to face intense persecution and temptations to deny the divinity of Jesus Christ.

USCCA Chapter Eight:

The Royal Road of the Cross is THE event in human history that makes our faith possible. It is both the death of Christ on the cross, AND Christ's resurrection. You must embrace both. To overplay one over the other distorts the meaning of the Cross and our response to Christ. Emphasize the Passion and death of Christ over the Resurrection, you can become despondent and overwhelmed with life's sorrows and sufferings, a joyless figure that sees no hope. Emphasize the resurrection, and your aim in life becomes a matter of imitating the triumph of Christ and sees all the ills, set-backs, and sufferings of life as a beneath your dignity as one who shares in the glory of Christ. This is why the Church emphasizes BOTH. We are to carry our crosses as did Jesus, in the grace and strength that Christ gives; we are citizens of heaven, participating RIGHT NOW in the life of the Trinity in the obscurity of faith. In fact, as our first Pope, St. Peter says, "Do not be surprised, beloved, that a trial by fire is occurring in your midst. It is a test for you, but it should not catch you off guard. Rejoice instead, in the measure you share Christ's sufferings. When his glory is revealed, you will rejoice exultantly. Happy are you when you are insulted for the sake of Christ, for then God's Spirit in its glory has come to rest on you."

Since our world is upside down, the sign of our sharing in the glory of Christ in His resurrection is the matter of suffering we participate in here on earth. Our lives are to embrace BOTH the cross and resurrection of Jesus. How we live this life depends on an integral event and Person...the Sacrament of Confirmation and living our lives filled with the Holy Spirit.

Come next week for Lesson IV having read Chapters 9 through 12. And if you have any questions, let handle them here. The peace of Jesus Christ be with you ALL!!!

The Beauty and Love of Total Self-Giving

Periodically, I embed videos that show beyond mere words the love that Christ has for us. In "The Four Pillars of Faith", we've been studying how the doctrines of the Catholic Faith flow from the central mystery of the Dogma of the Trinity. The Persons of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are in complete self-giving love and unity with each other, who also beckon us to join them in the same unity. The call upon us is incomparably awesome, the priviledge is too much to speak of, and yet the call for us is there just the same. The means by which we participate with the Trinity comes from Jesus' self-giving love of Himself for us to the Father.

The video below is a video clip from "The Passion of the Christ," with the musical score done by Darlene Zcheck and Hillsong. On this day of penance, let's draw near the Sacred Heart of Jesus and worship Him for his total self-giving to us in the cross. And let's remember, this Mass is the re-presenting of the same sacrifice on Calvary. Let's prepare our hearts for total giving of ourselves back to Christ. God bless you all in the peace of Christ...

Summary of Lesson II

Well, Lesson Two has come and gone and below is a synopsis of Chapters 2,3, & 4 of the USCCA Study "Four Pillars of Faith." Before we do, the review to yesterday's lesson reflected the Trinitarian nature of the Catholic Faith. John Paul II oft used phrase Totus Tuus ego sum, "I am totally yours" reflects the nature of the Divine Persons of the Trinity in relation to each other, a total and complete self-giving to each other in infinite love. The Trinity's desire is for us, we humans, to enjoy forever the unity they enjoy. The Trinity is inviting us into their Totus tuus, a covenantal bond with us through Jesus Christ, who says to us, "I am totally yours."

Chapter Two: God reveals himself in covenant, a covenant that forms a family bond between himself and his human creatures. The Bible has six main covenants God made with humanity, each building on each other until the final covenant, Jesus and His Church, a covenant that fulfills all the previous coventants. He doesn't destroy these previous coventants, but fulfills them. His love is entire and complete and covenantal, a bond that makes an exchange of persons, and this Trinitarian self-giving is the basis of God's revelation. He desires to love us and gives himself entirely to us, and in return, requires that we give of ourselves entirely to Him. The conditions of self-giving must be mutual. Though God gives of himself entirely to us, if we refuse to respond accordingly, we break covenant with Him. This is why the phrase "unconditional love" should never be used of God's love for us; it distorts the covenantal nature of God's love and the mutual self-giving that is the condition for this love exchange. "Unconditional Love" really allows the perception that there are loop holes in our response to God. "Unconditional Love" should ONLY describe our loving response to God...a response that is unconditional, total self-giving on our part. This is a trinitarian response on our part.

Let's face it folks, if we are going to be in unity with the Holy Trinity forever in eternal bliss, we must begin to act out the life God is pouring into us!

Chapter Three: This chapter gets more lively, in that it shows us how the Word of God is transmitted AND interpreted, lively in that we as human beings like to be in charge of our lives, and interpret reality that best fits what we want out of life. What makes the Catholic faith so transformative is that it is the life of the Trinity that begins to animate our life. There is nothing that we can do naturally to live out this life, and there is no right given to us to redefine who Jesus is, or what He expects from us. Anything other than what Jesus describes and teaches is a false Catholicism.

The Word of God according to the Catholic Church is both Sacred Tradition And Sacred Scripture. The two cannot be separated but function as a whole. Reason being, you cannot read or understand scripture without an interpretation. And since interpretation is an act of the mind, we need the mind of Christ to help us understand God's Word correctly. The perfect illustration is the "Road to Emmaus" discourse, where to followers of Christ were sadly leaving Jerusalem for Emmaus, lamenting the failure of Jesus Christ, having been crucified just a couple of days prior. Jesus, who appears to the men, walks along side of them conversing about the previous events that last Friday. The two men did not recognize Jesus. Jesus corrected their gloomy outlook by explaining the Scriptures, from the beginning of Genesis through the prophets. And the two men's hearts burned within them.

Jesus Christ was interpreting the Scriptures with HIS understanding of them. The Scripture is explained in and with the mind of Christ. It is here that we must understand that this is how the role of the Church's Magesterium plays out in our life. In the name of Christ, and with His mind, the Church teaches the Scriptures to us with the understanding of Christ. The only True interpreter of Scripture is Jesus Christ. It is never, EVER left to individual Christians to decide for themselves who Jesus is, or what He means by what He says. To do so is to invite heresy, a term which means "to choose for oneself."

Private interpretation that deviates from the authority of Christ is virulent and pervasive in the Church today, among both Protestants AND Catholics. Protestantism, as a movement, prides itself of the right and freedom of private interpretation with the doctrine of Sola Scriptura (SS)which holds that the Scripture ALONE is the final infallible authority of faith and morals. But as we discussed above, interpretation is always involved in the reading and studying of Scripture, because reading and studying requires a mind. What SS really does is it cloaks human authority as infallible, saying that the views expressed are "backed by scripture." Who can argue with the Bible? So the Bible is espoused but human authority is the source, and this doctrine then, becomes a principle of division. You can bet that when there is any division in the Church, there is a human authority that is vaunting itself as Christ, destroying the precious unity that is to be a hallmark of Christ's followers, a unity that expresses THE ultimate unity of the Trinity.

In dealing with a small minority of Protestants who are anti-Catholic, we Catholics need to know the real issue at hand. If we are approached aggressively by these type of people, remember that we do not need to answer their questions that are devised to cause doubt in our lives. The challenges they pose is based on a human authority somewhere in their lives. WE ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO SUCCUMB TO THIS AUTHORITY. It is a false authority.

All questions that aim at us trying to prove our doctrines from the Bible reverses the nature of Scripture and the authority of the Church. Remember, the Church precedes the Scriptures, the Bible is the Catholic Church's book. To stand upon the written Word of God is to stand with and under the authority of the Catholic Church. You do NOT have to prove from Scripture why we believe what we believe. We believe it because the authority of the Church beckons us to do so. The anti-Catholic has to show why they can privately interpret, and show us where they get this authority. They will NEVER be able to do this, which leads to greater frustration for them. The best thing to do is to push the onus of proof onto the anti-catholic to prove their right to privately interpret. Don't bother getting into Bible sword play. It's a waste of time and you'll be frustrated.

A word about difficult areas of teaching...sometimes we face some king-size boulders in the soil of our souls. Whether it be because we were told to be conciliatory to keep the peace by others over us in authority, or if you are just plain afraid of confrontation, if you give in to the attacks of those who wish to proseltyze you into the Protestant faith, then you need to do some soul searching. We are, in charity, supposed to love everyone around us as brothers and sisters, even our enemies. When an anti-Catholic attacks your Catholic faith, you must, IN LOVE, oppose his or her tactics. For confounding and destroying the tactics they use on you will not only save you from doubt, but will show these dear committed folks that the Catholic faith is no wimpy faith. It can withstand the very gates of hell. Don't wimp out and concede to these people! Follow the example of Jesus; do what he did and stand up to them in love! Be loving, but be tough!

Chapter Three: This section can be summed up as follows: our only adequate response is faith, which works through obedience. We cannot prove the existence of God, we cannot come up with ANY scientific means to know why we believe is revelation; reason must take a back seat to faith. Faith is not resistant to reason and is friends with it. But reason must never rule, Faith rules. All faith in God submits to the authority of God in the Church. It never deviates from this. Why? As the Baltimore Catechism defines faith: "Catholic faith believes everything the Church teaches without doubt, for it is impossible for God to be deceived or to deceive."

Lesson Three for next week: Read Chapters six, seven and eight. It looks to be wonderful, fast moving expose of the heart of the Gospel dealing with the topics of Creation, the Fall and sin, and the sacrifice of Jesus to restore humanity. Don't miss this one if you can; it lays the foundation of the Catholic Gospel we are to be proclaiming!

If You Still Need USCCA Books...

Anne is coming this Thursday (9-11) to sell books before the begining of the mornging and evening classes. She has a new shipment in. She is selling them with a 20% discount, $19.95 plus tax. We're hoping we have enough, because this is one HOT class and the demand is high! Both Don and I are amazed at the response! Way to go, people!!! You all are totally awesome! Thanks also to Anne!!!

Preparation for Mass: Friday September 5, 2008

I've used Michael W. Smith before at this blogsite, and back by popular demand (mainly my own demand!) I want to present "Agnus Dei" as the musical score to the crucifixion of Christ from Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." As you prepare for Mass this weekend, don't think of it as merely receiving Eucharist, which we do in fact receive, but in addition, think of the Mass as Christ representing himself and His Church as an offering of love to the Father. It is in the Mass whereby you join with Jesus in His total self-giving to the Father with us. Your assistance of Jesus is priceless and a matter of great honor. God bless you all as you set your hearts and minds right to assist and receive Jesus!

If you Need USCCA books...

Students:

If you still need USCCA books, Anne at "On This Rock" bookstore had placed a large order yesterday and will probably get them today or Monday. Please, go to Anne's store to pick them up. The demand for books is very high and I will not be able to bring them to next week's class. The bookstore is located at the old St. Vincent's rectory on the corner of South Park Avenue and Oregon St. Her store occupies the entire first floor. As you pick up your book, check out the gifts, the books, and the "Monks Coffee" she has on sale. You'll fall in love with her store!!!

So again, go to "On This Rock" to get your books and keep your receipt if your are a Religious Ed. teacher for Most Blessed Sacrament Parish and wish to get Basic Certification.

The Four Pillars of Faith Lesson One: The Dogma of All Dogmas

Hey everyone! Thanks for dropping by. I am blessed by the excitement that is in the classes that meet in Oshkosh entitled, "The Four Pillars of Faith."

To review, Lesson I covers Chapter I and V in the USCCA which describe humankind's universal need and desire for God. It is built into our genes. The desire to meet the One who left His fingerprints in our life, and in all of creation is natural to us a creatures, and is founded on God's desire for us. He reaches out to us in so many different ways...in some ways, He literally surprises us!

Secondly, Chapter V deals with the "We Believe in God" section of the creed. In fact, the bulk of the Thursday night segment dealt with God as Trinity and emphasized how this doctrine is the center hub of all the mysteries of God, of the Catholic faith. If you remember anything, please remember... the Trinity is the focal mystery of all mysteries. Let me list them and then feel free to enter comment or questions.

A. The Trinity is God in three distinct Persons, with One divine substance, and is One God, not three Gods. It is a Trinity, NOT a triad of Gods.

B. These three Persons love each other infinitely and form the template of what the Christian life is all about. It can be explained as best by the following (even this is very limited):

1. The Father expresses himself and thinks of himself as any of us think of ourselves...only different! When the Father thinks of himself, he doesn't have a thought bubble like we do, He thinks and expresses himself as another Person, the Logos, the Word, Jesus Christ the Son!
2. The Son, who is the expressed likeness of the Father completely, and is distinct from the Father, and in the same divine substance, loves the Father in return. A love so complete, so loving, so infinite, so powerful, that the love between the Father and the Son becomes yet another Person, The Holy Spirit!
3. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, a unity of three Persons, one God, enjoy complete and infinite joy, glory, peace, the good, the True, the Beautiful. It is an existence that is infinitely above and beyond our comprehension.
4. The Holy Trinity desires to share this family unity of the Trinity with us, with people of every ethnicity and tongue. There is more than enough Trinity to go around! This sharing of the divine nature of the Trinity is an idea created by the Trinity, put into place by the Trinity, which forms the pattern of discipleship that Jesus expressed in His preaching on earth. God desires our unconditional love and acceptance of Him. Our discipleship, our total giving of self to Christ and the Gospel, is in truth, the way in which the members of the Trinity are with each other...total self-giving.
5. Our entry into this unity with the Trinity is through Jesus Christ. He is the Prototype, the Door into the Life of the Trinity. So our life as Christians is a participation in the life of Jesus as He is in complete unity with the Trinity. This is NOT something we engineer on our own, but ONLY as we participate in Jesus, in HIS life, in HIS mission, as we follow HIS leadership as set in place by the college of bishops HE chose for us. There are no mavericks in the Kingdom of God. The life we live as Christians is HIS life as expressed uniquely in our state of life.

So the terms of discipleship that Christ lays out is not just an arbitrary set of rules to make us miserable. Since we are being fitted for eternity in union with the Holy Trinity, we must begin to prepare NOW for a Trinitarian lifestyle. We must begin NOW, in our relationships with our family, neighbors and strangers, to live out the example and life of the Trinity. And to do this, the Trinity allows us the supernatural, sanctifying grace to carry it out. Hence, we have the Creed, the Sacraments, the Moral Guidance and prayer to exercise our calling as fellow Trinity lovers and livers.

Now, this is heavy stuff. I've asked you to think through this and begin to ponder the greatness of the calling that God gives us. Read again, paragraph 260 in the CCC:

The ultimate end in the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity. But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity. "If a man loves me," says the Lord, "he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him." John 14:23

For your meditation on this, read the prayer of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity that follows this paragraph:

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action.

May God bless you in your meditations, and open your eyes to the glory, that not only awaits in eternity, but is your to experience now as you journey through life.

Again, please comment or put in any questions you may have. PAX!!!

New Study Coming to Town: "The Four Pillars of Faith!"

"The Four Pillars of Faith" is a Catholic Faith study series sponsored by the Green Bay Diocese Department of Education and is based on the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults. This website has been started in anticipation of this study series and allows for further discussion on the chapters in the US Catechism that will be covered each week. Because many people from all over will eventually tap this site, discussion is not limited to those in the Green Bay Diocese who participate in the program. Anyone who reads the Chapters listed in each week's study may comment, if the comments pertain to the subject matter. We will have weekly posts on Friday that recap the week's topics and will allow you to work with the material presented in a forum that allows discussion with others.

For those who are in the southern part of the Green Bay Diocese, near or in the Oshkosh area, "The Four Pillars of Faith!" will meet on Thursdays, starting September 4th, running consecutive Thursdays until November 20th. There will be two classes each Thursday, one which meets from 9 to 11AM and the other which meets from 6 to 8PM. We will meet at the St. Peter's site on High St., in McKeough Hall in the lower level. The classes are geared around lecture and discussion that will appeal to various learning styles. You will not be bored, believe me!

The cost is free unless you don't have an USCCA book. The cost then will be the purchase of a catechism; it is necessary to have one in order to participate. Hope to see you there!