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