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.