Today’s question: Catholic Priest or Protestant Pastor/Minister – what’s the difference?

Question: What is a Catholic priest in reality??? Does anyone know?? Catholic priest or pastor?? What’s the difference?

Answer: The true nature of the Catholic Ministerial Priesthood is that of a man conformed to Jesus Christ, specially consecrated and set apart by God, through the Sacrament of Holy Orders and the laying on of hands, in order to offer acceptable sacrifice to God (most significantly, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Eucharist) on behalf of the whole Church, for the greater glory of God and for the good of the whole world.

As a duly ordained agent/assistant/delegate of the local Bishop, who is a successor of the original Apostles, the responsibilities of the priest also extend to preaching, teaching, sanctifying and governing.

Only duly ordained Catholic or Orthodox males can be empowered and authorized to act “In Persona Christi” (in the “person” of Christ) as priests.

A Catholic pastor is (typically) a priest who is in charge of managing a Catholic parish.

In contrast, anyone – male or female – can become a Protestant Minister or preacher and/or become the pastor of a Protestant congregation.

The power and authority of the Catholic Ministerial Priesthood is reserved to the Catholic Church alone, according to Jesus Christ, the head of the Catholic Church, who personally established the Priesthood and who remains our Heavenly High Priest as well as the one time, once for all, perfect and atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. 

In summary, the Catholic Ministerial Priesthood
was personally established by Jesus Christ, at the Last Supper,
some 1500 years before the first Protestant minister/pastor
ever “thumped” a Bible.

When the Protestants chose to separate themselves from the Holy Catholic Church, they also made the conscious decision to separate themselves from the awesome and unique power that God gave to the Holy Catholic Church and the Catholic Ministerial Priesthood alone, for the salvation of souls.

As such, there is no real comparison between an ordained Catholic Priest and a Protestant Minister or pastor.

One is a consecrated man who has been given awesome and eternal power, directly from God, through the Catholic Bishop and the Holy Catholic Church.

The other has only his/her congregation’s limited, personal understanding of a holy (albeit, totally Catholic) book (the Bible) along with his/her (often, contrary) beliefs about it, on which to “stand”.

Question: If Christians want to convince us of their great beliefs, shouldn’t they make an effort to come across as more intelligent? They often come across as irrational, prejudiced and a bit wacky.

Question: If Christians want to convince us of their great beliefs, shouldn’t they make an effort to come across as more intelligent? They often come across as irrational, prejudiced and a bit wacky.

Answer: You are very observant.

Authentic Christianity, along with all its doctrines and dogmas, is laid out much like a computer algorithm: If it isn’t true and it isn’t logical/rational, then it doesn’t work and it should be rejected, since anything that doesn’t meet the standard of divine truth is essentially, good for nothing.

The Catholic Church used to excel in teaching and preaching only superb, rational and scholarly theology, but since it got “reformed” some fifty years ago, Catholic leadership seems to think that type of thing is no longer necessary, so they have opted instead to promote the kind of weak, superficial, irrational, politically correct drivel that had previously, been the hallmark of the followers of Martin Luther.

It’s still possible to discover and learn authentic Christianity and it’s still possible to learn to practice it and clearly explain it, but that evidently, requires more time and effort than many are willing to invest.

ASK A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN

A reflection on all that we Catholics once owned, by right, that has now been almost totally misappropriated, by scoundrels

In light of the unfolding (or perhaps one should say unraveling) of Pope Francis’s pontificate, we should revisit words once spoken by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, predating and anticipating Summorum—words that now have an alarming portentousness:

I am of the opinion, to be sure, that the old rite should be granted much more generously to all those who desire it. It’s impossible to see what could be dangerous or unacceptable about that. A community is calling its very being into question when it suddenly declares that what until now was its holiest and highest possession is strictly forbidden, and when it makes the longing for it seem downright indecent. Can it be trusted any more about anything else? Won’t it proscribe tomorrow what it prescribes today? (Salt of the Earth, 1997)

He has asked a question to which, so far, no honest answer has been given by the Church’s leaders.

The reason is not hard to see.

Ratzinger dared to say that the Church’s very being had been called into question when Paul VI declared the old Mass forbidden—which in fact he repeatedly did, in response to attempts to maintain a liturgy the Church had celebrated for 500 years, and in its essentials, for 1,000 years, and in the core of it, for 1,500 years.

The longing for this treasure of faith was mocked, stepped on, suppressed, treated as a form of disobedience, arrogance, or neurosis. And the haunting question rises up: “Can the Church be trusted any more about anything else? Won’t it proscribe tomorrow what it prescribes today?”

If Paul VI in 1969 can abolish the oldest liturgical rite of Christendom and replace it with a new-fangled rite fashioned by committee, according to modern ideas…

Read more at Life Site News

Canon Law determines precisely what Bishops can do with donated funds

Some years ago I was at a parish that had a “capital campaign” to raise money to build a new multi-million dollar education building.

The faithful were shown the survey of the land to be purchased and drawings of the new building.

Once the money was raised, I was told that there was a directive from powers beyond the parish level that the parish must use the money to build a new church, not an education building.

I raised the issue that the money had been collected for an education building. I said that my family and others had been defrauded. Promptly, a representative of the parish finance council contacted me and said that, if I wanted, our donated money would be refunded.

I found out that, under canon law, money collected for one purpose cannot then be used for another purpose. (As an aside, the new church building was built, and, some years later, God flooded it, completely). I was then asked by the pastor personally, to leave the parish. Since it was not his, I stayed.

Canon law – the Church’s own law – says this:

“Canon 1267, §3: Offerings given by the faithful for a specified purpose may be used only for that purpose.”

“Canon 1300: The intentions of the faithful who give or leave goods to pious causes . . . are to be most carefully observed, even in the manner of the administration and the expending of the goods  . . . “

I am unaware of any “Capital Campaign To Raise Money To Pay Off Sexual Assault Victims Of Priests & Bishops” in any parish or diocese in America; of a “Pay For Priest & Prelate Predators Campaign,” or of a fundraiser “For The Pastoral Malpractice Of Bishops Who Enabled, Fostered , And Shuttled Abusers & Criminals.”

In short, I am aware of no Catholic in the USA who donated money for the bishops to use to pay off claims against the Church and against them. It would be very surprising if, court-sealed, secret settlement documents do not include the provisions that all claims against the bishops personally are also settled, and ended, by the agreements.

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Editor’s note: Carefully check your parish’s annual financial accounting summary and pay special attention to any and all insurance costs listed therein, especially for health care, disability, workmen’s compensation and similar items. It’s very likely that you will find these costs to be anywhere from thirty to fifty percent higher than they should be, since many parishes are forced to pay a silent “tax” in order to refill the coffers of the dioceses’ “secret abuse insurance fund” used to help pay off past settlements or to prepare for future settlements.   

Bishop Poprocki explains what should have already been widely understood about Catholics living in various irregular (objectively sinful) ways

…Critics have been urging me to rescind my “Decree Regarding Same-sex ‘Marriage’ and Related Pastoral Issues.”

However, this decree is a rather straightforward application of existing Catholic doctrine and canon law to the new situation of legal marital status being granted in civil law to same-sex couples, which is contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church.

All clergy, before they are ordained, take an Oath of Fidelity which includes the statement, “In fulfilling the charge entrusted to me in the name of the Church, I shall hold fast to the deposit of faith in its entirety; I shall faithfully hand it on and explain it, and I shall avoid any teachings contrary to it. I shall follow and foster the common discipline of the entire Church and I shall maintain the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law.”

Pastors and bishops repeat this oath upon assuming their office to be exercised in the name of the Church. Thus, deacons, priests and bishops cannot contradict Church teachings or refuse to observe ecclesiastical laws without violating their oath, which is a promise made to God.

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Romanian Doctor Addresses Synod on the Family. Nails It!

…We, as Catholic doctors, defending life and family, can see this is, first of all, a spiritual battle.

Material poverty and consumerism are not the primary cause of the family crisis.

The primary cause of the sexual and cultural revolution is ideological.

Our Lady of Fatima has said that Russia’s errors would spread all over the world.

It was first done under a violent form, classical Marxism, by killing tens of millions.

Now it’s being done mostly by cultural Marxism. There is continuity from Lenin’s sex revolution, through Gramsci and the Frankfurt school, to the current-day gay-rights and gender ideology.

Classical Marxism pretended to redesign society, through violent take-over of property.

Now the revolution goes deeper; it pretends to redefine family, sex identity and human nature.

This ideology calls itself progressive. But it is nothing else than the ancient serpent’s offer, for man to take control, to replace God, to arrange salvation here, in this world.

It’s an error of religious nature, it’s Gnosticism.

It’s the task of the shepherds to recognize it, and warn the flock against this danger.

“Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

The Church’s mission is to save souls. Evil, in this world, comes from sin. Not from income disparity or “climate change”.

The solution is: Evangelization. Conversion.

Not an ever increasing government control. Not a world government.

These are nowadays the main agents imposing cultural Marxism to our nations, under the form of population control, reproductive health, gay rights, gender education, and so on.

What the world needs nowadays is not limitation of freedom, but real freedom, liberation from sin.

Salvation.

Read the entire text

Today’s “Gem” from Bob Stanley’s “The Catholic Treasure Chest”: The Search for Authentic, Universal Christianity

Although the Bible tells us that Jesus established a Church (Matt. 16:18) and reminds us of our Savior’s desire for Christian unity (John 17:20-21, Eph. 4:16, 4:12-13), we’ve seen a recent explosion of new churches.

They claim to be “Bible-based” churches; often they have broken off from some larger church or denomination.

With as many as 28,000 different Christian churches today, or more, the mystery to many is <which one is Jesus’ true Church?>

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Go To Bob Stanley’s “The Catholic Treasure Chest”

Saint Anselm – Father of Scholasticism, Doctor of the Church, Faithful Catholic in all things

Read the article

The obtuse “Spirit” of Vatican II: Many of today’s prelates, even at the highest levels of the Church, seem embarrassed by what the Catholic Church believes.

Blushing bishops

They seem to seek out politically-minded formulations that will allow them to escape secular criticism, rather than boldly proclaiming what the Church has always believed and believes now.

They very apparently fear men more than God.  I believe our Blessed Lord had some words for those who fear men more than God.

Text and video

Dirty little secret: Many of today’s “Fallen away Catholics” were first left spiritually and morally abandoned by the “Fallen Away, Know-Nothing Catholic Church” of the 1970’s.

by Doug Lawrence

Coming of age in the early 1970’s and looking to the Catholic Church for guidance on faith, family and other matters of critical import brought only shrugs, along with the continuing assurance that I would be just fine if only I managed to follow my conscience.

But how could I follow my conscience on matters I knew nothing about? Wasn’t there somebody who could provide a reliable Catholic perspective for me – perhaps a local priest or a bishop? (Sound of crickets chirping.)

That was my personal experience with the “New Pentecost” which led to the “New Springtime” of the post-Vatican II Catholic Church – and it took me more than twenty years to get over it!

It wasn’t until I eventually developed a modicum of personal maturity, along with the necessary research skills, that I managed to overcome the ecclesial nonsense, fend off the rampant incompetence and corruption, and finally develop a working understanding of the one, true faith – no thanks to anyone in the church, except God!

It was then that I discovered – or more correctly – rediscovered – the power and the glory that is still ever present in the Holy Catholic Church – despite the rabble and the schmucks (I’m really trying to remain charitable here) who continue (on a daily basis ) to do everything in their power to run it into the ground!

The clerics of the 1970’s Catholic Church were AWOL when I most needed them, and due to the wide-spread apostasy and modernism embedded in virtually every part of the institutional church, many of them remain (at least, spiritually) absent without leave, today!

Modernism is the present day equivalent of Original Sin, since it corrupts everything! I have little doubt that when Pope Paul VI spoke of the Smoke of Satan somehow finding its way into the Temple of God, it was actually Modernism of which he spoke!   

For example: At this past Sunday’s Mass I was subjected to a homily, consisting of at least forty percent pure heresy, that was later followed by vigorous applause from the entire congregation (minus one – me).

What used to get a person (particularly a priest) sanctioned, or even burned at the stake, now generates spontaneous applause and wide-spread approval!

Witness the “Francis Effect” in action!

God help us!

Pray the Litany of Saint Joseph – Powerful Patron of the Dying

The Litany of Saint Joseph

Kyrie, eleison. R. Christe, eleison.	Lord, have mercy on us. R. Christ, have mercy on us.
Kyrie, eleison. Christe, exaudi nos. R. Christe, audi nos.	Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.
Pater de caelis, Deus, R. miserere nobis.	God the Father of heaven, R. have mercy on us.
Fili, Redemptor mundi, Deus, R. miserere nobis.	God the Son, Redeemer of the world, R. have mercy on us.
Spiritus Sancte Deus, R. miserere nobis.	God the Holy Ghost, R. have mercy on us.
Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus, R. miserere nobis.	Holy Trinity, one God, R. have mercy on us.
Sancta Maria, R. ora pro nobis.	Holy Mary, R. pray for us.
Sancte Ioseph, R. ora pro nobis.	St. Joseph, R. pray for us.
Proles David inclyta, R. ora pro nobis.	Renowned offspring of David, R. pray for us.
Lumen Patriarcharum, R. ora pro nobis.	Light of Patriarchs, R. pray for us.
Dei Genetricis Sponse, R. ora pro nobis.	Spouse of the Mother of God, R. pray for us.
Custos pudice Virginis, R. ora pro nobis.	Chaste guardian of the Virgin, R. pray for us.
Filii Dei nutricie, R. ora pro nobis.	Foster father of the Son of God, R. pray for us.
Christi defensor sedule, R. ora pro nobis.	Diligent protector of Christ, R. pray for us.
Almae Familiae praeses, R. ora pro nobis.	Head of the Holy Family, R. pray for us.
Ioseph iustissime, R. ora pro nobis.	Joseph most just, R. pray for us.
Ioseph castissime, R. ora pro nobis.	Joseph most chaste, R. pray for us.
Ioseph prudentissime, R. ora pro nobis.	Joseph most prudent, R. pray for us.
Ioseph fortissime, R. ora pro nobis.	Joseph most strong, R. pray for us.
Ioseph oboedientissime, R. ora pro nobis.	Joseph, most obedient, R. pray for us.
Ioseph fidelissime, R. ora pro nobis.	Joseph most faithful, R. pray for us.
Speculum patientiae, R. ora pro nobis.	Mirror of patience, R. pray for us.
Amator paupertatis, R. ora pro nobis.	Lover of poverty, R. pray for us.
Exemplar opificum, R. ora pro nobis.	Model of artisans, R. pray for us.
Domesticae vitae decus, R. ora pro nobis.	Glory of home life, R. pray for us.
Custos virginum, R. ora pro nobis.	Guardian of virgins, R. pray for us.
Familiarum columen, R. ora pro nobis.	Pillar of families, R. pray for us.
Solatium miserorum, R. ora pro nobis.	Solace of the wretched, R. pray for us.
Spes aegrotantium, R. ora pro nobis.	Hope of the sick, R. pray for us.
Patrone morientium, R. ora pro nobis.	Patron of the dying, R. pray for us.
Terror daemonum, R. ora pro nobis.	Terror of the demons, R. pray for us.
Protector sanctae Ecclesiae, R. ora pro nobis.	Protector of Holy Church, R. pray for us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, R. parce nobis, Domine.	Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, R. spare us, O Lord.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, R. exaudi nobis, Domine.	Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, R. graciously hear us, O Lord.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, R. miserere nobis.	Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, R. have mercy on us.
V. Constituit eum dominum domus suae. R. Et principem omnis possessionis suae.	V. He made him the lord of his household. R. And prince over all his possessions.
Oremus Deus, qui in ineffabili providentia beatum Ioseph sanctissimae Genetricis tuae Sponsum eligere dignatus es, praesta, quaesumus, ut quem protectorem veneramur in terris, intercessorem habere mereamur in caelis: Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	Let us pray O God, in Thy ineffable providence Thou wert pleased to choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most holy Mother, grant, we beg Thee, that we may be worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom on earth we venerate as our Protector; Thou who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in thee all my interests and desires.

O thou Saint Joseph, do assist me by thy powerful intercession, and obtain for me from thy divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; so that, having engaged here below thy heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers.

O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating thee, and Jesus asleep in thy arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near thy heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.

Saint Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for me. Amen!

The Pope cannot change fundamental Catholic Church doctrine – so why does he go out of his way to make it look and sound like he’s going to?

St. Peter and St. John at the Beautiful Gate

by Doug Lawrence

Vatican II has already fundamentally changed Catholic Church doctrine, so those who claim the Pope cannot or will not do so are being somewhat disingenuous. Our present pope is the biggest “cheerleader” for Vatican II that the world has ever seen.

A “New Evangelization” is necessary in part, because in the wake of Vatican II, the people who ran (and still run) the Catholic Church led many of the faithful (and most of the known world) into ignorance, confusion and apostasy.

Top Church management is not much better enlightened today, so it’s necessary to question precisely what the “New Evangelizers” are asking faithful Catholics to do, that they haven’t been doing all along.

If they’re asking us to spread a “new” gospel that’s based on “freebies alone” (that’s what it sounds like) then we have a big problem, since the secular governments of the world have learned to inflate their tax rolls and and leverage their currencies in ways that allow them to finance massive wealth transfer/social programs which dwarf anything in that regard that individual Catholics (or Catholic parishes, or national bishops councils, or the Vatican) might be able to offer.

So, in a contest based solely on temporal goodies and give-aways, the New Catholic Evangelization is not only bound to fail – it will fail miserably! The sad record of The Catholic Campaign for Human Development and other high-profile Catholic Charities already provides ample evidence of this. When the Church takes government money, supposedly in order to accomplish charitable things, it invariably becomes subject to that very same secular government and the result is almost always something much less than truly charitable – and also something much, much less than authentically Catholic.

True charity, as it’s faithfully described in the authentic Gospels, is freely sharing the grace and love of God with others – not just by providing a modicum of necessary PHYSICAL GOODS – but also – and principally – making freely available those SPIRITUAL GOODS which ONLY the Catholic Church is capable of providing in UNLIMITED, SUPERNATURAL ABUNDANCE.

Now Peter and John went up into the temple at the ninth hour of prayer. And a certain man who was lame from his mother’s womb was carried: whom they laid every day at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, that he might ask alms of them that went into the temple. He, when he had seen Peter and John, about to go into the temple, asked to receive an alms. But Peter with John, fastening his eyes upon him, said:

Look upon us. But he looked earnestly upon them, hoping that he should receive something of them. But Peter said: Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk. And taking him by the right hand, he lifted him up: and forthwith his feet and soles received strength. And he leaping up, stood and walked and went in with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God. And they knew him, that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to him. And as he held Peter and John, all the people ran to them, to the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

But Peter seeing, made answer to the people: Ye men of Israel, why wonder you at this? Or why look you upon us, as if by our strength or power we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus, whom you indeed delivered up and denied before the face of Pilate, when he judged he should be released. But you denied the Holy One and the Just: and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. But the author of life you killed, whom God hath raised from the dead: of which we are witnesses. And in the faith of his name, this man, whom you have seen and known, hath his name strengthened. And the faith which is by him hath given this perfect soundness in the sight of you all.

And now, brethren, I know that you did it through ignorance: as did also your rulers. But those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Be penitent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. That when the times of refreshment shall come from the presence of the Lord, and he shall send him who hath been preached unto you, Jesus Christ. Whom heaven indeed must receive, until the times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the beginning of the world. For Moses said: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: him you shall hear according to all things whatsoever he shall speak to you. And it shall be, that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. And all the prophets, from Samuel and afterwards, who have spoken, have told of these days.

You are the children of the prophets and of the testament which God made to our fathers, saying to Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed. To you first, God, raising up his Son, hath sent him to bless you: that every one may convert himself from his wickedness. (Acts 3:1-26)

We Catholics have no need of any other model or paradigm.  Hence, our reliance on the “Great Commission of Jesus Christ” which explicitly charges Catholics with the duty of continuously, clearly, charitably and unambiguously preaching the divine truth of the authentic Gospels to everyone, without exception – day in and day out – all around the world – as we pray without ceasing!

And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And seeing him they adored: but some doubted. And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. (Matthew 28:16-20)

The post-Vatican II Catholic Church leadership has already reasoned, preached and politically negotiated their way around these explicit commands of Jesus Christ, cleverly inferring that some people have no need of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his Holy Catholic Church. Now, as part of this “New Evangelization” they want us to do the same. That’s certainly new and novel, but it’s also material heresy – and that’s not something that any Catholic should be preaching!

Pope Francis’ attempt at projecting an image of a kinder, gentler, “big tent” modern Catholic Church is something that would be laudable if such had not already been the case since the very beginning, courtesy of its’ divine founder and finisher, Jesus Christ.

If things have gone off the track in recent times, the hierarchy might consider going back to and once again learning to rely on what God has already provided, that which the Catholic Church has always possessed in unlimited, supernatural abundance and which – in every age except perhaps, this present, wicked one – has always proved to be sufficient.

Time and time again attempts were made to deprive Catholics of their historical memory, even of their language and to subject them to forced assimilation.

The six Protestant Ministers who helped design
the Novus Ordo Mass and usher in forced
Conciliar Reforms that the Catholic faithful never requested 

by Doug Lawrence

Regarding the Crimea situation, Vladimir Putin recently had this (in part) to say:

Time and time again attempts were made to deprive Russians of their historical memory, even of their language and to subject them to forced assimilation.

Those who stood behind the latest events in Ukraine had a different agenda: they were preparing yet another government takeover; they wanted to seize power and would stop short of nothing. 

We can all clearly see the intentions of these ideological heirs of Bandera, Hitler’s accomplice during World War II.

Putin’s words – whatever their particular object or authorship – whether truthful or mere political rhetoric – struck a “cord” with me, regarding recent Catholic Church history and politics. Change just a few of the words and see what you get:

Time and time again attempts were made to deprive Catholics of their historical memory, even of their language and to subject them to forced assimilation. (Absolutely true, right up to the present day.)

Those who stood behind the workings of the 2nd Vatican Council had a different agenda: they were preparing to take over the Catholic Church; they wanted to seize power and would stop short of nothing. (Absolutely true, right up to the present day.)

We can all clearly see the intentions of these ideological heirs of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Henry VIII and the other great heretics of the Protestant Reformation. (Absolutely true, right up to the present day.)

I don’t know who writes Putin’s speeches – but the stuff about “forced assimilation” applies to all kinds of long standing political and ideological grievances – including the Israel/Palestinian conflict, abortion, homosexual unions, the HHS Mandate and of course, the way the obtuse and destructive “spirit” of Vatican II continues to be forcibly inflicted on the Catholic faithful.

People resent having someone else’s “brilliant” ideas “jammed down their throats” and they also tend to have very long memories. Fifty-plus years of dismal evidence testifies to wrong-headedness of the people who took over and implemented the Conciliar Reforms.

I wonder when “The Catholic Peace Talks” will officially begin?

Saint Luke’s Presentation narrative effectively puts the lie to the recently popular “Late Epiphany Theory”

The Gospel of St. Luke proclaimed, where we are treated to pertinent details of the Lord’s Presentation in the Temple, under the Mosaic Law, 40 days after Christmas:

And after the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord: As it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord: And to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons: And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon: and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.

And the Holy Ghost was in him. And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.

And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, He also took him into his arms and blessed God and said Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace: Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: A light to the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.

And his father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him.

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.

And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser. She was far advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow until fourscore and four years: who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day.

Now she, at the same hour, coming in, confessed to the Lord: and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel. And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their city Nazareth. (Luke 2:22-39)

As of late, nearly every Christmas, we’re told by highly educated “experts” and “specialists” that the Magi/Wise Men didn’t make it to Bethlehem for a year or two after the birth of Christ, and that the Holy Family was likely living in a rented/borrowed house there when the Magi finally arrived.

Yet here we have Saint Luke, who had earlier testified, in writing, that everything he wrote was true, eye-witness testimony, told in the correct order:

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a narration of the things that have been accomplished among us, According as they have delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word: It seemed good to me also, having diligently attained to all things from the beginning, to write to thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mayest know the verity of those words in which thou hast been instructed.  (Luke 1:1-4)

The Gospel of Saint Luke clearly states that Jesus was duly presented at the Temple 40 days after birth, according to the Law, and the Holy Family returned to Nazareth immediately afterward.

Catholic Tradition holds that the Magi arrived very shortly after the birth of Jesus – probably a couple of weeks (or less) after the blessed event. Not months or years later!

So, who are we to believe? Late-day progressive Bible critics who generally scoff at the concept of divine inspiration and supernatural inerrancy – or contemporary eye-witnesses to the actual events and circumstances in the life of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and others?

What do you think? 

Father Z opines over today’s apparent lack of belief in God and the Church – and the reality of Hell

Christ, God, gave us the Catholic Church.  It is the Church He founded.  He gave us the sacraments as the ordinary means of salvation.  He gave His own authority to the Church to teach about faith and morals.  He gave us a visible point of reference for unity and security of knowledge for our membership in His Church: Peter and his successors and the apostles and their successors with Peter.

Knowingly reject the Church – and Peter – and the Church’s teaching and her discipline of Christ’s sacraments, and you place yourself on a path that might just land you in hell for eternity.

If nothing else from this rant gets through to readers, and this is especially my plea to priests and bishops, I beg you on my knees, I implore you: make it a habit to think about the Four Last Things at least once a day.  We are all going to die.

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Submitted by Jola S.

Jung Replaces Jesus In Catholic Spirituality

Walk into a typical Catholic bookstore and browse in the “spirituality” section, and you’ll see the best-selling books of such popularizers of the Jung Cult as priests Basil Pennington, Richard Rohr, and Thomas Keating.

Read the listings for “spirituality” programs and retreats in many diocesan newspapers. You will see that programs on Jungian dream analysis, discovering the child within, contacting your “god/goddess,” or similar such Jungian therapy programs predominate, even though they have nothing to do with Catholic spirituality and are inherently antithetical to it.

Forty years ago, the great Catholic psychiatrist Karl Stern in <The Third Revolution> (Harcourt Brace & Co.. 1954), wrote that most Catholic scholars recognized that Jung and Catholicism are incompatible-irreconcilable-and he warned that the Jungian who begins viewing religion as existing on the same plane as psychology ends up viewing all religions as equally irrelevant.

“As a German philosopher friend of mine once remarked with a pun,” wrote Stern, “<Das gleich Gultige wird gleichgutig> (that which is equally relevant becomes irrelevant). The curtain of the temple is conjured away with an elegant flourish. The border between nature and grace exists no longer, and no longer are you mortally engaged. Matters of the spirit are part of a noncommittal therapeutic method; Jacob no longer wrestles with the angel in a horrible grip which leaves him forever limping -instead, he takes his daily hour of gymnastics.”

In the years since, however, Catholic scholars, priests, religious, and laity have gone over to Jung with the fervor of Athenians flocking to the Oracle at Delphi.

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The (semi-official, new-church) Guidelines for Dramatizing the Passion of the Lord – Jesus Christ was crucified in Jerusalem, around the year 33 AD, at the behest of unknown assailants, formerly known as “The Jews”.

Jesus Christ – crucified by unknown assailants

In order to save time, I will summarize: Jesus Christ was crucified in Jerusalem, around the year 33 AD, at the behest of unknown assailants, who were for some 1950 years, identified as “the Jews” – but who are not, any longer – because that would be politically incorrect and generally opposed to the “Spirit of Vatican II”.

What happened to religious vocations?

Today’s ubiquitous assumption that marriage and religious life are equal paths to holiness is not merely bad doctrine.  It is also a deathblow for religious life.

Once you accept that religious life and lay married life are equally effective means to sanctity, you undercut the only compelling motivation for becoming a religious.

If lay married life provides an equally effective means to sanctity, plus the goods of pleasure, family, property, one’s own will, etc., then it is irrational to choose religious life.  Choosing religious life over marriage would mean punishing yourself for no good reason.  It would mean turning your back on—showing contempt for—the goods of God’s creation while gaining nothing from your sacrifice. If lay married life gets you to sanctity just as easily and reliably as religious life, then all that religious life amounts to is a kind of masochism.

In the words of University of Washington sociologist Rodney Stark, “what does a woman gain in return for her vows of celibacy, poverty, and obedience, if she… acquires no special holiness thereby, while spending her working hours side-by-side with married women who now are officially seen as her equal in terms of virtue, but who are free from her obligations?”

Well, therein lies the problem.

Read more at Crisis Magazine

Pope Francis and the Post-Vatican II “New Church”: Solid proof that casting pearls before swine is perilous folly.

by Doug Lawrence

Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you.  (Matthew 7:6)

The violent deconstruction of the Catholic Church during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s was the literal fulfillment of the above scripture, as the post-Vatican II revolutionaries were allowed to rage virtually unrestrained – tearing down, trampling and desecrating all that was holy, within the Catholic Church.

For the most part, obedient and faithful Catholics were taken aback, not knowing what to make of it all. And by the time things became clearer, it was already too late. In hindsight, it’s evident that the majority of Catholics chose to quit, rather than fight. That’s a real shame, since there’s no medals for deserters – in either the military services – or the Church Militant!

Now, after a short, moderate respite, we have a very popular pope, “cut” from Post-Vatican II revolutionary cloth – who eschews tradition, has little regard for dogma, and claims to be a humble man of peace – all the while shamelessly plotting a final and definitive coup de grâce to what is still barely recognizable as the venerable Roman Catholic Church. Should he and his minions actually succeed in this pernicious work, the result will be a spiritual and physical holocaust of epic proportions, possibly culminating in nothing less than the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to start paying very close attention – since you don’t want to be on the wrong side of things when the Master finally returns!

And this is charity: That we walk according to his commandments.

For this is the commandment that, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in the same: For many seducers are gone out into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a seducer and an antichrist.

Look to yourselves, that you lose not the things which you have wrought: but that you may receive a full reward.

Whosoever revolts and continues not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that continues in the doctrine, the same hath both the Father and the Son.

If any man come to you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him: God speed you. For he that saith unto him: God speed you, communicates with his wicked works.
(2 John 1:6-11)

Why homo sex and shacking up will always be considered immoral, by the Holy Catholic Church

(Click graphic to enlarge)

by Doug Lawrence

1) According to the Bible and the Catholic Church, there is no doubt that virtually all deliberate, willful homosexual acts – as well as sexual intercourse and similar types of activity between men and women, not married to each other – are objectively sinful.

The only question that remains is whether God will choose to judge any particular person to be worthy of eternal punishment, as a result.

As far as we humans can know, anyone who is fully aware of the biblical/Catholic Church teachings on such matters and who still freely chooses to engage in them, will be subject to divine judgment.

There’s absolutely no way to honestly reinterpret the Bible in order to avoid this conclusion. Anything to the contrary is mere “spin” and/or deception. For more on this, see: The 4 sins that cry out to Heaven for vengeance.

2)  The prohibition against homosexual depravity, adultery, fornication and other related sexual sins is DEFINITELY NOT something that was long ago consigned to the dust bin of history.

While it’s true that Jesus Christ personally fulfilled and then respectfully set aside the entirety of the Old Covenant Laws, Ordinances and Statutes, making them void and of no further effect – the full moral authority described in the Old Law was transferred to the Catholic Church, the sole governing authority of the New, better and everlasting Covenant, which was given to us personally by Jesus Christ, at the Last Supper.

The condemnation of homosexual acts and culture, of abortion, adultery, fornication and related sexual sins was in fact, promptly reinterpreted and readopted by the divinely appointed leaders of the fledgling New Covenant Catholic Church, according to the extraordinarily high moral standards personally established by Jesus Christ, while he still walked the earth, which deemed not just the acts themselves – but even deliberately thinking about doing them – to be gravely sinful.

Sensible people would do well to spend some quality time working out in their mind precisely why Jesus Christ, the Creator of all things, would according to his divine wisdom, so strongly caution his creatures (us) against even thinking about such things!

All those living in today’s New Covenant times are expected to live up to this higher standard, defined by none other than Jesus Christ – God himself – who redeemed us from the powers of darkness by his atoning sacrifice on the cross – and who thereby earned the right to judge both the quick and the dead, without exception.

These divine standards apply to all.  Not just Christians. The Catholic Church has been teaching and explaining this to people, all around the world,  for the last 2,000 years. In this age of instant information, there may still be some excuses for lack of faith in God or in his Catholic Church, but the case for invincible ignorance in  matters sexual is getting harder and harder to make, everyday!

3) The act of “shacking up” (living together as man and wife – whether homo or hetero – without benefit of sacramental matrimony) institutionalizes and makes permanent sinful, personal depravity.

Continuing to “live together in sin” – even if a firm purpose of amendment exists – means that genuine repentance is not possible – hence, these and other sins are not likely to be forgiven, unless and until the illicit living arrangement is discontinued. 

This is spiritually, an extremely dangerous condition in which to exist, since death and judgment might occur at any time. God prefers that we all live in peace, unafraid of death, according to his grace. See: A Last Chance for Lost Souls.

4) The necessity of enlightened prudential judgment and high personal moral standards, according to the clearly defined teachings, traditions and practices of the Catholic Church, as well as the absolute certainty of Divine Judgment by Jesus Christ, the Just Judge and Savior of ALL mankind, should as a practical matter, be considered a “given” – since the Bible and the Catholic Church unanimously hold that this sobering prospect applies to all – without compromise or exception.

The Bottom Line:

Legalizing, promoting and celebrating immoral, illicit heterosexual and/or homosexual lifestyles is the surest way of leading untold millions of souls to Hell. There’s absolutely no love in that!

The official Christian opposition to all forms of sexual immorality is based on inerrant, unchanging, divine mandate – plus thousands of years of practical experience in various world civilizations. The fact that many professed Christians fail to correctly practice their faith changes nothing.

The Catholic Church offers a number of practical and effective solutions for these and other major issues of the day – including complete and total absolution for a lifetime of sins, no matter how serious. The fact that corruption has always existed inside the Catholic Church, at one level or another, sadly diminishes but can never totally negate the Church’s divine power and authority, or its’ particular efficacy in the proper care of souls.

Jesus Christ remains the head of the Catholic Church and it his power alone that serves to keep the Catholic Church authentically holy and totally indefectible.

Please give all of this very serious consideration.