Perfect for Lent! Free, Downloadable, Fully Illustrated, Catholic Faith Study: “Overcoming the World, the Flesh and the Devil, In and Through Our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

The True Story of Our Salvation In Jesus Christ
Perfect for Lent.
The “Hows” and “Whys” are explored and illuminated
according to the official rubrics of The Sacred Deposit of the Faith,
suitably enhanced by authentic, insightful excerpts
from the writings and reflections of some of the greatest
theologians, saints and scholars, of all time.

One Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
The masterful expressions and subtle nuances
of the classic illustrations greatly enhance the overall experience.

PART ONE:
The primeval events
that resulted in the Fall of Man (PDF)

PART TWO:
The totally gratuitous
saving works of God (PDF)

PART THREE:
Why we venerate
the Blessed Virgin Mary (PDF)

*** EXCELLENT LENTEN STUDY ***

PART FOUR:
The mystery
of our redemption
revealed (PDF)

*** EXCELLENT LENTEN STUDY ***

PART FIVE:
The spiritually vital mission
of the Holy Church (PDF)

PART SIX:
Our personal identity
in Jesus Christ (PDF)

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For detailed information on a wide range of Catholic topics
(available in both English and Spanish language formats)
visit Bob Stanley’s “The Catholic Treasure Chest”

Thanks to my parents and family … I know man and I know God. I know love and I know wrath. I know justice and I know peace … and I know (as a faithful Catholic) that I have nothing to fear.

by Doug Lawrence

I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s, in a (fairly) conventional family consisting of dad, mom, two brothers and a sister.

Dad took the car to work each day. Mom stayed home and took care of the house and kids. No surprises there.

We all went to Catholic school … but that’s not the point. The point is how mom ran the household … and particularly … the way she personally maintained family standards.

Even though we rarely had any serious discussions, there was no doubt that we were unconditionally loved and cared for … mainly because that’s pretty much all that mom did … 24/7 and 365. Of course, dad’s job (and his personal commitment to the family) made possible that extraordinary level of “intensive care”.

The house was always spotless. Meals weren’t fancy, but they were generally prepared on time and in abundance. Our clothing, grooming, and personal behavior were always closely and very effectively monitored … sometimes through “mysterious” means. Family outings were modest affairs, but frequent. Holidays were indeed feasts, with Christmas and Easter being number one and number two (but not necessarily in that order). Sundays were reserved for Mass and for family.

That’s just the way things were. We never questioned why.

Little went unnoticed, and nothing important to mom could ever be considered (by us) as irrelevant or insignificant, since we knew with certainty that a fate worse than death awaited all those who might transgress.

The means of our execution was the dreaded “whipstrap”!

Reputed to be a family heirloom of indeterminate age, the whipstrap had been fashioned from a stout piece of leather, roughly three inches wide and twenty-four inches long. The first part served as a handle. The last was cut into a classic “cat o’ nine tails” … and it was truly awesome to behold!

The “instrument” typically need not even be displayed, since the mere mention of it was usually sufficient to restore order. But, when partial measures were unsuccessful, deploying the whipstrap and applying a stroke or two, usually did the trick.

Mom was in pretty good physical shape (probably from all that walking … since she didn’t drive … and there was no outrunning her. She was even known to leap fences (and reportedly, tall buildings) in a single bound. And should we have been fortunate enough to discover a hiding place that was (as yet) unknown or inaccessible to her, dad would always be home, by six.

There was no escape!

The carnage wrought by the whipstrap was immense … and the suffering impossible to imagine … at least for a moment or two … in our young minds. Yet we all survived … and thrived … mainly because we were able to develop a good, clear sense of what was right and what was wrong. We also learned that actions brought sure and certain consequences … and sometimes, those consequences could be unpleasant.

The whipstrap effectively symbolized all of that potential unpleasantness. In this, a vision of Hell itself could not have been any more effective.

Years later … studying the Old Testament of the Bible … I suddenly realized that all the carnage and strife recorded therein really wasn’t much different than what went on back home … albeit on a much grander scale.

God lovingly cared for his children. God had particular standards and preferences, and when the “kids” got out of hand, God did what was necessary … for their own good … to rein them in.

Evil, in the person of Satan, made the problems in the Bible much more intractable, and the consequences much more severe. But, the “model” still works, since God remains the master of life and death, and he is most certainly able to transcend any and all human sufferings and failings … either in this world … or in the next.

Back home, should there have ever been any doubt about the fairness of our punishment, a hug from mom or dad was typically all that was necessary to fix things. No harm. No foul. Life went on.

My Catholic faith informs me that a “hug” from the Almighty would undoubtedly, have a similar effect.

So, you see … thanks to my parents and my family … I know man and I know God. I know love and I know wrath. I know justice and I know peace … and I know (as a faithful Catholic) that I have nothing to fear.

It’s good to “know” stuff like that … especially, when living in difficult times!

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The “Hows” and “Whys” are explored and illuminated
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“Overcoming” presents a litany of rational, logical
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PART ONE:
The primeval events
that resulted in the Fall of Man

PART TWO:
The totally gratuitous
saving works of God

PART THREE:
Why we venerate
the Blessed Virgin Mary

PART FOUR:
The mystery
of our redemption
revealed

PART FIVE:
The spiritually vital mission
of the Holy Church

PART SIX:
Our personal identity
in Jesus Christ

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“Collateral Blessings”

Question: So, I like church, as it is relaxing.

However, I don’t even believe Christ is the son of god.  And I’m agnostic (not the same thing as an atheist).

Also, there are lots of hypocrites in the church (that’s what I heard and am starting to notice). I dislike hypocrites (probably my top enemy).

So, I dislike hypocrites a lot, I don’t believe Christ is the son of god, and I can’t even decide if there is or isn’t a god.  But, I do celebrate Christmas and Easter (like Christians) and church does help me relax.

Should I go to church?

Answer: Certainly, you should keep going to church.

One of the best reasons to attend worship services is “collateral blessings” – where “innocent bystanders” often receive the same, rich and powerful blessings as faithful believers do – just because they happen to be nearby.

Asked and answered today on Yahoo! Answers.

 

Covid-19 and the Scandalous Church: Complicit with “tinpot Caesars”

…The biggest and most significant default however, has been that of America’s Christian churches—all of them—from their hierarchs to their priests, pastors, and ministers.

Their complaisance with the lockdowns set aside a truth far more important to human dignity than anything having to do with any physical ailment—the one truth that puts all human power in proper perspective, the truth on which our civilization itself rests: that no human power can manufacture true and false, right and wrong, any more than we can make ourselves, and that, therefore, we are obliged to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.”

Jewish congregations have been similarly craven.

The churches’ agreement to suspend public worship and the distribution of sacraments also contradicted their duty.

Until 2020, Christian clergy felt obliged not just to offer public worship to whomever, but also to search out the sick, to offer sacraments to the dying, especially in places where victims of plagues lay between life and death—regardless of consequences.

Because surrendering to secular dictates concerning how congregants should behave, even in church cannot be justified in Christian terms it would not have crossed previous generations of churchmen’s minds. Had this generation of church leaders simply practiced their faith, even by merely keeping silent about the ruling class’s claims about the COVID-19 rather than ignorantly, submissively endorsing them, they would have preserved their intellectual and moral credit to help the general population to deal with the growing realization that they had been duped. Instead, they chose to be complicit with tinpot Caesars.

Hence, as Americans face the bitter fact that we have been hurt worse than for nought, the churches have largely disqualified themselves as arbiters of truth.

Truth and clarity about what history will record as the 2020 COVID coup is the necessary condition for the American people to overcome its effects. Overcoming those effects must begin with discrediting those pretenses and the reputations of those who made them.

Read the entire article (PDF File): The COVID Coup – The American Mind

Seen at Ann Barnhardt’s Site

Announcing the “Honk for Jesus Campaign”

It’s time for the faithless, gutless incompetents who are running the Catholic Church to finally wake up and do their jobs!

Starting this week, and on every subsequent Sunday, until regular Masses resume, drive to church so as to arrive at your usual Mass time, park in the lot and repeatedly honk your horn for an hour or so, until somebody comes out to see what you’re up to.

If somebody comes out, tell him you’re a faithful Catholic, suffering from spiritual starvation and that you require immediate sustenance, in the form of the Holy Eucharist.

If nobody comes out, or if the police come by (which is probably what will happen) respectfully remain in place, praying and honking, until the time your regular Sunday Mass would have let out. Only then, should you depart.

Repeat, for all future weeks, as necessary,
until regular Sunday Mass resumes.

At least, God will know that you tried!

Of course, you’ll want to enlist all your parishioners and friends in the campaign, as well.

After all, it’s CHURCH!

Behold the image of the beast

Revelation 13:15  And it was given him to give life to the image of the beast: and that the image of the beast should speak: and should cause that whosoever will not adore the image of the beast should be slain.

In local news:

…The bishops have been working with our state government as to what needs to be done in order to worship, while still maintaining safety. What needs to be done is very detailed and extensive.The plan which was sent out to the parishes is 46 pages long.

In order to open, each parish must be certified by the Diocese. Some of the things that must done are: submitting floor plans of the church for limited seating and where each person will sit, floor plans showing how parishioners will enter and exit the church and how they will receive Communion, have a reservation system in place to insure that only the maximum number of allowed people come to Mass, use of temperature guns and have proper cleaning and sanitizing equipment, just to name a few. Every volunteer must be trained and watch a webinar(s).

All of this must be in place for Phase 1 which includes Baptisms, Reconciliation, Weddings, and Funerals. Phase 1A adds private prayer and adoration. Please note: ALL OF THE ABOVE MUST BE DONE FOR 10 PEOPLE MAX IN ATTENDANCE. Public Masses are still NOT allowed.

All of this is working towards Phase 2 which will allow for Masses with larger groups, DEPENDING on the guidelines set forth by the State of XXXXX and the seating capacity of each church.

A good, related article on Mundabor’s Catholic Site

Vatican Exclusive: New complaint department to be headed by a woman?

Rumors have it that Ms. Helen Byrne has been named to head a new, Vatican complaint department, which will serve as an “umbrella” site, consolidating virtually every type of complaint, including child abuse, heretical clerics, financial crimes, liturgical abuse, idolatrous worship and more, under a single, all encompassing Church authority.

The source of all the speculation is a recent comment by Pope Francis, where he was (reportedly) heard to say that if anybody has a problem with the Church, or with his papacy, they should simply, go to Helen Byrne.

The Vatican has not confirmed this story. 

 

 

Seen on the Web: Since five hundred people at a time are allowed in the Home Depot, can we hold our church service there?

How come I am allowed to go to the supermarket during a lockdown, but I am not allowed to go to Church?

Church leadership: cowardly, effeminate, faithless, ineffective, A.W.O.L. 

Mind well: it is not that civil authorities have decided that buying groceries endangers your health, but it has to be done, therefore it is allowed. No. Civil authorities in many Countries have decided that buying groceries can be done in a safe way, and should be therefore be done in that safe way alone. 

It follows that Bishops all over Catholicism should have made a huge mess, demanding that churches are left open, and Mass be allowed to be celebrated, pretty much in the same way as the relevant Government allows the purchase of food.  

Have they done this? Largely, no.

Why not? Because to them – irrespective of what they may say – the Mass is a social gathering, and nothing more. Our “hagan lio” Pope was, as befits his atheist mindset, the first to lead the charge, even going beyond what the Italian government had ordered. Boy, Satan is strong with this one.

Read more at Mundabor’s Catholic Blog

Editor’s note: Medical personnel, first responders, fast food workers and grocery store clerks have proved to be much more heroic than Catholic priests, bishops and even the Pope, during this world wide pandemic. They deserve our respect and our gratitude.

What do the cowardly priests, bishops and the Pope deserve?  

Today’s question: What biblical thoughts or Scriptures bring you great peace?

Today’s question: What biblical thoughts or Scriptures bring you great peace?

Answer: Knowing and loving God is what leads to peace and joy, beyond all understanding, which is eternal salvation, in Jesus Christ. That is the ongoing mission of the holy Church and the Lord’s enduring promise to its’ members.

Philippians 4:4-9 Rejoice in the Lord always: again, I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men.

The Lord is nigh.

Be nothing solicitous: but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline: think on these things. The things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me, these do ye: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Asked and answered today on Yahoo! Answers. Edited for clarity and content.

Answered today on Yahoo Answers: A question about our redemption in Jesus Christ.

Question: So god required a sacrifice and then he sacrificed his son who was also himself?

Answer: Not exactly.

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three divine and distinct persons who essentially constitute the one, true God.

1 X 1 X 1 = 1

The 2nd person of the Holy Trinity (the Son) took on flesh and became man, while never ceasing to be God. We know him as Jesus Christ.

Jesus did for the human race what Adam failed to do: He remained totally and completely obedient to God the Father, even unto death on the cross.

Since Jesus is the eternal God, it is impossible for him to commit any type of sin, so Jesus is immune to the wickedness and snares of the devil. Jesus’ act of total obedience to his heavenly Father, as one of us and on our behalf,  served to appease God’s wrath (due to our sins) redeem mankind and “make” the peace between man and God.

When Jesus permitted the forces of evil to unjustly put him to death, he became the perfect and spotless sacrifice for the sins of the world and the forces of evil became subject to divine judgment, subsequently forfeiting the dominion over all the earth that they enjoyed after “the fall of man”.

When he rose again three days later, Jesus defeated death and proved his claim to divinity, as well as his mastery over Satan, sin and death. Jesus is now the King if Kings and Lord of Lords, wielding all power over heaven and earth, death and hell.

Fallen mankind does not have that type of power. Only Jesus does.

Through faithful allegiance to Jesus Christ, along with baptism into his church, the power to overcome death becomes available to all who truly seek it. This is primarily a function of divine grace, which is a free gift from God.

All we need do is accept God’s saving grace (which Jesus deliberately obtained for us by his life, death and resurrection) and make a free will choice to cooperate with that grace, as a full, faithful member of his church, and then, hope for the best.

God will do the rest. His grace is sufficient.

The Dangers of “Cafeteria Catholicism”

By Doug Lawrence

The term “Cafeteria Catholic” typically refers to those Catholics who prefer to pick and choose which truths of the faith they wish to accept. That kind of thinking is a huge mistake, which can lead people into all kinds of misunderstandings and miseries.

People haven’t changed much over the last 5000 years. They still tend to make the same stupid mistakes and get caught up in the same, hard to control, emotional situations. Often both. When it comes to critical matters of faith and morals, the Catholic Church has been around for a very long time and has “seen it all”.

Through its’ Magisterial teachings, Sacred and Apostolic Tradition and the Holy Bible, the Church, which is charged by God with the care of souls, wisely and charitably cautions the faithful about the real spiritual and temporal dangers of things.

When people fail, the Church is there to freely absolve them of their sins, but the temporal, physical injuries and damages – the unfortunate results of those sins – typically remain – to the detriment of all. The modern world provides a very accurate picture of all these accumulated evils and corruptions.

Individual free will and conscience is rightly a part of all this, but conscience can only be relied upon once it has been fully informed and illuminated by all the applicable teachings and practical graces of the Church. Unfortunately, that rarely occurs, these days.

HINT: It’s always much smarter and easier to faithfully rely on the authentic teachings and accumulated wisdom of the Catholic Church, with the help of God’s grace, in order to successfully avoid some/many/most of the trials and tribulations caused by our own bad choices!

“Cafeteria Catholics” who pick and choose which authentic truths and teachings of the Catholic Church they wish to believe, needlessly and pridefully reject thousands of years of practical church experience and wisdom in favor of personally reliving the original “Adam and Eve experience”. It was a “fool’s bargain” then and it’s still a “fool’s bargain” today!

Proverbs 16:16-24

Get wisdom, because it is better than gold: and purchase prudence, for it is more precious than silver. 

The path of the just departs from evils: he that keeps his soul keeps his way.

Pride goes before destruction: and the spirit is lifted up before a fall.

It is better to be humbled with the meek, than to divide spoils with the proud.

The learned in word shall find good things: and he that trusts in the Lord is blessed.

The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and he that is sweet in words, shall attain to greater things.

Knowledge is a fountain of life to him that possesses it: the instruction of fools is foolishness.

The heart of the wise shall instruct his mouth: and shall add grace to his lips.

Well ordered words are as a honeycomb: sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Gospel reflection: In the Old Testament, men found their spouses at wells.

 

“Give me a drink.”

In the Old Testament, men found their spouses at wells—Moses meets Zipporah, Isaac meets Rebecca, and Jacob meets the beautiful Rachel at watering holes. And so, again at Jacob’s well, a woman comes up, alone, and Jesus is thirsty. Mother Teresa described the thirst of Jesus: “I Thirst is something much deeper than Jesus just saying ‘I love you.’ Even more—he longs for you. He misses you when you don’t come close.” The Samaritan woman approaches, and Jesus draws her close to him. How does He do it?

Read more

Submitted by Bob Stanley

There was a time, not long after the Second Vatican Council, when the bishops who wanted to suppress the Church’s ancient liturgy or desecrate her traditions could do so with impunity.

That time is over. This is an age of accountability. When something sacred is treated as disposable, when communities of believers are punished with forced allegiance to Modernist changes they have legitimately and prudently chosen to avoid, that’s a place where the light should shine.

I don’t know about you, but I want my Catholicism back. I want a Church I can be proud of, a Church that remembers what it believes in. A Church that doesn’t scandalize so deeply that it damages or even destroys the faith of its own members and makes no effort to appeal to those outside her bosom except when creating the false appearance that non-negotiable things have become negotiable.

If this isn’t the foretold time of apostasy, it must be the precursor.

Read more

Note to media: The Church exists to make the world more like the Kingdom of God. It has nothing to learn from you.

You’re offended because in every one of the instances you cite, the Church behaved like the world instead of the Church.  You’re absolutely right to be offended too, because it’s the Church’s job to look as little like the world as possible so that we can tweak your conscience, make you think twice, get under your skin.

We MUST be different because we, quite literally, are called to irritate the hell out of the world.

The more the Church does any of the things you want it to do, the less it functions as Church and the more it becomes some benign social club.  But be honest.  You’d love that wouldn’t you?  Because you’re tired of the Church making you think twice about questions you can barely stand to think once about.

Read more from Dr. Greg

New series coming from Fr. Robert Barron: Catholicism the New Evangelization.

Visit the site

When it comes to believing in God or following a religion, everyone wants to see the facts, but nobody wants to do the work.

As strange as it sounds I ended up finding my faith by being surrounded by people who thought devout Catholics were out of their minds. The beliefs of those in my family contested my Catholic education and sparked a relentless search for answers and for truth. I listened to the arguments against the Church and searched for answers until I was satisfied. To this day the Church has not failed me in providing rational answers to my many questions.

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