A Catholic convert theologian writes about faith, love, death, God and “other stuff”

My first glimpse of God was the love which my parents shared with one another. It was a life-giving love centered upon a common faith that despite all the challenges of living out a common life together, they could entrust themselves to one another and find a path to their salvation through one another.

The true character of this love was revealed most poignantly to me when my mother was on her deathbed, emaciated and disfigured by the effects of aggressive cancer treatment. As the options dwindled, my father became more and more desperate, trying every possible medical and spiritual avenue to avoid losing my mom.

One afternoon, as he was venting his frustrations to God before a simple wooden crucifix, he heard God interrupt his stream of thoughts almost as if he were speaking audibly: “Do you trust me?” was the simple question posed to him.

Later, closer to the time of her death, my dad was able to look down at my mother’s unconscious face, and say “I have never loved your mother more than I do right now.” It is an inestimable blessing to be able to root one’s analogical appeal to God as “Father” in that kind of experience.

Hospitality and community were also key parts of my religious formation.

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German Cardinal Reinhard Marx seems to have some strange ideas about God and his mercy

The Cardinal explains, “Unfortunately, the church is often still accused of wanting to steer people in directions they did not want to take. It would have to ask itself whether it hadn’t set the wrong priorities when proclaiming the Gospel message.”

“Many older people have grown up with the idea that the church is a moral institution and that God is only a merciful God if we keep his commandments. But God doesn’t say, ‘If you’re good, then I’ll also be good to you.’ Jesus proclaims a God who says, ‘I love you — so live,’ and thus gives us the freedom to decide whether we want to accept and return his love.”

Editor’s note: Yes, Marx is a Catholic Cardinal – although his thinking on sin and mercy are much more in tune with the Lutherans.

“Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly.” ― Martin Luther

Does God really give us license to sin? I doubt it! And why does the Cardinal make no mention of the necessity of contrition and repentance – or are those outmoded theological concepts, as well? More importantly, we have to wonder if this an example of Pope Francis’ thinking on these matters.

How’s this for Gospel, your eminence?:

“If you love me, keep my commandments.” ― Jesus Christ

5 keys to better discernment

Five general principles of discernment of God’s will that apply to all questions about it, and therefore to our question too, are the following:

1. Always begin with data, with what we know for sure. Judge the unknown by the known, the uncertain by the certain. Adam and Eve neglected that principle in Eden and ignored God’s clear command and warning for the devil’s promised pig in a poke.
2. Let your heart educate your mind. Let your love of God educate your reason in discerning his will. Jesus teaches this principle in John 7:17 to the Pharisees. (Would that certain Scripture scholars today would heed it!) They were asking how they could interpret his words, and he gave them the first principle of hermeneutics (the science of interpretation): “If your will were to do the will of my Father, you would understand my teaching.” The saints understand the Bible better than the theologians, because they understand its primary author, God, by loving him with their whole heart and their whole mind.
3. Have a soft heart but a hard head. We should be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves,” sharp as a fox in thought but loyal as a dog in will and deed. Soft-heartedness does not excuse soft-headedness, and hard-headedness does not excuse hard-heartedness. In our hearts we should be “bleeding-heart liberals” and in our heads “stuck-in-the-mud conservatives.”
4. All God’s signs should line up, by a kind of trigonometry. There are at least seven such signs: (1) Scripture, (2) church teaching, (3) human reason (which God created), (4) the appropriate situation, or circumstances (which he controls by his providence), (5) conscience, our innate sense of right and wrong, (6) our individual personal bent or desire or instincts, and (7) prayer. Test your choice by holding it up before God’s face. If one of these seven voices says no, don’t do it. If none say no, do it.
5. Look for the fruits of the spirit, especially the first three: love, joy, and peace. If we are angry and anxious and worried, loveless and joyless and peaceless, we have no right to say we are sure of being securely in God’s will. Discernment itself should not be a stiff, brittle, anxious thing, but—since it too is part of God’s will for our lives—loving and joyful and peace-filled, more like a game than a war, more like writing love letters than taking final exams.

Read more from Peter Kreeft

Fathering With Intentionality: The Importance of Creating a Family Culture.

My family preferred “Aqua-Culture”

Have you ever met one of those families that just seem to have it all together?

Maybe you knew such a family growing up and loved hanging out over at their house – there was such a great atmosphere there that you kind of felt like you were coming home whenever you stopped over.

The parents were happy.

The kids were all well-adjusted and generally did the right thing.

Everyone in the family seemed to genuinely love, respect, and care about each other.

They all truly enjoyed each other’s company and had a blast doing things together.

Sure, they had problems and struggles like any other family, but they supported each other and rallied together to take care of whatever they were going through.

Maybe you joked about them being so good it was creepy – perhaps they were perfect aliens from another planet — but you envied them nonetheless.

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Editor’s note: The above photo is a self-portrait I took of my family while we were on a shipwreck diving trip beneath the chilly, but clear waters of Lake Superior. It’s actually a composite of two different photos, shot using a wide-angle lens with good, old-fashioned “film”.

To avoid obscuring anyone with my exhaust bubbles it was necessary for me to break the cardinal rule of SCUBA diving, which is, “Never hold your breath.”

Warning: Don’t try this at home!

Here’s another wreck diving pic, shot at a different location, about 60 feet below the surface of Lake Michigan:

A Biblical Bucket List for Believers: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

In the last few years the phrase “Bucket List” has come into the American lexicon. A bucket list is a list of this to accomplish before you die. There is some sort of TV show related to this that I have never seen, but from the few snips I have seen, it is mostly about frivolous, even unpleasant stuff.

But for the Christian the Scriptures announce a number of things that we well ought to have either done or have up and running long before we die. Our goal is to die in an act of loving God, to die in the life giving transformation relationship we we call faith. And our prayer is that grace and mercy have had the necessary affects to make us ready to go home and be with God.

The list that I present here is modified by me a bit, but in essence not original to me.

View the list

Here’s how the little known and often ignored Catholic principle of subsidiarity works – and why it’s so important in today’s world.

by Doug Lawrence

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.

For want of a shoe the horse was lost.

For want of a horse the rider was lost.

For want of a rider the message was lost.

For want of a message the battle was lost.

For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

From the Catechism:

Consult section 1878 – 1896

IN BRIEF

1890 There is a certain resemblance between the unity of the divine persons and the fraternity that men ought to establish among themselves.

1891 The human person needs life in society in order to develop in accordance with his nature. Certain societies, such as the family and the state, correspond more directly to the nature of man.

1892 “The human person . . . is and ought to be the principle, the subject, and the object of every social organization” (GS 25 § 1).

1893 Widespread participation in voluntary associations and institutions is to be encouraged.

1894 In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, neither the state nor any larger society should substitute itself for the initiative and responsibility of individuals and intermediary bodies.

1895 Society ought to promote the exercise of virtue, not obstruct it. It should be animated by a just hierarchy of values.

1896 Where sin has perverted the social climate, it is necessary to call for the conversion of hearts and appeal to the grace of God. Charity urges just reforms. There is no solution to the social question apart from the Gospel (cf. CA 3, 5).

Editor’s note: If everybody understands their own order (mission) in life, along with their rights, responsibilities and their own particular vocation and talents under God … then … acting with charity (love) … for the common good … every part of society … beginning with the individual and the family … illuminated by the Gospel and suitably empowered by God’s grace … might reach its’ true potential … according to the dignity of the human person, who is created for good, in the image and likeness of God.

Evil doers, deniers, exploiters, usurpers and shirkers introduce deadly weaknesses and harmful anomalies into society, resulting in various forms of immorality, human suffering and social injustice.

The church and its’ members are called to help remedy these ills by means of authentic Gospel values … primarily charity and truth … embodying a genuine respect and personal concern for the fundamental rights and essential needs of every human person.

This is to be considered a direct and personal responsibility … one child of God helping another … and whenever possible … such duties should not be entrusted to third parties, government bureaucracies, or other far-flung, impersonal organizations.

In short: There’s always plenty of good, charitable work to be done, one-on-one, right in your own back yard. Relying solely on government and/or other third parties to accomplish this great and important work often deprives both the donor and the recipient of the corresponding spiritual and corporal rewards. This, along with the distinct absence of any real personal connection, results in significant losses to society, at virtually every level.

While he still walked the earth, Jesus Christ never asked anyone how much money they gave to some nameless, faceless, charity. He said this:

And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty. And all nations shall be gathered together before him: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.

Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.

Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry and fed thee: thirsty and gave thee drink? Or when did we see thee a stranger and took thee in? Or naked and covered thee? Or when did we see thee sick or in prison and came to thee?

And the king answering shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.  (Matthew 25:31-40)

Occasional, impersonal actions, accomplished at substantial distance are better than nothing, but they simply do not carry the same “weight” as personal acts of charity and kindness … one child of God to another … for either the donor or the recipient. Today’s world is a far colder, darker and scarier place, as a result.

Related reading:

RERUM NOVARUM – ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII
ON CAPITAL AND LABOR 

CENTESIMUS ANNUS – ENCYCLICAL OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
ON THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF RERUM NOVARUM

CARITAS IN VERITATE –  ENCYCLICAL OF POPE BENEDICT XVI
THE PROCLAMATION OF TRUTH AND LOVE IN SOCIETY

Because God has the power to “speak” all things into existence, he never runs out of love … or anything else. As his faithful, adopted children, neither should we.

Read:  A Look at Some Biblical Texts in Opposition to Contraception

By: Msgr. Charles Pope

Five Keys to Set the Lord Ever Before Me

How can we make certain then that I always “set the Lord ever before me?”

We can:

1. Surrender to the Lord and trust in Him.
2. Pray unceasingly that we will grow in love of Him, be obedient and faithful and be found ready when He comes for us.
3. Make frequent Sacramental Confessions.
4. Worthily receive Holy Communion in humility and devotion.
5. Faithfully minister in body and spirit to those in need, leading them to justice and mercy.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: Where Catholics are treated to a supernatural preview of the Church’s Heavenly perfection in Jesus Christ

by Doug Lawrence

It’s been happening more and more, lately! I look up to the altar as the priest recites the words of consecration, and instead of seeing Father Al up there doing the work, I see Jesus Christ, instead.

I look at him. He looks at me. Our eyes meet. Then, I’m instantly transported in spirit, to the Lord’s Day … at the end of time … just as St. John describes it, in the Book of Revelation (See Revelation 1:10).

The church building and the sanctuary within it has literally become Heaven.

The congregation has expanded a bit … now consisting of every angel and saint who ever lived … or ever will live. Surveying its massive length and breadth, I can identify the Blessed Virgin, all of the patriarchs and apostles, the evangelists, the martyrs, the doctors, the mystics, choirs and choirs of angels, even some long-passed family, friends and neighbors. And of course … Jesus.

The Mass has become the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, where Jesus, the spotless victim, is both the divine host and the primary object of worship, receiving glory, praise and honor for his great, finished work of salvation, and where Jesus subsequently presents the Church … fully perfected by his grace … as his beautiful bride … to God the Father. (See Revelation 19:1)

The congregation … which had consisted of the usual assortment of sinful humanity … has now been completely and utterly transformed. Clothed in abject finery, now perfect in every respect … thanks to Jesus … our perfect, holy and spotless bride groom … whose saving grace has made all the difference … just as God always intended.

Then, I’m back!

The bottom line: Every time we attend Mass, we experience a little “slice” of Heaven, right here on Earth … a miraculous preview of wondrous and amazing things to come … thanks solely to the real presence of Jesus Christ … who cherishes us with a holy and inestimable love.

Don’t miss it, for the world!

The only proper way for faithful Catholics to disagree with authentic church teachings.

Jesus is an expert healer of the blind – spiritual and otherwise

by Doug Lawrence

The only proper way for a faithful Catholic to disagree with authentic church teachings is to go to confession, apologize to God, receive absolution, and humbly leave the confessional spiritually renewed, with a firm purpose of amendment.

Next, in order to successfully mend our ways and reform our errant conscience, we undertake a thorough study of the relevant portions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, coupled with a careful review of all related church documents.

This … along with full, faithful and regular participation in all the other work, worship, sacraments and devotions of the Catholic Church, will serve to properly identify and clarify all of the pertinent issues involved.

From that point forward, faith and reason, along with a bit of help from other good, faithful, and well-educated Catholics (educated in authentic, traditional Catholicism … not the new, phony versions) will serve to order the struggle so as to (eventually) properly form the conscience, in the light of all God’s revealed truth.

The process may well take years, but what do we have to do that is more important?

The writings of the Saints confirm that spiritual struggle (always in good faith and always for the right reasons) is probably the very best way of eventually achieving Heaven.

Those who have managed to overcome serious personal shortcomings with the help of God’s grace, know that this is absolutely true … while those who prefer to disagree need only remember that denial is not just a river in Egypt!

Visit the blogroll (links) section of this website for all the necessary Catholic educational resources. Seek out Jesus Christ, the source and summit of our Christian existence, and encounter him regularly and personally, in and through the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Then … expect Jesus to begin to more fully reveal himself … his inestimable love … and his truth … to you … in many wonderful ways.

Psycho babe claims she “loves” abortion … and you should too!

Rather than trying to cozy up to the forced-birth camp, women who value their freedom should be proud to say that they like abortion. In fact, they should venerate it whole-heartedly. Abortion is our last refuge, the one final, definitive instrument that secures our bodily autonomy. What’s not to love?

Link

Editor’s note: The Bible is quite often literally true … as well as prophetic.

(2nd Timothy 3:1-7)

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

We’re all called to stand up for human life … for the truth … and for what’s right and good.

(Click on picture to enlarge)

by Doug Lawrence

The biblical account of the creation of man duly records the fact that the entire human race is derived from a single, original couple … and when that first couple united in one flesh… the first child was conceived.

Like every child ever since, there was never any real doubt as to precisely who or what a child is. It is a newly minted human life … begotten of 100% human stuff … stuff that was originally derived from Adam and Eve … according to the God-given power of procreation.

Thousands of years later, nothing has really changed. Most importantly, neither has the character and consistency of human life. Every new life bridges the gap between one generation and the next … extending the human race … and every new life explicitly begins at the moment of conception … no matter how some people, in order to suit their own ends … might attempt to redefine the terms involved.

The Bible also clearly records God’s main purpose for humanity:

“So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that move upon the earth.

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creep upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:27-31)

So … God blessed man by giving him the ability to bear offspring (procreate) … and by giving him dominion over all of the substantial resources to be found on the earth … in order to nourish, shelter, and otherwise accommodate all who would eventually come to be.

The plan was a good one, and it still is. Unfortunately, many have other ideas about how things should be done, and they prefer instead, for whatever reasons, to pursue disordered and sinful lifestyles that are in direct opposition to God’s will.

World governments also used to be guided by God’s express instructions, as clearly stated in the Bible, and faithfully interpreted by the Catholic Church. But those days too, are long gone.

Today, the secular courts make government policy, while increasingly embattled and divided legislatures are unable (or unwilling) to come together and stand on their own, in order to meet judicial challenges.

The result is a literal death spiral … with governments going financially bankrupt, while their citizens are increasingly lulled into the spiritual bankruptcy of godless lifestyles … all under the guise of expanded personal freedom and liberty.

The process of corruption greatly accelerated in the aftermath of Vatican II, when wholesale apostasy within the church unfortunately coincided with a similarly undisciplined social revolution taking place in the world’s great institutions … and on the streets.

The Catholic Church, which was supposed to be the divine bulwark that kept the forces of the world, the flesh, and the devil, at bay … instead turned out to be “missing in action” for one of the most important spiritual battles in the history of the world!

The combined death toll from abortion and AIDS can easily be counted. It is absolutely staggering … and still mounting …. yet the Catholic Church continues to speak with a weak voice, split almost down the middle between the protestantized “social justice” types and traditional, sacramental Catholics.

Worse yet is that both sides together (if such a thing is actually possible) based on their visible participation at Sunday Mass, make up only about ten percent of those who are actually counted today as Catholic … perhaps 100 million out of an estimated 1.1 billion.

The rest are AWOL (absent without leave), MIA (missing in action), or they have simply left the church without telling anyone.

The bottom line: We no longer have enough active, properly trained, fully informed and equipped Catholics in the world, to get the job done.

And the devil knows it!

So … faced with 39 years of generally unrestricted world-wide abortion deaths, numbering in the hundreds of millions … and 50 years of general apostasy and corruption so widespread that few even care anymore … what are faithful Catholics to do?

Here’s a plan that can’t fail:

1) Start by making a good confession, in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If it has been so long that you no longer remember how, simply tell that to the priest and he’ll walk you through the various steps. This will “clear the decks” and permit you to cast off any and every type of past sin. It will also fill your soul with God’s grace, in order to give the Holy Spirit some “room” to work.

2) Get to Mass. The Sunday Mass obligation has never been rescinded. And there’s absolutely nothing to prevent your attendance at a weekday mass, or two.

The Mass is the universal prayer of the whole Church, and it is also a solemn renewal of the one time, once for all, perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, on the cross. Our participation at Mass confirms our distinct identity as Catholics, and it also serves as a major channel of God’s grace, which typically helps empower us to discern … and then (hopefully) carry out … God’s will … according to his plan. Successfully accomplishing that is about as good as it gets … this side of Heaven!

3) If there’s any impediment to your receiving Holy Communion … do whatever is necessary to remove it. You are what you eat, and without the right spiritual food, you’re likely to be quickly vanquished by the enemy. Additionally, the Holy Eucharist … worthily received … remains the only known antidote to eternal death and hell.

4) Pray several times a day, every day. Pray at regular, set times. Pray at regular, specific places. Pray for specific purposes. Pray for the people and institutions you love. Pray for the conversion of your enemies. Pray in order to give thanks and praise to God. Pray to ask God for favors. Pray to ask God for forgiveness (but be sure to get to confession promptly, in the event of mortal sin.)

Prayer is the way we officially give God permission
to interfere in our lives … for good.

5) Team up with other like-minded Catholics. The Church is the communion of all believers in Jesus Christ, but today’s church, as an institution, along with many associated apostolates and religious orders, is highly dysfunctional, in many ways.

Don’t let that stop you. Instead, accomplish whatever you can, in and through your own little group … but always in complete conformity with Catholic doctrine and tradition (which may not be easy, since it’s still quite difficult to get a firm and accurate opinion on things, from most Catholic priests and bishops.)

Remember: In the first century, twelve well disciplined, highly dedicated men, by the power of God’s grace, and against all odds, successfully established the Catholic Church throughout the known world.

Today’s Catholics still worship the same God, and we still operate according to the same grace. The mission has never changed. Only the results seem to be lacking. And that’s a real shame, since:

“… we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestine to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover whom he did predestine, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things?

If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:28-31)

Time to get busy!

A reasoned and loving response to a supporter of homosexuality and homosexual marriage.

By Doug Lawrence

(In response to this article)

I happen to have been born with an absolutely dependable sense of direction that happens to be exactly 180 degrees out of phase. (No kidding. This is true!)

When I think I should go left, I invariably ought to go right, instead.

So, in order to get where I need to go, I’ve learned to overrule my natural inclinations, to get a second opinion, or use a compass and map, or GPS.

Needless to say, relying on the opinion of another who suffers from the same seriously disordered sense of direction might appear to work, but only for a short while, until both of us, naturally rejecting all opinions to the contrary, finally come to the realization that we are truly lost.

Homosexual people are in a similar quandary.

Their innate feelings tell them they are right, but the truth is unfortunately, 180 degrees removed.

And without a reliable guide (the Catholic Church) they may well be lost … for a long, long time … perhaps never reaching their intended destination.

True Christians understand this type of problem and attempt to deal with it, through love. Unfortunately, a personally frustrated individual typically responds poorly to such an approach, since he/she typically cannot fathom the true reasons for it.

Hence, love is “naturally” perceived as hate, helpfulness is taken for condemnation, and the will of God is presumed to be something other than what it truly is.

You Kristina, also have a faulty sense of direction. You have chosen your own set of defective guides, and you too, have arrived at the wrong destination.

But there’s still time to find the right path .. and stick to it … with the help of the church.

From the Catechism:

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

So go .. and sin no more. God loves you. God will provide. Trust in him.

The reason the world needs re-evangelization is not because of a defective message.

The reason the world needs re-evangelization is not because of a defective message. It’s because the guys who ran the post-conciliar Catholic Church lost their focus, became corrupt, and failed to faithfully live, proclaim and defend the eternal truths of the sacred deposit of faith that were entrusted to them by Jesus and the apostles.

Once the church again begins to “fly right” … toning down the corruption, re-catechizing the world, universally reaffirming the authentic Gospel of Jesus Christ, and promoting the church’s traditional work, worship, sacraments and devotions (instead of a bunch of watered down, liberal, modernist, BS) things can’t help but improve.

What ever happened to the simple, direct approach?

1) Decide for yourself whether you believe in God.

2) Assuming the answer is yes, consult the only “source” who ever really knew him, in the flesh, while he still walked the earth … the only assembly or group that was ever divinely authorized to teach, sanctify, and govern in the name of Jesus Christ … the Catholic Church.

3) Begin directed prayer and study, in order to become intimately familiar with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, as only the Catholic Church knows him, by taking full advantage of over 1900 years of the world’s finest theological scholarship and related philosophy (which includes, but is certainly not limited to the Bible.)

4) Become an official member of the Catholic Church (a living temple of the Holy Spirit, an adopted child of God, a citizen of Heaven, and co-heir with Jesus Christ) through the Sacrament of Baptism.

5) Embark on a lifetime of ever increasing holiness. faith, and love in Jesus Christ, through continuing prayer and study, along with full, faithful and regular participation in all of the work, worship, sacraments and devotions of the Catholic Church … “keeping it up” until the very moment God calls you home.     

The Church’s job is to facilitate points 1 through 5, for the salvation of souls and the common good of all mankind. But because of all the confusion and corruption in the post-conciliar Catholic Church, that has not been happening.

We don’t need new theology. We just need to effectively put to good use what we already have!

Peter Kreeft: God is a lover who is a warrior.

… is not God a lover rather than a warrior?

No, God is a lover who is a warrior.

The question fails to understand what love is, what the love that God is, is.

Love is at war with hate, betrayal, selfishness, and all love’s enemies. Love fights. Ask any parent.

Yuppie-love, like puppy-love, may be merely “compassion” (the fashionable word today), but father-love and mother-love are war. In fact, every page of the Bible bristles with spears, from Genesis 3 through Revelation 20.

The road from Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained is soaked in blood. At the very center of the story is a cross, a symbol of conflict if there ever was one.

The theme of spiritual warfare is never absent in scripture, and never absent in the life and writings of a single saint. But it is never present in the religious education of any of my “Catholic” students at Boston College. Whenever I speak of it, they are stunned and silent, as if they have suddenly entered another world.

They have.

They have gone past the warm fuzzies, the fur coats of psychology-disguised-as-religion, into a world where they meet Christ the King, not Christ the Kitten.

Welcome back from the moon, kids!

Link To The Rescue Project

Pope Benedict XVI on the Mass, the Eucharist, and Eucharistic Adoration

Receiving the Eucharist means adoring Him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with Him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself.

Link

More on this, by Doug Lawrence: The reality of the Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist is probably the single most significant difference between the Protestant and Catholic faith traditions.

For the last 500 years or so, Protestants of all kinds, due to their voluntary separation from the true church of Jesus Christ, and their rejection of the ministerial priesthood, as well as many other related Catholic doctrines and dogmas, have concentrated on trying to develop a relationship with Jesus through the use of the Bible, fore-going the authentic, personal, grace-giving sacramental union that Jesus had already prepared and prescribed for us, while he still walked the earth.

It is only through the authentic sacraments of the church that we, in this life, are enabled and empowered to encounter the risen and triumphant Jesus Christ, in a way that even our fallen, myopic humanity can actually touch, comprehend, and assimilate.

While any attempt to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ is commendable … there can be no doubt that a long-distance, “pen pal” type of approach cannot compare to the awesome and all encompassing, physical and spiritual “hug” we receive from Jesus himself, whenever we Catholics receive him, in the holiest Sacrament of the Altar.

Catholics have always understood that the divine inheritance we presently receive through baptism in Christ, is infinitely richer than anything we can ever hope to read in any book. Yes … even the God-inspired, Holy Bible.

Catholics have been blessed, from the earliest days, to personally encounter Jesus Christ, in both a physical and spiritual way, through our regular reception of the sacraments. Hence, as a Catholic, Jesus’ flesh and blood already nourishes my flesh, while his supernatural grace simultaneously refreshes my soul.

To put it simply, the only way most of us can hope to experience true holiness in this life is by personally encountering the Holy One … Jesus Christ … in and through the grace-giving sacraments that he personally instituted … for that express purpose.

Sure, I love to read the Bible … the written Word of God …
but, for the very practical reasons already mentioned, I love to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus Christ, who is
God, the Word … much, much more.

From the “old” Baltimore Catechism:

Q. Why did God make you?

A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.

Hopefully, on the great day of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) thanks to the church, the sacraments, and of course, Jesus … he and I will “know” each other, in the most intimate way possible … as the here-to-fore “Mystical” Body of Christ reaches its ultimate, divine potential … in and through an incredibly awesome, glorified and eternal, one-flesh union with our Holy, Creator God.

And that is precisely what the highest form of the biblical term “to know” actually means.

Everything you always needed to know about Hell

Courtesy of Saint Thomas Aquinas, as explained by Msgr. Charles Pope

The teachings of the Lord on Hell are difficult, especially in today’s climate. The most difficult questions that arise relate to its eternal nature and how to square its existence with a God who is loving and rich in mercy.

1. Does God love the souls in Hell? Yes.

How could they continue to exist if He did not love them, sustain them, and continue to provide for them? God loves because He is love. Although we may fail to be able to experience or accept His love, God loves every being He has made, human or angelic.

The souls in Hell may have refused to empty their arms to receive His embrace, but God has not withdrawn His love for them. He permits those who have rejected Him to live apart from him. God honors their freedom to say no, even respecting it when it becomes permanent, as it has for fallen angels and the souls in Hell.

God is not tormenting the damned. The fire and other miseries are largely expressions of the sad condition of those who have rejected the one thing for which they were made: to be caught up into the love and perfection of God and the joy of all the saints.

2. Is there any good at all in Hell? Yes. Are all the damned punished equally? No.

More….

Today’s Question: God loves everyone, but within a time frame and within limits… Do you agree?

Today’s Question: God loves everyone, but within a time frame and within limits… Do you agree?

Answer: No. God’s love is truly infinite and inestimable. Only our perception of that divine love is limited; and that’s primarily due to our fallen human nature, which has been mortally wounded, by sin.

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

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.

Question of the day: If god loves us so much why does he go through all these games and shenanigans? Why did he send his son to jump through hoops and die?

Question: If god loves us so much why does he go through all these games and shenanigans? Why did he send his son to jump through hoops and die?

Answer: The Fall of Man unwittingly transferred dominion over the whole earth from Adam to Satan, with mankind ending up hopelessly and perpetually enslaved to Satan, sin and death.

So, mere forgiveness would have changed nothing.
The only hope for mankind
was divine intervention of a very particular type,
something only God was capable of accomplishing, for us.

Once redeemed from perpetual slavery to Satan, sin and death by Jesus Christ, it would be supremely foolish and wasteful for man to be voluntarily compromised by sin, once again. That’s why God holds us to high standards, yet mercifully forgives, so long as we remain faithful (to him) and are truly repentant.

God typically accomplishes this for us by means of his grace and through our full, faithful and consistent participation in all the work, worship, sacraments and devotions of his Holy Catholic Church.

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