A Saint defines what it means to be a true Catholic

“..he is the true and genuine Catholic who loves the truth of God, who loves the Church, who loves the Body of Christ, who esteems divine religion and the Catholic Faith above every thing, above the authority, above the regard, above the genius, above the eloquence, above the philosophy, of every man whatsoever; who set light by all of these, and continuing steadfast and established in the faith, resolves that he will believe that, and that only, which he is sure the Catholic Church has held universally and from ancient time;

but that whatsoever new and unheard-of doctrine he shall find to have been furtively introduced by some one or another, besides that of all, or contrary to that of all the saints, this, he will understand, does not pertain to religion, but is permitted as a trial, being instructed especially by the words of the blessed Apostle Paul, who writes thus in his first Epistle to the Corinthians,

‘There must needs be heresies, that they who are approved may be made manifest among you:’ as though he should say, This is the reason why the authors of Heresies are not forthwith rooted up by God, namely, that they who are approved may be made manifest; that is, that it maybe apparent of each individual, how tenacious and faithful and steadfast he is in his love of the Catholic faith”

Link

More from St. Vincent of Lerins

Stuff some Catholics may not know or remember (or prefer to ignore.)

Some Catholics don’t know everything, and if they did, they may have forgotten it.

Which is why we have a catechism to guide us, and explains why the Church instructs the faithful by way of encyclicals and Apostolic exhortations and such –  documents conveniently found online at the Vatican website BTW.

For instance, questions about what does the Church really say about same sex marriage can be answered with a Google search for Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith on same sex marriage… voila!  You have a clear, concise answer:

Homosexuality is a troubling moral and social phenomenon, even in those countries where it does not present significant legal issues. It gives rise to greater concern in those countries that have granted or intend to grant – legal recognition to homosexual unions, which may include the possibility of adopting children.

… and then:

Link to the Catechism

Hilaire Belloc on the Reformation

The movement generally called “The Reformation” deserves a place apart in the story of the great heresies; and that for the following reasons:

1. It was not a particular movement but a general one, i.e., it did not propound a particular heresy which could be debated and exploded, condemned by the authority of the Church, as had hitherto been every other heresy or heretical movement. Nor did it, after the various heretical propositions had been condemned, set up (as had Mohammedanism or the Albigensian movement) a separate religion over against the old orthodoxy. Rather did it create a certain separate moral atmosphere which we still call “Protestantism.” It produced indeed a crop of heresies, but not one heresy – and its characteristic was that all its heresies attained and prolonged a common savour: that which we call “Protestantism” today.

2. Though the immediate fruits of the Reformation decayed, as had those of many other heresies in the past, yet the disruption it had produced remained and the main principle reaction against a united spiritual authority – so continued in vigour as both to break up our European civilization in the West and to launch at last a general doubt, spreading more and more widely. None of the older heresies did that, for they were each definite. Each had proposed to supplant or to rival the existing Catholic Church; but the Reformation movement proposed rather to dissolve the Catholic Church – and we know what measure success has been attained by that effort!

The most important thing about the Reformation is to understand it. Not only to follow the story of it stage by stage – a process always necessary to the understanding of any historical matter – but to grasp its essential nature.

Read more

What do today’s Jews believe? It all depends …

The path to Orthodoxy is long and labyrinthine. Does G-d exist? Did He give the Torah? Did He also provide an oral tradition? Like many Jews rediscovering their heritage, I had to confront and resolve each of these challenges. Eventually, we pre-ba’alei tshuva arrive at the denominational crossroads. Convinced of the Torah’s Divine origin and aware that, to be decipherable, the Pentateuch must have been given with an oral explanation, I sought the Jewish movement in possession of that ancient Mesorah.

Read the article

Laziness of the soul is damaging the Church at some of the highest levels

Michael Voris at RealCatholicTV explains it in a short video presentation:

In the words of the renowned Catholic theologian,
Dietrich von Hildebrand, here’s the essential point:

….. One of the most horrifying and widespread diseases in the Church today is the lethargy of the guardians of the Faith of the Church. …

I am thinking [here] of the … numerous bishops … who make no use whatever of their authority when it comes to intervening against heretical theologians or priests, or against blasphemous performances of public worship. …

But it is most especially infuriating when certain bishops who themselves show this lethargy toward heretics, assume a rigorously authoritarian attitude towards those believers who are fighting for orthodoxy, and who are thus doing what the bishops ought to be doing themselves! …

The drivel of the heretics, both priests and laymen, is tolerated; the bishops tacitly acquiesce to the poisoning of the faithful.

But they want to silence the faithful believers who take up the cause of orthodoxy, the very people who should by all rights be the joy of the bishops’ hearts, their consolation, a source of strength for overcoming their own lethargy.

Instead, these people are regarded as disturbers of the peace.

The insult to God which is embodied in heresy is often not as tangible and irritating for them as a public act of rebellion against their authority.

Submitted by Doria2

My bishop is a liberal. Is that a problem?

Q: My bishop is a liberal. Is that a problem?

A: Other than the obvious political ramifications, which we won’t address here, the answer is, “YES!”

Here’s why:

Liberalism infects the Body of Christ just as an on-line virus infects a computer. Strange, unexpected and inexplicable events typically follow. Most of them bad.

Liberalism is a sign of religious anarchy. Jesus Christ rightly pointed out that no man can serve two masters. The leader of a particular church has a prior commitment to serve God by teaching, sanctifying and governing his people, according to the laws, teachings and Traditions of the Catholic Church.  A liberal mindset is the synthesis of many errors, most or all of them contrary to Church teachings. That means trouble!

Liberals tolerate almost anything (except for orthodoxy). This can make church unity very hard to achieve.

Liberalism is a sin. From a practical standpoint, the tenets of liberalism violate just about every commandment of God, resulting in a tyranny of personal conscience. This would tend to explain why many of the priestly abuse scandals occurred, and why they were so badly mishandled.

Liberalism is the antithesis of truth. Since God’s word is absolute truth, and the dogmas of the Catholic Church are infallible proclamations and explanations of that truth, you can see the obvious conflict here.

Liberalism accepts the false premise that there is one law of God, which applies to Catholics, and another law (not of God) which applies to non-Catholics and secular society, and that both are essentially equal. This gives power to enemies of the Church, and often results in the legalization of evils, like abortion.

Liberals prefer to act stealthily. They often resort to forms of double-talk, indistinct speech and writing, and they always try to avoid being “pinned-down” on any subject. Teaching and promoting the authentic Catholic faith under these constraints is difficult, if not impossible. Credibility and trust suffers. Confusion reigns. (Welcome to the 21st century Catholic Church!)

Liberals incorrectly believe that it is charitable to be non-critical and non-judgmental, even when it comes to essential matters of faith and morality. Calling evil, good and good, evil, in this way, permits scandal and immorality to go virtually unchecked.

Liberals generally fail to teach and promote the authentic Catholic faith. The reasons for this should be clear to all!