Mark, 13:12
And the brother shall betray his brother unto death, and the father his son; and children shall rise up against the parents, and shall work their death.
Luke 12:53
The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against his father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Matthew 25:31-46
31 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.
32 And
all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall
separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep
from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.
34 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.
When I returned from Europe to the States, one thing which struck me, which I had not noticed before, was the fact that so many Catholics were idolizing their families.
Their families were more important that the Catholic communities, than Catholic teaching, than Catholic culture and practice. Their families took them away from activities or socializing with Catholics who could help them be stronger and holier.
Finally, I saw wives giving in to the pagan practices of their families and husbands to theirs instead of listening to the holy spouse God had given them.
Why has this happened? Why the deceit that one can bring one's family to God? Why the compromising on such a large scale?
The Kingdom of God is the Church. And the Church Militant is made up of those who fight for the truth of the Catholic Faith.
We may not share this vision, this grace with our siblings, or even parents.
In fact, I see husbands giving in to wives who want to spend too much on luxury items, going out, and so on, when these men know God is calling the family to more prayer and simplicity.
I see wives giving in to husbands on the issue of contraception.
I see husbands not wanting to confront the occult or new age practices they see their wives are doing.
I see wives not speaking to their husbands about pornography.
Husbands and wives are to bring each other to heaven. That is the main reason God brought them together.
If a family gets in the way of that process on purpose, by the strength of old sins, such as involvement in the occult, Freemasonry, lax Catholicism, the wife or husband must step in and help the other one break away from lives of sin.
How this is done takes prayer, patience, tact, but always the truth.
I have written about podding and building community before the really hard times hit. Some people have written or phoned me to say that they want to do this, for their own sake, the sake of the children and the spouse, but the other half of the couple does not.
If it is the man who wants to do so, the Catholic woman owes him obedience. If it is the woman who wants to grow deeper in holiness, she must pray, but never sin.
Family idolatry is rife. Our families do not save us, God does. Many saints had holy parents, but some did not.
The day St. Damien of Molokai told his father he wanted to be a priest, his father grew angry and said "no". The next morning, the father told him to get into the farm cart, said nothing else, drove the young man to the seminary, and dropped him off. The father never spoke with the saint again.
In my own family, one member, a father, never spoke to his daughter after she entered the convent. Never.
We need to make choices daily. Some need to break away from consumerist, materialistic families. Some need to break away from negative families. Some need to break away from families involved in the occult, or power, or abuse.
I cannot save those in my family who have fallen away. Only God can. I love them and pray for them daily. But, no family member will take me away from the path of holiness.
Can you say the same? Are you caught up in family idolatry? Would you die for Christ when your family may decide not to do so?
Some times the sin of the family is pride.
Some times the sin of the family is pride.
We make choices daily, little choices, which lead to bigger ones.
Let me remind you of this from the Bible:
Thursday, 1 August 2013
The Mother of the Seven Brothers
The Feast of the Maccabean Martyrs. August 1st
In the Orthodox Church of Syria, as in our Catholic Church, the mother
of the seven martyred sons and her offspring are honoured as saints.
Their relics are in St. Andrew's in Cologne. I have come across
variations of the spelling of her name, but the most common among the
Syrian Churches, including the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is St.
Solomonia or Solomoni. Her body is apparently incorrupt, which would
deny the story that she was burned to death, but here is a photo of her
coffin. |
| Patriarchal Church of Saint George in Constantinople |
The names of the young men reveal several odd national names. These are Abim, Antonius, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonus, Alimus and Marcellus. according to Syrian tradition. See 2 Maccabees, Chapter 7
They were brutally, sadistically martyred in 166 BC. What I find fascinating is that several Doctors of the Church have sermons on these martyrs, but that they are virtually ignored today. St Cyprian of Carthage, St Ambrose of Milan, St Gregory Nazianzus and St John Chrysostom all spoke of them. All these facts are from the link under the coffin photo. However, when I was in Tyburn, I found another bit of writing about these martyrs with an older version of the name of the mother. When I find those notes, I shall share that name.
But, here, from the same site, is the complete sermon from St Cyprian, which I reproduce, as it is timely.
Saint Cyprian of Carthage: On Martyrdom and the Maccabees
That it was predicted before that
the world would hate us, and that it would stir up persecutions against
us, and that no new thing is happening to the Christians—for from the
beginning of the world the good have suffered, and the righteous have
been oppressed and slain by the unrighteous.
St. Cyprian of Carthage.The Lord
in the Gospel forewarns and foretells, saying: If the world hate you, ye
know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the
world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I
have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than
his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if
they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also (Jn. 15:18–20). And
again: The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he
doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they
have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you,
that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.
And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was
with you (Jn. 16:2–4). And again: Verily, verily, I say unto you, That
ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be
sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy (Jn. 16:20). And
again: These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have
peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I
have overcome the world (Jn. 16:33).
And
when His disciples questioned Him concerning the sign of His coming,
and the consummation of the world, He answered, saying: And Jesus
answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many
shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And
ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled:
for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For
nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there
shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up
to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all
nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall
betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets
shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end,
the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall
the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of
desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place,
(whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea
flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down
to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the
field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with
child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your
flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall
be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world
to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be
shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake
those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo,
here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders;
insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you,
Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret
chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east,
and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be
gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall
the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the
stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son
of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And
he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall
gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven
to the other. (Mt. 24:4–31). Thus, these things that are now happening
to Christians are not new or sudden; since the good and righteous, and
those who are devoted to God in the law of innocence and the fear of
true religion, advance always through afflictions, wrongs, the severe
and manifold penalties of troubles, and in the hardship of a narrow
path.
Thus, at the very beginning of
the world, righteous Abel was the first to be slain by his brother.
Jacob was driven into exile, Joseph was sold, and king Saul persecuted
the merciful David. King Ahab endeavored to oppress Elias, who firmly
and bravely asserted the majesty of God. Zacharias the priest was slain
between the temple and the altar, that he himself might become a
sacrifice there, where he was accustomed to offer sacrifices to God. So
many martyrdoms of the righteous have, in fact, often been celebrated;
so many examples of faith and virtue have been set forth to future
generations. The three youths, Ananias, Azarias, and Misäel, equal in
age, agreeing in love, steadfast in faith, constant in virtue, stronger
than the flames and penalties that urged them, proclaim that they only
obey God, that they know Him alone, that they worship Him alone, saying:
“O king Nebuchodonosor, there is no need for us to answer thee in this
matter. For the God whom we serve is able to deliver us out of the
furnace of burning fire; and He will deliver us from thy hands, O king.
And if not, be it known unto thee, that we do not serve thy gods, and we
do not adore the golden image which thou hast set up.”(Dan. 3:16–18).
And Daniel, devoted to God, and filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaims
and says: “I worship nothing but the Lord my God, who founded heaven and
the earth.” Tobias also, although under a royal and tyrannical slavery,
yet free in feeling and spirit, maintains his confession to God, and
sublimely announces both the divine power and majesty, saying: “In the
land of my captivity I confess to Him, and I show forth His power in a
sinful nation.” Tob. 13:6.
What, indeed, do we find in the
Maccabees of seven brethren, equals alike in their lot of birth and
virtues, filling up the number seven in the sacrament of a perfected
completion? Seven brethren were thus associated in martyrdom. As the
first seven days in the divine arrangement containing seven thousand
years,[1]as the seven spirits and seven angels which stand and go in and
out before the face of God, the seven-branched lamp in the tabernacle
of witness, the seven golden candlesticks in the Apocalypse, and the
seven columns in Solomon upon which Wisdom built her house—so here also
the number seven of the brethren, embracing, in the quantity of their
number, the seven churches, as likewise in the first book of Kings we
read that the barren hath borne seven. And in Isaiah, seven women lay
hold on one man, whose name they ask to be called upon them. And the
Apostle Paul, who refers to this lawful and certain number, writes to
the seven churches. And in the Apocalypse, the Lord directs His divine
and heavenly precepts to the seven churches and their angels, which
number is now found in this case, in the seven brethren, that a lawful
consummation may be completed. With the seven children is manifestly
associated also the mother, their origin and root, who subsequently
begat seven churches, she herself having been first, and alone founded
upon a rock. Nor is it of no account that in their sufferings the mother
alone is with her children. For martyrs who witness themselves as the
sons of God in suffering are now no more counted as of any father but
God, as in the Gospel the Lord teaches, saying, And call no man your
father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven (Mt.
23:9).
But what utterances of
confessions did they herald forth! How illustrious, how great proofs of
faith did they afford! The king Antiochus, their enemy—yea, in Antiochus
Antichrist was set forth—sought to pollute the mouths of martyrs,
glorious and unconquered in the spirit of confession, with the contagion
of swine’s flesh. When he had severely beaten them with whips and yet
could prevail nothing, he commanded iron plates to be heated, and when
the plates had been made to glow, he commanded him who had spoken first,
and who had most provoked the king by the constancy of his virtue and
faith, to be brought up and roasted, his tongue that had confessed God
having first been pulled out and cut off—this happened the more
gloriously to the martyr. For the tongue which had confessed the name of
God ought itself first to go to God. Then, sharper pains were devised
for the second—before he tortured the other limbs, he tore off his scalp
with the hair, doubtless with a purpose in his hatred. For since Christ
is the head of the man, and God is the head of Christ, he who tore the
head of the martyr was persecuting God and Christ in that head. But he,
trusting in his martyrdom, and promising to himself the reward of
resurrection from the retribution of God, exclaimed and said, “Thou
indeed impotently destroyest us out of this present life; but the King
of the world will raise us up, who die for His laws, unto the eternal
resurrection of life.” (2 Macc. 7:9 [Heb. 11:35.]) When the third was
challenged, he quickly put forth his tongue; for he had learned from his
brother to despise the punishment of cutting off the tongue. Moreover,
he firmly held forth his hands to be cut off, greatly happy about such a
mode of punishment, since it was his lot to imitate the form of his
Lord’s passion, by stretching forth his hands. And also the fourth, with
like virtue, despised the tortures and answered, to restrain the king,
with a heavenly voice exclaiming, said, “It is better that those who are
given to death by men should wait for hope from God, to be raised up by
Him again to eternal life. For to thee there shall be no resurrection
to life”(2 Macc. 7:14). The fifth, besides treading underfoot the
torments of the king, and his severe and various tortures, animated by
the strength of faith to prescience and knowledge of future events by
the Spirit of divinity, foretold the wrath of God to the king, and the
vengeance that should swiftly follow. “Having power,” said he, “among
men, though thou art corruptible, thou doest what thou wilt. But think
not that our race is forsaken of God. Abide, and see His great power,
how He will torment thee and thy seed.” (2 Macc. 7:16). What alleviation
that was to the martyr! How substantial a comfort it was in his
sufferings not to consider his own torments, but to predict the
penalties of his tormentor!
But in
the sixth, not his bravery only, but also his humility, is to be set
forth. The martyr claimed nothing to himself, nor even made an account
of the honor of his own confession with proud words, but rather ascribed
it to his sins that he was suffering persecution from the king, while
he attributed to God that afterwards he should be avenged. He taught
that martyrs are modest, that they were confident of vengeance, and
boasted nothing in their suffering. “Do not,” said he, “needlessly err;
for we on our own account suffer these things, as sinning against our
God. But think not thou that thou shalt be unpunished, who darest to
fight against God.” (2 Macc. 7:18). Also the admirable mother, who,
neither broken down by the weakness of her sex, nor moved by her
manifold bereavement, looked upon her dying children with cheerfulness,
and did not reckon those things to be punishments of her darlings, but
glories, giving as great a witness to God by the virtue of her eyes, as
her children had given by the tortures and suffering of their limbs;
when, after the punishment and slaying of six, there remained one of the
brethren, to whom the king promised riches, and power, and many things,
that his cruelty and ferocity might be soothed by the satisfaction of
even one being subdued. He asked the mother to entreat that her son
might be cast down with herself. She entreated, but as befitting a
mother of martyrs—as befitting one who was mindful of the law and of
God—as befitting one who loved her sons not delicately, but bravely. For
she entreated that he would confess God. She entreated that this one
would not be separated from his brothers in the alliance of praise and
glory—then only would she consider herself the mother of seven sons, if
she should bring forth seven sons not to the world, but to God.
 |
| Coptic Fragment of Maccabees |
Therefore arming him, and
strengthening him, and so bearing her son by a more blessed birth, she
said, “O son, pity me that bare thee ten[2] months in the womb, and gave
thee milk for three years, and nourished thee and brought thee up to
this age; I pray thee, O son, look upon heaven and the earth; and having
considered all the things which are in them, understand that out of
nothing God made these things and the human race. Therefore, O son, do
not fear that executioner; but being made worthy of thy brethren,
receive death, that in the same mercy I may receive thee with thy
brethren.” (2 Macc. 7:27). The mother’s praise was great in her
exhortation to virtue, but greater in the fear of God and in the truth
of faith, that she promised nothing to herself or her son from the honor
of the six martyrs, nor believed that the prayer of the brothers would
avail for the salvation of one who should deny, but rather persuaded him
to become a sharer in their suffering, that in the day of judgment he
might be found with his brethren. After this the mother also dies with
her children. There was nothing more befitting than that she who had
borne and made martyrs should be joined in the fellowship of glory with
them, and that she herself should follow those whom she had sent before
to God.
And lest any should embrace the
wicked part of deceivers when the opportunity either of a certificate or
of any such matter is offered to him whereby he may deceive, let us not
be silent also about Eleazar, who, when the ministers of the king
offered him an opportunity to pretend to receive the flesh which was
allowable for him to eat, in order to mislead the king [into thinking]
that he ate those things which were forced upon him from the sacrifices
and unlawful meats, would not consent to this deception, saying that it
was fitting neither for his age nor nobility to feign it, for others
would be scandalized and led into error. They might think that Eleazar,
being ninety years old, had left and betrayed the law of God, and had
gone over to the manner of aliens. It was not of so much consequence to
gain the short moments of life, and so incur eternal punishment from an
offended God. And having been long tortured, and finally reduced to
extremity, dying in the midst of stripes and tortures, he groaned and
said, “O Lord, that hast holy knowledge, it is manifest that although I
might be delivered from death, I suffer the severest pains of body,
being beaten with scourges; but with my mind, on account of Thy fear, I
willingly suffer these things.”(2 Macc. vi. 30). Surely his faith was
sincere, and his virtue sound and abundantly pure, not to have regarded
king Antiochus, but God to be Judge, and to have known that it could not
avail him for salvation if he should mock and deceive man when God, who
is the judge of our conscience and who only is to be feared, cannot at
all be mocked nor deceived.
If, therefore, we also live as
dedicated and devoted to God—if we make our way over the ancient and
sacred footsteps of the righteous, let us go through the same proofs of
sufferings, the same testimonies of passions, considering the glory of
our time the greater on this account, that while ancient examples may be
numbered, yet that subsequently, when the abundance of virtue and faith
was in excess, the Christian martyrs cannot be numbered, as the
Apocalypse testifies and says: After this I beheld, and, lo, a great
multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and
people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb,
clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a
loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and
about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on
their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and
wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our
God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto
me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came
they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These
are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their
robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they
before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and
he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them (Rev. 7:9–15). But
if the assembly of the Christian martyrs is shown and proved to be so
great, let no one think it a hard or a difficult thing to become a
martyr, when he sees that the crowd of martyrs cannot be numbered.
I have other posts on the Maccabees.
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Happy Chanukah, Augustine, Cologne and West Point
Happy Chanukah to my Jewish friends. We Catholics love the Maccabees as symbols of the Church Militant. They are saints and martyrs, honoured in the calendar.
In the Church of St. Andreas in Cologne, there are stained glass windows of these men. Sadly, most of the photos cannot be reproduced here, so look these up.
Perhaps someone can tell me if the statue of Judah Maccabees is still at West Point. We have, in the States, moved so far away from our Judeo-Christian roots.
Here is a commentary and a quotation from St. Augustine on the Feast of the Maccabees, August
1st, Sermon 300. (Other Fathers of the Church commented on the Maccabean martyrs as well).
Let
no one think that before there was a Christian people, there was no
people of God. There was not at that time of the Old Dispensation, the
usage of the Christian name. Nevertheless, the Christian people existed
at that time (christianus etiam ille tunc populus fuit)...These
Christian peoples were born of Abraham. When you admire the Maccabbean
martyrs, do not think that they were not Christian martyrs (ne...illos
martyres..putetis non fuisse christianos) They were Christians
(christiani fuerunt), but the name of "Christian" was divulged only
later, while the deeds proper to Christians anteceded the name.
http://www1.villanova.edu/content/villanova/mission/augustinianinstitute/lectures/staugustine/_jcr_content/widgetiparsys/download_7/file.res/as_1988.pdf
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.ie/2013/07/what-some-catholics-do-not-understand.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.ie/2012/12/happy-chanukah-augustine-cologne-and.html
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
What Some Catholics Do Not Understand-The Reason for Persecution
Many younger Catholics understand we are headed for real persecution. Those who do not can read my previous posts on the stages of such persecution. We are in the beginning of the last stage.
But, many Catholics think that persecution is for punishing the wicked. Not so. Look at the quotation above from Maccabees. Persecution is for the good of the Church. For our good, individually and collectively.
No one who is honest can deny that evils entered the Church in the past sixty years or so. People, including leaders, became complacent, and worse, seriously full of sin. The case of contraception is merely one part of the evil-even today. There are many priests, and even bishops in England, who do not teach that Humanae Vitae is an infallible document.
And, in America, some seminaries are still, in 2013, accepting homosexuals as future priests and have homosexuals on the staff. Also, the laity do not correct one another and ignore sin, which is not only hypocritical, as not abiding by one's baptismal promises, but encouraging evil. Many Catholics are not obedient, and get involve in New Age practices and false private revelations, all which are disobedient actions and are sinful. Many Catholics are not orthodox. This is unfaithfulness. This is sin.
So, the Church must be purified. The lavendar mafia is only one aspect. The sins against children are only one aspect. The tacit agreement and support of abortion by Catholics who vote for pro-abortion politicians is only one aspect.
The blasphemies against God and the sacrilegious reception of Holy Communion as well as abuses in the Liturgy add to the list.
As seen in Maccabees, God is faithful and will not let His People go to hell. He wants the salvation of those in His Church as well as outside the Church.
Persecution is for us, folks. If you cannot see this, you are ignoring the evil which is in the Church. The Maccabees started with themselves, fasting, praying, fighting and witnessed great miracles.
We cannot expect miracles unless we pursue purity of heart. Pray, fast, reflect, think, act.
