Living Among The Unbaptized

Over thirty "Protestant" denominations do not baptize or do not baptize in the only true form, that of the Trinity-"I baptize you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

Baptism in the Name of Jesus is not valid, nor accepted in the Catholic Church as baptism.

Some denominations merely "dedicate" their children, babies to Christ and expect the adult to decide whether to be baptized or not.

Now, there is a generation (or two) of adults who have never been baptized. Recently, in southern Illinois, this was brought to my attention by a few discussions with three people, one who calls himself a "Bible Christian" and one who was baptized in a New Age Christian "church". The other person did not say whether she was baptized or not.

To live among people who are not baptized presents a new dimension of spiritual warfare to the Catholic. If people are baptized, they are adopted sons and daughters of God, heirs of heaven, and given the theological graces of faith, hope and charity.

If a person is not baptized, according to the teaching of the Church, that person is a "slave to sin". Trent is clear on baptism. http://www.thecounciloftrent.com/ch7.htm

ON BAPTISM

CANON I.-If any one saith, that the baptism of John had the same force as the baptism of Christ; let him be anathema.CANON II.-If any one saith, that true and natural water is not of necessity for baptism, and, on that account, wrests, to some sort of metaphor, those words of our Lord Jesus Christ; Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost; let him be anathema.
CANON III.-If any one saith, that in the Roman church, which is the mother and mistress of all churches, there is not the true doctrine concerning the sacrament of baptism; let him be anathema.
CANON IV.-If any one saith, that the baptism which is even given by heretics in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the Church doth, is not true baptism; let him be anathema.
CANON V.-If any one saith, that baptism is free, that is, not necessary unto salvation; let him be anathema.
CANON VI.-If any one saith, that one who has been baptized cannot, even if he would, lose grace, let him sin ever so much, unless he will not believe; let him be anathema.
CANON VII.-If any one saith, that the baptized are, by baptism itself, made debtors but to faith alone, and not to the observance of the whole law of Christ; let him be anathema.
CANON VIII.-If any one saith, that the baptized are freed from all the precepts, whether written or transmitted, of holy Church, in such wise that they are not bound to observe them, unless they have chosen of their own accord to submit themselves thereunto; let him be anathema.
CANON IX.-If any one saith, that the resemblance of the baptism which they have received is so to be recalled unto men, as that they are to understand, that all vows made after baptism are void, in virtue of the promise already made in that baptism; as if, by those vows, they both derogated from that faith which they have professed, and from that baptism itself; let him be anathema.
CANON X.-If any one saith, that by the sole remembrance and the faith of the baptism which has been received, all sins committed after baptism are either remitted, or made venial; let him be anathema.
CANON XI.-If any one saith, that baptism, which was true and rightly conferred, is to be repeated, for him who has denied the faith of Christ amongst Infidels, when he is converted unto penitence; let him be anathema.
CANON XII.-If any one saith, that no one is to be baptized save at that age at which Christ was baptized, or in the very article of death; let him be anathema.
CANON XIII.-If any one saith, that little children, for that they have not actual faith, are not, after having received baptism, to be reckoned amongst the faithful; and that, for this cause, they are to be rebaptized when they have attained to years of discretion; or, that it is better that the baptism of such be omitted, than that, while not believing by their own act, they should be bapized in the faith alone of the Church; let him be anathema.
CANON XIV.-If any one saith, that those who have been thus baptized when children, are, when they have grown up, to be asked whether they will ratify what their sponsors promised in their names when they were baptized; and that, in case they answer that they will not, they are to be left to their own will; and are not to be compelled meanwhile to a Christian life by any other penalty, save that they be excluded from the participation of the Eucharist, and of the other sacraments, until they repent; let him be anathema.

There is a demonic twitter trending today, in which teens are calling up a demon. Those who do this and are Catholic fall into mortal sin. Those who are not baptized have no way to defend themselves from either possession, obsession, or oppression. They have no "armour".

Sadly, we are now living among the unbaptized, who do not have, usually, sanctifying grace, and who cannot defend themselves against the powers of the devil. These people have no illumination of the mind, no virtues to strengthen the will, no grace to help them choose good over evil. We can do nothing without grace, and natural virtues do not get us to heaven.

If you have children, find out those in their play groups or school groups who are not baptized and speak with the children about this new problem in our culture. One cannot expect an unbaptized person to act, think, respond the same way as someone who is baptized.

Can God give sanctifying grace to anyone without baptism? Yes, of course. But, the ordinary way into the life of God's own life, which is what grace is, still remains the sacrament of baptism.

We must evangelize the neo-pagans. Their salvation and the salvation of those around them demand this. Our own baptismal promises demand this.

Matthew 28:19New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

On Gifts Three, with a bit of humor...

My images for the understanding of gifts are four saints. Bear with me as I examine their lives to show the difference in "gifting".

The first is Blessed Margaret of Castello, probably the ugliest, and most unlikely of women ever to be called blessed.

This woman was born a dwarf, blind, deformed, hunchbacked and lame. Her "noble" parents disowned her to the point of abandoning her in a church when God did not answer their prayers for a healing. Before that, she had been virtually imprisoned and kept out of sight. She was, therefore, psychologically abused.

But, Margaret was given the gifts of heroic charity, forgiving her horrid parents, and remaining cheerful. She was also given a great intellect, plus infused knowledge, and could even tutor children and teach adults, despite her great infirmities. She could discern demons, and healed those who were sick.

She was homeless, and had to be passed from house to house in the community which finally adopted her. She was never bitter. Her beauty was interior, and God gave her the gift of dying at the age Jesus did, plus being an incorruptible, just to prove to us that God's chosen ones are His choice, not ours.

She would have not been able to take a gifting course as she was too poor to pay the fees, blind, and deaf.

The second is one of my personal patrons, St. Joseph Cupertino. Born into poverty with a harsh mother and an alcoholic father, he was "retarded" or what we call today, "mentally challenged". Yet, God gave him extraordinary gifts of knowledge and wisdom, as well as visions. His love for Mary is well-known. His amazing gifts included levitation. His gifts were highly personal, but also for the upbuilding of his own community.

St. Joseph Cupertino would not have been able to take the "gifted and talented" courses, as his intellect was too low.

The third is my favorite saint of all men, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, one of the most talented and charismatically gifted men to ever walk this earth. Not only was he handsome, but he was noble, highly intelligent, a real intellectual with great gifts of meditation, contemplation, counsel, writing, preaching, and leadership. He is rare among saints for the number and quality of his gifts. His love for his monks shines through his works. His love for Mary is found in his prayers and meditations. His great love for Christ, as seen in his sermons on the Song of Songs, cannot be matched among male saints,except for the assumption of the love of SS. John the Baptist and Joseph.

He would have refused the gift courses, exorcised the presenters, then given them all a course on humility.

The fourth is Mary of Egypt, a prostitute and most likely a nymphomaniac from the age of twelve, who underwent a complete conversion at the age of seventeen. She was told by God to cross the Jordan after going to confession and the Eucharist, living a life of complete denial of self in the desert. St. Zosima was led to her and gave her Communion the day of the night she died, coming back to bury her with the help of a lion.

She would have been refused the gifting course, for sure, as she would have smelled bad, been stark naked, and refused to leave the desert.

Gifting and talented classes are part a narcissistic trend in middle-class spirituality. I hope these courses fade away and people return to common sense and humility. Once one is praying and reflecting, living in grace, God reveals His gifts. Hopefully before one is an adult, one has a sense of one's talents as well as one's gifts. One does not have to pay for such knowledge. For those who pray, God gives self-knowledge.

On Gifts Two

So, how to we come to know what our gifts are without paying for weeks of intense self-centeredness?

1. The first route to knowing one's gifts in a Catholic context would be the discernment God gives every parent. Parents know from the moment of a child's birth something of the character and natural gifts of that child. God gives much information about children to praying and reflective parents. Parents who seem estranged from their children or who claim they do not understand a child's gifts are not listening to God in the daily event of domestic life.  The character and gifts of a child blossom early in good, nurturing homes. The sacraments inform the natural gifts and give additional supernatural ones, the next point.

2.Gifts of the theological virtues are given at baptism as well as helps to develop the cardinal virtues. Gifts of the Holy Spirit are given at confirmation and a good parent helps form these gifts into lasting character traits, as well as even strong charisms for a certain vocation.

3.Simplicity teaches us what our gifts actually are. Here is Garrigou-Lagrange, again, as I have posted this before, on simplicity.

The souls of such men as St. Joseph, St. John, St. Francis, St. Dominic, the Cure of Ars give us some idea of this simplicity of God; but still more the soul of Mary, and especially the holy soul of Jesus, who said: "If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be lightsome." That is, if your soul is simple in its outlook, it will be in all things enlightened, steadfast, loyal, sincere, and free from all duplicity." Be ye wise as serpents [so as not to be seduced by the world], and simple as doves, " so as to remain always in God's truth." I confess to Thee, O Father,... because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones." "Let your speech be yea, yea: no, no" (Matt. 10: 16; 11: 25; 5: 37)

It is a great gift not ever to fall into mortal sin, as simplicity comes to the pure in heart.

In the Old Testament we read: "Seek the Lord in simplicity of heart" (Wis. 1: 1) ; "Better is the poor man that walketh in his simplicity, than a rich man that is perverse in his lips and unwise" (Prov. 19:1). "Let us all die in our innocency," cried the Maccabees amid the injustices that oppressed them (I Mach. 2:37). "Obey... in simplicity of heart," said St. Paul (Col. 3: 22) ; and he admonishes the Corinthians not to lose "the simplicity that is in Christ" (II Cor. 11: 3).

This simplicity, says Bossuet, enables an introverted soul to comprehend even the heights of God, the ways of Providence, the unfathomable mysteries which to a complex soul are a scandal, the mysteries of infinite justice and mercy, and the supreme liberty of the divine good pleasure. All these mysteries, in spite of their transcendence and obscurity, are simple for those of simple vision.

The reason is that, in divine matters, the simplest things, such as the Our Father, are also the most profound. On the other hand, in the things of this world, containing both good and evil closely intermingled and thereby exceedingly complex, anybody who is simple is lacking in penetration and will remain naive, unsuspecting, and shallow. In the things of God simplicity is combined with depth and loftiness; for the sublimest of divine things as also the deepest things of our heart, are simplicity itself.

4. Teachers, working with parents, have a duty to find out the external and even the internal gifts of a child. How many times have I sensed as a Catholic teacher, a vocation, and encouraged the young person to follow this to conclusion?

5. Leadership training is not the same as knowing or acknowledging gifts, as leadership qualities are encouraged after a person is seen as having such gifts. But, natural gifts should impinge on supernatural gifts.

6. Most people who are praying and reflective have a sense of their gifts. The most obvious way is to see what interests a person. Does someone love pencils, papers, computers, words, reading, researching? Most likely that person has a gift of writing and perhaps, teaching. Does someone love baking, being in the kitchen, reading about recipes, sharing baked goods? Most likely that person has the gift of baking and hospitality, even motherhood. Does a little boy want to read about martyrs, and dress up like them on All Saints, and follow the Church calendar of saints? Most likely that child will be a martyr or be involved in a servant-type of vocation.  Does a little girl love her baby brothers and sisters to the point of loving to care for them, even in the hard work? She may be called to motherhood. Or she may have a vocation to be a sister, as she loves to serve.

7. Not everyone has charismatic gifts as some charismatics believe. There are few prophets and fewer interpreters of tongues. The list of gifts in St. Paul mix both charisms and more ordinary, natural gifts which can be supernaturalized by God. Sometimes a person obviously has a charism, such as a woman who has a stutter can sing in the choir without halting, clearly an intervention from God.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
8. Notice that St. Paul refers to services as well as gifts. To pretend that a service is a charismatic gift confuses the levels of gifts. Remember, the Church is not a democracy, and people do not have to "feel equal" about gifts or services. One of the greatest deceits of the gifting courses is to level out gifts, instead of teaching humility.



9. The gifts received in confirmation are for all the confirmed, not merely for some. These gifts PERFECT the virtues given at baptism. They are: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord. We all have these, all who are confirmed in the Catholic Church.

10. Some gifts are for the Church and some are for growing in personal holiness, but there can be overlaps, which I can cover later today. Not all have the same gifts, and some gifts are less obvious than others.

Baptismal Graces

The graces given to us at baptism give Catholics tremendous power to deal with spiritual problems.

As the CCC notes, baptism is the gateway to the other sacraments and gives enlightenment to the soul, as well as freeing the soul from Original Sin.

That first grace, of the forgiveness of all sins and Original Sin, opens the soul to receive the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity which are "infused in the soul", sanctifying grace and the moral virtues, which develop with grace, practice and education.

Baptism informs all these virtues because the person is renewed in sanctifying grace. Grace purifies the natural virtues. Without grace, these virtues either remain stilted or disappear because of the practice of habitual vice. Sin blocks virtue. Sin is an abuse of free will.

Without baptism, the natural virtues, or the cardinal virtues, cannot be "supernatualized".
Confirmation literally "confirms" the graces of baptism.  We get an indelible mark in baptism, and, as noted in the Council of Trent an indelible mark, which enables the person to publicly live his faith.

The other graces we receive in baptism, confirmed in confirmation, involve a power over the spirits of darkness. Those who are in sanctifying grace have the ability to free themselves from most obsessions and oppressions. Even family vices can be dealt with by the person who is living out his baptismal graces.

Humility, or docility to God's Will allows a person to grow quickly in the graces of baptism. But, as the Church is not a democracy and God gives graces according to His Divine Providence, there is a difference in the accidental graces of baptism.

Here is Thomas Aquinas on the subject:

The effect of Baptism is twofold, the essential effect, and the accidental. The essential effect of Baptism is that for which Baptism was instituted, namely, the begetting of men unto spiritual life. Therefore, since all children are equally disposed to Baptism, because they are baptized not in their own faith, but in that of the Church, they all receive an equal effect in Baptism. Whereas adults, who approach Baptism in their own faith, are not equally disposed to Baptism; for some approach thereto with greater, some with less, devotion. And therefore some receive a greater, some a smaller share of the grace of newness; just as from the same fire, he receives more heat who approaches nearest to it, although the fire, as far as it is concerned, sends forth its heat equally to all.
But the accidental effect of Baptism, is that to which Baptism is not ordained, but which the Divine power produces miraculously in Baptism: thus on Romans 6:6, "that we may serve sin no longer," a gloss says: "this is not bestowed in Baptism, save by an ineffable miracle of the Creator, so that the law of sin, which is in our members, be absolutely destroyed." And such like effects are not equally received by all the baptized, even if they approach with equal devotion: but they are bestowed according to the ordering of Divine providence. (I left the links on).

Therefore, saints are not "equal".  Each person is called to holiness according to God's Plan.

St. Catherine of Siena is not the same type of saint as St. Faustina. St. Bernard of Clairvaux cannot be compared to St. Benedict Labre, whose feast day is today, and so on.

The grace of martyrdom is different than the grace of being an abbot, or bishop, or pope. These are not merely "jobs" but vocations accompanied by certain graces.

Those who are not baptized do not have these many graces. Of course, God can give His graces to whom He desires, but baptism is the normal way for a person to be saved and given the means of salvation.

Trent clarifies the role of the sacraments. A few statements...

CANON IV.-If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary unto salvation, but superfluous; and that, without them, or without the desire thereof, men obtain of God, through faith alone, the grace of justification;-though all (the sacraments) are not indeed necessary for every individual; let him be anathema.

CANON VI.-If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law do not contain the grace which they signify; or, that they do not confer that grace on those who do not place an obstacle thereunto; as though they were merely outward signs of grace or justice received through faith, and certain marks of the Christian profession, whereby believers are distinguished amongst men from unbelievers; let him be anathema.

CANON IX.-If any one saith, that, in the three sacraments, Baptism, to wit, Confirmation, and Order, there is not imprinted in the soul a character, that is, a certain spiritual and indelible Sign, on account of which they cannot be repeated; let him be anathema.

CANON V.-If any one saith, that baptism is free, that is, not necessary unto salvation; let him be anathema.

CANON VI.-If any one saith, that one who has been baptized cannot, even if he would, lose grace, let him sin ever so much, unless he will not believe; let him be anathema.

CANON VII.-If any one saith, that the baptized are, by baptism itself, made debtors but to faith alone, and not to the observance of the whole law of Christ; let him be anathema.

CANON XIII.-If any one saith, that little children, for that they have not actual faith, are not, after having received baptism, to be reckoned amongst the faithful; and that, for this cause, they are to be rebaptized when they have attained to years of discretion; or, that it is better that the baptism of such be omitted, than that, while not believing by their own act, they should be baptized in the faith alone of the Church; let him be anathema.

to be continued...

Revealing the Sins of the Apostles

Mark 16:9-15Douay-Rheims 

9 But he rising early the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalen, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

10 She went and told them that had been with him, who were mourning and weeping.

11 And they hearing that he was alive, and had been seen by her, did not believe.

12 And after that he appeared in another shape to two of them walking, as they were going into the country.

13 And they going, told it to the rest: neither did they believe them.

14 At length he appeared to the eleven as they were at table: and he upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe them who had seen him after he was risen again.

15 And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Today, Christ upbraids the apostles for two sins-yes, sins. 

The context is that the Eleven refused to believe both Mary Magdalen and the two disciples who met Jesus on the way to Emmaus.  

The two sins for which Christ suffered on the Cross and to which He reprimands them in this Gospel are obstinacy and the unwillingness to believe.

These two sins involve acts of the will. Obstinacy may be called in our culture "pig-headedness" or "rigidity".  This sin comes from two big sins--inordinate self-love, or selfishness, and rebellion.

The sin of rebellion was THE sin of the Jews in the Old Testament. Innumerable times do we see the prophets reprimanding the people for rebellion, for hardness of heart.

Pig-headedness just means that a person wants what they want when they want it and too bad, so sad for the consequences. Basically, this sin is one of pride, as well as the primal sin of rebellion.

The unwillingness to believe, incredulity, indicates a turning away from grace. In other words, the apostles turned away from the truth of the appearances of Christ to their own comfort zones of unbelief.

They were still acting like Old Testament Jews, instead of New Testament Christians. They had to repent, and Christ, the Son of God, severely rebuked them-the meaning of the word upbraided, or reprimanded.

No small thing to be severely rebuked by the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity-Christ, God and Man...Maybe if they listened to Him, believed in His Resurrection, the apostles would have to change their lifestyles. Big time decisions can be put off by rebellion.

We all can fall back into old patterns of sin. This is the reason for seeking out, begging God for purgation. Purification is the only way to stop the habits of sin.

In today's Epistle, we see brave and true apostles, but this is after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit gave them the very virtues we have to go out and preach the Gospel.

Fortitude, temperance, prudence, justice--the cardinal virtues, faith, hope, love-the theological virtues, and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit....wisdom connected to prudence, perfecting love, understanding connected to justice and perfects hope, knowledge connected to prudence and perfects love, counsel connected to prudence and perfects it, fortitude adding to the virtue of fortitude--as we need more courage and the insights of this most important virtue, piety connected to temperance and justice, and fear of the Lord., also informing, connected to temperance. This information is all found in the teachings of Aquinas and commentators on the virtues throughout the history of the Church, including the catechisms. 

The gifts perfect the cardinal and theological virtues. See my other posts on these.

We have these and it is only sin which prevents us from proclaiming the Gospel to the world, as commanded (not suggested) by God.

Let God cleanse you, bringing you to purity of heart so that these virtues and gifts may be manifested in the world. More now than ever does the world need holiness...

Thoughts on Baptism

I have been musing on the difference between the difference between the old rite and the new rite of baptism. I have been wondering if some people notice a difference in children in their families of those actually baptism in the old rite and those in the new.

I had my son baptized in the old rite in 1988, with permission of course. The reason I wanted this, besides the fact that we were Latin Mass Catholics, was that this rite contains the exorcism. The new one does not.

I want parents to think about this--whether they notice a difference in their own families between those who have been baptized in the old rite and those in the new.

Obviously, I have not hard data, but my questions would center around children who have fallen away and children who have not.

When exactly the new rite started, I do not know. But, I encourage new Catholic parents to use the Old Rite. One can ask permission for this, and I never know this has been refused.

I remind families of this fact on this meme.

Jesus and the Fish

Fish stories come to my mind today, because in the Gospel for the Thursday After Easter, one sees Christ helping the apostles come to terms with His Risen Body by eating "grilled fish". 

By this small act, Christ reveals His Risen Body, as not merely that of a spirit, but of flesh renewed. The multiplication of the loaves and fishes will not be discussed in this post.





from Luke 24:

33 And rising up, the same hour, they went back to Jerusalem: and they found the eleven gathered together, and those that were staying with them,

34 Saying: The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.

35 And they told what things were done in the way; and how they knew him in the breaking of the bread.

36 Now whilst they were speaking these things, Jesus stood in the midst of them, and saith to them: Peace be to you; it is I, fear not.

37 But they being troubled and frightened, supposed that they saw a spirit.

38 And he said to them: Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?

39 See my hands and feet, that it is I myself; handle, and see: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me to have.

40 And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and feet.

41 But while they yet believed not, and wondered for joy, he said: Have you any thing to eat?

42 And they offered him a piece of a broiled fish, and a honeycomb.

43 And when he had eaten before them, taking the remains, he gave to them.

Christ shows the apostles, and us, that the risen body of those in glory at the end of time will be a real body and not merely an image of the person in a "ghostly form".

Something new is being revealed which only Christ could reveal. In the Old Testament, and in the New, we see people being raised from the dead, such as Lazarus of Bethany, the Daughter of Jairus, and the Son of the Widow of Nain. In the Old Testament, Elijah raised the son of the widow of Zarephath, which was an old town very near Nain. In fact, Jesus's raising of the son of the widow would have brought to mind Elijah's miracle to the faithful Jews, who knew their Scripture.

But, the bodies of these people were not "glorified". Christ is the First Person on earth to be resurrected in the form in which all at the Second Coming who go to heaven will experience. Those who will go to hell have their bodies, but not in "glory", of course.

Another fish story comes to my mind, but in this Old Testament story, highlighted many times on this blog, that of Tobit and Raphael,  wherein a fish is caught and used to repel a demon.

Raphael eats in front of Tobit and others, but when he reveals himself, not as a second-cousin once removed, but as the great Archangel of Healing, he states this:

from Tobit 12:

5 So the father and the son, calling him, took him aside: and began to desire him that he would vouchsafe to accept of half of all things that they had brought.

6 Then he said to them secretly: Bless ye the God of heaven, give glory to him in the sight of all that live, because he hath shewn his mercy to you.

7 For it is good to hide the secret of a king: but honourable to reveal and confess the works of God.

8 Prayer is good with fasting and alms more than to lay up treasures of gold:

9 For alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting.

10 But they that commit sin and iniquity, are enemies to their own soul.

11 I discover then the truth unto you, and I will not hide the secret from you.

12 When thou didst pray with tears, and didst bury the dead, and didst leave thy dinner, and hide the dead by day in thy house, and bury them by night, I offered thy prayer to the Lord.

13 And because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee.

14 And now the Lord hath sent me to heal thee, and to deliver Sara thy son's wife from the devil.

15 For I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord.

16 And when they had heard these things, they were troubled, and being seized with fear they fell upon the ground on their face.

17 And the angel said to them: Peace be to you, fear not.

18 For when I was with you, I was there by the will of God: bless ye him, and sing praises to him.

19 I seemed indeed to eat and to drink with you: but I use an invisible meat and drink, which cannot be seen by men.

20 It is time therefore that I return to him that sent me: but bless ye God, and publish all his wonderful works.

21 And when he had said these things, he was taken from their sight, and they could see him no more.

22 Then they lying prostrate for three hours upon their face, blessed God: and rising up, they told all his wonderful works.

Raphael, as a spirit, an angel, cannot really eat. But, God allowed him to work with humans in a form which they would accept and understand. Christ's Risen and Glorified Body is not that of an angel, but a man.

Another fish story comes to mind from the Gospel of John 21: 

1 After this, Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And he shewed himself after this manner.

2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathanael, who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.

3 Simon Peter saith to them: I go a fishing. They say to him: We also come with thee. And they went forth, and entered into the ship: and that night they caught nothing.

4 But when the morning was come, Jesus stood on the shore: yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.

5 Jesus therefore said to them: Children, have you any meat? They answered him: No.

6 He saith to them: Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore; and now they were not able to draw it, for the multitude of fishes.

7 That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved, said to Peter: It is the Lord. Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord, girt his coat about him, (for he was naked,) and cast himself into the sea.

8 But the other disciples came in the ship, (for they were not far from the land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.

9 As soon then as they came to land, they saw hot coals lying, and a fish laid thereon, and bread.

10 Jesus saith to them: Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught.

11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three. And although there were so many, the net was not broken.

12 Jesus saith to them: Come, and dine. And none of them who were at meat, durst ask him: Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.

13 And Jesus cometh and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish in like manner.
14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples, after he was risen from the dead.

Yesterday, we heard the Gospel on the disciples meeting Christ on the way to Emmaus and eating with Him.

All these passages may be seen in reference to Christ's Body being Present in the Eucharist, which the Doctors of the Church point out to us. But, Christ is also revealing to us that humans have a body and a soul, and being totally Human, Christ in His Resurrected Body eats. 

We cannot understand the new bodies which those who are faithful will receive on the Day of the Lord, the day of the Final Judgment, but Christ is trying to show us the reality of the resurrection from the dead for all who believe and are saved.

Perhaps today would be a good day to re-read the Baptismal Rite of the Church, in order to understand more the fact that we are, body and soul, destined for heaven, if we conform our wills to Christ's Will.

One may find the Sancta Missa, old version, here. http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/09-baptism-of-children.html

apologies for the spacing today--there is a gremlin in the google works..

Baptism, still again and again...

Speaking with a "low-church Protestant", who belongs to a congregation which does not believe in infant baptism, I could not convince him of the efficacy of grace nor the fact that we do not need to understand the complexities of sacramental theology in order to receive grace.

The parents in his denomination "dedicate" their children to God when these children are babies, but they do not baptize them.

So, the children have no infused virtues, no sanctifying grace, are thralls of sin and slaves of Satan, living in darkness, and not members of the Church, which all people are who are baptized.

Baptism is, also, obligatory, according to the words of Christ Himself, not an option put off until adolescence or adulthood, for membership of the Church.

If these good Protestants actually studied the Early Church Fathers, the Doctors of the Church, they would see a long line of references to infant baptism. In fact, it is a heresy to deny baptism to babies, as noted in the Council of Mileum I and one is excommunicated if one holds this belief. One may find more references here.

Sadly, too many Catholics are delaying baptism and are in great error.

"...says that infants fresh from their mothers’ wombs ought not to be baptized, or say that they are indeed baptized unto the remission of sins, but that they draw nothing of the original sin of Adam, which is expiated in the bath of regeneration . . . let him be anathema. Since what the Apostle says, ‘Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so passed to all men, in whom all have sinned’ [Rom. 5:12], must not be understood otherwise than the Catholic Church spread everywhere has always understood it. For on account of this rule of faith even infants, who in themselves thus far have not been able to commit any sin, are therefore truly baptized unto the remission of sins, so that that which they have contracted from generation may be cleansed in them by regeneration" (Canon 3 written in 416). 

All sin is remitted, all punishment due to sin is remitted, one becomes an adopted son or daughter of God the Father, and one is given great graces, as well as the virtues.

Such luminaries as Irenaeus, Augustine, Gregory Nazaranzus, Cyril of Alexandria, and John Chrystostom refer to infant baptism, among others. Here is only one quotation from St. Irenaeus from the Second Century of the Church.

"He [Jesus] came to save all through himself; all, I say, who through him are reborn in God: infants, and children, and youths, and old men. Therefore he passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, sanctifying infants; a child for children, sanctifying those who are of that age . . . [so that] he might be the perfect teacher in all things, perfect not only in respect to the setting forth of truth, perfect also in respect to relative age" (Against Heresies 2:22:4 written in 189). 

Children are not born innocent of sin, as they all have inherited Original Sin. To try and explain this to some Protestants seems very difficult.

They do not understand that baptism "marks" the soul, giving a character which those who are not baptized do not have. One is joined with Christ in baptism, and one will, if one stays in grace and does not commit mortal sin, (without confession), go to heaven "seeing", being with the Beatific Vision.

One of the greatest problems now in Western culture are the number of unbaptized people, adults as well as children, who are not living in grace, who have not received the virtues, and who are prey to Satan, as they have no spiritual protection.

A priest mentioned this in a talk I heard recently. Parents who are baptized and do not have their children baptized have not taken their children into light, and those children, still in darkness, have no recourse against all the great evils of the world.

more posts below on baptism

Etheldredasplace: On Baptism, Again

12 Dec 2014

Whenever I teach anything, I include Baptism, and Catholics are always shocked. I start the retreats I facilitate with a catechesis about Baptism and renewal of Baptismal promises, and an act of belief/acceptance/trust in the ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Review, reposts, revisiting baptism

06 Mar 2015

Review, reposts, revisiting baptism. Posted by Supertradmum. Here....http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/ · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest. Labels: baptism, magical thinking ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: On The Extraordinary Form of Baptism

22 Sep 2014

The newer rite tends to emphasize becoming a part in the body of Christ, which is fine and good, but it is at the expense of the reality that baptism is our rebirth in water and spirit which is necessary as the Gospels tell us.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: On Baptism again and again and again.....

06 May 2012

Pelagius supposedly said, and his ideas were condemned soundly at the Council of Carthage in 418, that humans could merit heaven and gain salvation without baptism. His emphasis was on human will power choosing ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Good answer to a question on the baptism of a child of ...

11 Apr 2013

Good answer to a question on the baptism of a child of lesbian parents.... Posted by Supertradmum · http://relevantradio.com/dailyquestions/some-friends-of-mine ... Labels: baptism, same sex marriage debate ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Feast of the Holy Innocents

28 Dec 2012

1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua),4 and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Again and again on magical thinking with scary results...

02 Jun 2013

Magical thinking is indicated by people who think that baptism of infants whose parents are either atheists, (a priest told me today that many priest baptize infants of practicing atheists and a priest in Walsingham a few years ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

If I only had time to teach one thing for the rest of my life....

16 Nov 2014

The newer rite tends to emphasize becoming a part in the body of Christ, which is fine and good, but it is at the expense of the reality that baptism is our rebirth in water and spirit which is necessary as the Gospels tell us.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Excellent Sermon on the Feast of the ...

13 Jan 2013

A good Jesuit priest gave an excellent sermon today for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Today, one of the three Epiphanies of Christ, the other two being the Feast of the Three Kings, and the other the Wedding Feast at ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

to be continued....