Yes, I am getting to gradualism--2

St. John Paul II in Familiaris Consortio explains exactly the situation we see today, in 2015. He quotes the truly prophetic document, Humanae Vitae.

"The spouses participate in it as spouses, together, as a couple, so that the first and immediate effect of marriage (res et sacramentum) is not supernatural grace itself, but the Christian conjugal bond, a typically Christian communion of two persons because it represents the mystery of Christ's incarnation and the mystery of his covenant. The content of participation in Christ's life is also specific: Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter--appeal of the body and instinct, power of feeling and affectivity, aspiration of the spirit and of will. It aims at a deeply personal unity, the unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility (cf. Humanae Vitae, 9). In a word, it is a question of the normal characteristics of all natural conjugal love, but with a new significance which not only purifies and strengthens them, but raises them to the extent of making them the expression of specifically Christian values."[33]
14. According to the plan of God, marriage is the foundation of the wider community of the family, since the very institution of marriage and conjugal love is ordained to the procreation and education of children, in whom it finds its crowning.

Where is this emphasis on purity in the words of some synod members? Have they forgotten that God always gives one grace sufficient to the task at hand-always? God never asks the impossible, which means that some of the false leaders in the synod have little faith, or simply, do not believe in grace.

And, as Pope Paul VI predicted, once marriage is undermined in a society, the Kingdom of God is damaged by compromise and laxity, or worse, serious sin. And, virginity is only understandable in the light of holy marriage as well. If human sexuality is denigrated in marriage, so, too, it is in celibacy.

When marriage is not esteemed, neither can consecrated virginity or celibacy exist; when human sexuality is not regarded as a great value given by the creator, the renunciation of it for the sake of the kingdom of heaven loses its meaning.
Rightly indeed does St. John Chrysostom say: "Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be particularly good. It is something better than what is admitted to be good that is the most excellent good."

And, hey, where is the example the married should expect from the holy celibates? Or have they left the path of celibacy themselves so that they no longer understand real love? If so, I personally feel sorry for them-what they are missing is the Love of the Bridegroom, Christ Himself.

Christian couples therefore have the right to expect from celibate persons a good example and a witness of fidelity to their vocation until death. Just as fidelity at times becomes difficult for married people and requires sacrifice, mortification and self-denial, the same can happen to celibate persons, and their fidelity, even in the trials that may occur, should strengthen the fidelity of married couples

Self-knowledge, THIS IS THE KEY.

Every man and woman in the world knows that adultery is a great evil to individuals, to children, to society. Self-knowledge allows one to be honest about one's sins. We all have to face our sins. All.

And without love in the world as an example for us all, we fall back into fear and self-conceit.


The inner principle of that task, its permanent power and its final goal, is love: Without love the family is not a community of persons and, in the same way, without love the family cannot live, grow and perfect itself as a community of persons. What I wrote in the encyclical Redemptor Hominis applies primarily and especially within the family as such: "Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it.

Love can be seen in suffering. I see this daily, in myself, in those I love who are experiencing great pain either physically or mentally, in those who have lost a spouse to death or abandonment. Suffering does not deny love, Never....and it is only in the true sacrament of marriage that the Holy Spirit resides, not in false marriages of convenience or comfort. He will not be present unless those who underwent such a free choice contrary to God's Plan allow themselves to suffer in a new way of abstinence and even breaking-up for the sake of God.

What has been forgotten in the Synod is that love for God trumps all over loves, and that we cannot truly love another outside of love for God.

This conjugal communion sinks its roots in the natural complementarity that exists between man and woman and is nurtured through the personal willingness of the spouses to share their entire life project, what they have and what they are: For this reason such communion is the fruit and the sign of a profoundly human need. But in the Lord Christ God takes up this human need, confirms it, purifies it and elevates it, leading it to perfection through the sacrament of matrimony: the Holy Spirit who is poured out in the sacramental celebration offers Christian couples the gift of a new communion of love that is the living and real image of that unique unity which makes of the church the indivisible mystical body of the Lord Jesus.

Outside of life in the Holy Spirit, there is no life, only death. And the dignity of a man and a woman is seriously compromised by divorce and remarriage without the annulment of the Church. We see this clearly in false man-made religions which think polygamy is OK.

God loves each one of us too much for such a half-love, or quarter-love instead of total love.

I am reminded of a powerful scene in the newer movie on Anna of Siam, not the musical, where the king finally comes to realize what it means to love one woman. In this scene, he dances with Anna and admits that one woman can suffice a man, if that man truly loves. True love comes with total love.

The gift of the spirit is a commandment of life for Christian spouses and at the same time a stimulating impulse so that every day they may progress toward an ever richer union with each other on all levels--of the body, of the character, of the heart, of the intelligence and will, of the soul[47] --revealing in this way to the church and to the world the new communion of love, given by the grace of Christ.
Such a communion is radically contradicted by polygamy: This, in fact, directly negates the plan of God which was revealed from the beginning, because it is contrary to the equal personal dignity of men and women, who in matrimony give themselves with a love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive. As the Second Vatican Council writes: "Firmly established by the Lord, the unity of marriage will radiate from the equal personal dignity of husband and wife, a dignity acknowledged by mutual and total love."

This paragraph is so powerful, I hardly know how to unpack it. That love is unity, you have read on this blog regarding the pursuit of perfection. But, St. John Paul II really experienced God's union, or he would not have been able to write this passage below. The Catholic couple reveals Christ to us. How beautiful.

Christ renews the first plan that the creator inscribed in the hearts of man and woman, and in the celebration of the sacrament of matrimony offers "a new heart": thus the couples are not only able to overcome "hardness of heart,"[51] but also, and above all, they are able to share the full and definitive love of Christ, the new and eternal covenant made flesh. Just as the Lord Jesus is the "faithful witness,"[52] the "yes" of the promises of God[53] and thus the supreme realization of the unconditional faithfulness with which God loves his people, so Christian couples are called to participate truly in the irrevocable indissolubility that binds Christ to the church, his bride, loved by him to the end.[54]

The gift of the sacrament is at the same time a vocation and commandment for the Christian spouses, that they may remain faithful to each other forever, beyond every trial and difficulty, in generous obedience to the holy will of the Lord: "What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."[55]

We daily see religions which do not hold the spiritual or physical equality of women in marriage.

Here is the Pope on this....

In creating the human race "male and female,"[64] God gives man and woman an equal personal dignity, endowing them with the inalienable rights and responsibilities proper to the human person. God then manifests the dignity of women in the highest form possible, by assuming human flesh from the Virgin Mary, whom the church honors as the mother of God, calling her the new Eve and presenting her as the model of redeemed woman. The sensitive respect of Jesus toward the women that he called to his following and his friendship, his appearing on Easter morning to a woman before the other disciples, the mission entrusted to women to carry the good news of the resurrection to the apostles--these are all signs that confirm the special esteem of the Lord Jesus for women. The apostle Paul will say: "In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith . . . There is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."[65]

And here...

Authentic conjugal love presupposes and requires that a man have a profound respect for the equal dignity of his wife: "You are not her master," writes St. Ambrose, "but her husband; she was not given to you to be your slave, but your wife.... Reciprocate her attentiveness to you and be grateful to her for her love."[69] With his wife a man should live "a very special form of personal friendship."[70] As for the Christian, he is called upon to develop a new attitude of love, manifesting toward his wife a charity that is both gentle and strong like that which Christ has for the church.[71]

So, you are thinking, what has this to do with gradualism?

Here we go...individuals want to blame God for their sins. They want to deny both their own freedom to choose sin or holiness, and they want to change the teaching of the Church to accommodate this lie. But, the Church did not make up all these beautiful thoughts and rules of guidance for a holy life. God did and He entrusted His Church to share these truths.

The second lie is the denial of grace, which I have written about here on this blog under the tag grace and synod.

St. John Paul II again....

In the field of conjugal morality the church is teacher and mother and acts as such.
As teacher, she never tires of proclaiming the moral norm that must guide the responsible transmission of life. The church is in no way the author or the arbiter of this norm. In obedience to the truth which is Christ, whose image is reflected in the nature and dignity of the human person, the church interprets the moral norm and proposes it to all people of good will without concealing its demands of radicalness and perfection.

And is it hard to be holy, to give in total love?  Yes, yes, yes....Love is in the will. 

But it is one and the same church that is both teacher and mother. And so the church never ceases to exhort and encourage all to resolve whatever conjugal difficulties may arise without ever falsifying or compromising the truth: She is convinced that there can be no true contradiction between the divine law on transmitting life and that on fostering authentic married love.[91] Accordingly, the concrete pedagogy of the church must always remain linked with her doctrine and never be separated from it. With the same conviction as my predecessor, I therefore repeat: "To diminish in no way the saving teaching of Christ constitutes an eminent form of charity for souls."[92]
On the other hand, authentic ecclesial pedagogy displays its realism and wisdom only by making a tenacious and courageous effort to create and uphold all the human conditions--psychological, moral and spiritual--indispensable for understanding and living the moral value and norm.
There is no doubt that these conditions must include persistence and patience, humility and strength of mind, filial trust in God and in his grace, and frequent recourse to prayer and to the sacraments of the eucharist and of reconciliation.[93] Thus strengthened, Christian husbands and wives will be able to keep alive their awareness of the unique influence that the grace of the sacrament of marriage has on every aspect of married life including, therefore, their sexuality: The gift of the Spirit, accepted and responded to by husband and wife, helps them to live their human sexuality in accordance with God's plan and as a sign of the unitive and fruitful love of Christ for his church.

What the synod fathers of a certain bent, and bent is the word, are forgetting is that evil moves governments not to support marriage and children. Too many governments have passed laws contrary to both natural and revealed law.

Yes, it is hard to be happily and comfortably married today. But, that is because, primarily. societies have fallen into the hands of the enemies of marriage. JPII is too aware of this...


...the church openly and strongly defends the rights of the family against the intolerable usurpations of society and the state. In particular the synod fathers mentioned the following rights of the family: --The right to exist and progress as a family, that is to say, the right of every human being, even if he or she is poor, to found a family and to have adequate means to support it;
--The right to exercise its responsibility regarding the transmission of life and to educate children;
--The right to the intimacy of conjugal and family life;
--The right to the stability of the bond and of the institution of marriage;
--The right to believe in and profess one's faith and to propagate it;
--The right to bring up children in accordance with the family's own traditions and religious and cultural values, with the necessary instruments, means and institutions;
--The right, especially of the poor and the sick, to obtain physical, social, political and economic security;
--The right to housing suitable for living family life in a proper way;
--The right to expression and to representation, either directly or through associations, before the economic, social and cultural public authorities and lower authorities;
--The right to form associations with other families and institutions in order to fulfill the family's role suitably and expeditiously;
--The right to protect minors by adequate institutions and legislation from harmful drugs, pornography, alcoholism, etc.;
--The right to wholesome recreation of a kind that also fosters family values;
--The right of the elderly to a worthy life and a worthy death;
--The right to emigrate as a family in search of a better life.[112]

Satan and individual sin attack marriage, but the solution is not to change the institution, but one's interior life.

Sin is our choice in following the easy ways out of suffering, and I would state that most sin if not all, is an attempt to avoid sacrifice and suffering.

Gradualists believe not only in the two lies above, the denial of free will, and the denial of grace, but in the connection between the building of the Kingdom of God on earth and marriage. Gradualists do not seem to have Faith. They have lost the ability to think like Christ, like the Church, in believing that with grace all things are possible. ALL. And less some people think I write out of ignorance of suffering in marriage, let me assure them this is not so. I learned to accept grace and love in the will. I learned Love. And love gives life.

The Christian family also builds up the kingdom of God in history through the everyday realities that concern and distinguish its state of life. It is thus in the love between husband and wife and between the members of the family--a love lived out in all its extraordinary richness of values and demands: totality, oneness, fidelity and fruitfulness"[118]--that the Christian family's participation in the prophetic, priestly and kingly mission of Jesus Christ and of his church finds expression and realization. Therefore, love and life constitute the nucleus of the saving mission of the Christian family in the church and for the church.

And, yes, there will be one more on this subject....later on today...

Last Post Out of Six on Natural Law Today and Yesterday

As the fundamental and all-embracing obligation imposed upon man by the Creator, the natural law is the one to which all his other obligations are attached. The duties imposed on us in the supernatural law come home to us, because the natural law and its exponent, conscience, tell us that, if God has vouchsafed to us a supernatural revelation with a series of precepts, we are bound to accept and obey it. The natural law is the foundation of all human law inasmuch as it ordains that man shall live in society, and society for its constitution requires the existence of an authority, which shall possess the moral power necessary to control the members and direct them to the common good.  

Human laws are valid and equitable only in so far as they correspond with, and enforce or supplement the natural law; they are null and void when they conflict with it...... Logically, chronologically, and ontologically antecedent to all human society for which it provides the indispensable basis, the natural or moral law is neither—as Hobbes, in anticipation of the modern positivistic school, taught—a product of social agreement or convention, nor a mere congeries of the actions, customs, and ways of man, as claimed by the ethicists who, refusing to acknowledge the First Cause as a Personality with whom one entertains personal relations, deprive the law of its obligatory basis. 

from the Catholic Encyclopedia on natural law...

Catholic teaching has been clear on the fact that we can come to know Divine Law, through reason, our consciences, and through Divine Revelation.

If there is confusion, it is that some people are listening not the Holy Mother Church, but to the siren songs of the world, the flesh and the devil.

Natural and supernatural laws are not options. These laws are not to be ignored by humans, who risk their immortal souls by not considering God and His Ways.

Human laws, tragically, having deviated from both natural law and the law of Revelation. Souls are lost daily because the understanding of free will and natural law have been ignored.

I hope the last few posts, plus the long list of posts on free will answer some questions.

All the information I have shared is the Teaching of the Church, founded by Christ.

Check out other tags as well.

Sometimes, People Need To Read

http://www.churchmilitant.tv/scripts/vort-2014-07-22.pdf

Shades of this blog! I have many article on this point. Remember, all the problems in England started with someone wanting an unlawful, in the eyes of God, marriage. Maybe reading the Michael's text, rather than listening, will bring it home.

Please, American Catholics, wake up! Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Excellent video on Fr. Z.

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2013/09/archbp-nienstedts-tough-love-comments-about-the-redefinition-of-marriage

Taking Pride in Sin

One of the curious questions which always comes up when one is discussing or in a class on Dante's Divine Comedy is why Dante reacts to certain sinners with awe and respect.

The examples are too many for this posting, but one sees the character of Dante changing as he moves through hell. Yet, one is puzzled by his honouring of some of the gross sinners who are forever damned. Now, one can say that there is nobility is all people, and even though that nobility is ruined by sin, one could stand back and admire a person for their former greatness.

However, I think the problem is in the character of Dante, a personification of the author, but also fictionalized, as the poem is allegorical. The living Dante walks through hell and can respond to those in eternal punishment in several ways. But, it is Dante's own sin, his own imperfections, which cause him to pity were one should not do so.

And, this thought leads me to another, which is that some of those in hell in the poem take pride in the very sins which sent them to horrible separation from God.

I see this in others around me. There is a perverse pleasure taken when people share their sins, as if bragging about weaknesses in order either to make excuses for sin, or to invoke pity, or to simply gloat, is acceptable. Those Christians who have come to know salvation through Christ's Passion and Death, remain ashamed of those sins, and those very sins aid one in coming to a real humility. Humility, being self-knowledge, the knowledge of one's sins, brings one to the honest appraisal of who one is before God.

But, to share those sins does not necessarily bring glory to God, or bring others to a desire for Christ's love.

Dante's own imperfections, which gradually are purified through his journey through hell, purgatory and heaven, present the reader with a clear understanding of the scandal of sin.

He reacts sometimes in pity, empathy, and horror, depending on the situation.

It is interesting that newer critics deny that Dante's descent into the seventh circle includes meeting homosexuals, a revision which is most deceitful. In that circle are the blasphemers and the usurers, as well, those who have sinned against God directly, which is why the homosexuals are not in the lesser punishment of the lustful.

Those who sin against God directly, that is against natural law and the transcendence of God, are doomed to dance in one place on the hot sands forever, in the circle designated for the Violent. Violence against God and against nature cause this incessant movement, as the sodomites were seen as having a disturbed, constantly moving, unsteady, and unstable existence. 

Dante honours a poet he meets there, by lowering his head in respect,as he admired and copied this poet in life. But, the soul reaches out to him, as if to ask for acceptance. That type of empathy is no longer possible for those condemned to hell.

Sadly, I have noticed more and more people desiring acceptance in their sins. Those who identify with their sins want those who believe in objective truth to blur the distinctions between sin and personhood. Such is the desire of those caught up in the gay lifestyle. Acceptance of sin is a type of consent, and those who brag of their sins have lost not only the sense of sin, but the sense of shame. 

In fact, another sin is added, which is that of rationalization. A man bragging to me about how much he drinks on the weekend is rationalizing his sins of intemperance and drunkeness. Bravado can be a form of deceit, rationalizing a weakness. Lying is another name for this type of rationalizing.

In a landslide movement of false tolerance of sin, almost every country of the West is or will be accepting homosexual relations, as well as cohabitation of heterosexuals without marriage, as normal and even as a good. Sin is added to sin in pretending that an evil is a good.

This has led more and more to people discussing their sins in public and encouraging others to do so.

What is evil has been accepted by many, even some Catholics, as a good. So too, are those who are living in heterosexual, non-married relationships talking about their lives as if nothing was really wrong. What merely a few decades ago was unmentionable is now part of bragging and pride.

To take pride in sinful behaviour must be one of the worst sins of all-the complete inversion of truth.

I caution Catholics to not discuss sin, either their own or others, of course, as this glorifies the Evil One.

And, discussing specific sins adds to the degradation of human dignity. If one is trying to help a person out of sin, and that person needs advice, that may be done privately in love and in great humility. But, if one is merely touting personal sins as an excuse for behaviour, or as an example of wilful confusion or loss, one is simply falling into pride.

The popular songs of Mexico provide examples of the glorifying of sin, but even here, in Ireland and across the sea in England, a growing tendency to publicize one's sins is gaining acceptance and even a prurient popularity. If you are engaged in conversations with someone who keeps bringing up their sins, stop them and encourage them to go to Confession. If the sin is a lifestyle, help that person truly convert. To emphasize the sin over grace is just plain self-deceit, as grace is always stronger than sin.

Do not enable sinners to continue in their sinful lifestyles. 

One more example may help in understanding the problem. Someone was telling me how much they were in debt on credit cards. They were bragging about all the things they have, and the things they do with credit. I could not help them understand that this debt was sinful, and that their carelessness and lack of good stewardship was not something about which to speak in a cavalier fashion. I stop discussing such things with people if they are not willing to listen. Continual discussion encourages rationalization.

I have said to people. "Stop, I do not want to hear any more of this. You know what you need to do."

One cannot go on year after year discussing sin. Conversion is always possible as grace is freely given to all.

Part of the problem is that the Millenials, and even the Gen-Xers, lack boundaries. Do we really need to know everything about a person? Decorum and appropriateness in speech have disappeared.

Pride, the primal sin, pushes people into these public confessions. Pride, not humility....

Malta Today: and a comment from Cardinal Burke

I love my friends who tell me they are homosexual, but, they know from this blog or conversations, I cannot support their lifestyle or choices. We may agree on many things, such as politics and the culture, but not on this one point.

The good Cardinal Burke has a new comment on this. I pray that all the good, talented, loving men and women I know who have chosen the path of gay identity may come back to the Truth. God bless you all. What else can I say?

More on CNA found here....

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cardinal-burke-backs-pro-life-legislative-efforts/

Cardinal Burke emphasized, “it is important that good Catholics enter into politics to influence a change in the direction in which a number of nations are going, which is very anti life and anti family.”

He also spoke about the growing European pressure for Poland and Ireland to legalize abortion and same-sex “marriage.”

“The Church has a very critical role to play in Ireland and Poland,” he stated.

“I can’t believe that the people of Poland and Ireland, once they understand what is happening, will not stand up in defense of human life.”

“The important thing is that the citizens be well informed about what is happening, which is against the most fundamental moral truth, and that they be encouraged to resist,” the cardinal said.

THE ANSWER TO GRAMSCI-The Cult of Social Justice and the Idolatry in SSM: the one thing necessary: 2

Garrigou-Lagrange was ahead in his prophetic teachings. Remember his dates, 1877-1964. Too bad more clergy did not pay attention to his teaching.

His explanation of the cult of social justice has led to the false acceptance of sin in Europe and in some states in America. When one loses sight of the goal of perfection and the intimate relationship with the Trinity, to which we are all called, one falls into movements which are human centered and relativistic. As man becomes more and more his own idol, he relates all society and culture back to his own needs and desires, instead of concentrating on the one thing necessary-the pursuit of God.

 As usual, his words are in black italics, as are other quotations and my comments are in blue.

II. THE QUESTION OF THE ONE THING NECESSARY AT THE PRESENT TIME

What we have just said is true at all times; but the question of the interior life is being more sharply raised today than in several periods less troubled than ours. The explanation of this interest lies in the fact that many men have separated themselves from God and tried to organize intellectual and social life without Him. The great problems that have always preoccupied humanity have taken on a new and sometimes tragic aspect. To wish to get along without God, first Cause and last End, leads to an abyss; not only to nothingness, but also to physical and moral wretchedness that is worse than noth­ingness. Likewise, great problems grow exasperatingly serious, and man must finally perceive that all these problems ultimately lead to the fundamental religious problem; in other words, he will finally have to declare himself entirely for God or against Him. This is in its essence the problem of the interior life. Christ Himself says: "He that is not with Me is against Me." (5)

 I learned in the 1970s that one could no longer be mediocre, a wishy-washy Catholic. One had to be totally dedicated or one would be swept away with the crowd of lukewarm Catholics into hell. Christ said, 

Christ the Son of God said this: But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. Revelation 3:16 DR

The great modern scientific and social tendencies, in the midst of the conflicts that arise among them and in spite of the opposition of those who represent them, converge in this way, whether one wills it or not, toward the fundamental question of the intimate rela­tions of man with God. This point is reached' after many deviations. When man will no longer fulfill his great religious duties toward God who created him and who is his last End, he makes a religion for himself since he absolutely cannot get along without religion. 

Even the ancients knew that man had a duty to worship the gods, but man worships himself, which, in my opinion, is the symbol of so-called gay marriage. SSM creates an idol out of one's own gender. One worships one's self.

What could be more of a symbol of our day than the worship of self as we witness the pursuit of unnatural sex now accepted in most of Western Europe.  The icon of idolatry--

To replace the superior ideal which he has abandoned, man may, for example, place his religion in science or in the cult of social justice or in some human ideal, which finally he considers in a religious manner and even in a mystical manner. Thus he turns away from supreme reality, and there arises a vast number of problems that will be solved only if he returns to the fundamental problem of the intimate relations of the soul with God.

The culture-wars are a direct result of this attitude of moving away from the pursuit of the Love of God.

It has often been remarked that today science pretends to be a religion. Likewise socialism and communism claim to be a code of ethics and present themselves under the guise of a feverish cult of justice, thereby trying to captivate hearts and minds. As a matter of fact, the modern scholar seems to have a scrupulous devotion to the scientific method. He cultivates it to such a degree that he often seems to prefer the method of research to the truth. If he bestowed equally serious care on his interior life, he would quickly reach sanctity. Often, however, this religion of science is directed toward the apotheosis of man rather than toward the love of God. As much must be said of social activity, particularly under the form it assumes in socialism and communism. It is inspired by a mysticism which purposes a transfiguration of man, while at times it denies in the most absolute manner the rights of God.

Garrigou-Lagrange answers the ideology of Gramsci neatly.

This is simply a reiteration of the statement that the religious problem of the relations of man with God is at the basis of every great problem. We must declare ourselves for or against Him; indifference is no longer possible, as our times show in a striking manner. The present world-wide economic crisis demonstrates what men can do when they seek to get along without God.

Without God, the seriousness of life gets out of focus. If religion is no longer a grave matter but something to smile at, then the serious element in life must be sought elsewhere. Some place it, or pretend to place it, in science or in social activity; they devote the selves religiously to the search for scientific truth or to the establishment of justice between classes or peoples. After a while they are forced to perceive that they have ended in fearful disorder and that the relations between individuals and nations become more and more difficult, if not impossible. As St. Augustine and St. Thomas (6) have said, it is evident that the same material goods, as opposed to those of the spirit, cannot at one and the same time belong integrally to several persons. The same house, the same land, cannot simultaneously belong wholly to several men, nor the same territory to several nations. As a result, interests conflict when man feverishly makes these lesser goods his last end.

Since the early 19th century, the Popes, the Church, have been involved in spiritual warfare against communism and socialism. Sadly, in Europe and increasingly in America, the battle has been lost on the larger stage. Garrigou-Lagrange shows us the errors, just as did Pope Pius IX and X and all after.

St. Augustine, on the other hand, insists on the fact that the same spiritual goods can belong simultaneously and integrally to all and to each individual in particular. Without doing harm to another, we can fully possess the same truth, the same virtue, the same God. This is why our Lord says to us: "Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God and His justice; and all these things shall be added unto you." (7) Failure to hearken to this lesson, is to work at one's destruction and to verify once more the words of the Psalmist: "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it." (8)

Has your life been in vain, pursuing comfort, status, acceptance? Take it from one who has lost all these things and resides in the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. All else is vanity, and in the humility of nothingness and littleness, one experiences the God of Augustine, Abraham, John the Baptist..

If the serious element in life is out of focus, if it no longer is concerned with our duties toward God, but with the scientific and social activities of man; if man continually seeks himself instead of God, his last End, then events are not slow in showing him that he has taken an impossible way, which leads not only to nothingness, but to unbearable disorder and misery. We must again and again revert to Christ's words: "He that is not with Me, is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth." (9) The facts confirm this declaration.

I have lived in England for a total of more than 12 years and I have never heard a sermon on our duties as Catholics to God. Those duties begin with the carrying out of our baptismal vows and continue with our life in and with the Church. I suppose most clergy have not realized that the worship of God, that is, religion, is our first duty. In the section following, Garrigou-Lagrange reminds me of Bonhoeffer's distinction between cheap and costly grace. 

We conclude logically that religion can give an efficacious and truly realistic answer to the great modern problems only if it is a religion that is profoundly lived, not simply a superficial and cheap religion made up of some vocal prayers and some ceremonies in which religious art has more place than true piety. As a matter of fact, no religion that is profoundly lived is without an interior life, without that intimate and frequent conversation which we have not only with ourselves but with God.

Without an interior life, nothing is good or true. 

All the issues of the day...and here is a link to the encyclicals mentioned here.What a great teacher Pius XI was on modern issues, like his predecessors.......http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius11/

The last encyclicals of Pope Pius XI make this clear. To respond to what is good in the general aspirations of nations, aspirations to justice and charity among individuals, classes, and peoples, the Holy Father wrote the encyclicals on Christ the King, on His sanctifying influence in all His mystical body, on the family, on the sanctity of Christian marriage, on social questions, on the necessity of reparation, and on the missions. In all these encyclicals he deals with the reign of Christ over all humanity. The logical conclusion to be drawn is that religion, the interior life, must be profound, must be a true life of union with God if it is to keep the pre-eminence it should have over scientific and social activities. This is a manifest necessity.

To be continued....

Catholic Silence

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/young-christians-will-be-locked-out-of-public-professions-by-gay-marriage-m

Some ministers are brave and Christian enough to say this. Sadly, only three bishops and a handful of priests here in Great Britain have said the same thing. Why?

The silence of the Catholic Church on these topics is a howling wind of apostasy. Where are our leaders? We need to hear this type of guidance and warning from the pulpit. I, personally, besides reading the statements of some of the bishops, not all, have heard only ONE priest talk about the changes in the life styles of the young, middle aged and old which will ripple from the SSM bill.

Why the silence? Why? From the article linked above:

Young Christians will be shut out of all public professions, including teachers, doctors, nurses or any kind of public servant if the “gay marriage” bill is passed, a group of religious leaders has warned the government. The ministers issued the warning in a letter to the Daily Telegraph on the same day that the government came to an agreement with opposition parties over amendments. The bill is expected to move past the committee stage and on to the House of Lords after two days of debate today and tomorrow. (It passed-suupertradmum)

Should it be granted Royal Assent “in its present form,” the 17 Christian ministers said, the bill will “isolate hundreds of thousands of young students and workers across the country who hold a fuller view of marriage based on religion or a traditional view.”

“These young people, from teenagers to 30-year-olds, will suffer discrimination and face new risks to their careers, and futures,” they added. The ministers said that many young Christians understand marriage as “the thread that binds generations.” They warned that “without much clearer protections for freedom of speech and freedom of belief, teachers and public-sector workers will have to choose between their conscience and their career, as many will be deterred from a public-service career or from charity involvement”.

The Eldest Daughter of the Church Is in the Hands of the Enemy

http://www.france24.com/en/20130424-hollande-urges-france-move-after-gay-marriage-vote?ns_campaign=editorial&ns_source=twitter&ns_mchannel=reseaux_sociaux&ns_fee=0&ns_linkname=20130424_hollande_urges_france_move_after_gay

If Hollande signs the law, France will become the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriages and join a club of eight other European nations -- the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland and Denmark. Of course, he will.

The Tablet Is Not Catholic-What?

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/557/17

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

http://relevantradio.com/dailyquestions/some-friends-of-mine

Thanks to Catholic Bandita: RNC will vote on this-pray

hope you can read this--here is the original post where you can make it larger...

http://www.catholicbandita.com/text-of-marriage-resolution-rnc-will-vote-on-this-weekend/

Sad day for Britain and the Commonwealth

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21732545

In a Time Machine

http://goo.gl/Yfpqr

Wisdom from Archbishop Chaput

Asking a Christian to keep his religion out of the public square is like asking a married man to act single in public—Abp Charles Chaput from Terrence Prendergast this morning......

In case you missed the British Bishops statement on the same-sex marriage bill, here is the link

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/01/29/bishops-briefing-on-same-sex-marriage-bill-full-text/

A review of the marriage debate from February 12th on BBC Parliament

I was watching Archbishop Peter Smith speaking to the Parliament Committee on the Same Sex Couples Bill,  dated February 12th, 2013. Several members of the committee were rude to the Archbishop. Some laughed at him. I was thinking the entire time of the Parliament of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

On member from Bristol asked about teachers in school and what would be the effect on the schools be on teachers.

Clause Eleven of the bill changes the nature of the guidance with regard to teaching homosexual marriage. 

Christopher McCrudden, legal advisor for the Catholic Church said that the the law changes the definition of marriage and therefore the teachers are in danger of prosecution.

The Roman Catholic Church was being attacked by Ben Bradshaw and Archbishop brought him back to the question and said that the issue is the marriage issue.

The church 's teaching is clear, noted the Archbishop, that they must be respected and that sexual relationships outside marriage of any kind is against what Christ taught. The Archbishop was clear on this matter.

"It is not for us as bishops to change the teaching of Christ."

"I do not accept that we can change someone's gender."

Peter Smith referred to the problems in Canada of freedom of speech being ignored because of this issue.

The common issue is that all those countries have tried to respect the different traditions of the churches, said McCrudden.

He doubted that the protection of those religions which do not want to admit 

Jim Shannon gave a nice respectful introduction to thoughtful question. He is a Protestant against the bill.

The vast majority of Catholics accept this teaching, that marriage is only between a man and a woman, said Peter Smith.

Jim Shannon brought up the problem of sexual education in the schools-Christopher McCrudden stated that the Secretary of State had a duty to give guidance to ALL schools. on marriage according to the new law.

Section 403 and the redefintion of marriage follows  that section, amending it to clause 1102, which means that the if the guidance simply said if the schools merely have to say  this legistlation exists.

However, if the importance of marriage and the morality of marriage are not clear, then the Catholic Church asks for amendment that the teaching respects the ethos of those schools and also that the Secretary of State would not be able to force schools to teach same sex marriage.

McCrudden said with regard to marriages happening in the Catholic churches, clause 2001, states there is no opt-out or refrain from taking an opt-out activity. This is key. 

The question is whether the Catholic Church can or cannot opt in.  He asked for protection from the threat of litigation. This protection is not clear.

Stephen Doughty said the bill is not mandatory. He stressed that, but he is also gay and wants this issue to go through without the protection of the Church being put into place. He became rude, by the way.

 "The way the bill is worded it is open to legal challenge," stated McCrudden.

Domestic courts were brought up by McCrudden as a real concern for the Church. 

European courts are separate questions, he noted.

Under the Human Rights Act article 14, 12, and 8 which protect the Catholic church from discrimination on sexual orientation are in contradiction with the new law. 

Clause 21, and article 22, were referred to as whether the church not opting in is protected and the answer is no.

The idea of the Catholic team is that the Government has decided that the assumptions are not clear. Therefore, the position of teachers and clergy is not clear.

Siobhain McDonagh said she was a practicing Catholic  she did not agree with Peter Smith's idea that there was a problem. She was stating that Catholics who go to Mass disagree with the Archbishop.

McCrudden kept going back to real bill on the guidance on marriage. 

Jane Ellison, a Conservative, asked whether Catholic should and could accept the new norms--section 149 of the equality act notwithstanding,  and the problem is that there could be penalties for the church and public authorities regarding contracts and grants.

Also the church wants protection against hatred stated McCrudden.

Peter Smith said the church was concerned about freedom of expression.

The idea of a Catholic public registrar refusing a same sex marriage was brought up and existing registrars now should be exempted.

However, new registrars coming in  the Church wants amendments to be introduced on this question.

There are anomalies in the bill. 

The Church believes that one cannot change gender. From the churches point of view we would say that a gender changed person cannot get married. The Archbishop had to repeat this at least twice.

Peter Smith said patiently that the traditional home with a husband and wife, and mother and father is the best environment for the bringing up children. 

The Church needs to get ready for persecution.

This parliament acts and thinks like the Reformation Parliament

.

Thanks to wiki

  

Catholics cannot be registrars in Great Britain and be really Catholic

Gay marriage: no opt-out for Christian registrars - Telegraph

By John Bingham @John_Bingham

Christian registrars will not be able to opt out of performing gay marriages if they object on grounds of belief, the Government’s human rights watchdog has said.
Link on....

On the honor and dignity of married love-from Humanae Vitae

I hope you all realize that the contraception mentality led to the passing of the redefinition of marriage. Once child-bearing is separated from marriage, the covenant changes to a mere search for pleasure.

From Humanae Vitae

Love and the moral order in marriage.....prophetic words from Pope Paul VI

Faithfulness to God's Design

13. Men rightly observe that a conjugal act imposed on one's partner without regard to his or her condition or personal and reasonable wishes in the matter, is no true act of love, and therefore offends the moral order in its particular application to the intimate relationship of husband and wife. If they further reflect, they must also recognize that an act of mutual love which impairs the capacity to transmit life which God the Creator, through specific laws, has built into it, frustrates His design which constitutes the norm of marriage, and contradicts the will of the Author of life. Hence to use this divine gift while depriving it, even if only partially, of its meaning and purpose, is equally repugnant to the nature of man and of woman, and is consequently in opposition to the plan of God and His holy will. But to experience the gift of married love while respecting the laws of conception is to acknowledge that one is not the master of the sources of life but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator. Just as man does not have unlimited dominion over his body in general, so also, and with more particular reason, he has no such dominion over his specifically sexual faculties, for these are concerned by their very nature with the generation of life, of which God is the source. "Human life is sacred—all men must recognize that fact," Our predecessor Pope John XXIII recalled. "From its very inception it reveals the creating hand of God." (13)

Part of an excellent post by Father Longenecker

I have said over and over that it is Catholics who are supposedly in the Church who will ruin the Church.

These people condone the sins of their children and refuse to admit sin in their own worlds.

Father Dwight Longenecker writes on this and other points here.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/standingonmyhead/2013/02/british-parliament-redefines-marriage.html

The idea that British lawmakers can take it upon themselves to change such a fundamental understanding of what it means to be human is simply incredible. I realize that they believe they are simply voting on an “equality issue”. This is not so. They have voted on a historic and fundamentally different definition of marriage.  They have not voted to open marriage up. They have voted to destroy marriage.

Already “marriage” in our society is practically meaningless. Easy no fault divorce and multiple marriages, weddings that take place most anywhere with people writing their own ‘vows’ with their own ‘ministers’. The whole thing is a charade–a grotesque and hideous mockery of marriage, and the result will be that marriage will be meaningless. Weddings will be nothing but a sentimental display of self indulgence and the marriage itself will be a sham.

Same sex marriage actually destroys marriage, for in re-defining what marriage is, it is no longer marriage. It is something else. Furthermore, the erosion of marriage into meaningless sentimental clap trap or some sort of politically correct statement is not only the fault of the gay militants. It is also the fault of those people who break their marriage vows, divorce and then re-marry. It is also the fault of all those who co-habitate and then turn up at church anyway for their wonderful wedding. It is also the fault of all those family members who are too nice to disapprove. It is especially the fault of those so-called Catholics who condone the cohabitation of their family members, smile kindly on the divorced and re married and run rough shod over marriage in every way imaginable.

What no one has stopped to ask is what exactly is marriage in our society now anyway? It is a lifelong commitment? Clearly not. Is it for procreation? Clearly not. Is it for better for worse, richer or poorer, to love and to cherish til death do us part? Clearly not. So what on earth is marriage anyway and why on earth do homosexual people want to be married? Only because they demand recognition and some sort of false, government mandated ‘equality.”

It is time now for the Catholic Church to withdraw completely from the civil side of marriage. A man and woman who wish to be married should go to the civil authority to sign necessary papers, then if they want to have a sacramental marriage let them come to the priest.

Most of the Protestant churches have caved on divorce and re-marriage long ago. They will also cave on homosexual marriage. Within a very short time now, the Catholic Church will be the only place to receive a truly Christian wedding.

When the time comes to stand up for marriage as God intended, what I dread is not so much the attacks from those outside the church, but the attacks from those within. Already there are numerous voices among the Catholic clergy who are quietly in favor of homosexual “marriage”–and they will turn their ruthless guns of kindness on all who stand firm.

there is more...