Thursday, 15 May 2014
The Truth
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
52 If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.
53 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
54 Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.
55 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.
56 For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed.
False ecumenism in Great Britain and in America has weakened the faith of many Catholics, who want to pretend that those who have heard of the teachings of the Catholic Church and yet have walked away will be saved.
Christ, Who Is the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity, Who IS Divine, gave us the above words. Without Holy Communion, there is no life in a person.
I did not make this up. The Church did not make this up. Those who have heard this and read this passage and still walk away do not have life within them.
Why is it that Catholics do not understand this passage as the hard truth?
Evangelization has nothing to do with numbers or even renewing the Church. Evangelization has to do with saving persons from hell.
Evangelize daily. Take what Christ has said seriously. Be grateful for the grace given to you as a Catholic.
Do you have family members who no longer go to Mass? Remind them of this passage. Do you have friends or fellow workers who are good Protestants, but cannot bring themselves to come over to Rome, read this passage.
Without the Mass and Holy Communion, especially for a fallen away Catholic, there is no life in the soul. The soul is dead.
Pray and act.
Do you have family members who no longer go to Mass? Remind them of this passage. Do you have friends or fellow workers who are good Protestants, but cannot bring themselves to come over to Rome, read this passage.
Without the Mass and Holy Communion, especially for a fallen away Catholic, there is no life in the soul. The soul is dead.
Pray and act.
Sandbox Politics in Great Britain
https://dominiccummings.wordpress.com/author/dominiccummings/
If I lived in Scotland, I would be voting for separation....small is beautiful.
If I lived in Scotland, I would be voting for separation....small is beautiful.
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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_separatist_movements_in_Europe |
Maybe because---(More on the Dark Night)
...I am an INTJ, it is easier for me, than those more emotional or extrovert, to be objective. I am wired to be objective. But, I have learned some good lessons to share with those who are struggling with being hurt all the time, being defensive, and not growing in the way of perfection.
The Dark Night of the Senses purges the physical sins. The Dark Night of the Spirit purges spiritual sins.
Here are some hints if you are having trouble in the Dark Night with the purification of the spirit.
1) Learn to forgive, quickly and always. This may take practice.
2) Never, never go over the past and hold grudges. Too many Catholics keep going back to nurse hurts. Move on.
3) Create boundaries in your spirit if you have never formed these as a child. Boundaries are a sign of healthy self-love. If you let others manipulate you, you will never become holy.
4) Pray for those who hate you.
5) Surround yourself with good, strong, "grounded" Catholics. I refuse to hang around whiners who cause sin in others by constant negativity and complaining. This fact alone is another reason why we all need strong Catholic communities. Real Catholics are realistic but positive about their end goal.
6) Cooperate with God on matters of humility. I could have grown so much faster but was not generous with God and delayed progress in the Dark Night by fighting pain and suffering. Once one gives in to God and is resigned, things happen quickly.
7) Realize that the desires of your heart are from God from all time. Providence put those desires into your heart IF they are for good and the building of the Kingdom of God. Of course, this idea does not apply to mere material desires, which should have been dealt with in the Dark Night of the Senses.
8) Say no to evil people. Do not hang around evil people. Period. You may or may not be the one called to convert them. And, if they have persisted in evil despite evangelization, walk away. Satan will even use families to tear you away from God. Say no to families who are steeped in sin....
9) Embrace the Dark Night with joy, as it means that God is calling you specifically.
10) You have a purpose in the Kingdom of God. In the Dark Night of the Spirit, this should become more obvious, as to your call.
to be continued...
The Dark Night of the Senses purges the physical sins. The Dark Night of the Spirit purges spiritual sins.
Here are some hints if you are having trouble in the Dark Night with the purification of the spirit.
1) Learn to forgive, quickly and always. This may take practice.
2) Never, never go over the past and hold grudges. Too many Catholics keep going back to nurse hurts. Move on.
3) Create boundaries in your spirit if you have never formed these as a child. Boundaries are a sign of healthy self-love. If you let others manipulate you, you will never become holy.
4) Pray for those who hate you.
5) Surround yourself with good, strong, "grounded" Catholics. I refuse to hang around whiners who cause sin in others by constant negativity and complaining. This fact alone is another reason why we all need strong Catholic communities. Real Catholics are realistic but positive about their end goal.
6) Cooperate with God on matters of humility. I could have grown so much faster but was not generous with God and delayed progress in the Dark Night by fighting pain and suffering. Once one gives in to God and is resigned, things happen quickly.
7) Realize that the desires of your heart are from God from all time. Providence put those desires into your heart IF they are for good and the building of the Kingdom of God. Of course, this idea does not apply to mere material desires, which should have been dealt with in the Dark Night of the Senses.
8) Say no to evil people. Do not hang around evil people. Period. You may or may not be the one called to convert them. And, if they have persisted in evil despite evangelization, walk away. Satan will even use families to tear you away from God. Say no to families who are steeped in sin....
9) Embrace the Dark Night with joy, as it means that God is calling you specifically.
10) You have a purpose in the Kingdom of God. In the Dark Night of the Spirit, this should become more obvious, as to your call.
to be continued...
Excellent Article on Falsity of Global Warming
Two snippets of the article found here...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2013/11/12/the-coming-revelation-of-the-global-warming-fraud-resembles-the-obamacare-lie/
Similarly, the theory of man-caused, catastrophic, global warming is embraced not because of any “science,” (that sham is for the “useful idiots,”), but because it is a justification for a government takeover of the energy industry, with massive increases in regulation, taxes and government spending. The United Nations loves it because it inspires fantasies of the UN growing up to be a world government, with real government powers of global taxation, spending and regulation, all “to save the planet.” Scientists who go along with the cause are rewarded not only with praise for their worthy social conscience, but also with altogether billions in hard, cold cash (government and environmental grants), for their cooperation in helping to play the “useful idiots.” Moreover, many academic scientists are “progressives” themselves, and so favor sharp increases in government spending, taxes and regulation, because they are certain they know how to run your life better than you do.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2013/11/12/the-coming-revelation-of-the-global-warming-fraud-resembles-the-obamacare-lie/
Similarly, the theory of man-caused, catastrophic, global warming is embraced not because of any “science,” (that sham is for the “useful idiots,”), but because it is a justification for a government takeover of the energy industry, with massive increases in regulation, taxes and government spending. The United Nations loves it because it inspires fantasies of the UN growing up to be a world government, with real government powers of global taxation, spending and regulation, all “to save the planet.” Scientists who go along with the cause are rewarded not only with praise for their worthy social conscience, but also with altogether billions in hard, cold cash (government and environmental grants), for their cooperation in helping to play the “useful idiots.” Moreover, many academic scientists are “progressives” themselves, and so favor sharp increases in government spending, taxes and regulation, because they are certain they know how to run your life better than you do.
For example, the authors report, “The IPCC concedes for the first time that a 15 year long period of no significant warming occurred since 1998 despite a 7% rise in carbon dioxide (CO2).” The authors explain, “The statement represents a significant revision in the IPCC thinking, because their concern about dangerous warming rests upon the assumption that temperature increases will proceed in parallel fashion with CO2 increases.” Climate Change Reconsidered II documents that the same official temperature records used by the IPCC going back over 100 years, and proxy temperature records going back deep into the geologic time scale, show that temperatures have not changed in parallel with CO2 levels.
Central to the IPCC’s argument for anthropogenic, catastrophic global warming is its dozens of global climate models and their projections of growing global temperatures over time. But the SPM now concedes that these models have failed to project the now admitted lack of warming over the last 15 years.
Today in Rome, An Echo of Earlier Posts This Week
The Pope talked about Catholic identity. This is key to the survival of the Church in Europe and in America.
The Holy Father stressed the Incarnation, that Christ came into history and created community.
Just in the past week, I wrote about the need for memory-in the face of memoricide.
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/05/liturgical-memory-vs-memoricide.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/05/memory-and-memoricide-continued.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/05/memoricide-and-memory-continued.html
Read those posts. Now, today, the Pope calls us memorioso, people of living history.
" Jesus does not make sense without this history" because He "is the end of this story, towards which this story goes, towards which it walks... you cannot understand a Christian outside of the people of God. The Christian is not a monad", but "belongs to a people: the Church. A
Christian without a church is something purely idealistic, it is not real".
"But you cannot understand a Christian alone, just like you cannot understand Jesus Christ alone. Jesus Christ did not fall from the sky like a superhero who comes to save us. No. Jesus Christ has a history. And we can say, and it is true, that God has a history because He wanted to walk with us. And you cannot understand Jesus Christ without His history. So a Christian without history, without a Christian nation, a Christian without the Church is incomprehensible. It is a thing of the laboratory, an artificial thing, a thing that cannot give life...walking with a promise. This dimension, it is important that we always remember this dimension of history"
..."A Christian is a living memory of the history of his people, he is a living memory of his people’s journey, he is the living memory of his Church. Memory ... memory of all of the past ... Then, where is this people going? Towards the ultimate promise. It is a people walking towards fullness; a chosen people which has a promise for the future and walks toward this promise, towards the fulfillment of this promise. And for this, a Christian in the Church is a man, a woman with hope: hope in the promise. It is not expectation: no, no! That’s something else: It is hope. Right, on we go!... (to) that which does not disappoint".
The Holy Father stressed the Incarnation, that Christ came into history and created community.
Just in the past week, I wrote about the need for memory-in the face of memoricide.
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/05/liturgical-memory-vs-memoricide.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/05/memory-and-memoricide-continued.html
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/05/memoricide-and-memory-continued.html
Read those posts. Now, today, the Pope calls us memorioso, people of living history.
" Jesus does not make sense without this history" because He "is the end of this story, towards which this story goes, towards which it walks... you cannot understand a Christian outside of the people of God. The Christian is not a monad", but "belongs to a people: the Church. A
Christian without a church is something purely idealistic, it is not real".
"But you cannot understand a Christian alone, just like you cannot understand Jesus Christ alone. Jesus Christ did not fall from the sky like a superhero who comes to save us. No. Jesus Christ has a history. And we can say, and it is true, that God has a history because He wanted to walk with us. And you cannot understand Jesus Christ without His history. So a Christian without history, without a Christian nation, a Christian without the Church is incomprehensible. It is a thing of the laboratory, an artificial thing, a thing that cannot give life...walking with a promise. This dimension, it is important that we always remember this dimension of history"
..."A Christian is a living memory of the history of his people, he is a living memory of his people’s journey, he is the living memory of his Church. Memory ... memory of all of the past ... Then, where is this people going? Towards the ultimate promise. It is a people walking towards fullness; a chosen people which has a promise for the future and walks toward this promise, towards the fulfillment of this promise. And for this, a Christian in the Church is a man, a woman with hope: hope in the promise. It is not expectation: no, no! That’s something else: It is hope. Right, on we go!... (to) that which does not disappoint".
Tweet Fatigue
I love twitter. I have made good Catholic twitter friends. I have learned tons quickly about the Catholic world.
But, in the past week, four of my male twitter friends have RTed inappropriate photos. One friend I talked to admitted he was wrong and apologized, but I have decided to block the others.
What gives? Do men not know that photos of popular singers with posters of almost naked women are not kosher for Catholics? Do men not know that photos of raunchy gay men who may be cheerleaders are not worthy topics for RTs?
Are Catholic men so desensitized to sexual imagery that they can no longer discern what is appropriate?
Sad days....sad.
But, in the past week, four of my male twitter friends have RTed inappropriate photos. One friend I talked to admitted he was wrong and apologized, but I have decided to block the others.
What gives? Do men not know that photos of popular singers with posters of almost naked women are not kosher for Catholics? Do men not know that photos of raunchy gay men who may be cheerleaders are not worthy topics for RTs?
Are Catholic men so desensitized to sexual imagery that they can no longer discern what is appropriate?
Sad days....sad.
Mary and The Daughters of Eve
That Satan hates mankind is obvious. He is miserable and will be for all eternity, so he wants as many of God's human creatures to be as miserable as he is.
He also hates God Who Is All Goodness.
And, he hates Mary, the Perfect Mother of God, the Virgo Potens, who has crushed his head with her humility, purity and obedience, all things he lost in his instance of rebellion.
Because Satan hates Mary, the Daughter of God, the Bride of Christ and Mother of God, he hates all daughters, brides, and mothers. One of the reasons why there is so much contraception and abortion aimed at getting rid of girls is because Satan hates women.
Catholic women mold themselves into mini-Marys, trying to imitate the virtues of Mary as much as they possibly can, with the grace and virtues God has given them. But, Satan wants to hold back, and destroy those virtues in women, causing rebellion and the masculinizing of women across the world. Just as men have been feminized through the gay rights movements, so to have women become more masculine.
Mary is our model for complete femininity. She is our model for all feminine virtues.
Satan also shows his hatred for women in our society by destroying protectors. How many women do I know who have no protectors in this world? Many, many, many...
Satan has taken away from men that sense that women and children need protection by creating narcissists and peter pans.
I have written much on this topic.
Mary, especially as Virgo Potens, is our stronghold against the attacks of Satan on our womanhood.
Pray the rosary daily. Honor her. And, Satan will flee from your world. Mary instructs us to be women of the Church Militant as well.
Virgo Potens
Virgin Most Powerful
http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/prayers/virgopotens.html
He also hates God Who Is All Goodness.
And, he hates Mary, the Perfect Mother of God, the Virgo Potens, who has crushed his head with her humility, purity and obedience, all things he lost in his instance of rebellion.
Because Satan hates Mary, the Daughter of God, the Bride of Christ and Mother of God, he hates all daughters, brides, and mothers. One of the reasons why there is so much contraception and abortion aimed at getting rid of girls is because Satan hates women.
Catholic women mold themselves into mini-Marys, trying to imitate the virtues of Mary as much as they possibly can, with the grace and virtues God has given them. But, Satan wants to hold back, and destroy those virtues in women, causing rebellion and the masculinizing of women across the world. Just as men have been feminized through the gay rights movements, so to have women become more masculine.
Mary is our model for complete femininity. She is our model for all feminine virtues.
Satan also shows his hatred for women in our society by destroying protectors. How many women do I know who have no protectors in this world? Many, many, many...
Satan has taken away from men that sense that women and children need protection by creating narcissists and peter pans.
I have written much on this topic.
Mary, especially as Virgo Potens, is our stronghold against the attacks of Satan on our womanhood.
Pray the rosary daily. Honor her. And, Satan will flee from your world. Mary instructs us to be women of the Church Militant as well.
Virgo Potens
Virgin Most Powerful
This illustration bears evident martial features. Mary's picture is set against a shield, which is surrounded with a panoply of weapons, from bow and arrow to flags and cannons. Mary holds in her hand a commander's staff; however, the motto around her head refers to Christ. It says, "I can do everything in Him." Right and left of Mary's image we read this inscription, "He made powerful things with his arm."
On the lower half of this illustration we find the representations of two powerful typological feminine figures of Mary in the Old Testament. To the left we have Jael, who killed Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites, hammering and crushing his head with peg and mallet (Judges 5:26). The woman to the right is Judith decapitating Holofernes (Judith 11:17).
"In your hand are virtue and power" ( 1 Paral 29).
Mary and Eve
Mary is sometimes called the New Eve.
But, a thought came to me today in my contemplation on sins of envy and pride.
Some theologians claim that Satan fell when he was shown the future and the fact of the Incarnation. Some say he refused to serve God in the Person of Jesus Christ, True God and True Man.
But, what if Satan saw the honor given to the most perfect of creatures made by God, the Immaculate Conception? What if Satan refused to honor the Theotokos, or even accept his inferiority to her as the brightest angel in the heavens?
What if he was so envious of Our Lady's perfection that he plotted to tempt Eve in retaliation for the most beautiful creature on earth, who he would have to serve, the New Eve, Mary? What if Satan's hatred and temptation of Eve came from his envy and pride?
It is odd that in my short life, I have met priests who do not love Mary. One actually told me "The Church no longer emphasizes Mary." How interesting that years later I found out that these priests who hated Mary were acting homosexuals.
The grave sins of the universe, especially pride and envy, prevent a man from loving Mary.
Satan does not nor ever did love Mary.
Is is possible that he cried out "I will not serve" because he would have served The Woman?
Genesis 3:15 DR
15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
But, a thought came to me today in my contemplation on sins of envy and pride.
Some theologians claim that Satan fell when he was shown the future and the fact of the Incarnation. Some say he refused to serve God in the Person of Jesus Christ, True God and True Man.
But, what if Satan saw the honor given to the most perfect of creatures made by God, the Immaculate Conception? What if Satan refused to honor the Theotokos, or even accept his inferiority to her as the brightest angel in the heavens?
What if he was so envious of Our Lady's perfection that he plotted to tempt Eve in retaliation for the most beautiful creature on earth, who he would have to serve, the New Eve, Mary? What if Satan's hatred and temptation of Eve came from his envy and pride?
It is odd that in my short life, I have met priests who do not love Mary. One actually told me "The Church no longer emphasizes Mary." How interesting that years later I found out that these priests who hated Mary were acting homosexuals.
The grave sins of the universe, especially pride and envy, prevent a man from loving Mary.
Satan does not nor ever did love Mary.
Is is possible that he cried out "I will not serve" because he would have served The Woman?
Genesis 3:15 DR
15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Conversations on Conscience Three
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| The Awakening Conscience by Holman Hunt |
http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/Conscience.html
I want to highlight the lax conscience in this last of three posts on conscience. The lax conscience is one which is ignored. Unlike the reference above, a person who ignores the voice of God through natural law in one's conscience denies the Holy Spirit working in them.
Such a person is totally responsible for ignoring that "still, small voice" which is the voice of God.
Many times a lax conscience happens when one purposefully chooses to ignore the advice of holy people, or even peers who understand the law of the Church.
When I was a teenager, I went on a weekend retreat in college. Someone had brought an Ouija board and set it up during "relaxation" time. A small group started to play with it. This was in the late sixties, and no one seemed to be familiar with this board, and some were curious. Thankfully, we have many more warnings now about the demonic connection with the Ouija board. One girl went over and touched it and immediately drew back. She almost yelled, but said this, "Stand back, this is dangerous. I am having nothing to do with this."
Some of those around here, thankfully, left the group. This is an example of how others can warn us of spiritual dangers and sin.
A mother told me her girl was hanging around wiccas. She warned her adult daughter to drop those friends. Many horrible things happened to the girl, like repeated car accidents and losing job after job, until she began to listen to her mom. Her so-called friends wished evil onto her through malice.
We are responsible for the loss of keenness in our consciences.
A couple which is living in fornication repeatedly make excuses for their living in sin. A side-effect of self-delusion is the hardening of conscience.
But, God's grace is stronger than any person's hardness of heart.
Pray for those who have allowed their consciences to become lax.
They have dulled their sense of sin. From the CCC.
1849 — Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is a failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. Its wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as “an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law.”
1850 — Sin is an offense against God: “Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight” (Ps 51:4). Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin (of Adam and Eve), it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become “like gods” (Gen 3:5), knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus “love of oneself even to contempt of God.” In this proud self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation (cf. Phil 2:6-9).
Sorry got this late, but may not be too late
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Conversations on Conscience Two
The Church is quite clear on the teaching regarding conscience. There are several types of conscience.
Sadly, some teachers in Catholic institutions do not teach this fact, from the CCC.
1793 If - on the contrary - the ignorance is invincible, or the moral subject is not responsible for his erroneous judgment, the evil committed by the person cannot be imputed to him. It remains no less an evil, a privation, a disorder. One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience.
Invincible ignorance is an evil, a disorder. It is not a "pass-go" into heaven. How this idea became corrupted, I do not know, but those who teach that invincible ignorance exonerates someone entirely from pursuing the truth is not Catholic teaching.
Natural law is given to all by the fact that we are human. Therefore, those who suppress natural law within their consciences are guilty of sin.
As the CCC notes, "one must work to correct the errors of moral conscience".
Here is a reminder of the primacy of natural law as against the false laws of men. From Dignitatis Humanae:
More here...
http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html
The types of conscience follow, beginning with the faulty ones:
A dubious or doubtful conscience suspends judgement, and is faulty. Many of the relativists have not developed their consciences and live in this area of doubt or agnosticism. They are absolutely responsible for not developing their consciences. Many who followed the philosophy of Existentialism fell into this trap of non-judgement. But, the false tolerance of today is connected with the doubtful conscience.
A false or erroneous conscience is one which confuses right with wrong. If we are culpable for such, our consciences would be culpably erroneous. Only those in true invincible ignorance could fall under this title.
of inculpably erroneous. Perhaps people in isolated areas of the world, or those who are under strict communist or Islamic tyrannies may have not heard the truth of the Gospel.
If we are responsible, and most people in the West would fall under this sanction, then we have a culpable erroneous conscience.
A certain conscience is one which we must follow even if there may be errors. For if we are certain of something and do it against our conscience, we fall into sin.
An example would be if a Catholic did not realize that the bishops of his conference did not declare Friday fasts as obligatory, but thought eating fish on Friday was a mortal sin, and did eat fish on Friday, that certain conscience would be violated and there would be sin. Protestants who believe something in the Catholic Church is seriously wrong and avoid the Church because they believe that thing is sinful, such as devotion to Mary, are less culpable but still in error. They must try and find out their errors, but if they are following a certain conscience, they are less culpable. Error is in not growing in truth.
The true conscience is one formed according to Revelation and the Teachings of the Catholic Church.
That this teaching on the formation of consciences has been overlooked is a serious matter for Catholic teachers.
If you want to read more, go to Summa Theologiae Ia, q. 79, a. 13 and http://www.mercifulredeemer.org/Apologetics/catholic_morality.htm#_Toc250715
as well as Fr. Laux' Catholic Morality.
to be continued....
Sadly, some teachers in Catholic institutions do not teach this fact, from the CCC.
1793 If - on the contrary - the ignorance is invincible, or the moral subject is not responsible for his erroneous judgment, the evil committed by the person cannot be imputed to him. It remains no less an evil, a privation, a disorder. One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience.
Invincible ignorance is an evil, a disorder. It is not a "pass-go" into heaven. How this idea became corrupted, I do not know, but those who teach that invincible ignorance exonerates someone entirely from pursuing the truth is not Catholic teaching.
Natural law is given to all by the fact that we are human. Therefore, those who suppress natural law within their consciences are guilty of sin.
As the CCC notes, "one must work to correct the errors of moral conscience".
Here is a reminder of the primacy of natural law as against the false laws of men. From Dignitatis Humanae:
First, the council professes its belief that God Himself has made known to mankind the way in which men are to serve Him, and thus be saved in Christ and come to blessedness. We believe that this one true religion subsists in the Catholic and Apostolic Church, to which the Lord Jesus committed the duty of spreading it abroad among all men. Thus He spoke to the Apostles: "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, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have enjoined upon you" (Matt. 28: 19-20). On their part, all men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and His Church, and to embrace the truth they come to know, and to hold fast to it. This Vatican Council likewise professes its belief that it is upon the human conscience that these obligations fall and exert their binding force. The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once quietly and with power. Religious freedom, in turn, which men demand as necessary to fulfill their duty to worship God, has to do with immunity from coercion in civil society. Therefore it leaves untouched traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and societies toward the true religion and toward the one Church of Christ. Over and above all this, the council intends to develop the doctrine of recent popes on the inviolable rights of the human person and the constitutional order of society. 2. This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits. The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself.(2) This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right. It is in accordance with their dignity as persons-that is, beings endowed with reason and free will and therefore privileged to bear personal responsibility-that all men should be at once impelled by nature and also bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially religious truth. They are also bound to adhere to the truth, once it is known, and to order their whole lives in accord with the demands of truth. However, men cannot discharge these obligations in a manner in keeping with their own nature unless they enjoy immunity from external coercion as well as psychological freedom. Therefore the right to religious freedom has its foundation not in the subjective disposition of the person, but in his very nature. In consequence, the right to this immunity continues to exist even in those who do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it and the exercise of this right is not to be impeded, provided that just public order be observed. 3. Further light is shed on the subject if one considers that the highest norm of human life is the divine law-eternal, objective and universal-whereby God orders, directs and governs the entire universe and all the ways of the human community by a plan conceived in wisdom and love. Man has been made by God to participate in this law, with the result that, under the gentle disposition of divine Providence, he can come to perceive ever more fully the truth that is unchanging. Wherefore every man has the duty, and therefore the right, to seek the truth in matters religious in order that he may with prudence form for himself right and true judgments of conscience, under use of all suitable means. Truth, however, is to be sought after in a manner proper to the dignity of the human person and his social nature. The inquiry is to be free, carried on with the aid of teaching or instruction, communication and dialogue, in the course of which men explain to one another the truth they have discovered, or think they have discovered, in order thus to assist one another in the quest for truth. Moreover, as the truth is discovered, it is by a personal assent that men are to adhere to it. On his part, man perceives and acknowledges the imperatives of the divine law through the mediation of conscience. In all his activity a man is bound to follow his conscience in order that he may come to God, the end and purpose of life. It follows that he is not to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his conscience. Nor, on the other hand, is he to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience, especially in matters religious. The reason is that the exercise of religion, of its very nature, consists before all else in those internal, voluntary and free acts whereby man sets the course of his life directly toward God. No merely human power can either command or prohibit acts of this kind.(3) The social nature of man, however, itself requires that he should give external expression to his internal acts of religion: that he should share with others in matters religious; that he should profess his religion in community. Injury therefore is done to the human person and to the very order established by God for human life, if the free exercise of religion is denied in society, provided just public order is observed. |
More here...
http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html
The types of conscience follow, beginning with the faulty ones:
A dubious or doubtful conscience suspends judgement, and is faulty. Many of the relativists have not developed their consciences and live in this area of doubt or agnosticism. They are absolutely responsible for not developing their consciences. Many who followed the philosophy of Existentialism fell into this trap of non-judgement. But, the false tolerance of today is connected with the doubtful conscience.
A false or erroneous conscience is one which confuses right with wrong. If we are culpable for such, our consciences would be culpably erroneous. Only those in true invincible ignorance could fall under this title.
of inculpably erroneous. Perhaps people in isolated areas of the world, or those who are under strict communist or Islamic tyrannies may have not heard the truth of the Gospel.
If we are responsible, and most people in the West would fall under this sanction, then we have a culpable erroneous conscience.
A certain conscience is one which we must follow even if there may be errors. For if we are certain of something and do it against our conscience, we fall into sin.
An example would be if a Catholic did not realize that the bishops of his conference did not declare Friday fasts as obligatory, but thought eating fish on Friday was a mortal sin, and did eat fish on Friday, that certain conscience would be violated and there would be sin. Protestants who believe something in the Catholic Church is seriously wrong and avoid the Church because they believe that thing is sinful, such as devotion to Mary, are less culpable but still in error. They must try and find out their errors, but if they are following a certain conscience, they are less culpable. Error is in not growing in truth.
The true conscience is one formed according to Revelation and the Teachings of the Catholic Church.
That this teaching on the formation of consciences has been overlooked is a serious matter for Catholic teachers.
If you want to read more, go to Summa Theologiae Ia, q. 79, a. 13 and http://www.mercifulredeemer.org/Apologetics/catholic_morality.htm#_Toc250715
as well as Fr. Laux' Catholic Morality.
to be continued....
Conversations on Conscience
We have a conscience before we are born. It is given to us from the moment of our conception. This ability to apply natural law to situations is actually a judgement from reason. As all people are born with reason, all people at some levels of competency are able to judge according to conscience.
St. John Chrysostom writes that since all humans have a conscience, no human needs a guide or teacher with regard to natural law. He also writes that no one can "...pretend to ascribe the neglect of virtue to ignorance..."
Some Catholic teachers have been very wrong is saying that humans have no culpability for certain actions, such as abortion or contraception or homosexual sex. The Catholic Church through her teaching has always held that simply by the fact that we are human, we know certain things are unnatural and sinful
But, it is also the duty of Catholics to develop their consciences to become more sensitive through the teachings of the Church.
God is the first Creator of Law, both natural law and revealed law, the Ten Commandments. Natural law and the Ten Commandments are one and the same. God revealed the Ten Commandments because men forgot to look into their own reason and sinned against their natural consciences.
Christ Himself, through His Life and teaching also taught us how to follow and illuminate our consciences through the sacraments of the Church, through those conduits of sanctifying grace.
God is the first Creator of Law in the Church as well.
St. Paul is the first person to use the word conscience in the Scriptures, as teachers have told us.
St. John Chrysostom writes that since all humans have a conscience, no human needs a guide or teacher with regard to natural law. He also writes that no one can "...pretend to ascribe the neglect of virtue to ignorance..."
Some Catholic teachers have been very wrong is saying that humans have no culpability for certain actions, such as abortion or contraception or homosexual sex. The Catholic Church through her teaching has always held that simply by the fact that we are human, we know certain things are unnatural and sinful
But, it is also the duty of Catholics to develop their consciences to become more sensitive through the teachings of the Church.
God is the first Creator of Law, both natural law and revealed law, the Ten Commandments. Natural law and the Ten Commandments are one and the same. God revealed the Ten Commandments because men forgot to look into their own reason and sinned against their natural consciences.
Christ Himself, through His Life and teaching also taught us how to follow and illuminate our consciences through the sacraments of the Church, through those conduits of sanctifying grace.
God is the first Creator of Law in the Church as well.
St. Paul is the first person to use the word conscience in the Scriptures, as teachers have told us.
Romans 2:15
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
15 They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them.
When we die, we shall stand before God and accuse ourselves in our particular judgment. I had a small glimpse of this almost three years ago and it was a terrible but revealing happening. I have written about this before. One so-called small venial sin before the Perfection, Goodness and Purity of God is like a mountain.
What I have learned about conscience has been taught to me through the teachings of the Catholic Church from my Holy Communion prep days until even this day. None of what I write about the conscience should be new or startling. But, many false teachers make excuses and even deny natural law, to the peril of the souls of those they teach.
St. Paul also states,
When we die, we shall stand before God and accuse ourselves in our particular judgment. I had a small glimpse of this almost three years ago and it was a terrible but revealing happening. I have written about this before. One so-called small venial sin before the Perfection, Goodness and Purity of God is like a mountain.
What I have learned about conscience has been taught to me through the teachings of the Catholic Church from my Holy Communion prep days until even this day. None of what I write about the conscience should be new or startling. But, many false teachers make excuses and even deny natural law, to the peril of the souls of those they teach.
St. Paul also states,
Romans 9:1
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
9 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit—
When we are in the Holy Spirit, after baptism, we have the ability to develop our consciences. A really good conscience is one which finds the fullness of truth in the Catholic Church. One author, who taught about the conscience, Fr. Laux, which I use in teaching religion and who I used in home schooling and from whom I have been reminded of the above truths, writes this:
"A true conscience speaks the truth; it tells what is truly right and truly wrong. It is a genuine Echo of the voice of God."
to be continued..
Let us pray for all those who are depressed
http://www.theholyrosary.org/maryundoerknots
http://www.praymorenovenas.com/mary-undoer-knots-novena/
This novena, found on two sites here, may help all those who are in depression, including one of my brothers. Join me in this novena
Buffett's Triumph over Life
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/05/13/warren-buffet-donates-12-billion-to-abortion-groups/
Equals deaths of 2.7 million babies.
Equals deaths of 2.7 million babies.
Sunrise
There is no sunset in God's land.
One lives in the bright morning ever
new, ever young, waiting for nothing,
wanting nothing, but content in the
moment of light.
There is no sunset in God's land,
where one rests for the first time,
off the line of battle, taking deep
breaths of air newer than the
first days of earth.
There is no sunset in God's land.
You and I will both be young again,
both inside and out, full of new life
where all dreams meet and desires
are met in grace.
There is no sunset in God's land,
only the Light of Him Who is Light,
no sun, no moon, only the shared
illumination of love. One must learn
to stand in light.
There is only dawn in God's land,
the sweet colors of duck egg blue
and pink-orange meaning life, new
ever, new, like on that first day
we knew we loved,
And were loved.
One lives in the bright morning ever
new, ever young, waiting for nothing,
wanting nothing, but content in the
moment of light.
There is no sunset in God's land,
where one rests for the first time,
off the line of battle, taking deep
breaths of air newer than the
first days of earth.
There is no sunset in God's land.
You and I will both be young again,
both inside and out, full of new life
where all dreams meet and desires
are met in grace.
There is no sunset in God's land,
only the Light of Him Who is Light,
no sun, no moon, only the shared
illumination of love. One must learn
to stand in light.
There is only dawn in God's land,
the sweet colors of duck egg blue
and pink-orange meaning life, new
ever, new, like on that first day
we knew we loved,
And were loved.
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