Is it not ironic? And two sides to a coin.....

Is it not ironic..that the nastiest comments I get are from Anonymous. A person who cannot identify themselves even with a nom de plume is not reading the sign on the side bar. As to those who just want to vent, please do that on twitter or another blog. I am not interested in illogical arguments which are merely emotional outbursts.

As to those who are hurting and crying out for understanding, those Anonymous I pray for at Mass.

But, I do want to address a confusion about the role of the laity and the idea of Triumphalism, which a reader brought up.

First, the laity have to be savvy enough to spot heresy and disagreement with Church teaching. That is our baptismal duty. To merely state that priests, bishops or even cardinals can make decisions for us is a terrible misunderstanding of our relationship with truth.

We must appropriate Catholic teaching. We must be able to spot errors when we read, watch, hear speakers and teachers. That is part of the virtue of prudence. We must be able to spot modernism in sermons.

We can judge private revelations merely by using the teaching of the Catholic Church. Those Catholics who are in contradiction with Catholic Teaching because of private revelations have fallen into grave sin. We do not have to follow any private revelations. Period.

We do have to accept the doctrines and dogmas of the Catholic Church. Sadly, many Catholics are choosing against the Teaching Magisterium in favor of false seers. Remember, heretics go to hell. We need to be fearful and be careful in what we believe.

Satan does not care how you get to hell...he can lead you away from being obedient to the Church in many ways. Spiritual pride is one. And, if a person cannot spot error that person needs to pray, study, be humble.

As to Triumphalism, some readers are confused on this term recently referred to by the Pope. Now, there are two kinds of Triumphalism. The first is ok. This first definition is the recognition that the Catholic Church has the fullness of Truth, that the Kingdom of God is found in the Catholic Church.

Here are two quotations from Dominus Iesus.

Therefore, the theory of the limited, incomplete, or imperfect character of the revelation of Jesus Christ, which would be complementary to that found in other religions, is contrary to the Church's faith. Such a position would claim to be based on the notion that the truth about God cannot be grasped and manifested in its globality and completeness by any historical religion, neither by Christianity nor by Jesus Christ. The Catholic faithful are required to profess that there is an historical continuity — rooted in the apostolic succession53 — between the Church founded by Christ and the Catholic Church: “This is the single Church of Christ... which our Saviour, after his resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care (cf. Jn 21:17), commissioning him and the other Apostles to extend and rule her (cf. Mt 28:18ff.), erected for all ages as ‘the pillar and mainstay of the truth' (1 Tim 3:15). This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in [subsistit in] the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him”.54  With the expression subsistit in, the Second Vatican Council sought to harmonize two doctrinal statements: on the one hand, that the Church of Christ, despite the divisions which exist among Christians, continues to exist fully only in the Catholic Church, and on the other hand, that “outside of her structure, many elements can be found of sanctification and truth”,55 that is, in those Churches and ecclesial communities which are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church.56 But with respect to these, it needs to be stated that “they derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church”.57 17.  Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him.58The Churches which, while not existing in perfect communion with the Catholic Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular Churches.59 Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full communion with the Catholic Church, since they do not accept the Catholic doctrine of the Primacy, which, according to the will of God, the Bishop of Rome objectively has and exercises over the entire Church.60 In the Netherlands..... This is good Triumphalism. Bad Triumphalism is when a person thinks they are better than someone else because they are a Catholic. That is an erroneous position based on pride. Humility demands that we are thankful for the gift of Faith and that we try and help others see the Truth. One cannot call into subjective thinking or relativism, one of the many modernists heresies concerning the Truth. But, likewise, one cannot fall into pride.  One of the greatest examples of bad Triumphalism are the wars started by the Muslims against Christianity. Even today, there are those who believe they have a duty to start wars and make jihad under the name of a false religion. That belief, based on bad Triumphalism, is why the Pope was giving us a warning.  Do not be proud, but be confident in the Truth. Truth and the love of God give us confidence, not in ourselves, but in God.