Link

http://www.missio.org.uk/

In answer to a reader today....

Someone who has never desired baptism cannot be baptized if unconscious. If the person was studying to be baptized, then there was an indication of faith. All the sacraments must be received with and in faith.

It is magical thinking to suppose a person wants the Last Sacrament, without willing it. Remember the scene in Brideshead Revisited, 

 Then I knew that the sign I had asked for was not a little thing, not a passing nod of recognition, and a phrase came back to me from my childhood of the veil of the temple being rent from top to bottom,

where Lord Marchmain indicated he wanted to come back to the Church right before death.

This type of sign is necessary. From the CCC:

.1123 "The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ and, finally, to give worship to God. Because they are signs they also instruct. They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen, and express it. That is why they are called 'sacraments of faith.'

To think otherwise is to fall into magical thinking, and see my other posts on this.

Again, here is the CCC:Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.

Of course, this refers to adult and those over the age of reason, not infants. See Canons in comments.

Holy Hour of Reparation for Seminarians and Priests

http://holyhour3.org/

Do It! Download the PDF file....

OK A Respite And A Post on A Common Sin

Mark 6:1-6

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

6 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary[a] and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense[b] at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.

I am in a waiting mode and cannot do any of the work I need to do for some very good reasons. I also need surgery but cannot schedule that either. Pray for me. My only consolation is that I am joined to the Cross of Christ in a real way. I rely totally on Divine Providence alone.

Therefore, I am writing a post on the sin of sentimentality, one to which I am not personally prone, but one which I find is more common in America than in Europe. Europeans tend to fall into the sin of cynicism, which is that nothing is true or good or holy. The sin of sentimentality encourages a subjective thinking in which a person only sees the good, and never evil. A healthy objectivity marks the saint, who knows in the depth of his heart and soul that one could be the worst sinner ever, but for the grace of God.

This objectivity must be reached and is encouraged by God in the Dark Night, in the passive purgation.

One waits for God. One waits in God, but one must never fall into sentimentality.

Not being of a romantic nature, I have other sins, but this sin of sentimentality grips the GenXers, who look towards good feelings.

Sentimentality rests on bad theology, a theology which confuses natural law, and the dignity of the human person, seeing all things, all creation as equal, which it is most certainly not.

Now, my readers know that I really like animals. I am partial to birds, dogs, cats, and horses.

But, I am not sentimental about such creatures. They have animal souls and I shall not see my dead pets in heaven.

God gave me these pets for my comfort and amusement while on earth. Period.

GenXers were raised on sentiment, which comes from seeing the emotions as all-important and the reasoning faculties of humans as not worthy of consideration. When classical education fell into disuse, along with it was the loss of the training of the mind in rational discourse. How many times have I written on this topic on this blog and the Guild blog as well? Many.

Emotions clog up the soul, the mind, the heart, the imagination with goo and this goo bubbles up into sentimentality.

Catholics seriously lack discernment. Why? Three reasons. One, they refuse to admit that in Confirmation they are given the gift of knowledge which develops into discernment with prayer and practice. Sloth takes over the practice of virtue.

Two, discernment demands that one is absolutely ruthless about one's own sins. Humility brings about discernment.

Three, deceit in the world clouds many people's imaginations to be the point where they can no longer think like Catholics. Catholics, especially saints, know that the emotions must follow reason, or one becomes a slave of emotion and sentimentality.

God's justice must be the most misunderstood attribute of God in 2015, because people have fallen into sentimentality. Sentimentality will not judge between good and evil. We can name a very prominent priest who has fallen into heresy over sentimentality about God being so merciful that He would not allow anyone to choose hell.

Remember when I wrote about raising mushy kids instead of children in the Church Militant? This mushiness rises out of the sin of sentimentality.

The Church in the pew in America is weak because sentimentality creates nasty, long roots of false connections, tying one down to pagan families, immoral cultural pursuits, and even mortal sin. Sentimentality crushes truth, making one feel good about themselves, their families, even their friends.

Unbelief comes from many sources, but sentimentality and cynicism destroy belief. Christ in today's Gospel is seen as not being able to work in His own territory. Why?

The lack of discernment.....and if you remember, I have an entire series on discernment.

More later, maybe.....maybe.

Need Prayers asap

Thanks. Not settled. Am in solidarity with these, my ancestors.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11340173/15000-Jews-to-leave-France-for-Israel-Jewish-Agency-says.html

More Filial Appeal

Dear Reader, We have recently launched, together with our sister organisations around the globe a filial appeal to His Holiness Pope Francis. The goal is to gather signatures asking him to reaffirm categorically the Catholic teaching that divorced and civilly remarried Catholics cannot receive Holy Communion and that homosexual unions are contrary to Divine and natural law. We note with anguish how the chaste and fecund family model taught by the Gospel is at risk. This family model is the only beacon capable of guiding millions of faithful bombarded by a decades-long sexual revolution and its hedonistic propaganda.Indeed a breach has been opened in the Catholic Church, most recently in the Synod on the Family of October 2014,  with pastoral proposals that deny in practice, if not in principle, Our Lord’s doctrine on chastity and the indissolubility of marriage. In these circumstances, it is paramount that Pope Francis speak out to clarify the growing confusion amongst the faithful and to prevent the very teaching of Jesus Christ from being watered-down.Who else can dispel the darkness looming over our children’s future should that beacon no longer light their path? Please read the text of the petition below, sign it and send it on to your friends and family. Also if you would like some hard copies to collect signatures outside your local church or in your local town please do not hesitate to contact me. In Jesus through Mary, Alexander SIGN HERE

Text of the Petition.  Holy Father, In view of the Synod on the family to be held in October 2015, we filially address Your Holiness to express our fears and hopes regarding the future of the family. Our fears arise from witnessing a decades-long sexual revolution promoted by an alliance of powerful organizations, political forces and the mass media that consistently work against the very existence of the family as the basic unit of society. Ever since the so-called May 1968 Sorbonne Revolution, a morality opposed to both Divine and natural law has been gradually and systematically imposed on us so implacably as to make it possible, for example, to teach the abhorrent “gender theory” to young children in many countries. Catholic teaching on the Sixth Commandment of the Law of God shines like a beacon in face of this ominous ideological objective. This beacon attracts many people—overwhelmed by this hedonistic propaganda—to the chaste and fecund family model taught by the Gospel and in accordance with natural law. Your Holiness, in light of information published on the last Synod, we note with anguish that, for millions of faithful Catholics, the beacon seems to have dimmed in face of the onslaught of lifestyles spread by anti-Christian lobbies. In fact we see widespread confusion arising from the possibility that a breach has been opened within the Church that would accept adultery—by permitting divorced and then civilly remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion—and would virtually accept even homosexual unions when such practices are categorically condemned as being contrary to Divine and natural law. Paradoxically, our hope stems from this confusion. Truly, in these circumstances, a word from Your Holiness is the only way to clarify the growing confusion amongst the faithful. It would prevent the very teaching of Jesus Christ from being watered-down and would dispel the darkness looming over our children’s future should that beacon no longer light their way. Holy Father, we implore You to say this word. We do so with a heart devoted to all that You are and represent. We do so with the certainty that Your word will never disassociate pastoral practice from the teaching bequeathed by Jesus Christ and his vicars—as this would only add to the confusion. Indeed Jesus taught us very clearly that there must be coherence between life and truth (cf. John 14:6-7); and He also warned us that the only way not to fall is to practice His doctrine. (cf. Matt. 7:24-27) Asking for Your apostolic blessing, we assure You of our prayers to the Holy Family—Jesus, Mary and Joseph—to enlighten Your Holiness in these crucially important circumstances. Our young volunteers are on the streets of Ireland collecting signatures, while the members of our sister organisations are campaigning on the streets of Europe, Africa and North and South America.  Share Tweet Forward +1

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