Misunderstandings about Purgatory, Still

A quick posting...

While most Catholics simply do not believe in Purgatory, it seems that there are some who simply do not understand the two-fold reasoning behind this teaching of the Church.

And, yes, it still is a teaching.

First of all, in the CCC, we read this and let me comment in blue:

III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

So, the first reason given in the Catechism is that purgation of sin and imperfections is necessary before one goes to heaven. "Only the perfect see God." If we allow God, or if it is God's will that we experience purgation on earth, so much the better, as then, we gain more merit for heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.⁶⁰⁶ The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:⁶⁰⁷

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.⁶⁰⁸

Note that some things can be forgiven now, most things, in fact. But, one must also make reparation, in other words, be punished, for sins committed. This is the second reason for Purgatory.  Punishment is a consequence, and purification is the taking away not only of the consequences, but the reasons for the sins one's commits, things like the predominant fault. (See series). Under the selections from the CCC, is one from the Catholic Encyclopedia, which explains the need to undergo temporal punishment due to sin.

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."⁶⁰⁹ From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.⁶¹⁰ The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.⁶¹¹

That temporal punishment is due to sin, even after the sin itself has been pardoned by God, is clearly the teaching of Scripture. God indeed brought man out of his first disobedience and gave him power to govern all things (Wisdom 10:2), but still condemned him "to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow" until he returned unto dust. God forgave the incredulity of Moses and Aaron, but in punishment kept them from the "land of promise" (Numbers 20:12). The Lord took away the sin of David, but the life of the child was forfeited because David had made God's enemies blaspheme His Holy Name (2 Samuel 12:13-14). In the New Testament as well as in the Old, almsgiving and fasting, and in general penitential acts are the real fruits of repentance (Matthew 3:8; Luke 17:3; 3:3). The whole penitential system of the Church testifies that the voluntary assumption of penitential works has always been part of true repentance and the Council of Trent (Sess. XIV, can. xi) reminds the faithfulthat God does not always remit the whole punishment due to sin together with the guilt. God requires satisfaction, and will punish sin, and this doctrine involves as its necessary consequence a belief that the sinner failing to do penance in this life may be punished in another world, and so not be cast off eternally from God. from the CE

Would it not easier, and would we not gain more merit in heaven for accepting purgatory on earth, both as punishment and purification? This would mean doing penance now.

The Blame Game Part Three

I found out today from one of my friends of psychology generation that she had a school psychologist in the 1960s. WOW!

Needless to say, Catholic schools did not have school psychologist. I was amazed when I heard that public schools had these so early.

So, the damaging rot came into the schools exactly in the generation I call that of psychology. Can one imagine these kids growing up in a hot-house atmosphere of being  examined for psychological reasons for acting up, which in days earlier would have resulted in being refused cookies and milk, or staying in for recess, or having a note sent home to dad, and then, oh-oh.

Sin disappeared from the consciousness and conscience to the extent that kids were not allowed to suffer from consequences, which would have taught them natural law philosophy from little on.

One breaks something, one sweeps it up and pays for it. One causes a person to suffer, one apologizes. One steals something, one must not only give it back but do restitution for the sin.

One of the members of the generation of psychology did not know, even though he has been a Catholic all his life, and goes to daily Mass, that purgatory was punishment due to sin. Until our recent discussion, he had no idea that sin had consequences past the confessional box, or that one did not get into heaven unless one was purified.

It never occurred to him that sin had consequences beyond this life, and, as a NO Catholic, in his mid-50s, he claims that he has never heard any teaching from the pulpit on purgatory, except on All Souls' Day--sermons which were vague and confusing.

The priest of his parish is probably a member of the generation of psychology.

Some seminaries in America have psychologists and even psychiatrists on staff to meet with the young men on a regular basis. Some men actually see this counselor more often than they do their spiritual director, who may come from "off campus" only once a month.

We have fallen for this false religion of psychology, using it to explain sin, rather than teaching and forming the conscience through examination and reflection.

After several discussions recently with members of the generation of psychology, I have to admit I am ready to throw up my hands in frustration and walk-away from an entire group of people, who honestly believe they have never chosen sin.

Sigh....I think this cultural shift was a great victory for the evil one and part of the psywars, about which I have written in the past.

Enough, already...if one does not think one is sinning, but merely unhappy because of emotional upheaval owing to those actions of some who sinned against them, one will never take responsibility for one's own salvation-something we all must do, begging God for the grace of conversion, change, and final perseverance.

Heresy from The Pulpit Part Four

Cardinal Wolsey: More! You should have been a cleric! 
Sir Thomas More: Like yourself, Your Grace? from A Man for All Seasons

Two other errors have crept into the Catholic Church and are heard even from the pulpit.

The first error in this category of "wishy thinking" came from the Protestants and the second may come from false seers.

The first is this, "Our faith is 2,000 years old. Our thinking is not." Now, this is actually a motto of a Protestant denomination which prides itself on re-working doctrine. The great error here is the separation of faith and doctrine. Our faith, as Catholics, is the same thinking as 2,000 years ago, which we call the "depost of faith". We learn to "think like Catholics", one of my tags.

Here is the CCC, with a rather long introduction for your benefit to undestand that definitions are important to our Faith. We do not believe, of course, in sola fide--see my posts on the solas.

ARTICLE 2

THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION
74 God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth":²⁹ that is, of Christ Jesus.³⁰ Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth:

God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.³¹

I. THE APOSTOLIC TRADITION
75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline."³²
In the apostolic preaching. . .
76 In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:
- orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit";³³
- in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing".³⁴
. . . continued in apostolic succession
77 "In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority."³⁵ Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time."³⁶
78 This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes."³⁷ "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer."³⁸
79 The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: "God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. And the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church - and through her in the world - leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness."³⁹
II. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADITION AND SACRED SCRIPTURE
One common source. . .
80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal."⁴⁰ Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age".⁴¹
. . . two distinct modes of transmission
81 "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."⁴²
"And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching."⁴³
82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."⁴⁴
Apostolic Tradition and ecclesial traditions
83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.
Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium.

III. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE HERITAGE OF FAITH

The heritage of faith entrusted to the whole of the Church
84 The apostles entrusted the "Sacred deposit" of the faith (the depositum fidei),⁴⁵ contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church. "By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practicing and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful."⁴⁶
The Magisterium of the Church
85 "The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ."⁴⁷ This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.
86 "Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith."⁴⁸
87 Mindful of Christ's words to his apostles: "He who hears you, hears me",⁴⁹ the faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.

The second error is this: "God is revealing new things daily".  No, the teaching of the Catholic Church is that Revelation ended with the last word of the book of the Apocalypse. 

The Church alone may interpret Revelation but there is no new revelation. False seers are deemed false because they attempt to push "new revelation". Protestants also allow for new revelation because it suits their idea of sola fide.

If you hear priests from the pulpit, or at meetings, or in prayer groups bending the defintions of both Revelation and Tradition, please question them. And correct them if they are in error. That is a corporal work of mercy, by the way.

We Are Not Equal Part Five

Today's Gospel, well-known especially to those who attend the TLM, brings home the point that not all people are equal.

Note verse 5-not all to whom Christ is revealed "comprehend" or accept Him.

The pertains not only to the Jews at the time of Christ, but to all those who hear the Word of God and reject Him.

Verses ten through twelve could not be more specific in relating the rejection of the Jews and the acceptance of the Gospel who hear the Word of God, who hear Christ and accept His Truth. Those who accept Christ become "sons of God" and those who do not are not "sons of God".

Those who are enlightened, the same term used by St. Paul in the second reading, are given power to become sons of God.  And, those people, the new chosen, are born of the Will of God, God's Will not man's will.

Again, we are faced with the mystery of predestination, of predilection.

Christ alone reveals the Father to us, no one else does this. Therefore, those who accept Christ, those who become Christians, either through their parents at baptism or older, become the chosen ones of God, preordained from all time.

Let me here quote, again, Garrigou-Lagrange. What he explains is the Teaching of the Catholic Church, and, again, you may go back to the two long selections I placed on the blog in order for you to understand that not all are equal according to God's Will.

The Supreme Principles

Nothing comes to pass, either in heaven or on earth, unless God either brings it to pass in mercy, or then in justice permits it. This principle, taught in the universal Church, shows that there is in God a conditional and antecedent will, relative to a good which does not come to pass, the privation of which He permits in view of some higher good.

To this principle we must add another: [1457] God does not command the impossible. From these two revealed principles derives the distinction between God's efficacious consequent will and His antecedent will, which is the source of sufficient grace.

All that God wills, He does. This principle has no exception. All that God wills (purely, simply, unconditionally) comes to pass without our freedom being thereby in any way forced, because God moves that freedom sweetly and strongly, actualizing it, not destroying. He wills efficaciously that we freely consent and we do freely consent. The supreme efficacy of divine causality, says St. Thomas, [1458] extends to the free mode of our acts.

Many repeat these principles, but do not see that they contain the foundation of the distinction between the two kinds of grace, one that is self-efficacious, the other simply sufficient which man may resist, but not without divine permission.

Hence we find that in the ninth century, to terminate the long controversy with Gottschalk, the Council of Thuzey (860): at the instance of the Augustinian bishops, harmonized God's will of universal salvation with the sinner's responsibility. That Council's synodal letter [1459] contains this sentence: Whatever He has willed in heaven or on earth, God has done. For nothing comes to pass in heaven or on earth that He does not in mercy bring to pass or permits to come to pass in justice.

Since God's love is the cause of created goodness, says St. Thomas, [1460] no created thing would be better than another, if God did not give one a great good than He gives to another. This is equivalent to St. Paul's word: [1461] What hast thou that thou hast not received?

Have the synodal cardinals who are fighting the long teaching of the Church regarding marriage understand or even know the teaching of the Church on these matters? Are they rebellious? Have they lost their faith in grace and God's Will? Do they understand that all have sufficient grace, and that some say "no" to this grace? See my long series on January 1st and follow through with reading the two long selections from Garrigou-Lagrange, who merely recapitulates the Church's teaching on grace and predilection, seen in today's Gospel.

John 1:1-18Douay-Rheims 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him.

8 He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light.

9 That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name.

13 Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

15 John beareth witness of him, and crieth out, saying: This was he of whom I spoke: He that shall come after me, is preferred before me: because he was before me.

16 And of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace.

17 For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

18 No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

The Trinity Under Threat

Lately, it has dawned on me that there are several threats in this world against the revelation of the Trinity.

Now, as Catholics, we have been given the truth, that God is Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Let me quote the CCC here:

234      The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the “hierarchy of the truths of faith.”56 The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men “and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin.”57 (2157, 90, 1449)

235      This paragraph expounds briefly (I) how the mystery of the Blessed Trinity was revealed, (II) how the Church has articulated the doctrine of the faith regarding this mystery, and (III) how, by the divine missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit, God the Father fulfills the “plan of his loving goodness” of creation, redemption, and sanctification.

236      The Fathers of the Church distinguish between theology (theologia) and economy (oikonomia). “Theology” refers to the mystery of God’s inmost life within the Blessed Trinity and “economy” to all the works by which God reveals himself and communicates his life. Through the oikonomia the theologia is revealed to us; but conversely, the theologia illuminates the whole oikonomia. God’s works reveal who he is in himself; the mystery of his inmost being enlightens our understanding of all his works. So it is, analogously, among human persons. A person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions. (1066, 259)

237      The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the “mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God.”58 To be sure, God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his Revelation throughout the Old Testament. But his inmost Being as Holy Trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel’s faith before the Incarnation of God’s Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit. (50)

242      Following this apostolic tradition, the Church confessed at the first ecumenical council at Nicaea (325) that the Son is “consubstantial” with the Father, that is, one only God with him.66 The second ecumenical council, held at Constantinople in 381, kept this expression in its formulation of the Nicene Creed and confessed “the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father.”67 (465)

243      Before his Passover, Jesus announced the sending of “another Paraclete” (Advocate), the Holy Spirit. At work since creation, having previously “spoken through the prophets,” the Spirit will now be with and in the disciples, to teach them and guide them “into all the truth.”68 The Holy Spirit is thus revealed as another divine person with Jesus and the Father. (683, 2780, 687)

246      The Latin tradition of the Creed confesses that the Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque).” The Council of Florence in 1438 explains: “The Holy Spirit is eternally from Father and Son; He has his nature and subsistence at once (simul) from the Father and the Son. He proceeds eternally from both as from one principle and through one spiration.... And, since the Father has through generation given to the only-begotten Son everything that belongs to the Father, except being Father, the Son has also eternally from the Father, from whom he is eternally born, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son.”75

247 The affirmation of the filioque does not appear in the Creed confessed in 381 at Constantinople. But Pope St. Leo I, following an ancient Latin and Alexandrian tradition, had already confessed it dogmatically in 447,76 even before Rome, in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon, came to recognize and receive the Symbol of 381. The use of this formula in the Creed was gradually admitted into the Latin liturgy (between the eighth and eleventh centuries). The introduction of the filioque into the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed by the Latin liturgy constitutes moreover, even today, a point of disagreement with the Orthodox Churches.

248 At the outset the Eastern tradition expresses the Father’s character as first origin of the Spirit. By confessing the Spirit as he “who proceeds from the Father,” it affirms that he comes from the Father through the Son.77The Western tradition expresses first the consubstantial communion between Father and Son, by saying that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque). It says this, “legitimately and with good reason,”78 for the eternal order of the divine persons in their consubstantial communion implies that the Father, as “the principle without principle,”79 is the first origin of the Spirit, but also that as Father of the only Son, he is, with the Son, the single principle from which the Holy Spirit proceeds.80 This legitimate complementarity, provided it does not become rigid, does not affect the identity of faith in the reality of the same mystery confessed.

The threats to the truth of the Trinity being professed in the world come from three sources. I shall name these in order to show that Catholics must be clear on the teaching of the Trinity, and uphold the doctrine of the Trinity, without error.

First of all, the Muslim religion denies the Trinity. Jesus is not God and there is no Holy Spirit. There is only one god and not Three Divine Persons. Some historians of religion state that the Muslims accepted this simplistic belief as the belief in the Trinity is a mystery and difficult for some people to accept. This interpretation of their denial of a revealed truth given hundreds of years earlier could be true.

Second, I have been reading commentaries from theologians on Vassula Ryden and she confuses the nature of the Three Divine Persons. I suggest going back and looking at my posts which linked two sources explaining the fact that her statements concerning Christ and the Father are at variance with the Catholic Church's teaching.

Some other seers have also confused the Father with the Son, making the Father a material being which He is not. The Father is spirit. Only Christ is Incarnated. The Mormons do not believe that Christ is equal to the Father, that Christ was not always God. And, so on. 

Third, New Age "Catholics" and some charismatics do not understand the Church's teaching on the Holy Spirit as coming from the Father and the Son.  This indicates, of course, an equality of the Three Persons and the understanding we have of Christ being "consubstantial" with the Father, which we say in the Creed at Mass. Those who think that the Holy Spirit is somehow not connected with Christ want to separate the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity from the Father and the Spirit.

God is One, but the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, the Holy Spirit is not the Son, the Holy Spirit is not the Father, the Son is not the Holy Spirit. 

To confuse this order is to deviate from Catholic teaching, which is revealed by God. 

Of course, it is Satan who wants all humans to fall into confusion as how and what we believe determines how we live. 

I shall write more on the Trinity later. But, be aware our wonderful teaching is under threat by those who do not want to follow what God has revealed to the Church through the Scriptures and Tradition.

to be continued...

What is "the deposit of faith"?

Some Catholics have expressed to me that they like religions which allow them a fluidity of belief. Indeed, I heard a sermon last week, wherein the priest was appealing to the congregation to change their ideas concerning Church teaching. Only the Church, usually in the person of the Pope, can explain, modify or re-express the deposit of faith. That happens through the infallibility of certain documents, such as Humanae Vitae.

Explaining or modifying is not the same as a fluidity at base. This wish or desire for fluidity is a misunderstanding of the Church's depositum fidei, the deposit of faith.

One can start with the CCC, on the section concerning sacred transmission of truth. This truth is found in its fullness in the Catholic Church.

THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION
74 God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth":²⁹ that is, of Christ Jesus.³⁰ Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth:

God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.³¹

I. THE APOSTOLIC TRADITION
75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline."³²
In the apostolic preaching. . .
76 In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:
- orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit";³³
- in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing".³⁴
. . . continued in apostolic succession
77 "In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority."³⁵ Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time."³⁶
78 This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes."³⁷ "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer."³⁸
79 The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: "God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. And the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church - and through her in the world - leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness."³⁹

^{Now, we know that the Protestants chucked out most of Tradition in favor of the solas, to which I referred in a post yesterday, but also in the past on this blog. To disregard the preaching of the apostles and keep only Scripture (and not all) impoverished the Christian Faith in the Protestant denominations. Of course, without a concern for the deposit of faith, a fluidity of doctrine and knowledge became acceptable. If someone does not like something, one can change the doctrine-such as that of marriage. More from the CCC:}

II. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADITION AND SACRED SCRIPTURE
One common source. . .
80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal."⁴⁰ Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age".⁴¹
. . . two distinct modes of transmission
81 "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."⁴²
"And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching."⁴³
82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."⁴⁴
Apostolic Tradition and ecclesial traditions
83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.
Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium.

An example of this would be the allowance of usury.  Such major changes are not based on the doctrines given to us by Christ, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, passed to the apostles, down directly to us today, but only changes which are not key teachings of the Church. So, for example, the teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman for life cannot be changed. 

<sup>Now, two quick points-reason, not emotions, guide the acceptance of truth in the deposit of faith. Notice how the CCC refers to both the intellect and the heart.

Secondly, the faithful who are docile and obedient hold the sensus fidei. One, in other words, cannot be disobedient to Christ's words and the long heritage of Tradition and believe one is living in truth. Again, as an example, Humanae Vitae separates those who have the supernatural appreciation of the faith and those who do not.</sup>

See also the mini-series on infallibility.


III. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE HERITAGE OF FAITH
The heritage of faith entrusted to the whole of the Church
84 The apostles entrusted the "Sacred deposit" of the faith (the depositum fidei),⁴⁵ contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church. "By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practicing and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful."⁴⁶
The Magisterium of the Church
85 "The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ."⁴⁷ This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.
86 "Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith."⁴⁸
87 Mindful of Christ's words to his apostles: "He who hears you, hears me",⁴⁹ the faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.
The dogmas of the faith
88 The Church's Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these.
89 There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith.⁵⁰
90 The mutual connections between dogmas, and their coherence, can be found in the whole of the Revelation of the mystery of Christ.⁵¹ "In Catholic doctrine there exists an order or hierarchy of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith."⁵²
The supernatural sense of faith
91 All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them⁵³ and guides them into all truth.⁵⁴
92 "The whole body of the faithful. . . cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals."⁵⁵
93 "By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (Magisterium),. . . receives. . . the faith, once for all delivered to the saints. . . The People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more deeply with right judgment, and applies it more fully in daily life."

^{to be continued...}

From Southern Orders, A Blog I Follow--Video of Burke

Sunday, November 16, 2014 http://southernorderspage.blogspot.com/2014/11/bombshell-post-demoted-raymond-leo.html

(Not a numbers game, of course...)

BOMBSHELL: POST-DEMOTED RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE GIVES MORE INTERVIEWS AND REITERATES HIS CALL TO POPE FRANCIS TO CLARIFY CHURCH TEACHING

The following is from an Irish on-line service, RTE News. Cardinal Burke reiterates that it is long past time for the pope to clarify Church teaching. The extended interview with Joe Little is well worth watching! There are some bombshell statements, mostly by listening between the lines, about what is needed today. There is a statement by Cardinal Burke on Archbishop Cupich.

BE SURE TO WATCH THE VIDEO LINK OF THE EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH CARDINAL BURKE BY JOE LITTLE! IT IS STUNNING TO HEAR A CONSERVATIVE CARDINAL SPEAKING SO BLUNTLY ABOUT A REIGNING POPE. PRESS THIS LINK:
Watch Joe Little's extended interview with Cardinal Raymond Burke HERE.

RELATED AUDIO & VIDEO

• Watch: RTÉ News

Cardinal would refuse Communion to pro-gay marriage Catholic legislators

One of Pope Francis' most vocal critics, who was demoted last week from his leadership of the Vatican's Supreme Court, has said he would refuse Holy Communion to any Catholic legislator who voted for same-sex marriage.

Speaking before a Limerick conference on the Catholic family, Cardinal Raymond Burke declined to comment on the Government's planned referendum over gay and lesbian marriage.
However, he said he would refuse Communion to pro-gay marriage Catholic legislators in the same way he did in the case of pro-choice legislators in his native United States.

RELATED AUDIO & VIDEO

• Watch: Calls for Pope to clarify Church stance on gay marriage
• Watch: Cardinal Raymond Burke speaks at Limerick conference on issue of same sex marriage

He also reiterated his call to the Pontiff, made during last month's Synod on the Family, to clarify "at this point" where the Catholic Church stands on homosexual relations and on giving Holy Communion to divorced and civilly remarried couples.

Cardinal Burke told RTÉ News there is growing confusion about what the Church really teaches and that the impression is being given that it is a democracy in which a second synod of bishops will vote on these matters next year.

Cardinal Burke, who is now the Cardinal Patron of the Order of Malta, said neither Catholic doctrine nor discipline is decided by the votes of bishops.

The conference in Limerick is being organised by "The Catholic Voice" newspaper and was attended by the Bishop of Limerick, Dr Brendan Leahy and the former MEP Dana Rosemary Scallon.

Watch Joe Little's extended interview with Cardinal Raymond Burke here.

The Sin of Incredulity Part Two

An irony exists concerning the sin of incredulity. We all saw first-hand this sin of not believing in the Teaching Magisterium of the Church among some cardinals at the Synod.

However, many laity, precisely, have fallen into the same sin in the way they are criticizing or judging the Synod events.

To follow a false seer, because of the incredulity of some of the hierarchy, is to fall into the exact same deceitful mind-set.

Those demons of the air in charge of the sins connected to incredulity, heresy and apostasy, seem to be working overtime.

One sin can lead to another without prudence.

Heretics in Hell-Dante's Inferno

Obedience is the greatest virtue one needs to stay away from the sin of incredulity.

Obedience follows humility.

Thankfully, I learned this and passed this on to my son, who expressed the other day that the primary virtue needed now is obedience, not the seeking of false security. I asked him how he had learned this, (although he had expressed it at age twelve, by telling me then, when I corrected him and said he had to be obedient to me, "Mum, I know I have to be obedient. Obedience underlines all the virtues.") On Monday, he noted that he had learned this by being the son of a strict single mum. Parents, take heed of the great importance of asking your children to obey you.

Virtue formation starts earlier and if we miss out of that, we must catch up.

That is our duty as adult Catholics, to learn the Faith and live it. 

We all have discernment with the gift of knowledge given to us in Confirmation. Some choose freely to go against this gift.

All one needs to do is to study the teachings of the Church and learn how to think like a Catholic and not like a protestant.

If one is confused, pray.

Doctrine informs the spiritual life. Without a grounding in doctrine, one will fall prey to false seers.

Ignore most private revelations. People are losing their Catholic Faith through these seers, which is the entire reason they are speaking-satan's ploy.

Some of the following heresies in this lost list of attacks on Catholic Teaching, are held by the supposed holy seers. 

I taught an "Isms" class way back in 2002 and the students learned to spot these heresies, all of them, in today's culture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_heresies

And, again from the CCC:

678 Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgment of the Last Day in his preaching.⁵⁸² Then will the conduct of each one and the secrets of hearts be brought to light.⁵⁸³ Then will the culpable unbelief that counted the offer of God's grace as nothing be condemned.⁵⁸⁴ Our attitude to our neighbor will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine love.⁵⁸⁵ On the Last Day Jesus will say: "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."⁵⁸⁶

1851 It is precisely in the Passion, when the mercy of Christ is about to vanquish it, that sin most clearly manifests its violence and its many forms: unbelief, murderous hatred, shunning and mockery by the leaders and the people, Pilate's cowardice and the cruelty of the soldiers, Judas' betrayal - so bitter to Jesus, Peter's denial and the disciples' flight. However, at the very hour of darkness, the hour of the prince of this world,¹²⁶ the sacrifice of Christ secretly becomes the source from which the forgiveness of our sins will pour forth inexhaustibly.

1860 Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.

apologies for the bold gremlin in the works this morning...