Questions & Answers
about Authentic Catholic Teaching |
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This is a startling statement coming from an unimpeachable source — Christ Himself. It is startling because it completely overthrows the notion that lying can proceed from any benign motive, that lying can be innocuous, and sometimes even unavoidable and necessary as a means to a good end. Jesus tells us something strikingly different.
Note that he describes the devil as he, “quia mendax est et pater eius” — not just a liar himself, but the father of lies, the one who begets lies as a father begets children. As it is the nature of a father to beget children, so it is the nature of the devil to beget lies. He is, in a word, the malignant “pater eius” from whom all lies proceed.
What is more, in another context, Christ tells us that "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit." (St. Matthew 7.18). So understood, a lie, being evil, cannot possibly be the occasion of a good. Its fruit is evil because it is contrary not just to the 8th Commandment, but to Christ Himself, “Who is the Truth”. (St. John 14.16) How then can a lie, any lie, be construed as good when by its very nature it is contrary to (the nature of) Christ Himself?
This is not to say
that all lies are of the same gravity. Very clearly this is not
the case. But because some lies appear to facilitate an apparent
good perceived as greater than the evil inherent in the lie, does
not, even from a benign motive, make the lie not a lie. It remains
what it is: a lie.
Most often, despite our greatest efforts, we cannot overcome the
sense of guilt that accompanies every lie, no matter how “small”.
We instinctively recognize that, regardless of the apparently good
ends that had motivated it, we have made a breach and have sinned.
Our own consciences (the voice of God within) convict us in spite
of the good end achieved. It is a good achieved at the expense of
another good: truth. We attempt to put them on a balance in terms
of magnitude or proportion: the more the scale tips toward the good,
the more “benign” the lie.
The problem with this is that the scale is not balancing two competing goods, such that the preponderance of the one over the other justifies the choice of a greater good over a lesser good. In either case, the choice will be a good choice, although one may be “better” — that is to say, possessed of a greater magnitude of good — than the other. Literally, such a “balancing act” is justifiable in attempting to determine the preponderance of things alike in nature. One does not place grapes on the one side and apples on the other to determine which is better, or which, by weight (preponderance), yields greater value, still less a diamond on the one side and a bar of lead on the other. This “balancing” is pointless.
It is much the same with evil and good. To
attempt to balance evil with good is to presume that they are like
in nature, and commensurable in value — when in fact they are
opposite both in nature and value since “evil” has no “being”
at all. In fact, it is precisely a “privation of being! Evil
is the absence or deprivation of a good. What we understand
as the evil we call illness, for example, is nothing more than diminished
health — it is a privation of “being healthy”. Were there no such
state as “being healthy”, there would be no “illness”. Evil, in
a word, has no “existence” of itself. It is a diminution of a good
thing, but not a “thing” itself.
God keep you.
Dear Editor,
I read an article recently by an American priest who said in his
opinion a plenary indulgence is never ever gained by anyone. He
bases his opinion on the fact that one of the stated requirements
to gain a plenary is for one to be totally free from the disposition
to sin either venial or mortal. And in his opinion given our human
nature not one of us is ever free from this disposition. So is therefore
not in a position to gain one of these indulgences.
This disturbed me greatly. And I found myself giving much thought
as to whether I am in fact ever going to be capable of gaining a
plenary indulgence, which means so very much to me .
One COULD not or indeed SHOULD not be at confession on a daily basis
to try and keep oneself free from all sin. The danger here as I
see it one could easily develop a disposition to scruples which
is a very unhealthy state of mind.
Can I ask you editor to please comment on the article by the priest.
In the hope that I will be reassured that my attempts to release
a little soul from purgatory and so fulfill the needful heart of
my Jesus are not in vain.
Thank you.
TMC
09 March 2010
Dear T.M.C.
The American priest is, presumably, expressing his opinion
as a person and not as a priest, for he is not expressing the
authoritative and indisputable teaching of Holy Mother the Church.
That his personal opinion is divergent from, and in conflict with,
what the Church teaches — a teaching to which he is bound
to assent not just as a priest but as a Catholic, is most regrettable
but hardly surprising. What is more, his statements are a scandal
to the Church and to the faithful in that they cause confusion among
the faithful in regard to genuine Catholic doctrine. The priest
is bound to unambiguously teach authentic Catholic doctrine — not
to express his “opinions” about matters of the Faith that have been
established and are not subject to dispute or question. “What”,
the confused Catholic asks, “is the truth of the matter at hand?
The Church holds and teaches the unique, profound, and unquestionable
value of Indulgences, particularly Plenary Indulgences. But the
Church’s representative in the person of this priest, is declaring
otherwise. Who is right? The Church and her countless Saints who
have spoken clearly over the centuries on this matter — or "Father-knows-best-but-really-doesn’t?”
The question is rhetorical. The Church is right and Father so-and-so
is clearly wrong.
On what basis does he make the pronouncement, “Given our human
nature not one of us is ever free from this disposition (to sin)
… and therefore [no one is] in a position to gain one of these indulgences.”?
Not in virtue of his priesthood. No priest has the authority
to interpret authentic Church teaching to accord with his misguided
opinion. No bishop, no theologian, no Catholic whomsoever has this
authority. This misguided and incorrect “opinion” does not reflect
what the Church teaches, what the Sacred Deposit of the Faith holds,
and what Catholic Dogma maintains.
The statement that, “Given our human nature not one of us is
ever free from this disposition” (requisite to a Plenary Indulgence)
in and of itself reveals a defective knowledge of the norms outlined
for the gaining of a Plenary Indulgence, which makes no reference
whatever to a “disposition to sin”:
“To acquire
a plenary indulgence it is necessary to perform the work
to which the indulgence is attached and to fulfill three
conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion
and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. It
is further required that all attachment to
sin, even to venial sin, be absent.”
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As you can see, it
stipulates that one must be free from “attachment”
to sin — not from the disposition to sin. The two are quite
different. To be free from “attachment to sin” is not to be free
from the allurement of sin which would constitute freedom from
temptation (something to which Christ Himself was subject in
His sacred humanity in the Three Temptations - St. Matthew
4.1-11). It is not possible to be free from temptation in our
fallen state because we are not free of the Tempter who ever assails
those who follow Christ. (cf. 1 Peter 5.8)
We cannot be
free from temptations to sin, (cf. St. Matthew 18.7) but we can
be free of our attachment to sin itself. It is within the will of
man, even when falling into sin, to have no attachment to the sin
beyond the hapless occasion itself. It is of the essence of repentance
to resolutely and genuinely express the intention to sin in that
way no more — that is to say, to renounce any affinity for the
occasion of sin, which, in other words, to refuse attachment
to the sin into which one had fallen.
To say that this is not possible is contrary to human experience
and history. Many — having sinned and repented — have returned no
more to sin. Mary Magdalene was among them. In our own lives we
find that we renounce any attachment to a sin that has brought us
untold misery. To say otherwise is to deprive man of freedom by
holding that he is not free not to sin. But if he is not
free not to sin, then he cannot be held culpable for it —
for he was unable to do otherwise. In this case, there is no sin
and no sanctity, nothing praiseworthy and nothing blameworthy. This
is called “determinism”. We are not responsible for our behavior
and choices because they are pre-determined for us by our very constitution
as human beings, a constitution that does not include freedom in
its inventory. What we do, we must do. And if we must do it, and
cannot do otherwise, there is no sin, and eo ipso,
no guilt.
But this clearly is not the case. In exercising the freedom to disagree
with Church teaching (to disagree with what is true — which one
can always do, but which is not understood as coherent behavior)
Father so-and-so instantiates the very point he repudiates. He is
free to disagree, even if he ought not. It is even within Father’s
power to renounce his attachment to this error, however compelling
he may find it to be. It is within his power to state it no more
— even while it may not be within his will. He is even free to hold
himself not be free, but in so doing utters an inescapable contradiction.
The “mind” of Father so-and-so is not the “mind of the Church” —
nor does it accord with human experience and a coherent notion of
free agency.
Regrettably, much of what he often hear from the pulpit, you will
notice, is not ,“what the Church teaches”, but “what
the priest “thinks about” and “the way he look at it”, or “it seems
to him” — on a given matter that most often has only marginal relevance
to the Gospel reading in any event. We are not in Church, presumably,
to listen to the opinions and quirks of interpretation of any given
priest — but to the Word of God as the Church sees
it … and not as “Father so-and-so sees it.
We hope that you find this answer satisfactory.
God keep you.
Dear Editor,
Thank you so very much for answering my question on the gaining
of plenary indulgences ... I am completely reassured and so thankful
to you.
I am afraid that we were brought up with the mentality that
when a priest speaks he is speaking with the authority of the Teaching
of the Church. Unfortunately we have come to learn
that this is not always the case. And that is a great sadness
when so many can be influenced by the words of our priests. If they
only but realized the potential to educate that they hold in their
hands.
Thank you, editor, with all my heart. TMC
To the Boston
Journal
To whom it may concern,
Dear Sir,
I am an 18 year old student at University studying Social sciences.
Since I have been at Uni I have met quite a lot of Catholics and
indeed have had some very interesting exchanges with them, I admire
them for their stance on pro-life issues, not only the unborn ,but
the whole euthanasia debate.
The Catholic Church just seems to be drawing me...in fact I am thinking
of approaching the Catholic Chaplain for instructions.. BUT ..Jack,
a fellow student and a catholic, has lent me a Catholic Prayerbook,
I have browsed through it and come up against a problem, can you
help me? My problem is this that reading through the "Examination
of Conscience" there is a list of questions, presumably that I am
supposed to ask myself before going to confession?
Well the question concerns ' self pleasuring ", although they call
it by another name !
I have the greatest difficult to understand WHY is this regarded
by the church as a sin ? I can understand that if I attempted (I
will not) to exploit a woman sexually, take advantage of her, that's
wrong, I understand too that physical intimacy with another man
is wrong, according to Christian ethics, but I just cannot grasp
why " self pleasure", is a sin ? It ' feels good ', its not involving
anyone but myself, and as it is something that I admit I do frequently,
how am I going to get my head around this? I mean isn't this private
?
Perhaps you may be able to advise me, I would feel more comfortable
to know why and where I stand on this one before I approach a priest,
Thankyou for your kind attention.
Please pray for me because I really would like to learn to love
Jesus more
Cheers ! George. Oxford
Dear George,
Thank you for so candid a letter.
Your forthrightness took courage, and addresses a common problem
experienced by people of all ages, not just the young — and both
genders as well.
Masturbartion or Self-Abuse, is intrinsically sinful because
it is the enactment of the sin of Lust (which is one of the Seven
Deadly Sins: Pride, Greed, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth).
We will address the term, "self-pleasuring" that you
use, later and in a very important context.
Christ admonished us, “You have heard that it was said to them of
old: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, that whosoever
shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed
adultery with her in his heart.” (Saint Mathew 5.27-28)
We see that the act alone does not constitute the sin, but before
the act the sin already exists in the heart — which in and of itself
is sufficient to qualify already sinful desire as the act of the
sin itself. This makes perfectly clear sense: the thought always
precedes and precipitates the act. Were there no lust in thought,
no act of lust would follow. The act is preceded by the will which
gives assent to both the thought and to the actualization of the
thought through the deed.
Christ is quite clear about this:
“For from the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. These are the things that defile a man." (Saint Matthew 15.19-20) |
Note that he says “de corde”
— “from the heart” — even before the acts that follow from
them — is a man defiled. This is extremely important to understand.
Every sin proceeds from the heart, from the thoughts, as the motivation
to sin, the willingness to sin. Every act of sexual sin is preceded
by the lustful thoughts which motivate the act. And these are sufficient
in and of themselves to constitute the act, such that the same penalty
applies to the sin in thought as to the sin in deed. What separates
the two are either “occasion” or “opportunity” — either of which
provided would culminate in the physical act.
One must ask oneself two questions:
What in fact is one
entertaining in one’s mind while masturbating? It is, of course,
the sinful act of either fornication or adultery
(or more grave still, a homosexual act).
The next, and logical
question is, were it possible to actualize this fantasy with
the one being fantasized about, would one indulge in it?
The only coherent answer is yes, for otherwise one would be
fantasizing about what one really did not desire, and if one
did not really
desire this, one would not be masturbating.
It is quite false to maintain
that the act of masturbation hurts no one and is of itself harmless
and victimless. It injures the soul through allowing it to succumb
to sin which of itself is a moral evil with ontological (i.e.
pertaining to “being” itself) dimensions: it either diminishes or
deprives the soul of grace — which is the participation
of the soul in the very life of God — or in the case of mortal
sin, destroys that participation, or ones life in God, altogether.
Is there any greater evil? Sin also injures the Church of Whose
body you are a member. “If one member suffer any thing, all the
members suffer with it.”(1 Cor. 12.26). If one is married, it constitutes
an act of infidelity and adultery against ones wife or husband.
If one is single, it constitutes the act of fornication or adultery.
What is more, it is an offense against the person fantasized about
inasmuch as it deprives that person of his or her own personhood,
reducing that person the status of a mere object to be used to satisfy
ones lust. It is equally a violation of the virtues of chastity
and continence. Most of all it offends God! So we see that masturbation
is hardly a “victimless” sin. I fact, its victims are many, starting
with oneself, proceeding though others, and reaching even to God.
What
is particularly interesting in your question is the terminology
you use, which I recognize is not your own but which has deep implications
itself which are noteworthy. Please do not understand it as a reproach
to you in your question at all. It is not, nor is it meant to appear
so, but brings to relief a growing problem in the lexicon currently
used to address sexual issues.
The term “self-pleasuring” is a neologism (a new and artificially
invented word, “made up” is one proper definition) that is really
a euphemism (a more agreeable word intended to avoid a disagreeable,
offensive, or shame-provoking word that is much clearer and actually
proper to the concept or act involved.) I have deliberately provided
definitions for the two words, “neologism” and “euphemism” in an
attempt to totally clarify the issue and avoid any confusion.
Apart from
the grammatical incongruity (one does not speak of “pleasuring oneself”
in enjoying a meal, or “self-pleasuring oneself” in reading a book
or watching a movie that one finds pleasurable) this neologism is
essentially crafted in an effort to present an act or concept fraught
with immorality with one that is not. Who, after all, would argue
that “pleasure” is an evil in and of itself? In short, if the act
or concept itself is not already understood as immoral or
offensive, then it would not stand in need of a neologism or euphemism
to express it, yes?
It is, somehow, less self-incriminating to express such acts as
a euphemisms, and we reflexively understand this. However awkward
the term, it is easier (less apt to stir ones conscience) to say
that “I self-pleasure myself often” than to say “I masturbate often.”
In fact, we are likely to cringe upon making such a completely overt
statement. If, however, we wish to liberate this behavior (called,
incidentally, “self-abuse” in correct terminology,
and not “self-pleasuring”) from a negative moral connotation, we
must first seek to morally neutralize it, by inserting it through
“acceptable terminology”, into acceptable public discourse. Becoming
acceptable in public discourse, the act becomes implicitly acceptable
itself.
The entire thrust of this aside is that when we begin calling something
intrinsically evil by another name that is not evil we are engaging
in nothing short of deception: we begin calling what is evil good.
The unpardonable sin of blasphemy, perhaps the most frightening
sin of all, occurs when we conflate evil with good and good
with evil. (c.f. Saint Matthew 12.22-32)
God keep you.
QUESTION:
Hi there,
Please help me ! My life is in a mess, this time I have blown it,
that's for sure! I am just turned 17, raised a Catholic, although
I haven't been to church for ages. I think church is actually so,
so boring! I cant believe that this is happening to me, but I have
just discovered that I am already 3 months pregnant! If my parents
know this I'm sure they will throw me out. My mom happens to mind
what the neighbors will say and all that stuff !
The worst of it is this, I don't even know who the father actually
is, me and my friends like to go clubbing and have fun., it could
be one of a few guys so I cant even say, its his, or his !
I cant have a baby! I have no job, what have I to offer a child,
I want an abortion, in a word I want to get rid of it.
I don't even know why I am hesitating one min I am all ready to
grab a taxi and run off to planned parenthood, and the next I feel
like maybe its wrong, but is it? the feeling passes but I'm more
sure. All I wanted was a bit of fun and I don't see why I should
pay for it now and end up with a baby. God wont expect this of me
will he?
I mean surely God wont be mad at me if I do this? will he ? People
tell me God is forgiving, well then if I go ahead will God forgive
me? I really to want this abortion it will settle my problem and
I can get on with my life, also its my life and my space isn't it
?After all I may meet an alright guy, and have a baby later on ,
its not that I'm saying no baby at all, but not now !
So do you think God
will forgive me ? I mean its such early stages, and accept I know
in my head I wouldn't even know I was pregnant, but I am.
What shall I do ? I really am desperate.
Thanks a lot,
I hope you don't mind me writing but I just happened to see your
answer box on the journal, that's a mystery too, how on earth I
arrived at the Journal, I Googled for something else entirely!
Deidre
PA
Can you put an answer on your site, please do not mail me at this
address in case my Mom sees it, as both my folks use this computer.
Thanks a lot.
Dear Deidre,
My name is Bernadette and I am a (young) contributor to the Boston
Catholic Journal. The editor asked me to answer your question or
at least offer you my advice as a woman. I have read your letter
carefully and I want to first say that I am sorry that you have
to go through this alone — I truly can feel your pain. It is so
hard to be a woman sometimes ... I know that I am not you and cannot
imagine exactly what you are going through at this moment, but I
can certainly relate. At one time or another, many woman goes through
what you are now experiencing ... some get the answer that they
are looking for, and others, like yourself, unfortunately do not.
The decision that you are now faced with is probably one of the
most difficult ones you will have ever have to deal with in your
life, and whatever you choose to do will have an impact on you forever.
I know, it is scary.
I was also (as I am sure you can guess) raised a Catholic, and I
am very familiar with the teachings of my faith. The values that
have been instilled in me since childhood still to this day, like
yourself, affect many of my decisions and thoughts. I am not married,
either, and if I found myself in your situation I could not
even fathom the idea of having and affording a baby.
Every woman who has found herself in your situation had probably
never anticipated the possibility of having a child out of
wedlock. Given all the "easy" solutions to really tough questions
— especially if you are a woman — that are thrown at you so off-handedly
today, obviously the first thought that would enter a woman's mind
is that the easiest solution would be to have an abortion. Planned
Parenthood makes it look so simple ... so "right" ... and with no
consequences! A few hundred dollars and the problem is gone. Right?
It would seem to be a simple fix to a big problem. Almost all
women have this exact thought when faced with this decision. Even
though they think about it, I just know that, deep down, many would
never be able to go through with it if it weren't presented to them
as an easily available, totally acceptable, and entirely guilt-free
experience that is "every woman's right", right? Somehow, despite
all the slick slogans and glossy brochures passed out in high school,
I could never bring myself to see an abortion as a solution I could
live with — simply because there is a child's life at stake, and
that little baby has absolutely no voice of it's own.... their life
and death it out of their hands.
Thankfully, I have never been in this positiont, but I know that
these are the thoughts that you are having at this moment. I, too,
would probably question whether or not God would ever be able to
forgive me if I went through with something like that.... Surely
He would understand that now is not the time! I can't afford
it! I am not ready! He has to know this, right?! But the
truth of the matter is, that He does know this, He knows
everything, and He knows that you and I know that it is a terrible
sin to have an abortion, because after all, it is a little baby
we are talking about. HOWEVER, He also knows your pain, and knows
that you are now faced with a very difficult decision, which is
why, I believe, God wants me to help you figure out your options
and what you can do. Now we (because hopefully you will accept
my help and advice... because I am more than happy to help you with
this, today, tomorrow, whenever..) must figure out what options
exist.
In my opinion, you have three options. However, I
do not think that "option number one" is the right one for you.
Option two may be, but based on your letter and what you have said
about your parents and your situation, it might not be the easiest.
I think that option three has your name written all
over it :)
1)
Abortion
— easy? Kindda. The right choice? I hope you will come to realize,
no, it is not...Not simply for the sake of the baby, but for your
own sake. Abortions may seem easy, but in fact they are VERY complicated.
Many women who have abortions have a VERY difficult time coping
afterwards. Whether it is because of the sickness the follows, or
the mental and emotional damage. It is hard to face the fact that
you have 'terminated' a pregnancy. The words are tough to swallow,
and many women mentally suffer after the operation. They wonder
if they will ever be able to get pregnant again, wonder if they
could have managed a baby, if their lives would somehow be better,
they have a difficult time actually SEEING children. If you do the
research, the truth is not very pretty.
2)
Keeping your baby
-- easy? Absolutely not. The right choice? Perhaps ... perhaps not
... Based on what I have read in your letter, your parents would
not support your decision to keep the child. You are only 17 and
are probably not financially ready to support a child, though there
are agencies out there to help (and colleges that offer support
and child care if you are planning of furthering your education).
The truth is, which I am sure you already know, having a baby is
a huge responsibility, one that requires a lot of time, energy,
money and effort. However, what you get in return is a beautiful
little child that loves and depends on you and doesn't care how
old you are or how much money you have. This option is by far the
most difficult, and again, I am not sure if it is the best for you,
only you can decide that.
Finally, in my opinion,
the best option for you:
3) ADOPTION!
Easy? Kindda! The right choice? It may be! I think that adoption
is perfect for you for a number of reasons:
a)
You seem very worried about what your parents are going to think
and say. I really think that your parents would probably not be
so hard on you. They would not have to help you support the child.
They would see that you are making an educated, responsible, and
mature decision. They would not have to worry about you and how
it would have an effect of your life, because really, it would not
be that difficult. True, you would have to carry the baby for 9
months and go to doctors appointments and things, but that is all
relatively EASY compared to the last two options! I am VERY sure
that if you told your parents that you were pregnant and have thought
things over and that you think it is the BEST thing for both you
and the child to give it up for adoption, they would be supportive
of your decision ... and if they are not, keep reading what I have
to say....
c)
Obviously, you are worried about yourself and the impact this will
have on your life. If you give this baby up for adoption you will
not have to worry about how to afford it, who the father is, what
you have to offer it, ANYTHING! You can move forward with your life
in a few months and feel GOOD about your decision! You did not have
an abortion, you let the child live! You can go to college! Get
a great education! Get a great job! Meet a great guy! And when you
are ready, have a family with the manwho loves you and who wants
to support you and the baby! It is absolutely possible! You would
know that your child is in good hands and is taken care of and happy....
you never know who they will become or what good things they will
do :) Both your lives will be the better for it.
c)
It really is easy to do. All you have to do is contact an adoption
agency. If you need help, I will certainly do some research and
help you find one in your area. YOU get to pick which parents are
right for your baby! You will actually have couples competing for
you! Once you find the parents you think will best raise your child,
THEY will be there to support you the whole way, EVEN IF YOUR PARENTS
DON’T! THEY will often schedule, pay, and COME to doctors appointments
with you! THEY will always be checking up on you! THEY will make
sure you are doing well and have what you need! THEY WILL BE THERE
WITH YOU THE ENTIRE PROCESS, BECAUSE THEY WILL TRULY CARE ABOUT
YOU AND THE BABY. There are soooo many wonderful couples
out there who would DO ANYTHING to have a child of their own, but
cannot. Imagine their pain when they found out they COULDN'T have
a child. I am sure they, too, were questioning God ... “WHY IS THIS
HAPPENING TO ME? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? GOD, DO YOU NOT WANT ME
TO BE A PARENT?!” Now the obvious question is, why WOULDN’T you
want to help them? I hope that you are beginning to see how this
REALLY is the right choice for you.... I hope that you are beginning
to realize that option one is NOT the only option for you, that
there is, in fact, a MUCH BETTER OPTION just waiting for you to
make your move!
I really, sincerely hope that this helped. Please, feel free to
contact me directly or the BCJ site if there is anything else I
can do to help. Please, do not be afraid to accept my help and know
that I am here to help you in whatever way I can. I will certainly
keep you in my prayers and look forward to hopefully hearing a response
from you soon!
Your new friend,
Bernadette :)
bernadette@boston-catholic-journal.com
“My question is about attending the new Mass. I find it very unnerving to attend this Mass as I feel that it is more of a social hour than time I can spend with my Lord and assisting at Mass. Besides I always attended a Mass said in Latin and with people who dressed respectfully for our Lord and women who covered their heads in respect. So my question to you is how do I go to this new Mass not really feeling like I'm attending Mass. I feel like I am just doing this for show.”
LH
Dear LH,
First, thank you for the courage it took to ask about the Elephant in the Room that everyone sees and no one wants to talk about. Even our priests. Especially our priests — and more especially our bishops who are too deeply involved in other things of a more ... social nature, and decidedly more pressing than the salvation of souls.
Buy a 1962
Roman Missal (available from
Baronius Press and other publishers), go to page 9, the
“Liturgical Calendar”, find the month and date
of the Mass for the forthcoming Sunday (or weekday), hunker
down in a back pew and open it to pages 889 - 896 (“Preparation
for Holy Mass” BEFORE Mass begins.
If you can find a Missal anywhere from 1900-1959, anything
prior to 1962, then that is to be preferred
When Mass proper
begins, do as the rest of the congregation does (if kneeling
is not practiced — yes, we know, incredible, but it happens
— kneel anyway when you know you should — especially
during the Canon of the Mass when the species of bread and wine
are transubstantiated into the Most Holy Body and the Most Precious
Blood of Christ during the Holy Eucharist, and after receiving
Him in Holy Communion — even if everyone just sits and drapes
their arms over the backs of the pews). You have no obligation
to join in singing that you are “The Light
of the World” (you probably do not esteem yourself to be so,
and neither do I) or, in fact, any other maudlin ditty. At times
of singing, you can quietly read or re-read the Gospel or Epistles
in your Roman Missal — fiercely focusing on them to drown out
the strident singing and the banging of the drums and piano.
Or you could simply close your eyes, intent upon your presence
at the foot of the Cross before which you stand at Mass. This
requires holy focus. Pray to Mary. She will help you. While
it appears that everyone is paying attention to virtually everyone
else except Christ — you are paying attention
to God through either the Readings in your Missal or your place
under the Cross.
Be resolute in fixing your gaze upon the
Tabernacle in which dwells our Blessed Lord, Body, Blood, Soul,
and Divinity. He is there! What do you care of
what others are paying attention to? You may be the only
person there who knows what is really going on behind
the clamor and distractions surrounding you: the very
Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross ... and
you are standing or kneeling at the foot of the Cross.
HE is why you are there! Focus on Him! He is, after
all, intent upon you! When the clamor reaches
a crescendo of self-adulation, remember those who really surround
you most closely: Christ, Mary, and the Holy Angels surrounding
the Altar. They did not come to be entertained by the “Music
Ministry” or to be amused by the antics of the priest. They
came for you. They were waiting for you. And now you are there.
To Whom, then, will you pay close attention? At Whose feet will
you sit? Will you mount Calvary to be with Him under the Cross
... or join the minstrels who would drop their instruments and
fall into awe and silence before the Crucified Who is on that
Cross, and on that Altar before them — could they see Him with
the eyes of Faith. Close your eyes and see Him Whom others
fail to see with waking eyes!
Fold your hands in front of you during
the "Sign of Peace" and humbly bow to any who turn to
you, front and side, without turning around. This is not impolite.
It is acknowledging them, if they are so disposed (and not all
are comfortable with the handshake: it is a physical contact
which not everyone welcomes, myself included, and for many women
it is a breach of modesty to grope for the hands of everyone
around them. Many a man — although, of course, none will admit
it — welcomes this opportunity to have “physical contact” with
a woman he finds attractive, and not all grasping of hands is
entirely chaste in the heart of the one insisting upon it. This
is not prudish. It is an uncomfortable truth. Humbly and slightly
bowing in the context of the Mass is a much deeper sign of respect
than a superficial handshake. How many talk, laugh, blow kisses,
hug, or run across the aisle to greet everyone possible
— and even have brief conversations in the process (“How is
John doing?”)! And how many of these people will not so much
as acknowledge one another — whom they had embraced with such
affection in Church... on the street! The rubrics of the Mass
do not specify the method or means of conveying
the “Sign of Peace” ... and the “V” waving of the fingers
in all directions has a long history of political overtones
that, in my opinion, has no place in the Mass. Not all Catholics,
especially older Catholics, were “Flower Children” of the 60's.
Fold your hands reverently before you
as you go to Communion, heedless of the indifferent carriage
of others. You know Whom you approach. And you can, if it is
physically possible to you, you can also genuflect on one knee
and bow your head before you arise to receive Him, the King
of Kings. Do not be ashamed to honor Him so. He promised to
those that were ashamed of Him on Earth, that he would be ashamed
of them before His Father in Heaven and His holy Angels. (St.
Matthew 10.33). Saint Francis of Assisi, the man recognized
to be the most Christ-like of all men, did not consider himself
worthy to hold Our Blessed Lord in the Eucharist in his hands.
For that reason he never became a priest. I would urge you,
as our forefathers had done for over a thousand years, to receive
Him in Holy communion on your tongue, knowing that Father Francis
himself did likewise. It is an act of utter humility and
love.
After Mass, do not flee as the others.
What have you been given? Ten lepers approached Christ to be
healed, and only one returned to give thanks (St. Luke 17.12-19).
Do likewise. Go to Him in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the
Altar after Mass and give Him thanks and praise. The gift you
were given is far greater than the gift given the lepers. Christ's
very self! Body and Blood!
Remember that on Calvary there were many, and even some among them gambled beneath Him. Do not be ashamed to do as Mary did, and not the cruel soldiers. Go to Him. And do not judge the crowd around Him at the foot of the Cross at Mass. We see appearances. God alone sees the heart. Some there are who love much and suffer much. Do not disdain them because the crowd is loud around them, too — even as the crowd was loud and scornful as Christ hung on the Cross and only Mary and John remained.
Yours is a question
that deeply vexes, even unsettles, Catholics with a deep sense of
the sacred and an earnest desire to worship God alone in a manner
due His Divine Majesty. Even this very term “His Divine Majesty”
is seldom, if ever heard, in the New Mass. Somehow, it offends our
sense of democracy; the “progressive” notion that, not only are
all equal before God (bishop, priest and laity alike), but
that God Himself is trespassing upon our cherished sense of
a presumed , if politely unstated, equality with Him. Catholics
no longer “do transcendence”. God is imminent in us all —
rather than transcending us and everything. In celebrating
ourselves we celebrate Him — or so we are urged to
believe. The logic is sound ... even if the premises are deeply
flawed — in fact, completely untrue. In philosophy, Modus Ponens
always produces a sound logical argument — that is to say, the
form of the argument is always valid even if the terms
themselves are ludicrous.
This loss of transcendence, aptly supplanted by a suffocating sense of imminence (indwelling) is a major factor contributing to our loss of the sense —and Presence — of God. Christ is no longer the Light of the World: “We are the light of the world" as the ditty goes in virtually every parish and quite nearly at every Mass. God is an interloper in His own House; a disruptive Guest with a Divine attitude Who presumes to eclipse this “light" by momentarily distracting us from ourselves during that brief moment of Transubstantiation that we politely accord Him before resuming the celebration of ourselves and the absolute certainty of our salvation. We are the tenants who have evicted God from His own House, much as the tenant farmers in the Gospels.1 It has largely ceased to be the “House of God” and has become “Our Faith Community”, our “Our Prayer Space”, terms as bizarre and disconnected with the continuity of the Church as the practices that most often occur within them. The focus is “We”, “Ours” ... in a word, the apotheosis of the self over God.
Think of the stultifying term, “We are Church” ... apart from its ungrammatical format (languages that use the definite (“the”) and the indefinite (“a”) article use it to articulate a distinction between things specific (“the house”, meaning this particular and unique house) and things general (“a house” meaning any house apart from distinguishing features specific to it). This is no quibbling with words, however silly and foreign they may sound. It is a deliberate divesting of the Catholic Church's unique role as the means to salvation instituted by Christ Himself. 2 Think of “We are Government.” Which government? What kind of government? Of what country? Is it the government of an empire? A republic? A democracy? A regime? There are no distinguishing features to which we can appeal. It is a senseless and meaningless utterance, because the statement lacks anything definite that we can predicate of it. It is not “the Church”, or even “a Church” ... it is just, well, ... “Church.”
Equally noteworthy, apart from what church it is (which we cannot answer), is whose church it is. It is no longer God's Church — it is our Church. Even if we no longer know what it is, we at least know who it belongs to. It belongs to us ... not God. It is our Church. In fact, its only distinguishing feature is that, whatever it is, it is ours. — and not Christ's. It is us! “We are Church!” For 2000 years (minus 40) it was the Body of Christ of which He is the Head. 3
Is it any wonder, then, that at the New Mass, the Novus Ordo (still valid despite its being trivialized and much abused. See the heresy of Donatism which holds that the Sacraments are invalid, and even the Mass itself, if the presiding priest is unworthy) we celebrate ourselves — rather than worship God. The focus appears to be upon everything and everyone — from the show-host priest striding jestingly in the aisles, to the miserable cacophony of pianos, drums, trap sets, cymbals, guitars, and the most dismal “folk music” (think Joan Baez and Cat Stevens) that ceased to exist 30 years ago everywhere except in the Catholic Church, to the divas inviting your applause, and Kiddie-Hour at the Altar — everyone and everything ... except Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrifice (absolutely the most central feature of the Mass, apart from which there is no Mass; a now "antiquated" notion which is no longer spoken of — let alone emphasized — in most “modern” Catholic Churches.)
In short, we have not lifted ourselves to Heaven, but dragged God down the Earth — and like our priests, He, too, has largely become rather “one of the guys” ... with a cameo appearance in the Most Holy Eucharist.
We deign to favor Him with our presence at Mass ... smug in our certainty that He is keenly aware of the sleep-in, sports event, or other social obligation that we have sacrificed for Him — and of which He is surely, and most appropriately, not only cognizant but deeply grateful.
Yes, the sacred nature of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is often trivialized ... and by many unknown. But you know, LH.
In short, yes, you and I can survive the appalling lack of reverence at so many Masses. We must ... because Christ Himself must. Day in and day out.
Mother Teresa held that the most effective means of conversion is personal example. It starts with one. And beholding the beauty of the one, another comes to know this beauty also.
God keep you.
____________________________
1 St. Matthew 21.33-41
Saint Matthew 16.17-19
2 St. Matthew 16.17-19
3 Colossians 1:18
Dear Journal,
What
does God say about pregnant single mothers? To marry or not to marry?
I have 8 siblings, 6 of them are girls and 5 of them are married.
From all five of them, I cannot say I would prefer to have one marriage
over another, I’d prefer not have a marriage at all. All including
my mother, have set an example it appears to be as having to be
the one to make more sacrifices in the relationship for the sake
of the children having their fathers near them (of course they all
say they love their husbands still). However, I asked them one day
(just the sisters), “Not counting the children, would you do it
all over again. Marry the same guy and put up with everything?”
All said no except one. As a girlfriend of the father of my coming
baby, I am already not willing to put up with many things I see
in him. I fear he isn't ready or rather doesn't want to give up
on a lot of things that expectant fathers should give up on. But
now I fear that perhaps I am being a little too demanding of a partner,
in comparison to other girls or even my sisters. I am having trouble
wanting to just settle for the norm which constitutes of: the man
is a man and he is allowed to have his “manliness” with the society
given definition. The women lives to serve her children and husband.
My mother had a very rough life, and for many years I refused to
believe that she was born to live all that suffering, now I have
stop questioning or commenting on her life, I just accept it since
it is her life and pertains to her only. However, I don't know that
I want to spend a life next to a man and hoping and praying for
the day that he will change. We don't share values, goals, and even
our morality judgment is very different. Of course because we come
from different backgrounds. The other day I shared with him how
I needed and wanted to go to confession and to this he replied,
“What did you do?” I chuckled considering that we both participated
in the sin of sex and now are pregnant. I love this coming baby
and I don’t regret it, but I do regret having sin or even with who
I sinned with if that makes any sense. I acknowledge my sin, and
if this cross of mine commands me to get married than without hesitation
I will pick it up and carry it.
P.S. Perhaps you recall of me writing to you earlier. And I took
your advice and left the relationship. And well time later he looked
for me again and I fell like the common “in-love” girl or rather
“in-lust” (I don't even know now) and well now I have a brought
a new innocent life into our problems. I don’t even know how to
tell my baby that I’m sorry.
Lost
Dear Lost,
I will answer your first question before addressing others. You
ask, “What does God say about pregnant single mothers?” To marry
or not to marry is another question; one for which I will offer
my own suggestion, and the reasons for it.
So, “What does God say about pregnant single mothers?”
The answer to this is unequivocal and clear, and so God tells you
at once and forever:
“I
love you, and I love the life
within you that I have created. I Alone am the Giver of Life, and
I have chosen you to cooperate with Me in bringing this life — that
I have willed — to being. That your will and My will are one — that
the child shall live and be loved — is itself a sign of blessedness,
for holiness consists in this: that your will be perfectly one,
perfectly in harmony, with My will in all things. It is nothing
more and nothing less. In this state of holiness you will find happiness,
and apart from it you will never find peace, for you will never
possess real happiness. Why? Because always I will your good, in
this life and in the next; I will what is perfectly good for you,
and what is perfectly good for you will bring you happiness. There
is no happiness apart from what is good, yes?
Oh, there are things pleasurable and they bring you momentary fulfillment,
but not happiness. Happiness endures. Pleasure passes. Happiness
and pleasure are not the same at all, My Little One. Some pleasures
are good, and some are sinful, according to your state in life.
Sexual pleasure is good — within the Sacrament of Marriage, but
sinful outside of it.
But you know this already, my daughter — and in the Sacrament of
Penance you have come to Me before. What had you found, my Little
One? Mercy, compassion, and forgiveness … yes? And now you would
flee Me … fear confessing that you have sinned the same sin again?
Do you not remember my Only Begotten Son telling Saint Peter who
had asked, “Lord, how many times should we forgive our brother?
Seven times?” To which My Son answered, “Nay, seventy times seven
times!” In other words, as often as forgiveness is asked, it is
given — as long as the heart of the penitent is truly sorry — and
even if she falls into that sin again and again through human weakness,
and knows and expresses true sorrow again and again, she is forgiven!
Do you think I do not know your weakness and frailty, I Who had
created you? Was not My Son, in His Incarnation, like unto thee
in all things except sin? He Himself in His sacred humanity intimately
knows the weakness of men.
What you are really asking Me, it appears, is this: “Do I still
love you, as a woman, and now as a mother, outside of wedlock?”
In your heart of hearts you already know the answer to this also.
Yes! Not a whit less, and even the more! — because you have, apart
from your soul that is precious to Me, a new life within you! A
life that I have given and that you have not spurned! You love whom
I love: the one I have created within you! Love you less? No! All
the more! Not for your sin, but for your love — your love of Me
and of the child I have given thee, that I have entrusted to thee,
that you may teach the child to know Me, to love Me, and to serve
Me in the world, and to be happy with Me forever in Heaven. This
is the charge I have given thee. This is the purpose of the child
conceived within you.
Think, my Little One! I know the end of all things … you do not.
I have willed and created life in you. Do I do anything without
purpose? Anything that is not totally good? I knew your child long
before you were aware of this life within you!
Have no shame, Little One. Remember that My most perfect creation
— Mary — first conceived My Only Begotten Son before she was married!
And now I have conferred upon thee the greatest dignity, the most
sublime vocation: that of motherhood!”
God Himself, then, answers your first question, and now I will attempt
to answer the questions that follow it.
In speaking with your married
sisters, you said that, apart from the children, “had they to do
it all over again, all, save one, would not have chosen to marry.”
It appears that in their marriages there is a lack of mutuality,
of sharing, giving and taking in turn, in which the husbands are
not solicitous of their wives needs, being preoccupied with the
fulfillment of their own. I think that this perception is fairly
common — and, regrettably, cuts both ways. In many ways we would
like something of a “designer husband” and “designer wife” that
we could tailor to our changing desires. Traits and features could
be added or detracted to suit us as it pleases us best. Snip away
this trait, add that, change one, transform another — and when they
are old and less to our liking to discard them altogether. It is
man and woman, husband and wife, as mere commodities — and not as
the absolutely unique and unrepeatable persons, human beings, that
they are — and none of them is perfect … nor are we.
As to the indifference of the husband to the wife, it would be well
to carefully read about the mutual duties and responsibilities of
a man to his wife, and of a wife to her husband, especially in light
of the example that Saint Paul sets before us, of Christ’s love
for the Church, and the Church’s love for Christ. (Ephesians, 5.21-31).
The husband loves his wife as his own body, ever ready to deliver
himself up for her as Christ did for the Church. Saint Paul states
it more succinctly,
“He that loveth his
wife, loveth himself.”
Now, to the vitally important question — a question that you alone
must answer: Should you marry, or not marry? It is now five years
that you have had a relationship with this young man. I have re-read
your first letter very carefully, and I will point out a few very
important things that you had said within it, in May of 2010, and
which appear unchanged to this day, and will likely remain unchanged.
For four years it has been thus. It is now a year later and remains
so — even given the fact that you carry his child. This does not
portend well. Perhaps I had told you in my first letter to you that
you can only change yourself — not another. Personality traits are
particularly intractable almost impossible to extinguish or alter.
It is hoping to “design” another person to be other than whom they
are. Yes, we want all men, all women, for Christ and His Holy Church!
And everyone is invited! But we ourselves, as utterly unique as
they are, cannot presume to hope to bring them to Christ or His
Church at the cost of our own souls and our own salvation. It is
our duty first and foremost to seek the salvation of our own souls
— for they alone are totally within our grasp and amenable to our
will in a way that the souls of others are not. This is not selfish.
Christ Himself told us that we dare not presume to remove the speck
in our brother’s eye until we have first removed the splinter from
our own! No?
We would that we could bring all men to Christ — and this is a holy
desire. Ever we must strive to. And yet it is not given to us to
choose whom we bring to God, and away from sin. Most often our example
is sufficient to inspire another to seek what we have found, the
happiness that comes with faithfulness to God. But it is something
that must be freely chosen by another, and all our efforts are in
vain if we deceive ourselves that we can change another who is either
indifferent or antagonistic
to our Faith … by marrying them! This endangers your own soul —
and as importantly, the soul of a child who may never come to know
God or the beauty of the Faith of Holy Mother Church by being exposed
to the influence of one who knows neither, or disdains both.
From what you have written, my child, nothing has changed in this
young man to make him worthy of you. Because you bear his child
(that God willed … not the man) does not obligate your marrying
him at all. Some young women feel that a child is an impediment
to the prospect of a future relationship and real love. This is
not the case at all — I can testify to that personally from my experience
with many young men and women who have met subsequent to the mother’s
having a child by another — women who have married worthy and honorable
men who have taken the mother’s child as their own.
You have done the most loving thing imaginable in keeping and loving
this child within you. You will blessed in him or her. Your happiness
will be multiplied, not your sorrow. Cleave to God and place yourself
under the mantle of Mary Most Holy — both will accompany you, and
assist you — and love you, and your child — all the days of your
lives.
God keep you.
It is only three letters.
Why, in your opinion, do people say, or sign correspondence with
“God bless” rather than “God
bless you”?
It is an incomplete utterance. “God bless” ... who or what?
And why eliminate the “you” that is implicitly or
presumably intended to follow it?
Let us look at a few examples to illustrate the point:
“God keep”
“God help”
“God prosper”
“God guide”
“God hear”
Would we not wait for the utterance to be completed with a pronoun
(you, me, him, her, it)?
Some we have asked fully understand what is meant to follow
the ellipsis (“God bless ...” which, of course, is “you”)
but still find it oddly dismissive or abrupt. To our surprise, however,
most commonly, people see in it an attitude of spiritual laxity
or even of spiritual arrogance. Others suggested that the person
saying it simply thought it somehow implicitly “cool” to leave out
the pronoun, resulting to something much more akin to a slogan.
Why is “YOU” Absent (not, that is not a grammatical error — I am not asking why you are absent)
So why do people deliberately
omit the “you”?
Upon hearing the deliberately abbreviative “God bless”, somehow
the word insipid comes instantly to mind. Why bother saying
it at all? Somehow it appears to confer a sense of benevolence
on the part of the one one who utters it (after all, they
are blessing us ... kind of ...); and we are the perceived
recipients of their benevolence. Why save all 27 milliseconds
...?
Theft: “A few years ago I took some money
from my workplace which I intend to give it back with interest.
Am I obliged to expose myself to the owner after I return everything
even if he doesn't know?
The short answer: no. You may secretly restore, in good conscience, what you had taken. The money is restored to its rightful owner, and if he would have earned interest on it, the interest as well. You have been guilty of injustice to your neighbor, but your sin was against the 7th Commandment and therefore against God Who Alone knows. To God you acknowledge your sin and express your sincere sorrow in the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) It is not necessary or even prudent to reveal your sin to your former employer. You owe your former employer restitution; you owe God sorrow and reparation through penance. You have borne the pain of guilt — which all sin incurs — by the prompting of the Holy Ghost and the divinely inspired desire to make amendment.
The full answer:
It suffices
to restore what you have unjustly taken. We emphasize
unjustly because it can often be the case that what
you have taken did not belong to your employer after all, but was
due you in all justice. For example, if you were hired to do one
thing and other, totally unrelated obligations were exacted from
you by your employer solely because, since you were in his employ,
it would cost him nothing to have you do what he would have to
additionally pay someone else to do — but was unwilling
to pay you for it since you had the ability to do it, although it
was not in the job description to which you agreed when you were
hired — just because you could do it, or had an unrelated
skill set that was to his advantage without paying you commensurably
for it — then it would be your employer who was defrauding you.
He would be taking from you income that you would have earned had
you employed this skill set in its proper venue. He would also be
depriving the individual suitable to the required work of legitimate
income by greed (using you to save him money that he would have
to pay another through a properly defined and fulfilled job description.
One does not hire an accountant and have him also
(in addition) do janitorial work or sales work as well simply because
one would save money by having one individual perform unrelated
work that required others. In a well-known Biblical verse,
“Thou
shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out thy corn on the floor”
(Deuteronomy 25.4).
In other words, pay a man for his work. If your employer was unwilling
to hire someone else necessary to do the "other and necessary" work,
but demanded it from you without compensating you accordingly, he
was unjust, opportunistic, greedy, or all three. You did the work:
you deserved the appropriate pay. You did not take what was not
yours in justice. You did not (presumably) take more than was justly
your due which he would have had to pay another had you not done
it. If you did the work, you earned the pay. He did not lose any
money. Had you not done it he would have had to pay someone to do
it — and very likely at a different (higher) rate of pay than what
he was paying you for another job altogether.
Does this, then, condone “stealing?” Of course not.
The 7th Commandment stands. One is guilty of the sin of theft if
one takes what is not one's own. If the employer retorts that it
was taken without his permission then he must equally recognize
that what he had demanded of you was likewise gained by him without
your permission and in an overt breach of the terms of limitation
inherent in your employment. He had no right to demand work of you
that you did not either implicitly or explicitly agree upon. In
a word, he "stole" your employment and the same act of theft that
demands restitution by the thief applies in both cases, were you
to take what was not yours in due justice. He is obligated to repay
you — whether he wills to or not.
If you take what is your due, you are not stealing. The manner
in which it is taken — specifically, without his knowledge — is
what we find troublesome. Whether or not he would agree with the
means is as unlikely as whether or not you would agree to be defrauded.
We cannot presume to know his disposition, but we can presume
to know yours: to be justly compensated for work demanded
and not agreed to. In any case, it is certain that you are not
a thief, and it is equally certain that he is defrauding you.
If, on the other hand, your motive was simply to overcompensate
yourself in violation of the terms of your employment while remaining
totally within the terms of your job description, the the motivation
was avarice or greed on your part, and depending on the sum taken,
it was a sin either venial (if what was taken was frivolous) or
mortal (if what was taken was much) in nature, for which you alone
are accountable before God.
If you did something praiseworthy at work are you obliged to tell
your employer? You may have other motives for telling him or her,
but you are not obligated to do so. If you did something blameworthy,
neither are you required to disclose it either: you must only redress
it and make restitution. The spiritual dimension of your act is
between you and God Alone. Your Confessor will tell you this. If
he does not, then you must do what he directs you to do, for God
gives the priest this faculty. In a word: go to Holy Confession
and obey the priest in the penance he gives you. He sits "in
cathedra Christi" in the Sacred Tribunal of Penance. We do not.
In the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Dear Isabel,
There is the need for clarifying some confusing terms, even those
as apparently simple as “time” and “eternity”.
God lives in an eternal present: all that was, is, and ever shall
be, is before Him as “present”. Why? Because God created time. As
Saint Augustine tells us, it is not logical for us to ask, for example,
“What did God do before He created time?” If time did not
exist before He created it (and it did not, for then we can make
no sense of the concept of “eternity”) then before God created time
there was no “before” or “after” — these are temporal concepts;
they are words we use given the matrix of time. It would be much
like asking, “If there was no such thing as time what would have
existed before it?” We cannot answer that question because we
need temporal terms to respond to it: we need to invoke the concepts
of “before”, “after”, and “during” (duration is a discrete measure
of time). In other words, without “time”, there was is no “before”,
“after”, and “during”. Time is understood by the very terms that
define it: past, present, and future. We cannot speak of time apart
from any of those terms.
But time belongs to “the world” or “this present life on earth”.
It does not pertain to eternity which is a perpetual
state of presence (there are no “befores, “durings”, or afters”
— just the present: “what is” … even as that incorporates what was
in this world and is no more in this world, or what is in this world
but has not always been in this world, and what will come to be
in this world but will not always be or have been in this world.”
Christ Himself said that God is the
“God of the
living, not the dead, for they are all alive to Him."
(St. Luke 20:38). How can this be if they are no more? Or elsewhere:
"For a thousand years in Your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."
(Psalm 90:4) and “But, beloved, be
not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as
a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
(2 St. Peter 3:8).
Succinctly put, “time” as it pertains to God is not time as it pertains
to men. He lives, as we said, in an eternal present. We live ever
in the present and understand things as “past” and “to come”. Even
as we utter a word it becomes “past” — it becomes what we “said”
in the split second that it leaves our lips but are not now saying
in the present moment. But all that was “was”, “is”, and “ever will
be”, is present to God as “now”. It is a profound mystery (which
is to say that it exceeds the ability of reason to comprehend it.
Reasoning has its limitations).
But more to your point: the priests that are providing you with
spiritual direction are simply telling you that God always answers
our prayers — but the answer is sometimes “No. I have something
even better for you in mind”, or “Not yet. A better
time is in the offing.” As a good Father He Alone knows
what is best and what is best for us, just as a good earthly father
knows when to say “no” to a child’s request who does not understand
the implications of his or her request, or who postpones what the
child asks for because it is better for the child although the child
does not see it now. Yes?
This is why God does not always answer our prayers immediately,
or even in the way that we would like Him to. What He gives us is
always better. How little we know! How little we foresee! In that
vast interconnection between ourselves and all other human beings
in the world, we cannot possibly even pretend to know that what
we desire and ask for is what is best, or even good, although it
may appear so to us.
Trust in God Who sees all ends. We do not.
In the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
T.O.
Dear T.O.,
Thank you for your letter to us concerning creating and maintaining a Traditional Catholic home (the Catholic home life prior to the devastation of the decadent 1960s … and, sadly, the evisceration of Catholic life following Vatican II). We do not ascribe to the nonsense that such Catholic families are no longer possible or never really existed. They did — and they do.
While we do not presently have any resources on our website (which will likely soon change in light of your letter), we can at the moment suggest that you visit: http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/07/guidance-for-young-parents-how-to-raise_31.html
We will keep you posted on this topic which is more vital today than ever.
In the meanwhile we will offer a few suggestions:
You, as a father, will have the most important role in setting the example for your children, especially your sons. If your sons see that Dad is a manly Catholic, unafraid and unashamed to express his Catholic Faith in the home and even, when called for, in public discourse, they in turn will be very likely to follow your example. People — even children — are not converted through intellectual arguments … but by EXAMPLE: they see another doing something remarkable and good — and are deeply impressed. They want to be like them!
This is especially true of what children observe in your behavior when they know that you do not see them watching you. We cannot stress the importance of this. A child unexpectedly opening his father’s bedroom or office door at home and finding father in prayer on his knees will say more to the child than years of lectures on the importance of praying. A mother found lying in bed or sitting in a chair praying the Rosary when she thought the children were out a play will strike them more forcefully by the example she sets than by her words encouraging them to pray the Rosary.
In you, T.O., they will first encounter Christ … or not. In your wife they will see Mary … or not. They will understand the Fatherhood of God (which He has participated to you) and the Motherhood of Mary (which is the exemplar for perfect motherhood) through each of you. Please read a short story submitted to us at http://www.boston-catholic-journal.com/teach-him-a-lesson-he'll-never-forget.htm .
Say grace before every meal — in the house or at a restaurant: if you are ashamed to acknowledge God … they will be, too. If you have that strength, they will acquire it, too.
When you pray, make the Sign of the Cross slowly and reverently — the half-hearted, rote, and careless motion of your hands say much about what is truly in your heart: if you teach them reverence by example … they will become reverent. If you show them that it is no cause for shame to make the Sign of the Cross in public at a restaurant … they will not be ashamed … of Christ. Children are incredibly perceptive! They can see through any short-cut you devise and will recognize insincerity.
There should be a Crucifix in every room of the house (not the silly “Children’s Crucifixes” of pop culture that do not depict Christ crucified) and beautiful pictures of Mary and statues of Saints special to you.
Pray with your children every night before bed — again, prayerfully, not quickly as though simply to “get it over with”. The Our Father, Hail Mary, and the Glory be — and teach them when they are old enough (which is fairly young) to say them in Latin also. If you need to learn these prayers in English and Latin, contact us: http://www.boston-catholic-journal.com/basic-catholic-prayers-in-latin-and-english-in-audio-format.htm and we will send you a CD.
Always bless each of your children
at bedtime: it is your
right as a father, and your duty as a Catholic. One such
prayer is the following:
Say: May the blessing of Almighty God be with you:
The Father ✝ (Making the Sign of the Cross over them)
And the Son ✝ (a second time Making the Sign of the Cross over them)
And the Holy Ghost ✝ (a third time Making the Sign of the Cross over them)
May the peace of Jesus Christ be in your mind ✝ (trace the Sign of the Cross with your thumb over their forehead)
And the love and praise of God the Father be on your lips✝ (trace the Sign of the Cross with your thumb over their lips)
And may the joy of the Holy Ghost be in your heart✝ (trace the Sign of the Cross with your thumb over their hearts)
May you always walk in the company of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Francis and Saint Clare (or whichever Saints are dear to you)
And all God’s Holy Angels, Saints, and Martyrs
Now and all the days of your life
Forever and ever.
Amen
Go to Mass as a family every Sunday
(a Tridentine Latin Mass whenever possible — this is very important
given the lack of reverence and the inane homilies prevalent
in nearly all “Novus Ordo” Churches and offer yourselves and
your children up to God in union with the Sacrifice of Jesus
Christ at every Mass (uttering, “I die with Thee, O Christ
on Calvary!” as Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen exhorted
us).
We hope that these few suggestions are useful to you, T.O.
As something that treats of the subject of creating and maintaining a truly Catholic home is presented on the Boston Catholic Journal, we will let you know.
We humbly ask you to pray for us.
God keep you
A few years back I took money from my workplace and I would like to pay them back with interest but the problem which I have is that I don’t know exactly how much money did I take because I didn’t take note of it and now few years have passed. Really I am concerned about it because truly I would like to give them back but I don’t know how much...... I am also very afraid that God will not forgive me since I forgot how much money did I take and I might give back less than the amount I actually took ...What does the church says in this regard please?
Dear CC.,
It is not possible to judge each case of theft according to one univocal standard because the economics underlying the loss and recovery of money has too many variables to which to apply a single standard. Perhaps this is the beauty of the simple Commandment, “Thou shalt not steal”. Period.
Historical inflation and deflation must be configured into properly determining the amount due to repay at any given time — to replace what had been stolen, and remains unavailable to its rightful owner over a specific period of time. Often this is too complex to calculate.
According to Dollar Times the value of $1.00 stolen in 1990 is worth $1.84 in 2016. If stolen in the year 2000, its current value is $1.39. This does not account for any interest that may have been accrued over that time period. Also see http://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=1&year=1990
Can any of us recall all our sins? No. Theft is one sin among many and according to the amount and the circumstances it is either a Venial Sin or a Mortal Sin. It does not matter if the person from whom you stole it is wealthy and the amount taken is, relatively, insignificant to him. God is not a respecter of persons. We are very creative in excusing our sins. However, I think that we can safely agree that stealing $1.00 from a billionaire is more of the nature of a Venial sin, than if we had stolen it from someone who earns $10.00 a week and has a family to provide for, in which case it would be a Mortal Sin. This is NOT relativizing sin: it is putting it into perspective.
As to fearing God, your fear is misplaced in this case. God sees the heart, the intention of the person. He is not an accountant, eager to see that you give back precisely what you had taken. In stealing you had sinned against your employer and it is in the realm of possibility that you can pay him back exactly what he is owed, including interest. But you forget that in stealing, you had sinned against God — above all! How can you pay Him back? You cannot! Do you think that He is sitting on His Holy Throne angrily tapping His foot, as it were, and impatiently drumming His fingers as He watches you … waiting for you to pay Him back for what you cannot possibly pay back in your offense against Him? That is as absurd to Him as it is to you! What He does see is your heart, your intention — your genuine effort to do what is right, to make amends for your wrong-doing, and to restore what you had taken as much as is possible to you given your own unique situation in life. You may not be able to pay it all back! But when you have given all that is genuinely possible for you to give, He will not “penalize” you because you still come up short. You will say to Him, “I am sorry.” He will say to you, “You are forgiven. Go and sin no more”. He is like that. Go to Confession and be cleansed and healed of this sin and its burden. The priest will guide you more. But THAT is the place to start: Holy Confession.
God is forgiving of our sins. He is just, yes — but He is merciful, loving, and kind. He knows that we are just ashes and dust and the gift of life that He alone has given us. He knows that we are weak and inclined to sin — but He also gives us the grace to do what is holy, right, and just — in other words, the means to avoid sin.
We hope this is helpful,
and commend you for your just efforts to repay what belonged — and
still belongs — to another.
Also see:
Catechism of the Catholic Church:
2412 — “In virtue of commutative justice, reparation for injustice committed requires the restitution of stolen goods to their owner.”
2454 — “Every manner of taking and using another's property unjustly is contrary to the seventh commandment. The injustice committed requires reparation. Commutative justice requires the restitution of stolen goods.”
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14564b.htm Theft
God keep you
Dear Mr. N,
D. must have been a remarkable man to be remembered so fondly
by one who worked for him.
The important aspect to remember in a Catholic funeral is summarized
below:
“The most important aspect about Catholic funerals is that they express the Christian hope in eternal life and the resurrection of the body on the last day. Every component of the Catholic funeral rites should express these fundamental beliefs and hopes. Our funeral rites are not “a celebration of life,” as they are referred to sometimes, but a privileged opportunity to return to God the gift of the deceased, hoping to usher them into paradise with the aid of our prayers. Our love for the departed is expressed after death, above all else, in our prayer for them.” (https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/Article/TabId/535/ArtMID/13567/ArticleID/22189/Planning-and-Understanding-the-Catholic-Funeral.aspx) Also see http://www.boston-catholic-journal.com/eulogies-not-permitted-at-catholic-funerals.htm
No Mass
is a “celebration” of a person’s life,
and enumerating what good they have done. We know their goodness.
We remember it. A Funeral Mass is an act of both Corporal and
Spiritual Mercy: we commend, through our prayers, and especially
through the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which is itself the
greatest, the consummate prayer on earth, the soul of D. to
God — his Creator, his Beginning and his End. The Mass is not about
what D. did or how good he was; it is about what Christ
did and how good He is as we have seen it expressed in D.’s life.
No act we ever do in life surpasses what Christ did — and it is
our hope that He receive Declan into Heaven, into the Mansions Christ
prepared for him from the beginning. Our prayers, committing Declan
to God, will be to Declan far greater and far better than anything
we ever could have done for him in a eulogy. In the end, it is not
what Declan did, but what Christ did for D. — and we can never enumerate
this, or even begin to express it in a eulogy. The Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass for Declan was the greatest possible good for him.
Before Christ hanging on the Cross (for D.) eulogies are superfluous.
D. must have been a fine man. May he be in Heaven and intercede
for us by his prayers for us, just as we interceded for him in our
prayers for him. This is called The Communion of Saints (
http://www.boston-catholic-journal.com/the-communion-of-the-saints-and-the-kingdom-of-god.htm
). We are still with them, and they with us.
May Jesus Christ console you in the loss (for a time) of your friend
D.
If you get there (Heaven) before we do, ask D. (whom we sincerely
hope is there) to pray for us (who sincerely hope to be there).
And you yourself remember us also.
In the Immaculate
Heart of Mary
Dear Journal,
Is
pirating music, videos, software, or other electronic data a
sin? And, if so, is restitution due or does simply deleting
the data constitute amendment? If not, would restitution still
be due in the event that the pirated data was sinful in nature
such as, bad music, pornography, etc?
In Jesus and Mary, R.
Dear R.,
In response to your
question concerning the pirating of digital media of any sort (software,
movies, music), despite our excuses that it is not a physical medium
but mere data, it is still the sin of theft. Pornography is a class
of its own since it is inherently sinful to produce, distribute,
sell — and most especially watch, for it nearly always leads to
sins against the 7th commandment and often (legitimate) spousal
contention, addiction to the grave sin of lust, adulterous fantasies,
masturbation, and even family breakups. It is almost always followed
by shame and guilt — and both are appropriate. Few men have not
indulged in this vicious vice. But all feel shame and guilt. That
is the voice of God within you calling you back from what is mortal
to your soul, to Him, to repentance, and the firm amendment to sin
that way no more.
The theft of digital media — in our opinion — is far more easily
remedied than the vice of pornography. You can either delete the
medium (and its executable in the download) or destroy the disc
if it is a current or commonly used application. If it is “sun-downed”,
or no longer in current or common use, it is no longer marketed
by the developers and therefore no longer a source of revenue to
them and — in our opinion — legitimate to keep and use since you
could no longer purchase it from them.
In any event, we would recommend your going to Confession. The advice
and penance the priest gives you will be sufficient to make satisfaction
for the sins.
We hope this is helpful to you, R.
In the Immaculate Heart of Mary
To the editor:
Should I pray for everyone, regardless of not knowing the state of their soul when they died? Because why should I pray for someone who’s in Hell? D.R.
Dear D.R.,
Your question is particularly
pertinent in these evil days when men seldom pray for our dead —
or are no longer encouraged to do so since Vatican II. It is an
odd state of affairs, since we ourselves will one day — perhaps
soon — be in dire need of the prayers of the living (Remember the
Communion of Saints?).
Many, sadly, are smug — even insolent — concerning the consequences
of their sins (most importantly in understanding sin as an abhorrent
and unspeakable offense against God — for every sin is first and
foremost a grave offense to God Who is Holy). The consequences
of sin are also a scourge to both the sinner, and to those against
whom he sinned.
In most cases — even among, if not especially among — Catholics,
the notion (let alone the gravity) of sin is of little consequence
or concern. We hear little about it in the post-Vatican II Church,
especially in any homily. How this must delight the Evil One!
Even the present occupant of the Seat of Saint Peter tells us that
“all are saved” (see:
http://www.boston-catholic-journal.com/consecration-of-russia-and-much-much-more-by-francis.htm
) and go to Heaven. But this is not what Christ, the Apostles, the
Church Fathers, and Holy Mother Church taught us for the 2000 years
preceding that most regrettable Council of 1963 (-1969). Please
consider reading
http://www.boston-catholic-journal.com/a-hell-of-a-situation.htm
To answer your question in light of this, your practice of praying
for the dead (whomever they may be) is what the Church calls
an “Act of Spiritual Mercy” (as distinct from “Acts of
Corporal Mercy”, such as giving to the poor, feeding the hungry,
teaching those ignorant of the Faith, comforting the sick) and is
a pious, good and holy practice to be commended to all Catholics.
We do not know the disposition of any given soul at the moment of
death. Only God. Remember the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
(Saint Matthew 20: 1–16). Up to the moment of death, conversion
to Christ and His Holy Church is possible. Again, read Saint Matthew
20: 1–16.
It may well be your prayers offered for the most obdurate and unfortunate
of souls — that will lead him to conversion and salvation just at
the time he most needs it. It is important to understand that
whatever his disposition is, it is irrevocable at the moment of
death. He then enters into eternity where no change is possible,
and he will either be received into Heaven, Purgatory, or cast into
Hell.
Many people are uncomfortable
with this truth — and fearful of it — but it is what Christ Himself
enunciated and taught us on many occasions in Sacred Scripture —
or Christ is a liar.
But Christ is not a liar! He is
“the Way, the TRUTH
and the Life”
(Saint John 14:6)
Neither you nor I can determine if a certain soul is in Hell (and
there are many, many, there!) — if the soul for whom you pray is
in Hell, then God will apply the merit of your pleading to another
(perhaps in Purgatory) who is not in Hell.
One day, you will be greeted by many, many, people whom you do not
know in Heaven — but who know you … for by the suffrage of prayer
that you offered for them they now enjoy eternal beatitude with
God.
In the Immaculate Heart of Mary
To the editor:
Can a Catholic have communion at an orthodox Christian Mass? B.
Dear B.,
The following Eastern Catholic
Churches are in full communion with Rome, and each administers
the same Seven Sacraments reciprocally. The Most Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass is equally valid in all those listed below. So yes,
you can receive Holy Communion at Eastern Catholic
Churches.
Albanian Greek Catholic Church
Antiochene Syriac Maronite Church
Armenian Catholic Church
Belarusian Greek Catholic Church
Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church
Chaldean Catholic Church
Coptic Catholic Church
Eritrean Catholic Church
Ethiopian Catholic Church Greek Byzantine Catholic Church
Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia
Hungarian Greek Catholic Church
Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
Macedonian Greek Catholic Church
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Romanian Greek Catholic Church
Russian Greek Catholic Church
Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Slovak Greek Catholic Church
Syriac Catholic Church
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
West Syriac Church of Lebanon
Eastern Catholic Churches are distinct from Orthodox Churches which are not in full communion with Rome. Apart from differences largely in discipline and liturgy, the two Churches diverged to the point of Schism in 1054 concerning what is called the Filioque (L. “and from the Son”). The Roman Catholic and the Eastern Catholic Churches believe that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son, whereas Orthodox Churches maintain that Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father only.
Totally Faithful to the Sacred
Deposit of Faith entrusted to the Holy See in Rome
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