The Persecutions Are About to Begin

It is foretold that at the end of time we will see the greatest persecution of the Church and the most heroic of martyrs. Given the state of the world and the Church it's conceivable that we might get a front-row seat to the end time, persecutions and all. While there will certainly be martyrdoms in the final persecutions, the goal of the persecutors will be to separate the Faithful from the Church and their souls from Sanctifying Grace.

And the persecutions are about to begin.

The serpent is subtle and it appears one of his first goals is to reduce the number of his enemy by making excommunicates of a great number of American Catholics. According to LifeNews.com, a provision of the "individual mandate" of the Obamacare legislation -- which will require every American to purchase a government-approved insurance plan or pay a penalty -- is the collection of $1 per month as a surcharge to cover the cost of abortion services. According to Canon Law (Canon 1398) Catholics incur latae sententiae(that means "automatic" in American English) excommunication if they have any voluntary part in the performance of an abortion, including paying for it.

And so it begins fellow Catholics: separate from the Church or be separated from your money. It seems pretty clear to me that my Catholic duty, when Obamacare comes into force, will be violate the individual mandate portion of the law by either not carrying health insurance or carrying a non-approved policy, which in either case will require me to pay a fine.

The Weight of Your Vote...

It should be obvious that voting is an important function of the citizens of a democracy, but it is not the most important function of the citizens. Above voting, citizens are obliged to create a moral and spiritual atmosphere in the society they are part of. Without this atmosphere, voting becomes somewhat meaningless. In a society that lacks morality, a good candidate has his God given authority undermined before voting even begins.

This is not to suggest that we should refrain from voting for a truly good candidate in a failing society. I make this point to highlight the important role we each personally play in the success of our society. It is not the politicians alone who encourage us to kill our children in the womb. It is not the politicians alone who warmonger. It is not the politicians alone who eat away at our God given rights. Society, by its actions and omissions have allowed and encouraged them to be this way.

Those who intend to use their vote to change the society we live in have the scales loaded against them.

Prepare for Warfare

Our Lord was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. Why did he allow himself to be tempted? So that he might, as our mediator, help us to overcome our temptations, not alone by assisting us, but also by His example. Christ entered the desert with courage and fortitude. He shows us how to fight temptation by his example.

Prepare to engage in war, a war for your souls, so that you may enjoy the Beatific Vision. Please listen to the Audio Sancto sermon: "Merit is Gained Through Temptation".

Series on Marriage

Many of you may have already heard these sermons, but they are still good reminders to listen though on occasion. If you are married or preparing for marriage take some time to add these to your mp3 player, or stream them online.

Part I - Rules on Marriage
Part II - The Meaning of the Ceremonies
Part III - The Marriage Contract
Part IV - Periodic Continence and NFP

The Eagle and the Arrow

As with most of Aesop's fables there are various "morals" that can be gathered from the story. Without searching the internet for an answer, what "moral" can you provide? This is intended to be a creative exercise, and not an in depth conversation on Aesop's contradictory morality.

An Eagle sat on a lofty rock, watching the movements of a Hare, whom he sought to make his prey. An archer, who saw him from a place of concealment, took an accurate aim, and wounded the Eagle mortally. The Eagle gave one look at the arrow that had entered his heart, and saw in that single glance that its feathers had been furnished by himself. "It is a double grief to me," he exclaimed, "that I should perish by an arrow feathered from my own wings."

We Are Left to Battle Paganism On Our Own

Since a week ago last Saturday, we can no longer expect them to defend the law of God. These sects will work out the very logic of their ways, and in 50 or 100 years there will be only the [Catholic] Church and paganism. We will be left to fight the battle alone, and we will.

The previous quote was said by then-father Fulton J. Sheen in March of 1931 in reaction to the United States Federal Council of [Protestant] Churches' endorsement of the use contraception by married couples.

In recent weeks our Holy Father stated:

Is it imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church's public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres. The seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreciated at every level of ecclesial life.

The day following our Holy Father's address to US Catholic Bishops, the US Department of Health and Human Services issued their own statement:

In August 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services issued an interim final rule that will require most health insurance plans to cover preventive services for women including recommended contraceptive services without charging a co-pay, co-insurance or a deductible. The rule allows certain non-profit religious employers that offer insurance to their employees the choice of whether or not to cover contraceptive services. Today the department is announcing that the final rule on preventive health services will ensure that women with health insurance coverage will have access to the full range of the Institute of Medicine’s recommended preventive services, including all FDA-approved forms of contraception.

[...]

After evaluating comments, we have decided to add an additional element to the final rule. Nonprofit employers who, based on religious beliefs, do not currently provide contraceptive coverage in their insurance plan, will be provided an additional year, until August 1, 2013, to comply with the new law.

The words of Fulton J. Sheen were prophetic. With many of the protestants drowning in their own inherited doctrines on marriage, Catholics are left to battle this alone. Some may stand up against this government action in the name of "religious liberty" but that defense is weak and lacking. True fortified defense is rooted in the Catholic teaching on marriage and its purpose.

I invite you all to listen to and share the latest Audio Sancto sermon: "The Sanctity of Marriage: We Are Left to Battle Paganism On Our Own"

Paul Vs. Santorum?

(Hat tip to Frank Weathers)

Catholic writer Tom Woods (author of How The Catholic Church Built Western Civilization) shares his opinion on the Ron Paul vs. Rick Santorum debate.

Personhood forum recording...

Earlier this week, the Personhood forum interviewed some of the candidates on the topic of life and abortion. The responses are worth paying attention to.



Use the following links if you want to jump to a particular candidate:
Rick Perry: 3:08
Newt Gingrich: 23:38
Rick Santorum: 42:20
Ron Paul: 1:00:30

"Who gets to be Caesar?" vs. "What things are Caesar's?"

This post on Curmudgeon's Cave is a must read for all Catholics who are engaged in or know someone who has engaged in the "Santorum or Paul?" debate. The late, great Frank Sheed, in his book Society and Sanity, regarding Christ's comment "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's" asserts that the two main political questions of the day are "Who gets to be Caesar?" and "What things are Caesar's?"

The upshot? Only one of the candidates for President in this election cycle are more focused on the latter than the former.

Read Mr. Curmudgeon's post at: http://curmudgeonkc.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-and-dozens-of-other-folks-received.html

Are You Praying, or Just Thinking?

In her book "The Foundations", which tells the story of the establishment of her monasteries, St. Teresa also takes many opportunities to teach on the spiritual life. Although she has many other works on prayer which go into more detail, there is one section in the book where she pauses in recording the history of her doings to talk about prayer in a way which is very helpful to those whom God calls to an active (as opposed to a contemplative) life.

2. First, I want to treat, according to my poor understanding, of the substance of perfect prayer. For I have run into some for whom it seems the whole business lies in thinking. If they can keep their mind much occupied in God, even though great effort is exerted, they at once think they are spiritual. If, on the contrary, without being able to avoid it, they become distracted, even if for the sake of good things, they then become disconsolate and think they are lost. Learned men will not fall victim to these misconceptions, although I have already met learned men who have had some of them. But it is fitting that we women receive advice with regard to all these misunderstandings. I do not deny that it is a favor from the Lord if someone is able to be always meditating on His works, and it is good that one strive to do so. However, it must be understood that not all imaginations are by their nature capable of this meditating, but all souls are capable of loving. I have already at another time written about the causes of this restlessness of our imagination, I think (cf. Life, ch. 17, nos. 5-7; Way of Perfection, ch 31, no. 8; Interior Castle, IV, ch. 1, no. 8); not all the causes -- that would be impossible-- but some. And so I am not treating of this now. But I should like to explain that the soul is not the mind, nor is the will directed by thinking, for this would be very unfortunate. Hence, the soul's progress does not lie in thinking much but in loving much.

3. How does one acquire this love? By being determined to work and to suffer, and to do so when the occasion arises. It is indeed true that by thinking of what we owe to the Lord, of who He is, and what we are, a soul's determination grows, and that this thinking is very meritorious and appropriate for beginners. But it must be understood that this is true provided that nothing interferes with obedience or benefit to one's neighbor. When either of these two things presents itself, time is demanded, also the abandonment of what we so much desire to give God, which in our opinion, is to be alone thinking of him and delighting in the delights that He gives us. To leave aside these delights for either of these other two things is to give delight to Him and do the work for Him, as He Himself said: What you did for one of these little ones you did for Me. (Mt. 25:40) And in matters touching obedience, He doesn't want the soul who truly loves Him to take any other path than the one He did: obediens usque ad mortem (Ph. 2:8, "Obedient unto death").

4. Well, if this is true, from where does the displeasure proceed which for the greater part is felt when one has not spent a large part of the day [or even a small part] very much withdrawn and absorbed in God, even though we are occupied with these other things? In my opinion, there are two reasons for this displeasure: The first and main one is the very subtle self-love that is mixed in here. This self-love does not allow one to understand what it is to want to please ourselves rather than God. For, clearly, after a soul begins to taste how sweet the Lord is, it is more pleasing for the body to be resting without work and for the soul to be receiving delight.

5. ....It would be a distressing thing if God were clearly telling us to go after something that matters to Him and we would not want to do so but want to remain looking at Him becuase that is more pleasing to us. What an amusing kind of progress in the love of God it is, to tie His hands by thinking that He cannot help us except by one path!

From The Foundations, by St. Teresa of Jesus, chapter 5, numbers 2-5, with my emphasis and brackets.

Mindless Perpetuation...

"Wait for complete life stability before you get married."

"Two children families are the perfect size, especially if you have one boy and one girl."

"The homosexual lifestyle is normal and should be accepted or even celebrated in our culture."

"Women must work to fulfill what it means to be a true woman in our culture."

"Freedom comes from management and control of fertility."

"Sterilization is encouraged for those who have already had children."

"Contraception should be free and available to all."

"Abortion is a woman's right."

Readers of this blog should be disgusted by those statements. Our current culture is being taught to accept this nonsense, and to provide sophistic argument to support it. Men and women both rattle off these slogans of population control without giving them a second thought. People cling to these concepts as if they were sacred religion, and those who rail against this insanity are treated as blasphemers of this new found fertility goddess. The birth of this "Venus" is the death of our civilization.

Today I came across an article by Abby Johnson about the Jaffe Memo. I believe that the memo is authentic and I have no reason to doubt it. Even if the memo was forged, the listed population control concepts are proposed in other eugenic based literature. The memo lists a number of the concepts covered in the above quotes.

When I worked at Planned Parenthood, there was something that we were not allowed to talk about. If we didn’t talk about it, then maybe no one else would either. It was called the Jaffe Memo. In 1969, Planned Parenthood was asked by the government to produce some ideas to help with overpopulation. They did just that. What is in the memo as a “solution” to overpopulation is astonishing. And, I’m sorry to say, it looks like the Jaffe Memo is starting to show its face in our culture.

I encourage you to read through the article, and look over the memo. Also note that RealCatholicTV.com has produced some documentaries on the subject of population control. To list a few: "CIA : Global Warming Unmasked, the Hidden Agenda", "CIA : The Rockefeller Foundation", and "CIA : The Contraception Deception".

The Trees and the Axe

As with most of Aesop's fables there are various "morals" that can be gathered from the story. Without searching the internet for an answer, what "moral" can you provide? This is intended to be a creative exercise, and not an in depth conversation on Aesop's contradictory morality.

A man came into a forest, and made a petition to the Trees to provide him a handle for his axe. The Trees consented to his request, and gave him a young ash-tree. No sooner had the man fitted from it a new handle to his axe, than he began to use it, and quickly felled with his strokes the noblest giants of the forest. An old oak, lamenting when too late the destruction of his companions, said to a neighboring cedar: "The first step has lost us all. If we had not given up the rights of the ash, we might yet have retained our own privileges and have stood for ages."

Need and Want...

Here we are the day before the holy season of Advent begins. Here we are the day after "Black Friday". The reports of materialism driven shopping violence fill the media headlines. I recognize the desire of people to be frugal and to make their dollar stretch, but I see the "Black Friday" sales as a psychological gimmick that also happens to be very telling.

The masses who participate in the madness to gain mere gadgets and gizzmos provide a glimpse of another possible scenario. Imagine a situation where these people are not salivating over iPods and plasma screens... but instead are starving from lack of nutrition and thirsting from lack of clean water. If our fellow man can act as they do over their "wants" how might the act over "needs" if the resources for them are lacking?

I am not criticizing all of the people who went out shopping yesterday. I am not criticizing those who purchase electronic devices, or spend money on entertainment. I only desire to point out the danger of forfeiting even simple common respect for our fellow man for worship at the altar of materialism.

Pius XII wrote:

45. But the world, which today affords so many justifiable reasons for pride and hope, is also undergoing a terrible temptation to materialism which has been denounced by Our Predecessors and Ourselves on many occasions.

46. This materialism is not confined to that condemned philosophy which dictates the policies and economy of a large segment of mankind. It rages also in a love of money which creates ever greater havoc as modern enterprises expand, and which, unfortunately, determines many of the decisions which weigh heavy on the life of the people. It finds expression in the cult of the body, in excessive desire for comforts, and in flight from all the austerities of life. It encourages scorn for human life, even for life which is destroyed before seeing the light of day.

47. This materialism is present in the unrestrained search for pleasure, which flaunts itself shamelessly and tries, through reading matter and entertainments, to seduce souls which are still pure. It shows itself in lack of interest in one's brother, in selfishness which crushes him, in justice which deprives him of his rights -- in a word, in that concept of life which regulates everything exclusively in terms of material prosperity and earthly satisfactions.

48. "And I will say to my soul. the rich man said, Soul, thou hast many good things laid up for many years; take thy ease, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, Thou fool, this night do they demand thy soul of thee."

49. To a society which in its public life often contests the supreme rights of God, to a society which would gain the whole world at the expense of its own soul and thus hasten to its own destruction, the Virgin Mother has sent a cry of alarm.

This Advent, consider prayers and fasting against materialism as one way of preparing for Christmas.

If you could will it to be so...

A question for any and all readers of this blog who are same-sex-attracted:  If you could, by a single act of the will, cease to be attracted to persons of your own gender, would you make that act of the will?

The Shepherd's Rod and Staff

Psalm 22:

A psalm for David. The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing. He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment: He hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name's sake. For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me. Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me. Thou hast anointed my head with oil; and my chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it! And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days.

Pope Benedict XVI - Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus:

"Your rod and your staff – they comfort me": the shepherd needs the rod as protection against savage beasts ready to pounce on the flock; against robbers looking for prey. Along with the rod there is the staff which gives support and helps to make difficult crossings. Both of these are likewise part of the Church’s ministry, of the priest’s ministry. The Church too must use the shepherd’s rod, the rod with which he protects the faith against those who falsify it, against currents which lead the flock astray. The use of the rod can actually be a service of love. Today we can see that it has nothing to do with love when conduct unworthy of the priestly life is tolerated. Nor does it have to do with love if heresy is allowed to spread and the faith twisted and chipped away, as if it were something that we ourselves had invented. As if it were no longer God’s gift, the precious pearl which we cannot let be taken from us. Even so, the rod must always become once again the shepherd’s staff – a staff which helps men and women to tread difficult paths and to follow the Lord.

Behold the Heart Which Has Loved Man So Much

Please listen to the latest sermon posted on Audio Sancto titled: "Behold the Heart Which Has Loved Man So Much"

Sermon synopsis:

The activity and power of Satanists is greater now than at any time in history. The "great ceremony" of the Satanists is the Black Mass at which consecrated hosts -- the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ -- are ritualistically desecrated. In 1675, Our Lord Jesus appeared to Saint Marguerite Marie Alacoque and said: "Behold this heart which has loved man so much, that has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself in order to testify it's love! And in return, I receive, from the greater part, only ingratitude by their irreverence, their sacrelidge, by the coldness and contempt they have for Me in the Sacrament of Love. But what I feel most keenly is that the hearts which are consecrated to Me treat me thus." Christ asked for a feast honoring His Sacred Heart and that solemn acts of reparation be made for the indignities and insults offered to Our Lord.

Will you join in consoling the Sacred Heart of Jesus which has loved you without measure?

Prayer Given by the Angel at Fatima

Oh Most Holy Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
I adore Thee profoundly.
I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity
of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world,
in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and
indifferences by which He is offended.
By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I beg the conversion of poor sinners.
Amen.

Miserentissimus Redemptor
Encyclical of Pope Pius XI
On Reparation to the Sacred Heart

What doth it profit the Church?

The longer version of the title for this post is "What doth it profit the Church to gain dignity for immigrants but not help them save their souls?" and it's a follow-on post from my previous musing whether American bishops care more about salvation or immigration, which I think is a fair question to ask.

Let's ask the question a little differently: which is more important, to care for the bodily needs of your neighbor or his spiritual needs?  Certainly both are important: caring for the corporal and spiritual needs of your neighbor are the theme of the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

Concern for immigrants falls under the Corporal Works of Mercy -- give drink to the thirsty, food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, etc. -- and these works are good and meritorious but they are INFERIOR to the Spiritual Works of Mercy -- instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish the sinner, etc.  The former tend to the need of our neighbor's mortal body; the latter to his immortal soul.  Hence the title of this little rant: What does it profit the Church to obtain dignity for immigrants if the souls of those immigrants are lost because they received less attention than arguments about legislation in Washington?

The minute my bishop and his priests starts issuing regular communiques about the need to repent, be forgiven, and amend one's life lest they go to hell I will be front and center organizing the soup kitchens and homeless shelter drives at my local parish.  I'll be doing everything I can to bring in the needy and homeless -- even the ones who habla espanol-- because my work of tending to their corporal needs will being them into proximity to the Truth they need to hear, the Truth that can set them free from sin and the punishments of hell... the truth that the only thing that can make a human being more dignified than dirt is Sanctifying Grace.

Without concern for the needs of the soul, corporal works of mercy are little better than a waste of time.

Is it too much to ask...

This news from Kansas: Kansas bishops seek federal immigration reform with 'dignity'

Um... is it too much to ask that bishops express more concern about their flock getting into heaven than about Mexicans getting into the United States?

Is Cain Pro-Life?

Herman Cain seems to be floating some odd logic lately when queried on his stance against abortion.

He starts out by saying he believes that life begins at conception, and that he supports "abortion under no circumstances." When Morgan presses him on the government's role in enforcing that belief -- an exchange that at least begins with a hypothetical question about a rape exception -- Cain begins to sound a lot like a "personally opposed to abortion, but still pro-choice" candidate.

But it’s worth mentioning that, as I noted the other day, Cain chose not to run for Senate in 1998 partially because he was unsure his views on abortion would be compatible with the most ardent pro-life voters. ”[W]ith the pro-life and pro-abortion debate, the most vocal people are on the ends. I am pro-life with exceptions, and people want you to be all or nothing,” Cain told Nation’s Restaurant News, adding that he was “not a social-issue crusader” but a “free-enterprise crusader.” However, whatever his concerns were in 1998, he did run as pro-life (no exceptions in cases of rape and incest — the only exception he ran on was for the mother’s life) in the 2004 Georgia senate race, and won an endorsement from Georgia Right to Life that election cycle.

Links of interest:
Whoa: Is Herman Cain Pro-Choice on Abortion?
Herman Cain Might Actually Be Pro-Choice and Not Know It
Herman Cain’s Muddled Abortion Logic

Purpose of Parents

On occasion, a parent finds themselves in a situation where children must be taken care of without the help of the other parent. Sickness, family visits, work, etc... are common reasons. This time at home certainly is different as each spouse does not serve the exact same role as the other. Parents are not redundant or interchangeable in a family structure, they are complementary. The way a father runs a house is different that the way a mother runs the house, God has intended it this way for a reason.