TO BE HUMBLE OF HEART. 22nd Sunday in ORDINARY TIME.

 1. HUMILITY.
     Humility is the beginning of the spiritual life. It is the beginning of our journey towards salvation. It is the beginning of all virtues, all knowledge and all wisdom. In the spiritual life, without humility   we will get no where but remain in our sins. 

     Humility is the first Beatitude; it is the first degree of holiness with which the kingdom of heaven become ours. It is the beginning of the supernatural life. 

     Humility, as the first Beatitude, is the first step wherewith we enter the Catholic Church. It is the beginning of supernatural Faith. 
Asked what we should learn from Him, Christ answered; 'learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart.' He didn't say learn how to preach, how to perform miracle or how to walk on water. He said, learn 'humility' from Me. Learn 'My humility.' Not 
anybody's humility. 

2. One of the most defined word in theology.
    All the fathers of the Church and all the saints had something to say about humility. But the saintly authors who described it exhaustively were St. Pope Gregory the Great, St. Augustine, St. Benedict, St. Thomas of Aquinas, St. Bernard of Clairvaux......and not to prolong our list, St. Ignatius of Loyola. 
    St. Benedict is known for his 12 degrees of humility; while St. Bernard took the same 12 degrees of humility and wrote side by side with them the 12 degrees of pride. We such clear definition and presentation we can look at ourselves and others and see in what degree of humility we all are or in what degree of pride we are. 
    These degrees are often used in spiritual direction to guide souls through an ascending degree and, therefore, a gradual and constant ascent in the spiritual life. 

3. Philosophical humility, supernatural humility and public relation humility. 
    Christ clearly said to learn His humility and not anyone's humility. That is supernatural humility that cannot be attained through natural ways. Supernatural humility is a gift of God given to those who have lived a life of repentance.
     There is another level of humility common to philosophers. It is the highest kind of humility in the natural level reached through pure human reasoning. 
     And there is the popular humility highly praised by mass media common among politicians  and actors wanting to raise their ratings. 
     Christ and the Gospel for the 22th Sunday talks only of supernatural humility; a humility all Catholics should have but specially, as Christ said, by cardinals, bishops and priests. Now, let us define this virtue and see if we have it. 

4. The humility of Christ. 
     The humility of Christ is humility of mind and humility of heart. It is a supernatural humility built on philosophical humility, thus mind and heart. It is an act of the will based on reality. 
     With all the confusion in the Church today, knowledge of the four visible signs of the true Church mentioned in the Nicene Creed is settle all questions. But most do not know these signs; and, therefore, are unable to use these visible signs to analyse present problems. 
     The Beatitudes are another way of knowing which is the true Church and who are those who are inside the Catholic Church. Except that they are not visible signs. They are more spiritual descriptions of the soul and, therefore, cannot be used by most people. But we can try to use, at least, the first Beatitude which is humility. Christ gave some visible signs of this spiritual virtue. He said; 'if you have this spiritual virtue you will not chose the first place in a wedding party.' That is the visible sign. But what is the spiritual description of this virtue?
     Let us try to describe it using St. Benedicts', St. Bernard's and St. Thomas' descriptions. 

5. Poor in Spirit - humility
    St. Benedict describes 12 degrees of humility. Let us just describe the first, keeping in mind that the next degrees are so dependent on the previous degree. The second degree can only be attained after the first is attained.  
     Today, the first degree is nowhere to be found even among most of the member of the hierarchy, as Christ, Himself could not find it among His Apostles in today's Gospel since they were squabbling on who will be first. 
     In the Beatitudes, poor in spirit is humility. Let us now talk about humility and discuss the first degree as found in St. Benedict's Rule. And then let us go to St. Bernard and look at the opposite of humility, i.e. pride and talk about the highest degree of pride. So we have the lowest degree of humility and the highest degree of pride as our topics for this post. 
     Why is our topic this way? Well, when we begin with small humility it is possible that we still have very great pride. As our humility increases, our pride decreases.  That is why the first degree of humility is placed side by side with the greatest degree of pride. 

     Let us first define humility in general, then define the first degree specifically. We will not proceed to the second degree up to the twelfth because to find the first degree today is almost next to impossible, not eve among the bishops or even in Pope Francis. So there is no use to go up to the twelfth. But we shall look at the highest degree of of pride because that is the first in St. Bernard"s list. 

6. Humility in general. 
    St. Thomas of Aquinas wrote that humility has two general characteristic; first, it is a virtue that makes a person very realistic. And secondly, that he believes no matter how educated he is, that he can, still, commit a mistake. 
     Being realistic needs a lot of intellectual knowledge and wisdom. He is not influence by imaginings, fantasies, virtual realities, day dreams and unproven theories; all of these are considered unrealistic. It was for this reason that Galileo was rebuked; because he was proposing a theory that at time time was not realistic. Only for that reason and nothing else. That the world was round was unproven at that time and, therefore, could not be considered realistic. As long as there is no proof that something is real, the humble person will not accept it. 
     Firstly, the humble soul has the most scientific mind in the world. He won't believe unless there is solid proof. That is why he needs the supernatural grace to believe Catholic truths; without this grace he won't believe. This supernatural grace, that can come from God alone,  is his proof and infallible reason for believing.
     Pope Francis believes in the big bang theory; he believes in evolution, he believes in climate change. He believes that all religion have the same god which no religion claims. He believes communism is better than capitalism. He believes that the youth should make a mess of the world. He, even, believes that adultery and same sex marriage are alright. What proofs does he have? Nothing!  These are theories and personal opinions that have not been proven; they are, therefore, in the present still unreal. So Pope Francis does not have true humility.  He, only, has put on humility for mass media and for nobel awards.
     Secondly, a humble person, no matter how well educated the is believes that he can, still, make a mistake and will gladly listen to any correction. He believes, in fact, that he knows nothing though he has a doctorate degree. And if he is praised for knowing something he attributes it as a gift from God; while considering it a great favour if he is corrected since he deeply believes in humility that he can still make a mistake. 
     Pope Francis thinks he cannot make a mistake. Corrected by a group led by Cardinal Burke during the 2015 Bishop's Synod for disobeying the 6th and 9th commandments, He fired Cardinal Burke and demoted him; and continues to insist on what he likes in the next two bishop's Synod. That is humility for you; rejecting the possibility of committing mistakes and firing and demoting the one who corrects you. Why, there is not a shadow of humility in his behaviour. 
     
      In fact, during the meeting on climate change in the Vatican upon which he based his 'Laudato si' the news stated that he invited all of those who proposed that there is climate change but barred from the meeting those who'd argued against its existence. 

7. First degree of humility; the fear of the Lord.
     Now, let us go into humility in more detail by studying the first degree of humility. Most member of the priesthood and hierarchy do not have the humility, defined in general,  that puts them inside the Church. If their Pope does not have it, certainly, most of the followers wouldn't have it. Because from whom will the common man learn it if the teachers do not have it.
     Maybe, if we be more specific by dividing the said virtue into 12, which makes it easier to describe and apply them, then hopefully we might find some priests, bishops and even Pope Francis having at least one degree of humility.
     Being a Jesuit he should have at least one of the three degrees of humility mentioned by St. Ignatius. Though St. Ignatius described it more in general than St. Benedict and St. Bernard.
     What is the first degree of humility according to St. Benedict?  The fear of the Lord. While the 12th degree is the humility that cast out all fears.  The first degree is the humility that is filled with fear of the Lord; not servile but filial fear. The 12th is the love that cast out all fear, i.e. Charity. The 12th degree of humility is Charity.

     St. Benedict described the first degree of humility this way; that a person keep the fear of God  before his eyes and beware of ever forgetting it. Let him be ever mindful of all that God has commanded. Let his thoughts constantly recur to the hell fire which will burn for their sins those who despise God, and to the life everlasting which is prepared for those who fear him. Let a man consider that God is always look at him from heaven. that his actions are every where visible to the divine eyes and are constantly being reported to God by the Angels. 
     What should we fear? God's justice. Fear of God is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It cannot be developed by human efforts. It is a gift of God given to those who have completely repented. We should fear the fact that God rewards the just but punishes the sinner. 
     And the FIRST THING we should fear is the possibility that some of our past mortal sins had not been forgiven. Of course, we have gone to confusion. And the priest said 'your sins are forgiven thee.' And, maybe, those sins are really forgiven. 
     But let us face it, when the priest said 'your sins are forgiven thee,' he was, also, unsure if those sins are forgiven. Priests just say that because it is in the prayer formula after absolution. Even when bishops and popes absolve they are not sure if those sins are forgiven. Only one person knows if those sins are forgiven or not. And that is God who had been offended and, only Him, who can forgive. I repeat, your mortal sins might have been forgiven but no one is sure. Not even you. 
     But spiritual writers had shown that those saints who reached the 12th degree of humility, and that is all of them, were informed by God, Himself, that their past sins had been forgiven, like St. Catherine of Sienna. It is part of the Beatitudes that you will be consoled with the fact that your sins are forgiven when you rise up to the higher Beatitudes. 
     In the meanwhile, while God had not informed you, since you are just in the first degree of humility, you should live in fear that some mortal sins had not been forgiven and that if you die you go to hell. Very good reason for fearing the Lord, isn't it?

     Pope Francis had been disobeying God's command as Bishop in Argentina, like tolerating remarried couples to receive Holy Communion. He is still doing it as Pope and continuing to tolerate it up to this moment.......aside from his tolerating same sex relationship, encouraging pagans to remain pagans, not believing in the Catholic God, etc.  This lack of the gift of the Holy Spirit speaks very badly of him. And this is due to his preaching that no one goes to hell. Of course, with such teaching no one will have the fear of the Lord (the first degree of humility.)  As a consequence no one can go to heaven, not even Pope Francis.......because as stated above, humility is the first Beatitude, the minimum requirement to enter the Church and be saved. 
     If you do not have the fear of the Lord which is a gift of the Holy Spirit, you do not have the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, who is the uncreated soul of the Catholic Church, you are not a Pope, not a bishop, not a priest....because you are not, even, a Catholic. Humility is the basic minimum, wrote St. Ignatius of Loyola ('Humility for the sake of salvation,' St. Ignatius)

      
     We should fear the Lord for many reasons. But let us just take one more; and we hope everyone  can continue on their own. The SECOND THING we should fear is that we might not have done completely what is necessary for the salvation of our souls. We can, only, know if we have done everything well if we have reached Charity. 

     Have we obeyed all the more than 80 commands of Christ in the New Testament?  Have we practiced the 12 degrees of humility? Have we practiced the 8 Beatitudes? Have we performed the more than 70 acts of good works? Do we have the three theological virtues, etc.
     To answer these questions we must know what we are talking about, like what are the more than 80 commands of Christ in the New Testament. How can we know if we have obeyed them if we do not know what they are. 
     And yet we know that Christ said; 'no one will enter unless we have paid the last iota.' That should fill our hearts with fear. Have we paid the last iota? And unless we can answer that question in the affirmative we cannot go to sleep in peace less we die in our sleep and go to hell. 

     Pope Francis' 'Evangelii Gaudium' does not show the way to everlasting life unlike Pope John Paul's 'Veritatis Splendor.' None of his writing, specially 'Amoris laetitia' show the way to eternal life. In fact, there is absolute nothing in 'Laudato si.' How come he is so sure he is going to heaven when he has no proof that he knows the way. In fact, anyone who has 3 credits in theology can see that his theology is pure Pelagianism. He does not know the way to everlasting life since he had never mentioned the way up to now. 'Who am I to judge?' See. He does not even know good from evil. 
Proof he does not have the humility described by the saints.

8. What does he have. Let's go to St. Bernard of Clairvaux. 
     Pope Francis encourages the habit of sinning. He tells adulterers to continue in their adultery and commands bishops to annul previous marriage so adulterers can continue their adultery thus making it a habit. He, also, encourages pagans to continue in their paganism thus developing their paganism into a habit. He encourages perverts to continue in their perversity so that it becomes a habit. 
     St. Augustine wrote; 'for of a forward will, was a lust made; and a lust served, became custom; and custom not resisted become necessity (Confessions).When a sin becomes a habit due to prolong immersion in it, it bears ugly flower in that the sinner becomes a slave. He, who encourage sin so that it becomes a habit is guilty of the HIGHEST DEGREE OF PRIDE, the 12 degree of pride. St. Gregory the Great in his 'Moralia' calls it 'spiritual pride in imitation of the devil.'
     But mass media describes him as humble. Mass media would not know the difference between heaven and hell. 

THE GATHERING TOGETHER.

   1. The Visible signs of the true Church of Christ.
       They are found in the Nicene Creed recited every Sunday Mass.
       And the signs are expanded by the Fathers and Doctors of the Church due to their great importance; in that they are the only way the true Church, the true God and the true disciples of Christ can be recognised beyond any doubt. 

      These signs can easily be learned by all, precisely made such by God so they can be used by everybody to recognise the true Church and be able to enter her. 

    2. With these signs any one can go around applying them to everything Catholic. Do this and you will find  the following; most Dioceses and Parishes do not have the signs. Most Priest, bishops, cardinals do not have the signs . Most religious congregations do not have the signs. All popular religious groups do not have the signs. And almost all families do not have the signs.
        There is great ignorance of what those signs are because today, during Mass, Catholics had been reciting the Apostles' Creed that does not enumerate the four visible signs of the Church, which the Nicene Creed, the older Mass, emphatically proclaims; 'I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.'

    3. Apply these signs to Pope Francis using his talks, writings and autobiography and anyone can see that  he does not have a single sign of the true Catholic Church; neither he nor almost his entire Vatican Curia with the exception of done or two. They do not have the four visible signs nor the 15 expanded Marks of the Church described by the Jesuit Doctor of the Church, St. Robert Bellarmine. If Pope Francis does not have them, can we expect to find them among the cardinals, bishops and priests? More so we won't find them in ourselves.  We cannot find those signs among the  brilliant writers in the internet. 
      It all depends on each person to have those visible signs or not. So there is no one to blame except the persons concerned. On the other hand Pope Benedict, basing it on his talks and works and behaviour have all the visible signs. 

     4. Some have partially a few signs. If only partially then all the signs would not exist yet. All the signs will only appear when all are present since one sign depend on the other; for example, a parish should first be 'apostolic' before it can be 'catholic.' And they should first be 'apostolic' and 'catholic' before they can be 'holy.'
      When the head, like a bishop or parish priest, have only partially  a few signs, the rest of the parish or diocese, would not have any of the signs. And so even if the priest or a bishop have the beginnings of one or two signs, the entire parish or diocese will not have any of the visible signs. 
     This was evident during the 2015 Family Bishop's Synod. Bishops who defended the indissolubility of marriage defended the true teaching of the Catholic Church. But their own diocese did not have the four visible signs of the true Church. Why? Because the said bishop believed in only one truth of the Church, the indissolubility of marriage. He did not show belief  in the other truths of the Church. This lack of knowledge disabled him and his Diocese to have the four visible signs of the true Church. 

     5. When a bishop or a priest only have the beginnings of one or two signs because they know only a few truths of the Church, they can either grow more in knowledge or lose the little they have as what is happening to the two bishops in the news.  It is not a good sign. It reflects very badly on their dioceses. Since they are slowly losing the visible signs, it is definite that his entire diocese does not have the signs and is, therefore, not Catholic. 
     What went wrong with the two bishops featured in the news? Before, one went against the error of Pope Francis in allowing divorce and tolerating sodomy. And he was right in going against the Pope. He should have remained in his right stand because a schism occurred during the Synod where Pope Francis left the Catholic Church while he did not join the schism. The bishop was obliged under pain of sin to separate himself from the schism of Pope Francis who rejected Catholic moral teaching.
     But what happened recently? He hinted that the Pope was right after all and he does not want to join a schism with the Pope. No! You cannot join someone in error. You must separate yourself from a schism. 
     The same news, however, stated that the US bishops were really pressured by Soros to submit to his program in causing world wide chaos to which Pope Francis consented to by preaching, himself, 'to mess up the world.' Take the issue regarding total open door to migrants. What is wrong with total open door which is Pope Francis' favourite past time? It goes against the teachings of St. Paul which was explained by St. Thomas of Aquinas regarding the obligation to the common good. This great influx of migrants encouraged by the US, Europe and by other countries is against Catholic teachings. There is a superior Catholic way of doing this thing right. But the way it is being done by all, including the Pope, is unCatholic, as we shall show in another post. 
     Another bishop who was known for orthodoxy but did not have the four visible signs yet showed a regression in Faith. His comment was that the two US candidates for presidency were no different from each other. Now, that was really a bad comment. If he had the four visible signs of the Church, he would know Catholic teachings. And he would know that, though both were not Catholics, one would be closer than the other to the truth, just like himself. 
     Analysis shows that one candidate was even more Catholic than Pope Francis, as shown above, that one candidate followed St. Paul and St. Thomas of Aquinas in prioritising the common good while the Pope is not concerned with the command good, spiritually or politically.  The bishop's defect? Ignorance of Catholic teachings which is a sign he does not have Faith and the subsequent four visible signs of the true Church. 
     Since both bishops had partial signs of Catholicity before, it seems as we feared, they lost the little they had. While the bishops of, for instance, Poland, Mexico, Africa,  Eastern Europe, etc begun to increase in the number of signs of true Catholicity. It is for this reason that Pope Francis is concentrating in destroying them by going there and continuously sending commissars to dislodge them from the truth. China's true Church, the underground, had been betrayed by Pope Francis to the atheistic communist government. And the emeritus Bishop had declared; 'don't obey the Pope.' And they should really not. Obey a Judas? 'Obey God and not man,' St. Peter said in Acts 5:29. The Pope is not God; he is just a man specially when he says all gods are the same. 

6. The gathering together.
     We have seen in the past posts that Satan is now on the loose with God's permission. And like on Good Friday, he has begun to possess spiritually the human race and he did Judas. Let us further describe the present state of the world. 
     The Gospel described it as gathering the wheat together and gathering the chaff together; the former to be carried to the barn and the latter to be burned.
     It has become a world wide phenomenon that the good are getting better while the bad are getting worse. While the staunch defender of marriage who were on the side of orthodoxy are now succumbing to Pope Francis' pressure to implement 'Amoris Laetitia,' an exhortation unacceptable even to lay theologians, the Polish, Mexican, African and underground Chinese bishops are standing up against Pope Francis and his 'new' church........and maintaining fidelity to the Church of Christ and the apostles. 

7. The forces accelerating the gathering process. Here is where we stand. 
     The entire pagan world is possessed by Satan. They are now on a rampage of sex and killings with the innocent as their victims;  the sign of spiritual possession. 
     The head of nations will be lying tyrants slowly abolishing all religious rights followed by abolition of all rights, as headlines show; a sign their father is the father of lies.
     Those whose office is to evangelise do not know how to do it as shown in 'evangelii gaudium.' That is from Pope Francis down to the parish priest and assistant nun. None of the Mass media would be broadcasting the truth; only trash, sin and errors.
     As a result all men are ignorant of the truth making them totally ignorant on what is going on around thus acting like zombies. The only language they understand, like dogs, is how to please their senses. Thus the devil continuously entertains them and entice them with entertainment gradually leading them to their fall. At the same time the devil threatens them with death if they show some hesitation in following.
     All the members of the Catholic church who abandon the service of Christ turn traitors following the adage the corruption of the good is the worse. 
     The few good men are silenced.
     The Church is praying  and living its 'hidden life' like Christ's hidden life. 
     
8.   It is just like Good Friday. But multiplied a thousand times in its ferocity against the Church. The devils know it is the last round; for them it is now or never. They are greatly aroused by their hatred so expect the worse. 

       The Catholic world is made to chose; the right or the left, the sheep or the goats. But due to the above description of the prevalent state of the Church and the state of the world, most Catholics do not know which is the right side. Being made worldly, he has no desire to go to the right side.  Enticed by the attraction of worldly pleasure on one hand, and surrounded by threats not to go to the right side on the other hand, the Catholic has no choice.  Isn't that awful? 
         The great chastisement is that man will have no choice but one. Perdition because they delayed too long their repentance.Their punishment is the withdrawal of the grace of repentance as St. Paul warned us.

     What choice can they have when they only know the left side but not the right side? Could this be the great chastisement nobody is waiting for? I cannot imagine any greater punishment for mankind for having neglected the salvation of their souls for such a long time. But, by the justice of God,  they deserve it. 

THE NARROW ROAD TOWARDS THE NARROW GATE. 21th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

    1. A good question.
      Someone asked Jesus; 'are they few in number who are to be saved?' That was a good question. I, myself, would want to know if my parents, my brother and sister, my relatives and my friends would be saved. But Christ responds; 'that was a bad question.' Why? Because you must first be concerned with your own salvation before looking at the salvation of others. What can you do for others if your own salvation is not assured? But definitely, if your own salvation is assured, there is something you can do for the salvation of others. 
     Christ corrects the curious question of those around him but gives them the answer to the question that they should have asked; 'am I saved.' And He answers; 'if you are to be saved enter the narrow door.' In the other Gospels He says; 'walk by the narrow path.' It looks like a narrow pathway that leads to a narrow door. 

2. How narrow?
    This is not physical narrowness. This is an allegorical narrowness that will allow one to pass through with almost no space to spare. The Gospels during these last Sundays are about preparation for death. And the lessons had been this; when you die, do not try to bring with you what you cannot take along with you when you die. Take along with you only those things which you can really take along with you. And what is this? Only Love of God and Love of neighbour. Since these two virtues are in the mind and in the free will, and since these two faculties are parts of the soul only these two virtues in these two faculties can be taken along with you before the judgment seat of God. Leave everything else behind; of better still, use everything you leave behind to gather merits for your soul. Like doing what? As Christ said and repeatedly taught as the main theme of 'Veritatis Splendor' by John Paul II, 'go home, sell all your things, give them to the poor and come follow Me.' Ok. Most cannot do this. 
     So Christ said; 'well, this is indeed the narrow way. Many will try to enter and will not be unable. Thus they will be left outside and I will say to them; 'I do not know you.' 
     Go home and sell all the things I worked so hard for. And give it to the poor? Are you crazy? No. I am as serious as He who said those words. 
       But many will say; 'we have eaten with drunk in your company during Mass. And You preached to us in Church. We have great times together at Mass with all those Liturgical dancing. And Christ would say; 'I didn't say dance with Me. I said go home, sell all your things, give it to the poor and come follow Me. Don't you understand English?'

3. Extra baggage.
     The past Sundays mentioned those extra baggage that has to be left behind. Everything in the world after having used these things as the Master of the vineyard had commanded us. Not by using them  the way we want as the unfaithful workers did. But as the Master had commanded us. 
     Then last Sunday, we were told to give us all human relationships if they are detriment to our salvation; the human relationship between father and son, between mother and daughter and between mother in law and daughter in Law. Give these up if they are detrimental to salvation because you cannot take these relationships with you  before the judgement seat of God. 
     Of course, be sure no sin is part of your baggage because the pathway if narrow and any sin can easily swerve to the left of to the right and throw you off the road completely. 
     You cannot even take along your own will. This, in fact, is the biggest harmful baggage; together with doing the will of your father, mother and mother in law. 

     You must carry, only, two baggages; the Love of God and Love of neighbour. Other baggages will not fit that narrow door.  The process of removing extra bagges is called the 'discipline of the Lord,' mentioned in the second reading. This is a life of self-denial and suffering which the whole Church is undergoing. It is discipline in that the soul is trained to do only God's Will. It is a pruning process that hurts a lot so most people run away from it. It is what makes a lot of souls 'unable to enter the narrow door.' They would not give up their sins and all other lawful things that are not necessary for the salvation of their souls. Spoilt brats; I won't give up the things I like; my second and third wives, my same sex partner, my female clothing, my atheistic beliefs, my pagan religion, my Protestant religions, my.... etc, etc. 

4. But wait  !!
    The Gospel narrates that some walked the narrow path and reached the narrow door. In fact, they were able to knock. How come they were not able to enter; they were shut out and rebuked?
What was their fault considering they reached the narrow door? Their only fault was they arrived too late. Like the unwise virgins, they did not know the time of His arrival; they had lamps, but they were not awake and watching. They were caught unaware. They failed to interpret correctly the signs of the times. Christ was at the door and they didn't know it. 
     It is not enough to go home, sell all your possession, give the proceeds to the poor and follow Christ. You must be able to enter the narrow door which St. Thomas of Aquinas described as difficult to enter because of the self-discipline required.  But the moment you are inside everything is wide and nice. Entrance through that door is the perfection of Faith, Hope and Charity. 

5. Everybody wants to enter but are unable.
    Everybody, from Pope Francis down to the bishops and priests are not even in the narrow path leading to the narrow door. They are mostly in the wide road leading to the wide door. 
     They are not doing what it takes to love God and neighbour. Love of God is obedience to His commandment; 'If you love Me keep My commandments.' They are mostly doing their own things that are mostly against God's commandments. Allowing remarriage, atheism, to remain Protestant, remaining gay and pagan......are clearly signs of hatred for God. 
     Pope Francis said; 'if one is gay but is seeking God.......' If he is gay it is because he is not seeking God. One who seeks God will be completely normal...if not even supernaturally holy. 
     Pope Francis' toleration and even encouragement to sin, like encouraging his Evangelical friend Pastor who wanted to become a Catholic, to remain a Protestant is a very serious sin of scandal. He cannot be in the narrow path nor near the narrow door. He is in the wide road, which St. John Bosco described as a wide road that slants downward that leads to hell. 
     Add to his toleration of sin,  his sins in deforming Catholic doctrines as he did in 'Amoris Laetitia.' and preventing contemplatives religious from reaching the perfection of Faith, Hope and Charity in his 'Vultum Dei,' and add to this his abolition of very good religious orders like the Franciscans and the Institute of the Good Shepherd.......one gets the idea that Pope Francis' efforts to destroy the Catholic Church is not, merely,  due to poor Jesuitical education but due to the resolutions of a committee meeting held in the depths of hell. 
      In which case, it is a situation of a Satanic possession that neither I nor a Pope who is a truly successor of the Apostle nor even the Blessed Virgin can do anything about. And our Lady had warned us; they are dragging numerous souls to hell. A Pope solemnly dragging souls of the the entire world to hell; from Catholics with weak Faith, to adulterers, to gays, to atheist, to pagans, to priest and contemplative nuns and children of families that he had broken by allowing remarriages. 
     We are seeing  an attempt to kill the Mystical Body of Christ, just like on Good Friday by a Judas Bishop acting like a Pope and the whole world of those being drag down to hell is raising his popularity to high levels. His public relation office geared to get him in the headline once every two or three weeks, as published,  with an act destructive of the Catholic Church deserves a medal from the same committee. 

VADE RETRO SATANA - Get thee behind me Satan !!

 1.  V.R.S.N.S.M.V.S.M.Q.L.L.I.V.B.
      These are the first letters of a prayer which goes; 'Begone, Satan!  Suggest not to me thy vain things. The cup thou profferest me is evil; drink thou thy poison.' 
     This is an exorcism prayer found on one side of the medal of St. Benedict. The entire medal has an exorcism formula on both sides. And exorcists had been using this medal, usually incorporated in the middle of a crucifix commonly referred to as the crucifix of St. Benedict. It is a sacramental more than sufficient to drive the devil from people who are possessed. 'Vade retro Satana' (V  R   S)......are the first three initials.
     Driving away the devil from oneself and from one's surroundings had been a Christian preoccupation since the time of Christ. Christ drove away devils. And St. Benedict was one who was preoccupied with driving away the devil as his medal shows. 

2. At the beginning of the Catholic Church, Satan the head, was chained and thrown in the bottomless pit. This was to prevent him from attacking and tempting the newly born Church and give the Church time to grow in grace and strength for the more serious battles. The 'smaller' devils were, however, allowed to test the Church. 
     The Church must grow in grace and wisdom and this is accomplished by passing the tests God sends her. The test gradually becomes more difficult. So the Church really expects that one day this leader, Satan,  will be released by God for the final test that the Church must undergo. 
     Since Satan is what he is, the epitome of evil, and possessed with an angelic nature, the awaited final battle is not going to be bloodless. The Apocalypse gives us a hint when the grand release will occur but did not declare a very specific time table. It says 'on the fifth trumpet' or after 'one thousand years.'

     Numerous signs show the whole hell had been released from the bottomless pit.  
      Like in the 13th century when William of Ockam introduced nominalism, conceptualism and terminism within the Church, heresies from which the Church never recovered. The 15th century when Pierre Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais betrayed the 19 year old St. Joan of Arc in a most despicable way.  The treason of the bishop surpassed the treason of Judas. This would be a type on how Satan  would attack the Church this day. And there is the human sacrifices of the Aztecs stopped by Our Lady of Guadalupe. These events show that the whole hell had already been released. 
     To give us a type for our instruction, God gave an example on what Satan can do when he is released in the treason of Judas, an apostle. 

     Like all things in the Catholic Church, Faith is needed to discern when Satan is released because it coincides with the approach of the end of the world.  Unbelievers wouldn't have any idea when this is because they do not even believe in Satan nor in Angels, for that matter. Satan's release is part of God's  punishment for the world for its unbelief. The strong hint  is that when Satan  is released the time for repentance will soon be over. 
     The Catholic Church had not announced whether Satan had been released but then, we cannot even find where the Catholic Church is today, because all so-called Catholic Churches do not have the four visible signs of the true Church as described in the Nicene Creed. Almost all priest and bishops do not know the visible signs of the true Catholic Church because they recite the shortened Apostles Creed during Mass which does not enumerate the four visible signs as the Nicene Creed does. 
     So for most of us without Faith, we have to guess when Satan might have been released for the destruction of our souls. Though most of us don't really care. 
      
     When were the devils in the bottomless pit released is now immaterial. The fact is that, now,  they are all out and are roaming the earth. 

3. Physical and Spiritual possession. 
     There are two popular kinds of possessions. The first is physical possession, like the one living in the tombs exorcised by Christ; the other is spiritual possession as what occurred to Judas who was not exorcised by Christ. The former can be exorcised; the latter cannot be exorcised.

     Priest and even laymen can exorcise those physically possessed. As long as anyone has Faith, Hope and Charity, they can drive away the devil. Sometimes, the mere presence of someone with Faith can drive the devil away. The living of a true monastic life can exorcise.
     There are two kinds of spiritual possessions. The first is exemplified by the Aztecs of Mexico. The second is the mystery of iniquity.

4. Spiritual possession...... 
     Lets look at the first kind exemplified by the Aztecs of Mexico at the time of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  
     The sign of this first and lesser spiritual possession by the devil is the murdering of the innocent.
     The Aztecs were spiritually possessed  by  the devil due to ignorance and their pagan background.  The sign of  Satanic possession of the mind and free will is the murder of another human being.  
     Everybody believes that their good god is the creator of life. If so, he would not want anyone to kill the life that He had created. So the killing of that life can only come from the enemy of the good god and that is the evil spirits or the devils; in short Satan.
        All acts that contradict God's act of having created life by snuffing that life is committing a very grievous  sin whose consequent punishment is eternal hell. Its devilish origin can be seen in the human sacrifices of the Aztecs where they had to capture thousands of prisoners just for the purpose of sacrificing them to their snake god, the symbol of Satan. All the trouble of going to war just to capture prisoners and wrench their hearts still throbbing while offering it to their idols, is impossible to explain until we look at their temple of sacrifice and see that giant snake from the foot to the top of their altar of sacrifice.       
       It was indeed an act of worship and sacrifice. But to Satan. Fortunately, our Lady of Guadalupe freed them from that bondage. But now Mexico is again in bondage by the evil of communism.

       Abortion, euthanasia, genocide, terrorism and all kinds of killings show  most men are spiritually possessed by Satan. There is no other explanation for this. Insanity?  Of well, that is, also, the work of Satan, that is why exorcism is the more effective cure for insanity than psychotherapy. 
      Drug addicts fall under the same category. They are spiritually possessed, They, also, have the tendency to take human lives for no reason. Drug addicts are never rehabilitated. They only change their symptoms but the illness remains the same, spiritual possession. 

5. The more grievous spiritual possession is that of Judas whom neither Christ nor the apostles tried to exorcise. 
    The former possession tends to kill their neighbour. This latter spiritual possession tries to kill the soul of one's neighbour, 
They can succeed if their neighbour has a weak Faith; but not if they have Faith enlightened with Charity.
    Thus on Good Friday those spiritually possessed were able to kill the weak Faith of the Jewish people but could not kill the Faith of the apostles. 
   When Satan entered into Judas Christ and the eleven apostles were around him and the devil did not leave Judas. Because in Judas's case the devil had taken control of his mind and free will by his own invitation, i.e. with full knowledge and full consent. 
     In physical possession, God allows the devil to control the physical body of a person but not his mind and free will. In Spiritual possession, the person himself allows the devil to possess his mind and his free will. 

6. Today, the second spiritual possession is more common. It can be found in most priests, bishops and cardinals.....and even in Pope Francis.  This second spiritual possession by Satan which we first found in Judas is referred to as the mystery of iniquity. 
     The most grievous sin can be mixed with what is apparently good. The worse heresy is proposed using Scriptural text or Apostolic exhortation. Doubtful doctrines are preached by people in red and purple. True doctrines are omitted in interviews. And laws and directives are promulgated to dismantle the theological structures of the Catholic Church. 
     This is done with suavity that even those with some theological training cannot detect it. It is the distortion, the modifying of doctrines. An example is when Pope Francis during a Eucharistic Congress in Poland highly praised the Holy Eucharist with all the compliments  that can be found in the dictionary but never said that It is the Body of Christ. He used so many words to praise It but did not describe the very essence of the Sacrament. So it was a totally empty statement of flattery.
     Heresies coming from the very seat of St. Peter is disastrous to all, even to those with weak Faith. And we see those with weak Faith falling like leaves. Those with Faith enlivened with Charity are untouchable. 
     Betrayals of orders in the right direction of orthodoxy like the institute of the Good Shepherd, betrayals of good bishops and priests like Sarah and Finn, betrayals of underground churches like that of China for the sake of what?.......is getting to be too common. 
     Since the Catholic Church is experiencing a crisis of Faith as Ratzinger wrote, and those with Faith have weak Faith........the external decline of the Church is getting more pronounced. 

7. Good Friday once again.
    The pre-figure is Good Friday. It is happening again today. Those who welcomed Christ with their Hosannas are the ones shouting 'crucify Him.' The Civil authorities are being used to persecute the Mystical Body of Christ. Most of the priests, bishops, cardinals and, even the High Priests, Caiaphas, are the one's planning the demise of the Church. With a newly installed bishop, Judas, conniving with them. All of these orchestrated by Satan who have spiritually possessed them. What are the chances of the Catholic Church?
     Very good!  It is the prelude for the Resurrection and the glory of the Church as small as it was on Good Friday. With Peter in hiding.
     

MARTIAL LAW - In the spiritual realm.

 1. Archbishop Ganswain's statements.
     Archbishop Georg Ganswain is the secretary and constant companion of Pope Emeritus Benedict for several years now. Surely the wisdom of the Pope must have  rubbed on the good Archbishop by now. And anything he says would reflect  the mind of the theologian and holy Emeritus. Well planned remarks can only come from the wisdom of the combination of these two theologians. 
     For the purpose of comparative study, let us make two lines, like a parallel. The words of Pope Benedict and Archbishop Ganswain will be one of the line in the parallel. It will show, also. the trend of the true Catholic Church.
     The other line of the parallel is the sinful world. We view them as two parallel lines, only, for the purpose of study and comparison. In truth, these lines collide and are in constant warfare. 
     These past years this second line, the world, had been covered in a dark cloud of confusion that is now covering the earth, specially the Church. And the news are filled with desperate cries for help.  The Ark of Noah is nowhere to be found. The slightest sight of  the Church would be of the greatest help. 

     Suddenly from the silence of the desert that is Mater Ecclesiae a voice rang out. Archbishop Ganswain saying that Pope Benedict is still Pope. That was like a silent 9 magnitude in the Richter scale earthquake that shocked the Vatican but unfelt in the rest of the world. It was hardly noticed by the media or they intentionally did not notice it because they did not know how to react to it. Pope Francis just remarked; 'he had retired.' But that was not what Ganswain said. Suddenly a hot debate is going on. And we cannot stay out of it. 
     Let us look at the trend of the behaviour of Pope Benedict  from Vatican II up to the present. His behaviour can be landmarks showing the journey of the Church from Vatican II up to the present time; and hopefully leads  to the safety of the harbour in the vision of Don Bosco. 

2. Ratzinger and Vatican II.
     When Pope John XXIII became Pope, he saw that the Church had problems from his readings of the works of Rosmini. The Church have had never ending problems but  she had managed  them in the past.
     But John XXIII thought it was a more serious problem this time because the Church seems to be bleeding to death, as Rosmini described it in his 'The five wounds of Christ.' So he, urgently, convoked an Ecumenical Council.  Undoubtedly there seems to be a serious problem.
     Pope John gathered the best minds to head the committees and worked on the topics for discussions. His goal was to prepare the Church as a bride worthy to wed Christ for His Second Coming. For this reason he took the name John to be like St. John the Baptise who prepared the world for Christ's First Coming. 
     The Council begun and Ratzinger was there to view the unfolding of the two battle lines, the City of God and the city of man. 

The Council was supposed to cure a serious malady of the Church. First aid was insufficient. The semi-last resort was necessary, an Ecumenical Council, because the problem was not provincial or national.  It was world wide. 
    At the end we shall show how Pope Benedict used the last resort; described by Archbishop Ganswain as the 'Papacy of Exception,' and that Pope Benedict did not resign and is still the Pope. 

   3. FIRST STAGE. Status quo. 
     To be able to say what Ganswain said, Ratzinger should know the state of the Church before Vatican II (if possible as early as the time of the apostles), at  his time during Vatican II, and after Vatican II.
      Vatican II  would be a good point of reference because the Catholic Church was completely represented in the Vatican. She either had the visible signs of the true Church as described in the Nicene Creed or she does not have them. She is either the Catholic Church or she is not. If she is in between, she would not be the Church of Christ.
      So Ratzinger can compare the Church during Apostolic time, during Vatican II, and at present. As Ratzinger, as Pope Benedict and as Pope Emeritus, he will try to retain continuity from Apostolic time up to the present, which is the Catholic way of doing things. 

     Ratzinger and the status quo during Vatican II.    
     Joseph Ratzinger entered Vatican II as a 'periti',  well equipped for his role. He was a liturgist, a theologian and a professor. He was well acquainted with the Holy Rule of St. Benedict and monasticism. And his thesis was on the Theology of history according to St. Bonaventure wherein he was knowledgeable with the Seraphic doctor's concept of the 6th day, i.e. Good Friday, which is the description of the state of the Catholic Church at a very specific time in history, commonly described as eschatology. Ganswain's remarks is based on this latter knowledge. 
     Eschatology is the science of applying the prophetic messages of Divine Revelation to the future of the Church. As his thesis Ratzinger was trying to resolve what St. Bonaventure could not resolve during his time, which is expected since prophecies cannot be interpreted unless they are already happening. Ratzinger's job in the Council prevented him from further studying his thesis.

      Ratzinger thought that the Council would be facing  common solvable problems as in the past centuries,  like during the council of Trent. Vatican II begun with the intent to fix ordinary Church illnesses. Joseph Ratzinger was already in the scene as a bishop participant in the Council. 

     The clear presence of a schism.      
     Again, the council was a microcosm of the Catholic Church. The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church should be present in the Council  at  the Vatican.  Where else can her pulse be best monitored than at this time. The entire Catholic Church was represented here. Just sitting in that Council, anyone can see and analyse every aspect of the Catholic Church. The Church was laying down in a laboratory table for everyone to study; especially the state of her health. 
     Ratzinger was assigned to summarise the on goings of the four general deliberations which he summarised and published in a book, entitled 'Highlights of Vatican II.' Here he wrote down the general discussion but did not go into detail. Other authors would go into very fine details of the debates and the personalities involved. Any one who put these materials together can describe the scenarios and the actors involved. And judge each Act in the drama. And Ratzinger noticed; there was an existing schism among the Council Fathers. 
      In this First stage that describes the state of the Catholic Church, it is noticeable that the Catholic Church was clearly divided into two irreconcilable groups. The progressives and the 'Patrum,' sarcastically called so because they were sticking like a leach to the teachings of Divine Revelation and the interpretation of the Fathers of the Church (thus 'Patrum,' meaning of the Fathers.)
     The progressives, as the word expresses, wanted to change the teachings of the Catholic Church to conform to what they thought is the solution to present day problems. They wanted a church that will submit to all the sinful desires of men. The names of Cardinals and bishops who belong to both  groups are all known; but we can say, in general, that they latter was led by the School of Bologna. 
     The 'Patrum' were those who believed that the Church of Christ, the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church are still up to date in solving the most modern problems. They could not imagine a God who would give teachings that has to be adjusted every century to adjust to the problems of men. That would be total confusion. 

     The battle between the two groups begun almost at the very beginning of the Council. Pope John XXIII appointed mostly 'Patrums' as heads of the committees. After his death, the progressives were able to take over the heads of the committees and changed the very syllabus for discussions. It was total chaos. It was a Church in a state of Schism. 
     Superior in intellectual gifts,  however, the 'Patrum' stood their ground during the discussions. But during the votation and the rewriting of the documents the progressives were able to control the Council. As noted, the progressives could even cut off the microphones when the 'Patrums' were speaking. Charity was nowhere. We, indeed, have a very serious problem.
     After Vatican II, Ratzinger tried to continue to solve the problems of the Church as a member of the Curia. During those times he wrote 'The Ratzinger Report,'  subtitled 'the Crisis in the Church,' where he detailed the crisis in the Catholic Church in these terse words; 'the priests and the hierarchy did not know the teachings of the Catholic Church.' And he proved it. That is like saying; there is no Faith anywhere around, except probably in the Vatican where John Paul I and John Paul II were sitting. 
     It was the prophecy of Christ, Himself, predicting that at these times there will be a decay of Faith and its subsequent waxing cold of Charity. 

4. SECOND STATE. As Pope Benedict.
     Then Ratzinger was elected as Pope Benedict XVI. The continuity from Apostolic times to his times was very evident in his talks specially in the General Audiences. But the two parallel lines were diverting further and further away from one another. During  his Papacy the two groups were completely unrecognisable. The true Church could not be found anywhere. And the 'new' church that was being pushed during Vatican II could not be defined properly. Is this 'new' church a Protestant sect or a new pagan religion. It was confusing because it used Catholic terms but with totally different definitions. For the word Charity, the definition given was  Sigmund Freud's 'Id.' 
         
    True to his Papal oath pronounced immediately after his election Pope Benedict did try to solve the problem using the hermeneutics of continuity; which is the usual process of evangelisation.  
      The progressives were using the hermeneutics of discontinuity wherein they believed that there is a complete cut from the Catholic Church of Christ and the Apostles.... and the post Vatican II church. Benedict was able to block them in their efforts but it was with great effort. He could not even have his 'Summorum Pontificum' accepted. He was worried what will happen after he passed away.

5. THIRD STATE.  State of Exception.
     As Ratzinger and as Pope Benedict , he saw that the ordinary evangelisation process used after Vatican II did not work. He saw that the extraordinary process used during Vatican II did not work. And he saw that the Papal Office used as zealously as he did, did not work. 
    The picture was ugly.  The progressive movement that he saw started during Vatican II had developed into a tidal wave during his Papacy. The progressives had the shame to approach him and tell him him to his face to resign.

     When everything done has not worked, the only recourse is Martial Law.....the suspension of existing laws with the head making the laws necessary to confront the deteriorating situation. 
     Unlike Martial Law where the will of the head of state is imposed on the people, in the Catholic Church, the 'State of Exception' (or Martial Law) the Will of God is imposed on the Catholic Church.
     To be able to do this, the Head, which is the Pope, must have mastered  the Law of God. He must know the exception to the declared Will of God, which is also God's Will. And he must know why God had willed to go against His own Will. This is not a purely human or natural behaviour. The state of exception as described by Archbishop Ganswain is an Act of God revealed to man. 

     So when Pope Benedict seemingly resigned which is his declaration of a state of exception, he clearly showed that that was not his decision nor a decision of a committee. That it was a revelation from God. All signs surrounding his declaration of his retirement point to that. 
     Due to the seriousness of the present situation in the Church, Pope Benedict was commanded by God to declare a 'state of exception' wherein all existing Church law is on hold and Pope Benedict had to make rules that will solve the Church's problems though the solution would contradict existing Church laws. This is the essence of the 'state of exception.' It is meant for the good of the Catholic Church and the salvation of souls. And the exception Pope Benedict made is that he would resign without actually resigning. 
     That was the declaration of Archbishop Ganswain; he said that Pope Benedict resigned but he did not resign and is still the Pope. And Ganswain described Benedict's papacy as the 'Pontificate of exception.' For a Pope to resign and remain a Pope is quite an exception to the rule. Ordinarily if you resign you stop being Pope. And if you want to be Pope again you should be elected. But we are talking of 'exceptions.' 
     This 'exception' is common in the Catholic Church. The just celebrated Feast of the Assumption is an exception. That a virgin should give birth is an exception. For a God to die for sinful man is an exception that is almost impossible to understand. And Benedict's 'Pontificate of the exception' will be very difficult to understand for most. 

     After describing the Pontificate of Benedict as 'a Pontificate of Exception' Archbishop Ganswain mentioned the prophecies of Malachy. What was he trying to do? First, he described the direction of the true Pope and the Church. Then he was hinting on the direction of the tidal wave that is trying to drown the Woman of the Apocalypse whom God had transferred to the desert to protect her. 
      Knowing the forth coming events, Pope Benedict resigned so he can see what will follow after his Papacy. And then he took, again, his Papacy to guide the Church when the tidal wave have hit the Church. 

      From past knowledge, Pope Benedict knew the direction of the tidal wave spawned by the earthquake caused by the schism within Vatican II. 
     He knew the names of those bent on completely changing the Church to conform to all the desires of sinful man. It was original sin all over again. And he knew that Martini and Mario Bergoglio were the candidates chosen to lead. 
     As the exorcists like to say; to overcome the devil, the first thing to do is to expose him and his strategy. Benedict was to expose the strategy of the devil and the only way to make it come out in the open is to pretend  to retire that the devil's cohorts may install their leader. They were posed during Vatican II, Benedict knew that,  but did not succeed. They did not succeed during the election of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. They knew they could succeed after Benedict. And Benedict, also, knew that from his readings of St. Bridget who he raised as 'Doctor of the Church.'  So Benedict did what was exceptional. He resigned without giving up the Petrine office, as Ganswain declared. So that the leader might be exposed in the open.
     And what was exposed? Ganswain mentioned St. Malachy. If Benedict is the second to the last Pope and he is still Pope, then who is Pope Francis. Some have written books that Pope Francis is the last Pope St. Malachy called 'Peter Romanus' because he is an Italian, thus 'Romanus' and he is Pope, thus 'Peter.' But every one knows that 'Peter Romanus' is not going to be elected by a conclave. He will be personally appointed by Christ as St. Peter was appointed by Christ. In effect, Pope Francis is completely out of the picture in the vision of the Catholic Church. He becomes either an invalidly elected pope or an anti-pope. He is not in the list at all.
     If Pope Benedict is  the second to the last Pope and resigned; and is now Pope again, isn't it possible that he  had been re-appointed by Christ, Himself, thus is also 'Peter Romanus' because he is Peter, still the Pope. And he is 'Romanus', the reason he had purposely stayed in the Vatican, Rome? So Benedict, according to St. Malachy's list mentioned by Ganswain, is the second to the last Pope and the last Pope. One person under two names? Well, 'exceptions,' you know. 
     
6. This is quite an intellectual exercise like a theological and philosophical Rubik's cube. But it is a truth of Faith that we must believe in to be saved. Do you believe God had exempted Mary? Do you believe God had exempted Benedict?

Father against son, bishop against bishop, Pope against lay.

 1. 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Christ shows two cities.
     In the Gospel of the 20th Sunday in Ordinary time, Christ describes two cities. The City of God ruled by the Holy Spirit; and the City of man ruled by the devil. Each city shows visible sign by which all men can identify them. The City of God can be known by their obedience to the commands of God found both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. The City of men can be known by their disobedience to God's command and obedience to man's every caprice.......or slavish obedience to the prince of darkness. 

2. Christ declares.
     I came come to light a fire on the earth.  Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? I assure you the contrary is true. I have come for division.
     The fire is the Word of God that fills the hearts of those in the City of God. It is also Charity or the love of God and neighbour. The Gospel cleanses the mind; it revives those dead to sin. This fire, also consumes sins and renews the soul, St. Thomas of Aquinas continues. And Christ was in a hurry to kindle that fire. 
     The same fire burns all carnal desires and helps bewail the evil it has done; with the conscience accusing itself thus filling itself with the sorrow of repentance

3. Fire is meant to perfect the Christian.
     Christ was in a hurry to hasten His passion precisely because after His passion, man can be made perfect because Christ's instruction would be finished with the apostles receiving of the Holy Spirit. 
     After Pentecost the instruction of the apostles would be perfect, so the listeners would know how to become perfect. After Pentecost 'be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect' becomes the rule for all Christians. Thus the need to be contemplatives or to reach the perfection of the three theological virtues. 

4. The steps taken by Christ.
     Christ, first, came to light the fire on the earth. These are the souls that are filled with the Holy Spirit because they have obeyed all the commands of Christ as perfectly as it is possible here on earth. They have lived the spirituality of the Catholic Church as taught from Advent up to Pentecost. This spirituality is reviewed again after Pentecost and all through the 33 Sundays in Ordinary time.

     Then Christ would divide the world; on one side are those filled with the Holy Spirit shown in their obedience to all the commands of God as found in both the Old and New Testament and as elaborated in the writings of the Apostles and further explained by the Fathers of the Church. 
     On the other side are those who have disobeyed the commands of God shown in their disobedience even to just one command since St. James wrote; 'disobedience to one is disobedience to all.'
     These two groups cannot go together. They are separated and must be separated. St. Paul wrote that the members of the City of God should have nothing to do with the other city. They should not even eat with them. There should be a wall between them; and the doors between them should be shut. 

5. The 6th day scenario.
     Then Christ describes a scenario that happened before and will happen today; 'father will be split against son, mother against daughter, mother in law against daughter in law.' That is total chaos within the family especially if the father, mother, mother in law go against one child. Again, the only reason for this conflict is because the one child wish to be within the City of God while the rest of the family want to be in the City of man; or because the child wants to do God's Will while the rest of the family would want to do their own egoistical will and impose it on the one child. 
     St. Thomas of Aquinas described this as a type of the 6th day, Good Friday, which eschatologically is what will happen today, year 2016. Wherein the entire family, from grand parents to parents, from brother and sisters to cousins would stop one child who decides to truly seek God. There will be no opposition if the one child will enter a place where he really cannot find God, like in most religious convents today.
     But this is not enough. The violent objection will not come  only, from the immediate family; the family will be aided by nuns, priests, bishops, cardinals and even the Pope in stopping the young child from serving God. Again, the opposition and attempts to stop this child will be very violent. The child stands against the whole world, as the song states. The child's support will only come from 'similar' persons of the same intent, i.e. members of the City of God. 
      The Gospel defines the demarcation line between the City of God, those who obey the commands of Christ,  and the City of man, those who follow their own caprices. The 2 billion Catholics will shrink to a few hundreds within the City of God. The rest will follow and go to the City of Man where their main concern are the things of the earth, like evolution and global warming, while enjoying wallowing in their sins of adultery, sacrilege, etc.
     We see here the classical battle between a few fired with the flame of the Holy Spirit and the very many fired by their passions and lust. This is the ongoing battle. It is not a sign of the end of the world. But St. Thomas of Aquinas wrote that this is a sign of the approaching of the end of the world, the 6th day (Good Friday). We can never know when the end of the world will be.  But we can know how far or how near it is. This is a knowledge given exclusively to the faithful so that if they have not reached Charity they would have enough time to reach it. But it will be  hopeless for those still wallowing in their sins. They would not have enough time to catch up. Why? Because it takes some time to reach Faith, Hope and Charity. God is kind enough to warn us  whether  we still have enough time or we have just run out of time. And this Gospel is the demarcation time. 
     If we are experiencing father going against son, mother against daughter, priests against priests, bishops against cardinals and Pope against the whole Catholic Church.......then we should hurry up and reach Charity to be saved. If we take our sweet time, we won't make it on time and will be lost. This Gospel is the warning sign, as 
Christ said 'that I am by the door.' There is no time for all the proposals of Pope Francis, like the Church Olympics? Or getting a new European pass port?


     

TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN.... 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

 1. The headlines are filled with the smell of death.
     Death is all over. From plane crashes to floods, from exploding gas tanks to knife yielding insane man, from shot drug pushers to girls killed for disgracing their family, from being eaten by a crocodile to drowning for saving someone and, lastly, in this never ending wars. 
     The ones dying are from all ages, from young to old, from male and female, from healthy to sickly and from the educated to the rude. The universality of those dying makes us a probable subject of dying. 
     Those dying are caught in their daily routine; either they are engaged in their daily activities or their daily vice of killing other people. What are we driving at? If we study their lives when they died, they were not precisely preparing themselves to die the Catholic way. We cannot blame them since most of them are not Catholics in the first place. But when we read that Catholics are dying, we do not precisely see that they are prepared the Catholic way. Well, in the sense that they are in the wrong places and were not involved in the right activities. 
     Most other religions or sects do not have any specific way of preparing themselves for dying. But Catholics believe that judgment follows death. And our preparation is not for death but for the judgment that follows. We do not care about dying since there is, really, nothing we can do to prevent or influence it. But the judgment that follows whose consequence is for all eternity is something we should be very prepared for. Only the Catholic religion has a very serious program on how to prepare for death. 

2. The five last Sundays in Ordinary time.
      The last five Sundays in Ordinary time had been teaching us how to prepare for death wherewith we may expect to have everlasting life.
     We had the story of the young rich man and the young lawyer; both of whom  asked what they should do to attain everlasting life. And Christ gave the answer; to go home, sell all your things and give it to the poor. And, then, follow Me. This is repeated in this 19th Sunday.
     Why did Christ command them to sell all their possessions and give it to the poor? So he can follow Christ. They are supposed to  go  home and sell all their possessions to be able to transform the proceeds into meritorious good works. It is these merits  that they can take alone with them before the judgment seat of God and win for themselves a favourable sentence. 
     They must  use the proceeds of what they sold as means to follow Christ in the form of good works. These good works essentially consist in enabling others to know how to be saved. So it is an act of Charity.
     If he does not sell everything, he will possess too many things that will make him do what he wants instead of doing what God wants. With his money he can buy whatever he wants, with his car he can go wherever he wants, with his friends he can talk about anything they want. In short he will be doing his own will which is contrary to doing God's Will.
     This is the purpose of evangelical poverty; to own nothing to enable us to 'deny oneself.' With ownership we will not be able to 'deny ourselves;' instead we will satisfy all our desires. 
     Yet, 'denying oneself' is prior to 'taking up the cross' and 'following Christ.' Without denying oneself, i.e by saying 'NO' to the desires of the self, we cannot proceed to 'taking up the cross' and 'following Christ.' Without 'denying oneself' we will not be able to prepare ourselves for death.

3. Christ's answer is; first, go home. Second, sell all your possessions. Third, give it to the poor. And fourthly, come follow Me. The first three steps are to enable you to follow Christ by using what you sold for the conversion of your soul and the conversion of others. 
     There are three steps in the following of Christ,' namely, first, to repent. Secondly, to believe; and thirdly, to love God and neighbour (or Charity). The steps, go home, sell all your things and give it to the poor are to enable you to repent, which has three elements; prayer, fasting and good works. 
     All the above had been taught to us in the last five Sundays. It is  all in preparation for death. 

     In the 19th Sunday in Ordinary time, the Liturgy continues to tell us to be watchful for the master's return by watching for his knocking at the door which is a symbol of death. And, in fact, the Gospel tells us 'to open for Him without delay.'  

4. At this point we can see if we are prepared or not.
    He who opens the door without delay is ready. He who delays in opening the door is not ready. 
     Let's begin again. FIRST, believe that you will die and that death will come at the time you least expect it. You will die. And it can be the next minute, next week, or next month. But you won't know when, so it stands that it can be anytime you least expect it. 
     This is the truth. Otherwise it is not the truth and almost everybody holds what is untrue. Almost everybody believe they will not die the next minute nor the next hour.  Their present state of health makes them believe they will die at 95. 
      If the truth is believed then one acts wisely. If the untruth, then he believes unwisely. In fact, St. Thomas wrote that if we believe what is untrue, it is a sin. And our actions will be followed by unwise acts. 

     So the first step is to act wisely and believe that we shall die at a time we least expect it and so we must be prepared now and always. And this death will be followed by a judgement from a Just Judge. We must know the basis for His judgment.
     From the very words of Jesus Christ, He said, He will see if we obeyed His commands; to go home, sell all our possessions, use the proceeds to perform good works like giving it to the poor and consequently following Him through a life of Faith, Hope and Charity.
     And on this 19th Sunday, Christ adds; 'and while going through these steps, a.) gird your loins and b.) keep your lamps burning. Do this from the beginning up to the end, so when I come I will find you 'watching' with girded loins and with lamps burning. 

5. Keep awake. 
     For watchers during the night, girding their loins and having a light constantly on, help them keep awake. To be awake specially on the third watch is imperative, that hour being old age.
     To believe that death will not come at a time we lease expect it is a sin. To believe that God is  delaying too long is, also, a sin. The consequence of these two unbeliefs is that you will spend your time enjoying yourself eating and drinking and abusing those under you. 
     On the other hand, belief on the two above will keep you awake and watching. The night is the symbol of life in the world. We need light to keep us awake. And this light is the light of Divine Revelation  as interpreted by the Fathers of the Church and proposed by the Magisterium of the Church. There is no other light than He who called Himself 'the Light and the Truth.'
     And 'girding your loins' is obedience to the commands we have learned from the Light. These commands are like girds that limits the movement of the passions and concupiscence. It prevents us from committing adultery, remarrying and receiving Holy Communion.

6. Fearful statement from Christ.
    'When much has been given a man, much will be required of him.  More will be asked of a man to whom more has been entrusted.' More obedience to God's commands will be asked of Catholics than from Protestants and pagans because more had been given to them; like Scriptures and Tradition. So their disobedience will make them deserving of greater punishment in hell. 
     The non-Catholics will, also, go to hell but less strips will be given  them.
     Because the laymen know less than priests and bishops, their disobedience will still bring them to hell but with less flames and less worms. St. Thomas wrote; 'Our Lord here points to something still greater and more terrible, for the unfaithful steward shall not only be deprived of the grace he had, so that it should profit him nothing in escaping punishment, but the greatness of his dignity shall the rather become a cause of his condemnation. 
     'For all things are not judged alike in all, but greater knowledge is an occasion of greater punishment. Therefore shall the Priest, committing the same sin with the people, suffer a far heavier penalty.'
     So Pope Francis, because he has Scriptures, Tradition, the Doctors of the Church, the writings of previous Popes, the declarations of previous Councils, the rule of St. Ignatius, the sign of a true Pope by St. Robert Bellarmine....and add the dignity of being a Pope......if he disobeys the commands of Christ will go to the hottest depths of hell with the biggest worms gnawing at him. Won't anybody help him? Not even one from his own order? 

     It is time that the cardinals and bishops who are thinking right, like those from Poland, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Italy, should get a group of their own theologians, sit down and analyse the words and deeds of the present Pope and make a public declaration on him. As a Pope, is he obeying the Papal oath he made after the Conclave? Just answer 'yes' or 'no.' And do what is next best for the Catholic Church before we completely run out of Catholics.......and before someone is thrown down into the deepest fires of hell with giant worms because 'much had been given him.' 

7. A wrong direction.
    The movement in the Vatican today is not directed towards preparing Catholics for death; but towards encouragement towards sin and being complacent while in the state of mortal sin. Such statements as 'it is alright to abandon your true spouse and children and commit adultery (which is against the 10 commandments),' 'it is alright to socialise and  eat with sinners (which is against the teaching of St. Paul,)' it is alright to commit the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah (which are sins that cry out to heaven,)' 'it is alright to be an unbeliever (which is against the very words of Christ,)' 'it is alright to sin because God understands (which is against todays Gospel), etc. 
     Catholics are not ready to die at a time death is all around and can come any time. Many wrongly believe that all Catholics who die go to heaven. There is no proof to this allegation. Or the more often wrong belief that we have done enough for the salvation of our souls. The steps just mentioned above is proof 'there is still many things that is lacking to attain everlasting life.' 
     We must check our beliefs if they conform to Divine Revelation; especially we are Catholics to whom God had given much. And whose grievous sin is that out of sloth we do not check if we truly are prepared for death. This is a serious neglect to which, St. Thomas wrote, well, we still go to hell but with less fire and smaller worms.