The BEATITUDES

 1. The Beatitudes.
     The Beatitudes are the 8 degrees of holiness. They are, also, the eight degrees of happiness that can be experienced  here on earth and in heaven. They are, also, the eight different virtues that must be attained to merit everlasting life. Lastly, they are the 8 degrees of membership within the Catholic Church. 
     The Beatitudes are degrees; it begins with a little at the beginning and progresses as one rises in the degrees of the Beatitudes. The first Beatitudes is the first degree of happiness. The second is a higher degree of happiness. 
     The next Beatitudes are unattainable unless one has the previous one. 
     The Beatitudes guarantee the souls that they will attain everlasting life. Some beatitudes are meant for subjects and others are for leaders. As long as a soul has a beatitude, that would be sufficient for such to merit heaven. The very first beatitudes says so; 'for yours is the kingdom of heaven.' So much more for the eight beatitude; 'for great is your reward in heaven.'

2. Requirement for membership in the Catholic Church.
    Last Sunday's Gospel (the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary time) described the first requirement for membership in the Catholic Church. The Gospel narrates that Christ went and called Andrew and Peter, then James and John. And commanded them to leave their nets, their boats.....and in the case of the latter, their father. The first Apostles were told to leave practically all things. It was the requirement before Christ could consider them as His disciples....and more so as His first apostles. Apostles must first be disciples. 
     Since leaving all things is the first requirement for discipleship, the is emphasized as the first Beatitude. No one enters the Catholic Church unless he has the first Beatitude. It is the presence of the first Beatitude that enables a soul to be 'poor in spirit' and enter the Catholic Church........and not the other way around. 

3. Wrong concepts of happiness.
     Everybody have gotten it wrong. St. Thomas of Aquinas wrote that everybody have gotten their ideas of happiness all wrong. The two common wrong ideas on happiness are, first, everybody thinks that happiness consist in the possession of worldly goods, like money. And secondly, that happiness is getting what you want. 
     Some parts of the world are known for satisfying these erroneous sources of happiness, like the popular American Dream. The attractions is that this is a place where you can possess so many worldly things and do whatever you want.
     Well, the Beatitudes states that this is all wrong. True happiness is doing the exact opposite; the first Beatitude should be in place of desire for unlimited possessions and the second Beatitude in place of doing what you want. 

4. The first Beatitude - the 'poor in spirit.'
     To attain the first degree of happiness here on earth, Christ taught that we must be 'poor in spirit.' It is not pecuniary poverty but the poverty of a faculty of the soul called the free will. While the intellect must have much knowledge, the free will must be poor in its desires; it must desire only to love God and neighbor. The will must not desire material possession neither sinful nor lawful. Thus Christ demanded that His first apostles (in last Sunday's Gospel) give up lawful things like their boats, net and even their own father. 
     The Old Testament tells us to give up sinful  desires like adultery, sodomy, killing, lying etc. But the New Testament tells us to give up lawful things like father, mother, brothers, sisters and lands. And even if we must keep some of these we must not love them but merely use them, as St. Augustine mentioned. 'You cannot love God and mammon. You will love one and hate the other.' St. Thomas of Aquinas repeated the fact that material things are impediment to the spiritual life. So the love of anything outside of God is completely prohibited. They must only be used but not loved.  
     In the Rule of St. Benedict, the monk is commanded never to consider anything as his own but merely for his use, from a pen, to his prayer books and his very attire. So the superior can command a monk to surrender anything that he is using.
     Let us see the different degrees of 'poverty of spirit.' First, the very rich in spirit who cannot enter the kingdom of heaven are those who love worldly things and possess worldly things. These are the rich bankers who are the invisible governments that really rule nations like the entire US and the entire EU. 
     They are the Judasses who will sell God at any price to possess and do what they want. They are spiritually possessed by Lucifer like Judas and will not hesitate to lie, to murder, to overthrow governments for the sake of gain. They have transformed the whole world into ruins, arming and financing any one who would do their bidding. This make up the invisible government of US and EU. They rule the world except when God intervenes. They are the worse of men.
     The second degree are those who love to possess worldly possession but do not possess worldly possessions. These are the ones who abandon husbands, wives and children to migrate to other countries to earn more so they can possess more and be able to do more what they want. The end up having countless family problems but they don't care as long as they have more money and can do more what they please. 
     The third degree are those who do not love material possession but possess much material possession. These are all right. There are still a few of these. They are good in the natural level but have not reached the level of the Beatitudes that can make them deserved  the kingdom of God.
     The fourth degree is the first Beatitude; and that is when material possession are not loved and are not possessed. If they have possession they do not consider them as owning them thus considering their possessions as common property to be distributed to those who need them. This can be practiced within a family. But it is the common practice in ancient monastic life. 
     To be able to practice this is to put into practice the first Beatitude and to be able to do this will earn the soul the kingdom of God. 

5. The First and Second Beatitude. 
    The first and second Beatitudes go hand in hand. If you are poor in spirit you will be meek. If you are meek, it is because you were poor in spirit. 
     If you are not meek it is because you are not poor in spirit. If you are not poor in spirit you will not be meek. The second Beatitude is 'Blessed are the meek.' Who are the meek? Those who do not get angry. Gentleness or meekness restrains anger. 
     While being poor in spirit makes us deserving of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit called the 'fear of God,' meekness makes us deserving in  receiving the gift of 'filial piety.'
     The rich in spirit are those who get  angry. They get angry because they cannot get what their rich spirit wants; they cannot get what pleases them. Anger is a sign of richness of spirit. 
     There are different degrees of anger. The sinful anger is to get angry at someone who have not done anything wrong, or on those who have done things right; like the treatment Christians had been getting in the past. Christians had been hated and martyred for having loved God and neighbors. 
     There is righteous anger when one is angry for a just cause, like anger towards abortionists who kill  babies and sell their body parts. But even if there is a just cause a true Christian is not supposed to get angry; not to be angry even if there is a just cause is the 2nd Beatitude. This is an act above human nature says St. Thomas of Aquinas. It is not to be angry at all.
     With all the confusion caused by Pope Francis, no one should be angry at him though  he must be charitably corrected as the four cardinals have done. That is Charity without anger which is the 2nd Beatitude.  
     The second Beatitude tells us to be meek and without anger in the face of the Will of God which we cannot understand. It is the medicine for those who have the erroneous idea that happiness consist is getting and doing what you want and when you cannot get it you get angry.
     The losers in the last concluded election abroad is the best example of sinful anger. Many Catholics are showing irrational anger over the fact that their candidate lost; and they are exhibiting almost diabolical anger, an anger that is only experienced in an exorcism session. Without these two virtues, these Catholics are no Catholics at all. And one of them is Pope Francis, who, after saying 'whom am I to judge' judged the winner as not being a Christian. Well the losers and Pope Francis are showing signs they do not have the first two Beatitudes.
     First, because Pope Francis is telling souls to be rich in spirit; that those who have been married may remarry again. That those who love the same sex may continue to love in that perverted way. That the young should be rich in spirit by being provided with jobs instead of telling them to go home sell all their things and give it to the poor. By telling migrants to go to Europe and steal the properties there. 
     Secondly, Pope Francis' lax morality where he preached that practically nobody goes to hell , have made it impossible for souls to receive the gift of the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom. So most Catholics are dumb. 
     And even Pope Francis, as showed in a video that went viral, showed uncontrollable anger at same pilgrims who unintentionally and accidentally pulled him during an audience. Thus he had showed the absence of the first and second Beatitude. This puts him outside the Catholic Church. 

6. The whole world is after the wrong sources of happiness; they are after possession which is contrary to the first Beatitude. And they are out to please themselves which is contrary the second Beatitude. It is impossible for them to experience the higher degrees of happiness which are the higher Beatitudes. 
     Without these virtues people are outside the Catholic Church and will be subject to all vices. The catastrophe is that even the Vatican Church is not preaching that the Beatitudes are the sources of true happiness. And is in fact teaching the opposites; to buy, to buy, to buy......when St. Augustine wrote that the Gospels is teaching to sell, to sell, to sell. And the great erroneous rights movement is shouting 'do what you want,' 'do what you want,'' do what you want,' St. Augustine wrote 'Christ said; I came not to do My Will but the Will of My Father in heaven. 
     'Immigrants! Go anywhere you want and do there anything you want,' is the perfect slogan of those violating the Beatitudes. And this comes from Pope Francis.

Two by two

 1. Two kinds of people.
     Two kinds of people listened to the preaching of Christ. St. Thomas of Aquinas called the first the spoiled listener, while the other one is the blind listener. The first kind is represented by Nazareth; while the other is represented by Capernaum. 
     The first kind heard Christ with their minds but not with their hearts. So they were never converted. The other one were sinners yet when they heard Christ they took what they heard to heart and were converted. The Gospel states that Christ left the first and went to the second kind. 
     The Gospel shows how Christ reacts to souls. If the soul hears with the ears but does not listen with heart and mind Christ tend to abandon them. He does not waste His time with such kind. But no matter how great sinner people are if they listen to the Words of God and are converted, then Christ takes notice of this and educates them. 
     In fact Christ mentions something about shaking your sandals and leaving a place that does not welcome the Words of God. While Christ remains staying and eating in a place that welcomes the Words of God. 
     Pope Francis compared himself to Christ going to the peripheries. Is he an anti-Christ? Christ abandoned the peripheries that do not convert like the adulterers, the atheist, the perverts and the unbelievers. Christ went to those who obeyed His commands like Andrew and Peter. Pope Francis does not even obey the commands of God as found both in the Old and New Testament. Just look at his recent prohibition; it is a strict positive command in the Old Testament. 

2. The first step towards conversion. 
     Obedience towards the commands of Christ is the beginning of conversion. Christ had just gone by the Sea of Galilee to call on souls who immediately obeyed His commands. He called the first set of two brothers, Andrew and Peter, James and John. 
     The first act of conversion must be obeyed  in community, like two or three. The first act of conversion is 'Repent and believe.' Belief is an act of Faith and an act of Charity.
     There are two commandments, the love of God and the love of neighbor. The love of God can be done by man alone; because he only needs his intellect and his free will to do it. But the love of neighbor cannot be done by man alone; he needs a neighbor to love. Thus a soul who loves God needs a human neighbor to express his love for God on a neighbor. He needs a community. 
     Without a neighbor he will be able to obey one command, love of God; but he will not be able to obey the second command, love of neighbor.  He will only be half a Catholic; and will not be able to enter the kingdom of God. 
     The concept of community life is of the essence of the Catholic Church. The church is defined as a community of souls with one heart and one mind; that is a community with one Faith and one Charity, one belief and one love. To be a Catholic, a soul must be living in community; with neighbors. 

     The Blessed Trinity is a community of three. Prayers must be done by two or three; in fact the Divine Office which is the official prayer of the Catholic Church is recited in community. 

3. The definition of 'two.'
     The love of God can be done by one person. But to love one's neighbor there must be another person that must be the object of love. You can love God alone but you cannot love your neighbor without a neighbor. Thus when Christ called his first disciples He called them two by two; Andrew and Peter, James and John. The Church begins as a community and ends as a community. 
     The two must both be loving God and neighbor, i.e. both must have the same mind and heart. When both are aiming at love of God and neighbor, it becomes  very easy for both to attain their aim. This is the goal of a Christian Community; to make it easy for all to attain their goal of love of God and neighbor, which is salvation. 
     Thus when St. Boniface preached in Germany, he preached with an entire community. He showed that one can love God alone by himself. But to love one's neighbor you have to live with another in community.

4. When one is lacking.
     The ideal is for both husband and wife loving God and neighbor in the Sacrament of Matrimony. Such is a heaven here on earth. But what if the husband loves God and neighbor while the wife loves no one. Then we do not have yet the beginnings of a Catholic community. There is a need for another 'one.' The children can fall under this 'other one.' If this does not work with the first child, then try to have another child with the hope that the next could be the 'other' who would also love God and neighbor thus creating a Church. This is the reason why families are encouraged to have many children; and why there are large communities. It gives them the opportunity to have another neighbor equally loving God and neighbor thus forming the two by two requirement of a true Christian community. 

5. Two are better than one in evangelizing.
    Thus we have St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, St. Francis and St. Clare, St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal. Pairs are more impressive for the reason that they can give witness to the love of God and love of neighbor. One preacher cannot do so. 

6. Prior requirement before Faith and Charity.
    Faith and Charity is what unites Andrew and Peter, James and John. But they cannot be united in one mind and heart unless they are detached from all worldly possessions, from all human affections and from their own personal ideas. 
    Thus Pope John Paul II, in his 'Veritatis Splendor,' the greatest encyclical as of lately, emphasized the story of the young rich man who asked Christ, 'what must I do to have everlasting life?' It is the question of all people seriously wanting to save his soul. 
    Christ answer is what He demanded Andrew and Peter, James and John; 'go home, sell all your things, give them to the poor and follow Me. Andrew and Peter were told to leave their boats and nets. James and John were told to leave even their father.
     
7. Pope Francis.
    Pope Francis is not able even to give up his Argentine passport in place of a Vatican passport. He could not give up his Jewish friends, Lutheran acquaintances, Evangelical friends, adulterous followers, atheist phone pals, etc. And he cannot give up his personal ideas like all souls go to heaven and discipline is forbidden and Martin Luther is better than St. Augustine or St. Thomas of Aquinas. His 'other one' are not those who love God and neighbor, but those who hate God and neighbor shown by their disobedience to the commands of God. Even Francis, himself, hates God shown in his disobedience to God's command which can be read in 'amores laetitia.' He is not putting into practice today's Gospel teaching. 
     Pope Francis is a Jesuit who have been taught the teachings of Christ in the seminary. And he had rejected those teachings seen in most of his speeches, 'motu proprio' and even in 'amores laetitia..' Christ had long abandoned such souls as He had abandoned Nazareth, to look for those in darkness but open to learning the Word of God as Capernaum or maybe as Donald Trump.  

SAY IT AS IT SHOULD BE SAID.

 1. The Great Spiritual warfare.
      There is one great spiritual warfare going on. A futile battle of the devils against God but waged against susceptible mankind.  God, being over and above  this battle, uses this same battle to test the children of men to see whether the men will deserve either heaven or hell. Those who stand by the side of God by obeying His commandments will be rewarded with everlasting life in heaven with God. Those who stand by the side of the devils will be punished with the absence of God for all eternity. 
     This spiritual battle is visibly and externally fought by men from  both sides in the created world. Each battle is fought in the fields of politics, sociology, culture, psychology, theology, economics, ecology...etc. All events in the physical world reflects an underlying spiritual cause. 
     Every objective reality has its equivalent expression in the mind. And each individual mind must judge if the objective event is according to the Mind of God or not. If it is according to God's mind then it is true. If it is against God's mind then it is false.
     If the objective reality is in consonant with our mind and if our mind is in consonant with God's mind, then we have a truth. 

2. The battle for the mind. 
     The great spiritual warfare is a battle for the minds of men. The battle is evidently not between God and the devils.  The battle is within each man; a choice between true and false. With the devils cheering for false while the angels cheering for the true. Man is the center; he is his own defender and he is his own destroyer. The devils will be cheering for the destroyer and the angels will be cheering for the defender. Man will decide who will win and God will either reward or punish according to man's choice. 

3. Events show the extent of the spiritual damage done to men. 
    This damage can be seen world wide but is more manifestly seen in the last US election. Being an influential nation and due to mass communication the details on what is happening clearly shows the extend of the spiritual corruption going on in the world but exposed for the world to see in this last concluded election. We see the triumph of the false and the lie over the truth. 
    Elections in other countries could be as bad but the details are not well published. So analysis is more difficult. But in the last US election, every detail had been published so an adequate true analysis can be made. The emphasis is on the word 'true.'

4. The crisis of Truth.
     The crisis we face is the crisis of truth. Basing it on the treatise on 'truth' according to  St. Thomas of Aquinas, the world is undergoing a crisis of truth. We do not know the truth. We are blind to the truth; and that means we are going only towards one direction .....down to self destruction, economically, religiously, ecologically, physically, psychologically....etc. For the spiritually blind there is no other way than to go down to hell. 

5. The first step towards heaven is an act of the mind.
     The mind must know the truth. Some truths are natural and others are spiritual. Natural truths can be learned by studying. But spiritual truths cannot be known by the mind in its natural state. It must be believed with the aid of the supernatural virtue of Faith. 
     Both natural and supernatural truths must be known by the mind as truths for truths exists in the mind. Natural truths must have its objective reality that must correspond with the mind. If objective reality does not correspond with the truth in the mind then it is false. 
     Spiritual truths do not have a corresponding objective reality; so it must be confirmed by Faith. Faith is even more dependable than objective reality. 
     Both natural objective reality and the object of Faith must correspond to the truth that exist in the mind; and the truth in the mind must correspond to the Mind of God for 'truth' to exist.
     For truth to be true three things must correspond to one another; the objective reality, the true in the mind and the Truth in the Mind of God. We should, therefore, know Divine Revelation that teaches us the truth that exist in the Mind of God who said 'I am the Truth.' we should have a logical mind and we should have an objective reality that correspond to the truth that is in our mind. 

6. The modern mind does not have the three elements of truth.
    So it is nearly impossible for most men to know the truth today, as is clearly demonstrated in the last US election. Men's mind does not correspond to the Mind of the Truth.  Reality is often false and unreal because it does not correspond with the mind. In short, the devil have taken complete control of man's minds filling it up with false hood. After all he is the 'father of lies.' 
     Most minds today do not know the Divine truth with which all truths must depend. Most people are pagans or Protestants. And most Catholics do not know their Faith. This is obvious in the last US election; that those who support the communist left are pagans, Protestants and Catholics. The beliefs of the communist left are not according to the truths in the Mind of God. The beliefs of these men do not, also,  correspond to their external actions in that they want  freedom for themselves, but deny it to others. They will accept  it if their candidate win but will not accept it if the other candidate won. 
     This is total chaos within man himself. There is no truth within this man. Everything is false hood. No wonder  we are surrounded with an atmosphere of lies. St. James wrote that this is the reason why there is anarchy and war in the air because there is anarchy and war within the man himself. Imagine waging war with Russia just to maintain the growth of our investments. To love money is to have a revolution within man; and this comes out in the form of demonstrations and revolutions.....falsehoods within man. 

7. To say things as it should be said is telling the truth.
    What we say must agree with what is in the Mind of God. And what we say must be realized in objective reality. It is for this reason that St. Thomas of Aquinas described the Catholic Faith as 'Reality.' Objective reality must conform with the truth in our mind. And the truth in our mind must  conform with objective reality. Otherwise it is a lie and its author is the devil. 
     The extend of the lie that fills the air clearly shows the state of the Catholic Church in the US. And the state of the Church in one place reflects the state of the Church in the whole world, St. John Chrysostom wrote. 
     Let us take an example of an objective reality (which at this point we have to depend on published news unless proven otherwise.) That the birth certificate of the president as presented by the white house is a fake. He is not an American citizen. 
     Let us go to the mind. The American people twice elected the president to the office. By not being an American he is disqualified and should not be a president. Here we see the American electorate having an error in their minds. What is in their minds did not correspond with reality. There is an error; there is something false. In Scriptures this is described as a lack of righteousness. They were not right. They were victims of something false. 
     The error committed is proof that objective reality and the human mind did not correspond with the Mind of God who is the Truth. If they knew the Mind of God that they should not elect a proponent of abortion and sodomy, the human mind should not have chosen such a candidate. And the objective reality will be that such candidate will not be elected. There was truth in the three steps. Such a man is a righteous man; there is no falseness in him.

8. Pope Francis.
    Let us begin with the second step, the mind. What truth do I have in my mind? That a Pope, like all Catholics, should have the four visible signs of the Catholic Church as enumerated in the Nicene Creed. I, also, have in my mind the knowledge of the expanded 15 Marks of the true Church written by St. Robert Bellarmine, a Jesuit doctor of the Church.
     Let us go to the Mind of God that states that the Pope must be like St. Peter the apostle who refused to bother about feeding Greek widows and global warming because he had to do an apostle's job of staying on the roof to pray.
     Then we have the objective reality. We have a Pope that does not have the four visible signs of the Church; he does not have the 15 Marks of the true Church. And he is not on the roof top praying but is instead closing air cons to prevent global warming. 
     The Mind of God and the mind of man are true. But the Pope is false because he does not correspond with the mind of God and the mind of men. It would not be inappropiate to call him a false pope according to the definition of St. Thomas of Aquinas. To be truthful we should say it as it should be said. 
     The Catholic Church like the state is in a state of untruthfulness. Since the supernatural virtue of Faith is an act of the mind, then if there is falsity in the mind it will be impossible for such to make an act of Faith. This era of false news in the world has made the Church a faithless church. 
      

UNITY is Impossible......unless.......

 1. Democrats will not attend the inauguration.
     Well, what did you expect. It would have been a miracle if they did attend. News commentators are encouraging Democrats to show signs of unity. These are mostly Protestants where unity is impossible. 
     Though UNITY is one of the visible signs of the true Church, unity is absent in the Catholic Church. The four cardinals who presented the 'dubia' are definitely not united with Pope 
Francis. They are not united on who go to heaven and who go to hell. Pope Francis is united with George Soros but he is not united with Cardinal Burke. 
     Husbands and wives are seldom united. The nations in the United Nations are neither united. 

2. Levels of union. 
    Union can be  either in the spiritual level or in the natural level.
    The highest level of union is spiritual union, like the union of the three persons of the Blessed Trinity. The lower level of spiritual union is the union between God and the angels, the angels and other angels; and lastly between God and the saints. 
     In the natural level, the higher union is the union of minds and hearts. This is the union that is the foundational union among Catholics. It consist in all Catholics believing in the same supernatural truths and in all Catholics loving the same truths. 
     So the highest kind of union possible in the natural level is the union of two spiritual faculties; the union of the intellects and the union of the free wills. It is the union in the natural level of two spiritual faculties. This is possible among men and among devils; in that devils can be united in the natural levels of their two spiritual faculties. Thieves can, also, be united in the natural level  with  their two spiritual faculties in that they can be united  in being united to tell a life and being united in their free will to abort a baby. 

3. True unity.
    True unity must be the union of the minds in knowing what is true and union of the free will in doing what is good. In which case it is impossible for the United Nations to be united. And it is impossible for all religions to be one world religion. So angels and saints can be united. But devils and all evil persons cannot be united; because they do not have the qualities that can enable them to be united and these are the virtues. Virtues unites; vices divides.

4. The predisposition for unity.
     The predisposition for unity is virtues. When the minds of many men believe in the same truths as found in Divine Revelation, then they develop the virtue of Faith. Through Faith, God unites the minds of many men. 
     When the united minds of these men love the truths that united their minds, then they develop the virtue of Charity. With Charity God unites the hearts of these men. 
     So it is God who unites the minds and hearts of men. Unity is a work of God. The idea of a One nation and One religion can only be done by God. No man can do this. And yet every man is trying to do the impossible, one world and one religion. These men are blinded with pride in that they think they are gods and wish to do what only god can do. This was the great desire of Lucifer that caused him to be transformed into a devil. And this was what caused Adam and Eve to be guilty of original sin that resulted in the fall of men......the desire to be like god. 
       So why won't the Democrats and the celebrities attend the inauguration? They are not united in what is true and what is good. They have too many knowledge of what is false; and they love too many evils. This is exactly the same state of the Vatican Church. They believe in too many errors like adulterers go to heaven; and they love too many evils like sodomy.
     Why is Trump and Putin attracted to each other? They believe in the same truths (though not in the fullness of truth) and they love the same good (though not the entire good). And why doesn't Pope Francis join them? Because the truths he believes in and the good he loves are more similar to Martin Luther. These last two are more of the same feather as shown by the latest news. 

HOLY CHILD - SANTO NINO.

 1. The Liturgy.
      Every Liturgical Year, we celebrate Christmas, the day Christ was born. And we celebrate Holy Week, the day Christ died. These feasts are repeatedly celebrated every year; Christmas - Holy Week, Christmas-Holy Week. Why so repetitious? Because these two feasts show the birth and the death of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, which is born and dies in history. 
      Christmas represents the mystical birth, while Good Friday represents the mystical death. Being the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church also have its mystical birth and its mystical death repeatedly recurring in history. 
     The birth of the Church is seasonally celebrated during Christmastide and as a person commemorated in the feast of the Santo Nino or Holy Child.  Its mystical death is commemorated on Holy Week and specifically on Good Friday. 

2. The Mystical birth of the Church.
    This, historically, occurs on Christmas. Mystically, it occurs whenever a community is born within the Church. Catholics are born mystically into the Catholic Church as spiritual babes. Then they spiritually grow into adults. Thus St. Paul described their diet; milk for babes and solid for older babes. 
     Thus the Church can be seen at its beginnings in the community of spiritual babes symbolized by the Holy Child whose feast we celebrate this day. 
     This feast is a fitting preparation for the coming Lenten Season to portray in our minds this birth-death sequence that often occurs in the Church. Catholics should know in what stage of this sequence is the Catholic Church today; are we in the stage of being babes or are we in the stage of being oldies who are sick, weak and about to die. Or have we remained as children and, therefore, worthy to share everlasting life. 
     If we have become 'oldies' then Christ commands us to become children again; otherwise we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. 

3. Does the Catholic Church die?
    Never! When the members of the Church are born babes and remain as babes, as described in the Gospel, then the Church remains strong and robust and never grows old to die. 
    Allegorically, we say that the Church grows old and dies when the members 'grow to adulthood' in their attachment to the world and to sin. This way the Church grows old, weak, sickly and about to die the first and second deaths. Thus Christ exhortation 'to be like babes,' and 'to remain as children.'
     When the Church becomes old, weak and wicked, there are always a few that remain 'like little children,'....and they sustain the Church. 
     Let us leave the 'dying part' and concentrate on 'being as children.' When Catholics are born into the Catholic Church, they begin as spiritual babes. As such they must have the characteristics of spiritual babes which are akin to the natural traits of babes. This characteristic is described as 'INNOCENCE." Let us leave the physical description and rise up to the spiritual description of babes as described by St. Thomas of Aquinas. 

4. A newly established Catholic Church must look like a 'babe'. 
     The Catholic Church is born every minute wherever a community is evangelized. It dies every minute wherever a community loses its Faith.
     A nascent Christian community always begin as a Catholic babe and, hopefully progress to the perfection of Charity. How can we know that a community has begun well? It has the characteristics of a babe. St. Thomas of Aquinas gives three descriptions of the babe that we must imitate to enter the kingdom of heaven. These baby characteristics must be imitate by adults so that they can become 'like children.'

     First, children do not have high ambitions. They do not aspire to become president when they have clearly lost the election; they do not aim at solving immigration problems or prevent global warming;  they do not think of solving the economic problems of the world; they do not even aim at settling in other countries other than their place of origin; they do not even care to be known by their neighbors. They do not dream of forming a one world religion with Lucifer or Martin Luther as head; and they do not campaign for candidates of the most undemocratic democracy on earth. 
     They have only one ambition,  and that is 'to play'. Similarly, for adults 'to become like children again' they must have only one desire according to St. Paul and that is 'to play' for all eternity in heaven; and to bring the rest of the world to be their playmates in heaven. 
     The knowledge on how to go to heaven is the only knowledge entrusted to the Church. The Church is not an expert on other matters. Though as a result of Faith they come to know many natural things pertinent to the work of salvation. She should not pretend to know other things like global warming and write an encyclical on it. 

     Secondly, children are not emotional. 
they are rational; they think and reason straight.  It is said that 'children say the darnd'est things' that usually embarrass grown ups. No, they do not say the darnd'est things; they say very logical observations that usually humiliates grown ups. Darn kids!
      The whole world is too emotional; i.e it does things without thinking but only from feelings. They elect a president and refuses to recognize him. Asked why? They say because they do not like him. That is not a reason; that is pure emotionalism. Though they call it 'their reason' it is in fact irrational. Demonstrators don't make sense and it is impossible to talk to them because they are irrational. Thus Pope Gregory XVI condemned demonstrations. The first Christians never demonstrated though they had the worse emperors and had the number to overthrow them. 
     Note how many of the oppositions literally rage against their newly elected president. When there is the vice of 'rage' they become blind; blindness is God's punishment for the proud.  They cannot reason and act like neurotics with absolutely no contact with reality. Imagine a nation ruled by a government that is blind with rage. Being unrealistic, they will insist on remaining in office though they lost. 

     Thirdly, children easily forgive those who have done them harm or injustice. They are the best examples of 'those who forgive those who sinned against them.' The world today cannot forgive those who have sinned against them. They cannot even forgive those who have not even sinned against them. They cannot even forgive those who have done them good. In their rage they kill even those who have not harmed them. Why do they kill babies? Why blow up planes with people they do not even know. Or shot people who are quietly eating supper in a restaurant. What reason do they have for such atrocities? They cannot forgive people imagined to have done them wrong. Yet Christians are obliged to be like children; forgiving those who are clearly crucifying them. Though isn't it.

5. The Vatican Church is no longer 'like little children.' It would have been great if she have become an adult who have become like 'little children' in obedience to the command of God. But no. She had lost her innocence and had grown up to become like the world; having a thousand great ambitions, being emotional in everything and unforgiving towards imagined enemies. 
     Pope Francis' main agenda is saving mother nature, or saving souls who are unrepentant in their adultery, or saving souls who refuses to believe, and bring to heaven souls already condemned in hell. That is all impossible. How unchildlike.
     See his overwhelming emotionalism. He pities broken marriages and encourages them to remarry without thinking of their immortal souls that can go to hell. He is worried about the youth who have no jobs but does not think of their souls being ignorant of how to go to heaven. He is complaining of old people who are lonely but is not worried about bishops and priest who do not know how to teach the way to happiness. Ask him for a good reason why remarried couples should be allowed to receive Holy Communion. His reason is purely emotional. He has no logical nor theological reason. 
    Pope Francis' greatest enemies are the cardinals, bishops and lay theologians who are correcting him. They are doing him the greatest act of Charity and he persecutes them. If he cannot even love those who do him good how can he forgive his true enemies, of which he  has none. 
     We live in a world early deprived of its childhood. And we have a Catholic Church that is unable to become 'like children' again. To them is addressed these words of Christ on this feast of the Holy Child;  'unless you become like children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 

The THREE GIFTS OF THE WISE MEN

  The Magi.
     The three wisemen had a knowledge about a virgin that will give  birth to the Messiah. They had this knowledge in their minds and they treasured this knowledge shown by the fact that they waited for the fulfillment of this knowledge. This knowledge was about the birth of the Catholic Church through which they will find salvation. 
     So they waited for the sign that will lead them to that Church.
     One day, the visible sign appeared in the sky. Because they had the knowledge of the beginning of the existence of the Church, they automatically knew the visible sign that would lead them to the Church. We have two things here now; the knowledge of the coming Church and the sign that will lead to the Church.
     So they followed the sign which appeared as a star that pointed the way leading to the Church. St. Thomas described this star as an angel who like prophets expressed the will of God in the form of commands.

     Along the way to the Church the stars disappears and they were forced to ask directions from humans in the person of King Herod. And Herod became a great danger to their quest for the Church. He planned the destruction of the Church. 
     Why did the star disappear? To teach us a lesson; never ask humans the way to the Church whether they are priests, bishops or Pope Francis. Humans do not know the way to the Church; only God knows the way, The way is found in God's Divine Revelation which is found in Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers of the Church. Humans will only give wrong directions. Or in the case of Pope Francis, he is looking for the true Church to destroy it as in the case of the Franciscans and the Institute of the Good Shepherd. Never tell anybody where the true Church is. Those within the true Church know where it is. The others do not have to know.
     If anyone wishes to know where the Church is, they must start from the beginning like the Wise men. 
     After inquiring  from men  where is the Church which endangered the very existence of the Church, the star reappeared. Scriptures and Tradition can reappear anytime on demand, and guided them inside the Church where they found the Child with His mother. 

    To be able to enter the Church we must bring three gifts; gold, frankincense and myrrh. Herod had no gifts; so he could not enter and could not even find the Church. Even if he asked for directions nobody will give him  because he had no gifts. 
     First, Gold is the symbol of wisdom which is knowledge of all the commandments of God as found the Old and the New Testament with their correct interpretation as found in the writings of the Fathers of the Church. Most of the teachings of Pope Francis comes from his own private judgement; and they go against Scriptures and the Fathers. The same goes with most of the cardinals, bishops and priests who follow his new church. With no Gold, these will not even have any idea where the true Church is. 
     Second, frankincense is the symbol of devout prayer, St. Thomas wrote. Devout prayer does not mean praying according to the different schools of prayer. It means praying according to the teachings of Christ who taught us when He prayed the 'Our Father.' This way of praying had been described in detail by St. Augustine and St. Thomas, and summarized in Pope Benedict's booklet on 'Prayer,' according to the Fathers. The teachings on prayer is best applied when praying the Divine Office. Pope Francis' 'Vultum Dei quaerere' is discouraging this true form of prayer. Prayer is instead substituted with social activities, like providing work for the jobless youth. So more members of the hierarchy following Pope Francis will never find the true Church. 
     Third, myrrh. Myrrh is the symbol of the need for suffering. Christ, Himself, showed us the need for suffering by undergoing it through He did not have to do that to save mankind. But we need it because of our sins. So husbands and wives who have problems should show love of God and neighbor by carrying their cross that they may have a gift to bring inside the Church. But Pope Francis and his gang wants them to throw away their gifts of myrrh, marry somebody else and go to communion to commit further sacrileges. 

     It looks like nobody is watching for the star, nobody is following the star, nobody is finding the house where the Child and mother is, because they are carrying no gifts with them. Which is the state of the Vatican and those who pretend to be Catholics. 
     But the shepherd had no gifts. They had the gifts of a suffering life as shepherds (myrrh), a watchful and prayerful mind (frankincense) and a obedient heart (gold).

The CHURCH OF THE WORLD.

 1. Two cities.
     There are two cities that will always be in conflict; The City of God and the City of man.
     The city of God lives in obedience to God's commands, both as found in the Old and New Testaments. 
     The city of man is in obedience to all of man's desires for worldly pleasures and ambitions. 
     You cannot love both cities nor live in both. You will love one and hate the other.  God is the life of the City of God. Satan is the prince of the City of man. 

2. The City of God  is the Catholic Church established by Christ and which can be recognized as having  the four visible signs found in the Nicene Creed, whose entrance and gate is narrow. 
     The Catholic Church is the City of God in.... but not of the City of man.  Though it is in the world it is not of the world. It should have nothing identical with the world; so that love for this City of man is enmity with the City of God. 
     Since the City of man is made up of those who love the world, they cannot love the world without having an aversion or hatred of God. 

3. The City of man was begun by Adam and Eve.
     Though Adam and Eve were placed in Paradise to begin the City of God, by their fall they started the City of man instead.  Christ had to come and become man to undo what Adam and Eve did; then Christ founded the City of God through the apostles with Peter as its head.  The City of man, having Satan as its prince have three degrees of evilness.

     The first degree of evilness is that its inhabitants  are doing what they want, contrary to what God wants. Its motto is 'my will be done,' 'not God's will be done.' By loving its own will, St. Augustine wrote, it has to have aversion to God's Will. It is the very sin of Adam and Eve, who knowing very well God's Will chose their own will in disobedience to God's command. 
     Every single desire is called 'rights', which no one has a right to deny them. It is the main attraction of migrants towards the US, that it is a place where you can get what you want. Its products satisfies the cravings of men around the world. Its image is a man-made heaven here on earth.
     Even if the inhabitants of the City of man do good things, it is not because it is God's Will but because it is their will. They pray, not because it is God's Will but because it is their own will; which makes the act, nevertheless, sinful, St. Augustine wrote. 

     The second degree of evilness of the City of man is that it imposes the evil it wants on others. If they want to commit adultery, they want everybody else to commit adultery. If they want same sex marriage to be acceptable, they want everybody else to accept same sex marriage. If they want to be president, they will prevent everybody else to be president. If they want communism, they want the whole world to be communist. If they want to believe a lie, they want everybody else to believe the same lies. When they want to disobey God's commands, they want everybody else to disobey God's command.  If they want to go down to hell, they will  drag down to hell everybody else If they want to commit national suicide, they will provoke Russia into a third world war and drag the whole world into a communal suicide. If they love their heresy, they will impose that same heresy on all others.   

     The third degree of evilness in the City of man is that they kill those who are impediments to getting what it wants. Babies are impediments to their enjoying fully the pleasures of this life because babies are burdens....so abort them. Old people are impossible to take care.....so euthanize them. President Kennedy will be an impediment for the rich tycoons from getting more riches so assassinate him. Justice Scalia is preventing rich criminals from getting away with murder, so murder him with a pillow over his face and an injection through the heart. The new president will stop the administration from enriching themselves while making the nation a pauper, so assassinate him or impeach him even before he is inaugurated; instead of impeaching a president who ruled for two terms without being an American citizen. 
      Has the world gone crazy? No. It is the normal thing in the City of man. Since its prince is Lucifer, it is a City of liars like the evil, a City of killers like the tribe of Cain. It is a City of forced labor like the tower of Babel, a replica of which is in Europe where its officers hold office. 
      
4. Pope Francis joins the City of man. 
     Pope Francis and his spokesmen had made it clear that everything must be new and up to date. The Old Catholic religion had been described as narrow, constricted, lifeless and he used other derogatory adjectives. See Pope Francis' Book of Insults.
     All his teachings are not taken from Scriptures and the Tradition of the Church, Neither from the Fathers and the Doctors of the Church. Not even from the writings of St Robert Bellarmine, a Jesuit doctor of the Church. I have shown how Pope Francis did not have not even one of the 15 Marks of the true Catholic Church listed by St. Robert Bellarmine upon whose work 'Lumen Gentium is based. As such the Vatican Church which he leads cannot be described as the City of God.
     But the Vatican Church is surely the City of man seeing its great popularity with the men of the City. Every inhabitant of the City of man loves him. The Pope praises them and have great admiration for them. He even campaigns for them in elections. 

     The main teachings of Pope Francis is based on what he wants and they are not based on the Will of God. Pope Francis wants to help a relative who has remarried and wants her adulterous marriage validated by the Church, so Pope Francis uses a Bishop's Synod to have remarried couples have their adulterous marriage validated by the Church and  receive Holy Communion. Is this the teaching of Christ and the Church? No. The 6th and 9th commandment of God prohibit this. And communion for those in mortal sin is absolutely prohibited prior to repentance.  So, where did Pope Francis get this teaching? Its what he likes. He is promulgating the things that he wants and not the teachings of God. 
     His teachings have the element of a lie. He said that atheist can go to heaven. No. Christ said they cannot; 'he who does not believe are already condemned.
    This is the first mark of a member of the City of man.
     Secondly, he is imposing   his personal ideas by force on most of the Bishops. He even imposed his above error on his Anglican friend Parker who wanted to be a Catholic. Prevented by Pope Francis who said Parker can be saved without being a Catholic while remaining a Lutheran, Parker suddenly died in a motor cycle accident. Guess where he is. And whose fault is he there. 
     New appointed bishops are called to Rome (a practice never done before) to inform them to follow his desires. His papal visits on good Catholics countries like Japan, Korea, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, etc... were meant to threaten bishops to tow the Vatican line of allowing remarried to receive Holy Communion. Bishop's conferences are pressured to think Bergoglian. 
     Thirdly. Those who are impediments to the Bergoglian line of thought are fired; if they are an order, they are suppressed. Or they are given indoctrination on aberosexual  ideas to corrupt their minds. This is worse than killing the body. It is killing the soul. And don't ever send the Pope a 'dubia.' He might have you burnt at the stake or at least treat you as a rag. 
     The City of man has its own religion. It is a conglomeration of all pagan religions whose gods is Lucifer. It is called the one world religion. And its main propagator is Pope Francis, officially appointed by the United Nation who is pushing it forward to be the right arm of the new world order; whose founder is, also, the father of lies. 

5. So where is the City of God?
    St. Augustine very clearly described it in his work. Master that work and it won't be difficult to find it. The Nicene Creed described its four visible signs. Get those four signs and begin knocking at the doors of your parishes and see if they have those signs. Or the extensively defined 15 Marks of the true Church by St. Robert Bellarmine. Just get half of those signs; like 13 signs and see if your diocese have them. I tried those 15 signs on the Vatican and Pope Francis did not even have the first sign. It was useless to look if the Vatican had the second, third or fourth signs. It was disheartening. 
     But we all know that the City of God is around; for those who are truly seeking to find it. The early Church was first visible in the manger. But only the shepherd and the Magi found it. Herod and all the priests in Jerusalem knew their theology. But they did not find Him. Why? Because like Herod they were too busy doing what they  want, forcing others to do what we want (like telling the Magi to do what he wanted), and killing those who would (Herod thought wrongly) take away what he wanted, his throne. 
     Some souls have probably found the Child with his Mother. They are the ones who make up the City of God. But they will not return to the City of Man, in the US, in Europe, in North American, in Canada or in the Far East. They will return to their country by another route. For the rest of the world, God is giving the world a respite with the strange happenings in Russia, in Brexit, in Italy, in France, in Poland....etc. It is a brief silent and holy night. If you are believers in the Catholic Faith, watch out for your angels with a message from God. If you are unbelievers, watch for your star and follow it. Both will lead you to the City of God. 
     

    
      
     

Holy Name of Jesus - CIRCUMCISION and PRESENTATION

 1. Circumcision and Presentation.
     The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is a popular devotion here. The devotion was introduced at the time the nation was introduced to the Catholic Faith. But so much of those things that were contributory to the evangelization of the island has been set aside as the island celebrates its 500 anniversary of Christianity. Catholic Philippines is celebrating its anniversary in a  Protestant way. 
     It would be helpful to look at the Liturgy of today's feast that combines the feast of the circumcision of Christ and the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. Of course, the latter feast includes the Purification of the Blessed Virgin.

2. Circumcision was an Old Testament practice wherewith a Jew consecrates a boy to God. It consists in cutting  the foreskin of the male part. It was a mere physical gesture by which parents consecrates their first born to God. Most religious gestures in the worship of God in the Old Testament were expressed in external physical gestures; like when Jesus was presented in the temple and when Mary was purified in the temple. All were external physical gestures. Mary did not have to be purified because she was pure but nevertheless she went to the temple to express physically in an outward way her obedience to the Old Testament prescriptions 

3. This offering of a child to God through circumcision was further confirmed when the child was presented in the temple. The main message of the Liturgy is this; Do not present yourself to God without being circumcised. So all the Jews were first circumcised before they were presented in the temple. Joseph and Mary obeyed that prescription.

4. Circumcision
     To be worthy to receive the grace of everlasting life, the soul must love God and neighbor. The way to love God is to keep His commandments; 'if you love Me, keep My commandments.' If the soul loves God, that love will overflow towards one's neighbor.
     So the entire Scriptures and all the teachings of the Catholic Church consist in knowing and obeying the commands of God. In fact, the very essence of evangelization is 'to teach all nation all God's commands and how to obey them,' according to St. Matthew. 

     God the Father gave the easier commands in the Old Testament. These commands were easy because it was based on the nature of man and all men can know and obey them. These commands are summarized in the famed 10 commandments. 
     These commands were mature natural human acts which all men can know and obey. God saw to it that these commands were written in the hearts of all men. And as mentioned, it can only be obeyed by mature men acting according to his human nature. 
     To aid the human race, God prescribed external human acts so man can express his desire to obey the commands of God. To show God in the form of a religious Liturgical act that man wants to obey the 6th and 9th commandments of God in the Old Testament, God prescribed the religious ceremony of circumcision.
     
     Circumcision in the Old Testament. 
     So through the act of circumcision, man is expressing his desire and intention to avoid sins against the 6th and 9th commandments; i.e. not to desire nor commit acts that are sinful pleasures of the flesh. Circumcision is a promise to avoid pleasures of the flesh that are sinful. Note that this is circumcision in the Old Testament which consist in avoiding sins against the 6th and 9th commandment. 
     Circumcision in the New Testament.
     While circumcision in the Old Testament is giving up of sinful things, circumcision in the New Testament if giving up of lawful or good things. While circumcision in the Old Testament is obedience to two commandments in the Old, circumcision in the New is obedience to all the commands of Christ in the New Testament.
     These New Testament commands may be summarized in the three evangelical counsels. Circumcision is the 'cutting off' of lawful or good things. Cutting off of evil things is in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the cutting off or the giving up is of lawful or good thing. The first to be cut off are attachments to material possession, like attachment to money; 'go home sell all your things,...'.  The second is attachment to human relations; ' he who loves parents more than me...'. The third is attachments is to your own opinions; 'he who loves his life will lose it....'
     Note again, that what is circumcised are lawful and good things. Why? St. Augustine wrote; 'he who is attached to his possessions will surely steal what belong to others to add to the possessions he loves. But he who has given up his possessions will not steal what belong to others. 
     He who indulges in lawful things will surely fall into unlawful things. He who indulges in human love for his wife will surely look at another who is not his wife. He who indulges in following his own opinions will surely fall into doing his sinful opinions.
     So circumcision of the soul as described by St. Paul in the New Testament as observing the spirit of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. 'The Spirit...' not the vows. 
    To be presentable to God, we must undergo the circumcision of the Old Testament by not sinning through disobedience to the commands of God the Father, especially the 6th and 9th commandments  AND we must deny ourselves of lawful and good things that are not conducive to the salvation of our souls. 
     This is what Holy Mother the Church is telling us to do during this Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus,  as we celebrate His circumcision and His Presentation in the Temple; be circumcised in  your spirit before presenting yourself  before God's judgment seat.   
     
5. New environment in the Vatican Church. 
    There is no Old Testament circumcision in the Church. There is no giving up of the sinful pleasures of the flesh. The pleasures of the flesh is even multiplied today. To live with another woman not one's wife is tolerated. A clear violation of the 6th and 9th commandments of God. People today don't even marry. 
     The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah are not judged as punishable sins. Who are we to judge.  
     If we are unable to undergo the circumcision of the Old Testament  we will not be able to undergo the circumcision of the New Testament where grace is needed; and grace will never be given to those who have disobeyed the Old Testament commands. 
    
      
    

HOLY FAMILY and MARY, MOTHER OF GOD.

 1. The Christmastide Liturgy.
     The Christmastide Liturgy is followed by the Sundays in Ordinary time which further clarifies the 'life of repentance' which is the Old Testament spirituality. This is followed by the general headline in the Missal entitled 'Instruction of developing one's Faith.' So we are confronting the two main topics that Christ first preached 'Repent, believe.' This is enough for salvation but it is better for all to proceed further to the perfection of Charity that is taught to us during Pentecost according to Christ's teaching 'be perfect as My heavenly Father is perfect.'
     In the feast of the Holy Family we see the figure of the Catholic Church in Joseph, Mary and Jesus.  In the Feast of Mary mother of God, we see Mary as a true Catholic. Both Liturgy reviews the outline on what we must do to attain everlasting life. The Gospel describes the three general steps. Let us discuss each step.

2. First step.
     We must know the commands of God. Here we have to hear the commands of God;  then we  must be certain that it is God's command and not mere commands of men. Having heard the commands of God we must register them in our mind or intellect.              Where can we get the commands of God? First,  from a well translated work of Scriptures. Secondly,  these commands are also imbedded in the commentaries of the Fathers and doctors of the Church. Thirdly, from the innocence of children. Fourthly, from angels. 
     Mary, Joseph and the shepherds, being entirely detached from worldly attachments, were suitable subjects for visiting angels. Usually, if a soul is intent  in  learning the Word of God and shows zeal in studying Scriptures and Tradition, they will, also, easily learn from the innocence of children and from Angels. 
     The intellectual effort demanded of a person is for such person to integrated the knowledge he has into a unified whole which will enable him to incorporate new compatible truths and dispel truths contrary to the unified whole.
     Mary, Joseph and the shepherds were well acquainted with Scriptures and the prophets. They were very good candidates for visitation from angels. 
     In this first step, the action demanded of us is to acquire a very reliable correct knowledge of the teachings of Christ. AND for us to believe these truths because they are clearly the teachings of God. This first step is an act of the mind or the intellect. 
     Knowing the truths, having checked the truths that they are truly from God and believing these truths because they came from God, makes up the first step. And this was shown by the shepherds in the Gospel. The shepherds were very certain that the message was from God because it came from angels. 

3. Second step.
    The second step is to obey the command. St. Joseph obeyed; he took the child and his mother and brought them to Egypt until the angel said otherwise.   And the shepherds obeyed the message of the angels. They went and looked for a child in swaddling clothes. 
     While knowing the commands of God is called Faith, obeying the commands of God is called Charity. While knowing the commands is an act of the intellect, obeying the commands is an act of the free will. Faith is an act of the intellect; Charity is an act of the free will. You cannot have Charity without Faith. You cannot love God without first knowing God through obedience to His commands. 'This is to know God, to obey His commands. '
     Pope Francis went against Catholic teaching when in his first publicized papal  talk he proposed that Charity is possible without dogmas. You cannot love God unless you first know the dogmas on who God is. You cannot love someone you do not know; that would only be puppy love. 

     This second step was shown by the shepherds in that they went and look for the child while Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart. The shepherds obeyed the command with an external physical act of traveling, looking for the child and finding the child. Mary obeyed the command by a pure act of the free will; with no accompanying visible physical act of the body. 

4. The circumcision. 
     The circumcision is the symbol of the soul's ability to be able to remove all sources of sin. This ability is part of the infused gift of Faith together with the forgiveness of sin. An added gift comes with this gift and that is a new name, which does not come from man but from God. This is, also, a sign of predestination. The Book of the Apocalypse describes this as a white stone wherewith your new name from God is written. 
     Thus Christ received a name, not from men, but from the angel even before He was born. This feast reminds us to desire and to work for that day when we, too, will receive our new names from God and written in a white tablet which no one else can read except by the receiver. 

5. The Vatican Church today. 
     Gilbert Chesterton wrote that those outside the Catholic Church are like people peeping into the Cathedral through a key hole. They can see a little of the beauty of the Catholic Church but only a little. But those who are able to enter the Catholic Church through the supernatural virtue of Faith can see and appreciate the great beauty of the Church especially in her doctrines.
     Seeing fully the teachings of the Church they can easily defend the Church and reject what ever is against those holy teachings. 

     Unable to see fully what is inside the Church, outsiders are ignorant of what is inside, including the fact who is the true Pope, because they are outside and the Pope is inside. At the time the Church had two to three Popes, most cardinals and bishops did not know who was the true Pope because, without knowing it, they were outside the Church. 
     When a soul enters the Catholic Church, having repented and believed, he is united to the Mystical Body of Christ and the first person he sees inside the Church is the Pope, because a true Pope must be inside the Church. And all those who are inside will exhibit the four visible signs enumerated in the Nicene Creed; One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.

      If I know that I am still outside the Church and I can still see Pope Francis and can relate with him the way I can relate with my friend, does that mean that we are both  outside the Church?
      If, as Chesterton wrote, I am an outsider and I peep through the key hole of the Church; and through that hole I can see how a true Pope looks like, can't I not compare what I see through the key hole with the present Pope? Seeing the Popes inside the Church can I not compare them with the  one I see now? The view might neither be complete nor clear but I think it is possible. Christmas is like a key hole. Outside we have the Old Testament as a guide. We can peep inside where the New Testament is and compare the little we see inside with the much that we see outside.
     If we peep at the doctrines of the New Testament and at the Pope inside the Church and compare them to the doctrines and at the present Pope's teachings they are different; they are even opposites. Let us look at the first step mentioned above; St. Joseph and the shepherds were obedient to the commands given to them by the angel. Is Pope Francis obedient to the 10 commandments of God in the Old Testament? Did anybody exempt him  from the 6th and 9th commandments? 
     His allowing adulterer to remarry and receive Holy Communion makes him an accomplice to the sin of disobedience to the commands of the Old Testament. His allowing an atheist journalist to remain an atheist makes him guilty of scandal against the command of Christ in the New Testament. 
     Obviously, Pope Francis is going against the spirituality of Christmastide which is the first step that leads to entrance to the Catholic Church and salvation. If he has not even taken the first step that leads to the Catholic Church will that mean that he is not yet even inside the Church? Since he is most popular with catholics who are outside the Church, he must really be outside the Church in which case he cannot be the Pope of the Catholic Church.