YEAR OF THE PRIEST - Meditation 9 - "Curiositas" vs "Studiositas"

Holy Mother the Church teaches her children the way of salvation through the Liturgy. The Liturgical calendar is the vehicle wherein the Catholic truths are spread out in the right order and in its completeness during the Sunday Masses. It is amazing to see the beauty of the arrangement of the truths and how the truths gradually developed from the first Sunday of Advent up to the feast of Christ the King. It is enough to study one cycle 'to believe.'

On the third and fourth Sundays in ordinary time (cycle C) we begun the Gospel of St. Luke. Prior to these Sundays was Advent and Christmas season where we were taught how to live the life of Repentance according to the Old Testament. On the third and fourth Sundays in ordinary time we are given a preview on how to live the life of Repentance according to the New Testament. This is in preparation for the season of Lent where the Liturgy completes the teaching on Repentance (which Our Lady complained in Fatima that the world was no doing.) From Holy Week to Easter Holy Mother the Church begins teaching us how to live the life of Faith and Hope. And on Pentecost she describes to us the virtue of Charity. Faith, Hope and Charity make up the spirituality of the New Testament

I just mentioned the third Sunday in ordinary time because it is on this Sunday that before we seriously study Repentance in the New Testament we are taught how to study the Gospel messages of the next following Sundays leading to Lent. Studying how to live a life of Faith, Hope and Charity is no easy task and is very much different from studying nuclear physics. The Gospel is on how to study.

St. Luke, in fact, begins his Gospel by teaching us how to study, showing us how the Israelites in the synagogue had wrongly studied Scriptures and so ended up rejecting Christ. While Scriptures narrate several incidences wherein after an encounter with Christ they followed Him.

There are two ways of acquiring knowledge. One is when we study with the end of merely acquiring that knowledge, like studying astronomy. We just want to know what is going up there. The other kind of knowledge is when we learn something in order to be able to do a good work like when we study medicine. We study not just to know about medicine but to be able to do good by curing others. The latter is the way we study Scriptures.

In studying Theology, going on a retreat, listening to a Homily, reading a book or attending Congresses on the Year of the Priest - we don't just want to get information but to be able to do some good like the salvation of our soul or the souls of other people which we often times think we are doing but closer examination shows we are not.

The first kind of knowledge is commonly referred to as "curiositas" and the second is called "studiositas."

"Curiositas" is listed by Tomas a Kempis as the 'forbidden knowledge' that is an obstacle to the attainment of Faith and holiness. And it falls under the category of 'vices.' And vices are such that the longer you stay with it the faster you deteriorate in the spiritual life. If the seminarian studies his theology with 'curiositas' he deteriorates spiritually everyday. How bad can he deteriorate in a six year course staggers the mind.

On the other hand "studiositas" is a virtue and the longer you resort to it, not only do you develop knowledge, understanding and wisdom of Catholic truths, but you develop great self-control over the passions, emotions and concupiscence.

In "curiositas" the seminarian studies things unnecessary for salvation; like studying how to socialize or improve the economic condition of people, how to start a new business, holding retreats in beaches, psychological techniques, learning things from television, surfing the internet, wanting to pass the final exam, to learn the arts and to become a bishop or cardinal. To make these the end of one's study is "curiositas."

"Studiositas" is everything of the above plus a great emphasis on nature and how to find the God of nature (the way Bl. Louis Martin taught St. Therese to find God in a beach or sunset) and with greater emphasis on God and the things of God. The seminarian must ponder intellectually over all earthly things with the goal of knowing God whose image is reflected in all these things. This exercise will aid him in contemplating God and the things of God thus increasing his knowledge of Divine Love and increasing his ability to Love God. And this love for God will, in turn, increase his desire to know more about God, the inexhaustible source of knowledge.

This contemplation of divine truths helps develop the moral virtues leading to the possession of the Theological virtues. Life in the seminary becomes an active life wherein the seminarian becomes active in developing the moral virtues. This way of life helps him quell his passions making it conducive for him to live a contemplative life. Only in this way can we put into practice what Pope Benedict XVI said in his document on the Year of the Priest " to contemplate the Heart of Jesus" when he declared the Year of the Priest on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

YEAR OF THE PRIEST - Meditation 8 - The Theology of Grace

In inspiring priests to be faithful to their mission the Holy Father mentions the basis for this quest: all is grace. And he mentions St. Paul, St. Augustine a saint close to his heart and he mentions St.Thomas of Aquinas a saint he was a little aloft before.

For the candidate to the priesthood to love God and neighbor, which is "Caritas" he needs grace. For him to have the virtue of Hope as explained in "Spes Salvi," he needs grace. And for the seminarian to have Faith, the virtue that brings him inside the Catholic Church he needs grace with the accompanying "Veritate" enlightened by "Caritas."

For the future candidate to the priesthood to have the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity he must have the proper disposition in mind and free will to receive these Virtues from God. This proper disposition is also a work of grace from God. Yes, all is grace.

We live in a world that is ignorant of the theology of grace. First: our whole environment, a product of the blossoming of the philosophy of the French Revolution that is entirely Pelagian and Semi-pelagian has indoctrinated the minds of men to reject the concept of grace as unscientific and an obstacle to the progress of men. The candidates for the priesthood are children of three generations of parents who were bombarded with this spirit of secularism and materialism. We have candidates to the seminaries who have no concept whatsoever of what is Catholic Doctrine, Cardinal Baum once mentioned in a Vocation address. And this ignorance is on the theology of grace. This makes the seminarians ignorant of the role grace plays in the studying of Catholic truths. And as Cardinal Ratzinger mentioned in his "New Evengelization" this defect is found both in the content and method in teaching and studying theology.

Since the correct way of studying Theology leads the student towards happiness and the development of virtue, ignorance of the correct way of studying leads to unhappiness and vices. It is this unhappiness in the service of God (which is unthinkable) and the plunging into a life of vices, that had haunted the priesthood, is the natural consequence of this grave error.

This situation had been described by Cardinal Ratzinger in his "Ratzinger Report." He said that the problem of the priesthood is 'restlessness.' Let us sit down and analyze that statement. Ascetical Theology enumerates 7 vices. Vices prevent us from reaching Faith, Hope and Charity. In short, vices prevent us from being Catholics.

The vices are the sources of sins. From one vice can come numerous sins. When a soul has the first vice, namely gluttony, it becomes easy for him to slide down to the second vice..... lust, etc. etc...If a soul has the fifth vice it means that he has all the other four previous vices. With 5 vices we cannot imagine how many sins can come from these sources. Let's say 50 different sins could come out of those five vices.

'Restlessness' is enumerated among the last vice; 6th or 7th. That means some priest have all the vices and it is difficult to imagine how many sins he is exposed to or is committing already. This easily explains the problem of the priesthood that is even more recently exposed in Ireland. And sadly, the solution is easy. It is difficult to understand why the Church could not easily solve it. It seems the men of the Church are ignorant both of the reason for the crisis and the solution.

But when we say ignorance we simply mean that the mind or intellect does not know what it could easily learn. Everything could be learned from the Theology of Grace, the very foundation of Catholic Theology.

Ignorance of the Theology of grace and therefore the lack of these necessary graces placed the seminarian in the absurd situation where he finds himself in a graceless natural state and trying to learn divine supernatural truths which were too much over and above the capabilities of his natural mind.

But these seminarians frequent the Sacraments! Ignorance of the theology of grace would make them receive the sacraments sacrilegiously. How many times have Pope Benedict reminded us on how to receive Holy Communion worthily. That word "worthily" demands a knowledge of the workings of grace. How many times have the Holy Father mentioned the strange phenomenon of many receiving Holy Communion and few going to confession. This shows ignorance of the importance of grace.

Indeed, if we can restore the way seminarians are trained as they used to train them during the times of the Fathers of the Church we would not need a Year of the Priest.

YEAR OF THE PRIEST - Meditation 7 - The Modern Seminary

The modern seminary is an awesome sight.....compared to my monastic seminary 60 years ago. One would get the impression that these seminaries are producing top of the line priests. The buildings are beautiful, surrounded by well-trimmed gardens of varied flowering plants. The refectories are veritable banquet halls. The libraries would put the library of Alexandria to shame. The classrooms are air-conditioned. The private rooms are spacious and equipped with radios and the line-up of their professors are impressive. What else can we ask? Well, we can ask where are the good priests?

Some seminaries seem to have everything except.....signs of the presence of Grace, the Theological virtues, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and lots of humility... where every human act is motivated by the glory of God? That is if we based our musings on the chapters on Vices and Virtues according to the Summa of St. Thomas.

The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II once came to a bishop's conference in Asia and exhorted them to improve the formation program in their seminaries. (This was after the post Vatican Bishop's Synod held in Rome that framed a general outline of formation for all sectors.) The Bishop in-charge of the Commission on Seminaries (made up of three bishops) organized 'practicums' made up of seminary heads to make a program of formation for seminaries. They gave themselves 10 years to make one. A week before the dead line, there was still no proposal. So inquiries were made from other seminaries around the world and from the Congregation for Catholic Education and for the clergy. And the surprising response from a Cardinal was: 'We are still making one."

So what program was the Catholic Church using all these 2000 years? We certainly had a good program seeing the countless holy priests the Church had. St. Philip Neri, St. Vincent the Paul and the seminary of St. Sulpice (that has influenced St. John Vianney) had very good programs. What happened? We cannot blame Vatican II because this malaise had happened much earlier. Maybe around the beginnings of the 14th century and more noticeably in the 18oo. Heresy!!! Heresy entered into the curriculum of the seminaries.

Heresies are errors that has entered the mind. Since it is only an act of the mind it is easy to erase errors. So why isn't it easily removed? What else is lacking? As St. Paul would answer: 'a preacher sent by God' who will teach the truth and expose the error. But the Pope is always such a preacher. So what else could be wrong? We can pin point what is wrong with the seminarians........they do not listen to all the teachings of the Popes. And if they do, some do not obey. Orthodoxy means our beliefs must conform not only to the writings of the Old and New Testaments and the writings of the Fathers of the Church. It must conform to the Magisterium of which the Holy Father is the spokesman. In the definition of Faith in the Catholic Church the element of Papal authority is essential. Since the Apostles and Fathers of the Church are gone God will only explain the truths to those living today, year 2010, through the Pope. That is why each Pope have to explain the entire teaching of the Church during their reign for the people that exist during their reign. Pope Benedict has already explained the entire teaching of Christ for us today through his three encyclicals. He just have to go into details.

In the Year of the Priest, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI is hinting that we undergo our seminary training again. Maybe in a more humble manner, like studying in the secrecy of a quiet room or better still kneeling down in front of the Blessed Sacrament where we can 'contemplate' the truths rather than just study them in the classroom. He said: 'more prayer'......he did not say 'less lecture' but if you pray more shouldn't there be less lectures? I remember St. Francis of Assisi saying something like : sanctify souls and once in a while give lectures ...or something to that effect.

YEAR OF THE PRIEST - Meditation 6 - Manner of studying theology

The teachings of the Catholic Church are said to be truths in the supernatural level. It cannot be studied the way Zoology or Physics are studied. Natural things can be studied by man's natural abilities. It is impossible for man's natural ability to study supernatural truths.

The way to study supernatural truths is for the natural man to rise up from the natural sphere to the supernatural sphere. And there the soul will effortless receive the truths of the Catholic Faith. These Catholic truths are given to the soul together with the graces and accompanying theological virtues.

In the seminary we must not teach the truths of the Catholic Faith. We teach seminarians how to rise up from the natural level to the supernatural level where graces with its accompanying theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity are received from God. These supernatural truths are taught by God by infusion and not learned from teachers in the seminary.......though God could use a holy professor as an instrument to infuse these truths. But it will be evident that it was God, and not the professor, who had given the knowledge.

The seminarians had been studying their theology in the wrong way. While remaining in the natural level they try to study a subject that is over and above their heads in the supernatural level. So they learn nothing, understand nothing and end up without wisdom which is needed to fully imbibe the truths.

Ignorance of the theology of grace is the root of this problem. To know the truths of Christ they must first live fully the life of repentance (which unfortunately many do not know how) after which they would receive graces with its accompanying theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. It is in receiving Faith that they receive the infused knowledge of the teachings of Christ as proposed by the Church.

Many seminarians enter the seminary without knowing that they have lost the grace they have received at Baptism and do not have the capability to know any Catholic Truth. This is the reason Pope Benedict declared the Year of the Priest whose theme is Faithfulness of Christ. He was encouraging Priest to reach at least Faith and not even Hope and Charity. And reminded all that 'the gift of divine grace precedes every possible human response and pastoral accomplishment..' He was saying that you cannot become a priest or even begin your seminary training without knowing and putting into practice the theology of grace. And the problem is that most seminarians do not even know if they are in the state of grace or not when they begin their seminary training.

The Holy Father repeats: You must have "a clear and unmistaken judgment about the absolute primacy of divine grace, recalling what St.Thomas Aquinas wrote..." In short, we cannot learn the simplest Catholic truth without grace. And yet we have no idea if we have grace or not.
Then the Pope reminds us of his "Deus Caritas Est" actually saying if you cannot reach the theological virtue of Charity at least reach Faith. Then he encourages all to help the poor priest 'to reach spiritual perfection'.....that is Charity, i.e. being perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect.

The state of the seminaries is this: we have seminarians who were baptized when they were babies and who during their lives in the world have lost that sacramental grace, probably without realizing it. Then they enter the seminary not knowing they do not have the grace to learn the supernatural truths. Presuming they are in the state of grace they study theology without knowing and understanding anything. The result priestly souls who are total slaves of their fallen nature.

Let us see how they did it in the early times when we could find holy priest in every corner. The seminarians should be taught to use their natural abilities to learn how to rise from the natural to the supernatural level. They must, then, know that entering the supernatural level is a work of grace a completely free act of God. When God raises them up to the supernatural level, God will give them the theological virtue of Faith with a little dosage of Hope and Charity that will enable them to effortless know the teachings of the Catholic Church. They will not need the entire seminary in the process. They only need, as Christ said, to enter their room and lock the door.

YEAR OF THE PRIEST - IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

The Bishop, the Priest, and the Laymen in the Church TODAY.

1. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, would want to know how a Pope, a bishop, a priest and a layman should function within the Church TODAY. So his former thesis, the 'Theology of History according to St. Bonaventure" is suddenly of great interest to him. There he described how the Church would look like now, that he is Head of the Church. All priests, too, must know how they must function within the Church today and not the Church 100 years ago.

2. The Church is a living being. She grows everyday. Though she looks essentially the same (one, holy, Catholic and apostolic) , there is a slight difference in her spiritual image as she grows into maturity. And depending on whether she is an adolescence or a young adult, the function of the Pope and priest would slightly differ within her. There is a slight difference in piloting a teenage from a young adult church to her eternal goal.

3. This difference in the image of the Church is clearly portrayed in the two fishing incidents in the lives of the apostles. The first fishing trip was during the public life of Christ before Easter where they caught both good and bad fishes. This image of the Church is repeated in the parable of the wheat and the cockle where both good and bad were together in the Church. Then there is the fishing trip after the resurrection of Christ where they caught only good fishes.

4. The two images of the Church are: when she was a teenager, with bad blood, therefore, filled with pimples. And when she is a lovely young adult ready to be wedded to the bridegroom Jesus Christ.

5. These two images of the Church were further described in the Apocalypse; where we see the woman clothed with the sun "in the world." Then, after a while she was given two wings by which she flew to the desert to a place specially prepared by God for her protection. And the devil who is in the world vomits water to drown her in the desert. There is a church in the world and a church that has flown to the desert. There is a difference in which the Pope and the priests minister to the Church in the world and how they would minister to the Church in the desert.

6. The implication here is that when the Church, personified by the Woman clothed with the Sun, flies to the desert the world will not find the Church in the world. They have to go to the desert to find and be able to enter the Church. Of course, this is an allegorical description and its meaning must be figured out from the writings of the Fathers specially St. John Chrysostom.

7. The season of Advent is no longer a preparation for the first coming of Christ, Christmas, because that is over. Instead it is a preparation for the second coming of Christ, at the end times. The preparation is a life of repentance, which is Old Testament spirituality. But note that the 4 Sunday Gospels of Advent, the Mass for Vigil of Christmas and Christmas Mass do not deal with Christmas but with the parousia, the end of the world. And from the feast of Mary and the Holy Family preparation for the second coming continues ending with Christ the King and resuming with Advent.

8. It is for this reason that the Immaculate Conception is within Advent and only approved as a dogma recently. Because it will only make sense today. Mary, the Immaculate Conception is the symbol of the Church that contains only good fishes, all wheat without the cockle, the Woman in the desert - Immaculate, without sin. Didn't Christ say that during these days, the angels will remove all the cockles thus leaving only the sinless within the Church? That was the Church St. Grignion de Montfort was trying to work on... a Church that was Immaculate like Mary, and which St. Bonaventure foresaw at the end times...and which Joseph Ratzinger took as topic for his thesis as a young priest.

9. Where is the Church now? How does she look like now? Is the Church today pre-Easter or post- Easter? In his thesis, Pope Benedict is hinting that we are in the post -Easter era. If so, are we inside the fish net that is made up of only good fishes....the symbol of the Immaculate Conception?

YEAR OF THE PRIEST - Meditation -5

THE ACT OF FAITH
1. The act of faith is an act of the natural intellect set free by grace to roam the realm of the supernatural. Pope Benedict describes faith as a working reason elevated by grace to be free from its imprisonment by creatures.

2. Man has a body and a soul each one in constant attempt to control the mind and the free will. The body wants the mind to set itself on its desire (its concupiscence) while the soul wants the mind to focus itself on its natural desires (spiritual things). This is an interminable contest. Man, by nature, ought to have his superior nature, his soul, controlling his lower nature, the body. This is possible without grace but often very difficult without grace.

3. The intellect must be focused on its goal...that is the reason why God created us... to be united to Him by subjecting our spiritual faculties, the intellect and free will, to God.

4. The intellect must also be focused on the means to that end. The means had been laid down by God. And the means are laid down in the so-called commandments of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The problem is that the free will is constantly confronted with choices of means that do not lead to the goal. These are the whole created universe.

5. The act of the intellect focused on its final end as commanded by God and focusing itself on the means proper to that end as commanded by God is called the act of Faith.

6. This can easily be done by two people. A child who has not lost his initial innocence and an adult who has lost his innocence but have repented. Innocence in a child and repentance in an adult dispose them to receive the grace that will enable them to focus their intellects both to the God- given final goal and to the God- dictated commands that are the means to that final goal.

7. With this act of faith a soul is now in the first Beatitude and can already experience some degree of true happiness. Now it is a matter of going up to the higher Beatitudes to attain greater virtues and greater happiness.

8. The sign that one has reached Faith is Knowledge of all the teachings of the Catholic Church. And added to this is the first fruit of the Holy Spirit, the fear of God, consisting in great fear to do, say and think of things contrary to the will of God.

9. The goal of the Year of St. Paul is to show lay people the direction that leads to Faith. The goal of the Year of the Priest is to direct the priest towards the goal of Faith.

YEAR OF THE PRIEST - Meditation 4

THE LOST OF FAITH.
1. Faith is enlivened by the virtue of Charity. When one has Faith, he also has Charity. When Charity disappears due to a personal actual sin, faith is retained but it is a dead faith. This is what happened to most baptized person. During Baptism they received Sacramental grace and with it the virtue of Faith enlivened by Charity. But failure to develop this faith caused the lost of Charity with dead faith remaining. But it often happens that they also sin against Faith and loses the virtue of Faith which is the more common occurence. With dead Faith, the soul still has the hope of regaining the Charity that enlivens faith through repentance.

2. The Holy Father is worried that this is what is happening among the Catholics. Without realizing it they are living the church by losing their charity and even their dead faith. He described the situation in this way: that the Faith of the Church is like a dying flame running out of fuel. This prompted him to issue "Dominus Jesus" during the Pontificate of Pope John Paul II. Here he re-emphasized the importance in believing that Christ is God a fundamental truth of faith that was not even questioned in the recent past. If Catholics are not clear as to who Jesus is the Church is in real trouble.

3. The Holy Father must have gotten this notion from the strikes he experienced in the seminary where he saw that many of the seminarians had communist leanings. Since communist philosophy does not believe in God, then it is easy to conclude that these seminarians have lost their faith.

4. Add to this when he read the 3rd secret of Fatima where it is written that the world will lose its faith except in Portugal. Confirming the message of Our Lady of Good Success in Quito, Equador that in the 20th century the Church will experience total black out in matters of faith.
This is confirmed by Christ when describing the end times, He said "when I come shall I find faith upon the earth?"

5. This prompted the then Cardinal Ratzinger to write the Ratzinger Report around 1985 about the state of the Church. In short saying that the Church has a crisis of Faith which means in simple words, people are not reaching faith or people are unable to enter the Catholic Church or ......few are entering heaven.

6. How did this deplorable condition happened? Considering the fact that we have at present the best translation of Scriptures, we have the writings of the Fathers of the Church and numerous writings of the doctors of the Church. We have the countless encyclicals and other documents of the Popes and a vast network to learn what we need to have faith. How come there are few who have faith? St. Benedict of Nurcia, St. Pope Gregory the Great and quoting St. Ambrose of Aulpert, Pope Benedict pinpointed the culprit......greed!

7. Greed is a vice and like any vice prevents a soul from having Faith. Greed comes from Pride, the mother of vices. And pride was introduce by Lucifer himself. The pride of life is the most potent weapon of the devil in preventing souls from receiving the virtue of Faith. The desire to be like God is pride. The desire to run things the way they want; in contradiction to the teaching on Divine Providence that God is running all things. "They have become like us!" Looking around us, it is not difficult to see it. From governments to parents to the smallest child.... everyone is running their lives the way they want. It was the vice that caused the angels to fall. It was a vice that caused our first parents to fall.

8. Faith is possible. But Greed and its source, pride, is preventing intellects from knowing our final goal, which is God, and the means to that goal, both of which make up the act of faith.