1. No Mass and no Confessions?
When God replaced the Old Testament with the New Testament, He gave mankind something better for something good. The Gospels had been saying this; Christ said I did not come to abolish the Old but to perfect it.
The same goes with worship or its new equivalent, the Mass. Christ said, I do not chose bullocks and sacrifices. I want you to do God's Will. That is the better sacrifice.
With regard to the offerings for sins, Christ preferred a broken spirit rather than sheeps and pigeons.
2. Christ foresaw the prohibition of Masses and confessions. In fact, He saw the attempt of the evil one, with His permission, to abolish the entire Catholic Church. It is a test God, Himself, is preparing for mankind. And we have to pass the test.
For the abolition of the Mass, Christ told the Samaritan Woman by the well, 'the day will come and is already here, when true worshippers will worship in spirit and in truth.
If we look at what that means, true worship can be done anywhere, everywhere, anytime and at all time. Because it is going to be a spiritual act done by the spiritual faculties of the soul. Nobody can touch those faculties nor control it. The Chinese Catholics should be reminded of this Catholic doctrine because if they do this, they can practice the entire Catholic Faith in China without the Communist government being able to touch their activities because it is purely a spiritual activity.
Not only the Communist of China is suppressing the Catholic Church. The whole world, from Europe to Latin America, from the US to Asia, from Canada to Australia. There are only a few spot where this is not so. Tanzania, Russia, Poland, etc.
The prohibition of Masses and confessions is already world wide punishable with imprisonment in many Western nations.
what do we do? Christ said, as early as His own time, to the Samaritan Woman, worship, instead, in spirit and in truth.
3. How do you worship in spirit and in truth?
First, 'in spirit.' 'In spirit' means worship using the spiritual faculties of the soul, the mind and the free will.
Second, 'in truth.' Fill your minds with the Divine truths as found in Divine Revelation and as interpreted by the Fathers and Doctors of the Church. When you study and dwell in these truths, you are already worshipping in spirit. In monastic parlance, that is 'living the Mass,' i.e. putting the Mass as a way of life. This is more pleasing to God, Christ said so.
'In truth' means be sure that your readings and interpretation of the truths in Divine Revelation are correct and according to the mind of Holy Mother the Church.
How do you do that? Study the 12 degrees of humility or 12 degrees of pride. Be sure you grow in humility and eradicate all signs of pride. Do this with the help of the grace of God. If with the help of God you attain the higher degrees of humility, the Holy Spirit will give you the gift of wisdom and understanding. With these gifts you will differentiate what is true from what is false.
When the spiritual mind have discovered the truth, the free will must love the spiritual truth the mind had learned through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He will now be a true worshipper 'in spirit and in truth.' Christ said this is a better way of worshipping than those Novus Ordo filled with Liturgical abuses.
4. What is a substitute to confession?
Since the beginning, perfect act of contrition had been the important element of confession. Perfect act of contrition can forgive sins with sacramental confession because it is a perfect act of Charity. Faith is what forgive sins. The virtue of Charity, being higher than Faith, can all the more, forgive sins.
Christ, very clearly said in the Our Father, 'Forgive me my sins as I forgive those who sin against me. Christ, very clearly agreed that if we forgive those who sin against us, He will forgive all our sins. He even said, if you forgive others, I will will forget all your past sins. This is better than going to confession.
5. St. Thomas on what is 'to forgive others.'
St. Thomas of Aquinas wrote that to forgive others, you must consider that the other have not sinned against you, even if they, indeed, have sinned. As long as you consider the other as having sinned against you, you will not be able to forgive the other. To forgive the other you must convinced yourself that the other have not sinned against you. Maybe he had sinned against God but not against you. That is to forgive the other. Do that and your past sins will be forgiven, Christ said so.
6. Forbidding of Masses and Confessions.
They can abolish or forbid Masses and confessions as the world wants in trying to destroy the Church. But Christ had already made provisions for this. And there you are, for those in quarantine, those in lock downs and those in Communist China. Forgiveness of all your past sins can be done in your room with locked doors, or anywhere where you can bring your spiritual faculties of mind and free will. This is going to Mass and confession anytime and anywhere and as you want.
How about all the other sacraments and religious helps. It goes along with the two principles above, Just sit down and figure how that is done. It will, also , be purely an act of the mind and the free will. You can do it anywhere.....even in the.........never mind.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
GROWTH AND LOST OF FAITH - Monday of the 4th Lenten Weekday.
1. Repentance leading towards Faith.
The Lenten Liturgy teaches perfect repentance according to the New Testament. This is perfect repentance that is needed for a soul to receive the theological virtue of Faith.
Perfect repentance is sorrow for having disobeyed the commands of Christ. To know our sin we must know what commands of Christ we have disobeyed. And to do so we must know all the commands of Christ. For how can we know what command we have disobeyed if we do not know the commands.
Repentance begins small, i.e. being sorry for a few sin we know are disobediences to the commands of Christ. As we learn more commands, we discover we have also disobeyed them. In fact, we can end up that when we have learned all the commands of Christ we will find that we have disobeyed all the commands. This, in fact, always happens because disobedience to one command is disobediences to all the commands of Christ, St. James wrote.
So at the beginning of our repentance, we think we have only sinned a little since we only know a few commands. At the end, if we are enlightened, we will see that we have disobeyed all the commands. So repentance can be little at the beginning, then it grows depending on our knowledge of Christ's commands and whether we have disobeyed them. It starts little and become perfect.
The same goes with Faith. It begins with little Faith and then grows into perfection, as shown in the example of the nobleman with the sick son, in the Gospel for today.
2. Story of the nobleman and his sick son.
Three steps in the growth of Faith.
First, for lack of Faith, he did not go to look for Christ to cure his son.
Second, the beginnings of Faith. He saw Christ and prayed to cure his ill son.
Third, a greater Faith. He believe Christ when Christ said your son is cured. But he was not certain. Faith is certain.
Fourth, perfect Faith, when he heard that his son was cured on the exact hour that Christ said so.
Note how the Faith of the nobleman grew to perfection in a matter of days. In the same way, Faith can be loss in a matter of days or even less.
Today due to the heresies flying all over the air, Faith can be lost in a matter of minutes. In fact, the situation today is that there seems to be no Faith to loss.
St. Thomas wrote down the rule; if a soul does not progress in Faith he will regress. So Faith must grow every minute, every day, every month. Stop growing and Faith begins to regress and eventually completely disappear; in a matter of days or minutes.
3. How Faith is loss.
Based on the principle mentioned above, if seminarians stop growing in the knowledge of their Faith, they automatically regress to non-Faith. They lose their Faith. They grow to be Faithless priests and bishops. This is what happened that is why most of our bishops are like these.
Having lost their Faith, they do not know how to regain it. It is regained by repenting perfectly according to the New Testament repentance. Having repented in they previous confessions, they think there is no need to repeat the life of repentance. They never learned that New Testament repentance is a continuous life time process. You don't stop repenting. You stop and you fall again into sin. Then you must repent again. The second time you repent, the devil will see to it that you will not be able to repent anymore. And that is what usually happens.
Early Christian writings speaks so much about the disability of most christians to undergo the second repentance.
When seminarians regress, they do not simply go down from the spiritual level to the natural level. They descend to the unnatural level; thus they become gay, homo, perverts, bestial, etc.This is the reason for the present problems of the clergy which the latest Vatican Synod on the abuse was not able to address as the disparaging conclusion speech made by Cardinal Tagle at the end of the Synod.
4. Regaining Faith.
The Gospel showed how Faith can be regained and perfected in a matter of days. There is no reason why seminarians cannot regain lost Faith except to pure ignorance of theological principles, one is mentioned above. In reality, lack of knowledge of ascetical theology. This, unfortunately, had been removed from the theological course in seminaries. Well, there you have the reason for the present hierarchical problem.
Most of the present appointments in the Vatican are faithless bishops and cardinals. Most news refer to them as such. St. Paul was transformed from a persecutor of the Church to a Faithful preacher of Christ. How long did that take. As long as one falls from the top of a horse to the ground.
A cardinal, assigned in the Congregation of Evangelization, who came from two dioceses does not have a single parish that can prove that it is Catholic using the usual 4 visible signs of the true Church as enumerated in the Nicene Creed or the 15 Marks of the Church by St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church. Not the theological virtues, nor the 4 moral virtues, nor the gifts of the Holy Spirit. None of the parishes can present credentials that they are Catholics. And their bishop is now head of evangelization. How can he evangelise when none of his parishes can prove they are Catholics. Maybe, it is not his fault because the previous bishop was at fault. But Faith can be developed in matter of minutes as Christ shows in his contacts with faithless souls. And as shown in today's Gospel.
It really takes many, many years before a bishop can transform his newly assigned diocese to become Catholic. In fact, their very short time tenure in a Diocese is not enough to transform a parish and make it Catholic. So the probability the next incoming bishops will inherit an entire diocese that is not Catholic.
But if the bishop knows how it is done, which can learned from Divine Revelation and as interpreted by the Fathers, a diocese or parish can become Catholic in a years time. In the Philippines, the only Catholy nation in the Far East, not one parish, not one diocese can boast of having the 4 visible signs of Catholicity as found in the Nicene creed or any valid theological signs of Catholicity.
What happened? Because Faith can easily be lost, it was lost. But because Faith can easily be regained, it should have been regained. St. Peter lost his Faith on Good Friday and easily regained it on Good Friday. Why can't we do that.
5. Greater defect. The inability to repent according to the New Testament.
God gives all children natural Faith upon which supernatural Faith can be built on during Baptism. Everything seems so easy. Why is it that the moment everybody who have gained that Faith after Baptism, and lose it at the age reason fine it next to impossible to regain it? Because they do not know how to repent the New Testament way. They only know the repentance of the Old Testament way that does not forgive sins. Thus grace is never restored in their soul. Yet they believe they are in the state of grace.
Knowledge of the theology of grace is so bad, today, that most do not know if they have divine grace or not. We have become as ignorant as Martin Luther with regard to grace.
6. St. Peter.
St. Peter lost his great Faith on Good Friday and regained it in a better degree on the same day. St. Thomas wrote that Peter was holier after denying Christ, due to his repentance, than before his denial. Just because he repented very well. Repentance is the key.
The Lenten Liturgy teaches perfect repentance according to the New Testament. This is perfect repentance that is needed for a soul to receive the theological virtue of Faith.
Perfect repentance is sorrow for having disobeyed the commands of Christ. To know our sin we must know what commands of Christ we have disobeyed. And to do so we must know all the commands of Christ. For how can we know what command we have disobeyed if we do not know the commands.
Repentance begins small, i.e. being sorry for a few sin we know are disobediences to the commands of Christ. As we learn more commands, we discover we have also disobeyed them. In fact, we can end up that when we have learned all the commands of Christ we will find that we have disobeyed all the commands. This, in fact, always happens because disobedience to one command is disobediences to all the commands of Christ, St. James wrote.
So at the beginning of our repentance, we think we have only sinned a little since we only know a few commands. At the end, if we are enlightened, we will see that we have disobeyed all the commands. So repentance can be little at the beginning, then it grows depending on our knowledge of Christ's commands and whether we have disobeyed them. It starts little and become perfect.
The same goes with Faith. It begins with little Faith and then grows into perfection, as shown in the example of the nobleman with the sick son, in the Gospel for today.
2. Story of the nobleman and his sick son.
Three steps in the growth of Faith.
First, for lack of Faith, he did not go to look for Christ to cure his son.
Second, the beginnings of Faith. He saw Christ and prayed to cure his ill son.
Third, a greater Faith. He believe Christ when Christ said your son is cured. But he was not certain. Faith is certain.
Fourth, perfect Faith, when he heard that his son was cured on the exact hour that Christ said so.
Note how the Faith of the nobleman grew to perfection in a matter of days. In the same way, Faith can be loss in a matter of days or even less.
Today due to the heresies flying all over the air, Faith can be lost in a matter of minutes. In fact, the situation today is that there seems to be no Faith to loss.
St. Thomas wrote down the rule; if a soul does not progress in Faith he will regress. So Faith must grow every minute, every day, every month. Stop growing and Faith begins to regress and eventually completely disappear; in a matter of days or minutes.
3. How Faith is loss.
Based on the principle mentioned above, if seminarians stop growing in the knowledge of their Faith, they automatically regress to non-Faith. They lose their Faith. They grow to be Faithless priests and bishops. This is what happened that is why most of our bishops are like these.
Having lost their Faith, they do not know how to regain it. It is regained by repenting perfectly according to the New Testament repentance. Having repented in they previous confessions, they think there is no need to repeat the life of repentance. They never learned that New Testament repentance is a continuous life time process. You don't stop repenting. You stop and you fall again into sin. Then you must repent again. The second time you repent, the devil will see to it that you will not be able to repent anymore. And that is what usually happens.
Early Christian writings speaks so much about the disability of most christians to undergo the second repentance.
When seminarians regress, they do not simply go down from the spiritual level to the natural level. They descend to the unnatural level; thus they become gay, homo, perverts, bestial, etc.This is the reason for the present problems of the clergy which the latest Vatican Synod on the abuse was not able to address as the disparaging conclusion speech made by Cardinal Tagle at the end of the Synod.
4. Regaining Faith.
The Gospel showed how Faith can be regained and perfected in a matter of days. There is no reason why seminarians cannot regain lost Faith except to pure ignorance of theological principles, one is mentioned above. In reality, lack of knowledge of ascetical theology. This, unfortunately, had been removed from the theological course in seminaries. Well, there you have the reason for the present hierarchical problem.
Most of the present appointments in the Vatican are faithless bishops and cardinals. Most news refer to them as such. St. Paul was transformed from a persecutor of the Church to a Faithful preacher of Christ. How long did that take. As long as one falls from the top of a horse to the ground.
A cardinal, assigned in the Congregation of Evangelization, who came from two dioceses does not have a single parish that can prove that it is Catholic using the usual 4 visible signs of the true Church as enumerated in the Nicene Creed or the 15 Marks of the Church by St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church. Not the theological virtues, nor the 4 moral virtues, nor the gifts of the Holy Spirit. None of the parishes can present credentials that they are Catholics. And their bishop is now head of evangelization. How can he evangelise when none of his parishes can prove they are Catholics. Maybe, it is not his fault because the previous bishop was at fault. But Faith can be developed in matter of minutes as Christ shows in his contacts with faithless souls. And as shown in today's Gospel.
It really takes many, many years before a bishop can transform his newly assigned diocese to become Catholic. In fact, their very short time tenure in a Diocese is not enough to transform a parish and make it Catholic. So the probability the next incoming bishops will inherit an entire diocese that is not Catholic.
But if the bishop knows how it is done, which can learned from Divine Revelation and as interpreted by the Fathers, a diocese or parish can become Catholic in a years time. In the Philippines, the only Catholy nation in the Far East, not one parish, not one diocese can boast of having the 4 visible signs of Catholicity as found in the Nicene creed or any valid theological signs of Catholicity.
What happened? Because Faith can easily be lost, it was lost. But because Faith can easily be regained, it should have been regained. St. Peter lost his Faith on Good Friday and easily regained it on Good Friday. Why can't we do that.
5. Greater defect. The inability to repent according to the New Testament.
God gives all children natural Faith upon which supernatural Faith can be built on during Baptism. Everything seems so easy. Why is it that the moment everybody who have gained that Faith after Baptism, and lose it at the age reason fine it next to impossible to regain it? Because they do not know how to repent the New Testament way. They only know the repentance of the Old Testament way that does not forgive sins. Thus grace is never restored in their soul. Yet they believe they are in the state of grace.
Knowledge of the theology of grace is so bad, today, that most do not know if they have divine grace or not. We have become as ignorant as Martin Luther with regard to grace.
6. St. Peter.
St. Peter lost his great Faith on Good Friday and regained it in a better degree on the same day. St. Thomas wrote that Peter was holier after denying Christ, due to his repentance, than before his denial. Just because he repented very well. Repentance is the key.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
ST. BENEDICT and the World in a LOCKDOWN.
1. St. Benedict and his times.
The early Christian's concern. Preparation for either personal death or the Second coming of Christ. They feared the judgment following death and general judgment.
They took this seriously so they left the world and went to places where they could prepare their souls without distraction. They left the world and went to secluded forest, caves, desert, islands, mountain tops. Since they were large groups, from hundreds to thousands, they had to organise in a way that will help them obey all the commands of the Gospel. Thus the beginnings of monasteries, an imitation of the 30 years of hidden life of Jesus Christ. They all begun with the first step, i.e. the Life of Repentance. All monasteries were places where souls who were seriously wanting to live the precepts of the Gospel would go to take the first step, the Life of repentance.
This is the spirituality of the Lenten Season, the living of the life of repentance, the first step in the following of Christ. Thus St. Benedict wrote in his Rule that the monastic life is a life time observance of the Lenten Season. This is the reason his Feast is in the middle of the Lenten Season. St. Benedict's Holy Rule for monasteries is a detailed description of the Life of Repentance as proposed in the Liturgy, from Ash Wednesday up to Good Friday.
2. St.Benedict's Rule is a preparation for one's personal death. This made him the Patron saint of a holy death AND the preparation for the General Judgment day; thus Pope St.Gregory the Great recalled how an angel prophesied that the followers of St. Benedict will prepare the world for the General judgment. This is not necessarily the Benedictine Order because they no longer observe the original Rule of St. Benedict but a man- made rule made by their Abbots meetings.
Joseph Ratzinger knew of this prophecy and believed we have arrived in this day prophesied by Good Friday that when he was raised to the Papacy he took the name 'Benedict.' He made this conclusion based on his unfinished thesis on the work of St. Bonaventure on the 'Philosophy of theology' where Bonaventure was, also, trying to find out when the Prophetic Good Friday would be fulfilled these days.
3. St. Benedict knew His Rule would be preparing souls for their own individual deaths and, also, for the General Judgment day. This was the goal of all monastic movements. To prepare souls for both.
4. And he knew that, like on Good Friday, the atmosphere would be just like today, with the world in a total lock down. Monasteries are in a perpetual lock -down called 'fuga mound,' a fleeing away from the world.
Benedict knew that in the future as prophesied by Christ on Good Friday, God will turn the world into a monastery as a last chance for mankind to repent. And since the monastery is the ideal setting for repentance, the world would follow the essentials of the monastic life. A monastic atmosphere as a last chance for mankind to repent, otherwise........
But everybody, including the monks today, do not remember the essential pillars of the monastic life, so nobody sees the resemblance of what is happening in the world today, the lock downs, to the pillars of the monastic life.
The big difference, however, is that while in monasteries souls enter on their own free will, today, the world will be in a monastery against their free will. The hope is that few will realise the situation and take advantage of it to save their souls.
5. A characteristic of the state of the world during Good Friday.
On Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, Jesus Christ prophesied what will happen on Good Friday will happen again in the future. He was referring to the destruction of Jerusalem. But St. Benedict picked an important happening on Good Friday with which he made provision for in his Holy Rule, i.e. on Good Friday, absolutely nobody will be preaching the Word of God. Christ would be suffering, the apostles would be hiding, Mary would be suffering beholding her Son tortured. Absolutely nobody was preaching.
Today, with the world wide cancellation of Masses and the silence in all pulpits, nobody is learning the lesson of repentance taught by the Lenten Season.
Benedict made provisions for this in the training of his monks who might reach General judgement day. What must a soul know to attain everlasting life? A knowledge of the Plan of salvation as taken from the Words of Christ in the Gospel and its correct interpretation by the Father and Doctors of the Church.
Benedict summarised the Words of Christ from the Gospel and arranged it in proper order of execution; this conforms with the Liturgy of the Mass. Remember the way of salvation is not described in proper order in the Gospels because the evangelists intentionally mixed up the order to confuse those who read Scriptures for worldly motives, like earning money by starting new sects.
So Benedict made sure that in his Rule, monks and nuns would know the way of salvation, starting with the life of repentance. And then fortified the knowledge of his monks by telling them to master the Fathers of the Church specially Basil and Cassian. There were no doctors of the Church that time (St. Augustine, though already living was not yet declared doctor of the Church.)
6. Pope Benedict repeated this admonition.
About to feign retirement, Pope Benedict declared that Europe and the rest of the world can only be saved from its great impending demise by the Rule of St. Benedict. The European Union was based on the Rule of St. Basil as suggested by ST. Benedict. But the atheists sabotage the Union and made it pagan.
7. Last chance for repentance.
God have sent the world many chastisements to which the world did not respond. The chastisement was an invitation to stop sinning and repent. This chastisements had been going on since the French and Bolshevisk revolution. Man had refused to stop sinning and repent. With the Corona virus God had forced man to stop sinning and to repent by turning the whole world into a monastery, the ideal place for repentance.
Unfortunately, mankind does not know how to use the situation to save their souls because even the monks do not know how to use the situation for the salvation of their own souls. But a humble soul, wishing to save his soul, may peep at the Holy Rule of ST. Benedict and learn in detail, and step by step, how to repent and save his soul. He can put it side by side with the Liturgy of the Mass starting with Ash Wednesday and he will see how each step coincides. This way a soul can use this Corona virus pandemic to his great spiritual advantage; it was after all for this purpose God had send this pandemic. For the spiritual benefit of all men.
The early Christian's concern. Preparation for either personal death or the Second coming of Christ. They feared the judgment following death and general judgment.
They took this seriously so they left the world and went to places where they could prepare their souls without distraction. They left the world and went to secluded forest, caves, desert, islands, mountain tops. Since they were large groups, from hundreds to thousands, they had to organise in a way that will help them obey all the commands of the Gospel. Thus the beginnings of monasteries, an imitation of the 30 years of hidden life of Jesus Christ. They all begun with the first step, i.e. the Life of Repentance. All monasteries were places where souls who were seriously wanting to live the precepts of the Gospel would go to take the first step, the Life of repentance.
This is the spirituality of the Lenten Season, the living of the life of repentance, the first step in the following of Christ. Thus St. Benedict wrote in his Rule that the monastic life is a life time observance of the Lenten Season. This is the reason his Feast is in the middle of the Lenten Season. St. Benedict's Holy Rule for monasteries is a detailed description of the Life of Repentance as proposed in the Liturgy, from Ash Wednesday up to Good Friday.
2. St.Benedict's Rule is a preparation for one's personal death. This made him the Patron saint of a holy death AND the preparation for the General Judgment day; thus Pope St.Gregory the Great recalled how an angel prophesied that the followers of St. Benedict will prepare the world for the General judgment. This is not necessarily the Benedictine Order because they no longer observe the original Rule of St. Benedict but a man- made rule made by their Abbots meetings.
Joseph Ratzinger knew of this prophecy and believed we have arrived in this day prophesied by Good Friday that when he was raised to the Papacy he took the name 'Benedict.' He made this conclusion based on his unfinished thesis on the work of St. Bonaventure on the 'Philosophy of theology' where Bonaventure was, also, trying to find out when the Prophetic Good Friday would be fulfilled these days.
3. St. Benedict knew His Rule would be preparing souls for their own individual deaths and, also, for the General Judgment day. This was the goal of all monastic movements. To prepare souls for both.
4. And he knew that, like on Good Friday, the atmosphere would be just like today, with the world in a total lock down. Monasteries are in a perpetual lock -down called 'fuga mound,' a fleeing away from the world.
Benedict knew that in the future as prophesied by Christ on Good Friday, God will turn the world into a monastery as a last chance for mankind to repent. And since the monastery is the ideal setting for repentance, the world would follow the essentials of the monastic life. A monastic atmosphere as a last chance for mankind to repent, otherwise........
But everybody, including the monks today, do not remember the essential pillars of the monastic life, so nobody sees the resemblance of what is happening in the world today, the lock downs, to the pillars of the monastic life.
The big difference, however, is that while in monasteries souls enter on their own free will, today, the world will be in a monastery against their free will. The hope is that few will realise the situation and take advantage of it to save their souls.
5. A characteristic of the state of the world during Good Friday.
On Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, Jesus Christ prophesied what will happen on Good Friday will happen again in the future. He was referring to the destruction of Jerusalem. But St. Benedict picked an important happening on Good Friday with which he made provision for in his Holy Rule, i.e. on Good Friday, absolutely nobody will be preaching the Word of God. Christ would be suffering, the apostles would be hiding, Mary would be suffering beholding her Son tortured. Absolutely nobody was preaching.
Today, with the world wide cancellation of Masses and the silence in all pulpits, nobody is learning the lesson of repentance taught by the Lenten Season.
Benedict made provisions for this in the training of his monks who might reach General judgement day. What must a soul know to attain everlasting life? A knowledge of the Plan of salvation as taken from the Words of Christ in the Gospel and its correct interpretation by the Father and Doctors of the Church.
Benedict summarised the Words of Christ from the Gospel and arranged it in proper order of execution; this conforms with the Liturgy of the Mass. Remember the way of salvation is not described in proper order in the Gospels because the evangelists intentionally mixed up the order to confuse those who read Scriptures for worldly motives, like earning money by starting new sects.
So Benedict made sure that in his Rule, monks and nuns would know the way of salvation, starting with the life of repentance. And then fortified the knowledge of his monks by telling them to master the Fathers of the Church specially Basil and Cassian. There were no doctors of the Church that time (St. Augustine, though already living was not yet declared doctor of the Church.)
6. Pope Benedict repeated this admonition.
About to feign retirement, Pope Benedict declared that Europe and the rest of the world can only be saved from its great impending demise by the Rule of St. Benedict. The European Union was based on the Rule of St. Basil as suggested by ST. Benedict. But the atheists sabotage the Union and made it pagan.
7. Last chance for repentance.
God have sent the world many chastisements to which the world did not respond. The chastisement was an invitation to stop sinning and repent. This chastisements had been going on since the French and Bolshevisk revolution. Man had refused to stop sinning and repent. With the Corona virus God had forced man to stop sinning and to repent by turning the whole world into a monastery, the ideal place for repentance.
Unfortunately, mankind does not know how to use the situation to save their souls because even the monks do not know how to use the situation for the salvation of their own souls. But a humble soul, wishing to save his soul, may peep at the Holy Rule of ST. Benedict and learn in detail, and step by step, how to repent and save his soul. He can put it side by side with the Liturgy of the Mass starting with Ash Wednesday and he will see how each step coincides. This way a soul can use this Corona virus pandemic to his great spiritual advantage; it was after all for this purpose God had send this pandemic. For the spiritual benefit of all men.
Friday, March 20, 2020
WEDNESDAY of Lenten Weekday. TWO KINDS OF INSTRUCTORS.
Intro.
Image of the kingdom of God, the Catholic Church, within which 'repentance' must be worked out.
We have seen the image of the church as a vineyard with the three qualities of hedge, vat and tower.
We have seen the image of the church as true worshippers where she worships in 'spirit and in truth.'
And there are several more parables describing the true church. All these descriptions cannot be found in the present institutional church, in the Vatican, none in most dioceses, like in Manila or Paris; and none in most of the parishes.
Today's Gospel gives another description of the true Catholic Church. It describes its preachers. The first is described by St.Thomas of Aquinas as those going to hell. The second to heaven. Both are, initially, found in the vineyard but the cockles would eventually be bundled up and burned.
1. Preachers who break one of these least commandments and teach men to do so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
This first instructors seemingly are inside the true Church as cockles are inside the church. But strictly speaking they are outside the church. And those who follow them are, also, outside.
These are those who teach the least commandments of God; these are the Old Testament commands. But they do not obey them. Or, they break these commands, i.e. they erroneously explain them to make them sound easy to obey. In effect, they do not really teach the commandments of God correctly.
Both the instructor and followers are considered 'least in the kingdom of God.' St. Thomas wrote that they will both go to hell.
2. The second instructors are those who obey the commandments of Christ in the New Testament and teach others to do so even up to the last iota. Both instructor and disciple will be great in the kingdom of God. To repent properly, a soul must be inside the vineyard of the Lord with this second kind of instructor.
3. The chastisement can only be prevented or taken away if the populace, to whom it is directed, repents. St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote that no other thing can cancel the chastisement except 'repentance.' Chastisements are given by God for very specific sins. In fact we can know what is the sin that God is chastising. When God chastised King David with the death of his son and the rebellion of Absolom, it was for the sin of adultery he committed with the wife of Uriah, his general.
The many present chastisements, including the Corona virus is due to man's refusal to stop sinning and refusal to repent for their sins. To stop the chastisement, mankind must stop whatever sins he is committing and repent. That could be a million different individual sins chastised altogether.
All men must stop their individual sin and every man must repent; this is impossible. And so expect the chastisement to continue or changed to a worse one. Because the world did not stop sinning and did not repent after the chastisement of the First World War, the worse chastisement of the Second World War followed.
4. For God to withdraw the chastisement as He did in Nineveh because of the preaching of Jonah, the populace must repent perfectly. Perfectly as described in the Liturgy of Lent. Beginning with praying, fasting and good works as described on Ash Wednesday and explained during the weekday Masses.
They must enter the vineyard of the Lord described as having a hedge, vat and tower. And repenting they must have a good instructor that will teach the commands of Christ even to the last iota. If they miss just one Mass, their lesson on repentance will be incomplete and the chastisement will not be removed.
Thus the cancellation of Masses during the lockdowns was the worse things to do. The instructions given by the Liturgy was discontinued, the knowledge on how to repent is gravely incomplete, God will never take away the chastisement. Unable to repent perfectly, the human race will have to undergo a more severe chastisement. Or go to hell.
5. The real chastisement.
There are many chastisements today telling men to stop sinning and to repent. Men refuse to do both. Let us go into a deeper reason and find out what is the real chastisement.
Mankind, indeed, had refused to stop sinning and had refused to repent. Why? Because those who are supposed to teach them how to stop sinning and how to repent do not know how to stop sinning and how to repent. This is the deeper chastisement. In the Psalms, this is when God punishes an unfaithful nation by not sending prophets to teach the people the way to salvation.
This is a spiritual chastisement. Because we have a human race who is interested, only, in pleasing their sensuality by enjoying in the world with absolutely no interest in saving their souls, God chastised the world by not sending any preacher similar to Jonah. And that is the present situation in the whole world. Because the human race is just interested in satisfying their sensuality by enjoying the world and who are not interested in saving their souls, God will not send the human race capable teachers to teach them how to repent. Thus we have a priesthood most of whom know nothing on how to save souls; shown in that themselves cannot find freedom from their sins.
Thus the first readings of the Masses describes 'days of famine.' These are days of spiritual famine and darkness, just like Good Friday. The Jews were not interested in saying their souls, God saw to it that there was no one teaching them how to save their souls.
That is what is happening today. Mankind is not interested in saving their souls, bishops and priests are not interested in saying Mass and teaching salvation because they, themselves do not know how to save souls because God have not equipped them with such knowledge. With this situation millions could go to hell.
Image of the kingdom of God, the Catholic Church, within which 'repentance' must be worked out.
We have seen the image of the church as a vineyard with the three qualities of hedge, vat and tower.
We have seen the image of the church as true worshippers where she worships in 'spirit and in truth.'
And there are several more parables describing the true church. All these descriptions cannot be found in the present institutional church, in the Vatican, none in most dioceses, like in Manila or Paris; and none in most of the parishes.
Today's Gospel gives another description of the true Catholic Church. It describes its preachers. The first is described by St.Thomas of Aquinas as those going to hell. The second to heaven. Both are, initially, found in the vineyard but the cockles would eventually be bundled up and burned.
1. Preachers who break one of these least commandments and teach men to do so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
This first instructors seemingly are inside the true Church as cockles are inside the church. But strictly speaking they are outside the church. And those who follow them are, also, outside.
These are those who teach the least commandments of God; these are the Old Testament commands. But they do not obey them. Or, they break these commands, i.e. they erroneously explain them to make them sound easy to obey. In effect, they do not really teach the commandments of God correctly.
Both the instructor and followers are considered 'least in the kingdom of God.' St. Thomas wrote that they will both go to hell.
2. The second instructors are those who obey the commandments of Christ in the New Testament and teach others to do so even up to the last iota. Both instructor and disciple will be great in the kingdom of God. To repent properly, a soul must be inside the vineyard of the Lord with this second kind of instructor.
3. The chastisement can only be prevented or taken away if the populace, to whom it is directed, repents. St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote that no other thing can cancel the chastisement except 'repentance.' Chastisements are given by God for very specific sins. In fact we can know what is the sin that God is chastising. When God chastised King David with the death of his son and the rebellion of Absolom, it was for the sin of adultery he committed with the wife of Uriah, his general.
The many present chastisements, including the Corona virus is due to man's refusal to stop sinning and refusal to repent for their sins. To stop the chastisement, mankind must stop whatever sins he is committing and repent. That could be a million different individual sins chastised altogether.
All men must stop their individual sin and every man must repent; this is impossible. And so expect the chastisement to continue or changed to a worse one. Because the world did not stop sinning and did not repent after the chastisement of the First World War, the worse chastisement of the Second World War followed.
4. For God to withdraw the chastisement as He did in Nineveh because of the preaching of Jonah, the populace must repent perfectly. Perfectly as described in the Liturgy of Lent. Beginning with praying, fasting and good works as described on Ash Wednesday and explained during the weekday Masses.
They must enter the vineyard of the Lord described as having a hedge, vat and tower. And repenting they must have a good instructor that will teach the commands of Christ even to the last iota. If they miss just one Mass, their lesson on repentance will be incomplete and the chastisement will not be removed.
Thus the cancellation of Masses during the lockdowns was the worse things to do. The instructions given by the Liturgy was discontinued, the knowledge on how to repent is gravely incomplete, God will never take away the chastisement. Unable to repent perfectly, the human race will have to undergo a more severe chastisement. Or go to hell.
5. The real chastisement.
There are many chastisements today telling men to stop sinning and to repent. Men refuse to do both. Let us go into a deeper reason and find out what is the real chastisement.
Mankind, indeed, had refused to stop sinning and had refused to repent. Why? Because those who are supposed to teach them how to stop sinning and how to repent do not know how to stop sinning and how to repent. This is the deeper chastisement. In the Psalms, this is when God punishes an unfaithful nation by not sending prophets to teach the people the way to salvation.
This is a spiritual chastisement. Because we have a human race who is interested, only, in pleasing their sensuality by enjoying in the world with absolutely no interest in saving their souls, God chastised the world by not sending any preacher similar to Jonah. And that is the present situation in the whole world. Because the human race is just interested in satisfying their sensuality by enjoying the world and who are not interested in saving their souls, God will not send the human race capable teachers to teach them how to repent. Thus we have a priesthood most of whom know nothing on how to save souls; shown in that themselves cannot find freedom from their sins.
Thus the first readings of the Masses describes 'days of famine.' These are days of spiritual famine and darkness, just like Good Friday. The Jews were not interested in saying their souls, God saw to it that there was no one teaching them how to save their souls.
That is what is happening today. Mankind is not interested in saving their souls, bishops and priests are not interested in saying Mass and teaching salvation because they, themselves do not know how to save souls because God have not equipped them with such knowledge. With this situation millions could go to hell.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Ash Wednesday. REPENTANCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
1. Liturgy.
Ash Wednesday begins with the Liturgy teaching the first step in the spiritual life of the New Testament. The life of Repentance. There are two lives of repentance; the Old Testament repentance taught by St. John the Baptist and the New Testament repentance taught by Christ.
The Old Testament repentance, like the Old Testament itself is purely in the natural or human level. The New Testament repentance, like the New Testament, belong to the realm of grace; therefore it is in the spiritual or supernatural level.
Jesus Christ fulfilled, i.e. perfected, the Old Testament into the New Testament. So the Old Testament had been incorporated into the New Testament. Just obey the New Testament and that is obedience both to the Old and New Testaments at the same time. Thus the repentance of the Old Testament had been incorporated into the New Testament repentance. The Liturgy of Ash Wednesday teaches the repentance of the New Testament. This is the beginning of the New Testament spirituality.
2. The difference between the Old Testament and New Testament repentance.
The main difference is this. St. John the Baptists, himself said, 'the Old Testament repentance does not forgive sins. The New Testament repentance, pointing at Christ, is what forgive sins.
The Old Testament repentance is better described as what Catholics usually do when they go to confession: they examined their conscience based on the 10 commandments of the Old Testament, they arouse repentance for those sins, they make a purpose of amendment not to commit those sins again, they confess their sins to a priest, and they make restitution to man and/or to God for their sins, and they do their penance.
Those are mostly physical actions.
The repentance of the New Testament is a spiritual act of virtue called the virtue of Penance. Like all virtues, Penance is a habit that takes some time to develop and man needs the help of grace to acquire. It is the result of a cooperation with the mind and free will.
3. Ordinarily the two acts of repentance go together.
For beginners in the spiritual life, it is better to combine the O.T. repentance with the N.T. repentance, i.e. go through the five steps that is ordinarily done by Catholics when they go to confession but at the same time to make sure they have the virtue of Penance, since it is the virtue of Penance that forgives past sins.
When a penitent goes to confession, the priest looks for signs of the virtue of Penance; only then can he say 'your sins are forgiven thee,' not because the priest have absolved the penitent but more because the penitent has the virtue of Penance. The absolution of the priest confirms the presence of the virtue of Penance. This is evident when St. Padre Pio hears confessions.
St. Augustine warns penitents of priests who do not know the virtue of Penance. Ignorant of this virtue they often absolve penitents who do not have it, thus the penitents become 'walking dead,' i.e. physically alive walking but spiritually dead. Fault of the priests.
4. In case of emergency, the virtue of Penance contains both the O.T. repentance and the N.T. repentance and is sufficient for the forgiveness of past sins. The virtue of Penance is often described as a perfect act of contrition. It is an act of Charity that is built on perfect Faith as shown in the example of Dimas, the good thief.
5. Ignorance of repentance.
The devil knows it is useless to attack souls who have perfect Faith and the beginnings of Charity. So he attacks them before that; before souls can repent. Devil prevent souls from repenting by making sure they do not know how to repent.
When the soul begins to repent, the devil has no power over such a soul. So the devil prevents souls from knowing how to repent. So what does he do? The devil makes sure that those whose duty is to teach repentance do not know how to repent, i.e. the evangelisers.
Imagine the Vatican holds a Synod on Evangelization in the 1980s. Why in the 1980s Didn't they know how to evangelise earlier? Yes, they did not know that is why up to the very present day they are holding meetings on 'evangelisation.'
The Blessed Virgin Mary have to appear many times, from LaSallet up to Kibeho reminding mankind to repent. Why did the Blessed Virgin have to do that? Aren't there bishops, priests and catechist who can do that? None, that is why she had to remind mankind 'to repent.'
6. Mary and repentance.
Mary reminded mankind 'to repent.' But she did not explain how to do it because the knowledge on 'how to repent' can still be learned from the Liturgy, as on Ash Wednesday and Thursday after Ash Wednesday. And it can still be learned from Scriptures, in general, and from the writings of the Father, Doctors and Saints of the Catholic Church.
The Blessed Virgin reminded mankind of the topic, 'repentance, but she still want mankind to go and seek for that ' knowledge through 'lectio divine.' Read, study, meditate, contemplate and pray. Mary does not want indolent children.
Cardinal Ratzinger, in his best seller 'Ratzinger Report' mentioned that there is total ignorance of 'repentance and as Pope during the Bishop's Synod of 2013 he commanded them to discuss 'repentance,' which is the first step in evangelization, they could not discuss it because none of the fathers of the Synod knew what was the repentance of the New Testament. They, only knew the repentance of the Old Testament.
Does that mean that the council fathers do not have their past sins forgiven. Yes, as is evident in the current problems of the bishops and priests. It is even more evident during the Synod on the abuse. They did not know how to stop the serious sins of cardinals, bishops and priests as was evident in the concluding address of Cardinal Tagle. They, clearly, did not how to repent, the solution to the problems of the clergy.
7. Three elements on how to acquire the virtue of Penance, the repentance of the N.T.
The Gospel of Ash Wednesday state that the way to attain the virtue of Penance is through Prayer, Fasting and Good works. Then everybody begins to define those three acts according to the Old Testament; praying like the way the Psalms was prayed, fasting by not eating certain food, and feeding the poor. Those are all good but they are Old Testament spirituality.
The Prayer, Fasting and Good works which are the three elements of the virtue of Penance are spiritual actions of the mind and free will.
8. Prayer, fasting and good works.......are the weapons to overcome the temptations of Satan.
PRAYER is to overcome the most potent of Satan reserved for those advance in the spiritual life. This is temptation to be proud for doing great good.
FASTING is to overcome the temptations that come from the flesh and concupiscence.
GOOD WORKS enables the soul to perform good works properly. Pope Benedict in his 'Deus Caritas Est' mentioned the fact that those in the institutional church do not know how to perform good works properly. They end up doing bad works instead.
9. Prayer, fasting and good works will gradually enable the soul to overcome the temptations of the devil thus grow in Faith and the beginnings of Charity. This three act must be done during one's whole life. In so doing the soul will be able to overcome all the temptations of the devil thus bringing them to be worthy of everlasting life.
Ash Wednesday begins with the Liturgy teaching the first step in the spiritual life of the New Testament. The life of Repentance. There are two lives of repentance; the Old Testament repentance taught by St. John the Baptist and the New Testament repentance taught by Christ.
The Old Testament repentance, like the Old Testament itself is purely in the natural or human level. The New Testament repentance, like the New Testament, belong to the realm of grace; therefore it is in the spiritual or supernatural level.
Jesus Christ fulfilled, i.e. perfected, the Old Testament into the New Testament. So the Old Testament had been incorporated into the New Testament. Just obey the New Testament and that is obedience both to the Old and New Testaments at the same time. Thus the repentance of the Old Testament had been incorporated into the New Testament repentance. The Liturgy of Ash Wednesday teaches the repentance of the New Testament. This is the beginning of the New Testament spirituality.
2. The difference between the Old Testament and New Testament repentance.
The main difference is this. St. John the Baptists, himself said, 'the Old Testament repentance does not forgive sins. The New Testament repentance, pointing at Christ, is what forgive sins.
The Old Testament repentance is better described as what Catholics usually do when they go to confession: they examined their conscience based on the 10 commandments of the Old Testament, they arouse repentance for those sins, they make a purpose of amendment not to commit those sins again, they confess their sins to a priest, and they make restitution to man and/or to God for their sins, and they do their penance.
Those are mostly physical actions.
The repentance of the New Testament is a spiritual act of virtue called the virtue of Penance. Like all virtues, Penance is a habit that takes some time to develop and man needs the help of grace to acquire. It is the result of a cooperation with the mind and free will.
3. Ordinarily the two acts of repentance go together.
For beginners in the spiritual life, it is better to combine the O.T. repentance with the N.T. repentance, i.e. go through the five steps that is ordinarily done by Catholics when they go to confession but at the same time to make sure they have the virtue of Penance, since it is the virtue of Penance that forgives past sins.
When a penitent goes to confession, the priest looks for signs of the virtue of Penance; only then can he say 'your sins are forgiven thee,' not because the priest have absolved the penitent but more because the penitent has the virtue of Penance. The absolution of the priest confirms the presence of the virtue of Penance. This is evident when St. Padre Pio hears confessions.
St. Augustine warns penitents of priests who do not know the virtue of Penance. Ignorant of this virtue they often absolve penitents who do not have it, thus the penitents become 'walking dead,' i.e. physically alive walking but spiritually dead. Fault of the priests.
4. In case of emergency, the virtue of Penance contains both the O.T. repentance and the N.T. repentance and is sufficient for the forgiveness of past sins. The virtue of Penance is often described as a perfect act of contrition. It is an act of Charity that is built on perfect Faith as shown in the example of Dimas, the good thief.
5. Ignorance of repentance.
The devil knows it is useless to attack souls who have perfect Faith and the beginnings of Charity. So he attacks them before that; before souls can repent. Devil prevent souls from repenting by making sure they do not know how to repent.
When the soul begins to repent, the devil has no power over such a soul. So the devil prevents souls from knowing how to repent. So what does he do? The devil makes sure that those whose duty is to teach repentance do not know how to repent, i.e. the evangelisers.
Imagine the Vatican holds a Synod on Evangelization in the 1980s. Why in the 1980s Didn't they know how to evangelise earlier? Yes, they did not know that is why up to the very present day they are holding meetings on 'evangelisation.'
The Blessed Virgin Mary have to appear many times, from LaSallet up to Kibeho reminding mankind to repent. Why did the Blessed Virgin have to do that? Aren't there bishops, priests and catechist who can do that? None, that is why she had to remind mankind 'to repent.'
6. Mary and repentance.
Mary reminded mankind 'to repent.' But she did not explain how to do it because the knowledge on 'how to repent' can still be learned from the Liturgy, as on Ash Wednesday and Thursday after Ash Wednesday. And it can still be learned from Scriptures, in general, and from the writings of the Father, Doctors and Saints of the Catholic Church.
The Blessed Virgin reminded mankind of the topic, 'repentance, but she still want mankind to go and seek for that ' knowledge through 'lectio divine.' Read, study, meditate, contemplate and pray. Mary does not want indolent children.
Cardinal Ratzinger, in his best seller 'Ratzinger Report' mentioned that there is total ignorance of 'repentance and as Pope during the Bishop's Synod of 2013 he commanded them to discuss 'repentance,' which is the first step in evangelization, they could not discuss it because none of the fathers of the Synod knew what was the repentance of the New Testament. They, only knew the repentance of the Old Testament.
Does that mean that the council fathers do not have their past sins forgiven. Yes, as is evident in the current problems of the bishops and priests. It is even more evident during the Synod on the abuse. They did not know how to stop the serious sins of cardinals, bishops and priests as was evident in the concluding address of Cardinal Tagle. They, clearly, did not how to repent, the solution to the problems of the clergy.
7. Three elements on how to acquire the virtue of Penance, the repentance of the N.T.
The Gospel of Ash Wednesday state that the way to attain the virtue of Penance is through Prayer, Fasting and Good works. Then everybody begins to define those three acts according to the Old Testament; praying like the way the Psalms was prayed, fasting by not eating certain food, and feeding the poor. Those are all good but they are Old Testament spirituality.
The Prayer, Fasting and Good works which are the three elements of the virtue of Penance are spiritual actions of the mind and free will.
8. Prayer, fasting and good works.......are the weapons to overcome the temptations of Satan.
PRAYER is to overcome the most potent of Satan reserved for those advance in the spiritual life. This is temptation to be proud for doing great good.
FASTING is to overcome the temptations that come from the flesh and concupiscence.
GOOD WORKS enables the soul to perform good works properly. Pope Benedict in his 'Deus Caritas Est' mentioned the fact that those in the institutional church do not know how to perform good works properly. They end up doing bad works instead.
9. Prayer, fasting and good works will gradually enable the soul to overcome the temptations of the devil thus grow in Faith and the beginnings of Charity. This three act must be done during one's whole life. In so doing the soul will be able to overcome all the temptations of the devil thus bringing them to be worthy of everlasting life.
Monday, August 26, 2019
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MAN TO ENTER THE KINGDOM. 21st. Sunday in Ordinary Time.
1. There is the Old and the New Testament.
To go to heaven we must obey the commands of God; first, the commandments taught by God the Father in the Old Testament. Secondly, the commandments taught by God the Son in the New Testament. And thirdly, the commandments taught by the Holy Spirit after Pentecost.
To begin becoming Catholics we must obey the commandments of the Old Testament and, at least, the commandments at the beginning of the New Testament. Salvation is possible with this minimum requirement. But it is impossible to know and obey the commandment of the New Testament without the grace of God. So the apostles objected to Christ; 'with these first difficult commandments of the New Testament, who will be saved?
And Christ affirmed; 'yes, with man it is impossible. But with God, everything is possible. Man, by himself cannot attain salvation. But with the grace of God, it is possible and even easy. So the effort must be on how to get that grace from God. This is a spiritual and supernatural act that is beyond the capabilities of man. Not even the Pope can get this on his own. He, too, must follow God's rules.
2. 'Lord, are they few in number who are to be saved?' Yes!!!
Christ presents two gates; a wide road that leads to a wide door. And a narrow road that leads to a narrow door. And He said; The wide road that leads to the wide door leads to hell. The narrow road that leads to the narrow door leads to heaven.
Then He adds; 'Try to come in through the narrow door. Many will try to enter and be unable.' What? Christ said that the way to heaven is through the narrow road that leads to the narrow door and yet many who will take this door will be unable to enter. Yes, that is what He said.
3. The wide gate the narrow gate.
The wide gate is the way to hell. It is a life of errors and sins. The wide road is disobedience to the commands of God. It is doing one's own will.
The narrow gate is the way to heaven. It is a life of righteousness and virtue. A way of life in obedience to the commands of God. It is doing God's Will as found in the Gospels and interpreted by the Tradition or the Fathers of the Church.
4. St. Thomas of Aquinas describes the two gates.
The wide road that leads to the wide gate is a.) love for safety, b.) love of pleasures, c.) life of ease and delight, d.) life of wanton mirth, e.) life of dancing and sound of music, f.) and giving in to one's lust.
The narrow road that leads to the narrow gate is a.) a rough life full of spiritual dangers, b.) constant thought of eternity, c.) a life of subjection to God's Will, d.) a life of sobriety in food, drink and everything else, e.) a life with tears of repentance, f.) constant moments of prayer, g.) a life of purity.
5. Christ increased His teachings all around the surrounding towns, to explain the narrow gate. So no one commits any mistake. But inspite of this, Christ said, ' Few will be able to enter the narrow gate. Why?
a.) because unlike Christ, who preached vehemently describing this narrow road that leads to the narrow gate, few preachers, if none at all, preaches this, because it is unacceptable both to the listeners and the preachers themselves since both love the wide, spacious road.
No one would like to be a child again. No one would like to go home, sell all their things, give it to the poor and follow Christ. No one would like to be a camel and give up the burden of a worldly life and crawl on his knees to pass through the eye of a needle. No one wants a narrow and bumpy road, and narrow bridge where it is easy to fall with a little turn to the right or to the left.
Preachers do not preach the necessity to chose this narrow road that leads to a narrow gate. They cannot describe this way of life and how to put it into practice because they do not not know tradition. So nobody takes this road because they cannot find it.
b.) Seeing the hardships of a narrow, bumpy road; and seeing the wide spacious road beside, they easily transfer to the wide road that leads to the wide gate and hell.
6. Pope John Paul II and "Veritatis splendor. "
Pope John Paul II saw that all Catholics were walking on the wide road that led to the wide gate; and hardly anyone was walking in the narrow road that led to the narrow gate. So he wrote one of the best encyclicals of our modern times, 'Veritatis Splendor.' This was a description of the 'Young rich man' who went to Christ and asked Him, 'what must I do to have everlasting life?'
This is the question every soul is asking. But who like the young rich man does not like the answer. Priests and bishops, also, do not like the answer. And so no one is giving the right answer and no layman knows the answer. So hardly anyone is walking on the narrow road.
Pope John Paul addressed the encyclical only to bishops, which is strange for an encyclical that is always addressed to the whole Church. Why? Because no ordinary person, even theologians would not understand the answer.
Pope John Paul laid down the first step to be taken to walk on the narrow road; 'Go home, sell all your things, give it to the poor and come follow Me.' Christ said this to the apostles, to the Publican, to Ananias and Saphira, to everybody who wished to follow Him. That is what Christ said as answer to the question; 'what must I do to inherit everlasting life.'
But this is not done literally. It must be done mystically. And the interpretation is not found in Scriptures but in the writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas of Aquinas. Pope John Paul II wrote it down in 82 pages. Is it any wonder, few will be able to enter the narrow gate? Spiritually, using mind and heart, it will be nearly impossible for anyone to enter heaven. 'Veritatis Splendor' was written 16 years ago and nobody had preached it up to this very moment. Not Pope Francis, nor Baldiseri, nor Marx, nor Cupich, nor Tagle. Nobody seems to know this first step towards the narrow gate that leads to heaven. So nobody is entering the Catholic Church, and as Christ said, it seems nobody is able to enter heaven. For the two reasons given above.
To go to heaven we must obey the commands of God; first, the commandments taught by God the Father in the Old Testament. Secondly, the commandments taught by God the Son in the New Testament. And thirdly, the commandments taught by the Holy Spirit after Pentecost.
To begin becoming Catholics we must obey the commandments of the Old Testament and, at least, the commandments at the beginning of the New Testament. Salvation is possible with this minimum requirement. But it is impossible to know and obey the commandment of the New Testament without the grace of God. So the apostles objected to Christ; 'with these first difficult commandments of the New Testament, who will be saved?
And Christ affirmed; 'yes, with man it is impossible. But with God, everything is possible. Man, by himself cannot attain salvation. But with the grace of God, it is possible and even easy. So the effort must be on how to get that grace from God. This is a spiritual and supernatural act that is beyond the capabilities of man. Not even the Pope can get this on his own. He, too, must follow God's rules.
2. 'Lord, are they few in number who are to be saved?' Yes!!!
Christ presents two gates; a wide road that leads to a wide door. And a narrow road that leads to a narrow door. And He said; The wide road that leads to the wide door leads to hell. The narrow road that leads to the narrow door leads to heaven.
Then He adds; 'Try to come in through the narrow door. Many will try to enter and be unable.' What? Christ said that the way to heaven is through the narrow road that leads to the narrow door and yet many who will take this door will be unable to enter. Yes, that is what He said.
3. The wide gate the narrow gate.
The wide gate is the way to hell. It is a life of errors and sins. The wide road is disobedience to the commands of God. It is doing one's own will.
The narrow gate is the way to heaven. It is a life of righteousness and virtue. A way of life in obedience to the commands of God. It is doing God's Will as found in the Gospels and interpreted by the Tradition or the Fathers of the Church.
4. St. Thomas of Aquinas describes the two gates.
The wide road that leads to the wide gate is a.) love for safety, b.) love of pleasures, c.) life of ease and delight, d.) life of wanton mirth, e.) life of dancing and sound of music, f.) and giving in to one's lust.
The narrow road that leads to the narrow gate is a.) a rough life full of spiritual dangers, b.) constant thought of eternity, c.) a life of subjection to God's Will, d.) a life of sobriety in food, drink and everything else, e.) a life with tears of repentance, f.) constant moments of prayer, g.) a life of purity.
5. Christ increased His teachings all around the surrounding towns, to explain the narrow gate. So no one commits any mistake. But inspite of this, Christ said, ' Few will be able to enter the narrow gate. Why?
a.) because unlike Christ, who preached vehemently describing this narrow road that leads to the narrow gate, few preachers, if none at all, preaches this, because it is unacceptable both to the listeners and the preachers themselves since both love the wide, spacious road.
No one would like to be a child again. No one would like to go home, sell all their things, give it to the poor and follow Christ. No one would like to be a camel and give up the burden of a worldly life and crawl on his knees to pass through the eye of a needle. No one wants a narrow and bumpy road, and narrow bridge where it is easy to fall with a little turn to the right or to the left.
Preachers do not preach the necessity to chose this narrow road that leads to a narrow gate. They cannot describe this way of life and how to put it into practice because they do not not know tradition. So nobody takes this road because they cannot find it.
b.) Seeing the hardships of a narrow, bumpy road; and seeing the wide spacious road beside, they easily transfer to the wide road that leads to the wide gate and hell.
6. Pope John Paul II and "Veritatis splendor. "
Pope John Paul II saw that all Catholics were walking on the wide road that led to the wide gate; and hardly anyone was walking in the narrow road that led to the narrow gate. So he wrote one of the best encyclicals of our modern times, 'Veritatis Splendor.' This was a description of the 'Young rich man' who went to Christ and asked Him, 'what must I do to have everlasting life?'
This is the question every soul is asking. But who like the young rich man does not like the answer. Priests and bishops, also, do not like the answer. And so no one is giving the right answer and no layman knows the answer. So hardly anyone is walking on the narrow road.
Pope John Paul addressed the encyclical only to bishops, which is strange for an encyclical that is always addressed to the whole Church. Why? Because no ordinary person, even theologians would not understand the answer.
Pope John Paul laid down the first step to be taken to walk on the narrow road; 'Go home, sell all your things, give it to the poor and come follow Me.' Christ said this to the apostles, to the Publican, to Ananias and Saphira, to everybody who wished to follow Him. That is what Christ said as answer to the question; 'what must I do to inherit everlasting life.'
But this is not done literally. It must be done mystically. And the interpretation is not found in Scriptures but in the writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas of Aquinas. Pope John Paul II wrote it down in 82 pages. Is it any wonder, few will be able to enter the narrow gate? Spiritually, using mind and heart, it will be nearly impossible for anyone to enter heaven. 'Veritatis Splendor' was written 16 years ago and nobody had preached it up to this very moment. Not Pope Francis, nor Baldiseri, nor Marx, nor Cupich, nor Tagle. Nobody seems to know this first step towards the narrow gate that leads to heaven. So nobody is entering the Catholic Church, and as Christ said, it seems nobody is able to enter heaven. For the two reasons given above.
Tuesday, July 02, 2019
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Three obstacles to the Life of Faith.
1. In the Old Missal, the headings reads 'The development of Faith.'
The general outline of the 'Plan of Salvation' had been laid down in the Liturgy of the Mass from Advent up to Pentecost. All the teachings of Christ on how to deserve everlasting life had been laid down.
The Ordinary Sundays deals with the details of the 'Plan of Salvation.' Briefly in summary form, to attain salvation we must have perfect repentance, we must have perfect Faith and the beginnings of Charity. St. Thomas wrote that Charity can only be perfected in heaven so we only need the beginnings of Charity here on earth.
Perfect repentance is attainable by living the spirituality of the Old Testament. Let us look specifically at Faith. We must have the beginnings of Faith. Then we must develop that Faith until perfection. Only when we have perfect Faith will God infused in our soul the beginnings of the theological virtue of Charity. In the Liturgy, Christ saw to it that the apostles pass through these stages.
Since the general title of this section of the Liturgy is entitled 'Developing Faith,' it will begin to teach us how to attain the beginnings of Faith. But before we can begin, todays Gospel tells us the three obstacles that will prevent a soul from attaining the beginnings of Faith.
2. Saving souls.
The apostles were angry because the Samaritans were not welcoming Jesus Christ. So they wanted to call fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans. Christ corrects them saying; well you are supposed to save souls and you cannot save anyone with that attitude of calling down fire from heaven everytime you meet sinners. They will end up in hell. You are supposed to bring them to the life of Faith.
3. Christ enumerates three attitudes that are obstacles to the attainment of Faith.
The first was shown by the man who wanted to follow Christ wherever He went. Christ corrects him that he cannot follow Christ with that attitude. What attitude? He was presumptuous believing that he can follow Christ where ever He went. St. Thomas of Aquinas wrote that 'where ever He went' means to what ever depth of wisdom and knowledge of doctrine. The man was presumptuous thinking that he can understand the teachings of Christ without the help of grace. Christ corrects him saying he cannot go anywhere in the knowledge of Christian teachings without the grace of God. The man's presumption disqualifies him from acquiring Faith.
The attitude of this first man was aggravated in that he wanted to be an apostle. Christ reminded us that to be a priest or bishop one has to be chosen and called by Christ. St. Thomas states that when following Christ we must work on the assumption that all of us will follow Christ as ordinary disciples. We should not desire to be apostles, priests or bishops. To do so is to disqualify us from attaining Faith.
Most of those working in the Church have these presumptions. They feel they are someone if they are members of the choir or a Eucharistic minister. They feel they deserve to become priests and bishops even without being chosen and called by Christ. Some behave like they are the fourth person of the Blessed Trinity when they become Pope. These presumptuous attitudes makes them unworthy to receive the virtue of Faith.
Most of these same persons think that they understand the depth of the truths of Christ just because they study in a seminary, in Bologna or Belgium, forgetting they cannot understand an iota of Catholic doctrine without graces from God. God said so.
It is this presumptuous pride that had caused such priests to fall into such depths of sin and scandals. There is nothing wrong to follow Christ. In fact, it is good to desire it but one must have the proper disposition; humility or the first Beatitude, poverty in spirit.
The second obstacle to the life of Faith is shown by the man who wanted to follow Christ but excused to bury his Father first. St. Thomas wrote the need to prioritise the importance of the soul over the body. Would you rather spend time burying the body of your father rather than praying for his soul that is facing God's judgment seat?
The bigger perspective is the importance in working for the salvation of the soul of one's loved ones, than working for the welfare of their bodies. If a soul prefers what is ordinarily done today where concern is for the physical or corporal needs of our neighbour, then that soul cannot follow Christ.
This is the erroneous trend of such movement as liberation theology with its concern for the economic need of the poor, the goal of immigrants for a better economic condition, for OCWs for better wages and for the ecological move for saving the ecology; these are soul that cannot follow Christ.
The third obstacle is looking back. He who puts his hands on the plow and looks back is unworthy of Me. When we plan to love God above all things, we must set aside everything that is not God. St. Augustine wrote, everything must be used; only God and neighbour must be loved.
In setting the love of all worldly things that is not God aside, we must not look back at the things we set aside. To do so is like the wife of Lot who was commanded to leave all things behind in Sodom and Gomorrah, symbolised by all worldly thing that must be set aside. Yet she looked back and was punished by being transformed into a pillar of salt.
The defect of most Catholics is that we have not left the love of all things outside of God. This has prevented us, not only from loving God but believing in God. It is an obstacle to Faith.
4. Most Catholics, both in the hierarchy and laity have all these obstacles. It is what caused the 'crisis of Faith' everybody is talking about today. There is no way to solve this problem except to remove these obstacles. Christ in the Gospel said so.
The general outline of the 'Plan of Salvation' had been laid down in the Liturgy of the Mass from Advent up to Pentecost. All the teachings of Christ on how to deserve everlasting life had been laid down.
The Ordinary Sundays deals with the details of the 'Plan of Salvation.' Briefly in summary form, to attain salvation we must have perfect repentance, we must have perfect Faith and the beginnings of Charity. St. Thomas wrote that Charity can only be perfected in heaven so we only need the beginnings of Charity here on earth.
Perfect repentance is attainable by living the spirituality of the Old Testament. Let us look specifically at Faith. We must have the beginnings of Faith. Then we must develop that Faith until perfection. Only when we have perfect Faith will God infused in our soul the beginnings of the theological virtue of Charity. In the Liturgy, Christ saw to it that the apostles pass through these stages.
Since the general title of this section of the Liturgy is entitled 'Developing Faith,' it will begin to teach us how to attain the beginnings of Faith. But before we can begin, todays Gospel tells us the three obstacles that will prevent a soul from attaining the beginnings of Faith.
2. Saving souls.
The apostles were angry because the Samaritans were not welcoming Jesus Christ. So they wanted to call fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans. Christ corrects them saying; well you are supposed to save souls and you cannot save anyone with that attitude of calling down fire from heaven everytime you meet sinners. They will end up in hell. You are supposed to bring them to the life of Faith.
3. Christ enumerates three attitudes that are obstacles to the attainment of Faith.
The first was shown by the man who wanted to follow Christ wherever He went. Christ corrects him that he cannot follow Christ with that attitude. What attitude? He was presumptuous believing that he can follow Christ where ever He went. St. Thomas of Aquinas wrote that 'where ever He went' means to what ever depth of wisdom and knowledge of doctrine. The man was presumptuous thinking that he can understand the teachings of Christ without the help of grace. Christ corrects him saying he cannot go anywhere in the knowledge of Christian teachings without the grace of God. The man's presumption disqualifies him from acquiring Faith.
The attitude of this first man was aggravated in that he wanted to be an apostle. Christ reminded us that to be a priest or bishop one has to be chosen and called by Christ. St. Thomas states that when following Christ we must work on the assumption that all of us will follow Christ as ordinary disciples. We should not desire to be apostles, priests or bishops. To do so is to disqualify us from attaining Faith.
Most of those working in the Church have these presumptions. They feel they are someone if they are members of the choir or a Eucharistic minister. They feel they deserve to become priests and bishops even without being chosen and called by Christ. Some behave like they are the fourth person of the Blessed Trinity when they become Pope. These presumptuous attitudes makes them unworthy to receive the virtue of Faith.
Most of these same persons think that they understand the depth of the truths of Christ just because they study in a seminary, in Bologna or Belgium, forgetting they cannot understand an iota of Catholic doctrine without graces from God. God said so.
It is this presumptuous pride that had caused such priests to fall into such depths of sin and scandals. There is nothing wrong to follow Christ. In fact, it is good to desire it but one must have the proper disposition; humility or the first Beatitude, poverty in spirit.
The second obstacle to the life of Faith is shown by the man who wanted to follow Christ but excused to bury his Father first. St. Thomas wrote the need to prioritise the importance of the soul over the body. Would you rather spend time burying the body of your father rather than praying for his soul that is facing God's judgment seat?
The bigger perspective is the importance in working for the salvation of the soul of one's loved ones, than working for the welfare of their bodies. If a soul prefers what is ordinarily done today where concern is for the physical or corporal needs of our neighbour, then that soul cannot follow Christ.
This is the erroneous trend of such movement as liberation theology with its concern for the economic need of the poor, the goal of immigrants for a better economic condition, for OCWs for better wages and for the ecological move for saving the ecology; these are soul that cannot follow Christ.
The third obstacle is looking back. He who puts his hands on the plow and looks back is unworthy of Me. When we plan to love God above all things, we must set aside everything that is not God. St. Augustine wrote, everything must be used; only God and neighbour must be loved.
In setting the love of all worldly things that is not God aside, we must not look back at the things we set aside. To do so is like the wife of Lot who was commanded to leave all things behind in Sodom and Gomorrah, symbolised by all worldly thing that must be set aside. Yet she looked back and was punished by being transformed into a pillar of salt.
The defect of most Catholics is that we have not left the love of all things outside of God. This has prevented us, not only from loving God but believing in God. It is an obstacle to Faith.
4. Most Catholics, both in the hierarchy and laity have all these obstacles. It is what caused the 'crisis of Faith' everybody is talking about today. There is no way to solve this problem except to remove these obstacles. Christ in the Gospel said so.
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