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.
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.
1. Because they do not love God and neighbour.
They only have lust one for the other; and this prevents them from rising up to the love of a spiritual being like God. Let us look at a spiritual principle. It states; one who does not progress will regress.
Everyone is born in the natural level. Though they have a spiritual soul, that is part of the natural state of man.
Because of 'original sin' man tends to descend from the natural level down to the unnatural level. And continues to descend to the level of perversion or bestial level. This is a natural tendency for all men in the state of original sin.
So Christ came to teach man to do otherwise; i.e. to rise up continuously from the natural level to the supernatural level. Baptism is supposed to do that but it often does not work due to lack of proper disposition.
To ascend is possible only through the help of Divine Grace which Christ earned for mankind with His death. Each soul can receive this grace that will enable him to ascend to the supernatural level through the 'plan of salvation' taught by Christ and found in Divine Revelation, and elaborated by the Fathers of the Church.
So, it is either up or down. When a soul stops ascending, he automatically descends. When he stops descending, he does not rise up; he continues to descend. In the spiritual life, no one has a choice; he must continuously rise up to the supernatural level with the help of God's grace, otherwise he will descend.
This is the reason why many souls have descended to the unnatural level and have become homos; because they do not used what will make them ascend, the 'love of God and neighbour,' which can only be done with the help of the grace of God.
2. The soul ascends to the supernatural level with the help of the grace that enables him to Love God and neighbour.
This is taught to all through the Liturgy of the Mass, specifically in the Sunday Gospels and its interpretation from the Fathers of the Church.
Rising to the supernatural level consist is these steps;
First, the soul must have perfect repentance.
Secondly, the soul must begin to believe. This belief must be perfected following the lessons learned through the Sunday Liturgy.
Thirdly, having perfected one's Faith by believing that Christ is Man and God, the soul begins to attain the beginnings of Charity.
Upon attaining from God the beginnings of the theological virtue of Charity, the soul is in the supernatural level.
3. The third stage in the spiritual life is what seminarians, priests and bishops did not undergo.This is the reason they descended into unnatural sins and bestiality. God does not love them.
The first stage of the spiritual life is obedience to the command of Christ 'to repent.' The second stage of the spiritual life is obedience to the command of Christ 'to believe.' The third stage of the spiritual life is obedience to the 'new commandment of Christ' which is 'love one another as I have loved you.'
4. 'As I have loved you.'
Man knows how a husband loves his wife and vice versa. Man knows how parents love children. But no man knows how God loved man. Only God knows how He loved man. And God knows no one knows how God loved man so how can man love God and neighbour as God loved man? No way, unless God loves man first.
God decided to love man first. And learning from this, man may love God and neighbour the way God had loved him first.
Then St. Thomas of Aquinas reminded us that God does not love us because we are good. The other way around. We become good because God loved us. It is God's love for man that makes man holy.
Then man, having been loved by God first, can now love God and neighbour. And in loving his neighbour, man can make his neighbour good with the help of God.
So the sequence must be clear. God loves man first. This love makes man good. And when man, loved by God, loves his neighbour, this makes his neighbour good.
See how God's love for man solves all the above problems.
5. The problem.
But God loves only the humble and hates the proud, Scriptures has it. So to be loved by God and receive all the benefits from that love we have to be humble as Christ commanded; 'learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart.'
So the entire Catholic spirituality which have been lacking in all seminaries and religious houses is the training in humility which should be the only training in spirituality. Christ said so. He did not say learn theology. He said; 'learn from Me.' What? 'Meekness and humility.'
6. The world is proud.
Christ prophesied, the world will be filled with the pride of life that will cause the decay of Faith and the waxing cold of Charity. Christ said so. And the world is filled with all kinds of pride explained by St. Pope Gregory the Great. Being proud, God does not love the people in the world. He hates them. Thus the people in the world cannot be good. This is why most of the pagans in the world, most of the Protestants and most of the Catholic bishops and priests are homos. Because of their pride, God hates them. So God permitted them to descend to the unnatural level and even hit the bottom, the beastial level. In such a situation there was no stopping this lustful trend.
1.Two kinds of people. The Gospels always describes two kinds of people. The unbelievers; these are usually the Jews, the Chosen People headed by the Pharisees and Sadducees. The other are the believers, Christ's disciples and apostles. The Gospels are instruction on how to become believers of Christ and how to avoid becoming unbelievers. The instructions are very clear so that after one Liturgical Year any soul can know if he is a believer or not. He can know if he is going to heaven or not.
2. The Gospels does not give the complete lessons. The Gospels tells us what we must do to have everlasting life but it does not state how to do the what. In the Divine commission to evangelise Christ clearly commanded that the how and the what must be taught; what are the commandments and how to do them.
3. The defect of unbelievers. The unbelievers had this defect; that they could hear what are the commandments but they did not know how to obey them thus ending not even knowing what the commands are. The deeper defect is this; though what the commands are are found in the Gospels, the how is not found there. It is found in the writings of the Father of the Church, commonly referred to as Tradition. And the even deeper meaning of the how is only available through Divine Revelation. It is not available while studying the Fathers of the Church. It is given, only, when God reveals the entire meaning of the Gospel to the soul. He, ordinarily, does not do this to unbelievers. 'You have seen Me and believe not.'
4. The believers. The words of the Gospel states; 'And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life. Both unbeliever and believer saw Christ. How come one did not believe but the other one believed? One was proud, the other one was humble.
5. The proud. The unbeliever saw Christ but did not believe, states the Gospel. How come? Because he is proud. The proud is totally unable to believe. St. Thomas noted that unless the illness is medicated in its very roots, the illness will not disappear. It can change into another symptom but the same illness remains. The root of all sin is pride. As long as pride remains, the illness will persist. The symptom can change. It can be sexual perversion one time, and infidelity another time. But the root remains i.e. pride. Faith cannot grow in an atmosphere of pride. So the unbeliever, like the believers sees Christ. And yet the unbeliever refuses to believe because of pride; while the humble believes.
6. Humility. Faith is rooted in humility. It grows in the fertile soil of humility. Thus when the humble sees Christ, it sees an identical spirit in Christ and becomes united with Him by the work of the Father. Thus it is said that the Father who initiates the act of believing in the humble soul draws the soul to Christ. The Father draws the humble soul to Christ thus giving the soul to Christ. And nothing can take away such a soul from Christ. Such a soul becomes deserving of eternal life. The action of the Father in drawing a soul to a kindred humble soul which is Christ is a Divine Act that initiates the act of Faith. It is not possible in the natural level. This Divine Act is what enables a soul to believe and the lack of this Divine Act in the case of the proud is what prevents the proud from believing.
7. Asking for a sign. The Jews had just seen Christ multiply the loaves. And they have just learned that Christ had crossed the sea walking on the water, and yet they did not believe and asked for another sign. Unbelievers will always ask for signs but will continue not to believe because the defect is not in the lack of proofs. The defect is the pride in the heart and mind of the unbeliever, The believer, on the other hand, is contented to have the proof Christ presented.....i.e. the bread of life.
8. The Holy Eucharist. The Jews, not only demanded for another sign. They even demanded for a specific sign. The manna that Moses fed the Jews in the desert. Christ corrected them first by reminding them that it was not Moses who fed them but His Father in heaven, Then Christ told them that He would give them a better sign; Himself as the type of the manna from heaven. The world would have the most convincing sign of the Divinity of Christ; the Holy Eucharist, the bread from heaven. Christ would be present in His Divinity in a tiny piece of bread. Can any one be powerful enough to transform himself into a piece of bread and with great humility remain imprisoned in a tabernacle with no human retinue to serve Him. Absolutely no one can do that. That is how Divine and Almighty God is. He can do it. He did it and He is there for all to see...........and for a few to believe in and attain everlasting life.
9. St. John and the act of Faith. St. John's Gospel describes the act of Faith thus. A man hears the words of Christ. He does not understand the meaning and the interpretation. But he shows spiritual humility by admitting he does not know what it means and what is its interpretation. With humility he awaits that God may reveal its meaning. Due to his humility, God the Father draws him towards Christ, i.e. the Father teaches him more doctrines together with its deeper meaning and correct interpretation. As the soul is drawn by the Father towards the Son, the will of the drawn soul cooperates with the act of drawing by becoming more humble in spirit. At this point God the Father grants his graces. He cooperates with the grace of God, and the human soul acquires Faith and believes unto everlasting life. Then the Holy Spirit teaches him all things. He would have solved the Church problems during the Vatican Synod on the Abuse. But he was not invited because he did not belong to the group.
1.Two kinds of people.
The Gospels always describes two kinds of people. The unbelievers; these are usually the Jews, the Chosen People headed by the Pharisees and Sadducees. The other are the believers, Christ's disciples and apostles.
The Gospels are instruction on how to become believers of Christ and how to avoid becoming unbelievers. The instructions are very clear so that after one Liturgical Year any soul can know if he is a believer or not. He can know if he is going to heaven or not.
2. The Gospels does not give the complete lessons.
The Gospels tells us what we must do to have everlasting life but it does not state how to do the what. In the Divine commission to evangelise Christ clearly commanded that the how and the what must be taught; what are the commandments and how to do them.
3. The defect of unbelievers.
The unbelievers had this defect; that they could hear what are the commandments but they did not know how to obey them thus ending not even knowing what the commands are.
The deeper defect is this; though what the commands are are found in the Gospels, the how is not found there. It is found in the writings of the Father of the Church, commonly referred to as Tradition. And the even deeper meaning of the how is only available through Divine Revelation. It is not available while studying the Fathers of the Church. It is given, only, when God reveals the entire meaning of the Gospel to the soul. He, ordinarily, does not do this to unbelievers. 'You have seen Me and believe not.'
4. The believers.
The words of the Gospel states; 'And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life.
Both unbeliever and believer saw Christ. How come one did not believe but the other one believed? One was proud, the other one was humble.
5. The proud.
The unbeliever saw Christ but did not believe, states the Gospel. How come? Because he is proud. The proud is totally unable to believe. St. Thomas noted that unless the illness is medicated in its very roots, the illness will not disappear. It can change into another symptom but the same illness remains. The root of all sin is pride. As long as pride remains, the illness will persist. The symptom can change. It can be sexual perversion one time, and infidelity another time. But the root remains i.e. pride. Faith cannot grow in an atmosphere of pride. So the unbeliever, like the believers sees Christ. And yet the unbeliever refuses to believe because of pride; while the humble believes.
6. Humility.
Faith is rooted in humility. It grows in the fertile soil of humility.
Thus when the humble sees Christ, it sees an identical spirit in Christ and becomes united with Him by the work of the Father. Thus it is said that the Father who initiates the act of believing in the humble soul draws the soul to Christ.
The Father draws the humble soul to Christ thus giving the soul to Christ. And nothing can take away such a soul from Christ. Such a soul becomes deserving of eternal life.
The action of the Father in drawing a soul to a kindred humble soul which is Christ is a Divine Act that initiates the act of Faith. It is not possible in the natural level. This Divine Act is what enables a soul to believe and the lack of this Divine Act in the case of the proud is what prevents the proud from believing.
7. Asking for a sign.
The Jews had just seen Christ multiply the loaves. And they have just learned that Christ had crossed the sea walking on the water, and yet they did not believe and asked for another sign. Unbelievers will always ask for signs but will continue not to believe because the defect is not in the lack of proofs. The defect is the pride in the heart and mind of the unbeliever,
The believer, on the other hand, is contented to have the proof Christ presented.....i.e. the bread of life.
8. The Holy Eucharist.
The Jews, not only demanded for another sign. They even demanded for a specific sign. The manna that Moses fed the Jews in the desert. Christ corrected them first by reminding them that it was not Moses who fed them but His Father in heaven, Then Christ told them that He would give them a better sign; Himself as the type of the manna from heaven. The world would have the most convincing sign of the Divinity of Christ; the Holy Eucharist, the bread from heaven.
Christ would be present in His Divinity in a tiny piece of bread. Can any one be powerful enough to transform himself into a piece of bread and with great humility remain imprisoned in a tabernacle with no human retinue to serve Him. Absolutely no one can do that. That is how Divine and Almighty God is. He can do it. He did it and He is there for all to see...........and for a few to believe in and attain everlasting life.
9. St. John and the act of Faith.
St. John's Gospel describes the act of Faith thus. A man hears the words of Christ. He does not understand the meaning and the interpretation. But he shows spiritual humility by admitting he does not know what it means and what is its interpretation. With humility he awaits that God may reveal its meaning.
Due to his humility, God the Father draws him towards Christ, i.e. the Father teaches him more doctrines together with its deeper meaning and correct interpretation.
As the soul is drawn by the Father towards the Son, the will of the drawn soul cooperates with the act of drawing by becoming more humble in spirit.
At this point God the Father grants his graces. He cooperates with the grace of God, and the human soul acquires Faith and believes unto everlasting life. Then the Holy Spirit teaches him all things. He would have solved the Church problems during the Vatican Synod on the Abuse. But he was not invited because he did not belong to the group.
1. The Sri Lankan Christians killed this Easter are martyrs; therefore, they are all in heaven. A much better place than where they were. It is this certainty in Catholic teaching that martyrs are surely in heaven that made early Christians desire martyrdom. The certainty that they are martyrs and, therefore, will go straight to heaven is proven by St. Thomas of Aquinas in five articles in the Summa 'On martyrdom,' and Origin's 'Exhortation to Martyrdom.' The basis for their martyrdom. First, they were persecuted or killed out of pure hatred for the Church. Evidently, the martyrs had done nothing wrong towards their killers. They don't even know each other and have never met each other. And their killers had no valid reasonable reason for killing them except for an imagined fantasy. Secondly, the martyrs were performing a 'good work' as defined by theology; either corporal or spiritual. Thirdly, they were persecuted or murdereded. The first two qualifies them for martyrdom. The third is a further confirmation that they are truly martyrs.
2. Further proof that they are martyrs is that their persecutors would fall under those punished by God for such heinous acts as described in the book written by Lactantius 'The persecutors of the Church,' wherewith God would punish them with a bad death here on earth and eternal damnation in hell. In this book, Lactantius gave a list of all the known persecutors of the Church and how they ended their lives here on earth.
3. Lenten Season. The Sri Lankan martyrdom coincided with the Lenten Season ending with Easter. The circumstances are identical to what happened to Christ during Holy Week. Christ was totally innocent, but He was accused unjustly, judged unjustly and killed unjustly. But He rose on the third day, Easter Sunday. The martyrs were equally treated in the same way. They were accused unjustly, judged unjustly and killed unjustly like their Lord and Master. And on Easter Sunday they arose in heaven.
4. Only God decides who will be a martyr. Nobody can volunteer to be a martyr. Martyrdom is an exclusive club and membership is decided by God alone. Martyrdom forgives all past sins and is a sign of the highest degree of love thus martyrs don't even pass purgatory. They go straight to heaven. All Christians know that, so many chose martyrdom as the surest way to go to heaven. But only to discover that they cannot be because they are not chosen. St. Teresa of Avila tried it when she was a young girl but was not able to go too far because she was not chosen by God. St. Francis of Assisi tried it too, and almost converted the sultan instead. No one can be a martyr unless chosen by God. Only God knows the state of the soul of men that will qualify for martyrdom. And it is God's direct Will to chose someone as a candidate for martyrdom. Martyrdom is not a victory of evil over good. It is the way that God fools the devil into doing evil so that a much greater good can come out of it. The greater good is the spiritual growth of the true Catholic Church.
Christ is, of course, the first martyr. He was not martyred by the Jews. He died by the Direct Will of the Father. Thus so goes with the Sri Lankans and Nigerians. So when someone is martyred, it is because God has chosen them to die and go directly to heaven.
5. The Church grows through the blood of martyrs. The blood of martyrs is what makes the Church grow in a time when no one preaches the right doctrine of salvation, like now. It is the only alternative to a non existing evangelization. This means, nobody is evangelising properly today, so martyrdom is the only way in which the Church can grow. People are martyred so that the Church may spiritually grow.
6. Non - bloody martyrs. Red martyrdom is reserved by God, Himself, for a few. But there is 'white martyrdom.' We have to be martyrs, i.e. witnesses, to Christ. White martyrdom is spiritual red martyrdom in accordance to the words of Christ who said; 'unless you hate your life.' They are the 'confessors' in the Church. Monastic life is 'white martyrdom.' So it is fit to describe certain people as 'martyr,' i.e. white martyrs. St. John the Evangelist is both a white and red martyr. The Holy innocents are red martyrs. Cardinal Pell had been aptly described as a white martyr. Archbishop Vigano will probably be a red martyr, courtesy of the Vatican.
7. Summary So the Catholics in Sri Lanka killed by a bomb last Easter are martyrs. When they died they went straight to heaven to behold the Beatific Vision. The same goes to those Catholic in Nigeria and in many Middle East countries. They fulfill the three elements of martyrdom as described by St.Thomas of Aquinas and Origin. And their martyrdom can be reconfirmed if their persecutors die an awful death here on earth and if they are now in the depths of hell. The former can be confirmed. We can check the latter after the General Judgment.
1. The Sri Lankan Christians killed this Easter are martyrs; therefore, they are all in heaven. A much better place than where they were.
It is this certainty in Catholic teaching that martyrs are surely in heaven that made early Christians desire martyrdom. The certainty that they are martyrs and, therefore, will go straight to heaven is proven by St. Thomas of Aquinas in five articles in the Summa 'On martyrdom,' and Origin's 'Exhortation to Martyrdom.'
The basis for their martyrdom.
First, they were persecuted or killed out of pure hatred for the Church. Evidently, the martyrs had done nothing wrong towards their killers. They don't even know each other and have never met each other. And their killers had no valid reasonable reason for killing them except for an imagined fantasy.
Secondly, the martyrs were performing a 'good work' as defined by theology; either corporal or spiritual.
Thirdly, they were persecuted or murdereded.
The first two qualifies them for martyrdom. The third is a further confirmation that they are truly martyrs.
2. Further proof that they are martyrs is that their persecutors would fall under those punished by God for such heinous acts as described in the book written by Lactantius 'The persecutors of the Church,' wherewith God would punish them with a bad death here on earth and eternal damnation in hell.
In this book, Lactantius gave a list of all the known persecutors of the Church and how they ended their lives here on earth.
3. Lenten Season.
The Sri Lankan martyrdom coincided with the Lenten Season ending with Easter. The circumstances are identical to what happened to Christ during Holy Week. Christ was totally innocent, but He was accused unjustly, judged unjustly and killed unjustly. But He rose on the third day, Easter Sunday.
The martyrs were equally treated in the same way. They were accused unjustly, judged unjustly and killed unjustly like their Lord and Master. And on Easter Sunday they arose in heaven.
4. Only God decides who will be a martyr.
Nobody can volunteer to be a martyr. Martyrdom is an exclusive club and membership is decided by God alone. Martyrdom forgives all past sins and is a sign of the highest degree of love thus martyrs don't even pass purgatory. They go straight to heaven.
All Christians know that, so many chose martyrdom as the surest way to go to heaven. But only to discover that they cannot be because they are not chosen. St. Teresa of Avila tried it when she was a young girl but was not able to go too far because she was not chosen by God. St. Francis of Assisi tried it too, and almost converted the sultan instead. No one can be a martyr unless chosen by God. Only God knows the state of the soul of men that will qualify for martyrdom. And it is God's direct Will to chose someone as a candidate for martyrdom.
Martyrdom is not a victory of evil over good. It is the way that God fools the devil into doing evil so that a much greater good can come out of it. The greater good is the spiritual growth of the true Catholic Church.
Christ is, of course, the first martyr. He was not martyred by the Jews. He died by the Direct Will of the Father. Thus so goes with the Sri Lankans and Nigerians. So when someone is martyred, it is because God has chosen them to die and go directly to heaven.
5. The Church grows through the blood of martyrs.
The blood of martyrs is what makes the Church grow in a time when no one preaches the right doctrine of salvation, like now. It is the only alternative to a non existing evangelization. This means, nobody is evangelising properly today, so martyrdom is the only way in which the Church can grow. People are martyred so that the Church may spiritually grow.
6. Non - bloody martyrs.
Red martyrdom is reserved by God, Himself, for a few. But there is 'white martyrdom.' We have to be martyrs, i.e. witnesses, to Christ. White martyrdom is spiritual red martyrdom in accordance to the words of Christ who said; 'unless you hate your life.' They are the 'confessors' in the Church. Monastic life is 'white martyrdom.'
So it is fit to describe certain people as 'martyr,' i.e. white martyrs. St. John the Evangelist is both a white and red martyr. The Holy innocents are red martyrs. Cardinal Pell had been aptly described as a white martyr. Archbishop Vigano will probably be a red martyr, courtesy of the Vatican.
7. Summary
So the Catholics in Sri Lanka killed by a bomb last Easter are martyrs. When they died they went straight to heaven to behold the Beatific Vision. The same goes to those Catholic in Nigeria and in many Middle East countries. They fulfill the three elements of martyrdom as described by St.Thomas of Aquinas and Origin. And their martyrdom can be reconfirmed if their persecutors die an awful death here on earth and if they are now in the depths of hell. The former can be confirmed. We can check the latter after the General Judgment.
