"When the great time will come, in which mankind will face its last, hard trial, it will be foreshadowed by striking changes in nature; the alteration between cold and heat will become more intensive, storms will have more catastrophic effects, earthquakes will destroy greater regions and the seas will overflow many lowlands. Not all of it will be the result of natural causes, but man will penetrate into the bowels of the earth and will reach into the clouds, gambling with its own existence."
It was Father Albert J. Hebert who said, "Today, Jonah stands at the gates of Nineveh. Today, the angels leave Abraham and are on their way to destroy Sodom, Gomorrah and the other three cities of the plains, in the present Dead Sea area. Today, Noah and his sons patiently near the end of their building of the Ark, while the onlookers ridicule and mock them. But the clouds with the rains of the Deluge are on the way." Today, as in the days of Noah, there are scoffers who are anxious to ridicule the faithful remnant who issue the warning call: repent for a great chastisement is at hand. Jesus said it would be so. In Matthew 24: 37-41, Our Lord tells us, "As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left."
In the comments section of a previous post, one such scoffer wrote, "This website is a little negative for my taste. St Augustine also said: 'Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.' I feel for you Paul. It seems through your writing that you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. I'll pray for you so that you might write about something joyful soon, and that the thought illuminates the Christ within." To which I responded, "The truth is too negative for you Terry. I'm sorry to hear that. Let me assure you that I'm not carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. I live a sacramental life and a joy-filled one in Christ Jesus. The only people who carry an unnecessary weight are those who refuse to repent of their sins. Perhaps you are simply living in denial?
Father Thomas Euteneuer, the President of Human Life International, has said, 'We’ve got a serious crisis on the horizon. I’m not a prophet of doom but I don’t see this going any other way but a serious political crisis that’s going to affect the globe. The only way we can avert a global collapse is by a moral conversion. Once again, we have to reverse the process. Just to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, is not a way to stop the collapse, the sinking of the Titanic. We have to turn back to God. And if people get fed up and just elect another political party that is just as bad as the previous political party, it does nothing to stem the global crisis that’s going to come upon us. What we need is a conversion of heart.'
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jan/10010605.html
No need to feel for me Terry. Your time would be better spent praying for this sin-sick nation and for its conversion. In his time, Noah was considered 'too negative.' How did those people outside the Ark fare Terry?"
This is something we all need to reflect on. How did those outside the Ark fare? The Ark today is Holy Mother Church. The Ark today is the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our refuge. America is in turmoil because it has turned away from God. We need conversion of heart. A Tea Party will not save us. Neither will the Republican or Democratic parties.
Meditation: Acts 4:12.
2 Peter 3: 3-13 speaks about these scoffers: "Know this first of all, that in the last days scoffers will come (to) scoff, living according to their own desires and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? From the time when our ancestors fell asleep, everything has remained as it was from the beginning of creation." They deliberately ignore the fact that the heavens existed of old and earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God; through these the world that then existed was destroyed, deluged with water. The present heavens and earth have been reserved by the same word for fire, kept for the day of judgment and of destruction of the godless. But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard "delay," but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out. Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought (you) to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire. But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth 11 in which righteousness dwells."
ReplyDeleteThis is the Word of God as given to Saint Paul. It is a word deemed "negative" by those addicted to sin who refuse to repent before the Lord Jesus.
A second oil rig leaking oil.
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/another_gulf_oil_spill_well_ne.html
A prophecy from the Liber Mirabilis, a collection of Medieval prophecies first published in 1524, warns that, "All elements will become altered, because it is necessary, that the whole condition of the Centuries becomes changed; Certainly will the Earth at many places be in a dreadful state of collapse and all living things will be swallowed up. Numerous strong Towns and Cities will be shattered and collapse in Earthquakes... The Sea will scream out and raise itself against the whole World. The Air will be dirty and be polluted because of the Grossness and Discord of Men... The air will completely change and because of Pestilence, Illness through it will break out, and will completely spoiled. Men will become like animals from the various new Diseases. They will be overcome and die suddenly. An indescribable plague will break out from a sudden and terrible Famine and will torment Men. It will be such great suffering in the whole World, and there is nowhere in the West that this will not find its place. Since the beginning of the World there has been nothing as horrible as this."
ReplyDelete"I'll pray for you so that you might write about something joyful soon, and that the thought illuminates the Christ within."
ReplyDeleteThis person comes across as someone who is on medication. Joy is one of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit. It is the pleasure experienced by one who knows Christ as the ultimate happiness. There is no authentic joy for the person who is separated from Christ because of mortal sin.
Your posts are right on the money Paul. They convict certain souls. That's why they react in such a fashion.
I've known of people who railed against the evils of abortion while trying to justify homosexual acts or adultery. These people are dishonest and incapable of joy. Which is why our society is becoming so angry. Many are openly or secretly living in grave sin. And if they do not repent, they will face not the mercy of God but His justice.
Dear Paul,
ReplyDeleteI'm greatly disturbed that you would think I was scoffing at you or your work. You are obviously a very devout Catholic and I have nothing but admiration for that. We agree that there are many bad things happening in the world today. Where we part ways is how we react to those terrible things. I prefer to focus my attention on the beauty God has created and I pray in thanks for all I see that is beautiful. I'm not saying that you don't, but if you look at your writing from an outsider's point of view it does come off as mostly dark.
All these things you lament are true, but they don't have to be your only subject to speak about. What about giving thanks and praise?
Thank you for addressing my concerns. I hope that if you cannot see my point you can at least be comforted by my respect. I do not scoff at you, if anything I see much of your thoughts in my own. Perhaps by addressing you I am addressing my own thoughts too.
Terry, you started off by asserting that this Blog is "too negative" for your taste. Now that you realize how uncharitable you were, you return to this Blog [even though you find it "too negative"] and write, "I'm greatly disturbed that you would think I was scoffing at you or your work.." What was I supposed to think? And why would you return if you find this Blog to be "too negative."
ReplyDeleteLet's address this false argument of yours first. Some might be tempted to believe that the rejection of error and falsehood [ and here, again, we are speaking of ideas not persons] is something "negative" and even cult-like. But such is simply not the case. Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand explains: "Perhaps never before has there been as much intellectual fraud as there is today. In the mass media - and even in discussions on university campuses - this intellectual fraud appears chiefly as the manipulation of slogans designed to bluff the hearer or reader, and prevent him from thinking clearly. For a typical example, let us consider how the terms positive and negative are now most often used to discredit the refutation of pernicious errors and to give credit to the most shallow speculations. The intellectual swindlers who play such an important role in public discussions will often denominate as 'positive' propositions and attitudes they favor. They thereby seek to forestall questions of truth and value by enveloping their prejudices in a vague suggestion of 'creativity,' 'originality,' 'openness,' 'unaggressiveness.' This is the device of the cuttlefish. The moment one tries to grasp it, it emits a murky substance to confuse and deceive.
In reality, the popular slogan usages of positive and negative is a distortion of the genuine meanings of the terms. In proper usage they can refer to existence and nonexistence or to value and disvalue. They can refer to desirability and undesirability, or to answers to questions and demands, or to results of tests and inquiries. But when these terms are applied to attitudes of mind or to theses - by way of suggesting an evaluation - an intellectual fraud is committed; for they are then being used to evoke vague associations that distract from the question that alone matters - namely: Is this attitude objectively called for? Or: Is this thesis true?...It is the nature of truth to exclude every contradiction of itself. Thus, the rejection of errors and falsehoods can never be separated from the affirmation of truth. The one implies the other...
To give the impression that affirmations are 'positive' and denials 'negative' is to misrepresent completely the nature of judgments and propositions. This abuse of the language transforms the terms positive and negative into deceptive slogans and thus amounts to an intellectual swindle..." (The Charitable Anathema, pp. 45-47).
Then you write, "We agree that there are many bad things happening in the world today. Where we part ways is how we react to those terrible things. I prefer to focus my attention on the beauty God has created and I pray in thanks for all I see that is beautiful." That's great Terry. So do I. So did Dr. Hildebrand. Even as exposed the philosophical underpinnings of National Socialism. Even as he left Germany saying, "I can no longer remain in a country ruled by a criminal."
The real difference between us? While we both seem to appreciate beauty, Ihave the fortitude to address the evils of our day and you do not. Some of us actually possess the Cardinal Virtue of Fortitude Terry. And we won't apologize for that.
"In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea(and) saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: "A voice of one crying out in the desert, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.'" John wore clothing made of camel's hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3: 1-12).
ReplyDeleteTerry must think John the Baptist is "too negative" as well. How dare he say or even imply that people need to repent!
Is Terry being negative in calling you negative? You get the point.
ReplyDelete