Responding to an open letter which I wrote to His Excellency, the Most Reverend Robert J. McManus, and which may be found here, an anonymous individual has left a comment at this Blog defending Fr. Andre Dargis. This anonymous individual wrote, "Catholicism was never meant to be taken literally...All of the negative bloggers here seem content to cite Church teachings as if Christ himself taught them. Note to the uneducated - many, many teachings of the Church were created after Jesus, including many that have been cited by bloggers here. Is everyone here mindless enough to believe all these things taught not by Jesus, but in fact written hundreds of years later, many by early popes and bishops, are to be taken as true?"
And after chiding me (and others who comment here) for being "mindless," "uneducated," and "negative," this pillar of Catholic charity writes: "Before you all criticize him [Fr. Dargis] for his lack of doctrine, why don't you research the doctrine yourselves, and realize who wrote what, why they wrote it, the political ramifications of those times, as well as the pressures put on them from their common people. I am certain Fr. Dargis has done his research on the history of the early church, and from what I read, I am equally certain most of you bloggers have not."
What this troubled soul doesn't understand is that those of us who are authentically Catholic do indeed accept what the Church proposes for our belief as true. The Catechism defines faith thusly: "Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that the Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself." (CCC, 1814). Faith is the acceptance of the truths revealed by God without proof.
Faith is a grace: "Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. 'Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.'" (CCC, 153).
Faith does not contradict reason. Consequently, once the truths which have been revealed by God are accepted, human reason attempts to understand and defend those truths. Faith may be understood as "faith seeking understanding" (CCC, 154-159). As No. 156 explains:
"What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe "because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived". So "that the submission of our faith might nevertheless be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps of the Holy Spirit." Thus the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church's growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability "are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all"; they are "motives of credibility" (motiva credibilitatis), which show that the assent of faith is "by no means a blind impulse of the mind."
I know this will probably come as a surprise to this confused defender of Fr. Dargis, but the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) of Vatican II had this to say:
"..the task of authentically interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on, has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This teaching office is not above the word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on, listening to it devoutly, guarding it scrupulously and explaining it faithfully in accord with a divine commission and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it draws from this one deposit of faith everything which it presents for belief as divinely revealed." (No. 10).
Let's pray that the unhappy soul who left this angry comment will take the time to research the documents of Vatican II. We've heard enough about the "spirit of Vatican II" (the truly mindless ideology which has contributed so greatly toward the formation of Cotton-Candy Catholicism, a sacharrin spirituality devoid of any substance). Let's actually read the documents. Is that asking too much?
Monday, June 09, 2008
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Senator Obama and ACORN....
"A racially integrated community is a chronological term timed from the entrance of the first black family to the exit of the last white family."
- Saul Alinsky
For more background on radical Saul Alinsky, read the Wanderer article which I posted here.
Fr. Michael Pfleger, now well-known for his pro-Obama political rant during a "homily," has been described by one journalist as an "attention-seeking narcissist." Fr. Pfleger has been associated with Reverend Jeremiah Wright's Black Liberation Theology (see here). Why is this troubling? Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Black Liberation Theology:
Black theology refers to a variety of Christian theologies held among people of black African descent (African Americans).
BLACK THEOLOGY — This is a form of liberation theology* that has its center in the theme of oppression of blacks by whites. It came out of the "need for black people to define the scope and meaning of black existence in a white society" (Cone). It emerged in the last two decades in the wave of liberation movements as an expression of black consciousness and seems to speak the the issues that blacks must contend with on a daily basis.
God — Intricate and largely philosophical views of God are largely ignored in preference for the concerns of the oppressed. White Christian concepts taught to the black man thus are to be disregarded or ignored. God's person, the Trinity, his supreme power and authority as well as "subtle indications of God's white maleness" are said not to relate to (and in some cases antagonistic to) the black experience. The dominant perspective on God is God in action, delivering the oppressed because of his righteousness. His immanence is stressed over His transcendence, and as a result He is seen to be in flux or always changing.
Trinity — The Trinity is not stressed. However, Jesus is God, but in the sense of God's visible expression of concern and salvation.
Christ — He is One who delivers, almost exclusively, in social ways. He is a liberator, or "Black Messiah" whose work of emancipation for the poor and rejected of society is the parallel to the blacks' quest for liberation. Christ's message is "black power" (Henry). His intrinsic nature and spiritual activity receive little or no attention. Some even deny his role as the atoning sacrifice for the world's sins and provider of eternal life (Shrine).
Revelation — Black theology is not bound to biblical liberalism, but is of a more pragmatic nature. Only the experience of black oppression is the authoritative standard.
Salvation — Salvation is freedom from the oppression and pertains to blacks in this life. Proponents of black theology are concerned specifically with the political and theological aspects of salvation more than the spiritual. In other words, salvation is physically liberation from white oppression rather than freedom from the sinful nature and acts of each individual person. Presenting heaven as a reward for following Christ is seen as an attempt to dissuade blacks from the goal of real liberation of their whole persons.
Church — The church is the focus of social expression in the black community where the blacks can express freedom and equality (Cone). Thus the church and politics have formed a cohesion where the theological expression of the desire for social freedom is carried out. All above came from [1] H. Wayne House (Th.D.,J.D.) is distinguished professor of biblical studies and theological studies at Faith Seminary, Tacoma Washington, and a professor of law at Trinity International University. Black theology refers to a variety of Christian theologies held among people of black African descent (African Americans).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_theology).
* For more on Liberation Theology and why it is problematic, read here.
- Saul Alinsky
For more background on radical Saul Alinsky, read the Wanderer article which I posted here.
Fr. Michael Pfleger, now well-known for his pro-Obama political rant during a "homily," has been described by one journalist as an "attention-seeking narcissist." Fr. Pfleger has been associated with Reverend Jeremiah Wright's Black Liberation Theology (see here). Why is this troubling? Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Black Liberation Theology:
Black theology refers to a variety of Christian theologies held among people of black African descent (African Americans).
BLACK THEOLOGY — This is a form of liberation theology* that has its center in the theme of oppression of blacks by whites. It came out of the "need for black people to define the scope and meaning of black existence in a white society" (Cone). It emerged in the last two decades in the wave of liberation movements as an expression of black consciousness and seems to speak the the issues that blacks must contend with on a daily basis.
God — Intricate and largely philosophical views of God are largely ignored in preference for the concerns of the oppressed. White Christian concepts taught to the black man thus are to be disregarded or ignored. God's person, the Trinity, his supreme power and authority as well as "subtle indications of God's white maleness" are said not to relate to (and in some cases antagonistic to) the black experience. The dominant perspective on God is God in action, delivering the oppressed because of his righteousness. His immanence is stressed over His transcendence, and as a result He is seen to be in flux or always changing.
Trinity — The Trinity is not stressed. However, Jesus is God, but in the sense of God's visible expression of concern and salvation.
Christ — He is One who delivers, almost exclusively, in social ways. He is a liberator, or "Black Messiah" whose work of emancipation for the poor and rejected of society is the parallel to the blacks' quest for liberation. Christ's message is "black power" (Henry). His intrinsic nature and spiritual activity receive little or no attention. Some even deny his role as the atoning sacrifice for the world's sins and provider of eternal life (Shrine).
Revelation — Black theology is not bound to biblical liberalism, but is of a more pragmatic nature. Only the experience of black oppression is the authoritative standard.
Salvation — Salvation is freedom from the oppression and pertains to blacks in this life. Proponents of black theology are concerned specifically with the political and theological aspects of salvation more than the spiritual. In other words, salvation is physically liberation from white oppression rather than freedom from the sinful nature and acts of each individual person. Presenting heaven as a reward for following Christ is seen as an attempt to dissuade blacks from the goal of real liberation of their whole persons.
Church — The church is the focus of social expression in the black community where the blacks can express freedom and equality (Cone). Thus the church and politics have formed a cohesion where the theological expression of the desire for social freedom is carried out. All above came from [1] H. Wayne House (Th.D.,J.D.) is distinguished professor of biblical studies and theological studies at Faith Seminary, Tacoma Washington, and a professor of law at Trinity International University. Black theology refers to a variety of Christian theologies held among people of black African descent (African Americans).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_theology).
* For more on Liberation Theology and why it is problematic, read here.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Radical takeover of the Democratic party?
Reason for concern?
This is not a political Blog. But the Gospel has political implications. And so, I merely ask the question: Is there reason to believe that the Democratic Party is being taken over by radicals? According to Warner Todd Huston, in an article which may be found here, Senator Barack Obama "actively sought and received the stamp of approval of a Marxist third party that operated briefly in Chicago between 1992 and 1998. The group was called the 'New Party' and was started in 1992 by Daniel Cantor (a former staffer for Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign) and Joel Rogers (a sociology and law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison)...The New Party was a Marxist political coalition whose objective was to endorse and elect leftist public officials - most often Democrats. The New Party's short-term objective was to move the Democratic Party leftward, thereby setting the stage for the eventual rise of new Marxist third party."
Senator Obama supports sex education in kindergarten read here and infanticide read here. Additionally, according to Stanley Kurtz, writing for National Review Online, "Obama has had an intimate and long-term association with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the largest radical group in America." Why is this so troubling? Because ACORN's philosophy is premised upon anti-capitalist redistributionism. Read more here.
Senator Obama has also said that Christ's Sermon on the Mount supports same-sex unions, read here. He has described unborn children as a "punishment" (punishment from whom? does he mean a curse?) read here. But most disturbingly, the Senator has described religious belief as some sort of "crutch," read here.
Should a Christian vote for Senator Obama? What do you think?
"...numerous are the Catholics who, although they clearly understand that Christian principles can never be abandoned or diminished seem to turn their eyes to the Holy See and earnestly beseech Us to decide whether this form of Socialism has so far recovered from false doctrines that it can be accepted without the sacrifice of any Christian principle and in a certain sense be baptized. That We, in keeping with Our fatherly solicitude, may answer their petitions, We make this pronouncement: Whether considered as a doctrine, or an historical fact, or a movement, Socialism, if it remains truly Socialism, even after it has yielded to truth and justice on the points which we have mentioned, cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Catholic Church because its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to Christian truth.
For, according to Christian teaching, man, endowed with a social nature, is placed on this earth so that by leading a life in society and under an authority ordained of God he may fully cultivate and develop all his faculties unto the praise and glory of his Creator; and that by faithfully fulfilling the duties of his craft or other calling he may obtain for himself temporal and at the same time eternal happiness. Socialism, on the other hand, wholly ignoring and indifferent to this sublime end of both man and society, affirms that human association has been instituted for the sake of material advantage alone.
Because of the fact that goods are produced more efficiently by a suitable division of labor than by the scattered efforts of individuals, socialists infer that economic activity, only the material ends of which enter into their thinking, ought of necessity to be carried on socially. Because of this necessity, they hold that men are obliged, with respect to the producing of goods, to surrender and subject themselves entirely to society. Indeed, possession of the greatest possible supply of things that serve the advantages of this life is considered of such great importance that the higher goods of man, liberty not excepted, must take a secondary place and even be sacrificed to the demands of the most efficient production of goods. This damage to human dignity, undergone in the "socialized" process of production, will be easily offset, they say, by the abundance of socially produced goods which will pour out in profusion to individuals to be used freely at their pleasure for comforts and cultural development. Society, therefore, as Socialism conceives it, can on the one hand neither exist nor be thought of without an obviously excessive use of force; on the other hand, it fosters a liberty no less false, since there is no place in it for true social authority, which rests not on temporal and material advantages but descends from God alone, the Creator and last end of all things.[55]
If Socialism, like all errors, contains some truth (which, moreover, the Supreme Pontiffs have never denied), it is based nevertheless on a theory of human society peculiar to itself and irreconcilable with true Christianity. Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist. " (Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Quadragesimo Anno: On the Reconstruction of the Social Order, Nos. 117-120).
Thursday, June 05, 2008
More intolerance from the homosexual hate movement....
Authentic Christians have always and everywhere accepted a "healthy pluralism." At the same time, such Christians have also understood that they have an obligation to acknowledge their beliefs and to preach the moral message given to them by the Lord Jesus. The follower of the Lord Jesus possesses a qualified certainty regarding the tenets of Natural Law and other truths which are revealed by God and help guide the conduct of man. Consequently, the authentic Christian understands that Christian ethical principles inform human society.
The authentic Christian will reject the sophism of those who declare that anyone who does not buy into the Dictatorship of Relativism (a pluralism of opinions which rejects any and all absolute truth or even its possibility) is a "fanatic" or a "fundamentalist." On the contrary, the authentic Christian will defend the truth in a positive manner. And while respecting persons and living out charity, such a Christian will proclaim the truth without fear.
This is the mind of Christ. As Pope John Paul II taught us in his Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, No. 95:
"The Church's teaching, and in particular her firmness in defending the universal and permanent validity of the precepts prohibiting intrinsically evil acts, is not infrequently seen as the sign of an intolerable intransigence, particularly with regard to the enormously complex and conflict-filled situations present in the moral life of individuals and of society today; this intransigence is said to be in contrast with the Church's motherhood. The Church, one hears, is lacking in understanding and compassion. But the Church's motherhood can never in fact be separated from her teaching mission, which she must always carry out as the faithful Bride of Christ, who is the Truth in person. "As Teacher, she never tires of proclaiming the moral norm... The Church is in no way the author or the arbiter of this norm. In obedience to the truth which is Christ, whose image is reflected in the nature and dignity of the human person, the Church interprets the moral norm and proposes it to all people of good will, without concealing its demands of radicalness and perfection".
In fact, genuine understanding and compassion must mean love for the person, for his true good, for his authentic freedom. And this does not result, certainly, from concealing or weakening moral truth, but rather from proposing it in its most profound meaning as an outpouring of God's eternal Wisdom, which we have received in Christ, and as a service to man, to the growth of his freedom and to the attainment of his happiness.
Still, a clear and forceful presentation of moral truth can never be separated from a profound and heartfelt respect, born of that patient and trusting love which man always needs along his moral journey, a journey frequently wearisome on account of difficulties, weakness and painful situations. The Church can never renounce the "the principle of truth and consistency, whereby she does not agree to call good evil and evil good"; she must always be careful not to break the bruised reed or to quench the dimly burning wick (cf. Is 42:3). As Paul VI wrote: "While it is an outstanding manifestation of charity towards souls to omit nothing from the saving doctrine of Christ, this must always be joined with tolerance and charity, as Christ himself showed by his conversations and dealings with men. Having come not to judge the world but to save it, he was uncompromisingly stern towards sin, but patient and rich in mercy towards sinners."
I have always presented the Church's teaching regarding homosexuality in a spirit of truth welded with charity, see here for example. However, homosexual activist John Hosty from Salem, Massachusetts has repeatedly referred to me as a "bigot" at the comments section of this Blog post.
I have never responded to Mr. Hosty's angry and accusatory comments. And I have no intention of doing so. I forgive them because I know where the hatred and lack of peace comes from. So filled with anger and hatred is Mr. Hosty that he has just left another comment at this Blog (which I have decided to keep but not to publish) in which he accuses me of having hatred in my heart while asserting that, "Christ never intended for you to be so wrapped up in fear that life becomes a burden rather than the blessing it should be....With all the wonders we have been given why would you want to waste so much time on this constant doom and gloom."
By this Mr. Hosty no doubt means that my adherence to the Church's Magisterial teaching regarding the sinfulness of homosexual acts constitutes "fear" (I'm surprised he didn't use the code-word "homophobia") and that reminding others of the sinfulness of homosexual acts constitutes "doom and gloom."
I don't see it that way. The Commandments of the Lord Jesus do not represent "doom and gloom" unless you are firmly committed toward rejecting them. Yes, Hell is doom and gloom. But fidelity to the Good News of Jesus Christ is not an attitude of fear and negativity. It is an attitude of hope. An attitude of love. We keep His Commandments because we love Him (John 14:15). And we are not ashamed of sharing His Good News with others nor will we cower in fear before those who seek to silence us with their intolerance.
The Dictatorship of Relativism would paint authentic Christians as "bigots." Click on the link above [ the title to this post] and ask yourself who the real bigots are.
Related reading: Fascism has come to Canada
The authentic Christian will reject the sophism of those who declare that anyone who does not buy into the Dictatorship of Relativism (a pluralism of opinions which rejects any and all absolute truth or even its possibility) is a "fanatic" or a "fundamentalist." On the contrary, the authentic Christian will defend the truth in a positive manner. And while respecting persons and living out charity, such a Christian will proclaim the truth without fear.
This is the mind of Christ. As Pope John Paul II taught us in his Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, No. 95:
"The Church's teaching, and in particular her firmness in defending the universal and permanent validity of the precepts prohibiting intrinsically evil acts, is not infrequently seen as the sign of an intolerable intransigence, particularly with regard to the enormously complex and conflict-filled situations present in the moral life of individuals and of society today; this intransigence is said to be in contrast with the Church's motherhood. The Church, one hears, is lacking in understanding and compassion. But the Church's motherhood can never in fact be separated from her teaching mission, which she must always carry out as the faithful Bride of Christ, who is the Truth in person. "As Teacher, she never tires of proclaiming the moral norm... The Church is in no way the author or the arbiter of this norm. In obedience to the truth which is Christ, whose image is reflected in the nature and dignity of the human person, the Church interprets the moral norm and proposes it to all people of good will, without concealing its demands of radicalness and perfection".
In fact, genuine understanding and compassion must mean love for the person, for his true good, for his authentic freedom. And this does not result, certainly, from concealing or weakening moral truth, but rather from proposing it in its most profound meaning as an outpouring of God's eternal Wisdom, which we have received in Christ, and as a service to man, to the growth of his freedom and to the attainment of his happiness.
Still, a clear and forceful presentation of moral truth can never be separated from a profound and heartfelt respect, born of that patient and trusting love which man always needs along his moral journey, a journey frequently wearisome on account of difficulties, weakness and painful situations. The Church can never renounce the "the principle of truth and consistency, whereby she does not agree to call good evil and evil good"; she must always be careful not to break the bruised reed or to quench the dimly burning wick (cf. Is 42:3). As Paul VI wrote: "While it is an outstanding manifestation of charity towards souls to omit nothing from the saving doctrine of Christ, this must always be joined with tolerance and charity, as Christ himself showed by his conversations and dealings with men. Having come not to judge the world but to save it, he was uncompromisingly stern towards sin, but patient and rich in mercy towards sinners."
I have always presented the Church's teaching regarding homosexuality in a spirit of truth welded with charity, see here for example. However, homosexual activist John Hosty from Salem, Massachusetts has repeatedly referred to me as a "bigot" at the comments section of this Blog post.
I have never responded to Mr. Hosty's angry and accusatory comments. And I have no intention of doing so. I forgive them because I know where the hatred and lack of peace comes from. So filled with anger and hatred is Mr. Hosty that he has just left another comment at this Blog (which I have decided to keep but not to publish) in which he accuses me of having hatred in my heart while asserting that, "Christ never intended for you to be so wrapped up in fear that life becomes a burden rather than the blessing it should be....With all the wonders we have been given why would you want to waste so much time on this constant doom and gloom."
By this Mr. Hosty no doubt means that my adherence to the Church's Magisterial teaching regarding the sinfulness of homosexual acts constitutes "fear" (I'm surprised he didn't use the code-word "homophobia") and that reminding others of the sinfulness of homosexual acts constitutes "doom and gloom."
I don't see it that way. The Commandments of the Lord Jesus do not represent "doom and gloom" unless you are firmly committed toward rejecting them. Yes, Hell is doom and gloom. But fidelity to the Good News of Jesus Christ is not an attitude of fear and negativity. It is an attitude of hope. An attitude of love. We keep His Commandments because we love Him (John 14:15). And we are not ashamed of sharing His Good News with others nor will we cower in fear before those who seek to silence us with their intolerance.
The Dictatorship of Relativism would paint authentic Christians as "bigots." Click on the link above [ the title to this post] and ask yourself who the real bigots are.
Related reading: Fascism has come to Canada
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
The Beast Like a Leopard...
“And out of the sea*, in my vision, a beast came up to land, with ten horns and seven heads, and on each of its ten horns a royal diadem; and the names it bore on its heads were names of blasphemy. This beast which I saw was like a leopard, but it had bear's feet and a lion's mouth. To it the dragon gave the strength that was his, and great dominion.” (Ap. 13:12.)
The following message from Our Lady was given to Fr. Gobbi of the Marian Movement of Priests on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, June 3, 1989:
“Beloved sons, today you are gathered in cenacles of prayer to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of your heavenly Mother. From every part of the world I have called you to consecrate yourselves to my Immaculate Heart, and you have responded with filial love and generosity. I have now formed for myself my army, with those children who have accepted my request and have listened to my voice.
The time has come when my Immaculate Heart must be glorified by the Church and by all humanity because, in these times of the apostasy, of the purification and of the great tribulation, my Immaculate Heart is the only refuge and the way which leads you to the God of salvation and of peace. Above all, my Immaculate Heart becomes today the sign of my sure victory, in the great struggle which is being fought out between the followers of the huge Red Dragon and the followers of the Woman Clothed with the Sun.
In this terrible struggle, there comes up from the sea, to the aid of the Dragon, a beast like a leopard. If the Red Dragon is Marxist atheism, the black beast is Freemasonry. The Dragon manifests himself in the force of his power; the black beast on the other hand acts in the shadow, keeps out of sight and hides himself in such a way as to enter in everywhere. He has the claws of a bear and the mouth of a lion, because he works everywhere with cunning and with the means of social communication, that is to say, through propaganda. The seven heads indicate the various Masonic lodges, which act everywhere in a subtle and dangerous way.
This black beast has ten horns and, on the horns, ten crowns, which are signs of dominion and royalty. Masonry rules and governs throughout the whole world by means of the ten horns. The horn, in the biblical world, has always been an instrument of amplification, a way of making one's voice better heard, a strong means of communication.
For this reason, God communicated his will to his people by means of ten horns which made his law known: the ten commandments. The one who accepts them and observes them walks in life along the road of the divine will, of joy and of peace. The one who does the will of the Father accepts the word of his Son and shares in the redemption accomplished by Him. Jesus gives to souls the very divine life, through grace, that He won for us through his sacrifice carried out on Calvary.
The grace of the redemption is communicated by means of the seven sacraments. With grace there becomes implanted in the soul the seeds of supernatural life which are the virtues. Among these, the most important are the three theological and the four cardinal virtues: faith, hope, charity, prudence, fortitude, justice and temperance. In the divine sun of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, these virtues germinate, grow, becomes more and more developed and thus lead the soul along the luminous way of love and of sanctity.
The aim of Masonry: blaspheming God
The task of the black beast, namely of Masonry, is that of fighting, in a subtle way, but tenaciously, to obstruct souls from traveling along this way, pointed out by the Father and the Son and lighted up by the gifts of the Spirit. In fact if the Red Dragon works to bring all humanity to do without God, to the denial of God, and therefore spreads the error of atheism, the aim of Masonry is not to deny God, but to blaspheme Him. The beast opens his mouth to utter blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his dwelling place, and against all those who dwell in heaven. The greatest blasphemy is that of denying the worship due to God alone by giving it to creatures and to Satan himself. This is why in these times, behind the perverse action of Freemasonry, there are being spread everywhere black masses and the satanic cult. Moreover Masonic acts, by every means, to prevent souls from being saved and thus it endeavors to bring to nothing the redemption accomplished by Christ.
If the Lord has communicated his law with the ten commandments, Freemasonry spreads everywhere, through the power of its ten horns, a law which is completely opposed to that of God.
To the commandment of the Lord: “You shall not have any other God but me,” it builds other false idols, before which many today prostrate themselves in adoration.
To the commandment : “You shall not take the name of God in vain,” it sets itself up in opposition by blaspheming God and his Christ, in many subtle and diabolical ways, even to reducing his Name indecorously to the level of a brand-name of an object of sale and of producing sacrilegious films concerning his life and his divine Person.
To the commandment: “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath Day,” it transforms the Sunday into a weekend, into a day of sports, of competitions and of entertainments.
To the commandment: “Honor your father and your mother,” it opposes a new model of family based on cohabitation, even between homosexuals.
To the commandment: “You shall not commit impure acts,” it justifies, exalts and propagates every form of impurity, even to the justification of acts against nature.
To the commandment: “You shall not kill,” it has succeeded in making abortion legal everywhere, in making euthanasia acceptable, and in causing respect due to the value of human life to all but disappear.
To the commandment: “You shall not steal,” it works to the end that theft, violence, kidnapping and robbery spread more and more.
To the commandment: “You shall not bear false witness,” it acts in such a way that the law of deceit, lying and duplicity becomes more and more propagated.
To the commandment: “You shall not covet the goods and the wife of another,” it works to corrupt in the depths of the conscience, betraying the mind and the heart of man.
In this way souls become driven along the perverse and wicked road of disobedience to the laws of the Lord, become submerged in sin and are thus prevented from receiving the gift of grace and of the life of God.
To the seven theological and cardinal virtues, which are the fruit of living in the grace of God, Freemasonry counters with the diffusion of the seven capital vices, which are the fruit of living habitually in the state of sin. To faith it opposes pride; to hope, lust; to charity, avarice; to prudence, anger; to fortitude, sloth; to justice, envy; to temperance, gluttony.
Whoever becomes a victim of the seven capital vices is gradually led to take away the worship that is due to God alone, in order to give it to false divinities, who are the very personification of all these vices. And in this consists the greatest and most horrible blasphemy. This is why on every head of the beats there is written a blasphemous name. Each Masonic lodge has the task of making a different divinity adored.
The first head bears the blasphemous name of pride, which opposes itself to the virtue of faith, and leads one to offer worship to the god of human reason and haughtiness, of technology and progress.
The second head bears the blasphemous name of lust, which opposes itself to the virtue of hope, and brings one to offer worship to the god of sexuality and of impurity.
The third head bears the blasphemous name of avarice, which opposes itself to the virtue of charity, and spreads everywhere the worship of the god of money.
The fourth head bears the blasphemous name of anger, which opposes itself to the virtue of prudence, and leads one to offer worship to the god of discord and division.
The fifth head bears the blasphemous name of sloth, which opposes itself to the virtue of fortitude, and disseminates the worship of the idol of fear of public opinion and of exploitation.
The sixth head bears the blasphemous name of envy, which opposes itself to the virtue of justice, and leads one to offer worship to the idol of violence and of war.
The seventh head beats the blasphemous name of gluttony, which opposes itself to the virtue of temperance, and leads one to offer worship to the so highly extolled idol of hedonism, of materialism and of pleasure.
The task of the Masonic lodges is that of working today, with great astuteness, to bring humanity everywhere to disdain the holy law of God, to work in open opposition to the ten commandments, and to take away the worship due to God alone in order to offer it to certain false idols which become extolled and adored by an ever increasing number of people: reason ,flesh, money, discord, domination, violence, pleasure. Thus souls are precipitated into the dark slavery of evil, of vice and of sin and, at the moment of death and of the judgment of God, into the pool of eternal fire which is hell.
Now you understand how, in these times, against the terrible and insidious attack of the black beast, namely of Masonry, my Immaculate Heart becomes your refuge and the sure road which brings you to God. In my Immaculate Heart there is delineated the tactic made use of by your heavenly Mother, to fight back against and to defeat the subtle plot made use of by the black beast.
For this reason I am training all my children to observe the ten commandments of God; to live the Gospel to the letter; to make frequent use of the sacraments, especially those of penance and eucharistic communion, as necessary helps in order to remain in the grace of God; to practice the virtues vigorously; to walk away along the path of goodness, of love, of purity and of holiness.
Thus I am making use of you, my little children who have consecrated yourselves to me, to unmask all these subtle snares which the black beast sets for you and to make futile in the end the great attack which Masonry has launched today against Christ and his Church. And in the end, especially in his greatest defeat, there will appear in all its splendor, the triumph of my Immaculate Heart in the world.”
* Many prophecy scholars agree that the sea represents the world of politics, which is always tumultuous and the ten horns and seven heads are also seen by many as a symbol of the European Union (a revived Roman Empire). It is believed by many that the Man of Sin will be received first by this new European Union.
Interestingly, Paul-Henri Spaak, who served as Belgian Prime Minister and gained international prominence in 1945 when he was elected chairman of the first session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, once said:
"We do not want another committee, we have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people, and to lift us out of the economic morass in which we are sinking. Send us such a man and be he God or the Devil, we will receive him."
Related reading: http://www.spiritdaily.net/New-world-order/microchip.htm
The following message from Our Lady was given to Fr. Gobbi of the Marian Movement of Priests on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, June 3, 1989:
“Beloved sons, today you are gathered in cenacles of prayer to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of your heavenly Mother. From every part of the world I have called you to consecrate yourselves to my Immaculate Heart, and you have responded with filial love and generosity. I have now formed for myself my army, with those children who have accepted my request and have listened to my voice.
The time has come when my Immaculate Heart must be glorified by the Church and by all humanity because, in these times of the apostasy, of the purification and of the great tribulation, my Immaculate Heart is the only refuge and the way which leads you to the God of salvation and of peace. Above all, my Immaculate Heart becomes today the sign of my sure victory, in the great struggle which is being fought out between the followers of the huge Red Dragon and the followers of the Woman Clothed with the Sun.
In this terrible struggle, there comes up from the sea, to the aid of the Dragon, a beast like a leopard. If the Red Dragon is Marxist atheism, the black beast is Freemasonry. The Dragon manifests himself in the force of his power; the black beast on the other hand acts in the shadow, keeps out of sight and hides himself in such a way as to enter in everywhere. He has the claws of a bear and the mouth of a lion, because he works everywhere with cunning and with the means of social communication, that is to say, through propaganda. The seven heads indicate the various Masonic lodges, which act everywhere in a subtle and dangerous way.
This black beast has ten horns and, on the horns, ten crowns, which are signs of dominion and royalty. Masonry rules and governs throughout the whole world by means of the ten horns. The horn, in the biblical world, has always been an instrument of amplification, a way of making one's voice better heard, a strong means of communication.
For this reason, God communicated his will to his people by means of ten horns which made his law known: the ten commandments. The one who accepts them and observes them walks in life along the road of the divine will, of joy and of peace. The one who does the will of the Father accepts the word of his Son and shares in the redemption accomplished by Him. Jesus gives to souls the very divine life, through grace, that He won for us through his sacrifice carried out on Calvary.
The grace of the redemption is communicated by means of the seven sacraments. With grace there becomes implanted in the soul the seeds of supernatural life which are the virtues. Among these, the most important are the three theological and the four cardinal virtues: faith, hope, charity, prudence, fortitude, justice and temperance. In the divine sun of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, these virtues germinate, grow, becomes more and more developed and thus lead the soul along the luminous way of love and of sanctity.
The aim of Masonry: blaspheming God
The task of the black beast, namely of Masonry, is that of fighting, in a subtle way, but tenaciously, to obstruct souls from traveling along this way, pointed out by the Father and the Son and lighted up by the gifts of the Spirit. In fact if the Red Dragon works to bring all humanity to do without God, to the denial of God, and therefore spreads the error of atheism, the aim of Masonry is not to deny God, but to blaspheme Him. The beast opens his mouth to utter blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his dwelling place, and against all those who dwell in heaven. The greatest blasphemy is that of denying the worship due to God alone by giving it to creatures and to Satan himself. This is why in these times, behind the perverse action of Freemasonry, there are being spread everywhere black masses and the satanic cult. Moreover Masonic acts, by every means, to prevent souls from being saved and thus it endeavors to bring to nothing the redemption accomplished by Christ.
If the Lord has communicated his law with the ten commandments, Freemasonry spreads everywhere, through the power of its ten horns, a law which is completely opposed to that of God.
To the commandment of the Lord: “You shall not have any other God but me,” it builds other false idols, before which many today prostrate themselves in adoration.
To the commandment : “You shall not take the name of God in vain,” it sets itself up in opposition by blaspheming God and his Christ, in many subtle and diabolical ways, even to reducing his Name indecorously to the level of a brand-name of an object of sale and of producing sacrilegious films concerning his life and his divine Person.
To the commandment: “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath Day,” it transforms the Sunday into a weekend, into a day of sports, of competitions and of entertainments.
To the commandment: “Honor your father and your mother,” it opposes a new model of family based on cohabitation, even between homosexuals.
To the commandment: “You shall not commit impure acts,” it justifies, exalts and propagates every form of impurity, even to the justification of acts against nature.
To the commandment: “You shall not kill,” it has succeeded in making abortion legal everywhere, in making euthanasia acceptable, and in causing respect due to the value of human life to all but disappear.
To the commandment: “You shall not steal,” it works to the end that theft, violence, kidnapping and robbery spread more and more.
To the commandment: “You shall not bear false witness,” it acts in such a way that the law of deceit, lying and duplicity becomes more and more propagated.
To the commandment: “You shall not covet the goods and the wife of another,” it works to corrupt in the depths of the conscience, betraying the mind and the heart of man.
In this way souls become driven along the perverse and wicked road of disobedience to the laws of the Lord, become submerged in sin and are thus prevented from receiving the gift of grace and of the life of God.
To the seven theological and cardinal virtues, which are the fruit of living in the grace of God, Freemasonry counters with the diffusion of the seven capital vices, which are the fruit of living habitually in the state of sin. To faith it opposes pride; to hope, lust; to charity, avarice; to prudence, anger; to fortitude, sloth; to justice, envy; to temperance, gluttony.
Whoever becomes a victim of the seven capital vices is gradually led to take away the worship that is due to God alone, in order to give it to false divinities, who are the very personification of all these vices. And in this consists the greatest and most horrible blasphemy. This is why on every head of the beats there is written a blasphemous name. Each Masonic lodge has the task of making a different divinity adored.
The first head bears the blasphemous name of pride, which opposes itself to the virtue of faith, and leads one to offer worship to the god of human reason and haughtiness, of technology and progress.
The second head bears the blasphemous name of lust, which opposes itself to the virtue of hope, and brings one to offer worship to the god of sexuality and of impurity.
The third head bears the blasphemous name of avarice, which opposes itself to the virtue of charity, and spreads everywhere the worship of the god of money.
The fourth head bears the blasphemous name of anger, which opposes itself to the virtue of prudence, and leads one to offer worship to the god of discord and division.
The fifth head bears the blasphemous name of sloth, which opposes itself to the virtue of fortitude, and disseminates the worship of the idol of fear of public opinion and of exploitation.
The sixth head bears the blasphemous name of envy, which opposes itself to the virtue of justice, and leads one to offer worship to the idol of violence and of war.
The seventh head beats the blasphemous name of gluttony, which opposes itself to the virtue of temperance, and leads one to offer worship to the so highly extolled idol of hedonism, of materialism and of pleasure.
The task of the Masonic lodges is that of working today, with great astuteness, to bring humanity everywhere to disdain the holy law of God, to work in open opposition to the ten commandments, and to take away the worship due to God alone in order to offer it to certain false idols which become extolled and adored by an ever increasing number of people: reason ,flesh, money, discord, domination, violence, pleasure. Thus souls are precipitated into the dark slavery of evil, of vice and of sin and, at the moment of death and of the judgment of God, into the pool of eternal fire which is hell.
Now you understand how, in these times, against the terrible and insidious attack of the black beast, namely of Masonry, my Immaculate Heart becomes your refuge and the sure road which brings you to God. In my Immaculate Heart there is delineated the tactic made use of by your heavenly Mother, to fight back against and to defeat the subtle plot made use of by the black beast.
For this reason I am training all my children to observe the ten commandments of God; to live the Gospel to the letter; to make frequent use of the sacraments, especially those of penance and eucharistic communion, as necessary helps in order to remain in the grace of God; to practice the virtues vigorously; to walk away along the path of goodness, of love, of purity and of holiness.
Thus I am making use of you, my little children who have consecrated yourselves to me, to unmask all these subtle snares which the black beast sets for you and to make futile in the end the great attack which Masonry has launched today against Christ and his Church. And in the end, especially in his greatest defeat, there will appear in all its splendor, the triumph of my Immaculate Heart in the world.”
* Many prophecy scholars agree that the sea represents the world of politics, which is always tumultuous and the ten horns and seven heads are also seen by many as a symbol of the European Union (a revived Roman Empire). It is believed by many that the Man of Sin will be received first by this new European Union.
Interestingly, Paul-Henri Spaak, who served as Belgian Prime Minister and gained international prominence in 1945 when he was elected chairman of the first session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, once said:
"We do not want another committee, we have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people, and to lift us out of the economic morass in which we are sinking. Send us such a man and be he God or the Devil, we will receive him."
Related reading: http://www.spiritdaily.net/New-world-order/microchip.htm
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
A slippery slope of perversion...
In accord with Catholic teaching (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2358 for example), we must avoid any and all hatred of homosexual persons. This does not mean, however, that we are called to accept homosexual acts (which the same Catechism refers to as acts of "grave depravity" - 2357) or that we are to overlook that hatred of Christians or Christianity which has manifested itself in rather significant portions of the homosexual community. Not every homosexual person engages in hatred or intolerance towards Christians or Christianity in general. But many do.
-Paul.
PROPHECY OF ST. NILUS
Realizing that St. Nilus is scarcely known to a large part of the Church, a brief sketch of his life, taken from the Catholic Encyclopedia (1911 copyright edition), is related below:
St. Nilus was one of the many disciples and fervent defenders of St. John Chrysostom. He was an officer at the Court of Constantinople, married, with two sons.While St. John Chrysostom was patriarch, before his exile (398-403), he directed Nilus in the study of Scripture and in works of piety. St. Nilus left his wife and one son and took the other, Theodulos, with him to Mt. Sinai to be a monk. The Bishop of Eleusa ordained both St. Nilus and his son to the priesthood.
The mother and other son also embraced the religious life in Egypt. From his monastery at Sinai, St. Nilus was a well-known person throughout the Eastern Church; by his writings and correspondence he played an important part in the history of his time. He was known as a theologian, Biblical scholar and ascetic writer, so people of all kinds, from the emperor down wrote to consult him. His numerous works, including a multitude of letters, consist of denunciations of heresy, paganism, abuses of discipline and crimes, of rules and principles of asceticism, especially maxims about the religious life. He warns and threatens people in high places, abbots and bishops, governors and princes, even the emperor himself, without fear. He kept up a correspondence with Gaina, a leader of the Goths, endeavoring to convert him from Arianism. He denounced vigorously the persecution of St. John Chrysostom both to the Emperor Arcadius and to his courtiers.
St. Nilus must be counted as one of the leading ascetic writers of the fifth century. His feast is kept on November 12th in the Byzantine Calendar; he is commemorated also in the Roman Martyrology on the same date. St. Nilus probably died around the year 430 as there is no evidence of his life after that.
Now the prophecy:
"After the year 1900, toward the middle of the 20th century, the people of that time will become unrecognizable. When the time for the Advent of the Antichrist approaches, people's minds will grow cloudy from carnal passions, and dishonor and lawlessness will grow stronger. Then the world will become unrecognizable. People's appearances will change, and it will be impossible to distinguish men from women due to their shamelessness in dress and style of hair. These people will be cruel and will be like wild animals because of the temptations of the Antichrist.
There will be no respect for parents and elders, love will disappear, and Christian pastors, bishops, and priests will become vain men, completely failing to distinguish the right-hand way from the left. At that time the morals and traditions of Christians and of the Church will change. People will abandon modesty, and dissipation will reign. Falsehood and greed will attain great proportions, and woe to those who pile up treasures. Lust, adultery, homosexuality, secret deeds and murder will rule in society. At that future time, due to the power of such great crimes and licentiousness, people will be deprived of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which they received in Holy Baptism and equally of remorse.
The Churches of God will be deprived of God-fearing and pious pastors, and woe to the Christians remaining in the world at that time; they will completely lose their faith because they will lack the opportunity of seeing the light of knowledge from anyone at all. Then they will separate themselves out of the world in holy refuges in search of lightening their spiritual sufferings, but everywhere they will meet obstacles and constraints. And all this will result from the fact that the Antichrist wants to be Lord over everything and become the ruler of the whole universe, and he will produce miracles and fantastic signs. He will also give depraved wisdom to an unhappy man so that he will discover a way by which one man can carry on a conversation with another from one end of the earth to the other. At that time men will also fly through the air like birds and descend to the bottom of the sea like fish. And when they have achieved all this, these unhappy people will spend their lives in comfort without knowing, poor souls, that it is deceit of the Antichrist.
And, the impious one! – he will so complete science with vanity that it will go off the right path and lead people to lose faith in the existence of God in three hypostases.Then the All-good God will see the downfall of the human race and will shorten the days for the sake of those few who are being saved, because the enemy wants to lead even the chosen into temptation, if that is possible... then the sword of chastisement will suddenly appear and kill the perverter and his servants."
-Paul.
PROPHECY OF ST. NILUS
Realizing that St. Nilus is scarcely known to a large part of the Church, a brief sketch of his life, taken from the Catholic Encyclopedia (1911 copyright edition), is related below:
St. Nilus was one of the many disciples and fervent defenders of St. John Chrysostom. He was an officer at the Court of Constantinople, married, with two sons.While St. John Chrysostom was patriarch, before his exile (398-403), he directed Nilus in the study of Scripture and in works of piety. St. Nilus left his wife and one son and took the other, Theodulos, with him to Mt. Sinai to be a monk. The Bishop of Eleusa ordained both St. Nilus and his son to the priesthood.
The mother and other son also embraced the religious life in Egypt. From his monastery at Sinai, St. Nilus was a well-known person throughout the Eastern Church; by his writings and correspondence he played an important part in the history of his time. He was known as a theologian, Biblical scholar and ascetic writer, so people of all kinds, from the emperor down wrote to consult him. His numerous works, including a multitude of letters, consist of denunciations of heresy, paganism, abuses of discipline and crimes, of rules and principles of asceticism, especially maxims about the religious life. He warns and threatens people in high places, abbots and bishops, governors and princes, even the emperor himself, without fear. He kept up a correspondence with Gaina, a leader of the Goths, endeavoring to convert him from Arianism. He denounced vigorously the persecution of St. John Chrysostom both to the Emperor Arcadius and to his courtiers.
St. Nilus must be counted as one of the leading ascetic writers of the fifth century. His feast is kept on November 12th in the Byzantine Calendar; he is commemorated also in the Roman Martyrology on the same date. St. Nilus probably died around the year 430 as there is no evidence of his life after that.
Now the prophecy:
"After the year 1900, toward the middle of the 20th century, the people of that time will become unrecognizable. When the time for the Advent of the Antichrist approaches, people's minds will grow cloudy from carnal passions, and dishonor and lawlessness will grow stronger. Then the world will become unrecognizable. People's appearances will change, and it will be impossible to distinguish men from women due to their shamelessness in dress and style of hair. These people will be cruel and will be like wild animals because of the temptations of the Antichrist.
There will be no respect for parents and elders, love will disappear, and Christian pastors, bishops, and priests will become vain men, completely failing to distinguish the right-hand way from the left. At that time the morals and traditions of Christians and of the Church will change. People will abandon modesty, and dissipation will reign. Falsehood and greed will attain great proportions, and woe to those who pile up treasures. Lust, adultery, homosexuality, secret deeds and murder will rule in society. At that future time, due to the power of such great crimes and licentiousness, people will be deprived of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which they received in Holy Baptism and equally of remorse.
The Churches of God will be deprived of God-fearing and pious pastors, and woe to the Christians remaining in the world at that time; they will completely lose their faith because they will lack the opportunity of seeing the light of knowledge from anyone at all. Then they will separate themselves out of the world in holy refuges in search of lightening their spiritual sufferings, but everywhere they will meet obstacles and constraints. And all this will result from the fact that the Antichrist wants to be Lord over everything and become the ruler of the whole universe, and he will produce miracles and fantastic signs. He will also give depraved wisdom to an unhappy man so that he will discover a way by which one man can carry on a conversation with another from one end of the earth to the other. At that time men will also fly through the air like birds and descend to the bottom of the sea like fish. And when they have achieved all this, these unhappy people will spend their lives in comfort without knowing, poor souls, that it is deceit of the Antichrist.
And, the impious one! – he will so complete science with vanity that it will go off the right path and lead people to lose faith in the existence of God in three hypostases.Then the All-good God will see the downfall of the human race and will shorten the days for the sake of those few who are being saved, because the enemy wants to lead even the chosen into temptation, if that is possible... then the sword of chastisement will suddenly appear and kill the perverter and his servants."
Jewish Holocaust Victim: Equating Homosexual and Jewish Persecution: "A Scandal."
"The latest push to portray active homosexuals as victims of systematic Nazi attack contrasted with a recently growing body of evidence indicating wide-scale Nazi embrace of homosexuality.
In a 2006 study, renowned expert on sexuality Judith A. Reisman revealed that while Hitler's "Mein Kampf" degraded Jews, Marxists, Negroes, Chinese, Arabs, women, and Eastern Europeans, the Fuhrer had no negative remarks for homosexuality. Instead, Hitler chose actively homosexual men as influential youth leaders.
According to Reisman, "The Pink Swastika" refuted the comparison between Nazi persecution of homosexuals and of Jews. On Wednesday, Gutman noted that homosexual victims were "exclusively German." The Jewish intellectual added that many persecuted homosexuals were themselves Nazis and were "victims of internal political battles within the NSDAP [Hitler's Nazi Party]."
Source: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08060209.html
Related reading: http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/05/homosexual-agenda-or-homosexual.html
Most relevant: http://www.leaderu.com/jhs/lively.html
In a 2006 study, renowned expert on sexuality Judith A. Reisman revealed that while Hitler's "Mein Kampf" degraded Jews, Marxists, Negroes, Chinese, Arabs, women, and Eastern Europeans, the Fuhrer had no negative remarks for homosexuality. Instead, Hitler chose actively homosexual men as influential youth leaders.
According to Reisman, "The Pink Swastika" refuted the comparison between Nazi persecution of homosexuals and of Jews. On Wednesday, Gutman noted that homosexual victims were "exclusively German." The Jewish intellectual added that many persecuted homosexuals were themselves Nazis and were "victims of internal political battles within the NSDAP [Hitler's Nazi Party]."
Source: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08060209.html
Related reading: http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/05/homosexual-agenda-or-homosexual.html
Most relevant: http://www.leaderu.com/jhs/lively.html
Monday, June 02, 2008
Signs of the times...
Leader of Gobbi movement explains prophecies and foresees anti-christ
by Michael H. Brown
http://www.spiritdaily.com/
We called Father Albert G. Roux, national director for the Marian Movement of Priests, for a story we'll be carrying Wednesday on the prophecies of another priest, Italian locutionist Stefano Gobbi (whose literature the Marian Movement distributes), and Father Roux made some remarkable comments. Among them was his speculation about the anti-christ. Father Roux believes the "man of iniquity" will enter the scene only after the death of John Paul II.
"The Blessed Mother keeps saying that when the Pope dies the Church will be projected into a dense darkness and it's going to be a great confusion, where people will be dropping out of the Church," said Father Roux of St. Francis, Maine. "There is a man of iniquity who is supposed to be entering the Church. To me that is the anti-christ and his false prophet, and my understanding is that the false prophet will be a false pope who will empty the Church of her spirituality and her doctrine, and will create the abomination of desolation by declaring that the Gospels are not historical and that the divinity of Christ is questionable and the Eucharist is just a symbol. Then he's going to raise the anti-christ, which is going to happen before Jesus's return."
Many who follow Father Gobbi believe that such apocalyptic events will conclude by the end of the year, but Father Roux said this is unlikely, since much must occur leading up to it. He said Gobbi's prophecy that the "triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart" would occur by the year 2000 pertained not to apocalyptic events but to completion of the Virgin's spiritual preparation for events that will occur in the future.
For those of you who aren't Catholic or aren't familiar with Father Gobbi, he's a 70-year-old priest from Milan who allegedly began to receive messages from the Virgin Mary in 1972 while praying in the Chapel of the Apparitions at Fatima, Portugal. The spread of his locutions (whereby a voice is heard, as opposed to a full-scale apparition) took the world by storm in the 1980s, with tens of thousands of priests joining what is known as the Marian Movement of Priests. Father Roux is in charge of the American chapter, which has nearly 4,000 clergy and 60,000 lay persons.
In 1996 Father Gobbi announced a message stating that the triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart -- which many interpreted as being the end times -- would occur by the end of the millennial year.
The messages have received imprimaturs but not formal Church approval as supernatural events. Like all locutions, there are parts that have been hotly debated, which we'll discuss in the Wednesday article.
"This year the Jubilee Year indulgence seems to be a last opportunity for the great mercy and it's a time of purification," said Father Roux. "The Holy Father seems to be thinking like the messages Our Blessed Mother has been saying to Father Gobbi and he's preparing the Church for that. He is calling us to come back to the sacrament of Confession and the Holy Eucharist that will purify us and make us grow. Our Blessed Mother says that by the end of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, which to me is Christmas, the triumph will have occurred, but we need to understand what that means. The triumph of Mary in my understanding is that whatever mission was given to her by the Father in the preparation of the people for the coming of Jesus will be practically accomplished, and the mission she has been assigned by the Father was to bring back people to Jesus, especially those who have been baptized, members of His mystical body. The anti-christ can not come on the public scene until John Paul dies. Something is holding the anti-christ from coming out and I believe this is the papacy of John Paul II. John Paul is not afraid of anyone and he would face up to the anti-christ and unmask him publicly and [the anti-christ] would lose his clout. He would be humiliated, and Satan is not about to let this happen, so he's got to wait till John Paul dies for the anti-christ to appear on the public scene."
"It's very close because we know John Paul cannot live much longer," continued Father Roux. "I think the United Nations is preparing* for the anti-christ's coming to the public scene. He's going to govern the world through the United Nations. Now is the time that Jesus is separating the goats from the sheep. What He's going to do is send Mary to advise and to send events for us to make decisions when we face them. Either we stand on the right hand of Jesus or the left hand side. When Jesus comes in glory He's going to destroy His enemies and then He's going to recreate the earthly paradise that Adam and Eve had. Those on the right hand side will go into this new promised land."
* Blair calls for religions to unite:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2050848/Tony-Blair-on-mission-to-'unite-religions'.html
Saturday, May 31, 2008
New Life, new vitality?
In a May 23rd editorial published in The Catholic Free Press which touched upon the recent announcement of parish closings throughout the Diocese of Worcester, readers were told that, "The Catholic Church is not dead or dying, but many of its members have moved to the suburbs." This almost sounds like the punchline to a terrible joke. While it is certainly true that the Church herself will never perish, Our Lord's promise in Sacred Scripture that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16: 18) is no guarantee that individual dioceses will continue to survive or that the faith will not be extinguished in certain regions.
How do we explain the lack of interest which is behind the intended closure [read here] of the Calvary Retreat Center in Shrewsbury? What excuse will be manufactured to dismiss this troubling development? Might there not be another explanation for the crisis which the Church presently finds itself in? There is. But this explanation is largely rejected by those who refuse to acknowledge the root of this present crisis.
On September 8, 1985, Our Lady told Fr. Gobbi of the Marian Movement of Priests: "The cause of such a vast diffusion of errors and of this great apostasy rests with unfaithful pastors. They remain silent when they should speak with courage to condemn error and to defend the truth. They do not intervene when they should be unmasking the rapacious wolves who, hidden beneath the clothing of lambs, have insinuated themselves into the flock of Christ. They are mute dogs who allow their flocks to be torn to pieces..."
The same editorial which appeared in The Catholic Free Press said that, "We the people...make up the Church...as we share, we can contribute to a revival which can fill the pews" and, "..the Body of Christ is healthiest when it has all its members, you included. Maybe, as you share your time, talent and treasure, you will help keep another parish from closing...More importantly, maybe you'll bring still more people to Christ and his Body - those who never knew him, those who've wandered away, or members of the next generation just waiting to learn of him from your lips and lives."
Nice words. But we must give more than lip service to them. Just recently, I attended a parish meeting in Fitchburg where I proposed the idea of creating a parish website with the aim of reaching out to young people [who spend much time on the internet] and those who have "wandered away" from the Church. The laity in attendance all applauded at this suggestion. The pastor asked me whether I would be willing to undertake such a project. I immediately responded in the affirmative and was given the green light to proceed with the pastor having assured all those present that he doesn't "micro-manage" when he delegates a project to be accomplished. Long story short, when certain individuals at this parish learned of my orthodoxy and commitment to the Magisterial teaching of the Church, a meeting was held [one which I was not invited to attend], the project was quickly scrapped and I was told in an email. When I wrote the pastor about this and a retired Deacon as well, I received no response. Charity is obviously a strong suit in their brand of Catholicism.
And two weeks ago today I wrote the following respectful letter to His Excellency, The Most Reverend Robert J. McManus, and received absolutely no response whatsoever:
May 16, 2008
The Most Rev. Robert J. McManus
Bishop of Worcester
49 Elm Street
Worcester, Ma 01609
Your Excellency,
I am writing to you because every week The Catholic Free Press publishes a calendar of events which are held throughout the diocese. According to the publication, "The Catholic Free Press welcomes information on events from parish and diocesan groups for inclusion in the Diocesan Diary."
I belong to a Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle which is held every Thursday at 3 PM at ----------- in Fitchburg. As members of the Marian Movement, we commit ourselves to the experience of a life totally entrusted to Our Lady so that we may be assisted by her to remain faithful to our baptismal consecration thereby becoming witnesses of communion and unity, constantly striving for conversion through prayer and penance.
In Redemptoris Mater, No. 28, Pope John Paul II reminded us that, "As the Council says, ‘Mary figured profoundly in the history of salvation....Hence when she is being preached and venerated, she summons the faithful to her Son and his Sacrifice, and to love for the Father.’ For this reason, Mary’s faith, according to the Church’s apostolic witness, in some way continues to become the faith of the pilgrim People of God: the faith of individuals and communities, of places and gatherings, and of the various groups existing in the Church. It is a faith that is passed on simultaneously through both the mind and the heart. It is gained or regained continually through prayer. Therefore, ‘the Church in her apostolic work also rightly looks to her who brought forth Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin, so that through the Church Christ may be born and increase in the hearts of the faithful also.’" (Citing Lumen Gentium, No. 65).
And Mary is preached and venerated in a Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle. As explained in the book "To the Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons," "The MMP is a little seed planted by Our Lady in the garden of the Church....It is a work of love which the Immaculate Heart of Mary is stirring up in the Church today, to help all her children to live, with trust and filial hope, the painful moments of the purification." (XVI).
Can there be any doubt, Your Excellency, that we are living in difficult and painful times, times of increasing darkness? Witness recent events in California regarding same-sex "marriage."
Which brings me to the point of this letter. In the past, there have been attempts to have the Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle included in the Diocesan Diary but these have not been successful. And one has to wonder why this is. Is it that the messages contained in the book "To the Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons" are considered somehow dangerous or inappropriate? If so, it should be noted that His Excellency The Most Rev. Donald W. Montrose, Bishop of Stockton, has granted the book the Imprimatur signaling that there is nothing contrary to faith or morals in the manuscript.
Is it devotion to the Holy Rosary which is considered problematic? Just last week, our Holy Father Benedict XVI said that: "Today we together confirm that the holy Rosary is not some pious practice relegated to the past, a prayer of distant times to be thought of nostalgically. Indeed, the Rosary is experiencing what is almost a new springtime.."
And, speaking of those who attempt to dissuade others from praying the Rosary or who attempt to hinder the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, St. Louis Marie de Montfort has this to say: "It is very wicked indeed and unfair to other souls to hinder the progress of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. Almighty God has severely punished many of those who have been so benighted as to scorn the Confraternity and who have sought to destroy it. Even though God has set His seal of approval on the Holy Rosary by many miracles, and in spite of the Papal Bulls that have been written approving it, there are only too many people who are against the Holy Rosary today. These freethinkers and those who scorn religion either condemn the Rosary or try to turn others away from it. It is easy to see that they have absorbed the poison of Hell and that they are inspired by the Devil - for nobody can condemn devotion to the Holy Rosary without condemning all that is most holy in the Catholic Faith, such as the Lord’s Prayer, the Angelic Salutation and the mysteries of the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and of His Holy Mother...to dissuade others from joining the Rosary Confraternity is to be an enemy of souls because the Rosary is a sure means of curing oneself of sin and of embracing a Christian life. Saint Bonaventure said (in his Psalter) that whoever neglected Our Lady would perish in his sins and would be damned: ‘He who neglects her will die in his sins.’ If such is the penalty for neglecting her, what must be the punishment in store for those who actually turn others away from their devotions.’" (The Secret of the Rosary, PP. 125-126).
It is tragic, Your Excellency, that The Catholic Free Press has published (just recently *) an article written by a Jesuit priest extolling VOTF (a known dissent group) as a positive good while advocating "structural change" in the Church founded by Jesus Christ. Many Bishops have actually referred to VOTF as "anti-Catholic." VOTF, unlike the Marian Movement of Priests, promotes dissent from the authoritative Magisterial teaching of the Church. This is a problem because, as Pope John Paul II reminded us in his Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, No. 113, "Dissent...is opposed to ecclesial communion and to a correct understanding of the hierarchical constitution of the People of God."
By contrast, the MMP promotes communion and unity with the Church and a total obedience and filial devotion to the Church’s hierarchy.
It is my hope that The Catholic Free Press will include the Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle which is held at ---------- in Fitchburg in its Diocesan Diary - Calendar of Events. It is impossible to understand why devotion to Mary and obedience to the Church’s hierarchy should be relegated to the margins while dissent groups such as VOTF are so prominently promoted and extolled as a positive good.
Asking Your Excellency’s Blessing,
I am, Yours Respectfully
Paul Anthony Melanson
* http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-must-change-structure-of-church-of.html
The Catholic Free Press editorial mentioned how, "...the little ones Jesus refused to exclude transform our parishes as they populate them." How true. Why then should Our Lady's "little ones" be excluded from parish life? Why should they be persecuted even within the Church? Why should the Marian Movement of Priests - made up of Our Lady's little cohort - be persecuted and excluded within the Church? Because members of the MMP pray an Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in which they promise the Immaculata, "..to be united with the Holy Father, with the hierarchy and with our priests, in order thus to set up a barrier to the growing confrontation directed against the Magisterium, that threatens the very foundation of the Church."
In the words of Fr. Livio Fanzaga, "Only the 'little flock' headed by Peter will remain faithful [during the time of Antichrist]...the greater the Antichrist's and Satan's power of seduction, the greater the false splendor of human progress [read new life and vitality]...."
Fr. Fanzaga goes on to explain that in those times nobody will be able to resist the seduction except those who stand with the Holy Father. He writes, "Only those in the Catholic Church who cling to the rock [Matthew 16:18], against which the tides of evil break, will be able to preserve the faith." The Papacy represents the supernatural principle. It dares to oppose the new humanitarian religion of Antichrist [read here]. This is why it is scorned. This is why Our Lady's little cohort is scorned. Because this little cohort stands with the Holy Father against the humanitarian religion of the Son of Perdition, the Prince of this world.
How do we explain the lack of interest which is behind the intended closure [read here] of the Calvary Retreat Center in Shrewsbury? What excuse will be manufactured to dismiss this troubling development? Might there not be another explanation for the crisis which the Church presently finds itself in? There is. But this explanation is largely rejected by those who refuse to acknowledge the root of this present crisis.
On September 8, 1985, Our Lady told Fr. Gobbi of the Marian Movement of Priests: "The cause of such a vast diffusion of errors and of this great apostasy rests with unfaithful pastors. They remain silent when they should speak with courage to condemn error and to defend the truth. They do not intervene when they should be unmasking the rapacious wolves who, hidden beneath the clothing of lambs, have insinuated themselves into the flock of Christ. They are mute dogs who allow their flocks to be torn to pieces..."
The same editorial which appeared in The Catholic Free Press said that, "We the people...make up the Church...as we share, we can contribute to a revival which can fill the pews" and, "..the Body of Christ is healthiest when it has all its members, you included. Maybe, as you share your time, talent and treasure, you will help keep another parish from closing...More importantly, maybe you'll bring still more people to Christ and his Body - those who never knew him, those who've wandered away, or members of the next generation just waiting to learn of him from your lips and lives."
Nice words. But we must give more than lip service to them. Just recently, I attended a parish meeting in Fitchburg where I proposed the idea of creating a parish website with the aim of reaching out to young people [who spend much time on the internet] and those who have "wandered away" from the Church. The laity in attendance all applauded at this suggestion. The pastor asked me whether I would be willing to undertake such a project. I immediately responded in the affirmative and was given the green light to proceed with the pastor having assured all those present that he doesn't "micro-manage" when he delegates a project to be accomplished. Long story short, when certain individuals at this parish learned of my orthodoxy and commitment to the Magisterial teaching of the Church, a meeting was held [one which I was not invited to attend], the project was quickly scrapped and I was told in an email. When I wrote the pastor about this and a retired Deacon as well, I received no response. Charity is obviously a strong suit in their brand of Catholicism.
And two weeks ago today I wrote the following respectful letter to His Excellency, The Most Reverend Robert J. McManus, and received absolutely no response whatsoever:
May 16, 2008
The Most Rev. Robert J. McManus
Bishop of Worcester
49 Elm Street
Worcester, Ma 01609
Your Excellency,
I am writing to you because every week The Catholic Free Press publishes a calendar of events which are held throughout the diocese. According to the publication, "The Catholic Free Press welcomes information on events from parish and diocesan groups for inclusion in the Diocesan Diary."
I belong to a Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle which is held every Thursday at 3 PM at ----------- in Fitchburg. As members of the Marian Movement, we commit ourselves to the experience of a life totally entrusted to Our Lady so that we may be assisted by her to remain faithful to our baptismal consecration thereby becoming witnesses of communion and unity, constantly striving for conversion through prayer and penance.
In Redemptoris Mater, No. 28, Pope John Paul II reminded us that, "As the Council says, ‘Mary figured profoundly in the history of salvation....Hence when she is being preached and venerated, she summons the faithful to her Son and his Sacrifice, and to love for the Father.’ For this reason, Mary’s faith, according to the Church’s apostolic witness, in some way continues to become the faith of the pilgrim People of God: the faith of individuals and communities, of places and gatherings, and of the various groups existing in the Church. It is a faith that is passed on simultaneously through both the mind and the heart. It is gained or regained continually through prayer. Therefore, ‘the Church in her apostolic work also rightly looks to her who brought forth Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin, so that through the Church Christ may be born and increase in the hearts of the faithful also.’" (Citing Lumen Gentium, No. 65).
And Mary is preached and venerated in a Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle. As explained in the book "To the Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons," "The MMP is a little seed planted by Our Lady in the garden of the Church....It is a work of love which the Immaculate Heart of Mary is stirring up in the Church today, to help all her children to live, with trust and filial hope, the painful moments of the purification." (XVI).
Can there be any doubt, Your Excellency, that we are living in difficult and painful times, times of increasing darkness? Witness recent events in California regarding same-sex "marriage."
Which brings me to the point of this letter. In the past, there have been attempts to have the Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle included in the Diocesan Diary but these have not been successful. And one has to wonder why this is. Is it that the messages contained in the book "To the Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons" are considered somehow dangerous or inappropriate? If so, it should be noted that His Excellency The Most Rev. Donald W. Montrose, Bishop of Stockton, has granted the book the Imprimatur signaling that there is nothing contrary to faith or morals in the manuscript.
Is it devotion to the Holy Rosary which is considered problematic? Just last week, our Holy Father Benedict XVI said that: "Today we together confirm that the holy Rosary is not some pious practice relegated to the past, a prayer of distant times to be thought of nostalgically. Indeed, the Rosary is experiencing what is almost a new springtime.."
And, speaking of those who attempt to dissuade others from praying the Rosary or who attempt to hinder the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, St. Louis Marie de Montfort has this to say: "It is very wicked indeed and unfair to other souls to hinder the progress of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. Almighty God has severely punished many of those who have been so benighted as to scorn the Confraternity and who have sought to destroy it. Even though God has set His seal of approval on the Holy Rosary by many miracles, and in spite of the Papal Bulls that have been written approving it, there are only too many people who are against the Holy Rosary today. These freethinkers and those who scorn religion either condemn the Rosary or try to turn others away from it. It is easy to see that they have absorbed the poison of Hell and that they are inspired by the Devil - for nobody can condemn devotion to the Holy Rosary without condemning all that is most holy in the Catholic Faith, such as the Lord’s Prayer, the Angelic Salutation and the mysteries of the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and of His Holy Mother...to dissuade others from joining the Rosary Confraternity is to be an enemy of souls because the Rosary is a sure means of curing oneself of sin and of embracing a Christian life. Saint Bonaventure said (in his Psalter) that whoever neglected Our Lady would perish in his sins and would be damned: ‘He who neglects her will die in his sins.’ If such is the penalty for neglecting her, what must be the punishment in store for those who actually turn others away from their devotions.’" (The Secret of the Rosary, PP. 125-126).
It is tragic, Your Excellency, that The Catholic Free Press has published (just recently *) an article written by a Jesuit priest extolling VOTF (a known dissent group) as a positive good while advocating "structural change" in the Church founded by Jesus Christ. Many Bishops have actually referred to VOTF as "anti-Catholic." VOTF, unlike the Marian Movement of Priests, promotes dissent from the authoritative Magisterial teaching of the Church. This is a problem because, as Pope John Paul II reminded us in his Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, No. 113, "Dissent...is opposed to ecclesial communion and to a correct understanding of the hierarchical constitution of the People of God."
By contrast, the MMP promotes communion and unity with the Church and a total obedience and filial devotion to the Church’s hierarchy.
It is my hope that The Catholic Free Press will include the Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle which is held at ---------- in Fitchburg in its Diocesan Diary - Calendar of Events. It is impossible to understand why devotion to Mary and obedience to the Church’s hierarchy should be relegated to the margins while dissent groups such as VOTF are so prominently promoted and extolled as a positive good.
Asking Your Excellency’s Blessing,
I am, Yours Respectfully
Paul Anthony Melanson
* http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-must-change-structure-of-church-of.html
The Catholic Free Press editorial mentioned how, "...the little ones Jesus refused to exclude transform our parishes as they populate them." How true. Why then should Our Lady's "little ones" be excluded from parish life? Why should they be persecuted even within the Church? Why should the Marian Movement of Priests - made up of Our Lady's little cohort - be persecuted and excluded within the Church? Because members of the MMP pray an Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in which they promise the Immaculata, "..to be united with the Holy Father, with the hierarchy and with our priests, in order thus to set up a barrier to the growing confrontation directed against the Magisterium, that threatens the very foundation of the Church."
In the words of Fr. Livio Fanzaga, "Only the 'little flock' headed by Peter will remain faithful [during the time of Antichrist]...the greater the Antichrist's and Satan's power of seduction, the greater the false splendor of human progress [read new life and vitality]...."
Fr. Fanzaga goes on to explain that in those times nobody will be able to resist the seduction except those who stand with the Holy Father. He writes, "Only those in the Catholic Church who cling to the rock [Matthew 16:18], against which the tides of evil break, will be able to preserve the faith." The Papacy represents the supernatural principle. It dares to oppose the new humanitarian religion of Antichrist [read here]. This is why it is scorned. This is why Our Lady's little cohort is scorned. Because this little cohort stands with the Holy Father against the humanitarian religion of the Son of Perdition, the Prince of this world.
_______________________________
"There were among the demolishers distinguished men wearing uniforms and crosses. They did not work themselves but they marked out on the wall with a TROWEL where and how it should be torn down. To my horror, I saw among them Catholic Priests. Whenever the workmen did not know how to go on, they went to a certain one in their party. He had a large book which seemed to contain the whole plan of the building and the way to destroy it. They marked out exactly with a TROWEL the parts to be attacked, and they soon came down. They worked quietly and confidently, but slyly, furtively and warily. I saw the Pope praying, surrounded by false friends who often did the very opposite to what he had ordered..."
- Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824), German Augustinian nun, stigmatist, and miracle-worker.
Related reading: http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=209293
Pope Benedict XVI: Rosary is a school of Mary
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Homosexuals and the Third Reich...
Berlin unveiled a monument yesterday to honor homosexuals as victims of Nazi persecution, despite a growing body of research suggesting that many prominent Nazi authorities, including Adolph Hitler, were themselves actively homosexual.
A report yesterday from the Associated Press on the new Berlin concrete monument, which features a video of two men kissing, claimed that up to 15,000 active homosexuals were killed in Nazi concentration camps.
"This is symptomatic for a society... that did not abolish unjust verdicts, but partially continued to implement them; a society which did not acknowledge a group of people as victims, only because they chose another way of life," said actively homosexual Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit.
The latest push to portray active homosexuals as victims of systematic Nazi attack contrasted with a recently growing body of evidence indicating wide-scale Nazi embrace of homosexuality.
In her 2006 study “The Pink Swastika as Holocaust Revisionist History,” renowned expert on sexuality Judith A. Reisman of the Institute for Media Education revealed that the 1995 “The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party” by Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams demonstrates that many key actively homosexual Nazi officials protected many homosexual individuals from harm.
“Lively and Abrams… document the homosexual movement as the agents that ensconced National Socialism (the Nazi party) and Adolf Hitler, thus triggering a holocaust which engulfed all of Europe,” wrote Resiman." (Source: http://www.lifesitenews.com/).
Two Harvard-educated homosexuals, Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen, authored what can only be described as a blueprint for marketing the radical homosexual agenda in the United States. In their book entitled "After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear & Hatred of Gays in the 90's," the authors recommend demonizing those who are morally opposed to homosexuality, painting them as evil as possible until the general public comes to view such people as intolerant and bigoted and avoids them. To achieve this goal, the authors suggest that Christians and others who are opposed to homosexuality should be labelled Klansmen, Nazis, racists or unbalanced freaks.
What is most ironic is that supporters of the homosexual lifestyle should be exhorted to label those who oppose homosexuality as "Nazis." As the LifeSiteNews article explains:
"While Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” degraded Jews, Marxists, Negroes, Chinese, Arabs, women, and Eastern Europeans, the Fuhrer had no negative remarks for homosexuality.
Instead, Hitler chose actively homosexual men as influential youth leaders.
An actively homosexual teacher, Karl Fischer, founded the 'Wandervogel' boys’ group that became the Hitler Youth in 1933 under renowned pederast, Hans Blueher. Similarly, convicted Nazi pederast Edmund Heines was given leadership over Schill Youth.
Other homosexual and bisexual leaders cited by these and other authors included Bladur von Schirach, Hitler Youth Leader; Hans Frank, Hitler’s Minister of Justice; Wilhelm Bruckner, Hitler’s adjutant; Walther Funk, Hitler’s Minister of Economics; friend and advisor Hermann Goering, Hitler’s second in command (who dressed 'in drag and wore camp make-up')..."
Propaganda and revisionist history. Two of the tools employed by advocates of the homosexual hate movement.
Related reading: http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/05/homosexual-agenda-or-homosexual.html
And: http://www.abidingtruth.com/pfrc/books/pinkswastika/
A report yesterday from the Associated Press on the new Berlin concrete monument, which features a video of two men kissing, claimed that up to 15,000 active homosexuals were killed in Nazi concentration camps.
"This is symptomatic for a society... that did not abolish unjust verdicts, but partially continued to implement them; a society which did not acknowledge a group of people as victims, only because they chose another way of life," said actively homosexual Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit.
The latest push to portray active homosexuals as victims of systematic Nazi attack contrasted with a recently growing body of evidence indicating wide-scale Nazi embrace of homosexuality.
In her 2006 study “The Pink Swastika as Holocaust Revisionist History,” renowned expert on sexuality Judith A. Reisman of the Institute for Media Education revealed that the 1995 “The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party” by Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams demonstrates that many key actively homosexual Nazi officials protected many homosexual individuals from harm.
“Lively and Abrams… document the homosexual movement as the agents that ensconced National Socialism (the Nazi party) and Adolf Hitler, thus triggering a holocaust which engulfed all of Europe,” wrote Resiman." (Source: http://www.lifesitenews.com/).
Two Harvard-educated homosexuals, Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen, authored what can only be described as a blueprint for marketing the radical homosexual agenda in the United States. In their book entitled "After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear & Hatred of Gays in the 90's," the authors recommend demonizing those who are morally opposed to homosexuality, painting them as evil as possible until the general public comes to view such people as intolerant and bigoted and avoids them. To achieve this goal, the authors suggest that Christians and others who are opposed to homosexuality should be labelled Klansmen, Nazis, racists or unbalanced freaks.
What is most ironic is that supporters of the homosexual lifestyle should be exhorted to label those who oppose homosexuality as "Nazis." As the LifeSiteNews article explains:
"While Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” degraded Jews, Marxists, Negroes, Chinese, Arabs, women, and Eastern Europeans, the Fuhrer had no negative remarks for homosexuality.
Instead, Hitler chose actively homosexual men as influential youth leaders.
An actively homosexual teacher, Karl Fischer, founded the 'Wandervogel' boys’ group that became the Hitler Youth in 1933 under renowned pederast, Hans Blueher. Similarly, convicted Nazi pederast Edmund Heines was given leadership over Schill Youth.
Other homosexual and bisexual leaders cited by these and other authors included Bladur von Schirach, Hitler Youth Leader; Hans Frank, Hitler’s Minister of Justice; Wilhelm Bruckner, Hitler’s adjutant; Walther Funk, Hitler’s Minister of Economics; friend and advisor Hermann Goering, Hitler’s second in command (who dressed 'in drag and wore camp make-up')..."
Propaganda and revisionist history. Two of the tools employed by advocates of the homosexual hate movement.
Related reading: http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/05/homosexual-agenda-or-homosexual.html
And: http://www.abidingtruth.com/pfrc/books/pinkswastika/
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat - Phil 4:13
I can do all things in Him who strengthens me. Why aren't our priests leading such marches through our cities? Where are the Corpus Christi processions?
Issue the battle cry! Let's take back our cities!
Those who walk in the Spirit know no fear. What are we waiting for? The Lord Jesus waits. He grows tired of our excuses:
Issue the battle cry! Let's take back our cities!
Those who walk in the Spirit know no fear. What are we waiting for? The Lord Jesus waits. He grows tired of our excuses:
I’m not holy enough:
Is 6:1-9; Lk 5:1-11
I’m afraid I will fail:
Ex 14:10-31; Lk 15
I’ve made mistakes and I’m a sinner:
Jn 21:15-23; Mt 9:9-13; Lk 7:36-50
I’m too young:
1 Sam 3:1-18; Jer 1:4-10; Lk 1:26-38
I’m not talented enough:
1 Sam 17:32-51; Lk 1:26-38
I want to have a family:
Gn 12:1-3; Mt 12:46-50; Mk 10:28-30
I’m afraid of making a permanent commitment:
Ruth 1:15-17; Mt 28:16-20
I’m afraid of public speaking:
Ex 4:10-17; Jer 1:4-10
I’m not smart enough:
2 Cor 4:7-18; Ex 4:10-17
I’m afraid of being alone:
Ex 3:4-22; Lk 1:28-38
I want to be happy:
Ps 37:4; Mt 5:1-12; Jn 10:10; Mk 10:28-31
I can do all things in Him who strengthens me. Do we really believe that? Then there are no obstacles we can't overcome in His holy name.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom displays his intolerance and hypocrisy
"San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has blasted a proposal that would allow San Diego county clerks to decline to perform same-sex "marriages" on conscience grounds saying he is both 'shocked' and 'outraged' according to Reuters news service. Newsom was responding to an idea tabled on Wednesday by San Diego County to exempt clerks who had moral or religious objections to gay 'marriage' from officiating at those civil ceremonies. 'I was pretty shocked about all that, candidly, and pretty outraged,' said Newsom in a Reuters interview. 'This is a civil marriage that civil servants have a responsibility to provide, so for civil servants on religious grounds to start passing judgments, they, I think, are breaking the core tenet of what civil service is all about.'
Reuters reported that Newsom also suggested that clerks who refuse to perform same-sex 'weddings' in California should lose their jobs if they do. 'If that is their job and they are going to be able to pick and choose based on their morality, then all of a sudden they are not doing their jobs,' continued Newsom. 'If you don't want to provide a marriage certificate and you've got a job that does that, then you should think twice about why you got the job in the first place and maybe you should get a new job,' he added. 'Talk about a slippery slope, Mr. County Clerk down in San Diego.'
Newsom's newfound outrage, however, belies the ironical fact that Newsom's own peculiar morality motivated his choice to violate California law in 2004, when he mandated city clerks to give marriage licenses to homosexual couples. Newsom dismissed existing marriage statutes as 'codified discrimination' and the city of San Francisco performed over 4000 illegal 'marriages' until the California Supreme Court intervened and nullified them." (Source: http://www.lifesitenews.com/).
Since all human authority is from God (Romans 13:1), Who does no evil, there is no authority to command anything wrong. Legitimate human authority, being morally grounded, extends only to what is morally right. When human authority commands something wrong, faithful Christians will not obey such human authority but will do what is morally right: they will obey God rather than men (1 Mc 2:19-22; Acts 5:29). Withholding obedience in such a case is not disobedience because the command has no authority and obedience is not due it (see St. Thomas Aquinas, S.t., 2-2, q.104, a.5).
Homosexual activist John Hosty has asserted that the homosexual hate movement is only striving for "equality from the government." This falsehood has already been refuted here at La Salette Journey*. And Mayor Newsom's own words only serve to further betray the violent and discriminatory nature of this movement. A movement which intends to violently suppress any and all moral opposition to its agenda which is rooted in Divine Revelation and or Natural Law.
*http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/05/homosexual-agenda-or-homosexual.html
Reuters reported that Newsom also suggested that clerks who refuse to perform same-sex 'weddings' in California should lose their jobs if they do. 'If that is their job and they are going to be able to pick and choose based on their morality, then all of a sudden they are not doing their jobs,' continued Newsom. 'If you don't want to provide a marriage certificate and you've got a job that does that, then you should think twice about why you got the job in the first place and maybe you should get a new job,' he added. 'Talk about a slippery slope, Mr. County Clerk down in San Diego.'
Newsom's newfound outrage, however, belies the ironical fact that Newsom's own peculiar morality motivated his choice to violate California law in 2004, when he mandated city clerks to give marriage licenses to homosexual couples. Newsom dismissed existing marriage statutes as 'codified discrimination' and the city of San Francisco performed over 4000 illegal 'marriages' until the California Supreme Court intervened and nullified them." (Source: http://www.lifesitenews.com/).
Since all human authority is from God (Romans 13:1), Who does no evil, there is no authority to command anything wrong. Legitimate human authority, being morally grounded, extends only to what is morally right. When human authority commands something wrong, faithful Christians will not obey such human authority but will do what is morally right: they will obey God rather than men (1 Mc 2:19-22; Acts 5:29). Withholding obedience in such a case is not disobedience because the command has no authority and obedience is not due it (see St. Thomas Aquinas, S.t., 2-2, q.104, a.5).
Homosexual activist John Hosty has asserted that the homosexual hate movement is only striving for "equality from the government." This falsehood has already been refuted here at La Salette Journey*. And Mayor Newsom's own words only serve to further betray the violent and discriminatory nature of this movement. A movement which intends to violently suppress any and all moral opposition to its agenda which is rooted in Divine Revelation and or Natural Law.
*http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/05/homosexual-agenda-or-homosexual.html
Monday, May 26, 2008
Catholic priest warns against yoga....
The La Salette Missionaries have offered yoga at their "Center for Christian Living." Read here. According to Fr. Jeremy Davies, "yoga puts people at risk from devils and the occult." Why then does the La Salette "Center for Christian Living" offer yoga? Perhaps because some priests and religious care about souls and others do not.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
"We simply want equality..."
Homosexual activist John Hosty has left a comment at this Blog in which he asserts that, "People who act violently do not speak for me or any of the people in the GLBT community I know. We simply want equality from the government."
Really? The facts would suggest otherwise. Let's examine the homosexual agenda:
The homosexual agenda, or homosexual ideology, consists of a set of beliefs and objectives. The ideology and goals, as explained further below, include restricting free speech, obtaining special treatment, distorting science, and interfering with freedom of association.
It is an agenda that gay rights activists set in the late 1980s, in a book called After the Ball, where they laid out a six-point plan for how they could transform the beliefs of ordinary Americans with regard to homosexual behavior — in a decade-long time frame:
"The agenda of homosexual activists is basically to change America from what they perceive as looking down on homosexual behavior, to the affirmation of and societal acceptance of homosexual behavior." [1]
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia referred to the "so-called homosexual agenda" in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) (dissenting opinion).
Contents[hide]
1 The Homosexual Agenda
2 The Goals
3 Opposing Christian Agenda
4 Opponents of the Homosexual Agenda
5 References
6 Further reading
7 See also
The Homosexual Agenda
Focus on the Family quotes below from a leading book in the homosexual movement which outlines the points of the homosexual agenda:[2][3]
"Talk about gays and gayness as loudly and as often as possible."
"Portray gays as victims, not as aggressive challengers."
"Give homosexual protectors a just cause."
"Make gays look good."
"Make the victimizers look bad."
"Get funds from corporate America."
United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote:
"Today's opinion is the product of a Court, which is the product of a law-profession culture, that has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda, by which I mean the agenda promoted by some homosexual activists directed at eliminating the moral opprobrium that has traditionally attached to homosexual conduct."[4]
The Goals
The goals of the homosexual movement include:
Censoring biblical condemnations of homosexuality and evidence that the "gay gene" is a hoax[5] [6]
Establishing affirmative action for homosexuals[7]
Expand hate crimes legislation to include sexual orientation[8]
Ending the military's and Boy Scout's restrictions on homosexuality[9]
Promote homosexuality in schools[10]
In places like Massachusetts* and California — where the gay lobby is the strongest — it starts as early as pre-school. They tell seven- or eight-year-old boys — "If you only like boys, there's a chance you may be homosexual." Or — "If you only like girls, maybe you are lesbian." Well, at that age, all members of the opposite sex "have cooties."
You're planting a seed that can totally mess up the normal development process later, when at 12 or 14, kids enter the age of sexual confusion and discovering the opposite sex. [11]
Promote science that legitimizes homosexuality, such as claims of a never-identified gay gene[12]
Force businesses to accommodate their lifestyle
Suing an online dating website for discrimination [13]
Getting more rights in prison
Gay and Lesbian Prisoners in California Allowed Conjugal Visits [14]
The state-by-state push for same-sex marriage can be viewed as a means to the above goals, or a goal in itself.[15]
New Hampshire law makes same-sex civil unions legal [16]
Opposing Christian Agenda
Liberals are critical of Christian groups that oppose homosexuality. These criticisms include Christian activities of:
Soliciting donations
Encouraging email activism
Producing and disseminating gay reform information
Influencing local media in what stories they produce
Lobbying local, state and federal government officials to vote in the desired way on pending legislation[17]
Opponents of the Homosexual Agenda
Some well known individuals/groups in the United States who actively oppose the homosexual agenda are: Focus on the Family, Peter LaBarbera's American's for Truth, and the Traditional Values Coalition (Louis Sheldon is a chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition).
References
↑ After the Ball (1989), quoted at http://www.citizenlink.org/CLFeatures/A000000562.cfm
↑ http://www.citizenlink.org/CLFeatures/A000000562.cfm
↑ http://www.article8.org/docs/gay_strategies/overhauling.htm
↑ http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=02-102#dissent1
↑ http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/apr/06042105.html
↑ http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/08a/born_gay_hoax/smith_0329/index.html
↑ http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514950
↑ http://www.house.gov/pelosi/press/releases/Sept04/HateCrimes092804.html
↑ Boy Scouts of Am. v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000) (Boy Scouts); Able v. United States, 155 F.3d 628(2d Cir. 1998) (military)
↑ Morrison v. Board of Education
↑ http://www.citizenlink.org/CLFeatures/A000000562.cfm
↑ http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=IS00D2
↑ http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2007/jun/01/060106132.html
↑ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,277137,00.html
↑ Lewis v. Harris
↑ http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/01/new_hampshire_law_makes_same_sex_civil_unions_legal/
↑ http://www.cwfa.org/about.asp
Further reading
Homosexuality and the Nazi Party by Scott Lively. Excellent discussion of the anti-Christian and homosexual origins of the Nazism.
2008 McDonald's and the Homosexual Agenda, Baptist Press
See also
Homosexual belief system
Gay rights
"Homophobia"
Hate speech, Hate crime
Homosexuality
Intimate Partner Violence
Retrieved from "http://www.conservapedia.com/Homosexual_Agenda"
* Harry Hay, one of the founders of the modern homosexual movement, was an admirer of the North American Man/Boy Love Association - NAMBLA, which was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1978. Mr. Hay spoke frequently at NAMBLA events and advocated homosexual relations between men and boys.
And one has to wonder why Mr. Hosty doesn't view calumny as an act of violence. On more than one occasion, he has falsely accused me of being a "bigot"** simply for opposing homosexuality on moral grounds (Divine Revelation and the Natural Law). As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity." (2479). And again, "He becomes guilty of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them." (2477). Calumny is in fact an act of violence which offends against the virtues of justice and charity.
** Read the comments section at this Blog post.
Related reading: http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/05/homosexual-activists-and-other-anti.html
Really? The facts would suggest otherwise. Let's examine the homosexual agenda:
The homosexual agenda, or homosexual ideology, consists of a set of beliefs and objectives. The ideology and goals, as explained further below, include restricting free speech, obtaining special treatment, distorting science, and interfering with freedom of association.
It is an agenda that gay rights activists set in the late 1980s, in a book called After the Ball, where they laid out a six-point plan for how they could transform the beliefs of ordinary Americans with regard to homosexual behavior — in a decade-long time frame:
"The agenda of homosexual activists is basically to change America from what they perceive as looking down on homosexual behavior, to the affirmation of and societal acceptance of homosexual behavior." [1]
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia referred to the "so-called homosexual agenda" in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) (dissenting opinion).
Contents[hide]
1 The Homosexual Agenda
2 The Goals
3 Opposing Christian Agenda
4 Opponents of the Homosexual Agenda
5 References
6 Further reading
7 See also
The Homosexual Agenda
Focus on the Family quotes below from a leading book in the homosexual movement which outlines the points of the homosexual agenda:[2][3]
"Talk about gays and gayness as loudly and as often as possible."
"Portray gays as victims, not as aggressive challengers."
"Give homosexual protectors a just cause."
"Make gays look good."
"Make the victimizers look bad."
"Get funds from corporate America."
United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote:
"Today's opinion is the product of a Court, which is the product of a law-profession culture, that has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda, by which I mean the agenda promoted by some homosexual activists directed at eliminating the moral opprobrium that has traditionally attached to homosexual conduct."[4]
The Goals
The goals of the homosexual movement include:
Censoring biblical condemnations of homosexuality and evidence that the "gay gene" is a hoax[5] [6]
Establishing affirmative action for homosexuals[7]
Expand hate crimes legislation to include sexual orientation[8]
Ending the military's and Boy Scout's restrictions on homosexuality[9]
Promote homosexuality in schools[10]
In places like Massachusetts* and California — where the gay lobby is the strongest — it starts as early as pre-school. They tell seven- or eight-year-old boys — "If you only like boys, there's a chance you may be homosexual." Or — "If you only like girls, maybe you are lesbian." Well, at that age, all members of the opposite sex "have cooties."
You're planting a seed that can totally mess up the normal development process later, when at 12 or 14, kids enter the age of sexual confusion and discovering the opposite sex. [11]
Promote science that legitimizes homosexuality, such as claims of a never-identified gay gene[12]
Force businesses to accommodate their lifestyle
Suing an online dating website for discrimination [13]
Getting more rights in prison
Gay and Lesbian Prisoners in California Allowed Conjugal Visits [14]
The state-by-state push for same-sex marriage can be viewed as a means to the above goals, or a goal in itself.[15]
New Hampshire law makes same-sex civil unions legal [16]
Opposing Christian Agenda
Liberals are critical of Christian groups that oppose homosexuality. These criticisms include Christian activities of:
Soliciting donations
Encouraging email activism
Producing and disseminating gay reform information
Influencing local media in what stories they produce
Lobbying local, state and federal government officials to vote in the desired way on pending legislation[17]
Opponents of the Homosexual Agenda
Some well known individuals/groups in the United States who actively oppose the homosexual agenda are: Focus on the Family, Peter LaBarbera's American's for Truth, and the Traditional Values Coalition (Louis Sheldon is a chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition).
References
↑ After the Ball (1989), quoted at http://www.citizenlink.org/CLFeatures/A000000562.cfm
↑ http://www.citizenlink.org/CLFeatures/A000000562.cfm
↑ http://www.article8.org/docs/gay_strategies/overhauling.htm
↑ http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=02-102#dissent1
↑ http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/apr/06042105.html
↑ http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/08a/born_gay_hoax/smith_0329/index.html
↑ http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514950
↑ http://www.house.gov/pelosi/press/releases/Sept04/HateCrimes092804.html
↑ Boy Scouts of Am. v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000) (Boy Scouts); Able v. United States, 155 F.3d 628(2d Cir. 1998) (military)
↑ Morrison v. Board of Education
↑ http://www.citizenlink.org/CLFeatures/A000000562.cfm
↑ http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=IS00D2
↑ http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2007/jun/01/060106132.html
↑ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,277137,00.html
↑ Lewis v. Harris
↑ http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/01/new_hampshire_law_makes_same_sex_civil_unions_legal/
↑ http://www.cwfa.org/about.asp
Further reading
Homosexuality and the Nazi Party by Scott Lively. Excellent discussion of the anti-Christian and homosexual origins of the Nazism.
2008 McDonald's and the Homosexual Agenda, Baptist Press
See also
Homosexual belief system
Gay rights
"Homophobia"
Hate speech, Hate crime
Homosexuality
Intimate Partner Violence
Retrieved from "http://www.conservapedia.com/Homosexual_Agenda"
* Harry Hay, one of the founders of the modern homosexual movement, was an admirer of the North American Man/Boy Love Association - NAMBLA, which was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1978. Mr. Hay spoke frequently at NAMBLA events and advocated homosexual relations between men and boys.
And one has to wonder why Mr. Hosty doesn't view calumny as an act of violence. On more than one occasion, he has falsely accused me of being a "bigot"** simply for opposing homosexuality on moral grounds (Divine Revelation and the Natural Law). As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity." (2479). And again, "He becomes guilty of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them." (2477). Calumny is in fact an act of violence which offends against the virtues of justice and charity.
** Read the comments section at this Blog post.
Related reading: http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/05/homosexual-activists-and-other-anti.html
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Homosexual activists and other anti-Christian bigots attack Christian youth festival
Homofascists and other Christianophobes hurled beer bottles at Christian youth. Click on the link above to read more about the sheer hatred, bigotry and intolerance of these atheists and advocates of the homosexual hate movement.
And while you're at it, ask yourself: does the Southern Poverty Law Center consider this hate? If so, what if anything do they intend to do about it? The organization had no problem listing Mass Resistance as a hate group - even though Mass Resistance has never engaged in violence and merely opposes homosexuality on moral grounds (Divine Revelation and Natural Law).
Homofascists and other Christianophobes hurled beer bottles at Christian youth. Click on the link above to read more about the sheer hatred, bigotry and intolerance of these atheists and advocates of the homosexual hate movement.
And while you're at it, ask yourself: does the Southern Poverty Law Center consider this hate? If so, what if anything do they intend to do about it? The organization had no problem listing Mass Resistance as a hate group - even though Mass Resistance has never engaged in violence and merely opposes homosexuality on moral grounds (Divine Revelation and Natural Law).
Related reading: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/dec/04120704.html
Friday, May 23, 2008
St. Thomas Aquinas on Unnatural Sex
Medieval Sourcebook:
Aquinas on Unnatural Sex
Thomas Aquinas (1224/25-75) is commonly regarded as the greatest Western philosopher of the thirteenth century. In a series of works he addressed all the current issues of theology and philosophy, and in particular the problem Christian thinkers had in dealing with the arrival of good editions of the works of Aristotle in the West.
Aquinas was both intensely productive and quite flexible in his approaches. [On occasion he reportedly was able to write, via dictation, two or more works at a time]. Because of the formidable extent of his works, it is often his two great summas to which we turn to find out what he thought. This is not always wise. The summas were consciously written as compendia, and Aquinas addressed a number of theoretical issues in smaller subject specific treatises. Moreover, many of the common questions in thirteenth centuiy academic discussion were based on questions from the basic Theologiael textbook, Peter Lombard's Four Books of Sentences, and it is to Aquinas' commentaries on these that one should turn for his discussion of issues such as women clergy, or the moment of consecration.
The summas [the Summa Theologiae and the Summa Contra Gentiles] are, however, useful. Echoing the disputation methods of university teaching, the Summa Theologiae presents a summation of Aquinas' opinions on issues from the existence of God, to the sacremental system, to basic moral rules.
The selection here addresses Aquinas discussion of sex and sexuality. It shows both his typical methods - his willingness to face objections openly, his use of authorities, and his use of logic - as well as the effort to construct the intractable realities of human experience into a structured and analyzable form.
Extracts from Summa Theologiae II-II, question 154
The following issues are addressed by Aquinas in these selections:-
Summa Theologica II-II, 154, 11: Whether the unnatural vice is a species of lust?
Summa Theologiae II-II, 154, 12: Whether the unnatural vice is the greatest sin among the species of lust? Aquinas' discussion of sexual morality in general [which includes fornication, incest, and rape], is available in a separate document, Aquinas on Sex
Summa Theologica II-II, 154, 11
Whether the unnatural vice is a species of lust?
Objection 1. It would seem that the unnatural vice is not a species of lust. For no mention of the vice against nature is made in the enumeration given above (1, Objection 1). Therefore it is not a species of lust.
Objection 2. Further, lust is contrary to virtue; and so it is comprised under vice. But the unnatural vice is comprised not under vice, but under bestiality, according to the Philosopher (Ethic. vii, 5). Therefore the unnatural vice is not a species of lust.
Objection 3. Further, lust regards acts directed to human generation, as stated above (153, 2): Whereas the unnatural vice concerns acts from which generation cannot follow. Therefore the unnatural vice is not a species of lust.
On the contrary, It is reckoned together with the other species of lust (2 Cor. 12:21) where we read: "And have not done penance for the uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciviousness," where a gloss says: "Lasciviousness, i.e., unnatural lust."
I answer that, As stated above (A6,9) wherever there occurs a special kind of deformity whereby the venereal act is rendered unbecoming, there is a determinate species of lust. This may occur in two ways: First, through being contrary to right reason, and this is common to all lustful vices; secondly, because, in addition, it is contrary to the natural order of the venereal act as becoming to the human race: and this is called "the unnatural vice." This may happen in several ways. First, by procuring pollution, without any copulation, for the sake of venereal pleasure: this pertains to the sin of "uncleanness" which some call "effeminacy." Secondly, by copulation with a thing of undue species, and this is called "bestiality." Thirdly, by copulation with an undue sex, male with male, or female with female, as the Apostle states (Rm. 1:27): and this is called the "vice of sodomy." Fourthly, by not observing the natural manner of copulation, either as to undue means, or as to other monstrous and bestial manners of copulation.
Reply to Objection 1. There we enumerated the species of lust that are not contrary to human nature: wherefore the unnatural vice was omitted.
Reply to Objection 2. Bestiality differs from vice, for the latter is opposed to human virtue by a certain excess in the same matter as the virtue, and therefore is reducible to the same genus.
Reply to Objection 3. The lustful man intends not human generation but venereal pleasures. It is possible to have this without those acts from which human generation follows: and it is that which is sought in the unnatural vice.
Summa Theologica II-II, 154, 12
Whether the unnatural vice is the greatest sin among the species of lust?
Objection 1. It would seem that the unnatural vice is not the greatest sin among the species of lust. For the more a sin is contrary to charity the graver it is. Now adultery, seduction and rape which are injurious to our neighbor are seemingly more contrary to the love of our neighbor, than unnatural sins, by which no other person is injured. Therefore the unnatural sin is not the greatest among the species of lust.
Objection 2. Further, sins committed against God would seem to be the most grievous. Now sacrilege is committed directly against God, since it is injurious to the Divine worship. Therefore sacrilege is a graver sin than the unnatural vice.
Objection 3. Further, seemingly, a sin is all the more grievous according as we owe a greater love to the person against whom that sin is committed. Now the order of charity requires that a man love more those persons who are united to him---and such are those whom he defiles by incest---than persons who are not connected with him, and whom in certain cases he defiles by the unnatural vice. Therefore incest is a graver sin than the unnatural vice.
Objection 4. Further, if the unnatural vice is most grievous, the more it is against nature the graver it would seem to be. Now the sin of uncleanness or effeminacy would seem to be most contrary to nature, since it would seem especially in accord with nature that agent and patient should be distinct from one another. Hence it would follow that uncleanness is the gravest of unnatural vices. But this is not true. Therefore unnatural vices are not the most grievous among sins of lust.
On the contrary, Augustine says (De adult. conjug. [The quotation is from Cap. Adulterii xxxii, qu. 7. Cf. Augustine, De Bono Conjugali, viii.]) that "of all these," namely the sins belonging to lust, "that which is against nature is the worst."
I answer that, In every genus, worst of all is the corruption of the principle on which the rest depend. Now the principles of reason are those things that are according to nature, because reason presupposes things as determined by nature, before disposing of other things according as it is fitting. This may be observed both in speculative and in practical matters. Wherefore just as in speculative matters the most grievous and shameful error is that which is about things the knowledge of which is naturally bestowed on man, so in matters of action it is most grave and shameful to act against things as determined by nature. Therefore, since by the unnatural vices man transgresses that which has been determined by nature with regard to the use of venereal actions, it follows that in this matter this sin is gravest of all. After it comes incest, which, as stated above (09), is contrary to the natural respect which we owe persons related to us.
With regard to the other species of lust they imply a transgression merely of that which is determined by right reason, on the presupposition, however, of natural principles. Now it is more against reason to make use of the venereal act not only with prejudice to the future offspring, but also so as to injure another person besides. Wherefore simple fornication, which is committed without injustice to another person, is the least grave among the species of lust. Then, it is a greater injustice to have intercourse with a woman who is subject to another's authority as regards the act of generation, than as regards merely her guardianship. Wherefore adultery is more grievous than seduction. And both of these are aggravated by the use of violence. Hence rape of a virgin is graver than seduction, and rape of a wife than adultery. And all these are aggravated by coming under the head of sacrilege, as stated above (10, ad 2).
Reply to Objection 1. Just as the ordering of right reason proceeds from man, so the order of nature is from God Himself: wherefore in sins contrary to nature, whereby the very order of nature is violated, an injury is done to God, the Author of nature. Hence Augustine says (Confess. iii, 8): "Those foul offenses that are against nature should be everywhere and at all times detested and punished, such as were those of the people of Sodom, which should all nations commit, they should all stand guilty of the same crime, by the law of God which hath not so made men that they should so abuse one another. For even that very intercourse which should be between God and us is violated, when that same nature, of which He is the Author, is polluted by the perversity of lust."
Reply to Objection 2. Vices against nature are also against God, as stated above (ad 1), and are so much more grievous than the depravity of sacrilege, as the order impressed on human nature is prior to and more firm than any subsequently established order.
Reply to Objection 3. The nature of the species is more intimately united to each individual, than any other individual is. Wherefore sins against the specific nature are more grievous.
Reply to Objection 4. Gravity of a sin depends more on the abuse of a thing than on the omission of the right use. Wherefore among sins against nature, the lowest place belongs to the sin of uncleanness, which consists in the mere omission of copulation with another. While the most grievous is the sin of bestiality, because use of the due species is not observed. Hence a gloss on Gn. 37:2, "He accused his brethren of a most wicked crime," says that "they copulated with cattle." After this comes the sin of sodomy, because use of the right sex is not observed. Lastly comes the sin of not observing the right manner of copulation, which is more grievous if the abuse regards the "vas" than if it affects the manner of copulation in respect of other circumstances.
This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.
Paul Halsall
March 1996
halsall@murray.fordham.edu
Related reading: http://dtf-jayg.blogspot.com/2008/05/classic-greek.html
Children being brainwashed with homosexual propaganda:
http://www.massresistance.org/media/video/brainwashing.html
Aquinas on Unnatural Sex
Thomas Aquinas (1224/25-75) is commonly regarded as the greatest Western philosopher of the thirteenth century. In a series of works he addressed all the current issues of theology and philosophy, and in particular the problem Christian thinkers had in dealing with the arrival of good editions of the works of Aristotle in the West.
Aquinas was both intensely productive and quite flexible in his approaches. [On occasion he reportedly was able to write, via dictation, two or more works at a time]. Because of the formidable extent of his works, it is often his two great summas to which we turn to find out what he thought. This is not always wise. The summas were consciously written as compendia, and Aquinas addressed a number of theoretical issues in smaller subject specific treatises. Moreover, many of the common questions in thirteenth centuiy academic discussion were based on questions from the basic Theologiael textbook, Peter Lombard's Four Books of Sentences, and it is to Aquinas' commentaries on these that one should turn for his discussion of issues such as women clergy, or the moment of consecration.
The summas [the Summa Theologiae and the Summa Contra Gentiles] are, however, useful. Echoing the disputation methods of university teaching, the Summa Theologiae presents a summation of Aquinas' opinions on issues from the existence of God, to the sacremental system, to basic moral rules.
The selection here addresses Aquinas discussion of sex and sexuality. It shows both his typical methods - his willingness to face objections openly, his use of authorities, and his use of logic - as well as the effort to construct the intractable realities of human experience into a structured and analyzable form.
Extracts from Summa Theologiae II-II, question 154
The following issues are addressed by Aquinas in these selections:-
Summa Theologica II-II, 154, 11: Whether the unnatural vice is a species of lust?
Summa Theologiae II-II, 154, 12: Whether the unnatural vice is the greatest sin among the species of lust? Aquinas' discussion of sexual morality in general [which includes fornication, incest, and rape], is available in a separate document, Aquinas on Sex
Summa Theologica II-II, 154, 11
Whether the unnatural vice is a species of lust?
Objection 1. It would seem that the unnatural vice is not a species of lust. For no mention of the vice against nature is made in the enumeration given above (1, Objection 1). Therefore it is not a species of lust.
Objection 2. Further, lust is contrary to virtue; and so it is comprised under vice. But the unnatural vice is comprised not under vice, but under bestiality, according to the Philosopher (Ethic. vii, 5). Therefore the unnatural vice is not a species of lust.
Objection 3. Further, lust regards acts directed to human generation, as stated above (153, 2): Whereas the unnatural vice concerns acts from which generation cannot follow. Therefore the unnatural vice is not a species of lust.
On the contrary, It is reckoned together with the other species of lust (2 Cor. 12:21) where we read: "And have not done penance for the uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciviousness," where a gloss says: "Lasciviousness, i.e., unnatural lust."
I answer that, As stated above (A6,9) wherever there occurs a special kind of deformity whereby the venereal act is rendered unbecoming, there is a determinate species of lust. This may occur in two ways: First, through being contrary to right reason, and this is common to all lustful vices; secondly, because, in addition, it is contrary to the natural order of the venereal act as becoming to the human race: and this is called "the unnatural vice." This may happen in several ways. First, by procuring pollution, without any copulation, for the sake of venereal pleasure: this pertains to the sin of "uncleanness" which some call "effeminacy." Secondly, by copulation with a thing of undue species, and this is called "bestiality." Thirdly, by copulation with an undue sex, male with male, or female with female, as the Apostle states (Rm. 1:27): and this is called the "vice of sodomy." Fourthly, by not observing the natural manner of copulation, either as to undue means, or as to other monstrous and bestial manners of copulation.
Reply to Objection 1. There we enumerated the species of lust that are not contrary to human nature: wherefore the unnatural vice was omitted.
Reply to Objection 2. Bestiality differs from vice, for the latter is opposed to human virtue by a certain excess in the same matter as the virtue, and therefore is reducible to the same genus.
Reply to Objection 3. The lustful man intends not human generation but venereal pleasures. It is possible to have this without those acts from which human generation follows: and it is that which is sought in the unnatural vice.
Summa Theologica II-II, 154, 12
Whether the unnatural vice is the greatest sin among the species of lust?
Objection 1. It would seem that the unnatural vice is not the greatest sin among the species of lust. For the more a sin is contrary to charity the graver it is. Now adultery, seduction and rape which are injurious to our neighbor are seemingly more contrary to the love of our neighbor, than unnatural sins, by which no other person is injured. Therefore the unnatural sin is not the greatest among the species of lust.
Objection 2. Further, sins committed against God would seem to be the most grievous. Now sacrilege is committed directly against God, since it is injurious to the Divine worship. Therefore sacrilege is a graver sin than the unnatural vice.
Objection 3. Further, seemingly, a sin is all the more grievous according as we owe a greater love to the person against whom that sin is committed. Now the order of charity requires that a man love more those persons who are united to him---and such are those whom he defiles by incest---than persons who are not connected with him, and whom in certain cases he defiles by the unnatural vice. Therefore incest is a graver sin than the unnatural vice.
Objection 4. Further, if the unnatural vice is most grievous, the more it is against nature the graver it would seem to be. Now the sin of uncleanness or effeminacy would seem to be most contrary to nature, since it would seem especially in accord with nature that agent and patient should be distinct from one another. Hence it would follow that uncleanness is the gravest of unnatural vices. But this is not true. Therefore unnatural vices are not the most grievous among sins of lust.
On the contrary, Augustine says (De adult. conjug. [The quotation is from Cap. Adulterii xxxii, qu. 7. Cf. Augustine, De Bono Conjugali, viii.]) that "of all these," namely the sins belonging to lust, "that which is against nature is the worst."
I answer that, In every genus, worst of all is the corruption of the principle on which the rest depend. Now the principles of reason are those things that are according to nature, because reason presupposes things as determined by nature, before disposing of other things according as it is fitting. This may be observed both in speculative and in practical matters. Wherefore just as in speculative matters the most grievous and shameful error is that which is about things the knowledge of which is naturally bestowed on man, so in matters of action it is most grave and shameful to act against things as determined by nature. Therefore, since by the unnatural vices man transgresses that which has been determined by nature with regard to the use of venereal actions, it follows that in this matter this sin is gravest of all. After it comes incest, which, as stated above (09), is contrary to the natural respect which we owe persons related to us.
With regard to the other species of lust they imply a transgression merely of that which is determined by right reason, on the presupposition, however, of natural principles. Now it is more against reason to make use of the venereal act not only with prejudice to the future offspring, but also so as to injure another person besides. Wherefore simple fornication, which is committed without injustice to another person, is the least grave among the species of lust. Then, it is a greater injustice to have intercourse with a woman who is subject to another's authority as regards the act of generation, than as regards merely her guardianship. Wherefore adultery is more grievous than seduction. And both of these are aggravated by the use of violence. Hence rape of a virgin is graver than seduction, and rape of a wife than adultery. And all these are aggravated by coming under the head of sacrilege, as stated above (10, ad 2).
Reply to Objection 1. Just as the ordering of right reason proceeds from man, so the order of nature is from God Himself: wherefore in sins contrary to nature, whereby the very order of nature is violated, an injury is done to God, the Author of nature. Hence Augustine says (Confess. iii, 8): "Those foul offenses that are against nature should be everywhere and at all times detested and punished, such as were those of the people of Sodom, which should all nations commit, they should all stand guilty of the same crime, by the law of God which hath not so made men that they should so abuse one another. For even that very intercourse which should be between God and us is violated, when that same nature, of which He is the Author, is polluted by the perversity of lust."
Reply to Objection 2. Vices against nature are also against God, as stated above (ad 1), and are so much more grievous than the depravity of sacrilege, as the order impressed on human nature is prior to and more firm than any subsequently established order.
Reply to Objection 3. The nature of the species is more intimately united to each individual, than any other individual is. Wherefore sins against the specific nature are more grievous.
Reply to Objection 4. Gravity of a sin depends more on the abuse of a thing than on the omission of the right use. Wherefore among sins against nature, the lowest place belongs to the sin of uncleanness, which consists in the mere omission of copulation with another. While the most grievous is the sin of bestiality, because use of the due species is not observed. Hence a gloss on Gn. 37:2, "He accused his brethren of a most wicked crime," says that "they copulated with cattle." After this comes the sin of sodomy, because use of the right sex is not observed. Lastly comes the sin of not observing the right manner of copulation, which is more grievous if the abuse regards the "vas" than if it affects the manner of copulation in respect of other circumstances.
This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.
Paul Halsall
March 1996
halsall@murray.fordham.edu
Related reading: http://dtf-jayg.blogspot.com/2008/05/classic-greek.html
Children being brainwashed with homosexual propaganda:
http://www.massresistance.org/media/video/brainwashing.html
Prayer request...
Please pray for little Rachel Lee, a ten year old girl who is suffering from a brain tumor. That Our Lady of the Holy Rosary will intercede for her to obtain for her a healing. Pray also to St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, whose birthday is this Sunday. Neither Our Lady nor St. Pio will let us down. Of this I am most certain.
O God,
You gave Saint Pio of Pietrelcina,
capuchin priest, the great privilege of participating
in a unique way
in the passion of Your Son,
grant me
through his intercession
the grace of a total healing for Rachel Lee
which I ardently desire;
and above all grant me the grace of
living in conformity
with the death of Jesus,
to arrive at the glory
of the resurrection.
Amen.
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