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.

_______________________________

"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

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/

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:

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.

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

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.

"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

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).

Related reading: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/dec/04120704.html

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

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.

Calling all Catholics....

Pope Leo XIII exhorted Catholics to defend their faith amidst the pluralism of conflicting modern opinions. In his Encyclical Letter Sapientiae Christianae, our beloved Holy Father of happy memory cited the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas that all believers should defend the faith when it is endangered (S.t., 2-2, q.3, a.2, ad 2) and added:

"To recoil before an enemy, or to keep silence when from all sides such clamors are raised against truth, is the part of a man either devoid of character or who entertains doubt as to the truth of what he professes to believe. In both cases such mode of behaving is base and is insulting to God, and both are incompatible with the salvation of mankind." (Leo XIII, Sapientiae Christianae, AAS 22 (1889-90) 390, PE, 111.14).

Canon Law makes it very clear that the laity always share in the responsibility of spreading the Gospel by virtue of their Christian initiation and sometimes share in the clergy's apostolic responsibility because they are called on to do so:

"In virtue of their baptism and confirmation lay members of the Christian faithful are witnesses to the Gospel message by word and by example of a Christian life; they can also be called upon to cooperate with the Bishop and presbyters in the exercise of the ministry of the word." (CIC, c. 759).

As the darkness of apostasy spreads throughout our sin-soaked society and the light becomes more and more difficult to see, it is critical for all authentic Catholics, all those who really believe what they profess and don't just pay lip service to the Gospel, to be salt and light. Jesus has commanded us, "Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

Shall we respond in the affirmative to the call of the Lord Jesus? Shall we rise and be on our way to do battle with the forces of Antichrist?

Let's say yes to Jesus. And with the assistance of Our Lady, and placing ourselves under her mantle, we will win the world for Christ.

A prayer to St. Rita

Today is the feast of the great saint from Cascia. Let us pray:

O God, who didst vouchsafe to communicate so great grace to Saint Rita that she imitated Thine example in the love of enemies and bore in her heart and on her countenance the sacred marks of Thy love and passion: grant, we beseech Thee, by her merits and intercession, that we may love our enemies and ever contemplate with deep contrition the sorrows of Thy passion: Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

A plenary indulgence on the usual conditions if the daily recitation of this prayer is continued for a month.

Mute dogs.....

In Isaiah 56: 10-11, the Lord God warns us of shepherds who become mute dogs and who no longer care for their flocks, men who have succumbed to vanity and who prefer to follow after the pleasures of this world:

"My watchmen are blind, all of them unaware; They are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; Dreaming as they lie there, loving their sleep. They are relentless dogs, they know not when they have enough. These are the shepherds who know no discretion: Each of them goes his own way, every one of them to his own gain.."

In a message given to Fr. Gobbi on September 8, 1985, Our Lady spoke of negligent priests in the same way, explaining that such shepherds are the cause of the great apostasy which we find ourselves in:

"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 Lord Jesus gave a warning to the Church in Laodicea which applies to all of us. And most especially to His ministers: "So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.." Because the Lord Jesus hates lukewarmness, He will cast the lukewarm out of His sight and into Gehenna. He has said it.

To those priests, religious and members of the laity who haven't succumbed to demonic lukewarmness, Our Lady says: "You, on the other hand, must speak out with force and with courage to condemn error and to spread only the truth. The time of your public and courageous witness has come."

The Lord Jesus told the Pharisees, who were puffed up with pride and self-importance, that He could raise children of Abraham from the very stones. If He finds His ministers neglecting the flock today, why should we be surprised when He raises witnesses elsewhere? His work will be accomplished.

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin
(Never known to fail):


"O most Beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me here you are my Mother. O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech You from the bottom of my heart to secure me in my necessity (make request). There are none that can withstand Your power. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee (3 times). Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands (3 times).

Say this prayer for 3 consecutive days and then you must publish and it will be granted to you.

- Rita J. Melanson
lasalette19@juno.com

Worcester Diocese: More parishes to close....

More signs of decay. As more and people apostasize, as Mass attendance declines, parishes close. Our Lady told Fr. Gobbi, "The hour of its great trial has above all come for the Church, because it will be shaken by the lack of faith, obscured by apostasy, wounded by betrayal, abandoned by its children, divided by schisms, possessed and dominated by Freemasonry, turned into fertile soil from which will spring up the wicked tree of the man of iniquity, the Antichrist, who will bring his kingdom into its interior." (January 1, 1993).

Those of us who adhere to the truths of the Church as taught by the Magisterium are no longer welcome at many parishes which have succumbed to the spirit of Antichrist. Indeed, Our Lady's Movement - the Marian Movement of Priests - is not welcome in many parishes. But dissent groups such as VOTF often are welcome in these parishes.

There are many priests, religious and laity who are betraying the Church from within. Such are preparing the way for the Son of Perdition, whom many believe is about to make his appearance upon the world's stage.

Related reading: http://www.spiritdaily.com/apparitionsupdate.htm

Vatican reaffirms stance against homosexual seminarians...

There are those within the Catholic Church who are attempting to build a new church in their own image and likeness. These proponents of a new religion of humanitarianism see no problem with ordaining homosexual men to the priesthood. Many of them clamor for the ordnation of men who possess a homosexual inclination, an inclination which the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us is "objectively disordered." (2358). But then, their whole notion of "church" is disordered.

In his Summa Contra Gentiles, Saint Thomas Aquinas tells us that God is offended by us only when we act against our own good. The Church warns us that various acts such as abortion, contraception, and homosexual acts are contrary to our own good. These all constitute a disordered choice for a supposed good in such a way that the person who commits them closes himself off to the potentials for that self-realization and happiness which God desires for all men (John 10:10).

It is through bad choices that we constitute ourselves as bad people. And when we become bad people, we soon become unhappy people - unhappy because we are not in communion with the Lord Jesus and His Law of Love (John 14:15). And when we are unhappy people, we soon become miserable people - alienated from God and neighbor - isolated, and, if unrepentant, damned people.

Advocates of the "New Church" want to empty Christianity of its supernatural dimension and reduce it to a humanitarian religion where little (or no) importance is attributed to sin, grace and the transcendent. The Corporeal Works of Mercy alone are emphasized. The Sacraments are abandoned (priests no longer preach on the importance, the necessity, of the Sacrament of Reconciliation), the supernatural is relegated to the margins. Even many otherwise devout and orthodox Catholics are embarassed by the supernatural dimension of the Church and prefer to focus on social justice issues. Many come to view the Church in democratic terms and her Magisterium is contested:

"Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 675).

The New Tower of Babel.....Shades of Dr. Moreau?

"The mark of the present crisis is man's attempt to free himself from his condition as a created being, to deny his metaphysical situation, and to disengage himself from all bonds with anything greater than himself. Modern man is attempting to build up a new Tower of Babel."

- Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand.


"My trouble took the strangest form. I could not persuade myself that the men and women I met were not also another Beast People, animals half wrought into the outward image of human souls, and that they would presently begin to revert,—to show first this bestial mark and then that. But I have confided my case to a strangely able man,—a man who had known Moreau, and seemed half to credit my story; a mental specialist,—and he has helped me mightily, though I do not expect that the terror of that island will ever altogether leave me. At most times it lies far in the back of my mind, a mere distant cloud, a memory, and a faint distrust; but there are times when the little cloud spreads until it obscures the whole sky. Then I look about me at my fellow-men; and I go in fear. I see faces, keen and bright; others dull or dangerous; others, unsteady, insincere,—none that have the calm authority of a reasonable soul.

There is—though I do not know how there is or why there is—a sense of infinite peace and protection in the glittering hosts of heaven. There it must be, I think, in the vast and eternal laws of matter, and not in the daily cares and sins and troubles of men, that whatever is more than animal within us must find its solace and its hope.

I hope, or I could not live."


-Edward Douglas, H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau."


As the United Kingdom okays man-beast hybrids, elsewhere "sex-change operations" are proposed for children. Read here. And so men continue to prepare the chastisement with their own hands.

China death toll now more than 71,000...

From the La Salette Journey Archives...

The task of priests

Vatican II, in its' Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests (Presbyterorum Ordinis) No. 4, had this to say: "The People of God are joined together primarily by the word of the living God. And rightfully they expect this from their priests. Since no one can be saved who does not first believe, priests, as co-workers with their bishops, have the primary duty of proclaiming the Gospel of God to all. In this way they fulfill the command of the Lord: "Going therefore into the whole world preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15), and they establish and build up the People of God. Through the saving word the spark of faith is lit in the hearts of unbelievers, and fed in the hearts of the faithful. This is the way that the congregation of faithful is started and grows, just as the Apostle describes: "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Rom 10:17).

To all men, therefore, priests are debtors that the truth of the Gospel which they have may be given to others. And so, whether by entering into profitable dialogue they bring people to the worship of God, whether by openly preaching they proclaim the mystery of Christ, or whether in the light of Christ they treat contemporary problems, they are relying not on their own wisdom for it is the word of Christ they teach, and it is to conversion and holiness that they exhort all men."

According to the Council, the task of priests is "not to teach their own wisdom but God's Word." And this task is of no less importance for the priest than his offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Both of these are inseperably linked to each other: "The ministerial priesthood has the task not only of representing Christ - Head of the Church - before the assembly of the faithful, but also of acting in the name of the whole Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church, and above all when offering the Eucharistic sacrifice." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1552).

For this reason, priests have the very serious obligation to teach the faithful under their care that it is never licit to have sexual relations outside of marriage; that a Catholic cannot (having been validly married in the Church) after divorce, marry another or otherwise pretend that sexual relations with another individual are somehow "marital"; that "formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense" and that '"the Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life" (CCC, 2272); and that "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible, is intrinsically evil.." (CCC, No. 2370, citing Humanae Vitae, No. 14).

The Church proposes these (and other teachings) as true and it does so in the name of Christ. The priest is not to question them. He is not to ignore them or neglect them out of a false sense of "compassion" or "charity." It was Pope Paul VI who said that, "To diminish in no way the saving teaching of Christ constitutes an eminent form of charity for souls." (Humanae Vitae, No. 29).

Pope John Paul II reiterated these words in Familiaris Consortio, No. 33. We are reminded in Lumen Gentium 14 of the Second Vatican Council that: "He is not saved, however, who, though part of the body of the Church, does not persevere in charity. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but, as it were, only in a "bodily" manner and not "in his heart." All the Church's children should remember that their exalted status is to be attributed not to their own merits but to the special grace of Christ. If they fail moreover to respond to that grace in thought, word and deed, not only shall they not be saved but they will be the more severely judged."

When a priest ignores or neglects his duty, his task, of serving the Word of God with fidelity, he fails to persevere in that charity described by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II as a charity which diminishes in no way the saving teaching of Christ. And he will be the more severely judged (Luke 12:48)*.


* "..Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."

THE APOSTASY SPREADS


Cardinal Giacomo Biffi: Antichrist "is already among us."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/668048.stm


Related reading: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSL1627550020080516?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Consecrated virginity: A luminous and fruitful charism...

VATICAN CITY,
15 MAY 2008 (VIS) -

Five hundred women, members of the "Ordo Virginum" who have come to Rome on pilgrimage to participate in an international congress being held by their order, were received in audience this morning by Benedict XVI.

In his remarks to them the Pope, quoting the theme chosen for the congress, pointed out that consecrated virginity is "a gift in the Church and for the Church". And he invited the women "to develop, from day to day, their understanding of a charism which is as luminous and fruitful in the eyes of the faith as it is obscure and futile in the eyes of the world".

"The Order of Virgins represents a particular form of consecrated life which flowered anew in the Church after Vatican Council II", the Holy Father explained. "However, it has ancient roots that go back to the beginnings of evangelical life when, in an unprecedented novelty, the hearts of certain women began to open to a desire for consecrated virginity: in other words, the desire to give one's entire being to God, which had had its first extraordinary fulfilment in the Virgin of Nazareth and her 'yes'".

"Your charism must reflect the intensity, but also the freshness, of its origins", said Benedict XVI noting how, "when it came into being, the charism did not involve a particular way of life. Little by little, however, it was institutionalised, finally becoming a full public and solemn consecration conferred by the bishop through an inspirational liturgical rite that made the consecrated woman 'sponsa Christi', an image of the Church as bride".

"Your vocation", he told the women, "is profoundly rooted in the particular Church to which you belong. ... From the diocese, with its traditions, its saints, its values, limits and difficulties, you open up to the scope of the Universal Church, sharing particularly in her liturgical prayer. ... In this way your prayerful 'I' progressively broadens out, until in the prayer there is nothing more than a great 'we'. ... In your dialogue with God, open yourselves to dialogue with all creatures".

"The choice of virginal life", the Pope concluded, "is an allusion to the transitory nature of earthly things and an anticipation of future good. Be witnesses of vigilant and industrious hope, of joy, of the peace that belongs to those who abandon themselves to the love of God. Be present in the world, yet pilgrims on the journey to the Kingdom".

Death toll in China earthquake could surpass 50,000

Pray for the victims of this horrific natural disaster. We need to intensify our prayers as regional disasters multiply. Take refuge in the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

"...you shall have night, not vision, darkness, not divination.."

This morning, while praying over the Scriptures, I was told to read Micah Chapter 3 and especially verse 5. At the same time, my mother was given the very same Word of Knowledge:



"And I said: Hear, you leaders of Jacob, rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not your duty to know what is right, you who hate what is good, and love evil? You who tear their skin from them, and their flesh from their bones! They eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from them, and break their bones. They chop them in pieces like flesh in a kettle, and like meat in a caldron. When they cry to the Lord, he shall not answer them; Rather shall he hide his face from them at that time, because of the evil they have done. Thus says the Lord regarding the prophets who lead my people astray; Who, when their teeth have something to bite, announce peace, But when one fails to put something in their mouth, proclaim war against him. Therefore you shall have night, not vision, darkness, not divination; The sun shall go down on upon the prophets, and the day shall be dark for them. Then shall the seers be put to shame, and the diviners confounded; They shall cover their lips, all of them, because there is no answer from God, But as for me, I am filled with power, with the spirit of the Lord, with authority and with might; To declare to Jacob his crimes and to Israel his sins. Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel! You who abhor what is just, and pervert all that is right; Who build up Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness! Her leaders render judgment for a bribe, her priests give decisions for a salary, her prophets divine for money, While they rely on the Lord, saying, ‘Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No evil can come upon us!’ Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem reduced to rubble, And the mount of the temple to a forest ridge." (Micah 3: 1-12).


The Lord Jesus is angry with many of His ministers. Our Lady told Fr. Gobbi that, "The hour of divine justice and of great mercy has now arrived. You will know the hour of weakness and of poverty, the hour of suffering and defeat, the purifying hour of the great chastisement. The great trial has arrived for your Church. Those errors which have brought people to the loss of the true faith have continued to spread. Many pastors have been neither attentive nor vigilant and have allowed many rapacious wolves, clothed as lambs, to insinuate themselves into the flock in order to bring disorder and destruction. How great is your responsibility, O pastors of the holy Church of God! You continue along the path of division from the Pope and of the rejection of his Magisterium..." (November 15, 1990).

To those consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart, Our Lady has said, "A great wonder is about to be accomplished in your time, even though for the present it is happening in silence and mystery. In the struggle between the Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun, in which heaven and earth are taking part, the heavenly powers and those of hell, your Mother and Queen is each day accomplishing an important step in the realization of her victorious plan. Therefore I say to you: soon the desert will blossom, and all creation will become again that marvelous garden, created for man to reflect in a perfect manner the greatest glory of God." (November 28, 1979).

Our Lady is preparing us for the desert where the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition, the Red Dragon, will pursue those of us who are consecrated to Her. To those of us who are Her offspring:

"..the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly to her place in the desert, where, far from the serpent, she was taken care of for a year, two years, and a half year.* The serpent, however, spewed a torrent of water out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with the current. But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth and swallowed the flood that the dragon spewed out of its mouth. Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus." (Revelation 12: 14-17).

* The reign of Antichrist, "..it was given authority to act for 42 months." (Revelation 13: 5).

Related reading: Priest linked to homosexual website

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051305.html

Homosexual hate movement in Canada wants to censor mail...

As noted here


"On the night of February 27-28, 1933, a mentally disabled Dutch citizen set fire to the German parliament building (the Reichstag). Hitler and his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, presented the incident as the prelude to an armed Communist uprising and persuaded the aging President Paul von Hindenburg to establish what became a permanent state of emergency. This decree, known as the Reichstag Fire Decree, suspended the provisions of the German constitution that protected basic individual rights, including freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly. The decree also permitted increased state and police intervention into private life, allowing officials to censor mail, listen in on phone conversations, and search private homes without a warrant or need to show reasonable cause. Under the state of emergency established by the decree, the Nazi regime could arrest and detain people without cause and without limits on the length of incarceration."

The homosexual propagandists over at EGALE are really advocating the same thing. State and police intervention into private life which would permit officials to censor mail. And be assured this would only be the beginning. Soon these propagandists would be demanding searches of private homes without a warrant and arrests and detentions without cause.

Does it really matter whether those who are advocating such things are wearing a brown shirt or a pink one? Intolerance is intolerance. The Dictatorship of Relativism is always evil, no matter what face it presents.

Related reading: Ex-homosexuals fear persecution at hands of homosexual activists
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08050719.html

Homofascist persecution: http://www.cwfa.org/articles/14696/CFI/family/index.htm

Archbishop Dolan blasts cults...

"Periodically throughout the church you'll get these crackpots who claim to be bishops or claim to be priests or even claim to be part of the church, and they're not, of course."

- Archbishop Dolan


Related reading: http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/02/still-no-answer-from-saint-benedict.html

Quake in China: Possibly 5,000 dead....

Related reading: http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/03/hour-of-poverty-and-defeat-approaches.html


More signs: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24558648/

Deadliest tornadoes in decade: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/tornadoes/2008-05-12-tornado_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Special prayer need - Myanmar (Burma) tragedy - the possible death-toll:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3911696.ece

Final impenitence leads to Hell

Sacred Scripture, God's Holy Word, tells us that there are sins that cannot be forgiven in the sense that they constitute such a terrible offense against the truth and the light - against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12: 31-32; 1 John 5: 16). The Scriptures speak here of a sin more radical than most mortal sins, of a sin which by its very nature blocks forgiveness.

Since the time of Saint Augustine (Father and Doctor of the Church), theologians have provided us with a list of sins against the Holy Spirit, proceeding from initial impenitence through obduracy (a hardening or stubborness in sin), presumption, despair, rejection of known truth, envy of the grace given to others, to final impenitence. (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, 2-2, 1-4).

This final impenitence leads to Hell, which is the eternal separation from God begun in this life through free, self-determining choices to turn away from God and His Law of Love and to embrace inordinately some created good in God's place. Through its willingness to do what it knows is wicked in the sight of the Lord Jesus, the soul opens a chasm* between itself and its Lord. By rationalizing its sin, the soul makes this chasm wider and wider until it is unable to hear His call and discern the Word of Truth that He has spoken in this world.

The Lord Jesus, speaking from His Throne (Revelation 21: 5-8) tells us:

"..Behold, I make all things new...I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water. The victor* will inherit these gifts, and I shall be his God, and he will be my son. But as for cowards*, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

* Chasm: Luke 16: 26

* Victor: Over the forces of evil; See the conclusions of the seven letters (Revelation 2: 7, 11, 17, 26; 3, 5: 12, 21).

* Cowards: Those whose conviction is so weak that they deny Christ in time of trial and become traitors.

Homosexual Episcopal "Bishop" Will "Wed" Male Partner

Related reading: http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/04/22-episcopal-ministers-fired-for-not.html

Signs...

The Church has now recognized an apparition of Our Lady to a 17th-century shepherd girl in the French Alps. See here. Our Lady foretold that this visit would come to light in the end times. See here.

"Most of us, however, had never before even heard of the message or apparitions of Notre Dame Du Laus. Even most Catholics in France have not heard of Notre Dame Du Laus. Why? Because our Lady's message to Benoite, aside from being filled with great hope, also had another aspect to it—an aspect that is anything but popular to the Church in the modern world. The message placed a tremendous amount of emphasis on the dangers of sin, the importance of repentance, the absolute "essential to salvation" nature of the Sacrament of Penance, and the necessity of receiving that Sacrament frequently.

During the lifetime of Benoite, and for centuries after her death, Laus was a place of great spiritual healing through the Sacrament of Penance. An incredible number of Catholics from every class (peasantry, gentry, and nobility) over the centuries since 1647 found their way back onto the road that leads to salvation, as a direct consequence of the message of Notre Dame Du Laus and the sanctity of the seer Benoite, who proclaimed that message to the world.

The sanctuary at Laus is called the "Refuge of Sinners" and it is, perhaps, due to its emphasis on the evil of sin that the message of Our Lady to Benoite has been all but "swept under the carpet" of Modernism in this our new age of 'enlightened,' 'grown-up' Catholicism*." (Michael Matt, Editor of The Remnant).

Related reading:

*http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2005/10/reading-from-prophecy-of-malachi.html

http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2007/09/reconciliation-its-meaning-and-value.html

http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com/2008/03/we-judge-that-apparition-of-blessed.html

The official Blog of Our Lady of Laus
Le Blog Notre Dame du Laus:http://notredamedulaus.over-blog.com/

The Rosary brings peace and reconciliation....

VATICAN CITY, 3 MAY 2008 (VIS) -

This evening Benedict XVI presided at the praying of the Rosary in the Roman basilica of St. Mary Major, "Marian temple par excellence" in which, as the Holy Father recalled, the image of Mary "Salus Populi Romani" is venerated.

"In the experience of my generation", he said, "May evenings evoke pleasant memories of vespertine appointments to pay homage to the Virgin Mary. ... 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".

"In the modern world which is so dispersive, this prayer helps us to place Christ at the centre, as did the Virgin who meditated upon everything that was said about her Son and upon what He Himself did and said. When we recite the Rosary we relive important monuments of the history of salvation, we again go over the various stages of Christ's mission. With Mary we turn our hearts to the mystery of Jesus".

"May Mary help us to welcome within ourselves the grace that emanates from these mysteries, so that through us this grace can 'irrigate' society, starting with our everyday relationships, purifying it from many negative forces and opening it to the novelty of God.

"The Rosary", the Pope added, "when it is prayed in an authentic manner - not mechanically and superficially, but profoundly - brings peace and reconciliation. It contains the healing power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, invoked with faith and love at the heart of each Hail Mary".

Benedict XVI then called on those present to ensure they remained united to Mary during these days leading up to Pentecost, "invoking a renewed effusion of the Holy Spirit for the Church". He also entrusted them with "the most urgent intentions" of his ministry: "the needs of the Church, the great problems of humanity, peace in the world, the unity of Christians, and dialogue between cultures", as well as the pastoral objectives of the diocese of Rome, and the "solidary development" of Italy.

And what shall we say about those who, like the Catholic priest who sabotaged my efforts to bring a Rosary hour to my local parish back in the 1990's, actively discourage this devotion? Let's let St. Louis de Montfort do the talking:

The Secret of the Rosary

NINTH ROSE:

ENEMIES

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.

These freethinkers who cannot bear others to say the Rosary often fall into a really heretical state of mind without even realizing it and some to hate the Rosary and its holy mysteries. To have a loathing for confraternities is to fall away from God and true piety, for Our Lord Himself has told us that He is always in the midst of those who are gathered together in His name. No good Catholic should forget the many great indulgences which Holy Mother Church has granted to Confraternities.

Finally, 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!"


Let's pray for those who discourage devotion to the Holy Rosary or who attempt to portray it as an outdated "medieval" Catholic devotion. For their attitude contradicts the mind of the Church on this matter.