Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Reintroducing Logic and Reason to the Age of Sentimentalism

DOMA, the Supreme Court, and Moral Relativism

As you have more than likely heard the Supreme Court of the United States has sadly ruled that DOMA (Defense Of Marriage Act) is unconstitutional.

So Much Fail

Of course, many Catholics are heart-broken, and even non-Catholics alike are upset with this ruling as well.

The sad thing is, this shouldn’t be a surprise to us. The gay marriage agenda has been working very hard to make their sin appear normal. Unfortunately, it isn’t normal, and sin isn’t normal.

The Church asks those who struggle with same-sex attraction to remain celibate. That is, to not engage in sexual activity. The thing is, the Church asks all its members to not engage in sexual activity that is outside of there vocation, that is, a single man or woman can not have sex either. A married man or woman can not have sex outside their marriage. This is worth noting because many automatically assume that when the Church asks those who struggle with same-sex attraction to not engage in that behavior, that heterosexuals are exempt and can run around and do whatever. This is not the case and those that do engage in immoral behavior put themselves in dangers of Hell just as equally. Sin is sin.

Over the last 4 decades, the Church leaders, especially in America have failed all Catholics. As I mentioned yesterday, many Church leaders in America, have preached a gospel of moral relativism instead of a Gospel of Truth. If our shepherds would have more of a background and actually call sin sin and not try to be buddy buddy with every single one of their sheep, this ruling probably would have gone the other way.

Cardinal Dolan is correct when he Tweeted that the Court got it wrong. He is absolutely correct. Like I said yesterday, chalk it up when our leaders are right. However, he hasn’t come out nearly as strong as he could have over the last few years in trying to sway the Church and its flock as to why homosexual activity is sinful. I’m not saying that he is responsible for the decision yesterday, as he is only the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, and only serves as the head of the USCCB for 3 years, as this has been a trend for the last 4 decades. Let’s pray that Cardinal Dolan may be invigorated in this decision to pump it up a bit.

Looking at the make-up of the Supreme Court, we have 9 members, of those 9, 7 are Catholic (or at least are called Catholic). The Court passed 5-4 in favor of homosexual activity. As it turns out, Justices Sotomayor (“catholic”), Kagan (“catholic”) and Kennedy (“catholic”) all voted in favor. They all grew up in the time when Catholicism was being watered down and their votes the other day show it.

When you preach moral relativism for several decades, you can’t be surprised when the Supreme Court, the President of the United States, members of the House and Senate and millions of American’s are in favor of unnatural law. The antidote to this, is a dose of Jesus Christ. Until we as a nation submit ourselves to Jesus, we will not succeed in anything that we do.

Jesus, I Trust in You!

To all of you priests, deacons, bishops and cardinals, for the love of God and His Holy Catholic Church, for the sake of all souls, start preaching the Gospel of Christ! Its time to start stirring the pot! Homilies are supposed to be challenging! If they leave for a Protestant denomination that preaches what they want to hear, then they weren’t Catholic to begin with and they have created a god in their own image. You will have to answer to Christ when you die for why you let His teachings get watered down. Don’t let moral relativism be your answer.

Jeff June 28, 2013 Leave A Comment Permalink

Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, Unless You Don’t Believe Then He’s Not…

There is a huge problem within the Church today, especially the Church in America. Many a priest, bishop and cardinal absolutely refuse to preach the truth, because they fear that they may be labeled as “offensive”, “unpopular”, “bigot” or a litany of other words that society would label as rude and insensitive.

As we recall when Jesus gave the Bread of Life discourse in John 6, Jesus told those that gathered that unless they eat the flesh of man and drink his blood, they would not have life in them. Immediately, those who were with Jesus began to murmur among themselves and complained that this was a hard teaching, and who could possibly follow this? They all got up and began to walk away. Jesus immediately said “Guys, wait up, I was only speaking metaphorically, and in parables, and I was only talking about signs!” Those who were walking away turned around and said “Oh, okay Jesus, we totally understand now”. Then everyone was happy again.

Except the last part there I made up. This didn’t happen and in fact as we read, Jesus let them walk. That’s right, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity let those people walk away. He didn’t change the message, but the Truth that He proclaimed was just that, Truth.

Through the history of the Catholic Church, we have seen a great many of saints proclaimed by the Church. There is quite the list. The one thing in common among them is how they have proclaimed the Truth of Jesus Christ and His Church, whether through the life they lived, the life they gave up, how they spoke, how they lived and all sorts of combinations. More importantly, they have all died in the state of grace.

Going back to my original point, many priests, bishops and cardinals, do not preach this faith. The faith that they preach is that of modernism, relativism and popularity. This needs to stop. Right. Now.

This doesn’t entitle any of us to go around and demonize these religious. This does nothing for either side and in fact allows us to fall with them. We need to pray for them as well as point out the error of their ways. Since we live in the era of Facebook and Twitter, we can actually correct them a lot easier than the old days. For those in higher offices where forming a friendship is a lot more difficult, we can Tweet directly to them, we can Facebook message them, we can even email, or if you don’t like technology (or just like that added personal touch) you can write them a letter via the old snail mail.

However, the best way to evangelize is on a one on one basis. If you can, form friendships with your priests, religious, etc. If necessary, you may need to bring more people to help represent the Truth. Unfortunately, if this doesn’t work, you may need to go to the higher up (generally the Bishop) in order to have the issue addressed. Keep in mind, I’m referring to matters that are contrary to Catholic teaching and in accordance with our faith, not minor disagreements over preferential styles.

On a final note, keep track of the times that these religious actually do hit the ball out of the park and score a home run for the side of Truth. Far too often when we encounter a religious who we dislike, we focus more on the negative and ignore the positive. Is it difficult to keep track of the positives when the negatives seem like such big deals (and in many cases are)? Absolutely. But that doesn’t negate the good that may come from the times that Truth is preached.

Stay strong. There are many positive things to look at from the view point of the Church. Yes, there are a lot of negatives, but, when you focus on the negatives for too long, you may lose hope. Focus some on the positives, so that you may be reinvigorated to tackle the negatives. Pray the Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplets, Memorares, and all sorts of prayers that help us to identify with our Catholic identity. Form a relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Spend time with your Mother Mary, your confirmation Saint, the Saints in Heaven and the Angels, especially our Guardian Angel.

We have an arsenal at our disposal, and rest assured, Christ formed the Church in 33 A.D. on St. Peter. He said that the gates of Hell will not prevail and they have not. Use the sacraments, and the sacramentals. Become a living saint and inspire those around you.

Jeff June 27, 2013 1 Comment Permalink

Mortal Sin Against the Fourth Commandment

The Fourth Commandment:

“Honor Your Father and Mother”.

Ugh, you mean I have to listen to what my parents have to say?

Yes. God gave us parents for a reason. That reason is for our creation! Hey! Who’da thought that? You really should be grateful for your parents, no matter how dysfunctional they may be, because without them, you wouldn’t be reading this.

It may be worth pointing out, that your parents are sinners, just like you and I. This does not excuse you for your sin, that is, because your mom did this or your dad did that, that this entitles you to sin. This is wrong. They may be the root cause of your sin, but, you are still responsible for your actions.

When we honor our parents, we are holding them in high regard. Why do we do this? Again, of all the people here on earth we should be giving such high respect, it should be our parents, after all, they brought us into the world, took care of us, nurtured us, bathed us, clothed us, fed us, housed us, educated us, you get the idea.

Without further ado, here are some mortal sins against the Fourth Commandment.

Serious failure to care for aged parents/Failure to carry out the last will of a deceased parent
The commandment is very clear that we are to honor our parents. That would include taking care of them in their time of need. Our parents nurtured us during our childhood and possibly even up to our college years as well. It makes sense for us to take care of them, and as long as their last will is not immoral, to follow that up for them.

Serious disrespect for or disobedience to parents, superiors or authorities
We have to respect our parents. We also are to respect superiors (boss, supervisors, managers, etc) as well as authorities (judges, police, etc). Again, it has to be moral. Obviously, we do not have to listen if it breaks the law, and especially if it breaks moral law.

Wishing death or evil on parents
We are not to wish death or evil on anybody, but most importantly, not our parents.

Abuse or serious neglect of children
This is where some people will think it goes a little different. Yes, we are to honor our parents, but we as parents must also take care of our children. What makes it a mortal sin to abuse or seriously neglect our children is that they are individuals that God has given to us to take care of. They are not ours, nor are they our property. Some abuses would be beating your children (especially adult children), starving your children (for lengthy periods of time). Serious neglect would also include abandonment, failure to take care of your children, and other such parenting failures.

Failure to baptize children in a reasonable time (within a few months) after birth
As a Catholic, we are responsible for baptizing our children. No ifs, ands or buts about it. We believe that baptism washes away the stain of original sin and infuses God’s grace into us. It is a permanent sign of God’s love and mercy. It is understandable that when the new baby arrives you are incredibly busy, but, you are now responsible for your child’s religious upbringing and forming their conscience in this stage of their life. If your baby dies and hasn’t received baptism, there is the chance that they will not make it to Heaven. The Church teaches that if we die with unrepentant mortal sin, as well as have not been washed with the saving grace of Baptism, we can go to Hell. Baptize your children shortly after they are born, the sooner the better.

Serious neglect of the religious education or upbringing of children
As mentioned above, you are now responsible for formulating the conscience of your child. You need to teach your children about the faith, and educate them in it. Get them to practice their faith, explain it to them, get them excited about it. Take them to Mass weekly. Pray at meals. The family that prays together, stays together. When you die and are judged by Jesus, you will be held responsible for the early formation that you have given your children. It is one thing for them to abandon the faith when they go out on their own (you can’t control them, keep this in mind (and pray for them!)) but, if you did not give them any reason to keep the faith, that is on you.

 

This post is one of many in a series on Mortal Sins. Click here for more posts explaining and defining mortal sins.

Jeff June 21, 2013 Leave A Comment Permalink

Fortnight For Freedom 2013

The USCCB has asked all American Catholics to celebrate the Fortnight for Freedom beginning today, June 21 and going through July 4.

The Fortnight for Freedom asks us all to pray and fast for religious freedom. This was started last year in response to that awful HHS Mandate forcing all religious employers to violate their consciences in regards to contraception. Ironically, those in favor of on-demand contraception will tell you to stay out of their lives in the bedroom, but will then immediately demand that you give them free contraception…
Regardless, there are many things on the USCCB’s website for what you can do. They even have a page that lists off various activities going on within your diocese.
God can do much for us in prayer, we just have to ask for it. My suggestions would be to make a daily sacrifice (fast) from something you enjoy. Whether it be a food, beverage, activity or anything that you enjoy. Sacrifices are good. I’d also encourage prayer for conversions, Adoration Hours, Daily Mass intentions, Rosaries, Divine Mercy Chaplets, really, the list goes on and on, but do something.
As families gather around the dinner table and talk about what’s going on. Inform your children about the dangers this would lead to. If you can as a family go to activities that your diocese or parish is doing, go. The Catholic Church is in trouble in America, as evidenced by everything our President has done, said or implied.
Catholic martyrdom is coming in America, and really, is already here in some forms. Pray that we don’t have to undergo this test, pray for conversions of those threatening us, and most importantly, pray that you have the strength and grace needed if you are to be martyred.
Remember, those who are martyred are granted straight entrance into Heaven.

Jeff June 21, 2013 Leave A Comment Permalink

Chelsea Clinton Admits She Wishes She Hadn’t Been Born

At least not directly. From LifeNews:

New York, NY (CFAM) — From the stage at the recent Women Deliver conference, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s daughter Chelsea revealed that her much-admired maternal grandmother was the child of unwed teenage parents who “did not have access to services that are so crucial that Planned Parenthood helps provide.”
Chelsea’s grandmother was born of an unintended pregnancy. And new research shows that her family is not alone in treasuring a person who – if Planned Parenthood had been successful – would not have been born.

How can you not derive that conclusion? The irony of her statement really boils down to this…had my great grandparents been able to have access to contraception or abortion, my grandmother wouldn’t be here, which in turn means Hillary Clinton wouldn’t be here, which in turn means I wouldn’t be here.

Unfortunately, had she thought things through properly, she would realize that had the organization that she is currently touting been successful, she would not exist.

Really, this argument can be applied to anyone who favors contraception or abortion for this very reason.

Jeff June 20, 2013 Leave A Comment Permalink