Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts

Reintroducing Logic and Reason to the Age of Sentimentalism

There Is No “Get Out of Hell Free” Card

Jesus Christ is strict. He makes it clear throughout scripture we are to follow Him, His Church, and His teachings, whether they come from Him or through His Church. He is a merciful God and a just God, Who will judge us at the moment of our death as whether we are worthy to sit with Him in Heaven, atone for our sins in Purgatory, or writhe in agony in Hell for all eternity.

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Parables are a tool Jesus uses in order to make more complicated teachings easier for us to understand. Having the effects of Original Sin on our souls, we cannot comprehend fully the mysteries of our faith. Thus, we are given these beautiful parallels as ways to which we can relate and comprehend our faith.

Many Catholics claim that those who are ignorant of God will get a pass. At the moment of death, or slightly before, God will reveal to them everything and give them an opportunity to become Catholic if they choose. While this might seem like a merciful act, it isn’t.

It would not be merciful for God to institute the sacraments through His Church and then allow every single person who chose to ignore these sacraments while walking upon this Earth, to receive a “Get Out of Hell Free” card. If all our pain and suffering in this life is for naught, simply because we will go to Heaven anyway, then this God is a cruel and merciless God, who allows suffering because He enjoys it. We know that this isn’t true, but it’s because of our sin and turning away from God that causes all suffering in this vale of tears.

If all we have to do is say we are sorry prior to our death or shortly thereafter, then there is absolutely no point in striving for sanctity, there is no point to living a good and holy life, and there is no point treating others well. We would be able to lie, cheat, steal, engage in sexual immorality, and perform whatever sin our body desired, with no consequence. Finally, if we are presented with this opportunity, then there is no point for us to be Catholic, and no point for the Church to exist. Why bother at all? We get to find out everything and still go to Heaven when we die.

What this line of thinking would eventually entail is that every evil person who lived upon this Earth and caused untold suffering to countless numbers of people would also get to go to Heaven. Adolf Hitler, Genghis Khan, Judas, and a number of evil men and women who have corrupted so many individuals, could very well be waiting in Heaven right now if they were able to choose just prior to their death or a few moments afterwards.

Of course, no Catholic who believes in this idea would give these sinful men that opportunity. Those who subscribe to this heresy won’t extend the olive branch to these evil men. Rather, they use this heresy to allow themselves to feel better after the loss of a friend, family member, or colleague who they liked but objectively speaking lived a sinful life away from Christ and His Church. In believing this lie, the deceased individual no longer benefits from prayers being said to aid them in Purgatory. Rather, they are abandoned to suffer unnecessarily, because friends, family, and acquaintances would rather assume the dead are thriving in Heaven, rather than the possibility (and likelihood) that they are instead being cleansed or purified in Purgatory. Even more so, if the deceased lived a life and died in a state of mortal sin, it is likely that they are not in Purgatory, but are sadly spending eternity in Hell.

There is also the idea of a person not being punished for committing particular sins if they are ignorant of the sin. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus gives us a clear parable that lends the impression that while the sinner might not be reprimanded in full for his actions, he will still be disciplined:

Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands. And you yourselves like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh, shall find watching. Amen I say to you, that he will gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and passing will minister unto them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But this know ye, that if the householder did know at what hour the thief would come, he would surely watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open. Be you then also ready: for at what hour you think not, the Son of man will come. And Peter said to him: Lord, dost thou speak this parable to us, or likewise to all? And the Lord said: Who (thinkest thou) is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord setteth over his family, to give them their measure of wheat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come, he shall find so doing. Verily I say to you, he will set him over all that he possesseth. But if that servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming; and shall begin to strike the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and to drink and be drunk: The lord of that servant will come in the day that he hopeth not, and at the hour that he knoweth not, and shall separate him, and shall appoint him his portion with unbelievers. And that servant who knew the will of his lord, and prepared not himself, and did not according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more. Luke 12:35-48 DR

Those who follow Jesus and all of His teachings are the faithful servants who keep watch for their Master. Those teachings are to be a member of Christ’s Holy Catholic Church, to stay in a state of grace, to confess all mortal sins in kind and number, and to follow all the precepts of the Church. Protestants, Jews, Atheists, Muslims, agnostics, and every other individual who is not in the Catholic Church and in the state of grace is at risk of spending eternity in Hell. Please, for the sake of your soul, accept Jesus Christ, His Church, and become Catholic. An eternity in Hell is not worth it.

Jeff September 30, 2015 Leave A Comment Permalink

Cardinal Danneels Admits To Being Part of “Mafia” Opposing Pope Benedict

Godfried Cardinal Danneels

Pope Francis has boarded his plane in Philadelphia and is en route to the Vatican, though he is likely back home by the time you read this. I wanted to bring up a story that came out on Thursday. With all of the Papal news that came out during Pope Francis’ trip to the United States, I wanted to make sure we start the week out with this story, as it is of utmost importance, especially with the Synod of the Family only a week away. Edward Pentin writes over at the National Catholic Register:

Further serious concerns are being raised about Cardinal Godfried Danneels, one of the papal delegates chosen to attend the upcoming Ordinary Synod on the Family, after the archbishop emeritus of Brussels confessed this week to being part of a radical “mafia” reformist group opposed to Benedict XVI.

 

It was also revealed this week that he once wrote a letter to the Belgium government favoring same-sex “marriage” legislation because it ended discrimination against LGBT groups.

 

[…]

 

The Vatican listed him second in importance out of 45 delegates personally chosen by Pope Francis to participate in the upcoming meeting. He also took part in last year’s Extraordinary Synod as a papal delegate.

 

At the launch of the book in Brussels this week, the cardinal said he was part of a secret club of cardinals opposed to Pope Benedict XVI.

 

He called it a “mafia” club that bore the name of St. Gallen. The group wanted a drastic reform of the Church, to make it “much more modern”, and for Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to head it. The group, which also comprised Cardinal Walter Kasper and the late Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, has been documented in Austen Ivereigh’s biography of Pope Francis, The Great Reformer.

Even more shocking is this news is coming from the authorized biography about Godfried Cardinal Danneels. Moreso, Cardinal Danneels admits on video that he was a part of a mafia to oust Pope Benedict.

Cardinal Danneels biography

This appears to conflict with what Pope St. John Paul II wrote in Universi Dominici Gregis:

79. Confirming the prescriptions of my Predecessors, I likewise forbid anyone, even if he is a Cardinal, during the Pope’s lifetime and without having consulted him, to make plans concerning the election of his successor, or to promise votes, or to make decisions in this regard in private gatherings.

 

80. In the same way, I wish to confirm the provisions made by my Predecessors for the purpose of excluding any external interference in the election of the Supreme Pontiff. Therefore, in virtue of holy obedience and under pain of excommunication latae sententiae, I again forbid each and every Cardinal elector, present and future, as also the Secretary of the College of Cardinals and all other persons taking part in the preparation and carrying out of everything necessary for the election, to accept under any pretext whatsoever, from any civil authority whatsoever, the task of proposing the veto or the so-called exclusiva, even under the guise of a simple desire, or to reveal such either to the entire electoral body assembled together or to individual electors, in writing or by word of mouth, either directly and personally or indirectly and through others, both before the election begins and for its duration. I intend this prohibition to include all possible forms of interference, opposition and suggestion whereby secular authorities of whatever order and degree, or any individual or group, might attempt to exercise influence on the election of the Pope.

 

81. The Cardinal electors shall further abstain from any form of pact, agreement, promise or other commitment of any kind which could oblige them to give or deny their vote to a person or persons. If this were in fact done, even under oath, I decree that such a commitment shall be null and void and that no one shall be bound to observe it; and I hereby impose the penalty of excommunication latae sententiae upon those who violate this prohibition. It is not my intention however to forbid, during the period in which the See is vacant, the exchange of views concerning the election.

 

82. I likewise forbid the Cardinals before the election to enter into any stipulations, committing themselves of common accord to a certain course of action should one of them be elevated to the Pontificate. These promises too, should any in fact be made, even under oath, I also declare null and void.

 

83. With the same insistence shown by my Predecessors, I earnestly exhort the Cardinal electors not to allow themselves to be guided, in choosing the Pope, by friendship or aversion, or to be influenced by favour or personal relationships towards anyone, or to be constrained by the interference of persons in authority or by pressure groups, by the suggestions of the mass media, or by force, fear or the pursuit of popularity. Rather, having before their eyes solely the glory of God and the good of the Church, and having prayed for divine assistance, they shall give their vote to the person, even outside the College of Cardinals, who in their judgment is most suited to govern the universal Church in a fruitful and beneficial way.

Taking all of this in, and taking Cardinal Danneels for his own word, it makes one wonder if the abdication of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is indeed valid or not. Also interesting is Cardinal Danneels has been placed in a high post at the Synod of the Family. Not only is he for gay marriage and adultery, but he was partially responsible for the abdication of Pope Benedict.

We are left with a few questions. If this Cardinal is against the family, then why is he given the number two spot on the Synod? If he indeed was a part of ousting Pope Benedict and violated Universi Dominici Gregis in order to elect Pope Francis, why would he admit all of this now, just one and a half weeks (at the time of the announcement) from the Synod of the Family? If Pope Benedict was indeed forced to resign, then is he still our Pope?

This bombshell is a lot to process and it is scary to think of the ramifications for it’s implications. I await to hear more about this story as it develops, and will report more when I have more information. I am aware that a statement came out shortly after the breaking of this story saying that it was in error, but the fact still remains that there is video evidence of Cardinal Danneels admitting to it all. And that is where we need to find out more information.

Jeff September 28, 2015 3 Comments Permalink

Legitimate Criticism of the Pope

With Pope Francis’ trip to Cuba and the United States, it has come to my attention that Pope worship, or Papolatry, is at a record high. Many of these Catholics who are guilty of Papolatry are responding rather negatively about those who are criticizing Pope Francis’ actions, in regards to his public speeches, as well as his general conduct. A year ago I wrote in some length about how the Pope is not infallible when it comes to anything he does off-the-cuff or outside of the realm of teaching faith and morals as long as it is done with respect to the office of the Papacy and charitably. You can read that here.

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This week I have been bombarded with accusations saying that I am not a good Catholic due my criticisms and disagreements with Pope Francis. One accusation that was thrown my way was that I was “being an unfaithful son of the Church”. It struck me as odd that criticizing the Pope’s words, especially when he is speaking of his own personal opinions (read: not official Catholic teaching) is considered being an unfaithful son. Even more ironic is that more often than not, you can find Pope Francis’ speeches actually conflict with Catholic thinking regardless if his predecessors Popes John Paul II or Benedict XVI performed the same actions or speeches.

I, as a faithful son of the Church, am to reject heresy, no matter who utters it. I imagine these papolaters would have been the first in line to criticize St. Paul when he criticized Pope St. Peter, St. Catherine of Siena when she criticized Pope Gregory XI or St. Athanasius when he fought tooth and nail against Arianism, even being excommunicated for doing so.

While I’m not a saint, to say that no-one can criticize the Pope is an error that is proven wrong by the aforementioned saints. They saw heresy and fought it. This pontificate is riddled with error and Modernism. To argue otherwise demonstrates a lack of knowledge of Catholic teaching and a lack of understanding of Dogma and Doctrine.

We have a Pope who claims to defend the Family, yet is inviting mostly the enemies of the Family and the Church to the Synod. He proudly announces how “serene” Cardinal Kasper’s theology is and how it’s an example of doing “theology on one’s knees”.

We are in odd times, and to falsely proclaim that we can’t point this out is willful ignorance and promotion of error. These individuals may call me a poor son of the Church, but I won’t ever stop pointing out the errors of this pontificate. I will not tolerate error.

Continue to fight against error. We have 2,000 years of Church teaching to stem from, not the last 50 years or even worse, the last two and a half. Jesus Christ is unchanging. If you encounter a teaching that is contrary to what Jesus has given, then you can be assured that it is incorrect, no matter who says it, including the Pope.

Jeff September 27, 2015 1 Comment Permalink

Modernists and the Synod: Attacks Against Tradition

This post is part three in a series of posts on the Synod of the Family and Modernism. Read part two here.

The Synod of the Family inches ever closer. We must remember to spend our time in prayer and fasting for this event. We are in the fourth greatest crisis of the Church, according to Bishop Athanasius Schneider. Bishops, Cardinals, and even the Pope are speaking openly about the need for Church teaching to change. Many in attendance at the Synod are in favor of allowing the divorced, remarried, and openly homosexual to receive the Holy Eucharist, without amending their lives. This is scandalous to hear from those who have been ordained to safeguard Christ’s teachings with their very lives.

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Pope St. Pius X authored the encyclical Pascendi Domini Grecis, or “On Modernism”. He examines how the enemies of the Church are working to corrupt her teachings. Without further ado, we continue:

Q. In their war against scholastic philosophy, how do the Modernists deal with the second obstacle, as they call Tradition?

A. They exercise all their ingenuity in diminishing the force and falsifying the character of Tradition, so as to rob it of all its weight.

We see in regards to the Synod of the Family how the Modernist and heretical bishops are trying to frame the perspective of traditional marriage, as unloving, unkind, or even bigoted towards those who have divorced, remarried or actively engage in homosexual activity. They frame the narrative in such a way that Tradition becomes a negative ideal. Tradition becomes an ideal worse than any other sin, and those who cling to it are enemies. Words are said such as “God is a God of surprises”, to imply that even God doesn’t cling to Tradition.

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The Church which Jesus Christ instituted and gave the authority to establish Tradition is no longer in charge of determining what is and isn’t Tradition and that the Holy Spirit is moving hearts and minds. Of course, this is nonsensical as Jesus Christ, Who is the same yesterday as He is today and as He is tomorrow, would not change His mind. The Holy Spirit, Who is One with God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son, would not change His mind.

Tradition is an element of Catholicism that is of supreme importance because Tradition helps us to see that the Holy Catholic Church is indeed the One Church in which Jesus Christ established. With the Church’s unchanging stance on many issues over the course of 2,000 years, it shows that God is indeed with this Church, as the average Protestant church changes its mind depending on who its pastor is.

Tradition is important to our Catholic faith, as we will see declared in both the Council of Nicea and the Council of Constantinople below.

Q. In speaking of Tradition, what law of the second Council of Nicea should true Catholics have in mind?

A. But for Catholics the second Council of Nicea will always have the force of law, where it condemns those who dare, after the impious fashions of heretics, to deride the ecclesiastical traditions, to invent novelties of some kind … or endeavor by malice or craft to overthrow any one of the legitimate traditions of the Catholic Church.

Q. Give the law of the fourth Council of Constantinople on Tradition?

A. Catholics will hold for law, also, the profession of the fourth Council of Constantinople: We, therefore, profess to conserve and guard the rules bequeathed to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church by the Holy and most illustrious Apostles, by the orthodox Councils, both general and local, and by every one of those divine interpreters, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church.

The bishops and cardinals who are in favor of changing doctrine in order to allow the divorced, remarried, and actively homosexual to receive Holy Communion without repentance, penance, and amending their lives have been condemned by the Church through both of these councils, which are still in full effect today. Tradition is not the enemy, but novelty is, as novelty by its nature deviates from Tradition. In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul warns us of those who try to deviate from the tradition which is handed down from us:

Now I beseech you, brethren, to mark them who make dissensions and offences contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. For they that are such, serve not Christ our Lord, but their own belly; and by pleasing speeches and good words, seduce the hearts of the innocent. For your obedience is published in every place. I rejoice therefore in you. But I would have you to be wise in good, and simple in evil. Romans 16:17-19 DR

Only the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church and Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, are worthy to be followed. Anything that deviates from these teachings is not of God, but of His adversary, the Devil.

Read part four here.

Jeff September 25, 2015 1 Comment Permalink

Modernists and the Synod: Intellectual Causes

This post is part two in a series of posts on the Synod of the Family and Modernism. Read part one here.

The Synod of the Family inches ever closer. We must remember to spend our time in prayer and fasting for this event. We are in the fourth greatest crisis of the Church, according to Bishop Athanasius Schneider. Bishops, Cardinals, and even the Pope are speaking openly about the need for Church teaching to change. Many in attendance at the Synod are in favor of allowing the divorced, remarried, and openly homosexual to receive the Holy Eucharist, without amending their lives. This is scandalous to hear from those who have been ordained to safeguard Christ’s teachings with their very lives.

catechism of modernism

Pope St. Pius X authored the encyclical Pascendi Domini Grecis, or “On Modernism”. He examines how the enemies of the Church are working to corrupt her teachings. Without further ado, we continue:

Q. Surely you do not stigmatize Modernists, those men who pose as Doctors of the Church, as ignorant men?

A. Yes, these very Modernists who pose as Doctors of the Church, who puff out their cheeks when they speak of modern philosophy, and show such contempt for scholasticism, have embraced the one with all its false glamor because their ignorance of the other has left them without the means of being able to recognize confusion of thought, and to refute sophistry.

We see the majority of bishops and Cardinals at the Synod of the Family ready to change Church teaching. They puff out their cheeks with statements like “families have changed in the modern world”, or even:

“As these situations especially affect children, we are aware of a greater urgency to foster a true welcome for these families in our communities. For how can we encourage these parents to raise their children in the Christian life, to give them an example of Christian faith, if we keep them at arm’s length? I am especially grateful to the many pastors, guided by my Predecessors, who have worked diligently to let these families know they are still a part of the Church.” -Pope Francis, 5 August Wednesday Audience

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This attitude about how the world is different and thus we need “new avenues of creativity when it comes to families” is rooted in modern philosophy. It is not logical, nor is it Catholic to change Church teaching in order to be more inclusive for those who refuse to repent and amend their lives. Part of following Christ is indeed to take up your cross and follow Him (c.f. Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:23), but also to repent of our sins and to turn to God, for indeed the end is near (c.f. Matthew 4:17). To change Church doctrine to allow the unrepentant to receive the Holy Eucharist in a state of mortal sin is damaging to the soul of the sinner as warned by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29:

Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.

Scholasticism, as defined by the Concise Catholic Dictionary of 1943 is “the thought of Christian philosophers and theologians originating in the ninth century. It developed a characteristic method of investigation and exposition of thought applied to both philosophy and theology, and showed the relationship of philosophy and theology. It reached its height in the thirteenth century, and its greatest propounder was St. Thomas Aquinas. Scholastic theology unfolds and vindicates the conclusions deduced from dogmas by theologians.”

Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical Aeterni Patris, urged for the return of scholastic thinking:

15. “And, indeed, the knowledge and use of so salutary a science, which flows from the fertilizing founts of the sacred writings, the sovereign Pontiffs, the holy Fathers and the councils, must always be of the greatest assistance to the Church, whether with the view of really and soundly understanding and interpreting the Scriptures, or more safely and to better purpose reading and explaining the Fathers, or for exposing and refuting the various errors and heresies; and in these late days, when those dangerous times described by the Apostle are already upon us, when the blasphemers, the proud, and the seducers go from bad to worse, erring themselves and causing others to err, there is surely a very great need of confirming the dogmas of Catholic faith and confuting heresies.”

Scholasticism allows for understanding and properly interpreting scripture, understanding the fathers and councils of the Church, and to combat heresy and error. We see that scholasticism’s greatest strength is combating error as the enemies of the Church are always trying to introduce their errors into her thinking, much like we are witnessing today.

The aforementioned attitudes of modern philosophy are in conflict with scholasticism as modern philosophy is rooted in error. However, these bishops enjoy the glamour of modern philosophy, as the world is enchanted by it. The world promises riches and praise when adoption of its policies is adopted. Due to their ignorance of scholasticism, they fail to realize the errors and heresies of modern philosophy. Thus, they are unable to realize their error and instead proclaim these errors as truth. Continue to fast and pray, as we are indeed in dark times. Dare we hope that Pope Francis will uphold Church teaching?

Jeff September 23, 2015 1 Comment Permalink