Here is a great little bio on St. Faustina and Divine Mercy Sunday
Chaplet of Divine Mercy
Archive for the ‘Catholics’ Category
Divine Mercy Sunday: Jesus I Trust in You
Posted in Catholic, Catholic Church, Catholicism, Catholics, Jesus, tagged Divine Mercy, St Faustina on April 7, 2013 | 1 Comment »
Habemus Papam! Pope Francis I
Posted in Catholic Church, Catholicism, Catholics, Christian, Pope, Popes, tagged Argentina, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected, Jesuit, new Pope, Pope Francis I, South America, Vicar of Christ on March 13, 2013 | 11 Comments »
I am totally psyched! This is awesome!!! We now have a new Pope. Kevin and I have been glued to the TV watching with excitement awaiting the announcement of who is the new Pope. The College of Cardinals chose Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to be the 266th Pope. He has chosen the name Francis I. Our new Pope is Pope Francis I. Awesome!! Totally awesome!!! Pope Francis I is from Argentina. He is the first non-European, first South American, and first Jesuit Pope. Magnificent!! May the Holy Spirit guide him as he leads the Catholic Church. God Bless him.
pic H/T Atlantic Newswire
We Are All Sedevacantists Now
Posted in Catholic Church, Catholicism, Catholics, Current Events, Pope, sedevacantism, World News, tagged sedevacantism on March 3, 2013 | 15 Comments »
Although Teresa and I had discussed the notion of having a together blog before, and there was even a previous short lived attempt at one on the blogspot platform, the specific idea for this particular blog came about as a result of an encounter with a very smart sedevacantist, whose work I have admired for some time. That encounter almost cost me my own faith. It took some time (a few weeks), but I got through that ordeal. My faith had been shaken, but it did not collapse.
Sedevacantists are an odd lot. Finding any two of them who agree on very much other than the one thing that makes them all sedevancantists can be harder than you might imagine. I’ll be frank — many of them are nuts. And not in the charming, eccentric way that some lovable kooks are, but more like the dangerous type, certifiable, in need of being locked up. Ask a sedevacantist who he or she thinks was the last pope, and be prepared for almost any answer. For some, it is Paul VI, for others it is John XXIII, or one of the more recent Piuses XII, XI, or X. For a few, the vacancy extends back quite a bit farther, to Leo X or before. One person I corresponded with very briefly several years ago had ceased to be a sedevacantist, not because he came to his senses and accepted that the pope reigning at that time was the genuine successor of Peter, but because he became an anti-pope, taking it upon himself to have himself crowned (I have a sadly funny picture of him on my hard drive in which he is dressed in full papal regalia standing majestically by some chicken wire on some midwestern farm somewhere). As his arguments and opposition to previous claimants to the papacy progressed (i.e., as his madness worsened), and he tried to definitively determine who his most recent “predecessor” was, he found that he had serious doctrinal and moral misgivings about the legitimacy of each and every claimant to the papacy before him, all the way back to St. Peter himself!
Sedevacantists qualify as such by one and only one specific belief. I know of no other beliefs that they all tend to hold in common except perhaps some obvious ones of the Mere Christianity sort like the Trinity, the Incarnation, virginity of Mary, that kind of thing. But now, conditions have changed, and the number of sedevacantists has suddenly quantum jumped from a few thousand to billions. Sedevacantism is the belief that the See of Peter is vacant, and now, since the Holy See actually is vacant and everyone knows it, we are all sedevacantists now. Even non-Christians are sedevacantists. The Vatican is now the chief center of Sedevacantism.
The papacy’s Twitter account is now sedevacantist!
Today I am a sedevacantist. Of course, it is, in a trivial sense, no surprise that I have lived to see the day where I would be one, but it is also true that today the living pope (emeritus), the brilliant man who was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became His Holiness Benedict XVI, is a sedevacantist. I never thought I’d see that day!
This period of vacancy has made me think of the man whose splendid work was in no small part the inspiration for this blog whose brief friendship almost cost me my Catholic faith, and I have dropped him a line, wishing him well. For this short time, there is nothing for us to disagree about.
A Hero-Pope
Posted in Catholic, Catholic Church, Catholics, Christian, Culture War, Pope, Religion, tagged Church, faith, faithful, hero, persecution, perseverance, Pope, priest, priesthood, seminarians, vocations on February 20, 2013 | 8 Comments »
I have been sick so I’m posting this video. I will try to make it around to your blogs later today or tomorrow. God Bless.
Cardinal Mahony Has Been Relieved of Duties in Los Angeles
Posted in Catholic Church, Catholics, Controversy, Current Events, Dissent, Religion, Unfaithful, tagged Archbishop Gomez, Cardinal Mahony, Catholic Church, cover up, involvement, L.A. Archdiocese, Los Angeles, priest abuse scandal, relieved of duties, sexual abuse on February 1, 2013 | 1 Comment »
Since 2011 Archbishop Gomez has been sifting through documents related to the sexual abuse cover up in the L.A. Archdiocese and these documents have brought to light Cardinal Mahony’s efforts to hide the abuse. Archbishop Gomez has relieved Cardinal Mahony of his duties. He was already retired so I’m not sure what other punishments can be administered beyond his being denied the authority to do confirmations since Cardinal Mahony is retired. The L.A. Times has reactions from parishioners here. Steve Lopez is correct. Mahony’s actions to hide the perpetrators who committed sexual abuse is deplorable and evil. Here is a bit more of the scoop on this from Father Z:
The Archbishop of Los Angeles, Most Rev. José H. Gomez, has said “Effective immediately, I have informed Cardinal Mahony that he will no longer have any administrative or public duties.” See the pdf of the letter HERE.
What this means is that His Eminence cannot be any sort of representative for the sitting Archbishop or for the Archdiocese. Canon law itself gives Cardinal some faculties. According to can. 357§2, “in those matters which pertain to their own person, cardinals living outside of Rome and outside their own diocese are exempt from the power of governance of the bishop of the diocese in which they are residing.” So, there is little that Archbp. Gomez can do, except cancel every public event in which Card. Mahony was going to play a principle part, such as confirmations.
Mahony made sure that he kept the truth hidden for years so it is good and just that Archbishop Gomez has gotten to the bottom of things and is taking the appropriate action.
Causes for the Crisis in the Catholic Church are …
Posted in Catholic Church, Catholics, Education, United States, tagged bishops, Cafeteria Catholics, Catholic Church, causes, crisis, dissent from Magisterium, poor lay education, priestly formation, timid on December 21, 2012 | 2 Comments »
What do you think of the list? Do you think the laity who took part in the poll hit the nail on the head? Can you think of any other causes for the crisis in the Church?
Catholic Half Hermit Dissident on Homosexuality and Homosexual “Marriage”
Posted in Bible, Catechism, Catholic, Catholic Church, Catholic Church Doctrine, Catholics, Christian, Christianity, Culture Clash, scripture, Theology, tagged Catechism, Catholic teaching, half hermit by the lake, homosexual, homosexual "marriage", homosexuality, homosexuals, intrinsic evil, intrinsically disordered acts, priest, scripture, tradition on November 25, 2012 | 2 Comments »
I recently came across the blog Half Hermit by the Lake where a Catholic priest praised the re-election of President Obama, a few democrats in Maryland, and expressed his support for homosexual “marriage”. He also said that he was pleased that Maryland had upheld the law granting homosexuals the right to marry and called homosexual “marriage” a civil rights issue.
Here is what the Catholic half hermit wrote:
Does this picture look triumphant enough? This is a happy day for the U.S.A. and for yours truly. I can keep for four more years my Obama-Biden bumper sticker which has already weathered the last four years. Cardin continues in the Senate. I am glad that Bartlett will no longer be our non-representative in the House. I pray that his opponent Delaney and all those who were elected last night will work for what’s best for the people.
I am also pleased that Marylanders voted to uphold our law allowing marriage between homosexuals. For many years my position was that, as long as we made sure that same sex couples had all the rights of married couples, that was sufficient. But about two years ago I began to see this as a civil rights issue. Everyone in Maryland, the Free State, now has an equal right to marry.
What pleases me about the election outcomes is that I see them supporting the common good, as opposed to the extreme individualism that has become evident in the last two or three years. I find them very much in keeping with Catholic teaching on Social Justice.
Here is how I responded on his blog:
Why as a Catholic priest do you believe that homosexual “marriage” should be considered a civil right? I can understand if you believe that we should treat homosexuals with human dignity. We should treat all individuals with human dignity. I can understand if you believe that homosexuals should have the right to each others health insurance, visitation at hospitals, and other life decisions but I am wondering why you believe homosexual relations to be just as legitimate as heterosexual relations? What in scripture justifies your position?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states this on homosexuality:
2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who
experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the
same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in
different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained.
Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of
grave depravity, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are
intrinsically disordered.” They are contrary to the natural law. They close the
sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and
sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
As Catholics we are called to assent to Church teaching. We are called to believe and defend the teachings of the Catholic Church. Deacons, priests, and bishops are called to Shepherd the flock - the laity – and not side with what society deems as appropriate, fair, or moral when it conflicts with Church teaching.
Fr. Frank Pavone – Pro-Life Straight Talk
Posted in Catholic, Catholics, Christian, Constitution, Election, God, Morality, Pro-Life, tagged Fr. Frank Pavone, presidential election, pro-life, unborn child, vote, voting, vulnerable on November 4, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Impossible to Ascertain Who is the ‘Better Catholic’? Really?
Posted in Catholic, Catholic Church Doctrine, Catholic Social Teaching, Catholicism, Catholics, Christian, Constitution, Election, First Amendment, Morality, Religion, tagged 'better Catholic', actions, Catholic teaching, de fide doctrine, faith, Father James Martin S.J., intrinsic evil, issues, Joe Biden, judge, Mitt Romney, non-negotiable, Paul Ryan, President Barack Obama, prudential judgment, soul, words on October 19, 2012 | 1 Comment »
In the article Don’t Vote for the ‘Better Catholic’ Father James Martin S. J. says: ”But it is impossible to look within a person’s soul and judge who is the ‘better Catholic,’ simply based on what a person says during a campaign, much less a heated debate. My point here, though, is not to wade into the murky waters of politics, which I try to avoid, and leave to people more knowledgeable than me. Rather, it’s to point out the impossibility of ascertaining who is the “better Catholic,” based on public pronouncements.”"
I agree that one debate isn’t necessarily going to give us a bird’s-eye view into either of the candidate’s souls but that is not all we as voters have to go on. We have their statements, actions, and their positions on policies that we are able to judge them on. Father Martin claims that it is impossible to judge who is the “better Catholic” and that since we are unable to see into a person’s soul we can’t possibly know who is a better Catholic. But don’t words and actions give us a window into a person’s soul? We judge people by their actions and words all the time. If a person steals money I may not be able to see into their soul but I do know that the person violated the law, that he needs to repent and acknowledge the wrong he committed, and needs to make restitution for that action which violated the law and was also a sin.
With Biden and Ryan we are able to judge them by way of what they have promulgated via their actions and words. We can know whether one or the other believes in Church teaching if one comes out in favor of something that is contrary to Church teaching or if another speaks on an issue and holds a view which is consistent with Church teaching.
To properly judge whether one candidate is a “better Catholic” than the other one must have an informed conscience, know which issues are considered a matter of prudential judgment and those issues which are non-negotiable or de fide doctrine and understand the difference between the two.
Does either party fully embrace the entirety of Catholic teaching? I agree with Father Martin when he says neither party fully embraces Catholic teaching. But does one party have to necessarily fully embrace Catholicism for us to be able to judge whether one party is better than the other? We can judge which party is better than the other based on their actions and words. Does one party promote intrinsic evil(s)? Does one party threaten the existence of the Church and Her principles? Does one party consistently promote policies which are contrary to de fide doctrine?
Catholic bishops have identified abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem cell research, attacks on religious liberty, and euthanasia as the intrinsic evils we as faithful Catholics are to focus on when voting this election. Which party supports these intrinsic evils? Which party stands up and is fighting against these intrinsic evils? Now, which party do you support – the one that supports and promotes these intrinsic evils or the one that doesn’t?
Saint Faustina on Hell
Posted in Catholic, Catholic Church, Catholics, Christian, Christianity, faith, God, Jesus, Saints, tagged Diary, God, Heaven, Hell, Jesus Christ, purgatory, Saint Faustina, Sister Faustina Kowalska, sufferings, torture, vision on October 15, 2012 | 9 Comments »
In one of Saint Faustina’s visions she had a vision of Hell. This is from her diary:
Sister Faustina’s Vision of Hell
“I, Sister Faustina Kowalska, by the order of God, have visited the Abysses of Hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence…the devils were full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God, What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing: That most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell.” (Diary 741)
“Today, I was led by an angel to the Chasms of Hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw:
The First Torture that constitutes hell is:
The loss of God.
The Second is:
Perpetual remorse of conscience.
The Third is
That one’s condition will never change.
The Fourth is:
The fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it. A terrible suffering since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger.
The Fifth Torture is:
Continual darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own.
The Sixth Torture is:
The constant company of Satan.
The Seventh Torture is:
Horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies.
These are the Tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings.
Indescribable Sufferings
There are special Tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings related to the manner in which it has sinned.
I would have died
There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me.
No One Can Say There is No Hell
Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use of to sin. I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no hell, or that nobody has ever been there, and so no one can say what it is like…how terribly souls suffer there! Consequently, I pray even more fervently for the conversion of sinners. I incessantly plead God’s mercy upon them. O My Jesus, I would rather be in agony until the end of the world, amidst the greatest sufferings, than offend you by the least sin.” (Diary 741)
My Comment: We need to listen to our consciences and be ever vigilant in following our consciences. When we do have failings or do a wrong – sin – we are called to repent our sins. By God’s Grace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation God forgives all the sins that we have repented. Praying to God helps us to discern between right and wrong and to follow God’s will for our lives. God loves each of us and he doesn’t want any one of us to end up in hell for all eternity but as humans we have free will and we use this free will to make choices in life. The choices we make, whether good or bad, moral or immoral, will ultimately determine whether we go to heaven, purgatory, or hell. There are consequences for our actions, thoughts, and even inaction. I’m positive that every person wants to avoid incurring the types of torture that Saint Faustina described above. Following Jesus Christ is the way we can avoid the penalty of hell. God Bless.
Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus
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