January | 2011 | Blogger Priest

References to Pagan Rome Used Against the Church

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Father Joe

Revelation 18:2-8;24 is often misapplied to the Roman Catholic Church. The great harlot Babylon symbolizes the Rome of pagans not of Christians. Despite persecution and martyrdom, Christians of the first century are urged not to surrender their precious faith in Christ.

What is a Christian?

Since anti-Catholics often renounce the Christian nature of Catholicism, we would do well to look at the sober and rich definition of this question in the universal catechism:

[CCC #1694] Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, Christians are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” and so participate in the life of the Risen Lord (Romans 6:11 and cf. 6:5; cf. Col. 2:12). Following Christ and united with him (cf. John 15:5), Christians can strive to be “imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love” (Ephesians 5:1-2) by conforming their thoughts, words and actions to the “mind . . . which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5), and by following his example (cf. John 13:12-16).

For more such reading, contact me about getting my book, DEFENDING THE CATHOLIC FAITH.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Bible, Catholic, Church, Discipleship, Evangelization, Faith | 1 Comment »

Isolated Verses Misused Against the Church

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Father Joe

A frequent tactic used by critics of Catholicism is to use verses orphaned from their proper context to impugn or undermine the teaching authority of the Church. They both misunderstand and misapply these passages so as to give their personal interpretation credence against the Magisterium. It is symptomatic of the Protestant individualism that often privatizes faith over the corporate understanding of a Church established and sustained by our Lord.

I write you these things about those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him. (1 John 2:26-27).

The initial difficulty in attacks of this sort is the very origin of the Bible, particularly the New Testament. The Catholic Church gathered and reproduced the canon of the Bible for the believers. As the Mother of the Bible, the Church and her bishops saw no challenge between biblical truth and her authority. The fundamentalist tends to be short-sighted in his historical assessments. This leads to another problem, in that the text he would use as a weapon against Catholicism becomes his own trap. The effort backfires.

His own role as a teacher of faith contradicts a literal reading of these verses. John speaks here with the authority of an apostle, a role which shall find its succession in the bishops. The warning here is not against the Magisterium of the Church, but against those who would lead God’s people astray. There is no Gospel that saves other than that of Jesus Christ. No community possesses any secret knowledge that surpasses that of the public proclamation of the true Church. Keeping faith in Christ Jesus, the believer is baptized and anointed (confirmation), receiving the Spirit of wisdom, the Holy Spirit. We have a responsibility to know the true faith and to spread it. This is the mission of the Church. The Christian has no need to seek another religious truth and we are to remain in solidarity with the chosen community of faith and in union with God. True wisdom and faith comes as a gift from God.

Further, the Holy Spirit leads the humble person to God. Against the Gnostic heretics, John is defending the Catholic truth that Jesus is the anointed Holy One, the Christ. Jesus Christ is indeed the revelation of the Father. In a certain sense, the “sola scriptura” critic of Catholicism is akin to these ancient Gnostics. While they believe that Jesus is both Christ and Savior; like the Gnostics, they minimize the importance of the material in regards to the spiritual. Thus, the Mystical Body and pre-eminence of the Church is denied, the sacramental signs are ridiculed, and the significance of the body in our personhood is often maligned for its wickedness.

Another interesting element about the verses given is their context. At the end of chapter two, something is said about our justification that is sure to make the anti-Catholic reviewer uncomfortable:

If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right is born of him. (1 John 2:29).

A real sign of our being “born again” is our just behavior; dare I say our good works?
The anti-Catholic critic will sometimes resort to trying to scare Catholics. He argues that time is running out and that Catholics, no matter how well-meaning, are in the wrong camp and facing the prospect of damnation.

So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God. (Romans 14:12).

The detractor of Catholicism would do well to read a few verses earlier,

Why then do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. (Romans 14:10).

Dissimilar from most other institutions, the inherent unity of Church members in Christ means that an attack against one is an assault on all. Similarly, if one targets the Catholic Church, then every Catholic believer is between the cross-hairs. The Church is a family. It is not really possible to hate the Church but to love individual Catholics. Hate the family, and you hate all of us. We are the Church.

While certain critical voices would employ such verses in their apologetics, the citation from Romans points to how one’s faith is actualized by the life of charity and following the commandments. We will each have to give an accounting for what we did in the body, either good or evil. While there is a particular judgment for each of us, there will also be a general judgment at the end of the world. Individual souls as members of God’s holy people or those for whom the Church has interceded will be accorded the reward of the just. The communion of saints is a celebration of the unity of the Church among those glorified by grace and thus worthy of heaven. Having repented, they place their faith in Jesus. They are washed clean in the blood of the Lamb and given the wedding garment of heaven as their vestiture. Those who reject the gift of salvation remain lost in their sins. They are separated from God and breached from their brothers and sisters by their own selfishness and iniquity.

But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. (John 16:13).

These words are not written for various individuals apart from the believing community; these words regarding the Holy Spirit are directed to the Church as a whole. This promise of Christ is fulfilled when the Holy Spirit descended upon the infant Church at Pentecost. Imaged as tongues of flame over the heads of the apostles, the leadership of the Church would always be enlightened and protected in the truth. Individual members can and should invoke the Holy Spirit for wisdom. But, the gift of infallibility and steadfastness in the truth is conferred upon the Church, particularly the Magisterium, and not to every individual believer. The assurance of Christ’s teachings require that members of the faith take seriously the guidance of their lawful shepherds and that they seek to conform their hearts and minds to that of Christ realized in the teaching Church. Our Lord speaks to us through his Church.

As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accursed! (Galatians 1:9).

Apart from Christ’s true Church, ministers and the people who follow them fall ever further from the truth. Fundamentalists might love this verse, but it also places them under divine judgment. Originally it applied to those missionaries who insisted that pagans had to become Jews before becoming Christians. Thus, circumcision and other Jewish rituals would be placed on par with the saving Cross of Christ. Paul denounces this activity and insists that his is the correct Gospel proclamation. Catholics place faith in Jesus and consider baptism as the manner in which we join the new People of God and are touched by Christ’s saving activity. The verse can in no way be applied against the Catholic Church. Ours is a faith in continuity with history: to the early Fathers, to the apostles and to Christ.

Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; … (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Paul recalls the living TRADITION which he himself received and transmitted to the Corinthians. Paul stresses their faith in Christ and in his saving actions against the views of those who would deny the bodily resurrection of the Lord. Catholics believe in this very same Gospel and retain the ancient traditions repudiated by many non-Catholics.

Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus….” (Acts 16:30-31).

Here the anti-Catholic critic is purposely deceptive. As the verse reads, it appears that salvation is an entirely personal matter. Nothing could be further from the case. The complete verse reads as follows,

“And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” (verse 31)

We read further:

So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once. He brought them up into his house and provided a meal and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God. (Acts 16:32-34).

Can we presume that even the babies of the household were baptized? Most probably it is so. The household or family becomes the setting for the “little church.” The gift of faith brings people to Christ, not simply as isolated individuals, but corporately– as a family in faith.

Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:12-13).

Pope John Paul II stressed this crucial element of the Good News in his encyclical on the Gospel of Life. Christ is the author of life and makes possible our share in eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. (John 3:16).

Again, this is a central teaching of the Catholic faith. Those who would use it to stress belief or faith profession over the merits of the Christian life would do well to read verses 20-21:

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

We believe as Catholics that God will show his face to those who search for him with humility and with sincere hearts.

When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart… (Jeremiah 29:13).

God is the source of our being. He gives our lives meaning. As St. Augustine would say, “Our hearts are restless O Lord, until they rest in you.”

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Mr. Sean Hannity vs. Fr. Thomas Euteneuer

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Father Joe

I wrote this commentary back in April of 2007. Given that we are coming up to the March for Life in a week’s time, I thought I would repost it.

Mr. Sean Hannity: “I have no problem with birth control. It’s a good thing.”

It was this statement and attitude that was to result in a sad spectacle of dissent on Church teaching and disrespect to a Catholic priest. It should be noted that Mr. Hannity claims to be pro-life, although he makes exceptions for abortions in cases or rape, incest, or for the life of the mother. A rule is only as strong as its exceptions, and thus this really reflects a moderated pro-abortion stance. A child conceived through rape is still innocent and cannot be understood as an unjust aggressor. A child of incest or sexual abuse is still a human being entitled to the right to life. A child’s life and that of the mother cannot be measured on a scale as to which one is more deserving to survive. All human life is incommensurate.

Mr. Sean Hannity invited Fr. Thomas Euteneuer of Human Life International to the television show, supposedly to discuss the matter of dissent on contraception by high profile Catholics, particularly in the media. It turned out to be a setup forum for Hannity to enact revenge against the priest for questioning his Catholicism and judging his dissent.

Regarding the recent public clash between Mr. Sean Hannity of FOX News and Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, I must come down on the side of the good priest. Compounding the matter, the “sometimes” FOX News analyst Fr. Jonathan Morris scolded Fr. Euteneuer and inadvertently aided dissenters on birth control. He said that Fr. Euteneuer “exercised, on this occasion, shockingly poor judgment,” and was mistakenly “brandishing law without palpable love.” However, the truth be said, Fr. Euteneuer hardly got a word in edgewise. I do not think undermining Church teaching was Fr. Morris’ intent, but it has been the result. As one purported Regnum Christi member said, “If a Legionary of Christ supports Hannity, then he must be in the right!” Personally, I think a general clarification from the Legionaries is required and Fr. Morris should be directed to terminate his formal association with FOX News. He was ordained to be a priest for Christ and the Catholic Church, not for Murdock’s neoconservative news propaganda machine. He has compromised himself.

Fr. Euteneuer reveals that he sought a private meeting about the subject with Hannity back in 2004. Nothing came of it.

Even a number of people who disagree about artificial contraception admitted to me that the priest was treated pretty shabbily after being invited upon the television show. There was no real discussion of the matter at hand. The priest was kept on the defensive and given no opportunity for a proper response. Mr. Hannity contended that the priest had no right to judge him and that he should worry about the outrageous cover-up of pedophile priests before coming after him. Of course, Mr. Hannity makes such judgments on his television and radio shows regularly. This was not the real problem, just that he disliked being under the gun, himself. Further, a priest is not any Christian. He is appointed by Christ as a minister of reconciliation. This role requires that he be a judge of souls and that he speak clearly about what is right and wrong.

Mr. Hannity argued falsely that Fr. Euteneuer had not spoken out forcibly about sexual abuse and the scandal of bishops who did not take it seriously. What Mr. Hannity did was to take the attention off him and to move it elsewhere, insinuating that Fr. Euteneuer was being hypocritical. Mr. Hannity also quickly appealed to the fact that not everyone is Catholic, as if that is an excuse for a Catholic in the public forum to renounce an important element of our moral teaching. Such an appeal to relativism is tragic from a figure who purports to be a political conservative. He had apologized for eating meat on a Friday of Lent. Fr. Euteneuer rightly observed that there is a big difference between the inadvertent violation of a Church discipline and the repudiation of a doctrinal or moral teaching, as here touching upon the Theology of the Body and the openness to human life that must be present in every instance of the marital act.

Mr. Hannity asked again and again, more in a rhetorical fashion than in actuality, “Do you know me?” He said he had been in seminary and had studied Latin. When I heard this I began to scratch my head, so what? The news anchor was becoming incoherent in his tirade against the priest. Were we suppose to give him a gold star for being an altar boy? Fr. Charles Curran, the great dissenter on contraception, abortion, homosexuality, etc. also went to seminary and studied Latin…such things did not make him right or insure that he had the mind of the Church about all matters.

NOTE: When challenged by Fr. Euteneuer, Hannity made a big deal out of being a former altar boy and “seminarian” who studied Latin. Actually, his “seminary” training consisted of attending a boys’ Catholic High School called St. Pius the X Preparatory Seminary in Uniondale, NY. Most of its graduates, like Hannity, were not headed for the priesthood. He was a college drop-out and his “theology” courses were nothing more than high-school and grammar school catechism.

Let us cut to the quick, Mr. Hannity is a neo-conservative in the political arena who leans toward liberalism in the area of Catholicism. It is fine and good that he has urged his children to be chaste and celibate until marriage. He might be anti-abortion, and about this we should all be pleased, but he is not consistent given his stance in favor of certain exceptions and artificial contraception. He even went so far as to mock the priest with what he saw as an inconsistency on Catholicism’s part, a so-called Church-approved birth control, i.e. contraception, Natural Family Planning. But, of course, NFP is not true contraception, it is simply periodic abstinence based upon a knowledge of the body and how it works. It is a way to regulate or space births. Further, unlike the pill or condom, NFP can be used to help couples get pregnant, since they know the times of maximum fertility. If one were to use NFP in a selfish way then it could also be turned into a sinful practice. One may space births but not turn against the meaning of the marital act.

The priest was able to squeeze in the truth, under the mantra of Hannity’s unending assault, that a majority of those who have abortions do so because of contraceptive failure. Artificial contraception is indeed the handmaid to abortion. This is what the priest knows and what Mr. Hannity refuses to admit. It creates a contraceptive mentality which fuels the holocaust of abortion. Nothing was said about the fact that certain forms of contraception are also abortifacient. But, as I said, the interview was not a civil exchange of ideas, but an opportunity to malign a priest who wanted to help Mr. Hannity to be consistent and to insure that Catholics know that contraception is a grievous matter not to be flippantly handled.

In writing to Fr. Jonathan Morris, who chastised a fellow priest and gave solace to Hannity, Fr. Euteneuer writes:

The question that comes to mind is an obvious one: if you are a Fox analyst on Catholic matters, wouldn’t you have been the one to have had those “private conversations” on birth control with Mr. Hannity? How about discussions on his abortion exceptions? When you told Sean “in person” that you “disagreed with him,” was it on the issue of birth control? If you had done that, I applaud you, but your powers of persuasion may need a little honing—Sean has only gotten more vocal on this issue over time. If you did not speak to him about his public dissent, then I ask you, “Why?” While we are on the subject, have you also analyzed and disagreed with Bill O’Reilly’s perfectly horrible disdain for the Holy Father and the Church that you represent?

The church sex abuse scandal was not just about homosexual and predatory priests. It was about clerical negligence and silence on issues that not only affect people’s souls but also ruin people’s lives. It is highly unusual that you or anyone else would want a priest to be silent on issues that affect the salvation of souls. We used to recognize “admonishing the sinner” as one of the Spiritual Works of Mercy, and I consider my admonishment of Mr. Hannity to have been done in that spirit. I might also add that in doing so I have fulfilled my duty as a priest which is a requirement for my salvation.

Further evidence that Mr. Hannity suffers from a poor faith formation as a Catholic is the following notation at the HLI site:

Mr. Hannity is not backing down, saying on Monday’s radio program that if he were excommunicated he would call the Rev. Jerry Falwell and ask to join his Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va.

No one, of course, is talking about excommunication; that is just his continuing hysterics about this matter. But note that he would join a Baptist Church, no doubt because of their “political” conservatism, but one that is silent on a weighty moral matter like artificial contraception. Doctrinal differences between them and Catholics are enormous. He would reject the Pope, much of the deposit of faith, and the sacramental life, particularly the Eucharist, to maintain his dissent. He would embrace a Protestant sect and forever turn his back on the sacrifice of the Mass and the real presence of Jesus’ body and blood in the Blessed Sacrament in exchange for grape juice and loaf bread. Even a knowledgeable Catholic excommunicant, if his faith be real, would want to come home to the sacraments and to the true Church established by Jesus Christ.

ADDENDUM

Fr. Jonathan Morris

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258291,00.html

As I watched a fellow Catholic priest spar with you on the March 9 edition of Hannity and Colmes, I hung my head in shame and sadness. My colleague in religion (whom I’ve never met) used the public airways and Internet to call you a heretic and hypocrite. Because he chose to do this in a public forum, I want you and your viewers to know, publicly, that as an analyst of this television network, I believe this good priest, who does great work, exercised, on this occasion, shockingly poor judgment. I consider his willingness to give his personal opinion about your status within the Church inappropriate and ill-considered, to say the least.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258501,00.html

While Fr. Thomas Euteneuer and I may disagree on how best to attain this lofty goal in certain venues, like on a secular television network, we are of one heart and mind on substance.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Catholic, Celebrities, Church, Contraception, Discipleship, Faith, God, Marriage, Morality, News, Politics, Priests, Pro-Life, Prophets, Sexuality, Sin | 6 Comments »

Sola Scriptura?

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Father Joe

Catholics poorly educated in their faith and non-Catholics filled with prejudices, often prejudge the Catholic faith or difficult issues of our discipleship. Such biases, reinforced by others with grievances, are often hard to overcome– no matter how clearly they are shown to be wrong. The matter of “sola scriptura” is a case in point. Can a believer in Christ interpret the Bible without any help from anyone else and without any Magisterium of the Church? While the fundamentalist might distort Scripture by citing isolated verses against Catholic positions; any Scriptures shown to challenge them are dismissed as irrelevant or misinterpreted, no matter how the full context of the teaching is intelligently explained. They are blind to the fact that they have made themselves or their favorite minister into their own private Magisterium– the final authority. They ridicule others holding the same view of “sola scriptura” who interpret the Scriptures differently than they do. Despite the thousands of fragments into which Protestantism has fallen, they insist that there is no NEED for a genuine teaching authority safeguarded by the Holy Spirit in the Church. They violate salvation history by denying that the Church came into being prior to the completion of the Scriptural canon and the composition of the New Testament. Facts do not matter to them unless they are “their” facts. The living tradition and the authority of the Church have always had a part to play in regard to the formation and the truths of Scripture. Just as they reject a teaching authority and are blind to their own claims to infallible interpretation, so too are they hesitant to admit their own church traditions, even if they are only a generation or so old. The “sola scriptura” Christians view the Bible as emerging from some vacuum in time to be picked up later by men who themselves would form churches. This contradicts the fact that Jesus himself said that he was going to found a Church and that he was going to appoint his apostles, with Peter at the head, as its shepherds. Their contradictions to this do not wash. No Catholic Church, no Christian Bible! It is as simple as that, and yet, they still refuse to believe.

False is their view that all personal interpretation of the Bible is forbidden to Catholics. Catholic Christians will often search the Bible for personal edification and for the voice of God in their lives. What the Church holds is that an individual’s interpretation must not contradict a text that has a universally accepted interpretation in the Church, such as regarding the identity or nature of Christ and the means of our salvation, etc. Accompanied by good footnotes and commentaries, the Catholic reader can make great personal use of the Scriptures.

When trounced by a Catholic who really knows the Bible, the anti-Catholic bigot will resort to name-calling. Upon this very topic, I have witnessed their categorization of God’s Church as “the Roman whore” and as a “prostitute.” Since St. Paul tells us that husbands should love their wives as Christ has loved the Church, I suppose the derogatory language ultimately targets Christ, no matter whether they know this or not. How would any husband feel to have his wife degraded in this manner? Do they not fear judgment? Failing at any coherent dialogue, the anti-Catholic will tell so-called honest men and women to run for their lives. In other words, even conversation with knowledgeable Catholics is unwarranted compromise. Instead, they seek out the gullible and the intellectually ill-equipped who can be easily maneuvered into their camp. One anti-Catholic author advises Protestants to avoid the Catholic Church and her emissaries as one would the “bubonic plague” and that otherwise, “AIDs and death” might await them.

After urging avoidance, they have the audacity to say that the Catholic Church refuses to allow people to use the brains God gave them. The next big lie is that the Church forbad Catholics to read the Bible. The truth is, that long before these anti-Catholic bible Christians or their founders came into existence, the Church had to contend with heresy and the Protestant reformation. Some of these flawed bible texts, even the fundamentalists today would reject. The Church did not ban the Bible; rather, she wanted to insure that Catholics read bibles that were accurate and complete. This is the truth upon the matter. Popes have urged believers to approach the Scriptures with real humility and to invoke the Spirit of truth. The Scriptures confirm the claims of the Catholic Church and that of our fathers in faith. This point is also quickly verifiable; however, anti-Catholic critics will have none of it. Indeed they argue the opposite is true. Again, the argument will move from the issues to an attack on the institution and those who speak for her. Thus, someone of my likes would be dubbed “poisoned by his pride” and the Church denounced as a “monstrous entity” which “enslaves the souls of men” in preparation for hell. As you can see, they do not exactly like us. They reduce the Gospel to a propaganda program of hatred and misinformation.

For more such reading, contact me about getting my book, DEFENDING THE CATHOLIC FAITH.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Bible, Catholic, Church, Evangelization, Faith | Leave a comment »

Heated Discussion on Celibacy, Sin & the Church

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Father Joe

Brad or BJ Hulk is very hostile to Catholicism and disrespective to the priesthood and the claims of the Church. Readers should beware that this post deals with anti-Catholicism. While a few others enter the dialogue or debate, it is essentially between me and BJ Hulk. Note, as well, that it is a very long post.

BJ HULK: Celibacy for Catholic priests was the most ridiculous law the Vatican ever made.

FATHER JOE: No, priestly celibacy has until the modern age been regarded as one of the Church’s treasures. All those good priests whose service was fueled by faith and celibacy are wronged by such condemnations.

BJ HULK: Can you imagine all the poor nuns and choir boys that were taken advantage of during the last 1600 years?

FATHER JOE: And do you think that some of those poor children were not assaulted by married men? UK comedians even tell bad jokes about it, and that is in reference to Anglican choirs and servers. Heterosexual celibate priests have no more interest in hurting children than married men. Celibacy is not the problem. Indeed, if men kept their celibacy undefiled, there would be no cases of child molestation among Catholic clergy. In any case, look at the cases of abuse in families and in regard to incest. Evil and sickness can be found anywhere. It is wrong to scapegoat the discipline of celibacy.

BJ HULK: Not only that, but their lust caused them to be sinners, unworthy of inheriting the Kingdom of God.

FATHER JOE: Certainly abuse is mortal sin but we are all sinners. No one can merit a share in eternal life apart from Christ. I know you are angry, but we must not condemn the good along with the bad. Take care!

EARTH KING: Father Joe, great [responses]. As a former religious brother and seminarian, I am now a layman but still appreciate deeply the sacrifice of those who are faithful to their promises or vows of chastity. Our society has grown accustom to creating arguments for terrible behavior, arguments that may even seem rational. The idea that celibacy is wrong or evil is completely irrational. In fact, how would those who oppose it draw the line in the sand where passions must be controlled? It is natural for me to want to have sex with many women I see, so is it okay to go ahead and have sex with all of them, even if it is against their will? It seems like those who try to argue against celibacy have a hard time defining where the line should be drawn and why.

BJ HULK: Do you sin Father Joe? If you do sin, why are you allowed to be a priest? I thought sinners go to a place called hell.

FATHER JOE:

We are all sinners. Catholics make a distinction between venial sin and mortal sin. All sin is serious but the lesser or venial sins do not sever our relationship with God. Mortal sin blackens the soul and makes us spiritually dead. Serious sin makes us unworthy of the sacraments. Until there is repentance and absolution, such a person forfeits both actual and saving graces. The sacrament of penance can restore the disposition for grace and holiness of life. Connected to Christ, our faith fuels a discipleship where works of charity and obedience merit grace. Disconnected by mortal sin and not even an act which seems good would have any real benefit for the soul. A priest in mortal sin can offer the Mass and God’s people can benefit from the sacrament. However, he does not and if he were to die in mortal sin and having committed sacrilege, yes he could rightly expect the terrible price of hell.

I have never violated my promise of celibacy.

I also promised obedience to the archbishop and I do what I am told.

I hope my sins are small ones; but I also go to confession and ask for Christ’s mercy. I try to do better.

BJ HULK: Isn’t it the Jews who were told to obey God and repent of all their sins? Why do you think God would change his mind about sinning today?

FATHER JOE: God hasn’t changed his mind at all. Why are you suggesting that I would think otherwise?

BJ HULK: Did you know Jesus died on the cross to break the power of sin in our lives so we don’t have to be in bondage to them?

FATHER JOE: Did I know? Are you trying to be funny? I have dedicated my life to bringing Jesus and his redemptive power to the lives of others. Our Lord conquers sin and death, but the effects have yet to be undone. We still find ourselves in a sinful world.

BJ HULK: If this is true, why do priests keep on sinning?

FATHER JOE: Why does everyone seem to sin? Sin is forgiven but the damage in terms of concupiscence remains. Christ has won the war but the devil still vainly fights his battles.

BJ HULK: Why are they having sex with young boys and nuns if they’re no longer in bondage to their sins?

FATHER JOE: Why do fathers molest their daughters? Why do ministers run off with their secretaries when there is a wife at home? Why do ministers of the Gospel build mega-churches and preach a prosperity gospel that puts millions into their bank accounts? Why do Catholics betray their Church even though it is the Mystical Body of Christ? The Church does not accept the Protestant notion of once saved, always saved. Faith can sour. It does not matter if you are Jimmy Swaggert or Jim Bakker or Alberto Cutie. Some sinned with women and others abused children. Episcopalians have openly gay priests and bishops. It is all wrong— all sinful. But a saving faith can be repaired by repentance and forgiveness. However, while saving faith can be repaired; sometimes ministries are irreparably ruined. This is the case when scandal continues to dog a minister or priest and when future ministry is too precarious and would endanger the innocent.

BJ HULK: Don’t you realize it’s possible to become sin-free because of what Jesus did for us?

FATHER JOE: Are you saying that you are sin free? Please, I have heard all the tired arguments about Lutheran imputation and the excesses of blessed assurance. Catholics have an easy way to recover holiness, we call it Confession. Christ gave the power to forgive sins to his apostles and in turn to priests.

BJ HULK: How about the same thing God told the Jews what to do about their sins? Obey God and repent of their sins is what he told them to do but they chose not to do that. You Christians that keep sinning choose not to obey God and therefore, you are still in bondage to your sins. But don’t worry; God will release you of those sins during his judgment on all those who wouldn’t listen to Jesus.

FATHER JOE: Repentance is not a one-time act. Jimmy Swaggert used to argue that he was saved. He ridiculed priests and said that the evidence of their being lost were their misdeeds. However, he got caught with Rosary, no not the prayer beads, but a prostitute. He asked for forgiveness, from God and his people. He had a problem, an element of his life in need of healing. He had been a minister for many years before the scandal. He had faith, but his discipleship was not perfected. He was still a weak human being. We all are. We may have different problems, but we all struggle with something. For the Catholic, justification is not a juridical act but one of continual metanoia or conversion.

B J HULK: Celibacy is nothing compared to being disobedient to God.

FATHER JOE: A priest who has promised celibacy and breaks that promise is disobedient to God. A person who has lived as a Catholic and has professed the Creed only to defect is disobedient to God. A married person who commits fornication is disobedient to God. A single person who fornicates (outside of marriage) is disobedient to God. Those who have homosexual or lesbian relationships are disobedient to God. Those who make themselves rich with no regard for those whom they hurt and for the poor are disobedient to God. Those who counsel, or facilitate, or procure, or who offer abortions are disobedient to God. But all of them can know divine mercy, no matter how terrible the sin or sins.

BJ HULK: Oh, and another thing, I’m not angry with you or anyone else except for the rich, including the Vatican, who use people for their own gain.

FATHER JOE:

If only the Vatican were rich. The works of the Holy See incur regular deficits. As for the museums, they belong to the world more than the Church. We preserve a great deal of the remnants of Western civilization. All except die-hard iconoclasts are happy that the Church preserves history and art.

The Catholic Church is the largest Church charity organization in the world. What did you do for the homeless, the hungry and the sick last year? There are millions of people today who rely upon the Catholic Church for their survival. And of course, we are sometimes the only voice for the oppressed and the poor, too.

MIKKI:

Fr. Joe, some arguments I have seen to support the case for celibacy include: priests do not have time for a family, a priest already works long hours just doing parish duties, they cannot afford to financially support a family on their salary, and a wife and children would be too distracting in a priest’s effort to provide the spiritual support a parish needs. I can agree with all of the above.

However, that leads me to question why priests are not allowed to marry after they retire? What would the harm be?

FATHER JOE: The word “retirement” for priests is really semantics. We really do not retire. Even the men in nursing homes hear Confessions and offer Mass. In my archdiocese the so-called retirement age is 75 years old. Men are pretty set in their ways by then, if they live that long. I have a friend who just turned 80 and he said three Masses last Sunday and helps the pastor like he was the assigned associate.

BJ HULK: Thanks Father Joe for giving me answers that excuse your sins. You’re right that all of us are sinners from birth but a few of us have become sinless and received the promised Holy Spirit.

FATHER JOE:

Your thanks are obviously hollow. You are being nasty because I contradicted you. You do not strike me as a very nice person. You come to this Blog deriding priestly celibacy, suggest that all priests are either pedophiles or womanizers, you attack the Church herself and now you deride me. Nothing about my answers ever excused my personal sins. But I will not apologize for believing in all that the Catholic Church teaches and in being faithful to my promises as a Christian and as a priest.

You are very much mistaken if you think you are sinless. You deliberately separated yourself from the Church outside of which there is no salvation and now demonstrate a mean-spirited hubris. Do you not see this as wrong? It is one thing to disagree; but you have chosen to make yourself an enemy of the Church instituted and preserved in the truth by Christ. Your sin remains because you say you see.

It should be said that elements of the true Church exist in non-Catholic communities and that the Church prays for Christians who are not in full communion with her. But you would reject any part of Catholicism. Well, so be it then. But know that Jesus sends his Holy Spirit upon the Church and that Spirit manifests itself in various ways depending upon our station in life and vocation. Through faith and baptism we became temples of the Holy Spirit and inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven. While the Holy Spirit sanctifies and inspires us; the Spirit of God preserves the Magisterium in the truths passed down in the deposit of faith.
The Holy Spirit is no guarantee that anyone is sinless. Of course, if you believe in the peculiar notion of redemption by disguise, then it is no wonder that you can commit evil acts and still think yourself sinless. Jesus does not stand before you, hiding your shortcomings before the Father. The Catholic Church insists that he must live inside of you. We are called to a real transformation in Christ. Our progress in holiness is not perfect. We sometimes stumble and need to ask for help and forgiveness. God’s mercy is not a onetime deal for those who live in time. However, as long as we trust in Christ and avoid mortal sin, we live in the sure and certain HOPE of salvation. You would destroy the meaning of Christian hope.

BJ HULK: The sins of the heart such as pride, jealousy, envy, gluttony, lust, greed and sloth are some of those sins you must be calling mortal that bring spiritual death. These are the sins God is concerned about and we need to repent of. If you keep sinning these sins, you will not inherit the Kingdom.

FATHER JOE: I am glad that you still remember something of your catechism. We must appreciate degree, human freedom and knowledge of the truth, too.

BJ HULK: There is a way, however, to become sinless and that’s through faith in God and obeying his commands.

FATHER JOE: We can enter upon the road to perfection and we might reach such saintliness in this life. Otherwise, remaining purification would be resolved in Purgatory. There is also the matter of temporal punishment due to sin.

BJ HULK: Once you are forgiven of one of these sins, you will never do that sin again because Jesus destroyed the power of that sin.

FATHER JOE: It does not work that way. Can you know so little about human nature and divine mercy? You must think everyone in the world except you will probably die in their sins and pass into eternal death. It is no wonder you have no Church. You have made yourself a religion of one. Indeed, you have made yourself better than the Pope. He is only infallible regarding faith and morals when explicating the deposit of faith for the universal Church. The charism of protection does not safeguard personal theories or opinions. Further, even the Pope has a Confessor. You have made yourself, on the other hand, both infallible and impeccable. You fail to make a distinction between the redemptive work of Christ and how salvation touches us. You have reduced the whole business to a private or individual affair.

BJ HULK: Jesus because you believe you are a man of the cloth does nothing to protect you from this spiritual death until you are fully repented of all sins, which is impossible for men to do. Only the Lord can work out our faith and get us to repent and forgive us. By you becoming religious has nothing to do with this process.

FATHER JOE:

As I said, even clergy are mortal men and all are sinners. Our Lord works through the instrumentality of his priests in the Church that he instituted. Our fundamental option is made permanent only at the moment of death. As long as we live in time, good men will sometimes do bad things and bad men will sometimes do good things. As Saint Augustine reminds us, we live in a world where there are citizens of two cities. While we can discern something from the fruits of our lives, we will not know for certain where some reside until the reckoning in Christ.

Faith and holiness are gifts from God. He shares himself with us through grace. We must cooperate with this grace. The practice of true religion is very much a part of this process. We encounter the risen Christ through his great sacrament, the Church. You are very much deceived.

BJ HULK: Celibacy is a religious act that God could care less about if you’re still sinning in other ways.

FATHER JOE: No one ever said that celibacy alone was sufficient for holiness and salvation! Celibates can go to hell for other reasons just as faithful married couples might. But celibacy is not a religious act, as such. Perpetual celibacy is a discipline and a lifestyle. It is a way of loving God and others. Understood in Scripture under the “single-hearted”, the celibate priest embraces it so that he might more directly focus upon his love of God. This love is primary and it immediately spills over in a deep love for God’s people. The priest sees the face of Christ in his flock, particularly in the poor and needy. He says to the Lord, “I am totally yours!” It may be that many men fail to focus their celibate love as they should, but this is the ideal. Married people see Christ in the spouse, the beloved. The Catholic Church has married deacons and married priests (particularly in the Eastern rites of Europe); however, there is a marked difference. These married men do a great job, but they still have the duty to keep their personal families at the heart of their lives. The celibate man has no such division. He is not drawn away from his service to God because of the needs of a wife and family.

BJ HULK: What’s the point of not having beautiful sex with a woman you love and go have sex with a young boy or lust after everyone you see while you’re preaching. This act of lust is the problem, not being celibate.

FATHER JOE: Lust can indeed be a problem. Even what you think about in your mind can be a real problem and sin. Lust, even in marriage, is a sin. The late Pope John Paul II emphasized this and the hedonists jumped all over him. Lust depersonalizes the other. It turns a person or subject into an object or thing. Things can be used and thrown away. Persons have too much value for such ill treatment. A married couple should know passion but the marital act is not two animals in heat but a man and woman who love each other so much that they want to be one. There is a movement of donation and reception, mutual giving and receiving. They surrender themselves to one another and to the mysterious providence of God. There is no mutuality in homosexual acts or pederasty. There is no true unity in fornication outside of marriage. As for adultery, you cannot receive that which does not belong to you.

BJ HULK: And the overall problem is not being obedient to God, in which the penalty is eternal separation from Him.

FATHER JOE: Of course, such obedience is in regard to Christ’s command that we love one another as he has loved us. Love unites. A failure to love brings separation.

BJ HULK: Most religious leaders, like the Jewish priests and scribes, were well versed in their scriptures and education but that won’t save them from the fire of God that is coming soon.

FATHER JOE: How can you judge the souls of religious leaders? We can say something about right and wrong— about truth and error— but we must leave the rest to God. As for the final consummation, we should always be ready because we do not know the day or the hour.

BJ HULK: The only thing that will give them life in Christ is to obey the spirit of Jesus Christ, not what they think is written in the scriptures like the Jews did.

FATHER JOE: Have I talked to you before under another name? I seem to recall a previous discussion about a nebulous spirit versus the living Word of God. There is no spirit apart from the letter. God has revealed himself to us. Within the tradition of faith and the Church, we stand below and not above God’s Word. His Scriptures give us salvation truth. The Jews gave us the Hebrew Scriptures and Christ is Messiah and Lord. As Jesus said, salvation comes from the Jews. As a Catholic Christian, I believe that Jesus is alive and present in the Word of God. This Word is proclaimed within the Church and fuels the missionary outreach of the faith into the world around us.

BJ HULK: The scriptures are used by Satan’s deception and deceive everyone who reads them unless they are totally sinless and have the spirit of God living in them.

FATHER JOE: You mean YOU again, right? YOU see yourself as SINLESS and as the ONE who can, without error, share the spirit and truths of God. Satan is indeed a liar and a murderer. I cannot speak for the state of your soul, but Satan would rejoice in such deception as you espouse. You ridicule the shepherds appointed by Christ; renounce the need for a Church; undermine the value of God’s revelation and Scriptures; and substitute yourself over the genuine Magisterium as the spirit-filled interpreter.
BJ HULK: It’s obvious to me that you don’t have his spirit in you since you admit you are a sinner and don’t understand who I am.

FATHER JOE:

Ah, so now you would say that I am damned! Well, thank goodness you are not God!

I am supposed to understand who you are? That is a peculiar way to speak. Do you think you are the Christ? Maybe you think you are the anti-Christ? Maybe you are THE MAN JESUS CHRIST fanatic? No, I know what you are; you are a poor deceived man who would lead others astray. You are NOT sinless. You are an ordinary man in his mid-fifties who thinks he can speak for God. Your damnation of religious leaders shows what you are, a poor sinner who has yet to fall to his knees. I would beg you to put aside the pretense of faith and recover the real thing.

BJ HULK: If you had the spirit, you would have known me almost instantly but since you compare me with a Lutheran than I know who you are and you’re definitely not who you think you are.

FATHER JOE: You picked up a few Lutheran ideas, but I did not say you were Lutheran. Here you jump to false conclusions, again. If I had the spirit you say that I would have known you instantly. I am not anonymous. You are the one hiding behind a false label. I am not afraid to speak the truth and stand up for it. But I know enough about you. I have known all along. I get all kinds on this Blog and from all around the world. I am very disappointed. And I will keep praying for you.

BJ HULK: If you break my comment up into little fragments again, like most atheists do, then I know you’re being guided by the deception of Satan. The reason I know this is because I am a son of God who was created in the Word with all the other saints. You don’t know the Word because you’re still a sinner.

FATHER JOE:

Obviously I am no atheist, but this is my Blog and I will not allow posted comments such as yours without corrective responses. So you regard yourself as the son of God? Well, let me tell you this, through faith and baptism many of us are adopted sons and daughters of the Father, brothers and sisters to Christ, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. We are made temples of the Holy Spirit. Christ gives us the Church so that we might remain in the truth and stay in his good graces. You seem to have abandoned the friendship of God’s people in the Church. You rebuke of the Pope and bishops, as well as their charism of truth, and the efficacy of the sacraments. You commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The last time I looked that sin up in the Scriptures, there was a pretty terrible censure attached.

I will pray for you even more earnestly than before. Maybe I will look you up if I travel with parish kids to the next World Youth Day. May God’s peace rest upon you, your spouse, your three kids and your grandchildren!

BJ HULK: I didn’t think you would listen to God. Most people don’t.

FATHER JOE: I did not know you were God. Our Father, who art in heaven. Brad be thy name… Brad bless you!

COLLEEN Fr. Joe, your post on celibacy and the priesthood was marvelous. I am going to save the link to it and refer people to it when they say nonsensical things about celibacy being a “problem.” I have always considered the celibacy of priests to be a BLESSING to the Church. I would not look at priests the same way at all if they were married, nor would I want to attend Mass at any parish that had a “married priest.” I have a dear friend who is a convert to Catholicism and was raised as the child of a Protestant minister. She has told me that people have no idea how difficult it is for ministers because of family issues. She is of the firm opinion that those who argue that priests should be allowed to marry have no idea what they are talking about. Allowing priests to marry would be disastrous for the Church. I am convinced that those calling for an end to the celibate priesthood are really motivated by a desire to see an end to the Church. May God always bless, strengthen, and guide you and all of his priests.

MAGGIE:

God has blessed you, Fr. Joe, with a patience I can’t even fathom — that whole bjhulk stuff — sheesh! I get frustrated just trying to kindly send a Jehovah’s Witness away from my door, but you, you patiently stick to your guns and use the whole back and forth as a teachable moment. Maybe you knew all along you were dealing with that type of person, but you at least kept the ball in play for the rest of us to learn something and witness directly your unfailing love of God and the church. Even if this guy is still a lost soul, no one can accuse you of not trying to help him see his errors and oh-so- evident hubris. Keep up the good work, Padre! Pax!

BJ HULK: Hi again Father Joe and to your friends. I have some more questions for you. Why did the Pope say that the Catholic Church is the Kingdom of God, when it isn’t even close to being the Kingdom of God?

FATHER JOE: Christ’s kingdom is breaking into the world through the Church but is not fully realized here. Note that at the time of his betrayal and passion, he could say to Pilate that his kingdom was not here. After Pentecost, the Church is formally established. He had already given Peter, as the one who would visibly head his Church, the keys to the kingdom.

BJ HULK: Do you even know what the Kingdom of God is?

FATHER JOE: It is the reign of Christ. Members of this kingdom walk as pilgrims in this world (the Church), in glory (Heaven) and in purgation. Believers are anointed in baptism as members of the royal family of Christ.

BJ HULK: What did Jesus mean when he told the Jewish Pharisees that the Kingdom of God was near them?

FATHER JOE: It had to do with the two-fold commandment of love. They are not far from the kingdom of God who understand that we must love God with our whole heart, mind and soul; and love our neighbor as ourselves. Such love is at the core of Christ’s sacrifice and witness. He is the Father’s Son who lays down his life for his friends. More important than the old and complicated Jewish law is the law of love from Christ. The sacrifices of old could not save us, just the loving and forgiving oblation of our Lord which they prefigured.

BJ HULK: Do you think the Catholic Church was near them at the time?

FATHER JOE: The seeds for the Catholic Church were very close. They were found in Christ himself. The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. He is also the vine, and we in the Church are the branches. The apostles and first priests of the Church were also present. The Church would be filled with Christ’s presence and perpetuate his saving work.

BJ HULK: Did you know that the Kingdom of God was God’s first creation?

FATHER JOE: The kingdom of God belongs to the beginning and to eternity. It is not entirely created because the kingdom is also synonymous with God, himself. Christ is the kingdom. Did you know that?

BJ HULK: Did you know that only a few will make it into the Kingdom out of many who were called?

FATHER JOE: We do not know the actual number. That which is given in Revelation is symbolic and would not include the hosts of angels who are also members. Rather than delighting as a cult would in the few that would be saved, there is no selfish elitism in Catholicism. We pray for everyone. We especially pray for the most hardened sinners and those who have hurt us. The Church proclaims the Gospel both in and out of season. We witness to the love and healing of Christ. We pray that the devil is lonely in his hell.

BJ HULK: Why did the Romans kill all the saints up till the time the Roman Catholic Church began?

FATHER JOE: The martyred saints were themselves Catholic Christians. The Church would eventually be recognized but for the first several centuries, the Catholic Church had to work underground. The pagan Romans mocked the Mass as cannibalism and they killed believers by beheading, crucifixion, burning, and by throwing them to wild beasts. One of these martyred saints was a young boy who was taking the consecrated host to those arrested. He was caught and stoned to death. You defile the memory of these first Catholics by disparaging the faith for which they died.

BJ HULK: And why did the Roman Catholic Church continue to kill all the saints by calling them heretics?

FATHER JOE: Now you are collapsing history. The Church did not kill the saints. Inquisitions were operated by various states. The Church often intervened and argued against the severity of such things, particularly in Spain. Having said this, the saints were not heretics. Heretics were heretics, but which ones did you have in mind? There was a medieval sentiment that mortal sin and heresy were more dangerous than physical murder. The person who killed another could only murder the body. The heretic could murder the soul.

BJ HULK: Would I have been killed in those times for claiming to be a saint and disagree with the false gospel they were using?

FATHER JOE: There was no genuine Gospel in the early days of faith except for the Gospel still preached by the Catholic Church. I suppose you could have been a Gnostic/Manichean (mystery religion and chosen few, rejected matter as evil, claimed Jesus did not die on the Cross, no absolute omnipotent greatest good or God) or Nestorian (weak unity in Christ, two sons) or Arian (Jesus is a creature and not divine) heretic. Then you might have been persecuted, more likely exiled or silenced than killed.

BJ HULK: Do you know what the true gospel of Christ means?

FATHER JOE: Do you know the Gospel? Given that you falsify history and reject the meaning of the Church, I suspect that you really do not know what it is about. The Gospel or Good News of Christ has to do with our Lord’s revelation to men and with his saving works on our behalf. He offers us a new relationship with him, the forgiveness of sins and a share in eternal life. Look at the Prologue of John’s Gospel.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.

And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.

BJ HULK: Who are the lost sheep that Jesus talked about?

FATHER JOE: The lost sheep are the hurting, disadvantaged, oppressed, or otherwise marginalized. Our Lord went out to the tax collectors, prostitutes and other sinners. He chastised the Pharisees and scribes for their failure in this regard (and their criticism of him) and for their self-righteousness.

BJ HULK: How did Jesus know who his sheep were?

FATHER JOE: Jesus is God. There is nothing he does not know. The question is how did his sheep recognize him? Jesus says that the sheep recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd. They will not follow a stranger (like you Brad). We are talking here both about spiritual disposition and divine election. Faith is always a gift.

BJ HULK: If the Roman Catholic Church is the true church of Jesus Christ, why aren’t there any saints with the Holy Spirit in them and why aren’t they doing the preaching and teaching in the Catholic Church rather than priests who don’t have the Holy Spirit in them?

FATHER JOE: We have books listing some of the many saints in the last two thousand years who have witnessed for Christ in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has preached the Gospel around the planet and every year missionaries die and are tortured for Jesus. We have priests who sacrifice having wives and families so as to pour out their lives in service to God and his people. We have women religious like the late Mother Teresa who saw the face of Jesus in the poor and sick. She and her sisters cared for those whom the world had shunned. The very existence of the Church, despite adversity and weak men, is because of the constant protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

BJ HULK: The true church of Christ was built on the Rock of the spirit of Jesus Christ and all those who had the Holy Spirit were called saints. Where are they today?

FATHER JOE: The foundation stone of the Catholic Church is Jesus Christ. He is the invisible head of the Church. He gave Simon the name Peter or Kephas or ROCK and said that upon this ROCK he would build his Church. I would prefer to take Jesus’ word over your ignorant and bigoted distortions. Further we are established upon the whole Christ, body and soul, humanity and divinity. Your reference to the “spirit” of Christ is further evidence of a Gnosticism and not Christianity in your thinking. Jesus is risen from the dead!

BJ HULK: In fact, has any saint preached or taught in the Catholic Church since its conception or were they all dead before the Roman Catholic Church began?

FATHER JOE: So it is your contention that all who live and die in the Catholic Church are damned? You are truly a wicked sort, Brad. Can you not see the great good that the Church has accomplished? Read the four volumes of Butler’s Lives of the Saints. That is the real history of the Church. The Church is a lonely voice in the world today arguing for the sanctity of human life and for the dignity of marriage. She speaks for peace in a world racing to war. Can you not see the good fruits? Are you so hateful that you have you closed your mind to even those things that good people outside the Church find meritorious? This discussion is not about a mere difference of opinion upon certain topics. What you are saying smacks of darkness and evil. Be careful, the spirit that speaks to you, if not from your imagination, is a fallen spirit. You might disagree with Catholicism; but your remarks do not even reflect reality. The lives of the saints and the Church are the handiwork of God. You might think you are attacking only the Catholic Church; but you also target the goodness of God.

BJ HULK: Did you know the book of Revelation reveals the Roman Catholic Church as being involved with the beast, which is Satan’s deception on the whole world? They are the feet of the beast described in the book of Daniel along with Babylon, Persia-Medes, Greece and Rome.

FATHER JOE: Did you know that such an interpretation of Revelation was the work of anti-Catholic bigots and those who distrusted immigrants from Catholic countries? The Book of Revelation speaks about the persecution of the Church by pagan Rome, not Catholic or Christian Rome. The devil must surely laugh that the very allegations you make against the Church of Jesus Christ actually apply to you and those other anti-Christs who oppose her.

BJ HULK: I know the Roman Catholic Church is run by Satan and has been for 1600 years.

FATHER JOE: The more I read your words, the more I appreciate that you know nothing. You parrot lies from the enemies of the Church and yet claim to be a prophet of God. Our Lord warned us that many would appear in the last days and claim to speak for God or to be God’s anointed or Christ. Sorry to say, you are one of these, although not a very theologically astute false prophet and alone in a church of one.

BJ HULK: It was prophesied to happen this way and there’s nothing you can do about it. Everyone involved with the Catholic Church and the protestant churches are all deceived by this beast.

FATHER JOE: Would you condemn the whole world except for yourself? You do not even make room for Jesus in your brand of religion. It is all about yourself and your false Christ.

BJ HULK: It’s all because of disobedience to God and staying in their sins.

FATHER JOE: That’s right, you alone are the holy one. You alone are God’s prophet. You alone know the way to the kingdom, a kingdom to which no one else deserves a share. Not!

BJ HULK: No man can forgive another man and Jesus Christ didn’t come to forgive men who won’t obey him.

FATHER JOE: It seems that you really do not understand the Gospel at all, do you? Jesus came to reconcile men to God. He came to forgive sins. You deny this of both Christ and his priests. We are not saved by our own works but by the great work of Christ. We must cooperate with it. We must be properly disposed to his graces.

BJ HULK: He came to forgive those who listen to him and repent of sins when he asks them to. It is God who controls our repentance and forgiveness, not men. Men don’t know the hearts of other men.

FATHER JOE: The priests of Christ cannot generally read souls as Jesus did. That is why the sacrament includes the component of confession. They offer the absolution of Christ and give helpful counsel so that people might better walk with Christ.

BJ HULK: Only God knows such things and that is why we leave all this up to him. All we needed was faith, not religion, Pope’s, Priests and Pastors and false doctrines and gospels. This is what the Jews tried to do and they failed miserably because they wouldn’t obey God.

FATHER JOE: There is no Christian faith without religion. Even what you espouse is a type of Protestant religion, even if you are its only minister or would-be pope. The ministries of the true Church were established by Christ and passed down from the apostles. You represent a break from this succession and many deviant or false gospels. Yours is a religion of exclusion and bigoted hatred. Catholicism believes it is the true Church, but we pray for everyone and shower charity upon people without distinction. We extend the hand of friendship to Protestants, Jews, Moslems, and others. Where you tear down, we seek to build.

BJ HULK: If you can’t answer these questions it’s because you don’t have the spirit of God to help you. If you don’t answer them, then it should be obvious to you that you don’t know God at all.

FATHER JOE: Your so-called questions were not questions, but false allegations and charges. You blaspheme the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. And that is considered among the gravest of sins. May God have mercy on your soul!

JOHN: Well said Fr. Joe. You’re a fine priest and God certainly knew what he was doing when he called you to this vocation.

MARY: I guess you know who this guy is Fr. Joe (BJ HULK), but it sounds to me as if he was on this blog merely for “trolling,” as my 17 year old and her friends like to call it (wanting to stir up the pot just for kicks so to speak….). I guess he doesn’t have any friends or something…poor soul.

BJ HULK: I came here to flip over the tables of the money-changers, that is all. God came to ask people to obey him, not make excuses for their sins and keep on sinning. Father Joe believes he can keep on sinning because Jesus died on the cross for him. What he doesn’t understand is that we still have to obey God’s commands to inherit eternal life. If he’s still sinning, he is not obeying God. God bless you.

FATHER JOE:

Ah, but you are not Jesus and this is not your house. Really, you are the robber or wolf who comes to steal the sheep away. But the good shepherd loves his sheep and protects them. His sheep know his voice. They will not follow a stranger.

Although you claim to be sinless, I perceive no such moral perfection in your interruptions here. But I have already called you on this. No excuse is made for either sin or sinning; rather, I have a healthy appreciation regarding human weakness and the infinite mercy of God. He is always ready and desiring to shower his forgiveness upon us. All he asks is that we come to him with contrite hearts.
Christ did die on the Cross for sinners, and yes, although I am not yet morally perfect, I seek always to walk in the good graces of God. If I become a saint, it will only because I have cooperated with God’s intervention in my life. I am no pelagian. No one can save himself apart from God. Jesus is the saving name. He is Lord.

Catholicism understands faith in terms of obedience and charity. We are admonished to “walk the walk” as well as “talk the talk.” But, we are also realists about the human condition. I suppose you would contend that anyone who professes Christ and then commits a sin (even a small one) is a liar. Well, I would beseech you to look more closely at your own life. You may very well stand condemned by your own mouth.

May God have mercy on you, a sinner!

BJ HULK: Brad – Thanks for the reply, Father Joe. I was hoping you would answer my questions but that’s okay. They are very difficult questions to answer, anyway.

FATHER JOE: You asked no questions, you made a lot of charges and ridiculed me and the Church. Why should I submit myself to your abuse or respond to your interrogation? Despite your attacks, you are the only one involved with an inquisition here.

BJ HULK: I didn’t come in here to give anyone a bad time. I came in here to speak the truth for the Lord and he comes with conviction to the heart. He is not soft in spirit in any way. If you would hear him in person, then you see how powerful he is.

FATHER JOE: Lying is a sin. You know full well that you came here to give me a bad time. You spam my site with long and derisive comments. You impugn my character and mock the Catholic Church. If you want, you can do this at your site, but not at mine. You came to speak your own private brand of truth, which is really no truth at all. I echo the teachings of my faith. You claim to bypass all churches and act as if you are the mouthpiece of God. You are very much deceived.

BJ HULK: The reason I stopped on your blog about celibacy is because this act has nothing to do with holiness.

FATHER JOE: Celibacy is a wonderful sacrificial form of loving. Following the pattern of our Lord and St. Paul, the celibate priest lives entirely for the flock of Christ. He is the slave of the people he serves. This expression of single-hearted love is noble and meaningful. The celibate clergyman would never deride the sacrament of marriage and the wonderful ways that husbands and wives love each other. But his focus is more directly upon the divine and he knows a special freedom in laying down his life for others. He belongs to no one family but to every family. Celibate love in the priesthood is directed to both service and holiness. It is far different than any kind of secular perception of celibacy. Celibacy is not merely a means to an ends, like productivity. Celibacy is in itself complete. Celibacy is not mere sexual abstinence or chastity. As I have written before, it is a manner of loving. It makes the priest a special sign of contradiction to the world. His treasure and values are not the same as the world. His delight is not simply in earthly pleasure but in the joy of serving the living God. St. Paul himself advises celibate love as most befitting and pointing toward the kingdom of God.

BJ HULK: All it does is creates more ungodliness (lack of holiness) and put a lot of people at risk such as the young boys and nuns that have to be around these priests with lust problems.

FATHER JOE: Your derision of such a pattern of holiness proves that you are a blind guide, someone who is lost himself. Your ridicule contradicts the great apostle and you blaspheme against the example that our Lord gave us in his own life. Of course, it is possible that you are one of those ignorant fools who think Jesus had sexual relations and/or secretly married Mary Magdalene. Are you? Men have the ability to be faithful to celibacy. Healthy heterosexual priests are celibate and have no interest in abusing children. These allegations of yours are just further evidence of your bigotry against the Church. Only wicked men would deride so many saints among the celibate priests and nuns. I was upset with you, now I pity you. I hope and pray that you have not transmitted such views to your wife and three children.

BJ HULK: By not obeying the Lord and having him help us repent of all our sins, man cannot become sinless and receive the Holy Spirit to make him a saint. It’s not our sins that God is concerned about because he can forgive us of all sins but he cannot make us obey him. By not obeying him, we all keep sinning and things like your celibacy are ineffective in achieving any spiritual rewards.

FATHER JOE: Your presumption knows no bounds. Most priests are faithful and we even vow obedience. We preach the forgiveness of sins and have been made ministers of reconciliation. Obedience to Christ, particularly the commandment to love, brings forth eternal life. Disobedience is always understood as sin. God gave us minds to know and hearts to love. He gave us freedom to say YES or NO. Celibacy is not an end unto itself, but must be accompanied by Christian love and faith. However, if you contend that celibate love does not dispose us toward spiritual benefits, then you are sorely deceived. Celibate priests have not wasted their lives. They gave their passion and fertility to God as a sacrificial gift. They did not merely turn away from something like a wife and family, but towards God and allowing him to use them as instruments of mercy and salvation.

BJ HULK: I know you grew up in the Catholic faith and I grew up in the Lutheran faith, which is very similar.

FATHER JOE: I thought you were a former Catholic? The churches are NOT all that similar. However, I did detect certain Lutheran ideas in your earlier argumentation.

BJ HULK: I left that church when I was 16 years old because of my love for alcohol instead. For the next 15 years I tried killing myself with this drug but God came to my rescue after I contemplated his existence. A few days later he took away my desire to drink and I haven’t had a drink since. This was my first sin that he forgave me of.

FATHER JOE: I am glad that you are sober and that God worked decisively in your life. However, you are way too quick to judge others. In addition, a distinction has to be made between forgiveness and (physical) healing.

BJ HULK: Then I met his son, Jesus Christ, who led me through some more repentance. Then he performed several miracles and healings for me to test my faith. This helped me when he took me out of the church that I was involved in for nine years. He left me be for six years before coming back to work out the rest of my repentance. It took another six years of obeying his commands to finally be sin free and get his Holy Spirit. God cannot live in an unholy vessel and that’s why we have to be sinless before he comes to live in us.

FATHER JOE: You talk about God and Jesus as if Jesus is not also of the one divine nature. It is not possible for me to say much about the subjective experiences you have had. Sometimes we as Catholics believe that God will wean us of the satisfactions we receive in faith and with his presence so that we will love the GIVER more than the GIFTS. It can also be said that God is omnipresent and that nothing exists apart from God. However, the mode of that presence can and does vary. Often when people think God is absent, it is not God but they themselves which have moved. Catholics also believe that God’s presence as grace cannot live in us if we are in mortal sin. Mortal sin ruptures our friendship with God. That does not mean that we are spiritually perfect… yet. Hopefully, we grow in wisdom and grace.

BJ HULK: I don’t lie because the Lord won’t let me. I never was a liar in the first place. My biggest problems were alcohol, pride and lust.

FATHER JOE: Self-deception is a kind of lying, as is the impugning of the celibate priesthood and me in particular. You claim to know more than you actually do. As for pride, I would invite readers to look at your words as the false mouthpiece of God and the sinless one.

BJ HULK: I would have been a very bad priest with my lust problem.

FATHER JOE: You would have been a very bad husband and father with a lust problem. Lust is always wrong and is not solved by having a spouse. Lust destroys. Lust treats the person as meat. Love embraces the whole person as a treasure. The beloved is given more importance and meaning than the lover. There is a mutual self-donation— nothing parasitical or predatory

BJ HULK: I do admire you men who go through that but if you have lust in your heart, then it’s impossible to keep the faith. This is one reason I’m against this celibacy. It was the same for my alcoholism. If there was a drink around, I would drink it. But after God removed my desire, I played in a band for three years afterwards and most of the time we were playing in the bars. Not once did I have an urge to drink. When God turns if off, it stays off.

FATHER JOE: Who has lust in the heart? Those who would be chaste and holy must do all they can to avoid sin in thought, word and deed. Lust is always a sin. Priests do not pine away the hours thinking about sex. However, you are rather singular in thinking that the eradication of addictions and/or sinfulness is like flipping a switch. Most ministers would take exception, as well. God works miracles, but sometimes his healings are not automatic but take time, prayer, penance, and patience. Men in Alcoholics Anonymous seek sobriety by placing their drinking and sobriety into the hands of a greater power. They know that where they are weak, he is strong. You cannot ridicule their faith because their sobriety was not like yours.

BJ HULK: But if we don’t want to obey God and keep enjoying our favorite sin, then it will stay around until the day we die. It doesn’t make any difference if you say you’re a Christian or not, your sins cause you spiritual death until you repent of them and God forgives you. It’s forgiveness that stops you from ever sinning again. Jesus forgives but not until we’re ready to listen to him and repent.

FATHER JOE: The Christian life is largely about displacing vices with virtues. Divine forgiveness does not mean that every personality flaw, or sinful tendency or weakness is suddenly eradicated. I have never heard anyone say such a thing. Even the apostle Paul had an infirmity, a thorn in the flesh that afflicted him while he was proclaiming the Gospel.

BJ HULK: If you don’t take me seriously and learn something from what I’m saying, then you are rejecting the Lord and this is called blaspheming the spirit. You can say all the mean things you want to me, (that is Brad), but the Lord is living in me and has very sensitive ears. Everything that you say to me is recorded by him and you will be judged accordingly.

FATHER JOE: I am beginning to wonder if you are quite right? It is not my intention to be mean; it is just that what you say is a tad peculiar. But you have every right to believe what you want and to live your life as you see fit. But you are not the last word from heaven and cannot speak for God. You are also not in charge of his lightning bolts. I will pray that you will come to the fullness of truth and receive whatever healing you still need. Peace!

Closing Remarks

FATHER JOE (on another Blog):

Brad, you are one sick puppy. We should certainly do all we can to avoid sin, and God’s grace can help us. But we still have a sinful condition. Repentance is always an element of the Christian life in this world. Hopefully, the Holy Spirit will remain with us and perfect us. Sanctifying grace, given in faith and baptism, makes us an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. Actual or helping graces assist those properly disposed in their transformation ever more and more into the likeness of Christ. As long as we are in a state of grace, our acts of charity have value and reflect something of Christ’s love for us.
You are wrong to view yourself as impeccable. You are wrong to view yourself as a Magisterium of one and the mouthpiece of God. You are wrong to place a nebulous spirit of revelation (personally experienced by you) over the written inspired Word of God. You are wrong about many things, and while I cannot read your soul or the ignorance which might excuse you, I suspect you are still very much in your sins. This must be the Devil’s Catch-22: the sinner who thinks he is sinless and so no longer seeks mercy. That is a hell of a scenario.
I will keep praying for you.

MISTER WAC: You preach with Wisdom, Father. I’ll remember you at the tomb of Mother Seton tomorrow.

DOG GOD: Brad, you say Fr Joe is not answering your questions. But the “questions” which you say he is not answering, all begin with “Did you know…?” and then continue with an assertion or an accusation of some sort. Those are not questions.

LUCY: I think celibacy is an abomination to God like for example homosexuality. I think this because of the story of Adam and Eve. When I have heard Christians say why they think homosexuality is wrong they often point to Adam and Eve and state that God made Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve. I think this rule applies to celibacy. God did not make Adam alone. He did not only make Eve. He made them both with the sole purpose of them being partners. Eve comes from Adam’s rib; she is a part of him. Adam cannot therefore, be complete without Eve. So if a man does not have a wife he is denying himself a part of himself, and he is ignoring the purpose God made woman. Man and woman complete each other; how can celibate people run the Church if they are not complete and are not doing what God intended?

FATHER JOE: Men and women complement each other but they do not complete each other. Remember that marriage is an earthly institution. It points to the marriage of the Lamb. Love survives the grave but the sacrament of marriage will no longer be required in heaven. We shall see face-to-face that to which marriage points. Marriage exists for the propagation of the species. It also gives women and men special helpmates in this life and supports in becoming saints. St. Paul recommends celibacy as an eschatological sign of the kingdom. Are you saying that your interpretation of Genesis negates the letters and ministry of St. Paul? Sorry, but you are wrong. Homosexual activity is wrong, condemned by Scripture and is a disorientation of the natural order. Celibacy is perfectly natural. Men and women do not need genital activity to survive and to be happy. We all need friends and the celibate priest and religious has friends and peers who have embraced the same life. Those who would deride celibacy, also undermine the institution of marriage. Healthy and successful marriages are not unions between people trying to find in others what is missing in themselves. Rather, they are unions of people who are whole and fully integrated.

JANINE: If Brad thinks he is so perfect he should try walking on water.

BJ HULK: Hi Janine, when I do walk on the water, it will be the Lord doing it. I’ll be just hanging on.

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The Father Cutie Scandal

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Father Joe

cutie9 Given the recent publication of Fr. Cutie’s self-justifying book, I thought it worthwhile to publish these revised reflections at my BLOGGER PRIEST site:

There are some critics who contend that the scandal in Miami with Father Alberto Cutie is providential. While God can certainly write straight with our crooked lines, I would stress that he never directly intends evil. There I have said it. I have used the big “e” word, EVIL. I am not judging anyone’s soul. However, I can make a judgment upon scandal and the actions of people in the public square that might lead good Catholics astray. I am not entirely sure what happened with Father Alberto Cutie. He appeared on the news with details we did not need but which have further confused and complicated matters. Now he writes a “tell all” book which attacks the teachings and disciplines of the Catholic Church.

He insisted that for twenty-one years he absolutely preserved his celibacy intact and was not sexually intimate with anyone. That is fine and dandy. But then, what happened? During one TV interview he said he “believes” he has fallen in love. He said he “believes” that God might be calling him to marriage. He said he “believes” that celibacy is a good thing and does not want to be the poster boy for married priests. He denied a sexual relationship, told one interviewer he had been intimate with the woman in the photographs, but not sexually and yet he apparently said in another news program that he had been sexually intimate with her. He said that he did not go out of his way to make trouble for the Church. He said that he and the woman he cared about were almost alone on the beach and that they were not there long. But the compromising photos were taken, despite attempts at stealth. Okay, but still he sought to hide a romantic relationship to which he had long ago given up any right to have.

He preached and gave one message in his parish and on radio and television; but he lived another. Had he been an ordinary parish priest, there would have been a local scandal, but it would not be international news. It would not be the stuff of tabloids and anti-Catholic videos. After he was censured, this priest continued to speak about the matter in public. The problem grew. He gave countless interviews in both English and Spanish. He just would not stop talking. He still has not stopped.

A Reflection on Celibacy

What can we say to the enemies of compulsory celibacy for priests? Priestly celibacy is not outdated. It is a powerful sign of contradiction that neither the devil nor the hedonists of the present age can stand. They malign it as a fantasy or cover-up for hordes of homosexual and/or pedophile clergy. Priests forgive the sexual transgressions of other men and women all the time. However, if a priest should fall, there is only recrimination and exile.

There is nothing wrong with men and women expressing love to one another. It is natural and beautiful. But sexual congress belongs to the state of marriage alone. Priests like all men can make mistakes; but, unlike most men, the majority of priests in the Roman Rite are pledged to a lifetime of celibate love. Yes, while celibacy is a discipline, it is also a manner of loving others, albeit in a single-hearted way. The celibate priest knows a special solidarity with the brokenhearted, the poor, the suffering and those who are alone. His celibacy says that he belongs to the people he serves, without reservation or distraction. He does not belong to another person or even to himself. He belongs to the Church in which he serves. He demonstrates his love for God in how he pours out his life for others.

One early interview was particularly disturbing when it was asked if he would stay or leave the Catholic Church. He admitted that he was currently weighing his options. I was saddened. I thought to myself, if a charismatic priest, regarded by some as the Oprah of the Church, should defect, the harm he would inflict upon the Church could be enormous. He had been instrumental in drawing many people back to the practice of their faith. This scandal could further explode and cause an exodus of souls from the true Church.

He was handsome and seemingly filled with vigor and love of the Church. Such things are contagious in a good way. But hero-worship of any sort, particularly with celebrities, has a dangerous flip-side. They can do much good. But, they are also capable of terrible wrongs and damage. Younger people who easily related to him might now view the rules of the Church as arbitrary and heartless. They might say to themselves, if someone like Father Cutie can no longer tolerate the Church, then why should I?

Critics contend, “Isn’t the Father Cutie scandal just further evidence that it is wrong and dangerous for Catholic priests to suppress their natural desires for sexual intimacy with women?”

The priest in question admitted he had a long-standing serious struggle with his sexuality and need for a wife and family. It may be that he sought ordination without open full deliberation and resolution of this concern with those to whom he was entrusted for formation. He may have been chaste in his behavior for many years but failed to surrender dreams and hopes for a family of his own. The man who would be a priest must let these things go. His hopes and aspirations should revolve instead around his prayer life and his goals and service as a pastor of souls. Men in seminary must also be realistic about their drives. As St. Paul reminds us, it is better to marry than to burn. Priests must also be very wary of their fantasies regarding choices not made and how other men might live. The grass might seem greener on the other side of the fence; but priests must not trespass where they do not belong. They freely embraced celibacy so as to enter into holy orders and become priests. Had they become married deacons, they would still be clergy in the Church. They could have lived saintly lives as laymen. But they made a choice. They made promises. These promises should be kept. Before ordination is the proper time for deliberation and soul searching, not afterwards.

The business about Father Cutie should have no meaning beyond this one poor priest, himself. He is not representative of the thousands of other priests in the United States who have never compromised their promises or their celibacy. The impression from the question is that men cannot be expected to have any semblance of self-control. This is silly and shows just how far our society and its views have been contaminated and distorted by excessive nudity, immodesty, and eroticism. We even dress our little girls like whores and then wonder why there is child abuse. Teenagers have their bellies exposed and shorts up to their crotches. Parents sometimes object but then cannot find decent stuff in stores. Television and movies celebrate fornication and give us scene after scene of simulated sex acts. Pornography has gone main stream and sexual gratification is viewed as a necessary rite of passage. It is into this mix that we find the celibate priest. Mothers want their sons married because they cannot see how a man might otherwise be happy. Fathers want their sons married because otherwise everyone will think they are gay. The truth is that celibacy can be very rewarding and liberating. Celibacy is not a denial of love but a special way of loving.

The priest promises perpetual celibacy but even married men promise a fidelity to a spouse which will require periodic chastity. Those who follow Natural Family Planning would understand how one must be creative in love, perhaps reverting back from time to time to the romantic and chaste acts of courtship during fertile periods. Celibacy is not merely a matter of priests suppressing their sexuality; rather, it is redirected to a love of God and a love of neighbor in sacrificial service. Priests, who say their prayers and stay busy, have neither the time nor the interest to pursue an exclusive relationship. If men in general cannot be expected to control themselves, then what happens when a spouse is sick or incapacitated or away? If the husband has military duty abroad or the wife has to travel back home to care for an ailing parent or there is an extended business meeting, would the man control his sexual urges or be compelled to commit adultery? If his wife is sick and cannot have sex with him, does he necessarily turn to her pretty nurse as a proxy? An over-sexed society suffering from an epidemic of fornication, perversion, adultery, pornography, prostitution and child endangerment can hardly speak in a credible way about priestly celibacy and marriage. The trouble with these fallen priests is not the Church but the fact that they themselves are formed and affected more by the fallen world around them than by the Gospel. Secularists and hedonists criticizing priestly celibacy are like inebriated boozers telling teetotalers to take a drink.

Where Does a FIRED Catholic Priest Go?

Before he made his jump, I read one critic who argued that Father Cutie could defect to the Episcopalian Church, get married and continue his parish and media ministry. I wrote: “Yes, he could do this, but he might forfeit his soul in such a move. The moral state of people who were raised in the Episcopal or Anglican Church is one thing; the state of those who abandon Catholicism to join their ranks is another.”

The original Protestant reformers may have paid a terrible price in their break from Rome. They should have known better. The same cannot be said for those who were raised in the Protestant traditions. This is all they know. Those elements of Catholic faith preserved after the break may very well be meritorious for our Protestant brothers and sisters. However, those very same elements may convict former Catholics who were supposed to remain steadfast within the body of the Church and in the profession of all that we believe as true. Ignorance of the truth does provide some measure of excuse. Catholics in general and priests in particular, would have a more difficult time. They were one with the true Church. They professed its faith and received its sacraments. The conviction from the Fourth Lateran Council, Trent and in the margins of Vatican II cannot be escaped: there is no salvation outside the Church. Those who know, perfectly well, that the Catholic Church is the true Church, and then refuse to join or leave its ranks, might lose their place in the heavenly kingdom. In addition, the Holy Father has insisted that Protestant churches are ecclesial communities but not churches in the full Catholic sense. The Anglicans like to see themselves as a branch of Catholicism, but this sentiment is not shared by the successor of St. Peter. There are serious questions about apostolic succession and its priesthood and Mass. Non-Catholic communities suffer from many dire errors in teaching. Yes, the Episcopalians have married priests, but they also have openly gay clergy and (women) priestesses. They tolerate abortion, sodomy, fornication, contraception, divorce and remarriage, etc. I doubted Father Cutie could stomach such a so-called church for long; I guess he is proving me wrong.

Father Alberto Cutie Defects to Episcopal Church

I grieve for the Church. It was bad enough that Father Alberto Cutie was living a secret life. He seemed more apologetic about being caught than about having his scandalous doings with his lady-friend photographed on a Florida beach. But next we are told that he joined the Episcopal Church. My heart droped at the news.

The wayward priest spent his designated “retreat” time hanging out with his girlfriend. He did not even try to reform. We have all been deceived. While he asked forgiveness and said that he did not want to be the poster-boy for married priests, he has abandoned the true Church entirely. He has done the very thing which he promised he would not do. He has brought both Church doctrine and discipline to ridicule. He has hurt the faith of simple people. Given his popularity as a pastor and as a widely-known media priest, the danger of his defection is incalculable. Who knows how many will follow him out of the Catholic fold?

The Episcopal Bishop Leo Frade should be deeply embarrassed by his disrespect to the priest’s legitimate bishop, Catholic Archbishop John Favalora. Bishop Frade was not Father Cutie’s true spiritual father, but rather of a robber who came to steal from the flock. In this case, he did not get away with sheep but with the shepherd. Ecumenism was dealt a serious set-back. I was surprised not to see lightning bolts from heaven about this travesty. The good Archbishop would have us pray for his prodigal son in the hope that he might return to the fold.

Quickly defecting after the news of his infidelity broke, he was unwilling to give the matter the proper amount of time and distance for sober reflection. I have to wonder how much of this was premeditated. There was even speculation that his girlfriend may have had some prior involvement with the photographer on the beach. But I think it is reaching to suppose he was setup to force his hand. Regardless of the machinations behind the scenes, the blunt of the blame must be borne by Father Cutie.

Although supposedly orthodox in his teachings, this latest act shows quite the opposite. He broke trust with his bishop and brother priests but now refers to Episcopalian priests as his “many brothers… [who] serve God as married men and with the blessing of having their own families.” This act sickens me. Episcopalian priests may be good Christians, but he sees no difference between the authentic priesthood of Catholicism and the empty shell of Anglicanism. He is not the first. But, almost every one of them abandoned Roman Catholicism, not for deep-seated doctrinal reasons, but because of the desire to bed a woman and still retain a public or ministerial persona as a spiritual guru.

Catholicism receives many Episcopalian priests into her ranks, but they are drawn by doctrinal permanence over fluctuating instability, moral absolutes over relativism and humility coupled with obedience to God and his Church over a selfish and earthbound liberalism. Those who become Catholic often sacrifice much in the way of salary, standing and home. While a few married Episcopalian priests have been ordained in the Catholic Church; many have sacrificed their ministries entirely to be a part of the Catholic family. They placed a higher premium on divine truth than upon a capricious religion easily swayed by the fads and fashions of the day.

How could he give advice about faith and relationships to others on television, radio and in writing when he was so personally messed up? People came to him for life-giving water; but he was really an empty well. Many of his supporters seemed more “on his side” than in harmony with the mind of the Church. He made disciples, inadvertently I suppose, less for Christ and his Church and more for himself. Sometimes I think the Church should rotate clergy in media settings. Left too long in front of the camera or on the radio– and a personality cult frequently develops. We should not hero-worship our clergy. If a popular priest should fall, he might take many souls with him. This business with Father Cutie has re-ignited the married priest debate even though most active priests prefer the status-quo in favor of compulsory celibacy. Who knows how dire this will continue to be for the Church in Miami?

A television station showed parishioners of St. Francis de Sales Parish marching around their church in support of their former pastor. Evidently they did not care that their pastor had broken his promises and had lived a lie. When interviewed they compared Father Cutie’s transgressions favorably against the terrible crimes of pedophiles. The real comparison is with good and faithful celibate priests.

The situation was intensely precarious. Later it became a great deal worse. The woman was identified as Ruhama Canellis. She stood by his side at Trinity Cathedral where they both entered the Episcopalian church. The Episcopal bishop and priests in attendance dressed up for the event. They pulled all the stops. Even priestesses were in attendance. He was planning to marry his lover and to become an Episcopalian priest. He has now realized these aspirations. I suppose it is fitting. King Henry VIII stole the English people from the Catholic Church so that he might divorce and remarry. Canellis is a divorced woman. Did Father Cutie miss the class in seminary on basic Christian morality? Are not fornication and adultery still sins? This should matter to them both. In addition to these concerns, he is now a renegade Catholic priest. If he accepts Protestant teaching, and plans to expound upon it, then he will be a heretic as well. He is digging a big hole for himself. My fear is that thousands might fall into it with him.

Well, it is a sad thing, but if the Episcopalian church wants our rejects then that is their trouble. Look how quickly they grabbed this fallen priest. We would have taken more time with one of theirs. His legitimate Catholic bishop was not even notified about his reception into the Episcopal “church.” That shows how little respect Father Cutie had for him and the ROMAN Catholic Church. The Episcopal diocese should be ashamed of itself. But given the current fragmented status of the Episcopal communion, are they even capable of shame? This was all quite sleazy and I suspect it was in the works for some time. I have no respect for men who do such things.

Father Cutie described his new faith affiliation as “a new family” and yet we do not subscribe to any form of religious relativism. Father Cutie disowned his family. That should be the real headline. All churches are not the same. The Holy Father was clear. The Catholic Church is the true Church; Orthodoxy is a defective church; and all Protestant groupings are ecclesial communities, but not properly CHURCH. Many Protestant communities claim no priesthood or Eucharist; Episcopalians claim both but the Catholic Church judged their orders invalid and their Eucharist as false.

SEE APOSTOLICAE CURAE (Pope Leo XIII, 1896)

They are not a branch of Catholicism but a foreign misbegotten creature that has delusions of grandeur while feigning a pedigree it does not really possess.

What clouds the issue is the presence of former Catholic priests in the Episcopal community. They are still priests, even if in mortal sin and excommunicated. Father Cutie says that he will continue to proclaim God’s Word; but what is a Catholic priest apart from the Catholic Church? Will he preach the Word of God or the word of Cutie? Father Cutie is rejecting the Pope, the authority of his lawful bishop, the seven sacraments as clearly defined by Catholicism, our view of priesthood, our moral teachings on sexuality and marriage, the prohibition against divorce and remarriage, and the basics of Catholic ecclesiology. Will he be happy? Can he close his mind and heart to the many differences we have with Episcopalians? He will be obliged to accept women priests, gay bishops and same-sex unions, a tolerance for abortion, artificial contraception and divorce with remarriage. He is leaving the Church of commandments for the church of anything goes. He says, “I will always love the Catholic Church.” But, he did not love her enough. The Church was his bride. Now he has traded her for two paramours: the divorcee and the mistress church of Henry VIII and Cranmer the despoiler.

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Scripture & Tradition

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Father Joe

Why must we deal with anti-Catholic critics and their distortions? The fact is that Scripture, separated from the living tradition and Magisterium of the Church, loses its grounding and can be easily corrupted. The assertion that the authenticity of the Scriptures rests entirely upon itself is an argument that runs counter to the facts and the history of God’s people. The Church collected and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is the source for the New Testament. Before one word of the Gospel was written, there was the ministering and teaching Catholic Church. The notion that Old Testament prophesies legitimate the Bible fails to recognize that the promise was given to the Jewish people, the first people called by God to be in covenant with him. There are no Scriptures separated from a community established by God. The Catholic Church recognizes that Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah do indeed point to Jesus. This is not a matter of debate. Some anti-Catholic bigots still insist upon fighting the Catholic Church and her historical role in all this.

For more such reading, contact me about getting my book, DEFENDING THE CATHOLIC FAITH.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Bible, Catholic, Faith, Pope | Leave a comment »

Did the Catholic Church Prohibit Bible Reading?

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Father Joe

An anti-Catholic critic claimed knowing elderly ex-Catholics who were generally not encouraged by the priests and nuns to read God’s Word. I asked an older priest about this and he said he never heard such a thing; indeed, a special indulgence was granted to anyone who faithfully read the Bible on a daily basis. Pope Benedict XV wrote in his encyclical Spiritus Paraclitus (1920): “A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who, with the veneration due the divine Word, make a spiritual reading from the Sacred Scriptures. A plenary indulgence is granted if this reading is continued for at least one half an hour.” My late aunt admitted that she was hesitant to read the Bible for fear of misinterpreting the texts; however, such a personal sentiment cannot be said to reflect a Catholic prohibition.

Anti-Catholic apologists, themselves, use isolated bits-and-pieces to refute Catholic teachings and then accuse the Church of using the same flawed methods. Such just is not the case. An anti-Catholic author, David Cloud, furthered such distortions in an online article entitled, “The KJV and the Latin Vulgate.” He writes:

The Council of Trent (1545-1564) placed the Bible on its list of prohibited books, and forbade any person to read the Bible without a license from a Roman Catholic bishop or inquisitor. The Council added these words: “That if any one shall dare to read or keep in his possession that book, without such a license, he shall not receive absolution till he has given it up to his ordinary.”

Rome’s attempt to keep the Bible from men has continued to recent times. Pope Pius VII (1800-1823) denounced the Bible Society and expressed shock at the circulation of the Scriptures. Pius VII said, “It is evidence from experience, that the holy Scriptures, when circulated in the vulgar tongue, have, through the temerity of men, produced more harm than benefit.” Pope Leo XII called the Protestant Bible the “Gospel of the Devil” in an encyclical letter of 1824. Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846) railed “against the publication, distribution, reading, and possession of books of the holy Scriptures translated into the vulgar tongue.”

Pope Leo XII, in January 1850, condemned the Bible Societies and admitted the fact that the distribution of Scripture has “long been condemned by the holy chair.”

Let us look at his assertions. First, did the Council of Trent really prohibit the reading and ownership of the Bible? The answer is, no. The council fathers decreed on April 8, 1546, “. . . the synod, following the examples of the orthodox Fathers, receives and venerates with an equal affection of piety and reverence all the books both of the Old and New Testament, –seeing that one God is the author of both, . . . .” Oddly, I could not find the quotation as given by the cited author; however, I did find decrees regarding UNAPPROVED and or FAULTY translations of the Scriptures. Just as with theological works, the Church asserted her role over their legitimate use. To suggest that the Council of Trent opposed the authentic Word of God is untrue. Second, the prohibition for Catholics in joining Bible Societies was due to the fact that these said groups did not use Scriptures approved by Church sources and were quite anti-Catholic in their approach. Such has been the continued problem with gullible Catholics stolen from Christ’s Church by anti-Catholic fundamentalist bible study programs, some which particularly target Catholics. Again, this was no disdain for the Holy Scriptures, only for the malicious intent by which some men used them. Third, the concern about bible distribution was that Protestant bibles were being circulated which in missing texts and in footnotes often questioned and ridiculed Catholic teaching. Obviously, the Church preferred that Catholics read bibles which reflected the orthodox Catholic interpretation of the Word of God. The misuse of the Gospel against the Church established by Christ himself is as Pope Leo XII noted nothing less than satanic. Cloud’s interpretation of Church history, or tradition, is as cloudy as the anti-Catholic’s understanding of the Scriptures.

Having attacked Christ’s Church, the anti-Catholic bigot will sometimes have the audacity to call the Catholics whom he addresses by the label, “friends.” This specious sign of affection was used several years ago by the pornography and prostitute addicted Jimmy Swaggert in a pamphlet to proselytize Catholics. Do not be fooled. Such critics will neither break bread nor pray in union of mind and heart with the Catholic. Indeed, the anti-Catholic critic, when he runs out of material, will often harp about the so-called multitude killed by Catholics as declared heretics. He tries to plant his own tags of intolerance and prejudice upon the Catholic Church.

It is true that civil societies in the past did engage in much insular nonsense, Catholic and Protestant, however, both camps equated spiritual murder with physical murder and subsequently confused the penalties. Neither Protestants nor Catholics would want to be classified by the actions of dishonest extremists. Returning to the subject of the Bible, it is my supposition that if properly studied, with care to the sources and the literary forms of the text, it will affirm the Catholic faith. Such openness to the truth of the Scriptures has led many of the more astute Protestants into the Catholic Church. However, the more emotional, embittered, and ignorant the researcher– the less affected they are by such truths or the claims of the Catholic Church. The message of our loving God to such critics would be to put aside their prejudice and hatred; taste and see the goodness of the Lord in the Catholic community of faith.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Bible, Catholic, Church, Evangelization, Faith, God, Pope | 5 Comments »

Dealing with Anti-Catholicism

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Father Joe

I wish I could say that apologetics with fundamentalists is always nice and friendly. But I cannot. We have arguments with certain fundamentalists who hate the Church and all for which Catholicism stands. It is hard to be gentle with bigots. The ecumenical gestures of dialogue, prayer and social cooperation are spurned by them. They do not acknowledge Catholics as Christian brothers and sisters. Indeed, except for singular exceptions, they would say the members of the Church are damned. Many names are used against us: Idolaters, Pagans, Papists, Romanists, etc. Our worship is likewise demeaned as alternately “cookie worship” [Eucharist] and “goddess worship” [Mary]. They believe we are Pelagian heretics who seek to save ourselves with our own good works apart from faith in Jesus. The most fiendish of them will insist that “true Christians,” meaning of their sort, can have no affiliation or cordial association with “demon worshiping” Catholics. They latch upon mentally disturbed ex-nuns and angry former priests to fortify their arsenal of polemics against Catholic teachings and practices.

As I have gotten older, I have tired somewhat of battling such prejudice, hatred and ignorance. Given my own inherited pugnacious nature, I came out swinging as a young priest. It irritated me that smarter men and women in the Church often ignored such challenges and failed to make a response. Indeed, some critics argued that apologetics ran against the grain of Vatican II ecumenism and rapprochement. However, such passivity allowed simple souls with weak faith to be picked off and stolen from the Church. I was one poor shepherd who felt duty-bound to protect his sheep. While my responses have sometimes rescued or preserved a soul from the fundamentalist wolves; I am saddened to admit that very few if any of the so-called wolves or preachers of hate were ever personally moved to abandon such attacks upon the Church. It was my Pollyanna hope that such critics might even be turned around to accept the claims of Catholicism and seek membership. In any case, such matters are best left in God’s hands since he is the source for both repentance and faith.

Here are a few general efforts to share truth and to refute error on behalf of the Church instituted by Jesus. Despite the assertions of Catholic haters, there is no Scripture which invalidates the claims of the Roman Catholic Church. Further, I would beseech all our Christian friends, who see Catholics as brothers and sisters in faith, not to be offended by the harshness of my arguments. They are not addressed to such men and women of good faith who honestly disagree with Catholics about particular points of doctrine or affiliation. I want to make a response to the anti-Catholic bigot, and thus the tone may be more severe and apologetic than usual in interfaith discussions.

Turning to my own faith convictions, I have great confidence in the infallibility of the Catholic faith as made possible by the protective influence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of truth guides our teachers in faith (the Magisterium or bishops who are in union with the Pope). The Spirit of truth inspires with divine authorship those written records regarded as canonical (Sacred Scripture). The Spirit of truth guides and gives life to the Church (Sacred Tradition). While revelation ended with the death of the last apostle, our understanding of Christian doctrine grows and matures.

The subject of this safeguard from the Holy Spirit is faith and morals. It does not include all the various secular and scientific truths, upon which the Church’s leaders and membership might make human judgments. Fundamentalists often lose sight of this and posit the popes with wielding authority and a degree of infallibility that they do not even claim. While doing this, they seem to take for themselves the very infallibility they would strip from the Holy Father. Ironically, liberal Catholics will sometimes clamor for papal change in regard to teachings about ministry or sexual morality, even though the popes do not have the power to change what God has demanded in divine positive law or which flows from objective natural law. The first group must understand that the Pope does not claim to be God; and the latter must humbly acknowledge that they have no divine prerogative or veto to treat the Pope as their flunky open to intimidation.

Many charges are made against us. A holdover from the reformation controversy over paid indulgences is the distortion that Catholicism offers salvation for sale. Today, many will offer a donation, called a stipend for a Mass. However, it is a gift, with or without monetary help— the sacraments are free– even if we have to find resources elsewhere to pay for the upkeep of our clergy, facilities and materials. Protestant churches also “pass the basket” so this material side cannot be used to harass the Catholic Church. Yes, we pray for the dead, not to hear ourselves talk, but to manifest our continued unity with our beloved deceased who may still be on their way to paradise. It is true that the price for their entry into heaven has been paid by the blood of Christ. However, we must be made perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Those in heaven do not need our prayers and those in hell cannot benefit from them. At least upon this much, the anti-Catholic fundamentalist and the Catholic might agree.

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Church in the world. Catholics have taken seriously their commitment to love God and neighbor. Catholic schools and hospitals abound throughout the nation. Catholic Charities is one of the largest charity and social assistance organizations on the globe and second only to the U.S. Government. We follow Jesus who is the Way and the Truth and the Life. He gave us the Church as his special family and the breaking of his kingdom into the world. It is unfortunate that despite the Church’s incredible contributions to society that there should still be a few who hate and malign her.

Filed under: Apologetics, Bible, Catholic, Church, Discipleship, Evangelization, Faith, Mass, Pope | 3 Comments »

Where Do We Go from Here?

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Father Joe

Television, which mirrors and also forms so many of our ideas and behavior patterns, has vividly shown the shift in family values. Programs like “Father Knows Best,” “Leave It to Beaver,” and “Make Room for Daddy” are a far cry from “The Simpsons,” “Married with Children,” and “Murphy Brown.” A sign of hope is that a number of shows are returning to the older format and even go a step further by explicitly bringing in religious faith. I am thinking, in particular, about the short-lived but popular “Christy,” and the more viable “Touched by an Angel” and “Seventh Heaven.” But, we must be wary of the media that trusts more in profits than in prophets. If we want strong traditional families, then America must rediscover her soul. Statistics verify that families attending regular Sunday worship usually stay together and find contentment. Frequently, they are happier than those who have more money and material things. Many successful families also limit the amount of television they watch; parents review the music to which the children listen; they actively participate in their religious formation; and they pray together. They make family and not work or hobby the center of their lives. It is here where they find God. Regarding the flip side, children are increasingly bringing parents back to God and the Church, evidence of a mysterious movement of the Holy Spirit.