Evangelization | Blogger Priest

A Courageous or Timid Church?

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Father Joe

Msgr. Pope touches a cord on the Archdiocesan Blog that is very dear to my heart, the fact that a “timid” Church is in contradiction to its very nature as a sign of contradiction in the world.

Msgr. Pope speaks of the new secularized faith as “Sad, pathetic, wrong, and cowardly—hardly the revolutionary faith that got Paul arrested. . . . We have got to rediscover how revolutionary our Catholic faith truly is to this world gone mad. And as we proclaim healing and an allegiance to something other than this world, we will become increasingly obnoxious to the world around us. . . . No tame, domesticated Christianity will threaten or change this world. When Paul preached, the people rioted. Modern preaching too often incites only yawns and indifference.”

St. Paul and the other apostles did not qualify the Gospel and so they faced arrest, torture and martyrdom. The early Church was persecuted precisely because the truths of Christ allowed for no compromise or tolerance for participation in false worship. Even a pinch of incense to the Roman gods or to the so-called divine emperor was too much. Today’s world misconstrues the incident of the Roman coin and the likeness of the emperor. When Jesus said give to God what belongs to God and to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, he was avoiding a trick to have him either arrested by the authorities or to be rejected by the crowds as a traitor. Ours is a jealous God. What belongs to him? The answer is everything, even Caesar! Many in contemporary society play games with their Christianity. They create a false image of Christ to follow, one that would have fit in nicely with the pantheon of ancient pagan deities. Indeed, the battle over religious liberty is a symptom of this— as if believers could restrict their faith and values to the inside walls of churches and during Mass. And yet, the dismissal at the end of Mass echoes our commission to take the Good News out into the world. The ideal is not co-existence with the world or evil but rather to plant the seeds for repentance and conversion. Today many Catholics are silent upon important issues. A candidate for the office of governor in Maryland is a “practicing Catholic” and yet he is on the record as pro-abortion, yes even for allowing partial-birth infanticide. How can we reconcile this with the faith? The issues continue to mount: no fault divorce and remarriage, same-sex marriages, lack of support for parochial schools, contraception giveaways in public schools, free contraception, abortion on demand and growing sympathies for euthanasia. Sins are counted as rights and Catholics and their Church are expected to fall in line. Wimpish silence satisfied in the past, and that was bad enough, but today complicity is demanded.

St. Paul would exorcize the demonic, not try to accommodate it. Too often we hear from churchmen that we do not want to alienate politicians on “other issues” that are important to us, like the status of immigrants, or just employment, or the dismissal of capital punishment, or tax breaks for churches, etc. We cower to the power of the secular world when we should bring the authority of Christ to bear on the challenges of our day.

Christianity was persecuted by the Roman Empire precisely because it was viewed as intolerant. Today, much of the faith has lost its teeth. The enablers for the murder of children are invited without sanction to take Holy Communion. Even high level shepherds hypothesize ways to get around or to turn a blind eye to homosexuality, adultery and fornication. We are urged to find a new language, removed from that used in Scripture, so that no one might get their feelings hurt. The fact that these activities might cost people the kingdom and their share in everlasting life does not seem to measure up anymore. Who are we to judge? We are the people given the gift of the Holy Spirit and who follow the Light of the World, dispelling the darkness. What is saving faith? It is courageous obedience to God, qualified by charity. That’s who we are and what we are about!

Filed under: Catholic, Church, Commandments, Conscience, Discipleship, Evangelization, Fortnight for Freedom, Homosexuality, Magisterium, Marriage, Morality, Religion, Religious Liberty, Right to Life | Leave a comment »

Religious Subterfuge & Dissent Against Rome

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Father Joe

Today the Huffington Post ran the headline, “Nuns Blast Catholic Church’s ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ That Justified Indigenous Oppression.” Eyebrows were raised. What the devil were the sisters talking about? These prudential views went out with the ancient notions concerning the divine right of kings. Do the sisters understand it is 2014 and not the 1600’s?

The challenge to the Vatican came from Sister Maureen Fieldler. This, in itself, was an immediate bad sign that something was up. She is a widely known radical feminist and dissenter on a number of issues, such as so-called abortion rights, liberation theology, women’s ordination, religious indifferentism, etc. Given that she is disobedient to the Vatican at every turn, it was the height of arrogance that she demanded renunciation of 15th-century documents. The LCWR would have you think that they speak for the angels, but not all angels come from heaven. The devil can also appear as an angel of light.

The Church has already spoken to abuses in the past and the late Pope John Paul II included the rights of indigenous persons in his famous apologias. This seems sufficient. Of course, the Church would not want to renounce the courageous missionary efforts of saints or the unique value of our saving Catholic faith. These modern sisters would be oddly less celebratory of this saving inheritance. Like secular anthropologists, they would stress the retention of isolated New World pre-Christian cultural and religious associations from the unique value of the Gospel that came with explorers from the Old World. Along these lines, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious has repeatedly compromised itself by engaging in pagan, New Age and various native spiritualties during its conferences and retreats. Indeed, along with their demand to the Pope, they are insisting that he participate in “a sacred ceremony of reconciliation.” You can bet all your donuts that these girls do not mean the Sacrament of Confession. Sorry, while they might pray to the four winds, true Catholics place their confidence in the Holy Spirit and the Church Jesus founded. Christ commanded that we take this faith to the entire world and to baptize in the name of the Trinity. We cannot and must not apologize for the command of Christ at the end of Matthew’s Gospel. It is true that colonization brought with it oppression and disease; but it also gave a new people the saving Gospel and Western civilization. We should not be so quick to idolize a multiculturalism that would utterly discount our rich history and the benefits of colonization. Would Sister Fieldler, her Loretto religious community and the LCWR have preferred that the saving faith were never proclaimed and that the missionaries had stayed at home? While the ancient Church decrees are summarized to sound like one had to convert or die, it was actually much more complex. While Western countries sought new resources, the Church saw in civilization the opportunity to bring the true faith to the New World. While the soldiers and conquerors did not always abide by the Church’s admonitions to respect human dignity; the sword was also used to protect the colonists and those native peoples who were ordinarily endangered by more violent neighbors. In any case, the issues around this partnership of the Church and state have long been mute.

Vaguely analogous notions of intervention today are not the same as that which included the promulgation of the Gospel in days of old. Even American “Manifest Destiny'” had less to do with the Church and more about a non-denominational American sense of providence and the call to greatness. The sisters are experts at the jargon that wins a secular modernity to its side. But when one scratches the surface, it becomes clear that there is a peculiar eccentricity to them. For instance, they would attach the anachronistic appeal to the Pope with the effort to strip the Washington football team from using the name Redskins. I suspect few reasonable people see any connection. The Holy See has no lands of its own and no longer even makes reference to doctrines of discovery. By contrast, there are already plenty of papal declarations which speak to the rights and dignities of indigenous peoples. But the sisters are merely flexing their muscle. If they were serious, they would be reproaching secular governments and struggles in the present, as with the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine. Here at home they conveniently disguise the absurd ramifications of their stance. They want to get even with the Holy See, not a secular nation. Remember, if one must apologize for the past then one must make restitution. Along these lines the proposal was made years ago that all whites should be taxed in the U.S. so that monetary reparations might be paid the descendants of slaves. The argument was rightly made that you cannot fault the living for the crimes of the dead. Would the United States give back all lands and territories that belonged to Native Americans, including Manhattan? Would we surrender Texas to the Mexicans? Would we hand over our territories and Hawaii to the native population as new sovereign countries? We bought Alaska from the Russians but they had essentially claimed it through colonization. Would we give it back to the Eskimos (along with the oil) and go home? And given that most of us are the sons and daughters of immigrants, where would home be? The repercussions would become rather silly. But silliness is not something new for the Loretto religious community or this organization of sisters.

Something is rotten about this business. This overture is not really about renouncing the oppression of indigenous peoples. It is payback for being put into their place by Rome. They want to show that they (the Leadership Conference of Women Religious) have the true moral high ground. This is all about politics and not at all about justice. Once we see the truth about it, the organization and its leadership are exposed as utterly pathetic and without contrition for their disobedience and heresies.

It is sick and twisted that the LCWR resolution targets the Pope. No organization has done more to make a positive difference in the lives of indigenous peoples than the Church. This effort is to take our attention away from their own shortcomings and sins. Indeed, by speaking of these ancient policies as doctrines, these dissenters can then point to the modern doctrinal debates and argue that the Church has the authority to evolve or change other teachings of faith… particularly in those doctrinal conflicts where the LCWR is on the other side. This is a measure to undermine the continuity and permanence of Catholic teachings.

The Vatican in 2012 was critical of the LCWR on a host of issues: particularly their silence on the right to life and their dissent on the nature of the family and human sexuality. These are not the sisters we fondly remember in nostalgia. They largely refuse to wear their habits and veils, even though the late Pope John Paul II told them to do so. They have watered down their traditionally prescribed prayer life and often do not live in community. The feminist agenda has poisoned their hearts and minds. Many demand that women be ordained priests and condemn what they call a patriarchal Church. This past April, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller chastised them for failing to comply with Rome’s correctives. They even purposely honored Sister Elizabeth Johnson who was faulted by the U.S. bishops for her Christology and other teachings. [She heavily employs weak metaphors over analogies, compromising or revising the objective truth value of certain Catholic doctrines. She was my professor at CUA and I recall that she got upset about our usage of JESUS and CHRIST. She taught that the JESUS of history (minus miracles and messianic claims) was different from the CHRIST of faith (which is what the Church had fashioned him). It seemed to me that this fell back into the old “two Sons” heresy. Also, the impression was given that the human JESUS was real and that CHRIST was more symbolic of the Church’s kerygma. We see many biblical exegetes who use similar language in their analysis of the Scriptures.] Pope Francis backed the rebuke of the rebellious LCWR. Instead of obedience to Rome’s demands, they now seek to make demands of Rome.

The sisters of this sort are quickly dying out. The Church will probably be better off when they are gone. They will be replaced by a small but growing number of women who practice the traditional disciplines and know that humility and orthodoxy is how we approach the Magisterium and abide with the Church. Pray for vocations… of the right kind.

Filed under: Apologetics, Bishops, Catholic, Discipleship, Eschatology, Evangelization, Faith, Magisterium, Morality, News, Politics, Pope, Religion, Religious, Sin, Social Justice | 3 Comments »

God’s Intervention: Conversion

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Father Joe

When it comes to parental guidance and faith formation there is no perfect formula. Children from the same household often include both fervent believers and backsliders. The young person has to make choices for him- or herself. All we can do is give them the best witness and tools. Having said this, there are some families who have not done all they could. Sacraments were haphazard and Mass participation was poor. For them we recall the Scripture that says, “Make no mistake: God is not mocked, for a person will reap only what he sows” (Galatians 6:7).

What are my general thoughts about the issue? Certain important points come to mind.

First, just because a child was baptized as a baby, we must never omit the need for CONVERSION. There is the real need to take the faith that is given us and to make it our own. Catholics might not accept the notion of “once saved, always saved,” but we still treat membership in the Church as a “done deal” that needs little in the way of affirmation or verification. This point often muddies the waters when news reporters and poll-takers ask questions of Catholics. People who have not stepped foot in a church for many years will still identify themselves as Catholics. Their perspective on issues often is more reflective of a secular humanism than Christianity. Catholicism is reduced to a club which refuses to throw you out even when you fail to pay the required dues. In actual fact, while they remain juridically Catholics, many of these people are in practice Protestant or even atheists. They may live as if there is no God.

Many catechists are often disheartened when a child has reached Confirmation age in eighth grade, and he or she still struggles from a glaring ignorance of our religion. We know they were given all the content but it is as if it leaked out. Good Catholic kids go on to high school or college and fall away from the practice of their faith. At a time when the Christians of Mosul are facing expulsion and extermination for their faith; these kids surrender it without the whimper of a battle. As an old billboard used to advertise, a crucial question comes to mind, “If Christianity were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Apparently Christian kids begin to talk and act as if there is no God.

The problem comes to a head as the youth matures; however, the seed was damaged from the beginning or hindered throughout. It is choked by weeds or has fallen on poor and rocky soil. There has been little or no watering. Despite all that parents, catechists and pastors did (or did not do); the simple fact remains that the youth may never have had an intimate and reciprocal friendship with Christ. Praying should be like breathing. We do not last long otherwise. We begin to die when we neglect the Lord.

We tend to speak about the “issues” that our children face or the difficulties they create. We need to stop thinking about “issues” and turn to dealing with “persons.” How do we facilitate an evangelical turning or metanoia to the Lord? Must we create a spiritual ghetto around our children, blocking out the distractions from peers, public schools and the media? How do we move religion from information to be memorized to a person we must encounter?

While I like youth groups and activities where young men and women can dialogue and come to a better understanding, as well as mutual respect, it also seems to me that there should be gender-based formation. Young women, mentored by faithful and mature females, can answer questions and speak to concerns that might never be mentioned in a mixed setting. Similarly, in a society that preaches a false equivalence, young men need mentoring by Christian gentlemen who know and practice the values of true manhood. Every young man should look upon the girls as potential spouses and the mothers of their children. Each young woman should seek out men who demonstrate strength of character and responsibility for their actions. While I prefer courtship to dating; young people should not feel coerced into romantic relationships prior to the time that they are ready or able to make genuine commitments. I also think that young men and women should be given a witness for the religious vocations to which God may call them. Do we have priests and brothers speaking to our boys about their callings and the satisfaction they receive in serving God? Do we have religious sisters giving presentations in youth groups and parishes about what it means to be a bride of Christ? I think we could do more in these areas. I lament that the archdiocese no longer has its own order of religious sisters. The fact that we had them seemed almost like a secret. If we want vocations for men and women, then they have to be visible and the word must be shared. They must also be happy. No one wants to join a group of angry old bachelors or cat-fighting spinsters.

I would also suggest the witness of proven Christian laity who live in the world and still belong to Christ. We have many god people who witness the faith to co-workers, family and friends. They volunteer to help the poor, to save and nurture babies, to bring care to the sick and dying, and to pass on the faith to the next generation. Along with the saints of heaven, these must be our role models— not the coarse basketball player or music personality preoccupied with money, fame and sex.

When it comes to youth group gatherings, we sometimes merely want to get a meeting over and satisfy the young people on a superficial level. But every gathering should go beyond entertaining with sports, music, games, movies or free pizza. We do not want to bribe our youth to attend. Youth ministers can make a number of honest mistakes. I recall a fellow years ago who gave a presentation about ministry that focused entirely on himself. He told us again and again that he received great personal satisfaction from the work. If that is simply the case, then we might become parasitical to the very youth we hope to help. But in contradiction, we do not do this work for what we can get out of it. The youth might put us through hell and yet in the end it could produce fruit if we persevere.

Ephesians 4:11-16 gives us our marching orders, both for catechesis and youth ministry:

“And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming. Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love.”

There are too many persons and things that would exploit our youth; we must illustrate the highest integrity in equipping young “saints.” We make ready the soil and pray that God will rain down with his grace. After doing all that we can, we beseech God for the conversion of our charges. If our youth do not open the Scriptures, say their prayers, participate at Mass, and help the poor then what exactly would make them Christian? They should be growing daily in the knowledge and love of Jesus. Mindful of the Pharisees, we must be careful of any hypocrisy. The youth will see this immediately and any movement to Christ would likely be stunted.

There are a number of poor models that poison youth work and evangelization. Making demands from authority turns people off and when there is sufficient distance or no longer any stick held over heads, the young people rebel and walk. Similarly bribing falls short when nothing that we can offer comes anywhere near to competing with popular music, large screen televisions, video games or the other stuff that youth and families accumulate. We try placing our message on computers and television, but talking heads and the Mass for Shut-ins just is not attractive or compelling to many. We get all excited about the Internet but then find that there are few hits and no one is reading or watching our materials. We pour money into solutions that really solve nothing and become just another element for critics to ridicule. The universal Church gets caught up in this as well. Are we really making converts or calling souls home with Twitter? I doubt it.

We do not need religious robots. No, instead we want faithful youth who are fully converted and see evangelization as a crucial factor in their lived discipleship. That is one of the reasons why I feel that adult moderators should encourage youth to develop their own programs and activities. This way, when they head off for college, it will no longer matter if parents and pastors are unable to look down their backs. Without any prodding, they will gather their own bible sharing and prayer groups. We want them to form “church” with a graced spontaneity. They need to be self-actuated in their discipleship. They will look around them and develop activities to respond to the needs of the community where they find themselves. All this is to say, that while we have them, we should be thinking… how can we empower these persons to be self-actuated leaders: teaching and serving others? Is this prospect even on our radar?

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Bible, Catholic, Discipleship, Evangelization, Faith, Family, Providence, Questions, Reflection, Religion, Sacraments, Salvation | Leave a comment »

We Awaken to the Problem

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Father Joe

The defection from faith is an important issue and why for the past two years I invited a young FOCUS missionary named Katie to give her appeal in the parish. Along with other young adults, FOCUS ministers to our youth on college campuses. The statistics are frightful. Some 80% of our youth fall way while at college. These young adults put their careers and much about their personal lives on hold so that they might make a difference for others.

I think in truth the issues began long before our teens headed off for college or entered the work force. Minimally Catholic kids suddenly find that they do not have the watchful eyes of parents upon them. Quickly, they are influenced by peers who have no quarter in their lives for organized religion or traditional values. Liberal faculties deride Christianity and mock the sacraments as the domain of ignorance. Professor Paul Zachary Myers is the most blatant on this list, urging college students to steal consecrated hosts so that he can document on the Internet his desecration of the Eucharist. This is not representative of a civil debate about belief; rather, it is an emotional and militant attack upon people of faith.

College campuses will sometimes have Newman Centers and/or Catholic Student Associations. But many of the Catholic students fail to get involved. The attendance of Catholic students at Mass, even at Catholic schools is often pathetic. The best numbers I have heard are at places like St. Francis in Steubenville, Ohio and Ave Maria in Florida. I know one school where the chaplain schedules Masses at midnight so that students will have less competition for their time. One is more likely to see lewd photos on Facebook than posts about religious epiphanies and retreats or time before the Blessed Sacrament. Of course, many parents might not know because they are quickly blocked from seeing what is actually going on.

I am not saying that efforts to evangelize in college are in vain. Rather, I am suggesting that more could have been done (or done differently) earlier to minimize the damage later on. Catholic schools could also be more proactive with single-sex dorms, expectations about participation at Mass, and an uncompromised message about fidelity to the faith and the living out of the commandments. However, we have a problem— when honors are granted to those who seek to strip the Church of her religious liberty— when organizations that promote a homosexual agenda and lifestyle are given funds and recognition— when health service referrals include artificial contraception and abortions— and when crucifixes are removed from classroom walls so as not to offend— then we have become our own worst enemy.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Aside, Catholic, Church, Commandments, Contraception, Discipleship, Evangelization, Faith, Family, Holy Communion, Homosexuality, Mass, Modesty, Morality, Personal, Pro-Life, Reflection, Religion, Religious Liberty, Right to Life, Sacraments, Saints, Schools, Sexuality, Sin | 1 Comment »

Infant Baptism & Coerced Baptism

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Father Joe

Questions from Dina:

Why does it make sense to baptize a child who doesn’t know what is happening, or what about forced baptism over the centuries? Why does either have an effect? In one case the baby knows nothing and int he other you have an unwilling “convert” who wants nothing to do with the Catholic faith? Thanks!

Response from Father Joe:

We do not force baptisms upon adults. Missionaries often endured great hardships and even suffered martyrdom in bringing the faith to others around the world. Unwilling converts cannot be validly baptized or received into the Church. This has always been the case. The situation with children depends upon several points:

1. The apostolic and patristic tradition of baptizing whole households, including the children of believers.

2. While a child has not yet reached the age of reason, parents may profess faith on behalf of a child with the expectation that they will raise the child in the faith and insure the sacraments of penance, holy communion and confirmation. There are three sacraments of initiation, not one: BAPTISM, EUCHARIST, and CONFIRMATION. At confirmation that person will make for himself the profession and promises made by parents at baptism.

3. The Church is the sacrament of salvation. Catholics are called both to a CORPORATE faith in Jesus as well as a PERSONAL one. This corporate element, linked to the communion of the saints, is why parents can profess faith for a child. We do not come to the Lord alone.

4. After the age of reason, an unbaptized child must take catechesis and make the baptismal promises himself.

5. The sacraments, including baptism, do what they are intended to do. They were instituted by Christ for his Church.

6. Baptism is more than an acknowledgment or affirmation of saving faith, it accomplished the following:

Makes one a temple of the Holy Spirit;
Accesses sanctifying grace;
Conforms a person to the likeness of Christ;
Washes away sin (original sin);
A person is spiritually adopted as a son or daughter of our heavenly Father;
Incorporates us into the Catholic Church;
We become a Christian; and
We enter the doorway to the sacramental life.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Baptism, Bible, Catholic, Church, Discipleship, Evangelization, Faith, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Questions, Religion, Sacraments, Sin | 3 Comments »

A Response to Grace on Faith, Jesus & Salvation

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Father Joe

GRACE:

Allow me to make reference to the Old Testament and sin offering. A sinner would go to the Jewish priest with a lamb without blemish. He MUST lay his hand on the lamb. This signified a transferring of sin to the lamb and acquiring the lamb’s innocence. The lamb had to die. Sin must DIE. Under the New Covenant, Jesus is the Lamb of God. The Messiah is our offering. HOWEVER, one cannot physically lay hands on the lamb of God. This is how one lays hands on Jesus and acquires His righteousness: whoever BELIEVES/FAITH that He is the son of God becomes righteous. This is unmistakably the most fundamental building block of Christianity!

When a believer in faith bows down in prayer they have instant access to God, justified by Jesus. When I ask someone else to intercede, I have downplayed the biggest sacrifice; the very reason God became man. It was so that whoever believed should not perish. Otherwise, I have put my FAITH in something other than His dying for my sins. In effect, I have said that even though Christ did die for my sins and I am justified before God. It is still not good enough. So stop going to saint Mary! Worthless are cries of please intercede! JESUS said “I AM THE WAY THE TRUTH AND LIFE NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT BY ME.” That truth was absolute. There is no negotiating it. When He said on the Cross “IT IS FINISHED,” He meant just that.

FATHER JOE:

You call into question the following:

1. The manner in which Jesus offers a sacrifice of propitiation as the Lamb of God.

2. The extension of the paschal mystery into the life of the Church and the sacraments.

3. The participation in the one-time suffering and death of Jesus.

4. The definition of saving faith as combined with obedience (works) and accessed first through baptism.

5. The inner unity of Jesus as a divine Person but made fully human.

6. The significance of the Church, communion of the saints and intercessory prayer.

What you initially discuss is an appreciation of substitution. The blood of the lamb is sacrificed so that the believer might be spared, as with the Jews when the first born of Egypt suffered the angel of death.

You assert that with Jesus as “the Lamb of God,” no one could physically lay hands upon him. This is false and calls into question the graphic truth of the incarnation. It is a variation upon the heresy of the Nestorians. The Second Person of the Trinity takes to himself human flesh, he becomes Man. Thus he is able to lay down his life, enduring the indignity of the scourging and crucifixion. Jesus really did die on the Cross. The Mass is an unbloody but real re-presentation of this saving mystery. We are born again by water and the spirit. As God’s people, we come back again and again to the Lord so that our sins might be washed away and that we might be filled with grace. There is a spiritual operation here connected to Calvary, the last Supper and the sacraments.

Faith and baptism allows us to be engaged by the Paschal Mystery of Christ, his suffering, dying, rising and ascension. Our belief or faith is equivalent to obedience. God’s response is the gift of salvation for the redeemed. Christ is obedient to the Father even unto the Cross. He calls us to imitate his fidelity by taking up our crosses and following him.

Intercession to saints or to the Church is an acknowledgement that ours is both a personal and a corporate Lord and Savior. We gather to pray as the Church and our Lord tells us that he is present. There is no competition or downplaying the oblation of the Cross. Far from it, our unity with each other is expressive of the reality of the Church that Jesus instituted. You deny this truth from God’s Word and embrace a Baptist tradition that denies the ongoing nature of faith, obedience and the need for communion with the Church. You short-change revelation and deprive yourself of the full benefits of Christ oblation. You say you are justified before the Lord and yet this too may be a sinful presumption. You cannot save yourself. Only God can save you. Many will cry, “Lord, Lord,” and Jesus will respond, “I tell you, I do not know you.” The Church is the Body of Christ. If you attack the Church, you assault Jesus.

Mary intercedes, but by always beseeching us to follow her Son. She beckons that we might know and love him. All prayer, even intercessory, finds God as its proper object. The saints pray with and for us. We are not alone.

The saving work of Jesus is accomplished in that Jesus will never suffer and die again. But the saving power and effects of his work are still being realized in the lives of believers. It is in this sense that it will not be finished or over until the consummation of the world to Christ. The story of salvation is still being told in our lives.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Bible, Catholic, Church, Evangelization, Prayer, Redemption, Sacraments, Saints, Salvation, Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Women Bishops – The Lights Go Out for Anglicanism

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Father Joe

The General Synod of the Church of England voted on Monday to consecrate priestesses as women bishops. Well, there’s the nail to the coffin for the home of Anglicanism. Ecumenism with them will be restricted to soup kitchens, sharing contributions from C.S, Lewis, and appreciation for perfecting the English language. The bridges have been burned to most else. Since women cannot be ordained in truth, this makes arguments about their Masses and the Eucharist mute. Fake priests can only give you a counterfeit Holy Communion. When it came to morality, our ships passed in the night a long time ago. They disregard both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, wrongly approving homosexuality and dismissing the indissolubility of marriage. Abortion is reduced to a personal choice, far from the Catholic stance that sees it as an assault upon the heart of the Gospel of Life. Their last convention in the States could only agree about how terrible landmines were, as if that is a big issue in suburbia. This is what happens when morality collapses and an “everything goes” mentality takes over. Public opinion and modernity is given preference over divine revelation. Instead of obedience to God, the human becomes the measure of all things— and people are fickle and frequently wrong. The Orthodox churches are lamenting that years of work toward a common faith and even levels of recognition have been thrown upon the garbage heap. Anglicanism, except as a small group received by the Holy See, is destined not to be counted as a branch of the apostolic and “catholic” family of churches. The “reapproachment” with them since Vatican II is now a dismal failure because the Anglicanism of even half a century ago no longer exists. It has been replaced by a mutated structure that will continue to devolve and crumble. Australian Anglicans are arguing that priests might be optional and that the laity can offer the Mass. Fragmented, one segment fights with another, and there is no contemporary pretense of a world Anglican order. Certain traditionalists among them refused the offer of Pope Benedict XVI, hoping to rebuild with a union of conservative African bishops. But how long will it be until modernity will invade that new structure? Ironically, some of them attack the Anglicans who accepted the special offer from the Pope in becoming Catholics. They still buy the prejudices against Rome which were initially an element of their split. Catholicism has its dissenters; but they will have no official weight in the practice of our sacraments and doctrines. The accidentals may change, as with language, but the deposit of faith is safe and sound. As for the Anglicans, could they even agree as to what this deposit consists?

The Anglicans feel that immutable doctrine can be changed by ballot. Here is the vote approving women bishops:

House of Bishops: 37 to 2 with 1 abstention
House of Clergy: 162 to 25 with 4 abstentions
House of Laity: 52 to 45 with 5 abstentions

This move goes against the teachings and pattern passed down from Jesus. There was no woman among the twelve apostles. Jesus did not worry about stereotypes. But this one, he did not break. It was God’s will. Anglicans no longer care. I guess they would say that Jesus was wrong. Of course, this change was anticipated. A long time in the mix, the first ingredient was added back in 1994 when they began ordaining women as priestesses (women priests). Error breeds error. The United States made a woman its chief Episcopalian bishop some years ago, Katharine Jefferts Schori. Before her they elected their first gay bishop. Australian, New Zealand, and Canada also have women bishops. The show continues but it no longer matters. They can wear their pointy hats and play-act all they want— these women are neither true priests nor bishops. Both Orthodoxy and Catholicism are in agreement here. There is no third tier to the Church. Without a valid hierarchy, there can be no true priests. If there is no priesthood, then there can be no Eucharist (sacrifice of propitiation and real presence). If there is no Eucharist, the ecclesial community is not really a CHURCH. End of Story

Filed under: Apologetics, Apostles, Bishops, Catholic, Church, Ecumenism, Eucharist, Evangelization, Faith, Holy Communion, Homosexuality, Jesus, Liturgy, Magisterium, Morality, News, Priestesses, Priests, Pro-Life, Prophets, Reflection, Religion, Religious, Sacraments, Sexuality, Social Justice, Tradition, Women Priests | Leave a comment »

The Sad Case of the Fatima Priest

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Father Joe

QUESTION:

What is wrong with Fr. Nicholas Gruner and The Fatima Crusader magazine? He seems to be very holy, intelligent, and sincere–not anything like the “nut” people make him out to be. His main message seems to be that the consecration of Russia requested at Fatima was never performed properly and that humanity could be headed for a chastisement.

RESPONSE:

Compliance with a request to consecrate Russia and/or the world remains with the judgment of the Holy See. Such has been done and it can be repeated. However, it does not rest with Fr. Gruner or with you and me. We can certainly dedicate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but such also demands fidelity in our state of life, as well as respect to the Church and the Pope. Fr. Gruner proposes to direct what is best for the world and the Church while he cannot even get his own house in order. The Soviet Union fell and many nations knew freedom. But faith is not magic. Sin still exists in Russia (just ask the Ukraine), around the world and here in the U.S. where our religious liberty is threatened by the current administration and a culture of death. Any utopian view or interpretation of Fatima and its fruits are arguably not in sync with Catholic or Christian eschatology.

Fr. Gruner has not had proper priestly faculties for much of his priesthood. He argues that we must prove otherwise but that is not how the process works. He must present signed faculties from his bishop to the diocesan officials of any local church he visits. He cannot do this because he is not in good standing. Thus, he is not welcome by true Catholic authorities anywhere in the United States. His censure was reaffirmed by the Congregation for the Clergy. Priests are not the same as the laity. We are not our own men. We belong to the Church and our bishops. The problem with the priest is simply this… he disobeyed and continues to disobey his legitimate bishop. He says “public” Mass even though he is forbidden to do so. He cannot even “lawfully” hear Confessions. He is closer today to the schismatic SSPX than the Roman Catholic Church.

[No other bishop can extend him faculties or give him permission to minister while he is suspended. No other bishop could even adopt him unless he were formally released by his home bishop. He has never been released.]

I am told that when the late Sr. Lucia took issue with him, he accused her of lying. Similarly he has directly attacked the popes and questioned the honesty of the Vatican. How is any of this meritorious? Sorry, I can well appreciate that his manner is very disarming. While critics accuse him of being a self-serving scam artist, he seems quite pious and sincere. But it remains true that he brings in plenty of money from donations and has no one, not even a Catholic bishop, to oversee him.

As a diocesan priest, he can only function as an extension of his bishop. But what happens when a priest will allow no one to tell him what to do? Disobedient priests are by definition, bad priests. This is a rule that I take seriously to protect my own priesthood. Many of the renegade clergy know the code-words to get people on their side. Particularly troubling is that to justify himself and his standing, Fr. Gruner wrote a book that distorts the truth of his situation and conflicts with Catholic ecclesiology. I would simply ask him, who and where is your bishop? Have you obeyed him? His defense fails before it begins. Catholicism is a mediated religion. We do not follow God directly but through his appointed authority. He cannot claim fidelity to Jesus and Mary while ignoring the summons of his bishop or by defaming the Holy See as deceptive or satanic.

Fr. Gruner’s claims not only lack substantiation; nothing that he has done can be justified. It is said that he has become increasingly traditional (at least externally) because, as has been observed, he seeks kindred bedfellows and follows the money trail. And yet, certain traditionalists mock him as a false priest because he was ordained within the reformed ordination ritual after Vatican II, which they reject.

Does he have any legitimate convictions? Might he be more delusional than fraudulent? I cannot say. But he should not be supported. Catholics should urge him to be humble and to submit as a priest to the lawful authority to which HE PROMISED OBEDIENCE. A priest that breaks his promise of obedience to his bishop is as bad as a priest who breeches celibacy. Again, do not be fooled. His name and organization does not appear in the official directory of institutions and clergy in the U.S or Canada. He does not work for the Catholic Church in any capacity whatsoever. He is independent. In that sense, he has fabricated his own church.

The appeal letters that he sends out include the signatures of other renegade clergy. I was surprised some years ago to discover that the names included that of an old retired priest who purportedly went senile and another priest who was long dead. I have not checked the current names. Again, he wants to give himself a false credibility.

While I would urge against material support, I would recommend that everyone should pray for Father Gruner and that he will know repentance and humbly accept the guidance of his bishop under holy obedience. I suspect that this is what would most please our Lord and the Blessed Mother. Let us never forget that the devil likes to fool us, making the darkness look like light. Pray for him and all priests.

1976 – Bishop Pasquale Venezia ordained Fr. Gruner. He refused to serve the diocese of Avellino and left for Canada without permission.
1978 – Bishop Venezia sent Gruner a letter saying that he could remain in Canada if a local bishop incardinated him. None did and no applications were made.
Bishop Gerardo Pierro ordered him to return to his diocese. Fr. Gruner did not answer his letter.
Cardinal Innocenti, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, wrote to him and ordered him to return to Italy and his bishop. Fr. Gruner refused.
1989 – Bishop Gerardo Pierro again sent Gruner a letter ordering him to return or find another bishop in 30 days.
1990 – Fr. Gruner went to Avellino and met with Bishop Pierro to give him time to seek incardination. This was granted but two years later he still had not started the process or found a receptive bishop.
1992 – Cardinal Sanchez and Archbishop Sepe stated in L’Osservatore Romano that Fr. Gruner and his Apostolate had not been approved by the competent ecclesiastical authorities (October 14, 1992).
1994 – The new bishop of Avellino issued a decree declaring Fr. Gruner a vagus priest. Such priests have no faculties and cannot publicly offer the sacraments.

INFORMATIVE LINKS:

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3441

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4086

http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/fr_gruner_old.htm

http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/fr_gruner.htm

http://www.staycatholic.com/fr__nicholas_gruner.htm

Filed under: Catholic, Church, Evangelization, Magisterium, Mary, Priests, Religion | 4 Comments »

Anti-Catholic Lies: Jesuits Started the Civil War

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Father Joe

Anti-Catholic Proposition:

Lincoln: “Jesuits Started the Civil War”

Explanation – The following is a brief debate between over the Know-Nothing propaganda which asserts that the Jesuits started the Civil War and killed Lincoln. It is all foolishness for weak and prejudiced minds. The discussion eventually digressed into the area of modern-day Nazis or racists who hate both the Jews, the state of Israel and the Catholic Church.

LOU:

Honest Abe cited the Jesuits as the instigators of the Civil War! I wonder what other wars they might have instigated! Here is the quote: “This war would never have been possible without the sinister influence of the Jesuits. We owe it to Popery that we now see our land reddened with the blood of her noblest sons. Though there were great differences of opinion between the South and North, on the question of slavery, neither Jeff Davis nor any one of the leading men of the Confederacy would have dared to attack the North, had they not relied on the promise of the Jesuits, that, under the mask of Democracy, the money and the arms of the Roman Catholics, even the arms of France, were at their disposal if they would attack us” (Charles Chiniquy, Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, The Wickliffe Press, Protestant Truth Society, Wickliffe Avenue, 104 Hendon Lane, Finchley, London, N3., 1885, p. 388).

FATHER JOE:

Lies and the fools who believe them! I am told by a reputable historian that the anti-Catholic press (20 years after Lincoln’s death) fabricated the quote. It does not reflect Lincoln’s respect for Catholics, although he had inherited some of the common Protestant misconceptions about Catholics in vogue at that time. It does not appear in his collected writings, which I own. Lincoln even engaged Bishop Hughes of New York to appeal to the French not to aid the South in the War Between the States. Oddly enough, the same Know-Nothings who popularized the lie you quote were refuted by Lincoln on August 24, 1855: “I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could I be? How can anyone who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor of degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that ‘all men are created equal.’ We now practically read it ‘all men are created equal, except negroes.’ When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read ‘all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.’ When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no presence of loving liberty—to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”

PETAR:

I just started studying secret societies. The Jesuits are a military order and always have been.

FATHER JOE:

The Society is a religious order, not a military one.

PETAR:

They instigated the long series of religious wars that occurred during the Catholic Anti-Reformation, and their perpetual political terrorism is exactly what led to Pope Clement XIV issuing a Papal BULL to ban them for eternity, for the sake of the peace, at the request of the French government.

FATHER JOE:

No, they peacefully preached the Gospel in foreign lands and many of them suffered martyrdom. They were defenders of the papacy; their suppression was the frenzied response to fear and a revolutionary spirit. The old Catholic Encyclopedia states: “We look forward a generation, and we see that every one of the thrones, the pope’s not excluded, which had been active in the Suppression is overwhelmed. France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy become, and indeed still are, a prey to the extravagance of the Revolutionary movement. The Suppression of the Society was due to the same causes which in further development brought about the French Revolution. These causes varied somewhat in different countries. In France, many influences combined, as we shall see, from Jansenism to Free-thought, to the then prevalent impatience with the old order of things (see France, VI, 172). Some have thought that the Suppression was primarily due to these currents of thought. Others attribute it chiefly to the absolutism of the Bourbons. For, though in France the king was averse to the Suppression, the destructive forces acquired their power because he was too indolent to exercise control, which at that time he alone possessed. Outside France it is plain that autocracy, acting through high-handed ministers, was the determining cause.”

PETAR:

I know that Adam Weishaupt was trained by the Jesuits, and I know that he was their puppet when he created the Illuminati.

FATHER JOE:

Okay, it is clear that you are either playing games or just a wacko. Weishaupt went to a Jesuit school but he became an enemy of the Church: “…he came into ever sharper collision with the loyal adherents of the Church and with those who were influential in government circles. Furthermore, his obstinate nature led him to quarrel with almost everyone with whom his intercourse was at all prolonged; he felt the need of a powerful secret organization to support him in the conflict with his adversaries and in the execution of his rationalistic schemes along ecclesiastical and political lines. At first (1774), he aimed at an arrangement with the Freemasons. Closer inquiry, however, destroyed his high estimate of this organization, and he resolved to found a new society which, surrounded with the greatest possible secrecy, would enable him most effectually to realize his aims and could at all times be precisely adapted to the needs of the age and local conditions.”

PETAR:

I know that the Illuminati created the French Revolution, and I know that Napoleon was their puppet.

FATHER JOE:

The culprits were revolutionary ideas and poverty.

PETAR:

Napoleon attacked the Papal States and took them hostage, and this is what forced Pope Pious VII to restore the Jesuits, despite the Papal BULL of his predecessor.

FATHER JOE:

The Jesuits were restored when people came to their senses. Passivity to the Church’s real enemies permitted the suppression.

PETAR:

The Jesuits teamed up with the Zionists when Rothschild became the official bank of the Catholic Church, and the Knights of Malta are the military wing of this “New World Order” movement.

FATHER JOE:

Oh my goodness, are you really a NAZI? Now the conspiracy nuts have found my blog!

PETAR:

Skull And Bones runs America, and guess who they work for as well?

FATHER JOE:

A college secret society condemned by the Church rules America? Pleeease!

PETAR:

Even Masonic Saudi Arabia and its Wahabi Islam stooges are ultimately under the mind control of your “Black Pope.”

FATHER JOE:

Mind Control? Yes, and we all take our orders from the Great Spider from the Andromeda galaxy!

PETAR:

The New World Order funded the Bolsheviks, they funded Hitler, and they created the Holocaust in order to institute Israel.

FATHER JOE:

Really, are you serious? I did not know they gave Internet access to patients in the insane asylum.

PETAR:

Don’t you realize that they are intentionally setting the stage for Armageddon?

FATHER JOE:

Actually, I have it on good authority that the End of Days is being plotted by Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

PETAR:

The Beast of Revelations has 10 horns, and why don’t you take a guess as to how many “assistancies” your “Society of Jesus” has divided the world into.

FATHER JOE:

Actually the beast only has 9 horns now, as he broke one off using it to as a can opener.

PETAR:

They aren’t even Catholic; they plan on destroying all religions, and creating global Lucifarianism, just like the Roman game plan of Revelation dictates.

FATHER JOE:

Actually, they plan to establish a religion that worships Barney the singing dinosaur.

PETAR:

Please wake up and stop spewing propaganda on behalf of this genocidal force that has terrorized the earth for centuries, and is moving to kill 90% of the world’s population soon.

FATHER JOE:

Oh my goodness, I am so afraid! Thank you ever so much for telling me! NOT!

PETAR:

I am very pleasantly surprised that you had the courage to publish and respond to my comments. My guess would be that most priests would avoid such a public debate about their church at all costs, considering the atrocious nature of the allegations. I would say that the Catholic Church is well known for sweeping things under the rug for as long as possible, but you would have proved yourself to be the exception in this case. It really is wonderful that you had the courage to publish and respond to my allegations, but it would have also shown a lot more decency if you would have avoided chopping up my comments to insert your own responses within. It really damages the flow of my communication, and it also makes it a lot more difficult for me to respond to your comments in return. The fair form of debate would be if you would allow my comments to appear in full, while you would respond in kind. Please show me that the Catholic Church can be fair as well.

FATHER JOE:

I am not the whole Catholic Church, just a priest with a Blog. The Church is accused of many things, some of it quite untrue. In any case, this is my Blog… my RULES.

PETAR:

I don’t mind that you feel the need to ridicule my opinions, or slander me as a “NAZI,” in fact I find it amusing that a priest should behave in such a childish manner, but I do feel a terrible storm of disagreement with the points that you are attempting to make.

FATHER JOE:

Not slander, but descriptive labels; what you talk about is peculiar and has little substance in the real world.

PETAR:

I maintain that the Jesuit order is a military one, and I offer the following counter argument: Any honest investigation will reveal that Ignatius Loyola was a complete Catholic fanatic, and he was also extremely determined to spread Catholicism throughout the whole world.

FATHER JOE:

The mission mandate of Jesus Christ requires that we as Catholics take the Gospel and the Church to the whole world. What you call fanaticism we call Christian discipleship.

PETAR:

The Jesuit order was created with a Papal Bull entitled: “Regimini militantis ecclesiae” (To the Government of the Church Militant).

FATHER JOE:

The term “Church Militant” is a title for the Church on earth, sometimes called the Pilgrim Church, today. The victory is won in Christ, but the devil is spiteful and we are still battling powers and principalities.

PETAR:

Loyola was an ex-soldier, and Jesuits are governed by a “Father General.” Ignatius also referred to his original disciples as “The Company of Jesus.”

FATHER JOE:

Yes, Ignatius was formerly a soldier who put down the sword and took up the cross. The Jesuits keep company with Jesus and with one another. They also call themselves the Society of Jesus or just the Society.

PETAR:

Loyola’s “Spiritual Exercises” would train Jesuits to deny themselves, and to thoroughly mortify themselves, and to believe that “black is white and white is black,” if a superior Jesuit would state so.

FATHER JOE:

The Spiritual Exercises is a form of meditation or prayer, particularly used among retreatants these days, either truncated or for thirty-day retreats. You can buy copies of the devotion in regular bookstores. The citation in question, maybe a bit much today, is “What seems to me to be white, I will believe to be black if the hierarchical Church thus determines it.” There is no disavowal of reason or delusion about reality here; rather, it is a form of hyperbole about trusting the Church and our religious superiors. The Church arbitrates and defines divine truths from revelation: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. The Holy Spirit protects the Church and her teaching office. The posture of a disciple is humility and unswaying obedience.

PETAR:

This allowed Loyola to build a strict hierarchy within the Jesuit order, which he then used as a military intelligence apparatus within the Catholic Church.

FATHER JOE:

Catholicism and most of her Orders are hierarchical in structure. This is not unique to Jesuits. Missionaries were not spies, but sometimes as in England, they had to move about secretly given that a death sentence was placed upon the heads of Roman Catholic priests. Similarly, the penal laws in Maryland forced clergy into roles as landowners and to travel as tinkers during the colonial period.

PETAR:

The Jesuits would build many schools, and also train the children of Catholic nobility.

FATHER JOE:

Christian education is a hallmark of the Jesuit life. They have done much to advance learning. English Catholic schools and seminaries were established in France when the British crown outlawed the Church.

PETAR:

The Jesuits became popular court confessors, and they used this position in manipulating Catholic rulers to instigate the long series of brutal religious wars that occurred during the Catholic Anti-Reformation.

FATHER JOE:

The Jesuits were the chief defenders of the papacy and were very successful in combating the Protestant rebellion. The wars or violence between rival Catholic and Protestant princes were instigated for many reasons, and not just because of religious differences.

PETAR:

It is undeniable that the Catholic Church was at this time heavily involved in Empire building, and the renewed Office of the Inquisition showed exactly what kind of disposition the Church had towards Protestants.

FATHER JOE:

The Church followed the various political states in their acts of discovery and exploration. The Inquisition was often operated directly by the states themselves, with churchmen employed to enforce uniformity in faith. Extremes are often exaggerated by anti-Catholic critics. Remember, the Church was also coming out of a period where Europe had been invaded by Islamic authority and power. Missionaries sought to convert the new peoples and pilgrims sought religious freedom in new lands. The negative spin you place upon this is very much in error.

PETAR:

The Council of Trent would also represent how the Church felt when they labeled each value of the Reformation as “accursed” and “anathema.”

FATHER JOE:

The reformation was not an expression of pure Christianity or godliness. Indeed, it would set the stage for a further break from all Christianity, as with the bloody French Revolution. The Catholic Counter-revolution accomplished many of the reforms wanted by those who became Protestants. Trent was one of our greatest Councils. The anathema statements were a way of speaking, by which truths were affirmed and heresies condemned. There is nothing wrong about using such a formula.

PETAR:

What resulted with the Jesuits should come as no surprise then.

FATHER JOE:

The Jesuit martyrs in Asia, England and in North America would be heralded as heroes of faith. Schools were started that later became some of the world’s greatest universities and places of learning. Certain Know-Nothings would grow to hate the Jesuits because they were so successful at apologetics. They slandered with falsified charges that you are promoting as your research. The Jesuits preserved the Church and helped her to grow.

PETAR:

And though you may deny this interpretation of history, you cannot deny the fact Pope Pious XIV himself stated that the Jesuits were the cause of perpetual conflict, and that they needed to be suppressed eternally for the sake of the peace, when he issued his Papal Bull of suppression.

FATHER JOE:

The Jesuits were suppressed (1750-1773) by Pope Clement XIV (there is no Pius XIV) because of hysteria and a lack of good sense on the part of others. The Pope was pressured to do it; however, it would later be lifted: Never had faithful sons of the Church been treated so shamelessly. The reasons were political, monarchs were afraid for the kingdoms. Jesuits were theologically sound. France and Portugal were fighting over territory. They were seeking for some fall-guy to take the blame for their troubles. The Jesuits were highly successful in drawing people back to the Church. This could affect the various alliances. However, their suppression made matters worse, the secular voices of the Enlightenment could advance unencumbered.

PETAR:

It is also a fact that he then lived his last days in mortal fear of assassination by the Jesuits, and it is also a fact that he was poisoned shortly thereafter and died a prolonged tortuous death.

FATHER JOE:

You even got the name of the pope wrong. Your comments are riddled with inaccuracies and lies. The suppression of the Jesuits was by Pope Clement XIV in July 1773, not Pope Pius XIV. “His work was hardly accomplished, before Clement XIV, whose usual constitution was quite vigorous, fell into a languishing sickness, generally attributed to poison. No conclusive evidence of poisoning was ever produced. The claims that the Pope was poisoned were denied by those closest to him, and as the Annual Register for 1774 stated, he was over 70 and had been in ill health for some time.”

PETAR:

You may also claim that the Illuminati had nothing to do with the French Revolution, and everything that happened towards the direct benefit of the Jesuits because of it, but if one examines the history of the Illuminati before its suppression, then one will also discover that the French Revolution was nothing but an extension of this organization.

FATHER JOE:

Ah, you do know that the Church was on the losing side of the French Revolution? Countless priests were murdered and churches destroyed. If there are Illuminati; they are no friends of Catholics or the Jesuits.

PETAR:

So why should one assume that Adam Weishaupt was the true enemy of the Jesuits, when he even modeled the Illuminati after the Jesuit structure?

FATHER JOE:

Sometimes the enemies of the Church will steal elements from the Church to suit themselves. Hitler was enamored by the structure of the Jesuits too, but he deplored their faith and defense of the papacy. You fail to make important distinctions between accidentals and the matters of substance. Adam Weishaupt was educated at a Jesuit school but was a married layman, not a Jesuit priest. May our Lord Jesus open your eyes to the truth and help you to turn away from anti-Catholic fantasies and calumny.

PETAR:

It really is unfortunate that a representative of the Catholic Church insists on using what I would characterize as an underhanded debate tactic, by persistently inserting his own comments in the midst of mine, as opposed to just formulating his own separate responses, in what would be the civil manner in exchanging ideas. It really makes correspondence very difficult, but I suppose that is the whole point of this tactic.

FATHER JOE:

You received more courtesy than you deserved as an anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic bigot leeching off of the Know-Nothing propaganda of a century ago.

PETAR:

The Catholic Church spent a lot of time and energy avoiding all of its culpability in rampant child molestation within the Church, and I guess that this is just another example of the same kind of thing.

FATHER JOE:

You are just trying to hit back in a soft spot because your lies revealed your terrible ignorance and prejudice masquerading as enlightenment.

PETAR:

I have many, many, thoughts that I would like to discuss with you about your responses, but I am not going to spend the energy that I would have to spend, in order to deal with the manner in which you avoid civil discussion.

FATHER JOE:

I think you have already exhausted the few thoughts you could spare. I allowed your comments on my Blog for comedic value, not for any serious debate. Everyone had a good laugh, but now it is time to say goodbye to such foolishness. Not one of your points was left standing.

PETAR:

I would just like to say that you are correct that I made a mistake and named “Pious XIV” instead of “Clement XIV,” but that does not change the general truth of what I am saying.

FATHER JOE:

There is no truth in your charges to change. You cannot get basic facts (large or small) right. You do not even know the names of the figures about which you speak. Why engage in you conspiracy theories if you are so much in the dark? Are you mentally ill in that you need to enhance your importance by throwing mud at the Catholic Church?

PETAR:

You may claim that these were “know nothings” who claimed that Clement was poisoned by Jesuits, and claimed that Jesuits were a perpetual threat to the peace, but I maintain that both Clement himself, and also many other officials with the Catholic Church at the time, were 100% correct on their characterization of Jesuit tyranny.

FATHER JOE:

The Know Nothings were a political entity that hated and ridiculed the Church, making up all kinds of sensational stories. They no longer exist although anti-Catholicism remains the one tolerated bigotry in the U.S. You quoted no papal statements about “Jesuit tyranny” because the cause for suppression was really a political appeasement that backfired. Revolutions still came and the Holy Father’s strongest defenders had been disbanded. Later the decision was rectified and the Jesuits were restored.

PETAR:

I urge any individual interested to investigate the obvious connections between the Jesuit order, Adam Weishaupt’s Illuminati, The French Revolution, the restoration of the Jesuits, the rise of the Illuminati Zionist Rothschild, Rothschild fusing with the Catholic Church, Rothschild associates creating the Bolsheviks, Rothschild associates propping up Hitler, Hitler modeling the SS after the Jesuit order, Illuminati controlled British Empire propping up radical Wahhabi Islam, Vatican Knights of Malta creating the CIA with NAZI war criminals, and Illuminati Skull and Bonesman engineering 911 while the Vatican maintains ever closer ties to this 4th NAZI Reich.

FATHER JOE:

[I can’t stop laughing.] Just when I thought there was no more humor to derive from you; you entertain us with a long ludicrous tirade. No defense is needed. Anyone who would believe these slurs should be locked up in a padded room.

PETAR:

There really is a never ending amount of issues to discuss, but unfortunately you make it impossible to do so in a completely civil manner. Nonetheless, thank you for allowing me some opportunity to express my ideas.

FATHER JOE:

Oh yes, so many other issues… Hey we have RCIA classes coming up in the fall… want to join the Church’s spy agency? (Still laughing!)

ATRUECHRISTIAN:

After stumbling upon this page, and reading through here, I am appalled. What church are you with Father Joe? Totally ridiculous, I am ashamed to be associated with people like you. In my church if a priest called someone a NAZI they would be fired immediately. I bet you wouldn’t talk like that to his face.

FATHER JOE:

Did you miss something in the conversation? This is a conspiracy fanatic. You do know that there are still self-professed Nazis, right? I am talking the whole show…. swastikas, white supremacist, anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denier, etc. He does not deny the label. It did not pass my notice that you attacked me but said nothing about his latest comments?

PETAR:

The very last thing that I would like to point out to you is that many Orthodox Jews also agree that Zionists helped create the Holocaust in order to create Israel.

Here is what they have to say on the topic: [link deleted].

I’m curious if you would arbitrarily accuse them of being “anti-Semitic” or “Nazi’s” as well!

FATHER JOE:

I do not link to such offensive sites. Just as there are traitors to Catholicism, I can only pity those who are ashamed of their Jewishness. They should be proud because revelation comes from the Jews. Within the context of salvation history, the Jews are truly God’s People of the promise. The more you try to defend yourself, the more convinced I become about who and what you are.

LADY GODLESS:

Father Joe said: “Just as there are traitors to Catholicism, I can only pity those who are ashamed of their Jewishness. They should be proud because revelation comes from the Jews. Within the context of salvation history, the Jews are truly God’s People of the promise.”

I don’t know what site Petar linked to, but here goes…

As I understand it, the reason that some Haredim give for rejecting the current state of Israel is that God hasn’t sanctioned its existence, and therefore neither can they. Israel was supposed to be refounded and Diaspora regathered at the coming of the Messiah and the beginning of the Messianic Age — i.e., not yet.

In other words, it’s an obey-God’s-law-no-matter-what thing, not a self-hate thing.

Also, ultra-Orthodox aren’t the only people who accuse some Zionists of collaboration. The writer Lenni Brenner, who is secular, has written extensively on this topic. It’s a touchy subject, but still not solely the province of wackos.

In fact, Brenner is how I came to hear about this stuff. He’s written for Counterpunch and other Left publications.

FATHER JOE:

I am very strong on Palestinian rights and weak on Zionist nationalism. But this critic would take things even further… he is no friend of Catholics or Jews. Madalen, you really want no part of this person’s agenda.

THE BARON:

What does it matter if Petar and I are Nazis? It doesn’t mean we totally agree with Hitler. Anyway, we have as much right to speak our mind as anyone else.

It has been over half a century since WWII. It is time to reclaim a good idea that went a little haywire.

It is proven by test scores that certain races are intellectually superior. The white races have led the way for civilization and others have clung like parasites. Some lesser races might make better basketball players and sanitation workers. As for the Jews, their money runs the planet. Zionism plagues us in Palestine and in their other residence of choice, New York.

How did Father Joe find out about us? That is what I want to know! I have no doubt those Jesuit assassins are behind this. They were behind the murder of Lincoln and many more contemporary catastrophes. It is time to unite against the tyranny of the black pope and all popes.

Terrorism today is not the work of ignorant Muslims. The papists exploit the mongrel races to their bidding.

FATHER JOE:

Maybe I should explain to people that I sometimes make statements after deleting and editing posts? I suppose the end result is that I come off sounding harsher and more judgmental than I actually am. I have left this post alone to prove a point. Usually comments like this are quickly deleted.

TRIBUTE 13:

Remarks are edited…

Hi, I’m a first time poster. I’m not big on conspiracy theory at all. I don’t believe that 9/11 was staged. I don’t think that crop circles are made by aliens.

However, conspiracy theories aside, it’s not a “theory” that Hitler and the Third Reich practiced Pagan and Wiccan rituals and attempted to call upon evil spirits to ensure their victories. They were the real nuts. This subject has been explored and proven. I really wouldn’t be surprised if they used organizations like the Jesuits or whatever remnants of other societies for him to accomplish his goal.

God gave you this divine privilege to help people, not ridicule them. If this man is mentally ill, as you seem to believe, does he not deserve the same treatment as regular human beings? He is just a man trying to converse and ask questions. Bless you.

FATHER JOE:

Dear Mike, if I wronged this man, then I am sorry. But I am privy to information that I have not shared with you. There may be a degree of mental illness, but there might also be a case of real evil and sometimes evil requires a name. You are only 16 years old and I have been around a lot longer than you have. I intended no slur based upon heated emotions but a label that best described a certain mentality; indeed, a name that some twisted souls claim for themselves, even today. Maybe the world from the perspective of North Carolina looks like a nicer place than it actually is? And yet, I know you have had more than your share of troubles. His lies and baiting against Catholics, Jews and others exemplifies terrible prejudices which can result in people getting hurt. I have little patience for such things. While I do not hold with bias against our good Jesuits, you write well and I would urge you to keep up with your learning. Continue to work with computers, play your guitar, and try to find faith and hope despite difficult living arrangements and so many challenges. I will keep you in my prayers.

PETAR:

Zionists helped create the Holocaust, and you claim that it is “offensive”, merely because it proves how wrong you are.

You are nothing but a Papal propagandist, and I fully believe that if it was possible to criminally investigate Rome, then most of your entire gang would be in prison.

If there is one thing that is more pathetic than a person who supports evil, it is person who does so while feigning sanctity. Shame on you, you are an extremely poor excuse for a human being.

FATHER JOE:

You are entitled to your opinion, but thankfully God is my judge… not you.

XIMENES:

I’m not here to take a side on any of the issues. However, I do want to inform you where this Petar fellow gets his information. He more-than-likely bases all his statements and arguments off of stuff that he’s read from Eric Phelps’ “Vatican Assassins” or a site that supports it. I’ve heard some of that exact material from some of those aforementioned sources, and believe me, that Phelps guy really did cook up a complicated Jesuit/Masonic/Illuminist/Islamic/Zionist/Nazi conspiracy theory. I haven’t read it, as I’m a jobless sixteen-year-old and I don’t have money to get the third edition (the “most accurate”). Plus, it would be a pain reading the second edition online… but if you want to understand where this Petar guy’s coming from, I suggest you look into it.

It’s a long book, I’ve heard, but it will either enlighten you for/against what is being or will simply give you a laugh of sorts. And neither of those can be so bad.

I don’t think Petar’s mentally ill. He’s just quoting stuff that he read without telling where it came from. And he’s throwing stuff out there too quickly to make himself sound credible.

RAOUL THE MAGNIFICENT:

I am your judge, Joe. Be no more any papist. Lucifer is not God, but is the rebel. God punishes losifer.

FATHER JOE:

I will pray that God brings healing to your confused mind.

REBE 4 LIFE:

Pff if your a Nazi that means your a conformist meaning you have connections to the Jesuits too ;). Hitler Kissed the papal [deleted] and there is even pictures of him hanging out with some of them. I find it sad when people know the truth and yet they join retarded groups like Nazis knowing that Jesuits having deep connections with them. Remember the phrase divide and conquer? :l That’s how the system works by dividing us all and making us all fight each other….when the time comes of the mass awakening I’ll be sure to see you guys there when you’re fully awake 🙂

FATHER JOE:

Omar, people like you remind us all, that not only are some asleep, but there are others who seem hopelessly delusional. The Church condemned Nazism and other forms of atheistic and/or occult totalitarianism.

ME:

I saw the quote attributed to Lincoln from the Know Nothings on another site, and searched for it to confirm or deny its creditability, and your site came up. Thank you for the lucid explanation.

I was raised in an Anglican church, and therefore understand some of what it means to be Catholic. I am by no means an expert. Over the years my faith has grown. As a religious protestant I have never settled on a denomination, but instead have actively participated in churches with pastors who speak the simple truth, and Christians who are devoted to God.

I have met more than my share of those who claim to be Christians, but yet espouse doctrines of hate towards the Catholic Church. As a Christian, I intend to draw no Catholic – Christian with the use of the word Christian, I see myself as a defender of truth. Thus in these occasions I take the person aside and expose them to their ignorance. The person, most often, goes away thinking seriously about what I said.

I too find it sad that the Jesuits are commonly defamed by these people, as there is so much good that this order has accomplished.

Though I disagree in concept with the Papacy, that one man should hold such authority, the Catholic Church has resisted the temptation to cave into political pressures then the reformed churches (e.g. Nazism). This, I will admit, is most likely due to the power of the Papacy. A strong leader if motivated by godly ambition does a great deal to stem the tide of social pressure.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Commandments, Discipleship, Evangelization, Faith, Politics, Prophets, Religion, Social Justice | 5 Comments »

Jesús Luis de Jesus Miranda, Anti-Christ or Demented?

Posted on July 6, 2013 by Father Joe

This discussion was posted back in 2008. The word was out that the followers of Miranda were planning to disrupt the Masses and visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States. They did not even make a blip on the news radar. Back in 2012, Miranda predicted that his followers would be transformed with the ability to walk through walls and to go through fire unscathed. The day came and went with no change. Other cults were predicting the end of the world and the final judgment. But we are still here. While he claims to be Jesus (qualified as “the man”), in 2007, he also claimed to be the Antichrist. He defines this in terms of a demarcation between the Jesus of Scripture and his authority in this new manifestation. His followers mark their bodies with a 666 tattoo. It is all very peculiar.

FATHER JOE:

He says the lie begins in Rome, but he attacks all religions. It is almost unbelievable to me that people would worship this man and mark themselves with the sign of the beast. Their tactics are aggression and screaming. He is now setting his eyes on the growing Hispanic population in the U.S. He denies the name “Jesus of Nazareth” and yet it is this is the saving name. He denies great signs and wonders, as well as miracles: such would cater to a strange occult version of atheism and impugn the efficacy of the sacraments. He claims to be the fulfillment of all prophecies, making him the final term of all human history; this usurps the true Lord of his place as the eternal Word through whom all things came to be and by whom all will be consummated and judged. He denies exorcism by asserting that the devil was destroyed and demons do not exist; such a ploy would allow the devils to remain active in hiding with no saving name of Jesus to cast them out. Arguing that there is no sin, his teachings are absolutely sinister. This collapse of any notion of sin, leaving souls powerless and in bondage would make for a brilliant demonic battle plan. He redefines the number of the beast, 666, as the number for himself, a false Christ, and condemns traditional Christians as apostates. He contends that the number 666 means wisdom and prosperity. He associates it with worldly treasure. There is certainly nothing in his teachings about building up treasure for us in the kingdom to come.

Followers mark themselves with 666 / SSS:

The self-proclaimed Son of God:

The cult is spreading around the United States:

ALENA:

¡Jose Luis de Jesús Miranda es dios! Los sacerdotes son rapists. ¡El papa es un mentiroso! Usted no tiene ninguna derecha de hablar contra él. Protestaremos a papa y proclamaremos la verdad. ¡No hay diablo! ¡No hay pecado! Jesús mató al diablo y ha vencido pecado. Hay infierno no a pagar. Podemos tener placer y hacer lo que deseamos. Predestined a la vida eterna. El resto de las religiones deben ser destruidas. ¡Quémese sus catechisms! ¡Siga a Jesús el hombre!

FATHER JOE:

You are very mistaken. He is not God. The devil is defeated but still spiteful. Priests are good and bad, but mostly good. They bring us God’s mercy and the Eucharist. The commandments are still in force. How we live out our discipleship matters. We should avoid sin and do what is right. There is a hell for those who are God’s enemies. You should live in peace with others, despite differences. The Pope is Christ’s vicar, but unlike your Mister Miranda, he does not claim to be God. How can people be so foolish to join the cults? Here it is [the modern world] and people are worshipping a man like the Romans did the emperor in the time of Christ. Your religious leader is not Jesus. You have all been fooled.

PADRE STEVE:

Wow that man needs a lot of prayers… and so do all those who follow him. So many false saviors… very sad! You do a great job with the blog; keep up the good work! God bless!

MISTER 666:

Well, unlike you, MY GOD HAS BLESSED ME WITH EVERY BLESSING (Ephesians 1:3), and also TOOK sin away at the cross (Hebrews 9:26) and is back now with NO RELATION TO SIN (Hebrews 9:28)… He came, to you, LIKE A THEIF IN THE NIGHT because He´s back and you, like Pharisees, don´t see it (or maybe don´t want for it to be seen… since He´s uncovering all the hidden intentions of your heart!).

IT´S A FACT… Not subject to discussion: JOSE LUIS DE JESUS MIRANDA IS THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST!!!! And, no matter whether you like it or not, WILL destroy your religious system with the SPIRIT OF HIS MOUTH aka with His preaching!!! (2 Thessalonians 2:8) is the gospel of Paul now… “too dangerous” for you? Well… to bad!

FATHER JOE:

You call yourself by the number of the beast, 666? You are the one who is judging good priests with a false verdict. You are the hypocritical Pharisee. Now I see that you are a follower of the cult leader Jesús Miranda? Well, that explains it. He and all his disciples have made the sign of the beast their own. You have been very much deceived. Your soul is in great peril.

CORINNE:

Anyone who feels they have to submit to anyone outside of themselves to gain access to God is fooling themselves unknowingly and standing on shaky ground.

God lives within the heart of man. They will not find God by looking for him in the hearts of others, nor will they find God by looking for him in religions. The heart is the True Church, there is no other.

The only way people are going to realize their mistakes however are by first making them….

Why others feel they have to seek their own divinity in God outside of themselves through others I will never be able to grasp, but they are being taken advantage of unknowingly and will soon find this out on their own. They will soon learn that this too is yet another detour leading them away from God. God talks with all his children, not just some….

FATHER JOE:

The notion that divinity can only be found within the individual person is a heretical teaching. We possess the divine spark but such does not exhaust the reality of God. Further, while there are false messiahs, Catholicism has no problem with mediation: in terms of a teaching authority and in worship. None of us come to God alone. As for the Church, the Catholic Church is the community of faith and the great sacrament of salvation established by Christ.

CORINNE:

Also, anytime someone looks to someone over and above God and worships them, it is a cult and its idolatry.

TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC:

As far as this man, God have mercy on his souls and convert him from his evil ways because he is just paving a path directly to Hell for millions of people. How can you be so blind? I don’t get it.

Pius XII claimed that “the sin of the century is the loss of the sense of sin.” And he is correct as of yet.

CORINNE:

I see the comments here are being taken out of context so I will be moving on and will comment no further. Regarding individual divinity, you’ve twisted my words. We are each a unique individual in God and divine. Take care.

UNKNOWN:

Hey poor idiots— this guy is merely a joke. He gives a disgrace to the name of the Anti-Christ. The Anti-Christ is someone who is powerful and a man full of wisdom. This guy is a filthy scum. It is nice knowing he will burn in hell.

FATHER JOE:

If the title anti-Christ belongs to men other than Nero, then it is a label for any who oppose Christ. If it should also belong to a singular person at the end of human history, then I suspect that…

He, himself, will emerge from a contradictory religious background where selective toleration is preached, applauding one’s own but castigating others and deriding the noble values of our founding fathers;
He will be brilliant and applauded as an orator able to excite and inspire the masses to accept his mission of change;
He will be a person who has forfeited saving grace, redefining sin, not as a violation of God’s will but of one’s own principles;
He will seemingly come out of nowhere;
His rise to power will happen as if overnight;
His fame will far surpass any genuine acts of heroism or virtue;
He will not so much have supporters as worshippers who will chant his name;
Weak people generally regarded as nominally moral will support him even though he will espouse a narcissistic faith and will be explicitly tagged with a 100% pro-abortion and pro-gay rating;
He will be hailed as an icon for a people who were oppressed and will exert a mesmerizing power over the minds and judgments of others;
He will be hailed directly by infidels as the Messiah and indirectly so by fallen-away Christians;
He will come at a time of national unrest and global financial crisis;
He will come at a time when the children of Israel are militarily engaged with those around them and the blood of many innocent people will be spilt;
The whole world will rejoice at his coming and readily accept his authority over them;
He will suffer a grave wound from which he will miraculously recover, albeit through demonic power;
And then, things really get bad!

PEDRO:

If the people of this con-man actually knew the Bible, they would not be so easily brainwashed.

1. For one, in the Bible it states that the numbers 666 will be the mark IN their head or IN their right forehand not the arm. So why does Jose have it on his arm and not encouraging his followers to do what it says in the Bible… maybe because he doesn’t know the Bible? (Revelation 13:16)

2. The Bible also says that the anti-Christ will have a blow to the head. So where is the blow to the head that this man has— nowhere? (Revelation 13:3)

3. The anti-Christ is able to perform miracles. What ones has Jose done— none? (Revelation 13:13-14)

4. And finally, what happens if this con-man dies, what will his followers think?

In the Bible, Jesus states not to follow those who claim to be Christ and that he has said it ahead of time to know not to be deceived (Luke 21:8). Jose first claimed to be Jesus, and now the anti-Christ. Well, this guy is clearly mental. How sad for those who are brainwashed by him. It reminds me of a multi-level marketing company. All I can do is pray for his salvation and to repent before the King comes back.

BOB:

All this talk about Anti-Christ! Doesn’t anybody care about Uncle Apocalypse?

JOLENE:

This man is very dangerous and needs to be stopped! How pathetic that he thinks he’s Jesus Christ? What he needs is to be hospitalized in a mental institution! He could possibly be the Anti-Christ! Being Hispanic, I am very disappointed in the thousands of Hispanic Communities that have chosen to listen to his CR-P! Stop being so ignorant and weak, because that is what you are doing… being WEAK and IGNORANT! Every Christian out there needs to start praying very hard to God and asking him to rid of this insane man! No sin? C’mon now? I cannot be too sure of it… but I am almost positive that this man’s mother did not raise him like this! I am sure she is very, very, disappointed! He has brainwashed thousands of people and has ruined families, marriages, and even spoken bad about our Pope? Anybody that has to say follow me because I’m Jesus is Crazy, Insane, and Ignorant. The people who follow him are just as ignorant as he is!

DALIA:

I REALY WISH THAT THIS GUY CAN PROVE TO ME ABOUT EVERYTHING HE SAYS AND I REALY HOPE THAT HE AND HIS READERS READ THIS AND I HOPE THAT ONE DAY I CAN MEET THIS MAN AND TELL HIM ABOUT THE REAL JESUS CHRIST AND PROVE TO HIM THAT WHAT HE SAID IS WRONG AND TELL HIM ABOUT THE REAL GOD AND THE REAL TURTH AND ABOUT HIS LOVE AND WHO HE REALLY IS.

THIS IS REALY SAD CUZ ITS PEOPLE LIKE THIS THAT MAKES US REAL CHRISTAINS LOOK LIKE A JOKE!

I JUST HOPE THAT HE CAN BE STOPPED BUT NO ONE CAN. ONLY GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF THAT AND ONE DAY WILL REVEAL EVEYTHING HE THINKS HE’S HIDING AND EVERY LIE HE’S BEEN SAYING TO PEOPLE.

I JUST HOPE HE FINDS THAT REAL GOD AND REPENTS FOR EVEYTHING HE’S BEEN SAYING AND DOING CUZ WHEN HE GETS JUDGED BY THE REAL GOD IN HEAVEN HE WILL GO STRAIT TO HELL AND BE BURNED FOR ETERNATY… AND THE PEOPLE THAT FOLLOWED HIM AND KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING IS WRONG!

I WILL PRAY FOR U GUYS AND I TELL U THERE IS NO ONE OUT THERE OR GREATER AND MORE POWERFUL THEN THE GOD IN HEAVEN. THANK U AND GOD BLESS U.

DAN:

I suspect that the guy attracts followers because they want an excuse for continuing in their sins. I doubt if he will attract too much attention & followers.

YASMIN:

To start with, if God would come to earth none of us would be here. And I believe his followers are so blind because they don’t read or understand the bible, this man is putting the bible in his own words and the people that don’t read or understand falls in his lies. If they only knew that all this that’s happening is written in the true word of God! And what’s sad about it is that all of them would be joining him in hell because of their ignorance. This man is just living off of people’s money, if he was the true God he would not need people to offer him cars, companies and their money, because God is the owner of all there is on earth because he made it and he also has the power to rule it whenever he feels like it.

LEEROY:

I’m a shamed to be a human being, knowing that I live in a time that people still believe in idiots like this guy. If you belong to this cult you are the dumbest of the dumb, the weakest of the weak minded and you are slowing down the intellectual evolution of the world. I hope the end is soon so all of these morons can be killed. Maybe the next race will get it right and abolish religion all together. No one represents God, not the pope, or any preacher and especially not this sick man.

FATHER JOE:

Sounds like there is plenty of sickness to go around. You have a very strange hope, indeed. Apart from the rejection of faith, in your anger is there not a terminal hatred of humanity itself? Further, if the race of man should run its course on this planet, why should we think that the intelligent termites (if evolution should dictate) that follow us will fare any better?

DON:

Besides, the number is 616, not 666. It is the number for Nero, and original scrolls have been found at Oxyrinchus showing the number as 6 1 6.

FATHER JOE:

Actually, the number is debated. Certain manuscripts read 616 (3rd century) in reference to the Book of Revelation. It is possible that this is original although most texts give 666. I believe the Latin Vulgate, which is the official Bible of the Catholic Church, gives 666. Some researchers think that the numerology differs because 666 is a code for the Emperor Nero while 616 points to Caligula. Both were certainly anti-Christs in their own right.

JORDYS:

I totally agree with what you guys are saying. This is man is insane, and he uses reverse psychology, and plays around with the Bible’s words to mess with people’s minds. Unfortunately, some people are actually fooled by his clear tricks. However, there must be some action taken soon. This issue will continue to increase, and people will continue following him, leading to the Apocalypse, thus, Armageddon. This man is insane, and it is almost as if he would do exactly anything and everything possible to get what he wants.

BILL:

I would give more credibility to someone who displayed a fraction of the humility set by the example of someone ….say ….like St. Francis. Maybe if we let God deal with this man… he will go away?

MOO:

“The Pope is Christ’s vicar, but unlike your Mister Miranda, he does not claim to be God.” The Catholic Church is claiming that the Pope is unmistaken though, isn’t it?

BRITTANY:

Let us remember the tragedy at Jones Town. 30 years later those images still haunt me. Those people then and these people now are victims. These people are vulnerable and brainwashed; it is only a matter of time before something really bad happens. It is already evident that these people will do anything for their “God” Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda. Let us not forget the horrendous power of an organized cult.

JOSE ARTURO:

Alena….la que escribió el 1er mensaje en este foro. Maldita loca…. Tu si que esta pérdida. Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, es un loco con inteligencia que se esta aprovechando de la situación, ya que en la política no se puede por que es bastante cerrada, pero el tipo es un loco y se aprovecha de las mentes débiles como la de Alena. Que pendejada esta, un tipo que te dice a ti que no hay pecado, que te drogues y hagas orgías con tu tía y abuela. Que pendejada. Todavía hay Indios en America.

FATHER JOE:

Certainly she is deceived about Miranda. He is as you say, a smart fellow who is deliberately taking advantage of others, particularly the gullible. As to the sexual immorality, I do not know much about this element; what troubles me is that Catholics could be so easily led astray.

ALEX RIVERA:

The “Holy Spirit” which we all know is basically the presence of “God” himself which is everywhere at the same time 2 or 3 people congregate in his name to worship “Him” to better explain it; would have left the earth so would death, according to the bible people would suffer such agony and terror that they will seek death and not find it, if he were the “Jesus” or “Anti-Christ” he claims to be then according to “Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda” “God is a liar…My opinion is he has committed Blasphemy against the “Holy Spirit” in which according to the “Bible” is a sin without forgiveness. So with this being Blogged let’s let these things come to pass so that the word of “God” is fulfilled and keep this man and his followers in our prayers so that “God” may have mercy on their souls. May God bless us all, Amen!

FATHER JOE:

Father Joe: I will try to parse what you wrote. (1) The divine presence is indeed omnipresent. That is true, not simply about the Holy Spirit, but about the Triune God. (2) It is Jesus who tells us that he is present when we gather with others to pray. (3) This passage you write makes no sense: “…would have left the earth so would death, according to the bible people would suffer such agony and terror that they will seek death and not find it…” The clauses do not link up in a coherent manner. I have no idea what you are trying to say. (4) You are right that Miranda is not the Christ although he may be a minor antichrist. God is not a liar; about this your insight is also correct. Miranda’s claims are blasphemous and erroneous. (5) There has been much conjecture about the unforgivable sin. Many churchmen have regarded it as suicide. But if one condemns the works of the Holy Spirit as demonic it would logically be very difficult, if not impossible, to embrace the mercy from that same Spirit. (6) We can pray for the repentance and conversion to true faith of this man and his followers.

ALEX RIVERA:

Just wanted to add the fact that the “Anti-Christ” comes after the second coming of “Jesus” so he has the order in which they happen correctly but that’s all he has.

FATHER JOE:

Throughout history there have been many antichrists. It refers to any and all who reject and oppose Christ and his Church. The term also signifies a false Christ or counterfeit messiah. This is not to deny the possibility of a singular apocalyptic antichrist; however, many authorities suggest that this pointed to the Emperor Nero or possibly another tyrant of pagan Rome who persecuted the early Church.

ALEX RIVERA:

Pentecostal Christian church is how I congregate and I’ve seen the “Holy Spirit” in action so he must be fibbing, how do I know it’s the “Holy Spirit” and not some person looking silly jumping up & down screaming gibberish? Come to a Spanish speaking Pentecostal Christian Church and find out for yourself.

FATHER JOE:

While I have known Pentecostals in love with the Lord, it is traditionally regarded as a cult itself. As a Catholic priest I could never encourage others to join its ranks, but at least they do not worship a contemporary man as Jesus Christ. However, there is the Catholic Charismatic Renewal which expresses many of the lesser gifts without neglecting the greater gifts of the Spirit in our Christian faith and in the sacraments.

ALEX RIVERA:

No I’m not saying it’s the real religion or the best church or the only way to feel the “Holy Spirit” but it’s the only place I’ve experienced it many times so I can guarantee it. Definition for Church: The body of all Christians. May God bless us all, Amen!

FATHER JOE:

God bless you!

MATTHEW RANGEL:

As many of you know Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is not Christ. The time for the real one draws near. This will happen in our life time. The earth is getting ready for a new beginning. In the near future, horrible things are to come. Always remember who you serve and that there is a plan of action that must happen. So whatever happens— DO NOT lose your faith. Remember, if you lose someone close to you that individual will be in a better place, so don’t get mad at God. The path will soon be set for the second coming, so you all should be ready now. Go fourth and teach the Lord’s teachings to others so that they too will be saved. Be strong with the Lord and do what he asks. In the coming years great events will soon unfold. Always do what is right; that is if it will please God, do it, if it won’t, then don’t. Never lose hope for God will ALWAYS be there.

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