Religion | Blogger Priest

ATHEIST COMMANDMENT 4

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Father Joe

“Every person has the right to control over their body.”

This modern commandment is directly connected to the issue of legalized abortion. Atheists deny the existence of a soul. Thus it is easy for many of them to discount the embryonic as human with rights. Despite a human developmental trajectory, the unborn (at least at early stages) is judged as no more than tissue or at most, only a human being “in potency.” This commandment would have more credibility if there were respect for the body and/or the separate but dependent integrity of the unborn child. Frequently language games will be employed to avoid the truth about the child’s humanity in the womb. When it comes to issues like partial birth infanticide an irrationality takes hold. It is argued that it would be cruel to adopt a child out to strangers; and yet, with adoption they would become a loving family. The blindness of selfishness is heinous. If there be a physical defect, a strained comeback might point to a dubious or difficult quality of life. Frequently there is an appeal to overall viability although medical science is saving the lives of increasing premature babies. Certain ethicists have noted that young children (up to maybe three years of age) are not really viable without constant adult intervention. They just do not know how to care for themselves. That is why a few rogues are proposing “post-birth abortion.” Beyond the logical inconsistencies, the pro-abortion position gives rights to some and strips them entirely from other persons. The definition of a baby becomes shallow: “it is only a baby if you want it.”

Life issues are often interconnected. A consequence of this maxim would also be assisted suicide. If the person has absolute dominion over the body then he or she can terminate the life of that body whenever he or she deems to do so. With God extracted from the equation, he no longer has sovereignty and out goes the fifth commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.” Turning to lesser matters, it would also permit all sorts of bizarre tattoos and piercings. Indeed, one could turn his or her body into a for-profit advertising banner if so desired. This is really a monstrous commandment and points out that separated from God; we really do not know how to be good. Since we are our bodies, this permissive commandment would also open the door to all sorts of distortions in sexual behavior, way beyond the evils of artificial contraception and fornication. The Christian would argue that personal control of the body is not absolute. We must respect that all life belongs to God and the plan of nature by which we are made. We must also respect others, including the little people who start out in the womb.

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ATHEIST COMMANDMENT 3

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Father Joe

“The scientific method is the most reliable way of understanding the natural world.”

I have a profound respect for the utility of the scientific method; however, it would be the height of hubris for one to place it alone on the dais of truth. It has very significant limitations. I am not surprised that this “new” commandment is proposed by one of the renowned television Mythbusters. One of my favorite shows, the premise is that a “myth” or hypothesis must be testable through experiments or observations that are repeatable. The program gives one of three answers: Confirmed, Plausible or Busted. Despite a desire from certain cast members to tackle “religious myths,” the Discovery Channel has said no, if not to avoid the mockery of faith at least to preserve a large faith-based audience.

Such an approach to the natural world is often best with particularized or tightly delineated questions. The topics that concern philosophers and theologians are generally beyond the parameters of the scientific method. For instance, string theory might make good math but how would one go about proving experimentally a theory “about everything”? When researchers try, the experiments, by necessity become increasingly expansive. Astronomers and astrophysicists want telescopes that see further into the universe and into bands of light or energy that we could not normally perceive. We now think we have detected the cosmic radiation present after the Big Bang. Physicists peer in the opposite direction, looking for the God particle or the infinitesimally small, as with the massive (17 miles long) Hadron Collider. However, after all the number crunching and investigation, there is still no good science that demonstrates either a doomed or self-perpetuating cosmos without a Creator. This should force even the most hardened cynic to agnosticism, not to an atheist’s absolute denial of a deity. They will argue that the burden of proof is upon the believer. And yet, the believer looks around and sees proof everywhere; he is shocked that the atheist cannot see it. Nothing comes from nothing. If there is no Creator, then nothing should exist— not a butterfly or a smiling child— not a tick of the clock or the movement of an electron and proton— nothing, no time, no space, no matter, and definitely nothing that should be asking these questions or reflecting upon existence. But here we are. Are we just a cheap accident? That is no answer. If being and non-being is a flip of the coin, then I want to know who is supplying the change!

While the Catholic already accepts the existence of God and even says that he has intervened in human history as a caring God; nevertheless, he wants to make sense of the natural world. God can use miracles and suspend his laws but usually he does not. Otherwise, creation would be capricious and God would seemingly curse the very order he put into place. The Catholic notion of intelligent design looks at the patterns in the natural order and philosophically deduces a knowing agent. Schools often refuse to admit the view, even though it respects the scientific data associated with theories of creation and evolution. There is no empirical test to prove or disprove the existence of a divine being. Public schools, in particular, will make room for experiential science, but increasing reject not only religion but the benefits of natural reason and philosophy. This throws out the best of Western civilization and represents a type of intellectual reductionism. The same philosophy that would allow for intelligent design would also promote logical reasoning and a study of the virtues. It is no wonder, that vice and actions are increasingly separated from the concern of culpability or objective morality. Schools become hell holes because we have subtracted everything of heaven out of them.

The scientific method is a useful tool, but it is only that. It has led to discoveries that have both improved and endangered the world. Knowledge is gained but often without the wisdom as to how to use it properly. Understanding the atom has made possible new sources of energy and medical treatment; it has also made possible the Bomb and the prospect of nuclear holocaust. It is truly a two-edged sword.

It falls short in teaching us values and in answering the question about the origin of the natural order. Even if there were an infinite sequence, and eternal regression and progression, (which Thomists regard as an absurdity), the question could be raised as to whom or what put it into place. Similarly, if creation has a beginning and an end then questions emerge that beg for an answer. When the last of the energy evaporates from the one remaining black hole, what happens next? Or looking to the very beginning, where did the point or singularity come from? Compared to the claims of science, those of religion are looking more credible, even if still inscrutable. God lives outside of time and space. Even though he is the source for the natural world, there is a wall between experiential knowledge and a dimension without matter or temporal and spacial extension. He is existence or the source of all being. He creates everything from nothing. While no one is compelled to believe in a deity, similarly the notion should not be ridiculed or banned. As a believer, I contend he shares with creation the perfections that he has in infinite measure as their source. God by definition would defy being placed under the microscope or being reduced to mathematical formulae. He has called us to know him, but only the surface of this “knowing” can be scratched. The mystery remains and the response of believers is gratitude and praise. I suppose the lack of thankfulness is what most infuriates believers about atheists.

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ATHEIST COMMANDMENT 2

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Father Joe

“Strive to understand what is most likely to be true, not to believe what you wish to be true.”

What seems “likely true” might not always be the case. The pagan worldview had to surrender to the Judeo-Christian. Many presumed that the world was flat, that the earth was central with a revolving sun, etc. The majority held a view that was challenged by Copernicus and later by Galileo, both Catholics and the former, a monk. When science widely advocated spontaneous generation, Louis Pasteur discerned a small invisible world where contamination and vaccination was possible. When science took for granted a Newtonian view of the world, modern physics would largely rewrite the book. We strive to understand what is true, but that which is most likely can shift and change.

I am not convinced that all atheists are so objective. It seems to me that some of them fervently resist any and all assaults against their denial of a God and/or Creator. In other words, while they would applaud the rejection of God by believers; they would not permit any data on their radar that would imply his existence. Science is a wonderful area of investigation and knowledge; but scientists (religious and atheists) can and do battle with each other over what they “believe” and “wish” to be true. Indeed, these arguments can become very passionate: everything from a closed to an open universe to warm-bloodied dinosaurs over cold reptilian. Data is interpreted in a way that favors their views or hypotheses.

Nevertheless, Catholic believers are also called to be rationalists. We do not subscribe to the faulty proposition held by certain Protestants of a “blind faith” or “faith over reason.” Indeed, it is because of this philosophical demarcation that certain Fundamentalists hate and attack Catholicism. Catholicism proposes “faith seeking understanding.” While the fundamentalist argues for a literal six days of creation and a world that is six thousand years old; Catholicism accepts the reckoning of time from archeologists and physicists, unperturbed at the prospect of millions of years of evolution and a cosmos that is 13.8 billion years old, as long as one might posit intelligent design. The difference with the atheist is that the informed Catholic has a profound respect for divine revelation and refuses to invalidate his subjective experience of a relationship with a living God. Indeed, he feels that we are wired for God and have an inherent capacity to acknowledge the divine transcendent… a reality he tries to convey not only in Scripture and ritual but in poetry and art. I suppose we would argue that there is something measured here that is just as real as in the scientist’s mathematical formulae and in Hubble’s distant astronomical images. There is a sense of awe which many of us refuse to associate with chaos or chance but rather see the finger of God and providence. The proposition here seems to imply that it is a matter of “either/or” while the Catholic Christian would say it is a matter of “and.” Catholicism is the religion of the “great and.” It is not faith alone or the Bible alone or Jesus alone or even empirical science alone. Catholicism is the religion that speaks to faith and works; the Bible and sacred tradition; Jesus and Mary and the saints, etc. She is the religion that fostered great scientists, even as she stumbled sometimes to see the tapestry where science might be interwoven with faith. She embraces all that is good and true and claims it for her own. That is why the Church has the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) on top of Mount Graham in Arizona. That is why our universities foster some of the best scientific research in the world. That is why the Pontifical Academy of Sciences includes believers and non-believers alike who further the advancement of the mathematical, physical and natural sciences and the study of related epistemological problems.

I suppose we need that child-like faith which trusts that what we believe can also be true. Atheists sometimes witness to this truth in their romantic liaisons and families. Cold science might argue for finding the optimum physical specimen for reproduction. However, most fall in love and embrace a mystery with their hearts even as their heads insist it is all just chemistry and sparking synapses. I suspect the transcendent shows itself even as certain critics contend that it cannot exist.

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ATHEIST COMMANDMENT 1

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Father Joe

“Be open-minded and be willing to alter your beliefs with new evidence.”

First, the problem here is that atheists are not “open-minded.” They begin with the absolute premise, which many of us would judge as false, that there is no God. This means that they violate the very first so-called new commandment they propose. Second, they tend to reduce truth and knowledge to empirical proofs. They find satisfaction with numbers and that, which can be seen and measured, but are utterly distressed by philosophical arguments, the prospect of divine revelation and by subjective witness. They look at the ordered universe and refuse to acknowledge that there is any agent behind the order.

When it comes to changing beliefs, they do not mean what they say. They have deified science which is a kind of self-preoccupation. This they refuse to change. A worldview might shift, but not the underlying secular faith. It presumes that man has the capacity to fully understand the universe. There is no proof to show that this assumption is true. Indeed, while the various string theories are understood, albeit in a contradictory manner between theories, only a very small portion of the human race has the intellectual genius to appreciate the math. Who is to say that there are not mysteries too complex for men and the wiring in their heads? We already use machines to store information and to calculate where human brains fall short. When the atheists talk about the willingness to abandon faith, they are speaking in a dictatorial manner to people with religious beliefs. They insist there is no evidence for God and the various religious creeds. Consequently, they judge people who refuse to abandon such faith as backward (stupid) and stubborn.

Catholicism has a greater appreciative for the whole human experience. We would not reduce knowledge or truth to what computers might tabulate. That is why the Church embraces the arts as also a medium to communicate the Gospel. Catholicism teaches that there must be a complementarity of truth. If something does not correlate between the disciplines then something is wrong and must be adjusted. We find truth in philosophy, in theology and in science. Philosophy allows for a rational reflection upon truth and the nature of things. Theology permits a reflection upon the elements of faith in divine revelation. Science offers insight in understanding the makeup of the world where we find ourselves. They ask different questions but there is an overlap. That is why Catholics speak of intelligent design but do not insist upon a fundamentalist or literalist interpretation of Genesis and creation. That is why we speak of the Bible as a book to help us go to heaven, not as a book that tells us how the heavens go. Philosophy would have us ask questions like: What is the nature of man? Is there a God? Theology or Religion would ask: Who is this God that has revealed himself to us? Does God care about us? Science would ask: How do the organs of the body work together? What is this world or creation where we find ourselves? How do things work? There are some questions that certain disciplines can and cannot answer.

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Is Mary JUST the Mother of Jesus?

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Father Joe

See post: Intercession of Mary & the Saints

ERNESTO: No argument, just pure facts, Joe— Mary was and should be known as the mother of Christ, but that was her only role in the Bible.

FATHER JOE:

Actually, Mary is shown to have many roles in Scripture and they emerge as elements of her miraculous motherhood. The Bible has an angel giving Mary homage as “full of grace” (Luke 1:28). She is the “most favored daughter” of our race. She is utterly imbued with the presence of God, the source of her holiness. Prevenient grace will become a factor in our understanding of her as the Immaculate Conception. God prepared her for the role she would play. The All Holy One would enter the world through a pure vessel.

She is the “Virgin” who conceives the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Her maternity will be like no other. Catholicism gives a heightened meaning to her virginity (Matthew 1:22) and speaks of her as belonging wholly to God.

Mary announces that she is the “handmaid of the Lord” totally at the service of God and his providence (Luke 1:38). Notice that she is not “a” handmaid but “the” handmaid. She will play a continuing role like no other woman in human history. Her motherhood is an enduring reality… throughout the life of the historical Christ and even into eternity.

When she visits Elizabeth, she proclaims her Magnificat, saying, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed” (Luke 1:46-48). She calls God her savior, not that she does not say “he will be” her savior. She has already been touched by the power of Christ’s redemptive Cross. This same paschal mystery touches us forward in time in the sacraments. She also gives us a bit of prophecy, saying that all generations will call her blessed. While Catholics call her the BLESSED Virgin or the BLESSED Mother, you pretty much never hear such an attribute given Mary from the lips of fundamentalists like the critic here.

Speaking of prophecy, Simeon at the Presentation of Jesus says to Mary, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35). Mary’s immaculate heart will be pierced in that she will hold not just the baby Jesus but the God-Man taken down from the Cross. She will be the Sorrowful Mother who keeps saying YES to God from the Annunciation to Calvary. She was given the living Word as her child. At the Cross, she will surrender her Son back into the embrace of the Father. The reference to the “thoughts of many hearts” has to do with prayer and intercession to her. We open ourselves up to her. Again, prophecy is fulfilled for true believers.

Eve was the mother of all the living and yet Mary is the Mother of all who would have new life in Christ. The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. As such, Mary is our Mother. Mary is the New Eve, “the Woman” who sought and found Christ in the Temple (Luke 2:39-52), who interceded at Cana when Christ changed water into wine (John 2:1-11) and at the Cross when Jesus said, “Woman, behold, your son” (John 19:26). Then our Lord formally gives her to the Church through our emissary, John. “‘Behold, your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home” (John 19:27).

You have a very narrow view of Scripture to ignore the importance of all this and so much more.

ERNESTO: There is no record in the Bible of her ascending into heaven or playing a role.

FATHER JOE:

We read in Revelation: “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars… She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth” (Revelation 12:1-2, 5). I cite this vision to show evidence of the Mother and Child in the heavens. But my answer goes to a deeper matter. The Gospels give us the life of Christ, and the focus is not directly upon Mary. Catholics have an experience of God that did not end with the Gospels or the Acts of the Apostles. There is no reference to a canonical New Testament either because none existed. Such emerged from the bishops of the Church in council. Show me where the books of the New Testament are listed in any of the biblical books! You cannot because such belongs to the realm of Church Tradition and authority. This matter remain so confused at the time of the Reformation that Martin Luther wanted to delete more than seven books of the Old Testament but some of the epistles as well, like the Letter of James. The Bible did not come out of the sky pre-made. Your hermeneutics will not satisfy and no Catholic should limit himself to the fraudulent “sola scriptura” stance.

ERNESTO: I’ve read some of your answers to people, and you have called some people ignorant?!

FATHER JOE: It is worse than that. I am exposing an ignorance that has been bred by bigotry; much like yours appears to be.

ERNESTO: Come on, is that really act when someone is just trying to have a conversation with you?

FATHER JOE: But many do not come for conversation. They come with venom or poison. They are not open to the truth and they want to make sure that no one else has it either.

ERNESTO: Why get up right when they are just sharing their thoughts?

FATHER JOE: Is that what you call it? A genuine ecumenism would share ideas. Anonymous anti-Catholics come to drop their bombs on a priest’s blog, thinking their rehashed arguments will win the argument and salvage the day. When they find there is an actual rebuttal they start using capital letters and exclamation points as if emphasis might still win a debate. But it does nothing more than to show how absolutely closed-minded they are to any Catholic truth. Next they start throwing out slurs. “You Papists are idolaters and cookie-worshipers! You have made Mary into your pagan goddess! You are demon-possessed! Then they will attack the Pope as the antichrist and the Church as the harlot of Babylon. It is tragic and ridiculously ignorant. They repeat the lies of Know Nothings who hated the immigrant Catholics over a century ago. It goes on and on. They only know their religion by contrast to what they oppose in “Romanism.”

ERNESTO: Just read these verses straight out of the a Holy Bible, clearly it shows what the Catholics believe in. There are saints and images of Mary everywhere and people do worship and carry her around in villages in Mexico where my family is from. And I clearly understand that you say Catholicism has been around longer, but his word has been around longer since the book of Genesis to the creation of man till now.

FATHER JOE:

Catholicism is the successor to Judaism. God called a people to himself before there were any Scriptures at all. This pattern in Genesis and the Old Testament is repeated with the Gospels and the New Testament. Our Lord instituted his priesthood and Church before even one word of the New Testament was composed. The first to receive this WORD was the Blessed Virgin Mary. See yesterday’s Mass readings for the Immaculate Conception:

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/120814.cfm

[Luke 1:26-38] Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary received the Word, carried the Word and gave it birth!

The Church is the Mother of the Bible and New Testament. The Holy Spirit protects the Magisterium established by Jesus in interpreting the sources of revelation.

ERNESTO:

Revelation 22:18-19

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

FATHER JOE: These words are only in reference to the Book of Revelation, not the whole Bible. It was composed at a time when the oral tradition was supreme and there was no New Testament. Indeed, Pope Clement’s letter to the Corinthians is older than this book. And yet, it was not added to the canon. It is a literary device or inclusion that parallels Revelation 1:1-3. It is not a negation of the oral tradition.

ERNESTO: Nowhere in the Holy Bible says that Mary had healing power, or descended to heaven and sits by our Heavenly Father.

FATHER JOE: The word is NOT descended. Jesus “descended” to the dead. Jesus “ascended” into heaven. Mary is “assumed” into heaven. Here is a perfect example of your ignorance to speak about this topic and Catholicism. You cannot even get basic terminology correct. Life goes on, even after the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Jesus ascends into heaven by his own power. Mary is taken into heaven by the power of her Son. Similarly, believers have every reason to hope for a share in Christ’s life. Ours is not a superstitious faith in Mary. We simply trust in the power of her intercession with Christ: two hearts beating harmoniously in love for us.

ERNESTO:

Revelation 9:20-21

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

FATHER JOE: This is not even topical to this discussion. Catholics do not worship idols. We do treasure depictions of Mary and the saints. Of course, our nation does as much with the Lincoln Memorial and most people keep photos of loved ones. So does the Church, but we do not worship objects.

ERNESTO:

Isaiah 44:6-20

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.” All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing?

FATHER JOE: This reading is also in Catholic bibles. We are not threatened by Scripture or our book. Catholicism views Jesus as Savior, Redeemer and Lord. Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. Jesus is the divine pontifex or bridge to the Father and into the kingdom. Nothing about Mary and the communion of the saints negates any element of these truths. Your failure to appreciate this fact, told to you by a Catholic priest, is evidence of both ignorance and bigotry. You would rather accept the skewed facts of prejudiced non-Catholics over the testimony of the Church, herself. This is why this is not a real discussion. You have not come here to dialogue but to pillage and destroy.

ERNESTO: Don’t get me wrong. I do believe she was chosen by God to give birth to Jesus Christ.

FATHER JOE: Is that all motherhood is to you? Such would reduce human motherhood to something akin to incubators for eggs and chickens. Mothers do not stop being mothers at the birth of their children. There is a bond there that remains into eternity. A mother is the mother of the whole person of her child. The only difference with Mary is that she is the Mother of a divine Person, the living Word, Immanuel or God among Us. That is why she is permitted the title Mother of God. Mary is a blessed creature, not divine, but the title defends the unity and divinity in Christ. Jesus is God and man. We can make the distinction but our Lord cannot be dissected.

ERNESTO: Nowhere does it say we need to worship her. In the Ten Commandments it clearly states he is a very jealous God and only wants us to only bow down to him? I am not ignorant like you called the person on an earlier response. Just read the facts he and the apostles left behind.

FATHER JOE: You can profess enlightenment all you want, but you do not even correctly summarize the Catholic teaching, just a straw man view that anti-Catholics can conveniently tear down. Catholics do not give divine worship to Mary or any creature. What is sometimes called worship in her regard is a unique veneration or expression of love. We literally view her as our spiritual mother. Your failure to appreciate speaks to the coldness with which many of your likes show to her. The facts are not what you say they are.

Responding to David J. Hageman’s Comments

DAVID: The woman mentioned in Revelations is the church. (protestant church obviously)

FATHER JOE: There is no Protestant church but rather many Protestant churches. None existed over 500 years ago. The woman with child is an obvious reference to Mary and Christ. Mary is a type for the Church. She signifies what the Church shall become. Catholicism speaks of both Mary and the Church as MOTHER.

DAVID: The catholic church also being a woman… a whore.

FATHER JOE: The Catholic Church was instituted by Christ. When you call the Church “a harlot” you are literally saying that Jesus is a PIMP. How dare you do this? Do you not fear God?

DAVID: Woman = church. Mary = Mary.

FATHER JOE: Mary = Church.

DAVID: As you very well know.

FATHER JOE: I know far better than you do.

DAVID: Mary of roman worship is Sophia or Diana Luciferus.

FATHER JOE: This allegation is absolutely ridiculous… it is slander and false witness. Mary is not a pagan goddess. The Mary of Catholicism is the Mother of Christ in Scripture.

DAVID: serpent Knowledge- Illimunistion.

FATHER JOE: This may be the source for your demonic deceit.

DAVID: For the life of me I cannot fathom why anyone would serve that god. Life is so short, is it worth failing the test of life for a little temporary power?

FATHER JOE: Fools are befuddled by lies and prejudice… that is why you are in the employ of the demons. I suppose you get some glee from feeling you can speak alone for your deity. I am a servant of Christ and his Church. You are merely a messenger of venom for what you regard as private interpretation. You build error upon error… with nothing of charity.

DAVID: And you priets (priests) poking your fingers in the dyke in this apocalypse?

FATHER JOE: Priests participate in the high priesthood of Christ. Our Lord’s power and authority will prevail.

DAVID: The dam has burst, Truth has come forth again.

FATHER JOE: Yes, a dam has burst. But when you open your mouth, it is not grace that emerges but calumny and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Responding to Xian’s Comments on Saints & Intercession

XIAN:

Catholics argue that praying to Mary and the saints is no different than asking someone here on earth to pray for us. Let us examine that claim. (1) The Apostle Paul asks other Christians to pray for him in Ephesians 6:19. Many Scriptures describe believers praying for one another (2 Corinthians 1:11; Ephesians 1:16; Philippians 1:19; 2 Timothy 1:3). The Bible nowhere mentions anyone asking for someone in heaven to pray for him. The Bible nowhere describes anyone in heaven praying for anyone on earth. (2) The Bible gives absolutely no indication that Mary or the saints can hear our prayers. Mary and the saints are not omniscient. Even glorified in heaven, they are still finite beings with limitations. How could they possibly hear the prayers of millions of people? Whenever the Bible mentions praying to or speaking with the dead, it is in the context of sorcery, witchcraft, necromancy, and divination—activities the Bible strongly condemns (Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10-13). In the one instance when a “saint” is spoken to, Samuel in 1 Samuel 28:7-19, Samuel is not exactly happy to be disturbed. It is clear that praying to Mary or the saints is completely different from asking someone here on earth to pray for us. One has a strong biblical basis; the other has no biblical basis whatsoever.

God does not answer prayers based on who is praying. God answers prayers based on whether they are asked according to His will (1 John 5:14-15). There is absolutely no basis or need to pray to anyone other than God alone. There is no basis for asking those who are in heaven to pray for us. Only God can hear our prayers. Only God can answer our prayers. No one in heaven has any greater access to God’s throne than we do through prayer (Hebrews 4:16).

FATHER JOE:

The common theme is intercession or praying for others. Obviously, there is a difference in being alive and mortal and being dead and living in eternity. The Book of Revelation describes those before the throne of God presenting our prayers to him (Revelation 5:8).

“When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones” (Revelations 5:8).

Therefore the Scriptures are not silent on the subject. Part of the issue here is that in the case of the early Church, most New Testament saints or believers were still living in this world. Of course, after Christ’s descent to the dead, those Jews and righteous Gentiles in the limbo of the fathers would have been translated into heaven.

Further the dead do not sleep. The souls of the dead are alive and conscious. We are not annihilated.

“And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, `I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Matthew 22:31-32).

The saints of God live in eternity and are no longer locked in time. Thus there is no issue with many cries for intercession.

“Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with burning coals from the altar, and hurled it down to the earth. There were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake” (Revelations 8:3-5).

“And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:3-5).

Moses and Elijah seem very aware about what is happening on earth.

As members of the Mystical Body and part of the communion of the saints, Paul teaches us that those who have gone before us into heaven still witness what happens on earth.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

The saints know our lot, pray for us and rejoice when we walk with the Lord. Jesus says as much.

“I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, `Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7-10).

Saints can only know our prayers because God allows them to do so by his power. Yes, only God is all-powerful and all-knowing. But we should not underestimate the unity of the saints with the Lord. As members of the Mystical Body we are called to think as Christ thinks and to love as he loves. The saints of heaven hear with Jesus’ ears and intercede in a way that pleases God. The saints want what God wants.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Bible, Catholic, Jesus, Mary, Religion, Saints, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

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 »

Dave Protestant Attacks Mary & Catholic Piety

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Father Joe

Dave Protestant (also posting under the name David J. Hageman) posted his slurs as a comment on my blog. Here is his post and my response. I deleted links to his Facebook and blog although they have him hailing from Australia.

DAVE:

What is it with Catholics and Mary? Do any of you ever bother to read the Bible?

FATHER JOE:

I deleted the link to your Facebook page on account of vulgarity and the “F” word. How can you do this and regard yourself still able to speak for Jesus? You know nothing and would invite others to share your prejudice and ignorance.

“Hail full of grace” (Luke 1:28).

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

“Blessed art thou amongst women” (Luke 1:42).

“All generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:48).

“Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).

DAVE:

NEWS FLASH! Mary is dead— dead as a doornail. She gave up the ghost and is sleeping until judgment day.

FATHER JOE:

Our Lord tells us that ours is the God of the living, not the dead. The believers in soul sleep deny both the immortal soul and the existence of hell. The message of the resurrection and the communion of the saints is that we can have a share in Christ’s life. The grave will not consume us. Heaven is real and we will know both eternal life and reunion with those who have gone before us. Love is not conquered by the grave. Our blessed dead are alive in Christ, still loving and praying for us. Notice that our Lord makes references to ghosts and appears with Elijah and Moses in the Transfiguration. Remember also the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in the afterlife. Mary is assumed body and soul into heaven as a sign for us and the Church.

DAVE:

Dianna Luciferus, on the other hand, might answer those prayers.

FATHER JOE:

Condemning the things of God as demonic is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Mary is a blessed creature, not a goddess and not the devil. Mary, as the queen of the saints, intercedes for us. Jesus gave us Mary from the Cross to our emissary, John. “Behold your mother!” The Mother of the Redeemer would become the Mother of All the Redeemed.

DAVE:

Geez, if the invention of moveable type didn’t wake you up to the fact you’re following the very antichrist, the internet leaves you with no excuse whatsoever.

FATHER JOE:

The multiplication of words is no assurance on truth. Bigotry and ignorance can be expressed in many or a few words. You prove this on your website by slurring African-Americans.

DAVE:

Grow up peasants. Mary worship! Oh em gee! So medieval. Whatever next? A Negro for president? What’s the world coming to?

FATHER JOE:

You are a hateful racist. You give a bad name to fundamentalists and SDA believers.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic, Faith, Mary, Religion, Saints | 8 Comments »

Rosary Decade for Peace After 9:30 AM Mass at Holy Family

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Father Joe

Perry Concepcion, FS for Father Kidd Council does the Scripture reading in our weekly Rosary decade for peace and especially for suffering Christians.

Filed under: Parish, Prayer, Religion | Leave a comment »

Fr. Longenecker’s Advice to the Pope

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Father Joe

An article in CRISIS Magazine that everyone should read, especially Pope Francis:

Advice for the Pope in Light of the Synod by Rev. Dwight Longenecker

Father Longenecker writes:

“I know you mean well Holy Father, and I admire and like you, but this process on which you have led us is not helping.”

I really hate to admit it, but no rationalization can escape the truth from my respected brother priest. He is right. There have been too many rash assertions, vague sentiments and undefined gestures. A lack of specificity leads to confusion and falsehood. We need a courageous witness to the truth without compromise. When the enemies of the Catholic Church and her values say they love this Pope… something has gone seriously awry. I suspect they love the popular façade but not the substance of what this Pope and every Pope must be about as the chief guardian of the deposit of faith.

Cardinal Burke has rightly suggested that we need a clear and definitive statement from the Pope defending the doctrine of marriage and family. The media hype has gone on long enough. Priests in the pastoral trenches tell us that couples are walking away from annulment cases, arguing that there is no need since the rules are going to change about divorced and remarried Catholics taking the sacraments. Pressure is intensifying for pastors to bless same-sex unions and to witness their so-called marriages. I cannot say what disciplines might be reformed, but I cannot foresee anything that would compromise the moral teachings of the faith.

The question was raised by a parishioner in the pews, “What are the faithful to do?”

We remain steadfast, that is what we do… and we continue to pray and support the Holy Father who is Christ’s Vicar on earth.

A gay magazine names the Holy Father man of the year?

The secular media love him too?

Even Time Magazine sings his praises?

My response was that it is going to come to a head. The Synod on the Family may be the start. The Holy Spirit will never fail the Church.

Whoopi Goldberg said during a segment of THE VIEW this month: “We are rooting for Pope Francis to make some changes in the Catholic Church. We love Franny! But he’s still got a couple of things to work on.”

President Obama stated: “He’s somebody who’s first and foremost thinking about how to embrace people as opposed to push them away…How to find what’s good in them as opposed to condemn them, and that spirit…that sense of love and unity seems to manifest itself in not just what he says but also what he does.”

Time Magazine: “Rarely has a new player on the world stage captured so much attention so quickly … He has placed himself at the very center of the central conversations of our time: about wealth and poverty, fairness and justice, transparency, modernity, globalization, the role of women, the nature of marriage, the temptations of power.”

Miscellaneous News Stories (A Recent Sampling)

Pope faces key test with vote on divorcees, gays

Pope Francis lends friendly support to Anglican Church in North America

Dissing Pope Francis—Does Cardinal Burke think he’s Pope Burke?

Pope Francis rents out Sistine Chapel for exclusive, $7,200-per-head Porsche party

Pope Francis Demotes Anti-gay Conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke

Pope Francis’ Catholic Church Teases Us With Promises Of Liberality

Why Pope Francis Is Different From His Predecessors

Filed under: Catholic, Discipleship, Faith, Magisterium, News, Politics, Pope, Pope Francis, Religion | 3 Comments »

Counseling for Catholic Marriages

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Father Joe

Catholics with marital problems should have readily available avenues within the Church for professional counseling in the hopes of salvaging their marriages.

More can be done to prepare priests for this kind of work but I think there is also a need for full-time professionals with training in psychology and intervention-counseling. These counselors should be well-versed with the Catholic faith. If they are not on the same page with us about human sexuality and the value of marriage, then they can escalate a problem instead of being part of the solution.

When red lights appear in the Pre-Cana preparation, referrals can be made before marriages in the Church.
When problems develop within marriages, referrals can be made to facilitate healing or reconciliation.
When questions arise about sexual identity and remaining in good standing with the Church, referrals might be made to assist people in coping and to counteract bias from non-Catholic sources.

While there are good independent counselors who charge fees, I would also recommend that there be professionals hired directly by the Church. Their salaries might be shared between parishes as within deaneries. They would work closely with pastors, while preserving confidentiality, to either prevent bad marriages or to salvage troubled ones. Such staffing should be viewed as serious as religious education directors, office managers and bookkeepers. In any case, a public list of counselors vetted by the Archdiocese should be readily available to pastors and the people they serve.

Catholic marriage counseling is necessarily different from that which is offered by those who do not share our understanding of marriage or our views about human sexuality. These counselors need to discern how a troubled Catholic marriage might be fixed. The truths of faith are integrated into our appreciation of psychology. The goal is to have couples living a daily vocation where there is both joy and sacrificial love. Marriage is viewed as a covenant and as a permanent union. Too many quickly jump to divorce as the answer. Catholics should see that as an option generally taken off the table.

Instead of urging an immediate divorce, a separation might be promoted so as to further the conversation or to prevent verbal and/or physical abuse. If a marriage has terminal problems and cannot be salvaged, then the counselor might suggest an annulment. That is where the pastor and/or the officials on a Church Tribunal would enter the picture. However, this is inherently always a sad or tragic situation. It means that avenues to save a marriage have failed.

Right now we have noble efforts like Retrouvaille but there is a pressing need for something more clinical.

Filed under: Adultery, Annulment, Catholic, Celibacy, Commandments, Contraception, Discipleship, Divorce, Faith, Family, Fornication, Homosexuality, Marriage, Morality, Personal, Pro-Life, Reflection, Religion, Sacraments, Sexuality, Sin | 1 Comment »