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Clarification on the Mediation of Christ

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Father Joe

Giby writes:

The ONLY mediator between man and GOD is Jesus Christ!

Mary and all the saints are only people God used for his purposes. We respect but do NOT worship them. Do NOT make them mediators.

Our whole praise goes to God the heavenly Father only. God bless you!

Father Joe responds:

It is true that our one Mediator is Jesus Christ. He is the bridge or pontifex between heaven and earth. He heals the breech with our heavenly Father caused by sin. Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. There is no way to the Father except through the Son. All this is Catholic teaching… YES!

However, our Lord can use human beings and sacraments as his instruments. We see this especially in the ministry of priests in whom Christ makes himself and his power active… as in the absolution of sin and in the Eucharist. The saints are like windows that allow the light of Christ to shine through. We might even say that some magnify or help us to discern this light. The saints have an intercessory role than cannot be dismissed. We come to God, not just as individuals, but as members of a faith community, the Church. This Church is also a unique vehicle of the Lord’s presence, as the Mystical Body of Christ. The Catholic view of intercession and mediation must take into consideration the full significance of the incarnation. We ask the saints to pray for and with us. All true prayer, even intercessory prayer, has as its true object, almighty God. Peace!

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Catholic | 4 Comments »

Stations of the Cross at Holy Family – March 13, 2015

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Father Joe

We took a group shot after the Friday night Stations of the Cross a couple weeks ago. This particular evening the soup and devotion was made possible by the Filipino community here at Holy Family. Last week the Knights of St. John were in charge. Tonight it will be the Knights of Columbus.

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QUESTIONS About St. Peter’s Family

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Father Joe

Lee writes:

I know St. Peter had a wife. Was she Jewish or Gentile? St. Peter had a daughter, St. Patronilis. I believe St. Peter had other children. Please tell me all about St. Peter’s family— the real inside story.

Father Joe responds:

Yes, the Scriptures attest to the fact that St. Peter was married. While we are told that he is the brother of St. Andrew and the son of Jonah, we are not given other names or details. There is the tradition that his wife became a martyr for the faith. I think attestations of her name as either Perpetua or Concordia are dubious.

There is the tradition or legend that suggests a daughter, St. Petronilla, but this might have been a spiritual kinship only. She is venerated as a virgin martyr of the early Church.

Filed under: Apologetics, Bible, Church, Questions | 2 Comments »

King Henry VIII is Guilty as Charged

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Father Joe

P. MCCOY: Catholics should quit telling the lie that Henry VIII wanted a divorce; he wanted an annulment because he WAS married to his sister Catherine.

FATHER JOE: Since an annulment was not possible, what you are arguing is semantics. The fact remains that he put her aside and many others as well in his search for a fertile mate that would give him an heir and satisfy his lusts. Further, she was not his sister but the widowed wife of his brother Prince Arthur (he died five months into the marriage). In other words, she was his former sister-in-law.

P. MCCOY: It doesn’t matter what she said; people have all kinds of reasons to lie-hers was a unhealthy fondness for her brother-in-law. You had an unscrupulous Pope giving her a dispensation to marrying her brother instead of persuading her to return to Spain and marry a non-relative, live as an lay widow, or enter the monastic life.

FATHER JOE: Actually, it was a marriage that the British crown initially wanted as it shored up tensions with Spain. Catherine was more the pawn here. The fact remains that the King wanted a male heir and that he wanted to advance the standing of his mistress Anne Boleyn and the rights of succession to any sons she might give him.

P. MCCOY: The Pope who refused the annulment request did out of fear of being slaughtered by Catherine’s nephew Emperor Charles V than having the courage to correct a prior mistake.

FATHER JOE: Annulments can be given or withheld for many reasons, but in this case fear or no fear, the Church acted rightly. Catherine was his wife. This was more a matter of divine than Church law. The case made was deemed insufficient for an annulment and no one deserves such Church intervention. In this case, it would have corrupted Church authority and sent Catholicism down the slippery of slope of scandal with all the so-called wives or paramours of Henry VIII.

P. MCCOY: But had Henry VII been more assertive, he would have sent his daughter-in-law on the first ship back to Spain right after Prince Arthur’s funeral. He would have then immediately arranged for a marry by proxy for Henry with a princess from various Catholic kingdoms: German city/ provincial states, choices of the Italian city states (a Medici or a d’Este would have made excellent English Queens!), Norway, Denmark or Sweden-OR, in a tribute to the illustrious Henry V, he could have married a French princess of the House that England was having friction with at the time. A Navarre princess could have made a good union too.

FATHER JOE: Science fiction might have us delight in alternative histories, but such armchair speculation really has little meaning in objective reality. It is like saying that Judas might have made a great saint had he repented instead of despairing and committing suicide. It makes for a quaint aside but the errant apostle is none the better and the fires of hell remain just as hot. No matter what prospects the reign had in Henry VIII’s regard, the trajectory of history remains unchanged: he became increasingly self-obsessed, exploitive of resources and Satan’s minion against the monasteries and the true Church.

P. MCCOY: Without the threat of incest gad flying him and realizing that he was not “god”, Henry VIII probably would have accepted the idea of a Queen ruling England after him. The Medici line would have raised up an exceptionally savvy and politically experienced and well supported by her Medici relatives English Queen!

FATHER JOE: Henry VIII had a contemptable view of women and would never have been satisfied with a woman on the throne. His life readily illustrates that females were merely a means to an ends— to satisfy the lust of his loins and to act as hens for his eggs. When the chicken failed to put out, he deemed it was time to have its head removed.

Filed under: Adultery, Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Bishops, Catholic, Church, Discipleship | Leave a comment »

2014-15 Third Quarter Knights of Columbus Reports

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Father Joe

Here is a photo of the Third Quarter Reports from Father Kidd and St. Mary of the Assumption Councils of the Knights of Columbus in Maryland. Some other councils might be up-and-coming, but these two C-level Councils are usually first and second place at the State Convention. The rivalry is fun and exciting; but more importantly, it displays two councils that take seriously their faith and council obligations. As former chaplain at St. Mary’s and the current chaplain at Father Kidd, I have a special love in my heart for these two councils and the Knights that make up their ranks. Healthy competition is good but let us always remember that the good we do is what is most important. Have fun and celebrate fraternity at the Ocean in May. VIVAT IESUS!

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More Snow at Holy Family in Mitchellville, MD

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Father Joe

Fuzzy Geezus and his pals Green Thang, Fat One-Eyed Thang and Skinny One-Eyed Thang hang out and watch the falling snow at Holy Family Parish.

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Faith & Values in the News

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Father Joe

Over 350 Catholic School Teachers Call On San Francisco Archbishop To Drop Morality Clauses

It is not the morality clause that should be dropped but the teachers, themselves. If they feel that Catholic moral law and commandments are oppressive then they are not suited to teach in the parochial schools. Young children are impressionable and believers place their children in Catholic schools precisely because they want certain values to be transmitted without ambiguity.

Lepanto Report about CRS in Kenya with Contraceptives & Abortifacients

Are CRS and the current U.S. administration involved with a cover up in Kenya about contraception as part of our anti-poverty efforts? The Lepanto Institute seems to show that there has been grievous deception and mismanagement of funds in this regard. I find this extremely upsetting.

3D Holograms Help Israeli Heart Surgeons

I thought this was fake but it ran as a CBS News story. How does one create 3-D images in free space?

Leonard Nimoy, ‘Star Trek’s’ Spock, Dies at 83

Why ‘Star Trek’ — and Mr. Spock — Matters

Got to meet him many years ago at a book signing. Rest in Peace. “Live long and prosper.”

Filed under: Catholic, Faith, News | 1 Comment »

Holy Family Parish Cookbooks Available

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Father Joe

The Holy Family Church Cookbooks are in… celebrating our 125th Anniversary!

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C. S. Lewis & Transubstantiation

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Father Joe

Cynthia G writes:

Concerning CS Lewis, Father, I read that he was contemplating joining the Catholic Church when he died, and he never wrote anything about having a problem with Mary, although in one of his books, The Great Divorce, I think, he said that he couldn’t “get” the concept of transubstantiation.

Father Joe responds:

The issue about transubstantiation comes up in his Letters to Malcolm, my least favorite of his works. He personally found the Aristotelian distinction between substance and accidents difficult to grasp. I suppose it sounded too cold for him and removed from the perception of the apostles, although he admits it is unclear how they conceptualized the Eucharist. Lewis certainly believes that there is something significant about the Eucharist, far removed from a mere empty symbolism. He thinks of the veil being the thinnest in its regard. I suppose one might say that he preferred a mystical awareness, one probably better befitting his literary approach. Critics remark that it represented a divide with Tolkien. However, it should be noted, that Lewis was an Anglican. While many of his views are very Catholic, it remains that Anglican orders had been declared null-and-void by Catholicism. If there is no valid priest then there is no genuine Eucharist or REAL PRESENCE. The stumbling block might have been this objective reality. The Anglican Eucharist feigned being something that it was not. A man with a sensitive soul about such things might on some level, even if unconscious, register this shortcoming.

It reminds me of a Catholic friend who used to delight in his visits to the area of first going to the Episcopalian Washington Cathedral and afterwards to the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. When I asked about it his response was both rude and funny. He said he went to the Cathedral to experience the gothic beauty and the REAL ABSENCE. Then he went to the Shrine with its many conflicting styles so as to encounter the REAL PRESENCE.

Filed under: Apologetics, Catholic, Eucharist, Faith, Mary, Mass | 2 Comments »

Argument Over Jesus & Intercession

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Father Joe

Georgios argues:

The primary role and purpose of the devil is to take the believer’s attention as far away as possible from the truth and the blue-prints or foundations of Christians, which is the Bible.

He would have us compromise them with unbiblical diatribes so that the believer loses focus upon JESUS.

He would have the Christian weakened by diminution from 100% fidelity to the doctrine of JESUS.

JESUS is the Way and the Truth and the Life— the only way toward the Father-God.

JESUS taught with parables and he is our answer to all intentions in the spiritual process.

The parable of the sinful rich man and poor Lazarus is sufficient to verify that the saints who died are in a place where intercession for people on earth is impossible! What this means is that only the living saints have the right to do so.

God does not give exemptions to the prohibition of acting outside his Word, which is JESUS.

If Mary can intercede for us, then God is lacks constancy with his Word and that is something that God will not do. He will not oppose his Word. If God made such exceptions then he would not be God at all.

Receive this revelation of the Spirit of God— what he is saying to you Now in the mighty NAME OF JESUS!

Father Joe responds:

The devil’s primary aim is one of eternal spite. He would have us corrupted so as to offend God. He would have us embrace selfishness and a disordered love.

The devil knows well the Bible. The trouble is that what he knows, he utterly rejects. While the devil is certainly involved with error, this in itself is not his primary purpose. Good men and women might be confused or ignorant about many matters of faith. They may yet be saved. The devil places an emphasis upon the will. HE especially delights in one who comes close to the truth and then rejects it. The more you know the more that you will be held accountable.

Much of the confusion and fracturing of the Church after the Reformation has to do with men and a rejection of the shepherds appointed by Christ. You seem to infer that the Bible is self-sustaining and interpreting. This is simply not the case— historically or theologically. I suspect that the “diatribes” you condemn are efforts within the Church to prayerfully reflect upon the saving kerygma.

If you have rejected the sacraments and the teachings of the Catholic faith then you have quite literally separated yourself from elements of the revelation received from Jesus Christ. The Church follows the Lord and his two sources for Christian revelation: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Only the reformation churches, and not all of them, would utterly reject the second tier established by Christ.

Jesus is also one with the Mystical Body or the Church. That is why the early Church spoke about Christ and our life in the Church as the WAY.

Jesus taught in many ways. Yes, his parables give us insight into the kingdom of God. But he also prophesied, made commands, and witnessed the message of the Gospel.

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus does indeed speak to life after death, although there is some question as to whether Lazarus was in heaven or the limbo of the fathers. Similarly, was the rich man in hell or in purgatory? The gates of heaven are only opened by Christ, and at the telling of this parable, Jesus had yet to undergo his saving trial. Further, the parable does not offer us an instance of attempted intercession as understood by the Church. He requests that Abraham send a message to the living or make an appearance to warn them. The intercession of the saints is directed, not to another saint, but to almighty God. We pray that they will add their prayers to ours in asking God for his mercy and favor.

Actually, the trouble here is you have a very narrow notion of how the Word operates. The Word is written upon human flesh in the incarnation. The Word is breathed into the Scriptures. The Word becomes one with his Holy Church. The Word is given perpetual efficacy through the sacraments. The Word takes to himself a human mother, sanctifies her and gives her to us as a model of the Church. The Word conquers death and all who are alive in Christ can pray for themselves and others, including the saints of heaven.

Who are you to tell God his business? Who are you to make yourself the interpreter for all Christianity, including attacking a Church that was instituted by Christ, gave us the Bible and is the Mother of all the breakaway Protestant denominations? Mary can do as she did at Cana… intercede when the wine runs out.

I would caution you again hubris. You are not God’s special messenger or prophet. You are just one poor confused soul putting on airs to others.

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Apologetics, Bible, Catholic, Evangelization, Faith, God, Hell, Jesus, Mary, Prayer, Purgatory, Redemption, Religion, Saints | Leave a comment »