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The Trinity
We believe the dogma expressed in the Nicene Creed, which states that God the Father, God,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit are Three Persons of the One Almighty
God. [Read more about the Trinity]. The
Three Persons of the Trinity are equally eternal, equally God, equally
uncreated. They are the One God in the One Being Who is Being itself,
Who is "I AM."
Creation and Fall
We believe that God created the universe ex nihilo
(out of nothing), starting with the creatures of the praeternatural
order (the angels), one of whom -- Satan, the Evil One -- rebelled,
taking a legion of angels with him; these evil ones are known as
demons.
Then God created the Heavens, earth and light on the first day; the
firmament on the second day; grass, herbs, and fruit trees on the third
day; the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day; the creatures of the
water and air on the fifth day; and, on the sixth day, the creatures of
the land, and a man named Adam. From Adam, He formed Eve.
God created man in His image -- whole, free, and filled with
sanctifying grace -- in a paradise known as Eden. But the Evil One
tempted Eve to do what God commanded them not to do, and Adam sinned by
following suit. Because of the sin of the first man, humankind lost its
sanctifying grace and became condemned not only to concupiscence (a
propensity to fulfill carnal desires), work, sickness, and death, etc.,
but to a loss of his likeness to God, and to separateness from God -- a
separateness from which we cannot be saved except by the grace of God
Himself. This loss of sanctifying grace is known as "original sin."
Original sin isn't personal sin (that is, sin resulting from one's
choices), but a lack of grace that we cannot overcome on our own.
Through Adam and Eve and "the Fall of Man," we are broken and in need
of redemption. Man cannot save himself and man-made utopia is not an
option (Genesis 11).
We believe that the Old Testament tells the story of God's entrusting
the Israelites, through Abraham, to be His People, and that the
Prophets of this Old Covenant predicted the coming of the Messiah who
would be able to reconcile man with God.
Incarnation
We believe that Second Person of the Trinity took on Flesh,
by the Holy Ghost, through the ever-Virgin Mary.
Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, the Theotokos -- the God-Bearer --
in that she brought forth, through the Holy Spirit and her
Grace-inspired "YES," the Son of the Living God Whose Name is Jesus and
Who is the Messiah Whom the prophets foretold. Mary is not the mother
of God the Father or of God the Holy Spirit. She is the Mother of the
Divine Person Jesus, Who is God. The Christ's divine and human natures
are in complete hypostasis and cannot be separated, and mothers are the
mothers of persons, not "natures"; she is the Mother of the Person of
Jesus, Who is God. She is, therefore, the mother of God. Though
veneration of Mary is only because of her Son's grace, though
she is not a "godess" in any way, and though she is not to be worshiped
as God, she is to be emulated, loved and admired because she
points the way to her Son. All generations will call her blessed (Luke
1:26-48).
We believe that Jesus was crucified for our salvation and that all
salvation comes from His sacrifice and only through His
sacrifice. This Sacrifice was necessary because God is holy, loving,
jealous, and just, but our sins are great and they offend Him. In order
for God's honor -- offended by our sins -- to be preserved and for His
wrath at our sins to be assuaged, there had to be atonement. In order
for His holiness to not be offended and for us to see Heaven
(nothing unholy can enter Heaven), the Second Person of the Trinity
Himself took on flesh and was crucified to satisfy the Father for our
sins. As Aquinas wrote in his Summa Theologia,
III, 49:
...Christ's Passion is in two
ways the cause of our reconciliation to God. In the first way, inasmuch
as it takes away sin by which men became God's enemies, according to
Wisdom 14:9: "To God the wicked and his wickedness are hateful alike";
and Psalm. 5:7: "Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity." In another
way, inasmuch as it is a most acceptable sacrifice to God. Now it is
the proper effect of sacrifice to appease God: just as man likewise
overlooks an offense committed against him on account of some pleasing
act of homage shown him. Hence it is written (1 Kings. 26:19): "If the
Lord stir thee up against me, let Him accept of sacrifice." And in like
fashion Christ's voluntary suffering was such a good act that, because
of its being found in human nature, God was appeased for every offense
of the human race with regard to those who are made one with the
crucified Christ in the aforesaid manner...
The Father sent the Son to suffer and die because He loves us
and wants us to be with Him, to share in His divine nature -- something
we can't do or earn on our own. So holy is He and so poor are we! It is
by the Passion and Blood of Jesus that the Father is appeased, that we
may be saved, and that the gates of Heaven are opened up to us. By no
other Name than Jesus can any man see the Father.
We believe that Jesus bodily rose again after His Crucifixion and
ascended into Heaven, sending the Holy Ghost after Him to sanctify,
guide, and protect His Church. His Resurrection is a sign of His
promise to us for our own lives if we believe, repent, are baptized,
and obey the will of God as revealed to us in His Sacred Scripture and
through the infallible teachings of His Church (i.e., the teachings
handed down to us by Christ and the Apostles or explicitly and solemnly
defined by the Pope or Church Councils).
The Four Last Things:
Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell
We believe that when a person dies, he faces a "particular
judgement": he immediately goes to Heaven, to Hell (including the
possibility of Limbo for the unbaptized who are innocent of personal
sins), or to Purgatory. Purgatory is where those who, by the Blood of
Christ, are already saved from the eternal effects of sin but
who still have the temporal effects of sins on their souls go
to be cleansed ("purged") before they are allowed to see the face of
God when they enter Heaven (1 Corinthians 3:13-15, Hebrews 12:14,
Hebrews 12:22-23, 1 Peter 4:6, Revelation 21:10-27). [Read more about Purgatory]
We believe that at the end of time, there will be a Last Judgement,
when the King of Kings, Lord Christ, will come in glory, to judge the
entire world. This will happen after a Great Apostasy (which many
traditional Catholics believe we are very possibly seeing now given the
sorry state of the human element of the Church, and the nefarious
doings of priests, Bishops, and recent Popes). There will be a great
Tribulation -- from which the Church will not be spared via a
"Rapture." There will come a final Antichrist who will deceive many
into believing he is a man of peace and justice. When Christ returns
and there comes the Last Judgement, the bodies of the dead will be
resurrected and reunited with their souls. The Evil One and his demons
will be thrown into the pit of Hell. Those bound for Hell will go to
Hell; those who are in Hell will remain in Hell. Those who are bound
for Heaven will go to Heaven, and those in Heaven will remain in
Heaven, their bodies glorified, to endure in the Presence of Love
forever and ever, world without end. [see End
Times]
The Church
We believe that the Mystical Body of Christ -- the nation of
priests and kings, Israel, the Church -- is of three parts:
We believe that death does not separate the members of His
Church and that we are exhorted to pray for one another and ask others
to pray for us. [read more about the Saints
and Purgatory]
We believe that Jesus Christ is the spiritual Foundation Stone, the
High Priest and Head of the Church and that He authorized Peter, as the
earthly rock of the Church, to shepherd His sheep (Matthew 16:18-19).
To Peter and his successors alone, Christ gave the keys to the kingdom.
Authority is passed on by "apostolic succession" -- by Christ to Peter,
and down through the ages by the laying on of hands. The Bishop of Rome
(the Pope) as the earthly source of unity and earthly king, with Christ
Jesus as the King of Kings (Acts 1:21-26, 1 Timothy 1:6, 1 Timothy
4:14, 1 Timothy 5:22, and the unanimous agreement of early Christian
writings). [read more about Peter]
We believe that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church,
that while scandal may sometimes ensue (now more than ever), while
Satan makes his efforts, the Church's dogma will be kept pure in that
nothing against the Faith will be presented as infallible. We believe
that the Apostles and their successors were given authority by Christ
to teach, to interpret Sacred Scripture, to bind and loose, to exorcise
demons, to ordain, to baptize, annoint the sick, and administer the
other Sacraments. [read more about the Marks of the Church].
The Church Militant is made of the ritual Churches that are in
communion with the Petrine Ministry (the office held by the successors
of Peter, i.e., the papacy). The particular churches in the full
Catholic Communion use 6 different rites, or traditions concerning how
the Sacraments (see below) are to be offered. These ritual churches of
the One, True Church are dogmatically the same though their points of
theological emphasis (and language for their expression), liturgical
and devotional styles, canonical disciplines, martyrology (Saints and
martyrs that they honor), sacred art, etc., differ. Members of these
particular churches belong to the One, True, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church, which is the Catholic Church, the Mystical Body of
Christ.
The 6 main rites and the ritual Catholic churches of the One Catholic
Church are:
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The Roman Rite (The Mass
of St. Gregory the Great): the Latin Church (or the "Roman Church"
-- the ritual Church most Westerners think of when they think of "the
Catholic Church" and whose Patriarch, the Bishop of Rome, is the Pope,
who has primacy over all the particular Churches that make up the
Catholic Church). The most prevalent current Roman Rite is the
Protestantizedt, bastardized rite of the 1969 Missale Romanum, but the
ancient Latin Mass (often called the "Tridentine Latin Mass" or "TLM"),
unambiguous about the Mass's purpose and devoid of Modernist
tendencies, is also offered using the Missal of 1962. To find a "TLM"
near you, try here
for Masses offered by the priests of the Society of St. Pius X, and
here for "indult" Masses offered by the priests of the
Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.
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The Byzantine Rite
(Liturgy of St. James, St. Basil and Others): Albanian Church;
Belarussian/Byelorussian Church; Bulgarian Church; Croatian (Krizevci)
Church; Georgian Church; Greek Church; Hungarian Church; Italo-Greek
(or Italo-Albanian) Church; Melkite Church; Romanian Church; Russian
Church; Ruthenian Church; Serbian Church; Slovak Church; and the
Ukrainian Church
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The Alexandrian Rite
(Liturgy of St. Mark): Coptic Church; and the Ethiopian/Abyssinian
Church. The languages of these Churches are Coptic (Egyptian) and
Ge'ez, respectively.
-
The Antiochian Rite
(Liturgy of St. James): Maronite Church; Syrian Church; and the
Syro-Malankar Church. The language of these Churches is Aramaic
(ancient Syriac).
-
The Chaldean Rite
(Derived from Antiochene Rite): Chaldean Church; and the
Syro-Malabarese Church. The language of these Churches is Syriac.
- Armenian
Rite (Greek Liturgy of St. Basil)
Each Catholic ritual church (known as a Church sui iuris)
has its own Patriarch (sometimes called a "Metropolitan" or "pope" --
i.e., "papa") who is in communion with the Roman Pope, the man who
holds the office of Peter. The (Roman) Pope has a triple role as Bishop
of Rome, Patriarch of the West, and Supreme Pontiff of the entire
Catholic Church.
Every Catholic, no matter his ritual church 1, believes the same dogma and may receive
the Sacraments of the Eucharist, Penance, and Unction from any
other ritual Catholic Church; in our union through the Petrine
ministry, we are all one as Christ desires [Matthew 12:25, 16:18, John
10:16, John 17:20-23, Acts 4:32, Romans 12:5, Romans 16:17, 1
Corinthians 1:10-13, Corinthians 3:3-4, Corinthians 10:17, Corinthians
11:18-19, Corinthians 12:12-27, Corinthians 14:33, 2 Corinthians 12:20,
Ephesians 4:3-6, Philippians 1:27, 2:2-3, 1 Timothy 6:3-5, Titus
3:9-10, James 3:16, 2 Peter 2:1].
The Church has two types of members: living members (those in a
state of grace, whether they be in the Church Militant, Suffering or
Triumphant) and dead members (those not in a state of grace,
i.e., those in mortal sin (I John 5:16-17), who are necessarily of the
Church Militant). Dead members cannot be saved unless they are
reconciled and returned to a state of grace through the Sacrament of
Penance, or "Confession" (or a perfect act of contrition if the
Sacrament is unavailable).
No Salvation Outside of the Church :
"Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus"
There is no salvation outside of Christ, and the Church is
the Bride of Christ -- become His Body, one Flesh in marriage.
Therefore, there is no salvation outside of the Church and not
belonging formally to the Catholic Church is objectively sinful
-- i.e., not being a formal member of the Church is "missing the mark,"
is less than perfection.
Matthew 18:17
"If he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as a heathen and a
publican"
Luke 10:16
"He that heareth you heareth Me, and he that despiseth you despiseth
Me, and he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him that sent Me"
Mark 16:16
"He that believeth not will be condemned"
John 3:18
"He that believeth not is already judged"
Luke 11:23
"He that is not with Me is against Me and he that gathereth not with
Me, scattereth"
This does not mean, however, that if one is necessarily
damned if one is not a formal
member of the visible society of God's
Kingdom on earth -- the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. What
it means is that: Christ founded one Church with Peter as His Vicar;
that this Church was given the powers of binding and loosing, that this
Church exists today; that it is the source of the Gospel and the
earthly source of the Sacraments without which, normatively, one cannot
be saved. Those who are not formal members might be saved and
become associated with the soul of the Church if they:
-
are validly baptized by
water and spirit, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost (all who are baptized are subject to the Church even if they
are not formal members because Baptism belongs to the Church), or
-
are "baptized by desire"
(they have no ill will toward the Church and would join her if they
knew it is what Christ wants) or are "baptized by blood" (they become
martyrs for Love)
-
have not committed a mortal
sin (or who, if they have committed a mortal sin, have made a perfect
act of contrition), which means a sin concerning a grave matter
committed with full knowledge and consent of the will, and
-
are animated by charity and
a supernatural Faith in God's existence, and
- seek
Him, and
-
firmly believe that their
religion is the true religion such that there is no conflict or doubt
about such in their ill-formed conscience, and
-
are not formally outside of
the Church in spite of doubts about the possibility that the Catholic
Church is the true Church of Christ (if one believes it is possible
that the Catholic Church is the true Church of Christ, one is
duty-bound to investigate)
In addition, those individuals who, through no fault of their
own, have no means to hear of Christ-given Baptism or who are otherwise
invincibly ignorant -- who've never heard the Name Jesus, know nothing
of the Church, or misunderstand Church teachings -- but who obey the
Natural Law written in all men's hearts and who truly seek God are left
to the mercy of Christ Who may save them as He desires. Christ will
judge our wills, hearts, intellects, and deeds, and shall have mercy
and compassion on whom He will have mercy and compassion (Romans 9:15);
those whom He deigns to save He can well give the grace of the
Sacraments to in a manner beyond our ken -- perhaps even in their final
breath, by illuminating their souls in a supernatural way such that
they desire Baptism, even if implicitly, and therefore become
associated with the Soul of the Church, outside of which there is no
salvation. This is something we can never presume -- but we can
pray for.
I note here, too, that there is also the possibility of Limbo -- a
state of perfect natural happiness -- for those who die unregenerated
(unbaptized) and with the stain of original sin, but who've committed
no personal sin. While these people would not enter Heaven as they are
not born again of water and Spirit (or the desire for it), they would
also experience no subjective sufferings. This teaching is not a part
of revelation and is, therefore, not a matter of dogma. There is no
consensus among the Church Fathers on the matter; some believed in the
existence of Limbo (e.g., most of the Greek Fathers, St. Augustine in
his early writings, St. Gregory Nanzianus, St. Ambrose, St. Thomas
Aquinas) while others didn't (e.g., St. Augustine in his later
writings, St. Anselm). But it is a most definite possibility that can
be piously believed given the truths that God is not only merciful but
just and, therefore, will not punish someone for that which involves no
personal guilt. While believing this proposition, which is the
prevalent belief among traditional Catholics, one must never forget how
easy it is to sin -- and that most everyone who's reached the age of
reason has (in fact, because of the rarity of those who've reached the
age of reason and have not committed personal sins, "Limbo" is often
referred to as "Children's Limbo.")
These possibilities are left to the mercy of God, however, and the presumption
of salvation in any sense on the part of anyone who is not a formal
member of the the visible Church is a sin against the Holy Spirit. We
can pray for such, but we cannot presume such. We cannot
presume this association with the Soul of the Church on the part of any
particular individual who is not a manifest member the Church; in fact,
we are to presume the opposite because they are
objectively in sin, even if not culpably so, and we must do all we can
to bring them to the Sacraments, which are true media of grace. We are
to preach the fullness of the Truth, pray for God's mercy on all who
are apart from the Sacraments, and always remember that material heresy
is still heresy, no matter the level of culpability a material
heretic might possess. While some who are not formal members of the
Church might be illumined before death such that they desire
Baptism and are then allowed to see Heaven by the Grace of Christ and
become, therefore, associated with the Soul of the Church, the
non-Catholic elements of other religions do not mediate grace
in and of themselves, and it is always God's will that all formally
become part of the eternally unified Mystical Body of Christ.
The salvation of these souls would be in spite of, not because
of, their religion.
In this regard, any "ecumenism" that is not false will have as its goal
the bringing of all into the Church as formal members, be they
Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, pagan, or secular. The
goal of any true "ecumenism" isn't "unity" because the Church is already
unified; His Body is already unified. The return of
heretics, schismatics, and apostates to the bosom of the One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Catholic Church is the only goal of true
ecumenism.
The proper attitude to take toward the Truth that those who are not
formal members of the Church might be saved if they meet the
above criteria is expressed well in this analogy by Harold E. Welitz:
Let's say that a father
kept a loaded gun in the house. Now, certainly it has occurred since
the invention of the revolver that a bullet has failed to fire when the
trigger was pulled. Therefore, based on this possibility should the
father continually remind his children that if they play with a gun and
shoot at each other, it may not go off? Would that be a wise and
prudent father, one who truly cares for his children? If the father
continually discussed the possibility that the gun may not go off if
the trigger were pulled, would he be misleading his children? Yes!
Although what he is saying is not false, it is deceptive because it
implies that something that is rare is actually likely. The result will
be that the children will become more negligent in playing with loaded
guns, which most likely will kill one of them. Should the father not
say: "Do not play with a loaded gun, whatever you do! If you play with
a loaded gun, someone will get killed." A wise and prudent father may
realize there are a very slight percentage of bullets that are
defective, but he knows it is not wise to continually remind his
children of this, lest they become forgetful of the dangers of playing
with loaded guns.
To carry the metaphor further: Catholics don't let
non-Catholics play with guns. When others do play with guns, we can
pray and have human hope that they don't get shot, but we can't expect
or have a "good hope" that they won't. If, in fact,
they are not "shot," we know that they are a part of the Church outside
of which there is no salvation.
Bottom line: We can't know the subjective states of the souls of
unbelievers, and we can't know how God might or might not illumine
their souls and save them. But we can and do know what He has revealed
about Himself, and we must tell others this Gospel. We can and do know
what He told us about His Church, and we must try to bring people to it
in a prudent manner (without nagging, being frantic and annoying,
etc.). We can and do know what He told us to do, and we must do it. And
we must do these things with firmness, boldness, prudence, and great
charity, all while begging mercy for sinners, including ourselves.
Authority
Unlike
in Protestantism which sees "the Bible Alone" (or "Sola Scriptura") as
the rule of faith, the teaching of the Church rests on three
pillars:
-
Scripture: The Bible
is the inerrant word of God and is to be read as the earliest
Christians read it: in the light of Tradition and under the guidance of
those ordained to teach. The Books of the Old Testament were put
together by the Hebrews in the Septuagint (ca 300 B.C.), which includes
the seven Books called "Deuterocanonical" by Catholics and "Apocryphal"
by Protestants, and was the Old Testament used by the Apostles. The
Books of the New Testament were made canonical over time and were first
listed over 300 years after the Resurrection [see more on the Canon of the Bible and the Septuagint and
on Sola Scriptura: The Fallacy of the
Bible alone as the Rule of Faith]. The Bible isn't a science book;
it is the inspired word of God, with some parts to be read poetically,
some literally, etc. The Church Fathers let us know which parts are
which. Scripture isn't to be picked up and read without guidance from
the Church. To learn why, see the section "Ever-Virgin" on the page
about Mary.
-
Tradition: the
teachings which the Church has preserved and passed down from Christ,
His Apostles, and the unanimous teachings of the early Church Fathers
(1 Corinthians 11:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:15, 2 Thessalonians 3:6).
(The above two pillars are referred to as "The Deposit of
Faith")
-
Extraordinary
Magisterium:
Extraordinary infallible teaching given in the very rare exercise of
the Pope alone, only when, in his capacity as Pastor and Doctor of all
Christians and by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines
a dogma concerning faith and morals so as to be held by the
whole Church and does so ex cathedra -- i.e., "from
the chair" of Peter. Also called the "Solemn Magisterium."
-
Ordinary Magisterium:
Ordinary infallible teaching by Pope, Bishop, or anyone with the proper
authority to teach which illumines doctrine that has always been
believed and accepted by the universal Church. Also called the
"Universal Magisterium" or the "Constant Magisterium" and its exercise
can be recognized when a teaching is one that is has been held "always
and everywhere" by the Church. [Note: some Catholics forget this
category of teaching and believe that only if a teaching is
solemnly defined ex cathedra is it infallible. These
"Catholics," forgetting Tradition, are the "liberals" and "modernists"
one always sees on TV]
-
Authentic Magisterium:
Teaching by Pope, Bishop, or anyone with the proper authority to teach,
that does not fit into the above two categories. All authorized
teaching is owed proper, intelligent, prayerful religious
assent, but must be resisted if it leads to sin, compromises
the Faith and the salvation of souls, or contradicts the above two
levels of Magisterium, the Sacred Deposit of Faith, Scripture, and
Tradition. [Note: some otherwise wonderful Catholics forget this
category of teaching and think everything the Pope does and says is
"infallible," an attitude that borders on papolatry. These Catholics
are the "neo-conservatives" or "neo-Catholics" who defend the novelties
since Vatican II and some of the scandalous behaviors of Bishops and
the Holy Father -- e.g., Qu'ran-kissing, ecumenism that leads to
indifferentism, etc. -- but while still truly trying to be
orthodox.]
The Pope is supreme pastor, the "King of Bishops," and he
outranks all Bishops, individually or collectively. "The Roman
Pontiff has power over the entire Church, can exercise power over all,
whether over the whole or over one; he can exercise power without being
limited by anyone, neither Pastor nor faithful" (G. Siri, La giovimzza
della Chiesa).
However, of course, neither the Pope as Pontiff nor any Bishop can
lawfully or morally contradict Scripture or Tradition as interpreted
and passed down by the universal Church. Any teaching of Pope, Bishop,
or Council that attempts to nullify what has always been taught is null
and void in se. In other words, magisterium that contradicts
former magisterium is not infallible magisterium. From Pastor
Aeternus, section De Romani Pontificis Infallibili Magisterio
of Vatican I:
For the Holy Spirit was
promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by His
revelation, make known some new doctrine, but that, by His assistance,
they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or
Deposit of Faith transmitted by the Apostles.
Doctrine and dogma may be clarified, explained more fully,
and be more explicitly defined, but they cannot be contradicted by
anyone, by neither Pope nor Council.
A Pope's infallibility refers to the charism he has as it pertains to
preserving and expounding formally on doctrine; it does not mean at all
that he is perfect, sinless, error-free in all things, etc -- or even a
good person.
The Seven Sacraments or "Holy
Mysteries"
The Church has 7 Sacraments -- "outward signs of invisible
grace" and media of sanctifying grace. The Sacraments were
given to us by Christ so that we may receive His grace and become more
like Him. The Seven Sacraments are:
-
Baptism: with
immersion in water, sprinkling of water, or the pouring of water over
the skin of the forehead while the words "I baptize thee in the Name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (or "Holy Spirit")
are said by one who intends to initiate the baptized into the Christian
life, one is baptized for the remission of all sins, both original sin
and personal sins, and their effects.
Through Baptism in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost
(Matthew 28:19), we are born again (John 3) of water and of the Spirit
and enter into the New Covenant. This is the initial rite of Christian
initiation (Acts 2:38-39, Acts 16:32-35, Ephesians 4:3-5, Colossians
2:11-12, Didache ch. 7), and all who are baptized with water and
Spirit, using these words, by anyone (layman or priest) who intends to
do what the Church does, is validly baptized -- whether they are
baptized by Pentecostals, Baptists, Orthodox, etc. -- and cannot be
re-baptized. If one desires to formally join the Catholic Church but is
unsure about the validity of his baptism, he is conditionally baptized
with water and the words, "If thou art not baptized, I baptize thee in
the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
Baptism replaces circumcision (Colossians 2:11–12), and just as
children were circumcized at the age of 8 days in the Old Covenant,
children, even infants, are welcome in God's Kingdom and are baptized
as soon as possible (Matthew 19:14, Luke 18:15–16, Acts 2:39). This is
the early practice of the Church, as evident by St. Paul's baptizing of
entire households (Acts 16:15, 1 Corinthians 1:16) and the words of
Christ and His Apostles (Mark 10:14, Acts 2:38-39). [Read more about Baptism]
Aside from the Baptism by water and Spirit, without the graces of which
one can't be saved, there are the analogically-named "Baptism of Blood"
and the "Baptism of Desire." Baptism of Blood is martyrdom -- that is,
dying for the sake of the Faith. Baptism of desire is the vow to
receive Baptism by one who has a a living faith and the desire to do
all the Lord commands, but who doesn't have the earthly possibility of
water baptism (or who dies before receiving it). Baptism of Blood and
Baptism of Desire both have the saving effects of water Baptism, by the
mercy of Christ.
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Confirmation
("Chrismation" or the "Sacrament of the Seal"): Confirmation is
the laying on of hands by a Bishop or authorized priest and becoming
sealed to the Holy Ghost, becoming annointed spiritually and,
literally, with sacred oil -- a consecrated olive oil called "chrism"
or "oil of gladness." Confirmation is becoming infused with the Holy
Ghost, sealed to Him by grace and fortified in becoming true soldiers
of Christ (Acts 8:14-17, Acts 19:5-6, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Ephesians
1:13, Hebrews 1:9, Hebrews 6:1-6).
-
Eucharist ("Communion"):
We believe that at Mass (the "Divine Liturgy") the bread and wine truly
become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ
glorified and that no one should eat of it unworthily (John 6, Luke
22:19, John 6:52-58, Acts 2:42, 1 Corinthians 10, 1 Cor. 11:27-29,
Ignatius of Antioch's Letter to the Smyraeans, Didache ch. 9 ). The
Eucharist should only be received by the baptized who are in a state of
grace (who have no unconfessed mortal sins on their soul), and after
prayer and fasting. The bread used must be made only of wheat and water
(nothing else may be added, though leaven is used in Eastern
Churches); the wine must be true grape wine. The one offering the Mass
at which the bread and wine become Christ must be a validly ordained
priest using the proper form. See "Mass/Divine Liturgy" below.
(In the Eastern Catholic
Churches, the above
three Sacraments are received at the same time, even infants.)
-
Penance ("Confession" or
"Reconciliation"): We confess our sins to God, in the presence of
his priests (through his priests), so that we can be freed from
their eternal effects and reconcile with Him and with His Church
(Matthew 9:5-8, Matthew 16:18-19, 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, 2 Corinthians
5:18, James 5:14-16, Didache 4:14, 14:1). For there to be a valid
confession, one must confess his sins, with a contrite heart and the
desire for pardon, to a priest with jurisdiction (ordinary or supplied)
who uses the proper form of absolution, which is the words "Ego te
absolvo" ("I absolve you"). If no priest is available, one may make an
act of perfect contrition, confessing to God directly and begging
forgiveness (one must resolve to go to a priest when one is available
for a perfect act of contrition to be valid). Confession of sins to
other Christians is a sacramental which remits venial sins and is
encouraged, but it is not a Sacrament.
-
Holy Matrimony: See
Matthew 5:31-33, Matthew 19:8-10, Mark 10:10-12, Luke 16:17-19, 1
Corinthians 7:10-11. The Sacrament of Matrimony is the covenental
joining of the validly baptized man and woman -- and only a man and
woman -- as head of their own little domestic "church" and the
source of their spirit of self-sacrifice that allows them to put their
children first. A valid Sacramental marriage has as its primary purpose
the begetting and raising of children; the unitive aspects of marriage
are secondary. Marriage, therefore, is open to life if the marital
right (the right of each spouse to the other's body, 1 Corinthians 7:4)
is exercised. Artificial
contraception is forbidden still by the Church, as it had been by
Protestants as well until 1931. In the rare instance that both
spouses mutually consent to not exercise
their marital rights and decide to remain sexually continent in
imitation of Joseph and Mary and for the sake of the Kingdom, the
marriage is termed a "Josephite marriage."
"What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder":
marriage lasts until the death of one of the spouses (Mark 10:11-12).
"Re-marriage" after separation (as in physical separation due to
threats of physical danger) in a valid, Sacramental and consummated
marriage is impermissible.
A declaration of nullity ("annulment") is not a "Catholic divorce"
(though, sadly, it is too-often treated as such by many modern
hierarchs); it is a Church tribunal's finding that a valid Sacramental
marriage never existed in the first place (i.e., God did not join the
two in the first place) because, at the time the vows were exchanged,
certain conditions were present indicating that one of the couple did
not intend for a valid, Sacramental marriage to take place. Some of
these conditions are impotence, unwillingness to be open to procreation
if the marital right is exercised, unwillingness to commit to fidelity,
etc..
For there to be a valid Sacramental marriage, there must be none of the
impediments listed above, the two must be validly baptized, and both
must mutually consent to marriage. The man and woman act as minister
(the priest presides, but does not marry them; they marry each other).
Sex belongs only inside marriage. Homosexuality is a disorder (not a
sin); acting out homosexual desires is sinful.
Abortion at any stage of pregnancy is murder.
-
Holy Orders
("Ordination"): the integration of men into the order of bishops,
presbyters, or deacons which confers a gift of the Holy Ghost that
permits the exercise of a sacred power (sacra potestas) which
can come only from Christ Himself, through his Church, by the laying on
of hands by a true Bishop in the line of Apostolic Succession (Mark 6:7, Luke
10:16, John 13:20, John 15:5, John 20:21, Acts 14:23, Romans 10:15, 2
Corinthians 5:20, 1 Timothy 4:14, 1 Timothy 5:23, the Book of Hebrews).
In the Latin Church's discipline, only unmarried men can become
ordained. In many of the Eastern Churches, married men can become
ordained, though they may not marry after ordination and may
not become Bishops. In the early Church, married priests were sexually
continent (abstinent); it is this Tradition that lives on only in the
sexually continent and celibate (unmarried) priesthood of the Latin
Church and in those Eastern Catholic priests who are sexually
continent, whether celibate or not. See Canon 33 of the Council of
Elvira (A.D. 300-306); Canon 1 of the Council of Neocęsarea (A.D. 315);
Canon 3 of the Council of Carthage (A.D. 390); Canon III of the
Quinisext Council of Trullo (A.D. 691) which speaks of the Eastern
Churches changing their chastity rules while "they of the most holy
Roman Church purpose to keep the rule of exact perfection," etc.
Women cannot and will never be ordained into the priesthood,
though a female diaconate of sorts is part of our Tradition insofar as
women, referred to as "deaconesses," sometimes helped minister to other
women in the early Church (moreso in the East) when it came to such
things as the Baptism of other women by immersion, where modesty was an
issue, and caring for the sick. They were not, however,
priests, they did not receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders, etc. (see
Canon 19 of the First Council of Nicaea, 325 A.D.).
-
Extreme Unction
("Sacrament of the Sick"): See Matthew 10:1, Luke 9:1-2, Luke
9:6, and James 5:13-15. the annointing before death with consecrated
olive oil is known as "Last Rites" or "Extreme Unction," and the
Eucharist itself that is given at that time is known as "Viaticum"
("food for the journey" from the Latin viaticus meaning
"journey". Unction purifies the soul by remitting sins, and heals the
body if it is God's will.
Sacraments are not magic: while they impart sanctifying
grace, in order for those who've reached the age of reason to
benefit from them, he must receive them with the proper intention; in
other words, they require faith! If one has attained the age of
reason, for ex., and does not believe in Christ but is baptized,
objectively, true grace is given, but, subjectively, he will receive
the fruits of his Baptism only when/if he later believes. The
Sacrament of Confession, as an other example, requires true contrition
(e.g., one can't knowingly commit a sin, go to Confession without true
repentance and while planning on committing that same sin again, and
expect to receive Sacramental effects), etc.
The Sacraments are also normatively required: for example, if one is in
the middle of a desert and no water is available to conduct the rite of
Baptism in the proper way, as Christ desires we be baptised, one is
still "baptised" by desire if he would be baptized in the proper way if
the means were available to him. This does not make the rites less
important; it only demonstrates the power of Christ's mercy. One who
has no priest available may make a spiritual Communion and receive the
fruits of the Eucharist. A perfect act of contrition can give one the
fruits of Confession even though no priest is available. And so on. The
point: God is not bound by the Sacraments; we are bound by the
Sacraments!
The Sacraments also are not human works; they are the work of Christ
operating through the priest (or other minister, as in some cases of
Baptism and in Matrimony), and their effectiveness does not depend on
the personal holiness of the minister. The necessary elements are that
the priest have proper power and authorization, the proper intention,
and that he uses the prescribed matter (e.g. water, oil, bread made of
wheat and water, etc.) and form (i.e., the rite must be properly
performed). In other words, if these things are followed, the
Sacraments give sanctifying grace in a manner known as ex
opere operato, or "by the deed done" -- by the very fact of the
action. The grace is fruitful depending on the faith of the one who
receives the Sacrament (or the faith of his parents, in the case of
infant baptism).
The Most Sacred Mystery of the
Eucharist
Christ is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek --
and in order for a priesthood of any kind to exist, there must be a
sacrifice. When we go to Mass (the Divine Liturgy), the Sacrifice of
Christ's once and for all, historical Passion and Crucifixion is
re-presented; it is not repeated in any sense of Christ "dying again."
While the Crucifixion was a specific, finite historical event from our
physics-bound point of view, God is transcendent and outside of time,
and Christ's offering of Himself is eternal. As one apologist
puts it, "One can't 'repeat' what has never ended!"
At the Mass, the bread and wine become the
sacramental Presence of Jesus Christ. It is not only "symbolic"; it is
the real, true bringing-forth of the glorified Body and Blood
of our Lord, Who is then offered to appease the Father as a perfect
Sacrifice -- a re-presentation of Christ's Historical and perfect, once
and for all Sacrifice at Calvary. This offering was predicted
(see Malachi 1:10–11) and was believed to be sacrificial and
propitiatory in nature by the very earliest Christians (I challenge
all who call themselves Christian to research this! Read Ignatius,
John Chrystostom, Pope Clement I, Justin Martyr, the Didache -- any of
the very earliest Christians' writings!).
The reality of the Presence of God in the Eucharist is made clear in
the 6th chapter of John, and Luke 22:19-20 minces no words when it says
"This IS my Body... This IS my Blood." The Jews in John 6, even some of
His followers, walked away from Him out of disgust over this teaching,
but Jesus didn't backtrack at all; He maintained that we must eat His
Flesh and drink His Blood. The Temple walls fell as Jesus said they
would, and those "last days" of the Old Covenant have ended. But the
Sacrifice continues with Christ's eternal offering to us the gift of
Himself. The New Covenant is here, and we are all invited to enter into
it! The tabernacle lamps still burn brightly in Catholic churches...
(at least the ones that follow pre-Vatican II rubrics).
In our liturgy, Christ's ordained priests offer Christ under the
appearances of bread and wine (Genesis 14:18, Psalm 110:1-4, Malachi
1:10–11, John 6:53–58) as a pure sacrificial offering to the Father in
order to appease Him; Christ offers Himself to us by His Real Presence
in the Eucharist after the Holy Ghost changes these gifts from "bread
and wine" into Sacrament; and we, members of the royal priesthood (what
Protestants call "the priesthood of believers"), offer ourselves to
God, worshipping Him with the angels in Heaven who sing "Holy, Holy,
Holy!" without ceasing. (Listen to Real Audio lessons about the
Eucharist at the bottom of the Scott
Hahn Apologetics page of this site, and listen to how the Book of
Revelation (Apocalypse) describes, in part,
the Heavenly liturgy)
Salvation
In the Old Testament, the Israelites upheld their Covenant
with God by keeping Moses' Law and, of course, the great Commandments.
Christians are freed from The Law (later twisted into Talmudism by the
Pharisees, which later morphed into modern post-Temple Judaism) and
enter into the New Covenant by Baptism. We are saved by the grace of His Passion and Blood alone, a grace we have to actively
cooperate with through metanoia (repentance and a turning of the heart
toward Christ), submitting our wills to our Father's. When we enter
into this Covenant, we literally become His children, His
family. God the Father becomes for us Abba and Christ seals us
to Him with His own Blood. Our task -- and our reward -- is to "become
divinized" (to undergo "theosis"), to "put on Christ" and share in the
Divine Energies of God and Christ's Sonship. We become the heirs of
God Himself. In this divinization, this theosis, His Chosen will
share in God's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) -- but still as creatures of
God and not as God Himself or in any way apart from God. We will
forever and always be creatures, "becoming God" by sharing in His
divine nature, but never in His divine essence -- and never, ever apart
from God, which is the lie Satan first told to Eve. The created can
never become Uncreated.
We agree entirely with the many Protestants who say one has to "have a
personal relationship with Jesus" or "let Jesus into one's heart" if,
by that, they mean that we are to pray earnestly, walk the walk, make
His Will manifest in our lives, preach the Gospel, etc. We are to turn
our hearts toward Christ! We must experience true conversion! We
believe, too, that no aspect of our relationsip with Christ can be more
intimate and awesome than by prayerfully and humbly receiving Him
through the Eucharist and receiving His graces through His other
Sacraments!
We refute the idea that all one needs to do in order to be saved is to
say "The Sinner's Prayer" (though it is a nice prayer, as far as it
goes); we believe that we are to work out our salvation in fear and
trembling (Philippians 2:12) lest we be cast away (I Corinthians 9:27)
-- but always with the knowledge of God's Fatherly Love and Mercy
for us, His adopted children. Likewise, we reject the idea that one can
work his way into Heaven or that any Christian's works have salvific
merit outside of Christ's grace. Neither faith alone, nor works alone,
nor faith and works together saves us or puts God into debt to us; He
owes us nothing! Neither getting on your knees once and saying the
"Sinner's Prayer," no matter how sincerely, nor a lifetime working at
soup kitchens, but without faith and the Sacraments, will save you. It
is His grace alone that saves -- a grace we accept in
faith and by doing His will, which is, above all, to love Him and to
love our neighbors!
Though we believe in predestination (Ephesians 1:11), we see it as an
inscrutable Mystery, and we reject any ideas of predestination that
deny the free will of man or which make God the Author of sin by seeing
Him as also predestining some souls to go to Hell without regard to the
will of those souls. We assert that we are created by God in
His image, that He created us freely able to choose Him or to choose
sin, and that predestination beyond recognizing His omniscience, would
render His divine plan meaningless. We believe that free will exists
both before and after justification. In other words, a person who
enters the Covenant may freely leave it and lose his salvation (2 Peter
2:20-21). While we do believe that whom God elects, He will save, we
don't presume to know who the elect are (I Corinthians 4:4). This is a
Mystery of God that we can't presume to know, let alone base an entire
theology and soteriology on.
Summary: We are saved by grace alone, through a saving
faith (i.e., a faith that works in love, Galatians
5:6), and as a fruit of Christ's having suffered and shed His blood for
us. Christianity is both a "head religion" and a "heart religion"; we
intellectually assent to the Truths given to us by the Church through
Her Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and these Truths affirm that we
must give our hearts to Jesus. In other words, we are to love God with
all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). To focus only on
the heart without including the mind (i.e., to forget doctrine and rely
on "experience" and "feelings") is to lapse into heresy and
subjectivism; to focus on the intellect without including the heart
(i.e., to forget humility, repentance, and, above all, charity) is to
lapse into a legalistic Pharisaism. [Read more about Salvation]
To be saved: believe and trust in Jesus, repent of your sins,
be baptized, receive the Eucharist, and obey the will of God as taught
to us in the Bible and the constant teachings of the Church. Love God
with all your heart and mind and soul and strength, and love your
neighbor as yourself.
Happy-dappy Jesus
We absolutely reject the prevalent idea that the most
important aspect of Christ's Incarnation was His preaching of
"tolerance" and "sentiment" and "non-judgementalism." The idea that
Jesus was merely a "great teacher" is a most poisonous doctrine that
renders Christ not only no more profound than a Hallmark card, but a
liar to boot. If "luv" is the centrality of the Christian message, then
any hippie-chick would have served the purpose as well, and if "wise
sayings" were all He is about, then any Confucius would do. If
"feel-goodism" were His driving motivation, He could've sent Oprah
Winfrey in His place.
This idea is most egregious when what Christ preached is twisted into
banalities. There seems to be the popular opinion out there that Jesus
was a feminist political revolutionary Whose main purpose for taking on
Flesh was to present an example of how to bring down "the man" and
eradicate "bad feelings" between culturally diverse groups and the
sexes. To these people, He never got righteously angry. He never spoke
of sin and Hell. He didn't pick up a whip and drive out the
moneychangers from His Father's house. He never told people to sin no
more after forgiving them -- and He'd forgive people whether they were
repentant or not. They think that even though He created us male and
female, He sees no difference in the sexes at all (He must've been
playing a joke on us on that 6th Day of Creation!). This "Jesus" is not
the Jesus of the Gospels.
Yes, Christ is a great Teacher. Yes, He is the Divine Physician. Yes,
He is forgiving and most merciful. But He also demanding, a Savior Who
said "If a man does not abide in Me, he is cast forth as a branch and
withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and
burned" (John 5:6) and "whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not
be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:32).
He called the Pharisees "broods of vipers" and sons of the Devil who
worshipped at the "synagogue of Satan."
Yes, He loves children, and the poor, the sick, the suffering --
alleluia! But He knows, too, when you're trying to pull one over on Him
and squeak your favorite sin past Him in the name of "social justice"
and "tolerance." He is not only Jesus the Bridegroom-Lover, He is Jesus
the Judge and King of Kings. Never forget it.
Most important, though, is that He is the Man of Sorrows, the One by
Whose stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:3-5). Had He not suffered for us
and offered Himself up to appease the Father's honor, we would be
doomed, period, the end. This is the central Christian message, and
this is why "we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a
stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness" (1 Corinthians 1:23).
Yes, we preach Christ risen, too (that's why we worship on Sundays) --
but it is His Blood that saves us, and we are exhorted to pick up our
crosses and follow Him. The hyper-focus on the Resurrection at the
expense of the Cross is a false focus that leads to a false gospel.
What was His purpose? Why did He come? Let Him
tell you with the words He spoke just before His Passion began:
John 12:23-27
And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man
should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and
he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall
also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will my Father honour. Now
is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this
hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. [NLT: "But that is the
very reason why I came"!]
And what should be our reaction to His purpose? To think
"Gee, thanks, Jesus! Now let's just focus on the happy stuff -- the
Resurrection, the Ascension, the Pentecost? Let's all babble in
"tongues" and put on our happy grins? Let's forget the Cross and morph
the Gospel into "health and wealth" preaching" and "name it and claim
it" nonsense"? Let's not admonish the sinner lest we sound too mean?
No. Our reaction should be like the reaction of St. Paul:
Philippians 3:8-11
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith: That I may know Him, and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead.
2 Corinthians 4:8-12
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed,
but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not
destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord
Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our
body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus'
sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal
flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
Again and again I say, relating St. Paul's teachings: we get
to the Resurrection through the Cross! This is not to ever deny
or forget the Resurrection, the Ascension, and the Pentecost (the
commemoration of all of these being Holy Days of Obligation for
Catholics!). It's not to deny the true joy that comes from knowing Who
He is. It's not to ignore the Joyful and Glorious Mysteries (which we
Catholics pray in our Rosaries, too, along with the Sorrowful
Mysteries). No! But it is to maintain proper focus and to
receive our consolations and gifts from the Comforter along with the
sufferings we must endure in imitation of Christ. We will not
have our own resurrections if we do not pick up our crosses and
continue to offer Him up to the Father -- to ask the Father to look at
Him instead of us -- and at Him in us.
Neo-Montanism
We absolutely and totally acknowledge the Gifts of the Holy
Spirit and the charismata (they being subject to authority and having
changed since the Pentecost), but see clamoring after signs, wonders,
supernatural gifts, and emotional highs as dangerous, especially given
the too-common lack of discernment of the spirits.
The experience of the traditional Mass is an entirely different sort of
thing than, say, the experience of Charismatic Pentecostal services:
the Mass is a true sacrifice in which we offer the Son to the Father as
the spotless, pure Offering predicted in Malachi 1:10-11, and
prefigured by the Passover lamb that the Israelites had to eat. We meet
Almighty God in the Presence of the Eucharist -- an awesome,
reverent, and humbling experience when seen through the eyes of faith.
Our somber prayerfulness in no way indicates that we are "spiritually
dead" (a common accusation) any more than a quiet moment watching your
child, marvelling at his existence, means you are not in love with that
child just because you're not running around and playing with him. The
once and for all Sacrifice at Calvary, which is what is re-presented at
the Mass, calls for awe, humility, and gratitude, not glee, giddiness,
"holy laughter," rocking-and-rolling, hand-clapping, roaring like
lions, etc.
Are some Catholics spiritually dead? Of course. Are some non-Catholics
spiritually dead? Of course. Let's pray for them. But let's not confuse
the worship of Almighty God with entertainment or with fellowship, for
which Catholics have
prayer groups, Bible Studies, youth groups, groups for seniors,
singles' groups, gatherings for charitable and social causes, and most
of all, families. And let's not confuse our emotions with our virtue.
Any Beatles concert could make a lot of girls faint and feel
"high," and a hit of Ecstasy or a line of cocaine can make you feel
warm-fuzzies. I'm sure we've all met those "happy drunks" who take a
drink and "love everyone." There's nothing wrong, of course, with
"emotional highs" (some Catholics get them all the time at Mass), but
we should never mistake our "feelings" for good theology or a
well-formed conscience. "Feeling good" is a great and welcome but
unecessary and potentially misleading phenomenon.
The rousing, "can't hear it and remain seated" Gospel music? Amen (as
long as the lyrics don't contradict the Faith)! What's more fun than
that? But not at the Mass, where we are at the foot of the Cross.
Lengthy talks by guest speakers filled with exuberant gestures, visual
aids, and such? Sure! But not at the Mass, where we are at the foot
of the Cross (and never from manifest heretics posing as
"Catholics" or leaders thereof).
Dancing in honor of God? Casual, laid-back "fellowshipping" atmosphere?
At a party, yes, but not at the Mass, where we are at the foot of
the Cross.
... the Mass itself must remain not only sacred, beautiful, reverent,
but in line with the liturgical heritage given to us by the faithful
Hebrews and Church Fathers, its sacred purposes given to us by Christ,
its secondary catechetical effects, and Natural Law. It must always be
remembered that at the Mass, we are at the foot of the Cross!
In addition, it must be remembered that it has always been traditional Catholic
worship (as opposed to post-Vatican II, Protestantized craziness) that
is replete with profound, emotion-provoking details. While, now,
evangelicals are flocking to see Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the
Christ" and having intense emotional reactions (a wonderful thing), we
Catholics have always meditated on His Passion (note: it is His Passion
and Blood that saves us, not His Resurrection alone). When we pray the
Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, when we make the Stations of the
Cross, that is what we are doing, and have been doing for two
millennia. We meditate on His Sacred Heart, full of love for mankind
and wounded by our sins. We meditate on His Incarnation and what it
means for the dignity of man. We meditate on the hopelesness of life
without Him during our Tenebrae services before Easter time -- and all
in emotionally moving ways. There is no moment more glorious and joyous
than the unveiling of the icons and ringing of the bells at the Easter
Vigil, when we commemorate Christ's Resurrection.
Prosperity Gospel
We absolutely reject the idea that if you're a "real Christian," then
you will be rich, successful, healthy, good-looking, or otherwise
materially blessed. The "Beatitudes" (Matthew 5:3-10) tell us that
those who are poor in spirit, are meek, mourn, hunger and thirst after
justice, and suffer persecution for the sake of justice are blessed.
God is not a vending machine; He should not be treated as one. It is
His Will, not ours, that we should seek (see Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke
11:2-4).
Neo-Gnosticism
We reject Puritanism and its ideas that flesh is evil and
that God's creation is not a gift to be gratefully enjoyed to our true
benefit. We regard nature, though broken, as almost sacramental -- a
visible sign of His glory, and we regard all that is true and beautiful
as pointing straight to our Lord. Our churches that we adorn with icons
and/or statues of Christ, His Mother and the other Saints, in no way,
shape, or form indicate that orthodox Catholicism is "of the flesh" in
the sense of being wordly. We are not "of the world", but we are
obviously in the world. We are on earth, in time, made partly
of flesh. This is how God made us. He made matter and said it was good,
very good. But it is fallen.
Our regard for beauty and the created order, and our use of them to
help us meditate on the Holy is not what Catholicism is all about any
more than your new sofa, bedroom suite, and matching sheets are what
your home is all about. Your home is where you live. It is a place you
cherish. It is where your family is. You want it to be beautiful. It is
the same with our Catholic churches where, in the Tabernacle, in the
Holy of Holies, Christ is. We want them to be beautiful, too! (Exodus
25:18-22, Exodus 26:1, 1 Kings 6:23-28, Ezekiel 41:17-19, Revelation
5:8) [Read more about the use of statues and
icons and sacramentals]
The Church Today
The human element of the Church today is greatly confused and
under siege by the Evil One (the Church Herself, though, is and always
will be Holy, the spotless Bride of Christ, perfect in every way).
Since the French Revolution, our Popes have warned with greater
intensity that "impious men" have the destruction of the Church as
their goal. In 1907, Pope St. Pius X wrote an encyclical, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, which
described their actions and warned that those men were even then
to be sought not only among
the Church's open enemies; but, what is to be most dreaded and
deplored, in her very bosom, and are the more mischievous the less they
keep in the open. We allude, Venerable Brethren, to many who belong to
the Catholic laity, and, what is much more sad, to the ranks of the
priesthood itself, who, animated by a false zeal for the Church,
lacking the solid safeguards of philosophy and theology, nay more,
thoroughly imbued with the poisonous doctrines taught by the enemies of
the Church, and lost to all sense of modesty, put themselves forward as
reformers of the Church; and, forming more boldly into line of attack,
assail all that is most sacred in the work of Christ, not sparing even
the Person of the Divine Redeemer...
Encyclical after Encyclical warned about Freemasonry and its
goal of destroying Christendom and replacing it with man-centered
government and Satanic religion filled with errors.
The ambiguities and typical interpretations of the Second Vatican
Council (1962-1965) was the triumph of these evil-doers. Though it was
a non-dogmatic, pastoral Council which produced mostly fallible
documents and taught no solemn teachings that Catholics must believe as
an article of the Faith (see Pope John
XXIII's Opening Address), its documents are marked by ambiguity
which was later used by liberals to twist Church teaching and destroy
the liturgy and traditional practices in the institutional Church. Most
Catholics have followed these liberals blindly out of a false sense of
obedience. If you become Catholic today, you must study
pre-conciliar catechisms and encyclicals, come to a very clear
understanding of what is and isn't infallible, get a clear notion of
true obedience as opposed to false and blind obedience, and know the
true definition of schism. Without these tools, you will be lost and
utterly confused as to what is Catholic and what isn't because, even at
the very highest levels, our hierarchs are misleading us and heading
toward apostasy.
Know, despite the profusion of bad Bishops and priests, and the
weakness and often bad example of even the Holy Father himself, that
what the Church has always taught for 2,000 years is still true, that
the gates of Hell will never prevail, and that the Church exists
wherever validly ordained priests, the true Faith, the true Sacraments,
the true Sacrifice, and holy submission to the legitimate successor of
Peter are found (this is as opposed to unholy submission to the
Pontiff).
Sadly, the chances are good that this won't be at your nearest
Catholic parish. If you become Catholic, prepare to deal with confusion
at first, and dissonance between what is presented as Catholic
teaching and what you learn is Catholic teaching. The author of
confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) has entered the sanctuary of the Temple
of God, to paraphrase Pope Paul VI. Prepare to suffer, often -- even
especially -- at the hands of those who also call themselves
"Catholic," including those in positions of authority. Prepare to spend
time trying to find a place of worship where the ancient Mass and all
the Sacraments are offered in the traditional way by a validly
ordained priest, and the Faith is presented in its entirety,
something that might require some travel. [For more on traditional
Catholicism as opposed to what is often misunderstood to be
Catholicism, see Traditional
Catholicism 101: A Brief Primer]
God bless all who read this, and may He lead us to all Truth.
Defense of Catholicism
Index
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