Keep
your eyes open!...
July 31, 2023
(Joh 10:10) The thief cometh not, but
for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they may have
life and may have it more abundantly.
“Who
is whispering in your ear that you are not forgiven? It cannot be
Jesus! He died on the Cross for your sins. He has forgiven you! He
wants you to receive that forgiveness and healing!”
FATHER MIKE SCHMITZ: Why Is It So Hard to Forgive Yourself?
REGINA PROPHETARUM SERMON SERIES: Forgiveness
THE DIVINE MERCY: How Can We Learn to Forgive Ourselves?
Q:
I am 72, and while I am trying to live in the present moment, I am
having a great deal of difficulty forgiving myself for past
transgressions. Is there a Divine Mercy source that might be helpful to
me?
A:
I am tempted to respond to this tender and sensitive person, thusly:
"Not only is there a Divine Mercy source that can help you, but only
The Divine Mercy can help you. And He definitely will!
The lady who wrote this letter is
not alone. Many of us are morally and spiritually frustrated with
ourselves. Perhaps we are not making as much progress as we had hoped
in overcoming some of our besetting sins. Others of us, looking back on
our lives, see so many compromises, so many ways we let others down and
let ourselves down.
The past can't be erased. Moreover,
our past performance does not give us much hope that we shall do much
better in the future. And many of us have committed horrible sins, the
memory of which continue to haunts us. We may think, "What a loser I
am; what a disappointment I am. And if I am such a disappointment to
myself, how much more so to our Lord Jesus! Can He really forgive me
for all this? Can He really ever say to me those words in the gospel
that He promised He would say to those who enter heaven: 'Well done,
good and faithful servant' (Mt 24:21)?"
First point: if that is how you
feel, then welcome to the human race. The fact is, according to God's
standard of perfect human goodness, except for Jesus Himself, and she
who was full of grace, His mother Mary, all of us are losers, all of us
fall short, all of us are a big disappointment and are unworthy of
forgiveness. Everyone. Anyone who thinks otherwise is lying to himself
(see I Jn 1:8).
Second point: our Lord does not
love us because we are good; rather, we can be good because He first
loves us (I Jn 4:19). His love is a free gift: just because He made us,
and bought us with His own blood on the Cross.
We don't have to try to earn His
love. All we need to do is receive it and let Him love us more and
more. As Fr. George Kosicki, a great Divine Mercy evangelist, likes to
say, the rays on the image of The Divine Mercy are always pouring out
toward us. We don't have to do anything to make that happen. There is
no "on/off" button for the rays on the Image - they are always on! In a
section of her Diary entitled "Conversation of the Merciful God with a
Sinful Soul," Jesus said to St. Faustina:
Be not afraid of
your Savior, O sinful soul. I make the first move to come to you, for I
know that by yourself you are unable to lift yourself to Me. Child, do
not run away from your Father; be willing to talk openly with your God
of mercy who wants to speak words of pardon and lavish his graces on
you. How dear your soul is to Me! I have inscribed your name upon my
hand; you are engraved as a deep wound in My Heart. ...
My mercy is greater than your sins
and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of My
goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed
myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let my Sacred Heart be
pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you.
Come then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject
a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My
Mercy. Do not argue with Me about your wretchedness. You will give me
pleasure if you hand over to me all your troubles and griefs. I shall
heap upon you treasures of My grace (Diary, 1485).
If we have a Savior who loves us
that much: who made us, who cancelled our debt of sin with His own
blood on the Cross, who says we are "engraved" deeply in His Heart
right now, who promises that He "never" rejects a contrite heart (and
we must be contrite if our sentiments are like those of the "first
point," above!), and if He tells us that we even rejoice His Heart now
and give Him "pleasure" when we entrust to Him all our doubts and all
our miseries - if all that is true (and it certainly is, because the
Bible says so, and the Catholic Church says so), then what reason can
we possibly cling to for doubting that Jesus forgives us?
After all, Jesus has a lot tougher
cases than us to deal with! After all, we are contrite for our sins and
have gone to confession. Think of the vast multitudes that grieve His
Heart that are not sorry in the least for their sins and their betrayal
of His love. He loves these souls, too, and yet they are marching
blindly to perdition!
So if Jesus - the Son of God, the
Good Shepherd, the Savior of the world - can forgive us, what reason
can we possibly give for not forgiving ourselves? All such reasons
vanish away. His mercy is an infinite "ocean" (Diary, 718). Our finite
little sins are barely a drop compared to that ocean. By His love, He
plunges contrite souls into that ocean of mercy and washes every stain
of sin away.
Of course, our memories can still
trouble us. We shudder sometimes when we think of the sins we have
committed. Sometimes it seems as if our memory is poisoned and needs
healing. It's true. That is an after-effect of sin. So entrust that to
Him, too, every day. Ask Him to heal your memories on your road to
heaven. And He will. Sometimes He will do so all at once; sometimes
slowly and gradually. Just resolve that every time you remember those
past sins that make you wince - those sins that have already been dealt
with in confession - you will entrust the sad memories of those sins to
His healing mercy.
Sometimes we think, "But look at
all the upset and misery that my sins caused other people, and most of
this I can never set right." That's right. Most of it we can never set
right ourselves. But HE can, and He will if we ask Him. "In everything
God works for good with those who love Him" (Rom 8:28). Even if we do
not see how He brings all things around to serve His plan, we can trust
that He will accomplish it.
We will not always feel forgiven.
Remember that our feelings can depend on many factors other than
spiritual ones. For example, our health or our level of fatigue or
stress. As North Americans, we put a great deal of emphasis on feelings
(probably too much), and therefore, if we don't "feel" forgiven, we
tend to wonder whether we really are.
But where does the Bible say that
God only forgives those who feel forgiven? And did you ever hear a
priest in the confessional say: "And I absolve you of your sins in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, just so long
as you feel forgiven"?
Of course not! Jesus Christ's
forgiveness is a free gift and a fact; it's not a feeling. If you have
trouble feeling forgiven, here is a remedy that may help. First, take
very good care of your health and get plenty of rest. Second, don't
think about your own feelings. Just think about Jesus' feelings about
you. In Diary entries 1487 and 1489, we can read Jesus' feelings about
each of us:
What joy fills My
Heart when you return to Me. Because you are weak, I take you in My
arms and carry you to the home of My Father. ... In a soul that lives
on my love alone, I reign as in heaven. I watch over it day and night.
In it I find my happiness.
A Prayer for Forgiving Yourself
Dear Lord, I come before you humbly today asking you to help me forgive
myself. I have looked back on my past way too long. And I am tired of
feeling like I could have done better every single day. To be honest,
when I think this way a part of me knows that it is right. I really
could have made better choices, but I cannot go back and change it. The
only thing I am in control of now is my future. I cannot live life
backward. Lord, right now I release all my anxiety into your hands. It
is not your will that I hate myself for all the things that I have
done. Lord, when I hate myself, I hate the very thing that you have
created. I must know that is a sin.
Not only do I pray for myself but I also pray for other people that are
struggling with forgiving themselves. Unforgiveness can make you feel
so insecure. Help them accept themselves for their shortcomings because
your Holy Word states: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God” (Romans 3:23).
Lord, as you cleanse and purify our hearts from unforgiveness help us
understand that “all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all
our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). God,
imperfection is a considerable part of our earthly nature. Help us
accept our flaws and know that you love us in spite of them. In Jesus
name, Amen.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Nothing Done For Show
23. A hermit said, 'If a man prepares for the next day, it cuts away the fruit of his spirit and leaves him dry.'
July 26, 2023
(2Pe 3:14-18) Wherefore, dearly beloved, waiting for these things, be
diligent that you may be found before him unspotted and blameless in
peace. And account the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation: as also
our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath
written to you: As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these
things; in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the
unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to
their own destruction. You therefore, brethren, knowing these things
before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise, you
fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both
now and unto the day of eternity, Amen.
CARDINAL SARAH:
“If God is not at the center of the Church’s life, then she is in
danger of death,” the Church is “currently experiencing a Good Friday,”
but adding that “Christ's victory always comes through the Cross.”
A Message From Our Lady - Akita, Japan (10/1973):
"The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a
way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against
bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by
their confreres...churches and altars sacked;
the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon
will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of
the Lord.
"The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to
God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my
sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no
longer pardon for them."
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: The need for clarity in a time of moral and doctrinal ambiguity
PROFESSOR RIST: The Catholic Church Could Be Facing a Crisis Worse Than the Arian Controversy of the 4th Century
DAILY COMPASS REFLECTION: God, not man will save the Church
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: The Church's ultimate trial
675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final
trial that will shake the faith of many believers.574 The persecution
that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth575 will unveil the "mystery of
iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent
solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The
supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a
pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of
his Messiah come in the flesh.576
676 The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the
world every time the claim is made to realize within history that
messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the
eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of
this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of
millenarianism,577 especially the "intrinsically perverse" political
form of a secular messianism.578
677 The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this
final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and
Resurrection.579 The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic
triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by
God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his
Bride to come down from heaven.580 God's triumph over the revolt of
evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic
upheaval of this passing world.581
BLOG: Finding rest everywhere
Surely it is a great mistake when
good and pious people especially think it is not possible to maintain
inward peace amid bustle and external disturbance. What can be more
constantly restless than the ocean? No ship resting on its bosom is
ever still for a moment, yet we can eat and sleep as usual on board.
The man who refers every action to God and has His glory as his only
aim will find rest everywhere, even amid the most turbulent commotion.
I have been puzzled when I hear of
men who, having dedicated themselves to God, complain because they are
called into many active duties, which they label “great distractions.”
But is any occupation really distracting, save those which separate us
from God? Yet only sin can do that. No lawful occupation separates us
from Him; indeed, it is a means for closer union. This may be said of
all callings, physicians, lawyers, merchants, artisans—every kind of
rightful calling may be directed to the glory of God amid the most
violent conditions.
As François [St Francis de Sales]
once said: “Let us belong wholly to God, even amid the tumult and
worries involved in the diversity of human affairs. What better proof
can we give of our fidelity than perseverance amid such contradictions.
Alas! solitude has its great trials, as the world has its worries and
disorder. Nevertheless, we must be of good cheer no matter where we
are, remembering that God’s help is always accessible to those who
trust in Him.”
“Inward Peace amid the
Commotion of the World.” -Bishop Jean-Pierre Camus (1584–1652), who was a close
personal friend of St. Francis de Sales and was consecrated bishop by
him in 1609.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Nothing Done For Show
20. She also said, 'The same thing cannot at once be seed and a
full-grown bush. So men with a worldly reputation cannot bear heavenly
fruit.'
July 24, 2023
(Pro 6:16-19)
Six things there are, which the Lord hateth, and the seventh his soul
detesteth: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent
blood, A heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are swift to run
into mischief, A deceitful witness that uttereth lies, and him that
soweth discord among brethren.
VICTIMS OF ABORTION NEWSLETTER: Broken Branches Issue 156
MARIAFORLIFE.ORG: “Defenders of God’s Precious Infants” Lay Sodality
THE CATHOLIC TIMES: Pregnancy centers support new moms in choosing life
BISHOP EARL FERNANDES: Defending human life remains a moral issue and not a political one
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In May, all priests in every parish and Diocese in Ohio were asked to
make known the position of the Ohio Catholic Conference regarding the
upcoming November ballot initiative to remove any restrictions on
abortion in the state of Ohio. The amendment attacks the fundamental
understanding of the human person, made in God’s image and likeness;
undermines a fundamental anthropology; removes rights from parents;
could potentially jeopardize the conscience rights of medical
professionals; and represents an assault on human life and the human
family. Once more, I urge all Catholics to register to vote and to vote
No on the proposed amendment in November.
Upon hearing the priests preach on this issue, I received a number of
letters stating that the Church should not be involved in politics and
that the church should not speak on these types of political issues.
The issue of abortion is a fundamental moral issue, touching upon
issues vital not only to our lives as Catholics (and the lives of
vulnerable, unborn children) but also to the common good. Moral issues
are routinely addressed from our pulpits, and preaching about these
moral issues serves to inform our consciences more fully so that we may
participate in the political process to build a culture of life and to
defend the weak and the vulnerable.
In his encyclical letter The Gospel of Life, St. John Paul II wrote,
“What is urgently called for is a general mobilization of consciences
and a united ethical effort to activate a great campaign in support of
life. All together we must build a culture of life.” (EV, 95)
The saintly Pontiff also reminded us that “The first and fundamental
step towards this cultural transformation consists informing
consciences with regard to the incomparable and inviolable worth of
every human life. It is of the greatest importance to re-establish the
essential connection between life and freedom. These are inseparable
goods: where one is violated, the other also ends up being violated.”
(EV, 96)
Some of the letters said that priests said that if one does not vote
“No” in November one commits a mortal sin, and that the Church should
not be telling people how to vote. Is this the case? As a moral
theologian, I can say that one commits a mortal sin, when there is
grave matter involved; when one knows the Church’s teaching or the
truth of the matter; and one freely chooses the evil anyway. How you
vote is a matter of your conscience and will involve your freedom;
however, conscience is informed by Scripture, Tradition; the
Magisterium of the Church; and reason. Each person bears moral
responsibility for his or her vote.
As Chief Shepherd of the Diocese of Columbus, I must state that we
cannot remain indifferent to the plight of the unborn. One need only
think of the parables of the Good Samaritan, the Rich Man and Lazarus;
or the Last Judgment; nor can we, as Catholics, remain silent in the
face of grave injustice. Others objected that in the United States,
there is a separation between church and state. Although the
Constitution ensures separation of church and state, that is largely to
prevent the government from intruding into religious affairs and to
prevent religious groups from running the government. It does not mean
that Catholics and other religious groups should keep their faith
private, nor does it mean that they should not be involved in the
political process to shape a better civilization and to promote the
common good. In fact, because God has so blessed us, we have perhaps an
even greater responsibility toward our brothers and sisters, born and
unborn.
I encourage all the faithful not only to pray for an end to abortion
but to use your freedom, through the political process, to help build a
culture of life, in which every person is valued, cared for, and
respected. No matter how the election goes in November, we as Catholics
have a duty to defend the rights of unborn children and to continue to
accompany women and their children, putting our faith into action.
May the Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer, and St. Joseph, the
Protector of the Holy Family, assist us in our vocation to be a People
of Life!
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Nothing Done For Show
19. Syncletica said, 'An open treasury is quickly spent; any virtue
will be lost if it is published abroad and is known about everywhere.
If you put wax in front of a fire it melts; and if you pour vain
praises on the soul it goes soft and weak in seeking goodness.'
July 21, 2023
(Joh 20:21-23) He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the
Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he
breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose
sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you
shall retain, they are retained.
CATHOLIC EXCHANGE: Confess Your Sins While You Still Can
BOOK LINK: A Contemporary Adult Guide to Conscience for the Sacrament of Confession
FATHER V (Twitter):
While I think it is wonderful that the American bishops have launched a
'Eucharistic Revival', I also think it should have been preceded by a
year focusing upon the Sacrament of Penance. It was St. John Paul II
who emphasized the connection between the two sacraments: "The two
sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance are very closely connected.
Because the Eucharist makes present the redeeming sacrifice of the
Cross, perpetuating it sacramentally, it naturally gives rise to a
continuous need for conversion, for a personal response to the appeal
made by St. Paul to the Christians of Corinth: 'We beseech you on
behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God' (II Cor 5:20). If a Christian's
conscience is burdened by serious sin, then the path of penance through
the sacrament of Reconciliation becomes necessary for full
participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice" (Ecclesia de Eucharistia,
n. 37).
My thoughts:
1) The truth is that many folks have not been sufficiently catechized
that the sole purpose of confession is to accuse oneself of specific
sins for the purpose of obtaining the Lord’s forgiveness. Penance is
the Tribunal of God’s Mercy: the penitent is their own accuser and
witness, the priest the judge. What are the judgments made by the
priest?
a) Is what the person confessing actually a sin?
b) If a sin, is it mortal or venial?
c) Is the penitent properly disposed (contrite/purposed to amend)? If
the penitent is disposed properly, the ‘sentence’ is always one of
forgiveness.
2) Confession is not a social encounter between priest and penitent,
but rather between Our Lord (who the priest represents) and the
penitent. If the Sacrament is allowed to digress into a social
encounter, blame the priest, not the penitent.
3) One should confess sins according to kind and number. No need for
story telling. If the priest needs to clarify what you have confessed,
he will ask. Otherwise, assume you were perfectly clear. The burden is
on the priest for any needed clarification.
4) One of the functions of the priest in the confession is that of
physician, so there is a degree of spiritual direction when the
Sacrament is celebrated. However, that direction is confined to what
has been confessed, and is not meant to be time intensive and holistic.
One should arrange to meet privately with a priest for ongoing
intensive spiritual direction.
5) If someone is in confession for a prolonged period, please resist
the temptation to impatience or judgment. There are many circumstances
which can contribute to a prolonged confession. The priest is certainly
mindful that other penitents are anxiously waiting!
St. Raphael Kalinowski:
As the raging sea seems to feel displeasure at all that pollutes it,
and desires to expel from itself anything foreign, so that the beauty
of the mysteries it holds might appear to view in all clarity, so the
soul does not tolerate anything within itself unless it is of God or
leads to God; approaching confession from the abyss of her misery, she
casts off everything, desiring to preserve in herself only the image of
God according to which she was created, to look only at him and to
rejoice only in him.
In her love-filled tears she receives
a shower of graces that descend from the wounds of her Savior. The
misery of sin makes way for grace, the thorns become roses, and even
the very poison of sin changes into an antidote for the soul. Here are
the fruits of a good confession: it purifies, heals, fortifies, and
beautifies the soul.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Nothing Done For Show
16. Ammon (of the place called Raithu) brought this question to Sisois:
'When I read Scripture, I am tempted to make elaborate commentaries and
prepare myself to answer questions on it. ' He replied, 'You
don't need to do that. It is better to speak simply, with a good
conscience and a pure mind.'
July 19, 2023
(Mat 18:5-6) And he that shall receive one such little child in my
name, receiveth me. But he that shall scandalize one of these little
ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should
be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of
the sea.
MARK MALLET BLOG: Babylon Now
HUMAN LIFE INTERNATIONAL: “Sound of Freedom” Exposing the Violence of Human Trafficking
DENVER CATHOLIC: Film Review: Sound of Freedom sheds light on scourge of child sex trafficking
Of all the evils that exist in the
world, those that involve harming children are among the most grave.
Tragically, the multi-billion dollar global child sex trafficking
industry does this to millions of children each year, and still somehow
flies under the radar of most mainstream media narratives.
Perhaps the most distressing part
of this is none of us are very far removed from it. The State of
Colorado is actually well-known as a hub for child sex trafficking due
to the major highways that run through the cities. While it’s easy for
the average person to feel helpless in making any kind of difference,
the first step to combatting this travesty is awareness. Thankfully,
the new film Sound of Freedom has stepped into the cultural spotlight
to help bring more awareness to one of the most prevalent issues of our
time.
Based on true events, the film
stars Jim Caviezel of Passion of the Christ fame who portrays real-life
pedophile hunter Tim Ballard, a Mormon husband and father of six
children. Several years back, some media outlets told the story of how
Ballard quit his job as a federal agent to execute rogue missions to
different parts of the world and rescue children from sex traffickers.
After five years of trying to get a wide release, rights to the movie
were finally acquired by Angel Studios, best known for producing The
Chosen streaming series, and it earned over $40 million during its
opening week.
Aside from Ballard’s own incredible
story, the narrative heart of the film lies with a Colombian father and
his two children, who are lured into a child sex trafficking ring by a
mysterious woman posing as a child modeling agent. The film follows
Rocio and her younger brother Miguel, beautifully portrayed by Cristal
Aparicio and Lucás Ávila, who are kidnapped and subjected to terrors
that nobody — let alone any child — should ever be. The film is not
necessarily graphic in its depiction of what these children have to
endure, but its suggestive enough to warrant a reaction of heartbreak —
and even righteous anger.
The film plays out like a real-life
Indiana Jones meets Mission Impossible, albeit there are no mystical
undead villains or death-defying jumps off of skyscrapers to be found
here. This is a story that’s grounded in reality, making it all the
more powerful in its humanization of the characters. Admittedly, some
parts of the movie fall into cheeseball territory, but it’s
surprisingly immune from some of the tropes that plague many
“Christian” movies. Caviezel gives a great performance as Ballard, but
the performances of Rocio and Miguel are what truly keep the human
element alive in the movie, putting faces to the real victims who fall
prey to this evil every day.
As to be expected, the events
depicted in Sound of Freedom are highly dramatized. The reality of sex
trafficking is even more dire than what’s shown in the movie. Many
times, victims are not in a psychological state to even be rescued in
the same way they are in the film — yet another devastating byproduct
of the severe mental and spiritual destruction that victims undergo.
Bearing this in mind, if the goal of Sound of Freedom is to give even a
small glimpse into this dark underworld and move hearts to do something
about it, then it succeeds.
As the credits roll, Caviezel
appears for a special message to explain the many obstacles that kept
Sound of Freedom from a wider release until now and declares the film
as the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin of 21st century slavery.” While only time
will tell whether that analogy is warranted, it goes without saying
that a film like Sound of Freedom, which sheds much-needed light on the
oft-ignored scourge of child sex trafficking, is one that’s worthy of
being made — and certainly one that’s worth seeing.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Nothing Done For Show
14. Poemen also said, 'Teach your heart to follow what your tongue is
saying to others.' He also said, 'Men try to appear excellent in
preaching but they are less excellent in practicing what they preach.'
July 17, 2023
(1Jn 2:18-19) Little children, it is the last hour: and as you
have heard that Antichrist cometh, even now there are become many
Antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out
from us but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would
no doubt have remained with us: but that they may be manifest, that
they are not all of us.
FR. MARK GORING, CC: God Sends Messengers
YOUTUBE: Today, many church leaders are confirming people in their Sin - St Peter & St Paul NEVER did that!
CRISIS MAGAZINE: Does Jesus Love You Just the Way You Are?
BLOG: Translated speech for the Bornholm conference by Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
DEAR FRIENDS, allow me to thank the organizers of this conference and to greet all the participants.
Your presence and sharing the alarm
about the global coup – together with many other groups and movements
around the world – must be a source of great consolation for all of us,
because it means that the assault we are witnessing finds a firm and
determined opposition that is not willing to let the criminal plan of
the servants of the World Economic Forum be imposed.
You have had the opportunity to
listen to other interventions, in which it was explained to you in a
comprehensive way how this coup d'état was hatched over time, who its
authors are and what are the goals they set for themselves.
Over the past three years, I myself
have repeatedly denounced the instrumental use of the pandemic farce
and of mass vaccination as an experiment in social engineering, through
which not only to pathologize the world population after having
exterminated a part of it, but also create the conditions for a
capillary control of every human activity.
This control serves to make social
credit possible, already in force in the Chinese communist
dictatorship: through this system, citizens are subjected to an
evaluation of their "virtuous" behavior, being rewarded or punished
according to their obedience.
And this, as we know, can only
happen where every person can be traced in all his actions, including
payments and financial transactions.
It matters little that the rewards
and punishments concern compliance with the lockdowns, having received
the so-called "vaccine", the expression of one's thoughts on social
media or the alleged carbon dioxide impact of our consumption: the
controller wants to be able to force us with coercive means to obey his
orders, regardless of whether what he asks of us is reasonable or
justified.
The green pass that we recently
experienced was the general test of the digital identity that the
European Union wants to impose on all its citizens; a digital identity
that will be linked to our current account, health record, our internet
activity, the purchases we make.
We have to recognize that the
architects of this coup have proved to be extremely organized, and on
the other hand we must also admit that the reaction to this progressive
encirclement has been slow and fragmented.
On the other hand, it is precisely
by keeping us divided that our enemy — because he is such — succeeds in
making us weak and in preventing the formation of an opposition
movement.
He must prevent the coordination of
the protest, the visibility of dissenting voices, the dissemination of
arguments that disavow the mainstream narrative.
I address you as Catholic Bishop and former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America.
My main task, as a Pastor, is to
defend the Truth, which is an attribute of God, against the lie of the
one who has been a liar and a murderer from the beginning.
But in this case, dear friends, the
attack of the elite affects not only the foundations of Religion, but
the very essence of our being, our freedom, our free will and nature
itself.
It is a war against God and against man.
A war in which a group of
subversives want to restart the world — this is the great reset they
are talking about — by resetting Creation and deleting everything in it
that recalls the wise hand of the Creator and above all the total
gratuitousness of his work.
Everything that the globalist elite
accomplishes is in view of two goals, one ideological (I would say
almost theological) and one material.
The ideological aim is to enslave
us, depriving us of the freedom to do good and forcing us by blackmail
or threat to do evil, or even just to tolerate that others do it.
The material aim is to concentrate
wealth in the hands of a few financial groups, which thanks to these
profits can actively cooperate in the realization of the first
objective.
You can have confirmation of this
by observing how in recent years everything has been transformed into a
source of profit: birth, with surrogate motherhood and artificial
insemination; death, with abortion and euthanasia; life, with
vaccinations, gender transition, the commodification of sex.
All that the Lord has given us freely and with God-worthy magnificence has turned into money.
They make us pay for good things,
because they are expensive to be difficult to practice; and the bad
ones, because we pay the price for our sins to those who offer them to
us as a way of life.
They make us pay for what until
yesterday was unthinkable could be traded: air, water, sunlight,
nature, health, even friendships and love.
And what's worse, this
commodification is a colossal fraud, because it is based on a lie that
many seem to want to believe: that things necessarily have a price,
that there is nothing that can be given for free.
My appeal to all of you today is
that you may understand that the only infallible way to get out of this
infernal labyrinth is to strike at the root of the globalist evil on
the very two fronts I mentioned earlier: the ideological and the
economic; on the contrary, perhaps the first to hit is the economic
one, because it is what guarantees the means of subsistence to this
perverse system.
But to do so, it is necessary to
unite in an anti-globalist alliance, contributing — each with its own
means — to an action of resistance and denunciation of the coup.
From many parts of the world, the
response to my appeal for the Anti-globalist Alliance is attracting
great interest, because if we can unite and organize an opposition we
can really achieve concrete results.
On the one hand, the refutation of
the programmatic points of the 2030 Agenda, the formulation of credible
alternative proposals that respect natural law and the denunciation of
subversives.
On the other, the boycott of the
multinationals engaged in the promotion of globalism and the support of
all those realities that oppose it.
If each of us did not buy products
from companies aligned with the World Economic Forum, it would be
possible to give a strong signal that would hardly be ignored.
And if, at the same time, we
concretely help the local shop, the artisan of our neighborhood, the
farmer and breeder of our area, we would create a network of resistance
that could stand together and oppose the implementation of the
globalist agenda.
We are millions, indeed: billions of people.
And even though we have been
disorganized up to now due to the media's deliberate falsification of
the comparison, we still have the opportunity to fight back.
Together: to rediscover those
authentic human relationships that the dystopia of the New World Order
wants to eliminate because it considers them dangerous.
I therefore urge you to continue on the path you have taken, joining forces with clear and concrete objectives.
If you give a Christian soul to
this practical action, placing it under God's protection, the chances
of success will increase exponentially, because the omnipotence of the
Lord will be added to our poor human strength, who loves us and does
not abandon us in difficulty.
But to do so, dear friends, one
must choose to take sides: either on the side of the Children of Light,
or on the side of the children of darkness.
And being Children of the Light
means being good Christians, obeying God's Commandments, respecting the
sacredness and intangibility of life, defending the natural family and
the education of our children, preferring the gratuitousness and
generosity of Good to profit and calculation of who does evil.
We cannot hope that Our Lord will help us if we are the first to offend Him with our way of life.
In the Our Father prayer, Jesus
showed us the order of priorities: hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom
come, Your will be done are the main things, followed by the material
ones: give us today our daily bread, forgive our debts to us, lead us
not into temptation, deliver us from evil.
Sanctify the name of God, let him
reign in your hearts and in society, obey his holy law: the rest — free
of charge, like all things of God — will be given to us far beyond our
hope.
The Lord bless you all.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Nothing Done For Show
12. When Nesteros the Great was walking in the desert with a brother,
they saw a dragon and ran away. The brother said, 'Were you afraid,
abba?' Nesteros answered, 'I wasn't afraid, my son. But it was right to
run away from the dragon, otherwise I shoul have had to run away from
conceit.'
July 14, 2023
(1Co 1:22-24) For both the Jews require signs: and the Greeks seek
after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified: unto the Jews indeed a
stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness: But unto them that
are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the
wisdom of God.
CNA: Cardinal Sarah offers five ways to deal with ‘crisis of faith’ in the world
GLORIA DEI: The Official Site of His Excellency the Shepherd of Kazakhstan: Bishop Schneider
Episcopal Blessing to All Website Visitors
Every month I will celebrate a Holy Mass for all who visit Gloria Dei
website and for all who have written me a message and I will include
their specific intentions and requests, which they formulated to me, in
the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass.
In addition I will send every day a blessing to all who visit Gloria Dei website and to all who have written me.
United in the love for our holy Catholic Faith, united in our mighty
army of prayers and in the love for Jesus and Mary, the Mother of God
and our loving heavenly Mother, from all my heart I greet and bless
each of you.
BLOG: Theologian: Christ is the great absentee from Synodalist discourse
The Viennese Catholic dogmatist Jan-Heiner Tück sees the Catholic
Church in Germany in a massive crisis. "Things can hardly get worse for
the Catholic Church in Germany. More than half a million Catholics have
left in 2022," writes the theology professor at the University of
Vienna, who himself comes from Germany, in a guest commentary for the
daily newspaper "Presse" (Sunday). He sees reasons not only in the
outrage over sexual abuse by clerics and the cover-up by bishops, but
also in "secularisation thrusts and a crisis of faith that has been
smouldering for some time".
The wave of departures indicates a real "church meltdown", says Tück.
The theologian was convinced that society as a whole loses when the
church erodes. He referred to the Church's commitment in the areas of
education and care, but also to its clear position on the inviolability
of human dignity from the beginning of life to the end, which is
increasingly being eroded in secular societies in bioethical, legal and
political terms. He warned of an increasing loss of the "vertical
horizon", without which the view of the accelerated life worlds
threatens to become flat.
Church presence remains important "even if the wave of departures
continues and the Church becomes a qualified minority", Tück
emphasised. The Church counters the "pitiless treatment of
modernisation losers" by standing up for the weak. The Church counters
the "widespread accusatory furore to fixate others on their mistakes"
with a culture of forgiveness. "Humanity is threatened where grace is
lacking and people are reduced to their achievements. The social
temperature in society could become colder without the Church," the
theologian said.
The gap between church preaching and today's knowledge society has also
widened, he said. "Concepts like creation, sin, grace or redemption
have lost their orienting power," Tück wrote. Many have "settled into a
framework of immanence and live as if God does not exist". Finally,
there are financial reasons. "Why should one, when life becomes more
expensive, still pay church tax and pay compensation sums for which one
bears no responsibility?" was a justified question that many asked
themselves.
How the Church reacts to "this epochal dawn" is crucial, Tück said. In
its "ecclesiological narcissism and concern for securing power", the
Church had betrayed victims and in the process forgotten Christ, the
Crucified. "He is also the great absentee in many reform discourses,"
Tück said, probably alluding to the German reform process "Synodal
Path". The "dying churches, standing like defoliated trees in the
late-modern landscape" would only find new life, however, if they
recollected their centre and learned the lesson of self-circumcision.
"Only when they are pruned can new shoots grow.
MORE SYNODAL COMMENTARY
Church Up in Smoke. A Theological Critique of the Guidelines of the Synod on Synodality
Instrumentum Laboris or Instrumentum Deceptionis?
Synodality and the Spirit of Truth
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Nothing Done For Show
8. Another brother spoke with the same Theodore, and he began to talk
about matters of which he had noe experience. Theodore said to him,
'You've not yet found a ship to sail in, nor put your luggage aboard,
nor puto ot to sea, and you're already acting as if you were in the
city which you mean to reach. If you make some attempt to do the things
you are discussing, then you can talk about them with understanding.'
July 12, 2023
(Jas 4:7-8) Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil: and he
will fly from you. Draw nigh to God: and he will draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double
minded.
FATHER V TWEET: Three enemies which are a constant threat to our salvation
ALETEIA: Six powerful quotes from Padre Pio on facing the Devil
Jim McCrea: Resolving Evil in Eternity
Someone against the doctrine of divine providence states:
"God is not purifying a child who was burned, a soldier who was
dismembered, a woman who was raped. God is with them all as God was
with Jesus on the cross but we are human and we get sick or get
injured."
God is omnipotent. He can do all things. If God is all powerful, He can
prevent any or all of these things from happening. Since they do in
fact happen, we must conclude that God permits them. As St. Augustine
said, "Since God is the highest good, He would not allow any evil to
exist in His works, unless His omnipotence and goodness were such as to
bring good even out of evil."(Enchiridion xi). Many evils which are
possible, God in fact prevents. He strictly sets the bounds of evil in
this world (and in an individual person's life) as the shore sets the
bounds of the sea. If God did not have absolute control of what evils
occur, St. Paul's passage could not be realized. "He will not let you
be tested beyond your strength. Along with the test he will give you a
way out of it so that you may be able to endure it." (1 Cor. 10:13) and
"We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those
who love God and are called according to His decree." (Rom. 8:28).
Someone objects:
"God does not torture us [or allow it to be done] for some greater good. If God did, God is no God at all."
That assumes that God is on the same level as us, as simply a creature
who flows through time as we do, perceiving good and evil as we do.
God, however, is in eternity - that is, He is outside of time, seeing
all time at once. His entire life is in an immobile *now,* without past
or future. All is present to Him. That gives Him a radically different
and higher perspective that we have little notion of now.
It is within this perspective of eternity that evil is resolved. In
eternity, evil is transcended and transfigured, so the evil He allows
in time, becomes part of the good within eternity.
An analogy my help to explain this. Life on earth is good and evil. It
is a mixture of light and shadow. On earth, as we travel through time
in this life, we experience good and evil in succession. We experience
joy and pain in succession. We experience light and darkness in
succession. But in the eternal perspective in heaven, we will
experience this all at once. This is how God sees our lives, and how we
will see them in heaven. It is like a Rembrandt painting which is
beautiful because it has striking contrasts of light and dark. But we
must see the whole painting at once to appreciate that. An individual
region of darkness is a pure absence. It is a pure negation. And if
some being who was traveling across the painting (analogous to our
journey through life) happened to be situated over a region of
darkness, it would probably experience suffering due to the negative
nature of that region. It is only after that creature had "died" and
could see the whole painting at once, will those regions of darkness
which caused pain previously, be a source of joy.
We can provide some practical examples. An ancient and venerable
artifact may be weathered and worn by time. That state of being
weathered and worn is an ontological evil because it takes away from
the integrity of its being. But given the context of its antiquity and
its "enduring" through time, that state of being weathered and worn
actually adds to its beauty and charm. That beauty and charm is only
there because we, in some way, understand the entire temporal duration
of the artifact.
When a person grows older, certain distortions occur on the face
because the body due to age, can no longer maintain its proper form.
This is an ontological evil because it is the absence of ideal form.
However, it contributes to the good on another level because it may
denote wisdom that the person has acquired by living a long life. So
this ontological evil contributes to the good, actually adding charm
and beauty on the spiritual level. This is possible by only taking into
account the person's life "all at once," with the necessary phases of
youth, middle age, and old age.
Consider the example of St. Therese. The tuberculosis she suffered near
the end of her life which ended her life was an evil in itself. But
considering her life as a whole, her sainthood would have been less
beautiful without it.
Finally, Christ's passion was evil in itself, but God's plan overall has much more goodness and beauty with it included.
Only in eternity will evil be resolved in this way, and what caused the
greatest pain on earth, will be the occasion for the greatest joy in
heaven. In a sense, we will bring our wounds to heaven, but they will
be glorious and not painful.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Nothing Done For Show
6. Once a brother came to Theodore
of Pherme, and spent three days asking him for advice. Theodore did not
answer, and he went sadly away. So Theodore's disciple asked him,
'Abba, why didn't you speak to him? Look, he has gone away sad.' He
replied, 'As a matter of fact, I said nothing to him because he's only
interested in getting credit by repeating what others have said to him.'
July 10, 2023
(Mat
11:28-30) Come to me all you that labor and are burdened, and I will
refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am
meek, and humble of heart: And you shall find rest to your souls. For
my yoke is sweet and my burden light.
FR. MARK GORING, CC: 3 DAY "SHOCK & AWE" Challenge
CRISIS MAGAZINE ARCHIVES: Meekness: The Third Lively Virtue
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT: My yoke is easy, my burden light
Father V:
“The just man falls seven times,” (Prov. 24:16) says the Book of
Proverbs. Unfortunately, we have all experienced how true this is. “If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” (Cf. 1 John 1:8)
We fall often in many ways - in thought, in speech, in action, and by
omission. Sometimes we fall in a moment of weakness or of impatience;
at other times we sin by an act of premeditated malice. “Watch and
pray,” Our Lord warns us, “that you may not enter into temptation.”
(Mt. 26:41)
Our Lord also said that we “must always pray and not lose heart.” (Luke
18:1) In other words, we should have a spirit of prayer which is based
on the love of God and keeps us close to Him. It is only when we are
united to God that temptations cannot hurt us and we are protected by
His grace from falling into deliberate sin.
It is idle to protest that this would require the virtue of an
anchorite, and that we are entangled in all kinds of other business.
Virtue is necessary for everybody, not only for anchorites. “The
kingdom of heaven has been enduring violent assault, and the violent
have been seizing it by force.” (Mt. 11:12) In order to attain to the
kingdom of God, therefore, we have to do violence to our corrupted
nature. A life of solitude is not essential for prayer, however. One
can be busy from morning till night and pray continuously, so that his
work is offered to God and done for the love of God. In this way work
becomes prayer and will save us from falling into sin.
When we realise that we have fallen, what should we do about it? We
must avoid two extreme and opposing kinds of reaction - hardness of
heart, and an excessive anxiety which might lead to discouragement and
loss of confidence in God's infinite mercy. Above all, we must avoid
hardness of heart, and that accompanying state of indifference which
causes us to become immersed in sin. Let us hope that we shall never
foolishly boast: “I have sinned, yet what has befallen me? for the Lord
bides his time. Of forgiveness be not over-confident, adding sin upon
sin.” (Ecclus. 5:4-5) When we see that we have fallen into sin, let us
cry out at once like the prodigal son: “I will get up and go to my
Father.” (Luke 15:18) How unfortunate I am if I have lost the
friendship of God! But God is an infinitely merciful father and I must
throw myself into His arms and implore His forgiveness. When we have
sinned, a good confession will give us God's forgiveness and peace of
soul.
The second extreme to be avoided is discouragement, which can lead us
to despair as Judas did. We know that God is entirely good and
merciful. We know that Jesus died on the Cross for our salvation. How
can we doubt that He will welcome us if we repent and return to Him?
No matter how grave and how numerous our sins may be, let us remember
that the mercy of God is infinite. Let us remember that He is waiting
for us, as his father waited for the prodigal son, and that He is
following us like a shepherd who is searching for his lost sheep. He
allowed us to fall in order to humble us and help us to realise that we
are incapable of doing anything good by ourselves. Let us go to Him
humbly and penitently, trusting He will give us the kiss of peace and
forgiveness.
—Antonio Cardinal Bacci
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Nothing Done For Show
5. Zeno (the disciple of Silvanus)
said, 'Never stay in a well-known place nor sit with a famous man, nor
lay a foundation on which you might sometime build yourself a cell.'
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