For the Greater Glory? Let's Ask Pope Leo XIII...

**SPOILER ALERT: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**

A few months ago, some friends began talking about a film that was being hyped in Catholic circles as a defense against the persecution of Catholics in Mexico in the early 20th Century. As an oft-labeled conspiracy theorist and believing strongly that the majority of the media (and especially Hollywood) rests firmly in the grip of Satan, I became suspicious of the agenda of a film alleged to promote the beauty of the institution which has been at odds with the devil for the last 2000 years.
After seeing the trailer for the film, the red flag officially triggered.

Before I get long-winded, let me say I give this film my endorsement. It is worth seeing.
Now that this is clear, I will continue...

First of all, the movie features A-list celebrities such as Andy Garcia (raised Catholic but certainly not known for his faith) and Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewife to Devout Catholic?). Knowing that "whosoever will be a friend of this world becometh an enemy of God (James 4:4)," one has to ask himself what value two actors who have climbed the ranks of modern cinema see in promoting a faith which preaches repentance and suffering over fame and fortune. One's hope would have been that this movie were acting as a transitional point helping to segue their careers into piety over promiscuity, but a cryptic line from Garcia during the film instead confirmed my initial fears.
When Garcia is initially solicited and consents to lead the Cristeros into battle, the head of a pack of rogue militants who had until that point been primarily responsible for the success against the Federales says to Garcia, "You're not even Catholic, why should we trust you?"
Garcia replies, "I may not be Catholic, but I believe in religious freedom."

Some members of the audience at my showing began to applaud. I, on the other hand, muttered to myself, "yep, that sounds about right."

I'll address below the problem with this and a few other lines from the movie.

"I BELIEVE IN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM"

The timing of the release of this film is worth noting as it came on the heels of the USCCB standing up to oppose the HHS Mandate and calling all American Catholics to a "Fortnight for Religious Freedom." What has yet to be explained to most American Catholics is that the Church has in fact been historically opposed to an absolute religious freedom which promotes religious pluralism and separation of Church and State. Is freedom to practice as one sees fit better than the alternative of being coerced, imprisoned and killed? Yes. But should it be the end goal at the heart of our prayers? Our Popes would say "no."

Pope Leo XIII - Libertas Praestantissimum

On the use that is made of liberty the highest good and the greatest evil alike depend...[Liberty was] purchased for us by Jesus Christ...Yet there are many who imagine that the Church is hostile to human liberty. Having a false and absurd notion as to what liberty is, either they pervert the very idea of freedom, or they extend it at their pleasure to many things in respect of which man cannot rightly be regarded as free...In treating of the so-called modern liberties...many cling so obstinately to their own opinion in this matter as to imagine these modern liberties, cankered as they are, to be the greatest glory of our age...When, [however], it is established that man's soul is immortal and endowed with reason and not bound up with things material, the foundation of natural liberty is at once most firmly laid.
...Freedom of choice is the property of will...judgment is an action of reason, not of the will. The end, or object, both of the rational will and of its liberty is that good only which is in conformity with reason. Since, however, both these faculties are imperfect, it is possible, as is often seen, that the reason should propose something which is not really good, but which has the appearance of good, and that the will should choose accordingly...the possibility of error, and actual error, are defects of the mind and...just as a disease is a proof of our vitality, [imply] defect in human liberty...
...the possibility of sinning is not freedom, but slavery...Even the heathen philosophers clearly recognized this truth, especially they who held that the wise man alone is free...the man trained to live in accordance with his nature, that is, in justice and virtue...Of the laws enacted by men, some are concerned with what is good or bad by its very nature...But such laws by no means derive their origin from civil society, because, just as civil society did not create human nature.
...the laws of men have not merely the force of human law, but they possess that higher and more august sanction which belongs to the law of nature and the eternal law...though nature commands all to contribute to the public peace and prosperity...[this contribution] must be determined by the wisdom of men...by reason and prudence...binding all citizens to work together for the attainment of the common end [of salvation and eternal life], forbidding them to depart from this end.
...the eternal law of God is the sole standard and rule of human liberty...therefore true liberty of human society does not consist in every man doing what he pleases, for this would simply end in turmoil and confusion.
...St. Augustine most wisely says: "I think that you can see...that there is nothing just and lawful in that temporal law, unless what men have gathered from this eternal law"...[which] supposes the necessity of obedience to some supreme and eternal law, which is no other than the authority of God.
...Lawful power is from God. But many there are who follow in the footsteps of Lucifer, and adopt as their own his rebellious cry, "I will not serve"; and consequently substitute for true liberty what is sheer and most foolish license.
...What naturalists or rationalists aim at in philosophy, that the supporters of liberalism, carrying out the principles laid down by naturalism, are attempting in the domain of morality and politics...these followers of liberalism deny the existence of any divine authority to which obedience is due, and proclaim that every man is the law to himself...that the cause of the unity of civil society is not to be sought in any principle external to man, or superior to him, but simply in the free will of individuals; that the authority in the State comes from the people only...[This leads to] the doctrine of the supremacy of the greater number, and that all right and all duty reside in the majority. But, from what has been said, it is clear that all this is in contradiction to reason.
...God the Creator and consequently the supreme Law-giver...once ascribe to human reason the only authority to decide what is true and what is good, and the real distinction between good and evil is destroyed; honor and dishonor differ not in their nature, but in the opinion and judgment of each one; pleasure is the measure of what is lawful...a way that is naturally opened to universal corruption...what it is right to do and avoid doing is at the mercy of a majority. Now, this is simply a road leading straight to tyranny.
...it follows that religion, as a public institution, can have no claim to exist, and that everything that belongs to religion will be treated with complete indifference...and when duty and conscience cease to appeal to them, there will be nothing to hold them back but force, which of itself alone is powerless to keep their covetousness in check.
...there are individuals...who affirm that the morality of individuals is to be guided by the divine law, but not the morality of the State. Hence follows the fatal theory of the need of separation between Church and State...the absurdity of such a position is manifest.
...those who are in authority owe it to the commonwealth...to consult the welfare of men's souls in the wisdom of their legislation.
...let us examine that liberty in individuals which is so opposed to the virtue of religion, namely, the liberty of worship, as it is called. This is based on the principle that every man is free to profess as he may choose any religion or none...NO TRUE VIRTUE CAN EXIST WITHOUT RELIGION...religion, which (as St. Thomas says) "performs those actions which are directly and immediately ordained for the divine honor."
...when a liberty such as We have described is offered to man, the power is given him to pervert or abandon with impunity the most sacred of duties, and to exchange the unchangeable good for evil; which, as We have said, is no liberty, but its degradation, and the abject submission of the soul to sin...This kind of liberty, if considered in relation to the State, clearly implies that there is no reason why the State should offer any homage to God...that no one form of worship is to be preferred to another, but that all stand on an equal footing.

Pope Leo's words, written 124 years ago, have now proven to be prophetic truth as our country has turned to such "liberties" as abortion, contraception, embryonic stem cell research, and the relatively recent aggressive promotion of homosexuality (let me elaborate that I stand by the phrase "love the sinner, hate the sin"). We have seen that the fruits of the supposed "greatest glory of our age" have "instead of being sweet and wholesome, proved cankered and bitter." Instead of a Fortnight for Religious Freedom, it would seem Pope Leo would have rightly had us turning to a Fortnight for Integration of Church and State. For if we truly believe in "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism" (Eph 4:5), should we not be offering up prayer and fasting for the conversion of our country rather than for the "liberation" to practice (or not practice) as one chooses?

Instead, our country currently allows those who openly "Vote Satan" to be viewed as victims of discrimination for proudly displaying their Luciferian mementos both inside and outside of their domicile. There is surely no right minded Christian who can profess this to be God's will.

Garcia, in an interview with Stephen White of CatholicVote.org, openly stated that he is "resistant to the idea that For the Greater Glory is a 'Catholic movie'...returning to the theme of universality again and again as religious freedom is universal." 
Ironically, the word "catholic" means universal and is in fact part of everyone's "universal call to holiness."

"TODAY WE ARE GOING TO SEND A MESSAGE, FREEDOM IS OUR HOME, OUR WIVES, OUR CHILDREN"
As Pope Leo explained, "the possibility of sinning is not freedom, but slavery." The actual Cristeros understood this, and - contrary to what this movie portrays - the actual Cristeros understood this.

As Judith Mead and Marian Horvat explain, "the remarkable movement of Catholic resistance came primarily from the peasants and little people who loved the Church and wanted its pre-Revolution rights restored. They wanted the Catholic Church to baptize and educate their children, bury their dead and regulate their laws. They opposed the Masonic ideals of separation of Church and State, civil marriage and divorce, purely secular education, the expulsion of religious communities. The Cristeros were actually against the modern notion of religious liberty based on tolerance: They vehemently opposed the program of President Plutarco Calles – an atheist and 32nd degree Mason...So great was their love for the Catholic Church that they took up arms to defend her. They were battling for the legitimate and singular rights of the one true Faith, professed only by the Catholic Church, and to extend the Kingdom of Christ over the entire secular society. It was a counter-revolutionary fight."

It comes as no surprise that the abominable persecutions by this regime have been wiped from the history books both in Mexico and the US due to the ever growing presence of Masonic influence in both countries.
Garcia admitted in his interview with White that he had no idea the screenplay was based on real events. He goes on to say, "Even my friends who went to parochial and Catholic schools in Mexico didn’t know this story.”

Mead and Horvat suggest that "the film portrays a history that has either been purposely deleted or falsely told from the point of view of its Masonic victors. We have a friend in Mexico who affirmed that La Cristiada is simply skipped over in their history books since what happened in Mexico during those three years does not correspond to the government's revolutionary lies that the people were oppressed by the Church and wanted to be free from her iron fist."

I remember from my high school AP European History class a quote about those who write the history books:
"If cats could write about history, history would be about cats." - Dr. Eugen Weber
And so it is that I must disagree with Mr. White's suggestion that "the film is mercifully free of the kind of propaganda—religious, political, or otherwise—that could so easily have ruined this magnificent and moving story."
The story of the Cristeros is now being told, but with a twist from the same group of people who originally carried out and/or condoned the persecutions; and it's all being done in the name of religious freedom.

"WHAT YOU HAVE IS BELIEF, BUT BELIEF WILL NOT SAVE THEM IN BATTLE. DO YOU HAVE PROPER WEAPONS, AN AMMUNITION SUPPLY?"
In the scene where one of the ambassadors for the Cristeros is trying to gain the support of the decorated military general, Garcia utters the words above. The implication is subtle but pervasive in the movie and the focal point of the trailer: God won't save you, it's time to take matters into your own hands.

While I am not debating the necessity of the Mexican peasantry to take up arms (for just war is supported by the Church), the righteous path of fervent prayer even to the point of martyrdom - that which follows in the truest footsteps of our Lord - is present but somewhat overshadowed by that of the valiant caballeros.

First let us consider some Bible quotes:
Old Testament
"[Pharaoh] said to his subjects, 'Look how numerous and powerful the Israelite people are growing, more so than we ourselves! Come let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase'...Yet the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread." - Exodus 1:9-10,12
"You will rout your enemies and lay them low with your sword. Five of you will put a hundred of your foes to flight, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand of them, til they are cut down by your sword." - Leviticus 26:7-8
"...these foes would mistakenly boast, 'Our own hand won the victory; the Lord had nothing to do with it.' For they are people devoid of reason, having no understanding. If they had insight they would realize what happened, they would understand their future and say, 'How could one man rout a thousand, or two men put ten thousand to flight, unless it was because their Rock sold them and the Lord delivered them up?' Indeed, their 'rock' is not like our Rock, and our foes are under condemnation." - Deuteronomy 32:28-31
"Thy almighty word leapt down from heaven from thy royal throne, as a fierce conqueror into the midst of the land of destruction. With a sharp sword carrying thy unfeigned commandment..." - Wisdom 18:15-16

New Testament - What is our sword? Who is the Word? Who is our Rock? What is our armor?
"And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." - Matthew 16:18
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
"In all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses...In the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of justice on the right hand and on the left." - 2 Corinthians 6:4,7
"Put you on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil." - Ephesians 6:11
"Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13

While a majority of the film plays on the mounting success in the victories of the Cristeros, there are two characters - one minor and one major - who ought be the focal points of the film's message.
In the early stages of the movie, we see young Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio throw a piece of fruit at poor Father Christopher (played by Peter O'Toole). As a punishment, Jose is sentenced to help out Fr. Christopher with menial tasks around the church. Resistant at first, he soon takes a liking to Fr. Christopher who takes him under his wing and explains the beauty of the Catholic faith. When word of the assaults by the Federales reaches their village, Fr. Christopher clearly states that he will not fight. What follows is a scene where young Jose memorably shouts from the watch tower, "The Federales are coming!" He pleads with the priest to run or hide, but the padre humbly resists. He is ultimately publicly executed before the eyes of Jose and others. While the execution should have been viewed as a victory (especially considering the above quote from Exodus), the movie spun it as a great travesty and the cause for needing to rise up with arms.

Later in the movie, young Jose is taken as a prisoner of war. The movie begins to shift back and forth between plot lines from the Cristeros to Jose's imprisonment. He is continually pressed by his captors to simply admit that the Federales are right and to denounce his faith. He is interrogated. Then he is tortured. His godfather (mayor of the village) even tries to convince him to confess. Ultimately, in the most powerful scene of the movie, he is marched through the streets of his hometown, dripping in blood à la the passion of Christ, given one last chance to surrender before being stabbed in the stomach and falling to the ground. He draws a cross in the sand with his bloody finger and says with great joy and a smile, "I get to go home." A gunshot sounds and he is kicked into a pre-dug grave as his onlooking family weeps.

The weeping was also shared by the majority of the audience, but my sentiment was to stand up and cheer. The life and death of every martyr in the history of the Church has been followed by the conversion of many. Not to mention that the belief has to be that Jose punched a one-way ticket to paradise through his sacrifice. If our focus lies on the emphasis of value in this life, we find ourselves mourning as the disciples did when Jesus died. But if our perspective keeps in mind the ultimate end to which Pope Leo alluded, we realize that the resurrection of Christ and appearance to his disciples should remind us that death has been conquered and eternal life awaits. This leads us to jubilant celebration each and every Easter season.

While I was surprised that the film was accurate in many aspects (facing the altar during the mass, refusing Garcia communion until he confessed his sins, etc.), I do have one other major criticism: there rosary was noticeably absent. Given the rapid conversion of Mexico that followed from the apparition of our Blessed Mother at Guadalupe, we can be sure that the Mexican faithful hold a special devotion (as they should) to the Queen of Heaven. Her absence is not, however, entirely surprising as God "put enmity between the woman's offspring and the serpent." Fully aware of the destruction of the traditional family the androgynization of the modern woman promoted by Hollywood, it's no shock that the Mother of God isn't mentioned at all.

While this movie is largely worth promoting, let us always remember to heed the words of Sts. Peter & Paul:
"Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil." - 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
"For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places." - Ephesians 6:12
"For talking with empty bombast...they promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for a person is a slave of whatever overcomes him." - 2 Peter 2:18-19

La Renaissance

Personal Vision

I was at daily mass one day and the reading was Matthew 25:31-46 Judgment of Nations about separating the sheep and the goats.
I had this vision in my mind of a great mountain. At the top of the mountain is a huge cloud with a beam of light shooting out of it onto the top of the mountain. Jesus is about 2/3 of the way up on a winding path, with a flock of sheep in single file following faithfully behind him. There are goats everywhere on different crags and cliffs, chewing weeds and sticks, doing their own thing. There are fat goats and feeble ones, there is one trying to go straight up the mountain toward Jesus but slipping on rocks, and in his arms is a half sheep half goat, being transformed by his mercy.
on the side of the mountain there are 3 or 4 goats tumbling down the side of the mountain, with a rock slide above them pushing them to their death below. 

When I started thinking about my own personal conversion and how my friend, when I had told him about my transformation, said "I want what you have but don’t want to have to hit rock bottom to get it"
I realized some months later that we do not in fact hit rock bottom, we get led to the edge of the abyss and make a decision.
At first, starting at Baptism, we are on the narrow path toward the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13). Then some ugly sin comes along…but we don't see it as ugly but appealing or curious, intriguing. We follow it. We follow that gateway sin and begin down the “broad road to destruction.” At first, all is rosy posey, even to those who can see us on this path. They see us "happy" and in a good quality of life. But soon, we become fully blind, and there are thorns and weeds all around us, wolves, spiders and serpents, and those who know us can see this but we cannot. We have gone too far down the figurative rabbit hole. We are now being guided personally by the devil himself, deceived by all his wickedness, snares and lies.

We go, go, go...until eventually he slithers behind us…and we are at the edge. And that is when we see. Suddenly our eyes are opened as we nearly slip and fall off...we see the depths, darkness and doom below. We see the jagged rocks, the hot boiling lava and sin and suffering, pain and anguish…hatred. When we turn around to run, the devil is there with his wicked staff ready to push us over the edge. Frantically we turn back around with nowhere to go, when we look up and see a great dove. A giant dove, soaring in rapidly.
Then we hear a voice. a single word in the wind, a whisper:

Jump. 

again we hear it say, Trust me. Surrender. Jump. 

And at that very moment we make a decision. we take a leap...

A leap of FAITH. 

If we do not take the leap, we plummet into the depths, possibly never to return. But if we jump, that dove lifts us up not just to Jesus but all the way up into that cloud and sets us on fire with that light!
And then we are given a parachute and dropped, slowly back down to reality but back onto that narrow path. We are burning with the fire of God in our hearts, so alive that we were nearly drowned in grace. The slow fall back down is slow giving us time to remember that feeling of God’s closest presence and so that we do not burn the others around us in the world, so that we can learn to control the fire within us and use it for good.

Ecclesiastes 3

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every ^[a]event under heaven—

² A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
³ A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴ A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
⁵ A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
⁶ A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷ A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
⁸ A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

"Love me, Don't Judge Me" - A Commentary on the Golden Rule and Thou Shall Not Judge

When we talk about the last 50 years in the United States, we tend to do it in terms of decades (60’s, 70’s, etc.) and the political movements and pop culture trends that typified them. When historians review different time periods, they generally classify them by centuries or eras (multiple centuries) based on socio-economic and philosophical movements (The Dark Ages, the Enlightenment, etc.) as well as their primary styles of art and architecture (Baroque, Gothic, etc.). We are now 12 years into a new millennium, a new century and just far enough removed from a new decade to be able to start analyzing it.

If we were to put ourselves in the shoes of posterity, what would we be known for?

Pop Culture

- Lady GaGa in a meat suit

- Rhianna and Katy Perry grabbing their crotches in live concerts (I won't put a link to this)

- Kanye West mocking Jesus with a crown of thorns on Rolling Stone

- Celebrity sex tapes (nor a link to this)

- Glee and its numerous agendas

- "Reality" Television

- College undergraduate more of one big party than academic and professional pursuit

- Corruption and crime in professional and collegiate sports

- Social Networking (Twitter, FB, etc.)

Socio-Economical/Political

- Terrorism & War

- Financial Crisis (overspending, sub-prime lending, Wall St. greed)

- Devastating worldwide natural disasters (Katrina, Indonesia, Japan, Haiti)

- Hot Topics: Gay/Transgender Rights, Religious Freedom, Sexual Abuse

- Antioxidants/Superfoods (I am throwing this one in for fun to spruce up things a bit)

Some may say I am being too pessimistic or only looking at the bad things. I am looking at the BIG things.The stuff that hits CNN, Fox News or whatever else may be your preference for biased news reporting on a daily basis. When I reflect on these things, I find it hard to believe I will ever look back and say, "man those were the days." If I do, then we surely have dark days ahead.

In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus talks about the characteristics of false prophets.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them."

"...such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites, and by fair and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the innocent." (Romans 16:18)

They come on a platform of CHANGE, of false hope and empty promises, with "flattering speech...[but] by their fruits [we] shall know them."

If I had to choose different words to describe the 2000's, I would have to turn to a number of different -ism's: individualism, naturalism, existentialism, empiricism, modernism, progressivism, secular humanism, moralistic therapeutic deism...the list really goes on and on.

If historians are to name our era, we will surely be called the "Era of Self-Discover-ism's."

Because that is what it all boils down to. Today's society is a "me first" culture. Grocery checkout lines now rival self-help sections and Barnes & Noble for ways to make yourself smarter, sexier, trendier, hipster-ier...

The point is that in a world where self-interests supersede those of others, we certainly aren't living up to the mantra which Christians, Jews and Pagans alike can agree on: Love your neighbor as yourself (I am going to touch on this more a bit further down!).

The reality is that there can only be societal dysfunction when everyone just focuses on his or her own self-interests. Today's youth have a sense of entitlement that rivals that of Prince Harry. When is society going to wake up and wise up to the fact that no spectrum of far left or right is going to meet man's needs unless man himself first changes to be self-less? We have seen the far left (communism and socialism) and its terror, we have seen the far right (Absolutism/Monarchism) and its equal wrath, simony and greed.

The solution? Christianity, namely, Catholicism. And yet it is possible that Catholicism has never been more unpopular or more scrutinized in the public eye than today. It doesn't make people feel warm and fuzzy inside, it doesn't allow them to justify their sins as harmless or not sins at all. Essentially, it just isn't "cool enough."

A friend and former classmate of mine, Stephen Kokx, recently wrote in his article Is Anti-Catholicism on the Rise?: 

"The Catholic Church, with its teachings on marriage, contraception, sex, and gender roles, would appear to be the ultimate 'uncool' institution. It preaches humility instead of boastfulness, obedience to a higher power instead of to oneself, prayer and community service instead of material success, and patience instead of immediate gratification." 

People today, including many former Catholics, are turning to Protestant churches which promise acceptance for "who you are," or to Buddhism or Hinduism based on tranquility and peace (we live in a stressful world) without fully understanding what those religions actually believe, to atheism or agnosticism because "if it can't be empirically proven, it must not be real; faith in God is a dead medieval school of thought," or even to New Age or Wicca, which the Catholic Church teaches is the most open invitation to let Satan start controlling your life (even Tarot cards and Ouija boards...don't mess with them!).

I would contend that the religious indifference and tolerance that we face today is more of a threat to our humanity than any of the absolutist regimes of the past (right or left). Why? Because war and violence, as is seen in the recent release "For the Greater Glory" (I will write a review of this shortly) are obvious grievances against humanity. Violence and slaughter of innocent people is viewed with universal disgust (save psychopaths). But because this war is so obviously errant and immoral, and based on the string of wars in the 20th and 21st centuries (WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Korea, Cold War, Gulf War, War on Terror, African Genocides, Mexican oppression, etc.), we have gone to yet another extreme of placing world peace (much different than divine peace) as the be all end all of human priorities.

The very religious indifference I referred to above is actually forging the path toward a complete and utter loss of conscience, of the moral code which was first promised to the prophet Jeremiah and reiterated in Hebrews as part of the new covenant:

"I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them upon their hearts."


Morality and virtue have been replaced by comfort and convenience. Don't believe me? Ask the 40 million innocent fetuses killed every year.

That little voice in our heads of what's right and wrong didn't come from thousands of years of psychological and biological evolution. It came as a result of the Son of God dying on a cross, and today people are finding ways to either justify ignoring it.

How are people justifying it? There are three primary ways:

1.) God is merciful and all loving; he will forgive me.

2.) Jesus said to love your neighbor, so why can't you just love me the way I am?

3.) The Bible says don't judge me. You have no right to tell me what I am doing is wrong.

I am going to address these three items below:

1.) God is indeed merciful, and God is indeed all loving. But God is also all just. Let us not forget the wrath of God from the Old Testament, handing down swiftly and severely on those who disobeyed him. This was changed with the death of Jesus, but Jesus himself said he came not to abolish the law or prophets but to fulfill them (Mt 5:17). God may not  "strike us with a lightning bolt" if we do something wrong today, but we will still be judged in our own due time.

In addition, we say in the Lord's Prayer, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." I think people like to forget about that second part. Holding grudges or inability to forgive ourselves (sometimes a bigger issue) means God will forgive us as we have forgiven...or not forgiven. We are called to forgive 7x70 (infinitely) just as God would forgive. On a much deeper level, the Bible says the only unforgivable sin is the sin against the Holy Spirit. I recently heard from a friend that it is believed that this sin, though not explicitly detailed, must be the disbelief in forgiveness. If we do not believe God can or will forgive us, we can't be forgiven.

We must be sorry to be forgiven. But unlike what Rob Bell has led thousands across this country to believe, there is no sound theological support for a chance for a last apology when we stand before God's throne. We are given this life to work toward salvation (Phil 2:12 / 3:12,14), not to squander it and expect to be pardoned anyway. I have heard from two different people that the theme songs sung by those going to hell are "I did it my way" and "Everything is gonna be alright." Pride comes before the fall, and Paul warns that "whoever thinks he is secure should take care not to fall" (Romans 10:12).

The Catholic belief is that anyone who dies in a state of mortal sin cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven (see 1 John 5:16-17 for mortal/venial sin). Mortal sin is classified as those who are adulterers, fornicators, thieves or heretics, doomed to be cast into Gehenna (hell). To confess your sins is to admit with a contrite heart to God you are sorry, receiving forgiveness and doing an appropriate penance to make up for it.

2.) Christ instructed us to keep the 10 Commandments, as he told the rich man (Mt 19:16), but then also instructed him to abandon all that he had acquired in this world to follow...and he couldn't do it. This is taking up our cross and following Jesus (Mk 8:34).

The greatest commandment is the 1st commandment, to have no strange gods other than God, and Jesus expounded upon this by saying 1st was to Love the Lord God with all our hearts, souls, and minds...2nd to that was to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Today, people have made two fatal errors:

a.) They have placed the 2nd item (golden rule) above the 1st. They have made love thy neighbor more than love God. This is exemplified by the concessions being made as part of various interfaith dialogues and ecumenical councils, which is modernism at its core. As a friend recently put it, "Your poop is green, mine is brown, that's cool either way. Let's just be friends."

b.) They misunderstand the definition love somehow as tolerance, so we must define love.

Where have we seen love defined? As we hear at so many weddings...

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love is patient, love is kind. It is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

PATIENT: Where do we see patience talked about as it pertains to our neighbors who do not understand the word?

Hebrews 5:1-3 "Every high priest...is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness."

We see the need for these high priests to act on behalf of the High Priest (Jesus) to act as vicars here on earth. Just like Phillip had to explain the scripture to the ignorant eunuch in Acts...

The ignorant are those who do not understand the Word of God, which cannot be understood without faith.

(also see NOT QUICK-TEMPERED)

KIND: We are to deal patiently and in full charity (kindly) with the ignorant as explained in 1 Peter 3:16 "be ready to explain the source of your hope but do so with gentleness and reverence"...we should explain the beauty of our faith to others in its fullness, making no concessions or negotiations, but not in a way of condemnation or conquering but in a spirit of wanting the best for another (the best being eternal life).

(also see NOT INFLATED, NOTE RUDE, NOT SELF-SEEKING nor BROODING OVER INJURY)

REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the father except through me." Jesus is the Truth, and it is our duty and obligation to patiently and kindly try to exemplify this in our actions and to explain it with our words. Catholicism is not a system of old fashioned rules and regulations, it is in invitation to the fullness of God's love!

BEARS ALL THINGS, BELIEVES ALL THINGS, HOPES ALL THINGS, ENDURES ALL THINGS: Believes all things is our lifelong growth toward perfect faith. Blessed is he who has believed without seeing. Hopes all things is our unwavering hope in the promises made to us by remaining in God the Father (by keeping his commandments) and the Son (by eating of his flesh and drinking his blood) and Holy Spirit (by our fruits you shall know us). We "await the blessed hope" (Titus 2:13). By bearing and enduring all things, we have perseverance (James 1:3-4). We willingly accept the suffering of this life as Paul did: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church (Col 1:24-25). 

This is what love is and means. It is eternally compassionate but not indifferent. It is infinitely forgiving but not unrighteous. It is outlined in the Word of God not predisposed to tolerance.

The signs of God's chosen ones as detailed by Colossians 3:12 are holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Tolerance doesn't make that list.

3.) This leads me to my final point: When Jesus talked about not judging, he wasn’t preaching tolerance. He simply said remove the splinter from your own eye first (Mt 7:4-5), he didn't say don't judge a sin to be a sin under any circumstances (for we see Paul go out and call many sinners). It was a warning against hypocrisy, further reiterating the need to walk the walk not just talk the talk.

Maybe in our own inferior human rationale, we don’t understand this. We would like to believe that everyone is going to heaven.

Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few."

Romans 9:20 says “but who indeed are you, a human being, to talk back to God?”

In Matthew 16:23, when Jesus told his disciples of his certain death and after Peter said he wouldn’t let anything happen to Jesus (his own rationale), Jesus rebuked him saying “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” He said this to Peter (to whom he would later give the keys to Heaven). How much more inferior are we than Peter who didn't understand?

The first temptation man fell to was the notion of being able to think as God does, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So it would make sense that this first and greatest lie of the devil continues to plague us today. We cannot begin to wrap our brains around the mystery of God, which is in itself a requirement for the belief of an Omniscient God. If we understood him, that would disprove him.

Our primary goal should be love (desiring salvation for many) and therefore divine peace  before (but in addition to) world peace.

From Wikipedia:

Peace is the result of resting in a relationship with God.^[13] Peace is a tranquility, a state of rest, that comes from seeking after God, or, the opposite of chaos.

The word "peace" comes from the Greek word eirene, the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word shalom, which expresses the idea of wholeness, completeness, or tranquility in the soul that is unaffected by the outward circumstances or pressures. The word eirene strongly suggests the rule of order in place of chaos. When a person is dominated by peace, he has a calm, inner stability that results in the ability to conduct himself peacefully, even in the midst of circumstances that would normally be very nerve-wracking, traumatic, or upsetting...Rather than allowing the difficulties and pressures of life to break him, a person who is possessed by peace is whole, complete, orderly, stable, and poised for blessing.^[14]

Jesus is described as the Prince of Peace, who brings peace to the hearts of those who desire it. He says in John 14:27:^[15] "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

"Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God no matter what the conflict." -Anonymous

Once we can learn how to love, we will then find inner peace, and then world peace will follow. Without the first two, the third will never happen.

A Call to Action: Women of Social Media

I believe it is time for my quarterly "Call to Action" to all the beautiful women of Facebook.

I am going to cite the Bible, and regardless of whether or not you're a Christian, I think  what follows will apply to everyone:
"Your adornment should not be an external one: braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or dressing in fine clothes, but rather the hidden character of the heart, expressed in the imperishable beauty of a gentle and calm disposition, which is precious in the sight of God." - 1 Peter 3:3-4

Fr. Troy spoke in his homily on Saturday evening about how the devil, as the prince of this world in which we live, knows exactly how to entice men and women:
Men - through lust; by the rampant, illicit sexuality, sometimes explicit and others latent, trying to elicit a response of temporal gratification...ILLICIT, EXPLICIT, ELICIT (my words, not his)
Women - through vanity; just as women are used to entice men so are they used to make other women feel inferior or like they have some kind of false standard of harlotry to live up to.

We are now entering that time of year when waves of pictures of young women in all sorts of sultry, summer attire (or even less than that) will inundate the media, not the least of these being social media (aka Facebook).

Please, before you prepare to post the first or next set of photos of yourself, ask yourself, "what do these pictures say about me and how I value myself and my sexuality? Am I posting these pictures in good moral conscience, with the intent of propagating the good, or am I seeking a false sense of worth stemming from superficial "likes,""too cute!!"-s, et al.

I may choose to expound upon this further with a longer blog post in the near future. But for now, hear my plea for purity, chastity, and " imperishable beauty."

God Bless

Joy in Suffering

2 Corinthians 6-10

"6 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. ² For he says,

“In the time of my favor I heard you,
    and in the day of salvation I helped you.”^[a]

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

Paul’s Hardships

³ We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. ⁴ Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵ in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; ⁶ in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ⁷ in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; ⁸ through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; ⁹ known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; ¹⁰ sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."

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This is not exactly a typical post/article, but more of a compendium of thoughts, readings, etc. on the "problem" of suffering (spoiler alert, it's not a problem after all!). 

I think it is first prudent to understand the definition of joy, and tied to joy also comes peace.

Joy (Greek: chara, Latin: gaudium)

The Greek word for 'joy' is chara, derived from the word charis, which is the Greek word for 'grace.' This is significant to note, for chara is produced by the charis of God. This means 'joy' is not a human-based happiness that comes and goes but, rather, true 'joy' is divine in its origin. It is a Spirit-given expression that flourishes best in hard times. For example, in 1 Thessalonians 1:6,^[11] the Thessalonians were under great stress due to persecution; yet in the midst of it all, they continued to experience great joy. The Greek strongly implies that their supernatural joy was due to the Holy Spirit working in them. Paul even called it the "joy of the Holy Ghost". (Sparkling Gems from the Greek, Rick Renner)

According to Nehemiah 8:10, "The joy of the Lord is your strength".

Peace (Greek: eirene, Latin: pax)

Peace is the result of resting in a relationship with God.^[13] Peace is a tranquility, a state of rest, that comes from seeking after God, or, the opposite of chaos.

The word "peace" comes from the Greek word eirene, the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word shalom, which expresses the idea of wholeness, completeness, or tranquility in the soul that is unaffected by the outward circumstances or pressures. The word eirene strongly suggests the rule of order in place of chaos. When a person is dominated by peace, he has a calm, inner stability that results in the ability to conduct himself peacefully, even in the midst of circumstances that would normally be very nerve-wracking, traumatic, or upsetting...Rather than allowing the difficulties and pressures of life to break him, a person who is possessed by peace is whole, complete, orderly, stable, and poised for blessing.
______________________________________________________________________________

So the first thing to understand is that no amount of suffering can overwhelm us while we have the joy of Christ within us, while we rest in the arms of God with peace about us. No waves, no matter how big, can capsize the boat of a man who has let Jesus climb in with him. In actuality, suffering can bring great victory just as the suffering and death of Christ made all things new.


VICARIOUS ATONEMENT (SUFFERING FOR THE GOOD):

Citing Peter Kreeft on the existence of suffering:
"God allows suffering and deprives us of the lesser good of pleasure in order to help us toward the greater good of moral and spiritual education...God let Job suffer not because God lacked love but precisely out of love, to bring Job to the point of the Beatific Vision of God face to face, which is humanity's supreme happiness. Job's suffering hollowed out a big space in him so that a big piece of God and joy could fill it. Job's experience is pardigmatic for all saintly suffering.

...the doctrine of vicarious atonement [states that] just as the sins of the guilty can harm the innocent, so the sufferings and virtue of the innocent can help redeem the guilty...Vicarious atonement means that even the sufferings that do not seem to do anyone any good may do someone some good...through human solidarity. For the Redeemer was literally our brother, and his suffering saved the whole family."



If our greatest desire is to be Christ-like, should we not then be in the deepest prayer for suffering knowing fully that which has been so perfectly explained by Kreeft above? If we can even begin to comprehend the words of St. Faustina in regards to being “plunged into mortal sorrow at the loss of each soul,” our deepest yearning should be to receive the gift of suffering as a means for the vicarious atonement of the world around us.

We shouldn't ever take for granted what it means that we were born into a country where religious freedom is allowed and where we have been exposed to the Word of God. The whole reason God had a chosen people in the Old Testament wasn't to conceal himself to the rest of the world, it was because he put the free will onus on the Jews to go spread his word. Instead they became corrupt and power hungry, and when Jesus came they were too set in their ways to even realize he was the Messiah, fulfilling all of the prophecies of old. Now it's like we are facing the same thing. We (you and I and all current Christians) are called to live in absolute love of neighbor, to use words when necessary but evangelize always, including but not limited to offering our suffering back to God.
We should pray "thy will be done" in each prayer of petition because we should never be so proud as to insist upon our requests to God. We must trust in his divinely perfect plan for us, always remembering the value yet temporary nature of this life and the blessed hope of the next. 

We each have the opportunity to be a Simon of Cyrene to our brethren, to help them carry their crosses. Just like it’s easier to have 30 people haul brush in a field than one person, it’s easier to spread out the suffering of the world than to have it all put on one person…

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is

lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church.” – Colossians 1:24

Think of suffering in the same way as money, just for analogy’s sake. You give money voluntarily to a charity; that is money you are losing (aka a sacrifice) but will go to help others. There is a chance those funds could be misappropriated, but in a perfect world, someone would benefit. Well, what is the only perfect world? The kingdom of God. And God doesn’t misappropriate “funds.” Making personal sacrifice, giving back the suffering God allows as part of our free will shows so much love, and it truly does, can and will benefit others.

Few have the courage to suffer, which is why I believe it means so much. and courage really is one of the key virtues. It's actually all 4 Cardinal Virtues: Courage, Temperance, Prudence and Justice.
Courage: the courage to suffer in this life knowing it is but a grain of sand in all the beaches of the world
Temperance: the grace to resist temporal pleasures in favor of treasures in Heaven
Prudence: making all decisions for the glorification of God and the unification of his beloved children
Justice: blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness! Leave your nets and I will make you fishers of men! Caring for the poor and dejected when no one else will. 

 We see St. Paul rejoicing in suffering repeatedly throughout his epistles! He gets locked in prison, and he and Silas sing hymns of praise!

Kimberly Hahn, in Rome Sweet Home, puts it into some of the most relatable terms. She explains that she had never realized the benefit of suffering until she had two miscarriages and layed in the hospital after a surgery. She could see all of the other families going by with balloons and gifts in celebration of new life, she could even hear the other new borns cry. Then she looked up on the wall, saw the Crucifix, and understood that her suffering paled in comparison to God made man and suffering unto death for her. Not for everyone else, but for her specifically.

A few months later, she was again at the hospital, this time with her 18 month old who had a 105 degree fever. As they dabbed the young girl with cool clothes trying to break the fever, she cried out in pain and agony, "mommy, mommy!" At that moment, God spoke to Kimberly saying, "now do you understand? do you understand that sometimes I must do things that seem wrong/painful to you, as you are doing to your daughter, because I love you and want you to become closer to me?"

We might not always understand why "bad things" happen to us, but instead of wasting our energy dwelling on that which we cannot control, we should instead turn it back to God, always looking for the lesson there within.

HELPFUL QUOTES/BIBLE VERSES

Matthew 6:19-21 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
>> is it wrong to enjoy the taste of a beer, wine or good food? not at all. God gave us these things. But choosing to sacrifice them (fasting) could bring someone else to God, even someone we have never met before.

Mark 8:34 - Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
>> Part of this cross means accepting physical, emotional and spiritual suffering and giving it back to God and asking how we can learn from that suffering. It's about realizing that "we are strangers, we are aliens, we are not of this world" and denying ourselves the temporal pleasures of this world in order to bring others to Christ.
 

Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”

2 Timothy 2:11-12

"If we be dead with Christ Jesus, we shall live also with Him," says the Apostle; if we suffer,
we shall also reign with Him."

John 15:20 "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also."
>> If Christ suffered to death to give those who truly believe in and love him salvation, why should we who have been blessed with knowledge of the truth be any different than to suffer to bring others who have no knowledge of him to his most sacred heart?

“We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials.” — St. Teresa of Avila

In the words of Padre Pio, "I do not ask for Divine Consolation because I do not merit it, but your presence, Lord, oh yes this I long for!"

“The desire for unworldliness, detachment, and union with God is the most fundamental expression of this revolutionary spirit (the desire to save the world from its present state of sin and debauchery)…Everything we do in the service of God has to be vitalized by the supernatural power of His grace. But grace is granted us in proportion as we dispose ourselves to receive it by the interior activity of theological virtues: faith, hope, love. These virtues demand the full and constant exercise of our intelligence and will. But this exercise is frequently obstructed by exterior influences which blind us with passion and draw us away from our supernatural objective. This cannot be avoided, but it must be fought against by a constant discipline of recollection, meditation, prayer, study, mortification of the desires, and at least some measure of solitude and retirement.” – Thomas Merton in The Ascent of Truth

"The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little." - Thomas Merton

St. Francis of Assisi Novena

Glorious Saint Francis,
who voluntarily renounced
all the comforts and riches of your home
to follow more perfectly the life of poverty
and abnegation of Jesus Christ:
obtain for us,
we pray,
a generous contempt of all things in this world,
that we may secure the true
and eternal things of heaven.

Say the Glory be....

O glorious Saint Francis,
who during the whole course of your life
continually wept over the passion of the Redeemer,
and labour most zealously for the salvation of souls:
obtain for us,
we pray,
the grace of weeping continually
over those sins
by which we have crucified
afresh Our Lord Jesus Christ,
that we may attain to be of the number
of those who shall eternally bless His supreme mercy.

Say the Glory be....

O glorious Saint Francis,
who, loving above all things suffering and the cross,
merited to bear in your body the miraculous stigmata,
by which you became a living image
of Jesus Christ crucified:
obtain for us,
we pray,
the grace to bear in our bodies
the mortifications of Christ,
that we may merit one day
to receive the consolations
which are infallibly promised
to all those who now weep.

Say the Glory be…