Death is the consequence of Original Sin. [1] Perhaps with the exception of aging which leads to death, there is no other consequence. People sometimes say that "we are all sinners." This is true because everyone who is born with Original Sin dies. What is not true is the underlying assumption that some people tend to make is that because of Original Sin, sinning is therefore normal.
Sinning is not normal. Breathing is normal. A newborn baby breathes but does not sin.
Sinning is a deliberate act. It requires an affirmative exercise of one's Free Will. Free Will is a power of God that God has given to Adam and Eve who continued to retain it after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It is neutral and is part of every individual ever lived. Free Will neither compels nor predispose one to sin. No one ever sins automatically or accidentally, and no one is ever forced to commit a sin, not even when one is placed under the threat of torture and death.
Therefore, Original Sin is not to be blamed for the continuous commission of the many sins that follow it, nor is Satan, the one putting in front of man a delectable plethora of sins to choose from with free unlimited refills, to be blamed. Man, himself, is the one who must accept full responsibility for every single choice he makes. Whether good or bad, a choice is a deliberate act whether or not it is made after pondering, for whether or not to ponder is itself a deliberate choice however fast one makes it.
Unlike deliberate choice, one's immune system, when functioning properly in accordance with nature, heals the body. It is automatic. It knows what needs to be done and when for the good of the body. It is smarter than the brain and makes the right choices. The body's power to heal itself, like life and Free Will, is given to man by God. Imagine having to decide what the body has to do every time it needs to heal a minor cut or bruise. God could not leave up to man's deliberate choices to ruin God's gift of life because man will first go to the buffet table set by Satan to choose what may or may not be necessary to feel better based on the condition he is in. Driven by gluttony, avarice, pride and/or lust, he can easily make the wrong choices and make his body worse if not killing it. God did not give the gift of life just so than man can by his choices kill it, but killing it man sometimes does nonetheless by abusing his body, the "temple of the [H]oly Spirit." [2]
Driven by such desires, a man who is whole and well would at times choose to engage in perversions and/or excite his senses. Sometimes, this does not only harm the life of one, but lives of others as well. An example is surrogacy. It terminates the natural and loving birth mother-child bond before it even has a chance to thrive [3] and the harm may not end there since the children would grow up without a biological mother. They (and the surrogate mothers) would never know what they have missed after the unrecoverable passage of time that would have fostered a unique mother-child bond that is not severable even when the umbilical cord is cut.
Surrogacy is an example of a compound sin. For purposes of this entry, a sin is compounded when its commission harms the lives of others. Eve committed a grave sin the moment she bit into the apple. It became compound when she offered the forbidden apple to Adam. Death that became the consequence [4] was eternal until it was overcome by the resurrection of Christ. Those who would like to make reparations for Eve and Adam's Sin (not loving God enough and disobeying God) will have to do the opposite, by choosing not to sin deliberately, by following Christ, by keeping the "temple of the Holy Spirit" clean, by being humble, by loving God and neighbor. [5] Those who can actually live up to these ideals and choose consistently not to sin are probably far and few in between and this blogger would like to learn from them, if they exist.
Having asserted that Original Sin is not an excuse to continue sinning, one has to wonder how strong must one's will be to choose not to sin every time? From this perspective, one can appreciate how strong-willed Christ was as man in overcoming Satan's temptations and how strong-willed the Blessed Virgin Mary was in rejecting them too, and realize how pure both their love is in loving each and every sinner. Because the draw of sin is so forceful, refusing it deliberately requires the strength of will that can only be had with the grace of God, and one must supplicate before God to have it for the alternative is untenable on the Day of Judgment, having knowingly made repeated deals with the Devil for temporal pleasure and satisfaction in exchange for eternal fulfillment and joy that can only be regretted without penance and pardon.
[1] http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis3:27, 2-4.
[2] http://www.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/6, at 19.
[3] In a previous post some time ago, the blogger made the mistake comparing the birth of Christ from the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a surrogacy. He no longer agrees with this comparison and wants this mention to be a confession, a retraction and a reparation. The Blessed Virgin Mother is the Mother of God. She is not a surrogate. The Mother-Child relationship began the moment the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and it continued on through life on earth and is continuing on in eternity in Heaven.
[4] http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis3:27, 2-4.
[5] http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/12, 28-31; http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/22:1517, 34-40; http://www.usccb.org/bible/lk/10:52, 25-28.
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Juxtaposing Two Architectural Catholic Deaths In The Last Quarter Of 2017
Two unrelated events occurred in two countries separated by culture, language and ethnicity seemed to unite under a common fate: the destructive force of secularism.
In reverse chronological order, Asianews.it reported on October 28, 2017, that "[t]he only Catholic church in Zhifang, a village in the Huyi District, near Xi’an (Shaanxi [province, near where the terra cotta army is located] [1]), was demolished by force and without any reason." [2] "Built almost 20 years ago, the simple and plain building...[had] been used for worship by local Catholics since 1999." [3] This physical destruction of the Catholic Church was an action taken by the government authorities. Below is a photograph of the church prior to being leveled:
However, for some reason, another Catholic church in the area, The St. Francis Cathedral of Xi'an, is allowed to remain standing. Below is a photograph:
Going back in time, Vatican Radio on October 14, 2017, reported that "[a] Cistercian monastery that's existed for almost 900 years in what is now western Germany is closing down for good, due in part to a shortage of monks." [4] Although it is on terra firma politically, it nonetheless has been abandoned, voluntarily, a symbolic death for "[t]he Himmerod Abbey [that] was founded in 1134 by the French abbot Bernard of Clairvaux." [5] Below is a photograph of the monastery:
"It had just six resident monks before the closure that was decided this week. That's down from about 30 monks in the 1970s....Despite the latest closure, there are still more than 160 Trappist monasteries in the world, with over 2,000 Trappist monks and roughly 1800 Trappist nuns" [6] in a world with about 7.6 billion people. [7]
As the world becomes more and more secular, perhaps Catholic churches and monasteries will eventually succumb to a certain death over time with or without actual demolition. A quick search on the Internet reveals a number of monasteries are listed for sale currently in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Is the Vatican not concerned with this ominous development? Apparently not since the pope is far more interested in social concerns of the day than with the lack of interest in monasticism; even though it is having fervent interest in prayerful monasticism among Catholics that will set an example for other Christians and those in every other religion of the world to be holy so that the world will become a less self-centered and power-hungry place. To achieve this, the Catholic Church must take the lead but the direction it is now headed is not toward God but toward secularism, paying only lip-service every so often to the teachings of Christ.
[1] http://www.history.com/news/5-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-terra-cotta-army
[2] http://www.asianews.it/news-en/-Catholic-church-in-Xian-diocese-forcibly-demolished-42693.html
[3] http://www.asianews.it/news-en/-Catholic-church-in-Xian-diocese-forcibly-demolished-42693.html
[4] http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/14/german_cistercian_monastery_closing_after_900_years_/1343096
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
In reverse chronological order, Asianews.it reported on October 28, 2017, that "[t]he only Catholic church in Zhifang, a village in the Huyi District, near Xi’an (Shaanxi [province, near where the terra cotta army is located] [1]), was demolished by force and without any reason." [2] "Built almost 20 years ago, the simple and plain building...[had] been used for worship by local Catholics since 1999." [3] This physical destruction of the Catholic Church was an action taken by the government authorities. Below is a photograph of the church prior to being leveled:
 |
| From Google Images |
However, for some reason, another Catholic church in the area, The St. Francis Cathedral of Xi'an, is allowed to remain standing. Below is a photograph:
 |
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Francis_Cathedral,_Xi%27an#/media/File:St._Francis_cathedral_of_Xi%27an_1.jpg |
Going back in time, Vatican Radio on October 14, 2017, reported that "[a] Cistercian monastery that's existed for almost 900 years in what is now western Germany is closing down for good, due in part to a shortage of monks." [4] Although it is on terra firma politically, it nonetheless has been abandoned, voluntarily, a symbolic death for "[t]he Himmerod Abbey [that] was founded in 1134 by the French abbot Bernard of Clairvaux." [5] Below is a photograph of the monastery:
 |
| From Google Images |
"It had just six resident monks before the closure that was decided this week. That's down from about 30 monks in the 1970s....Despite the latest closure, there are still more than 160 Trappist monasteries in the world, with over 2,000 Trappist monks and roughly 1800 Trappist nuns" [6] in a world with about 7.6 billion people. [7]
As the world becomes more and more secular, perhaps Catholic churches and monasteries will eventually succumb to a certain death over time with or without actual demolition. A quick search on the Internet reveals a number of monasteries are listed for sale currently in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Is the Vatican not concerned with this ominous development? Apparently not since the pope is far more interested in social concerns of the day than with the lack of interest in monasticism; even though it is having fervent interest in prayerful monasticism among Catholics that will set an example for other Christians and those in every other religion of the world to be holy so that the world will become a less self-centered and power-hungry place. To achieve this, the Catholic Church must take the lead but the direction it is now headed is not toward God but toward secularism, paying only lip-service every so often to the teachings of Christ.
[1] http://www.history.com/news/5-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-terra-cotta-army
[2] http://www.asianews.it/news-en/-Catholic-church-in-Xian-diocese-forcibly-demolished-42693.html
[3] http://www.asianews.it/news-en/-Catholic-church-in-Xian-diocese-forcibly-demolished-42693.html
[4] http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/10/14/german_cistercian_monastery_closing_after_900_years_/1343096
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
Saturday, January 6, 2018
Merry Christmas To All Orthodox And Coptic Catholics - 7 January 2018!
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| Close-up image of Theotokos (Mother of God) of Vladimir at the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia |
May the Joy of Christmas be with everyone, always!
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Words From The Title Of An Opinion Piece: "'Eerie and ominous'"
An article entitled ‘Eerie and ominous’ sign appears as Pope Francis visits Vatican Nativity written by Anthony H. Wagner for LifeSiteNews dated January 2, 2018, is quoted below in its entirety with one photograph but without the other and without hyperlinks [1]:
ROME, January 2, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — Would Pope Francis say anything about this year’s Vatican nativity scene — which was so clearly meant as a nod to the LGBT lobby — when he paid it a visit on New Year’s Eve?
He spoke not a word of course, but instead blessed it and chuckled as a few dignitaries, responsible for what some have called a “hideous” and “sacrilegious” crèche, gave him a guided tour.
And yet something very eerie and ominous happened that evening.
At exactly the same time as the Pope left St. Peter’s Basilica and walked to the crèche in St. Peter’s Square, a squabble of about 500 seagulls suddenly flew up from behind the basilica and circled around the crèche.
They swarmed above the nativity scene, squawking and squealing for about the exact time it took for the Pope to walk from the basilica to the crèche. They then disappeared into a night sky lit up by an almost full moon.
Seagulls flying above the Vatican Nativity
Many had been wondering what the Pope might say about the nativity scene. Facebook had banned users posting the figure of a naked man in the crèche, and when LifeSite revealed its creators came from Montevergine, a town with close links to Italy’s LGBT community, its sordid nature became clear.
The naked, athletic figure was ostensibly meant to be a poor man, showing one of the seven corporal works of mercy (clothing the naked) while other disturbing figures, in what is normally a scene of holy innocence and purity, showed a dead man covered in a blanket (burying the dead) and what looked like a decapitated head behind iron bars (visiting prisoners).
That the Pope should remain silent about the crèche, which even the Italian police in the square disliked and thought “strange,” is not surprising as he had seen the plans for the crèche weeks ago and had given it his approval.
Also the timely appearance of the seagulls, who scavenge on any filth they can find, is actually not new to St. Peter’s Square during this pontificate.
In the adjoining piazza and around the colonnade, passers-by have been shocked at the degradation and squalor that emerges there at night. The seagulls descend on the headquarters of the Church and pick at rubbish bins, leaving debris strewn across the sidewalks and roads.
The homeless are allowed to bed down under main thoroughfares and archways, on the outskirts of the colonnade and in front of the Holy See press office. Often they are drunk and disorderly, sometimes threatening passing tourists hoping to get a shot of the basilica.
For all of the Pope’s worthy outreach to the poor and the homeless, he hasn’t lifted them up and off the streets, but instead created a culture of homelessness around the Vatican.
Some have called the miserable scene “apocalyptic.”
And yet the general waste and degeneration, the screaming, scavenging birds circling over the Vatican like a dead carcass, is perhaps highly symbolic of this pontificate, one that many see leading the Church in the direction of a kind of death.
And all the time that the degradation and squalor continue in the Church — both physically and morally — no one is really speaking up and coming to her rescue.
What a great opinion piece, and so well-written--if only this blogger can write half as well, that would be a miracle; actually, it is already a miracle that he can write at these mid-competency levels. The part that this blogger has a partial disagreement with is in the last paragraph. It is not that "no one is really speaking up and coming to her rescue," [2] since I (a rare use of this personal pronoun) am speaking up but then I am a nobody and do not know how to rescue the Church. Therefore, Anthony H. Wagner's conclusion is correct: "no one is really speaking up and coming to her rescue." [3], [4]
[1] https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/eerie-and-ominous-sign-appears-as-pope-francis-visits-vatican-nativity
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] God willing, this blogger's plan to start something new [5] and begin a new life will come to pass. It will not be easy, and he may ultimately fail. The most challenging part of this endeavor is to be able to master and adhere to without fail all "[t]he Seven Contrary Virtues which are specific opposites to the Seven Deadly Sins: Humility against pride, Kindness against envy, Abstinence against gluttony, Chastity against lust, Patience against anger, Liberality against greed, and Diligence against sloth." See http://changingminds.org/explanations/values/seven_virtues.htm. [Updated January 5, 2018.]
[5] A new decentralized monastic order (unified under Christ's teachings and by common purposes and attire) perhaps, with local meetings quarterly and a worldwide meeting annually, or not? Any one with ideas are most welcome!
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Vatican's New Year Resolution For 2018
The way this blogger sees it, the Vatican has only one new year's resolution for 2018: it is the rapid secularization of the Catholic Church. This conclusion is based on two published articles. The first is entitled Pope Francis urges world to jettison 'banality of consumerism' and avoid 'empty chatter' in New Year's Day message published by The Telegraph on January 1, 2018, quoted in part [1]:
Pope Francis has recommended jettisoning life's "useless baggage" in 2018, including what he called "empty chatter" and banal consumerism, and focusing instead on building a peaceful and welcoming world, particularly for refugees and migrants.
...
His advice included setting aside a moment of silence daily to be with God. Doing so would help "keep our freedom from being corroded by the banality of consumerism, the blare of commercials, the stream of empty words and the overpowering waves of empty chatter and loud shouting," Francis said.
This blogger's translation follows:
The first part of the quoted paragraph above sounds like good advice from a sage, and a most sagacious politician he is, speaking the language of the secular but not of the Catholic faithful. The latter part of the same paragraph pivots to matters that are in this blogger opinion, "empty chatter," resorting to trite phrases in describing the building of "a peaceful and welcoming world" from the perspective of a social charitable institution, "for refugees and migrants." Migrants and refugees are not the only ones suffering, even though their sufferings are visible and palpable; those who are truly suffering are those whose faith in Christ remain shallow and uncertain, and at worst, non-existent and hypocritical.
Even so translated, the first quoted paragraph appears fine. It is harmless enough on its face but deceitful in truth. It sets up a person's expectation that the speaker is speaking the words of Christ but in actuality they are not, not the words of Christ in this blogger's opinion. His opinion is confirmed by the second paragraph quoted above, which states that "[h]is advice included setting aside a moment of silence daily to be with God." The operative words here are "setting aside a moment of silence daily to be with God." [Emphasis added.]
Is spending "a moment of silence daily" with God enough? What happened to the prayers of the Rosary? Quoting in part from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops quoting another source: "'With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.'" [2]
To be sure, this was what Bergoglio had done and he had done it craftily and nearly imperceptibly: he replaced the graces of saying the Rosary with his own "secular graces" [3] which are as empty as Satan's promises by having people perform his recommended daily moment of silence with God. People who are fans and supporters of Bergoglio, including all his appointed cardinals, ought to try his daily moment of silence every day for at least a full year (365 days consecutively) to see if his promise of "secular graces" are reliable to the degree that Satan's promise to Eve was not: "'You certainly will not die!'" [4]
It would be difficult to believe that anyone would actually do this for even a week without skipping a day, let alone every single day for a year or longer. If nobody is actually going to do this, then is this daily moment of silence Bergoglio talked about merely a symbolic and an empty gesture, and his mention of it a "useless baggage" with no value whatsoever?
Will this daily moment of silence satisfy Christ and His Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary? Did any of the visionaries who saw apparitions of the Blessed Mother and Her Son who had received the Vatican stamp of approval ever reported that they had been told that a moment of silence daily with God is enough? If so, please educate this ignorant blogger.
Even if Bergoglio's fans and supporters were to set aside this daily "moment" consistently to be with God, it seems to this blogger that it could be a "pretend" moment of silence with God when the mind can easily draw an absolute blank, a silent meditational moment without the presence of God anywhere. If this is so and if it suffices for Bergoglio's purposes, then does this silent "moment" become a paganistic ritual, and would this not be plain heresy? If it is not, then what is? Perhaps it is not heresy, perhaps it is only a "stream of empty words" and part of an "overpowering wave of empty chatter," "shouted out loud" by Bergoglio for which he himself had created an antidote: a daily moment of silence, one which perhaps God would attend every time, for a moment, every day.
What is a moment? Dictionary.com defines a moment to be "an indefinitely short period of time; instant." [5] Based on this definition, spending a moment with God once a day is certainly appealing to the busy "faithful" masses who would occupy their many other hours that would be left (24 hours minus "a moment" to be exact) with politics and technologies of the day, food, drinks and entertainment, and other repetitive routines, vices and deliberate sins in addition to work, rest, friends and family.
The trend toward secularization does not end here.
The second article being relied upon for the conclusion that the Catholic Church is rapidly secularizing was published on January 1, 2018, by RomeReports entitled Pope Francis and Vatican's challenges in 2018. It is quoted below in its entirety [6] :
A crucial year begins for the Holy Father, who will celebrate his fifth year as pope in March.
In the coming months, apart from the surprises, he will need a big energy boost to face these five looming issues.
WORLD PEACE
The pope is worried about the increase in worldwide tension, especially in Korea and the Middle East.
Without a doubt, Pope Francis will have to make an extra effort to propose solutions, build bridges and avoid conflicts.
PAPAL TRIPS
In January, the pope will travel to Chile and Peru; and in August, to Ireland, where he will not have it easy. The Catholic Church there finds itself plagued by a string of abuse scandals.
In addition, Pope Francis may travel to the Baltic countries and India this year.
SYNOD ON YOUTH
In October, bishops from around the world met at the Vatican to search for ways to help young people practice the faith.
To develop a plan, bishops in Rome and throughout the globe are gathering opinions from thousands of people, whether Catholic or not.
CURIA REFORM
In 2018, the pope could finish the new constitution on Vatican Curia reform, which he has been working on since the first months of his papacy.
The reorganization intends to make the structure more simple and allow the voices of those far from Rome to be heard.
BENEDICT XVI'S HEALTH
February 11 marks five years since the announcement of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, who will turn 91 in April.
Despite being reasonably healthy and continuing to welcome daily visitors, he appears frail in photos from recent months.
Thus, his health will continue to be a topic in the news and one that causes rumors.
On "WORLD PEACE," the one effective thing that a pope can do is to ask all the Catholics around the world to pray for world peace, to say the Rosary daily, not for a moment, but for as long as it takes to pray and say the Rosary with devotion and without distraction. All the worldly things that Bergoglio thinks he can do to bring about world peace are in totality "excess baggage" that is useless, amounting to "idle chatter" that is a waste of time and completely ineffective, except to bring attention to himself upon the world political stage. In this respect, Bergoglio excels.
On "PAPAL TRIPS," if they are going to be as productive as his 2017 trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh to help the Rohingya refugees (since his departure "[c]onditions in the camps of Cox’s Bazar [are] continu[ing] to deteriorate as more Rohingya arrive" [7]), he may as well stay in bed, rest, eat well and be served to preserve his longevity, and from time to time, assume the role of pope within the walls of the Vatican for which he was elected and is expected to do.
On "SYNOD ON YOUTH," "bishops in Rome and throughout the globe are gathering opinions from thousands of people, whether Catholic or not" [8] "to search for ways to help young people practice the faith." [9] Is Christ no longer the sole and central authority in the ways His disciples ought to "practice the faith"? Is every Catholic not a disciple of Christ? Is the gathering of opinions by bishops in Rome and around the world from "thousands of people whether Catholic or not" (which means "whether atheistic or not" and "whether Satanic or not") a step toward or away from God? Does this mean that Christ's delegation of authority to Peter's successors to lead His flock has been annulled (just as a marriage entered into before God can be annulled) and is no longer relevant?
On "CURIA REFORM," it will be interesting to see what this reform will look like after it has been finalized. Making the structure "more simple" is a lie. What can be simpler than to follow the footsteps of Christ? He already walked the path. All one needs to do is to step on his lasting footprints. To be sure, "the new constitution" will not be a shock; it will be more secular than what has been established, and if Catholicism continues to be a religion, it will likely be a very different one from before when it was under Bergoglio's predecessor, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.
On "BENEDICT XVI'S HEALTH," while this blogger misses Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI even though he is part of and a pillar upholding the not-so-holy establishment, it is not his health that is of note but the health of the Catholic Church that has been overcome by the disease of secularization that is spreading rapidly worldwide and the spiritual health of those who profess to be faithful Catholics who may not have absolute faith in Christ or at all that are of concern.
[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/01/pope-francis-urges-world-jettison-banality-consumerism-avoid/
[2] http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/rosaries/
[3] Bergoglio's "secular graces" arise from "'setting aside a moment of silence daily to be with God," which permits one to be free "from being corroded by the banality of consumerism, the blare of commercials, the stream of empty words and the overpowering waves of empty chatter and loud shouting.'" See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/01/pope-francis-urges-world-jettison-banality-consumerism-avoid/
[4] http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/3, at 4.
[5] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/moment
[6] https://www.romereports.com/en/2018/01/01/pope-francis-and-vaticans-challenges-in-2018/
[7] See article by Independent entitled Rohingya Muslim refugees face fresh misery as Bangladesh welcome runs out at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/rohingya-muslims-myanmar-burma-bangladesh-refugees-local-clashes-workers-food-border-a8121231.html, published on December 30, 2017.
[8] https://www.romereports.com/en/2018/01/01/pope-francis-and-vaticans-challenges-in-2018/
[9] Ibid.
Monday, January 1, 2018
Seeing the truth
In this blog, truths with a small "t" are individual truths. Truths with a capital "T" are God's Truths. God's Truths are eternal and they will always lead to God. Human truths can change as circumstances and mores of the time change, and often wrapped inside them are deceptions, rationalizations and omissions, leading many astray and their originators closer and closer toward Satan.
Being able to see human truths cannot a blessing, for ignorance is bliss, words that have withstood the test of time and likewise these words as well: the ugly truth. Individual truths can make a person ugly, very ugly. To be able see individual human truths clearly all the time is to see all the ugliness in the faces of people around without pause (including the ugliness of those who on the surface appear to be the dearest and the most caring when they are most dear to themselves and most caring of themselves, which is self-centered pride wrapped in deceit). Ugliness overwhelms and obliterates all that is and could be beautiful. Living a life seeing every person's beauty destroyed by individual sinful truths is not easy, one that Christ must have led.
Not only did Christ see; He foresaw and foresees. From His perspective, therefore, humanity ought to be a lump of indistinguishable ugliness festering in Satan's wasteland of sins, yet He chooses to overlook sins' deadly venom covering the ugly sinner. What Christ must see is the potential beauty that is within each of God's creation, and it is this pure beauty that each person carries within the interior that Christ became man to save by becoming physically ugly Himself, by carrying upon his entire body from head to toe painful and open wounds, one that was also bruised and swollen by the stoning and the falling as He was lifting up and walking with the weight of humanity's sins in the shape of a cross, only to be nailed to it when He reached Golgotha.
Christ died while nailed to the cross of humanity's sins. This was not just a crucifixion of a body. This was the permanent attachment of sins committed from the time of Adam and Eve to the end of the world to sinless living flesh. Only the living flesh of Christ is able to absorb sins of man; only by dying sinlessly on the cross of sins can humanity's sins drop off like parasites upon a host; and only by rising from the dead and entering into Heaven can sins no longer seek out their hosts and continue their parasitic existences, on earth and in Hell.
As imagined by this blogger, sins that dropped off the flesh after a sinner dies attach themselves to the soul of the sinner unless the soul of the sinner is saved by the inner beauty that was revealed while the soul and the body were still one in the world. Inner beauty reveals itself in humility and manifests fully in sacrificial love. Only souls that had revealed at least once its complete inner beauty and displayed sacrificial love fully when they were still connected to the flesh can enter Heaven. In Heaven, there is no ugliness, only beauty. One who refuses to reveal one's inner beauty that leads to sacrificial love in life will not be able to enter Heaven. This is analogous to not being able to play in an orchestra without ever touching a musical instrument.
How much of one's potential inner beauty has been revealed despite one's continuous acts of sin in life, and how much effort has one willed to avoid deliberate sin may work to limit one's life tribulations and may after death reduce the soul's time in Purgatory and the severity of the cleansing necessary to be purified before entering Heaven. Saint "Augustine [said] in a sermon (xli De Sanctis): 'This fire of Purgatory will be more severe than any pain that can be felt, seen or conceived in this world.'" [1] This Saint Augustine is the same Augustine of Hippo who was an erstwhile fornicator, who "had contracted an illicit relationship with an unnamed woman and, from this union, came a son." [2] Of the many saints, Augustine ought to know about the severity of the fire of Purgatory based on his past sins.
Supposedly there are ways to avoid Purgatory. They are listed under this title: HOW TO AVOID PURGATORY written by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan. It is quite long and is available to read at http://www.theworkofgod.org/how_to_avoid_purgatory.htm or https://www.ewtn.com/library/spirit/avoidprg.txt. As comprehensive as the publication seems to be, it appears to miss this one way that is without reference to Holy Souls under Fr. Paul O'Sullivan's Chapter 14, quoted below without hyperlink [3]:
These promises, given directly by the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan de La Roche, are in this blogger's opinion carry far greater weight than the multitude of ways any sinner, priest or not, can dream up, however sensible and correct they may be, not that they are wrong or entirely ineffective in any way, in avoiding Purgatory. Simple recitation of prayers over a certain period, a lifetime or what seems to be a lifetime, appears to be preferable for the Blessed Mother and Her Son in order for one to avoid Purgatory. See also St. Bridget's 7 prayers for 12 years, 15 prayers for one year and rosary of 7 sorrows in addition to "A true letter from Our Savior Jesus Christ." [4]
Heaven is about simplicity whereas humans love complexity. It is therefore best to stay simple, humble and true. With that, perhaps every sinner will be less ugly before Christ even though He can see and foresee the ugliness of every individual's sin, great and small, especially Satan's favorite, pride, the one most easily camouflaged and most difficult to recognize.
[1] https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Summa_Theologiae/Appendix/Question_2
[2] http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2013/08/st-augustines-mistress-and-son-and.html
[3] http://www.theworkofgod.org/avoid_purgatory.htm
[4] Ibid.
Being able to see human truths cannot a blessing, for ignorance is bliss, words that have withstood the test of time and likewise these words as well: the ugly truth. Individual truths can make a person ugly, very ugly. To be able see individual human truths clearly all the time is to see all the ugliness in the faces of people around without pause (including the ugliness of those who on the surface appear to be the dearest and the most caring when they are most dear to themselves and most caring of themselves, which is self-centered pride wrapped in deceit). Ugliness overwhelms and obliterates all that is and could be beautiful. Living a life seeing every person's beauty destroyed by individual sinful truths is not easy, one that Christ must have led.
Not only did Christ see; He foresaw and foresees. From His perspective, therefore, humanity ought to be a lump of indistinguishable ugliness festering in Satan's wasteland of sins, yet He chooses to overlook sins' deadly venom covering the ugly sinner. What Christ must see is the potential beauty that is within each of God's creation, and it is this pure beauty that each person carries within the interior that Christ became man to save by becoming physically ugly Himself, by carrying upon his entire body from head to toe painful and open wounds, one that was also bruised and swollen by the stoning and the falling as He was lifting up and walking with the weight of humanity's sins in the shape of a cross, only to be nailed to it when He reached Golgotha.
Christ died while nailed to the cross of humanity's sins. This was not just a crucifixion of a body. This was the permanent attachment of sins committed from the time of Adam and Eve to the end of the world to sinless living flesh. Only the living flesh of Christ is able to absorb sins of man; only by dying sinlessly on the cross of sins can humanity's sins drop off like parasites upon a host; and only by rising from the dead and entering into Heaven can sins no longer seek out their hosts and continue their parasitic existences, on earth and in Hell.
As imagined by this blogger, sins that dropped off the flesh after a sinner dies attach themselves to the soul of the sinner unless the soul of the sinner is saved by the inner beauty that was revealed while the soul and the body were still one in the world. Inner beauty reveals itself in humility and manifests fully in sacrificial love. Only souls that had revealed at least once its complete inner beauty and displayed sacrificial love fully when they were still connected to the flesh can enter Heaven. In Heaven, there is no ugliness, only beauty. One who refuses to reveal one's inner beauty that leads to sacrificial love in life will not be able to enter Heaven. This is analogous to not being able to play in an orchestra without ever touching a musical instrument.
How much of one's potential inner beauty has been revealed despite one's continuous acts of sin in life, and how much effort has one willed to avoid deliberate sin may work to limit one's life tribulations and may after death reduce the soul's time in Purgatory and the severity of the cleansing necessary to be purified before entering Heaven. Saint "Augustine [said] in a sermon (xli De Sanctis): 'This fire of Purgatory will be more severe than any pain that can be felt, seen or conceived in this world.'" [1] This Saint Augustine is the same Augustine of Hippo who was an erstwhile fornicator, who "had contracted an illicit relationship with an unnamed woman and, from this union, came a son." [2] Of the many saints, Augustine ought to know about the severity of the fire of Purgatory based on his past sins.
Supposedly there are ways to avoid Purgatory. They are listed under this title: HOW TO AVOID PURGATORY written by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan. It is quite long and is available to read at http://www.theworkofgod.org/how_to_avoid_purgatory.htm or https://www.ewtn.com/library/spirit/avoidprg.txt. As comprehensive as the publication seems to be, it appears to miss this one way that is without reference to Holy Souls under Fr. Paul O'Sullivan's Chapter 14, quoted below without hyperlink [3]:
Fifteen Promises of Our Lady to those who pray the Holy Rosary, Given to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de La Roche [:]
1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the rosary, shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the rosary.
3. The rosary shall be a powerful armour against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the rosary, shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite the rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the rosary. [Emphasis original.]
10. The faithful children of the rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the rosary.
12. All those who propagate the holy rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
14. All who recite the rosary are my sons, and brothers of my only son Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion of my rosary is a great sign of predestination
These promises, given directly by the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan de La Roche, are in this blogger's opinion carry far greater weight than the multitude of ways any sinner, priest or not, can dream up, however sensible and correct they may be, not that they are wrong or entirely ineffective in any way, in avoiding Purgatory. Simple recitation of prayers over a certain period, a lifetime or what seems to be a lifetime, appears to be preferable for the Blessed Mother and Her Son in order for one to avoid Purgatory. See also St. Bridget's 7 prayers for 12 years, 15 prayers for one year and rosary of 7 sorrows in addition to "A true letter from Our Savior Jesus Christ." [4]
Heaven is about simplicity whereas humans love complexity. It is therefore best to stay simple, humble and true. With that, perhaps every sinner will be less ugly before Christ even though He can see and foresee the ugliness of every individual's sin, great and small, especially Satan's favorite, pride, the one most easily camouflaged and most difficult to recognize.
[1] https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Summa_Theologiae/Appendix/Question_2
[2] http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2013/08/st-augustines-mistress-and-son-and.html
[3] http://www.theworkofgod.org/avoid_purgatory.htm
[4] Ibid.
"Lead Us Not Into Temptation"
This blog repeats again the change the Vatican wants to the Lord's Prayer, from "lead us not into temptation" to "something along the lines of, 'Do not let us fall into temptation.'" [1] This is done on purpose on this first day of the new year, 2018, because it underscores the changes that the Catholic Church is undergoing and that such changes are probably going to occur with more and more frequency from this year forward, changes that are in directions away from God.
In this blogger's opinion, this is a significant change and it is rooted in influences that are typical of those that are Satanic. Satanic influences always appear to be innocuous because Satan is the master of deceit. Satan puts doubts in God's eternal Truth. It happened in the Garden of Eden and it has happened again and again ever since under different scenarios. The exchange that took place in the Garden of Eden between the Serpent and Eve, is quoted without reference to paragraph numbers and notes [2]:
Die they did, and die all sinners born after them did and will. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Immaculate Conception. She was not tainted with Original Sin. She was assumed into Heaven, believed by those faithful to Her beloved Son, Whose birthday was only a week ago.
On changing the words of "Our Father" many looked at the words themselves which without thought behind them have no meaning. They simply resort to semantics. Bergoglio "insisted that God 'does not push us toward temptation' to then observe how we fall. The one who does that 'is Satan,' the pope said firmly. On the contrary, 'like a Father,' God “immediately' helps those who have fallen to get back up." [3] He agreed with the French [4]:
Innocuous enough, or so it seems. This is exactly what Satan wants people to think.
In a previous post, this blogger argued that if God had answered the prayer, not letting people fall, then man, God's creation, would become a robot, at least one that does not yet have Free Will and even if it did, it is not man born with a soul. In other words, had God not allowed people to choose, man would not need a soul. Man would then be a robot, a perfect one, and Satan would be delighted since man, God's prized creation, would be reduced to nothing, beneath Satan itself.
This would be the effect of changing the words from "lead us not into temptation" to words like "do not let me fall into temptation." For those who will be praying this "new" prayer, it is best to remember these words of wisdom said long ago: "Be careful what you wish for." [5] Can anyone imagine going through the rest of one's life without choice which is the same as without God because God created man with Free Will? Souls in Hell no longer have choice. Satan wants man on earth to be without choice like souls in Hell. Souls in Heaven continue to have choice, just as Lucifer did, who chose to reject God and became Satan.
Not only could this change affect all that is to come, but it also affects all that is in the past. Imagine all the graces that everyone had received from saying the words "lead us not into temptation" being retroactively vitiated since this pope who is supposedly infallible has declared it to be wrong. If the words are wrong now, they were wrong from the very beginning, and all the prayers prayed would be made ineffective.
The words "lead us not into temptation," are correct and they need not be altered in any way, not even in a way that may make more sense to the modern reader. Below are this blogger's thoughts:
1. The words "lead us not into" are synonymous to "lead us away from." This change allows man to choose, and once man has chosen, he prays to God to lead him away from his sinful choices. This is a change that preserves Free Will but it is unnecessary.
2. "Lead us not" into temptation are words that Christ had backed up with His actions. He not only taught but He led man every time NOT toward Satan (INTO TEMPTATION) but toward God (into Heaven). Man can choose not to follow but Christ continues to lead nonetheless. In other words, by His actions, Christ led man, not into temptation toward Satan, but away from temptation toward God. This is the meaning behind these words, albeit somewhat archaic, and obviously not digestible by those overcome by Satanic powers.
What could come next? A shorter rosary for today's busy folks with so much information to process, a wide variety of material things and entertainment to choose from and so many ways to forget about God including inebriation and drug abuse and other mind-numbing options, and this is only a partial listing.
Perhaps a better world can begin today, the first day of 2018, with God always in clear focus, not putting oneself and one's pride at the center. To focus on God is to focus on the love one can give to God and neighbor, love that is infinite and inexhaustible, and innate in every human heart but which is seldom accessed and given.
[1] http://www.sltrib.com/religion/global/2017/12/13/lead-us-not-into-what-pope-francis-suggests-changing-the-words-of-the-lords-prayer/
[2] http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/3, 1-6.
[3] https://aleteia.org/2017/12/05/satan-not-god-leads-us-into-temptation/
[4] Ibid.
[5] http://jamie.workingagenda.com/blog/2010/06/12/who-said-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/
In this blogger's opinion, this is a significant change and it is rooted in influences that are typical of those that are Satanic. Satanic influences always appear to be innocuous because Satan is the master of deceit. Satan puts doubts in God's eternal Truth. It happened in the Garden of Eden and it has happened again and again ever since under different scenarios. The exchange that took place in the Garden of Eden between the Serpent and Eve, is quoted without reference to paragraph numbers and notes [2]:
Now the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden’?”
The woman answered the snake: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, or else you will die.’”
But the snake said to the woman: “You certainly will not die!
God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil.”
The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Die they did, and die all sinners born after them did and will. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Immaculate Conception. She was not tainted with Original Sin. She was assumed into Heaven, believed by those faithful to Her beloved Son, Whose birthday was only a week ago.
On changing the words of "Our Father" many looked at the words themselves which without thought behind them have no meaning. They simply resort to semantics. Bergoglio "insisted that God 'does not push us toward temptation' to then observe how we fall. The one who does that 'is Satan,' the pope said firmly. On the contrary, 'like a Father,' God “immediately' helps those who have fallen to get back up." [3] He agreed with the French [4]:
To say that God “leads” us into temptation is “not a good translation” of the prayer taught by Christ, the pope said. It is for this reason, he continued, that the French liturgical translation has been changed to ask the Lord “not to let me fall.”
Innocuous enough, or so it seems. This is exactly what Satan wants people to think.
In a previous post, this blogger argued that if God had answered the prayer, not letting people fall, then man, God's creation, would become a robot, at least one that does not yet have Free Will and even if it did, it is not man born with a soul. In other words, had God not allowed people to choose, man would not need a soul. Man would then be a robot, a perfect one, and Satan would be delighted since man, God's prized creation, would be reduced to nothing, beneath Satan itself.
This would be the effect of changing the words from "lead us not into temptation" to words like "do not let me fall into temptation." For those who will be praying this "new" prayer, it is best to remember these words of wisdom said long ago: "Be careful what you wish for." [5] Can anyone imagine going through the rest of one's life without choice which is the same as without God because God created man with Free Will? Souls in Hell no longer have choice. Satan wants man on earth to be without choice like souls in Hell. Souls in Heaven continue to have choice, just as Lucifer did, who chose to reject God and became Satan.
Not only could this change affect all that is to come, but it also affects all that is in the past. Imagine all the graces that everyone had received from saying the words "lead us not into temptation" being retroactively vitiated since this pope who is supposedly infallible has declared it to be wrong. If the words are wrong now, they were wrong from the very beginning, and all the prayers prayed would be made ineffective.
The words "lead us not into temptation," are correct and they need not be altered in any way, not even in a way that may make more sense to the modern reader. Below are this blogger's thoughts:
1. The words "lead us not into" are synonymous to "lead us away from." This change allows man to choose, and once man has chosen, he prays to God to lead him away from his sinful choices. This is a change that preserves Free Will but it is unnecessary.
2. "Lead us not" into temptation are words that Christ had backed up with His actions. He not only taught but He led man every time NOT toward Satan (INTO TEMPTATION) but toward God (into Heaven). Man can choose not to follow but Christ continues to lead nonetheless. In other words, by His actions, Christ led man, not into temptation toward Satan, but away from temptation toward God. This is the meaning behind these words, albeit somewhat archaic, and obviously not digestible by those overcome by Satanic powers.
What could come next? A shorter rosary for today's busy folks with so much information to process, a wide variety of material things and entertainment to choose from and so many ways to forget about God including inebriation and drug abuse and other mind-numbing options, and this is only a partial listing.
Perhaps a better world can begin today, the first day of 2018, with God always in clear focus, not putting oneself and one's pride at the center. To focus on God is to focus on the love one can give to God and neighbor, love that is infinite and inexhaustible, and innate in every human heart but which is seldom accessed and given.
[1] http://www.sltrib.com/religion/global/2017/12/13/lead-us-not-into-what-pope-francis-suggests-changing-the-words-of-the-lords-prayer/
[2] http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/3, 1-6.
[3] https://aleteia.org/2017/12/05/satan-not-god-leads-us-into-temptation/
[4] Ibid.
[5] http://jamie.workingagenda.com/blog/2010/06/12/who-said-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/
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