Authority

The Vatican has circulated a survey around the world wherein they asked questions of the lay people.  This was done to gauge where the Catholic world is on some of the hot button issues such as sexual morality, the role of women in the church and the state of marriage.  Judging from this article from The Telegraph the state of Catholic obedience to long standing teachings is nearly extinct.

There are many reasons for this and it is a huge problem for our world and our people.  However, the single biggest cause of this universal disregard for these moral truths lies in the common belief the only authority one must obey is one's own conscience.  This is rooted in the "faith alone" doctrine which, naturally, has mutated over the last five centuries to an attitude that a person can do pretty much whatever he likes as long as he 'believes" that Jesus Christ is his savior.  Today, "faith alone" has even trumped "scripture only", for now one can believe that almost any depraved act is licit, even when expressly condemned by scripture, as long as it is done for "love".  So much for the two pillars of Protestantism, for it is down to one leg to stand on.

Here comes the hammer.  Even if the entire lay world, every person, believed these sins, acts which go against longtime Catholic teaching, were licit, they would still be sins and to do them would be a one way trip to hell.  Even if 99% of the Catholic priests and nuns were to teach these errors, the results would be the same, hell.  Even if the Pope were to offer his opinion that divorce, re-marrying, same-sex unions, fornication, co-habitation, contraception, reception of Communion by people engaged in such behaviors was morally neutral, it would still be the wide, paved highway to hell.

For anyone who has been prejudiced against the Catholic Church, who cannot believe that She is the One, True, Catholic and Apostolic Church, that is the One Religion with authority over the entire human race, I offer this test.  Watch the times.  As things spin out of control, as almost anything goes, notice how the Catholic Church will not change Her time honored, truthful teachings, no matter how many voices within Her clamor.  Notice how She will be the last one standing on these Truths.  Watch how the "gates of hell' will not prevail over Her.  But don't stand outside watching too long, for it is a dangerous world and to follow the world is to die.

Diabolical Confusion

These times are marked with Diabolical Confusion.  This linked article tells of a young Catholic priest, ordained last year, who is already in trouble for being true to his vocation.  He is under great pressure from the media for...wait for it...wait...waaaaittt...discriminating against a lesbian couple by denying them Communion.  This story is recent and we do not see what his superior's position will be.  Either they will support him completely for upholding church teaching for the good of the lesbian couple, or they will throw him under the bus for the good of their own popular image.

Charity demands that Father Kneib do what is best for the lesbian couple.  He can either go along to get along or he can rock the boat.  By going along, his world would be nicer and peaceful, but he would be acting as a traffic manager, guiding his flock and those women straight to hell. He himself would be held to count for the lost souls and he too would be joining them.  Otherwise, he could and did, rock the boat and act as a traffic manager should, that is, he barred the road to hell and pointed towards the safe direction.  If those women ignore his loving courage, which it appears at first look that they have, then Father Kneib at least has done his duty and should he persevere in this way for the rest of his life, he will hear the most soothing words anyone will ever hear, "Well done good and faithful servant...".  It does not matter how much he is chastised by the popular media and possibly his superiors, he is being true to Christ.  In fact, the more they harm him, the more Christ will uplift him.

The article tells of Father Marcel Guarnizo of Maryland.  In 2012 he denied Communion to a lesbian couple under very similar circumstances. His Archdiocese threw him under the bus by removing him from parish duties and apologizing to the poor lost sexual deviants.  That is the mark of diabolical confusion.  That is precisely why God gave us the Holy Roman Catholic Church.  Mankind has flaws, among which are self-conceit.  Each generation believes itself to be smarter and superior to the preceding generations.  With the promise of God that the gates of hell will not prevail over the Holy Roman Catholic Church, ever, we have the road map through the times and the future by learning from the past, the Catholic Tradition.  We know through that tradition that homo-sexuality is wrong, was wrong and will ever be wrong, no matter what our confused church leaders of today tell us.  With that tradition we will not be lead by the blind into the pit; for the blind cannot lead one who sees.

I am praying for Fathers Kneib and Guarnizo for their courage and integrity.  I thank God for such men.  I am praying for the leaders of the Maryland Archdiocese and the leaders of Father Kneib's diocese.  May they find courage to serve their Lord well.  I am praying for those confused lesbian women involved in both cases and all souls involved in homo-sexual activities; indeed, for all souls who are outside of the sexual bounds set by the church.  If they do not cease and repent of their grave sins, they are forever lost.  With Christ's unlimited, unfathomable mercy they have a chance as long as they live, but given their obstinacy, which would never waver were it not for good men like Fathers Kneib and Guarnizo, it is a long shot.  They must change their own minds before Christ will change their hearts.

Finally, I pray for whomever the pastor of the Saint Columban Catholic Church of Chillicothe, MO. was before Father Kneib arrived.  For nearly twenty years those women were members of that church and had no problems before?!  Where in the hell were their shepherds?!

May God bless us all, who love Him.

How Not To Crash And Burn

What would we think of a fellow who would attempt to fly a helicopter prior to receiving any training?  What would be the odds of failure?  Say about 100%?  Check out this video of just such a man.

This poor misguided fellow failed to discern the true authority of the Federal Aviation Agency.  He failed to heed their regulations which prohibit operating a helicopter without specific training and certification.  The FAA regulations are not there to make his life boring and without fun; they are there to protect him from harm.  His disregard for authority brought him to ruin.

The real point of this post is our own disregard for true authority in managing our lives.  Look around and we see heartbreak, failed marriages, suicides, homeless children, drug and alcohol abuse, sex abuses and deprivations and on and on and on.  We consider ourselves free of restraint, needing no shepherding and we are crashing.  Like our poor man mismanaging the helicopter controls, we are mismanaging our wills and actions.  That helicopter was a perfectly airworthy machine, it was capable of graceful flight, but the operator was unable to guide it properly.  Our bodies are capable of living graceful, productive, beautiful lives, but if we are untrained on the truths of life, we too, will fail.

But where do we get such life training?  The Holy Roman and Catholic Church.  This is the one church which was founded by Christ, while he was with the Apostles, and continues to be a living extension of Him today.  Understand that the authority of the Catholic Church comes to us from above, we cannot disregard it without consequence.  Matt 16:16-20; John 21:15-20 Matt 28: 16-20

However, subjecting oneself to the authority of the Catholic Church is to subject oneself to Christ.  This will not make life hard and boring, it makes life graceful, beautiful and full of rewards.  My our good God bless us all, who love Him.