Category Archives: Catholic Church

“This form of constitution ensures peace among the people, commends itself to all, and is most enduring.”

“The best form of government is in a state or kingdom, where one is given the power to preside over all; while under him are others having governing powers: and yet a government of this kind is shared by all, both because all are eligible to govern, and because the rules are chosen by all. For this is the best form of polity, being partly kingdom, since there is one at the head of all; partly aristocracy, in so far as a number of persons are set in authority; partly democracy, i.e. government by the people, in so far as the rulers can be chosen from the people, and the people have the right to choose their rulers.”

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 105 (c. 1225–1274)

Sources:

• http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2105.htm
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summa_Theologica

On July 22, U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke spoke important words to us at the “Church Teaches Forum” in Louisville.

Burke, one of the Church’s leading canon law experts, preached on the fact that “the confusion and error which has led human culture in the way of death and destruction has also entered into the Church, so that she draws near to the culture without seeming to know her own identity and mission, without seeming to have the clarity and the courage to announce the Gospel of Life and Divine Love to the radically secularized culture.”

He particularly discussed the twin dangers of either idolizing every word that comes out of the pope’s mouth on the one hand vs. desiring to leave the church altogether on the other.

Burke, who has previously called the Pope’s controversial 2016 Amoris Laetitia “not an act of the magisterium” but a “personal reflection of the Pope” noted, “It is simply wrong and harmful to the Church to receive every declaration of the Holy Father as an expression of papal teaching or magisterium. “

“The faithful are not free to follow theological opinions which contradict the doctrine contained in the Holy Scriptures and Sacred Tradition, and confirmed by the ordinary Magisterium, even if these opinions are finding a wide hearing in the Church and are not being corrected by the Church’s pastors as the pastors are obliged to do,” he added.

He warned that Catholics in anguish over the current situation within the Church much not even think about schism and laid out a number of practical ways we can respond positively:

• Pray for an increase of faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ “Who is alive for us in the Church and Who never fails to teach, sanctify, and guide us in the Church” and whose “teaching does not change.”
• “Study more attentively the teachings of the faith contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and be prepared to defend those teachings against any falsehood which would erode the faith and thus the unity of the Church.”
• Gather together to “deepen their faith and to encourage one another.”
• Go to the Blessed Virgin Mary…in order to seek her maternal intercession.
• Invoke frequently throughout the day the intercession of Saint Michael the Archangel.
• Pray daily to St. Joseph, especially under the title of “Terror of Demons” for the “peace of the Church, for her protection against all forms of confusion and division which are always the work of Satan.”
• Pray for the Pope, especially through the intercession of St. Peter.
• Pray for the Cardinals of the Church that they be of “true assistance to the Holy Father in exercising his office.”
• “Remain serene because of our faith in Christ who will not permit the ‘gates of hell’ to prevail against his Church.”
• “Safeguard especially our faith in the Petrine Office and our love for the Successor of Saint Peter, Pope Francis.”

Read the full text here:

https://www.scribd.com/document/355803615/Cardinal-Raymond-Burke-Developing-Lives-of-Peace-after-the-Heart-of-Mary

July 2017 – The secretary to one of Pope Francis’ closest collaborators has been arrested while hosting a cocaine-fueled homosexual orgy in a building right next to St. Peter’s Basilica.

Michael Hichborn, president of the U.S.-based Lepanto Institute, says the Church’s enemies are trying to destroy her from within.

“We know for a fact that Communists and homosexuals were specifically recruited as far back as the 1920’s to infiltrate seminaries. It was a concerted effort to destroy the Church from within. What we are seeing is the culmination of nearly 100 years worth of this effort playing itself out,” he said.

Hichborn said that faithful Catholics must not abandon their Mother, the Church, in the face of such evil. “What Capozzi was caught doing is absolutely vile, but his crime was as much against the Church he claims to serve as it was against the faithful who are affected by his actions.”

I am sickened by this, though sadly, not surprised. It’s not that I expected this degree of filth so close to Pope Francis, but that I have suspected for a long time that his closest advisors are devout Leftists whose true agenda is to advance the cause of Satan by weakening the Holy Catholic Church.

It is my sincere prayer that he has been deceived, rather than complicit, and that this appalling scandal will serve as a much needed wake up call.

Please help me pray for my church and for my fellow Catholics.

Source:

• https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/high-ranking-monsignor-with-link-to-pope-francis-caught-in-cocaine-fueled-g
• http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/the-city-gates.cfm?id=1476

Catholic doctrine has always held that, upon consecration at Mass, Christ becomes truly and substantially present in the bread and wine on the altar. Over the centuries, however, there have been numerous reports of consecrated Hosts literally turning to physical flesh and blood.

One such miracle happened in 8th Century Lanciano, where a priest who was doubting the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist saw the bread and wine transform into human flesh and blood as he said the words of consecration. Over 1,200 years later, these substances have not decomposed.

These substances and others like them produce the same results when tested for blood type. AB. I think this is super cool, because AB is the universal receptor and Jesus took our blood guilt on Himself to save us from eternal damnation.

Source:

• http://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2017/06/15/how-eucharistic-miracles-show-christs-blood-type/

When I was a kid, we did not eat meat on Fridays.  Then, after Vatican II, we understood (wrongly it turns out) that we only had to do that during Lent. 

According to the article linked below, the only change Vatican II made was to give national episcopal conferences the power to make the meatless Friday an option, rather than a mandatory penance.

In some countries, meatless Fridays are still mandatory.  In the U.S., we can substitute a different kind of penance on Fridays, but abstaining from meat is still the penance of choice.*

I’m seriously annoyed that I did not know this.  I mean … I taught RCIA for 5 years!  How come NOBODY EVER TOLD US?!  Sheesh.

The article linked below lists three positives to choosing abstaining from meat for one’s Friday penance.

1. Symbolism. Friday was the day of Christ’s passion and death. When we do some kind of penance on Friday, we recall His sacrifice.  When we abstain from flesh foods, we specifically recall the sacrifice of His body.  (This is why cold-blooded flesh foods, like fish, are okay.)

2. Simplicity. It’s easy to remember, it’s time-tested, and it’s neither too easy nor too demanding for most people.  (There’s nothing stopping vegetarians from choosing something else to skip.)

3. Solidarity.  Friday abstinence is like ashes on Ash Wednesday.  It’s part of one’s Catholic identity. A single shared sacrifice is more powerful of us than the more generic doing-of-something-penitential on Fridays.

I’m convinced.  Dearest and I are going meatless on Fridays from now on, just like when we were kids.

——————-

*It is inappropriate to do penance on a solemnity.  A solemnity is a very special feast day.  Most solemnities are one day long, but the two greatest solemnities in the Catholic calendar — Easter and Christmas — last for eight days.

The eighth day is called “octave day” and the days in between are said to be “within the octave.”  The days within the octaves are “little” solemnities; the first and eighth days are “big” solemnities.

Any Friday that falls within the octaves of Easter or Christmas are not days of abstinence or penance.

Sources:

• https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/three-benefits-to-abstaining-from-meat-on-fridays-even-after-lent
• https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/blog/index.cfm?id=251