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Friday 19 September 2014

For The Proficients

thanks to wiki
For those who have achieved the Illuminative State, here is some advice from St. Francis de Sales on virtue.

I think that choosing a virtue will come naturally. Some people have one virtue which stands out above all the rest.

My comments in red....

First, the saint's comments.

At the same time, there are virtues of universal account, which must
   not only be called into occasional action, but ought to spread their
   influence over everything. We do not very often come across
   opportunities for exercising strength, magnanimity, or magnificence;
   but gentleness, temperance, modesty, and humility, are graces which
   ought to colour everything we do. There may be virtues of a more
   exalted mould, but at all events these are the most continually called
   for in daily life. Sugar is better than salt, but we use salt more
   generally and oftener. Consequently, it is well to have a good and
   ready stock in hand of those general virtues of which we stand in so
   perpetual a need.
 
Most modern day priests have told people to be like sugar. No
This is not the call of God in the world. 

 In practising any virtue, it is well to choose that which is most
   according to our duty, rather than most according to our taste. It was
   Saint Paula's liking to practise bodily mortifications with a view to
   the keener enjoyment of spiritual sweetness, but obedience to her
   superiors was a higher duty; and therefore Saint Jerome acknowledges
   that she was wrong in practising excessive abstinence contrary to the
   advice of her Bishop. And the Apostles, whose mission it was to preach
   the Gospel, and feed souls with the Bread of Life, judged well that it
   was not right for them to hinder this holy work in order to minister to
   the material wants of the poor, weighty as that work was also. [52]
   Every calling stands in special need of some special virtue; tDeahose
   required of a prelate, a prince, or a soldier, are quite different; so
   are those beseeming a wife or a widow, and although all should possess
   every virtue, yet all are not called upon to exercise them equally, but
   each should cultivate chiefly those which are important to the manner
   of life to which he is called.
 
 Deacons do not have the same role in the Church as priests. 
The corporal works of mercy are their primary duty. And
those who are working will not be effective if they have not
dealt with their own predominant faults and are free of egotism. 
 
   Among such virtues as have no special adaptation to our own calling,
   choose the most excellent, not the most showy. A comet generally looks
   larger than the stars, and fills the eye more; but all the while comets
   are not nearly so important as the stars, and only seem so large to us
   because they are nearer to us than stars, and are of a grosser kind. So
   there are certain virtues which touch us very sensibly and are very
   material, so to say, and therefore ordinary people give them the
   preference. Thus the common run of men ordinarily value temporal
   almsgiving more than spiritual; and think more of fasting, exterior
   discipline and bodily mortification than of meekness, cheerfulness,
   modesty, and other interior mortifications, which nevertheless are far
   better. Do you then, my daughter, choose the best virtues, not those
   which are most highly esteemed; the most excellent, not the most
   visible; the truest, not the most conspicuous.
 
 I know a saint by her cheerfulness.
 
   It is well for everybody to select some special virtue at which to aim,
   not as neglecting any others, but as an object and pursuit to the mind.
   Saint John, Bishop of Alexandria, saw a vision of a lovely maiden,
   brighter than the sun, in shining garments, and wearing an olive crown,
   who said to him, "I am the King's eldest daughter, and if thou wilt
   have me for thy friend, I will bring thee to see His Face." Then he
   knew that it was pity for the poor which God thus commended to him, and
   from that time he gave himself so heartily to practise it, that he is
   universally known as Saint John the Almoner. Eulogius Alexandrinus
   desired to devote himself wholly to God, but he had not courage either
   to adopt the solitary life, or to put himself under obedience, and
   therefore he took a miserable beggar, seething in dirt and leprosy, to
   live with him; and to do this more thoroughly, he vowed to honour and
   serve him as a servant does his lord and master. After a while, both
   feeling greatly tempted to part company, they referred to the great
   Saint Anthony, who said, "Beware of separating, my sons, for you are
   both near your end, and if the Angel find you not together, you will be
   in danger of losing your crowns."
 
  We are so afraid of suffering in our culture, that we cannot serve others as we should.
  The proficient, the ones who have been purified, know how to do this.
 
   Saint Louis counted it a privilege to visit the hospitals, where he
   used to tend the sick with his own royal hands. Saint Francis loved
   poverty above all things, and called her his lady-love. Saint Dominic
   gave himself up to preaching, whence his Order takes its name. [53]
   Saint Gregory the Great specially delighted to receive pilgrims after
   the manner of faithful Abraham, and like him entertained the King of
   Glory under a pilgrim's garb. Tobit devoted himself to the charitable
   work of burying the dead. Saint Elizabeth, albeit a mighty princess,
   loved above all things to humble herself. When Saint Catherine of Genoa
   became a widow, she gave herself up to work in an hospital. Cassian
   relates how a certain devout maiden once besought Saint Athanasius to
   help her in cultivating the grace of patience; and he gave her a poor
   widow as companion, who was cross, irritable, and altogether
   intolerable, and whose perpetual fretfulness gave the pious lady
   abundant opportunity of practising gentleness and patience. And so some
   of God's servants devote themselves to nursing the sick, helping the
   poor, teaching little children in the faith, reclaiming the fallen,
   building churches, and adorning the altar, making peace among men.
   Therein they resemble embroidresses who work all manner of silks, gold
   and silver on various grounds, so producing beautiful flowers. Just so
   the pious souls who undertake some special devout practice use it as
   the ground of their spiritual embroidery, and frame all manner of other
   graces upon it, ordering their actions and affections better by means
   of this their chief thread which runs through all.
 "Upon Thy Right Hand did stand the Queen in a vesture of gold wrought
   about with divers colours." [54]
 
The proficients, unlike those full of egotism, know that work in the Kingdom of God is NOT
merely being seen on the altar. The hidden gifts are lay gifts of those who have come into the light. 
  
   When we are beset by any particular vice, it is well as far as possible
   to make the opposite virtue our special aim, and turn everything to
   that account; so doing, we shall overcome our enemy, and meanwhile make
   progress in all virtue. Thus, if I am beset with pride or anger, I must
   above all else strive to cultivate humility and gentleness, and I must
   turn all my religious exercises,--prayer, sacraments, prudence,
   constancy, moderation, to the same object. The wild boar sharpens its
   tusks by grinding them against its other teeth, which by the same
   process are sharpened and pointed; and so when a good man endeavours to
   perfect himself in some virtue which he is conscious of specially
   needing, he ought to give it edge and point by the aid of other
   virtues, which will themselves be confirmed and strengthened as he uses
   them with that object. It was so with Job, who, while specially
   exercising the virtue of patience amid the numberless temptations which
   beset him, was confirmed in all manner of holiness and godly virtues.
   And Saint Gregory Nazianzen says, that sometimes a person has attained
   the height of goodness by one single act of virtue, performed with the
   greatest perfection; instancing Rahab as an example, who, having
   practised the virtue of hospitality very excellently, reached a high
   point of glory. [55] Of course, any such action must needs be performed
   with a very exceeding degree of fervour and charity.

CHAPTER II. The same Subject continued.

   SAINT AUGUSTINE says very admirably, that beginners in devotion are
   wont to commit certain faults which, while they are blameable according
   to the strict laws of perfection, are yet praiseworthy by reason of the
   promise they hold forth of a future excellent goodness, to which they
   actually tend. For instance, that common shrinking fear which gives
   rise to an excessive scrupulosity in the souls of some who are but just
   set free from a course of sin, is commendable at that early stage, and
   is the almost certain forerunner of future purity of conscience. But
   this same fear would be blameable in those who are farther advanced,
   because love should reign in their hearts, and love is sure to drive
   away all such servile fear by degrees.

   In his early days, Saint Bernard was very severe and harsh towards
   those whom he directed, telling them, to begin with, that they must put
   aside the body, and come to him with their minds only. In confession,
   he treated all faults, however small, with extreme severity, and his
   poor apprentices in the study of perfection were so urged onwards, that
   by dint of pressing he kept them back, for they lost heart and breath
   when they found themselves thus driven up so steep and high an ascent.
   Therein, my daughter, you can see that, although it was his ardent zeal
   for the most perfect purity which led that great Saint so to act, and
   although such zeal is a great virtue, still it was a virtue which
   required checking. And so God Himself checked it in a vision, by which
   He filled S. Bernard with so gentle, tender, and loving a spirit, that
   he was altogether changed, blaming himself heavily for having been so
   strict and so severe, and becoming so kindly and indulgent, that he
   made himself all things to all men in order to win all.

   S. Jerome tells us that his beloved daughter, S. Paula, was not only
   extreme, but obstinate in practising bodily mortifications, and
   refusing to yield to the advice given her upon that head by her Bishop,
   S. Epiphanius; and furthermore, she gave way so excessively to her
   grief at the death of those she loved as to peril her own life.
   Whereupon S. Jerome says: "It will be said that I am accusing this
   saintly woman rather than praising her, but I affirm before Jesus, Whom
   she served, and Whom I seek to serve, that I am not saying what is
   untrue on one side or the other, but simply describing her as one
   Christian another; that is to say, I am writing her history, not her
   panegyric, and her faults are the virtues of others." He means to say
   that the defects and faults of S. Paula would have been looked upon as
   virtues in a less perfect soul; and indeed there are actions which we
   must count as imperfections in the perfect, which yet would be highly
   esteemed in the imperfect. When at the end of a sickness the invalid's
   legs swell, it is a good sign, indicating that natural strength is
   returning, and throwing off foul humours; but it would be a bad sign in
   one not avowedly sick, as showing that nature was too feeble to
   disperse or absorb those humours. 
 
Obedience is All.
Too often, people want to do something other than to what God is calling them. This is pride.
 
   So, my child, we must think well of those whom we see practising
   virtues, although imperfectly, since the Saints have done the like; but
   as to ourselves we must give heed to practise them, not only
   diligently, but discreetly, and to this end we shall do well strictly
   to follow the Wise Man's counsel, [56] and not trust in our own wisdom,
   but lean on those whom God has given as our guides. And here I must say
   a few words concerning certain things which some reckon as virtues,
   although they are nothing of the sort--I mean ecstasies, trances,
   rhapsodies, extraordinary transformations, and the like, which are
   dwelt on in some books, and which promise to raise the soul to a purely
   intellectual contemplation, an altogether supernatural mental altitude,
   and a life of pre-eminent excellence. But I would have you see, my
   child, that these perfections are not virtues, they are rather rewards
   which God gives to virtues, or perhaps, more correctly speaking, tokens
   of the joys of everlasting life, occasionally granted to men in order
   to kindle in them a desire for the fulness of joy which is only to be
   found in Paradise. But we must not aspire to such graces, which are in
   nowise necessary to us in order to love and serve God, our only lawful
   ambition. Indeed, for the most part, these graces are not to be
   acquired by labour or industry, and that because they are rather
   passions than actions, which we may receive, but cannot create.
 
The proficient does not seek after consolations. He knows that humility and suffering are the way to light.
  
   Moreover, our business only is to become good, devout people, pious men
   and women; and all our efforts must be to that end. If it should please
   God further to endow us with angelic perfection, we should then be
   prepared to become good angels; but meanwhile let us practise, in all
   simplicity, humility and devotion, those lowly virtues to the
   attainment of which our Lord has bidden us labour,--I mean patience,
   cheerfulness, self-mortification, humility, obedience, poverty,
   chastity, kindness to our neighbour, forbearance towards his failings,
   diligence, and a holy fervour. Let us willingly resign the higher
   eminences to lofty souls. We are not worthy to take so high a rank in
   God's service; let us be content to be as scullions, porters,
   insignificant attendants in His household, leaving it to Him if He
   should hereafter see fit to call us to His own council chamber. Of a
   truth, my child, the King of Glory does not reward His servants
   according to the dignity of their office, but according to the humility
   and love with which they have exercised it. While Saul was seeking his
   father's asses, he found the kingdom of Israel: [57] Rebecca watering
   Abraham's camels, became his son's wife: [58] Ruth gleaning after Boaz'
   reapers, and lying down at his feet, was raised up to become his bride.
 
Mums' jobs, and bloggers, those who encourage others to be holy, none of these things are great. 
 
   [59] Those who pretend to such great and extraordinary graces are very
   liable to delusions and mistakes, so that sometimes it turns out that
   people who aspire to be angels are not ordinarily good men, and that
   their goodness lies more in high-flown words than in heart and deed.
   But we must beware of despising or presumptuously condemning anything.
   Only, while thanking God for the pre-eminence of others, let us abide
   contentedly in our own lower but safer path,--a path of less
   distinction, but more suitable to our lowliness, resting satisfied that
   if we walk steadily and faithfully therein, God will lift us up to
   greater things.
 
I think the proficients discover in humility their real call. 
   

From LifeSiteNews

From LifeSiteNews...........

I have some bombshell news to share with you.
You see, four years ago we began implementing a groundbreaking social media strategy for LifeSite.

The goal was to get the life-saving message of the Culture of Life out to millions more people, right where they are – on sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

To say this strategy was a success would be a massive understatement. It was revolutionary!

Thanks largely to our rapidly growing presence on social media, traffic to LifeSite grew by over 400% in those four years, to over 20 million unique visitors last year - with many of those new visitors coming directly from social media sites like Facebook!

Those staggering numbers translated into
  • MORE lives saved from abortion
  • MORE people converting from the Culture of Death to the Culture of Life
  • MORE activists like you armed with the facts you need to be more effective culture warriors.
But by now you’re probably thinking: So where’s the bombshell?

Well, out of the blue, Facebook has announced that they are dramatically changing the way businesses and organizations - including limited-income non-profits like ours - communicate with our Facebook fans who chose to follow us, and who RELY on our daily posts!

Until last December, a large percentage of our over 500,000 Facebook fans would see the many articles that we posted, which they in turn shared with their friends.
Now, Facebook forces us, and hundreds of thousands of similar organizations, to fork out tens of thousands of dollars to reach our fans (fans we spent YEARS accumulating)!
We simply do not have the funds to do that!
Therefore, our fans have seen a massive drop in LifeSite stories on their Facebook feed since then.
If you are a Facebook user and have been wondering why LifeSite seems to have almost disappeared from your feed, even though you have friended us, now you know the reason…
...it’s Facebook, not us! 
Obviously this was a smart business move for Facebook. But right now, it is hurting LifeSite's mission!
Tens of thousands of people who have indicated they want to read our reports are being blocked from this information, unless we pay big dollars for the right to share with our Facebook friends - for every post!
Unlike many for-profit corporations and media organizations, we simply don’t have the funds to suddenly start spending that kind of money on Facebook marketing.
And sadly, thanks to Facebook’s changes, for the first time in five years, traffic to our site is no longer growing.
But fortunately, all is not lost. Far from it.
In fact, for the past six months we have been working on a number of tools that will enable us to reach more people than ever before with the good news of the Culture of Life!
Our new website was just the first step in this process. 
But in order for us to make the best use of these tools, the blunt fact is that we actually need to far surpass our minimum $150,000 campaign goal.
And yet, thanks to Facebook’s changes, it is now harder than ever for us to reach many of our core readers to even ask for a donation!
So not only do we need to add a new category of marketing expenses to our budget, it’s even harder for us to raise the minimum funds necessary for our basic operating expenses!
That’s why I need you to make the most generous gift you possibly can, today!
I can’t tell you how excited I am about some of the things LifeSite is developing to help spread the message of the Culture of Life.
A year from now, I firmly believe we will be reaching far more people than in our entire history.
But in order to get there, we desperately need your help today.
Please, make a donation today, and consider asking your friends and family to do the same.
Thank you so much for your support. Because TOGETHER we can create a Culture of Life!
For life and family,
John Jalsevac
Managing Editor
LifeSiteNews.com


P.S. - With the changes Facebook has made to require non-profits like LifeSite to PAY to reach our fans, we need to surpass our goal now more than ever! Click here to make a donation to our Fall Campiagn today.

 

My World Again

I knew about this when a friend of mine who has lived for job reasons for many, many years, half the year in EU and half in USA got letters from his Swiss banks.

Nightmare.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/17254-swiss-banks-are-now-agents-for-the-irs

More FYI My World--New World Order Sneaking Up

http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/item/17337-globalists-exploit-new-u-s-tax-law-for-world-taxation-regime


Leading the charge to create the new global tax regime is the Group of 20 (G-20), a coalition of governments and brutal dictatorships that are in the process of building what virtually every major media outlet recently described as a “New World Order.” Top officials in the outfit, which includes the ruthless Communist regime ruling mainland China, among other barbaric autocracies, publicly announced a plot in recent years to share financial data and more on all citizens with each other. The goal, for now: extract as much wealth as possible.

...


To implement what critics call their nightmarish vision of a “World Tax Organization” — supposedly aimed at stopping tax evasion — the G-20 asked the United Nations-linked Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to take the lead. The widely criticized “cartel” of tax-hungry politicians, infamous primarily for fanatical efforts to crush national sovereignty and for bullying jurisdictions with relatively low taxes into surrendering their competitive advantage, is now working to develop the taxation regime and prod its member governments into adopting it.

Meanwhile, the inspiration and model for the global information-sharing scheme, OECD bosses admit, is FATCA. “A key catalyst for automatic exchange of information and the on-going OECD work has been the FATCA legislation enacted by the United States in 2010,” the international outfit said last year in a brief, adding that the plot also has the ardent support of central bankers and G-20 regimes. In fact, the brief explains, FATCA pseudo-treaties between the Obama administration and foreign governments — unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution, critics say — will even serve as the “model” and “template” for the global regime.

...
According to a brief by the OECD, among the data that governments would share with each other as part of the “automatic exchange of information” (AEOI) regime are various categories of income, changes of address, purchase or sale of property, and more. Of course, the scheme turns American traditions and constitutional protections upside down. Instead of being secure in one’s house, papers, and effects without a warrant and probable cause, governments and autocrats around the world will be free to rifle through citizens’ most sensitive information at will. Hackers, criminals, and identity thieves, among others, might also be able to access the data, opponents warn. 

The plot to abolish financial privacy and national independence in tax policy will also be expensive, although the taxpayer-funded bureaucrats at the OECD — whose salaries are not taxed — do not seem to care. “What we are doing is to develop a single standard that will be compatible with national and regional systems — there will be only one way of collecting and exchanging information,” continued Saint-Amans. “That will cost something, but it is the price to pay to be free from suspicion of complicity in fiscal fraud.”

More on the website

FYI My World

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/19072-gop-votes-to-end-tax-regime-that-is-crushing-americans-abroad

Indeed, aside from Uncle Sam, virtually every national government in the world uses a residence-based tax system. The only other exception is the ruthless gangster regime ruling the tiny African nation of Eritrea, which, though less successful at collecting, also demands tribute from citizens everywhere on Earth. In 2011, the United Nations Security Council, with support from the Obama administration, blasted the Eritrean dictatorship, saying it “condemns the use of the ‘Diaspora tax’ on Eritrean diaspora by the Eritrean Government … and decides that Eritrea shall cease these practices.” The African dictator, however, demands only a tiny fraction of what Uncle Sam seeks to extract from U.S. citizens abroad.

...

Ironically, joining the rest of the civilized world by ending taxation of citizens abroad would almost certainly provide huge benefits to the federal government, too. “History reveals that replacing Citizenship-Based Taxation with Residence-Based Taxation will raise net Federal tax revenue because of increased economic growth,” the RNC said, echoing numerous studies and analyses spotlighting the drag imposed on the U.S. economy by the arcane taxation policies. Residence-based taxes would also “significantly reduce IRS administrative expenses,” the resolution explained.

...


Another one of the myriad benefits of adopting residence-based taxation, sometimes abbreviated as RBT, would be the elimination of “complex requirements and tax forms, such as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (‘FATCA’) and the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (‘FBAR’),” the RNC resolution states. As The New American reported in April as part of an in-depth investigation, the FATCA regime — hidden inside a Democrat “jobs bill” and signed by Obama — has made life overseas nearly impossible for countless Americans, now widely regarded as “pariahs” by foreign banks and companies.
Among other focal points of the growing outrage, FATCA seeks to turn every financial institution in the world into an unpaid agent of the IRS — all in a supposed bid to collect less than $1 billion in additional tax revenue each year (enough to run the federal government for a few hours). If the institutions refuse, gigantic “withholding taxes” or outright exclusion from U.S. markets would be applied, crippling any business. So far, the roll-out of the new taxation regime has been an unmitigated disaster, as even compliance mongers admit. Numerous banks, for example, responded to the scheme by simply refusing to serve anyone who holds U.S. citizenship or has permanent residence.
“The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), implemented as a result of CBT, has caused banks, both U.S. and foreign, to deny access to banking and other financial services to the 7.6 million Americans overseas, thus denying employment and investment opportunities and forcing them to choose between U.S. citizenship and their livelihood,” the RNC said. Separately, the resolution noted, “the implementation of FATCA to enforce CBT promotes the abandonment of the U.S. Dollar as the global reserve currency and hurts the U.S. economy.”

...


While the taxation and FATCA resolutions are primarily addressed to congressional lawmakers with the power to undo the damage, Republicans are pursuing other options as well. Among the tactics: Republicans and Americans living overseas are working to challenge the constitutionality of FATCA through the courts. Outraged U.S. citizens and others in Canada are also pursuing a judicial challenge there. The Obama administration, however, continues to bully foreign governments into signing unconstitutional pseudo-treaties to advance the scheme.
More than a few experts predict that FATCA will eventually be relegated to the ash heap of history. In the meantime, though, foreign governments and international institutions, seizing on FATCA, are working to create a truly global version of the scheme, which critics say could be more nightmarish than the original. Americans concerned about jobs, privacy, the economy, overseas U.S. citizens, the trade deficit, national sovereignty, the Constitution, the separation of powers, the U.S. dollar, and economic competitiveness should get involved.

...

Read the whole thing at the website....see how awful this is for Americans. There is, increasingly, no advantage to being a US citizen financially.  And here is another link from an earlier article...

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-policy/item/17435-new-u-s-tax-regime-trampling-rights-in-new-zealand-and-beyond

Interesting Article

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/09/uk-muslim-leader-maajid-nawaz-isis-style-slavery-beheading-lashing-amputation-are-in-the-quran-and-must-be-rejected

There Is Punishment, Now or Later

Amazing! I have been talking to people lately who do not understand that there is a purgatory and that it is a horrible place of suffering.For some reason, most Catholics I have been talking to think they will go to heaven when they die. They have not even thought of purgatory, purgation, the entire point of my perfection series of now over 700 posts.

Some see purgatory as a sad place of healing. NO. Some see purgatory as merely the absence of the God they just saw for the first time. NO.

Many simply do not believe in purgatory. Lately, I have read stupid articles in Catholic media of all types which state that saints were not perfect. Yes, they were, which is the entire point of canonization. A saint is a person who skips purgatory and goes right to heaven after death for two reasons. One, they were purified on earth. Two, they reached the highest level of perfection they could while on earth.

Most people go to hell. Many people go to purgatory. A few people go straight to heaven when they die.

That is the truth. Sorry, it is not a nice idea, but it is the teaching of the Catholic Church.

The whole point of purgatory is that it is purification not faced on earth and the paying back of punishment due to sin.

One sins, one goes to confession, one gets a penance. But, one still has to pay back for the sins in a temporal manner. And, this why we have purgatory-penance and purgation.

I do not know what will happen to those many people I have met who honestly think they will go straight to heaven when they die and who are far from being saints. Read my perfection series, including the Doctor of the Church series. What else can I do to help those who deny punishment due to sin to realize the reality and the need for purgatory? Atonement, expiation and NO merit is what one experiences in purgatory......

(Apologies for spacing errors- The Net is acting up and I do not have Office or anyway to compose except on the blog online.) 


Wednesday, 5 June 2013


Confusion as to Purgatory and Sin--More Magical Thinking

Purgatory is not nice, but necessary.

I have written about this many times, but one more time will not hurt....in fact, this post  is another contradiction of more magical thinking

Only the perfect see God. Confession and the Last Anointing, according to the CCC,  takes away sin, as Christ forgives us of our sins. But, these do not take away the punishment due to sin, or the time of purification necessary for those who die with imperfections and even venial sins. There are many references in the CCC, so look under sections 1499 on and 1020 on.


Remember, that the souls in purgatory are fixed in their sanctifying grace and cannot gain merit for themselves or others. Here is a statement from the Second Council of Lyons:

If those who are truly repentant die in charity before they have done sufficient penance for their sins of omission and commission, their souls are cleansed after death in purgatorial or cleansing punishments . . . The suffrages of the faithful on earth can be of great help in relieving these punishments, as, for instance, the Sacrifice of the Mass, prayers, almsgiving, and other religious deeds which, in the manner of the Church, the faithful are accustomed to offer for others of the faithful.

And from Trent:
If anyone says that, after receiving the grace of justification the guilt of any repentant sinner is remitted and the debt of eternal punishment is blotted out in such a way that no debt of temporal punishment remains to be paid, either in this life or in purgatory, before the gate to the kingdom of heaven can be opened: let him be anathema (DB 840).
The Catholic Church, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, in accordance with Sacred Scripture and the ancient tradition of the Fathers, has taught in the holy councils, and most recently in this ecumenical council, that there is a purgatory, and that the souls detained there are helped by the prayers of the faithful, and especially by the acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar.
Therefore, this holy council commands the bishops to be diligently on guard that the true doctrine about purgatory, the doctrine handed down from the holy Fathers and the sacred councils, be preached everywhere, and that Christians be instructed in it, believe it, and adhere to it.
But let the more difficult and subtle controversies, which neither edify nor generally cause any increase of piety, be omitted from the ordinary sermons to the poorly instructed. Likewise, they should not permit anything that is uncertain or anything that appears to be false to be treated in popular or learned publications. And should forbid as scandalous and injurious to the faithful whatever is characterized by a kind of curiosity and superstition, or is prompted by motives of dishonorable gain (DB 983). more here


Some priests do not teach the Church's teaching on purgatory and assume all people go to heaven after the Last Rites. Such a thing was said today.

The apostolic blessing is plenary indulgence. A plenary indulgence takes away the temporal punishment due to sin, but not the sin, and therefore follows the Last Rites.

Here is the section from The Enchiridion of Indulgences:


The Moment of Death (In articulo mortis).  PLENARY INDULGENCE. EXCEPTION TO THE THREE CONSTANTS. (Verbatim recitation of the grant follows:) "To the faithful in danger of death, who cannot be assisted by a priest to bring them the sacraments and impart the Apostolic Blessing with its plenary indulgence (see can. 468, Sec.2 of Code of Canon Law), Holy Mother Church nevertheless grants a plenary indulgence to be acquired at the point of death, provided they are properly disposed and have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime.  The use of a crucifix or a cross to gain this indulgence is praiseworthy." The condition: 'provided they have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime' supplies in such cases for the three usual conditions required for the gaining of a plenary indulgence." The plenary indulgence at the point of death can be acquired by the faithful, even if they have already obtained another plenary indulgence on the same day."

In Purgatory and Why? Continued....

Let us suppose one commits one mortal sin, just one. Then, let us suppose that person goes to Confession and is forgiven by God through the action of the priest in that sacrament. Let us further imagine the priest gives the person a rosary to say for penance.

There is still something else that person must face. And that is atonement to God for this sin and expiation.

Atonement has to do with justice.

Here is Trent on Christ's Atonement for sin.

Whence it came to pass, that the Heavenly Father, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1, 3), when that blessed fullness of the time was come (Galatians 4:4) sent unto men Jesus Christ, His own Son who had been, both before the Law and during the time of the Law, to many of the holy fathers announced and promised, that He might both redeem the Jews, who were under the Law and that the Gentiles who followed not after justice might attain to justice and that all men might receive the adoption of sons. Him God had proposed as a propitiator, through faith in His blood (Romans 3:25), for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for those of the whole world (I John ii, 2). 

Christ had to ransom us and He did so out of love for us. The work is done. But, we continue to use our free will to choose evil in mortal or venial sin.

For these sins, we must make reparation and atone for ignoring the mercy and justice of God.

We can do sacrifice on earth for our sins. I think St. John Paul II did this in his long life, especially with his suffering at the end of his days. His example is for all of us.

The acceptance of suffering on earth is primarily to atone for our sins, to make reparation.

Reparation is justice given to God for sin. If I get a speeding ticket, I have to pay for breaking the law. If it is a minor offense, it does not go on my driving record, but if it would be a major one, that sin would follow me around, as it were.

So, too, with our forgiven sins.

Reparation and atonement need to be made to an All-Perfect, All-Merciful and All-Just God.

We can ask God for our purgatory on earth, but be prepared for great suffering.

A NO vote and a duh moment!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2761778/Something-doesn-t-add-CNN-Reports-110-turnout-Scottish-independence-vote.html

  http://www.dw.de/stock-markets-bounce-on-scotland-no-vote/a-17934048?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf



 http://www.theguardian.com/politics/scottish-independence-blog/live/2014/sep/19/scotland-votes-no-in-independence-referendum-live-coverage

Cult of Death Two

More and more countries do not have a replacement rate of birth. The lie of Malthus has crept into the consciousness of those who make policies, from the UN, to the EU, to Washington.

Infrastructures of nations cannot be sustained without workers, without a solid base of citizens who want to build a country, have national and personal goals which overlap.

As young people remain single in these countries, or are dinkies, (dual-income, no kids intended-an old nineties phrase in my part of the world), the cult of death spins the web of deceit, dulling the sense of what is necessary for a future people to exist.

Most no longer care, falling into carpe diem. 


Horace's Ode is famous, but even his idea held some reckoning of the old idea of "enduring" hard times, which many are not facing through gaming, clubing, endless consumerism and so on.

Tu ne quaesieris—scire nefas—quem mihi, quem tibi
finem di dederint, Leuconoë, nec Babylonios
temptaris numeros. ut melius, quicquid erit, pati!
seu plures hiemes, seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,
quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare
Tyrhenum. Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi
spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

Ask not—we cannot know—what end the gods have set for you, for me; nor attempt the Babylonian reckonings Leuconoë. How much better to endure whatever comes, whether Jupiter grants us additional winters or whether this is our last, which now wears out the Tuscan Sea upon the barrier of the cliffs! Be wise, strain the wine; and since life is brief, prune back far-reaching hopes! Even while we speak, envious time has passed: pluck the day, putting as little trust as possible in tomorrow!
 
This, of course, is not the Christian philosophy of life, which is to love God and one's neighbor as one's self.
That last part of the Christian statement is the crux of the matter. People do not love themselves. They do not love their souls. They do not love God, which enables one to love one's self properly.

The cult of death pushes entire civilizations into despair and hatred. "What is there to fight for anyway", one young person said to me....
 
Those who care....are fewer and fewer; fact, the remnant.
 
The cult of death is a suicidal cult, destroying babies, ideas, holiness.
 
On which side of the line in the sand are your standing? Life or death? 


From Deuteronomy 30:

11Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ 14 No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.
15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God[b] that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.


11 Jan 2012
In Japan, on this link, one sees one of the reasons for the plunging birthrate. Young people are not "falling in love". Generations of selfish pursuits and the cult of childhood created a narcissistic culture where young people not ...
10 Jul 2012
Where the Hoplites fought and died in great numbers, not knowing if their sacrifice would bring victory, we as Catholics should have even more reason to jump into the fight: we *know* victory is assured and that sacrifice for the Kingdom will be efficacious. It's every general's dream, really. (and what a great general we have to ... Bravery is dying and the cult of the individual is destroying patriotism. 10 July 2012 11:17 · Post a Comment · Newer Post Older Post Home.
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/
06 Sep 2012
Western culture has been enamored with classlessness and with mediocrity for several generations and I am bored to death of both. Part of the "cult" of the gentleman in 19th century and the first half of the 20th century ...
31 Mar 2012
This cult of trying to look very young and very cute, like a child, and even speaking like one, in imitation of anime heroes, both male and female. I have written on Japanese narcissism in January here on this blog and now, ...
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/
10 May 2012
We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already, but the Church of faith. She may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but she will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man's home, where he will find life and hope beyond death.” - Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), Faith and the Future. 10 May 2012 15:42.
10 Sep 2012
The death of European Christianity means the disappearance of the European tribe, a prospect visible in the demographic statistics of every Western nation.” ... The Diversity Cult “The non-Europeanization of America is heartening news of an almost transcendental quality,” Wattenberg trilled.4 Yet, one wonders: What kind of man looks with transcendental joy to a day when the people among whom he was raised have become a minority in a nation where the majority ...
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/
01 Dec 2013
But, many are not and many have been swept away and will be swept away by the cult of the Messiah, whoever he or she may be. When the final ... Compromise sets us backwards, even to death of the soul. In His Will is our ...

 

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

The Cult of Death





Americans have moved from being an upbeat nation of those who looked to the future, to a nation which sinking into sentimentality and love of the past. Sad.


Part of the problem is that now singles form one-half of the adult population of America. Children make adults look towards the future, but with so many singles not interested in the future, but only the now, posterity is not even on the radar.

I have been pondering the preoccupation with the past among people I have met recently.

Coming to the conclusion that people are in love with death, rather than life.

Why?

Why does a culture look to the past? Why are most television shows merely repeats of 1980s shows?

Why are many movies remakes of older movies?

Why is there a preoccupation with old music, old memories, old cars, old brand names if even mediocre ones...?

These odd "celebrations of life", that even Catholics are falling into instead of saying the rosary for three days for the soul who, hopefully, is in Purgatory, deny temporal punishment for sin, and, also, the un-Biblical emphasis on universal salvation-that everyone goes to heaven.

These so-called celebrations look towards the past, and not the reality of eternal life.

The cult of death also causes the preoccupation with vampires, witchcraft, satanism, and the numerous forms of the occult.

There is a demon of Death, who is wanting people to think of negativity, despair, suicide, death.

Jesus is the Lord of Life. Look to Christ.



John 14:6

Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me.




 

Hello to Readers in Germany


Hello to Readers in Slovakia


Vatican State Website for Fun

http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en.html

A Reminder of The True Story

Revelation 12:7-12

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!" Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"

What Is Unseen

What I have learned in my short years, relatively speaking, is that what is unseen is more than what is seen.

There are more spiritual beings, good and bad angels, than we can imagine. We cannot see what is really here, all the time.

We cannot see the saints, the martyrs, Mary, the Trinity, except for Christ hidden in The Eucharist, in the Body and Blood.

We cannot see history or the future. We only have the present moment.

What is unseen is much, much bigger than what is seen.

We cannot see the powerful choirs of angels, both those who worship God and are good, and those who hate God and us and are bad. Remember, angels from all the choirs, all the thrones and various levels fell. Some are in hell. Some wander the earth.

We cannot see those disembodied spirits, those damned souls, who, for our holiness and growth, are allowed to be on the earth.

We cannot see most things which are real. Well, most people cannot see these beings.

Sometimes we can see the work of these beings.

There is more unseen than seen.

It is interesting to me that years ago, many years ago, one could find protestants writing about heaven, hell, and yes, some, purgatory.

Where are those teachers, those pastors now who would preach the reality of what is unseen as being just as real and BIGGER, more vast, than what is seen?

We are in a daily battle. We are in combat. As the Church Militant, we fight not only those enemies of Christ who hate the Church who are human, but those millions of demons who hate God and His Church which we mostly cannot see



If you are complacent about spiritual warfare, wake up.

If you are in mortal sin, wake up. What you would see if you could now see the spiritual world, would change your life.

Here are the words of Christ:


Luke 16:19-31 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)


The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 “There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Laz′arus, full of sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz′arus in his bosom. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz′arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz′arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.’”