On Sin and How to Get to Heaven

19 For I through the law died to the law, that I might live in God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification were through the law, the Christ died to no purpose.
-- Galatians 2:19

Brothers and sisters, we are saved by grace alone. It is by the grace of Jesus Christ we are saved. There is absolutely nothing we can do to 'earn our way to heaven'.

Did you go to confession over the past weekend? What are you doing to accept or reject God's forgiveness?

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For further study, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Salvation and Justification:

See Article Four

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654 The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is above all justification that reinstates us in God's grace, "so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace. It brings about filial adoption so that men become Christ's brethren, as Jesus himself called his disciples after his Resurrection: "Go and tell my brethren." We are brethren not by nature, but by the gift of grace, because that adoptive filiation gains us a real share in the life of the only Son, which was fully revealed in his Resurrection.

What All Catholics MUST Believe About Creation

Was there a primate in your family tree? Was there more than one Adam and Eve?

First and foremost, you must understand, accept and embrace that God is the author of all creation. Period. We must also balance that with the understanding that the Bible is not a science textbook and the writings must be read using all of the senses of Scripture (CCC 115-119). Catholics also understand that Scripture is authored by humans inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Word is God-breathed and the Bible is truth.

Let's look at Church Dogma on God the Creator:

1. All that exists outside God was, in its whole substance, produced out of nothing by God.
2. God was moved by His goodness to create the world.
3. The world was created for the glorification of God.
4. The Three Divine Persons are one single, common principle of creation.
5. God created the world free from exterior compulsion and inner necessity.
6. God has created a good world.
7. The world had a beginning in time.
8. God alone created the world.
9. God keeps all created things in existence.
10. God, through His Providence, protects and guides all that He has created.
11. The first man was created by God.
12. Man consists of two essential parts - a material body and a spiritual soul.
13. The rational soul per se is the essential form of the body.
14. Every human being possesses an individual soul.
15. God has conferred on man a supernatural destiny.
16. Our first parents, before the fall, were endowed with sanctifying grace.
17. In addition to sanctifying grace, our first parents were endowed with the preternatural gift of bodily immortality.
18. Our first parents in Paradise sinned grievously through transgression of the Divine probationary commandment.
19. Through sin our first parents lost sanctifying grace and provoked the anger and the indignation of God.
20. Our first parents became subject to death and to the dominion of the devil.
21. Adam's sin is transmitted to his posterity, not by imitation but by descent.
22. Original sin is transmitted by natural generation.
23. In the state of original sin man is deprived of sanctifying grace and all that this implies, as well as of the preternatural gifts of integrity.
24. Souls who depart this life in the state of original sin are excluded from the Beatific Vision of God.
25. In the beginning of time God created spiritual essences (angels) out of nothing.
26. The nature of angels is spiritual.
27. The evil spirits (demons) were created good by God; they became evil through their own fault.
28. The secondary task of the good angels is the protection of men and care for their salvation.
29. The devil possesses a certain dominion over mankind by reason of Adam's sin.

From the work of Dr. Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, published by the Mercier Press Ltd., Cork, Ireland, 1955. With Imprimatur of Cornelius, Bishop. Reprinted in U.S.A. by Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford, Illinois, 1974 - below is the Kindle version.
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To be honest with you, I really do not care if there are primates in my family tree. I can assure you there have been some colorful characters, but beyond that it really doesn't matter to me. It is the Divine origin of all creation that touches my heart and mind. I was happy to see my sentiment validated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

CCC 284: The great interest accorded to these studies is strongly stimulated by a question of another order, which goes beyond the proper domain of the natural sciences. It is not only a question of knowing when and how the universe arose physically, or when man appeared, but rather of discovering the meaning of such an origin: is the universe governed by chance, blind fate, anonymous necessity, or by a transcendent, intelligent and good Being called "God"? And if the world does come from God's wisdom and goodness, why is there evil? Where does it come from? Who is responsible for it? Is there any liberation from it?

Still, since many continue to be more fascinated with the scientific than the Divine, we must be certain that the voice of the Church is heard clearly. Pope Pius XII declared that "the teaching authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions . . . take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—[but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God" (Pius XII, Humani Generis 36). Whether our bodies developed over time to what they are now or if they were directly created by God, Pius XII tells us that souls do not evolve. So there we have it: whether or not Adam and Eve were hair-covered and looked like Quasimodo doesn't matter. When our first parents were created, their ensoulment was complete and created by God.

I was first spurred on to write this entry because of some questions posed by a friend just last night. She is currently going through RCIA at some parish on the U.S. east coast and is seeking Baptism. Like many other Catechumens, she has discovered that the Catechists need some Catechesis themselves. Long story made short, the group told her that there were many Adams and many Eves and that for Lori to say that there was one Adam and one Eve showed that she was taking the Creation narrative too literally. Surely she should have known that Adam is a representation of several Adams?! She assured the group that what they were teaching was contrary to Church understanding. They then directed her to make an appointment with the parish priest the following day so that he could 'set her straight'. Seems the Catechists in her parish have fallen into heresy in at least one vein. I got to work researching to help Lori arm herself with solid Magisterial information and she immediately began printing off sheets that would rival any good doctoral dissertation.

I quoted Humani Generis above and would like to share with you what paragraph 37 says, in its entirety:

37. When, however, there is question of another conjectural opinion, namely polygenism, the children of the Church by no means enjoy such liberty. For the faithful cannot embrace that opinion which maintains that either after Adam there existed on this earth true men who did not take their origin through natural generation from him as from the first parent of all, or that Adam represents a certain number of first parents. Now it is in no way apparent how such an opinion can be reconciled with that which the sources of revealed truth and the documents of the Teaching Authority of the Church propose with regard to original sin, which proceeds from a sin actually committed by an individual Adam and which, through generation, is passed on to all and is in everyone as his own.

I'll let you know how Lori makes out. Unfortunately, she has more knowledge and understanding about the Catholic Church than the Catechists - and they told her she has to be in the RCIA program for two years in order to be Baptized. Keep Lori in your prayers. I think God is preparing her to be a Catechist - or perhaps she already is one.

For further reading not linked above, see Adam, Eve and Evolution.

Heresy Barometer Explodes in UK

Quotes from Bishop Kieran Conry, United Kingdom, on matters of the Catholic faith:

"You can't talk to young people about salvation. What's salvation? What does salvation mean? My eternal soul? You can only talk to young people in young people's language, really. And if you're going to talk to them about salvation, the first thing they will understand is saving the planet. You're talking about being saved and they will say: 'What about saving the planet?' "

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"But to young people, boiling a kettle, wasting water, saving the planet, that's language they will understand. Then you can move on from there: 'Right, do you understand what saving means? Do you understand what good and bad is here?' And they'll say 'yes' and you can say: 'Right now, if you look at your own life...' And again I think for a lot of the claims there is simply no evidence."

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"They need to be told God loves them. They don't need to be told: 'You're heading for hell.' No. I would disagree profoundly with that view, profoundly, profoundly."

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On Humanae Vitae and contraception:

"Well, first of all, I would disagree that it's a key teaching. The key teachings of the Church are in the Creed. It's not a life issue." To do with the transmission of life, then? "It's to do with what family and married life means, being open to procreation. So it's not a life issue because then you tie it in with abortion. The two are completely different issues."

"In the great scheme of things I don't think it's high up the list. It became a very public issue which affected a significant number of people, not the majority of Catholics. The majority of Catholics are not in that position, where birth control is an issue. Look around on Sunday morning and see 'is birth control an issue for most people here?' No, it's not."

"Why do people never go back to the Beatitudes, 'blessed are the poor in spirit'? You know, are you poor in spirit? No. Does that bother you? No. Do you practise birth control? Does that bother you? Yes. We've got a very distorted view of what we think Christian morality is."

When asked if the teaching on use of birth control is wrong, he responded:

"It could be. It's not an infallible teaching. Clearly the basic Creed formula, what the Church teaches about the sacraments is infallible but there's only been one strictly infallible statement."

Tough Talk: Fellow Catholic, What do you REALLY Believe?

A typical example of a 19th century anti-Catholic flyer

At the risk of being redundant, I am drawn to share my own commentary in regard to what 'gets us to heaven' and the current state of souls all around us. I must confess, I am feeling a mix of emotions and anger tends to flash in my mind when thinking of the most recent findings as stated in the 'Pew Study'. I am working on myself with a great deal of help from the Lord, and am resisting the human tendency to be judgmental. Inside the confessional and out I have discerned when it is that I judge and when I am simply stating the facts. I will do my very best to stick to the facts in my commentary, as difficult as it may be.

I have encountered an immense amount of anti-Catholicism over the last few years while visiting 'Christian' online forums. In my personal life, I never really encountered disdain for my Faith before. Certainly, I had heard jokes (and often laughed right along with many of them) from time to time and heard comments shared in a jovial way by friends who were not Catholic. Much of what I ever encountered was by kind, well-intentioned people who honestly did not know much about Catholicism except for what they perhaps had seen on television or from watching "The Bells of St. Mary's". In the forums I speak of, there are many who just do not understand the faith, and for them I feel a great deal of compassion most of the time. I personally find that the people who are the most vicious and say the most hurtful things are those who refer to themselves as 'ex-Catholics'.

When discussing Catholicism and defending attacks from every conceivable angle, I found myself puzzled as to where the picture they had of Catholicism had come from. When posting one particular thread topic, I asked ex-Catholics to please share their faith history and particular points in their lives as Catholics. Some of the questions I sought answers for were:

• Were you a priest or other religious?
• Did you receive all of the Sacraments of Initiation?
• Were you an altar server, Lector, Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion?
• How often did you attend Mass?
• How often did you frequent the confessional?
• Did you believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist?

My memory fades and I don't recall all of the questions, but you get the idea. I gave up visiting the forum I speak of for Lent and will not visit it in order to lend more accuracy here. Sadly, propelled by their own agenda(s), the administration of the forum moved my post to another less frequently visited forum. Thankfully, some folks provided some very heartfelt answers prior to the move. Some of the comments which stood out to me were:

• Some only went to confession as their 'Easter duty', others rarely and one gentleman said he only made his first confession as a child (was also an altar server) and never went again
• Most attended Mass every week and sadly many said they 'felt' absolutely nothing
• Many shared that they went through all of the 'motions' but did not know the reasons Catholics do what we do
• Nearly all of them had these things in common: they had no biblical knowledge whatsoever, were poorly catechized and were 'bored' at Mass
• A common thing shared was that the priests seemed to be distant and lacked the excitement and charisma they wished was present in the Catholic Church

Another observation I have made is that most of the people who identify themselves as 'ex-Catholics' on the non-Catholic forum fervently attack things that Catholic Doctrine is very clear on such as:

• Marriage is forever
• Jesus Christ is fully present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist
• Artificial birth control is never acceptable
• We must never profane our bodies, or treat them or that of another with disrespect

I have some very frank and pointed questions to pose to you, dear reader. Do you agree with ALL Church teachings? If you do not, does the fault lie with the Church or does it sit squarely within you? G. K. Chesterton very wisely said: "We do not really want a religion that is right where we are right. What we want is a religion that is right where we are wrong." I have noticed the following:

• People who use artificial birth control never say that it is wrong.
• People who are divorced don't say that it is wrong.
• People who prefer to sleep in on Sunday and forgo Mass attendance rarely say that it is wrong.
• People who co-habitate never say that it is wrong

One can apply the same principle above to any number of subjects. I myself was away from the Church for a period during my 20s. Making a long story short and saving my reversion story for another entry, I will state it plainly. I was not confirmed as a teen, my family no longer attended church, I went to Mass infrequently, I married outside of the Church yet I longed constantly for what I knew I missed. I felt that I was not worthy and that none of my sins could possibly be forgiven. I ached to receive Jesus in the Eucharist and yet knew that it was wrong to receive Him unworthily. I rationalized and convinced myself that it was not I that was in error, but my perceived stubbornness of the Church. People can rationalize all they want, but it does not make it the truth. I lied to myself. The ONLY truth is Jesus Christ. WE place hurdles in front of us and WE place barriers before us.

Imagine the Father watching so many of His children continuing to fall and never accepting the offering of His Holy hand! He knocks and yet we ignore the rap on the door of our hearts! Hindsight shows me that I believed I knew better than He and that I would carry my 'garbage' around with me like some sort of warped image of a trophy. That heap of 'trash' vanished in the confessional on one Saturday long ago. Honestly, the air seems to be a whole lot fresher around me now! :)

Why are people leaving the Church? What can we do about it? How can we instill a love for the Lord and the Church He began in the hearts of our children and grandchildren? Is this the responsibility of the clergy or does some of it lie with the laypersons to do something about it? Do we expect to be entertained at Mass or do we make a true personal sacrifice on the altar? Do we roll our eyes and think uncharitable thoughts about someone immersed in sin or do we pray for them fervently? Do we go beyond evangelizing by example or do we hope that our actions will spread the Gospel? Do we expect to be forgiven more quickly and completely than we afford the same generosity to others?

Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Peace and Love of the Lord Jesus to each of you, dear readers. Pray for yourself, pray for those who are out of the fold, pray for one another.

Dominus vobiscum.


UPDATE: I just received this in my inbox from Catholic Culture and I don't believe in coincidence. ;)

Most of us are all too painfully aware that the Church has been suffering a grave illness for at least the past forty years. In the larger culture, there has been a revolution of increasing secularism and especially sexual license, and many priests and bishops have expressed considerable confusion (to put it mildly) about Catholic doctrine, moral teaching, and spirituality.

In some countries, including our own, there have also been widespread scandals, which have revealed to all who were not yet aware that something is wrong. Many of us have been in the Catholic trenches throughout this entire period of upheaval. Almost as many of us have experienced the reluctance of our bishops to act decisively for the good of souls.

All this and more is documented in Phil Lawler's riveting case study, The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture. As you probably know, Phil is the founder and director of Trinity Communications' Catholic World News Service. His remarkable and fascinating book was published a few weeks ago by Encounter. I highly recommend it in this week's column: Why the Faithful Departed, and How to Get Them Back.

*As a side note, if you think you may be interested in apologetics and would like to join other Catholics in an on-line ministry of sorts explaining and defending the Catholic faith, please contact me privately and I will direct you to the forum(s) discussed. I do not wish to link there directly from this blog. If you can read this print, you don't need glasses. :) God bless!

Believing in a Higher Power is NOT Enough!

Survey after survey indicates that a great majority of Americans believe in 'a higher power'. A 2005 CBS poll states that:

"More than nine in ten believe in God or a higher power, six in ten say they pray often, and more than half say religion is very important in their daily lives." Source

A 2007 Gallup poll indicates that:

"Roughly 9 in 10 Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, while fewer than 10% are firm in their belief that there is no God. Eighty-one percent of Americans believe in heaven. At the same time, 7 in 10 profess belief in the Devil and in hell." Source

I want to examine what these seemingly benign and hopeful statements truly mean.

First, is the belief in God and the belief in a 'universal spirit' the same thing? To a Christian, an alarm should go off when reading this statement. There is but one God and one can easily believe in a 'god' and not know 'God'. The variables within this question are too high in number to lead to a valid and scientific study. Did these statiticians take Stats 101?

Is believing in God enough? Will that get those 81% of Americans suggested to believe in Heaven through the 'Pearly Gates'? The resounding answer is an undeniable NO! Saving the more meaty topics of Justification, Sanctification, Once Saved Always Saved, Baptism, etc. for another time, all Christians should agree on one thing: ‘Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord" shall enter the kingdom of heaven’ (Matt. 7:21). Jesus Christ was clear. In John 4, we find what Jesus says to Thomas in reply to a question he poses to Him: Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him."

As the Bride of Christ Jesus, the Catholic Church is "the universal sacrament of salvation" (CCC 774–776), and states: "The Church in this world is the sacrament of salvation, the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and men" (CCC 780). Simply put, incomplete Christianity is not enough to have eternal life. What does this mean for the non-Catholic Christians who believe in and love Jesus Christ? This means that even though they are indeed Christian, they continue to lack the fullness of the faith which Christ wants and indeed started for them. (For more on this topic, see Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth)

Second, is it possible to believe in heaven and not hell? How can that be? Ignorant hope perhaps, and more likely, a rationalization. People who say this are really saying: "I am rewarded for being good and punishment does not exist." Sounds like the wishful thinking of a child, yet even the youngest child understands the simple concept of consequences. Heaven is real, brothers and sisters. And so is hell!

Study and know what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about hell. (CCC1033-1041) "The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire." The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs." Study and know what God taught about Hell. "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2).

In summary, clearly believing simply in 'a higher power' is not enough to get to the 'heaven' so many claim to 'believe in'. Many among us are deceived; some by their own conscience as a mode of soothing. Dear reader, what say you?