Sacramentum Unctionis Aegrorum

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

Continuing with his series on the Sacraments, Father Kirby spoke on the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick at Our Lady of Grace this Sunday. Today's Scripture Readings for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time included the following:

• God Never Forgets Us: Isaiah 49:14-15
• Rest in God Alone: Psalm 62:2-9
• The Lord Judges: 1st Corinthians 4:1-5
• Do Not Be Anxious: Matthew 6:24-34

Fr. Kirby opened the homily with a story about a fire in a warehouse. The firetrucks had arrived to put out the blaze, but it appeared all might be lost. The owner had some very important papers within his office inside the burning building. He repeatedly asked the fire chief to rescue those papers at all costs, even if it meant that the rest of the building should burn to the ground. The fire chief calmly responded that his men were doing everything possible to save as much as they could. The owner offered first $100K to rescue the papers and then $200K. Each time the response of the fire chief was the same. Finally a fire truck careened out of control and crashed through the side wall of the warehouse, reaching the office where the safe was located. The men in the truck grabbed the papers, put them on the truck and quickly backed out to safety. The owner was overjoyed to now have his papers and immediately wrote a check for $200K to the rescuers. He asked them for what they would now use the money. The driver of the fire truck responded, "We're going to get the brakes fixed." The moral of the story is that God will rescue us but often not in the way we envision.

In today's Gospel reading the Lord tells us not to worry about what we are to eat or drink or wear, for He knows we need all these things and He will provide. We however do not get to tell him how He ought to provide for our needs. The means, though, by which we invoke those graces are the Sacraments. Through them comes the ability by which we cooperate with God in His meeting our needs. One of these needs is often healing of the body, and the means of obtaining the necessary grace is the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. James 5:13-15 states:

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise.Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.

Fr. Kirby went on to explain that Protestants do not have the Sacraments, and thus do not have the graces of this Sacrament. When a Protestant minister or pastor meets with the sick and his family, it is for prayer, consolation and counselling. It is not to obtain the graces necessary for healing or for preparing for a holy death. While some Protestants like Pentecostals do a form of anointing of the sick, it is treated more as a magic formula: "You get sick, the Pastor anoints you, and you get miraculously healed." That can happen, but often does not. In fact, Fr. Kirby explained that recently at a healing Mass he had anointed more than 100 people and only three reports of divine healing were received. This account led me to recall what both my biological father (himself a Pentecostal) and my second AA sponsor of some 30 years ago said to me: we do not get to tell God how to heal. He usually chooses one of three ways: (a) divinely and instantaneously, or (b) through medical science or (c) by means of calling a person to be home with Him forever. The decision on which method should be used rests solely with God. We need to be purged of the arrogance and hubris that makes us think we can dictate to God: "The Pastor anointed him, now heal him immediately." My AA sponsor said that it may not be God's will to heal someone in that way, and I should learn a little humility, leaving the big decisions up to God because as an alcoholic I made a wreck of my unmanageable life.

Fr. Kirby also explained that one of the stumbling blocks he observed was at hospitals whose staff - educated solely in scientific materialism - often did not understand why a priest should be allowed into intensive care or the emergency room regardless of the condition of the patient. The idea that a man has a spiritual side which must be cared for is completely foreign to such staff. The one happy exception are Filipina nurses. Perhaps this is because the Republic of the Philippines is a Catholic country. No matter; when Father enters the hospital and a Filipina nurse is there, she automatically clears the way between him and the patient to perform the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick in order to prepare the man for whatever God may have in store for him: divine healing, healing by medical science, or a holy death.

ASIDE: my daughter-in-law, Abegael, is a nurse in the Philippines, so Father's story struck a resonant chord with me for I know how hard Abegael works and how devoted she is to her patients, and what a good Christian woman she is. END ASIDE

Father also gave a story about how he got sick one time in Rome and had to travel back to the US for surgery. The surgeon who would perform the operation had been called away from his vacation (or whatever) to work on Father, for which Father was grateful. Nevertheless, Father forbade the commencement of surgery until he himself made a good Confession (the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation) and received the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Father recalled the surgeon pacing back and forth, but Father was insistent that he wasn't going under the knife until he made his peace with God.

Lastly, Father used the example of a terminally ill man given six months to live. Some people in this condition wait until the last minute to receive the Sacrament. This is a horrible practice because sometimes a priest may not be available at the last minute. Furthermore, often the person who waits to the last minute for requesting the Sacrament often ends up facing death in abject terror and that isn't what the Lord Jesus wants. The right thing to do is to ask for the Sacrament immediately on learning of the diagnosis so that the Church can accompany one on the journey to a happy and holy death if that is God's will.

In conclusion, the Sacrament is not about getting magically healed on the spot. It is about getting the graces needed to cooperate with God's will for one's life. That reminds me of something else my second AA sponsor would always say to me: "Lucius, you turned your will and your life over to the care of God as you understood Him in the 3rd step. That means that what God does with your life from here on out is none of your darn business. Your job is to cooperate with Him. As the 11th step says, '....praying ONLY for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.' That is all you are ever entitled to ask for."

Transatomicus - Superbia et Adrogatia

Leslie Dewan
Founder - Transatomic

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

When a 30 something upstart feminist with zero commercial nuclear power experience claims that her molten salt reactor design can generate 75 times MORE energy per ton of uranium than the existing fleet of reactors that have been in operation in the United States for nigh unto 40 years, do NOT believe her! The article below explains this best:

Nuclear Energy Startup Transatomic Backtracks on Key Promises

It turns out that this little girl made a mistake in her math. Her reactor design can generate twice - not 75 times - the energy from a ton of uranium that an existing light water reactor can generate. She has corrected her white paper to reflect that:

Transatomic Technical White Paper V 2.1

Example Molten Salt Reactor

Furthermore, her reactor design cannot burn spent nuclear fuel as she initially advertised. The article explains the following:

“They didn’t do any of this intentionally....It was just a lack of experience and perhaps an overconfidence in their own ability. And then not listening carefully enough when people were questioning the conclusions they were coming to.”

Now that statement is correct on its surface. But it fails to describe the problem underneath. These young spoiled brats are arrogant. Yes, they did not intentionally lie. But they think that because they are so darn innovative and so freaking smart with their natural born genius that they get to make the rules, they get to interpret the regulations and they get to say how science is supposed to behave. Even now when confronted to the immovability of math and physics this progressive Leslie Dewan thinks she's going to build her molten salt reactor by 2021. That isn't going to happen. First of all, the US NRC has no regulations for licensing non-light water reactors, and devising those regulations will take years. Second, it normally takes 10 years to go from where her company Transatomic is currently at to a fully licensed and operating reactor, and only if it's a light water design, not some esoteric design like molten salt. This little youngster has no idea what she is in for. Hubris of the highest order!

My advice to such individuals who think they know it all? Get some real operating experience from people two decades your senior in the commercial nuclear power industry instead of winging it on your own. Paper reactors designed by college students in liberal Academia will never survive the test of hard reality:

Reactores Charti, Reactores Reales ab Admirale Hyman G Rickover

Attenuatus Quod Veritatem de Immigratione Illegale Narravi

Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo

Amici,

I had an interesting exchange today on Facebook with a person about immigration and related social justice topics. Of course I oppose illegal immigration of drug lords and gangsters from Mexico and South America, and unrestricted immigration of Muslims from lands of Islamic fascism. I used a personal example where I was able to help some immigrants and I stated that unless and until someone puts his money where his mouth is, then he does not merit having an opinion on the matter. This man then accused me of being bitter. I responded that if I say nothing about what I do and oppose illegal immigration, then I shall be accused of being a hater and a racist; but if I say what I do and oppose illegal immigration, then I shall be accused of being bitter. As I wrote in a previous post, it is much like what Matthew 11:16-17 records:

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

Then I did some research on this man and found posted on his various Facebook pages photographs of other men in sexually seductive, sometimes half-naked poses. So it became apparent that I was dealing with a sodomite for whom the calls of "love, love, love" take on a very different meaning than what St. Paul envisioned in 1st Corinthians 13. Apparently this man ignores Romans 1:18-32. Needless to say, he is now blocked.

Female Islamic Terrorist

I mention this as a warning to everyone: when a person whom you do not know accuses you of being a hater or being bitter for no other reason than your support of defending the Republic against drug lords, gangsters, rapists, murderers and Jihadists, then chances are that that person has a secret and that secret needs to be exposed to the light of day. I am sick and tired of being marginalized and ridiculed for believing in the Constitution as it is written, and for expecting each person to pull his own weight, and for insisting that those who complain should do something positive to alleviate the problem that they see instead of just shooting their mouths off.

Yes, we should help the poor and disadvantaged. That's our job, not Caesar's, as adopted children of the Great King, and citizens in the Heavenly Kingdom. But that's no excuse to fail to protect our women and children against the murderous violence of Hispanic gangsters and Muslim terrorists. We can make the decision for ourselves to be martyrs, but we have no right to make our women and children martyrs.

Immigratio et Hispana et Islamica

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

NOTE: before I begin, in the essay below I describe an instance of what I do to help those in need. I was challenged by this elsewhere at a different forum. I use this example simply because it is personal. There are many others who have done far more than I am capable of doing. May God bless them. However, if I complain about illegal immigration and do not point out what I did do to help with the problem, then I shall be called a hater. And if I complain and I do point out what I did, then I shall be called bitter. It is much like what Matthew 11:16-17 records:

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

There is no winning with those who persist in obstinate defiance.

TEACHING OF THE CHURCH

First, often I have heard the sanctimonious and pious declare:

"Pray for all the persecuted people of the world."

If one does not directly care for the persecuted, then the prayer is worthless. I did not say that. St. James did in verses 5-17 of chapter two in his epistle:

If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Do NOT abdicate unto Caesar what Scripture commands you personally to do. "Render unto God the things that are god's and unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's." It is NOT Caesar's job to welcome the alien. That is our personal and individual moral responsibility.

Second, section 2241 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states the following:

2241 The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.

Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants' duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.

Note the last sentence which states that immigrants are required to obey the laws of the host country. This is consistent with what St. Paul writes in Romans 13:1-7:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Therefore, illegal immigration is prohibited.

HISPANIC ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

In all the discussion about illegal immigration of Hispanics, what is not being examined is the root cause for which Hispanics flee Mexico and South America to come to the US. That cause originates in what happened to Mexico (and elsewhere) in the early 20th century. The Mexican people voted for President of their country an atheist by the name of Plutacro Elias Calles. Once in power, he began a compaign of persecution against Christianity in general and the Catholic Church specifically. The barbarity of his actions was exceeded only by Josef Stalin in the USSR, Adolf Hitler in National Socialist Germany, and Hirohito in Imperial Japan. In the Cristeros War of the 20s and 30s bishops and priests were executed, and Christian men, women and children were tortured to death. The United States stood mute and impotent to do anything about it. Catholic Christianity was almost wiped out from the popular culture of Mexico except for superstition that did not threaten the secular government. With the emasculation of Catholicism from the public life, it is no wonder that the satanic influence of drug peddling and drug addiction arose. Thus today we have a Mexico suffering the aftermath of its de-Christianization.

Similar things happened in Argentina with the rise of Juan Peron and later Eva. It is no wonder therefore that the man from Argentina sitting on the Papal throne is a heretical Marxist Peronist who happily received a communist crucifix from a Latin American tin pot dictator, and encourages adulterers and fornicators to receive Holy Communion.

Therefore, I say that NONE of the problems afflicting the Hispanic people will be or can be fixed until they return to the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. They flee what they have caused. They are reaping what they have sown in having elected such leaders as Calles and Peron. No matter how much money the US throws at illegal immigrants, no matter how welcoming we are to people fleeing from the very system of government for which they so willingly voted, they cannot and will not be helped. They must repent first because repentance comes BEFORE and NOT AFTER health and prosperity.

Further, I say that this same lesson applies to us in these United States. We sanctify the filth of homosexual sodomy and we legitimatize the infanticide of the unborn. We therefore fully merit the fate that has befallen Mexico and Argentina. The ONLY way to avoid that is repentance and conversion, not some new fangled worthless useless social justice program that cannot eradicate the sin in men's hearts which causes these problems in the first place.

Get with it, folks. Social justice does not, cannot and will not work. Bowing in abject humility before the Holy Crucifix however always does work.

MUSLIM IMMIGRATION

Islam - a religious political system and NOT a race of people (just in case any liberals reading this are confused) - is a dangerous and false belief system created by a pedophile false prophet who raped and pillaged his way across the sands of Arabia in the 7th century AD, and ever since that time, Islam has spread by the sword, either subjecting conquered peoples to the enslavement of dhimmitude or executing those deemed unfit to live like Jews and Christians. All of the Middle East and North Africa was Christian prior to Mohammed, and he and his demented followers changed that. They invaded all the way to Tours, France in the mid-8th century, and by the 11th century, after 400 years of Islamic persecution of the Christians in the Byzantine Empire, the West launch the Crusades as a defensive action. The effectiveness of that lasted only so long and by the 16th and 17th centuries Islam was again invading Europe all the way to the gates of Vienna, Austria, to be turned back by the Catholic Poles. Here is a video summarizing what happened:


Islam is not a religion like Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Shintoism and others. It is a political system of enslavement and forced conversions. In Islam there is no secular government and separate religious authority. Just look at Saudi Arabia and Wahhabi Sunni Islam, or the mad mullahs of Shiite Islam in Iran. Women are treated as second class people, children are taught to be suicide bombers, and testosterone crazed, demonically possessed men decapitate or immolate Christians and Jews at will.

Now many will say that the majority of Muslims do not behave that way, and that there are just and sane Muslim nations. Jordan is a prime example. King Abdullah II and his wife Queen Rania are indeed righteous and just people. But they are the exception to the rule. Furthermore, let us posit that a majority of Muslims are not terrorist fanatics. Let's assume that a mere 5% of the Muslim population are that way. Out of 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, that leaves 80 million Jihadists. If there were 160 M&M candies in a jar and only 5% were poisonous, would you reach your hand into the jar to grab some to eat, knowing that 8 M&M's might kill you?

This is why all further Muslim immigration must stop. Yes, let's rescue the refugees - Christians and Jews. But let's leave the Muslims with the religion and the system of governance that they believe in - Sharia Law. Every time they are allowed to come into Western countries, they create enclaves in which even police dread to go; they rape the local women (as is happening in Sweden); they bomb shopping centers (as happened in France); they shoot innocent civilians (as happened in the United States).

Now ask yourself this: why are these Muslims fleeing their native countries and coming here to set up their Sharia Law? Why? Their rejection of the One True God - the Triune God - for the demon god Allah is why they have all the problems which they have. Until they repent, let them live in peace where they are and keep them out of Western countries.

Of course the flip side of that is this: we need to extricate ourselves from their countries. We need to stop buying their oil and natural gas, and start converting our economy over to nuclear energy instead of relying on mineral slime and mineral gas in lands of Islamic fascism. But that's a topic for a different day.

One last thing on this topic of Muslim immigration: in the Old Testament God told the Children of Israel to keep themselves unpolluted and undefiled by contact with their pagan Canaanite neighbors. We should follow that same advice, for Winston Churchill said it best:

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Liberal progressive feminists in the Church often invoke Matthew 25:31-46 when saying that as a nation we have to care for the sick, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the imprisoned, and welcome the alien. They say that, but what they really mean is this:

"Government should do it."

They do not want to get their hands personally dirty by doing corporal works of mercy for the unfortunate. They do not want to be bothered by such problems. But they damn sure do want to feel sanctimoniously self-justified and piously self-righteous by jumping on the "Trump is mean" and "Republicans are haters" bandwagon for no other reason than we insist on following the due process of the law for everyone equally, immigrant and citizen.

And yes, I do not want my tax money going to help welfare recipients and illegal immigrants and what not. I have helped both on my own without Caesar's damnable assistance and I have done a better job than Caesar ever could. For six months I cared for two immigrants in my apartment free of charge until they were able to stand on their own two feet. So until all the liberals out there put their money where their mouth is and actually DO good works for the poor, they have no justification to whine.

Don't go quoting Matthew 25:31-46 unless YOU do it personally.

Sacramentum Ordinum Sanctorum

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

Once again Father Kirby gave a great homily at Our Lady of Grace on the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The Scripture readings for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time included the following:

• Holiness: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
• Thanksgiving for God's Goodness: Psalm 103:1-13
• The Temple of the Holy Spirit: 1st Corinthians 3:16-23
• Retaliation and Love for Enemies: Matthew 5:38-48

Father began with a story about a great American warship and a lighthouse. This story is best related by the video below.



Father then explained that sometimes, no matter how great we become, it is not the light in the distance which must change course, but we ourselves. We see this in Sunday's Scripture readings . In Leviticus 19:2 we are enjoined to be holy as God is holy. The English word holy is a variant on the word whole. In Matthew 5:48 we are enjoined to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. the word perfect is from the Latin word perfectus which is the past participle of the verb perficio which means "I do thoroughly." Perfect then means, "Having been done thoroughly or completely." That is the same meaning as the word whole from which the word holy is derived. Unfortunately all too often we associate the word holy with the word divine. There is only One Who is divine, and that isn't we. Rather, we are to be complete as God has made us to be complete. And often that means we have to change the course of our lives when the lighthouse out in the midst warns us that collision is imminent. That common theme runs through Sunday's Scripture readings in Leviticus 19, 1st Corinthians 3 and Matthew 5.

A priest can often be that lighthouse warning the unwary to change course before it is too late. Thus did Father Kirby lead into the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

The understanding that Catholics have regarding priests is very different than the understanding that Protestants have regarding their ministers or pastors. A priest acts as Alter Christus. To him is granted the responsibility to consecrate the hosts of bread and wine into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. To him is granted the responsibility to forgive or retain sins in Confession. To him is granted the responsibility to anoint the sick for healing of body and soul. With the priest there are no Sacraments and Protestants have no priests. Thus, Protestantism is sacramentally impotent. I remember feeling exactly that way about what I observed passed for "communion" at Calvary Church on a Sunday night as I described in the post Vesper Diei Solis aput Ecclesiam Calvariae (two family members attended and wanted me to accompany them). What a difference there is between a real priest of the living God wearing the liturgical raiment appropriate for the responsibility of that august role, and what I saw.

And that was something which Father Kirby emphasized: a Catholic pastor (which means shepherd in Latin) is the Sacerdos Dei Viventis. Yes, we in the laity are all called to the common priesthood of the faithful. 1st Peter 2:9 does state:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

The Greek word used for priesthood is ἱεράτευμα which derives from the word ἱερεύς which was used to denote the Old Testament priest. It is different than the word used elsewhere in the New Testament to denote the ministerial priesthood. That word in Greek is πρεσβύτερος, and it is used in conjunction with the Sacraments (e.g., the laying on of hands for healing). An ἱερεύς has no power to dispense the Sacraments of the Eucharist, Confession, Anointing of the Sick, etc. A πρεσβύτερος does, and no Protestant is a πρεσβύτερος because the line of Holy Orders from the Apostles to the present day was broken in the rebellion of Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII in the 16th century.

ASIDE 1: While separation still exists between Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, the mutual excommunications of the 11th century have been lifted by Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoros I of Constantinople. See Joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration of 1965. Unlike Protestants, Eastern Orthodox (Greek, Antiochan, Russian, etc.) have preserved Apostolic Succession, have valid Holy Order, and have valid Sacraments. END ASIDE 1

ASIDE 2: For my Protestant readers, there are three Holy Orders: deacon (διάκονος) which means servant, priest (πρεσβύτερος) which means elder, and bishop (ἐπίσκοπος) which means overseer. All Bishops are Priests, and all Bishops and Priests are Deacons. But Deacons are not necessarily Priests and Priests are not necessarily Bishops. Our English word priest is a diminutive of πρεσβύτερος which is presbyteros when transliterated into English. The "BY" in the center was dropped as well as the "EROS" at the end to form the word "PREST" which eventually became "PRIEST." In like fashion ἐπίσκοπος when transliterated into English is episcopos. "EPI" means over or on top of and "SCOPOS" (going into the English word SCOPE) means eye or seer, hence the term overseer. Other titles such as Metropolitan, Patriarch, Archbishop and Cardinal are assigned by the Church, but they do not replace or override the three Holy Orders of Deacon, Priest and Bishop. Additionally, only a Priest or Bishop may dispense the Sacraments (except that a Deacon may Baptize and may witness a Marriage, in which the husband and wife are the ministers of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony). END ASIDE 2

Father Kirby went on to discuss the respect due a priest and the responsibility which a priest bears before God. He described how in today's society, especially in the Protestant south, a priest in his clerics is often regarded as a fish out of water. He also made an entreaty for young men to consider the priesthood, and to the rest of us to pray for our priests. I hope one day his sermons will be recorded into an audio file so that I can post a link to the file here and not have to rely on a faulty memory. All I can tell the reader is this: find a good, orthodox parish, frequent Mass and Confession, and really listen to your priest when he gives a homily (in fact, take notes which I failed to do this time because I rushed out of the house on Sunday morning, being late).

One other thing that I think is important before I close: tell your priest that you love him and are praying for him. Priests are human beings and need the same kind of positive reinforcement that we all want to receive.

Error Emendationis Technologicae pro Problemis Socialibus

Alvin Weinberg
1915-2006

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

I often here today among nuclear energy professionals, especially the young spoiled brat millennial upstarts and the arrogant, self-assured, narcissistic snake oil salesmen hawking a new kind of technology wonderware, the phrases, "Power to save the world," and "We will bring light to the world." This kind of mentality purports that technology fixes can cure social ills, and that all that is needed is simply enough cheap energy to bring everyone into wealth and prosperity; then mankind's ills - war, famine, and pollution - will somehow magically disappear in a new age of civilization fueled by heavy metal fission. This attitude existed before among the men whom Alvin Weinberg, former Administrator of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and now deceased, once led. He himself was called a technology fixer in the title of his book, The First Nuclear Era: The Life and Times of a Technology Fixer.

Now with all due respect to Dr. Weinberg and the men who worked for him, it is utter hubris of the highest for man to even countenance the idea that he can create a heaven on earth, a re-establishment of the Garden of Eden from whence God cast him out, by simply the right application of technology and engineering. Jesus said in John chapter 12, "The poor you will always have with you," and our first Pope St Peter said in one of his epistles that God will destroy the elements with fervent heat. And St John writes in Revelation that God will make room for a new heaven and a new earth; the old will pass away. So this idea that we by our own resources can undo the effects of sin that happened when Eve partook of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the same kind of pride that motivated men in Genesis chapter 11 to erect the Tower of Babel. God scattered the people and confused their language to prevent them from reaching up into heaven by their own effort. This reminds me of the parable of the man at the weeding feast with no wedding garment. The kind said to his attendants, "Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." Not even with the power of the atom are we going to create a paradise on earth. There is NO technology fix for man's wicked heart.

For the record, I am a nuclear energy professional. And yes, I believe based on my 40 years of experience in nuclear energy that it is the best means possible of safely generating clean electricity. And it can be used to desalinate ocean water, provide district heating in cold climates, manufacture liquid hydrocarbon fuels from coal, produce hydrogen from water, and myriad other benefits. But none of these - NOT a single one - can cure the sinful heart that rages within a man's breast. there is only ONE power to save the world, and only ONE man has brought light to the world: Jesus Christ.

But for some strange reason, the obviousness of this is lost on those who fancy themselves scientific literates and the rest of us illiterate. The communists of the Soviet Union in the 20th century murdered tens of million of Ukrainians in the Great Holodomor, most of them Orthodox or Catholic Christians, in spite of the technological prowess of the former USSR. And Nazi Germany with all its technological might did not turn such an advantage to good, but sought world-wife destruction, murdering six million Jews and uncounted tens of millions of other Europeans. Imperial Japan with its great technology rampages through southeast Asia murdering tens of millions of Chinese. And communist China itself murdered almost 100 million of its own citizens instead of employing its technology to save the world.

The same is true today of Islamic fanatics and liberal progressive feminists. The former, as soon as they get technology, use it to commit terrorism of the highest order and the later use technology to slaughter unborn babies by the tens of millions - 60 million dead babies since Roe v Wade in 1973 - instead of giving birth to them and caring for them as any decent and civilized society would do.

But nuclear-environmental fanatics insist that their form of energy production can save the world. If we didn't save the world in the 20th century when we could have, then we are not going to save it today. And giving murderously evil persons like the mad mullahs in Iran and the liberal progressive feminists in the west the power of the atom is a clear recipe for disaster. The former will make nuclear bombs and the later cannot be trusted to follow regulation in safely generated electricity. Even the great Dr. Weinberg had to admit to a limit on his optimism.

The only solution is what our Blessed Lord said long ago, "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand."

Feminismus et Femininitas

Amici, Americani, Compantriotae,

I have seen too much ranting on gender equality by liberal progressive feminists to let the subject go without commentary.  One basic principle must be understood and comprehended first:

All human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. Thus, all human beings are equal dignity. However, human beings are often created unequal in function.

A woman can be a mother, a daughter, a sister and a wife, but she cannot be a father, a son, a brother or a husband. Likewise a man can be a father, a son, a brother or a husband, but he cannot be a mother, a daughter, a sister and a wife. Yet both are equal in dignity but both functions are needed in equality for a healthy society. This idea of equality comes from Christianity. St. Paul writes in Galatians 3:28:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

In that passage of Sacred Scripture St. Paul asserts the principle of equality in dignity. However, St. Paul acknowledges inequality in function. Indeed inequality does NOT mean that one person is superior (or inferior) to the next due to the function which that person serves. Rather, it means that the functions are unequal because they are different, not because one is greater and the other lesser. St. Paul discusses that very thing in 1st Corinthians 12:12-31. Verses 15 through 20 give an analogy between the different functions in the Body of Christ and different function in the body of a human being:

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single organ, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

Consistent with this, St. Paul states in 1st Timothy 2:8-13:

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; also that women should adorn themselves modestly and sensibly in seemly apparel, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire but by good deeds, as befits women who profess religion. Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet woman will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.

At this point feminists will say, "You are trying to relegate women to the kitchen barefoot and pregnant, always submissive to men," as though motherhood, pregnancy and wifely duties were unworthy functions, to which I answer, "You are willing to accept status as a mere engineer (or technician or doctor or lawyer or scientist or whatever)? Do you not know that the most august human being ever created was a woman, the Blessed Virgin Mary who became the Ark of the New Covenant, the Θεοτόκος (God-bearerer), the Dei Genetrix (Mother of God)? No mere mortal man did that! And you would surrender your womanhood for a status of mere equivalency to a lowly man? As a mother you have the greatest influence on the next generation. No priest, no politician, no male leader has power like that!"

Can, however, a woman be a good engineer (or technician or doctor or lawyer or scientist or whatever) equal in ability to a man? Of course! Indeed, the best engineer with whom I have worked in the 40 years of my career in nuclear energy was a woman. She was the system engineer for the emergency diesel generators at a Westinghouse pressurized water reactor. Before she became the system engineer the diesels never worked right. After she started, they began to function as expected. She and I often disagreed and had some knock down, drag out arguments about updating diesel generator drawings and technical manuals, and other related things. But she was dedicated and honest and technically competent. And she was the only one who could get the mechanics in the Maintenance Department to do their job right (perhaps they were motivated by her beauty, but no matter; the results were pleasing to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission).

Jael Defeating Sisera

So yes, a woman can easily be a good engineer (or technician or doctor or lawyer or scientist or whatever). Indeed, there are Biblical examples of women of valor who took up the slack for the men of Israel when they failed the Lord God. One of my favorites is Jael in Judges 4:17-22. Sisera was a  pagan Canaanite army general who terrorized the Israelite population. No Israelite man was able to stop him. However, Jael did.

But Sis′era fled away on foot to the tent of Ja′el, the wife of Heber the Ken′ite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Ken′ite. And Ja′el came out to meet Sis′era, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. And he said to her, “Pray, give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. And he said to her, “Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is any one here?’ say, No.” But Ja′el the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground, as he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. And behold, as Barak pursued Sis′era, Ja′el went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent; and there lay Sis′era dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

Judith Defeating Holofernes

Another of my favorites is Judith whom God raised up to stop evil Holofernes, chief general of the Assyrian army, from continuing to terrorize the Jewish people. Judith got Holofernes drunk one night. Judith 13:1-10 records the aftermath:

When evening came, his slaves quickly withdrew, and Bago′as closed the tent from outside and shut out the attendants from his master’s presence; and they went to bed, for they all were weary because the banquet had lasted long. So Judith was left alone in the tent , with Holofer′nes stretched out on his bed, for he was overcome with wine. Now Judith had told her maid to stand outside the bedchamber and to wait for her to come out, as she did every day; for she said she would be going out for her prayers. And she had said the same thing to Bago′as. So every one went out, and no one, either small or great, was left in the bedchamber. Then Judith, standing beside his bed, said in her heart, “O Lord God of all might, look in this hour upon the work of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem. For now is the time to help thy inheritance, and to carry out my undertaking for the destruction of the enemies who have risen up against us.” She went up to the post at the end of the bed, above Holofer′nes’ head, and took down his sword that hung there. She came close to his bed and took hold of the hair of his head, and said, “Give me strength this day, O Lord God of Israel!” And she struck his neck twice with all her might, and severed his head from his body. Then she tumbled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy from the posts; after a moment she went out, and gave Holofer′nes’ head to her maid, who placed it in her food bag.

Queen Esther Confronting Haman

Queen Esther is another example. God raised her up to stop evil Haman, adviser to Persian King Ahasu-e′rus, from carrying out his plan to commit genocide against the Jewish people. Because of Esther, in the end the King ordered that Haman should be hung from the scaffold in the same way that he conspired to hang Jews. The account is in Esther 8.

And of course, the greatest example of all is the Blessed Virgin Mary who gave us Christ Himself through her fiat to the Angel Gabriel. Christ was the ultimate defeat for Satan. Thus in Genesis 1:15 does God say to the evil serpent who had deceived Eve:

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed;
she shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

Mary Queen of Heaven

And Revelation 11:19-12:6 goes on to say this about the Blessed Virgin Mary:

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Robert Anson Heinlein

Yet today in these neo-pagan, post-modern times, in spite of the examples of valiant women of yore, today's women are taught to settle for the second best of mere equality in function with men. It is a man's job to be a soldier or sailor or airman or marine and defend his sacred home with his very body. It is a man's job to work in the office or field or forest and bring home the means of sustenance for his family. These roles are traditional for a reason and not in denigration of authentic womanhood. Robert Heinlein perhaps expresses my sentiments best when he writes:

All societies are based on rules to protect pregnant women and young children. All else is surplusage, excrescence, adornment, luxury, or folly, which can — and must — be dumped in emergency to preserve this prime function. As racial survival is the only universal morality, no other basic is possible. Attempts to formulate a "perfect society" on any foundation other than "Women and children first!" is not only witless, it is automatically genocidal. Nevertheless, starry-eyed idealists (all of them male) have tried endlessly — and no doubt will keep on trying.

Whenever women have insisted on absolute equality with men, they have invariably wound up with the dirty end of the stick. What they are and what they can do makes them superior to men, and their proper tactic is to demand special privileges, all the traffic will bear. They should never settle merely for equality. For women, 'equality' is a disaster.

I hate feminism, progressivism and liberalism. Feminism masculinizes all that is noble, august and honorable in authentic womanhood and true femininity. Progressivism never states the goal to which it is progressing; one wonders exactly what that goal may be. Is it heaven or hell? And liberalism is simply license to do whatever one has the power to do without consequence, without responsibility, without accountability. But Christianity says that a man must be a real man and a woman must be a real women accountable to God and responsible for the consequences of his or her actions.

In conclusion, the idea of gender equality must be smashed and eradicated from society as the pagan filth that it is. We must return to the time-honored principles of men being men and women being women. God created all human beings equal in dignity, but not necessarily equal in function. If you don't like that, then take the issue up with Him.

Vesper Diei Solis aput Ecclesiam Calvariae

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

Our Lady of Grace
Lancaster, SC

NOTE: before I begin, for our separated Protestant brethren, in the essay below I point out some very positive things about a Protestant "service" I recently attended. But I also unflinchingly point out error - when the statement or practice deviates from the doctrine and dogma of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. This is NOT done out of some misbegotten sense of superiority, for Heaven knows that I, far from being superior, am at the bottom of the barrel. In fact, I wish Catholics and Eastern Orthodox who have valid Sacraments and a valid priesthood and episcopate were as enthused about the Lord Jesus Christ as many Evangelical Protestants are. I also appreciate good preaching when I hear it, and if this post does nothing else, then may it serve to reinforce that practice. But there are things which I saw last night that are wrong. Yet let this be known: just because a doctrine or practice may be wrong does not mean that those who in ignorance commit it are themselves wrong. I don't get to judge anyone and I myself will be judged by Christ. Nevertheless, without further delay, let me start:

Calvary Church,
Charlotte, NC

Yesterday evening I had the opportunity to attend a Protestant "service" at one of the local ecclesial communities, Calvary Church. This is one of the larger non-denominational communities in the Charlotte, NC area. The community's Articles of Faith seem to be influenced to some extent by Calvinism, a 16th century Protestant rebellion. The definitive work thereon is John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion.

I am often interested at how such community's conduct themselves. I once attended an evening "service" at one Pentecostal community and the junior "pastor's" speech was indeed quite heretical, unlike last night's sermon at Calvary Church. Of course I let him know what I thought in my post Epistula Aperta ad Ecclessiam Christi Vitae. Like most Protestants ignorant of Church history prior to the start of their particular denomination, he had no response, but I was reliably informed that he was so "hurt." Obviously the hurt was insufficient to initiate a change in his system of belief. Heaven help his congregants.

I have also attended "services" at a local Methodist community. Its senior "pastor's" sermons are very well articulated. I have repeatedly blogged quite favorably in fact about those sermons here. However, I have issue with the priestesses floating about; Christ never ordained priestesses (I don't call them priests because priests are by definition always male, and I don't call them pastors which in Latin means shepherds because shepherds are always male too). Frankly, I loathe feminism (but love authentic femininity and the nobility of true womanhood). But I digress.

Dr. Munro

I have additionally attended "services" at Calvary before, and by and large, the "preaching" there is rather good except on one rare occasion when I heard Dr. Munro, the senior "pastor," diverge into early Church history. A hint of anti-Catholic, anti-Orthodox bias typical of Calvinists came out, but not bombastically. I haven't yet observed him to be vehement in speaking that way, and that is quite welcome. He is actually a great speaker and often quite orthodox.

Last night Khalil Ayoub, Pastor of College & Young Adults, gave the sermon and Timothy Hathaway, Pastor of Worship, administered what for Protestants is Communion. The sermon was excellent. Communion, of which I did not partake, was of course invalid and that is NOT a reflection on the administrator thereof but on the way that Protestants in general view the Sacraments. I will discuss both.

Khalil Ayoub

SERMON

Revd. Ayoub spoke on the difficult subject of service to the poor and he did a masterful job. He used as his Scripture texts the following:

• The Parable of the Good Samaritan: Luke 10:25-37
• The Collection for Christians at Jerusalem: 2nd Corinthians 9
• Faith without Works is Dead: James 2:14-17
• Love One Another: 1st John 3:17-18

Using these texts, Revd. Ayoub explained the following:

In the case of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, unlike the Priest and the Levite, the Samaritan took a risk to help the man in the ditch. That risk involved exposing himself to the same danger which had befallen the one whom he was trying to rescue. So sometimes helping another may involve personal risk to ourselves. We will have to get out of our comfort zones.

In the case of the Christians of Macedonia giving alms for the saints in Jerusalem, the Macedonians were a poor church, yet they begged to give out of their poverty. In like manner we must be willing to give not just when we have extra but when we may not.

In the case of those who pray for the sick or the impoverished, what good does prayer do unless it is backed up by concrete action? We cannot simply absolve ourselves of having to help the poor by saying, "I prayed for them."

In the case of those in need, how can we say we love God when we close our hearts and our giving to the less fortunate? That's hypocrisy.

Revd. Ayoub went on to make some more important points. One of the reasons we need a government welfare program is because we in the Church, the Body of Christ, have NOT been doing our Sacred Duty as delineated in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25:31-46. Here the nations are gathered together and those who fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed the alien, clothed the naked, cared for the sick and visited the imprisoned are those whom Christ welcomes into eternal life. Now it is important to note (something which Revd. Ayoub had not explained - there wasn't time to explain everything) that the Greek word translated as nation is actually ἔθνος which means:

• A multitude of individuals
• A tribe or group of people

It does not have the same meaning as our modern word nation does which refers to country-state. The nations gathered before God are individuals to whom the command is given to help feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, care for the sick, welcome the alien and visit the imprisoned. If we as members of the Body of Christ do our duty as citizens of the Kingdom of God and children of the Great King instead of abdicating our responsibility and evading our accountability onto Tiberius Caesar, then we won't have a welfare problem.

Revd. Ayoub recounted some heart rending stories of his personal experience in Malaysia, travelling on rickety boats to different islands and the appalling conditions of poverty which he saw and which the people there regard as normal. He explained that to them we Americans are rich, perhaps the richest nation to ever exist on planet Earth. We may not feel that way because we are not billionaires. But compared to these destitute people we have everything we need and then some: houses, clean water, nutritious food, readily available mode of transport even in public transportation, etc. He also made a brief reference to immigration, saying that people from war-torn countries like Syria would do anything to have a chance like us. But he also cautioned us not to feel guilty because God has blessed us with houses and food and belongings and a great church, because often people are poor for a reason.

Continuing on, Revd. Ayoub said that we cannot simply throw money at the problem of the poor because that is as bad as simply ignoring them. In fact, sometimes we throw money at the destitute so that we can feel good about ourselves while we walk away without having done anything of substance to solve the underlying problem which caused them to become poor, and that ties into what he alluded to when he pointed out that people are often poor for a reason. He used an example which appealed to me as a recovering alcoholic and drug addict - the story of a homeless man whom a group of young people took in. They fed him, gave him a place to sleep and provided a second chance to him. But he began drinking. And his behavior turned from bad to worse, stealing and fighting. Eventually the men of the house had to call law enforcement to evict the person whom they had befriended because the underlying alcoholism was not corrected and that was the root cause of the homeless man's poverty.

I was so glad this example was used. The best thing that ever happened to me early in sobriety was to be told that if I did not get an AA group and an AA sponsor, and work the 12 Steps of AA, then I would die. Nothing else mattered - not job, not girlfriend, not family, not anything - except God and my sobriety. He had to be number one or I would surely die.

After some time in sobriety I became a sponsor myself. In that role I once picked up a drunk on the beach (literally). I brought him home to my apartment. I got him to meetings and I even paid a month's rent in a halfway house for him. But he went out to drink again. I could not rescue him. Sadly some people are not ready for God's grace. They have to go out there and have "some more fun." But by God's grace alone that has not happened to me so far, but it's only a one-day-at-a-time program.

So my personal experience confirms what Revd. Ayoub spoke about. The underlying problem has to be fixed, and that's not government's job. That's our job. As a Catholic Christian, these things remind me of the various Works of Mercy in Paragraphs 2446 and 2447 of the Article 7 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2446 St. John Chrysostom vigorously recalls this: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." "The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity":

When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice.

2447 The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God:

He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none and he who has food must do likewise. But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you. If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?

I do wish however that greater emphasis had been placed on addressing poverty in our own country first, but I honestly cannot fault Revd. Ayoub's sincerity and his personal corporal works of mercy in foreign lands. Surely God will bless him for that. I also wish that the account of Jesus' feet having been anointed with oil in John 12 had been discussed. Mary, sister of Martha, had taken 300 denarii worth of oil to anoint Jesus' feet. Judas Iscariot exclaimed that the oil (worth a year's wage) could have been sold and the profit used for the poor. Scripture records that he said this not because he cared for the poor but because he carried the money purse and would steal therefrom. Jesus Himself said:

Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.

The lesson here is threefold.

First, those who cry the loudest for government to tax those who earn wealth and redistribute to those who refuse to work are the very ones who steal that tax revenue for themselves.

Second, we will not ever be able to solve the problem of poverty and create a man-made paradise on Earth; that will only happen when Christ returns. Rather, we do corporal works of mercy for the sake of justice and for our own salvation. And that reminds me of something my AA sponsor always said, "It's a selfish program. You help to save the next person so that you yourself will stay sober today."

Third, in the story of the rich young man in Matthew 19:16-22 and Mark 10:17-22, Christ told the rich man to sell all he had and give to the poor and follow Him not to rescue the poor from their state of poverty, but because Jesus looked on him and loved him (Mark 10:21) even though his possessions had become an idol between him and God's love, and that idol had to be removed.

Nevertheless, all in all, Revd Ayoub did an outstanding job. Bravo!

Tim Hathaway

COMMUNION

Revd Hathaway administered a Protestant version of Communion. Broken up crackers on brass plates and then grape juice in tiny single serving cups in brass trays were distributed by the ushers. 1st Corinthians 11:22-33 was read. Appropriate emphasis was put on verses 27 through 29 that I wish were likewise emphasized at Catholic Mass:

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.

Again, without casting aspersions on Revd Hathaway's character and commitment (both of which seem excellent), I wonder why Protestants do not consider the implication of verse 30:

That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

If the Bread and Wine have NOT been "transubstantiated" or transformed into Jesus' Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, then what power do they have to make the unworthy partaker weak and ill and even to die? If they are mere symbols, then by what means are their unworthy reception injurious to body and soul? Surely John 6:53-57 is correct?

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.

The Crucifix

I have never understood how Evangelical Protestants can insist on a literal interpretation of Moses' words in the account of creation in Genesis 1 and 2, but will not ascribe to a literal interpretation of our Blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's words: "This IS My Body......This IS my Blood!" The Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of Ecclesial Life. It is Jesus made real and present to us here and now. We enter into the one time for all Sacrifice on Calvary (oh what an irony given the name of the Ecclesial Community to which I went last night) which exists forever as a discrete point in space time some 2000 years ago on a hilltop just outside Jerusalem. At every Holy Mass in the Roman Catholic Church, at every Divine Liturgy in the Eastern Orthodox Church, that event in space time is re-presented (NOT re-performed or merely represented as a symbol) to us. It appears from the midst of time and space so that we can be partakers. That is what Protestantism gave up during the so-called Reformation of the 16th century.

So of course I did not partake of something that has no divine form, no divine power, no divine substance other than being some sort of community symbol. With NO intent to hurt anyone's feelings or to shove supremacy of one Christian denomination over another in some false sense of triumphalism, and without any denigration of the character of the preachers at Calvary Church itself, we must remember that paragraph 1400 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church states the following:

Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church, "have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic mystery in its fullness, especially because of the absence of the sacrament of Holy Orders." It is for this reason that, for the Catholic Church, Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible. However these ecclesial communities, "when they commemorate the Lord's death and resurrection in the Holy Supper . . . profess that it signifies life in communion with Christ and await his coming in glory."

More can be read about this in Paragraph 17 of Dominus Iesus by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (that paragraph can likewise be easily taken in the wrong way). And what the early Church Fathers - the men who succeeded the Apostles - said about the Eucharist in the first few centuries after Christ may be read here. They believed in the Real Presence of Jesus. Therefore, while the neighborliness and friendliness of the people at Calvary is something which Catholics would do well to emulate, and while I have great admiration and respect for the preaching that was given, that Ecclesial Community does NOT posses valid Holy Orders NOR a Valid Eucharist. Nevertheless, they remain our separated brethren in Christ and we should pray what Jesus prayed in John 17 that we all be one in His Kingdom.

ASIDE: I wonder sometimes at certain Novus Ordo Catholic Parishes whether their Communion is valid as well - this isn't just a Protestant problem. END ASIDE

Sacramentum Matrimonii Sancti

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

Today for the Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time Father Kirby continued his series on the Sacraments, speaking on the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony at Our Lady of Grace. The Scripture readings included the following:

• Freedom of Choice: Sirach 15:15-20
• The Glory of God's Law: Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
• The True Wisdom of God: 1st Corinthians 2:6-10
• Fulfilling the Law: Matthew 5:17-37

Father opened with a story. A certain women was married for decades and provided years of faithful service to her husband, her family and her Church. She one day dies and goes to stand before the Pearly Gates where St. Peter asks her to spell the password in order to gain entrance. She asks what the password may be and St. Peter says, "Love." So she successfully spells the word - L-O-V-E - but is surprised to now find her husband awaiting to enter. She asks him the same thing that St. Peter had asked her: to spell the password. He innocently asks her what the password may be and she responds with the word, "Czechoslovakia." Ha! Ha!

We are currently in the middle of National Marriage Week which this year is celebrated from February 7 to 14. As Catholic Christians we approach marriage differently than the pagans in secular society and separated Protestant brethren. For us marriage has a deeper meaning. It is a calling, a vocation by God and a gift to two baptized Christians to serve one another.

Marriage never survives by its own strength but only by the grace of God. At marriage the man and woman take vows which on their own they are incapable of satisfying. But with God's grace they are provided with the power to fulfill their vows. Further, marriage is this composed not of two persons but three: man, woman and God. It is God who provides the adhesive power in the Sacrament.

This Sacrament is always between one man and one woman regardless of what the popular culture teaches or legalizes by legislation or judicial fiat. Indeed the Devil hates marriage as such because it is a reflection of Christ and the Church as St. Paul describes in Ephesians 2:22-33. Marriage embodies the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-11. Marriage consists in service to and honor for one another as equals in dignity while being necessarily unequal in function. When therefore we say, "I cannot do this marriage any long," that is the time to let God's grace work. When marriage is strong, then:

• The Church is strong
• Society is strong
• The Family is strong

The best teachers of this Sacrament are therefore the ones who faithfully discharge their sacramental vows: the married man and woman, the ones who take their vocation seriously.

The priest unlike other Sacraments is not the Minister of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Rather, the baptized man and woman give to one another the Sacrament of Marriage and the priest blesses the self-giving. The priest defends the Eucharist and the sanctity of the Confessional with his life if necessary. In the same manner the married must defend their marriage.

Towards the twilight years of our lives we become "empty-nesters" as children have left for lives of their own. Sometimes we may find ourselves strangers one to another. This is the opportunity to grow deeper in the Sacrament which is service of many and woman to each other. Let us therefore pray for society, the Church and the married, for without the integrity of this Sacrament the foundation of the nation herself is at risk.

Nostra Domina Lordae et Arbor Vitae

Virgen de Lourdes
Courtesy Wikipedia

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

This post is a bit long winded. Sometimes things cannot be explained in a Facebook meme or Youtube soundbite. So please be patient and read the entirety to understand how it all ties together. Vobis gratias ago.

Today at Our Lady of Grace the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes was celebrated. Wikipedia provides the following explanation:

Our Lady of Lourdes is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in honor of the Marian apparitions that reportedly occurred in 1858 in the vicinity of Lourdes in France. The first of these is the apparition of 11 February 1858, when 14-year old Bernadette Soubirous told her mother that a "lady" spoke to her in the cave of Massabielle (a mile from the town) while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. Similar apparitions of the alleged "Lady" were reported on seventeen occasions that year, until the climax revelation of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception took place. In 1862, Pope Pius IX authorized Bishop Bertrand-Sévère Laurence to permit the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes. On 3 July 1876, the same Pontiff officially granted a Canonical Coronation to the image that used to be in the courtyard of what is now part of the Rosary Basilica. The image of Our Lady of Lourdes has been widely copied and reproduced, often displayed in shrines and homes, often in garden landscapes. Soubirous was later canonized as a Catholic saint.

Additionally, Pope Pius XII wrote an encyclical about this entitled, Le Pelerinage de Lourdes, wherein he warns against materialism on the centenary of the apparitions at Lourdes. Furthermore, there is an additional account regarding the water flowing from a spring at Lourdes about which Wikipedia says:

"Lourdes water is water which flows from a spring in the Grotto of Massabielle in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France. The location of the spring was described to Bernadette Soubirous by an apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes on 25 February 1858. Since that time many thousands of pilgrims to Lourdes have followed the instruction of Our Lady of Lourdes to "drink at the spring and bathe in it". Lourdes water is considered non-liturgical holy water. Although never formally encouraged by the Church, Lourdes water has become a focus of devotion to the Virgin Mary at Lourdes. Since the supposed apparitions, many people have claimed to have been cured by drinking or bathing in it, and the Lourdes authorities provide it free of charge to any who ask for it."

These things are presented first to show how they tie into today's Scripture reading from Genesis 3:9-24. As the reader knows, Eve had succumbed to the serpent's temptation and had eaten of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The serpent was condemned to crawl on his belly and eat the dust of the Earth all his life, and while he would strike at the heel of Man's offspring (a reference to Christ), the woman (a reference to the Virgin Mary) would crush his head. Woman was condemned to bear children in pain and travail, and to be subject to Man as master. Man himself was condemned to toil for his bread among the thistles and thorns, eventually returning to the dust of the ground from which he had been made. St. Paul explains this well in Romans 5:12-21 where he explains that through old Adam sin and death entered the world, and through the new Adam righteousness and eternal. In Romans 8:18-25 St. Paul also describes how all creation is groaning in it bondage to decay which began at the sin of old Adam and Eve, and how the New Adam (because of the obedience of the New Eve - Mary) will set us all free.

But what is it that sets us free to eternal life? Genesis 3:22-24 tells us:

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever” - therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

And what is this Tree of Life? St. Peter alludes to what this is when he is brought before the Sanhedrin for preaching the Gospel in Acts 5:30-31.

The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

And St. Paul explains further in Galatians 3:13-14.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree”— that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

And what is the fruit of this Tree? St. John tells us in the Bread of Life Discourse in John 6:22-71 with verses 51 and 53 through 58 giving an unmistakable explanation.

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.”

The fruit of the Tree of Life is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. That Tree which stands in one point at Calvary (space) some 2000 years ago (time) exists forever in space-time. During every Eucharist at Holy Mass (for Catholics) or Divine Liturgy (for Orthodox) that Tree becomes revealed and we the baptized members of the Body of Christ partake of its fruit. Having sinned against God by partaking of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve without Baptism were forbidden to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life. 1st Peter 3:18-22 explains:

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

We must be baptized into the Body of Christ - the Church - before we can partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life which is the Cross. So how does this relate to the story of Our Lady of Lourdes? Well first we have to look at a few more passages of Sacred Scripture. Genesis 2:8-10 states:

And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.

The prophet Ezekiel in the Old Testament has a vision (or series of visions) where (after the destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple therein, and the deportation of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar) he sees the new Temple of God presumably at the end of time. In chapter 47 he describes water flowing from the Temple and trees lining either side of the river. These trees make stagnant water fresh, enabling fish to live and providing fruit for food and leaves for healing, neither withering nor dying.

St. John in Revelation 22:1-7 describes essentially the same thing. Verses 1 through 5 state:

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Tree of Life
12 Kinds of Fruit

Notice the reference to the 12 kinds of fruit on the Tree of Life, hence the depiction of the 12 Apostles on the icon for the Tree of Life depicted above.

Miraculous healing has often been attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes. According to St. John that healing of body and soul derives from leaves of the Tree of Life, which is nourished by the water flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. That water is the baptismal water which flowed with the sacrificial blood that poured from Jesus' side when He was pierced with a lance in John 19:31-37. That's the water (the Genesis water, the Ezekiel water, the Revelation water) which flows from the Temple, hence the symbolism of the water from the spring in the Grotto of Massabielle in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France.

Consistent with all this, today Fr. Kirby administered the Sacrament of Anointing the Sick at Mass, reading first from James 5:14-15.

Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Father gave examples of miraculous healing he had seen as a result of this Sacrament. But he cautioned us by explaining that while God does miraculously heal to provide a spiritual lesson, sometime even though we may be sick or injured, a healing is not required because it would not provide a spiritual benefit. Sometimes we are exactly where we ought to be. My second sponsor in Alcoholics Anonymous some 30 years ago would have agreed with Father. he often told me that I don't get to tell God what to do or how to do it. Having turned my will and my life over to His care, what He chooses to do with my life from that moment forward is none of my business. Further, I don;t get to order Him in what to do for another. Rather, we must pray for God's will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven just as the Lord's prayer would have us pray. And my biological father often said that God does heal, but in three different ways and it isn't up to us to tell Him which one to use:

• Divinely
• By medical instrumentality
• By calling the sick or injured one home to Heaven

All these things I was reminded of today at Holy Mass. Things from AA meetings three decades ago, from daily Bible readings, and from my father's talks when I was a child all seemed to come together in one big lesson. The Tree of Life is the Cross, the fruit is Jesus' Body and Blood, and healing happens in His time and in His way.