Iesus contra Feminismum et pro Matrimonio

Jesus and the Little Children

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

Today's homily at Sunday Mass was especially noteworthy. First, the daily readings include the following:

Creation of Woman - Genesis 2:1-24
Blessings of Those Who Fear the Lord - Psalm 128
Jesus Calling Us Brothers - Hebrews 2:9-11
Marriage and Divorce - Mark 10:2-16

Father (the priest officiating) explained how in ancient Jewish custom a man could for no reason divorce his wife and throw her out of the home, and the pagans were worse: a wife who displeased her husband could be summarily executed with no trial, no appeal. But Jesus elevated marriage to a Sacrament. Since Eve was taken from Adam's rib, she was of his very own flesh, and thus Scripture says, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." The woman and the man are one flesh, and no man has authority to cast his wife aside. Divorce is not an option.

Yes, there are instances of physical abuse, alcoholism, drug addiction, etc., which may make separation necessary for safety of spouse and children. But those are exceptions to the rule. Furthermore, those who have been through the carnage of divorce can best testify to the wisdom of Jesus' admonition on the indissolubility of the marital bond.

The bottom line is this: today's feminist culture that treats divorce as normal, even inevitable is as bad (if not worse) than the ancient Greco-Roman culture where divorce threw the wife away with no means provided for her support. Why? Because today's no fault divorce culture says a woman can contracept and abort her way from husband to husband to husband, dispensing her sexual wares with nary a guilty thought, nor any moral concern over her children. That denigrates and debases both women and children as they were debased and denigrated in the ancient cultures. It subjects them to an enslavement that the ancients could only imagine their their nightmares.

In fact, Father made specific mention of children in his homily because today's Gospel reading says the following right after Jesus forbade divorce: "And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, 'Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these...'" In ancient times children were regarded as mere chattel to be used as servants of production and without any worth intrinsic to themselves - how like today's contraceptive, abortive culture where pre-born babies are murdered in the womb because their presence is inconvenient to the happiness of the would-be parents, and their internal organs are harvested and sold at profit for scientific research. In ancient Roman new-born babies were left exposed on hilltops for wild animals to devout them, but today we play one-up-man-ship with that and assimilate their organs into our own bodies to extend our own miserable lives on this planet, and we call that science. We openly glorify contraception as the means of achieving personal happiness through irresponsible hedonistic sexual promiscuity. But Jesus taught something different: we must love our wives as our own flesh, and we must become like children if we are to inherit eternal life in the Kingdom of God. This is the means by which we can have any degree of happiness, joy and serenity in this life. Indeed Father was adamant in his homily: God proscribes contraception inasmuch as every use thereof will destroy a family by thwarting the openness to the new life that God wants to give us. Since when did God repeal His commandment to Adam and Eve, "Be fruitful and multiply?" (Genesis 1:28)

Yes, things are tough for the family in today's neo-pagan, post-modern society, and that's no different than how things were in Greco-Roman society. But what does Psalm 128 in today's Scripture reading say? I point that out because on Facebook I saw that the Pentecostal church of my youth was coincidentally going to have a sermon on that Psalm today (well, there are no coincidences in God's planning). While Father didn't speak directly about the Psalm reading, everything he said revolved around it. So here is the reading - note what makes for real blessing, real joy, real happiness - it's picking up our Cross and following Him:

Protestant Meme

1 A song of ascents.
Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
and who walk in his ways.

2 What your hands provide you will enjoy;
you will be blessed and prosper:

3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your home,
Your children like young olive plants
around your table.

4 Just so will the man be blessed
who fears the LORD.

5 May the LORD bless you from Zion;
may you see Jerusalem’s prosperity
all the days of your life,

6 and live to see your children’s children.
Peace upon Israel!

What gives happiness, joy and prosperity? Not feminism, not gender equality, not the contraceptive, abortive sexual revolution. But rather:

Fear of the Lord

The fruit of one's own labor (personal responsibility)

One's wife

One's children, and

One's grand children

All those things we found exemplified in the reading from the Book of Job during the daily Divine Liturgy this last week . Never once did Job, persecuted and afflicted by Satan, retaliate against his wife when she told him in Job 2:9, "Are you still holding to your innocence? Curse God and die!" Indeed, the Sacred Text from Job 42, beginning at verse 10, tells the end of the story:

10 The LORD also restored the prosperity of Job, after he had prayed for his friends; the LORD even gave to Job twice as much as he had before.11 Then all his brothers and sisters came to him, and all his former acquaintances, and they dined with him in his house. They consoled and comforted him for all the evil the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.

12 Thus the LORD blessed the later days of Job more than his earlier ones. Now he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys.13 He also had seven sons and three daughters:14 the first daughter he called Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land no other women were as beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; and he saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren. 17 Then Job died, old and full of years

Divortium

Amici, Americanae et Compatriotae,

INTRODUCTION

There has been much discussion about the heretical teaching of Pope Francis in paragraph 305 and footnote 351 within Amoris Laetitia that divorce and remarried people may receive Holy Communion. Such an interpretation is given in the Buenos Aires bishops’ guidelines on Amoris Laetitia: full text. Pope Francis has order that those guidelines be added to the Acta Apostolicae Sedis as part of his official magisterium. Thus, the matter of this issue escalates to the point of schism - deciding whether we follow Pope Francis or we follow the plain words of Christ at the beginning of Matthew chapter 19: what God has joined together, let no man cast asunder. Divorce obviously violates that command and breaks the marriage vow. Those who re-marry another afterwards commit adultery (a violation of Exodus chapter 20:14 and Deuteronomy 5:18 within the Ten Commandments) which is a mortal sin (a sin which leads to death – 1st John 5:16). Concerning the problem of partaking of the Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion) while in a state of unrepentant mortal sin (e.g., a state of adultery), 1st Corinthians 11:27-32 states:

“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 anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”

Therefore, a divorced person who remarries another and then presents himself (or herself) for Holy Communion invokes on himself (or herself) the judgement which St. Paul describes at the end of chapter 11 within his first letter to the Church at Corinth.

That all said, there are TWO and ONLY TWO exceptions to this. These are described below.

DIVORCE FOR ILLICIT SEXUAL INTERCOURSE

Matthew 19:3-9 states:

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one’? So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits adultery.”

The exception that Jesus gives for allowing divorce is in verse 9:

“….whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery….”

The Greek states:

“…ος αν απολυση την γυναικα αυτου ει μη επι πορνεια και γαμηση αλλην μοιχαται…”

The Latin states:

“….quicumque dimiserit uxorem suam nisi ob fornicationem et aliam duxerit moechatur…..”

The English word translated as “unchastity in the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) is πορνεια in Greek and fornicationem in Latin. Πορνεια means:

1. illicit sexual intercourse
a. adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
b. sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
c. sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11,12
2. metaph. the worship of idols, of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols

Fornicatio (the nominative case of the accusative used in the Scripture verse) means:

Fornication, (unmarried) sex; prostitution/whoredom

Thus, from the plain words of Christ, divorce for the reason of illicit sexual intercourse (of any kind) is permissible.

DIVORCE FOR DESIRE OF UNBELIEVING SPOUSE TO DEPART

1st Corinthians 7:10- 15 states:

“To the married I give charge, not I but the Lord, that the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, let her remain single or else be reconciled to her husband)—and that the husband should not divorce his wife. To the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner desires to separate, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. For God has called us to peace.”

Note the phrase in verse 15:

“But if the unbelieving partner desires to separate, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound.”

Therefore, divorce in the case of the desire of the unbelieving spouse to depart is permissible and the believing spouse is NOT bound.

CONCLUSION

Normally, in order to rightly present themselves to Holy Communion a man and a woman in a second marriage must live as brother and sister as Pope John Paul II describes in section 84 of Familiaris Consortio:

“However, the Church reaffirms her practice, which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist. Besides this, there is another special pastoral reason: if these people were admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and confusion regarding the Church's teaching about the indissolubility of marriage.”

“Reconciliation in the sacrament of Penance which would open the way to the Eucharist, can only be granted to those who, repenting of having broken the sign of the Covenant and of fidelity to Christ, are sincerely ready to undertake a way of life that is no longer in contradiction to the indissolubility of marriage. This means, in practice, that when, for serious reasons, such as for example the children's upbringing, a man and a woman cannot satisfy the obligation to separate, they ‘take on themselves the duty to live in complete continence, that is, by abstinence from the acts proper to married couples.’”

Nevertheless, based on the plain language of Sacred Scripture, one is NOT bound to marriage in two and only two cases:

1. One spouse has engaged in illicit sexual intercourse, OR
2. One spouse, being an unbeliever, desires to separate.

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.

In Defensione Quattuor Cardinalum ab Episcopo Athanasio Schneider

Bishop Athanasius Schneider
Auxiliary of Astana in Kazakhstan

Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,

"Anathema tibi a me dictum, Praevaricator Liberi."

Full Text and Explanatory Notes of Cardinals’ Questions on ‘Amoris Laetitia’

PODCAzT 152: Bishop Athanasius Schneider on the Five Dubia of the Four Cardinals

Podcast Audio File

In Defense of the Four Cardinals by Bishop Athanasius Schneider.


Dic Christi Veritas,
dic cara raritas,
dic rara Caritas,
ubi nunc habitas?
aut in valle Visionis,
aut in throno Pharaonis,
aut in alto cum Nerone,
aut in antro cum Timone,
vel in viscella scirpea
cum Moyse plorante,
vel in domo Romulea
cum bulla fulminate?
Bulla fulminante
sub iudice tonante,
reo appellante,
sententia gravante,
veritas opprimitur,
distrahitur et venditur,
iustitia prostante.
itur et recurritur
ad Curiam, nec ante
quis quid consequitur,
donec exuitur
ultimo quadrante.

Divortium et Matrimonium Iterum

Amici,

There has been a lot of discussion in the Catholic blogosphere about the reception of the Eucharist by those who are divorced and remarried. This post is intended to clarify the issue.

In Matthew 19:1-12 the Pharisees came to ask Jesus about this issue. Jesus clearly stated that Moses allowed divorce and remarriage because of the hardness of people's heart. Additionally, Jesus stated that anyone who divorces and remarries another commits adultery which is a mortal sin.

St. Paul in 1st Corinthians 11:27-32 stated that anyone who eats Jesus' body or drinks His blood unworthily (i.e., in a state of mortal sin) eats and drinks damnation to himself. That means that anyone who is divorced and remarried may NOT receive Holy Communion because he or she is in a state of mortal sin, that of adultery.

Now there are two caveats to this. The first caveat goes as follows. IF a man has remarried after divorce AND does NOT engage in conjugal relations, THEN that man is NOT committing adultery AND after Confession he may receive the Holy Eucharist. But IF he is NOT refraining from conjugal action, THEN he is committing adultery AND under that circumstance it is impermissible for him to receive to the Holy Eucharist.

The second caveat goes as follows. IF a man has divorced and is remarried sacramentally, AND his first marriage is null (i.e., the Church has declared the first marriage is null - this is called annulment), THEN after Confession he may receive the Holy Eucharist even while engaging in conjugal relations with his second wife. This is because there was in effect NO first marriage, AND she to whom he is now married is NOT his SECOND wife BUT really his FIRST wife. That is what a declaration of nullity means.

All of this applies equally to the woman who is divorced and remarried. As St Paul explains in Galatians 3:28, there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, for the same rules apply to everyone without discrimination. God does not show partiality as Romans 2:11 states.

This is very different from what the law of Moses permitted because of the hardness of people's hearts. That Law allowed a man to send his wife away in divorce to fend for herself as best she could in the desert, and never allowed the woman any recourse. Recall that the Law of Moses was given when the Children of Israel were wandering in the desert, and Israel being a very Patriarchal society gave all authority to the man with no rights to the woman. So when Pope Francis accuses those who oppose divorce and remarriage of sitting in Moses' seat and being unmerciful, he is actually supporting what is just the opposite of what merciful Jesus clearly stated. Jesus was demanding that husbands and wives work out their differences and act like responsible adults for the good the children whom they brought into the world. Jesus opposed sending a woman away in divorce to fend for herself, and leaving the children either fatherless or motherless, depending on with whom they would be remaining. Jesus demanded real mercy, and real mercy is while simple a very difficult thing to do.