Judgment and Compassion

J.M.J.

The proponents of gay marriage have an odd habit of justifying their position by claiming that we should not judge others. Their position is one of intense moral relativism and selective theology. We as Christians are called to compassion for others, and we are also called to oppose sin. That means we hate the sin but love the sinner. Yes, we must admonish each other (Col. 3.16). Our religious leaders have an even greater duty to give godly admonitions to the people. If something is contrary to the doctrine of the faith, we must speak and we must act, or else we become complicit in the sin. Every single person supporting the administration of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony to same-sex couples is as guilty of that sin as those who participate in it directly. 

To judge the actions of others is not to judge the person directly. The totality of the depths of a person's soul are ultimately known to that person and God alone, and it is God who will judge. Yet the actions of an individual are entirely different. To say we must sit back and say nothing as a person harms his soul through sin because what they are doing might be "right for them" is to adopt moral relativism. It is direct cooperation with sin. To say that a person's sin is their own personal matter is also a falsehood. We are all part of the corporate body of Christ. What is done by one harms the whole, just as a cancerous tumor in one's lungs may affect the entire body. And would a true friend, upon noticing that someone else has an illness, not admonish that person to seek medical attention and not ignore the problem? Why then do so many people insist on remaining silent or even vocally supporting sin in others? 

In all of this, though, compassion must be retained. Never should someone admonish someone else and think inside "Look at me, I am better," for we are all sinners. Rather, we must act in humility and with compassion for the human condition and the spiritual state of others. It is for this reason that our Communion's slogan is "The Church for Everyone." As our Lord embraced all people, even the social outcasts and the sinners, so do we in the Church embrace them. We must do so. Those who share in the priesthood of Christ have even more of an obligation to do so. This does not mean, however, that in showing compassion to others, we can modify the sacred doctrine of the Church. In showing love and support to sinners, never must we ignore the sin, deny it, or rationalize it. As Christians, we must be like the surgeon who feels compassion for his patient, but does not ignore or deny the tumor that he is bound to remove.

The Unfortunate Campaign for Gay Marriage

J.M.J.

The recent vote to ban gay marriage in North Carolina has certainly stirred up much controversy. On one hand we have the liberals who are in favor of gay marriage, and on the other we have Christians who oppose it. There are some in the middle. There are even some calling themselves Christians who believe it is not banned in the Bible and like to spout various Bible verses  about not judging others, taken completely out of context, to back up their position. That any of the several American States have allowed gay marriage is sheer and utter madness. It is an affront to the sanctity of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, a sacrament instituted by Christ. Its valid matter is one man and one woman. To be a valid marriage, the man and woman must be canonically free to marry. That is a valid marriage.

Now, some argue that there are other marriages, such as those done by the justice of the peace. Even atheists marry. This is true. At least, however, when those marriages are between one man and one woman who are free to marry, they possess the valid matter. To allow marriages between two persons of the same sex, however, makes a mockery of the sanctity of marriage just as much as the celebration of a so-called mass with Coke and cookies instead of wine and unleavened bread.

Some claim that this is really about legal rights. If so, then why not allow each person to designate one person, whether a spouse or someone else, to have those legal rights being discussed right now? If this is really about legal rights, then that would solve the problem nicely. Somehow, though, I doubt this would satisfy the gay marriage lobby. Such plans exist already in many localized instances, yet the gay marriage front marches forward. Their real intent appears to be to destroy the sanctity of marriage. 

The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is the exclusive domain of the Holy Church. The government has no business interfering or determining who is free to marry. The government ought to stop usurping this authority of the Church. If it did, then votes like those in North Carolina would not be an issue because they would not be necessary. However, when the government undertakes to legislate morality and the sacraments of the Church, the Church has a right and a duty to oppose it, for the government is using its power to impose a certain societal morality on all of society. The government in this case is slapping the Church in the face. It is offending the very sacrament of marriage and all those people who are in sacramental marriages. 

If the government stayed out of it, and marriages were governed by the Church, the true sovereign in this matter, then there should be no argument over gay marriage. The Church has spoken. The theology is both clear and sound. The doctrine and canon law are set and beyond review by the government. If certain heretical sects wish to indulge in the obscene practice of simulating the sacrament of marriage through "marrying" two persons of the opposite sex, then they would still be free to do so under civil law. In that case, though, it would not be imposed as acceptable or normal on all of society. 

Gay marriage, just like co-habitation and other pseudo-marriages, is an affront to the sanctity and the dignity of the sacrament of marriage. Every time a gay couple "gets married," it is a slap in the face to all those who believe in the sanctity of marriage. There is righteous outrage by the faithful at gay marriage. For the government to normalize gay marriage is sheer madness. For the government to continue to impose its will on marriage, usurping the authority of the Church and individual freedom, is complete insanity.

The Multiplier Effect of Vindictiveness

J.M.J.

Vindictiveness is a harmful trait. Its destructive nature spreads out like ripples on a pond or even sometimes waves on the ocean in a storm. Its causes can be varied. Sometimes it is extreme egotism. Sometimes it is low self esteem. Its specific, underlying cause in all cases, though, is the sin of pride. To illustrate with an example, there once was a vindictive woman who was an extreme bully. She kept others down through intimidation and would brook nothing that she considered a challenge to her perceived authority. She bullied those around her, even those who were largely responsible for her success. Anyone who challenged her, she sought to destroy. There were those who did try to stand up to her, but they all either failed or had to back down, cowering in the corner.

Then there came a man who finally stood up to her, for he would not be subject to her bullying. Not surprisingly, this vindictive woman not only sought to destroy this man, but also his family. She was not content to deal with the problem she had with the one man and felt the need to extend her vicious reach to those closest to him. That is the behavior of an extremely vindictive bully. And, as is also common in such situations, the other victims, the man's family, turned on the man and blamed him for the problems that they were facing at the hands of the bully, rather than blame the bully herself. Such is the vile and destructive nature of an intense bully. There is no love, no compassion, and no feeling inside such a person. Christ is not in the heart of the bully, but rather the heart is empty.

Indeed, the vindictive behavior of an extreme bully reaches out well beyond their principle target. Such a bully will not hesitate to strike out at whatever or whomever can be used to hurt their principle target. Most people react out of fear, which is never a good response. Most people give in, knuckle under, and crawl. This does nothing more than fuel the behavior of the bully, making them increasingly stronger and more confident in their bullying. Rather, bullying must never, ever be tolerated. Like the evil that it is, it must be fought, opposed, and brought to light so that victims may gain their strength back instead of the bullies.

One person, one bully, acting on the sin of pride, may do an immense amount of damage to many people. This is the work of Satan. This is a sin crying out to Heaven to be avenged. Far too many people on this earth right now are being kept down physically, emotionally, and spiritually at the hands of bullies because people give into fear or greed and selfishly make the decision not to stand up to bullies. So, the victim suffers. Those around him suffer. His work suffers. His spiritual life suffers. His family suffers. His emotional health suffers. It is time for people to take back their power from the hands of the bullies. Enough is enough.

Spiritual Duty and the Upcoming Election

J.M.J.

It is now essentially certain who the two principal candidates will be for the November 2012 Presidential Election in the United States. It is all virtually certain that one of those two men will be the next President. Therefore, it is left for good Christian men and women to determine the best candidate in accordance with the Faith. 

This is not a decision that can be left merely to secular principles. One cannot shirk one's Christian duty by claiming that this is not a religious matter, but rather a secular one into which religion should not be interjected. We are intended to put our Faith into action. We must put our Faith into action. We are responsible for taking reasonable actions to fight evil wherever we can. We are responsible for helping to establish the Kingdom of God here on earth. 

The election of the American President is not outside the realm of religion, but rather inextricably intertwined with it. The Presidency is inherently a secular post, as the United States is not a theocracy. Yet, that does not mean that religious principles cannot and should not guide one's choice in the voting booth. People in general have many varied reasons for choosing their candidate. Some of these are quite ludicrous, such as the candidate's physical appearance. Some vote based on their bank book, i.e., for the candidate they think will be most financially beneficial to them. When one boils off all the superficial reasons for voting a particular way, one is left to focus on the essence of the candidates. Which candidate is the best? Which candidate will make the best President? Which candidate is best for the country and for the people? These questions, when the superficial considerations are removed, can only be answered from a standpoint of faith and morals. Once considerations of petty politics, money, power, greed and so forth have been eliminated, there is nothing left but the character of the candidate. 

In this upcoming election, one candidate has proven that he stands for intrinsic evil. His constant opposition to religious freedom and his perpetual attempts to suppress the Church are troubling in the extreme. Under the Obama regime, personal and religious freedoms have deteriorated greatly, while Islamists and others have been given preferential treatment to the detriment of others. Abortion is now considered an absolutely sacred right by his administration. Attempts to control free people have been numerous, such as the Obamacare mandate to purchase health care or face legal penalties. Indeed, Christians are rapidly being placed in the position of having to choose between their conscience and the law. Given another term in office, he would surely make use of it to further his socialist goals, perhaps leading to the destruction of the United States as we know it. 

The alternative candidate, Mitt Romney, is nevertheless a subject of much controversy among Christians and conservatives, largely due to his Mormon religion. His stance on abortion also troubles some, given that it appears he supports it in some cases. The various religious considerations have left many Christians with the choice of voting for Romney or not voting at all. The reason for this is that they do not wish to support a candidate who, while better than Obama, still represents religious positions with which they do not agree. While it is good that they are working to discern the proper choice based on faith and morals, it misses the big picture. It is virtually inevitable that Obama or Romney will win the election. Therefore, the moral choice for a Christian must be the one that minimizes the opportunity for evil to impact the world. Sometimes one must vote for the candidate that is "the lesser of two evils." Now, the alternative to the choice that represents evil may not inherently be evil, and thus is better referred to as the "more perfect candidate." In a case such as we face, this follows from proportionate reason. If we abstain from voting, and we would have voted for the more perfect candidate, then we are supporting the position of the greater evil. An abstention from voting for the more perfect candidate due to that candidate's flaws and position, his embracing of anti-Catholic principles, and so forth, is no different than casting a vote for the candidate that represents intrinsic evil. That is material cooperation with evil. Therefore, proportionate reason must be exercised and a vote must be cast. Not voting when it is within your power to do so is not standing on principle. It is cooperating with the forces of darkness to allow evil to flourish on earth. 

Each person must vote first and foremost according to the faith and morals of Christianity. As people with the gift of free will from God, the choice of candidate to select and indeed whether to vote at all rests entirely with the individual. It is not the Church's place to tell individuals for whom to vote. However, it is the Church's right and duty to provide pastoral advice on the principles of the Faith and their application to the choice of candidate. In this election coming in November, the economy is not the most important factor. The ongoing military conflicts are not the most important consideration. Neither are health care or government scandals. In this election, the most important issue is each person exercising the individual right to cast a vote in opposition of evil. 

Disobedience of Immoral Laws

J.M.J.

The Founding Fathers of the United States knew very well the role of religion and the true source of authority of government. They may not have agreed upon all matters of theology, but there was a consensus that, in this new Republic, the authority of civil government comes from the consent of the governed, and that right of the people comes from God. Today the unbridled contemptuous conceit of the American government is a world apart from its form in the new Republic. The State is being promoted as not just supreme, but supreme in its own right. Christians, especially those promoting the sanctity of life, are called domestic terrorists. Those opposing the policies of the government on religious grounds are called extremists. At the same time, the government seeks to suppress the Church in many diverse ways.

Our Founding Fathers new that laws only have enforceability as just laws if they are under God. Immoral laws have no force. Unjust laws have no force. Not only do we as Christians have a duty to oppose immoral laws, we have a duty and a right to disobey them. If we do not, then we become complicit in the wrong contained in the law. We become responsible for their outcome and effects. We cannot place complying with the law or supporting the law above our duty as Christians.

Sadly the faith of many who claim to be Christian today has been eroded to the point that they are more afraid of the government, the military, and the police than they are of God. Fear of the government leads to cooperation with unjust and immoral laws and policies when instead love of God should lead to actions against oppression and godless tyranny. Only through putting our faith in action can we hope to ensure the freedom of our faith and of all people on earth.

Stop Sitting Around Doing Nothing!

J.M.J.

We're at war, and there is no sense in denying it. In fact, to deny it would be deadly. We're at war for the very survival of our Faith as we know it, for the preservation of morality and decency, and for the survival of our society and culture. All of this has been under attack especially since the 1960s, and it has gotten progressively worse. It's easy to blame the modernists, the radicals, the secularists, or the liberals in the Church and government, but the blame does not stop there. Each and every one of us that has ever sat back and done nothing while our religions, traditions, and culture are eroded and destroyed is equally to blame. All of us who have refused to stand up for justice, for truth, for our Faith, and for our society because of fear of being in the minority, fear of being ridiculed, or fear of negative consequences is also to blame. There are no half measures when it comes to our Faith. One is either all in or all out. There is no half-Catholicism. One is either a Catholic or not. There is no half-Christianity. One is either Christian or one is not. Those who profess to be Christian, but still stand by and do nothing and say nothing while moral decency and our religion is attacked by secularists, modernists, and liberals can hardly call themselves Christian.

Our Faith is one of positive action for the purpose of making the world a better place. It is time for Christians to stop preaching to the choir and instead preach to a public that might not want to hear the message. It is time to stop giving in to fear. It is time to stop sitting around and doing nothing. Rather, it is time for all true Christians to rise up and take a positive stand for moral decency, for our Faith and for society.

The Tug of War of the Liturgy

J.M.J.

This evening we celebrate the Mass of the Lord's Supper, in which our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist. It was during His last meal with the Apostles that the chief of all Sacraments and the highest form of prayer was established and mandated to be done. The Apostles could not have fully comprehended the totality of meaning of this Sacrament. Even today perhaps we do not understand it fully, and that brings up an interesting and important point. The liturgy inherently represents the natural struggle that is the Christian Faith.

As we attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are participating in the true and living Sacrifice that was carried out on Calvary. That sacrifice is the sacrifice that frees us from the bonds of sin. Yet, this is not a passive process. We do not achieve these benefits simply by sitting in the pews and listing to chant, hymns, sermons, and prayers. If we sit passively, we might leave the church with a warm feeling or an emotional high, but it does not represent any progress in true, lasting change or conversion of heart. It does not represent an internal victory of good over evil. In order to achieve these things, we must take up our own cross and join ourselves with the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross being carried out upon the altar. If we do not, then we eat and drink our own damnation when we receive communion. Only by dying to ourselves and dying to the world may we live.

No one said this was easy. It is not. To die to the world and all its many temptations is often an uphill battle. Our fallen nature makes us want to resist our own sacrifice, yet such personal sacrifice is necessary. To conquer death, we must die.

In the liturgy of the mass, we see this struggle played out. We begin with the priest, ministers, servers, and hopefully the faithful as well praying the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. They begin with the antiphon "I will go unto the altar of God." These words proclaim our intent. We seek to go to the altar of God, where the sacrifice leading to salvation will be carried out. This statement exercising our free will is the first step. This is the first element of the struggle. Do we choose to go to God, or do we choose to serve the ways of Satan? That is the choice being made at the very beginning of the mass.

Next, after the introit proper to the day, comes the Kyrie. We ask God's mercy as Peter asked our Lord's mercy for denying him thrice. Without this humble petition, how can we make reparations for our sins? How can we take up our own cross? How can we drink from the cup of salvation? This is the second struggle. To receive salvation, we must petition God for mercy.

The Gloria follows on non-penitential days, in which we proclaim glory to God on high, peace on earth, good will towards men. Here, on joyous occasions, we must choose to acknowledge the source of all goodness and that it is to Him and Him alone that all glory must be given. Glory does not belong to worldly things, to money, to governments, or to commerce, but to God.

Next we hear the Word of God, first from the Old Testament or the Epistles, and then from the Holy Gospel. We hear the Word of God. We now face a choice just as we do outside the liturgy. We may either accept or reject the Word of God. We may either embrace it fully and try to live our lives according to it, or we may make excuses, equivocate, and rationalize how the Bible and the doctrine of the Faith are irrelevant to us as our modernist society suggests. That is the fourth struggle, and certainly one that we face every day in our efforts to live as Christians.

Now, in Sunday masses and certain other masses, we proclaim our faith in the Nicene Creed. And how difficult is it today to proclaim our faith in secular society? For many, it is all too easy to consider their faith a private matter and even deny it in public as Peter denied our Lord. Yet, as we have, like Peter, implored God for mercy, we now boldly proclaim our faith. From there, we are ready to participate in the offering. The offering, though, is not about the money in the plates. It is about the bread and wine that will become the Body and Blood of our Lord. It is also where we offer ourselves alongside our Lord. This is the sixth struggle we face in life. Do we let our Lord carry the cross, or to we pick it up like Simon of Cyrene? Do we join in our Lord's struggle, even unto our own demise like Saint Stephen, or do we ignore our calling?

Next we proceed through the Preface and Sanctus to the Canon of the Mass, where the actual, true, and living Sacrifice takes place. It is here, having made the choice to go unto the altar of God, to implore the mercy of our Lord, to embrace his Holy Word, to proclaim the Faith, and to offer ourselves alongside Christ, that we die to the world and live through Christ. However, we still have a choice at this point. Even after all else we have passed through, we can still back out, stumble, and fall at the last moment. It is not proclamation of our faith in the Creed that saves us, but the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross carried out upon the altar of God that saves us. Even after all the positive choices we have made, it is still possible to fail. The Faith of Christ is a constant struggle that necessarily continues to our last breath on our last day. We see this in the mass, for we must participate in every aspect of the mass in order to receive the totality of its benefits and grace. If we do everything our Lord expects, but then deny him in the end, the rest of what we did is irrelevant. Yet, even if we deny our Lord, he will respond with even greater love and mercy to all those who ask for it and return to the Cross.

There is much to be learned from the Holy Mass about our spiritual journey, and this is no accident. When our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist, it was with a purpose. The mass is at once a giant prayer, a source of instruction, and a saving grace. When we depart from the mass, we ought to remember what we learned and experienced in the mass, and also what the very nature and structure of the mass teaches us about the struggles of our spiritual journey. Taking these things into the world is our armor against the assaults of the devil. Through the mass, let us always embrace the Cross of Christ, take up our own Cross, and follow Him unto the joy of eternal life.