The Writings of the Saints.

There is a lot of Garbage out there. Feaux-spirituality and new age spiritual propaganda is spreading through-out the world. It is no good and demonic.

What really gets me is that We have a huge history of a Church that has been home to numerous spiritual masters who have left their gifts of spirituality behind in writing for us.

Some good ones are Saint Faustina's "Divine Mercy in my Soul" Saint Francis De Sales "Introduction to the Devout Life" Saint Augustine "Confessions" Saint Ignatius' "Spiritual Exercises" St. Theresa of Avilia's "Interior Castle" are just a few that don't even scratch the surface of Catholic Spiritual writers.

So put down "The Secret" and dive deep into the Saintly writers' spirituality and talk to God.

The new age movement leads people astray. And confuses souls. Just because a book may say "Jesus or Mary" doesn't mean it's from God. New age spirituality perverts the Gospel and dilutes it. Don't be deceived.

Hell

At a funeral, the optimist says something like "He's gone up to be With Jesus Now." We always tend to give the dead the benefit of the doubt. That's why you never hear a person at a funeral say something like "I'll bet he'll fit right in at hell"

Now the Catholic Church doesn't actually tell us which people go to hell, Nor is their any way of determining that. All we know is that the ones that the Church has canonized are truly in heaven, as for those who aren't...we have no clue. It's up to God.

The Catholic Church teaches that Hell Does exist. In fact the Catechism of the Catholic Church says rather bluntly "The Teaching of The Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity" (CCC 1035)

And again, the Church doesn't actually formally teach that there is anyone in hell, but it doesn't say anything contrary either.

It would actually be very imprudent to assume that hell is vacant. In fact, it is probably safe to assume that there are more people in hell than in heaven.

Our Lord tells us "enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few."
(Matthew 7:13-14)

Basically: if hell's gates are wide open, and heaven's gates aren't the easy choice, we can assume that the "Easy Life" isn't the life that leads to the narrow gate.

The Catechism Also tells us that "To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of Definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell." CCC 1033

If unrepented mortal sin will lead us to hell then we had better get rid of all the sin in our life. If you have mortal sin in your life right now...I encourage you to stop reading and pray to God for forgiveness and get to the sacrament of Confession as soon as possible.

but Back to the Optimist. He gives everyone the benefit of the doubt when he should really be neutral on the whole issue...we just don't know. But He makes an interesting point when he says "He's with Jesus now"

Ultimately, we want to be with Jesus in Heaven. But we can be with Jesus Now. Spending time in adoration before the blessed Sacrament is to spend time With Jesus. If we want to be with Jesus in heaven, we should show it by spending time with him on earth.

Remember that Our Lord Came to set us free from Sin. All it takes to avoid hell is to go to confession and attempt to live a pius life, and if we screw up, we go back to confession. The Lord is Kind and Merciful!

The Times Just Need to Get With The Church"

At one point or another, we have all heard the phrase "The Church just needs to get with the times."

Well I'm challenging that sentiment. People want the Catholic Church to change into something it's not.

The Catholic Church is accused of being sexist because it doesn't ordain women. Her Liturgies are considered boring because they don't attempt to entertain people. She is considered hateful for not embracing homosexuality. Once again, she is slandered as being a sexist for not allowing abortion. She is called unrealistic for not allowing contraception. She is a hated institution. But she is the only one that Christ Founded.

The Catholic Church has not changed her teachings on faith and morals which means that if it was a sin 2000 years ago, it's a sin today. She simply can't betray her teachings.

She has defined and understood the teachings of the past a bit more closely, but they haven't changed from one thing to another.

Sure, allowing Contraception may make things easier for some, but when did Jesus Say that things would be easy as possible? He actually said "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Mark 8:34

And sure, that Methodist wedding dance on youtube looked like a lot of fun, but would it be appropriate for the Sacrifice of Calvary, in Which our Blessed Lord Died a brutal and sorrowful death for our redemption and reconciliation with the Father? The Mass does in fact make us present at the Lord's death and resurrection. It's a fascinating teaching of our Church.

I propose something else. I'd like to suggest that maybe these times aren't so great. These times are actually really bad.

The Church should not "Just get with the times". The Times Should Just Get With The Church.

The Blog is Growing

Well, we've finally got a few post going. My posting name is Semper, and Miserere&Nobis are the other posters (they post as a single unit.

We are unabashedly Catholic We love our faith. Here is my (Semper's) offical introduction

I am unabashedly Roman Catholic. Jesus Christ only Founded one Church, The Holy Catholic Church...and I have fallen in love with Him and His Church. He Purchased my soul with his blood and saw me as priceless even when i saw myself as worthless. He continues to bless me today with his holy Spirit(my guide, comfortor, my advocate, my inspiration, and the source of all goodness) , His blessed Mother whom I love very dearly and who prays unceasing before God the Father for her Children, my family, my friends, and the priests who act in his behalf to give me the sacraments.

I often come across as harsh with my beliefs and that gets me into trouble, It's because i am very passionate about what i believe in.

The Catholic Church is the greatest sign that There is a God and that He loves us. It is sufficient for everything we need because the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ who gave everything and constantly gives everything.

If you have Christ in your life you don't Oprah, Muhammad, Buddha or any of those other folks telling you how to live. Christ gives everything. he is everything, and apart from Christ, life is meaningless to me.

Other religions claim to offer Christ, but only a spiritual Christ. Since Jesus Christ Founded the Catholic Church, only there can you receive The whole Christ: Body, Blood, Soul, and divinity in holy communion. But remember you must believe, only then can you receive the graces that Christ gives. The more you believe the more he gives.

I love good wholesome liturgy and the Latin Mass. I despise liturgical abuses and it makes me sick to see them done.

I love the Blessed Virgin Mary, To the demons she is the most terrifying and fearsome enemy, but to us her Children, she is the epitome of a nurturing holy mother, whose arms were considered worthy by God to hold the infant Christ. We her Children have complete access to her love and care. She is my Joy and My love. and i've become dependent on this sweet, holy, perfect woman's prayers, Tutus tuus Maria.

I feel called to be a Catholic priest. I am a junior at a seminary college and i Love it.

I believe in everything that the Church teaches, and i would rewrite the words in the catechism and sign them with my blood if i needed to.
I promise that what the Church teaches is 100% truth.

I wish to share Christ in his fullness with the world. because with-out Christ...life simply sucks. Christ is the Light that endures forever, I'll stay with him and his Bride...The Holy Catholic Church.

I urge everyone who reads this to seriously consider becoming Catholic. If you ever want to talk about ANYTHING contact me on facebook. Your soul is my greatest priority.

God bless you.

A Study of the Stars

What is it that we think of when we hear the word "stars"? Galactic fireballs to whom the geneses of worlds are owing, ancient gods of the heavens, keys to the future and sources of horoscopes, beacons of light and hope to a despairing world, the foremost players of big screen films or television dramas - all of these are legitimate images conjured up by the mere mention of this simple word. But even amidst the mysteries of the universe, the significance of the image last mentioned is perhaps the most perplexing of all.

In a logically thinking world the popularity of these persons whom we dub "stars" would be a matter quite beyond the range of comprehension - the secular celebrities are generally not renowned for their roles as beacons of light to the world, whether through extraordinary talent or intellect, virtue or accomplishment. Indeed, in most cases, the truth is blatantly the opposite! From whence, therefore, could spring their given appellation of "stardom"? Perhaps it is the result of the often glitzy exterior of these persons -the glamor and bling of the shell that conceals the frequent lack of substance beneath, the escape from reality it promises, while shedding a false glow upon the world around it. Or perhaps it is due to a force outside of themselves, in the adoration and adulation of the world. Indeed, are not fame and fortune, physical beauty and power, looked upon as idols and "lights" in the eyes of this world? It would be a sad, sad place in which we live, if the sickly glows cast by these superficialities were to form the only bright spots in a world left vacant and void by its rejection of Christ, the true light.

While painful to acknowledge, it seems that our culture's choice of its "stars" is largely reflective of its plight as a whole. Just as the ancient pagan cultures looked to the sun and stars, the most powerful things they knew, as their gods, so does our world today look longingly "up" from the humdrum of daily existence to give worship to our "stars", those persons bearing within themselves beauty, fame, or fortune, the qualities recognized today as bestowing the greatest power. Moreover, and likewise in conformity with some ancient cultures, a share in this "stardom" is sought through our world's "worship".

But what are the fruits of abject submission to these "stars", or gods of today? Immodesty, promiscuity, failing marriages, obsession with wealth and instant gratification, whether in love or material possessions - a warping not only of our understanding of freedom, but that even of our comprehension of true love and beauty. In the ways we dress, behave, think, in our concepts of beauty, love, and the purpose of life, our culture continues to prostrate itself in obeisance to the gods of today, the "stars" whom those favored qualities adorn. Inevitably, the consequences of this superficial worship have had a negative impact on the hearts and minds of many, not the least of which are our young people. Bent on finding the true love promised for certain behaviors, whether moral or not, in the world of the big screen, and following the too often wretched examples set forth by these our idols, many young people are effectually forfeiting every chance they have of truly acquiring the object of their desires - losing their likelihood of ever in reality capturing that dreamy Disney princess style happy ending. If things go on as they are now, with each new crop of "stars" influencing a generation more at odds with happiness than the last, the future is bleak for our culture as a whole.

It is high time we as a culture cease to live with our heads in the clouds (or, to be even more cliche, in this case, the stars), to get a grasp on reality sufficient to see the error of the licentiousness we have come to call "freedom". Our "stars", indeed, are destroying themselves - we need look no further than the average length and felicity of "celebrity marriages", the problems with drug and alcohol addictions, suicide, and overall misery to be found beneath the bling of the Hollywood exterior, to see evidence of this; and our world is blindly following in its wake, willfully oblivious to the horrors we are getting into. Despite the gloom of this prognosis in general, though, there is still good reason to hope! For the Catholic Christian in our world today, we are well provided with far brighter and more valuable "stars", in the truest sense of the word. Mother Teresa, John Paul II, Padre Pio, St.s Gianna Molla, Faustina, and Maximillian Kolbe - these holy men and women, far more advanced in the true light of Christ than even the worst of our false idols are in the opposing darkness, are truly unobscured beacons of light, or "stars", as it were, of hope in our world; pointing ever with unclouded brightness to the great star of the universe, our God. These holy men and women, an infinitesimally small fraction of the great communion of Saints, are living proof that true life and love may still exist, in undimmed splendor, shining ever more brightly against the darkening perils of the world.

It is, as this title signifies, a study of the stars.

A Prayer for Priests

by Saint Therese of Lisieux

O, Jesus, Eternal Priest,

keep Your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart,

where none may touch them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands,

which daily touch Your Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips,

daily purpled with Your Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unearthly their hearts,

sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.

Let Your holy love surround them and

shield them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit and

may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here, and in heaven their

beautiful and everlasting crown.

Amen.

Preach the Gospel at All Times, If Necessary, Use Blogs.

I just prayed a Hail Mary. This is my first blog and I want it to be a good one. I prayed the "Hail Mary" for inspiration as a writer.

I've been told that I can be pretty insightful at times. If that is true, then it is pretty much the only useful talent that I have.

What type of Catholic would I be if I didn't use my "Talents" for the greater glory of God? Well, I'd be a normal one.

I just can't stand being normal though. I look forward to writing this and eventually getting more readers than I have right now.

Rather than outlining the whole of what the blog will be like, I'll just let my blog speak for itself.

I will add another writer to contribute to it. A writer that has won an award for writing. Therefore, if my blurbs are no good, you have another reason to read this blog.

I will strive to never say anything contrary to what the church teaches. I love the Catholic Church and I would rather die than leave it.