CatholicVoice Omnia possum in eo, qui me confortat
4 December - 17 December 2020
Only 50 Ire land/ NI £2 U K
€/£1.
Issue 305
Appeal To The Irish Bishops From Faithful Catholics In Ireland
Use The Power of the Keys
Open Our Catholic Churches And Allow Us To Worship Almighty God
Open Our Catholic Churches pages 12 - 15
Keep up to date with CatholicVoice news and articles via The Lumen Fidei Website www.lumenfidei.ie
2 EDITORIAL
Catholic Voice
4th December 2020
A HEARTFELT PLEA TO ALL IRISH BISHOPS: FEED US
Anthony Murphy There are many courageous priests in Ireland who continue to ignore the unjust Covid restrictions and offer the faithful in their care the sacraments. They must do so in secret because not only do they face the risk of heavy fines or even imprisonment but also the opposition of their bishop. One of those priests, Fr P J Hughes of Mullahoran in County Cavan, said in a recent interview after gardaí told him and his parishioners that they were breaking the law by celebrating and attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on a Sunday in a Catholic Church: “I never thought in my wildest dreams that this was going to happen in a country where we have freedom to live and freedom to practice our faith. That the government would instruct, or give permission to the Garda Commissioner and the Gardaí, to arrest and prosecute a
CatholicVoice
Editor: Anthony Murphy editor@catholicvoice.ie Telephone: 059 8627268 ROI 00353 59 8627268 Outside ROI Keep up to date with news and articles via The Lumen Fidei website www.lumenfidei.ie
priest and to tell people not to go into Mass. I can’t believe that”
Water presents a danger to the health of the population?
The bishops of Ireland prefer to follow the unjust penal laws of the State rather than follow the Cross. This must stop and so the Lumen Fidei Institute has written to every bishop in Ireland imploring him to restore access to the sacraments.
Minus such proof, why have you replaced a Church sacramental with a government directed man-made hand cleaner?
We hope and pray at least one of them will listen to this plea and we encourage readers to write in similar terms to their local bishop. In this letter we call out the hypocrisy of the Irish bishops in similar terms to what is in John Lacken’s article on pages 12 - 15. We also call out their hypocrisy regarding the banning of Holy Water as follows. “Another example of your hypocrisy is that the Sacramental Holy Water is no longer available at our Churches. The Catholic Church teaches that Holy Water can cure disease, that Holy Water remits venial sin, and that Holy Water is an effective repellent of demons. Hand sanitiser, on the other hand, is completely ineffective in curing disease, does not remit venial sins and has no effect on demons. Yet you have replaced a Sacramental, blessed by God, which is spiritually efficacious, with a man-made liquid designed to kill germs. By your actions you have exalted the temporal needs of the faithful over and above our spiritual needs. In effect you have denied the power of one of the Catholic Church’s most powerful sacramentals to comply with a false government directive. Has the Irish government provided you with proof that the use of Holy
Which do you believe, is more effective in nurturing the spiritual life of the faithful; the sacramental, Holy Water, which can cure disease, remits venial sin and keeps demons at bay, or hand sanitiser which cleans the hands? The Catholic Church teaches us that Holy Water is good for our spiritual lives so in replacing this spiritual aid with a man-made chemical solution, you are endangering the souls of the faithful under your care. Dear Bishop, be careful that the words of Jesus Christ spoken in response to the Pharisees objection that Christ’s disciples did not wash their hands “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.” (Matthew 15:2) are not spoken to you at your particular judgement. Christ’s response to the Pharisees was: “Hypocrites, well hath Isaias prophesied of you, saying: This people honoureth me with their lips: but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:7- 9) The removal of a sacramental from our Catholic Churches and your denial of access to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass clearly shows that you follow ‘the doctrines and commandments of men”. We urge you once again to follow St Peter who refrained from his hypocrisy when challenged by St Paul, and to repent of your hypocrisy and to feed us by allowing us to
4th December 2020 Catholic Voice return to worshipping God at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass without restrictions. Be courageous like the Irish bishops who continued to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the faithful during the penal era in Ireland despite governmentimposed restrictions. Lift high the banner of Jesus Christ and call the Irish faithful back to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so that we can progress further along the road to holiness.” Our bishops need to follow the example of Fr P J Hughes who responded when a Garda Sargent accused him of breaking the law: “I have not broken the law; it is my Divine right to celebrate the Holy Eucharist and to give Jesus to the people as they come because that is why they come to Mass. They receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, they hear His Word,.” Dear Catholic Voice reader, we urge you to write to your bishops pleading with them and insisting, politely but firmly, that they open the Catholic Churches built by our Catholic ancestors, and allow us to worship Almighty God at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass without restrictions as is our God given right and duty. God Bless you,
Anthony Murphy
Could you consider leaving a bequest for CatholicVoice? As a not for profit registered organisation we rely on the generosity of our benefactors for financial and prayerful support. A bequest from you in your Last Will and Testament would help us to continue growing the publication of Catholic Voice and the dissemination of Catholic Truth If you are in a position to leave a bequest, however large or small, you are assured that it will be used to promote and strengthen Catholic teaching.
May God bless you for your generosity.
EDITORIAL 3
6 THE SACRAMENTS
Catholic Voice
4th December 2020
Making The Most Of The Sacraments An Essential Part Of Our Spiritual Life (Part 3) Canon Francis Altiere I.C.K.S.P.
The Seven Sacraments The outward sign of each sacrament represents the grace communicated in that sacrament. For example, water is used for cleansing, and in baptism the water symbolises the washing away of original sin, which is the purpose of this sacrament. But the sacraments are not just nice symbolic rituals or sentimental rites of passage: the sacraments actually cause the grace which they represent. This means that there is an objective value to the sacraments: we can perceive the outward sign with our senses and thus be certain that divine grace has been communicated to our souls when the sacrament is performed. As long as we are well disposed when we receive the sacraments (in other words, when we do not put up an obstacle), we may be certain that we are receiving God’s grace. The sacraments are effective signs of God’s grace; they are not magical tricks. That is why we need to have the proper spiritual dispositions when we receive them, so that they do not become merely an empty gesture.
The proper dispositions for receiving penance and communion will be described later on in considering these sacraments. There are seven sacraments. Why seven? The short answer is: in his infinite wisdom, that is what God decided. But why, we might wonder, did God think it fitting to establish precisely seven sacraments? All of the sacraments give or augment God’s grace in our souls, but each of them gives its own, distinctive grace. That is the reason there are several different sacraments and not just one. The seven sacraments, in our supernatural, spiritual life, correspond to seven basic needs or stages from our natural, human life. Consider the parallels between the human life and the spiritual development of the individual. First of all a person is born (baptism); then a person matures and takes on various adult responsibilities (confirmation). We have need of nourishment to provide strength (the Eucharist). These sacraments concern the normal development of our spiritual life, but we also need sacraments to help us when that life is endangered. We need a remedy when our soul becomes ill through sin (penance), and ultimately we need to be strengthened against the lingering traces of sin, even after they have been forgiven – a sort of “physical therapy” for our soul (extreme unction). But then there are also the “social,” and not only individual, needs addressed by the sacraments. Human society has need of being replenished by new members (matrimony), as well as of figures who can exercise authority for the common good (holy orders). Thus we can see God’s wisdom in establishing the seven sacraments which he has given to us for our spiritual life, a sort of mirror image of our natural life, but on a higher plane. Two of these sacraments are called the “sacraments of the dead” because they may be received by a person who is not in the state of grace, in other words, by a person who is spiritually (not physically!) dead. These two sacraments – baptism and penance – were instituted to give or to restore grace to sinners. The other sacraments are called “sacraments of the living” because they must be received by a person who is already in the state of grace, in other words, a person who is not in the state of serious sin. They presuppose and increase the life of grace. These five sacraments are: confirmation, the Eucharist, anointing of the sick, matrimony and holy orders. To receive a sacrament of the living in the state of sin would be a serious sacrilege. Two of the
4th December 2020
Catholic Voice
sacraments were instituted not only to give grace to the individual receiving the sacrament but for the welfare of the whole Church: matrimony exists to create future citizens of heaven by increasing the membership of the Church through the life-giving union of mothers and fathers, and holy orders exists for the sake of the government of the Church by providing the ministers of the Church hierarchy. Three of these sacraments may be received only once because they leave a permanent mark, called the character, upon the soul. These three sacraments which cannot be repeated are: baptism, confirmation and holy orders. Two other sacraments may, in principle, be received more than once, but only under certain circumstances. These two sacraments which are only received rarely, and generally only once, are: matrimony and the anointing of the sick. A person can only be committed in one valid marriage at a time: the bond of marriage lasts until one of the spouses dies (“till death do us part”). The sacrament of matrimony, therefore, can be received a second time only after the death of one’s spouse. Likewise, extreme unction (anointing of the sick) may be received once during each serious illness or danger of death. If a person receives this sacrament and then recovers, he may receive the sacrament again the next time he falls ill: but he may not receive the sacrament multiple times during the same illness.
THE SACRAMENTS 7
Question : Do you know your Father! Everyone loves to get to really know their Father and that can take a lifetime. But we also have Our wonderful Father in Heaven who created us and is waiting for us when we pass from this life. The question is do we know Him! Have we tried to get to know Him! Of course it is never too late! We can get to know Our Wonderful Father in Heaven Now, if we so wish. Please contact Declan & Carmel 8 Coppingers Court Powerscourt Lawns Waterford X91 TEY0 085-8222430 for details.