CatholicVoice Omnia possum in eo, qui me confortat
15 January - 28 January 2021
Issue 308
The Conversion of St Paul
Only 50 Ire land/ NI £2 U K
€/£1.
Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting
The Conversion of St Paul - Nicolas Bernard Lépicié (1735 – 1784)
Keep up to date with CatholicVoice news and articles via The Lumen Fidei Website www.lumenfidei.ie
4 THE GREAT COVID RESET
Catholic Voice
15th January 2021
Covid Is Being Used For A ‘Great Reset’ To Attack ‘Freedom’ And ‘Families’ Cardinal Raymond Burke
‘The worldwide spread of Marxist materialism, which has already brought destruction and death to the lives of so many, and which has threatened the foundations of our nation for decades, now seems to seize the governing power over our nation.’ Editor’s note: Cardinal Burke has delivered a forthright homily, in which he outlined the widespread influence of communism, and the manner in which freedom is under attack through the measures related to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Speaking on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12, at the Shrine church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, His Eminence noted how we have become reliant upon communism and the communist state of China. Below is the full transcription of Cardinal Burke’s homily: Praised be Jesus Christ! We come to Our Lady of Guadalupe on her feast day with troubled and heavy hearts. Our nation is going through a crisis which threatens its very future as free and democratic. The worldwide spread of Marxist materialism, which has already brought destruction and death to the lives of so
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.
many, and which has threatened the foundations of our nation for decades, now seems to seize the governing power over our nation. To attain economic gains, we as a nation have permitted ourselves to become dependent upon the Chinese Communist Party, an ideology totally opposed to the Christian foundations upon which families and our nation, remain safe and prosper. I speak of the United States of America, but evidently many other nations are in the throes of a similar, most alarming crisis. Then there is the mysterious Wuhan virus about whose nature and prevention the mass media daily give us conflicting information. What is clear, however, is that it has been used by certain forces, inimical to families and to the freedom of nations, to advance their evil agenda. These forces tell us that we are now the subjects of the so-called ‘Great Reset,’ the ‘new normal,’ which is dictated to us by their manipulation of citizens and nations through ignorance and fear. Now, we are supposed to find in a disease and its prevention the way to understand and direct our lives, rather than in God and in His plan for our salvation. The response of many bishops and priests, and of many faithful, has manifested a woeful lack of sound catechesis. So many in the Church seem to have no understanding of how Christ continues his saving work in times of plague and of other disasters. What is more, our holy Mother Church, the spotless bride of Christ, in which Christ is ever at work for our eternal
15th January 2021 Catholic Voice
THE GREAT COVID RESET 5
redemption, is beset by reports of moral corruption, especially in matters of the sixth and seventh commandments, which seem to increase by the day. In our own nation, the reports about Theodore McCarrick have rightly tempted many devoted Catholics to question the shepherds, who in accord with Christ’s plan for the Church are to be their secured guides by teaching the truths of the faith, by leading them in the fitting worship of God and in prayer to him, and by guiding them by means of the Church’s perennial discipline. Too often the faithful receive nothing in response, or a response which is not grounded in the unchanging truths regarding faith and morals. They receive responses that seem to come not from shepherds but secular managers. The confusion regarding what the church truly teaches and demands of us in accord with Her teaching, generates ever greater divisions within the Body of Christ. All of this cripples the Church in Her mission of witness to divine truth and divine love, at a time when the world has never needed more, the Church to be a beacon. In encountering the world, the Church falsely wants to accommodate Herself to the world, instead of calling the world to conversion in obedience to the divine law written on every human heart and revealed in fullness in the redemptive, incarnation of God the Son. These grievous troubles of course present a formidable challenge to daily Christian living. The impact of the crisis in the world and in the Church is profound for all of us. Many are enduring the most painful suffering, physical, emotional, and spiritual, which such a situation necessarily causes. At a time when we need to be close to one another in Christian love, worldly forces would isolate us and have us believe that we are alone and dependent upon secular forces which would make us slaves to their godless and murderous agenda. Yes, our hearts are understandably heavy, but Christ, through the intercession of his Virgin Mother, lifts
up our hearts to his own, renewing our trust in him, who has promised us eternal salvation in the Church. He will never be unfaithful to his promises. He will never abandon us. Let us not be beguiled by the forces of the world and by false prophets. Let us not abandon Christ and seek our salvation in places where it never can be found.
of what is close to us, the Lord of heaven, the Lord of earth. I want very much that they build my sacred, little house here, in which I will show Him, I will exalt Him upon making Him manifest, I will give Him to all people in all my personal love - Him that is my compassionate gaze, Him that is my help, Him that is my salvation.’
Let us never forget the words by which Our Lady identified herself at her first apparition to St. Juan Diego: ‘Know, know for sure my dearest and youngest son, that I am truly the ever perfect, holy virgin Mary, who has the honour, to be the mother of the one, true God for whom we all live, the creator of people, the Lord of all around us, and
May the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe here, be always a worthy instrument by which the Immaculate Heart of Mary draws hearts to herself and brings them to the glorious, pierced heart of Jesus, to the only source of healing, and strength in this life, and unto eternal life.
10 SIN IS THE OBSTACLE
Catholic Voice
15th January 2021
Sin: An Obstacle To Our Union With God Canon Francis Altiere I.C.K.S.P.
Here we are not talking about the original sin committed by our first parents Adam and Eve at the dawn of human history, but about actual sin: the sins which we ourselves commit. Sin, as we know, is an offence against God by thought, word, or deed, or by neglecting the duties imposed upon us by God’s holy law. “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Sin, at its most basic level, is precisely a failure to love. Sin is choosing ourselves over God. In sinning, we turn away from our Creator in favour of a lowly creature. We are all sinners and so we all need the sacrament of penance. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (I John 1:8-9). Actual sin is divided into two types: mortal sin and venial sin. To see what the distinction is, let us first consider the nature of our relationship with God. As we have already explained, God created us to know, love and serve him in this life and then to be everlastingly happy with him in heaven. But precisely because we are creatures – limited, imperfect beings – we cannot attain to the perfect union with God for which he has created us by our own powers. For this we need God’s help, and this is grace: a divine help which God gives us to “supernaturalise” us and give us the capacity to attain heaven. Sin is the polar opposite of grace. Mortal sin is precisely mortal because, to use a metaphor, it kills the soul: in other words, it expels from us the indwelling of divine grace. The sinner falls into a state in which he has turned away from God and is powerless to merit heaven. Turning towards some apparent good contrary to God’s law and turning away from God are two sides of the same coin. Mortal sin does not mean that we are intending to offend God; it simply means we are willing to offend God by doing something even though we know it displeases him. Certain actions are intrinsically wrong, even
if the person performing them claims to have a “good reason.” Simply put, by mortal sin we love something else instead of God. For example, the person who chooses not to attend Mass on Sunday morning does not hate God; but he does love extra sleep more than he loves God. The person who is unfaithful to his spouse does not hate God; but he loves his mistress more than he loves the wedding promises he made at God’s altar, and so on. Such sinful “loves” are in fact objectively incompatible with the love of God, regardless of a person’s reasons. From the serious effect of mortal sin – enmity with God and the loss of heaven – it is easy to see that such sin must also have a serious cause. There are three conditions committing a mortal sin:
for
1. It must be a serious or objectively grave sin; 2. We must know that the sin in question is serious; 3. We must deliberately commit the sin in question. When we think of grave sins we think naturally of crimes such as murder or bank robbery, sins which probably we are unlikely to commit. But in fact, grave sin includes any serious violation
of God’s law, including in areas which our lax secular culture is inclined to look at with indulgence: things like missing Sunday Mass, entertaining a deliberate desire for revenge, wilful impure thoughts or actions, blasphemy, denying an article of faith, setting out to ruin another person’s reputation by calumny, and so on. However, where there is ignorance of the seriousness of a sin (unless the person is ignorant of the truth through his own fault) or where the person’s free will is constrained by force or extreme fear, then there is no mortal sin, even though the matter involved might be objectively grave. For example, a person who ate meat on a Friday of Lent without knowing that it was forbidden would not be guilty of mortal sin, whereas a person who knew better would be guilty of a mortal sin of disobedience. A venial sin, on the other hand, does not lead to the loss of the state of grace, though it does chill the love of God in our soul. Venial sin is sin in a less serious matter, or a sin which is made without sufficient knowledge or deliberation. Although no number of venial sins “adds up” to a mortal sin, nonetheless venial sin is still an offence against the infinite majesty of God: venial sin dulls the love of God
15th January 2021
LETTERS 11
Catholic Voice
in our souls and wears down our resistance to mortal sin. If we think of our spiritual life as a sort of journey to heaven (God’s law is the road map), then mortal sin would be like the person who chooses to go down the wrong road; venial sin would be like the person whose automobile gets a flat tyre that needs to be repaired before he can continue. In the one case, the person will never reach his destination unless he first gets back on the right road, no matter how fast his car is travelling; in the second case, the person is delayed on his voyage through an inconvenience along the way but he still stays on the correct road. Although venial sin, unlike mortal sin, does not make us merit eternal damnation, nonetheless venial sin still creates an imbalance in our soul and makes us deserving of purification after death in purgatory or temporal punishments in this life in order to expiate our sins. Venial sin, like every sin, involves a turning towards some created good (or perceived good) rather than towards God; our soul needs to be purified of such attachments in order to be admitted one day into the all-holy presence of God. Having now considered the unfortunate reality of sin, let us turn to the remedy for sin: the sacrament of confession. to be cont’d....
Letters RTE’s NYE Countdown Clip
Send your letters to: Letters Page, Catholic Voice, St Michael’s House, Castlemitchell South, Athy, Co Kildare or email to letters@catholicvoice.ie
Demand Apology From RTE
Dear Editor,
Dear Editor,
I was abhorred at the utterly offensive and blasphemous content of the RTÉ’s NYE countdowns show on Thursday night. It was incredibly insulting and hurtful to people of the Christian faith.
I write to ask your readers to complain in the strongest possible terms to RTE about a sketch on their New Year’s Eve programme, where an actor portrayed God being arrested for rape. The sketch is currently still on the RTE Player.
Insulting Almighty God and His Blessed Mother with content like such as that has absolutely no place on public television, and indeed has no place anywhere on a public or private forum - period.
Shame on anyone that insults our God in such a fashion. It is neither funny nor humorous. RTÉ need to remove this clip immediately from their player. It is sacrilegious and unfit for any public platform day or night. God shall not be mocked.
As a Catholic I was deeply offended, but not surprised by the sketch, given RTE’s absolute hatred of the Catholic faith which is now so prevalent in much of its output. Although I live in the North and don’t pay the RTE licence fee, I can nevertheless boycott it and ask your readers to do likewise. Demand that RTE management issues an apology, removes the offending sketch from the RTE Player, commits to never again use the group of actors and writers responsible, and reprimands the newsreader who performed in the sketch with a public acknowledgement that all this has been done. It is now time for all Christians to get our set together and stand up for our faith.
Aisling Bastible, Dublin.
John Austin, Limavady.
It is a mockery of the Christian faith and for practising Catholics, like myself, it is utterly degrading and contrary to our beliefs. And what’s more there isn’t an ounce of Truth in it.