Catholic Voice 13th August 2021 Issue 323

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Issue 323

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2 CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH

Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Christ’s Bride Is The Catholic Church did not, He answered: “Can you expect the men of the bridegroom’s company to go fasting, while the bridegroom is still with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot be expected to fast” (Mark 2:19).

Ven. Fulton J. Sheen Marriage is a Symbol of the Nuptials Between Christ & the Church Marriage as a sacrament belongs to an entirely different order than the mere union of man and woman through a civil contract. It basically regards a husband and wife as symbols of another marriage; namely, the nuptials of Christ and His Church.

The analogy of the heavenly nuptials goes back to the Old Testament, where God appears as the Bridegroom, and Israel appears as the bride. When God becomes incarnate in Christ, He called Himself, and was called, the Bridegroom; it is the new Israel, or the Church, which becomes His bride or His spouse. It is often forgotten that our Blessed Lord called Himself a Bridegroom.

When our Lord was asked why the disciples of John fasted, but His own

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John the Baptist called himself “the friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29), or what might be, in modern language, the “best man.”

The title of Bridegroom, which belonged to Christ, was shared by no other, as John himself said: “The bride is for the bridegroom; but the bridegroom’s friend, who stands by and listens to him, rejoices too, rejoices at hearing the bridegroom’s voice” (John 3:29).

On the other hand, the wife’s relationship to the husband is the relationship of the Church to Christ.

That is why when St. Paul speaks of marriage he says, “Those words are a high mystery. . . applying . . . to Christ and His Church” (Eph. 5:32).

The ultimate consummation of this espousal of Christ and His Church will be after the resurrection, when the Church “without spot or wrinkle” will appear “as a bride adorned for her husband” or as the “spouse of the Lamb” (Eph. 5:27; Rev. 21:2, 9; see Rev. 22:17).

Sacrament of Matrimony The Sacrament of Matrimony is not a pious extra added to the mar¬riage contract; it is rather the elevation of a natural marriage contract to the order of grace, in which the husband loves the wife, as Christ loves the Church, and the wife loves the husband as the Church loves Christ. The husband and wife are not just a symbol of the union of Christ and the Church; they enjoy a real participation in that union. As Christ lives in the

Church and the Church in Christ, so the husband lives in the wife and the wife in the husband, and the two are in one flesh.

The role of the priest in the sacrament is to ratify, to witness, and to bestow the Church’s official blessing on those whom she now empowers to furnish new members to Christ’s Mystical Body. This is the one sacra¬ment in which the contracting parties are the ministers of the sacrament to each other. In the words of one to the other and in the giving of the hand to each other, there is the mutual surrender of rights and the ac¬ceptance of duties. But to be a sacrament, a representative of the Church must be there to witness it.

Matrimony, in virtue of the mutual inherence of man and woman, is a little cameo reflecting the greater espousal of Christ and His Body, the Church. The word “body” is used throughout Scripture to signify not only the human body, but also the Eucharistic Body or the Real Presence of Christ, and also the Mystical Body which is the Church.

All three are in some way united.

In the marriage ceremony the bridegroom, though he does not say so expressly, is by implication saying to the bride: “This is my body; this is my blood.” The bride says the same to him. It is a kind of “consecration” on a lower level.

When during the Mass they hear the words of Consecration, “This is

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CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH 3

13th August 2021 Catholic Voice my Body; This is my Blood,” they give themselves to Christ in the same action, they give themselves to one another. The epistle of their marriage Mass reminds them of this bond to the Church: Wives must obey their husbands as they would obey the Lord. The man is the head to which the woman’s body is united, just as Christ is the head of the Church, He, the Saviour, on whom the safety of His body depends; and women must owe obedience at all points to their husbands, as the Church does to Christ. (Eph. 5:22–24) The man is the “head” of the wife, as Christ is the Head of the Church. What did Christ do for the Church as her Head? He died for it. Hence, husbands must show love to their wives. The “headship” is not overlord-ship, but love unto sacrifice. The wife, in her turn, will show to the husband the devotion and love the Church does to Christ.

St. Thomas Aquinas As further evidence of how seriously the Church takes marriage as the symbol of Christ and the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas makes a distinc¬tion between

a marriage that is merely ratified at the altar, and a marriage that is ratified and consummated, when husband and wife become two in one flesh. The Church has always made this distinction in her canon law concerning marriage. A marriage that is merely ratified at the altar, but not consummated, represents the union of Christ with the soul through grace. A marriage ratified at the altar and consummated in the marriage act symbolises the union of Christ and the Church.

The marriage that is ratified only, is a symbol of a personal union of the soul with Christ through grace.

This union can be broken by sin. If, therefore, a husband and wife separated immediately after the marriage at the church door, and never consummated their marriage, that mar¬riage would be breakable under certain conditions, because it is only the symbol of the union of the soul and grace. But the marriage bond of a baptised husband and wife which has been consummated is absolutely unbreakable, as the union of Christ and the Church is unbreakable.

This article is an excerpt from a chapter in Archbishop Sheen’s Book of Sacraments.

Catholic Voice Update Dear Reader, We still continue to be adversely affected by the inconsistent covid restrictions.

Events that would usually be advertised in Catholic Voice are not taking place and some parishes have not yet resumed the sale of Catholic newspapers.

Therefore your continued prayerful and financial support is very important to us.

We are also grateful for your ongoing prayers and the many cards and well wishes that Kim has received since her accident nine months ago. Kim’s lengthy rehabilitation continues and despite a few setbacks she is making good progress and is able to walk short distances. Currently she is experiencing some difficulties with her right leg due to the weakness of her left leg so some additional prayers to help her overcome this further challenge would be very welcome.

Yours in Christ Anthony Murphy

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4 THE BEAUTY OF CREATION

Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Flowers In Holy Scripture Canon J. Heppelle I.C.K.S.P.

From The Garden of Eden in the beginning, to Gethsemane and the garden near Calvary and the Holy Sepulchre where our Lord was crucified and buried, and to the Tree of Life in the heavenly Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, there are gardens at key moments in Sacred Scripture. Surprisingly, the Bible does not tell us what flowers where found in these gardens, yet flowers do appear in other places in Holy Writ. Sometimes flowers are used by the inspired authors to tell us something of the beauty and Providence of the Creator, sometimes to remind us of the transitory nature of our earthly life, and at other times flowers remind us of the promises of fruitfulness God grants to those who follow Him. Flowers are things of beauty, reflecting the beauty of the Creator. Thus, in the Canticles the mystical Solomon compares his beloved bride to the “flower of the field and the lily of the valleys” (Cant 2:1).

Closely related, we see our Lord using the beauty of flowers with which God adorns the fields to teach us to trust in Divine Providence: “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.” (Matthew 6:28,29) As flowers are beautiful, it is not surprising that they should be offered back to God in some way. We often put flowers on or near the altar. In the Old Testament, carvings of flowers adorned the tabernacle, and later the Temple. In Exodus God commands Moses to adorn the Menorah, the seven branched candlestick with graven lilies. (Exodus 25:31) Later Solomon would also engrave lilies on the candlesticks for the Temple of the Lord: (3 Kings 7:49) More often than not, however, the Holy Ghost uses flowers to represent the transitory and passing nature of this life. As flowers bloom for a short time and then wilt

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and fade, so also will all earthly things pass away. When Job complains that human life is short and miserable he says: “Man…Who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed” (14:2). This thought is repeated in Psalm 102:15: “Man’s days are as grass, as the flower of the field so shall he flourish. For the spirit [wind] shall pass in him, and he shall not be: and he shall know his place no more.” St James picks up the same idea in his epistle when he says that the rich and proud man “as the flower of the grass shall he pass away.” (James 1:11) St Peter repeats the same thought in his first epistle: “For all flesh is as grass; and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass is withered, and the flower thereof is fallen away.” (1 Peter1:24) This is especially more striking in the holy land where the desert flowers bloom for a few short weeks while the rest of the year is much duller.

As flowers are the first steps in plants producing fruit, they are sometimes used to indicate the spiritual blessings and fruits promised to those who follow God. In the book of Ecclesiasticus, Divine Wisdom says: “As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour: and my

13th August 2021 Catholic Voice

THE BEAUTY OF CREATION 5

Almond Trees in Bloom flowers are the fruit of honour and riches.” (Eccl 24:23) Sometimes, we must suffer first, but the Lord does look after his own. Isaiah prophesying the deliverance of Israel: “Israel shall blossom and bud, and they shall fill the face of the world with seed.” (Isaiah 27:6) and again: “The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily. It shall bud forth and blossom” (Is 35:1-2).

If God promises to reward those who seek Him, he also wants us to be fruitful in prayer and good works. Thus in Ecclesiasticus, for example, the wise man exhorts the people of God to “Send forth flowers, as the lily, and yield a smell, and bring forth leaves in grace, and praise with canticles, and bless the Lord in his works.” (Eccl 39:19).

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One of the most interesting stories of flowers in the Bible though, is Aaron’s staff. During the forty years in the desert, a group of Israelites led by Core rebelled A bequest from you in your Last Will and against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. The earth Testament would help us to continue growing opened up under the rebels feet and they went down the publication of Catholic Voice and the alive into hell. (Numbers 16:30-34) Then, to put beyond dissemination of Catholic Truth the shadow of a doubt whom He had chosen as His High Priest, the Lord told Moses to have the chiefs of If you are in a position to leave a bequest, each tribe of Israel bring their staffs to the Tabernacle of the Lord. Overnight Aaron’s dead staff miraculously however large or small, you are assured that it will be used to promote and strengthen budded, blossomed and started producing fruit. In the Catholic teaching. morning they “found that the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, was budded: and that the buds swelling it had bloomed blossoms, which spreading the leaves, were May God bless you for your generosity. formed into almonds.” (Numbers 17:8)

CROWN OF THORNS

Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Love Amidst The Thorns Christina M. Sorrentino

“Do not grieve over the temptations you suffer. When the Lord intends to bestow a particular virtue on us, He often permits us first to be tempted by the opposite vice.

Therefore, look upon every temptation as an invitation to grow in a particular virtue and a promise by God that you will be successful, if only you stand fast.” (St. Philip Neri) The evil deceit and lies of the devil have even tempted the Saints. We are not alone in this daily spiritual battle that takes place within the hearts, minds, and souls of all of God’s children. Satan works day and night in a neverending effort to destroy vocations. He seeks out those who have the desire to give themselves to Christ by living their lives carrying out His mission in the world.

“Following one’s vocation means waging a continuous battle because the devil will make every effort to ruin vocations. Thus, the Rosary is a great means of victory.”

(Blessed James Alberione) There is story about St. Benedict of Nursia, where he was visited by Satan disguised as a black bird. After the creature appeared before him the mind of St. Benedict swirled and spiralled becoming filled with lustful thoughts about a woman from his past. This was an attempt from the evil one to lure St. Benedict away from his committed life of

celibacy. He was able to escape this ferocious tempest of thoughts in his head by throwing himself into a thorn bush; where the thorns tore into his skin, but prevented him from committing a sin of the flesh. It was God who was able to protect St. Benedict from losing his vocation because the Lord was the centre of the Saint’s life; he always kept the face of Christ before him.

There may not always be a physical thorn bush to throw ourselves into whenever the Devil tempts us with his lies and deceit; but if we keep the Lord always before us as the centre of our lives we will find Christ amidst the thorns; the dreadful moments of life. We may experience incredible suffering by the hands of the evil one, leaving us bruised, bloody, and broken, but our wounds can be transformed by Christ if we let Him. We can fight Satan with love by allowing Jesus to reign as the King of our hearts. We can use our suffering as an offering of freewill to our Father in Heaven by becoming true slaves of Christ, where we receive a freedom that breaks the chains of the bondage of sin. If the Sacred Heart of Jesus beats at the centre of our lives; the life of every Christian man and woman, then the truth will set us free.

When we accept the invitation of Christ’s Divine Love in the Eucharist we allow ourselves to prepare our hearts for the spiritual battle. The Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ provides us with the spiritual nourishment necessary to arm ourselves against the attacks by the Devil. When we receive the Bread from Heaven we are gifted with the Lord’s abiding grace, which gives us the strength and perseverance to resist temptation, and always place our trust in Him. “Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother.” (St. Padre Pio) Our weapon to fight against the assailant is the Rosary. It is our Blessed Mother who causes the devil to flee as we adorn ourselves with a garland of roses. She is Our Lady of Victory, who triumphs over the wickedness and snares of the devil by her Immaculate Heart. We unite ourselves with the Passion of Christ as Our Lady brings us to her Son. The Rosary is a gift of grace in our spiritual battle against the evil one, and it is by loving the Madonna, the Mother of God, that we fall more and more in love with Christ, Who is infinite Love.

It is love that conquers the Devil because it was the Love of Christ for all of us that led Him to offer Himself willingly as a sacrifice to save the entire world from our sins. And it is the Love of Christ that dwells within our hearts when we accept and receive Him in the Eucharist.

We will always find God amidst the thorns because wherever there is the temptation to sin, the flame of His Love in glorious splendour burns brightly within us.

13th August 2021 Catholic Voice

THE FOOT OF THE CROSS 7

Bear The Cross For Christ A Priest’s Powerful Reminder For Catholics In Mourning Fr. Bill Peckman

I believe everyone has that one thing they mourn, understanding what they have longed for in this life, they will never ever have.

I am not talking about stupid material things. Perhaps it is a particular relationship, or approval for your labours, or freedom from drama, or things of more substance.

People will try to help with platitudes or reminders, but it just kind of digs that cross into your shoulders all the more.

I am working through something like that now.

I find the only useful place is at the foot of the Cross and laying what I am mourning there lest the mourning leads to resentment or rebellion. Where do you take your mourning?

There is a lot of mourning out there right now.

lot of hateful things being said coming from a place of justified hurt.

That said, should not our dealing with such things begin at the foot of the Cross? Why not begin with asking Christ help us to bear our crosses as He bore His Cross?

If I or you must bear a cross, why not bear with the strength, love, and courage with which He bore His? Our rage, resentment, and fury only serve to make our crosses heavier and press crosses upon other people’s shoulders.

We don’t get to fashion a cross to our preferences and desires. We don’t get to choose where that cross comes from. Jesus didn’t…why do we think we should.

Crosses are a way of execution. Our crosses are God’s way of saying our dependence on the wisdom of this world, on getting our own way, and comfort seeking must die so that we depend upon Him. We join the pain of our Cross to that of Christ on the Cross.

For some it is matters within the Church, for some it is matters in our society. I see a lot of that mourning To do that means we must learn to bear those crosses turning into resentment and calls for rebellion. I see a as Christ did.

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8 DEFEATING LGBT PROPAGANDA

Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Hungary’s New LGBT Anti-Propaganda Law Assessed Rick Urban

The recent passing of a law prohibiting what is termed propagandising children on matters relating to same-sex activities and transgender issues in Hungary caused fury at a recent meeting of EU heads of state in Brussels.

Irish Taoisheach Michéal Martin described the law as not being compatible with European Values.

The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, reportedly asked Orban why he wanted to remain part of the EU and suggested that Hungary should leave the union.

decriminalised there in 1961. The age of consent for same-sex sexual activity was changed in 2002 to make it the same as for opposite sex sexual activity, which is 14.

LBGT activists decribed the law as homophobic. An Irish Times editorial described the law as ‘hateful’, stating that a ‘red line had been crossed’ and called for action to be taken against Hungary by the EU.

Laws were introduced in 2004 making it illegal to discriminate when it comes to employment and the provision of goods and services; additionally, as well as outlawing direct discrimination, all indirect discrimination was made illegal, and anti-hate speech laws introduced. A ban on same-sex “marriage” was added to the constitution in 2012; however, it should be noted that same-sex “marriages” performed elsewhere are recognised, with the cohabitation of same-sex couples being recognised since 1996, and a provision for registered partnerships coming into effect in 2009.

Given the above, one might be forgiven for thinking that Hungary is a literal ‘hell on earth’ for those who identify as LBGT and that this new law is but the latest in a long line of oppressions meted out to those who so identify by the government and people of this country. It therefore seems appropriate to examine what is the legal standing of such people in Hungary, what precisely was enacted by way of this new law, and basis, if any, has the Hungarian government for enacting such a law.

The constitution also prohibits same-sex adoptions, whether by a single person, jointly by a samesex couple, or the same-sex partner of a mother or father adopting the biological child of their partner.

Men and women who identify as same-sex attracted or bisexual may serve in the Hungarian military; those who identify as trans-sexual may not. Hungarian law, as of 2020, prohibits a person who is a biological male or female to legally identify as the opposite sex.

The following information concerning the legal standing in Hungary of those who identify as LBGT is easily sourced online for those who care to do even the most minor amount of research.

Same-sex sexual activity was

Lesbian couples may not avail of IVF (even though unmarried women may). There is no provision for gay men to have children by way of commercial surrogacy; however, procuring children by this method is prohibited for all Hungarians, irrespective of sexual orientation. And, finally, men who have sex with men are permitted to donate blood.

Whether the above seems indicative of a society hostile to those who identify as LBGT depends, of course, very much where one stands on the spectrum of opinion on this issue. LBGT activists, for example, regard the person who is in favour of same-sex civil partnerships but does not support same-sex “marriage” as a bigot. However, looked at objectively, it seems reasonable to state that while the laws in Hungary regarding this matter are less liberal in some aspects to most Western countries, the above would

indicate that those who wish to engage in same-sex activities have strong legal protections from being discriminated against. This seems to be born out by a survey carried out by an organisation called Planet Romeo in 2015 of men who have sex with men. The survey asked them to give their opinion of whether the countries in which they lived were good places for them to live in. Hungary 49th out of the 120 countries considered. So while it is not at the top of the list for those who consider themselves to be LBGT, neither is it the worst place in the world either in their own estimation.

Looking at the new law As an aside to the reaction noted above from politicians, it seems unlikely that any of them can have read the text itself, as there appears to be no official translation of it online into other European languages. Also, the legislation itself is relatively complex, with most of the seventeen pages of published text in Hungarian going into detail as to how the new legislation amends, updates, or supersedes previously enacted legislation. A serious and detailed examination of this new law would require a careful analysis by a legal scholar well versed in Hungarian law, something which does not seem to be available, and most certainly is not referenced by any of the media articles discussing this newly enacted law, nor is it referenced by any of the politicians who have spoken out against it.

One must assume, therefore, that the media is basing its commentary on the basis of press releases and statements made by groups opposed to the law (the majority of whom, it would seem from the quotations included in media reports, are LBGT activists); and that politicians’ views are based on the reports they have read in the media.

Looking to the law itself (using this writer’s own unofficial translation), the law declares it’s stated purpose to be ‘to ensure the purposes and rights of the child contained in this Act, it is prohibited that persons under the age of eighteen have made available to them material that is pornographic in nature or other material that has as its purpose

13th August 2021 Catholic Voice DEFEATING LGBT PROPAGANDA 9 the promotion of sexuality as a end in itself, promotes homosexual behaviour or encourages children to assume an identity that deviates from that of their birth’.

This goal is to be achieved in a number of ways. The first is that the state’s media council is to ensure that available content is rated in accordance with the above, to make sure material not suitable for children is not available to them, and only broadcast at suitable times.

Advertising is similarly restricted.

School sex education programmes cannot promote homosexual behaviour or the idea that one can change one’s sex. Additionally, organisations registered with the state can be involved in school sex education programmes; those promoting an agenda in favour of homosexual behaviour or transsexualism are prohibited from school programmes.

Is there any basis for enacting such a law?

One of the charges made against it by opponents of this law is that it equates homosexuality with paedophilia. A careful reading of the law itself finds no basis for such an accusation. There are parts of the law which specify that those with criminal records are prohibited from working with children; however, while this would include sex offenders, it does not target them exclusively.

Additionally, it would be difficult to understand why anyone would find a law that prevents criminal offenders having access to children objectionable. Such laws are common in other jurisdictions, such as in Ireland for example; and given that homosexual behaviour is not unlawful in Hungary, the argument that this law in some way tries to suggest that homosexual behaviour is linked to paedophilia seems without foundation.

However, it is to be noted that the term ‘paedophilia’ is commonly misused, as by definition it means those who are sexually attracted to prepubescent children, whereas it is generally used to describe a person who has been sexually active with someone who is below the age of consent, even when that person is sexually mature. The sexual interest in those who are in mid to late adolescence, which can range from as young as 13 or 14 to late teens or even early twenties,

The Hungarian Parliament Buildings - Budapesyt

is termed ephebophilia; and the ancient practice of pederasty shows that it has historical links with men who are same-sex attracted. It is difficult to find studies confirming how common the practice is among SSA adult males today; however, given that many men identify as same-sex attracted often admit to having had their first sexual experiences while in their mid to late teens with an older man, there seems to anecdotal evidence to support the idea that ephebophilia is not uncommon. Given that the age of consent in Hungary is fourteen, it does not seem unreasonable to make it more difficult for older men to take advantage of teenage boys who may be at a vulnerable point in their lives.

widespread concern of late at what many commentators are calling an explosion among young people, particularly girls, in identifying as the opposite of their biological sex. The trend worries even those who are generally supportive of transsexualism. Some explain this rise in gender dysphoria (the medical term for when a person believes their biological sex does not match the sex they believe themselves to be) as being driven by what they describe as social contagion, with one of the vectors being the instant affirmation and approval that comes with so identifying, and another being the positive media presentation given to transgenderism. In essence, it is fashionable and it brings popularity.

Further, despite claims that there is some inherent biological basis for same-sex attraction, there is no scientific evidence for such claims. Studies on identical twins, for example, show that there is very little likelihood of both being same-sex attracted; this makes the life experiences of an individual far more likely to be a factor in influencing a person down this path. Given that men who have sex with men have considerably reduced life expectancy than the general population, anything that may help prevent teenage boys from experimenting with such sexual practices would seem highly desirable for any person having these children’s best interests at heart.

Whatever the cause, it seems reasonable to suggest that reducing the flow of information around this topic may be of benefit to teenagers who are at risk of making irreversible decisions based on what may turn out to be a passing phase.

Concerning transsexualism, it is to be noted that there has been

Conclusion The essence of this law is to make it difficult to encourage children to experiment with same sex sexual activity or to encourage them to actively consider rejecting their biological sex. Given that such activities can be detrimental to a child’s well-being, this law seems aimed at protecting children, rather than discriminating against those who identify as LGBT. This would suggest that claims that the law is in some way ‘homophobic’ are without foundation.

10 BE A GOOD CATHOLIC

Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Be Catholic To Save The World By Grace!

Some Words Of Encouragement From The Early Church Msgr. Charles Pope

There are some who would have the Church step back to avoid persecution or giving offence. Perhaps there are assets like buildings and land to protect. And maybe some rapprochement with the world will attract more members. Or so the thinking goes.

But a study of earlier periods of persecution reveals a different plan for the way forward: confidence, courage, boldness, and love — even for our enemies.

Let’s look at some texts.

St. John Chrysostom knew all about exile and persecution. At a difficult time for him and his flock, he preached from the following text of St. Paul’s: For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1:18-25).

Of this passage, St. John Chrysostom said, How the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and his weakness stronger than men! In what way is it stronger?

It made its way throughout the world and overcame all men; countless men sought to eradicate the very name of the Crucified, but that name flourished and grew ever mightier. Its enemies lost out and perished; the living who waged a war on a dead man proved helpless.

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“But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,” (1 Corinthians 1:23)

Christ on the Cross - Léon Bonnat (1833 – 1922)

Therefore, when a Greek tells me I am dead, he shows only that he is foolish indeed, for I, whom he thinks a fool, turn out to be wiser than those reputed wise.

So too, in calling me weak, he but shows that he is weaker still. For the good deeds which tax-collectors and fishermen were able to accomplish by God’s grace, the philosophers, the rulers, the countless multitudes cannot even imagine (from a homily by St. John Chrysostom, bishop, on the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (Hom. 4, 3. 4: PG 61, 34-36)).

Such words ought to encourage us as well, for many today gleefully report the decline of faith and of the influence of the Church. 2000 years of history bears witness to the fact that those forecasting the doom of the Church will be long gone, and the Church will still be preaching the gospel.

13th August 2021 Catholic Voice Indeed, to paraphrase G.K. Chesterton, the Church has read the funeral rights over everyone who has predicated her demise. Where is Nero? Where is Domitian? Where is Napoleon? Where is Mao? Where is the Soviet Socialist Republic?

Indeed, the largest statue of Christ in the world is reportedly being built in Russia right now. Where are so many heresiarchs? What happened to the erroneous philosophies and destructive trends that have been proposed? These things have come and gone; empires and nations have risen and fallen. But the Church is still here. Often persecuted, sometimes growing and sometimes struggling, but here, still here, always here. Twelve fishermen and other commoners with Jesus have established a stronghold in the world.

Scripture says, Some trust in Chariots or Horses, But we in the name of the Lord.

They will collapse and fall, But we shall hold and stand firm (Psalm 20:8).

But of course this will happen only to the extent that, by God’s grace, we DO hold and stand firm. It will not happen by adopting the world’s ways or fearfully caving in to its demands.

There is a powerful description in Scripture of the time when Peter and John were arrested for causing a commotion in the Temple area (by healing the lame beggar and proclaiming Jesus at the Beautiful Gate).

Now when [the Jewish leaders] saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognised that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).

BE A GOOD CATHOLIC 11

St Peter & St John Blessing the People - Vasari (1511 - 1574)

Note that the Jewish leaders recognised that “they had been with Jesus.” Would anyone recognise this about you, or your parish, or your fellow parishioners, or even us clergy? This is our main goal in times like these: that others recognise that we have been with Jesus! In times like these, the Church must be the Church.

And notice this prayer in the Acts of the Apostles, of the early Church under persecution. It takes place just after the arrest of Peter and John, after they had been warned not to mention Jesus again.

“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:29-31).

In her work on Acts, Dr. Mary Healy notes that they do not pray

for safety or for their enemies to be vanquished; they pray to be able to continue to speak with boldness, to bring healing, and to announce Jesus and draw others to Him. And this should be our prayer: Lord, keep us strong. Keep us bold and filled with love for our enemies and for all those who are troubled and in need of healing. Never allow us to hide or to be concerned for our own safety, but rather concerned only that your glorious and Holy Name bring healing and grace, conviction for our sins, repentance, and therefore mercy. Help us, Lord, to stay faithful, courageous, and bold no matter the threats, the hardships, the persecution, and even the ruthless attempts at suppression. May no one who looks at us conclude anything less than that we “have been with Jesus.”

Courage and holy boldness, fellow Catholics! The only way we will change the world (by grace) is to be Catholic through and through.

The world does not know it, but Christ and His Body, the Church, are the only hope. Be authentically Catholic, and by that grace, save the world!

12 HOLD FAST TO TRADITION

CATHOLIC VOICE

13th August 2021

Therefore, Brethren, Stand Fast; And Hold The Traditions Which You Have Learned, Whether By Word, Or By Our Epistle.

John Lacken 2 Thessalonians 2:14 I am faced with a difficult task today for I wish to reflect upon the latest Apostolic Letter issued ‘Motu Proprio’ by the Supreme Pontiff Francis, which was published on July 16th, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This ‘Motu Proprio’ has understandably caused quite a stir within the Catholic Church.

Since I began writing for Catholic Voice in December 2013, I have never once criticised Pope Francis in my writings and I do not intend to do so here. I want to look at some of what is contained in the ‘Motu Proprio’ and to make some observations without passing judgement on the author. Just as it is very important that we pray continuously for our bishops, it is also imperative that we pray earnestly for Pope Francis. So, let us pray an Ave for Pope Francis, and for our Irish bishops.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

The title of the ‘Motu Proprio’ is ‘Traditionis Custodes’ or ‘Guardians of Tradition’. One might think that a document with this title would seek to promote and defend the Traditional Catholic Mass, however the opposite seems to be the case.

In dealing with any situations that arise in life one must be clear about the exact nature of the problems one wishes to address and one must also clearly identify the causes of those problems. A mistake in either analysis could lead to a worsening of the problems rather than making the particular situation better.

‘Traditionis Custodes’ points out the following.

“Dear brothers in the Episcopate, ‘Sacrosanctum Concilium’ explained

that the Church, the “sacrament of unity,” is such because it is “the holy People gathered and governed under the authority of the Bishops”.”

I would like to examine this point of unity by looking at how life was for Catholics in the year 1960.

In 1960, an international Catholic government diplomat, with a Latin-English missal, could attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass anywhere in the world and he would be able to follow the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If he was in Germany or France, in Italy or Spain, in Africa, Asia or a country in Eastern Europe, he would have the same readings and the exact same experience at Holy Mass.

If the Catholic diplomat had a young son who was trained to serve the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, this boy could also serve the Holy Mass anywhere in the world. Whether he was in Germany or France, in Italy or Spain, in Africa, Asia or a country in Eastern Europe, he could serve the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because the celebration was

universal throughout the Roman Catholic Church.

This was possible regardless of whether or not the father and son were fluent in the vernacular languages of the places in the world that they attended the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because the Latin language used, created unity in how the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was celebrated.

Similarly, a Catholic priest, in 1960, could celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the local congregation in any part of the Catholic world and in each of these places the congregation would be able to actively participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, because the visiting priest would be celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass exactly as their local priest would have celebrated it.

If the visiting priest did not speak the local language, he could be assisted by another priest or deacon who could preach the homily if necessary.

Back in 1960, when the time came for Holy Communion, whether it be in Germany or France, in Italy or

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HOLD FAST TO TRADITION 13

Spain, in Africa, or Asia or in any other country in the world, all of the faithful would receive Holy Communion kneeling at altar rails covered with an altar cloth, and they would receive Holy Communion only from a priest and only on the tongue.

What these examples demonstrate is that there was unity, right across the whole world, in how the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was celebrated in the Catholic Church.

Were there bad priests, mediocre priests, holy priests and saintly priests back in 1960? Or course there were, just as the same exists in our day. Perhaps some priests celebrated the Traditional Mass in a disrespectful manner, nonetheless, one could follow the Mass regardless of where one was in the world.

Let us now move forward to the year 1980. Now our Catholic diplomat would not be able to follow the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass when in a foreign country unless he was conversant with the language of that country.

His son, the altar boy, would only be able to serve the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with great difficulty, because of the different norms and customs that developed across the world. He would not be able to serve Holy Mass at all if he was not fluent in the language of the country where his father was stationed.

A Catholic priest, visiting a foreign country where he was not fluent in the local language, would not be able to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the people in that country. He could concelebrate with a local priest, but the language barrier would still exist.

When the time came for Holy Communion, some would My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee. I beg pardon of Thee for all those that do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee. Amen.

Angel to the Children of Fatima 1916

stand, some would receive Holy Communion on the hand, some would receive on the tongue, many would be prevented from kneeling to receive Holy Communion. The unity that existed in 1960 with regard to the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the distribution of Holy Communion which had been maintained for centuries, no longer existed in 1980.

In the space of twenty short years, what was once a universal practice had almost ceased to exist.

It is obvious to see, that the Novus Ordo of Pope Paul VI, actually fostered disunity in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass across the world, where once there was unity.

This is not to criticise the validity of the Novus Order Mass or to criticise the motivations of those who introduced it, rather, it is simply to point out the fact that disunity had been introduced into the Liturgy where before there was unity in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

To accuse those who are attached to the Traditional Catholic Mass as being the ones who have created disunity, is clearly not in accord with the observable facts in this matter.

Again this is not meant to disparage the Second Vatican Council, which was a validly called council of the

Catholic Church, but simply to point out the truth of the matter.

Once there was unity in how the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was celebrated throughout the whole world, after the new Mass was introduced, there was disunity in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass across the world.

It is interesting to observe that this disunity in how the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was celebrated, came about just as the costs of international travel became more affordable to ordinary citizens and more people could afford to travel outside of their own countries.

I have personally attended the Novus Ordo Mass in both France and Spain where I had difficulty following the Mass because I speak neither French nor Spanish. I have attended the Traditional Catholic Mass in both Italy and France where no such difficulty arose because the Holy Sacrifice was celebrated exactly as if I had been at the Traditional Catholic Mass in Ireland.

Pope Benedict XVI, in the letter which accompanied his own ‘Motu Propio’ , ‘Summorum Pontificum’. of 2007, also noted the disunity that came about after the introduction of the Novus Ordo’ “Many people who clearly accepted the binding character of the Second

14 HOLD FAST TO TRADITION

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13th August 2021

Vatican Council, and were faithful to the Pope and the Bishops, nonetheless also desired to recover the form of the sacred liturgy that was dear to them. This occurred above all because in many places celebrations were not faithful to the prescriptions of the new Missal, but the latter actually was understood as authorizing or even requiring creativity, which frequently led to deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear. I am speaking from experience, since I too lived through that period with all its hopes and its confusion. And I have seen how arbitrary deformations of the liturgy caused deep pain to individuals totally rooted in the faith of the Church.” (Summorum Pontificum) It amazes me, that the greater number of liturgical abuses which occur within the celebration of the Novus Ordo Mass, go largely unchallenged. We have on many occasions pointed out the clear liturgical abuses that happen regularly at the annual Novena in Knock Shrine, but the Archbishop of Tuam. Archbishop Michael Neary, has never done anything to correct these abuses and has on occasion participated in the abuses.

The Catholics I know who attend the Traditional Catholic Mass, do so in order to worship God in a way that they find reverent and spiritually satisfying.

I do not deny that there are some who are attached to the Traditional Catholic Mass who have problems with the widespread liturgical abuses that have happened after the Second Vatican Council. These abuses were never sanctioned by the Second Vatican Council, but they were not brought under control either, and they continue in a widespread manner to this very day.

Liturgical abuses are first and foremost offences against Almighty God. The purpose for which the Sacred Liturgy exists is to give to God the worship that is His due.

One clearly senses this attitude of worship and reverence at the

Traditional Catholic Mass but, speaking from personal experience, it is often missing from the celebration of the Novus Ordo Mass here in Ireland.

There are other problems with the latest ‘Motu Proprio’ which concern erroneous statements.

Article 1 states: “The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.”

Cardinal Burke has pointed out that “In Article 1, the important Italian adjective, “unica”, is translated into English as “unique”, instead of “only.”

This statement, that the Novus Ordo is the ‘only’ expression of the lex orandi, is factually incorrect. The Traditional Catholic Mass is also an age old expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite. Every time the Traditional Catholic Mass is celebrated, it clearly manifests the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.

The lex orandi of the Roman Rite is not, and cannot be, unique to the liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II and no declaration to that effect can change this truth.

It is deeply worrisome when an official document released from the Vatican contains factual errors. Such errors are also a cause of division within the Catholic Church because different people will interpret them in different ways on account of the imprecise language used.

Pope Francis, quoting Pope Benedict XVI, says that he too deplores the fact that “in many places the prescriptions of the new Missal are not observed in celebration, but indeed come to be interpreted as an authorization for or even a requirement of creativity, which leads to almost unbearable distortions”.

However, nothing concrete is done to correct the far greater number of abuses that occur with the Novus Ordo celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

In ‘Traditionis Custodes’ Pope Francis also says “But I am nonetheless saddened that the instrumental use of Missale Romanum of 1962 is often characterized by a rejection not only of the liturgical reform, but of the Vatican Council II itself, claiming, with unfounded and unsustainable assertions, that it betrayed the Tradition and the “true Church”.

This claim is made without providing any proof. Are there some Catholics who attend the

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Catholic Voice

Traditional Catholic Mass who reject the Second Vatican Council?

I am sure that there are. But most Catholics I know, whether they attend the Traditional Catholic Mass or the Novus Order Mass, have never read or studied the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

To punish all those who attend the Traditional Catholic Mass because there are some ‘traditional Catholics’ who reject the Second Vatican Council and the Liturgical reform, is quite simply, a grave injustice.

Anecdotal evidence suggests, that there are far more Catholics who attend the Novus Ordo Mass who reject certain dogmatic teachings of the Catholic Church then amongst those who attend the Traditional Catholic Mass.

A simple example is Catholic Church teaching on contraception. The rate of acceptance of this dogmatic and infallible Catholic Church teaching is far higher amongst the Tradition

Catholic Mass attending Catholic community than it is amongst the Novus Ordo attending Catholic community.

One can see from this document that it fails to tackle the causes of disunity within the Catholic Church, which disunity stems primarily from a rejection of certain dogmatic Catholic Church teachings. This document will not therefore help to heal the division within the Catholic Church, it will actually widen the divisions and increase the disunity, because Catholics who strive to be faithful to Church teaching will be marginalised and punished because they desire true unity in how they worship as well as in how they live out and practice their Catholic faith.

Catholics who desire to worship Almighty God by attending the Traditional Catholic Mass should have no fear at this time. We know “How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leads to life: and few there are that find it!”

(Matthew 7:14)

HOLD FAST TO TRADITION 15 We must continue on the narrow and difficult road that leads to life.

We should write to our bishops and Catholics should write to Pope Francis to show him that he may have been misinformed about the mindset of Catholics who worship according to the Traditional Catholic Mass.

Let us pray that this document will be either discarded or revised in order to tackle the real causes of disunity within the Catholic Church.

Let us also be mindful of Our Lord’s own words, “Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword.” (Matthew 10:34) Let us pray for the courage to remain faithful to our Catholic Faith come what may and let us continue to pray earnestly for Pope Francis. (images in this article courtesy Stephen Tyrell)

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16 THE GREAT APOSTASY

Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Cardinal Burke: There Are ‘Many In The Church’ Who Are In ‘Practical Apostasy’ Michael Haynes

The former head of the Vatican’s highest court declared that many in the Church ‘contradict the most fundamental truths of the faith’ by their lives.

In a fiery homily, Cardinal Raymond Burke described the events to which the third secret of Fatima is referring as occurring currently, pointing to the “practical apostasy of our time, that is, the going away from Christ by many in the Church.”

The American cardinal delivered his homily at the National Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on July 13.

The prelate noted how the third secret of Fatima, entrusted to Sr. Lucia by Our Lady in 1917, was “about the practical apostasy of our time, that is, the going away from Christ by many in the Church.”

These “many,” continued Burke, might not be formally heretical, but would “reject” the truth in their actions and through their very lives: “While they may not directly espouse heretical teachings, in practice they reject the truth and love which flows unceasingly and immeasurably from the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus, in order to embrace the falsehood and violence of contemporary culture. Their lives contradict the most fundamental truths of the faith.”

Abortion and LGBT ideology Cardinal Burke highlighted the many aspects of the rejection of the “truths of the faith” which are exhibited by those falling away from Christ. He pointed first to abortion, decrying the “daily and

The Basilica in Fatima widespread attack on innocent and defenceless human life with the resulting unprecedented violence in family life and in society, in general.”

In addition to this, the former Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s highest court, mentioned the “ever more virulent gender ideology.” This ideology has led to “total confusion” about even the human identity as “male and female,” added Burke.

With even just these first two points, Cardinal Burke might have referred to President Joe Biden, a self-professed “Catholic” who openly supports abortion as well as gender ideology. Biden’s promotion of abortion as an “essential health service” and wish to enshrine abortion into federal law, is in addition to his promotion of homosexuality and LGBT ideology.

A current ‘denial’ of freedom of religion

Burke further pointed to modern society’s attacks on “freedom of religion,” describing the “denial” of this freedom as an attempt to “snuff out completely, any public discourse about God and our necessary relationship with Him.” Concomitant with such a societal change is the move to “force Godfearing individuals to act against their well-formed conscience, that is, against God’s law written upon the human heart.” Taking aim at the “supposedly free countries,” the cardinal commented how such a title was inaccurate.

[T]he government forces upon society practices of abortion, sterilisation, contraception, euthanasia, and lack of respect for human sexuality, even to the point of indoctrinating small children in the iniquitous “gender theory.”

Meanwhile, of policies law” sweep embrace of

as such promotion contrary to “God’s through society, “the atheistic materialism

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Catholic Voice

and relativism leads to the unscrupulous pursuit of wealth, pleasure and power, while the rule of law, dictated by justice, is trampled underfoot.”

Such a situation Burke described as “a pervasively disordered cultural condition” in which “the faith is abandoned, hope is lost, and love grows cold or is even extinguished.”

‘Catholic’ politicians give ‘scandal’ for violating ‘fundamental truths’ Once more, the 73-year-old American prelate took aim at Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and indeed any self-professed Catholic politician who does not adhere to Catholic teaching, noting the “scandal of Catholic legislators rebuking the Bishops of our country for seeking to apply the universal law of the Church regarding the worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist.”

Cardinal Burke defended bishops who seek to prevent the unworthy reception of Holy Communion, saying that by doing so, they “rightly seek to safeguard the sanctity of the Holy Eucharist, to prevent the faithful from committing sacrilege by the unworthy reception of the Holy Eucharist, and to stop the scandal caused by Catholic politicians presenting themselves to receive Holy Communion, while they obstinately persist in promoting legislation in violation of the most fundamental truths of the moral law.”

“These politicians, while grievously violating divine law, make themselves the law,” continued Burke. “Thus, they are offended by their Bishops, when they exercise their office of teachers of the faith and guardians of sacred discipline.”

‘Only the Faith … can save man from the spiritual chastisements’ Returning once more to the description provided by Sr. Lucia

of the not fully published third secret, Cardinal Burke highlighted the “martyrdom of those remaining true to Our Lord.”

He noted how “only the Faith,” by which man is united with the “Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the mediation of her Immaculate Heart, can save man from the spiritual chastisements which rebellion against God necessarily brings upon its perpetrators and upon the whole of society.”

Practicing this Faith in today’s “totally secularised culture,” entails a “readiness to accept ridicule, misunderstanding, persecution, exile and even death,” warned the prelate, if one is to “remain one with Christ in the Church under the maternal protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

However, the cardinal, known for his prominent defence of traditional Catholic doctrine and the traditional Mass, also offered encouragement to the faithful. Urging them to remain close to Our Lady of Fatima, he recalled how “the intercession of the Virgin Mother of God and of all the saints will give us the strength and courage in what seems an impossible battle.”

CONSECRATE RUSSIA 17 Despite the hardships of which he warned for those wishing to remain true to the “Faith,” Burke closed by asking people to be “confident” and “trusting in the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.”

The cardinal has previously issued vocal calls for Russia to be consecrated to Our Lady, according to the manner she requested in the apparitions at Fatima. At the 2017 Fatima Centennial Summit, in Irving, Texas, Burke stated: “Recognising the necessity of a total conversion from atheistic materialism and communism to Christ, the call of Our Lady of Fatima to consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart in accord with Her explicit instruction remains urgent.”

Adding that he did “not doubt for a moment the intention of Pope St. John Paul II to carry out the consecration on March 25, 1984,” the cardinal nevertheless stated that the “explicit instructions” remain uncompleted. As such, Burke declared, “It is evident that the consecration (of Russia) was not carried out in the manner requested

by Our Lady.”

18 REIGN OF TERROR

Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Reign of terror

Christopher Monckton of Brenchley In a stiff Mao-style boiler-suit in a nauseous shade of near-turquoise, the ruthless dictator of more than a sixth of the global population celebrated the dismal centenary of the Chinese Communist Party, the most murderous political movement in the history of our race, by snarling that anyone who tried to tell China what to do would be dealt with by force.

At a tediously typical copycat totalitarian military parade the usual procession of tanks and guns accompanied by goose-stepping soldiers and fanatically-chanting, robotically-saluting youths with glazed expressions of dutiful adoration trundled past the pomposities’ podium.

In a tediously typical hour-long broadcast to mark the event, the unspeakable BBC spent about 90 seconds glancingly and apologetically mentioning the starvation of the Great Leap Backward, the suffering Uyghurs of Sinkiang and the oppression of the once-free Hong Kong, before launching into a gushing encomium praising the historic achievements of Mao Tse-Tung, Deng Xiao-Ping and Xi Jinping. How the BBC loves a brutal tyrant.

Here is what they should have said but deliberately chose not to say.

No one knows for sure how many tens of millions the Chinese Communist Party has killed, either directly by force or indirectly by starvation. However, it is reliably estimated in the Black Book of Communism that, in addition to the tens of millions slaughtered

by Mao’s mob in the Long March to Tyranny some 45 million died of starvation in the insane collectivisation of agriculture in 1949-1951. Half the population died of hunger in some villages.

Then there was – and still is – the unlawful invasion in 1950 and continuing occupation by brute force and vicious enslavement of the fragrant mountain theocracy of Tibet, forcing the Dalai Lama to flee to India. His young successor was kidnapped and disappeared by the regime and never seen again.

The Han Chinese, the most racialistic nation on Earth, moved in and mass-settled Tibet, where Mandarin is required and the Tibetan languages suppressed, religious believers are persecuted, opponents of the regime are disappeared, incarcerated without trial, tortured and murdered and the enslaved population compelled to work in the lithium mines that make owners of electric cars proud of their contribution to Saving The Planet, while Western government say and do absolutely nothing.

The Chinese are so anxious to conceal the scale of their unlawful occupation of Tibet that they have redrawn the map of Tibet so that what now appears on maps as the “Tibet Autonomous Region” is little more than a third of the Tibet that existed before the invasion. As

Communism tightens its grip on the Internet, it is becoming harder and harder to find maps of Tibet as it once was. They are being disappeared at an inexorable rate.

Until 1988, the Chinese Government in Exile at Dharmasala kept a tally of those of their countrymen whom the Chinese regime had killed.

Some 173,221 died while being tortured; 156,758 were executed; 432,705 were killed trying to defend their country; 342,907 were starved to death; 9002 committed suicide; and 97,731 “struggled” to death (they would have lived but for the brutal inefficiency of their Chinese oppressors).

Then there was – and still is – the Chinese gulag. In Mao’s time, there were 1000 forced-labour concentration camps throughout Mao’s China, where another 20 million died. Another million were killed by the fanatical Red Guards – teenage revolutionary thugs who swept through China raping, pillaging, killing and even eating their victims. In the end, they were put down by the Red Army when they began attacking Party members.

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Catholic Voice

Then there was Tiananmen Square, where 1000 student protestors were killed. Then there are the Muslim Uyghurs of Sinkiang, of whom it is estimated that 1 million have been killed.

Then there is the Chinese Communist coronavirus, whose fatal transmissibility was only revealed at the end of December 2019 in a report not from China but from currently-free Taiwan, which reported it to China’s stooges at the World Death Organisation and received in response the single, curt word “Noted.” The Chinese Communist Party had known of the virus almost three months previously, and had failed to notify the WDO within 24 hours as required by the International Health Regulations, to which China is a signatory.

The tally of deaths is enormous.

According to Rummel (2005), the Chinese Communist Party was directly responsible for the deaths of 73,237,000 people up to that year. Assuming a pro-rata continuing death count since then, another 1.3 million per year have been killed in the 17 years since then, adding another 20 million.

Add the 10 million in the Chinesevirus pandemic and the total death toll attributable to the Chinese Communist Party exceeds 100 million.

warnings about the virus that escaped from the Wuhan laboratory, and when failing to comply with their international treaty obligation to report the virus to the world within 24 hours; and, worst of all, when deliberately stating that it was safe to travel to and from China when they knew full well that it was not.

The sanction that the Court can apply is a simple one, and one that Xi Jinping, for all his bluster, can do absolutely nothing to prevent. The Court should issue a judgment releasing all nations that have borrowed money from China from any obligation to repay either the interest or the principal, and empowering all nations to nationalise without compensation all Chinese assets and holdings in money or in money’s worth within their borders, and to repudiate all treaties with China at will.

Finally, all nations should ensure that their largely Communistdominated schools and universities are purged of all the numerous apologists for Communism, and that

REIGN OF TERROR 19 in future the true nature and dreadful consequences of Communism are properly and thoroughly taught.

The Church should now repudiate the agreement, forced upon it by the Chinese Communist Party, allowing the Party to decide who its bishops shall be. It should speak out against the suppression of religion in China, the removal of religious symbols from churches, the oppression of the Falun Gong, the harvesting of organs from live prisoners to keep the Party’s gerontocracy alive, and the numerous other monstrous abuses perpetrated by this most bestial of regimes upon its citizens.

Despite the limpness and culpable silence of the present Vatican, the Church stands firmly alongside the suffering peoples who have endured, or who still endure, the embodiment of universal hatred that was and is Communism, and we long for the day when they, like us, shall be free to make and unmake their governments by that expression of the trust and love of each for all his neighbour that is democracy.

What should we Catholics do? First and foremost, we must pray for the suffering peoples who live or have lived under Communism. Secondly, we must not remain as dangerously equivocal (or as customarily silent) as the current Vatican is when faced with the clear and present danger to humanity that Communism – and particularly Chinese Communism – represents.

Above all, we should bring the Chinese Communist Party before the International Criminal Court and put them on trial for the crimes against humanity they perpetrated when silencing and disappearing those who first tried to sound

“Offer up everything within your power as a sacrifice to the Lord in an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended; and of supplication for the conversion of sinners. Thus invoke peace upon your country. I am her Guardian Angel; the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission the sufferings that the Lord may send you.”

(The Angel of Portugal to Fatima children 1915)

20 QUEEN OF IRELAND

Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Queen Of Ireland Mary Kearns

When we are wearied with speculation and uncertainty in regard to what is happening in our beloved Church, let us take the time to watch and pray in silence at the liturgical shrine at Knock. Our Blessed Mother has been assumed body and soul into heaven and it is in her glory as Queen that she has revealed herself here.

“The brightest splendours of the Lamb’s redemption fall on her.

Immaculate - radiant white she stands, flooding the still amazement of those who looked and knelt and prayed. Lightsome beyond the brightest crown of life in heaven, the golden diadem adorning her queenly brow, more fragrant with mystic love her golden rose than all the flowers in paradise, she appears as the climax of human redemption.”

(Knock, Vision of Hope) The Apparition was silent; no words were spoken, yet the message was very clear. Today we live in a noisy world which can also be aggressive. If we try to talk about our Faith we are often not listened to and there can be confrontations that are hard to deal with and which fail to yield satisfactory solutions.

Nevertheless, the simple piety of Knock finds resonance in the hearts of Irish people. Three years ago the Holy Father prayed in silence here at Knock. The silence which descended on the pilgrims at Knock on that occasion, 45,000 people in silent prayer, was a powerful expression of faith and trust in God. Again, we witness the powerful link between the reflective supportive silence of the apparition 142 years ago and the power of silent, meditative prayer during the visit of the Holy Father and the need for reflective silence in our busy world.

Although apparently simple, the vision at Knock is richly symbolic of the Catholic Faith, particularly in

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary - Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1682 – 1754)

the emphasis on the Lamb of God. The tableau is a manifestation of the wholeness of God’s plan of salvation. Silence testifies that there is nothing more to be said – this is the completeness of God’s revelation to the world. In the demeanour of the three figures we see individual pathways of prayer. The hands of Our Blessed Lady are raised, as are her eyes in supplication to

her Divine Son while Joseph her spouse, is deep in interior prayer.

The gesture of St. John, beloved adopted son of Mary, is outwardly proclaiming the Word of God, indicating what was believed the Book of Revelation.

Our Lady is seen as intercessor; St. John is preaching; St. Joseph as patron of the Universal Church also

13th August 2021 Catholic Voice represents the sanctity of marriage and the family. In this small book “Knock, Vision of Hope” Franciscan friar Father Hubert bids us lift our eyes to see St. Joseph also as a beacon of hope. The demeanour is one characteristic him as we witness his interior contemplation and depth of prayer. “Reverently inclined towards the blessed Virgin and holding his hands joined, the patron of the Church has placed himself in prayerful union with God’s providential plan - he is interceding with the heavenly Queen that the Church on earth which is his care, may attain to its final exaltation through and in her.”

The angels circling around the Lamb are a reminder of the constant movement of life in the Holy Spirit, and the never-ending praise and glory of God in which we participate during Mass when we join with the angels and saints in the Sanctus.

Jesus continues to offer himself as the Lamb of God in every Mass. Through the ministry of the priest, he is the spotless victim offering himself to the Father for the salvation of the world. His is the perpetual, timeless, everlasting sacrifice of praise to the Father. As St. Paul tells us, Christ is “the same yesterday, today and forever.”

Scripture scholar and Catholic theologian Scott Hahn teaches that Jesus Christ is the son of David and the king of the new and heavenly Jerusalem. “He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and he is the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world, as is said elsewhere in Revelation. But here in heaven, on the throne of glory, after his crucifixion, his resurrection, his ascension, his enthronement.” (The Lamb’s Supper) 1879 the Apparition had a special message for the people of that

time. The little village in Ireland’s west would never be the same again. Today, one hundred and forty-two years later, it likewise has a relevant message for us.

While Knock is recognised as a Marian Shrine because of Mary’s appearance, nevertheless, central to the Apparition is the altar, the Lamb and the cross. This points unmistakably to the Eucharist and the Mass. .

Knock is the only authenticated apparition site in the world in which Jesus has shown himself as Lamb.

The liturgical richness of the Knock apparition has priceless meaning today when the holy sacrifice of the Mass is often neglected, misinterpreted or described as a community meal. At every Mass the Word of God is proclaimed to us in the Liturgy of the Word, and in the Liturgy of the Eucharist Jesus is offered through the priest to the Father in sacrifice. In the vision of Knock, we behold Saint John preaching the Word and the Lamb being offered on the altar. So when Jesus is named the Lamb of God during Mass, we are reminded that we now have heaven here on earth.

Jesus says to us “This is my Body which will be given up for you;” “This is the cup of my Blood...It will be poured out for you and for many so that sins may be forgiven.”

Blessed are we who are called to the supper of the Lamb!

QUEEN OF IRELAND 21

Our Lady of Knock

religiosity. Our Lady’s Shrine at Knock is the centre and focus of Marian devotion, beloved by the people of Ireland. Many graces are received here through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother.

But Knock is more. It is a foil to the teaching of counterfeit doctrine.

We would miss a great deal if we only understood Our Lady’s Shrine at Knock simply as devotion to Our Lady. It is a liturgical apparition of global significance.

Jesus continues to offer himself as the Lamb of God in every Mass. Through the ministry of the priest, he is the spotless victim offering himself to the Father for the salvation of the world. His is the perpetual, timeless, everlasting sacrifice of praise to the Father. As St. Paul tells us, Christ is “the same yesterday, today and forever.”

“The Knock Apparition breathes hope, joy and peace. Mary enshrines in her Vision (the Lamb, risen and triumphant, the altar and the bare cross) her utmost love and gratitude to the Lamb of God for her own unique redemption while at the same time, again through her Vision, she gives a message of supreme importance to all men: They must complete their salvation, nourish the hope of redemption by constant worthy reception of the Eucharist, living Bread from the Altar of the Cross.”

We should not equate Knock with simple devotion or dismiss it as

For catechesis and liturgical formation: marykeenankearns@gmail.com

22 TRUE LIBERTY

Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Sacrificing ‘Essential Liberty To Gain A Little Temporary Safety’ Is The Death Of Freedom J.B. Shurk Ceding to government the authority to decide what goes into our bodies surely cedes to government the authority to determine everything else we do with those bodies, too.

As purportedly “free” countries all over the world get their tyrannical freak on by insisting that every citizen be jabbed with an experimental pharmaceutical cocktail or face the wrath of the Leviathan, I am reminded of a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Abigail Adams, in which he remarked: “The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive.”

Jefferson’s point was that ordinary citizens represent a necessary check on the natural abuses of government and the last line of defence against corruption and political tyranny.

Make no mistake: the writer of the Declaration of Independence saw government not as a benefactor of man’s freedom, but rather its adversary. “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground,” Jefferson warned in another letter to Edward Carrington, a distinguished soldier and Virginia statesman. Free people don’t stay free by blindly trusting everything government officials say and do; free people stay free by treating government with great apprehension and even greater suspicion.

That’s exactly what we’re finally seeing play out in England, Ireland, France, Italy, Australia, and everywhere else ordinary citizens have taken to the streets to protest their governments’ handling of the China Virus — a contagion that looks less and less

like some microscopic pathogen and more and more like a “Great Reset” bug spreading communist China’s totalitarianism far and wide. In nations that ironically define themselves in contrast to closed, communist societies, Western governments have given themselves the powers to lock people up in their homes at whim, dictate who may pray and when, demand that citizens submit to experimental medical treatments, and punish aggressively anyone who dares question what authorities have branded as truth.

nothing democratic about 1% of the population dictating how the other 99% shall live.

There is no free speech when only the government’s speech is allowed. There is no selfgovernment when government rules by decree. There is no constitution to protect fundamental human rights when governments are allowed to execute super-secret, invisible-ink emergency provisions of their charters that magically nullify constitutional protections until the “Build Back Better” boobs give the all-clear. There is

“The science is unequivocal: The vaccines work,” he declared. Yet somehow vaccinated Israelis are still in danger from those who refuse a jab, a somewhat more equivocal expression of vaccine effectiveness.

If these experimental treatments work so well, then those who take them should have nothing to fear from those who refuse. If they do not, then the prime minister and leaders around the world are lying when they declare, “The vaccines work.”

Naftali Bennett, Israel’s new prime minister, released a statement last week about mandatory vaccinations that drove this new reality home.

“I respect different views,” he claimed, before insisting that “there is a time and a place in which this discussion needs to stop — and it is our very lives.” Personal liberty should be defended, you see, until it must be smothered for the sake of safety.

13th August 2021 Catholic Voice Either science is being ignored or it is being politicised. Yet the same governments that spent over a year covering up the China Virus’s origins by screaming, “Trust the science,” are the same ones screaming for their citizens to duly comply with mandatory vaccinations in the name of science today.

Should we want people to be alive and healthy? Of course. But giving up “essential liberty to gain a little temporary safety,” as Benjamin Franklin famously observed, is a recipe for winding up with neither.

Anybody who doubted that wisdom eighteen months ago should have a much keener understanding of it now. If governments are allowed to veto liberty at their discretion in the name of public health, we will be inundated with public health crises birthed from the fiendish imaginations of unscrupulous

bureaucrats from here to eternity, and human liberty will die.

Does anyone believe we’re not heading toward future national lockdowns in vain attempts to quell “climate change” or “racial injustice” or “wealth inequality” health crises, too? The world has been under attack from a Chinese Virus, and the world’s governments responded by locking up their citizens and expanding their powers permanently. That’s a little like having the government defend you from gunfire by first shooting you in the foot; one way or another, you’re hobbling away.

It’s just a little prick. Let the government stick you with its needle. What about the next needle, though, or the next one after that? If you are willing to hand to faceless bureaucrats the power to jab you today, do you consent to being jabbed whenever the government

TRUE LIBERTY 23 says it knows best? Because if there is anything about which governments are certain, it is that they always “know best.”

Can there be anything more intrusive than Big Jabber taking complete control over a person’s health? If not, then why shouldn’t government also intervene in everything else that fills up a person’s life? Why shouldn’t state agents who “know best” also decide where each citizen is allowed to live, what he is allowed to own, whom he is allowed to see, and what he is allowed to think?

Ceding to government the authority to decide what goes into our bodies surely cedes to government the authority to determine everything else we do with those bodies, too.

Then the question remaining is this: if killing freedom is the cost of survival, aren’t we just fighting one China Virus by unleashing another?

24 THE OLDEST MARIAN SANCTUARY

Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Kuravilangad, Oldest Marian Sanctuary in the World Patrick Hayes A Marian Apparition Before 105 A.D. Not in Europe, nor in the Middle East; it is India where is located the most ancient Marian Sanctuary in the world. It is in the smalll town of Kuravilangad, state of Kerala, southern India, at some 200 km from its capital, Thiruvananthapuram.

The official name of the sanctuary is “Major Archiepiscopal Marth Mariam Archdeacon Pilgrim Church Kuravilangad”.

Apparition History The people of this region, which was full of barren hills and small forests, was composed of important producers of spices.

Some of the Jewish merchants who regularly came there to buy spices witnessed the torture, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and were among the people who converted to Christianity on Pentecost. After that, they returned from Israel to Kerala.

It was through these Jewish Christians that the first small group of Christians was formed in

Kuravilangad. Later, four Brahmin families (which constituted the highest caste among Indians) - Kalli (or Palli), Kalikave, Sankarapuri, and Pakalomattom -, converted to Christianity thanks to the apostle Thomas, he migrated from Palayoor (one of the ancient Christian centres) to Kuravilangad to escape the intense religious persecution against Christians around the year 100 A.D. The Water Spring: a Permanent Sign from Our Lady According to the tradition, some Nazrani (an old term for Christians) children were herding the flock of their families. They were hungry and thirsty. Then the Virgin Mary appeared in the form of an old lady.

She picked up some stones from the ground, which became bread, and gave them to the children; she dug a small well, a spring started to flow, and gave its water to the children drink. When the children reported this incident, the parents came rushing in. The old lady reappeared, showed them the spring, and requested that a church be built there in her honour.

Shrine History The first church was built in 105 A.D. at the site suggested by Our Lady. It was a church made of bamboo. Bishop Mar Youssef of Edessa in AD 345 commissioned the restoration of the church. The Kuravilangad church was renovated during various periods.

The foundation stone of the first stone chapel was laid between June and November 1599. The present church was built during the reign of Chandikathanar, Vicar of Parambil (until 1663). The southern altar of the main church is believed to be part of the old church. The present main altar of the church was built in 1670, and the north altar of the

church was built in 1680. A major portion of the main church, except the altar area, was rebuilt in the middle during 1954-1960 under the leadership of Fr. Thomas Manakat.

The church has an ancient bell with the engraving “Mother of God” in Syriac. Three majestic bells were brought from Germany in 1910 and are among the largest bells in Asia.

Presently this church is under the Eparchy of Palai, part of the SyroMalabar Catholic Church.

Jonah and the “Moonnu Nombu” Festival There is a three-day long festival called “Moonnu Nombu” (literally meaning “three days of fasting”), celebrated at the Kuravilangad Valiya Palli every year around late January to early February.

It follows a lunar calendar, and falls close to the full moon. The second day, Tuesday, is the most important day. On that day there is a Palli Prathaskhinam, which is a joyous and pious procession lasting about three hours, starting at about 11:30 am, with a kind of boat named Kappalottom, simulating a ship voyage in the sea, as the culminating event.

A forty foot wooden ship, beautifully built with prow, stern, masts and rigging, having on one side an effigy of Jonah being vomited by the fish as per the orders of the Lord, and on the deck wooden mariners in western costume, has been for centuries the centre of attraction in the midday procession. During the procession, the Kappal (ship) is carried by hundreds of people.

The voyage starts in calm sea.

When the sea gets rough, the prophet Jonah is thrown into the sea. With that, the sea calms, and

13th August 2021 Catholic Voice

soon the procession ends. The people of the neighbouring village of Kadappoor have the honour to enact the Kappalottom. This village was founded by Kadappoor Ramban, one of the disciples of St. Thomas the Apostle.

This procession is a thanksgiving by the people of this village. Many centuries ago, one of the merchant ships of the Kadappoor people got into rough sea. They prayed and were saved from shipwreck. In gratitude, they made an offering to undertake this Kappalottom at the Kuravilangad Church every year.

This offering continues to this day.

The Kappalottom is about forty feet long, eight feet wide, and twelve feet tall, and is always well-kept.

The Moonnu Nombu Festival began as a thanksgiving for a safe voyage in the sea, but now it is a thanksgiving for safeguarding against any danger.

THE OLDEST MARIAN SANCTUARY 25

“Pay no heed to the derision and mockery of the wicked.

Have courage; you must never yield, nor is there any need to yield.

You must go into the attack w h o l e h e a r t e d l y, not in secret but in public, not behind barred doors, but in the open in the view of all.”

Pope St Pius X

26 RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL

Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Of Course We Are Spiritual – We Are Born That Way Mark Belanger Occasionally I hear someone say “I think of myself as a spiritual person, but I’m not religious.” The implication is that “being spiritual” is somehow a completed state – that religion is unnecessary if a person is sufficiently “spiritual.”

I usually count to 10 before answering, if I respond at all.

What I want to point out is that saying “I am spiritual” is as meaningful as saying “I am a mammal.” We are made in the image of God, which means – among other things – that we are of necessity spiritual beings as well as physical. Developing and keeping our spiritual selves healthy is as crucial as developing our intellect, our character, and our physical health.

We develop our intellects with education, training, reading, and every other form of learning. We develop and care for our physical health with regular preventive medical care, good diet, exercise, and good sanitation. We develop our character in the beginning through attentive and good parents, and later in life through self-discipline, seeking out the right kind of role models, and choosing our friends and companions with some care.

We develop our spiritual selves in similar ways: through participation in the sacraments; participation in the community of the faithful; prayer; fasting; and, in particular, O Jesus, it is for the love of Thee, in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and for the conversion of poor sinners [that I do this]. Amen.

Our Lady of Fatima - June 13th, 1917.

learning and observing the precepts of our faith.

Prayer and fasting are things one can do alone to some extent, but everything else we need to develop our spiritual selves requires a community. And this observation strikes at the root of the fallacy of claiming to be spiritual but not religious: we cannot develop our spiritual selves in a vacuum. We need the structure, the guidance, and especially the institutional experience that religion provides.

One size does NOT fit all I do not intend to harm anyone’s ecumenical sentiments here. I am a Roman Catholic by choice, having been received into the Church in 2006. As the denomination of my childhood slipped into heterodoxy, syncretism, and in some places even outright heresy I fled, looking for a new home. It mattered to me immensely that I avoid settling into a new home only to become an erosive force, duplicating the kind of damage done to the home I had lost.

I spent several years wandering in the wilderness, praying for the Holy Spirit to mould me while guiding me to a place where I might fit. I wanted to meet the needs of the community as we’ll as having my own needs met.

During that time I think I encountered the foundations of both the difficulty and the possibility of ecumenism. The possibility lies in the fact that one can find holy people in most denominations. The difficulty is that the environment that nurtures those people is so different. It is an old reality writ large: “One size does NOT fit all.”

Since leaving Eden, more than our languages have fractured.

The wedge of Babel split us into different types, each with different needs, different ways of perceiving, communicating, learning and teaching.

It’s exhausting to contemplate.

The good news is that, by and large, no matter what type person you

13th August 2021 Catholic Voice might be, it is possible to find a Christian community that provides the kind of structure, guidance, and institutional experience you need.

restricted to online only, I felt the pangs of slow starvation. Spiritual communion may be efficacious, but it doesn’t really feel the same as being in the actual Presence.

For me, that place is the Roman Catholic Church.

So, you may rightly ask me, what has this religious stuff done for your spiritual self (because, as you have no doubt discerned, I think of myself as a spiritual person who is also very religious).

The Sacraments Matter, And Require “Religion” Baptism may be in my past chronologically, but like all the other sacraments it lives continually, providing that continuous flow of water such that we may never thirst (unless we deny its presence). I was confirmed as a “tween,” confirmation at that time being the gate for admission to the Eucharist.

My answer to this question will always begin and end with the sacraments, “an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace,” or in the language I grew up with, the “outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” The sacraments are gifts to us, gifts to and of the spirit.

For a time during the pandemic, when attendance at Mass was

RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL 27

For a time, before being received into the Catholic Church, I was a member of the Order of St. Luke, a cross-denominational Protestant organisation administering Unction. I have continued to receive this great blessing, which

LIBERALISM IS A SIN

Don Félix Sardà y Salvany: – was

always heals something, even if not what you might expect.

I have been blessed by matrimony for nearly 49 years (admittedly sometimes in the form of having my rough edges scraped off by another’s sharp edges).

I have benefited from Holy Orders through the ministrations of our priests and deacons – from administration of the other sacraments to good counsel to the simple rewards of conversation and fellowship.

None of these benefits – graces! – would be available if I tried to hold Thou shalt love the Lord thy God With thy whole heart, And with thy whole soul, And with thy whole mind.

This is the greatest And the first commandment.

CATECHISM ON MODERNISM

Holiness Pope Pius X, issued the Encyclical ‘Pascendi Dominici Gregis’ which translates as “Feeding the Lord’s Flock”. Pope Pius X was aware that the Catholic Church had been infiltrated by modernists who were seeking to undermine her doctrines from within.

born on May 21, 1844 in Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain. He was a Catholic priest and writer who wrote against Liberalism which he considered a grave sin. He was the editor of the weekly Spanish Catholic magazine

Father J. B. Lemius, produced this ‘Catechism on years. He died on January 2, 1916 at Modernism’ in the familiar the age of 71. This book, Liberalism question and answer format is a Sin, is particularly relevant to of the time, in order to make the teachings of the the times we live in today where Liberalism permeates every Encyclical more accessible to ordinary Catholics and aspect of our society and has deeply infiltrated the thinking of by way of explaining in a clear and concise manner the many of the Catholic hierarchy. reasons why the Encyclical was published.

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28 RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL

Catholic Voice

myself apart from community by claiming that being spiritual was equal to (or superior to) being religious.

The Safety Of A Fireplace So far I have approached this from the standpoints of the benefits that “religion” adds to “being spiritual.”

But let me spend a moment on the perils that religion averts.

The peril of being “spiritual but not religious” is the risk of living without the safety of walls and boundaries. Not every spirit is holy; not every spiritual development or direction is healthy. Among the services provided by religion are discernment of the direction and progress of someone’s spiritual development. Religion also provides almost innumerable aids and guides to healthy growth, years of experience, and wisdom in avoiding dead ends, pitfalls, and the snares and illusions of the enemy.

I was given a powerful metaphor for understanding this by a member of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC), a group that arose from the charismatic wing of the old Campus Crusade For Christ. They abandoned their highly individualistic and independent loose affiliations for a more formal structure mirroring the Episcopal church, even to the point of adopting the

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Book Of Common Prayer. As it was explained to me, “We realised that we had the fire of the Holy Spirit, but that we needed a fireplace to keep it from turning into a strictly human wildfire.”

This is the purpose of the metaphorical fireplace the CEC member had in mind–to provide a defined and focused home for the fire of the spirit. Confined to a fireplace, a fire warms and comforts while providing heat for cooking and light for illumination. Unconfined it can spread into a conflagration that consumes instead of serves. The Epistles of St. Paul are full of corrections for communities that took the fervour of the spirit too far in directions idiosyncratic to those communities.

No Religion Means No Creed At the risk of being uncharitable, I also cannot help but feel that one reason people take refuge in saying things like “I consider myself to be a spiritual person but I am not religious” is that they want the comfort of a vague sense of being aligned with God without any of the onerous responsibilities and restrictions of actual virtue. They can point to various hypocrisies (either imagined or real) and congratulate themselves for not being a part of such duplicity, while at the same time not having to bear the responsibility of even rationalising their departures from virtue.

But without religion, one has no creed or code to live up to other than what one formulates for oneself.

(Discovering that I could not fully live up even to such an amorphous set of standards was one powerful force that led me back to the church after a period of rebellion in late adolescence.)

Claiming a spiritual nature is easy, however, living up to objectively virtuous spiritual standards is anything but.

An Approach to Evangelisation And Witness The problem that arises is how do we address this attitude in those we know and love?

I doubt very much that this attitude has a strong hold in people who attend Mass regularly and who are otherwise involved in their local parish. It may be more likely to occur in people who attend Mass on Christmas and Easter and various other special occasions of a personal nature. It is certain to exist more frequently in those who are un-churched or who have fallen away from what they may refer to with scorn as “organised religion.”

How do we reach people who use this attitude to defend themselves from the call of the Holy Spirit to join with a community and receive the benefits of the sacraments and the company of the faithful?

13th August 2021

Catholic Voice

RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL 29

I return to the observation that “one size does not fit all”. In context, I could also point out that even the best master key only works on one kind of lock. Each one of us is capable of being the key that unlocks the heart of someone who needs the full range of what the church offers their spiritual nature—but most of us are best suited to unlocking a particular kind of heart, to help a particular sort of person move from being vaguely spiritual to becoming concretely religious.

Concluding Thoughts You can probably tell by reading what I write that I am more likely to witness successfully to certain kinds of people, especially those who are prone to intellectualise everything. When I see someone wearing a T-shirt with the message “Hold on while I overthink this”, my response is joyous recognition.

You know yourself. You know the type of person you can reach, because you know how you could be reached. It is my hope that the next time you encounter someone you feel you can reach who seems to be clinging to this position as a

defence against entering into the life of Christ, understanding the position a little better will give you a bit of insight so you can be an effective evangelist to that person.

Let us bring people in from the wildfires of their wilderness to the comfort and safety of hearth and home.

Prayer: Father in Heaven you made us in your image as spiritual beings;

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please give us the grace to use that spiritual quality to reach the spirit of others and draw them toward the graces and gifts you provide for us through the sacraments of your church, the living body of Christ on this earth at this time. Give us compassion, wisdom, discernment, and courage in our encounters with others so that we may draw them closer to you and toward all you want for them to gain from your boundless love. Amen

Fatima Prayer

Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He Himself is offended, and through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg of thee the conversion of poor sinners. Amen.

“To forestall this [the second world war], I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.

“If they heed My requests, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, she shall spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church; the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated; in the end, My Immaculate Heart shall triumph.

(Our Lady - Fatima July 13th 1917)

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In this book, Dr. van den Aardweg debunks many of the myths created by the global homosexualist movement. The argument for gay “marriage” is exposed as a deception in this ground breaking book. For many years the public has been indoctrinated with unfounded assertions which in fact are no more than modern fairy tales sold as science. In other words, as regards homosexuality, people hear and read mostly lies. The book explains why the deception is possible and shows why no assertion of the gay ideology has been scientifically validated. €/£9 inc p&p Ireland €/£10.50 inc p&p outside Ireland

SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

This really is a fantastic book which presents Catholic teaching on sin in a simple, clear and precise way. You will learn about the nature of sin, about the different kinds of sin, mortal and venial, formal and material sins.

Reflections on the Abortion Issue in Ireland.

Oxf, Chairman of The Latin Mass Society.

The book also teaches us about sins of omission. After discussing sin, the book then speaks of the great graces offered to us in the sacrament of confession, it teaches us about temptations, about Christ’s suffering and death on the cross, and then it finishes with a very hope filled chapter on the joys of the resurrection.

Many countries, including Ireland, have removed the right to life from the Constitution and given the legislature the power to legalise abortion, which by definition is the intentional killing of the unborn child.

The assumption is that unborn babies have no human rights. The essays in this monograph expose the fallacy that unborn babies do not have the right to life and may be ‘terminated’ if that is the ‘choice’ of the mother. In the New Ireland, human killing is now legal. It is estimated that 800 – 900 unwanted unborn babies are ‘terminated’ every month. Abortion has become the murder machine of our time.”

€/£19 inc p&p Ireland €/£22 inc p&p outside Ireland

€/£10 inc p&p Ireland €/£12 inc p&p outside Ireland

€/£13.50 inc p&p Ireland €/£15 inc p&p outside Ireland

Book Title/s: ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Credit/Debit Card Number: __________________________________________________ Expiry Date: _______________________________ C.V.V. ________________ Total Enclosed: €/£__________________________ Name: _________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Post Code: __________________________________ Daytime Tel: ________________________________

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13th August 2021 Catholic Voice

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REGULAR TRADITIONAL LATIN MASSES IN IRELAND

Welcome To Our New Lourdes Website saintbernadette.info Included are the following: The life and times of St Bernadette: The Importance of the Holy Rosary for our times: The Lourdes Apparitions: The Song of Bernadette Movie: Prayer cards on request and much much more. Contact via email morgansharpesenior@gmail.com

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(LISTED BY DIOCESE) DAILY & WEEKLY Meath: Silverstream Priory (Benedictine monks) Armagh: New Mellifont Abbey, Collon, Co. Louth Stamullen: Sunday 10.00 preceded by Terce, other days 11.00.

Every Sunday 3pm.

Meath: Church of the Nativity, Johnstown, Navan, Co. Meath Cork & Ross: Ss Peter’s & Paul’s, Cork: Sundays 12.00 noon, Sundays 1pm; First Fridays 11am; Holydays as announced.

Mon - Sat 10.00.

Ossory: St. Patrick’s, College Rd, Kilkenny; Sun 17.00.

Cork & Ross: St Mary’s, Pope’s Quay, Cork. Sundays 8:00am Raphoe: St. Patrick’s, Drumkeen, Donegal Sun 11.00. in the Dominican Rite; Down & Connor: Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Waterford: (FSSP) St. John’s Church, Parnell Street, Waterford Sunday: 8 and 11am, Mon-Fri (ex Thurs), 19:00. Thurs: 8am, City – Every Sunday 1:30pm, Mon 1:00pm, Tues – Friday Sat: 8am, 11am.

Dromore: St.Mary’s, Newry: Sundays and Holydays 9.00am.

Dublin: St. Kevin’s, Harrington Street: Sundays & non working Holy Days: 9:00, 10:00 and 11:00; (Vespers Sun 3:30pm.) Mon - Fri 08.00; Sat 09.00.

Working Holidays & 1st Fridays; 08.00 and 19.00.

Dublin: St. Joseph’s, Newtownmountkennedy Co Wicklow Sat 11:00 Elphin: Church of the Sacred Heart and St Barry, Whitehall, Tarmonbarry, Co Roscommon. Every Sunday 5pm Ferns: (FSSP) St. Alphonsus, Barntown, Co Wexford: Every Sunday 17.00 (Sung Mass 1st and 3rd Sundays), Holy days as announced.

Galway: Chapel of St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s Road (ICKSP) Sun 15:00 Limerick: Sacred Heart, The Crescent (ICKSP) Sun 8am, 10.30am, 6pm; Mon-Weds 08.00 and 18.00; Thurs 8:00, Friday 18.00; Saturday 08.00 & 10:30 (followed by 1st Saturday devotions)

19:30 (19:00 1st Fridays) Sat 11:00am, Holydays as announced.

TWICE MONTHLY Derry: St. Columba’s , Longtower: First and Third Sunday 14:00 MONTHLY Armagh: St. Patrick’s, Dungannon, Co Tyrone: First Saturday 14.00.

Cork & Ross: St. Francis, Liberty St. Cork : First Saturday 13.00.

Derry: St. Marys, Aughabrack, Co Tyrone: Fourth Sunday 12.45 Elphin: St. John’s, Carraoe, Co Sligo ; Last Sunday Killaloe: St. Joseph ‘s, Ennis, Co Clare: First Sunday 17:30 Tuam: St. John the Baptist, (Old Parish Knock, Co Mayo; Second Sunday 17.30.

Every effort has been made to ensure this list is up to date.

Please contact The Latin Mass Society of Ireland in the event of any changes or errors.

Email: adminmass@latinmassireland.com

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Catholic Voice

13th August 2021

Published by: Catholic Voice Newspapers, St Michael’s House, Castlemitchell South, Athy, County Kildare. Tel 059-8627268 ROI / 00353 - 59 8627268 Publisher: Anthony Murphy.

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