Conscience Corner

The bright future

2008-01-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

For those who constantly complain about the state of the church, I have a refreshing blog - www.catholicreport.org. Pertinent newsworthy topics from the Catholic world are selected on a daily basis, but with a hopeful slant, always pointing out the new wave of orthodoxy. I especially enjoy the articles from the sixties crowd, the gray hairs that you find at Call to Action events. Their days have come and gone and their obvious regret contrasts widely with the zeal of the youth for orthodoxy - not rebellion. Oh for the day when the colleges can truly be called Catholic again and the chanceries return to timeless devotions instead of "trendy" enneagram seminars.

The Golden Bomb

2008-01-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

Thankfully, the movie, the Golden Compass tanked at the box office. How fortunate for those who waited to see what the hullabaloo was about and decided to forego the waste of money. How sad, though, for the youth who were interested in this film, interested enough to buy the novels and receive the noxious brew cooked up by the English atheist Philip Pullman. It was especially disappointing how some in the Catholic school system were reluctant to remove the books for some perceived "discussion value." One wonders whether blatantly racist fare would have received the same treatment.

Secular Arrogance

2007-07-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

It seems that the decision of England to knight Salman Rushdie, the infamous author of the Satanic Verses, has caused a conflagration of terror attacks in Great Britain. Columnists have remarked about the "backbone" of the government in awarding this honor despite the rise of Muslim fundamentalism in the country. One even trumpeted Rushdie as a first rate novelist.

While I regret the onset of violent attacks in Britain and elsewhere, is it so befuddling to secularists and their apologists as to the source of the Muslim anger? It is one thing for a society to protect free speech. It is another to champion the irreligious. For years England and the EU have drifted to the left on social issues, pressuring traditional Catholic countries to abandon their opposition to abortion and homosexual marriage. When confronted, they appeal to the God of secularism - toleration. Of course that merely means toleration on their terms. Toleration actually leads to moral relativism and hedonism. This is the sad legacy of the 1960's.

It was a tremendous slap in the face to Muslims to knight Rushdie. He is the epitome of secular atheistic decadence in the eyes of the Muslim world. While the fatwa imposing a death sentence on him for his book was appalling, no less is the continuing secular attack on people of all faiths.

Thankfully, Christians have the mind of Christ in enduring suffering for the sake of the kingdom. Muslim attacks in Iraq on Catholics and other Christians are no less offensive than the secular impositions of the Culture of Death.

Many credit Hillaire Belloc for his prescient comments on the resurgence of Islam. Let us not forget the popes of the 19th century who vigorously opposed the rise of liberal secularism and the dangers to the faith. Curiously, their legacy has been largely ignored.

His name is John

2007-06-24T12:08:00.000-07:00

Today is the feast day of the birth of John the Baptist. All Christians should be familiar with his role in the gospels, but not many realize that the Jewish historian Josephus, in the late 1st century, attests to the role of John in first century Judaism. Although Josephus misunderstands John's preaching, he does relate Herod's responsibility in his death and the Jews' belief that the destruction of Herod's army was due to Divine vengeance. Herod had been married to the daughter of Aretas, king of Petra, but decided to marry Herodias, his brother's wife. Needless to say, Aretas was not pleased and settled scores with Herod on the battlefield.

Another interesting note on John is his appearance in the Koran. The Sunnis believe that the Koran is the uncreated word of God passed to Muhammed. In Sura 19 the Lord claims, "O Zachariah! Verily we announce to thee a son-his name John: That name We have given to none before him." That statement is very problematic for the Muslims. We have historical and archeological evidence (coins with inscriptions) proving that one of the high priests in Judea after the Maccabees (late 2nd century BC) was John Hyrcanus. I leave this obvious contradiction to the Muslim apologists to explain...

Latin Controversies

2007-06-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Catholic internet chat rooms and blogs are buzzing about the daily status of the anticipated Motu Proprio regarding the Tridentine Mass. In order to recover the separated Traditionalist SSPX groups, the Pope is considering lifting the requirement for priests to receive episcopal approval prior to celebrating the pre-Vatican II rite.

Many Catholics are confused about Vatican II including the issue of Latin at Mass. Vatican II's document on the Liturgy actually encouraged the continued use of Latin in the Latin-rite while additionally promoting the vernacular for parts of the Mass. Unfortunately, the Latin was largely jettisoned in the progressive excesses following the council. The Novus Ordo can be celebrated with prayers in Latin and many young priests are reviving the use of Latin at Mass.

Regrettably, the use of Latin seems to be a flashpoint among Catholics, largely between progressives and traditionalists. Progressives see the language as representing a bygone era from which we have been "liberated," while traditionalists yearn for stability after the poor translations of the ICEL crowd.

Rumors abound that groups of bishops have fought implementation of the Motu Proprio on the grounds of ecclesial unity. It seems that the Traditionalists are an unruly crowd that will be emboldened by the concession and will stir up more trouble.

It is truly unfortunate that this age of the vernacular has led to more tension and not less. It is not uncommon for parishes in the United States to have separate Masses on Sundays for Hispanic or Vietnamese populations all in the name of diversity. At the same time, it is Latin that is divisive!?

Progressive Catholics who whine about the difficulty of learning Latin have no problem analyzing their stock portfolios or earning additional academic degrees. At the same time, they insist that their children learn a foreign language in school in order to be competitive in the world of international business. But memorize a few Latin prayers...

I welcome this Motu Proprio and challenge the progressives to follow their own advice. Modern liberals love the word, "choice." Well then, let's have this alternative. I may not attend a Tridentine Mass on a regular basis, but surely contend that there will probably be more reverence than is present at a typical Life Teen Mass. Let the people vote with their feet and enough of the elitist talk denigrating the rite.

The Lost Tomb of Jesus

2007-03-04T08:46:00.000-08:00

The media was buzzing with news of the "discovery" of the Lost Tomb of Jesus at the end of February. The director of the movie Titanic, James Cameron, was present at a news conference along with an archeologist to promote a new Discovery TV special about the "find". According to the men, the accidental uncovering of the tomb in 1980 during a construction project for a new apartment building was proof that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and that the stone ossuaries uncovered contained the remains of Christ's extended family including his son, Judah. Naturally, Christians were appalled by this latest Lenten attempt to attack Jesus and Christianity. Some points to ponder:

1) The Israeli archeologist who directed the 1980 excavation, Mr. Kloner, dismissed the claim while asserting that the cave containing the ossuaries was an ordinary middle class burial chamber. Surely someone of Jesus' stature would have a more elaborate ossuary.

2) Mr. Kloner also correctly asserted that Jesus' parents (Joseph is his foster father) were from Nazareth. Any family burial chamber should be located there.

3) Most notably, the names on the ossuaries were extremely common in the first century. The discovery would be similar to a 41st century archeologist discovering the late 21st century tomb of famed baseball star Ichiro Suzuki in Tokyo. A Japanese fan could readily attest to the fact that Ichiro's first and last name are as common as John Smith. However, as Americans, we lack the cultural knowledge to appreciate this fact. Additionally, Ichiro's hometown is in Aichi prefecture, not Tokyo.

4) Mary Magdalene's remains have been traditionally asserted to reside in France. She is said to have travelled there with Lazarus. The Greek Church says that some of her relics were in Constantinople in 886. There is no tradition of her internment in Jerusalem.

5) Any "tomb" theory necessarily involves claiming that the apostles were duplicitous. Since all but John were martyred for the faith one wonders why these men would give their life for a lie.

6) Christians were harassed for abandoning orthodox Judaism prior to the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. It was well known that Jesus provided specific signs that would indicate that his followers should "head to the hills" prior to the Romans surrounding the city. Would the Jews tolerate a burial chamber of a blasphemer that would attract the adulation of heretics and traitors?

It is important for apologists to have these points at their disposal when confronted with this latest challenge to the faith.

Skeletons in the Closet

2007-01-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

The recent scandal in Warsaw, Poland regarding the resignation of a newly appointed Archbishop should give pause to all of us. Apparently, as a young priest, this bishop signed on with the old Communist secret police to spy on his fellow priests although there is question whether or not he actually "squealed" on anyone.

Needless to say the Vatican is being criticized and there is ongoing investigations as to how many other priests may have capitulated in those sad days of communism.

In a way, this reminds me of the early centuries of persecution where some heroically held out against the Romans and were martyred while others capitulated. Those who acquiesced, the Lapsi, were castigated in some circles. The Donatists of North Africa actually considered the sacraments performed by Lapsi priests as invalid.

At what point do past transgressions disqualify one from future possibilities? If one has been absolved in the sacrament of Confession and has had all excommunications removed, is it too late to start out again or are some positions forever outside one's reach? Regardless of one's opinion, I must say I am glad that God does not work that way. I am constantly reminded of the beam in my eye.

Call to Action - R.I.P.

2007-01-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

The recent pronouncement from Rome backing Bishop Bruskewitz's decision to excommunicate members of Nebraska's Call to Action is welcome news. These folks will not listen to authority and advocate for causes long since decided by the Magisterium. For the most part, it's a white-haired crowd whose days are numbered.

Unfortunately, many of the members have secured positions in dioceses, Catholic colleges and parishes. A recent scandal at a Catholic Church in South King County where a female Catholic "bishop's" talks and liturgy were promoted by CTA in the bulletin and on parish boards indicates the problem will not go away soon. Faithful Catholics should boldly proclaim the complete gospel and not be intimidated by degrees or tenure.

It is time to get beyond the 1960's, stop whining and start evangelizing.

Top Catholic News of 2006

2006-12-29T09:43:00.000-08:00

Here's my top 5 Catholic news items of 2006:

#5 - Archbishop Milingo (of Moonie fame) reappears, ordains married priests and is excommunicated.
#4 - The Gospel of Judas, a Gnostic forgery, causes a brief flap when published by National Geographic.
#3 - The Davinci Code becomes a movie, causing a strong backlash in Catholic circles. After a strong opening(and sadly, many teenagers attending)the movie faded at the box office.
#2 - Pope Benedict's visit to Germany and his famous speech which causes some consternation in Islamic circles.
#1 - Pope Benedict's brave visit to Turkey where he visited a mosque and received an extremely favorable reception from the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch.

Would your list be different?

new year resolutions

2006-12-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

I promise to post once a week...I promise to post once a week...I promise to post once a week.

Will it last? God bless everyone and a Happy New Year!

Politics and the natural law

2006-08-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

As another election approaches, I'm becoming more and more convinced that the Church is an unwilling contributor to the moral decline of our society. Church officials have failed to educate parishioners about the essential difference between the Natural Law and public policy differences.

All readers of this blog are fully aware of the controversy over the Catholic Answers pamphlet, "The Five Non-negotiables" during the election campaign of 2004. The national Catholic establishment has refused to differentiate issues of the Natural Law that apply to ALL men and other social justice issues that necessarily consist of various approaches. Simply put, it matters little what type of poverty programs that you seek to implement for the elderly or children, if they're already dead. Some Catholics wish to hide their disobedience in the area of moral doctrine by appealing to their charity in other areas. Unfortunately, this will not do.

The bishops themselves have been reluctant to publicly chastise Catholic politicians who support legislation against the Natural Law. This has led to an attitude in the pews that one can be a "good Catholic" if one supports a pro-abortion politician for other reasons. Try to transfer that attitude to a German citizen in the Third Reich. Would it be acceptable for a German citizen to vote for a Nazi who intended on continuing the killing of Jews because of his outstanding welfare program? I think not.

Before you label me as belonging to one political party or another, look at the landsape. One party has already acquiesced to the culture of death. Another has major figures who call themselves "Catholic", but are cheered by supposed "

Next time you vote, ask yourself, what have I done to promote candidates who promote the Culture of Life AND help the needy? Do I put a litmus test on politicans such that only those that support my plans on promoting the preferential option of the poor get my vote? Do I let my Catholic faith affect my voting patterns or vice versa? Finally, what have I done to punish politicians (or deny them honors) who support anti-life issues (gay marriage, no conscience clause exemptions for pharmicists, embryonic stem cell research, etc.) after they've been educated?

Community authorship of the gospels

2006-07-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

How often have you been told that the traditional writers of the Gospels were mere pseudonyms for community authorship? This idea, of course, has no historical credibility, but it is almost assumed by two-source theory (Mark and Q) proponents in order to preserve their theory of late first century authorship. What does the Church say about this? Here are a couple of things that they won't quote in any of these biblical classes...

From the Historicity of the Gospels (Pontifical Biblical Commission 1964 - during Vatican II)

Under Form criticism/erroneous premises, "...and finally, some [form criticism advocates]minimize the authority of the Apostles as witnesses to Christ. Belittling their office and their influence in the primitive community, these people exaggerate the creative power of the community itself."

From Fr. O'Conner's work on Christology, the Father's Son, p.33: "The Instruction Sancta Mater Ecclesia [preparatory document for Vatican II] referred to the attitude which would "exaggerate the creative power of the community" and found it "contrary to Catholic doctrine, devoid of scholarly foundation and inconsistent with the sound principles of the historical method." The penultimate draft of Dei Verbum, no. 19, likewise contained a reference to the imagined creative powers of the early Christian communities. It read:

"...And preserving the form of proclamation, always in such a way that they would communicate to us things true and sincere about Jesus, and not fictitious things flowing from the creative power of the primitive community."

Fr. O'Conner concludes, "The remark was omitted, however, in order to keep the positive tone of the presentation and to avoid "giving recognition to an opinion which had seen its day."

Does this community authorship sound like the Teaching of the Church? Hardly.

Who wrote these gospels?

2006-07-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

If you're a fan of 60 minutes, you've obviously heard Andy Rooney say, "Did you ever wonder why..."

Well, I wonder why I continue hearing these teachers at various religious ed classes continue to feed us this line about the community authorship of gospels or certainty about non-Apostolic authorship. Without delving into the Gospel origin issue (which can take awhile), it is interesting to note what Vatican II says about this subject. In Dei Verbum, paragraph 18, it reads, "The Church has always and everywhere held and continues to hold that the four gospels are of apostolic origin. For what the apostles preached in fulfillment of the commission of Christ, afterward they themselves AND apostolic men, under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, handed on to us in writing: the foundation of faith, namely, the fourfold Gospel, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John."

It seems that certain bishops disliked "AND" and wished to substitute "OR" in order to keep this dubious theory afloat that Matthew and John didn't really write their gospels. Sorry...rejected!

Part II tomorrow...

"Where charity and love prevail..." - except for politics

2006-04-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

The issue of immigration has not only overwhelmed talk radio and the mainstream media, it has also entered the Church through the comments from Cardinal Mahoney and other bishops and priests. It is almost impossible to find a "middle road". I find myself defending the Church's right to speak out to some folks, while admonishing others that public policy is the area of lay society. What is most disturbing however, is the lack of civility among those with opposing views.

As we celebrate Holy Week, our focus should be on Christ, not CNN or Fox News. Lou Dobbs and Paula Zahn did not lay down their lives for us. Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly are not the Authors of life (mo matter how many buy their books).

While Christians attack each other over immigration where is the zeal on the life issues? Why did not our Hispanic friends take to the streets to defend Christ or our Blessed Mother? Where are the boycotts over Sony's promotion of the Da Vinci Code movie or Rolling Stone's depiction of a rap star with a crown of thorns on the cover?

Catholics of good will can differ on practical applications of doctrine (eg the preferential option of the poor) in civil law. What they should agree on is civility and charity. For faith and hope will eventually become unnecessary, but charity will last forever.

Garabandal - the last hurrah?

2006-04-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

Garabandal has certainly had a controversial past. Those who are unfamiliar with the apparitions should check out www.garabandal.com or www.garabandal.org. Always intriguing about the predictions for the future were their specificity. For example, the Miracle was supposed to occur on a Thursday night at 8:30 local in March, April or May between the 8th and the 16th on a feast day of a Eucharistic martyr. Additionally it would coincide with a rare event in the Church. Nevertheless, there were plenty of problems including:

- the girls recanted their witness only later to reverse their position and state they had been pressured by Church authorities
- the commission convened by the local bishop could not confirm any supernatural origin
- Fr. Ramon Andreu, who was supposed to be found incorrupt, was disintered in the late 1970's and the body had corrupted
- The three popes prediction, which had seemed so credible, has need of reexamination after the death of John Paul II

What does this mean?

Well, the "end of time, not the end of the world" comment in the 3 popes prediction may work if 2006 is the year; after that it would be hard to accommodate this prophecy with the other claims. We'll all know soon, since for years the proponents of Garabandal have dismissed March and May as appropriate months. This year, 2006, the date of the Miracle would have to be April 13th. How do the predictions match up?

- unlike many previous years, the 13th is a feast day of a Eucharistic martyr, St Hermenegild. Additionally, that date corresponds to Holy Thursday and, coincidentally, Passover. Also, it is the 13th which is highlighted as an important monthly date for the period of the Fatima apparitions. Since the Miracle must be announced 8 days prior, we will know tomorrow (Apr 5th).

Why the Jewish connection? In the Catechism, para. 674 and Romans 11, we understand that Catholic eschatology requires an event prior to the second coming which will give the Jews a second chance to accept Jesus as the Messiah. An event on Passover, with a permanent sign that harkens back to the Old Testament, would be a powerful sign indeed.

Regardless, the Garabandal train has just about run its course. Joey Lomangino is getting up in years and Conchita herself is in her late 50's. Time will tell if it was all about nothing...

Afghan convert

2006-04-01T07:45:00.000-08:00

The recent uproar over the situation in Afghanistan regarding the Christian convert from Islam and his potential execution reminded me of a Vatican II document, Dignitatis Humanae, the Declaration on Religious Freedom. The authentic interpretation proceeds from this statement in paragraph 2:

This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the parts of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.

Some progressives after the council tried to hijack the authentic interpretation and substitute a false hermeneutic that the individual conscience was superior to the Magisterium. They failed to read the whole document. Back in paragraph 1 we read:

We believe that this one true religion subsists in the Catholic and Apostolic Church...

On their part all then are to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and His Church, and to embrace the truth they come to know, and hold fast to it.

Religious freedom, in turn, which men demand as necessary to fulfill their duty to Worship God, has to do with immunity from coercion in civil society. Therefore, it leaves untouched traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and societies toward the true religion and toward the one Church of Christ.

In the Catechism, paragraph 1792, the text lists a number of sources for error in moral conduct including assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience and rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching. People should properly inform their consciences so that they are not held culpable for their ignorance:

Personal conscience and reason should not be set in opposition to the moral law or the Magisterium of the Church.

Catechism of the Catholic Church para 2039.

Hi folks

2006-04-01T07:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to conscience corner, the blog for Puget Sound Catholic Apologetics. We welcome and appreciate the comments, but watch the language and the personal attacks. Before you post, think about whether it's best to clear it with the wife (or husband) first! If you have to go to confession after you post, it's better not to comment on that topic.