The following comes from Nov. 1 story on the site of the Catholic News Agency.
The Archbishop of Denver warned that an increasing rejection of God endangers the foundations of democracy, urging Catholics to embrace the truth of the Gospel and to live it “both personally and publicly.”
“When one does away with God, one embraces, whether knowingly or unknowingly, the father of lies and the evil one,” Archbishop Samuel Aquila said in an Oct. 27 homily.
“If there is no truth and if there is no God that is referenced, it means that we, as human beings, are the ones who decide what is good and what is evil,” he added, warning that the complete rejection of God results not in true freedom and justice, but in “dictatorship” and “totalitarianism.”
His homily was delivered at the archdiocesan Red Mass, celebrated at Regis University in Denver. The Red Mass is a more than 700-year-old tradition invoking the Holy Spirit’s aid for lawyers, judges, and government officials.
Archbishop Aquila drew on Christ’s parable from the Gospel of Luke about the prayers of the self-righteous Pharisee and the humble tax collector. He noted that both men recognized the presence of God, but the humble one who recognized “his dependence on God, is the one who is exalted.”
The archbishop said that modern society’s rejection of God is a unique challenge.
“While the two men who prayed in the parable both recognized God, the great challenge for today, and especially in our own society, are those who want to impose secularism upon us, and radical secularism – a complete denial of God.”
He contrasted this with the view of the Founding Fathers, who held that natural rights come from God.
The archbishop said the founders’ decision to include the First Amendment’s religion clause was a recognition of the importance of religion. They believed in God and “the free exercise of their faith in the public square.”
“Our democracy is truly based on the natural law and its survival depends upon the recognition of the Creator.”
“There would be no discussion today about the freedom of conscience and religious freedom if everyone acknowledged that truth,” he continued. “Both of those freedoms are greatly challenged today because of the desire to abandon God.”
But despite negative trends, Archbishop Aquila said Catholics should be “filled with hope” because of their faith in Christ, and because of the truth of the Gospel….
Christians are called to witness as the martyrs did: “not to water down the Gospel, not to water down the faith, not to have a Christianity that is not lived or that is like a little decoration on a cake.”
Archbishop Aquila said Catholics are called “in charity and in love to proclaim the God who is love.”
“It is not some soft love, but it is a love that is all demanding and all consuming. It is the love of Christ as revealed in Christ, as lived by St. Thomas More, as lived by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as lived by so many other martyrs who gave witness to their faith as governments rejected faith.”
To read the entire story, click here.
Thank you Archbishop Samuel Aquila for speaking the truth! We will need many brave individuals to step up in this fight against the secularist in our society.
Amen! I applaud the words of Archbishop Aquila. God bless him always.
Oh loving saving Lord, how refreshing are the words that come out of those who honor and obey you. How encouraging and how edifying. Praise Be Jesus Christ, Holy is His name. Abba Father we adore thee now and forever!
“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”
-Venerable John Paul II
“The nation doesn’t simply need what we have. It needs what we are.”
-St. Teresia Benedicta (Edith Stein)
“Love is the most necessary of all virtues. Love in the person who preaches the word of God is like fire in a musket. If a person were to throw a bullet with his hands, he would hardly make a dent in anything; but if the person takes the same bullet and ignites some gunpowder behind it, it can kill. It is much the same with the word of God. If it is spoken by someone who is filled with the fire of charity- the fire of love of God and neighbor- it will work wonders.”
-St. Anthony Mary Claret
Love this insight — we need to be true to the Faith of our Fathers no matter what.
It’s not our job to blend in — it’s our job to shine out.
“In July in Rio de Janeiro, Pope Francis said, “The measure of the greatness of a society is found in the way it treats those most in need … those who have nothing apart from their poverty!” That is a good way to show that our Christianity is not just frosting. We need to take care of the poor. Then we can take care of ourselves.
Bob One, if the government took the boot off our necks we might be able to do both……
No, Bob One, we take care of own first, but not excessively, then we take care of others. St Paul clearly stated that those who did not take care of their own were worse than the pagans of his time. Many of the poor are children of fathers and mothers who abandoned them.
Bob One, I might have misinterpreted you. If so I am sorry, but the Lord Jesus stated the same thing when he denounced the Pharisees for giving to the Temple what should have gone for the upkeep of their aging parents. You might have meant, though, that we should take care of our families and others before taking care of our own selves. That is noble, but one does need to take care of oneself also, or we cannot help others, but again not excessively. “In medius stat virtus”, “Virtue lies (stands) in the middle”.
Thank you, Archbishop Aquila for what you stated. The second president of the United States, John Adams, said that our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. The problem now is that there are so many different religions and groups in the Untied States that some totally oppose one another on major moral issues such as the killing of unborn babies, even just because the parents think the child is the wrong sex or on marriage between a one man and one woman. Both would have horrified President Adams. Even though John Adams was a son of the so-called Enlightenment, he still held on to most Judeo Christian values. Many no longer do in this country, even some so-called Christians and Jews. Let us pray they truly become “enlightened’.
Along with ourselves.
The Gospel of Matthew 26:11 “For the poor you have always with you: but me you have not always. ”
Bob One, You are omitting the fullness of the foundation that Pope Francis bases that statement on. The *fullness* of all charity IS the by product of the *fullness* of Truth. They go hand in hand. You see Bob, Pope Francis has never measured the greatness of a society’s success by the works of the ACLU like you have measured. Bob One, When previously discussing the hiding of Tabernacles in broom closets, you are also the same individual who even wrote, “It is the bishop’s *pleasure* to place a tabernacle wherever he chooses.” Jesus IS *fully present* in Blessed Sacrament and Jesus should be located in a place of prominence within the Church. So Bob in essence you DO believe that it is charitable to hide Jesus, the Bread of Life from everyone including the poorest of the poor. The Blessed Sacrament is the Source and Summit of our faith. The poorest of the poor are in just as great a need of the Bread of Life and knowing the fullness of the Truth as everyone is in need of salvation. Bob One, When you demonstrate that you have absolutely no problem with hiding “I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.” then hollow words about caring for the poorest of the poor lose all sincerity or value. These hollow words simply appear to be a disguising and an empty sugar coated frosting of the ACLU’s and other various groups whose major goal is to silence the fullness of the Truth. Apart from the “Bread of Life” and the fullness of Truth, you can do nothing of everlasting value. You can rattle the gates with partial (frosting) truths Bob but to no lasting avail. “In The End My Immaculate Heart Will Triumph “
Catherine thank you for your reply to Bob one…..you are correct and you conveyed well. I was just thinking of the same quote that you quoted from holy scripture and I’m glad you posted it first…God bless you : )
Thank you Abeca! God bless you sweet sister in Christ! : )
Um, but He has promised to remain with us until the end of the age.
It is really weird that you pick on the people who defended the church and defended the person who has rejected the Church. Have you gone sede on us?
Annonymous,
Please identify to whom your above remarks are addressed to, and what you mean by them
Then explain to us why we should even pay attention to someone who is afraid to identify themself!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founding Director
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
If you think Catherine’s positions are weird, Anonymous, it means that there is much about what she is saying that you just do not understand. I pray you would understand. Try thinking in terms of not ‘who’ is rejecting the Church so much as who is rejecting the Faith. Albeit many, through no fault of their own, have never been taught the Faith…. despite attending Church.
IOW: One doesn’t have to go ‘sede’ as you term it to leave the Faith.
Ann Malley,
Thank you for your understanding. I am very grateful to God for having had the privilege of being an active Legion of Mary member. Our spiritual director would ask us go out in pairs to knock on doors of people that we had never met. I just read anonymous’s comment, “Have you gone sede on us?” That comment alone is informative about the missing yeast that is involved in making such a statement. Active Legion of Mary members are often sent out by the pastor because a relative has called the parish to let the priest know that their brother or mother or son lived close by and that their relative has fallen away from the practice of the faith. The pastor would ask us to go out and visit the particular home. I can’t imagine the lack of love in one’s heart for another Catholic that would have allowed us to knock on that person’s door and say, “Have you gone prodigal on us or Have you gone sede on us?” The door would be slammed in our face. If you truly care about someone’s soul then you would never make that cold unfeeling comment because many hurting people have lost their bearings and Our Lord would not want anonymous to make fun or make sport of any of them. While he was dying even our Lord never said, “Have you gone prodigal on Me? Our pastor taught us exactly what Pope Francis talked about in meeting and healing the wounded. Yes, when we knocked on a person’s door and we always tried to reach out to show them that God still loved them and cared about them. Sometimes just by handing them a parish bulletin and inviting them to come to Mass.
cont.
Ann Malley, In our years of making house calls, hospital and rest home visits we learned that people have left the Catholic Church for a variety of reasons. Many many times we heard complaints about the changing of the Mass. It was always the fullness of Truth that brought them back to practicing their faith. Many returned because of the TLM. One woman left the Church because the Catholic school only had room for one of her children. She was so wounded that she completely abandoned the faith out of bitterness. She was older now and sadly due to her own anger she raised all of her children without the benefit of learning the faith that she had been raised with. Many years had passed and she was now seeing the price that her children were paying for her own anger which had gotten the better of her and she was seeing the consequences in her decision to stop the practice of her faith. Her children lacked the foundation of the faith that she had been given. She told us all of this on our very first visit. We just listened. On the second visit we brought her a single rose and when she opened her door we placed the rose in her hand and told her that Our Lady wanted her to let go of the sadness and come home. She started to cry and this woman immediately returned to the sacraments with a profound trust that Jesus and his Blessed Mother had lovingly heard her prayers and searched for her in order to help her grown children. When Jesus was dying on the Cross he said, “I Thirst”and “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”.
Catherine, God bless you and the Legion of Mary.
God bless you, Catherine, for all the work you do. And the true charity with which you do it.
Pax
There is one, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church-that is a tenet of the Faith.
Well Anony AMEN TO THAT!
First Commandment: I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. (Including sins against Faith, Hope and Charity)
1. Have I neglected the knowledge of my faith as taught in the catechism, such as the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Seven Sacraments, the Our Father, etc.?
2.Have I deliberately doubted or denied any of the teachings of the Church?
3. Have I taken part in any non-Catholic worship?
4.Am I a member of any non-Catholic religious organization, secret society or anti-Catholic group?
5. Have I knowingly read any heretical, blasphemous or anti-Catholic literature?
6.Have I practiced any superstitions (such as horoscopes, fortune telling, Ouija board, etc.)?
7. Have I omitted religious duties or practices through motives of human respect?
8. Have I recommended myself daily to God?
9. Have I been faithful to my daily prayers?
10.Have I abused the Sacraments in any way? Received them irreverently, e.g. Communion in the Hand without obeying the principles and the 7 rules promulgated by Paul VI as binding in this matter?
11.Have I made fun of God, Our Lady, the Saints, the Church, the Sacraments, other holy things?
12. Have I been guilty of great irreverence in church, e.g., conversation, behavior, or dress?
13. Have I been indifferent with regard to my Catholic Faith — believing one can be saved in any religion, that all religions are equal?
14.Have I presumed on God´s mercy at any time?
15.Have I despaired of God´s mercy?
16. Have I hated God?
17.Have I given too much importance to any creature, activity, object or opinion?
Anony what is wrong with being challenged to think? I keep forgetting people are no longer challenged to think or clarify. What a waste of the gifts that our Lord has given us. St. Thomas Aquinus would expect us to reason and to dialogue…for you to try to discredit the goodness in Catherine is concerning. Do you not see her faithfulness? How will you test the real waters when the real storm comes, if you can see. Bob one is just being challenged to think outside of the box that he is highly accustomed too…someone must be praying for him…some one loves him.
Catherine, there you go again! We have no disagreement about Christ being the summit of our faith. I would never think of “hiding” Christ from the people. But I did say, correctly I think, that it is up to the Bishop to decide where the Tabernacle can/should be in a church. I only pointed out that he has a choice between having it behind the altar, on a side altar, or in a separate chapel. He can make that decision if the local pastor asks him. I have seen it done all three ways. In my parish, it is on a side altar. In the parish I grew up in it was behind/part of the altar. At St. Peter’s in Rome it is in a side altar/chapel. All are ok! Peace!
Bob One,
Please don’t be deceived or deceive others Bob One. When an individual is complicit with hiding or undermining the fullness of the Truth then they ARE hiding and betraying Christ. That is a fact no matter how many like-minded acquaintances that one might surround themselves with. Our Lady of Akita called it “compromise.”
St. Augustine said, “Before the devil can destroy you, he must first deceive you.”
Bob One, Do you believe in the existence of hell and purgatory as the Catholic Church teaches? Bob One, Do you support and uphold Church teaching regarding the sanctity of marriage being only between a man and a woman?
Bob One, Do you defend Church teaching or do you remain silent when friends tell you that women should be able to be priests? Bob One do you support the Church’s teaching regarding the evil of artificial contraception. Please answer the questions in order to teach the fullness of the Truth to others.
Bob One, Do you remember that Judas also feigned great concern for the poor as he denied and betrayed the full Truth. Jesus was always and will always be MORE deserving and entitled to receive our complete loyalty. This means defending and upholding “all” of the teachings of the Catholic Church. Many within the Church have shifted their concern away from obeying and serving God first. Some have done this because they have never been taught the full Truth. Others have chosen to do this because they are emulating Judas, who was a deliberate thief of the full Truth feigning concern for the poor while he plotted with others in the dark to betray the fullness of Truth whose name is Jesus Christ Crucified.
Thanks , Catherine, for your clarity and vigor in defense of the Good God. So many seem to take matters of Faith like a business venture. All contractual terms that mean nothing outside the written agreement. There is no heart. Love is cold. Or at the very least misdirected toward that which is not the better part.
If we have temporary secular peace it is because we have surrendered what we hold dear but if we want to hold on to what we hold dear in our morals and values then we must expect to be protested.
Death? or not? Dead people walking today…loss of true character in Christ! Unity amongst God’s people is lacking. The thread of confusion is unending. When will the dead be revived again, when will they accept the living blood of Christ to revive them? The walking dead amongst us are the ones who do not understand what they are losing because they have forgotten or not known to live. To live is to breath Christ, live Christ, taking in the suffering and the happiness that come our way in this life. What shall we choose today? Do we have an ounce of comprehension of the importance of really living for Christ? How will they know if we neglect our duties to share and give so willingly. Mind you, we can not change what mankind has willed for himself, but we can at least touch the lives of one person at a time. The truth must live in us, the truth so we won’t be amongst the walking dead. Death…we fear death but really we ought to fear being one of the walking dead, which if one does not change or we don’t pray for others conversion’s, we ought to be concerned that being the walking dead forever here on earth may ultimately cause us to lose our eternity in heaven with our Lord. That is the true tragedy of all time!
I imagine Christ saying this to me when I am down or feeling a moment of hardship, so I write these words and trust Christ by my side:
“Look deep into your heart Ask for me in truth. Close thy tender eyes my child. Close thy tender eyes my child
Can you see me, can you feel me?
I take you as you are, all sinful and full of sorrows
I cleanse you with my blood, yes bloody and all
Eat of my flesh, drink of my blood
and do not be afraid, come to me for comfort, Look even deeper into my heart now.
I live within thee, I live within thee
Will you make room for me in your heart, in your home?
Ask for me in truth, be open to my truths none other
“Lord how will I know it is you?” You Ask
Do you trust me? Keep asking, searching and trust in me.
Even with your burdens and illnesses I am there, you are never alone. Close thy fleshly eyes and you will fall asleep to find me There………………………………