Good Friday

How did and do so many Jews miss it?? 

All the signs, all the prophecy, all the proof and still they reject Him. 

From the Old Testament to the New Testament its there for all with eyes to see. 


Ezekiel 37 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition 

The Valley of Dry Bones
37 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

11 Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”   



Matthew 27:50-53 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition 

50 "Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many." 


God bless you all this Good Friday!🙏


In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 

Yahoo Editor Elizabeth Di Filippo makes an idiot of herself

Last week (March 22, 2019) a Catholic mother,  Maryann White, wrote an article to "The Observer" addressing women wearing leggings to a Catholic Basilica. She wrote this from a Catholic mother of four boys perspective, and she was spot on. I noticed other Catholics on social media comment on this story. This post is about an ignorant response to Maryann White's article by Yahoo's lifestyle editor Elizabeth Di Filippo. 

In the original article, "The Legging Problem" the concerned Catholic mother writes: 

"The emergence of leggings as pants some years ago baffled me. They’re such an unforgiving garment. Last fall, they obtruded painfully on my landscape. I was at Mass at the Basilica with my family. In front of us was a group of young women, all wearing very snug-fitting leggings and all wearing short-waisted tops (so that the lower body was uncovered except for the leggings). Some of them truly looked as though the leggings had been painted on them.
A world in which women continue to be depicted as “babes” by movies, video games, music videos, etc. makes it hard on Catholic mothers to teach their sons that women are someone’s daughters and sisters. That women should be viewed first as people — and all people should be considered with respect." 

"...  I wonder why no one thinks it’s strange that the fashion industry has caused women to voluntarily expose their nether regions in this way. I was ashamed for the young women at Mass. I thought of all the other men around and behind us who couldn’t help but see their behinds."

Any Catholic woman who thinks leggings are appropriate for a Basilica or Mass are either honestly uneducated or selfish, vain and completely self-centered. 

No grown woman is so clueless as to think wearing a garment that molds to every curve of the body is going to go unnoticed by males. Most women who wear tight clothes do it to seek attention. They like to show off their bodies like prostitutes showing off the goods for a price. 

Harsh? Too bad. 

I don't care how many feminist heads explode, women who dress to show off their bodies and draw attention to themselves in skimpy or tight clothes look like whores. 

There. I said it. 

Some feminist ding-bat over at Yahoo Canada Style, Elizabeth Di Filippo, thought she'd teach the Catholic mom a thing or two by tearing her apart on Yahoo Canada Style using the Bible. She failed big time. 

Filippo writes, "It’s not OK to police women’s clothing or suggest that the way a woman dresses invites or warrants male attention of any kind. Whether a woman wears leggings, jeans, shorts or a mini-skirt, the onus for any man’s behaviour rests 100 per cent on the man."

Filippo must be living under a rock to think what a woman wears doesn't "warrant male attention of any kind". The push-up bra wasn't created for comfort.

Seriously, what planet is she from? 

Filippo goes on, "I’ll extend White the courtesy of saying that her letter came from a “good place,” although the lens through which she expresses her feelings is flawed and most definitely anti-feminist. However, what irks me more is the perpetuation of the idea that a person’s faith somehow prohibits them from being a feminist."

Two things here, first the Catholic mother's feelings are not "flawed". She's one hundred percent right. We are NOT to tempt each other or cause another to fall into sin. Showing off our bodies IS a temptation to most because we are sexual beings. Women who dress provocatively are encouraging others to sin. Secondly, what decent Catholic woman wants the sort of "feminism" this woman is pushing? If feminism means painted on pants, skimpy skirts and low cut shirts all Catholic women should be "anti-feminist". 

I suspect Filippo is devoid of any Christian knowledge given her flawed statements and misuse of Scripture. She attempts to justify scandalous attire in Church with Sacred Scripture, all she does is crash and burn. 

Filippo quotes: 
“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)

Clearly, Filippo has no idea that Saint Paul is writing to the Galatians because they were falling away from the Gospel teaching they had been taught. Paul is reinforcing the Gospel and giving a warning not to listen to false religions that are causing confusion and evil among them. This has ZERO to do with what Filippo wrote. 

If Filippo wanted to see what the Bible teaches about proper clothing she should have looked to... 

1 Timothy 2:9-10  (NRSVCE) 
9 "also that the women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing, not with their hair braided, or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes, 10 but with good works, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God."

Leggings are neither "modest" nor "decently suitable clothing" for Church. 

But Filippo isn't finished making an idiot of herself by wrongly quoting the Sacred Scriptures...

"There’s also multiple references to looking past how someone appears (although no mention of leggings) including, 1 Samuel 16:7, “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

This is too much! 😂 1 Samuel 16 is about finding who God wanted anointed as the next King after Saul's death!!

Samuel was looking over Jesse's offspring to find which one would become King. Each one was rejected one by one until Samuel asked Jesse if he had any other sons. There was one last son, the youngest who had been out tending sheep. This son was David. As soon as David appeared before Samuel, God told Samuel that David was the chosen one. So Samuel anointed David. 

This scripture has NOTHING to do with what Filippo applied it to. She is dead wrong again.

The problem (one of them anyway) with Filippo is that she is completely missing the point White is making because White is coming from a decent, God loving Catholic perspective and Filippo is coming from a fallen worldly perspective. 

While White correctly sees the error and sin in women objectifying themselves dressing immodestly, Filippo is completely blind to it. 

Filipoo is so blinded by her upside down ass backwards world view and to her own flaws she smugly finishes her diatribe with: 

"White has an opportunity now to humble herself and the ease in which she passes judgement and do some serious soul-searching for where her own ego and prejudice has taken liberties with her identity as a Catholic.
Work on yourself and what you believe. The rest of us will happily be wearing leggings, and be comfortable AF."

Filippo is completely unaware of how ridiculous and wrong she is. She doesn't even know basic Christian teachings yet she's placed herself as judge and jury against White- a practicing Catholic who clearly has been listening to Catholic teaching on modesty-and placed judgment on White.

Filippo is an idiot. Let's pray she doesn't stay one. 🙏


In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 

Quote: 'We read also in Father Nieremberg that a noble lady, who was exceedingly pious, asked God to make known to her what displeased His Divine Majesty most in persons of her sex. The Lord vouchsafed in a miraculous manner to hear her. He opened under her eyes the Eternal Abyss.
There she saw a woman a prey to cruel torments and in her recognized one of her friends, a short time before deceased. This sight caused her as much astonishment as grief: the person whom she saw damned did not seem to her to have lived badly.
Then that unhappy soul said to her: "It is true that I practiced religion, but I was a slave of vanity. Ruled by the passion to please, I was not afraid to adopt indecent fashions to attract attention, and I kindled the fire of impurity in more than one heart. Ah! If Christian women knew how much immodesty in dress displeases God!" At the same moment, this unhappy soul was pierced by two fiery lances, and plunged into a caldron of liquid lead.' Source: Rev. F.X. Schouppe, S.J.[SaintsWorks.net] 

Catholic Catechism: 

2522 Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.

Sources: 

https://ndsmcobserver.com/2019/03/the-legging-problem/ 

https://ca.style.yahoo.com/catholic-mom-leggings-not-ok-150544418.html 

https://twitter.com/mselizabethr?lang=en

Catholic Professor says Jesus was prejudice and broken until he was cured by a woman

Professor Joseph Jensen, who currently teaches Sacred Scripture at Georgetown University and at Trinity University and is a Roman Catholic Permanent Deacon, ordained for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1984, has come to the conclusion (and is teaching) that Jesus was "prejudice and broken" until the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15-21-28) "cures" Him and shows him how to dump his baggage. 

Matthew 15:21-28  - Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA) 21 And Jesus went from thence, and retired into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And behold a woman of Canaan who came out of those coasts, crying out, said to him: Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David: my daughter is grieviously troubled by the devil.
23 Who answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying: Send her away, for she crieth after us:
24 And he answering, said: I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel.
25 But she came and adored him, saying: Lord, help me.
26 Who answering, said: It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs.
27 But she said: Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.
28 Then Jesus answering, said to her: O woman, great is thy faith: be it done to thee as thou wilt: and her daughter was cured from that hour.

In a podcast promoted by This Is Catholic on Sound Cloud, Jensen spins his warped theology saying things like "Jesus's mission was to reform Jewish life and practice"(so much for being our Redeemer)...and...to "get Jews to love one another- Jesus had a very narrow view of his mission". 

Professor Jensen teaches all sorts of new things, like Saint Joseph was a prejudice Jew who taught Jesus to be prejudice too. 
Jensen weaves a story saying Joseph probably sat down with a young Jesus to give him the birds and bees talk, by telling Jesus he will soon start to notice girls and when his interest shifts to the ladies, Jesus should make sure he doesn't look toward any Gentile females, that he must keep his eyes only on the Jewish girls. 

Head spinning yet? 

It gets worse. 

He goes back to the story of the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28) saying that the story isn't about the faith of the woman (which the Church has always taught) but rather its about Jesus letting go of his "brokenness" (prejudice) and the moment Jesus stops being prejudice and broken, that is when the Canaanite woman's daughter is suddenly healed. The woman "cures" Jesus by way of "opening his eyes" to his prejudices against Gentiles. By default then, Jensen must think the healing would not have happened if Jesus continued to be "prejudice" toward Gentiles. This man is a menace to all of Christianity!  

Professor Jensen continues saying, "This story is about people helping people overcome their prejudices and even their rigid conservative interpretation of the scriptures." Poor Jesus didn't know how screwed up he was until the Canaanite woman cured him! But it wasn't really Jesus' fault he was such a mess...no, that fault (according to Jensen) falls upon Saint Joseph for filling Jesus' head with prejudice and baggage.

He doesn't stop there. He continues rewriting Sacred Scripture with more of his insane blasphemous theology. 

This one is a real doozy! 

Jensen says the writers of Scared Scripture cleaned up Jesus' potty-mouth, because Jesus didn't actually say "It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs", oh no, says Jensen, Jesus actually said "It is not good to take the bread of the children, and cast it to the BITCHES"- because Jesus believed all Gentile women were bitches (all thanks to that dastardly Saint Joseph). 

This man is scandalous and blasphemous. Completely UNFIT to teach anyone, anywhere! 

He continues by saying Jesus had to get rid of his "baggage" so the world would ultimately be a better place. That is the power of the story according to Jensen. 

Jensen uses his personal (Protestant-like) interpretation of this scripture to make his delusional points that Jesus had to change and so does the Church today. He doesn't specifically say what changes he thinks the Church needs, but I am guessing from his other statements its more of the homosexual agenda crap swamping our sick society today. 

This shining example of all that is wrong with Catholics in the Church today, goes on to tell of how he officiates marriages...for homosexuals. He's a real gem, eh? 

Why does Jensen preform civil weddings for gays? Because he "won't withhold God's blessing" from gays because "homosexuals are part of God's good gift to the world". 

The Catholic catechism is crystal clear on homosexual relations.

What part of that doesn't this Catholic Professor understand? 

Why is he allowed to teach anti-Catholic theology at Catholic institutions? 

Boggles the mind! 

There is a part 2 to this podcast with Jensen, I may or may not review that one- not sure I can handle any more of this filth at this point. I need to step away for a bit cause this sort of crap drives me nuts. 😒

May God help all those who believe Professor Joseph Jensen's warped theology. 

Stick with the authentic Church teachings my friends, you can't go wrong with that. 😇


In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 





Sources: 

https://scs.georgetown.edu/programs/4/bachelor-of-arts-in-liberal-studies/faculty-bio/3627/joseph-e-jensen

https://soundcloud.com/thisiscatholic/imageandlikeness

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2015:21-28

Jensen's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/joseph.e.jensen.1

This Is Catholic Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thisiscatholic/

Fr James Martin says the Virgin Mary opposed Jesus Christ because Jesus was crazy

Father James Martin strikes again, taking another shot at the Holy Mother of God on his Facebook page. 

Martin says...get this... that Mary and Jesus's extended family thought Jesus was "crazy" and they (his family) needed to "restrain" Jesus Christ from his insane delusions. 😕

Fr. James Martin, SJ

Who's side are you on? Today's Gospel (Mk 3:22-33)  

Today’s reading is especially notable for what it leaves out. It omits one of the most surprising of all Gospel passages, which still has the power to shock many Christians. It was part of Saturday’s Gospel:
"Then Jesus went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, 'He has gone out of his mind.'"
Even that is a polite translation. Most New Testament scholars say that it’s not accurate to say that the family went to restrain him because others said he’s

out of his mind. No, his family went to restrain him because they were saying he was out of his mind. 
So Jesus’s family, that is, Mary and his extended family, have made the trip all the way to Capernaum, by the Sea of Galilee, from Nazareth, which is a considerable distance, to “restrain him.” Because they thought he was crazy. Tomorrow we hear Jesus’s response to their showing up to restrain him. He’s told “Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.” He says, “Who are my mother and brothers? Those who do the will of God are my brother and sister and mother.”
So his family opposes Jesus. And he rejects them. Can we believe this story? Could this have been added for some reason by Mark?
Daniel Harrington, SJ and John Donahue, SJ, write in the "Sacra Pagina" commentary on the Gospel of Mark, make this observation: “Such a charge would hardly have been made up by the early church, and so this may reflect the historical view of the relatives of Jesus, none of whom had been called to the circle of the Twelve.” 
In other words, some of his extended family, and apparently Mary, opposed him at least at the beginning of his ministry.
What we do read today is opposition from another group: the scribes. The scribes, especially those from Jerusalem, are the most adamant opponents of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel. They were part of the religious leadership and the learned class. They critique Jesus for his healing, lobbing against him a far more serious charge than being crazy: he is in league with Beelzebul, or Satan. That name, incidentally, is associated with the Canaanite God Baal. So Jesus, goes the charge, is worse than crazy, and in modern parlance worse than a heretic: he’s evil. Imagine having among the most learned of the religious leadership say that.
I bring this up to emphasize that Jesus faced opposition, and fierce opposition, from two groups whom you would think would naturally have supported him: his family and religious leaders. 
But the Gospels give us little indication that it bothered him. He doesn’t explain himself to his family, with some lengthy brief about what he’s doing, what his mission is, what happened in the desert or at his baptism, and why he’s left them behind. Nor does he try to calm them down. He simply reminds his listeners, not his family by the way, that ties to God are more important than familial ties. 
He doesn’t really explain himself to the scribes in this passage either. Meaning he doesn’t say, “Look at all the good I’m doing; look at how many people I’m healing; and look at all the great things I’m saying; look at how I really am in line with the law. He points that out in other contexts but here he doesn’t. Instead he points out how illogical what they are saying is, and for good measure, says that they are sinning by denying the power of God at work in him. 
So he dismisses both charges, very forcefully, and then simply gets on with his work. He tells his family that they’re not his family and the scribes that they’re the ones doing the sinning. 
How is he able to do this? Well, of course he is the Son of God, with an intimate relationship with the Father, which gives him a grace that we cannot understand. But on a human level, in a way that we can understand, he’s free. He doesn’t need his family’s acceptance. He doesn’t need the approval of the religious authorities. He doesn’t need to be loved. He doesn’t need to be liked. He doesn’t even need to be listened to. He’s free. And that makes him both effective and dangerous. 
What can we learn from this? Well, as Christians, we can ask ourselves how free we are of the need to be loved, liked, or approved of? How free are we of the need to be important in other people’s eyes? How free are we of the need for status? For being part of the “in crowd”? How free are we of the need to be approved of by the religious authorities of our time? How free are we of the need to have the approval of the larger society? How free are we of the need for status and power? How free are we to proclaim the Gospel? Because there is the temptation that if we do, people will think we are out of our minds.
Sometimes being a good Christian does not lead to opposition, and in fact leads to people approving of you, and liking you and even loving you. Perhaps that’s most of the time. But there are times when it does not. When people will think that we are in league with the devil or will think that we are out of our minds. 
And then we have a choice. With whom do we stand? The crowd--or Jesus? Our families--or Jesus? Religious authorities--or Jesus? 
In those difficult times, the choice may be hard. But at least it’s clear. -end quote-

There is nothing "clear" in Fr. James Martin's theology, but there is always plenty of heresy. 

Apparently, Martin believes that Mary suddenly got struck dumb and everything the Angel Gabriel told her was wiped from her memory along with all that happened since the birth of Christ...the angels, the shepherds, the prophets etc. Poof! Gone from her memory so she had zero idea that Jesus was the Christ and believed Jesus must be "out of his mind" to think as he did. 

The only one "out of his mind" here is Fr. James Martin. This guy is dangerous! 

I would pity Fr. Martin if he didn't repulse me so much. 

Our Church is in a terrible, terrible state to spawn priests such as Fr. James Martin. 


God have mercy on us all and deliver us from such priests! 

In Christ,


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 


To anyone interested in what set off Fr. Martin, it is chapter 3 of the Gospel of Mark beginning with Saturday's reading (20-21). 

Please read it, and tell me if you come to the same conclusions Fr. Martin has...that Mary opposed her son because she thought he was crazy. 

Mark 3  Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)  

1 And he entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand.

2 And they watched him whether he would heal on the sabbath days; that they might accuse him.

3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand: Stand up in the midst.

4 And he saith to them: Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy? But they held their peace.

5 And looking round about on them with anger, being grieved for the blindness of their hearts, he saith to the man: Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth: and his hand was restored unto him.

6 And the Pharisees going out, immediately made a consultation with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

7 But Jesus retired with his disciples to the sea; and a great multitude followed him from Galilee and Judea,

8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan. And they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, hearing the things which he did, came to him.

9 And he spoke to his disciples that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.

10 For he healed many, so that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had evils.

11 And the unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him: and they cried, saying:

12 Thou art the Son of God. And he strictly charged them that they should not make him known.

13 And going up into a mountain, he called unto him whom he would himself: and they came to him.

14 And he made that twelve should be with him, and that he might send them to preach.

15 And he gave them power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.

16 And to Simon he gave the name Peter:

17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he named them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:

18 And Andrew and Philip, and Bartholomew and Matthew, and Thomas and James of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Cananean:

19 And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

20 And they come to a house, and the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

21 And when his friends had heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him. For they said: He is become mad.

22 And the scribes who were come down from Jerusalem, said: He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils he casteth out devils.

23 And after he had called them together, he said to them in parables: How can Satan cast out Satan?

24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

26 And if Satan be risen up against himself, he is divided, and cannot stand, but hath an end.

27 No man can enter into the house of a strong man and rob him of his goods, unless he first bind the strong man, and then shall he plunder his house.

28 Amen I say to you, that all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and the blasphemies wherewith they shall blaspheme:

29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, shall never have forgiveness, but shall be guilty of an everlasting sin.

30 Because they said: He hath an unclean spirit.

31 And his mother and his brethren came; and standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

32 And the multitude sat about him; and they say to him: Behold thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.

33 And answering them, he said: Who is my mother and my brethren?

34 And looking round about on them who sat about him, he saith: Behold my mother and my brethren.


35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and my sister, and mother.




Fr. Martin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrJamesMartin/photos/a.139618381495.120357.46899546495/10155047024851496/?type=3&theater

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+3&version=DRA

Palm Sunday reflection...the last breath of Christ

No matter how many times you read or hear the scriptures read, there is I think (for most of us) a certain Scripture verse that just hits us every time we read it or hear it.

For me, one such verse was in today's Gospel reading...

                       "Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last."

                    [Here all kneel and pause for a short time.]

Jesus' last breath...

Can you imagine that exact moment?

What do you imagine reading/hearing that?

My first thought is that, THAT final sigh of breath must have been the loudest sound heard at that moment.  I imagine even the wind stopped blowing for a moment at the horror of what had just occurred.  The only sound echoing in everyone's ears is the last breath of Christ crucified.

My second thought is of Mary.  She was the first to hear Jesus take his first breath at birth and now she was witness to his last on the cross at his death.

In that moment, I imagine nothing else could be heard- as if the entire world stood still to hear God Incarnate's last breath escape him.

And then the roar of the curtain being torn from top to bottom, the earthquake ripping across the land must have made a horrible sound- but I bet nothing compared to the sound of Christ's last breath on that cross.  How could it?

No matter how many times I read or hear that verse read it always strikes me with awe and horror and a profound love for our Lord Jesus Christ.



In Christ,


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner

Does the Holy Father understand us at all?

At  Casa Santa Marta on Friday morning the pope said…

"Those [sad] Christians don't do our Lord or Our Church any favors. Christians who set time for mourning, who are always complaining. They're constantly sad...This is not the attitude of a disciple. St. Augustine tells Christians: 'Go on, go on, walk and sing, sing. With joy.” [Official Vatican Network]

Unfortunately it seems that Holy Scripture disagrees with our current Pope on the matter of “those who mourn” (though he is probably spot on about complainers like myself).

Matthew 5:4

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

John 16:20

“Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.”

Or perhaps our Holy Father doesn’t understand how truly sad many Catholics are with the current state of our beloved Holy Catholic Church and the failure of SOME of the clergy in Her?

[This is not about all the truly wonderful Catholic clergy and religious we have in our Church, God bless you all!  This is about the clergy and religious who are not about God’s work, but their own.]

Yes, Holy Father, we are sad Christians... but you understand WHY we are sad?

If Christians are feeling mournful it is because we see the destruction of souls in the world and the Catholic Church’s failure to speak the Truth boldly and bring people back to God’s Church.  

What makes many of us ‘sad Christians’ is when the Church entrusted by Christ to PREACH the TRUTH to the world, instead ALLOWS ‘liberal’ priests and nuns to run amok teaching HERESY and LIES to deceive the masses – at Mass no less! 

That Holy Father, is what makes us “sad Christians”.

You want to see us joyful disciples again?  Be the Church Christ entrusted you to be.  A Church we can DEPEND ON to ALWAYS preach the Truth.  Be a Church were heresy among the clergy and religious is NEVER tolerated.  Discipline the clergy and flock to correct errors the way Holy Scripture demands you to.

 Hebrews 12:8If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children.

Hebrews 12:11Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

We ‘sad Christians’ will always have our joy in Christ [regardless of failing clergy], but it would be nice to have it again in our Church.  Joy in BEING Catholic because we trust our clergy to teach the Truth from God.  That would be nice...that would bring a great many of us joy.

I think of the words of Saint Paul (Romans 16)…

    ^17 “I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. ¹⁸ For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. ¹⁹ For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil. ²⁰ The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

The Catholic priests and nuns who support gay marriage, birth control, women priests and other heresies MUST be avoided by Christians.  When  our Church does NOTHING to remove these heretics from our mist we are saddened.  We see these heretics leading ignorant people on the road to Hell and we are often powerless to do anything about it because our Bishops will not listen to our pleas and remove these serpents from among us- or worse yet, the Bishops themselves are heretics and are purposely filling our parishes with these liars to corrupt and deceive the ignorant.

When will our Church do something about this?  How long will our own clergy and religious be allowed to sadden us with their deceptions?

You want joyful Christians Holy Father?  Discipline, teach and speak the truth to us all.  Stop tolerating heretics who corrupt our Church and faith with their serpents forked tongues.

Start removing and excommunicating people who are in the Church only to “serve their own appetites” as Saint Paul warned us about.  Evil persists in the Church because evil is ALLOWED to remain in the Church.

Christians hungry for the Truth will remain ‘sad Christians’ as long as we see the evil in our Church allowed to spread and corrupt.

Colossians 3:16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

We keep our joy in Christ and the Holy Sacraments always, but we are daily saddened by the failures found in our beloved Catholic Church when our Church leaders fail to lead, teach or correct those entrusted to them.

What child grows to respect a parent who teaches them lies and fails to correct or discipline them?  That child grows up to become a disrespectful liar themselves… if the Church continues to fail as a parent to Her wayward children, She too will produce nothing but rotten fruit.

The Holy Father quoted Saint Augustine...perhaps our Holy Father will quote another great in our Church...G.K. Chesterton who clearly understood what we need our Church to do...

If our Holy Father wants to see us sad Christians become joyful again, he could do us all a favor by spending his efforts weeding out rotten clergy and putting Saint Paul's words to work throughout our Church, in every parish and convent around the world.

           

1 Timothy 5^20 “As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest also may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I warn you to keep these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality. ²² Do not ordain anyone hastily, and do not participate in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.”

2 Timothy 4
               New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
4 “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: ² proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. ³ For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. ⁵ As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.⁶ As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

I can’t say it any better than Saint Paul did in Sacred Scripture.

In Christ,

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner

Source:  http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-walk-joyfully-as-lamb-of-the-lord

"Other People Are Worse Sinners Than Me!"

Post by Connecticut Catholic Corner Contributor: Doug


Have you ever heard, or perhaps even argued this dusty and worn out proclamation, “Other people are worse sinners than me!”? Ironically, whoever says it is right. We are all sinners, yet some are worse or better in resisting sin than others. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle to varying degrees. What is (possibly) wrong, however, is the inference drawn from that statement, that “Others are worse so I’m going to Heaven some day and they aren’t!“ Such “logic” is beyond naiveté; it’s a trap, and with potentially serious and eternal consequences, above and beyond the fact that we are supposed to judge acts, and not people.

Consider Jesus’s words in Luke: 13, 1-5:”There were some present at that very time who told Him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And He answered them, ‘Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Silo’am fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” ( Emphasis added.)

Most of us aren’t serial killers, or even necessarily bad people, but we are all sinners, and sin is an equal opportunity killer. It does not discriminate. It welcomes all. Grave or mortal sin in particular, even if committed only once, can cause our eternal doom, right along with the gruesome and repugnant serial killer you saw on the 6pm news.

A mortal sin is basically a violation of the 10 Commandments. On it’s web site, the National Catholic Register (www.ncregister.com) has a “Resources” link to a confession guide, for children and adults. When you see this guide, you realize that the range of each of the 10 Commandments by definition is broader than we typically assume. For example, abusing alcohol or drugs falls under the 5th Commandment of “thou shalt not kill,” because of the harm they cause to our bodies. Masturbation, the use of contraception, or even lustful thoughts violate the 6th Commandment of “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” and regardless if the sinner is single or married because such practices abuse the intent of our bodies (actually, “temples”) or denigrates the dignity of someone else’s body.

Last but not least, 1857 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that three conditions must first be present for a sin to be considered “mortal,” or “grave”: 1.) The object of the sin itself must be grave matter. 2.) The sin must be committed with full knowledge. 3.) The sin must be committed with deliberate consent.

It is noteworthy, however, that 1735 of the Catechism lists the exceptions for imputability and responsibility of actions which can be “diminished or “even nullified“: “ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors.”

I learned long ago to ideally never offer a dissenting opinion without an alternative or helpful suggestion, and Jesus has already supplied such an escape from eternal damnation for us: the Sacrament of Reconciliation, A.K.A.: “Confession.”

Consider the following passages from the book “The Life Of Faustina Kowalska,” the authorized biography of the now canonized Patroness of Divine Mercy, written by Sister Sophia Michalenko, in which Jesus told the following instructions to then Sister Faustina:

“Let the sinner not be afraid to approach Me. The flames of Mercy are burning Me-clamoring to be spent; I want to pour them out on these souls. Distrust on the part of souls is tearing at My insides,. The distrust of a chosen soul causes Me even greater pain; despite my inexhaustible love for them they do not trust Me. Even My death is not enough for them. Woe to the soul that abuses these [gifts].” (Page 45)

“I desire trust from My creatures. Encourage souls to place great trust in my fathomless mercy. Let the weak, sinful soul have no fear to approach Me, for even if it had more sins than there are grains of sand in the world, all will be drowned in the immeasurable depths of My mercy.” (Page 172)

-“The flames of mercy are burning Me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them!”
-“At that last hour, a soul has nothing with which to defend itself except My mercy. Happy is the soul that during its lifetime immersed itself in the Fountain of Mercy, because justice will have no hold on it.”
-“Write this: Everything that exists is enclosed in the depths of My mercy, more deeply than an infant in its mother’s womb. How painfully distrust of My goodness wounds Me! Sins of distrust wound me most painfully.”
(Page 175)

"{Let} the greatest sinners {place} their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in My bottomless mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy toward tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write: Before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice…” (Emphasis added) (Page 180)

Notice how Jesus discerns the terms “justice” and “mercy.” As I once heard a priest wryly explain in a Homily, “Justice is getting what we deserve. Mercy is getting what we don’t deserve!”
And where do we attain that mercy?

“Write, speak of My mercy. Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy [The Sacrament Of Reconciliation].” (Page 214)

Jesus also admonished that we should recite the Divine Mercy Chaplet (done on Rosary Beads) daily and that great graces will be granted to even the most hardened sinner, if he recites the Chaplet even once, and likewise if it is read in the presence of, and on behalf of a dying person. Both Jesus and The Blessed Mother in their appearances to Saint Faustina also emphasized three Christian virtues: humility, love and purity. Without the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which grants as much healing and Grace as it does forgiveness, we cannot realistically hope to attain such Mercy.

That is where the humility comes in, as Saint Bernard once sagely noted, “Humility is the mother of all salvation.” Purity is important, because as our Blessed Mother has said, sexual sin is so common that many souls drop like “snowflakes” into Hell. As for love, for God and for each other, it is the most vital virtue because by definition, any sin violates love, as so noted in 1 Corinthians, 13, 13: “So faith, hope, love abide these three, but the greatest of these is love.”

So while some may be worse sinners than us, the wages of sin are indeed potentially death for any sinner who does not seek mercy through repentance and reconciliation. Even venial, or lesser sin, weakens us and makes us more prone to commit more serious sin. And to that aim, we must always be on guard, as Jesus warned us in Luke: 12, 35-41: “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You must also be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

Given our human frailty, actually caused by original sin, this all can seem overwhelming, which is why we need to be mindful that each of us is a work in progress, and that is why Scripture is so plentiful with words of encouragement, advising us not to be afraid, because God is merciful, patient and loving, so long as we are faithful and diligent, in spite of our seemingly endless failures, and trusting in His Son, Jesus as our Savior. Saint Padre Pio, a man of reputed good cheer, put it thus succinctly, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.”

Saint Augustine gave us yet even more perspective, and hope: “God does not impose impossible things, but by giving His command, He admonishes you to do what you can and pray for what you cannot do (yet).”

From this fellow sinner, I wish you God’s loving peace, and above all, His mercy.

Doug