Laudato Si - Seamless Garment And Humanism

I'm still slogging through the mess known as Laudato Sii and am happy to refer to you some excellent commentary by fellow Catholic writers.  From the Remnant Newspaper, we have from Chris Jackson "Why I'm Disregarding Laudato Si And Why You Should Too".  I do believe that all should take the time and trouble to read it for ourselves (I linked to the English translation yesterday), if only to be able to discuss it intelligently to those who might be so confused as to put it on a par with the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception.  Perhaps we might be able to work off a little time from Purgatory by subjecting ourselves to the obvious mortification - to think that a pontiff could vomit forth such bile.

He gives the paragraph numbers for the snippets that he cites so that the incredulous can see the crap for themselves.  I'll interject a few of my own observations to date.  In paragraph 8, just before he sneaks in the "seamless garment" phrase, we have a quote from Patriarch Bartholomew opining that when we "cause changes in the climate..strip the earth of its forests..we sin against God."  Leaving alone (for now) that we are under no obligation whatsoever to take seriously the bloviations of a non-Catholic, we really can breathe a sigh of relief for we are not "causing changes in the climate" nor are we "stripping the earth of its forests".

Like Jackson, I too have noticed the emphasis on "feeling".  Try this fun exercise.  Copy and paste the encyclical into a Word document (as I did).  Do a word search on "feel".  Rather revelatory, isn't it?  But if any envirowhackos insist on feeling guilt for the "stripping of forests", I present to you (as did Jackson), an aide to help you express your feelings of remorse.  The video below was taken several years ago, as a loony bunch calling themselves "Earth First" had a little sob-session over some trees.  And yes, they were serious!



As I watched the video, I expressed my feelings (that word again!) of mirth and comedy.  In other words, I laughed until tears came from my eyes!

Here's another curious result from the word-search feature.  Try looking up "humanism".  We know what that is, right?  If not, examine the website of the American Humanist Association and read the various manifestos.  They are quite up front about their atheism and anti-life agendas. It's interesting how these words such as "humanism", "seamless garment", etc are slyly insinuated into this document so that they could worm their way into our thinking.

As I was looking into my post archives just now, I was reminded that last September, some progressives conducted a "People's Climate March" in New York City, with Cardinal Dolan sounding the trumpets for it.  Look at the attendees, and notice how fossil fuels were demonized - as they are in Laudato Si.  To me, it sounds like that march and this encyclical received input from the same sources.

I won't disregard Laudato Si, for I believe it to be a snake in the grass that must be watched.

Another Troubling Homily From The Pope

Two days ago in his daily homily, Pope Francis made some incredible statements that I think may actually be quite dangerous to those vulnerable to discouragement and depression.  From the Catholic News Agency we read, for example:

• "If, in your relationship with the Lord, you do not feel that He loves you tenderly, you are missing something, you still have not understood what grace is, you have not yet received grace which is this closeness."
• “In history and also in our lives we are tempted to transform grace into a kind of a merchandise, perhaps saying to ourselves something like, ‘I have so much grace,’ or, ‘I have a clean soul, I am graced.’"

There's so much wrong with this I scarcely know where to begin.  But let's start with the word "feel".  There's a difference between "feel" and "believe".  Feeling has to do with emotions, and we know that they aren't entirely under our control at times, thanks to original sin.  Believing, on the other hand, is an act of the will.  The Church teaches that our souls are made in God's image and likeness owing to our intellects and wills, with no mention of emotions.  I'm no philosophical expert, but I believe emotions or feelings are a lower faculty of the human nature and they must be brought into control by acts of wills.  It might be nice from time to time to have favorable feelings regarding our relationship with God; I think these are called "consolations".  However, by no means are their presence or absence any accurate indication of grace in our lives or how close we truly are to God.

Recently it was revealed that Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, after she had understood her call to found the Missionaries of Charity, never again experienced any of these consolations.  She confided this matter only to her spiritual directors.  It was a cross for her, true, but who in their right mind would say she was not "receiving grace"?

Earlier saints experienced similar things.  St. John of the Cross is said to have gone a while without such consolation.  He learned much from it and I believe that was the topic of his work, "Dark Night of the Soul".  His friend, St Teresa of Avila, was once thrown from her horse.  Being a "straight-shooting" talker, she complained to God "if this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them."  In the Bible, particularly the Book of Hebrews, we read of the necessity of God's discipline as opposed to consolations.  The lack of feelings can itself be a grace that causes us to love and serve God for who He is, as opposed to the warm-fuzzies that we might enjoy.

The second "bullet" hearkens back to some cracks the Holy Father made last year about traditional Catholics being "pelagian".  I saw his definition of "pelagian" and I'll gladly bear that newly-defined label.  I go to confession every 2-3 weeks.  When I walk out of that confessional, I do say "I have a clean soul, I am graced."  I say that not because I "count merchandise" but because that is what Jesus Christ, through His Church, teaches.  Should I not acknowledge the graces that He procured for me by His Passion, Death and Resurrection?  It is the same thing when I attend Mass and receive Holy Communion.  With that I do say "I have so much grace".  Not to do so would render me an ingrate.

I said in the opening of this post that I believe those words from Thursday to be dangerous to those who are prone to discouragement and even depression.  That is because they suffer from maladies of the emotions.  Were they to rely on their fragile emotions as measures for God's grace and love, as suggested by the words of His Holiness, they would be setting themselves up for spiritual disaster.  Can you just imagine someone, after a life of sin, coming back to the Church and hearing that?  They need to rely on the facts of God's teachings.  If that person goes to Confession and, with all the effort he/she can muster renders a truly honest accounting of their sins, they need to rely on the truth of the priest's absolution that they are once again in a state of grace despite any roller-coaster to which their emotions may be subjecting them.

Our feelings are way too fickle to be any measure of God's love in our lives.  I thank Him for the Sacraments and Traditions of the Church for these are the transmission of God's grace in our lives.

The Feeling Zone

Solid Truth Or Shallow Feelings? Difference Between Life And Death!

When I posted the Vortex videos last week detailing serious problems with the formation of Catholic pro-life youth, a friend bemoaned that Michael Voris "killed the buzz" of the March for Life.  Now that I think about it, I realize that he probably did "kill the buzz".  THANK THE GOOD LORD THAT HE DID!  Our young people need solid, complete, objective truth - not this giddy joy-pop "buzz"!  No one does!

Today's Vortex delves into our need to be formed in solid truth rather than trite, squishy "highs" and "feelings".

Evangelism Begins With Knowledge Not Feelings

In today's Vortex, Michael Voris sums up his past several videos and some of the reactions to them.  I do believe his account for I have heard some similar kvetching.  In this video he features some well-grounded young Catholics; listening to these young people gives me a glimmer of hope for our Church.

Tomorrow Voris will give more detailed analysis in his Mic'd Up program starting at 8:00pm est.  Click on the link to listen; I'm certain a youtube will be available later.

The Poisonous Filter Of Feelings

Michael Voris asked yet another question of young March for Life attendees: "Do you think the Catholic church is superior to all other religions?"  50% answered no; some of them gave an all-too-common reason for their answer; they were afraid of hurting the feelings of another.  Here is the video, but when you're finished watching it please scroll below it to see additional comments.



Towards the end, Voris challenged the Catholic youth to grow up and to be heroes.  Truth be told, I perceived a tad too much rebuke in his tone, rebuke that is out of proportion with their culpability.  Perhaps that would have been more appropriately directed at their parents and/or other mentors who should have been giving solid teaching and guidance to the kids during their formative years.  For those who have recalcitrant parents and/or teachers, "growing up" can be quite a trick.  Would that Voris had suggested some real assistance to them.  Here's where I might fill in the gap.  First, they're going to have to do some reading and studying on their own.  A few suggested reading materials are below.

• This Is The Faith: A Complete Explanation Of The Catholic Faith by Canon Francis Ripley.  This is excellent; I cannot praise it enough.  TAN Books publishes it, but it is also available on Amazon.
• Any of the audio cassette series by Servant of God Father John Hardon, available from LifeEternal.org.  They're available in MP3 format as well.  I'd suggest starting with "Profession of Roman Catholic Faith", "The Ten Commandments" and "The Sacraments"