Raymond Arroyo On The Papal Savaging Of Marriage

Valuable insights are offered here, showing just how damaging the pope's remarks about marriage and cohabitation were.

Gianna Jessen Rightly Rebukes The Pope - Father Z, Take Note!

My post from Friday stated quite clearly that there would be immense fall-out from the heresies regarding marriage and fornication that the pope recently uttered.  Father Zuhlsdorf also posted that day; while he seems to understand the nature of the errors, he takes a recklessly dismissive attitude regarding the harm that not only will but is in fact happening right now.  Behold his closing statement: "Don’t have a spittle-flecked nutty.  Just shake your head with a smile as you flip to another page and say, 'Bless him, he sure likes to gab with people, doesn’t he!'”

Bear that most irresponsible suggestion in your mind as you read this statement from Gianna Jessen from her twitter feed.  Many in the pro-life movement are familiar with Ms. Jessen,  In the late 1970s she survived her mother's attempt to abort her via saline abortion.  She has since gone on to be an advocate for the pre-born and for disability rights (she has cerebral palsy as a result of the abortion).

never thought a pope could make me cry. and PLEASE don't tell me i am really not reading what i am reading. pic.twitter.com/P48JZGvrZv

— Gianna Jessen (@giannajessen) June 17, 2016

Is that what Father Zuhlsdorf would call a "spittle-flecked nutty"??  I don't believe Ms. Jessen is Catholic but I can be fairly certain her sentiments are echoed by thousands who, attempting to live Christian lives (Catholic and Protestant), have once again found themselves mocked by the current occupant of the Chair of Peter.  We should be able to expect far better than that.  Recently, when Bishop Robert Lynch announced his retirement, Bobby Schindler issued his own statement saying, "in my family's experience, Bishop Lynch was like the man spitting in the hand of a person in need."  When the pope puked out the heresies regarding both marriage and fornication, he too spit into the hands of those looking to him for spiritual nourishment.  In Matthew 7:9-10, Our Lord spoke of those parents who give bread and fish as opposed to stones and serpents.  Last Thursday we were all handed a bunch of stones and serpents.

We also read in Matthew 18:6-7 Jesus' rebuke of those who cause scandals, saying that "it were better for him had a millstone be hanged about his neck and that he should be drowned.."  Was Our Lord simply having a "spittle-flecked nutty"?  He took scandals quite seriously.  It would behoove us to do the same.

Pope Confuses Marriage With Cohabitation

Yesterday at a pastoral conference on the family, the pope made remarks that can only be called "ridiculous" at best.  More accurately, they are quite scandalous coming from a Vicar of Christ.  One one hand he said that the "great majority of Catholic marriages are null", and on the other hand, that some cohabitation situations are "real marriage, they have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity."

He urged priests not to tell cohabitating couples to marry, but "to accompany, to wait".  However, such "waiting" would constitute formal and material cooperation with mortal sin.  There is no way on God's green earth that they have "the grace of a real marriage".  Mortal sin drives away grace, and such situations are a twisted caricature of real marriage.

As for this business of most Catholic marriages being null, he thinks that the majority of people don't understand what real marriage is.  Must spouses obtain advanced degrees in theology to have a modicum of knowledge as to what constitutes real marriage?  I believe the vows have always been pronounced in the vernacular.  What is so confusing about the language of the marriage vows?  Is the pope so condescending to people that he doesn't think they comprehend the vocabulary and language that they regularly use?

As Damian Thompson of England's Spectator points out, the pope just told millions of Catholics that they aren't validly married.  What kind of signal does this send to those who may well be struggling with their marriage commitments?   Rorate Caeli today published the first part of their analysis regarding these heresies and how they dovetail with Amoralis Lamentia.

Here's a question that needs to be addressed.  If the pope thinks the majority of Catholic marriages are null, what does that say about the children born of these alleged "pseudo-marriages"?  Are they bastards in the pope's eyes?

In this "marriage versus cohabitation" discussion, the pope essentially called the good "bad" and the bad "good".  I cannot divine his intentions for making these wild statements, and quite frankly, his intentions are irrelevant.  The harm to souls that will result from yesterday's terrible statements cannot be underestimated.  Again, we must pray but we must also speak out.

500 Faithful Priests In England Beg For Faithful Synod - Will Their Request Be Granted?

From Zenit we read the Holy Father's general audience as he made mention of the Ordinary Synod to occur next October.  In one of the lines he is quoted as saying, "All -- Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, priests, men and women religious, lay faithful – we are all called to pray for the Synod. There is need of this, not of gossip!"  No doubt serious prayer to God is needed for this meeting, but what is meant by "gossip"??

I'm not going to pull punches!  I've reason to believe that by "gossip" he is referring to the watchful eye that many of us bloggers have had, and by the light of scrutiny that we shone on the proceedings there.  No doubt we were of assistance to stalwarts such as Cardinal Burke, Muller, Pell and others as they tried to stem the onslaught of rank modernism and yes, heresy, that otherwise would have gushed forth from the sin-nod last October.  I'm certain that Kasper, Marx, Baldaserri and others chafed and squinted at the light we were shining in their eyes.  Gentlemen, it is precisely because we are praying that we will continue to broadcast whatever comes forth next October.

Speaking of prayer, I understand that approximately 500 Catholic priests of England and Wales have petitioned the synod to stand firm for the perennial teaching on marriage.  While I applaud these priests and am grateful for their efforts, I am a bit saddened, too.  Why?  Very simple!  Why, in the name of heaven, would these priests believe that they need to ask bishops and cardinals to adhere to Catholic teaching?  Shouldn't it be understood that it's second nature to prelates to do so?  Yes, it should be understood, but that is not the case and these poor priests realize that.  Case in point - they were rebuked for standing for Church teaching by a local prelate, Cardinal Vincent Nichols.  Please read Damian Thompson's analysis of this action.

I just noticed something on Facebook.  Apparently Cardinal Nichols is sympathetic to sodomite relationships.  While he upheld marriage per se, he did not denounce the mortal sin of sodomy.  Might this have had something to do with his snit against the faithful priests?

So once again we have a prelate chastising faithful Catholics under his charge for speaking and acting like - faithful Catholics!  The number of these incidents, including the one I mentioned in Tuesday's post, is reaching epidemic proportions!  I don't think the end is in sight!  Again, we bloggers will shine the spotlight on these misdeeds of the clerics.

Cohabitating Couples And The Sacrament of Confession

Earlier today Leon posted a comment to my post about the wedding of cohabitating couples.  Please note that he says that he, his wife and (I assume) other couples confessed right before their wedding ceremonies.  This raises a whole bevy of questions.   Let me preface these questions with some important clarifications.  As I ask questions and make remarks, I do not intend these to be construed as criticism of Leon and his friends.  I've no doubt that the actions they took were taken in good-faith compliance with their priests and marriage-prep instructors.  I suspect Leon and his friends were merely victims of poor catechesis resulting from the erroneous "spirit of Vatican II".  For that matter, their priests and marriage-prep instructors may well have been robbed of their proper Catholic formation by that same "spirit of Vatican II".  I know I was in my latter years of school.  Fortunately my sacramental preparation wasn't so corroded, as we used the Baltimore Catechism.  I'll be referring to that catechism later.  Now the questions arising from Leon's comment.

• Why "right before"?  Why were they not advised to take advantage of that sacrament at earlier times during their course?
• Were the cohabitating couples ever advised that they should separate (that is, cease fornication) during the course of their marriage preparation      
• If they were urged to confess, were they urged to confess the mortal sin of fornication?  Were they even taught why fornication is a mortal sin?

I suppose that list of questions could go into infinity, but I'll stop here.  As I said in the last post, no sacramental grace (including from matrimony) can accrue to those in a state of mortal sin unless one receives the Sacrament of Confession.  The fact that Confession in Leon's case seems to have been delayed until the eve of the wedding makes me wonder if that sacrament is being misunderstood, and to such an extent as to compromise the efficacy of that Sacrament.  As I said, I'll be trotting out the Baltimore Catechism (used to prepare me for my first confession).

Here is Question 384: What must we do to receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily?  To receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily we must:
       first, examine our conscience
       second, be sorry for our sins (contrition)
       third, have the firm purpose of not sinning again
       fourth, confess our sins to the priest
       fifth, be willing to perform the penance the priest gives us

If Confession really occurs on the eve of the wedding, how does that allow for a proper examination of conscience and, more telling, testing of the purpose of not committing fornication again?

Let's look at several other questions in succession, and I'll put comments in red.

Question 388: What is contrition? Contrition is sincere sorrow for having offended God, and hatred for the sins we have committed, with a firm purpose of sinning no more.  Under the scenario that Leon described, was a hatred for the mortal sin of fornication properly instilled in the marriage prep attendees?

Question 389: Will God forgive us any sin unless we have true contrition for it?  God will not forgive us any sin, whether mortal or venial, unless we have true contrition for it.  Unless that hatred of fornication has been instilled, there is no forgiveness of that mortal sin.  How can this be interpreted otherwise?

Question 390: When is sorrow for sin true contrition?  Sorrow for sin is true contrition when it is interior, supernatural, supreme and universal.

Question 391: When is our sorrow interior?  Our sorrow is interior when it comes from our heart and not merely from our lips.  So how are currently-cohabitating couples being taught to have interior sorrow?

Question 392: When is our sorrow supernatural?  Our sorrow is supernatural when, with the help of God's grace, it arises from motives which spring from faith and not merely from natural motives.  The natural motives in the case of marriage preparation might include "discharging the formality of confession" as though it was just another item on the "punch list" of things to do before the wedding.

As I pointed out in the previous post, if couples have been committing the mortal sin of fornication, they need to receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily before they can properly receive the Sacrament of Matrimony.  I recited and commented on the Baltimore Catechism questions to illustrate why I think it's highly unlikely that Leon and his friends were properly prepared to receive either Penance or Matrimony.  I have good reason to believe this scenario is repeated in parishes throughout the world.  Are the twenty couples being married tomorrow also victims of ill-considered marriage preparation?

The divorce rate for Catholics is roughly on a par with that of non-Catholic couples; that's indicative that God's laws about marriage and sexuality are not being taken seriously, assuming they are known at all.  I realize a good deal of Catholic education is below par, but in this day of the internet, there is no excuse for not filling in the gaps of our own education.

If the couples whom the Pope will marry tomorrow have indeed been properly instructed, I ask why the new article (particularly from Catholic sources) did not make that clear.  The lack of such mention leaves too much room for ambiguity and even scandal.

Contraception And Salvation - Third of Four Parts

I post here the third of the four-part series presented by Real Catholic TV of Dr Martin Brenner's reflections on contraception.

When he says, "most people are saved because of the dynamic requirements that they respond to in marriage," I don't know how that jives wth the revelations that so many saints claim to have received, that state that those saved are a very small percentage of the entire collection of humanity that has ever and will ever exist.  Of course, both sets of opinions are precisely that - opinions.  They don't define any dogma, one way or the other.  I suppose, too, that according to Dr Brenner, salvation would depend on the quality of response to marriage - meaning, of course, that the usage of contraception in marriage would seriously endanger and perhaps render impossible the salvation of the couple.  Our Lady of Fatima did tell the children that most marriages did not please God - and she was talking of marriages circa 1917.  One can only imagine how she would deplore the state of marriages today!

The clip is below.  At the end, Dr. Brenner gives a bit of a "teaser" for the final segment, which I'll post next weekend.  Click here if you cannot see embedded video.

Kudus to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish!

It is no secret that most couples undergoing marriage preparation in Catholic parishes these days are living together.  That is to say, they are committing the mortal sin of fornication - quite openly - while ostensibly preparing for a Catholic marriage.  Yet those who conduct these sessions, by and large, say nothing of the proverbial "elephants in the living room" that sit before them.

Studies show that cohabitation before marriage is prejudicial to the success of that marriage.  "But wait a minute!", one might say.  "They're seeking God's grace!"  Are they?  By continuing in disobedience to His Commandments?  Let's speak of grace in general.  We know that when one is in mortal sin, he or she can receive no sacramental grace from reception of any of the sacraments - with the obvious exception of the Sacrament of Penance.  Thus, a fornicating couple receiving the sacrament of matrimony can expect no grace or the attendant benefits until they end the sinful situation and go to Confession.

Yet by and large, those conducting the marriage prep courses turn a blind eye, failing miserably to do what would arguably be the most important work in helping truly Catholic marriages to come about and to succeed.

That's why I was pleasantly surprised to read this announcement in a recent weekly bulletin from Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Bethesda MD.  It reads: (begin announcement)
Sacrament of Matrimony In accord with the regulations of the Arcdiocese of Washington, couples must contact a priest and begin preparation at least six months prior to a wedding.  Parish registration and active participation for a minimum of three months is required before preparation may begin.  Living together before marriage is sinful and harmful to the future marriage.  Couples who are living together will be asked to live separately during the preparation time.  (end announcement)

While I might have added that couples living together should go to Confession, this is indeed much more than I've seen in any other bulletin.  God bless those of Our Lady of Lourdes who are conducting this course.