Blogposts

In our interview, (from the orthochristian blog and edited) we asked him how these Heavenly and earthly Christian warriors can help us overcome the problems of this world. (Note: in the Eastern Catholic Church and the orthodox churches there are married priests.)

Fr. Seraphim, are there any stories in your family history that show how with God’s help people of the twentieth century managed to withstand persecution, just as the early Christians and St. George the Victory Bearer faced the challenges that God chose to give them? Upon hearing God’s call, all Christians will follow their hearts and answer His call. These opportunities to confess our faith are presented to us all the time.

My prayers are with our new President and his family today.

I am praying that God grant him wisdom and courage to lead this great nation and that God help him to meet the tests of these times, to heal the wounds caused by this pandemic, to ease our intense political and cultural divisions, and to bring people together with renewed dedication to America’s founding purposes, to be one nation under God committed to liberty and equality for all.

St. John Paul II stressed the need to pray for the Souls in Purgatory. He said, "The first and highest form of charity for brothers is the ardent desire for their eternal salvation ... . Christian love knows no boundaries and goes beyond the limits of space and time, enabling us to love those who have already left this earth." Therefore, not only the belief in purgatory but also the spiritual duty to pray for the souls there remains part of our Catholic faith. Contrary to what some may erroneously believe, Vatican II's "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church" asserted, "This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of Heaven or who are yet being purified after their death; and it proposes again the decrees of the Second Council of Nicea, of the Council of Florence, and of the Council of Trent" (No. 51).

Dear brothers, [...] we have heard the passage from the Acts of the Apostles (20:17-38) in which Saint Paul speaks to the presbyters of Ephesus, intentionally recounted by Saint Luke as the testament of the apostle, as a discourse destined not only for the presbyters of Ephesus, but for the presbyters of all time. Saint Paul is speaking not only with those who were present in that place, he is really speaking with us. So let us try to understand a little of what he is saying to us, at this time. [...]

They who want to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come into conflict with it.

Hearing (Mark 8:34ff), the following hard words of Jesus hit home: For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

One of the sources of the Church’s beliefs is the liturgy and sacraments of the Church belonging to the Church’s received Tradition from the Apostles. Another area which reflects the Church’s teachings is the area of prayers approved by the Church for use. In the prayer below, used by the priest in preparation for Mass, there is a wonderful exposition of the meaning of the Mass and the Incarnation:

One occasionally hears the accusation that early Christians derived Christmas and Easter from pagan celebrations, and that these feasts are therefore pagan (though overlaid with a thin veneer of Christianity). How much truth is there in this assertion?

Christmas

Since the Western Christmas (25 December) falls near the Winter Solstice (21 December), it occurs at the same time of the year as certain pagan solstice feasts. One such feast was the Roman celebration of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Nativity of the Invincible Sun), which commemorated the birth of the sun god Mithra. After Emperor Aurelian declared Mithra/Sol Invictus to be the patron of the Roman Empire in 274 AD, this feast in his honor became very popular.

The Limits of Imperial Authority. Freedom of Speech Is the Benchmark of Power That Is Not Tyrannical.

St. Ambrose set himself as bulwark and defense of the Catholic Faith against the Arian heresy.

Through his many theological and scriptural writings, he is one of the four great doctors of the Church in the West. St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church, in the letter to Paternus shows his desire to call things as they are: “to beat an enemy is victory, to strike against the guilty is equity, to strike the innocent is homicide (hostem ferire victoria est, reum aequitas, innocentem homicidum).

Humpty Dumpty and Peace

The Humpty Dumpty (HD) Nursery Rhyme shows the loss of peace. The high wall that HD sits on is human nature created by God enhanced with His special gifts: immortality, perfect harmony of body and soul, easy access to knowledge, and intimate friendship with God through sanctifying grace. HD’s great fall was original sin and HD’s humanity pulled apart, fractured by original sin. Sin is not about breaking rules as often is said but about wounds to our humanity, which as the nursery rhyme goes no King, or earthly power can put HD back together again. The person, who sins, acts against himself. The meaning of peace, the Hebrew word shalom is to be made whole, to be put back together again. This is the gift of the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord to those who will accept it. The meditation below is by Fr. Francis Fernandez in his book of meditations, Conversation with God Volume 1. (Edited)

The journey to the New World was a long and arduous one. And when the Pilgrims landed in New England in November, they found, according to William Bradford's detailed journal, a cold, barren, desolate wilderness. There were no friends to greet them, he wrote. There were no houses to shelter them. There were no inns where they could refresh themselves. And the sacrifice they had made for freedom was just beginning. During the first winter, half the Pilgrims – including Bradford's own wife – died of starvation, sickness or exposure.

Christ must reign until all enemies are brought under His feet and the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Pope Pius XI who established the feast of Christ the King reminds us: The empire of our Redeemer embraces all. To use the words of Our immortal predecessor, Pope Leo XIII: “His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ.” Nor is there any difference in this matter between the individual and the family or the State; for all, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of society. … If, therefore, the rulers of nations wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ. … When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony. (Quas Primas 18-19)

Rupert Mayer was born in 1876 and became a Jesuit in 1900. He was known as ‘The Apostle of Munich’. In the First World War, he was an Army Chaplain working courageously in the trenches from where he used to crawl out into no-man’s-land moving among the wounded administering the sacraments; “My life is in God’s hands,” he used to say. He was the first German chaplain ever to be awarded the Iron Cross for bravery. In 1916 a grenade caused the loss of his leg and forced him to leave the front lines.

More and more people are neglecting to have Masses offered for the deceased members for their families or even a funeral Mass! The reasons for this are sometimes a loss of faith about the afterlife or the fact that many people assume their deceased are in heaven. Some clergy preach at funeral Masses that the deceased person is in heaven, which (except in the case of canonized saints and baptized infants/children who have not attained the use of reason) is a serious departure from Catholic doctrine. In a response to this crisis the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on May 17, 1979 noted the following: The Church excludes every way of thinking or speaking that would render meaningless or unintelligible her prayers, her funeral rites and the religious acts offered for the dead. Prayer for the dead is one of the Spiritual Acts of Mercy which is part of love of neighbor.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has reminded Catholic voters that abortion remains the “preeminent issue” in this election. Sadly many claiming to be Catholic have embraced the Planned Parenthood abortion-mentality which includes the candidates running for public office in the upcoming election who claim to be devout Catholics. They must not be supported.

Catholic politicians have an obligation to fight against abortion and euthanasia, while applying the whole of Catholic social teaching in their political work.