Author: Gloria Olivae

1. Good and bad teachers.

     The Liturgy describes a good teacher and a bad teacher. A good teacher is one who obeys the Apostolic Commission in teaching all the commands of Christ in the New Testament and how to obey them as explained by the Fathers of the Church. A bad teacher is one who teaches mere human knowledge, like global warming. The good teacher explains spiritual matters, the bad teacher explains merely human matters.   

2. Good and bad students.

     In the parable of the seeds, the first three seeds fell on infertile ground, i.e. bad soil.  While the fourth good seed fell on fertile ground, i.e, fertile soil, a good pupil.  The first bad pupil where the word of God would not grow is a soul that entertains sins in his mind. The second bad pupil is one where the word of God fell upon a soul who keeps on doing his own will. The third bad pupil is one who is engrossed in worldly concerns. In none of these did the word of God grow.

     The Word of God flourished in a meek and humble soul: obedience to the commands of Christ. No pupil does that, as the Gospel shows, except one. And no one will be a good teacher as the prophecies state. Ezechiel wrote that during these times, there will be no prophet explaining the will of God. That bishops will be selling a new religion and a new church to the people, like an Amazonian pagan religion. And give the impression that this is the new church. And bishops will sprinkle poison in every word of God like cockles among wheat. 

     This prophecy is the most awaited prophecy in the Catholic Church, it is called the 6th day. St. Bonaventure wrote extensively on the topic. And Pope Benedict continued to comment on it. It is Good Friday happening again today. Where the world – both the bishops, priests, and most lay people, together with Pope Francis – will deny that Christ is God and offer Pachamama as the new God together with Mother Earth. And the Catholic God has become the pagan god of rigidity.

     Imagine one self in Jerusalem on Good Friday undergoing the same test to believe in Christ as God or not. Don’t we all refuse to believe that all things are under God’s control? That most human events are so dependent on man and not on God? This is lack of Faith on the omnipotence of God. 

     We don’t believe that God dictates the outcomes of wars. The birth and death of humans. We don’t believe that the stock market is dictated   by God. Nor the weather or floods or global warming is under God’s control. We live in a faithless generation whose sin against Faith is leading us to hell, led by Pope Francis, many of the cardinals, most of the bishops and priests. The world looks just exactly as on Good Friday. The bishops are in charge, the apostles and Christ are silent. And Christ will slowly be killed. To rise on the third day. Do we believe he is God who will rise on the third day, to judge the living and the dead?

 1. The Liturgy. 

     God, in His Goodness, helps mankind by revealing to him the way of salvation, what will happen before, during and in the future, so man will always be prepared to pass his tests of Faith. 

     Thus, Divine Revelations contains, the ‘plan of salvation,’ the preparations for the first steps and prophecies that describes future tests. All are meant to help mankind pass all the coming tests of Faith. This is the purpose for everything that happens to man. 

       So every moment, man either passes or fails his test. He either progresses forward  or regresses downward. The Liturgy is the sure instrument by which man can know if he is progressing or regressing. 

      The Liturgy tells anyone where he will go, heaven or hell, if he falls dead at this very instant. Catholicism is no guess work. It is a religion based on certainty. But Faith is needed to attain this certainty. 

       Thus the general topic that can be read in the old Missal with regard to this season is ‘Attaining Faith.’  And the sub-title for this Sunday’s Mass, 16th Sunday in ordinary time is ‘establishing a Catholic Church,’ or establishing a Christian community. 

       Since Ash Wednesday, the Liturgy had been teaching how to attain the supernatural and theological virtue of Faith; through a life attaining the virtue of Penance that leads to Faith enlivened by Charity. 

      During these past weekdays, the Liturgy had been describing the theological virtue of Faith. In today’s Gospel, 15th Sunday, Faith is attained  within a Christian community, i.e. within the Catholic Church. It is the first sign that a soul is within the Catholic Church. The Liturgy of this Sunday describes how this community, i.e. the Parish or Diocese should look like. So people can know if they are inside or outside. 

2. First Reading. 

    The first reading describes the biggest obstacle to the life of Faith; the priests, the bishops, the cardinals and Pope Francis. 

     The  Liturgy the previous week had been describing the true teachers of the Church of Christ;  they teach only one thing; that the kingdom of God is at hand. They don’t preach anything else. Only that the kingdom of God is at hand.

      ‘The kingdom of God is at hand,’ means that souls can now enter the kingdom of God, the true Catholic church by having perfect repentance that leads to perfect Faith enlivened by Charity. This is the way to enter the kingdom of God that is at hand. 

      Who will do this?  Christ and after His Ascension, the messengers He sends, called apostles. And men God will send after the apostles called ‘sent of God,’ i.e. apostles, too. 

     Not everybody can claim that they are apostles. Apostles must have  repented perfectly that leads to perfect Faith enlivened by Charity. These are the steps to enter the Kingdom of God. They must, first, know how it is done before they can teach others how to do it. 

        The first reading warns us that, part of man’s test is that God will allow Lucifer to send false apostles, teachers and prophets who will deceive and scatter mankind as part of their test of Faith.

         The Church had been undergoing this test since the beginning, but especially today, as expected, precisely with this prophecy found in the first reading from Jeremiah. 

           Listen to the Words of God, through the pophert Jeremiah; ‘Woe to the shepherds, who mislead and scatter the flock of My pasture, says the Lord.  You have scattered My sheep and driven them away.  You have not cared for them.  But I will take care to punish your evil deeds.’ Today, the Liturgy, in the words of Jeremiah, was referring to priests, bishops, cardinals and Pope Francis.

          How is the flock misled and scattered? By teaching them doctrines contrary to the teachings of Christ, summarised in the Nicene Creed, and teaching them to go against the more than 80 commands of Christ in the New  Testament. 

           The news is showing Pope Francis, most of the cardinals, bishops and priests are going against the teachings and commandments of Christ. Keeping in mind what St. James the apostle wrote;  that disobedience to one command of Christ is disobedience to all the commands of Christ. And St. Augustine wrote; heresy against one teachings of Christ is apostasy to all the teachings of Christ. Most of them have gone, not only once or twice, but many times against the teachings and commandments of Christ,  at a time mankind does not know what are the teachings and commandments of Christ. 

             Today, there is no preacher who is teaching that the kingdom of God is at hand, shown by the fact that they are not teaching how the virtue of Penance is obtained that leads to Faith enlivened by Charity, which allows them to enter the kingdom of God that is at hand. 

              There are good preachers who are showing the defects of priests and bishops, the heresies within the institutional Church. And they are right.   But they are not teaching ‘that the kingdom of God is at hand.’

3. How should the successors of the apostles build up the Church in a parish or diocese?

     The second reading shows what true apostles are supposed to do – they are supposed to establish the kingdom of God, i.e. they are supposed to teach souls how to enter the kingdom of God that is at hand.

     How? Let us show how it is done with two souls. The true apostle must teach each soul all the teachings of Christ in the New Testament; this is referred to as Dogmatic theology. Then the true apostle must teach each soul all the commands of Christ and how to put them to practice as taken from the teachings of the Father of the Church. Then the true apostle must observe if the two souls are understanding the dogmatic truths correctly and obeying the moral commands correctly. The apostle must continue to guide and correct the two souls until they observe both dogmas and morals perfectly. When the two souls have reached perfection, the Holy Spirit will unite these two souls. Thus a Catholic Church is established. The establishment of the church is not done by the priest, bishops, cardinal or Pope Francis. The Church is established by the Holy Spirit. 

       Due to the ongoing test of Faith wherein we have shepherds who deceive, scatter and destroy, no one is establishing the church in the parish, in the diocese and even in the Vatican. Nowhere. Because the above procedure described in the second reading is not being followed. 

4. What does God do in such a situation.

    As what is happening today,  God, as He had promised, will punish severely these priests, bishops, cardinals together with Pope Francis and, personally, select and assign shepherds that will take care of those who truly seek God. God will personally intervene, as He had promised in the first reading. And that is precisely what is happening today. God is intervening but nobody knows where it is taking place. ‘There, they are dwelling in security,’ Jeremiah prophesied. 

5. The good and bad shepherds. 

     Christ showed how good apostles act. The Gospel stated that the apostles preached and, then, returned to Jesus and reported what they had done and taught. The good apostles always returns to Christ to report what they have done and taught to see if they did well or not. No priest, bishop, cardinal or even Pope Francis ever did that; to return to Christ and check if they did right. When almost everything they do is wrong.

     Because Christ is not physically present today, Christ suggested that they go to the desert and, there, check with God, if they have taught right. And if wrong , repent and correct themselves.

      Pope Francis does not even want to be corrected with his blatant heresies as in the case of the, now, famous ‘dubia.’ which he had not answered after more than one thousand seven hundred days. If Pope Francis followed Christ’s advice and went to his room and checked if he was right about his teaching on allowing adultery, he would have gotten an immediate answer from Christ; ‘you are wrong!’ But no.  He was intentionally doing what was wrong just as he is intentionally allowing those killing babies to receive Holy Communion which is clearly wrong, again. As St. James wrote in his letter, ‘when you start doing one thing wrong, everything you do that follows will all be wrong.’That is the punishment God gives to shepherds who deceive and scatter the sheep.’ Jeremiah prophesied. Their punishment is great.

      The world is filled with bad shepherds; all because God uses them to test mankind. And these are men and women who do and say things without checking afterwards with God if they are right or wrong. 

      The good ones, after they teach, enter their rooms and lock the door;  to pray and check with God if they did and said things right. All of these things happening are under God’s control and part of His Divine Providence. The present dire situation of Pope, cardinals, bishops, priests and nuns in utter confusion is God’s way of testing the Faith and Charity of each man before each one faces God in General Judgment day.  Most are doing very badly. That is why God will close the curtain.  

  

     

  1. The bishop and the Liturgist.

      A bishop had just established a new parish Chapel and visited a Liturgist.

      Bishop:  Father, can you please visit my newly reconstructed chapel and give me some suggestions on how to decorate it. 

      Liturgist: Bishop, a chapel is the visible sign of the spiritual state of the members of your diocese. The chapel will be large depending on the size of the Faith of the members of your diocese. It will be splendidly decorated as the soul of your members are filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

                       If the chapel is richly decorated and large but if the spiritual state of the members of your diocese have no spirituality the rich decoration and the vastness of the chapel will both look ugly. The physical chapel, always, reflect the state of the spirituality of the diocese or the parish. Note how beautiful are the cathedrals during the golden age of Christianity. And how ugly are the highly decorated and vast church of today. As we say in the Liturgy; there is no sacrality, a description of the true Church. 

     Bishop:  what do you do to beautify the chapel?

     Liturgist;   Beautify the souls of the members of your church and this will reflect in your chapel. A church with holy souls will be reflected in the chapel spiritually, not physically. Your chapel could be a very old Spanish time, dark adobe and moss covered unpainted walls. But anyone who looks at it, if your members are holy, will find the chapel beautiful.  The spiritual beauty will be reflected in the chapel. You will not need any superficial decorations or art work. 

     Bishop:   where do you begin?

     Liturgist:  begin with the Liturgy, not with the building. A well celebrated Liturgy can transform an ugly chapel into a heavenly kingdom. Because the kingdom of God will be there for everybody to see. 

     Bishop:   but every chapel have the Liturgy. How come many of them look ugly?

     Liturgist:   because the Liturgy is not celebrated well. I do not have to recall to you the Liturgical abuses that is common in most churches. From African dances, to circus performers, to same sex marriages to women preachers. This is not Liturgy. These are shows and a very cheap kind at that. 

     Bishop; what aspects of the Liturgy are you referring to. We have nice vestments, nice chalices, nice altars and nice sound systems.

     Liturgist;  the Liturgy is directed to the spiritual faculties of the soul of the people, the intellect and the free will. They must know the doctrines Jesus taught; these are directed towards the intellect. They must know and obey the commandments Christ taught; these are directed towards the free will. As St. James the apostle wrote; disobedience to one command is disobedience to all the commands. And St. Augustine added; rejection of one doctrine is rejection of all doctrines. The Liturgy teaches all the doctrines of Christ but more so teaches all the commands of Christ, starting from the easiest to the hardest. The order must not be changed; and the correct order are seen in the Liturgy of the Mass, i.e. during the Sunday and weekly Masses, during the Gospels. 

     Bishop;  do you mean that all the doctrines and all the commands of Christ as presented during the Sunday and weekly Masses must be taught ?

     Liturgist;  yes, together with the correct interpretation of the Gospels as taken from the writings of the Father of the Church. The interpretation of the Gospel message is the ‘how’ which Christ commanded His first apostles to teach in the Apostolic Commission. These interpretations were made by Christ, Himself,  but it was never written down due to physical impossibility, no pens and papers. But these interpretations made by Christ and collected by the first Christian communities were, later on, written down by the first holy bishops of the Church. These are referred to as the Fathers of the Church. Each Gospel must be explained with the interpretation of the Father of the Church, which is Christ’s own interpretation. 

     Bishop;  I never heard these official interpretations of the Church in the seminary. 

    Liturgist;  it was taught in general as Patristic theology but they never went into detail so most priests do not know this.

     Bishop;  Is this the main reason why the congregation do not have the Faith necessary to beautify their churches?

     Liturgist;  The reason why most so called ‘catholics’ never really entered the Catholic Church is because the ‘how,’ i.e. the correct interpretation, was never given to them by the preachers. Thus, they have no true Faith that beautifies the souls and which eventually is reflected in the beauty of the churches. No church or cathedral erected after Vatican II is ‘sacral,’ i.e. have a sacred atmosphere that makes them truly beautiful.  This is supposed to reflect the ‘Holy’ visible sign of the true Church of Christ. Not being ‘Holy’ the church is neither One, Catholic and apostolic. This is reflected in the physical buildings. 

     Bishop;  where do we start?

     Liturgist;  the Liturgy states that we must all begin instructing the people with the spirit of Advent, which is Old Testament. But a more skilful teacher or evangelist may start with the Liturgy of Ash Wednesday up to Pentecost. The whole world, today, have not started this first lesson found in the Liturgy; not even the so-called Catholics. The reason why most Catholics are ignorant of the first lesson is because the bishops and priests do not know this first step. They were not properly evangelised. It is the fault of the seminary schools. But the continuous negligence of each person is more to blame. Even if the seminary did not really teach this important subject, Holy Mother the Church has these treasures of Holy Readings that everybody could have availed of. 

     Bishop;  it is getting a little complicated. Can you just give me the first thing we bishops and priest should do to begin beautifying our churches. 

     Liturgist;  again, begin with the soul of the people, not the buildings and statues. Teach them how to develop the virtue of Penance as well described by St. Thomas of Aquinas. The virtue of Penance is different from the sacrament of Penance. 

                      The Sacrament of Penance is what Catholics do when they go to confession to a priest. That is alright. But what forgives sins is the virtue of Penance that should accompany the Sacrament of Penance. The Sacrament does not forgive sins. The virtue is what forgives sin. The soul must be cleansed before God can begin beautifying the soul that will be reflected in the buildings. 

     Bishop;  do you mean that all the confessions we encouraged the people to do did not forgive their past sins because we did not teach them how to acquire the virtue of Penance?

     Liturgist; all the Fathers of the Church say ‘yes.’ The people were taught the wrong teachings. You must begin by, first, correcting this error. Right now, with this wrong notion, they are all living in the state of sin and could go to hell if they die.

     Bishop;  this is hard saying. We cannot embarrass our priests. This will cause a lot of confusion. 

     Liturgist; it will certainly cause a lot of confusion. But they are headed towards hell with their unrepentant sins. They must change their course. And begin in the right way, again.

     Bishop;  I am afraid, we cannot do this.

     Liturgist;  yes, the institutional church could not do it since the Council of Trent. We, really , expect it to continue as can be seen by the continuous effort of church authorities to destroy the Liturgy. Because it keeps reminding mankind that the institutional Church is going towards the wrong direction. So since 1972,  its churches had been ugly. Is has no sacredness in it because its visible sign ‘Holy’ is not in it.  

     

 1. Christ noted the defect of the Jewish nation. 

      No matter where Christ preached and performed miracles, the Jews did not believe. Even in His own town, they did not believe Christ. He was so amazed at their unbelief. How come? Because the Jews remained in the natural level; they could not rise up to the supernatural level of Faith. This is what is exactly happening in the institutional church today. Pope Francis, his cardinals, bishops and priests are totally immersed in the natural or even in the unnatural order, and are unable to rise up to the supernatural level. 

      At the miracle of the multiplication of the bread, the same thing happened. Christ fed the thousands. They remained in the natural level, therefore, they were unable to rise up to the supernatural level of the doctrine of the eating the bread of life.

       The same thing happened in today’s Gospel. Christ saw the Jews unbelieving because they remained in the natural level of gluttony. You cannot love food and God at the same time. You will love one and hate the other. Their defect; they did not repent, thus they could not believe. Perfect repentance is necessary before God can give any soul the theological virtue of Faith and Charity. 

       The reason why there is ‘decay of Faith’ and the ‘waxing cold of Charity’ in the world today, as prophesied by Christ, Himself, is because souls are unrepentant. This is the identical message of the on-going events today, like the Corona virus. Mankind has returned to committing the Mother of all sins, the ‘original sin.’ This sin has returned with a vengeance coming from the same source, the devil. It is exactly the same sin the devil tempted Eve with; to rebel against the Will of God. 

2. Original sin. 

    Original sin is identical with the rebellion of the angels who became devils. It is a rebellion against the Will of God,  in one’s desire to be like God wherein man is rebelling against God’s Will. Man choses his own will and  imposes his own will on other men. It is identical to Lucifer’s dream to establish his own kingdom in defiance to God’s kingdom. The world today has become the kingdom of the devil, just as it was since the beginning of the world. 

     Original sin, like all sins, have the aspect of guilt and the aspect of a tendency. Baptism removes the aspect of guilt; but it does not remove the aspect of the tendency of the concupiscence. A person may lie and have his guilt forgiven, but the tendency of the concupiscence to lie continues until the last second of his life. 

      Christ had been described by St. John the Baptise as; He who will forgive sin. Scriptures does not say ‘sins,’  but only sin, in the singular. There is only one sin, ‘original sin,’ which is a rebellion against the Will of God by doing one’s own will. Before baptism it is called ‘original sin.’  After Baptism, as man continues this sin, it is called Actual sin.

      All sins comes from that main source, ‘original sin, now called actual sin,  but called by other names, like adultery, sodomy, murder, etc. But all sins come from that one act of rebellion. 

      Christ came to teach man how to overcome that act of rebellion; and in so doing avoid all sins and win everlasting life. Man can overcome this tendency by acquiring the virtue of repentance (this is not the same as the Sacrament of Confession.) In fact, when a penitent goes to confession he must make sure that he, already, has the virtue of Penance. Otherwise, his sins are not forgiven. It is the virtue of Penance that forgives sin. In fact, sins are forgive with the virtue of Penance, even if the penitent does not go to confession as shown by Mary Magdalene and the Good thief. 

3. After Baptism.

     After Baptism, a person, again, commits sin. That sin comes from the soul’s tendency to satisfy his concupiscence that remains after Baptism. He resumes to rebel against God’s Will to do his own will and impose it on others. For doing so God punishes him by allowing him to continuously descend towards greater sins and immorality. He will not be able to stop this unless he repents perfectly. 

     What is going on is the return of ‘original sin’, this time with a vengeance that most are unable to repent. In fact, even priests and bishops and Pope Francis  descended down this slippery slope and, as their Vatican Synod on the sins of priests document showed, as read by Cardinal Tagle, they have no solution for it. If they do not have a solution, the rest of the world will not find a solution. 

       St. Thomas of Aquinas gave the Evangelical solution in his treatise on ‘original sin.’ It will be noted that the entire world as headed by the Vatican, the US, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, etc.. is engulfed with ‘original sin’, now transformed into actual, personal sins which is the ‘great rebellion against God.’ Whose punishment, if one does not repent, is immediate eternal condemnation in hell. 

       And no one is repenting, as shown in their reaction to the God-sent reaction to the second-year  Corona virus pandemic. How come? Because those who are supposed to have Faith and preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins, do not have Faith and have, themselves, not repented for their sins. This last two years, no one had preached ‘the need for the virtue of Penance’ for the forgiveness of sins. The world lives in the state of sin. 

4. Human acts.

    Today, all human acts are motivated by ‘original sin,’ now called actual sin. It is an act of rebellion against God where man insist in doing in his own will, in complete disregard of God’s Will. And imposes his own will on others as Lucifer, who wants to be like God, is doing. 

      As of old, the world was, is and will always be the slave of its prince, the devil. The world had just declared what was kept secret before; that the world is the kingdom of Satan, because everyone of its slave is acting like their prince. 

      Take just one human act today like the response to the Virus. See the motive of the Vatican, the cardinals, bishops and most politicians. They will do their own will by not following the protocols, but they will impose their own will on the rest of the world. All the pagan religions want to impose their false gods on everybody else, when they themselves cannot even prove their religion is a true religion. 

        The children of the ‘father of lies,’ preach their lies and want everybody to believe their lies. Lucifer fooled Eve in the garden of Eden. He is back in this vale of tears to complete what he begun in Eden and drag to hell the rest of the children of man. 

5. To know what is evil, grace is needed.

     Supernatural grace is needed to acquire knowledge of all the teachings of the Catholic Church. In fact, the gifts of knowledge and wisdom from God the Holy Spirit, is needed to know the teachings of the Catholic Church. Most seminarians and priest, and practically all bishops, cardinals and even Pope Francis, taught that these teachings can be learned through human teachers in the seminary and theological schools. This is a great mistake believed by the institutional church since before the Council of Trent. 

      The original sin turned actual sin, can only be known with the help of grace. Practically no one has this grace; that is why no one knows that this act of doing one’s will and imposing it on others, is a very grievous sin that will surely bring the sinner to hell. Absolutely no one knows this, that is why everybody is doing it. What makes the situation worse is that democracy believes that majority is right; since majority are sinners and believe they can sin by doing their own will and imposing it on others, so everybody is democratically doing it. 

     In God’s eyes,  what is going on? Everybody is rebelling against God, inspired by the snake in the garden of Eden. Thus everybody is going to hell, except for a few predestined. What will God do in such a situation? Well, if that is what man likes, as God always did to the hard headed Israelites in the dessert, God gives them what they like. And then punishes them for doing their own wills. 

     

 1. The Liturgy.

     The last few days of the Liturgy had been explaining the importance of Faith and what are the signs of Faith. This is important because with Faith a soul is saved, without Faith a soul is condemned. Besides Faith is a spiritual virtue that most people do not know if they have it and cannot recognise it in others. Yet it is what makes a soul Catholic, a parish Catholic, a diocese Catholic and the Vatican Catholic. Unable to recognise this Faith, we can never know who is Catholic and who is not. 

      The Liturgy had been describing the ‘Kingdom of God,’ i.e. the Church Militant,  and what are the signs by which it can be recognized. Today’s Gospel gives two description of those with Faith, therefore, a description of a Catholic or one who is within the Kingdom of God. 

2. All will eventually die. 

    How and when each will die, is of no importance. Christ said in the Gospel, that no one should fear what can kill the body. No matter how, no matter when. The martyrs didn’t care how they died. What is important is the state of the soul, which is eternal.  The martyrs were certain they would go straight to heaven. Thus they were happy to die knowing they would be going to a much better place. That way of dying is called ‘red martyrdom.’ Another way of dying that will certainly bring a soul to heaven is called ‘white martyrdom.’ This is when before a person dies, he has attained perfect Faith enlivened with Charity. 

     It is the teaching of the Catholic Church, that before a person dies, he must have perfect Faith enlivened with Charity. This Faith had been described during the last three weeks in the Liturgy because Mother Church knows nobody knows what is Faith and whether they have Faith or not. Neither priest, bishops and even Pope Francis do not know if they have Faith or not. Proof?  None of them have taught this topic as presented in the Liturgy. You can check it up in You Tube or in the Internet. 

      Because Faith enlivened with Charity is spiritual and it is a supernatural theological virtue, it cannot be known by the senses. It can only be known through Liturgical signs. The Liturgy present visible signs of supernatural realities. It is through the Liturgy that souls learn how to repent and reach perfect Faith enlivened with Charity. It is through the Liturgical signs that a soul may know if he has Faith or not. If he has, a soul may know how to perfect that Faith. If he does not have it, a soul can learn how to repent and proceed towards perfect Faith. 

        Todays Gospel describes the two signs of Faith enlivened with Charity. Since Faith is a gift of God, unattainable through human means, the two signs of Faith are works and gifts of God completely unattainable through human means. They cannot be learned from seminaries, books or any human professors. Both are gifts of the Holy Spirit given only to those who have repented perfectly. 

3. The ‘fear of God.’

     The ‘fear of God’ is the beginning of Faith and comes to the soul together with grace. When a soul receives these graces, he is is given a complete knowledge of the commandments of Christ, how to obey them and the power to put them into practice. At the same time, the soul is given by God a knowledge of what commandments he has disobeyed. This is what fills a soul with fear for having offended God, the superior kind of the ‘fear of God,’ though he is no longer in danger of going to hell due to the Faith in his soul. His fear is, no longer the fear of going to hell which is the inferior kind of fear, but the fear for having God ‘who art all good and deserving of all my love.’

      This ‘fear of God’ contains the following elements. First, knowledge of all the commands of Christ. Second, knowledge of what commands of Christ that were disobeyed by the soul. Thirdly, the fear of God that makes the soul love God more for His mercy. So there follows a continued obedience to the commands of Christ as a consequence of the newly acquired knowledge of all the commands of Christ. All these elements are the Liturgical signs that shows that a soul has the spiritual theological virtue of Faith enlivened with Charity. 

4. Those without the ‘fear of God.’

     Simply put, those who have disobeyed the commands of Christ and, therefore, in the state of sin. The commands of Christ can easily be known. And it is easy to know who have disobeyed the commands of Christ. Their continued refusal to repent for their past sins is a sure sign they have no ‘fear of God.’ They have no Faith and, therefore, will surely be condemned to hell. 

      Their ignorance of the commands of Christ is a sure sign they do not have the grace, nor the virtue of Faith nor the ‘fear of God.’ Christ warned such souls that they are already condemned though they are still alive. When they die, they simply go straight to hell. 

5. Those who confess Christ before men.

     This is the second sign of Faith. It is identical to there first. It consist in knowing the commands of Christ, in knowing how those commands are supposed to be obeyed and obeying them before the sight of men. Show men that you are obeying the commands of Christ because Christ ordered it and you are obeying because a God ordered it. This is to confess Christ before men. In return Christ promised; ‘I will confess you before My Father in Heaven’, i.e. I will tell My Father that you are My brother. That will surely bring you to everlasting life. 

     On the other hand, if a soul disobeys any command of Christ and shows men he is disobeying, he is not confessing Christ before men and Christ said;  ‘And I will disown you before My Father in Heaven,’ i.e. I will tell My Father, I do not know you. That is a condemnation to hell. 

6. Who have Faith and who do not have.

     Those who have Faith and, therefore, will surely go to heaven, are those who have the gift of the Holy Spirit called ‘the fear of the Lord,’ and those who confess Christ before men. 

      And who do not have Faith? Those who have no fear of God shown by their disobedience to the commands of Christ,  and  those who do not confess Christ before men by disobeying Christ’s commands, thus saying, I am disobeying His Commands because I do not believe that He is a God who can punish me. 

7. The pandemic is God’s test in showing that the whole of mankind, except for a very select few, do not have Faith because they do not have the fear of God and they are not confessing Christ before men. These signs of infidelity are shown by Pope Francis, most of the cardinals, bishops, priests and nuns. Sadly, the ones they are teaching erroneously are unable to have Faith either. 

    Two signs of Faith. The first is fear of God, it is the beginning of Faith. It consist in fearing God. Because we do not know if we are in the state of grace or not, we fear in having offended God and go to hell. During this state, the soul suddenly have a knowledge of all the commandments of Christ; thus the soul knows what commands he has disobeyed. This state is a sign of the presence of Faith in a soul. A soul cannot know the commands of Christ without grace that accompanies Faith. 

      The second sign of Faith is the presence of the power to confess Christ before men. To confess Christ before men consist in obeying Christ’s commands thus showing one’s belief in Christ as God, the reason for obeying His commands. These two signs are identical in that both requires knowledge of the commands of Christ which is possible only when a soul has received sanctifying grace and the theological virtue of Faith. Thus these two above signs is a sure sign a soul is within the Catholic Church. Without these signs one is not a Catholic. 

8. Today, man is afraid of everything. From the Corona virus, to earthquakes, to tornadoes, to collapsing condominiums, to plane crashes, etc. But no one is afraid of God who sees our sins and will condemn us for them. Just watch those abortionists. Absolutely no fear. Having no fear, they will not confess God before men. In fact, pagans, atheists, Protestants, etc….they disown the true God before man. 

      By God’s standard, most of the human race is sliding down the steep road to hell. And nobody is doing anything. Those who are charged to warn mankind, Pope Francis, the cardinals, bishops and many priest are equally in sin; thus showing no fear of God and are not confessing Christ before men. They are not obeying the commands of Christ as enumerated in the New Testament. In fact, most do not even know the commands of Christ in the New Testament. There are more than 82 of them. Try naming just 20 of them. 

 

 1. The Liturgy.

     We have seen the importance of hearing Mass on Sundays and every day of the week. Because the entire teachings of the Catholic religion is taught during the Liturgy, everyday and in the proper order from Advent up to Christ the King. You cannot miss even one day without sinning against Faith, the greatest sin.

       For the last few weeks, the Liturgy had been describing Faith and the signs that one has Faith or not. Today the Gospel describes the Church Militant, its leaders and characteristics. 

2. The specific instructions of Christ. 

     Christ was very insistent on obedience to His commands for anyone to attain everlasting life. Here, He gives very specific instruction for  His Church Militant to obey. They are not free to modify or change His instructions. 

      All the members of the Church Militant must have perfect Faith enlivened by Charity; first and foremost, its leaders, the Pope, bishops and priests. And, also its members. 

     First, Christ, chose apostles who have perfect Faith enlivened with Charity, except one, Judas Escariot, to fulfil the prophecy of his treason. Nobody else was chosen apostle. Not even Nicodemus nor Lazarus.  Everybody else would be disciples. To make sure nobody commits any mistake and freely enumerate others as apostles, Christ, Himself, enumerated who they were. 

      Many people today make themselves successors of the apostles without being appointed by Christ. They do not even have the proper credentials, perfect Faith enlivened with Charity, and cannot even prove they are Catholics through the four visible signs and 15 Marks enumerated by St. Robert Bellarmine, of a true Catholic. You have to have perfect Faith to know if you or the other is appointed by Christ as successor of the apostles. But, as Christ prophesied, we live in age where there is no Faith, since it is time for His coming. Of course, there will, always, be successors of Peter and the apostles. But who are they? It is not in the news. 

       Secondly, they were commanded to go to the house of Israel; not to the Gentiles, not to the Samaritan. Christ dictates to whom the apostles should preach and in what order. Christ ordered them to go, first, to the house of Israel because they were in great danger of perishing for rejecting Christ. They had to be saved first, the others could wait a little longer. 

       Today, where should they begin? They should go to all nations because He is coming and everybody is in great danger of perishing. Because their ‘faith is decayed and their charity is waxing cold.’ as Christ prophesied. That is sure hell.

     Thirdly, Christ commanded them what to preach, ‘the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Nothing else.The kingdom of God is here on earth; enter it by obtaining grace through perfect repentance and acquiring from Christ the theological virtue of Faith enlivened by Charity. Entering this kingdom is possible right now, since Pentecost. Recorded videos, specially of the bishop’s successors of the apostles and even of Pope Francis in Casa Martha,  show nobody has done this. They preach global warming, pachamama, blessing of same sex marriage, entertaining sex perverts, to tolerate all mortal sins like communion for murderers, to embrace heretics, and the latest cardinal announced he will preach human rights and listen to the people. How about saving souls and listening to God that make up the kingdom of God. None!

     Fourthly, cure the sick, the lepers, the demoniacs and the avaricious. Translate this to the spiritual level and according to St. Thomas of Aquinas, these are the slothful. Souls who do nothing to save their souls.  Those who commit the sins of the flesh, like sodomy, adultery, sexual perversions and sex change. And those under the power of the devil, i.e. everyone in the state for mortal sin, like those propagating abortion.  And the lovers of money, not necessarily the rich who help the poor. But those who use their money to sin, like kill babies and foster regime change. Christ described the lovers of money this way; ‘it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for this soul to enter heaven. ‘The whole of mankind can fall under any of the above. 

3. Church Militant.

     The Church is akin to a military organisation; like a monarchy since kings were head of their armies before. Thus the king appoints his generals. They are not elected. All orders come from the king. Everybody else follows. Christ is the King of Church Militant. He appoints His generals and everybody obeys Him. O yeah? No, not in today’s Vatican church where everybody there is King giving orders even when to attend Mass. 

       There is no visible Church Militant today and even since before Vatican II. Benedict seems to be the last general appointed by Christ. Today, the rest are generals through ‘coup d’ etat’. By seizure. They are faithless, so who appointed them? How come they are there at all when they do not have the credentials of apostleship, i.e. perfect Faith enlivened with Charity, the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the 12 degrees of humility. 

4. Where is the Church Militant.

     The Church Militant is conniving with the enemy; sleeping, eating and drinking with the enemy. Worse, they are fighting side by side with the enemy. The Vatican and many of the US bishops are on the side of abortionists, on the side of pagans, on the side of heretics, on the side of perverts, on the side of criminals, over tolerant of all sinners, on the side of communists, on the side of the devil. 

       The little shots that are fired against the enemy occurs only occasionally. Good for those brave soldiers. But the Church should be an army, not just one or two soldiers. In fact, since before Vatican II, the Church Militant have ceased to be militant. Hardly anyone was doing battle against the enemies of the kingdom of God. Because there is a ‘decay of Faith’ and the subsequent ‘waxing cold of Charity’. There is no Catholic Church. Or worse, the church had apostatised. Is this the sign St. Paul described as ‘the sign?’ The Church, the kingdom of God which is at hand, as described in today’s Gospel, is nowhere around. Poor we who are like sheeps without a shepherd. And nobody is praying to send shepherds, because the contemplative orders were destroyed by a recent ‘apostolic exhortation.’

  1. St. Matthew

      St. Matthew was one of the future apostles to be become of the first bishops of the early Catholic Church. Someone asked the question; how come the apostles were told to leave all things, like Peter and Andrew, James and John. But Matthew was not asked to leave all things but to follow Christ directly.

      Remember that Christ gave this condition to the young rich man, to the lawyer and generally to others; to give up all things and follow Christ. 

2. A strange phenomenon.

    There was an article in the newspaper about a ‘socialite who left all things to follow Christ.’ She was not part of a religious order. She was just a wealthy lady who had much but left all things and died with nothing, to follow Christ. Some years earlier there was another lady who did exactly the same thing. But the first lady was noticed by a crowd of ladies who begun asking the same question; ‘how can we leave all things.’

     A very seemingly European royal couple was, also, featured in the news as having given up  all things and were very happy in doing so. Strangely, a bishop friend asked me, ‘why do they do that?’

     Having dinner with the late bishop of Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines, he was wondering how come this command of Christ given to the young rich man by Christ, to go home, sell all your things, give it to the poor and follow Me, is not followed by Catholics when Christ gave this command for all to follow. And he said that even bishops and priest do not follow this New Testament command; this comment coming from a bishop. 

       When a bishop questioned why these ladies are asking how to give up all things, he noted that diocesan bishops do not do that. 

3. An explanation.

    In answer to the bishops who believed that diocesan bishops do not have to do that, I remember that as a young religious Benedictine priest, we always had the impression that we, monks have four vows but the diocesan priests have only two. Of course, when we asked this question, nobody could give a convincing answer.

     There are two Testaments, the Old and the New. The Old testament has ten commandments. The New Testament to which the Catholic Church fall under has many commands and the first command of the New Testament that enables a person to enter the Catholic Church is to give up all worldly possession. 

     This giving up of worldly possessions must be in the spiritual level, i.e. the true Christian soul must give all worldly thoughts and ideas and give up all worldly desires. It is not so much a physical giving up; it is more a giving up by the spiritual faculties of the soul. This is the first command of the New Testament, the first requisite to enter the Catholic Church. It is meant to enable the soul to follow Christ. The emphasis is not in the giving up but in being able to follow Christ, i.e. to follow Christ to the perfection of the Catholic Life, a soul must give up with his intellect and free will, worldly concerns and worldly desires, to be able to follow Christ towards the perfection of Faith and the beginnings of Charity that will enlivened the Faith. 

     All bishops and priest are supposed to obey this command; Peter and Andrew, James and John, were required by Christ to give up all things including their elderly Father. All the apostles, the first bishops were obliged to do so, otherwise they cannot have the Faith with which they will lead souls to heaven. All the bishops trained by Christ had to give up all things. Why do our present bishop think they don’t have to do the same? 

     Unable to give up all things, they are unable to follow Christ towards Faith enlivened by Charity. Without Faith, enlivened by Charity, they are not Catholics. This is the present crisis of the Church, according to Ratzinger….our priests and bishops do not have Faith because they are unable to obey the first command of the New Testament that will open  the door of the Catholic Church for them. 

4. How do you do that?

    Today’s priests, cardinals, bishops and even Pope Francis never gave up all things. They left all their things with their families. And that is not the way to obey this command, according to the Fathers and Doctors of the Church. That is not the way to do it according to Christ who first did it. Absolutely no one has done it correctly. Because  to know this command and obey it as taught by Christ, one needs the grace to know, understand and obey the command.

     In fact, nobody can tell anybody to give up all things and follow Christ. It is not the giving up that matters, in fact this does not have to be done. What matter is to be able to follow Christ. Cornelius was not commanded to give up all things. He kept all things because he had given it up spiritually by using them to support the Church that lived in his house. 

5. The socialite.

    Nobody told the socialite to give up all things. It was because she repented perfectly, received the grace  that accompanies the gift of supernatural Faith. Through Faith, God taught her that she will not be able to follow Christ unless she gives up all worldly possession. 

     A soul does not give up worldly possession to attain the virtue of Faith. No. It is the other way around. It is because the soul has attained the supernatural virtue of Faith, wherein this Faith informed her through the gift of the Holy Spirit, that she cannot enter the Catholic Church and follow Christ unless she gives up worldly things. The love of God and love of the things of the world are contradictory that cannot exist side by side. One has to give up one to posses the other. And so, it is the lady who was convinced by her own supernatural virtue of Faith that informed her that she must give up all things to follow Christ. 

       This answers the question on St. Matthew; how come Christ did not tell Matthew to give up all things as He did to Andrew, Peter, James and John. Christ simply told Matthew to follow Him. Because Matthew had perfect Faith that informed him that to follow Christ deep into the Catholic Church and be a good bishops, he must give up all things. And he immediately did it without being told to do so.

6. Why is there hardly anyone inside the Catholic Church. Not even the priests, bishops, cardinals and Pope Francis. 

     Because no one have entered the Catholic Church through obedience to the first commandment of the New  Testament; to give up all things to be able to follow Christ to heaven. Nobody is even a true Catholic since obedience to this first command is essential for entrance into the true Church. Pope John Paul II said so brilliantly in his ‘Veritatis Splendor’,  addressed  exclusively to all bishops. They never taught this to their constituency because they, themselves, could not do it.  

7. The way of heaven.

     During the last three weeks, the Liturgy had been teaching us how to go to haven…..to have perfect Faith enlivened by Charity. To the question ‘what must I do to have everlasting life.’ An answer all man is interested in. Christ answered; if you wish to have everlasting life, go home, sell all your possession, give it to the poor and follow Me.

     Christ, one day was describing how to go to heaven. All the listeners found it impossible for all to go to heaven. So the apostles asked; ‘if it is this difficult to go to heaven, who will go to heaven?’

     Peter asked Christ directly, how about us? We followed you and stayed with you. What will happen to us. Christ said; ‘To you who have left all things, mansions are reserved for you in heaven. 

     To give up all things to follow Christ is one statement to which Christ, always, attached the attainment of everlasting life in heaven. 

8. How do you give up all things?

     You cannot!  Unless you have perfect Faith enlivened with Charity. Without perfect Faith you will mess up your giving up and could end up a sad beggar. Don’t do it. Perfect Faith enlivened with Charity will tell you when to do it and how to do it properly. After giving up all things then Christ promises He will give you all things. You will never lack anything, as He had promised to those who have perfect Faith. 

     It is this perfect Faith wherein a soul believes in Christ’s promise ‘To seek first the Kingdom of God and everything else will be given to you’ that makes souls give up all things. It is an act of Faith in God enlivened with Charity; which is the guarantee that the soul will surely go to heaven. 

      The soul that gives up all things because He believes God’s promise that He will provide all things, is the man of Faith that is inside the kingdom of God, the Catholic Church. 

       The soul who do not give up all things but merely leave them behind to their families, as all religious and seminarians have done,  does not believe in God’s promise ‘He will provide him with all the things he need. He has no Faith and outside the New Testament gate . He is not a true Catholic because he is outside the realm of the New Testament, the door of which is the command of Christ to the young rich man; ‘to go home, sell all your things, give it to the poor and come follow Me.’ The love of the things of the world that he possess will stop him from loving God. St. Augustine wrote. 

9. The inability to obey this command.

    The refusal of mankind, especially of priests, bishops, cardinals and Pope Francis who, even, refused to give up his Argentine passport, is the reason the world today has ‘decayed Faith’ and the ‘waxing cold of Charity,’ as Christ, Himself, prophesied. They could not obey the one very important first command of Christ to enable anyone to enter inside the Catholic Church. 

      Disobedience to this first one command of Christ, wrote St. James, is disobedience to all the commands of Christ. A world who disobeyed all the command of Christ is a world that have descended back to paganism. 

  1. What are sins?

      To have a complete knowledge of Catholic Doctrines, we must listen to the Gospels of every Sunday and weekdays together with their correct interpretations given by Christ, Himself, to the first Christian communities but written down by the Fathers of the Church and further clarified by the Doctors of the Church. 

       These lesson are arranged in the proper order in the Liturgy,  from Advent up to Christ the King, but is summarised from Ash Wednesday up to Pentecost. Unable to do a day to day explanation, we put together several days lesson in one post. We are putting together the whole of last weeks Liturgy.

       For the last few weeks, the Liturgy had been differentiating the man of Faith, who are the true members of the Catholic Church, and the man without Faith, the sinner who are outside the Catholic Church.  

2. The commemorations in the Mass.

     We have noted that in every Gospel in each Mass, there are sometimes commemorations of saints. These saints are the examples that illustrates the message of the Gospel. In every homily, both the Gospel, the interpretation from the Fathers of the Church and the example of the saint commemorated must be intertwined for a full understanding of the Mass. 

      Recently, the Liturgy of the Mass described what is perfect Faith; it is Faith enlivened with Charity. This is the true definition of the Catholic Faith. St. Peter and Paul were the examples par excellence of perfect Christian Faith. While the two men from Gerasene, possessed by the devil is the example of those without Faith.

      The Liturgy of the Mass is supposed to inform the masses who have Faith and who do not have so that the Mass goers can see where they belong and act accordingly. Repent and believe, if they do not have Faith. Repent and believe further if they have Faith. 

3. The faithless are those in the state of mortal sin. 

     The Gospel described the state of the devil before the end times. The devils are not yet in hell; they are allowed by God to remain on the earth to test the children of men. Most of them are in the air, looking for sinful souls to dwell in. St. Thomas noted that devils cannot stand remaining outside of human souls. It is a torture for them. So they seek for sinful souls and their favourite are worldly souls that, like pigs, are wallowing in the mud of worldliness. 

     St. Augustine describe souls wallowing in worldliness, lost most men, as pigs. Like pigs, they cannot look up to heaven. They constantly have their eyes down on the earth. For the devils to beg Christ to be sent to pigs was a request to allow them to possess such worldly lovers of the world. Which Christ allowed. 

4. What are the effects of sin and how does the devil subsequently possess the human soul. 

    The three wounds of the soul, according to St. Bede as quoted by St. Thomas of Aquinas. 

     A. The first wound is the loss of sanctifying grace which makes the soul displeasing to God, and therefore, destined to hell. With sin, the soul completely loses its ability to rise up to the supernatural level. He cannot know God, he cannot know how to save his soul, he cannot love anybody with true love. 

           The sinful soul cannot know the Blessed Trinity. He cannot know the true religion and the true Church. He cannot know who is truly Catholic and who is not. He does not know who is the true Pope. HE cannot know the approach of General Judgment Day.  He is, truly a lost soul. He cannot know any solution to spiritual problems and have a very poor knowledge of solutions to natural problems, as part of his punishment for his sins.

            On the other hand, those with Faith know all supernatural truths. They know the Blessed Trinity, the true religion, the true Church, the true Catholics, the souls who are going to heaven, and the true Pope. 

             Christ, testing the knowledge of His apostles based on their Faith asked them the question; ‘who do people say I am.’ A few apostles gave the ordinary human answers of the common people; ‘John the Baptist, Elijah. Or one of the prophets.’ And Christ asked His believing apostles; ‘and you, who do you say I am. ‘ Peter answered; you are Christ, the Son of the Living God. All bishops and priest learned from men. Unless taught directly through the mercy of God, all of them have no Faith. Aggravated by the fact that many have serious sins of perversion that deprives them of sanctifying grace. 

             Watch what Christ said; No man taught you that but My Father in heaven. No man; because supernatural truths cannot be taught by men. Catholic truths, being supernatural truths cannot be taught by men, either in the seminaries or theological schools, as having been happening. They cannot. Supernatural truths can only be taught by the Father in Heaven, including who is the true Pope. Only a St. Catherine of Sienna who communicates with God could say who was the true Pope among the several pretenders. Not even the cardinals, bishops and priest during her time knew who was the true Pope, because they were not in the state of sanctifying grace. Just like the bishops and priests theologians during the trial of St. Joan of Arc. 

              Those in the state of grace know all supernatural truths, including who is the true Pope. And the true Pope know who they are among the bishops, priests and laymen. 

               The state of the institutional Church with head quarters in the Vatican and of the whole world is that they are all in the natural level, if not down in the unnatural level of sin. None of them are being taught by the Father in heaven; so no one seem to know the true Catholic Church. 

          B. The wounded mind.

               Due to sin, especially original, the mind of man is wounded so that, though, ordinarily God made the mind to know the truth, the mind suddenly does not know the truth. It only knows lies, speaks lies and believes lies.  And he cannot know that a lie is a lie because it does not know any truth. The greater the sin the more ignorant is the mind to whatever is true. The world today lives on lies, especially politicians.

                St. Thomas of Aquinas, however, wrote that the mind does not completely lose its knowledge of the truth because God retains the conscience to enable sinful man to know its sins and repent. Conscience is so effective is that if the sinful man insist in not admitting his sins and repent, conscience drives him crazy as punishment.

                When man insists in his sins, the devil, finding that his soul is empty of God, dwells in the soul of the sinner. This is called spiritual possession, like that of Judas.  This is different from physical possession often seen in movies. 

                The wounded mind cannot reason logically and philosophically. So it is utterly useless to discuss anything with such. This is why ‘common sense’, philosophy and logic is gone, today. 

            C. The wounded free will.

                  Due to sin, the free will cannot desire any spiritual good or even physical or political good. Such ideas as ‘the common good,’ ‘the salvation of the soul,’ cannot be heard anymore. 

5. As a consequence of these three wounds, mankind is sliding straight to hell. 

    It was for this fact that Christ became man; to save mankind because nobody else can do it. It was mission impossible. Today, the situation is, also, mission impossible. No human institution can solve the present problems of the world, except God. But God, as in the day of Noah and the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, won’t do it.

    God has taught mankind how to cooperate with Him in the salvation of their souls. The Liturgy repeats this ‘Plan of salvation’ every year from Ash Wednesday up to Pentecost. Man can cooperate in the salvation of his soul. We have just heard the lesson twice during this pandemic on how to repent.  But due to unrepentant sins, he won’t. Indeed, mankind is spiritually wounded. God have given the medication. But mankind won’t use it……out of pride. Mankind is going where the author of pride Lucifer  is going. 

      

We are living in an atmosphere where God is saying; Enough is enough!

            

          

  1. Jesus Christ described  the members of His Mystical Body.

      ‘Who is My mother, my sister, my brother. He who keeps My commandments.’ This was Christ’s answer to those who informed Him that his relatives were waiting outside for Him. Not that He disowned His mother and relatives. But that He emphasised that they are His relatives not because of blood relationship but because they obeyed His commandments.

       We have emphasised the importance of hearing Mass everyday because the entire teaching of the Catholic Church is learned in the Gospels as presented on Sundays and every day at the Liturgy of the Mass. Since Ash Wednesday up to the present, Friday of the 12th weekday in Ordinary time, we have been taught the ideal atmosphere necessary to learn how to save one’s soul. First, we must have a good curriculum. Second,  good teachers. Third, an ideal classroom. Fourth, we must be good disciples.  And, lastly, we must have a good review class before we die.

2. For the last week, 12th Weekday in ordinary time, the Liturgy had been giving us an image of a good class of disciples. Who are those who are truly inside the Catholic Church; who truly belongs to the Family of God; who are those within the kingdom of God; who are those who will go to heaven.  

     The examples given in the entire Liturgy is that we must have Faith. The Gospels gave the examples;  first, Jesus Christ, who was conceived without original sin, born without sin, grew up without sin and died without any stain of sin.  Secondly, the Blessed Virgin Mary who was conceived without original sin, born without sin, grew up without sin and died without any stain of sin. Thirdly, St. John the Baptist whose feast we recently celebrated, who was conceived with original sin, born without sin, grew up without sin and died without any stain of sin. And in today’s Gospel, we have Mary Magdalene, who was conceived with original sin, born with sin, grew up with seven devils and died without sin. The Friday and Saturday Gospels added the man with leprosy, the centurion and the mother in law of St. Peter.

3. Sign that one is within the kingdom of God.

     The sign of a community that is Church is that one who has Faith can discern the Faith in others and both minister to each other physically and spiritually. It is the description of ‘two or three gathered together in the name of Christ, wherein Christ is in their midst.’ That is the image of the members of the Catholic Church.

     Today, nobody knows if they have Faith. They do not know if the other have Faith. And, though they could be ministering with one another physically, they are not ministering to one another spiritually. The Catholic Church, the Kingdom of God, is nowhere around. 

    Faith in oneself that gives us the power to notice the Faith in others who have it, therefore, makes us minister to each other physically and spiritually. 

     Many of us fall under this last category, in that, hopefully, we die without any sin, i.e. that we die in the state of grace.

     But it is impossible for anyone to know if they are in the state of grace when they die. In some way, as St. Paul wrote, our conscience can inform us if we are in the state of grace or not. But without certainty. 

      Christ gave us many signs in the Gospel by which we can find out if we are in the state of grace or not. But these sign are available only to those who have the supernatural and theological virtue of Faith enlivened with Charity. 

       The man with leprosy was a sinner, especially shown by his leprosy. But he had Faith enough to cure his leprosy.

       There is the ruler in a synagogue with the ill daughter who had great Faith. With St. Peter’s mother in law and the woman with haemorrhage. All were described as having great Faith and their physical cure is a sign of the spiritual cure they underwent that made them disposed to receive the virtue of Faith from God. 

4. Today’s Gospel, an image of the Catholic Church.’

     The Gospel describes Jesus Christ, with His apostles and disciples. Together with them are women who were ministering to their needs. It was an image of the early Catholic Church living in community. All were ministering to Jesus Christ. Both the apostles, the disciples and the women were ministering to Christ. That is an image of the Catholic Church as described by Christ ‘as My family.’ ‘Those who obey My commandments.’ All of them have the Catholic Faith. 

5. How can we know that we have Faith enlivened with Charity, that puts a soul within the kingdom of God, i.e. the Catholic Church?

      As Christ answered; ‘by keeping My commandments.’ Specifically what command; two commands, to repent and believe, as Christ, Himself, personally preached at the beginning of His public life. A soul must repent according to the Old Testament and repent according to the New Testament by acquiring the virtue of Penance that is prelude to receiving the virtue of Faith that forgives all his past sins. This is the beginning how a soul begins to be inside the Kingdom of God, i.e. the Catholic Church. 

      This initial Faith empowers the converted soul to follow Christ. But before he can follow Christ, he must remove all obstacles to the following of Christ, thus the necessity for Christ to tell the young rich man, ‘to go home, sell all your things and give it to the poor.’  Or, ‘the other version of this command, ‘to leave father, mother, brothers, sisters, wife and lands. ‘ This command of Christ to the young rich man is identical command Christ gave to all His apostles, to the young lawyer, to Matthew and to everybody because this is the first command of the New Testament. Without obeying this first command of the New Testament a soul cannot follow Christ to be a better Catholic. 

     Pope John Paul II very well described this first command of the New Testament in his encyclical ‘Veritatis Splendor,’  ordering the addressee of this encyclical, i.e. all bishops, to teach it to all their priests and eventually to all the faithful.  Nobody did it. Nobody could preach what they have not done. 

     This is the answer to the question; where are all the Catholics. Nowhere, because it is impossible to find Faith in the earth, Christ, Himself, prophesied. Of course, there should be a few, but only those with Faith can find those with Faith, because they have in themselves what they are looking for in another. The faithless will not be able to find what they do not have in another. 

     The sign a soul has Faith is when one’s educated conscience informs  him that he has repented perfectly for all his past sins, therefore, he is at present sinless or immaculate or pure in heart. Thus he is worthy to see the face of God. Such a soul is within the Kingdom of God, is, in fact, in heaven while he is still on earth. And the Liturgy from Ash Wednesday up to today shows the steps a soul must take that he may be  ‘perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect.’

     

     

  1, Faith is the basis for salvation.

      Christ clearly said that there is no condemnation to those who have Faith. Then, added, that those without Faith are already condemned. That is; those who have Faith will not have to face God in judgment because they are certain of their salvation, while whose without Faith will, also, not face in judgment because they have been judged. 

       Those who will be judged at the last Judgment are a completely different set of people as clearly described in the Gospel of Christ the King. But they are not the subject of this Gospel. 

2. What is Faith.

     Faith is knowledge and obedience to the commands of Christ. Ignorance and disobedience to the commands of Christ is the sin against Faith that shows one has no Faith. It has become very important for a Christian to know whether he has Faith or not. 

     So God has made it a point to test mankind every second of their lives so man can know if he has Faith or not. God, always, knows if a man has Faith or not. But man does not know it. The test is for man’s sake. 

     Thus God tested, even, the angels. Then Adam and Eve who sinned against Faith. To show how serious is the sin against Faith, Adam and Eve together with the human race was condemned to hell for it. Thus Christ had to come and become man to save the human race. 

3. How did Christ save man?

    By giving man commandments to obey. Every time man obeys Christ’s command he grows in Faith. Man must grow in Faith until his Faith is perfected with the eventual help with the grace of God. The occasion to grow in grace comes in the form of a test.

     If man passes the test, he grows in Faith. If he fails, he loses his Faith. To recover his Faith and proceed to the perfection of Faith, God gave mankind the life of repentance wherein man receives the grace of Penance that forgives his sin against Faith and the grace to proceed to the perfection of Faith that becomes enlivened with the theological virtue of Charity.

4. The test of Faith of the disciples in the storm at sea.

     For their training in the life of Faith, the disciples was constantly tested, and they were helped by Christ, Himself, to pass their test and progress towards the perfection of Faith, attained on Easter and whose Faith was enlivened with Charity on Pentecost. 

     In today’s Gospel, the disciples were having some beginner’s test. The test, always, consist in asking the question; ‘do you believe that Jesus is God? If your answer is ‘yes,’ you pass the test. If ‘no,’ you fail the test. When your answer is correct, you grow in Faith, if wrong, you commit the sin against Faith and regress in the spiritual life.

      Here comes the disciple’s test. Christ pulls His disciples away from the crowd to enter the boat and set sail. He pulled His disciples away from the crowd because He knew the disciples will fail the test and wanted to spare them of the embarrasment. 

      Christ boarded the boat and went to sleep as the disciples set said. The ‘sleep’ was the test.  As the journey proceeded, a storm broke, the wind was strong and waves high. The disciples was afraid, went to Christ saying, ‘Lord, help us. We are in danger of sinking.

      The disciples knew Christ was God who could calm the wind and the sea. That is all fine. Their Faith was good up to there. But then they thought that Christ could not calm the wind and sea if He was sleeping. There is where they failed the test. Their idea that Christ had to wake up to calm the wind  and sea was their lack of Faith. God does not have to wake up to calm a storm. Christ corrected His disciples, ‘why you weak of Faith.’ With this correction, the disciples grew more in Faith. When God corrects, it is for man to grow in Faith. 

5. God corrects man in two ways.

    When a soul is growing to perfection in the right way, God, sorts of, corrects him so he can go faster forward. This is rare and occurs only in great saints. 

     The more common correction that God gives is in the form of chastisements, when man sins and is in the state of being condemned for all eternity. Such a man does not realise he has sinned against Faith. He has no Faith, has sinned against Faith and is going to hell. The Corona virus is a chastisement God is giving mankind to inform mankind that they have sinned grievously, they have not repented, and they die they will go straight to hell…..unless they repent by acquiring through a life of repentance the virtue of Penance that will forgive their sins. 

       The length of the pandemic that is now on the second year shows mankind is not repenting. And as expected when man is not repenting, mankind is getting worse by sinning more and more against God. In fact, most of the human solution to stop the pandemic consist in committing more sins against God. 

        Sinners are getting richer, sinners are getting everything they want, sinners are released from jail, sinners win elections, sinners are financed to commit more sins like abortion. While the good are punished for doing good, are prevented from doing good like going to Mass. The good are punished for having Faith in God and not in man. To have faith in man is a sin. With this arrangement, the world is getting worse and millions of souls will be going to hell.

        People are dying. We have to ask the question, ‘where are their souls going?’  Without Faith, they go straight to hell. And nobody cares. Nobody is teaching why there is a chastisement. Nobody is teaching what is the test and how to pass the test. 

       The world is like a boat in the middle of a storm amidst strong winds and high waves. And everybody is boring holes in the boat. 

6. God save us.

    Like the disciples in the boat, amidst the strong wind and waves, the Catholic world have ordered the praying of the rosary and pray ‘God save us from this pandemic.’ But they are not expecting the sleeping Christ to wake up and save the world. They expect the vaccine to be distributed and save the world. That is total lack of Faith in God. It is mere human faith on a vial of vaccine. That cannot save souls. 

      That world wide prayer, led by the Vatican, will not stop the pandemic. God will not stop something that He had sent for the good of mankind. 

      It is all right to wear masks, like the priest who said Mass with a face mask because he forgot his false teeth. That was a great need. It is all right to wear face shields and observe social distancing. It is even all right to take the vaccine. But your Faith must not be on these. Man will still, eventually, die. He needs Faith in God, who controls all of creation. Right now, there is no Faith in God. The world is going downhill to hell.  The fire of Hell  is already showing in many cities.