Article 6. Whether man is preserved by this sacrament from future sins?

Article 6. Whether man is preserved by this sacrament from future sins?
Objection 1. It seems that man is not preserved by this sacrament from future sins. For there are many that receive this sacrament worthily, who afterwards fall into sin. Now this would not happen if this sacrament were to preserve them from future sins. Consequently, it is not an effect of this sacrament to preserve from future sins.

Objection 2. Further, the Eucharist is the sacrament of charity, as stated above (Article 4). But charity does not seem to preserve from future sins, because it can be lost through sin after one has possessed it, as was stated in the II-II, 24, 11. Therefore it seems that this sacrament does not preserve man from sin.

Objection 3. Further, the origin of sin within us is "the law of sin, which is in our members," as declared by the Apostle (Romans 7:23). But the lessening of the fomes, which is the law of sin, is set down as an effect not of this sacrament, but rather of Baptism. Therefore preservation from sin is not an effect of this sacrament.

On the contrary, our Lord said (John 6:50): "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die": which manifestly is not to be understood of the death of the body. Therefore it is to be understood that this sacrament preserves from spiritual death, which is through sin.

I answer that, Sin is the spiritual death of the soul. Hence man is preserved from future sin in the same way as the body is preserved from future death of the body: and this happens in two ways. First of all, in so far as man's nature is strengthened inwardly against inner decay, and so by means of food and medicine he is preserved from death. Secondly, by being guarded against outward assaults; and thus he is protected by means of arms by which he defends his body.

Now this sacrament preserves man from sin in both of these ways. For, first of all, by uniting man with Christ through grace, it strengthens his spiritual life, as spiritual food and spiritual medicine, according to Psalm 103:5: "(That) bread strengthens [Vulgate: 'may strengthen'] man's heart." Augustine likewise says (Tract. xxvi in Joan.): "Approach without fear; it is bread, not poison." Secondly, inasmuch as it is a sign of Christ's Passion, whereby the devils are conquered, it repels all the assaults of demons. Hence Chrysostom says (Hom. xlvi in Joan.): "Like lions breathing forth fire, thus do we depart from that table, being made terrible to the devil."

Reply to Objection 1. The effect of this sacrament is received according to man's condition: such is the case with every active cause in that its effect is received in matter according to the condition of the matter. But such is the condition of man on earth that his free-will can be bent to good or evil. Hence, although this sacrament of itself has the power of preserving from sin, yet it does not take away from man the possibility of sinning.

Reply to Objection 2. Even charity of itself keeps man from sin, according to Romans 13:10: "The love of our neighbor worketh no evil": but it is due to the mutability of free-will that a man sins after possessing charity, just as after receiving this sacrament.

Reply to Objection 3. Although this sacrament is not ordained directly to lessen the fomes, yet it does lessen it as a consequence, inasmuch as it increases charity, because, as Augustine says (83), "the increase of charity is the lessening of concupiscence." But it directly strengthens man's heart in good; whereby he is also preserved from sin.

from Question 79, Part three, of the Summa

Adoro te Devote (Hopkins Trans.)

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore,
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at Thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived:
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth Himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.

On the cross Thy godhead made no sign to men,
Here Thy very manhood steals from human ken:
Both are my confession, both are my belief,
And I pray the prayer of the dying thief.

I am not like Thomas, wounds I cannot see,
But can plainly call thee Lord and God as he;
Let me to a deeper faith daily nearer move,
Daily make me harder hope and dearer love.

O thou our reminder of Christ crucified,
Living Bread, the life of us for whom he died,
Lend this life to me then: feed and feast my mind,
There be thou the sweetness man was meant to find.

Bring the tender tale true of the Pelican;
Bathe me, Jesu Lord, in what Thy bosom ran
Blood whereof a single drop has power to win
All the world forgiveness of its world of sin.

Jesu, whom I look at shrouded here below,
I beseech thee send me what I thirst for so,
Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light
And be blest for ever with Thy glory's sight. Amen.

Adoro te Devote (Latin)

Adoro te devote, latens Deitas,
Quæ sub his figuris vere latitas;
Tibi se cor meum totum subjicit,
Quia te contemplans totum deficit.

Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur,
Sed auditu solo tuto creditur.
Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius;
Nil hoc verbo veritátis verius.

In cruce latebat sola Deitas,
At hic latet simul et Humanitas,
Ambo tamen credens atque confitens,
Peto quod petivit latro pœnitens.

Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor:
Deum tamen meum te confiteor.
Fac me tibi semper magis credere,
In te spem habere, te diligere.

O memoriale mortis Domini!
Panis vivus, vitam præstans homini!
Præsta meæ menti de te vívere,
Et te illi semper dulce sapere.

Pie Pelicane, Jesu Domine,
Me immundum munda tuo sanguine:
Cujus una stilla salvum facere
Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Jesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio

Mid-Term Review

Freshman Religion
Mid-Term Review


1. The Ten Commandments—be able to list them in order. (What we must do.)



2. The Spiritual Communion—know it by heart. (What we must desire.)



3. The Compendium on the Sacraments—Section Two, the Seven Sacraments of the Church—points 250-350. (What we must believe.)

from "Lutheranism and Transubstantiation"

To the Catholic, however, this so-called "miracle of change" is a part of the total mystery of Divine Condescension, which reaches fulfillment in the Incarnation. For him the Eucharistic presence does no injury to the mystery of the Ascension of Christ. Rather, by the dogma of transubstantiation the truth of the Ascension of Christ's humanity is brought home to him more forcefully. Although Christ is at the right hand of the Father...nevertheless the Catholic accepts in faith the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This presence, his faith tells him, can only be brought about by a change in the ontological order. A change must take place in the profound reality of the bread and wine; a change brought about by the omnipotent hand of God in the service of spiritual fellowship between the Bride and the Bridegroom, between Christ and the Church. It is not the purpose of the dogma of transubstantiation to explain the mystery of the presence of Christ, but to give a logical explanation of the words of institution which safeguard the dogmas of the Resurrection of Christ's humanity, His Ascension and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. What appears to be bread is truly Christ by reason of a profound change which touches the very being of the earthly reality and which is unobservable to the senses. This doctrine will influence no one who does not believe in the dogmas of the Resurrection, Ascension and real presence. But if considered not only in the light of the Semitic way of thinking: the bread is what Christ makes of it, but also in the light of the entire patristic tradition, the dogma of transubstantiation should afford another point of contact between Lutherans and Roman Catholics...

The explanation of the Council of Trent remains the only possible one. It is a logical explanation of the words of institution, which does not go beyond the given data. It is read out of the proposition whose meaning and extent parallel the logical explanation exactly. Thus the dogma of transubstantiation is distinguished from ontic explanations proposed by the various schools of theology to give further understanding to the dogma.39 It is a well known fact that the Council avoided implicating itself in any philosophical system and professed to have received the dogma from the words of institution. Thus the meaning of the words "conversion," "substance," and "species" is to be derived from the words of institution and not from a particular philosophical system. Since this is so, there remains the possibility that adversaries of the Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophical system may nevertheless come to accept the logical interpretation of the words of institution proposed by Trent.

The logical explanation of Scripture is, indeed, the basis of Biblical theology and not at all foreign to Lutheran theologians. The realization that Trent was only presenting such an explanation of the words of institution and not binding itself to a particular philosophical system might well dispose many Lutherans to accept the dogma of transubstantiation. But even if Lutherans were to accept this dogma as a logical explanation of Christ's words, there yet exists a profound difference between Lutherans and Catholics on the point at issue. As Rahner points out, for the Catholic a logical explanation can become a proposition which binds the faith of the individual by reason of the Church's teaching, while for the Lutheran it remains basically theological and therefore revisable.

Edward J. Kilmartin, S.J.

Catholics Come Home

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs6qZd_xP1w

Eucharistic Adoration with two Popes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdQVZtIkvuQ

Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyuOIYCERc4

Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming

Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming from tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse's lineage coming, as men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind;
Mary we behold it, the Virgin Mother kind.
To show God's love aright, she bore to us a Savior,
When half spent was the night.

The shepherds heard the story proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of glory was born on earth this night.
To Bethlehem they sped and in the manger they found Him,
As angel heralds said.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere;
True man, yet very God, from sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.

Fr. Benedict Groeschel's 50th

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZePc6hIMio

Aspirations & Spiritual Communion

Freshman Religion
Aspirations & Spiritual Communion

1. Here I am, for you did call me. (1 Sm 3:5)

2. Lord, that I may see. (Lk 18:41)

3. Most sweet Heart of Mary, prepare a safe way for us.

4. My Lord and my God. (Jn 20:28)

5. Lord, increase our faith. (Lk 17:5)

6. A clean heart create for me, O God. (Ps 51:12)

7. I can do all things in him who strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)

8. All the glory for God.

9. Omnia in bonum! (Rom 3:28)

10. I wish, My Lord, to receive you, with the purity, humility, and devotion with which your Most Holy Mother received you, with the spirit and fervor of the saints.

The Point of it all...

"...the perfect beatitude of man consists in the immediate vision of God."

St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Contra Gentiles", Bk Four

Pope Benedict on Baptism

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The pope today baptized 13 children, six girls and seven boys, in the splendid setting of the Sistine Chapel. It was John Paul II who started this tradition of baptizing children in the Vatican on the day the Church celebrates the baptism of Jesus. At least this once a year, the solemn renaissance chapel dominated by paintings of Michelangelo, where pontiffs are elected, becomes a small familiar parish, full of the cries of newborns and parents trying to soothe them. During today’s mass, Benedict XVI found himself “battling” with the “counter-chorus” of the crying of some of the newborns. Among those baptized was the fourth son of the commander of the pontifical Swiss Guards, Theodor Maedor. The little Damian Elmar Maeder was born on 11 September. Moved, his father read one of the prayers of the faithful.


In his homily dotted with spontaneous additions, the pope underlined the value of life and of the family. “Each child who is born brings us the smile of God and invites us to recognize that life is his gift, a gift to be welcomed with love and to be safeguarded always, at every moment.”


He also said: “Each child that is born is entrusted by God to his parents. How important then is the family founded on matrimony, a cradle of life and love.”


And taking his cue from the Holy Family of Nazareth, the pope said: “I pray to the Lord that even your families may be welcoming places where these children can grow not only in good health but in faith and love for God who today has made them his children through Baptism.


Benedict XVI then explained the meaning of the sacrament of baptism as an “opening of the heavens on our life”, a deep relationship with Jesus Christ and with the Father. The pope turned to the reading of the gospel of Luke that tells how Jesus paused in prayer after his baptism and he said: “Jesus in prayer with the Father talked of us and for us, he also talked about me, about each of us and for each of us.”

Explaining the meaning of the sign of water, the pope said this “is the element of fecundity: without water there is no life. In all religions, water is a sign of maternity. And for the Fathers of the Church, water became a symbol of the maternal womb of the Church.” In baptism, we are united “to the heavenly Father” in “God’s family” and this link with Him is expressed in the relationship with the Mother-Church: “In Baptism, we are adopted by the heavenly Father but in this family there is also a mother, the Mother Church. The Fathers say one cannot have God as a father unless one also has the Church as a mother.” The “physical”, “material” relationship with the church is underlined by the pope because “Christianity is not only a spiritual, individual, subjective thing” but it is also “a real, concrete, material thing: the family of God is concrete and real in the family of the Church... Only by inserting ourselves in this ‘we’ as children, brothers and sisters, can we say ‘Our Father’ to our heavenly Father.”

Speaking about the “fire” mentioned by the baptism liturgy, the pontiff made a distinction between the baptism of John (“a human desire of purification” based on one’s own strength) and Christian baptism, in which “God himself acts, Jesus, the fire of the Spirit” replaces us and takes our children”. The pope specified: “But God does not act in some magical way. He acts only with our freedom. God calls for cooperation with the fire of the Holy Spirit... for the opening of our freedom to say yes to this divine action.” But children are still “incapable of collaborating” and thus parents are important, godfathers and godmothers: they can offer children “teaching and coherent examples of Christian life” that they may become “active members of the ecclesial community”.

INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION

THE HOPE OF SALVATION FOR INFANTS
WHO DIE WITHOUT BEING BAPTISED*

The International Theological Commission has studied the question of the fate of un-baptised infants, bearing in mind the principle of the “hierarchy of truths” and the other theological principles of the universal salvific will of God, the unicity and insuperability of the mediation of Christ, the sacramentality of the Church in the order of salvation, and the reality of Original Sin. In the contemporary context of cultural relativism and religious pluralism the number of non-baptized infants has grown considerably, and therefore the reflection on the possibility of salvation for these infants has become urgent. The Church is conscious that this salvation is attainable only in Christ through the Spirit. But the Church, as mother and teacher, cannot fail to reflect upon the fate of all men, created in the image of God, and in a more particular way on the fate of the weakest members of the human family and those who are not yet able to use their reason and freedom.

It is clear that the traditional teaching on this topic has concentrated on the theory of limbo, understood as a state which includes the souls of infants who die subject to original sin and without baptism, and who, therefore, neither merit the beatific vision, nor yet are subjected to any punishment, because they are not guilty of any personal sin. This theory, elaborated by theologians beginning in the Middle Ages, never entered into the dogmatic definitions of the Magisterium, even if that same Magisterium did at times mention the theory in its ordinary teaching up until the Second Vatican Council. It remains therefore a possible theological hypothesis.

However, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), the theory of limbo is not mentioned. Rather, the Catechism teaches that infants who die without baptism are entrusted by the Church to the mercy of God, as is shown in the specific funeral rite for such children. The principle that God desires the salvation of all people gives rise to the hope that there is a path to salvation for infants who die without baptism (cf. CCC, 1261), and therefore also to the theological desire to find a coherent and logical connection between the diverse affirmations of the Catholic faith: the universal salvific will of God; the unicity of the mediation of Christ; the necessity of baptism for salvation; the universal action of grace in relation to the sacraments; the link between original sin and the deprivation of the beatific vision; the creation of man “in Christ”.

The conclusion of this study is that there are theological and liturgical reasons to hope that infants who die without baptism may be saved and brought into eternal happiness, even if there is not an explicit teaching on this question found in Revelation. However, none of the considerations proposed in this text to motivate a new approach to the question may be used to negate the necessity of baptism, nor to delay the conferral of the sacrament. Rather, there are reasons to hope that God will save these infants precisely because it was not possible to do for them that what would have been most desirable— to baptize them in the faith of the Church and incorporate them visibly into the Body of Christ.

(Approved by Benedict XVI, on January 19, 2007)

LESSON SEVENTEENTH: On the Sacrament of Penance

Q. 721. What is the Sacrament of Penance?

A. Penance is a Sacrament in which the sins committed after Baptism are forgiven.

Q. 722. Has the word Penance any other meaning?

A. The word Penance has other meanings. It means also those punishments we inflict upon ourselves as a means of atoning for our past sins; it means likewise that disposition of the heart in which we detest and bewail our sins because they were offensive to God.

Q. 723. How does the institution of the Sacrament of Penance show the goodness of Our Lord?

A. The institution of the Sacrament of Penance shows the goodness of Our Lord, because having once saved us through Baptism, He might have left us to perish if we again committed sin.

Q. 724. What are the natural benefits of the Sacrament of Penance?

A. The natural benefits of the Sacrament of Penance are: It gives us in our confessor a true friend, to whom we can go in all our trials and to whom we can confide our secrets with the hope of obtaining advice and relief.

Q. 725. How does the Sacrament of Penance remit sin, and restore to the soul the friendship of God?

A. The Sacrament of Penance remits sin and restores the friendship of God to the soul by means of the absolution of the priest.

Q. 726. What is Absolution?

A. Absolution is the form of prayer or words the priest pronounces over us with uplifted hand when he forgives the sins we have confessed. It is given while we are saying the Act of Contrition after receiving our Penance.

Q. 727. Does the priest ever refuse absolution to a penitent?

A. The priest must and does refuse absolution to a penitent when he thinks the penitent is not rightly disposed for the Sacrament. He sometimes postpones the absolution till the next confession, either for the good of the penitent or for the sake of better preparation -- especially when the person has been a long time from confession.

Q. 728. What should a person do when the priest has refused or postponed absolution?

A. When the priest has refused or postponed absolution, the penitent should humbly submit to his decision, follow his instructions, and endeavor to remove whatever prevented the giving of the absolution and return to the same confessor with the necessary dispositions and resolution of amendment.

Q. 729. Can the priest forgive all sins in the Sacrament of Penance?

A. The priest has the power to forgive all sins in the Sacrament of Penance, but he may not have the authority to forgive all. To forgive sins validly in the Sacrament of Penance, two things are required:

The power to forgive sins which every priest receives at his ordination, and
The right to use that power which must be given by the bishop, who authorizes the priest to hear confessions and pass judgment on the sins.
Q. 730. What are the sins called which the priest has no authority to absolve?

A. The sins which the priest has no authority to absolve are called reserved sins. Absolution from these sins can be obtained only from the bishop, and sometimes only from the Pope, or by his special permission. Persons having a reserved sin to confess cannot be absolved from any of their sins till the priest receives faculties or authority to absolve the reserved sin also.

Q. 731. Why is the absolution from some sins reserved to the Pope or bishop?

A. The absolution from some sins is reserved to the Pope or bishop to deter or prevent, by this special restriction, persons from committing them, either on account of the greatness of the sin itself or on account of its evil consequences.

Q. 732. Can any priest absolve a person in danger of death from reserved sins without the permission of the bishop?

A. Any priest can absolve a person in danger of death from reserved sins without the permission of the bishop, because at the hour of death the Church removes these restrictions in order to save, if possible, the soul of the dying.

Q. 733. How do you know that the priest has the power of absolving from the sins committed after Baptism?

A. I know that the priest has the power of absolving from the sins committed after Baptism, because Jesus Christ granted that power to the priests of His Church when He said: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."

Q. 734. How do we know that Our Lord, while on earth, had the power to forgive sins?

A. We know that Our Lord, while on earth, had the power to forgive sins:

Because He was always God, and;
Because He frequently did forgive sins and proved their forgiveness by miracles. Since He had the power Himself, He could give it to His Apostles.
Q. 735. Was the power to forgive sins given to the apostles alone?

A. The power to forgive sins was not given to the apostles alone, because it was not given for the benefit merely of those who lived at the time of the apostles, but for all who, having grievously sinned, after Baptism, should need forgiveness. Since, therefore, Baptism will be given till the end of time, and since the danger of sinning after it always remains the power to absolve from such sins must also remain in the Church till the end of time.

Q. 736. When was the Sacrament of Penance instituted?

A. The Sacrament of Penance was instituted after the resurrection of Our Lord, when He gave to His apostles the power to forgive sins, which He had promised to them before His death.

Q. 737. Are the enemies of our religion right when they say man cannot forgive sins?

A. The enemies of our religion are right when they say man cannot forgive sins if they mean that he cannot forgive them by his own power, but they are certainly wrong if they mean that he cannot forgive them even by the power of God, for man can do anything if God gives him the power. The priest does not forgive sins by his own power as man, but by the authority he receives as the minister of God.

Q. 738. How do the priests of the Church exercise the power of forgiving sins?

A. The priests of the Church exercise the power of forgiving sins by hearing the confession of sins, and granting pardon for them as ministers of God and in His name.

Q. 739. How does the power to forgive sins imply the obligation of going to confession?

A. The power to forgive sins implies the obligation of going to confession because as sins are usually committed secretly, the priest could never know what sins to forgive and what not to forgive, unless the sins committed were made known to him by the persons guilty of them.

Q. 740. Could God not forgive our sins if we confessed them to Himself in secret?

A. Certainly, God could forgive our sins if we confessed them to Himself in secret, but He has not promised to do so; whereas He has promised to pardon them if we confess them to His priests. Since He is free to pardon or not to pardon, He has the right to establish a Sacrament through which alone He will pardon.

Q. 741. What must we do to receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily?

A. To receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily we must do five things:

We must examine our conscience.
We must have sorrow for our sins.
We must make a firm resolution never more to offend God.
We must confess our sins to the priest.
We must accept the penance which the priest gives us.
Q. 742. What should we pray for in preparing for confession?

A. In preparing for confession we should pray to the Holy Ghost to give us light to know our sins and to understand their guilt; for grace to detest them; for courage to confess them and for strength to keep our resolutions.

Q. 743. What faults do many commit in preparing for confession?

A. In preparing for confession many commit the faults:

Of giving too much time to the examination of conscience and little or none in exciting themselves to true sorrow for the sins discovered;
Of trying to recall every trifling circumstance, instead of thinking of the means by which they will avoid their sins for the future.
Q. 744. What, then, is the most important part of the preparation for confession?

A. The most important part of the preparation for confession is sincere sorrow for the sins committed and the firm determination to avoid them for the future.

Q. 745. What is the chief reason that our confessions do not always amend our way of living?

A. The chief reason that our confessions do not always amend our way of living is our want of real earnest preparation for them and the fact that we have not truly convinced ourselves of the need of amendment. We often confess our sins more from habit, necessity or fear than from a real desire of receiving grace and of being restored to the friendship of God.

Q. 746. What faults are to be avoided in making our confession?

A. In making our confession we are to avoid:

Telling useless details, the sins of others, or the name of any person;
Confessing sins we are not sure of having committed; exaggerating our sins or their number; multiplying the number of times a day by the number of days to get the exact number of habitual sins;
Giving a vague answer, such as "sometimes," when asked how often; waiting after each sin to be asked for the next;
Hesitating over sins through pretended modesty and thus delaying the priests and others; telling the exact words in each when we have committed several sins of the same kind, cursing, for example; and, lastly, leaving the confessional before the priest gives us a sign to go.
Q. 747. Is it wrong to go to confession out of your turn against the will of others waiting with you?

A. It is wrong to go to confession out of our turn against the will of others waiting with us, because:

It causes disorder, quarreling and scandalous conduct in the Church;
It is unjust, makes others angry and lessens their good dispositions for confession;
It annoys and distracts the priest by the confusion and disorder it creates. It is better to wait than go to confession in an excited and disorderly manner.
Q. 748. What should a penitent do who knows he cannot perform the penance given?

A. A penitent who knows he cannot perform the penance given should ask the priest for one that he can perform. When we forget the penance given we must ask for it again, for we cannot fulfill our duty by giving ourselves a penance. The penance must be performed at the time and in the manner the confessor directs.

Q. 749. What is the examination of conscience?

A. The examination of conscience is an earnest effort to recall to mind all the sins we have committed since our last worthy confession.

Q. 750. When is our confession worthy?

A. Our confession is worthy when we have done all that is required for a good confession, and when, through the absolution, our sins are really forgiven.

Q. 751. How can we make a good examination of conscience?

A. We can make a good examination of conscience by calling to memory the commandments of God, the precepts of the Church, the seven capital sins, and the particular duties of our state in life, to find out the sins we have committed.

Q. 752. What should we do before beginning the examination of conscience?

A. Before beginning the examination of conscience we should pray to God to give us light to know our sins and grace to detest them.

LESSON FIFTEENTH: On Confirmation

Q. 670. What is Confirmation?

A. Confirmation is a Sacrament through which we receive the Holy Ghost to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Q. 671. When was Confirmation instituted?

A. The exact time at which Confirmation was instituted is not known. But as this Sacrament was administered by the Apostles and numbered with the other Sacraments instituted by Our Lord, it is certain that He instituted this Sacrament also and instructed His Apostles in its use, at some time before His ascension into heaven.

Q. 672. Why is Confirmation so called?

A. Confirmation is so called from its chief effect, which is to strengthen or render us more firm in whatever belongs to our faith and religious duties.

Q. 673. Why are we called soldiers of Jesus Christ?

A. We are called soldiers of Jesus Christ to indicate how we must resist the attacks of our spiritual enemies and secure our victory over them by following and obeying Our Lord.

Q. 674. May one add a new name to his own at Confirmation?

A. One may and should add a new name to his own at Confirmation, especially when the name of a saint has not been given in Baptism.

Q. 675. Who administers Confirmation?

A. The bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation.

Q. 676. Why do we say the bishop is the "ordinary minister" of Confirmation?

A. We say the bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation because in some foreign missions, where bishops have not yet been appointed, the Holy Father permits one of the priests to administer Confirmation with the Holy Oil blessed by the bishop.

Q. 677. How does the bishop give Confirmation?

A. The bishop extends his hands over those who are to be confirmed, prays that they may receive the Holy Ghost, and anoints the forehead of each with holy chrism in the form of a cross.

Q. 678. In Confirmation, what does the extending of the bishop's hands over us signify?

A. In Confirmation, the extending of the bishop's hands over us signifies the descent of the Holy Ghost upon us and the special protection of God through the grace of Confirmation.

Q. 679. What is holy chrism?

A. Holy chrism is a mixture of olive-oil and balm, consecrated by the bishop.

Q. 680. What do the oil and balm in Holy Chrism signify?

A. In Holy Chrism, the oil signifies strength, and the balm signifies the freedom from corruption and the sweetness which virtue must give to our lives.

Q. 681. How many holy oils are used in the Church?

A. Three holy oils are used in the Church, namely, the oil of the sick, the oil of catechumens, and holy chrism.

Q. 682. What constitutes the difference between these oils?

A. The form of prayer or blessing alone constitutes the difference between these oils; for they are all olive oil, but in the Holy Chrism, balm is mixed with the oil.

Q. 683. When and by whom are the holy oils blessed?

A. The holy oils are blessed at the Mass on Holy Thursday by the bishop, who alone has the right to bless them. After the blessing they are distributed to the priests of the diocese, who must then burn what remains of the old oils and use the newly blessed oils for the coming year.

Q. 684. For what are the holy oils used?

A. The holy oils are used as follows: The oil of the sick is used for Extreme Unction and for some blessings; the oil of catechumens is used for Baptism and Holy Orders. Holy Chrism is used at Baptism and for the blessing of some sacred things, such as altars, chalices, church-bells, etc., which are usually blessed by a bishop.

Q. 685. What does the bishop say in anointing the person he confirms?

A. In anointing the person he confirms the bishop says: "I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Q. 686. What is meant by anointing the forehead with chrism in the form of a cross?

A. By anointing the forehead with chrism in the form of a cross is meant that the Christian who is confirmed must openly profess and practice his faith, never be ashamed of it; and rather die than deny it.

Q. 687. When must we openly profess and practice our religion?

A. We must openly profess and practice our religion as often as we cannot do otherwise without violating some law of God or of His Church.

Q. 688. Why have we good reason never to be ashamed of the Catholic faith?

A. We have good reason never to be ashamed of the Catholic Faith because it is the Old Faith established by Christ and taught by His Apostles; it is the Faith for which countless Holy Martyrs suffered and died; it is the Faith that has brought true civilization, with all its benefits, into the world, and it is the only Faith that can truly reform and preserve public and private morals.

Q. 690. Is it right to test ourselves through our imagination of what we would be willing to suffer for the sake of Christ?

A. It is not right to test ourselves through our imagination of what we would be willing to suffer for the sake of Christ, for such tests may lead us into sin. When a real test comes we are assured God will give to us, as He did to the Holy Martyrs, sufficient grace to endure it.

Q. 691. To receive Confirmation worthily is it necessary to be in the state of grace?

A. To receive Confirmation worthily it is necessary to be in the state of grace.

Q. 692. What special preparation should be made to receive Confirmation?

A. Persons of an age to learn should know the chief mysteries of faith and the duties of a Christian, and be instructed in the nature and effects of this Sacrament.

Q. 693. Why should we know the chief mysteries of faith and the duties of a Christian before receiving Confirmation?

A. We should know the Chief Mysteries of Faith and the duties of a Christian before receiving Confirmation because as one cannot be a good soldier without knowing the rules of the army to which he belongs and understanding the commands of his leader, so one cannot be a good Christian without knowing the laws of the Church and understanding the commands of Christ.

Q. 694. Is it a sin to neglect Confirmation?

A. It is a sin to neglect Confirmation, especially in these evil days when faith and morals are exposed to so many and such violent temptations.

Q. 695. What do we mean by "these evil days"?

A. By "these evil days" we mean the present age or century in which we are living, surrounded on all sides by unbelief, false doctrines, bad books, bad example and temptation in every form.

Q. 696. Is Confirmation necessary for salvation?

A. Confirmation is not so necessary for salvation that we could not be saved without it, for it is not given to infants even in danger of death; nevertheless, there is a divine command obliging all to receive it, if possible. Persons who have not been confirmed in youth should make every effort to be confirmed later in life.

Q. 697. Are sponsors necessary in Confirmation?

A. Sponsors are necessary in Confirmation, and they must be of the same good character as those required at Baptism, for they take upon themselves the same duties and responsibilities. They also contract a spiritual relationship, which, however, unlike that in Baptism, is not an impediment to marriage.

Q. 698. Which are the effects of Confirmation?

A. The effects of Confirmation are an increase of sanctifying grace, the strengthening of our faith, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost.

Baltimore Catechism No. 3 - Lesson 14

LESSON FOURTEENTH: On Baptism

Q. 620. When was baptism instituted?

A. Baptism was instituted, very probably, about the time Our Lord was baptized by St. John, and its reception was commanded when after His resurrection Our Lord said to His Apostles: "All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Going, therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Q. 621. What is Baptism?

A. Baptism is a Sacrament which cleanses us from original sin, makes us Christians, children of God, and heirs of heaven.

Q. 622. What were persons called in the first ages of the Church who were being instructed and prepared for baptism?

A. Persons who were being instructed and prepared for baptism, in the first ages of the Church, were called catechumens, and they are frequently mentioned in Church history.


Q. 626. Did not St. John the Baptist institute the Sacrament of Baptism?

A. St. John the Baptist did not institute the Sacrament of Baptism, for Christ alone could institute a Sacrament. The baptism given by St. John had the effect of a Sacramental; that is, it did not of itself give grace, but prepared the way for it.

Q. 627. Are actual sins ever remitted by Baptism?

A. Actual sins and all the punishment due to them are remitted by Baptism, if the person baptized be guilty of any.

Q. 628. That actual sins may be remitted by baptism, is it necessary to be sorry for them?

A. That actual sins may be remitted by baptism it is necessary to be sorry for them, just as we must be when they are remitted by the Sacrament of Penance.

Q. 629. What punishments are due to actual sins?

A. Two punishments are due to actual sins: one, called the eternal, is inflicted in hell; and the other, called the temporal, is inflicted in this world or in purgatory. The Sacrament of Penance remits or frees us from the eternal punishment and generally only from part of the temporal. Prayer, good works and indulgences in this world and the sufferings of purgatory in the next remit the remainder of the temporal punishment.

Q. 630. Why is there a double punishment attached to actual sins?

A. There is a double punishment attached to actual sins, because in their commission there is a double guilt: (1) Of insulting God and of turning away from Him; (2) Of depriving Him of the honor we owe Him, and of turning to His enemies.

Q. 631. Is Baptism necessary to salvation?

A. Baptism is necessary to salvation, because without it we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Q. 632. Where will persons go who -- such as infants -- have not committed actual sin and who, through no fault of theirs, die without baptism?

A. Persons, such as infants, who have not committed actual sin and who, through no fault of theirs, die without baptism, cannot enter heaven; but it is the common belief they will go to some place similar to Limbo, where they will be free from suffering, though deprived of the happiness of heaven.

Q. 633. Who can administer Baptism?

A. A priest is the ordinary minister of baptism; but in case of necessity anyone who has the use of reason may baptize.

Q. 634. What do we mean by the "ordinary minister" of a Sacrament?

A. By the "ordinary minister" of a Sacrament we mean the one who usually does administer the Sacrament, and who has always the right to do so.

Q. 635. Can a person who has not himself been baptized, and who does not even believe in the Sacrament of baptism, give it validly to another in case of necessity?

A. A person who has not himself been baptized, and who does not even believe in the Sacrament of baptism, can give it validly to another in case of necessity, provided:

He has the use of reason;
Knows how to give baptism, and
Intends to do what the Church intends in the giving of the Sacrament. Baptism is so necessary that God affords every opportunity for its reception.

Q. 636. Why do the consequences of original sin, such as suffering, temptation, sickness, and death, remain after the sin has been forgiven in baptism?

A. The consequences of original sin, such as suffering, temptation, sickness and death, remain after the sin has been forgiven in baptism: (1) To remind us of the misery that always follows sin; and (2) To afford us an opportunity of increasing our merit by bearing these hardships patiently.

Q. 637. Can a person ever receive any of the other Sacraments without first receiving baptism?

A. A person can never receive any of the other Sacraments without first receiving baptism, because baptism makes us members of Christ's Church, and unless we are members of His Church we cannot receive His Sacraments.

Q. 638. How is Baptism given?

A. Whoever baptizes should pour water on the head of the person to be baptized, and say, while pouring the water: "I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Q. 639. If water cannot be had, in case of necessity, may any other liquid be used for baptism?

A. If water cannot be had, in case of necessity or in any case, no other liquid can be used, and the baptism cannot be given.

Q. 640. If it is impossible, in case of necessity, to reach the head, may the water be poured on any other part of the body?

A. If it is impossible, in case of necessity, to reach the head, the water should be poured on whatever part of the body can be reached; but then the baptism must be given conditionally; that is, before pronouncing the words of baptism, you must say: "If I can baptize thee in this way, I baptize thee in the name of the Father," etc. If the head can afterward be reached, the water must be poured on the head and the baptism repeated conditionally by saying: "If you are not already baptized, I baptize thee in the name," etc.

Q. 641. Is the baptism valid if we say: "I baptize thee in the name of the Holy Trinity," without naming the Persons of the Trinity?

A. The baptism is not valid if we say: "I baptize thee in the name of the Holy Trinity," without naming the Persons of the Trinity; for we must use the exact words instituted by Christ.

Q. 642. Is it wrong to defer the baptism of an infant?

A. It is wrong to defer the baptism of an infant, because we thereby expose the child to the danger of dying without the Sacrament.

Q. 643. Can we baptize a child against the wishes of its parents?

A. We cannot baptize a child against the wishes of its parents; and if the parents are not Catholics, they must not only consent to the baptism, but also agree to bring the child up in the Catholic religion. But if a child is surely dying, we may baptize it without either the consent or permission of its parents.

Q. 644. How many kinds of Baptism are there?

A. There are three kinds of Baptism: 1.Baptism of water, of desire, and of blood.

Q. 645. What is Baptism of water?

A. Baptism of water is that which is given by pouring water on the head of the person to be baptized, and saying at the same time, "I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Q. 646. In how many ways was the baptism of water given in the first ages of the Church?

A. In the first ages of the Church, baptism of water was given in three ways, namely, by immersion or dipping, by aspersion or sprinkling, and by infusion or pouring. Although any of these methods would be valid, only the method of infusion or pouring is now allowed in the Church.

Sanctity (Mark of the Church)

The term "sanctity" is employed in somewhat different senses in relation to God, to individual men, and to a corporate body. As applied to God it denotes that absolute moral perfection which is His by nature. In regard to men it signifies a close union with God, together with the moral perfection resulting from this union. Hence holiness is said to belong to God by essence, and to creatures only by participation. Whatever sanctity they possess comes to them as a Divine gift. As used of a society, the term means

•that this society aims at producing holiness in its members, and is possessed of means capable of securing that result, and

•that the lives of its members correspond, at least in some measure, with the purpose of the society, and display a real, not a merely nominal holiness.

The Church has ever claimed that she, as a society, is holy in a transcendent degree. She teaches that this is one of the four "notes", viz., unity, catholicity, apostolicity, and sanctity, by which the society founded by Christ can be readily distinguished from all human institutions. It is in virtue of her relation to the Person and work of Christ that this attribute belongs to the Church.

She is (1) the fruit of the Passion — the kingdom of the redeemed. Those who remain outside her are the "world" which knows not God (1 John 3:1). The object of the Passion was the redemption and sanctification of the Church: "Christ also loved the church, and delivered Himself up for it: that he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life" (Ephesians 5:25, 26).

Again (2) the Church is the body of Christ. He is the head of the mystical body: and supernatural life — the life of Christ Himself — is communicated through the sacraments to all His members. Just as the Holy Ghost dwelt in the human body of Christ, so He now dwells in the Church: and His presence is so intimate and so efficacious that the Apostle can even speak of Him as the soul of the mystical body: "One body and one Spirit" (Ephesians 4:4). Thus it follows as a necessary consequence from the nature of the Church and her relation to Christ, that as a society she must possess means capable of producing holiness: that her members must be characterized by holiness: and that this endowment of sanctity will afford a ready means of distinguishing her from the world.

It is further manifest that the Church's holiness must be of an entirely supernatural character — something altogether beyond the power of unassisted human nature. And such is in fact the type of sanctity which Christ and His Apostles require on the part of members of the Church. (1) The virtues which in the Christian ideal are the most fundamental of all, lie altogether outside the scope of the highest pagan ethics. Christian charity, humility, and chastity are instances in point. The charity which Christ sets forth in the Sermon on the Mount and in the parable of the Good Samaritan — a charity which knows no limits and which embraces enemies as well as friends — exceeds all that moralists had deemed possible for men. And this charity Christ requires not of a chosen few, but of all His followers. Humility, which in the Christian scheme is the necessary groundwork of all sanctity (Matthew 18:3), was previously to His teaching an unknown virtue. The sense of personal unworthiness in which it consists, is repugnant to all the impulses of unregenerate nature. Moreover, the humility which Christ demands, supposes as its foundation a clear knowledge of the guilt of sin, and of the mercy of God. Without these it cannot exist. And these doctrines are sought in vain in other religions than the Christian. In regard to chastity Christ not merely warned His followers that to violate this virtue even by a thought, was a grievous sin. He went yet further. He exhorted those of His followers to whom the grace should be given, to live the life of virginity that thereby they might draw nearer to God (Matthew 19:12).

(2) Another characteristic of holiness according to the Christian ideal is love of suffering; not as though pleasure were evil in itself, but because suffering is the great means by which our love of God is intensified and purified. All those who have attained a high degree of holiness have learnt to rejoice in suffering, because by it their love to God was freed from every element of self-seeking, and their lives conformed to that of their Master. Those who have not grasped this principle may call themselves by the name of Christian, but they have not understood the meaning of the Cross.

(3) It has ever been held that holiness when it reaches a sublime degree is accompanied by miraculous powers. And Christ promised that this sign should not be lacking to His Church. The miracles, which His followers should work, would, He declared, be no whit less stupendous than those wrought by Himself during His mortal life (Mark 16:17, 18; John 14:12).

Such in brief outline is the sanctity with which Christ endowed His Church, and which is to be the distinguishing mark of her children. It is, however, to be noted that He said nothing to suggest that all His followers would make use of the opportunities thus afforded them. On the contrary, He expressly taught that His flock would contain many unworthy members (Matthew 13:30, 48). And we may be sure that as within the Church the lights are brightest, so there too the shadows will be darkest — corruptio optimi pessima. An unworthy Catholic will fall lower than an unworthy pagan.

To show that the Church possesses the note of holiness it suffices to establish that her teaching is holy: that she is endowed with the means of producing supernatural holiness in her children: that, notwithstanding the unfaithfulness of many members, a vast number do in fact cultivate a sanctity beyond anything that can be found elsewhere: and that in certain cases this sanctity attains so high a degree that God honours it with miraculous powers.

It is not difficult to show that the Catholic and Roman Church, and she alone, fulfils these conditions. In regard to her doctrines, it is manifest that the moral law which she proposes as of Divine obligation, is more lofty and more exacting than that which any of the sects has ventured to require. Her vindication of the indissolubility of marriage in the face of a licentious world affords the most conspicuous instance of this. She alone maintains in its integrity her Master's teaching on marriage. Every other religious body without exception has given place to the demands of human passion.

In regard to the means of holiness, she, through her seven sacraments, applies to her members the fruits of the Atonement. She pardons the guilt of sin, and nourishes the faithful on the Body and Blood of Christ. Nor is the justice of her claims less manifest when we consider the result of her work. In the Catholic Church is found a marvellous succession of saints whose lives are as beacon-lights in the history of mankind. In sanctity the supremacy of Bernard, of Dominic, of Francis, of Ignatius, of Theresa, is as unquestioned as is that of Alexander and of Cæsar in the art of war. Outside the Catholic Church the world has nothing to show which can in any degree compare with them. Within the Church the succession never fails.

Nor do the saints stand alone. In proportion to the practical influence of Catholic teaching, the supernatural virtues of which we have spoken above, are found also among the rest of the faithful. These virtues mark a special type of character which the Church seeks to realize in her children, and which finds little favour among other claimants to the Christian name. Outside the Catholic Church the life of virginity is contemned; love of suffering is viewed as a medieval superstition; and humility is regarded as a passive virtue ill-suited to an active and pushing age. Of course it is not meant that we do not find many individual instances of holiness outside the Church. God's grace is universal in its range. But it seems beyond question that the supernatural sanctity whose main features we have indicated, is recognized by all as belonging specifically to the Church, while in her alone does it reach that sublime degree which we see in the saints.

In the Church too we see fulfilled Christ's promise that the gift of miracles shall not be wanting to His followers. Miracles, it is true, are not sanctity. But they are the aura in which the highest sanctity moves. And from the time of the Apostles to the nineteenth century the lives of the saints show us that the laws of nature have been suspended at their prayers. In numberless cases the evidence for these events is so ample that nothing but the exigencies of controversy can explain the refusal of anti-Catholic writers to admit their occurrence.

The proof appears to be complete. There can be as little doubt which Church displays the note of sanctity, as there is in regard to the notes of unity, catholicity and apostolicity. The Church in communion with the See of Rome and it alone possesses that holiness which the words of Christ and His Apostles demand.

from:http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13428b.htm

from "The Idea of a University" by J. H. Newman

At the risk of anticipating what I shall have occasion to insist upon in my next Discourse, let me say that, according to the teaching of Monotheism, God is an Individual, Self-dependent, All-perfect, Unchangeable Being; intelligent, living, personal, and present; almighty, all-seeing, all-remembering; between whom and His creatures there is an infinite gulf; who has no origin, who is all-sufficient for Himself; who created and upholds the universe; who will judge every one of us, sooner or later, according to that Law of right and wrong which He has written on our hearts. He is One who is sovereign over, operative amidst, independent of, the appointments which He has made; One in whose hands are all things, who has a purpose in every event, and a standard for every deed, and thus has relations of His own towards the subject-matter of each particular science which the book of knowledge unfolds; who has with an adorable, never-ceasing energy implicated Himself in all the history of creation, the constitution of nature, the course of the world, the origin of society, the fortunes of nations, the action of the human mind; and who thereby necessarily becomes the subject-matter of a science, far wider and more noble than any of those which are included in the circle of secular Education.

from Discourse 2:7

Lumen Gentium 16

"Nor is God remote from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, since he gives to all men life and breath and all things (cf. Acts 17:25-28), and since the Savior wills all men to be saved (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4). Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience--those too may achieve eternal salvation."

ON THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL

LESSON 13 - ON THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL--Baltimore Catechism

Q. 574. What is a Sacrament?

A. A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.

Q. 575. Are these three things, namely: An outward or visible sign, the institution of that sign by Christ, and the giving of grace through the use of that sign, always necessary for the existence of a Sacrament?

A. These three things, namely: 1.An outward or visible sign, the institution of that sign by Christ, and the giving of grace through the use of that sign, are always necessary for the existence of a Sacrament, and if any of the three be wanting there can be no Sacrament.

Q. 576. Why does the Church use numerous ceremonies or actions in applying the outward signs of the Sacraments?

A. The Church uses numerous ceremonies or actions in applying the outward signs of the Sacraments to increase our reverence and devotion for the Sacraments, and to explain their meaning and effects.

Q. 577. How many Sacraments are there?

A. There are seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.

Q. 578. Were all the Sacraments instituted by Our Lord?

A. All the Sacraments were instituted by Our Lord, for God alone has power to attach the gift of grace to the use of an outward or visible sign. The Church, however, can institute the ceremonies to be used in administering or giving the Sacraments.

Q. 579. How do we know there are seven Sacraments and no more or less?

A. We know there are seven Sacraments and no more or less because the Church always taught that truth. The number of the Sacraments is a matter of faith, and the Church cannot be mistaken in matters of faith.

Q. 580. Why have the Sacraments been instituted?

A. The Sacraments have been instituted as a special means through which we are to receive the grace merited for us by Christ. As Christ is the giver of the grace, He has the right to determine the manner in which it shall be given, and one who refuses to make use of the Sacraments will not receive God's grace.

Q. 581. Do the Sacraments recall in any way the means by which Our Lord merited the graces we receive through them?

A. The Sacraments recall in many ways the means by which Our Lord merited the graces we receive through them. Baptism recalls His profound humility; Confirmation His ceaseless prayer; Holy Eucharist His care of the needy; Penance His mortified life; Extreme Unction His model death; Holy Orders His establishment of the priesthood, and Matrimony His close union with the Church.

Q. 582. Give, for example, the outward sign in Baptism and Confirmation.

A. The outward sign in Baptism is the pouring of the water and the saying of the words of Baptism. The outward sign in Confirmation is the anointing with oil, the saying of the words of Confirmation and the placing of the bishop's hands over the person he confirms.

Q. 583. What is the use of the outward signs in the Sacraments?

A. Without the outward signs in the Sacraments we could not know when or with what effect the grace of the Sacraments enters into our souls.

Q. 584. Does the outward sign merely indicate that grace has been given, or does the use of the outward sign with the proper intention also give the grace of the Sacrament?

A. The outward sign is not used merely to indicate that grace has been given, for the use of the outward sign with the proper intention also gives the grace of the Sacrament. Hence the right application of the outward sign is always followed by the gift of internal grace if the Sacrament be administered with the right intention and received with the right dispositions.

Q. 585. What do we mean by the "right intention" for the administration of the Sacraments?

A. By the right intention for the administration of the Sacraments we mean that whoever administers a Sacrament must have the intention of doing what Christ intended when He instituted the Sacrament and what the Church intends when it administers the Sacrament.

Q. 586. Is there any likeness between the thing used in the outward sign and the grace given in each Sacrament? A. There is a great likeness between the thing used in the outward sign and the grace given in each Sacrament; thus water is used for cleansing; Baptism cleanses the soul; Oil gives strength and light; Confirmation strengthens and enlightens the soul; Bread and wine nourish; the Holy Eucharist nourishes the soul.

Q. 587. What do we mean by the "matter and form" of the Sacraments?

A. By the "matter" of the Sacraments we mean the visible things, such as water, oil, bread, wine, etc., used for the Sacraments. By the "form" we mean the words, such as "I baptize thee," "I confirm thee," etc., used in giving or administering the Sacraments.

Q. 588. Do the needs of the soul resemble the needs of the body?

A. The needs of the soul do resemble the needs of the body; for the body must be born, strengthened, nourished, healed in affliction, helped at the hour of death, guided by authority, and given a place in which to dwell. The soul is brought into spiritual life by Baptism; it is strengthened by Confirmation; nourished by the Holy Eucharist; healed by Penance; helped at the hour of our death by Extreme Unction; guided by God's ministers through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and it is given a body in which to dwell by the Sacrament of Matrimony.

Q. 589. Whence have the Sacraments the power of giving grace?

A. The Sacraments have the power of giving grace from the merits of Jesus Christ.

Q. 590. Does the effect of the Sacraments depend on the worthiness or unworthiness of the one who administers them?

A. The effect of the Sacraments does not depend on the worthiness or unworthiness of the one who administers them, but on the merits of Jesus Christ, who instituted them, and on the worthy dispositions of those who receive them.

Q. 591. What grace do the Sacraments give?

A. Some of the Sacraments give sanctifying grace, and others increase it in our souls.

EUANGELION KATA MARKON

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?p=4078913

Benedict XVI: Knowledge only grows if one loves the truth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms_69tjgWmQ

Pope: Tradition opens access to Scripture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i8Kfce2_BU

November is for All Souls

"I am stepping out of time into eternity"

Late last year Tony Foley, a 41-year-old tax adviser, was told he had terminal cancer. In this frank account he explains how he has coped

2 October 2009

Human life is truly astonishing. At times one can feel almost a participator in eternity. The reality of death can seem distant and remote, a thing belonging to another space and time. And then, following a routine investigation for a low iron count, the message is proclaimed: "You have oesophagus cancer and it's inoperable. You have months, rather than years, to live".

In that moment, everything that has gone before crystallises. The question of "is this happening?" will repeat itself time and again in the middle of the night and first thing in the morning. For my wife and I, the first six weeks are a kind of living nightmare. At work, when asked the question: "How did the appointment go?", a Roman amphitheatre thumbs-down seems most apt, then the countless explanations to colleagues. Not long after, I meet a colleague at the coffee machine. He had been away on secondment and told me that he was leaving the firm to go to a client. Being a bit of a devil, I could not resist saying: "I too am leaving the firm."

"Where are you going".

"Well, I am dying of terminal cancer" (a big laugh). In fairness to him, he took it in his stride. If he were Irish, like me, the response, I am sure, would have been a bit more theatrical.

But, why accept? Why not a solitary whine? Or perhaps even a trite: "This is not fair." Because all is grace, all is gift. And it is time to give the gift back, freely and willingly. A strong sense of Divine Providence strengthens me, a sense that I have been prepared for this. Both my wife and I had fairly dramatic conversions around the time of the death of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI. Since then the liturgy, particularly the Benedictine monastic liturgies at abbeys such as St Cecilia's, Quarr, Downside, Solesmes and Le Barroux, have become, for us, a foretaste of the Heavenly Liturgy. What can one say but when the cantor announces: "Deus, in adiutorium meum intende ("O God, come to our aid") our souls will fly to the stratosphere and we will be among the angels. And then, after the chanting of the psalm, the bow for the "Glory be" is a bodily enactment of what the soul proclaims at that moment: "All is well, God is in the heavens and we are his sons and daughters!"

So imbued, as I am, with the hope of meeting such a wonderful master, the floodgates of sadness do not open up, though sadness comes at times, particularly when I think of my wife and wider family (I have a mother, brothers and a sister and wider family back in Ireland, although we have no children of our own - I suffer from a genetic disease called cystic fibrosis, and because of faith and reason we do not believe the de-personalisation and instrumentalisation of human life involved in IVF is morally justified despite the undoubted joy that new human life brings).

Rather, one can be possessed by joy and, dare I say it, one can begin to taste a little excitement at the thought of stepping out of time into eternity. But the horror of the rupture and wrongness of death must not be denied and it is thus not right to be too joyful.

There is an oddness about modern funerals I simply cannot fathom. Why are people so chirpy? I will leave clear instructions: no jokes and no beatification ceremony (the modern custom). Instead: I desire that people pray unceasingly that my purgation will be short.

I have now understood the psalmist when he says: "You shall not fear the terror of the night." Night car journeys for Compline at the monastery at Le Barroux in the remote hills of Provence in October made the primordial terror of the night clear enough. But the liturgy was a sufficient tonic for bruised hearts and the terror was dispelled by Christ, our Hope. One can live in joy and peace while facing death especially when one has a mate like St Paul (and he is a mate). His words from his letter to the Philippians have become an antiphon for me: "For me, living is Christ, and dying is gain."

Whatever happens, I am a victor in Christ!

I started chemotherapy in November and nearly managed three 21-day cycles. This required three trips to my local hospital to get two drugs intravenously, followed by 21 days of tablets. Thankfully the side-effects were fairly minor - strange sensations in the nerve endings, some pleuritic pain and tiredness. The key thing is I could feel the chemotherapy having a positive effect in that swallowing became less of an issue. This added a surreal dimension to my life: knowing that I am terminally ill but with no symptoms! But not long after my third chemotherapy and just before Christmas, I developed a flu which then went into my chest. I should say that my chest is my Achilles' heel, having lived with cystic fibrosis all my life. The lungs of a person with this disease are usually colonised by some nasty bug, in my case pseudomonas. I am afraid that the flu galvanised pseudomonas into having a laugh at my expense. So early in January I was admitted to the Royal Brompton for two weeks where I was pumped with three intravenous drugs and an anti-fungicide. I seemed to be on drugs all day. I should add that the care I received in the Brompton was first class. Bizarrely, I got worse not long after going into hospital and ended up with some ferocious fevers, hitting 40 degrees centigrade.

There is a humbling dimension to being in hospital - one is struck forcefully by the fact that there are others who are much sicker. My bed faced a 30-something chap who also had cystic fibrosis. His sufferings were hard to take in. It was like being opposite the crucified Christ; he was having fevers and was constantly hooked up to some respiratory equipment, be it oxygen or a special gadget designed to blow down air into the lungs. His patience in dealing with his sufferings was exemplary. Another chap in his 30s was a very serious asthmatic, who, to the naked eye, looked fine. But he required an enormous amount of medication to keep him alive, including taking injections in the middle of the night. Despite his sufferings he was good-humoured, a good roommate, and even managed to wander outside for a few walks. And then one morning his breathing went to pieces. There was pandemonium as he was rushed to intensive care and placed on a ventilator, desperately struggling to breathe. It was very distressing. I thought he was going to die and only hope he's recovered now.

Seeing the suffering of those around you, there is an inevitability about sinking into the depths, and I did sink. But God was there. I cried out and he answered me. It is really only when we are at the absolute end of our tether that we begin to realise our nothingness before God, that there is nothing that we can offer him but our free will, our sufferings and our tender love. What else can we possibly give Him as the whole universe belongs to Him? In those depths, we can, if given the grace, reach out to God, as Father, and speak to him tenderly knowing that he loves us infinitely more than we love ourselves.

I got out of hospital and my equanimity returned.This gives my poor wife some respite. Visiting me was a nightmare for her, a four-hour round trip on top of a day's work as a teacher. I am most grateful for her kindness and care and, when sorrow comes, as it does from time to time, my sorrow is for her, who will be left behind alone when I am laid to rest.

Since then I have had both radiotherapy and another cycle of chemotherapy following more tightening in the oesophagus and pain in swallowing. Also both my wife and I have been to St Cecila's Abbey on the Isle of Wight where I became affiliated to the abbey as an oblate. Indeed, my wife is becoming affiliated as well soon. I was most grateful to Sr Claire, who looks after the oblates and the abbess who has waived some of the rules to make an exception in my case. I love the Benedictine liturgy and am delighted to have become a novice oblate as my prayers and sacrifices will mingle with those of the nuns, forming a single chorus of praise.

All I can do is devote as much time to prayer as possible to prepare me for the road ahead and take whatever treatment is on offer to slow the advance of the cancer. The good thing is that this cancer, while aggressive, seems to wear one out gently in many cases. One just fades away. That seems rather fitting, no dramatics please!

from the Catholic Herald Online

Image of the Gospel Writers

Plaque with Agnus Dei and Four Evangelists, probably 9th century
German or North Italian
Ivory
9 1/4 x 5 3/8 in. (23.5 x 13.7 cm)
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.38)

The writers of the four Gospels, which relate the story of Christ's life, were often symbolized by animals. Winged creaturees stood for Matthew, a lion for Mark, an ox for Luke, and an eagle for John. These symbols were based upon the vision of Saint John in the Book of Revelation (4:6–7). On this ivory plaque, the animal symbols, holding their Gospels, are arranged around the cross. At the center appears the Lamb of God, a symbol of Christ. Originally, this plaque would have decorated the cover of an Evangiliary, a manuscript containing all four Gospels.


http://www.metmuseum.org

Synoptic Gospels

St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke are usually grouped together, and designated under the common name of the Synoptic Gospels. They derive this name from the fact that their narratives may be arranged and harmonized, section by section, so as to allow the eye to realize at a glance the numerous passages which are common to them, and also the portions which are peculiar either to only two, or even to only one, of them.

The case stands very differently with regard to our Fourth Gospel. As it narrates but a few incidents in common with the Synoptists, and differs from them in respect to style, language, general plan, etc., its chief parts refuse to be included in a harmony such as may be framed by means of the first three Gospels. While, therefore, the Synoptic narratives are naturally put together into one group, St. John's record is rightly considered as standing apart and as, so to speak, making up a class by itself.

Chief differences between canonical and apocryphal gospels

From the outset, the four Gospels, the sacred character of which was thus recognized very early, differed in several respects from the numerous uncanonical Gospels which circulated during the first centuries of the Church.

First of all, they commended themselves by their tone of simplicity and truthfulness, which stood in striking contrast with the trivial, absurd, or manifestly legendary character of many of those uncanonical productions.

In the next place, they had an earlier origin than most of their apocryphal rivals, and indeed many of the latter productions were directly based on the canonical Gospels.

A third feature in favour of our canonical records of Christ's life was the purity of their teachings, dogmatic and moral, over against the Jewish, Gnostic, or other heretical views with which not a few of the apocryphal gospels were tainted, and on account of which these unsound writings found favour among heretical bodies and, on the contrary, discredit in the eyes of Catholics.

Lastly, and more particularly, the canonical Gospels were regarded as of Apostolic authority, two of them being ascribed to the Apostles St. Matthew and St. John, respectively, and two to St. Mark and St. Luke, the respective companions of St. Peter and St. Paul. Many other gospels indeed claimed Apostolic authority, but to none of them was this claim universally allowed in the early Church.

The only apocryphal work which was at all generally received, and relied upon, in addition to our four canonical Gospels, is the "Gospel according to the Hebrews". It is a well-known fact that St. Jerome, speaking of this Gospel under the name of "The Gospel according to the Nazarenes", regards it as the Hebrew original of our Greek canonical Gospel according to St. Matthew. But, as far as can be judged from its fragments which have come down to us, it has no right to originality as compared with our first canonical Gospel.

The first four historical books of the NT

The first four historical books of the New Testament are supplied with titles (Euaggelion kata Matthaion, Euaggelion kata Markon, etc.), which, however ancient, do not go back to the respective authors of those sacred writings.

Only as the springs of common recollection began to dwindle, and marked differences to appear between the well-informed and accurate Gospels and the untrustworthy . . . did it become worth while for the Christian teacher or apologist to specify whether the given representation of the current tradition was 'according to' this or that special compiler, and to state his qualifications".

The second word common to the titles of the canonical Gospels is the preposition kata, "according to", the exact import of which has long been a matter of discussion among Biblical scholars.

The use of the genitive case in the latter titles Paulou Epistolai, Apokalypsis Ioannou, etc.) has no other object than that of ascribing the contents of such works to the writer whose name they actually bear. The use of the preposition kata (according to), on the contrary, while referring the composition of the contents of the First Gospel to St. Matthew, of those of the second to St. Mark, etc., implies that practically the same contents, the same glad tidings or Gospel, have been set forth by more than one narrator.

Thus, "the Gospel according to Matthew" is equivalent to the Gospel history in the form in which St. Matthew put it in writing; "the Gospel according to Mark" designates the same Gospel history in another form, viz, in that in which St. Mark presented it in writing, etc.

Gospel

The word Gospel usually designates a written record of Christ's words and deeds. It is very likely derived from the Anglo-Saxon god (good) and spell (to tell), and is generally treated as the exact equivalent of the Greek euaggelion (eu well, aggello, I bear a message), and the Latin Evangelium. The Greek euaggelion originally signified the "reward of good tidings" given to the messenger, and subsequently "good tidings". Its other important meanings will be set forth in the body of the present general article on the Gospels.

Acts of Faith, Hope, Love & Act of Contrition

Act of Faith

O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God, in three Divine Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; I believe that your Divine Son became man and died for our sins and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because you have revealed them, Who can neither deceive nor be deceived.

Act of Hope

O My God, relying on your infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of your grace and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.

Act of Love

O my God, I love you above all things with my whole heart and soul, because you are all good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for love of you. I forgive all who have injured me, and I ask pardon for all whom I have injured.

Act of Contrition

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend you, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

Fifth Commandment from Baltimore Catechism

Q. 1270. What is the fifth Commandment?

A. The fifth Commandment is: Thou shalt not kill.

Q. 1271. What killing does this commandment forbid?

A. This commandment forbids the killing only of human beings.

Q. 1272. How do we know that this commandment forbids the killing only of human beings?

A. We know that this commandment forbids the killing only of human beings because, after giving this commandment, God commanded that animals be killed for sacrifice in the temple of Jerusalem, and God never contradicts Himself.

Q. 1273. What are we commanded by the fifth Commandment?

A. We are commanded by the fifth Commandment to live in peace and union with our neighbor, to respect his rights, to seek his spiritual and bodily welfare, and to take proper care of our own life and health.

Q. 1274. What sin is it to destroy one's own life, or commit suicide, as this act is called?

A. It is a mortal sin to destroy one's own life or commit suicide, as this act is called, and persons who willfully and knowingly commit such an act die in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of Christian burial. It is also wrong to expose one's self unnecessarily to the danger of death by rash or foolhardy feats of daring.

Q. 1275. Is it ever lawful for any cause to deliberately and intentionally take away the life of an innocent person?

A. It is never lawful for any cause to deliberately and intentionally take away the life of an innocent person. Such deeds are always murder, and can never be excused for any reason, however important or necessary.

Q. 1276. Under what circumstances may human life be lawfully taken?

A. Human life may be lawfully taken:
1. In self-defense, when we are unjustly attacked and have no other means of saving our own lives;
2. In a just war, when the safety or rights of the nation require it;
3. By the lawful execution of a criminal, fairly tried and found guilty of a crime punishable by death when the preservation of law and order and the good of the community require such execution.

Q. 1277. What is forbidden by the fifth Commandment?

A. The fifth Commandment forbids all willful murder, fighting, anger, hatred, revenge, and bad example.

Q. 1278. Can the fifth commandment be broken by giving scandal or bad example and by inducing others to sin?

A. The fifth commandment can be broken by giving scandal or bad example and inducing others to sin, because such acts may destroy the life of the soul by leading it into mortal sin.

Q. 1279. What is scandal?

A. Scandal is any sinful word, deed or omission that disposes others to sin, or lessens their respect for God and holy religion.

Q. 1280. Why are fighting, anger, hatred and revenge forbidden by the fifth commandment?

A. Fighting, anger, hatred and revenge are forbidden by the fifth commandment because they are sinful in themselves and may lead to murder. The commandments forbid not only whatever violates them, but also whatever may lead to their violation.

Fourth Commandment from Baltimore Catechism

Q. 1257. What is the fourth Commandment?

A. The fourth Commandment is: Honor thy father and thy mother.

Q. 1258. What does the word "honor" in this commandment include?

A. The word "honor" in this commandment includes the doing of everything necessary for our parents' spiritual and temporal welfare, the showing of proper respect, and the fulfillment of all our duties to them.

Q. 1259. What are we commanded by the fourth Commandment?

A. We are commanded by the fourth Commandment to honor, love and obey our parents in all that is not sin.

Q. 1260. Why should we refuse to obey parents or superiors who command us to sin?

A. We should refuse to obey parents or superiors who command us to sin because they are not then acting with God's authority, but contrary to it and in violation of His laws.

Q. 1261. Are we bound to honor and obey others than our parents?

A. We are also bound to honor and obey our bishops, pastors, magistrates, teachers, and other lawful superiors.

Q. 1262. Who are meant by magistrates?

A. By magistrates are meant all officials of whatever rank who have a lawful right to rule over us and our temporal possessions or affairs.

Q. 1263. Who are meant by lawful superiors?

A. By lawful superiors are meant all persons to whom we are in any way subject, such as employers or others under whose authority we live or work.

Q. 1264. What is the duty of servants or workmen to their employers?

A. The duty of servants or workmen to their employers is to serve them faithfully and honestly, according to their agreement, and to guard against injuring their property or reputation.

Q. 1265. Have parents and superiors any duties toward those who are under their charge?

A. It is the duty of parents and superiors to take good care of all under their charge and give them proper direction and example.

Q. 1266. If parents or superiors neglect their duty or abuse their authority in any particular, should we follow their direction and example in that particular?

A. If parents or superiors neglect their duty or abuse their authority in any particular we should not follow their direction or example in that particular, but follow the dictates of our conscience in the performance of our duty.

Q. 1267. What is the duty of employers to their servants or workmen?

A. The duty of employers to their servants or workmen is to see that they are kindly and fairly treated and provided for, according to their agreement, and that they are justly paid their wages at the proper time.

Q. 1268. What is forbidden by the fourth Commandment?

A. The fourth Commandment forbids all disobedience, contempt, and stubbornness towards our parents or lawful superiors.

Q. 1269. What is meant by contempt and stubbornness?

A. By contempt is meant willful disrespect for lawful authority, and by stubbornness is meant willful determination not to yield to lawful authority.

World at War, Invasion of Poland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3KvbunCTxg

The Beauty of Christ

Being struck and overcome by the beauty of Christ is a more real, more profound knowledge than mere rational deduction. Of course we must not underrate the importance of theological reflection, of exact and precise theological thought; it remains absolutely necessary. But to move from here to disdain or to reject the impact produced by the response of the heart in the encounter with beauty as a true form of knowledge would impoverish us and dry up our faith and our theology. We must rediscover this form of knowledge; it is a pressing need of our time.

--A message that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) sent to a meeting of the ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation in August 2002. The group was meeting in Rimini, Italy.

Youtube "Jesus, dulcis memoria"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7fhC70sr5o

Translation of "Jesus, dulcis memoria"

Jesus, the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills the breast!
Yet sweeter far Thy face to see
And in Thy Presence rest.

No voice can sing, no heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find,
A sweeter sound than Jesus' Name,
The Saviour of mankind.

O hope of every contrite heart!
O joy of all the meek!
To those who fall, how kind Thou art!
How good to those who seek!

But what to those who find? Ah! this
Nor tongue nor pen can show
The love of Jesus, what it is,
None but His loved ones know.

Jesus! our only hope be Thou,
As Thou our prize shalt be;
In Thee be all our glory now,
And through eternity. Amen.

"Jesu, dulcis memoria", St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

Jesu, dulcis memoria,
dans vera cordis gaudia:
sed super mel et omnia
ejus dulcis praesentia.

Nil canitur suavius,
nil auditur jucundius,
nil cogitatur dulcius,
quam Jesus Dei Filius.

Jesu, spes paenitentibus,
quam pius es petentibus!
quam bonus te quaerentibus!
sed quid invenientibus?

Nec lingua valet dicere,
nec littera exprimere:
expertus potest credere,
quid sit Jesum diligere.

Sis, Jesu, nostrum gaudium,
qui es futurus praemium:
sit nostra in te gloria,
per cuncta semper saecula.
Amen.

The Virtue of Justice

St. Thomas in the Summa Theologiae understands the virtue of justice to be founded upon the notion of jus or right because, according to the classical definition of the virtue, it is by justice that one renders to another his due by a perpetual constant will.( Thomas Aquinas; Summa Theologiae II-II, 58, 1.) Justice directs man in his relations to others according to some kind of equality or rightness.( ST II-II, 57, 1; De Veritate 23, 6.) This relation of rightness is what is meant by jus. It is a right that is due to other men, and it is this object which specifies the virtue. As such, it is logically prior to the virtue itself which perfects a man so as to render this object swiftly, easily and gladly. Hence Thomas treats the question of jus before he does that of justice.

The Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Commandments of God

Lesson 20 from the Baltimore Catechism

259. What is the seventh commandment of God?
The seventh commandment of God is: Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15)

260. What are we commanded by the seventh commandment?
By the seventh commandment we are commanded to respect what belongs to others, to live up to our business agreements, and to pay our just debts.

Better is a little with justice, than great revenue with iniquity. (Proverbs 16:8)

261. What does the seventh commandment forbid?
Besides stealing, the seventh commandment forbids cheating, unjust keeping of what belongs to others, unjust damage to the property of others, and the accepting of bribes by public officials.

Do not any unjust thing in judgment, in rule, in weight, or in measure. Let the balance be just and the weights equal, the bushel just, and the sextary equal. (Leviticus 19:35-36)

262. Are we obliged to restore to the owner stolen goods, or their value?
We are obliged to restore to the owner stolen goods, or their value, whenever we are able.

If any man steal an ox or a sheep, and kill or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for one ox, and four sheep for one sheep. (Exodus 22:1)

263. Are we obliged to repair damage unjustly done to the property of others?
We are obliged to repair damage unjustly done to the property of others, or to pay the amount of the damage, as far as we are able.

If any man hurt a field or a vineyard, and put in his beast to feed upon that which is other men's, he shall restore the best of whatsoever he hath in his own field, or in his vineyard, according to the estimation of the damage. (Exodus 22:5)



264. What is the eighth commandment of God?
The eighth commandment of God is: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)

265. What are we commanded by the eighth commandment?
By the eighth commandment we are commanded to speak the truth in all things, but especially in what concerns the good name and honor of others.

Wherefore, put away lying and speak truth each one with his neighbor, because we are members of one another. (Ephesians 4:25)

266. What does the eighth commandment forbid?
The eighth commandment forbids lies, rash judgment, detraction, calumny, and the telling of secrets we are bound to keep.

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. (Proverbs 12:22)

267. When does a person commit the sin of rash judgment?
A person commits the sin of rash judgment when, without sufficient reason, he believes something harmful to another's character.

Before thou inquire, blame no man. (Ecclesiasticus 11:7)

268. When does a person commit the sin of detraction?
A person commits the sin of detraction when, without a good reason, he makes known the hidden faults of another.

A good name is better than great riches, and good favor is above silver and gold. (Proverbs 22:1)

269. When does a person commit the sin of calumny or slander?
A person commits the sin of calumny or slander when by lying he injures the good name of another.

Devise not a lie against thy brother, neither do the like against thy friend. (Ecclesiasticus 7:13)

270. When are we obliged to keep a secret?
We are obliged to keep a secret when we have promised to do so, when our office requires it, or when the good of another demands it.

271. What must a person do who has sinned by detraction or calumny, or has told a secret he is bound to keep?
A person who has sinned by detraction or calumny, or who has told a secret he is bound to keep, must repair the harm he has done to his neighbor, as far as he is able.



272. What is the ninth commandment of God?
The ninth commandment of God is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. (Deuteronomy 5:21)

273. What are we commanded by the ninth commandment?
By the ninth commandment we are commanded to be pure in thought and desire.

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

274. Are mere thoughts about impure things always sinful in themselves?
Mere thoughts about impure things are not always sinful in themselves, but such thoughts are dangerous.

275. When do thoughts about impure things become sinful?
Thoughts about impure things become sinful when a person thinks of an unchaste act and deliberately takes pleasure in so thinking, or when unchaste desire or passion is aroused and consent is given to it.

276. What is forbidden by the ninth commandment?
The ninth commandment forbids all thoughts and desires contrary to chastity.

277. What is the tenth commandment of God?
The tenth commandment of God is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his house. (Deuteronomy 5:21)

278. What does the tenth commandment forbid?
The tenth commandment forbids all desire to take or to keep unjustly what belongs to others, and also forbids envy at their success.

Take heed and guard yourself from all covetousness, for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. (Luke 12:15)

With what Authority does the Church Speak?

Luke 10:16 "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

Benedict XVI at Auschwitz in January 2009 Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ucNS3hY_OY

Sex and Holy Purity

What is the single greatest gift a young man and woman can give each other in marriage? It is their holy purity or chastity. Without holy purity, human love – popularly known as ‘sex’ - becomes corrupt. There is no true human love without holy purity.

What is the single greatest virtue a young man and woman find most difficult to practice in this 21st century? It is the virtue of holy purity or chastity.

The sixth and ninth Commandment of God teaches specifically against sins of the flesh. When we practice holy chastity as taught by God’s Commands, we also will obtain purity of mind and heart. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes, "purity of heart is the precondition of the vision of God."

Without a knowledge and great love for God, holy purity will be very hard to maintain. St. Paul teaches us that chastity is a ‘fruit of the Holy Spirit.’ A strong Sacramental life, especially frequent reception of the Sacrament of Confession and the Eucharist, is most important.

Nevertheless, what about the countless temptations that seemingly are everywhere?

The best defense is a good offense – maintain a holy attack against impurity. How can young people accomplish this?

Here is a list of weapons to use to maintain holy purity:

~Begin each day with Holy Mass, if possible, and fruitful prayer. Moreover, remember Sister Christine Joseph’s morning prayer and offer every thought, word, and deed of the day to Jesus.

~Dress modestly. Forget the current...fashions.

~Avoid inappropriate conversations. When a discussion becomes off color or the language is impure, change the subject or walk away from the group. Remember, the tongue and lips that receive Holy Communion should not be accused of uttering neither indecent words nor risqué stories.

~Arm oneself with holy sacramentals. Wear a blessed crucifix on your chest; wear a properly invested Brown Scapular around your neck; keep a blessed rosary in your pocket or purse. A blessed ‘Angus Dei’ medal could be attached to your rosary.

~Reject bad forms of entertainment. Imagine sitting next to the guest of honor, Pope John Paul II. Would he be offended at the television program or the movie we were watching? If it is not appropriate for the Pope, it is not appropriate for persons desiring holy purity.

~Avoid useless activities. Ask the question: ‘By performing this activity, would it be giving honor and glory to God?’ If it would not, best to leave the activity alone.

~Remain cheerful. The crowd will follow a cheerful, courageous leader. Care not for human respect and give your heart to God. Observers will want to possess and imitate this same courage and dignity.

~Avoid occasions of sin. Very often young people feel compunction for their faults and yet they go back to the very sins they previously condemned and commit them again…and again. Do not return to the scene of the crime, for it will tempt the heart once more.

Saint (Mother) Theresa of Calcutta had this advice for young people:

~You are the future of family life.

~You are the future of the joy of loving.

~You are the future of making your life something beautiful for God…a pure love.

~That you love a girl or that you love a boy is beautiful, but do not spoil it, do not destroy it.

~Keep your heart pure…Keep your heart virgin.

~Keep your love virgin, so that on the day of your marriage you can give something beautiful to each other…the joy of a pure love.

What is the holy remedy? The first step is to begin again…and again. Seek the forgiveness of our merciful Lord in the confessional. The second step is to go to our Holy Mother, Mary, Mater pulchrae dilectionis, Mother of Fair Love. Mary Most Pure will help us overcome the many temptations of the flesh and to live holy purity as she lived it so perfectly with Saint Joseph.

Barbara Kralis