Sorry, you and your kids are not welcome at Adoration.

I don’t always reblog things – but when I do, it’s worth paying attention.
This represents the endgame of our culture of death which has invaded the church. “Let the children come unto me”, says Christ. Person supposedly imitating christ says, “they’re a distraction and make them go away”. Go away they do from the church, and never come back. You have your quiet chapel. It gets more quiet each year. Until, thanks to running off all the children, Jesus is left on the altar. Veiled, and alone in silence. I’m sure everyone is very proud of this accomplishment. Read more here:

Apologetics from a Non-Apologist

Fair Warning – I am not an apologist, nor do I aspire to be one. However, a great many of the hateful emails I receive are from protestants upset by authentic Catholic teachings espoused in my blog. I present a Catholic perspective and make no apologies for being a speaker of uncomfortable truths for many. To demonstrate how horrible an apologist I am, I have laid out a 3 minute case for the Catholic Church below. Hopefully, you will be inspired to think deeply about your own beliefs if you are not Catholic.

3 Minute Apologetics 

Jesus was a Rabbi, he was literate. He did not sit in a cave and write us a book. He led by example, he instructed his disciples by example for several years. He left us a Church – not a book. He he told Simon that he was “Rock” (Petras) and that on this rock he would build his church. This set Peter as first among equals among the disciples whom he sent to all lands to found his church. Not to write a book,  not to record his actions or document his life – but to spread his teachings that as he taught them so that they might teach others. Christ specifically promised that his Church – not any book, would endure until the end of time and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it.

The Church assembled the Gospels and new testament incorporating it with the Old Testament Judaic cannon about 500 years after it’s founding as a teaching aid for the faith. Not as an all encompassing guide, nor as a replacement for the Church itself. The church has stood for over 2000 years and seen the rise and fall of nations and religions just as Christ promised. The Bible did not even survive the protestant reformation of the late 1600’s outside the church. Others co-opted it and used it to found their own man made religions so that they could reject aspects of Christs teachings they did not like. This trend continues to this day with thousands of denominations so split from the original splitters – each with different doctrines and beliefs unique to them. Such sowing of confusion is NOT the work of God.

Open your bible to Tobit if you don’t believe me (if you’re not Catholic you will find it missing). The Douay-Rheims is the only Vatican approved English translation and it was completed in 1582. It’s beautiful, pre-existed the 1611 King James Version – and oh yes – Tobit among many other books are present. Most of the books were removed by men outside the Church during the reformation because they contained ideas that ran contrary to protestant theology. Tobit sets a great case for sacramental marriage, and sexual relationships – it obviously had to go (It’s a favorite of mine if you cannot tell).

As for all the bible only “scholars” – name me one honest academic or scientist who would study only one book from a period and base their entire understanding on that one book, regardless of the fact that a myriad of other sources existed. Throwing away all the writings of the early church fathers, local historians, and Doctors of the Church? This was done because the writings of the early church fathers provided detailed understanding of the gospel messages as passed from Christ, to the apostles, to them, and now onto you through the Catholic Church in the Catechism. **Note that the USCCB has approved other translations for use in America – The King James however continues to be rejected by not only the Vatican, but even by the bishops conferences. One need go no further than the missing books and edited (shortened) version of Daniel to understand why.

As Christ taught the rich man, Salvation is an “All-In” proposition. When the rich man asked what more he should do and Jesus told him he walked away. Jesus did not soften his words. Jesus did not chase the man down. Jesus let him make his choice and walk away. Are you walking toward him or away from him because your fallen nature has blinded you to the truth?

In summary:

• Christ left us a CHURCH
• He Promised us it would endure until the end
• He promised that The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it
• He gave it Apostolic Authority to Bind and Loose on heaven and Earth
• He Gave it Apostolic Authority to Forgive Sins
• If you believe the Church to have fallen and the reformers correct, then Jesus’s promise was false – so how can you have any faith in anything else he taught?
• If the church is fallen, then Christ is false and Christianity nothing but a lie
• The bible is a book – the protestant version heavily edited by men (especially in the 1600’s by martin Luther and his compatriots), and often translated to change word meaning and semantics. The writings of the early church fathers and apostolic tradition are critical to properly understanding this tool of the faith created by the catholic church
• If you reject the church – then you reject Christ, and God… Heaven help you

RCIA Classes are available at any Catholic Parish and you are welcome to attend even if you choose not to embrace the faith – Make an appointment today to learn more about the faith. If you are a Catholic who has never been confirmed, or never been to RCIA, you should sign up too – to be properly catechized and develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the faith.

Pax Christi,

Colin

Let your Wife Drive…

Let’s be realistic here. Too many men think Leading = doing everything for people. This can be especially disastrous in marriage, especially for wives – but also for families should you become ill or incapacitated. It has more localized effects and benefits as well, but the overall benefits to your relationship with you wife are the really important ones.

Have you ever been out fishing on a boat? I have spent an inordinate amount of my life on the water, and I noticed something different about our boat from the others for the first time yesterday. It was the only fishing boat with a woman driving. Why is that important you ask? Well I’ll ask you a few questions. If something happens to you can she pick you up safely and get the boat back to shore even if you’re unconscious? Could she do it in the same adverse conditions you could? In short, how can you truly function as a team if you can’t carry the other when necessary?

Stop for a minute and think how this lesson applies to your life together – everything from finances to basic property maintenance. To work as a team you need to help each other get the work done, not have one person helpless and dependent on the other for everything. A wife is not a thing to be kept, she is a fully capable human being ordained by God to stand beside you and be your helpmate. Don’t cripple her capabilities because of your insecurity and thwart God’s plan. You might even discover your wife is better than you at critical skills – this is a gift and makes you a better team. Never forget that you are on the same team, just as God himself ordained – and act accordingly.

Leadership in the family is not about doing for them and keeping them dependent. Leadership in the family is in loving them and making them fully self-sufficient, and not fully dependent on you. Make sure that you are never in a position where your wife thinks she couldn’t do something without you. Think about this, do you want her bound to you by need or by choice. Me personally – I want my wife to be with me because she wants to be with me more than anything else, not because she feels insecure and incapable of caring for herself. In fact, I have seen a number of relationships experience great difficulties when wives began to explore self-reliance much to the chagrin and disparagement, rather than than the active participation and encouragement, of their husbands.

If you lead your wife and family well, you will never question why your wife is with you, nor what binds you together. Fail to lead them and you will always wonder.

Pax Christi,

Colin

 

 

What the Church really needs IMHO

A meal shared in community after mass. (Local VFW since our parish hall is being renovated)

In a word – COMMUNITY.

I’ve been listening to people that keep espousing tripe like:

1. Better Bands
2. Hipper Priests/Married Priests
3. Nicer buildings
4. Women Priests
5. Openly Gay Married Priests
6. Drop the teachings on… Matrimonial Indissolubility, Artificial Contraception, Fornication, Homosexual Copulation, Homosexual Marriage, Murder and Abortion, Papal Infallibility, The Eucharist, Relic Veneration, Marian Devotion

I’m going to stop there for a reason. For the church to do ANYTHING past #3 it would cease to be the Catholic Church. In essence, most of the proposals I am hearing are superficial or simply out of the question.

Now for a dose of honesty in this conversation. The church teachings are used as an excuse not to come back – but the real reason in my humble opinion is a lack of connection to the Church. The Church is no longer an integral part of the family or the community. Without it families and communities  have fallen apart. The Church is wounded even more deeply by two generations of the poorest quality of catechesis, or lack thereof,  in history. We have too many who claim a lack of participation because they want to rule or govern some aspect of the church rather than humbly submit to her as willing servants and the current structure excludes them from doctrine and policy decisions. The sense of community has been lost. How long has it been since you had a social hour after church before people left? How long has it been since you shared a meal after mass with complete strangers in community (and not as a fundraiser – but one where not a penny was collected nor expected)? When was the last time you performed some act of service for your Church or Parish that involved real work from you – like cleaning the church, mowing the grass, moving things, repairing something — while working as part of a larger group of volunteers. The community must be made of people, not their cheques.

Just as fatherhood in this country has been erroneously abrogated to a monthly support check, so religion seems to have been abrogated to a tithing cheque or pledge. We have allowed both of these to happen. Worse still is a sense of entitlement that has accompanied this change. We have become arrogant and impetuous. Some have decided that because they write a cheque that suddenly they should have a say in Church policy and doctrine. It gets better still when people outside the church think that they too have a say. Acting as if the Church of Christ were a democracy. This represents nothing less than a confederacy of dunces in rebellion against God himself. God who personally founded the Church and set Peter at its helm. At some point it is my hope that we will see though it. Though it will not cure all ills, putting the church back at the center of the community is the surest way to bring people back. We need to have them fully personally invested, and teach the next generation the joys of serving lovingly without expectation or direct remuneration. All while notwithstanding the need for teaching them the faith.

You see the mass isn’t the problem, the doctrine and teaching of the Catholic Church is not the problem, faithful communities disappearing – that is the problem. Without those communities we are left standing alone, against a world which seeks to consume our very souls.  With strong communities we become a rock and the world an ocean, it can dash against us, and cover us, but we remain firm and faithful. Without those communities we are but gravel on a beach at the mercy of waves and tides.

To paraphrase JFK (our only Catholic President), ask not what the Church can do to serve you, but instead what you can do to serve the Church.

Pax Christi,

Colin