Musings on Obedience

Musings on Obedience

I have no wish to be a ‘burr under anyone’s saddle blanket’ concerning the legitimacy of disobedience to the Vatican when you think their rules and regulations are wrong. Let us examine another view in critiquing actions of others within the context of obedience to legitimate authority. Manyemphasize the word ‘love’. Even though God created mankind out of love, the word ‘love’ does not appear in God’s commandment to Adam, or His “Ten Commandments” to Moses” or the “Our Father”, the Prayer that Jesus gave us. What it does contain are God the Father’s rules and regulations regarding our moral conduct.  In the “Our Father” we are asked to “hallow His name”, “do His will on earth”, “forgive those who trespass against us”, to avoid temptation and evil.  

Obedience is our basic responsibility because God created each one with a free will and in His image and likeness, to know, love and serve Him here so that we can be with Him eternally when we die. Thus, we are children of God and heirs to His kingdom. With our free will we can choose to disobey God and incur a penalty.  “Serving” Him requires obedience. At death those sins of ours, not yet forgiven and atoned for when we die, will be judged by the God of Justice. We would suffer punishment for our sins either in Hell eternally or in Purgatory temporarily; unless Jesus Christ exercises His Divine Mercy.

God’s Divine love brought about the creation of Adam, then Eve, the promise of a God-man to redeem us, the issuing of Commandments, Prayers. Jesus repeated the Commandments, taught us the “Our Father”, commanded we do spiritual and corporal works of mercy and wrapped these “commandments” within His “Divine Commandment of Love”.Jesus was commanded by God the Father to be Our Redeemer for the crime of Adam which required much pain and suffering to atone for that crime, original sin. All sin has consequences, be it reparation, atonement, punishment; and someone has to do it, unless Divine Mercy “wipes the slate clean”.

In the Garden of Olives Jesus, the God-man, knowing the pain and suffering He was to endure, asked His Father to relieve Him of His Redemptive mission; but Jesus agreed to obey His Father with the words “… not My will but Your will be done!” This is the essence of “obedience”. Jesus had grievances against Herod who slew all boys around His age of 2 ~ no playmates. If, during His public life in the Jerusalem area when preaching to the crowds, He asked all men, born in the area to rise, and then asked those older than 33 or younger than 30 to sit down, who beside Himself would be standing? Who killed His cousin John? How many members of the House of David were killed by Romans, etc.? I think these are legitimate grievances. Did He rant and rave against these murderers?

When He was on the Cross, did He deliver a polemic against the Jewish religious and civil leaders? Did He rant to Caesar to eliminate the death penalty? If He did, neither the gospel writers nor others wrote about it.What did He do? He became subject to His parents after being “AWOL” in the temple. To the centurion, He praised him for being a good and obedient boss who demanded obedience from his subjects and was good to them. To the people He said “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, to God the things that are God’s”. Jesus thought Caesar had legitimacy as a ruler and subjects had an obligation to obey.  He did not castigate Herod or Pilate. On the cross He asked God the Father to forgive His tormentors. When asked for mercy from a condemned thief, He granted that thief Divine Mercy.

Evidently His Father’s promise to Adam, the first disobedient person, to redeem mankind for Adam’s crime had priority. Jesus focused on doing what He was obligated to do. St. Faustina¹, Jesus’ Secretary and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000, promised Jesus that she would do His will. When her confessor, superior or Bishop thwarted her efforts, she would get angry or ‘wrapped around the axle’. She ‘ranted’ to Jesus about her inability to do what Jesus ordered. He lectured her to be always obedient to her superiors, her Confessor and her Superior. If she had a legitimate gripe she was to obey then complain to Him, so that He can decide how else to accomplish His plan. He reminding Her that her suffering was like a drop in the ocean compared to what He suffered for her on the Cross.

He encouraged her to continue doing His will through her Confessor. On Nov. 11, 1924, in St. Faustina’s Diary[1], para. 0534, Jesus said: “I have come to do My Father’s will. I obeyed My parents, I obeyed My tormentors and now I obey the priests.”  In Mar.1936, [para. 0639], Jesus said: “My daughter, I desire that even in the smallest things, you rely on your confessor. Your greatest sacrifices do not please Me if you practice them without the confessor’s permission; on the other hand, the smallest sacrifice finds great value in My eyes, …  On Jan. 22, 1937 in St. Faustina’s Diary, [para. 0894], Jesus said: “My daughter, know that you give Me greater glory by a single act of obedience than by longer prayers and mortifications.”

King Henry VIII had serious grievances against the Vatican regarding refusal of annulment of his marriage and many other requests. Though he got the proverbial bureaucratic treatment in most of his dealings with the Vatican, King Henry VIII, under his mantra of the “divine right of kings”, (like Caesar), chose to disobey the Pope, Vicar of Jesus, in the area of moral rules and regulation. In fact he appointed himself and his heirs “vicar” and formed the Church of England [C.O.E.]. Roman Catholics were coerced into exchanging their obedience to the Pope to obedience to Henry to become English Catholics. Henry VIII’s disobedience has its terrible evil consequences, still continuing to this day. Those, that refused, faced martyrdom, imprisonment, confiscation of property, and more. The obligation for obedience to Henry, who usurped the “faith and morals” authority of the Pope, is really binding on no one; but out of human concern for themselves, their families, and their status thousands obeyed Henry VIII and deserted Christ’s Vicar. These people were led by clerical authorities who had also deserted Christ and His church. 

Many people assumed that the priesthood of these clerics required their obedience even though they separated themselves from the dynamic role of Jesus in their daily life through Confession and Communion. The disobedience of members of the C. O. E. continues; but many clerics and parishes with many members are returning to papal obedience.Martin Luther, a Prince of the Church, having taken a vow of obedience to God and the Pope, had, what he thought was legitimate grievances against the Pope and his staff. His civil ruling hierarchy also had grievances against the Pope, and they inveighed upon Martin Luther to do something about it. If he went up the chain of command to his “Confessor”, the Pope, requesting satisfaction, he received none. Martin Luther’s response is to be a “whistle-blower”. He ranted and raved in public against the Pope and his staff, which agitated the public who were put in a position to take sides, creating a rift. Breaking his vow of obedience to Christ and His Vicar was his answer. Unfortunately many members of his flock followed this bad shepherd.

Obedience to God through the Pope, Christ’s Vicar, was forbidden. He was going to do things his way. He was going to create his own command structure, the Lutheran Church, with himself as their “vicar” backed by civil authority. He tried to placate some of his flock, by saying that whenever he decided that Rome had repented and reformed he would subordinate himself and them to the Pope, the Vicar of Christ. [If you don’t play ball my way, I’ll pick up my marbles and go home”!] He wasn’t going to do things God’s way. There was no humbling of self to continue performing in accordance to God’s will.

The above historical events show the horrendous results of direct disobedience to moral authority on others. In a synopsis of the book “Jesus of Nazareth”, which was written by Pope Benedict XVI, the following excerpt applies: To save humanity “He must recapitulate the whole of history from its beginnings” (Page 26), he must conquer the principal temptations that, in various forms, threaten men in all ages and, transforming them into obedience, reopen the road toward God (Chapter 2), toward the true Promised Land, which is the “Kingdom of God” (Page 44). , ROME, APRIL 15, 2007 (Zenit.org)

Obedience to the will of God within ourselves begins after birth, first to our parents and onward through life to people and organizations due our obedience. Some of us took Baptismal vows, Confirmation vows, reconciliation vows, Nuptial vows and Priestly vows. Some also take vows of obedience to their country, “Caesar”, and to various organizations. Not many of us “grin and bear it’ when we don’t want to obey. Most of us do our own ranting and raving at authority. Many times our reasons are legitimate. In families, schools and other groups, as children, we are called “tattle tales”. In business and government we are called “whistle blowers”, sometimes “traitor” is used. Whatever the case we most always receive punishment in some form. As adults, penalties including firing, blackballing, jail, damage suits are awaiting us. We are often conflicted with choices that would violate God’s will. For us to resolve moral conflicts, whether under King Henry VIII, Martin Luther, our parents or other legitimate authorities, we have to choose obedience to God’s will or theirs.

At conception God gave us a moral conscience to discern between good and evil, which gives us feedback of shame, [when choosing evil] or honor, [when choosing good].Can our personal disobedience to moral authority have terrible effects on others? Disobedience to parents can badly influence other siblings. If not corrected your disobedience likely will continue with school and civil authorities which spreads this ‘disease’ to others – and on it goes. A horrendous example is when one uses drugs, then influences others to use drugs, then sells drugs to purchase more drugs. Thus our drug culture has enslaved millions of people since the mid 1900’s, and resulted in millions of other crimes including theft, human assaults, and deaths.Moral disobedience, whether by parents, clergy or religious to God or Vatican, influence children to do the same. This has a cascading effect. Today, less than 40% participation in Christian worship services, less than 10% in seeking direct reconciliation with God through clergy for forgiveness of their personal sins. In effect God has been exiled from our lives even though many still go through the religious motions for social and other reasons.  

Obedience to God’s will is our life’s work. True success will be recognized through our corporal and spiritual works of mercy. These emphasize our love of God, ourself and our neighbor. This in turn has a cascading effect on others who are influenced to obey God’s will and do good works. The mantra, “know, love and serve God” acts like an eternal reciprocating engine propelling us to God’s kingdom through obedience. ¹At 14, after 3 yrs. of elementary education, St. Faustina became an indentured servant in a private home. Despite pleas from family and friends, she entered convent life at the urging of God. God appeared to her and asked her to be His secretary and record His messages. She started a diary which has illuminated for people, throughout the world, the essence of God. The major impact was the establishment of The Feast of Divine Mercy [annually celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter] for the provision by God’s mercy, forgiveness, remission of punishment for all those who seek salvation; and who reconciled themselves and said The Chaplet that God dictated to St. Faustina [canonized by Pope John Paul II – 4/30/2000]. [‘Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska exists in English. The latest English version was publish in 2004 by The National Shrine of Divine Mercy, Eden Hill, Stockbridge, MA]

Submitted by Paul D Kearns

Responses to: cispkearns@aol.com

May 4, 2007 © ~ rev. 1 01/28/08; rev. 2 09/09/08

Musings on Medjugorda

Musings on Medjugorda  

Mary, the mother of God, has been appearing frequently to a specific group of children for years. Now they are adults. Many miracles and unexplainable events have happened over these years. Mary has given messages to these children for public dissemination or for private delivery to the Pope through the local Bishop. 

One of these messages was that God permitted the devil have his way during the 20^th century [just as God permitted the devil to yempt Adam and Eve.] The Vatican treats this statement as a serious stain on the authenticity of Mary’s messages. They have forbidden their hierarchy to preach to the faithful on these messages, because this statement is incredulous to them. 

Granted that the 20^th century was a time of great evil rife with wars, holocaust, atomic explosions, genocides, increased evil in the hearts of man along with hatred of God. Just this enormity of the sensual impact on the minds of man leads many to conclude that God couldn’t have permitted it. 

We tend to think in an emotional way which adversely affects the quality of our reasoning. God created us with a free will which is truly free. God permits us to do evil. God permitted Adam and Eve to do evil. God permitted the Devil to prompt Adam and Eve to defy God. The message of Mary needs to be interpreted within this context. The life of man is strung with horrible events of evil from Adam to the present.  

The sin of Adam was the most horrific. It set off this chain of evil events. God permitted Adam to choose with his free will the promptings of the Devil. Adam knew he was doing a very evil deed.  God knew its terrible consequences, yet He didn’t prevent Adam’s use of his free will. 

The Vatican would do more good if they used the statement of Mary to preach that evil is the fruit of using our free will to choose the promptings of the Devil  Our personal obligation is to do good and avoid evil. In the “Our Father” we ask help from God in choosing good and avoiding evil. This obligation needs to be brought home by bishops and priests in a concrete way to themselves and to us. 

Too much effort is spent in playing ‘king of the mountain” by the Vatican regarding new “good news”, than in planting the seeds of understanding in the souls of man. Most people are affronted by the Vatican reaction which has a continuing negative effect of people losing more and more respect for its authenticity and Christly representation. 

Submitted by Paul D Kearns

Responses to: cispkearns@aol.com

July 8, 2007 © rev 1 01/19/08

Musings on Judgment before the Divine Tribunal of Justice

Musings on Judgment before the Divine Tribunal of Justice  

In my last two musings on “pagans and heaven” and “limbo”, arising from an article by Fr. James Gilhooley; [Source: National Catholic REGISTER – Nov. 26 – Dec. 2 2006,] I would like to explore the elements likely to be present at our own Divine judgment of our soul when we die.  

Propositions:

P1 – Our death occurs when God withdraws from our body the immortal soul which He created at our conception in His image and likeness to know, love and serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him in the next. God, motivated by love created us as “sons of God and heirs of heaven” 

P2 – Our immortal soul, created by the power of the Holy Spirit, is eternal and is our persona. Our soul will never die. At our death we, in the form of our soul, will be judged, as to merit hell or heaven, before the Divine Tribunal of Justice 

P3 – Hell, created by God, is where the soul is tortured forever and ever. [My 'Musings on Limbo" elaborate what hell is.] 

P4 – Heaven is where the souls see God forever as God wants us to see Him. [My “Musings on Limbo” elaborate what heaven consists in, including purgatory where some souls have to have the stains of sin cleansed from their soul.] 

P5 – At conception God gave us free will to choose to do good or evil deeds, which makes each one personally responsible and accountable for their actions. 

P6 – At conception God gave us a conscience which has the power to judge our actions, using the souls God-imbedded rules of the Natural Law, and makes one aware of their goodness or badness.  

Musings:

M1 – What is this Divine Tribunal of Justice? I think we only need to look at our court systems in developed civilizations. Basically a person is brought before a judge to answer to charges leveled against him by a prosecutor. In a general overview of the court procedure he prosecutor presents the facts in the case. The person is asked to plead – “What say you?” If the person pleads “guilty”, the judge asks if there is anything to say before judgment is passed. The person can ask for mercy or remain silent. The judge seeks recommendations from the prosecutor. The judge passes judgment and determines the punishment, if any. Case is closed. If the person pleads “not guilty” then a trial of facts begins –prosecutor versus defense attorney, then a verdict and so on. M2 – How did humans arrive at such procedures as being respectful of the person? I think we unwittingly emulate a similar procedure instituted by God [see P1, P2]. Somehow we are being guided and prompted in the interacting with God and our neighbor. M3 – Maybe the Divine Tribunal of Justice works like this:

1.     Tribunal is composed of 3 persons – Father [as Judge], — Son [as Defender] – Holy Spirit [as Prosecutor].

2.     A human soul [as defendant]

3.     The Prosecutor, the Holy Spirit, displays the defendant’s life of deeds for all to see. This is where there are no lies, no alibis, etc. Just the facts are shown, including true intentions, true circumstances, etc. Even the true levels are shown of knowledge and understanding, etc. The truthfulness and clarity of the defendants good and bad deeds will be well understood by the defendant. The defendant understands himself for the first time and his degree of holiness with respect to his Creator.

4.     The Prosecutor sums up the good and the bad, if any. If none, the Divine Tribunal welcomes this soul into heaven as a member of the Community of Saints.

5.     If there are bad actions, the Judge asks the defendant how he pleads as to the bad.

6.     The defendant can respond in several ways: 

a.     Admits guilt and sorrow with a plea for Divine Mercy

b.     Admits guilt with no expression of sorrow

c.      Rebukes the Tribunal with expressions of hatred 

7.     The Judge asks His Son, Jesus Christ, the Defender, if He has anything to say: 

a.     The Defender could respond – “I do not know this person!” but gives council to the Judge as to mercy.

b.     The Defender would respond if the person was a baptized person who died in the “state of Grace” – I know this person and could recommend some degree of Divine Mercy. 

8.     The Judge issues His final judgment of the defendant: 

a.     Complete exoneration of guilt with direct access to the Community of Saints or

b.     Guilty but with reduced time in Purgatory based on attitude of sorrow and good works in his life or

c.      Guilty without mitigating time of punishment in Purgatory or

d.     Guilty with an eternity of punishment in Hell.   

M4 – Judgment is a very complex subject; but natural to do. God’s gift of a soul to us has the basic functional elements of judging. We are born with the basic cognitive ability to compare one thing with another thing. In the area of morality, where our activities have a moral aspect, we were given by God a set of rules, based on His moral law. Our souls are “wired” to normally compare actions, to be taken or being taken or yet to be taken, against these moral laws to determine the moral goodness or evil of them.

This process is done naturally by our conscience. Conscience is the functional means of our being accountable for our obedience to these rules. However, God gave each a free will to choose to do good or evil actions. This means that willful evil actions carry a penalty. We have a current quip, “If you do the crime you do the time.” Our worldly justice system embodies this mantra. God has communicated to us in many ways through many religions and more importantly through our own internal reaction when we commit an action. Evil deeds produce revulsion, while good deeds produce elation.

Our actions are motivated by love, the same motivation that God has as our Creator, or by hatred, the same motivation that Satan has as our enemy. Both prompt us to do act using love. Love of God or love of self, Godless love, as the motivation. Therein is the difficulty for us to discern our true motivation, and then choose to do God’s will or the Devil’s will. [“The Screwtape Letters” by C. S. Lewis provide insights of insidious ways we should consider an evil action as good.]  Who has the right to judge? Well in the basic sense of personal accountability each of us has an obligation to judge our actions as good or evil. But do we have the right to judge the actions of others as being good or evil? Yes, in the sense that another’s action is in conformance or nonconformance with rules or laws, we use our judgments as a guide to determine our response. In the “Our Father”, given to us by Christ, in the words “deliver us from evil and lead us not into temptation”, we ask for God’s help in doing His will. We are obligated to use these judgments to guide our own actions towards doing good and avoiding evil. With our free will, which God does not control, we receive, through our conscience, guidance on the morality of our actions from God, which we are free to use or ignore. This is each of us is accountable to God for our actions. 

M5 – Forgiveness is a very important component in judgment. Offenses to other humans and to God incur punishment which must be addressed before we die or when we die. We often express sorrow and ask forgiveness for offenses against others and God, leaving the person offended the choice of forgiveness and at times a requirement for atonement. This process is evident at all levels of our civilization. It is well to remember that when Christ was hanging on His cross, He asked His Father in heaven “Father forgive them for they know not what they do!” Who is “them”? “Them” includes the chief priests of His Jewish people and others. We can be assured that no offense we commit will be worse than the crime of deicide.

Our need is to confess to our guilt and express sorrow and ask for forgiveness; but this requires us to humble ourselves before the offended. M6 – Mercy is also a very important component in judgment. Mercy is used by the one offended to remit all or part of the punishment due to our offenses. This is also frequently used by us, our parents, and other levels of civilization, including our court systems, when finding some redeeming aspects of our actions. It is also used by God. It is also well to remember that when Christ was hanging on His cross, one of the thieves being crucified confessed publicly to his guilt and to his belief that Christ was innocent. He turned to Christ and said “Remember me when you come into your kingdom!” Christ looked at him and said “This day you will be with Me in paradise!” Wow!! This thief had a death bed confession and received Divine Mercy which remitted all atonement and punishment. The thief recognized the goodness of the Lord and responded to Christ after he heard Christ asking His Father to forgive the Jewish leaders and others. Divine Mercy is available to all who recognize they have offended and confess. 

M6 – The bottom line for us that gaining our inheritance in heaven is largely dependent on our actions being motivated by love of God, our Father, rather than love of self (self gratification). Trusting in God and freely submitting our will to the good promptings from God is our life long battle. We need to heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our conscience to do good, much like the 3 Kings from the East who heeded promptings of the Holy Spirit and traveled from afar to pay homage in Bethlehem to Jesus Christ who restored our rights, forfeited by Adam, to our inheritance by His Crucifixion and Resurrection.  

Submitted by Paul D Kearns

Responses to: cispkearns@aol.com 

Dec. 8, 2006 ©  rev 12/24/07

Musings on Limbo

Musings on Limbo 

In Fr. Gilhooley’s “Limbo” article: “How Long Will Limbo Be Limbo?” By Fr. James Gilhooley;  Source: National Catholic REGISTER – Nov. 26 – Dec. 2 2006 

Limbo is a subject that the Catholic Church has wrestled with for centuries. There is so much dissension. Why not stir up the pot? My musings have the structure of some points of information which are grouped under Declarations, Heaven as a kingdom, Truths. Then I muse a bit and then I leave the readers with a group of Questions to meditate on and muse about themselves. 

Declarations:

D1 – Augustine etal, in 418, declared that pagan babies went to hell, because there was no other place to go. Baptized babies would go to heaven. Unbaptized babies would go to hell. Souls ended up in heaven or hell.

D2 – Aquinas etal, at Univ. of Paris in 15^th century, declared that pagan babies went to limbo, not to heaven. Souls ended up in heaven, limbo or hell. 

Heaven as a kingdom:

H1 – Jerusalem Temple had areas for Jews and Gentiles

H2 – In the parable about the virgins in courtyard awaiting the Bridegroom to open the gate to the mansion. 10 wise virgins with lit lanterns entered after the bridegroom; but 10 virgins with unlit lanterns were refused entry.

H3 – When invited to dine by the master of a house, on entry into the courtyard the guest was cleaned up and arrayed before being greeted by his host.

H4 – Jesus said My dominion has many mansions and rooms.

H5 – “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” – crucified thief

H6 – “This day you will be in Paradise” – crucified Christ

H7 – The other crucified thief wasn’t promised by Christ to enter his kingdom. 

Truths:

T1 – Man is created in His image and likeness, to know, love and serve God in this life, and to be happy with Him in the next.

T2 – God’s punishment of souls resulted in eternal punishment in hell or temporary punishment in purgatory before meeting God.

T3 – God created 2 torture pits for punishment of unforgiven sins: hell which is eternal & purgatory, which might be temporary. 

Musings:

M1 – Starting with first truths [T1 –T3]

1. Hell is a separate entity of God’s creation. Its denizens are bad angels and evil humans. Recent revelations from Christ in Oct. 1936 to His Secretary, St. Faustina, during her 8 day retreat follow: “Today I was led by an angel to the chasms of Hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw: (1) the first torture that constitutes Hell is the loss of God; (2) the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; (3) the third is that one’s condition will never change; (4) the fourth is the fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it — a terrible suffering, since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger; (5) the fifth torture is continual darkness, and a terrible suffocating smell, and, despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own; (6) the sixth torture is the constant company of Satan; (7) the seventh torture is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies. These are the tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings. These are special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned. There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me. Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use of to sin. I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no Hell, or that nobody has ever been there, and so no one can say what it is like.” [Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 2000; para. 0741; Marian Press, Stockbridge, MA 01262] This happened 1900 years after our Redemption. This scares the ‘hell’ out of me. How about you? 

2. Purgatory is a separate entity of God’s creation. Its denizens are humans (maybe angels). It purges, through temporal punishment, a human’s soul in atonement of their sins. [“If you do the crime, you do the time!”]. Is purgatory only a temporary place with no eternity? After final judgment does purgatory cease to exit? Recent revelations from Christ in Aug. 1925 to His Secretary, St. Faustina, during her 8 day retreat follow: “I saw my Guardian Angel, who ordered me to follow him. In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail, for themselves; only we can come to their aid. The flames which were burning them did not touch me at all. My Guardian Angel did not leave me for an instant. I asked these souls what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God. I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call her “The Star of the Sea.” She brings them refreshment. I wanted to talk with them some more, but my Guardian Angel beckoned me to leave. We went out of that prison of suffering. [God said to St. Faustina  “My mercy does not want this, but justice demands it.”] ” [Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 2000; para. 0020; Marian Press, Stockbridge, MA 01262]  Purgatory allows visitors. It is a place of hope and a place of prayer. The Blessed Virgin Mary brings refreshments. It looks like a part of heaven to me. Would St. Augustine and St. Thomas change their declarations [D1 and D2 above]? I think so. Isn’t Purgatory similar to heavenly analogies [H1 and H3 above]? One could argue that purgatory is part of the estate of heaven. I think the “hell” that the crucified Christ descended into, from He rose, is analogous to H2 above. 

M2 – Limbo, when discussed in light of Musing 1 (above), certainly appears to part of the estate of heaven.  To all the people, who say baptized Catholics will see the Beatific Vision, I am convinced a more proper description, covering all who go to heaven, is that a soul will see God as He wants to be seen by that soul. I’ll leave the reader with the following Questions. Maybe purgatory is eternal? 

Questions:

Q1 – Is heaven a place of only bliss with no temporary punishment and “the skies are not cloudy all day”?

Q2 – Is there room for a discouraging word in heaven?

Q3 – Are the intellect and will inactive in heaven so that sinning is impossible?

Q4 – Did the angels rebel only once under Lucifer’s leadership or does it continue?

Q5 – Can angels sin in a minor way? Is purgatory their punishment?

Q6 – Isn’t it contradictory of God’s Essence to create all people to know, love, and serve Him, yet deny the majority of them access to His Kingdom because they are unbaptized?

Q7 – Is Hell part of or apart from God’s kingdom? Submitted by Paul D Kearns

Responses to: cispkearns@aol.com 

Dec. 15, 2006 ©  rev1 01/19/08; rev2 09/09/08

Musings on Limbo Addenda

I believe that souls, prior to the resurrection, were immediately judged. Condemned souls went to Hell. Souls needing punishment went to Purgatory. The remaining souls went to a waiting area called “Limbo” to await the “Bridegroom”. When souls in Purgatory became purified, they also went to “Limbo.”

When Jesus died His human soul received judgment and descended to the “Limbo” also called “hell” or “dead.” At His Resurrection of His Body Jesus came as the “Bridegroom” and all souls in “Limbo” entered into Heaven. Then the place called “Limbo” had no function. After the Resurrection, all souls, at death, go directly to Heaven or Purgatory and then Heaven or Hell.  [rev. 09/09/08]

Musings on Pagans and Heaven

Musings on Pagans and Heaven

 In Fr. Gilhooley’s “Limbo” article on the various Church teachings on unbaptized babies, he said St. Augustine’s teaching was that pagans [including unbaptized babies] would end up in hell. This teaching was adopted by the Church Council of 418. Augustine’s teaching held sway with Catholic theologians until Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960’s. The Council fathers taught that that everyone, baptized Christians and the unbaptized, could achieve salvation. The sacrifice of Jesus, the Christ, on Calvary encompassed everyone for all time.  Christ did give the Vatican the power “to bind and loose”; but not the power to “veto” God’s plan as to creation. The Vatican has contradicted the will of God who, alone, creates humans “in His image and likeness, to know, love and serve God in this life, and to be happy with Him in the next”. Every human since Eve has begun life at conception with an immortal soul. They all belong to “God’s” religion before belonging to a particular creed. All are destined to be in heaven for they are “sons of God and heirs of heaven”, regardless of race color or creed. All are given a free will, which gives each human the right to choose good or evil, to claim or forfeit their heavenly inheritance.

When each human is born, since Adam & Eve, the path back to God begins. Before Christ and after Christ the rules of God’s natural law, imbedded in each human soul, guide the human toward heaven. After Christ, those humans, who have not heard or comprehended the message of Christ through His ministers, have God’s natural law, His natural grace and His promptings to help them “do good and avoid evil”.Did Christ give His ministers the right to veto God’s natural law? Some of the Doctors of Theology apparently think so. Even God’s natural law involving the movement of the planets was temporarily vetoed by many Doctors, who chose Copernicus’s finding – that the earth was the center of our galaxy and all planets revolved around it. Poor Galileo was hung out to twist in the wind until the Church recanted. Imagine the damage assessment report that could be made on the impact from over-reaching their Christ-given authority. Were the Church to do a thorough damage assessment of the ruling sponsored by St. Augustine in the 5^th century, the results would be horrific.

 Imagine the resentment and lack of respect toward the Church since the 418AD by non-Catholics and Catholics [even among the chosen religious] growing wider over the last 15 centuries until Vatican II declared the truth of God’s purpose for all humans is the same.I have met much enmity for the Church from many people for the last 60 years, based on a prevailing belief that St. Augustine’s ruling is still in play. Indeed, even today, some Benedictines harbor that belief. The results of a damage assessment should be proactive actions to repair the evil. Mere words in a Vatican II document or media reports are too little.

The Church is obligated to do more publicly, with “mea cupla’s”, by preaching the truth themselves worldwide, and not just from their pulpits. Why should a human see Christ as the Good Shepherd in the Catholic Church, leading us on the path to heaven, when His chosen ministers put out the message that “heaven is only for Catholics in the state of grace?”In the Letters of St. James, in the New Testament, he warns against creating a caste system where non-Catholics are treated openly as inferiors. Doing this would be in violation of Christ’s example and teaching.

In fact, in August 1937, Christ personally dictated to St. Faustina the wording of His Divine Mercy Novena, which runs 9 days from Good Friday until Mercy Sunday. Each day of the Novena Christ singles out groups of people for His consideration for Divine Mercy. The 4^th day is dedicated to “the pagans and those who do not yet know Me”. [Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 2000;para. 1216; Marian Press, Stockbridge, MA 01262] St. Faustina was appointed by Christ to be His Secretary. Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina on May 30, 2000.

Submitted by Paul D Kearns

Responses to: cispkearns@aol.com

Dec. 8, 2006 © rev January 19, 2008 

Musings on Returning as a Prodigal Son

Musings on Returning as a Prodigal Son 

I am in deep sorrow to learn that your spiritual, mental, emotional wellbeing are in serious danger. My “son”, you have asked for my help. You have asked me to pray for you so that you find God again. I am daily praying for you, in hopes that you will return, to once again to be loved by relatives, friends and others. Let me remind you of another wayward son – “the prodigal son”. His father sat at home in pain and misery praying for the son, who separated himself from the love of his family, to seek the pleasures of the world.

Through the Natural Grace that God the Father gives every human, this son came to realize that the love of the father was the only thing he could trust. This son had to hit a brick wall before he realized that to return repenting was better than killing himself. In his soul he knew that his father loved him and he trusted in that fact. He returned to his father, who ran out to greet him and love him. His father then killed the fatted calf and celebrated with kith and kin his son’s welcome return.” How often have you heard this side of the story regarding the saving mercy of God the Father? Usually you get the ‘fatherly’ version, which emphasizes the love and forgiveness of the father and the resentment of the oldest son.

Is this the only way Christ would want this story always to be explained? Christ, the King of Divine Mercy, wants to rescue sinners to dine at His Table of Love. Forgiveness by the ‘father’ is not enough. It has to be preceded by the sinner realizing he needs salvation.  He then turns spiritually to the Father to express sorrow and remorse, seeking forgiveness and reinstatement as a ‘son of God’. How powerful the grace of our Father is! He puts up a spiritual ‘stop’ sign, “Me or Satan”, in the soul of this “prodigal son”. You, my “son”, need to respond to God’s Grace or suffer the consequences. Listen to His internal promptings and trust in them.

The “prodigal son” did so and through much suffering and tribulation he returned to the arms of his loving and compassionate father. I await your return with great hope that you will respond to the promptings of God. Our love awaits you. In the meantime I shall continue to ask God for “real improvement in your spiritual, mental, emotional and physical wellbeing”. God will challenge all sinners, especially in the ‘hour of death’, to choose “Me or Satan”. Our prayers for relatives, friends and others will provide grace for them to choose well. The story of our salvation is the way in which we positively respond to God’s graces to seek Divine Mercy.  

Submitted by Paul D Kearns

Responses to: cispkearns@aol.com

March 3, 2007 © rev 09/09/08

Musings on the 1st Beatitude

Musings on the 1st Beatitude 

Dear ‘lukewarm’: You keep calling yourself ‘lukewarm’. You seem to think that improvement in your holiness is just too difficult, not worth the effort. Why expend the effort, if you often find yourself backsliding in your progress? As in the parable of “The Prodigal Son” returning to your spiritual father is both necessary and very difficult.  I recommend you study other people, like St. Faustina and the “good thief”, who were successful in reaching God with great effort and enduring great pain. Though both are in heaven today, Faustina gave a lifetime of glory to God. 

St. Faustina is a good example in the 20^th century of the meaning implied by the 1st Beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for they will see God”.  St. Faustina, canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000, felt she was lukewarm. Jesus always was perking her up. How she whined that she was not good enough! How she loathed her continuing weakness in criticizing her fellow sisters! How often did Jesus chastise or threaten her for not doing His will? She persisted in yearning for holiness through submission of her free will to God’s totally. 

To be “poor in spirit” you have to compare your goodness to that of God, and recognize the spiritual abyss separating you. If you wish to see God, you have to narrow the gap by steadily doing God’s will. St. Faustina is an excellent example to guide us. Let’s meditate on the “good thief”. He pled guilty to crimes deserving crucifixion. He judged that Jesus was innocent and had a spiritual kingdom He was going to. He recognized the spiritual abyss separating him from Jesus. His confession, followed by his plea for Divine Mercy, was rewarded by Jesus assuring him that “this day you will be in Paradise.” Here we have a person who led an evil life, yet had enough conscience to recognize holiness in another person and aspired to attain a higher level.

However, please do not wait until your hour of death to ask for Divine Mercy. No matter how large the gap of goodness is, God rewards for effort. What we must do is stop whining over our present level of being lukewarm. This is why the daily examination of conscience is helpful. It gives you a reading on how you are really doing. You need to use the results to firmly amend your life daily to reduce the gap of holiness between you and Jesus. If we put effort to steadily improve, rather than collapse because it seems so hopeless, God will reward you with His graces. 

Jesus dictated the following to St. Faustina regarding ‘lukewarm souls’: “These souls wound My Heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: ‘Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be your will.’ For them, the last hope of salvation is to flee to My mercy.”  [Diary of St. Faustina, para. 1228 1937/08/10]The “good’ thief was one who fled to His mercy and was granted Divine Mercy. Do you want to continue being lukewarm and rely on an opportunity in your hour of death to confess and ask for mercy?So march on my friend! Strive to improve your worthiness. Thank God, that He rates our effort higher than our success.  

Submitted by Paul D Kearns

Responses to: cispkearns@aol.com

Sep 26, 2006 ©  rev1 01/19/08; rev2 09/09/08

Musings on the Commandment of Love

Musings on the Commandment of Love  

“YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR BEING, WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF”. 

I would like to ‘parse’ this Rule. The central person in this Rule is “yourself”, not neighbor and not God. Maybe the Rule should read: …….. with all your mind, then “yourself” and then “your neighbor”. Your first relationship is God directed. After all He gave you, along with your parents, life.  Picture the cross with you at the crossroad. The upper portion represents your “up-line”. The first four commandments apply to you relationship to the givers of your life – God and your parents. Obeying these commandments generate many graces which enriches you, body & soul. Being at the crossroad, meditations will reveal that God loves you which makes you glow with love of God, not self love. This in turn gives you the desire and the passion on giving love to others. 

Picture your two arms on the cross beam. They are able, with God’s love within your soul; to embrace the real needs of “neighbor”. The lower portion of the cross represents your earthly duties to your neighbor, through obeying commandments 5 thru 10. Your arms need to embrace your “neighbor”. This picture serves to point out that doing God’s will is a cross each has to bear; but that is God’s challenge to us. By meeting this challenge, you, yourself, will see God. 

This sequence is valid. You have to get God’s love by loving Him to fill your tank with the fuel of His love, before traveling the paths of life and giving God’s love to your ‘neighbor’ regardless of race, color, or creed. If your life is in harms way from your neighbor, you might choose protecting your life and family as the greater good, or, as a soldier of God, you choose to heroically take the risk. I believe that more emphasis is needed to prioritize our spiritual relationships with our life givers, God and parents. Then, this will enhance our love of our personal spiritual life, and guide our actions in fulfilling our obligation to love our ‘neighbor’.   Using this analogy of the cross, shows people the exalted role they have in God’s plan. This will give people great motivation to follow God with humility. Jesus told St. Faustina that a good soul performs spiritual and corporal works of mercy continually. “Onward and Upward” my friend. 

Laus tibi,          Paulus 

Submitted by Paul D Kearns

Responses to: cispkearns@aol.com 

Sep 26, 2006 ©  rev1 12/02/07; rev2 09/09/08