Sent as Sheep among Wolves

PRAISED BE JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH!           

2 weeks ago, the Supreme Court of the United States declared the recognition of same sex marriages in all the 50 states. This declaration was lauded by so many people all over the world as the liberation and victory of “love”. Although in the Philippines, we are beyond the jurisdiction of the US Supreme Court, many people are of the opinion that it will simply be a matter of time when same sex marriage will be recognized here. The prophecy of Our Lady of La Sallete in 1846 is being fulfilled: “All the civil governments will have one and the same plan, which will be to abolish and do away with every religious principle, to make way for materialism, atheism, spiritualism, and vice of all kinds…for disorder and love for carnal pleasures will be spread all over the earth.” (Our Lady of La Sallete, 1846)

In the first reading, God sent the prophet Ezekiel to the people of Israel, “rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have rebelled against me to this very day. Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you.” (Susuguin kita sa bansang suwail. Pagkat mula sa kanilang ninuno, naghihimagsik na sila sa akin hanggang ngayon. Matigas ang kanilang ulo at walang pitagan.) Isn’t this an appropriate description of our present society which dares to redefine reality in order to suit our love for carnal pleasures? What we have today is an outright rebellion against God. And Christians who stand by the Gospel are labelled as narrow-minded bigots (panatiko). We are simply told that no one has the right to say that they know what God said. However, to say such is to deny the existence of Divine Revelation. We cannot deny the fact that God spoke to us through prophets and through his Son Jesus Christ.

Sa bayang matigas ang ulo, patuloy na sinusugo ng Diyos ang kanyang mga propeta: “Kaya puntahan mo sila at sabihin mong ito ang pinasasabi ng Panginoong Diyos. Sa makinig sila o sa hindi – pagkat matigas ang kanilang ulo – malalaman nilang may isang propeta sa gitna nila.” In spite of the stubbornness of the world, the Lord continues to send us: “Behold I send you like sheep among wolves.” (Mat. 10:16) the Lord does this because he does not give up on the world. He continues to call us to conversion, even despite the stubbornness of our hearts. Christians are supposed to be prophets who prophesy by walking against trends, by swimming against the tide. We bear a message that opposes the logic of the world. Thus, we expect opposition to the Gospel we are sent to preach.

Although being sent like sheep among wolves is frightening, the Lord assures us: “Ang tulong ko’y sapat sa lahat ng pangangailangan mo; lalong nahahayag ang aking kapangyarihan kung ikaw ay mahina.” The Lord arms us nothing but the cross and St. Anthony of Padua told us: “Christians must lean on the cross just as travelers lean on a staff as they begin a long journey.” We are sustained by that Cross. That is why we should say together with St. Paul: “Buong galak na ipinagmamapuri ko ang aking kahinaan upang palakasin ako ng kapangyarihan ni Kristo. Dahil kay Kristo, walang halaga sa akin kung ako’y mahina, kutyain, pahirapan, usigin, at magtiis. Sapagkat kung kailan ako’y mahina, saka naman ako malakas.”

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Falsity is the Sign of the Devil

The Kiss of Judas

In his Angelus Message last Sunday, August 26, 2012, the Holy  Father spoke on the disciples who abandoned the Lord on account of the difficulty of the teachings on the Eucharist. His commentary on Judas Iscariot is worth reflecting on: 

"In the end, Jesus knew that even among the Twelve there was one who did not believe: Judas. Judas too could have left like the other disciples did; perhaps he should have left had he wanted to be honest. Instead he stayed with Jesus. He stayed not because of faith, not because of love, but with the secret plan to get back at the Master. Why? Because Judas felt that Jesus had betrayed him and he decided to betray Jesus in turn. Judas was a zealot and wanted a victorious Messiah who would lead a revolt against the Romans. Jesus frustrated these expectations. The problem is that Judas did not leave and his gravest fault was falsity, which is the sign of the devil. Because of this Jesus said to the Twelve: “One among you is a devil!” (John 6:70). Let us pray to the Virgin Mary, who helps us to believe in Jesus, as St. Peter did, to be ever more sincere with him and with everyone."

I think these are very courageous words. I think dissenters in the Church should not hide their dissent under the guise of Intellectual or Academic Freedom. If you do not believe... by all means, leave! Don't dissent and still call yourself Catholics! Falsity is the sign of the devil.


Read the entire address: ZENIT - On Believing in Jesus, Bread of Life

Truth is truth, there is no compromise

Head of the Baptist, Photo of Louie Nacorda

On the occasion of the Memorial of the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, the Holy Father spoke on the Baptist's witness to Christ:

"Dear brothers and sisters, celebrating the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist also reminds us -- Christians in our own times -- that we cannot give into compromise when it comes to our love for Christ, for his Word, for his Truth. The Truth is the Truth; there is no compromise. The Christian life requires, as it were, the "martyrdom" of daily fidelity to the Gospel; the courage, that is, to allow Christ to increase in us and to direct our thoughts and actions. But this can only occur in our lives if our relationship with God is strong. Prayer is not time lost, nor does it steal space away from our activities, even those that are apostolic; it is exactly the opposite: only if we are able to have a life of faithful, constant, trusting prayer, will God himself give us the ability and strength to live in happiness and peace, to overcome difficulties and to courageously bear witness to him. May St. John the Baptist intercede for us, that we might always maintain the primacy of God in our lives."


In the debates on the RH bill, it is important to keep this in mind: Truth is the Truth; there can be no compromise. Let us be faithful to the Gospel.

Dissenters in the Church: Let us allow Christ to increase in us and to direct out thoughts and actions.

Read the entire address: ZENIT - On the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist

The Distortion of Marriage

"Today, the principles of Christian morality concerning marriage are in many circles being presented in a distorted way. Attempts are being made to impose on environments and even entire societies a model that calls itself "progressive" and "modern". It then goes unnoticed that this model transforms a human being and perhaps especially a woman from a subject into an object (an object of specific manipulation), and the whole great content of love is reduced to "pleasure", which, even though it involved both parties, would still be selfish in its essence. Finally the child, who is the fruit and the fresh incarnation of the love between the two, becomes ever more "an annoying addition". The materialistic and consumeristic civilization is penetrating this whole wonderful complex of conjugal and paternal and maternal love, and stripping it of that profoundly human content which from the beginning was also permeated by a divine mark and reflection.

Dear young friends! Do not allow this treasure to be taken away from you! Do not inscribe in the plan of your life a deformed, impoverished and falsified content: love "rejoices in the truth". Seek out this truth where it is really to be found! If necessary, be resolved to go against the current of popular opinion and propaganda slogans! Do not be afraid of the love that places clear demands on people. These demands-as you find them in the constant teaching of the Church-are precisely capable of making your love a true love.

If anywhere, it is especially here that I wish to repeat the hope which I expressed at the beginning, namely, that you will be "always prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you!". The Church and humanity entrust to you the great reality of that love which is the basis of marriage, the family and the future. The Church and humanity firmly believe that you will bring about its rebirth; they firmly believe that you will make it beautiful: beautiful in a human and Christian way. In a human and Christian way great, mature and responsible. "

Blessed John Paul II, Dilecti Amici, 10.

From belief to unbelief

Minyong Ordonez is a friend whose dedication to the Faith is admirable. His article found in the June 3, 2011 issue of The Philippine Daily Inquirer is worth our consideration.

HOW CAN one say he is a Catholic and ignore the teachings of his religion? Why be a Catholic if one thinks his religion is erroneous? Is there pride and truth in being an egoistic Catholic? Are such Catholics who fill up the church and who participate in the same rituals, say the same prayers, and profess the same beliefs in both God and the Church’s commandments sincere or hypocritical?

Pro-RH lawmakers insist they are Catholics but in the same breath disagree with the Catholic hierarchy’s rejection of the RH bill. This constitutes contradiction of the first degree.

Oneness in doctrine is one of the conditions defining Catholicism. The second is holiness of origin, and the third is apostolic succession. Holiness means that the Church is holy because it has been established by Jesus Christ who is Himself holy and that it is guided by the Holy Spirit in the proclamation of the truth and the administration of sacraments. Apostolic means that the Church traces its authenticity and heritage to the apostles who were instructed by Jesus Christ to evangelize the world headed by the apostle Peter: “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. To thee I will give the keys to the kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall also be bound in Heaven. And whatever thou shall loose on earth shall also be loosed in Heaven.”

From this awesome passage in the Holy Scripture declaring the wisdom, love and trust of God, the Church grew and prospered organizationally and doctrinally under the guidance of the Holy Spirit beginning right after Pentecost.

The Catholic Church is firm in its stand that the killing of the unborn is intrinsically evil, a morality issue. And that the right to life and its preservation are guaranteed by the Constitution and that Catholics are free to practice their religious beliefs. If enacted into law the RH bill will be coercive for Catholics because they will be legislated to act against their faith and their will.

In the legislature, we have politicians who push for the enactment of the RH bill while proudly proclaiming that they are Catholics. They become evasive and rhetorical in confronting the Catholic objection to the bill’s birth control objectives which prescribe abortion-inducing abortifacients, contraceptives and invasive means such as ligation and sterilization.

The occurrence in contemporary times of Catholics who do not share the official teachings of the Church’s magisterium is widespread in the United States, the melting pot of rights and freedom for individual thinking and judgment.

Catholics who choose what or what not to believe in the composite teachings of the Church are popularly called “cafeteria Catholics.” Just like in a turo-turo restaurant, they choose to eat only what they like and skip those that don’t appeal to their taste.

Relativism, the “ism” that spawned cafeteria Catholics, was influenced by several philosophical, economic and scientific developments that took place during the last two centuries. In Central Europe, these developments caused the shift of societies’ dependence on the Christian religion as a way of life. The change was labeled as a shift from belief to unbelief. The late Russian Nobel prize-novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn called it anthropocentricity, with makes man the center of everything that exists. One religious philosopher even redefined God as a “progressive providence,” almost modifying the axiom that truth is permanent and unchangeable.

The last century featured decades of more scientific breakthroughs in medicine, food production, engineering, transportation and communication technologies. The advances in marketing and distribution gave birth to globalization of business and consumer habits, further upgrading lifestyles and multiple-choice consumerism in a pluralistic society. The politics of democracy began to manifest its righteousness in the name of freedom, emphasizing human rights as the end-all and be-all in entertaining all possible human needs in pursuit of individualistic pleasures and conveniences, dimming and deadening Christian morality in human awareness and consequent acts.

Relativism has long encroached on the modern urban societies of the Western World, causing changes in both the political, social and religious tradition of politics and culture of the country.

Cafeteria Catholics exemplify this change from belief to unbelief in this age of modernism, affecting not only the legislation of our politics but also the behavior of our constituency.

To preserve the integrity of their faith, Catholics must re-study and re-learn their religion in order to gain depth in and perspective on their faith. They must discern not only the role of faith and reason in enhancing their adherence to the Gospel but also the doctrinal beauty and power of their catechism.

Minyong Ordoñez is a freelance journalist and a member of the Manila Overseas Press Club. Email: hgordonez@gmail.com


follow this link: From belief to unbelief