Monday thru Friday at www.DailyCatholic.org See why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!" e-mail: DailyCatholic@dailycatholic.org

Why do so many get caught in the endless maze of thinking man has a better idea than God?

      In his column today, Pat Ludwa addresses the rebellion currently going on at a parish in Rochester, New York where many liberal parishioners are so upset that their priest was suspended and then excommunicated for his disobedience that they are following his bad example by being just as disobedient in trying to form their own church. It never works as Pat points out in citing various examples of history. For Pat's column Mass Suicide in Rochester, New York, click on VIEW FROM THE PEW

Mass Suicide in Rochester, New York

      In a cult of community, it's almost inevitable that a cult of personality will emerge, sometimes with tragic results. In a 'cult' of community, we saw Jim Jones arise as a charismatic leader who led them to their death in a mass suicide. We saw the Heaven's Gate cult follow their 'charismatic' leader into a mass suicide to meet their 'god' in a comet. Mankind has always done this. Even Christianity is a type of 'cult' with Christ as our leader. In fact, that's how the term Christian came about, named after the 'founder' of the movement. (This was done as a mistake since a 'Christian' knew that the word Christ was a title, not Christ's name.) However, almost as soon as the Church was born, 'charismatic' leaders came to draw the faithful away.

      "But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if some one comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough" (2 Corinthians 11:3-4).

      The early Church saw 'Gnostic Christians' giving another gospel than the one the Apostles taught. So pervasive were they that they led many astray. St. Irenaeus (c.a. 180 A.D.), devoted volumes exposing their 'other gospel'. Same sex unions (this were the notion of the early Church allowing them came from), women priestess, etc. In fact, St. Irenaeus spoke how a 'lay' person one day, might be a bishop the next.

      Arius, a priest in Alexandria (256-336) taught that Christ was not God, that there is no Trinity. So 'charismatic' was his personality, so persuasive was his speech, that he led many out of the Church and into a 'new' church, Arianism. No matter the Church condemned it, no matter Arius was excommunicated. Sooner or later, they believed, the Church would come around to their way of thinking. After all, they were teaching the 'true' gospel.

      Pelagius, an Irish or English monk (355-425) taught that grace is not needed to attain salvation. That Adam would have died whether he sinned or not, that only Adam's children were affected by his sin (by bad example). That is, there is no original sin, therefore no salvation through Christ's redeeming death. This 'charismatic' person led many out of the Church. No matter the Church condemned it, no matter Pelagius was excommunicated. Sooner or later, the Church would come around to their way of thinking. After all, they were teaching the 'true' gospel.

      A German monk, Martin Luther, taught that it doesn't matter what we do on earth, we are saved by faith alone, and that by that faith, our sins will be covered by His blood as a clean white linen covers a pile of dung. "Inasmuch as I know for certain that I am right, I will judge above you and above the angels...whoever does not accept doctrine cannot be saved. For it is the doctrine of God" (Martin Luther; "Against the Falsely So-Called Spiritual state of the Pope and Bishops"; 1522). No matter the Church condemned it, no matter Luther was excommunicated. Sooner or later the Church would come around to their way of thinking. After all, they were teaching the 'true' gospel.

      Many others can be named. Jansen, Feeney, the list goes on and on. No matter the Church condemned their teaching, no matter they were excommunicated, they were all teaching the true gospel. Almost worse than the suicides of Jones and Heaven's Gate, these have committed 'spiritual suicide'. Excommunicating themselves along with their 'charismatic' leaders. "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel-- not that there is another gospel, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, If any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:6-9).

      A priest enters a church in the Diocese of Rochester NY. The parish numbers only 200, but swells to about 3,000. A success story? Fr. Callan is a 'charismatic' personality. Over 10 years, he has gone his own way. He 'elevates' a pastoral assistant to an 'associate pastor' and has 'her' wear liturgical garments and join him at the altar during Mass. "But these encouraging and positive aspects cannot suppress concern at the varied and frequent abuses being reported from different parts of the Catholic world: the confusion of roles, especially regarding the priestly ministry and the role of the laity (indiscriminate shared recitation of the Eucharistic Prayer, homilies given by lay people, lay people distributing Communion while the priests refrain from doing so)" (INAESTIMABILE DONUM;April 17, 1980).

      "Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord" (CCC#1411).

      Giving the Church's 'blessing' to at least five same sex 'marriages'. Though "They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity" and "Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided." (CCC #2358) "They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they (homosexual acts) be approved" (CCC #2357).

      At Mass, he would routinely invite non-Catholics to receive the Blessed Sacrament. "Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church, "have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic mystery (ref. 1 Cor. 11:29) in its fullness,….It is for this reason that Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible for the Catholic Church" (CCC#1400).

      Though the Diocese tried to persuade Fr. Callan to recant, to teach authentic Church teachings, he refused. Subsequently, and sadly, he was excommunicated. He left the Church no other choice.

      A large number of his 'faithful' have followed him into excommunication. So 'concerned' were they that at a service in their 'new' church (in a leased building), Fr. Callan joked; "Something terrible happened yesterday, something I've been dreading for months. The dentist drilled a hole in my tooth." On Holy Thursday he plans to celebrate Mass (which he has been forbidden to do, his Bishop removing his authority to do so). This may well mean he will be dismissed from the priesthood entirely.

      But, we see that Fr. Callan feels that " I know for certain that I am right" (see Martin Luther) and that "In 10-20 years, when the Church changes, they'll take us back." It doesn't matter that the Church has excommunicated him, after all, he's teaching the 'true' gospel.

      "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

      Pray for them, for in following a teacher who tickles their ears, they have committed spiritual suicide - and they think little of it. They don't know of as yet what they're going to call their 'new' church, but they assured everyone that the word "Catholic" will be a part of it. We know, in fact, that this can never be for the marks of the True Church are missing.

Pax Christi, Pat

---

Do we really trust in God?

      Today we sound the forty-fourth clarion regarding the credo "In God we trust" found on our currency and courtrooms, but do we really believe that or are those mere shallow words? More than ever before God is being squeezed out today by anyone who can attract the attention of the ACLU or lobby for a bill that will negate God everywhere except in churches. After all, we must keep the separation between Church and state; something the founding fathers never intended. For the ninety-ninth installment of our on-going megaseries on the Church today, click on WHERE IS HOLY MOTHER CHURCH HEADING AS WE NEAR THE MILLENNIUM?

Installment Ninety-nine

The Forty-Fourth Clarion:

part one
IN GOD WE TRUST

"Children, with what difficulty will they who have riches enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Mark 10: 24-25

      Trust is a powerful word entrusted to us by the Most Powerful. We, as individuals and as a nation are committed to God's care. He has placed us in the environment we are in for our safekeeping. It is His responsibility to care for us. It is our responsibility to respond to that loving care by totally trusting in Him for everything!

      Our founding fathers seemed to have it right when they charged that our nation be founded on the principle of a deep trust in God, thus they instructed that most monetary units would have the inscription "IN GOD WE TRUST." Oh, how far we have sunk over these last two hundred years plus!

      For if we truly lived those words as a nation, abortion would not be so prevalent; neither would drug addiction; nor AIDS; nor freemasonry; nor pornography; nor murder; nor homosexuality; nor condoms; nor immorality of all types; nor feminism; nor corruption; nor nuclear threats; nor lies and exploitation; nor crime and covetousness, nor hundreds of other heinous vices in which our country is mired from the White House on down.

      Our country, dedicated and consecrated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in big trouble. If you think we're just "whistlin' Dixie" look around you. Devastating hurricanes, floods, heat and cold spells that have set all-time records over the past year, droughts, fires and earthquakes. Is God trying to tell us something?

      You can bet on it! But, in His Mercy, He is trying to warn us in the gentlest of ways. Don't blame it on El Nino or La Nina. The blame lays squarely in our own lap. He has allowed natural and man-made disasters, which have left a wake of material destruction, yet have only taken a minimum of lives. We are all too hung up on material things and the welfare of our bodies, and not enough on spiritual things and the vital welfare of our souls! Look back at the numerous hurricanes over this past decade - so few lives in what could have been disastrous. Remember the World Trade Center? What would have been the mortality rate had the bomb gone off during the business day? Recall how few actually lost their lives in the great Midwest floods last summer. Recollect the tremendous damage done by the west coast fires and LA earthquake and see how many deaths were recorded. Very few. The Oklahoma City Federal Building was another story, but out of this, too, God brings good. When you compare the death tolls of recent earthquakes, the "less than 50" in LA is diminutive compared with the thousand who died in the El Salvador quake of 1986, or the 6.6 five years ago which killed nearly 1500 in India, or the 2,800 registered deaths in the '82 Arabian Peninsula quake or the tens of thousands rendered homeless in Columbia just recently.

      Yes, our country has been fortunate. We have not experienced any massive death count in the thousands from natural or man-made disasters, even though the recent cold snaps have claimed some lives. But compared to what it could be, God is indeed merciful; in fact, no foreign country has penetrated our shores in war, nor has this great nation of ours really known want over the last fifty years. The American death toll in the Gulf War was miraculously minimal.

      Why? Is it because we're special? That nothing can happen to us? That we are indeed 'immortal'? Some may think that. How wrong they are. Can anyone truly believe that a country which has sold out to greed, lust and murder through legalized abortion does not deserve the Justice of the Father's Hand? Yet, the U.S. goes on thinking God doesn't have any part of this - that it's just "Mother Nature". Wrong! It is the Father - God the Father, and He's trying to tell us something but we don't listen. He has sent His loving daughter, the Mother of the Son, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit to forewarn us of what is yet to come. But we dismiss it as mere private revelation - and yet the majority of what has occurred here in the United States and in the world was foretold by Our Lady through these private revelations, which are so easily dismissed in favor of "higher finite intelligence!"

      For nearly two centuries the Blessed Mother has kept repeating the urgency of her messages, the urgency that we respond as a nation to God's commandments. But, we are not responding. Just as in Sacred Scripture when the chosen people veered off the track God had set them on, He sent prophets to warn them. If they heeded the prophets' admonitions, such as Jonah and Nineveh, God spared His people. But if they disregarded the prophets' counsel, God was swift in His Justice. Witness the accounts of Isaiah and the subsequent captivity of Israel as well as many other narratives in the Old Testament.

      Whenever our predecessors, from ancient time down through the centuries to our present modern age, placed their trust in man rather than God, they were betrayed. See Pat Ludwa's View from the Pew today for some excellent examples of this.

      So also will those be deceived who place their trust in the present Administration who have betrayed our trust more times than we can count, or on material things, or on modern icons such as entertainment or sports celebrities. When we put an emphasis on the wrong things, we lose focus of the true goal - the sole reason why God entrusted us to this earth. Our sole reason for being here is to love, honor and obey Him so that we can be happy with Him in this world and the next. It may be Baltimore Catechism rhetoric but it still applies, more than ever!

      How can we love, honor and obey Him if we don't know Him? How can we trust Him? God will not let us go wrong if our trust in Him is strong and sure. That is why He left us His everlasting Church here on earth with its Magisterium; that is why He gave us the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so that once instituted at the Last Supper and offered on and merited on the Cross may be endowed to us. That is also why Jesus left us the Holy Spirit --the Sanctifier and Paraclete.

      God has given us gift after gift. Are we grateful? Are we taking care of the gifts He has bestowed on us? He trusts that we are. To let God down, to betray that trust is something none of us want to face.

Next installment: Part Two of "IN GOD WE TRUST."

---

SIMPLY SHEEN:

We can discard sadness if we face up to the facts!

     They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".

"When our own responsibility for our sadness has once been faced, prayer next leads us on to hope, because it shows us the real basis for our discontent: the knowledge that we could be quite different from the way we are."

"Behold, I am the New Ark, the Immaculate Tabernacle."

      This assertion was conveyed by the Blessed Mother, in her words to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in December, 1993 in which Blessed Mary laments at the influx of abortions and how the main reason for her coming to the Americas in the 1500's was to stop human sacrifice, just as it is today. But she reminds her children that soon she will no longer be with us in this extraordinary way, her Divine Son Jesus's Divine Mercy will no longer be available for the Justice will come. She urges all to remain faithful and live the messages just as she prefaces in her message the day before. For Messages #439 and #440, click on "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..."

Messages 439 and 440

    Beloved Hidden Flower, peace! Bear all suffering for the sake of the Divine Will. I ask you to tell all of my little ones that now, as never before, they are to pray for unity of mind and heart through the grace of the Holy Spirit. Only in this way, dear children, will you understand the signs of these end times, but you also will begin to live in peace, joy and love so profound you shall taste Heaven on earth!

    So critical are these days of preparation that the Almighty Father has allowed me to speak to you of the urgency of your total commitment. You must be fully abandoned to the world and all its allures, and give yourselves over to the Will of God.

    I, the Mother of God, hear your pleas and intercede for you. Let your prayers and commitment rise from your heart. Let God give you His Infused Knowledge, and you will not be led astray. Let all who hear my words live them, for their hearts understand them.

    Again, I beseech you to Pray! Pray! Pray! Thank you for responding to my Call!

    Beloved Hidden Flower, I am here to give you peace, that you might be strengthened in your mission. I bless you for the sacrifice you have given to my Divine Son in this Advent Season.

    I desire now to call all of my children beneath my Immaculate Mantle. On this feast day, I desire you to feel the streams of graces Almighty God desires to pour out upon all the world through my intercession. I, the Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception, have been among you for many centuries as Patroness of the Americas, Patroness of the Unborn. Behold, I am the New Ark, the Immaculate Tabernacle. Now my time to remain among you in my image of Our Lady of Guadalupe fades, as God draws away this on-going miracle. It is a sign, my children, that all I have revealed to you is coming to fulfillment. It is a sign, also, that far too many refuse the Divine Graces God desires to give, and too many continue to live in grave sin - the sin of abortion.

    Do you wonder why I weep? Am I not a Mother, the Mother of God, and your Mother also? Do I not feel in my heart the anguish of the slaughtered unborn, and grieve over those who so casually commit this heinous deed?

    You must pray, upon your knees, to stop this crime before God. You must be united in mind and heart through the grace of the Holy Spirit, crying out with one voice: "O! God, please stop this senseless slaughter that all men may seek and do Your Will." Cry out from your hearts and God will hear and answer you.

    Your country has been endowed with many riches but these you have abused. If you would truly live as Apostles of the end times, then you must learn to live an interior life totally of the Holy Spirit. You must make a commitment to belong to God alone and to obey Him in all things. You must believe He will guide each step, and trust Him to give you the grace to take those many steps of faith.

    On this feast in which you honor me, know that I pour out many graces upon all my children. I am your Heavenly Mother, and my only desire is to lead you to my Divine Son. I solemnly tell you that in these end times satan wishes to spread confusion and division among all gathered beneath my Mantle by leading you to belong to many groups of prayer. This is not what I ask when I beseech you to pray more. You are prey for satan when you seek only solace and confirmation from each prayer group. Your only consolation and confirmation must and will come from God Himself, Who will confirm you in your individual mission and give you Peace.

    Dear children, you have entered the grave times. There will come more and more chastisements of every kind, and all the while the antichrist works tirelessly to rule the world. He is cunning, clever, subtle and will not divulge his true identity until you are his victim.

    Therefore, little ones, run to your Mother's arms. I will help you. I lead you to the sacraments, to the True Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and to obedience to my Son's Vicar on earth, Pope John Paul II. Do not be deceived by those who, in offices of authority, distort my Son's Vicar's words, and divide themselves from the True Church.

    Return all reverence to my Divine Son. Do this in every church and do not be fearful of persecution. I will protect you. Then will unity come. Then shall abortion end. Then shall my Immaculate Heart triumph and the Divine Justice shall be swift and merciful.

      Now is the time for Divine Mercy to be poured out as never before upon mankind. I ask again that my Order of Divine Mercy become reality, for it is the chalice God desires to pour out His Mercy. How the world needs Divine Mercy, which must flow down even as the Divine Justice approaches!

    Pray for this. Pray for unity. Pray! Pray! Pray!

      I love and bless you. Thank you for responding to my Call!

Daily Dose of curious contents of the Church:

   Today is the 1,268th anniversary of the election of Pope Saint Gregory III, the 90th successor of Peter who established that charitable donations to the Holy See be earmarked as "Peter's Pence." It was originally established as a tithing fund from all the dioceses of Europe and landowners who would pay their fair share to help defray the Church's costs. Many believe the practice began in Old England where a penny tax was assessed per year. A penny was worth much more than today but represented a fair share; hence the word "pence." This tax was collected once a year on the Feast of Saint Peter on June 29th. But this "Peter's Pence" was abused over the centuries by some Popes who used it to raise monies for things that were not in harmony with the needs of Holy Mother Church; other Popes tapped these funds to funnel money to the Crusades, or their own pet projects. This practice seemed to lapse during the Protestant Reformation and never really gained its prominence or prestige again until Pope Pius XI reinstituted it in the 1930's. Today it is in full force with bishops all over the world contributing from a percentage raised during their annual appeal to their flocks in their respective dioceses. Funds are allocated for Catholic charities authorized by the Vatican and for the maintenance of the Pope, helping to pay for his papal trips, daily living expenses, and entourage necessary to protect and assist the Vicar of Christ. For a more detailed background on "Peter's Pense" or "Peterspense", we recommend NEW ADVENT CATHOLIC SUPERSITE (sources: Cabinet of Catholic Information, Duggan Publishing Co.; 1999 Catholic Almanac, Our Sunday Visitor; Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon, SJ, Doubleday; Catholic Encyclopedia, Thomas Nelson Publishers).

   Dear children! Also today I am with you in a special way contemplating and living the passion of Jesus in my heart. Little children, open your hearts and give me everything that is in them: joys, sorrows and each, even the smallest, pain, that I may offer them to Jesus; so that with His immeasurable love, He may burn and transform your sorrows into the joy of His resurrection. That is why, I now call you in a special way, little children, for your hearts to open to prayer, so that through prayer you may become friends of Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call.

For more on Medjugorje, click on MEDJUGORJE AND MORE

Click here to go to SECTION TWO or click here to return to the graphics front page of this issue.

March 18, 1999 volume 10, no. 54   DAILY CATHOLIC