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MONDAY March 13, 2000 vol. 11, no. 51 SECTION TWOSee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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Today we continue with our new series in the search to uncover the wonderful treasures of the Church contained in the great Deposit of Faith. Today we present the first part of the catechesis on the death knell for so many: Mortal Sin as explained in My Catholic Faith for this wipes out all sanctifying grace and takes away, while we have mortal sin on our soul, any chance of Heavenly bliss for it is a oneway ticket to hell when a soul turns their back willingly on God. For part one in the 129th installment, see APPRECIATING THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF OUR FAITH
Any wilful thought, desire, word, action or omnission, in serious violation of God's law, is a mortal sin. Examples of mortal sin are blasphemy, wilful murder, adultey, arson, robbery, etc. Mortal sin occurs as sooon as God is no longer our final end in our thoughts, words, and actions. Each mortal sin we commit is a three-fold insult to Almighty God: it insulte Him by rebellion or disobedience, by ingratitude, and by contempt.
Circumstances of person, cause, time, place, means, object, and evil consequences enhance or decrease the guilt of the sin. Thus mortal sins, although all mortal, differ in the weight of their guilt. This sin is called mortal, or deadly, because it deprives the sinner of sanctifying grace, the supernatural life of the soul.
Without sanctifying grace, the soul is displeasing to God, unclean, and can never behold Him or be with Him in Heaven. Without sanctifying grace, the soul is without God; and without God, the devil makes the soul his habitation. "Know thou and see that is is an evil and bitter thing for thee to have left the Lord thy God" (Jeremiah 2: 19).
The sinner loses charity towards God and his fellow-men, and by the weakening of his will and the darkening of his intellect, is liable to fall into other mortal sins. The devil cries to his subordinates, "God hath forsaken him; pursue him and take him, for there is none to deliver him" (Psalm 70:11).
Without sanctifying grace the soul is truly "dead"; and if an adult dies in that state, he will suffer the torments of the damned. The word "mortal" comes from the Latin mors, which means "death." Saint John Chrysostom said, "Sinners are dead while they live, and the just live after they are dead." Besides depriving the sinner of sanctifying grace, mortal sin makes the soul ane nemy of God, takes away the merit of all good actions, deprives it of the right to everlasting happiness in heaven, and makes it deserving of everlasting punishment in hell.
Man was made for God, and what an awful calamityit would be to become His enemy! It would be as if the food which was made to support and sustain man should all of a sudden turn to poison him instead. Through mortal sin, the sinner becomes a stranger to divine love, and to the love of neighbor; his heart turns cold because he has put out the flame of charity by grave sin. His reason, a gift of God, is obscured, and he fails to perceive the things of God. Thus a sinner the more he sins, becomes more insensitive to evil; his will is finally so weakened that all conscience is lost, and he falls into greater and greter sins more and more easily. "Adulterers, do you not know that the friendship of this world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of this world becomes an enemy of God."(James 4:4).
During all the time that the sinner remains in mortal sin, all his good works do not help him to heaven: he earns no merits until he gives up his state of mortal sin. As the Apostle Paul says, "If I give my body to be burned and have not charity, I am nothing." One who falls into mortal sin may be compared to a merchant coming into his home port, laden with all kinds of treasures collected from abroad, upon which he has spent years of labor and incalculable wealth. Just as he enters the harbor his ship is torpedoed, and he saves nothing for all his trouble. In a similar manner, one who dies in mortal sin gains nothing, however numerous the good works he may in life had performed.
However numerous the merits previously earned by the sinner, however many his good works, if he dies with only one ortal sin on his soul he goes to hell forever. Is this not something to be feared? It is because mortal sin presupposes a hatred of God. Let us be reasonable men, and consider the utter folly of selling our birthright, God and heaven, for the mess of pottage that is sin and its effects. "Then He will say to those on his left hand, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire'" (Matthew 25:41).
Tomorrow: Mortal Sin part two
On this day 538 years ago in 1462, Johannes Gutenberg, who had experimented with printing with moveable type in metal blocks, began printing the bible - the Latin Vulgate. In later years during the Protestant Reformation the King James version would largely replace the Catholic text. Prior to the Gutenberg press, monks had hand scrolled the complete bible and few were able to read them but with the advent of the printing press all would eventually be able to read the Word of God. Little did Gutenberg even imagine that in the late 90's of the twentieth century the entire bible would fit on one small chip in three languages and various versions and be available on the worldwide web in a nanosecond. How far we've come, and yet the Word remains - or should remain the same. For other time capsule events that happened in Church history on this date, see MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES
732 A.D.
Death of Saint Gerald of County Mayo, abbot
1138 A.D.
Conrad III, King of Germany, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent II
1462 A.D.
The first bible manuscript is put on the press - the Gutenberg press. From this time on, not only would everyone be able to hear the Word, but see the Word. However, when the Word was changed by those who thought they knew better, the road led away from Rome and division was the result.
1493 A.D.
Christopher Columbus leaves Lisbon, Portugal.
1516 A.D.
Charles of Hapsburg is coronated as the King of Spain by Pope Leo X
1599 A.D.
Birth of Saint John Berchmans, who would study to be a Jesuit and die while in the Novitiate. He was canonized in 1888 by Pope Leo XIII. He is the Patron Saint of Altar Servers.
1615 A.D.
Birth of Antonio Pignatelli to aristocratic parents near Spanazzola, Italy. He would become a Jesuit priest, then bishop, be elected cardinal and Archbishop of Naples before being selected the 244th successor of Peter on May 18, 1721 taking the name Pope Innocent XIII.
1997 A.D.
With Mother Teresa ailing, she asks the Religious Order of women she founded - the Missionaries of Charity to choose a new Mother General Superior and they wisely selected 63 year-old Sister Hermana Nirmala, M.C., a native of India and a convert, to succeed her. Mother Teresa would pass on to her Heavenly reward on September 5th of the same year.
Historical Events in Church Annals for March 13:
483 A.D.
Pope Saint Felix III is elected the 48th successor of Peter. Born in Rome his pontificate would last almost nine years. He would try to restore peace in the disturbed Eastern Church. He was married and had two sons, on of which would go on to father the famous Pope Saint Gregory the Great. Felix would die on March 1, 492.
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".
"Dissatisfaction sometimes can be the motive of true progress. Dissatisfied with the pen, man invented the printing press; dissatisfied with the chariot and the locomotive, he invented the airplane. There is implanted in everyone an impulse which drives the spirit to beat its wings like an imprisoned eagle in the cages of this earth until there is blood on its plumes. Did hearts but analyze this urge that is within them, which drives them away from the actual to the possible and makes them dig in the desert of their lives for new living springs, and climb every mountain to get a better look at Heaven, they would see that they are being drawn back again to God, from Whom they came."
NOTE: We respectfully recognize and accept the final authority regarding apparitions, locutions and prophecies presently being reported around the world rests with the Holy See of Rome and the Magisterium of Holy Mother Church to whose judjment we humbly and obediently submit.
"Dear children! Wake up from the sleep of unbelief and sin, because this is a
time of grace which God gives you. Use this time and seek the grace of healing of your heart from God, so that
you may see God and man with the heart. Pray in a special way for those who have not come to know God's
love, and witness with your life so that they also can come to know God and His immeasurable love. Thank you
for having responded to my call."
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His Holiness John Paul II began his penitential path for "Mea Culpa Sunday" before the magnificent marbled statue of the Sorrowful Mother of God holding her Divine Son Jesus, so masterfully depicted in Michelangelo''s priceless treasure of the Pieta, asking the Virgin, Mother of the Church to help the entire Church ease the burden of the crucified Savior by being cleansed of sins of the past that. He then proceeded to the altar and during his Papal Mass, he, along with seven high prelates in the Curia, delineated general sins of the past in asking forgiveness. The full text can be found today in THE VICAR OF CHRIST SPEAKS.
continued inside
VATICAN CITY, MAR 12 (ZENIT.org).- Today John Paul II presided over a
ceremony that will pass into the history books. For the first time, in a
solemn ceremony, the Pontiff asked forgiveness for the past and present
faults of the children of the Church. This gesture has become on of the
most significant signs of the Jubilee of the Year 2000.
The ceremony began before Michelangelo's "Pietà" altar in St. Peter's.
The Pontiff began this gesture before an image of Mary because the
Church, like the Virgin, wants to take into its arms the crucified
Savior, weighed down with the sins of her children, and invoking the
Father's forgiveness.
The homily during the Mass was a genuine examination of conscience for
past and present faults of the Church's children. But the most solemn
moment came when John Paul II led a prayer in which he confessed the
faults and asked for forgiveness.
Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the Central Committee for the Jubilee, exhorted the confession of sins that caused division among Christians; Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, acknowledged the faults committed "against the people of the Covenant," Israel; and Japanese Archbishop Stephen Fumio Hamao, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, mentioned sins committed against love, peace, the rights of peoples, respect of cultures and religions.
Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, requested confession of sins that have wounded the dignity of woman and the unity of mankind. Finally, Vietnamese Archbishop François Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, encouraged confession of sins in the area of fundamental rights of the human person: abuses against children, marginalisation of the poor, suppression of the unborn in the maternal womb or their use for experimentation...
The Cardinals' confession included the topics mentioned earlier by the Pontiff in his homily. The Papal "mea culpa" also addressed the present day sins of Christians. "With greater reason, we confess our responsibility for today's evils. In face of atheism, religious indifference, secularism, ethical relativism, violations of the right to life, indifference toward the poverty of many countries, we cannot but ask ourselves what our responsibilities are."
After asking God's forgiveness, each one of those responsible for Vatican organizations venerated a very special crucifix, which today was in the Vatican Basilica, but which normally is displayed in the Roman Church of St. Marcellus. This is an image of Christ that has been venerated during Holy Years since the 14th century. At the end of the final prayer, the Holy Father himself embraced and kissed the crucifix as an expression of love and petition for pardon.
The Pope made it clear that "this is not a judgment on the subjective responsibility of the brothers who have preceded us: this is something that corresponds only to God who, as opposed to us human beings, is able to 'scrutinize the heart and the mind.' The act carried out today is a sincere acknowledgment of the faults committed by the children of the Church in the remote and recent past, and a humble supplication for God's forgiveness. This will no doubt awaken consciences, enabling Christians to enter the third millennium more open to God and his plan of love."
However, not only did the Pope ask for forgiveness, on behalf of the Church, he also forgave. "As we ask for forgiveness, we forgive," he explained. "This is what we say every day when we pray the prayer taught to us by Christ: 'Our Father... forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.' May this Jubilee day bring all believers the fruit of reciprocal pardon given and received."
After having forgiven and been forgiven, Christians, according to John Paul II, will be able to enter the new millennium "as more credible witnesses of hope."
"Following centuries characterized by violence and destruction, and after this last especially dramatic one, the Church presents to humanity, which crosses the threshold of the third millennium, the Gospel of forgiveness and reconciliation, as the premise to construct authentic peace," he concluded. ZE00031207
The much rampant rumors of Blessed Sister Faustina Marie Kowalska became fact over the weekend when the Holy Father signed the final document approving the canonization of his fellow Pole whom he played a major role in bringing her beatification and canonization process to fruition and in spreading the devotion to Divine Mercy received by the Polish nun in the 1930's while young Karol Wojtyla was studying for the priesthood. Her canonization can only further champion world-wide her Diary - "Divine Mercy in My Soul" and no longer belong to one group or another, but to the whole world as a universal saint. continued inside.
VATICAN CITY, MAR 10 (ZENIT.org).- Among the saints to be canonized
during this Jubilee one of the best known is Faustina Kowalska.
Elena, as she was baptized, was born in 1905 in the Polish town of
Glogowiec. From a very young age, she felt called to the religious life,
but her parents would not allow her to enter a convent. Because of this,
she herself tried to suppress her calling. However, visions of the
sufferings of Christ radically changed her life. As a result, she left
for Warsaw on August 1, 1925, to enter the Congregation of the Virgin
Mary of Mercy. She took the name Sister Mary Faustina, and spent 13
years in several houses of the Congregation, in particular in Krakow,
Vilnius and Plock, where she worked as cook, gardener and porter.
On the outside, no one could have suspected the extraordinary mystical
life Sister Faustina experienced. She did her chores with enthusiasm,
was careful in observing all the religious rules and silence, but at the
same time she expressed an overwhelming, selfless love. In an apparently
ordinary, monotonous and gray life, she concealed extraordinary union
with God. She received exceptional graces: revelations, visions, hidden
stigmata, the gift of ubiquity, the ability to read people's souls, and
the gift of prophecy.
Mysteriously, this simple woman became the apostle of God's Divine Mercy
for the 20th century, to proclaim this great truth to the world, which
gives man freedom and life. Her mission rested on her veneration of the
image of the merciful Jesus, who touches his Sacred Heart from which
spring beams of white and red light. The movement she was inspired to
begin has gathered thousands of supporters throughout the world,
especially in Poland and the United States, inspired by the motto,
"Jesus, I trust in you."
Faustina Kowalska died in Krakow from sickness and suffering at 33,
leaving an impressive mystical legacy. She will be canonized by John
Paul II on April 30.
ZE00031010
For more NEWS & VIEWS, see SECTION THREE
