Evolution vs. Evocation by Fr. Tom Collins

This unpublished letter to the editor of the Richmond diocesan paper (See below.) set me thinking. Evolution has never made sense to me. Does it make any sense to you to believe that a personal God sends His Son to be born of a woman whose genealogy includes non-human ape-like creatures? Really? Does that make any sense? Jesus, the Son of God, Himself was born from a family tree that included animals who literally lived in the trees. 

Ridiculous! 

The theory of evolution makes perfect sense, however, when one considers its founder, an agnostic. If you don't believe in God, you'll fall for anything. I don't have time to go into it here, but Darwin was dishonest. Much of his hypothesis on natural selection was based on work by Patrick Matthews. (Source) He even plagiarized terms coined by Matthews. 

Sunday Meditation: Gratitude, Hospitality, and Regenerative Repentance

St. Augustine says that gratitude to God is the beginning of faith. Are we grateful in these  last days of Advent? What a blessing to fill the manger with straws of gratitude softening and overflowing and making ready the rough bed for the infant Savior.

 Beginning in the days before Thanksgiving, my husband and I started filling Santa's sleigh with gratitude messages to deliver to the Holy Family in the stable at Bethlehem. Before a rosary lunch I held in November and before Thanksgiving dinner, we invited our guests, from the littlest on up, to write notes of gratitude to God in thanksgiving for all his gifts. That little sleigh full of thanks will grace our kitchen table throughout the Christmas season. I love to sit there and pull out reminders of the many gifts God gives us. And to add still more love notes. Praise be to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Fr. Tom Collins to the Episcopal Vicar of His Region in the Diocese of Richmond on Bishop Strickland

With the removal of Bishop Strickland as Ordinary of the Diocese of Tyler TX, several people have raised concerns about the alleged reason for his removal was that he was taking the Deposit of Faith too seriously. Even worse, allegedly, Cardinal Pierre told him that there is no Deposit of Faith.

Fr. Tom's Reflection on the Coming Feast of Pentecost and the Need for Penance

Anthony Van Dyck 1599 – 1641 The Descent of the Holy Spirit

As we prepare for the celebration of the Solemnity of Pentecost this year, I am disturbed by the fact that this celebration, if lacking a serious commitment to integration into Christ, will be merely emotional, and not transformative.

Guest Post on Ash Wednesday: PROACTIVE REPENTANCE by Fr. Tom Collins

Return of the Prodigal Son 
by Pompeo Batoni 1708-1787

Editor's comment: I'm always pleased when Fr. Collins sends me one of his wise and insightful articles. This one seems especially appropriate as we begin Lent. Growth in the spiritual life begins with acknowledging our sinfulness and repenting. A relationship, damaged by sin, requires repair and that can only happen if we acknowledge our responsibility and seek forgiveness. The Father of the prodigal son stood in the doorway looking down the road, and he waited. It took the son's recognition of his own sinfulness and his return in repentance before forgiveness and restoration could happen. So let us begin Lent on our knees, confessing our sins, doing penance, and making a firm purpose of amendment. With the help of God's grace, all things are possible, including changing our stubborn and rebellious hearts. My Jesus, help me to make a good Lent drawing closer to your Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen.

Fr. Tom Collins Reflects on the COVID-19 CRISIS

The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. is closed to the public until further notice says their website.  You cannot  even  visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament!

Fr. Tom sent this comment accompanying the article below: "I could not help but notice how the denial of access to the sacraments due to the current COVID-19 crisis could be seen as a divine “No mas”, due to decades of capitulation to moral and liturgical abuses. Pray that all of us may be graciously blessed with sincere conversion based upon a renewed commitment to be faithful and accountable to the whole truth of God." All I can say is Amen to that! Pray for restoration of the Holy Mass!

REFLECTIONS ON THE COVID-19 CRISIS

The spread of COVID-19 over the past four months has led to major and serious disruptions in the lives of numerous people around the world. Hidden from all the headlines, though, are the spiritual dimensions of this crisis, or, as Jesus called them, the signs of the time (Matt 16:3).

Guest Post by Fr. Tom Collins -- Mary as Co-Redemptrix Part II: The Mystery of Redemption

Editors Note: See the Premises and Foundations for this article here and Part I here. 

From this covenant perspective, a beautiful dimension of the mystery of the Redemption becomes more evident. Scripture is quite clear in stating the fact that Jesus died for us because God loved us (John 3:16, Rom. 5:10, I Jn 4:19). Jesus' death on the cross did not cause God to love us, since God is beyond the control of the cause-effect dynamic. Thus the Redemption is not an act of appeasing the anger of a wrathful God, but rather the epiphany of the merciful God in the midst of the mercy-less condition that festers in the heart of sinful humanity. This condition of the human heart is the consequence of our free choice to reject a covenantal life with God and with one another. In the mystery of the Redemption, each human person is given the opportunity to break away from the power of sin and, by God's mercy, be restored to the status of membership in His covenant family. In the process, the redeemed are given the strength to break away from the corrupting "covenant" of sin; i.e., the tendency to commit one's self to the perverted fellowship of complicity with the spirits of evil, such as lust, envy, pride, avarice, anger, gluttony and sloth for the sake of some transient pleasure or advantage. 

How Much Evil Comes about Through Sacrilegious Communions?

Catherine of Siena, Saint of
the Eucharist, pray for us.

That's a good question and I don't know the answer, but how can this grave sin not bring destruction on the one who commits it and on those around him and the community? Think of the destruction that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. Will sacrilege against Jesus Christ Himself not bring about moral destruction?

In 2011, Fr. Tom Collins sent two letters to Archbishop Timothy Dolan while he was head of the USCCB (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) raising some important issues about the Holy Eucharist. They remain relevant, and, in fact, are even more important considering that sacrilegious Communions are actively encouraged since the publication of Amoris Laetitia.  And so, I offer excerpts from Father's letters while encouraging Catholics to meditate on Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist.  

Do we approach Communion in fear and trembling? We certainly should!

Here are Father's thoughts from his letter of August, 2011:   

Fr. Tom Laments the Pope's Penchant for Apology

I apologize for all that rigid doctrine you learned in seminary.

It is sad that Pope Francis seems to be apologizing to all sorts of heretics and perverts for the Church’s past “sins" of warning them of the dangers of sin and calling them to repentance. But sadly, it seems that no similar apology is to be given to the Eucharistic Christ for the many unrepented sins of sacrilege, blasphemy and indifference, which are compounded so often by those who insist that they have a “right” to receive Him in Holy Communion in a state of objectively grave sin.

I wonder whether the apologies will be expanded to those who “sincerely” and prophetically” wanted to help initiate children into the joys of sexual intimacy.

The Danger of Unlimited Tolerance to the National Immune System

Another interesting and timely brief commentary from Fr. Tom Collins: