Sunday Meditation: Discernment, Disagreement, Conscience, and the Fullness of the Truth

I follow a gentleman on Substack, D. B. Doherty, whose views on the SSPX situation conflict strongly with my own. I think it's an intelligent practice to study both sides of an issue to help discern where the fullness of the truth lies. That's what I've been doing ever since COVID sent us to the SSPX in recognition and appreciation of their zeal for souls. Up to now, I've found the arguments for the SSPX more convincing than those against them. So I continue, in good conscience, to attend the chapel. But I also continue to examine the arguments presented by those who disagree who I see as people of good will. I ignore the others. Let them rage.

Doherty, describes himself as an "armchair theologian." He warns that all of us who continue to connect ourselves to the Society are in serious spiritual danger. Recently, he posted this article:

How to Defend the SSPX and Accidentally Risk Your Soul

Thought for the day: Sheepdog your feelings.

We live in an era where many people crown their feelings as king of their lives. Feelings are everything, the tyrant that rules all. If a man feels like a woman or a woman like a man, they send for the surgeons and the shrinks to affirm and confirm their unreality because it feels so right. For them right and wrong are determined by feelings. As the song says, "It can't be wrong when it feels so right." Feelings justify fornication and adultery, cutting off friends and family, seeking revenge and punishing those who hurt your feelings. 

Ordinary Conscience Cannot Exempt from the Church's Moral Law

The classic definition of conscience in the Catholic Church is that of Thomas Aquinas for whom conscience is the mind of man passing moral judgments. It is the voice of reason separated from feeling, emotion and desire. Conscience is imbedded in the intellect which apprehends and interprets the moral law. It is not an immediate internal illumination of each person for himself without reference to an objective norm found outside of man and independent of his subjective persuasion. It requires development and careful training for knowing the laws of God. We have an obligation to educate it.

I Must Follow My Conscience, "the aboriginal Vicar of Christ."

I've been watching an interview by Eric Sammons, editor of Crisis Magazine, with Fr. Jason Charron, pastor of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Carnegie, PA and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Wheeling, WV. The video is very interesting and I post it here if you are interested and have the time to watch it.

Here's a bit about following one's conscience that I found particularly relevant in light of the current crisis in the Church and questions about the authority of the pope. Fr. Charron emphasized that infallibility does not give the pope unlimited authority and that he connect compel one to "go against" a well-formed conscience:

Is Christ the King of the Nations on Earth or Just King in Heaven?

I was speaking with a priest after Mass last Sunday morning on the Feast of Christ the King. (In the traditional calendar we celebrate the feast on the last Sunday in October as established by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Pope Paul VI moved it to the last Sunday of the liturgical year.) Father mentioned a number of formerly Catholic countries that removed acknowledgment of the Lordship of Christ and his social Kingship from their constitutions. The only two I remember him mentioning were Ireland and Columbia, although there were several others. 

Thoughts for Thursday on Conscience: You Follow Yours; I'll Follow Mine!

It's interesting to see how the tune has changed among the Wuhan virus hand-wringers. Remember when they justified every single draconian response, "If it could save ONE life?" Now that the gene therapy jab is killing and injuring people at a rate never seen in previous "vaccinations," they tell us it's worth it because the number of injured and dying is acceptable (to them).

Opening a Can of Worms and Reflecting on Bishops Cancelling all Public Masses

Well....

Oh my....

Yikes!

I opened a can of worms with a brief statement on my Facebook wall Sunday night:

Went to a drive in Mass in Front Royal this evening and received my Lord and Savior on my knees. Thank you, Jesus. Thy will be done.

The incredible uproar began!

One gentleman accused me of being in mortal sin for disobeying the bishop. (More on that below.) A fellow blogger said I was committing serious scandal and demanded I take down the thread because the Mass was offered by a priest of the SSPX. Another ranted that I was willing to endanger and even KILL people.

Talking about Conscience

People throw around the word "conscience" these days using it to justify all kinds of immorality. Nancy Pelosi claims a conscience right to call abortion "sacred ground."  Many a cafeteria Catholic justifies contraceptive use saying she's "following her conscience." How many Catholics have abandoned their marriage vows following their consciences? In all these cases the definition of conscience seems to be, "whatever sin I want to enjoy I can choose as long as I claim to be doing it with a good conscience" -- which is actually a bad conscience. Give me an honest sinner any day, one like St. Augustine who asked the Lord to make him chaste...but not yet. Yes, it's hard to set aside our sinful desires to follow God's will. Why else would Jesus call it the narrow way that's hard to follow? St. John Bosco saw the path to heaven  in a dream. It was filled with rocks and thorns. How easy can we expect the journey to be when we see the uphill road to Golgotha and the God-Man nailed to the cross there?

Pew Survey is Bad News for Catholics

A recent Pew Survey shows Catholics favoring Obama by 15% in the upcoming election. Jeff Mirus at Catholic Culture points out the most shocking result of the poll:

The most damning result of the poll is that Catholics who attend Mass at least weekly favor Mitt Romney by only nine percent (51 to 42). This compares with nearly a 30 point gap the other way for those who attend Mass very rarely or not at all. Why isn’t there a comparable gap against Obama by regularly practicing Catholics? This represents a colossal Catholic failure.

Absolutely! A colossal failure in teaching Catholics the faith. The only reason people sitting in the pew week after week listening to scripture readings and hearing homilies can hold this position is that they have not been taught the faith. Pabulum from the pulpit cannot form correct consciences. Most Catholics believe their feelings and opinions are "conscience" and they can legitimately follow them without sin. Far from the truth!

Conscience is an act of the intellect. It is conscience that should inform and direct feelings and opinions instead of the other way around. Conscience is the "voice of truth" that must be properly formed so it conforms to the natural law and the doctrines of the Church. A sound conscience will feel guilty when guilt is appropriate for evil acts and feel morally upright when decisions are morally sound. A person who feels no guilt over committing an atrocity is a sociopath whose conscience is dead.

There is an excellent booklet put out by Leaflet Missal Company that should be read by every Catholic before the election. It's called A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters by Fr. Stephen Torraco. I recommend it and urge you to order and read it and share it with your Catholic and Christian friends. Friends don't let friends make decisions that send them headlong down the road to hell without trying to put the brakes on. Pray the rosary for Obama Catholics (an oxymoron) and give them the booklet. That's a recipe for soul-saving.

Clanging the Bell: Catholics Can't Vote for Obama!

When the boat is sinking it's good to have a few loud voices warning the passengers. I told you about Bishop Hermann yesterday. Today the man clanging the bell and shouting the warning is Archbishop Chaput. He recently addressed a meeting of ENDOW (Engaging on the Nature and Dignity of Women). Speaking as a private citizen, the archbishop explained his reasons for writing Render Unto Caesar and directly addressed the arguments of Professor Douglas Kmiec's claim that Catholics can support Barak Obama despite his radical support for abortion. Following is an excerpt from Archbishop Chaput's address.

"Prof. Kmiec has a strong record of service to the Church and the nation in his past. He served in the Reagan administration, and he supported Mitt Romney's campaign for president before switching in a very public way to Barack Obama earlier this year. In his own book he quotes from Render Unto Caesar at some length. In fact, he suggests that his reasoning and mine are 'not far distant on the moral inquiry necessary in the election of 2008.' Unfortunately, he either misunderstands or misuses my words, and he couldn't be more mistaken.

"I believe that Senator Obama, whatever his other talents, is the most committed 'abortion-rights' presidential candidate of either major party since the Roe v. Wade abortion decision in 1973. Despite what Prof. Kmiec suggests, the party platform Senator Obama runs on this year is not only aggressively ''pro-choice;'' it has also removed any suggestion that killing an unborn child might be a regrettable thing. On the question of homicide against the unborn child - and let's remember that the great Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer explicitly called abortion 'murder' - the Democratic platform that emerged from Denver in August 2008 is clearly anti-life.

"Prof. Kmiec argues that there are defensible motives to support Senator Obama. Speaking for myself, I do not know any proportionate reason that could outweigh more than 40 million unborn children killed by abortion and the many millions of women deeply wounded by the loss and regret abortion creates.

"To suggest - as some Catholics do - that Senator Obama is this year's 'real' prolife candidate requires a peculiar kind of self-hypnosis, or moral confusion, or worse. To portray the 2008 Democratic Party presidential ticket as the preferred 'prolife' option is to subvert what the word 'prolife' means. Anyone interested in Senator Obama's record on abortion and related issues should simply read Prof. Robert P. George's Public Discourse essay from earlier this week, Obama's Abortion Extremism, and his follow-up article, Obama and Infanticide.'They say everything that needs to be said....

"Democratic-friendly groups like Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, have done a disservice to the Church, confused the natural priorities of Catholic social teaching, undermined the progress prolifers have made, and provided an excuse for some Catholics to abandon the abortion issue instead of fighting within their parties and at the ballot box to protect the unborn.

"And here's the irony. None of the Catholic arguments advanced in favor of Senator Obama are new. They've been around, in one form or another, for more than 25 years. All of them seek to 'get beyond' abortion, or economically reduce the number of abortions, or create a better society where abortion won't be necessary. All of them involve a misuse of the seamless garment imagery in Catholic social teaching. And all of them, in practice, seek to contextualize, demote and then counterbalance the evil of abortion with other important but less foundational social issues.....

"The one genuinely new quality to Catholic arguments for Senator Obama is their packaging. Just as the abortion lobby fostered 'Catholics for a Free Choice' to challenge Catholic teaching on abortion more than two decades ago, so supporters of Senator Obama have done something similar in seeking to neutralize the witness of bishops and the pro-life movement by offering a 'Catholic' alternative to the Church's priority on sanctity of life issues. I think it's an intelligent strategy. I also think it's wrong and often dishonest....

"As I suggest throughout Render Unto Caesar, it's important for Catholics to be people of faith who pursue politics to achieve justice; not people of politics who use and misuse faith to achieve power. I have no doubt that Prof. Kmiec belongs to the former group. But I believe his arguments finally serve the latter....

"I think that people who claim that the abortion struggle is 'lost' as a matter of law, or that supporting an outspoken defender of legal abortion is somehow 'prolife,' are not just wrong; they're betraying the witness of every person who continues the work of defending the unborn child. And I hope they know how to explain that, because someday they'll be required to."

Early in his address, Archbishop Chaput reminded his audience of the need to have an informed conscience. It is a good place to close this post - with a reminder for readers to gently challenge someone in their own circle of family and acquaintances who is thinking of voting for Obama.

"As adults, each of us needs to form a strong Catholic conscience. Then we need to follow that conscience when we vote. And then we need to take responsibility for the consequences of the vote we cast. Nobody can do that for us. That's why really knowing and living our Catholic faith is so important. It's the only reliable guide we have for acting in the public square as disciples of Jesus Christ."

A Real Shepherd Speaks!

Bishop Robert Hermann, Administrator of the St. Louis Archdiocese is setting the bar high for his brother bishops with his excellent teachings in The St. Louis Review, the diocesan weekly paper. In recent weeks he has written articles articulating the necessity of a correctly-formed conscience, another calling on "good Catholics" to vote to "save the children," and a reminder that "Judgment Day is on the way." After reading a number of his articles, I have decided that I love this bishop! If you're a faithful Catholic I think you will too after reading the excerpts below.

On Conscience:

"'My conscience is my guide.' For many people, following this principle is a disaster. Some terrorists follow their conscience. Some suicide bombers follow their conscience. We can use this principle to justify whatever course of action suits us.... conscience must be informed by objective truth, not subjective desire.

"For anyone really willing to grow in the spiritual life, I would encourage such a person to select either the Scripture passage or a Church teaching that bothers them deeply. Then I encourage such a person to study all that the Catholic Church teaches about such an issue, especially in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I also encourage such a person to prayerfully reflect as to why such a teaching bothers them so deeply. It usually points to rebellion or self will. Yet, such an approach has often resulted in a profound conversion. If a Scripture passage or a Church teaching rubs me the wrong way, then it is clear that I am called to transformation. There is no freedom in trying to justify myself if I disagree with the Church’s teaching. Such efforts are relentless and exhausting. Humbling myself to find out how embracing truth consecrates me in a deeper way leads me to repentance, freedom and joy. This is life uplifting!"

On the Election:

"Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that take the life of innocent children, when there is an alternative? If there were two candidates who supported abortion, but not equally, we would have the obligation to mitigate the evil by voting for the less-permissive candidate.

"Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that justify the killing of a child that survived a botched abortion? How can such a so-called good Catholic receive the Holy Eucharist?

"Save our children! Have some of our so-called good Catholics become so hardened against the Gospel of Life that they believe that other issues outweigh the Gospel of Life? Have some of our so-called good Catholics put politics ahead of the Fifth Commandment, in which God states: 'Thou shalt not kill'? Do some of our so-called good Catholics, who may go to Mass every Sunday and receive the Holy Eucharist, really believe that voting for a pro-abortion candidate, when there is a clear alternative and therefore no justifiable reason for so doing, is really not voting to have children killed? This election is all about saving our children!

"Save our children! You can see by now that I do not believe that this column by itself will change hearts. The issue of abortion involves serious sin, and to overcome serious patterns of sin requires grace. If you are still with me, may I suggest that you join me and many others in praying the daily Rosary from now until election day for the sake of life. Why not pray the family Rosary every night between now and the general election. The Rosary brought down the Iron Curtain. It can also help us turn around the culture of death to a culture of life.

"Save our so-called good Catholics who ignore Catholic moral principles when applied to our political life. Pray the family Rosary daily. Pray the family Rosary for our so-called good Catholics who could use your love and your charity. Pray for our so-called good Catholics who ignore serious Catholic moral teachings and still receive Holy Communion. Love them by praying the family Rosary for them. Don’t debate with them. Intercede for them. Praying for them is more fun than fighting with them.

"Prayer is our protection. Let it also be a protection for our country. If you want to make Satan angry, pray the Rosary for the sake of Life. Pray that as a nation we will choose leaders that will say ‘no’ to the culture of death and say ‘yes’ to the culture of life. Save our children! Pray the Rosary!"

On Judgment Day:

"Judgment Day is on its way. We cannot stop it. We don’t know when it will come, but just as surely as the sun rises daily, the Son of Man will come when we least expect.

"Judgment Day is on its way. For many, this coming election may very well be judgment day, for this election will measure us. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us in 10:32-33: 'Everyone who acknowledges Me before others, I will acknowledge before My heavenly Father. But whoever denies Me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.'

"Judgment Day is on its way. When my time comes, I will be measured by my Savior for the decisions I have made. I will either be acknowledged by Jesus or denied by Him in the presence of our heavenly Father. The question I need to ask myself is this: What kind of witness will I give to Him when I go into the voting booth this election day? The decision I make in the voting booth will reflect my value system.

"If I value the good of the economy and my current lifestyle more than I do the right to life itself, then I am in trouble. Pope John Paul II, in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation Christifideles laici tells us: 'Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights — for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture — is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.'

"The right of our children to be protected from destruction is greater than my right to a thriving economy.

"Judgment Day is on its way! I may deny it. I may pretend that it is still far away, I may deny that my actions are sinful, but that will not change God’s judgment of me.

"Perhaps having to face these issues during this coming election can turn out to be a grace that truly awakens our need to learn more about the teachings of the Catholic Church, and then to use the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we can receive His mercy and bring our behavior into conformity with the mind and heart of Christ. It is not too late to admit our sinfulness and turn to the Lord in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we do this, both we and the heavens will be filled with joy!

"Judgment Day is on its way. Pray your way into conformity with the teachings of Christ and His Church."

And finally, let me leave you with one more quote from this dear bishop:

"My parents got married about one year before the stock market crash of 1929, and yet they raised 15 children in the midst of the Great Depression. They had no money. My mother made her own wedding gown and her own bouquet of flowers. I have my parents’ wedding picture on the wall of my office, and I am reminded every day of the sacrifices they made for life.

"We had no money, but we had each other! My parents were at home with us for three meals every day. We had plenty to eat because we raised almost all of our food. We seldom got new clothes, but we wore hand-me-downs, unless my mother would buy materials and make our clothes. We lived in poverty, but we learned the value of hard work. We had no running water or electricity. We had no TV, Internet or cell phone. Yet, we were very happy because we had life! We had each other! Today, all 15 children in my family of origin are most grateful for the sacrifices Mom and Dad made so that we could have life. Making sacrifices for each other brought us incredible joy and enhanced our dignity, because it gave us a chance to participate in serving each other!"

God bless you, dear Bishop Hermann, and thank you for giving us the example of your heroic Catholic parents!

Are you a real Catholic?

If a mouse is in the cookie jar, is he a cookie? Would you want to take a bite out of that fat, cookie-filled mouse? Yuck! Absolutely not; you know the difference between a white-chocolate-chip madacamia nut cookie and a disease-carrying rodent.

But what about the mice in the Church? A person can call himself anything he likes, but, is he the real thing? Is he Catholic in his beliefs and actions? Or is he the mouse in the cookie jar? Can a Catholic be pro-choice? No. Can a Catholic vote for abortion? No. Can a Catholic use contraception? No. Can a Catholic dissent from Church doctrine and defy the magisterium by embracing heresy and dissent? No. These things are evil and Catholics cannot cooperate with evil.

How many so-called Catholics will embrace the most pro-abortion, pro-infanticide candidate in the history of our country? Many. How many real Catholics will mark their ballot for the infanticide candidate? None. A Catholic cannot vote for someone who embraces actions that are intrinsically evil. When both candidates support intrinsic evils, the real Catholic "should vote in such a way as to allow the least harm to innocent human life and dignity." [Moral Principles for Catholic Voters, Kansas Catholic Conference]

The Democratic party has, for the most part, disenfranchised real Catholics. Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Christopher Dodd, Ted Kennedy, and other pro-abortion Catholic democrats show exactly how malformed their consciences are whenever they open their mouths. A real Catholic votes for them to the peril of their souls.

A well-formed Catholic conscience recognizes that the life issues take precedence over every other issue in an election. When candidates are wrong about those issues, it doesn't matter how right they are on anything else. Their embrace of the gravest evil of our time, the murder of the innocent, disqualifies them from consideration.

The only way one can vote for an anti-life candidate, as the Kansas bishops say in their document, is to minimize to the degree possible the harm toward the innocent.

Be a real Catholic: inform your conscience, not according to the ear tickling world, but according to the Church. Jesus Himself said that not everyone who says, "Lord, Lord," will enter into the kingdom, but only "those who hear the word of God and keep it." You can be sure - there are no rodents in heaven.

USEFUL RESOURCES:
Moral Principles for Catholic Voters
Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics
A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters
American Life League Voter's Guide