Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord.

I'm a beekeeper so when I saw this quote I had to share it.

"As it is impossible to verbally describe the sweetness of honey to one who has never tasted honey, so the goodness of God cannot be clearly communicated by way of teaching if we ourselves are not able to penetrate into the goodness of the Lord by our own experience."

+ St. Basil the Great

Where is the New Evangelization Leading Us? To Comfortable, Complacent Christianity?

What is the "New Evangelization?" In light of Pope Francis scolding people for "proselytizing" and synodal clerics bragging about never baptizing an indigenous person, not to mention the messages that all faiths are paths to salvation....what exactly is the "New Evangelization?" Is there such a thing? Do we find it in Abu Dhabi with its monuments to Judaism, Islam, and, by the way, Christianity?

Competition or Completion? Can Christians Save Western Civilization?

This brief essay by Fr. Tom Collins offers much food for thought. Did God make us to compete with one another or to complete one another? Christian marriage certainly points to the answer. Love seeks the good of the other and, in seeking that good, magnifies its own good. Hence Mary, so totally dedicated to magnifying her Lord, teaches us the proper orientation to life and the secret to true happiness. May we follow in her footsteps which is the quickest way to know, love, and serve God and go straight to the feet of Jesus. The fate of Western Civilization depends on conforming our hearts, minds, and souls to the will of God. Will we embrace the solution?

Observations on the Decline of Western Civilization 

by Fr. Tom Collins

It is often noted that the decline of Western Civilization has been accelerated by the catalytic influences offered by the premises expounded by Freud, Marx and Darwin. In recent years, this decline has become increasingly evident in distortions of basic reasoning skills. Below are some examples.

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This unpublished letter to the editor of the Richmond diocesan paper (See below.)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. 

Pope Francis and the New World Order Kenosis

Editor's Note: Fr. Collins wrote this at the beginning of the Synod on Synodality, but it is every bit as relevant today. The confusion among Catholics is rampant. I'm currently reading Archbishop Lefebvre's Open Letter to Confused Catholics which could have been written last night. I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the current state of the Church, the gutting of all of her sacraments, the abuse of the Bride of Christ, and the absolute need to return to the faith of our Fathers. Confusion is always a sign of the devil. May we all seek the clarity of the authentic catechisms issued since the Didache, written in the late first or early second century. It's short and available online, a good place to start your catechism journey. Give us clarity, O Lord, in this age of chaos!

Pope Francis and the New World Order by Fr. Tom Collins

If You Believe in Macro-evolution, You Need to Watch This! Make it a mini-course. Learn and Share!

Watch Hugh Owen: Creation, Evolution, and the Crisis of Faith online at https://t.co/be1oElFNUd

— bluejay (@angrybluebird47) October 24, 2023

Hugh Owen is a personal friend and one of the most intelligent and articulate speakers I've ever known. Catholics have an obligation to study the faith and the reality of life in order to bring others to Jesus Christ. Consider this a mini-course. Listen, take notes, read some of the documents mentioned, pray about how you can share this with others. 

Please pray for the Kolbe Center and support them financially if you are able.

Evolution: No Evidence Nonsense! Let Them Illustrate "Monkeydom's Progress!"

Is this Jesus and Mary's ancestor? 

Everyone with eyes believes in "micro-evolution," a misnomer that is more accurately called "adaptation" or "natural selection." As a beekeeper, I can personally testify to the adaptation of God's little honey makers. 

When giant European and Asian hornets began invading hives, the bees "learned" how to react to the predators who can decimate their population in minutes! The little ninjas learned to surround the hornets, turn on the heat and cook the scout hornets before they could go back and bring their hornet armies. Those hives that react by immediately surrounding and attacking these giant predators survive. Those that don't, die. That is an example of adaptation and natural selection. The bee species that effectively respond to the threat survive and pass on their warrior genes. Have you ever adapted your behavior to respond to something? I know I have!

Then there is "macro-evolution." It is the perfect illustration of the philosophy of the "big lie," a term coined by Adolph Hitler in his book Mein Kampf:

Guest Post:Evolution is a HYPOTHESIS Developed and Promoted by Atheists -- Part II

Speak for yourself, Charlie! Your grandaddy may have been a monkey (or a monkey's uncle); the rest of us came from Adam, created directly by God, and did not "evolve" from the primordial soup or a pre-existing universe.

By Thomas McFadden

On Sunday, August 21st I sent to our mailing list an email about how Catholic kids lose belief in God because the Catholic education establishment has essentially incorporated theories of origins such as cosmic and biological evolution that are incompatible with Catholic doctrine. As an example I cited Bishop Robert Barron's incoherent belief that accepts the speculations of atheists as scientific facts but "baptizes" them by saying that "God did it." These "theistic evolutionists" are vague about what exactly God did and when He did it. I quoted the question posed by Fr. Michael Chaberek in his book Aquinas and Evolution. He asked how it happened that at the beginning of the 20th century evolution theories were rejected by Popes and Vatican Congregations and at the end of the 20th century, although neither the evolution theory or Catholic doctrine had changed, evolution theory had become at the education level, a mainstream Catholic teaching. One reaction I got to last Sunday's email came from a person on this mailing list who understands the problem:

Guest Post: Evolution is a HYPOTHESIS Developed and Promoted by Atheists

Editor's Note: I offer this guest post today from my friend, Tom McFadden, which I received in my inbox. Are your children away from the faith? Do you wonder what influences damaged their belief in our wonderful God who loves them so much? What is the world telling them? How many have walked away because of scandal-mongers in the world and in the Church. I haven't read Tom's book, but I plan to. I have his earlier book, Creation, Evolution and Catholicism: A Discussion for Those Who Believe, which is well worth the time spent reading. I expect this book will prove the same. Macro-evolution is a myth with little data to back it up. It's the pernicious creed of humanists. Would God, Who sent His own Son conceived in the body of a woman and raised by human parents, make the first man and woman the children of apes? Use your common sense!

The book below is an attempt to explain why half of all the kids baptized and confirmed in the last 30 years have left the Catholic Church. As of 2016 the Catholic Bishops knew that 14 million American Catholics had left the Church just since 2000. The book is actually part of a trilogy I've published that helps to explain causes and possible solutions to the ongoing apostasy of Catholic youths.

                                                     

Guest Post: Words Have Meaning that Lead to Consequences

By Fr. Tom Collins

Do you believe that God, Who sent His only begotten Son to be born of a woman, 
created the first man in the womb of a reasonless ape?

Over the past half century, I have noted a tendency to increasingly embrace secular premises and language in order to understand and convey the sacred and transformative truths of our Faith. One example of this is the use of the word, evolution, in order to describe the dynamic of development in Creation and in the human community. The problem with this term is that it is impersonal. It views such development as based on dynamics of power and survival. And it is supported by appeals for people to seek to be “on the right side of history”(e.g., those aligning with Hitler and Tojo in late 1941). It also leads souls not only to value expediency over integrity, but also to view morality merely as a matter of becoming more adept at adapting to and adopting the prevalent social norms of the moment (e.g., the #Me-too craze).

Fall is Bee-Feeding Time to Help Hives Survive the Winter....

Honey bees fill me with wonder! These little creatures of God have a lot to teach us. I share our eight years of beekeeping experience at The View from Camp Kreitzer. Today we gave them a final fall feeding of sugar syrup. Later when it's frigid, we feed hard sugar patties if the girls need extra help.

If you've ever thought about becoming a beekeeper like the monks of the middle ages, Lucia of Fatima, and St. Gobnait, one of the patrons of bee-keepers, visit my Bee-keeper's diary at The View from Camp Kreitzer. Bee-keeping is one of the joys of life as every beekeeper knows. And they are a cure for those who believe we all "evolved" from the primordial soup. There is no way the social system of the honeybee developed one little step at a time!

And God Said..........

I checked out a book from our parish library last Sunday that is giving me a lot to think about.  The title is Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament, Genesis 1-11.   One of a whole series of books, it is a collection of writings from early Church fathers and saints.  The quotes are included in this book in order that the subjects of the quotes appear in The Bible.  It is or could be an excellent companion guide along side Holy Scripture.  Each of the quotes below corresponds to specific verses which are noted in the book. 

Guest Post: CHRIST THE EXEMPLAR VS. TEILHARD’S COSMIC CHRIST

Editor's Note: Evolution has never made any sense to me. How could a God who sent His Son to be born into time through a woman...to be raised in a Holy Family, put his first man, His image, in the body of an ape to be raised by animal parents with no reason or free will? Not to mention all the scientific arguments against macroevolution. As a beekeeper, I'm convinced the social arrangement of a bee colony could never "evolve." Besides, Darwin was a con man who stole the idea of natural selection from another scientist. Evolutionists have numerous problems defending their hypothesis including explaining how speech "evolved." But that's a subject for another time. Father's paper focuses on the theological arguments against Chardin's imaginative daydreams conjured up no doubt by Chardin's meeting with "THE THING." If you are an adherent of evolution I urge you to invoke the Holy Spirit and read this paper carefully. I was particularly struck by Father's discussion of the Philistines capturing the Ark of the Covenant and placing it in the temple to their idol, the fish-man Dagon. Those who try to unite evolution to Christ are like the foolish Philistines who sent the Ark back to Israel in a panic. Let us pray those embracing the theory of evolution wake up before they come to the same bad end as the Philistines and the calf-worshiping Israelites.

CHRIST, THE EXEMPLAR CAUSE OF CREATION, ELIMINATES THE POSSIBILITY OF EVOLUTION AND SUPPORTS TRADITIONAL TEACHING ON MARRIAGE


by Fr. Joannes Petrus

Guest Post: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design

by David Martin

Pope Francis made waves in October 2014 when he told the Pontifical Academy of Sciences that
evolution was set in motion by God through a “big bang.” He said, “Evolution in nature is not at odds with the notion of creation because evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve.”

The problem is that God did not create beings that evolve. Supporters of Francis’ statement argue that the discoveries of science in nature do not contradict creation. This is true if something factual is discovered in nature, but evidence supporting evolution or the “big bang” theory are not among these discoveries, no more than evidence supporting aliens has ever been discovered.

Evolution is Incompatible with Catholic Doctrine

All the Fathers of the Church believed in the Biblical teaching of Genesis chapter 1. There is nothing contradictory between science and creation. However, there is definitely a contradiction between evolution and Catholic truth. And trying to have it both ways with theistic evolution which ultimately denies original sin since evolution requires eons of chance changes with interim organisms dying and new ones arising. At the ripe time of evolution, God then infuses a human soul into a creature that becomes in His image and likeness. (See my previous post on why evolution makes no logical sense to a Catholic believer.) Lots of problems. Theistic evolution denies the immortality of Adam and Eve as originally created and denies original sin as the origin of death, since death preceded Adam and Eve. Evolution is a direct attack on the faith and must be vigorously repudiated by serious Catholics!

Creationism or Evolutionism: They Both Can't Be True!

The Fathers of the Church all believed in "fiat" creation as in, "God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." Creationism has been reaffirmed by popes throughout history. Even those whose writings have been distorted to "prove" there is no conflict between the HYPOTHESIS of evolution and belief that God guided the evolutionary process warned of its dangers. For example, While Pope Pius XII did not forbid discussion of evolution among scientists and theologians, he very explicitly forbade its teaching in the papal encyclical, Humani Generis (August 1950):

Prayer Intention for the Kolbe Center -- Please Join

I received this email today and urge you to join in praying for this event. I recently attended a Kolbe one-day conference and it was outstanding. All the Fathers of the Church believed in fiat creation, not evolution. Why so many in the Church have jumped on the evolutionary bandwagon is beyond me. It flies in the face of not only science (where are the "missing links" in the fossil record?) but it seems to me to fly in the face of metaphysical realities. Would God who sent his Son into the womb of a human mother really make the first humans the children of apes? 

Dear Friends of the Kolbe Center,

Christ is risen!

Tonight, April 13, at 8 p.m. EST, Dr. Thomas Seiler and I will be involved in an internet debate with two atheists in a forum that gets almost 200,000 views.

Please pray that Our Lord will give us the right words to say that will open the hearts and minds of our debate partners and our mostly atheist audience to the Truth and Charity of God.

Yours in Christ through the Immaculata,  

Hugh Owen 

Do You Believe in Evolution? Why?

Many evolutionists have put forth theories that are ridiculous and mindless.They are true believers in the worst sense because, rather than looking at things scientifically, they force science to fit their belief. Many are atheists who hate the idea that God might actually have created things by fiat. "Let there be light!" and light came into being.

Let's take a look at just one true believer and one example of what he calls "evidence" for evolution. Dr. Jerry Coyne claims that embryology proves evolution. One point he makes is that the embryo in utero has no need of the hairy coating called lanugo and that proves we are descended from primates. Here's his evidence:

Evolution vs. Intelligent Design

I was thinking about the theories of Darwinian Evolution and Intelligent Design last night and this morning I found this interesting article. Our current pope certainly believes in Evolution and the Church accepts the possibility of a God-centered interpretation of the origin of the world based on evolutionary change. It is not, however, the godless world of Darwin's evolution.

Here's what Pope Francis said last October when he addressed the Pontifical Academy of Science:

"I Don't Understand Evolution" Says Top Chemist

One of the top ten chemists in the world, Professor James M. Tour, says there are NO scientists who can explain macro-evolution:

Although most scientists leave few stones unturned in their quest to discern mechanisms before wholeheartedly accepting them, when it comes to the often gross extrapolations between observations and conclusions on macroevolution, scientists, it seems to me, permit unhealthy leeway. When hearing such extrapolations in the academy, when will we cry out, “The emperor has no clothes!”?
…I simply do not understand, chemically, how macroevolution could have happened. Hence, am I not free to join the ranks of the skeptical and to sign such a statement without reprisals from those that disagree with me? … Does anyone understand the chemical details behind macroevolution? If so, I would like to sit with that person and be taught, so I invite them to meet with me.

Check out the interesting article here and don't miss the comments. It's an interesting discussion and as far as I read it never descended into name-calling, which is somewhat unusual. Must have been because Richard Dawkins didn't participate. Now there is a name-caller par excellence if one can use the adjective "excellent" for someone as uncivil and unkind as he is.