As Fr. Z Says, "It Makes One Ponder"

13 October?

Yes it does make one ponder! And doesn't the devil just love to give the one-fingered salute to heaven on the anniversary of an important Marian event? He thinks he's so smart and clever and how he hates that humble maidservant of the Lord!.

 Say Jesus' name 13 times every day with reverence and love to give Satan a slap down!

"At the Name of Jesus every knee must bend in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!"

It makes me laugh to think of the devil being forced to his knees to praise and proclaim God. Yes, I know he's a spirit, but he's been known to take on a visible form to trick souls. So I have no doubt he will be forced, at Jesus' name, to kneel before our Savior King and proclaim Him while all hell groans. (Yes, Virginia, there is a hell and unfortunately it's heavily populated. The Blessed Mother doesn't lie and neither does her Son.)

Sunday Meditation: When Silence is Evil

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."                                                    Dietrich Bonhoeffer

And not to warn those immersed in evil is a failure to love.

Peter Kreeft has an interesting article on the problem evil, a subject that deserves serious reflection especially during Lent when the Church admonishes us to repent and hear the good news of the Gospel.  Here's a little from Kreeft's article:

More people have abandoned their faith because of the problem of evil than for any other reason. It is certainly the greatest test of faith, the greatest temptation to unbelief. And it's not just an intellectual objection. We feel it. We live it. That's why the Book of Job is so arresting.... 

There are four parts to the solution to the problem of evil . First, evil is not a thing, an entity, a being. All beings are either the Creator or creatures created by the Creator. But every thing God created is good, according to Genesis. We naturally tend to picture evil as a thing—a black cloud, or a dangerous storm, or a grimacing face, or dirt. But these pictures mislead us. If God is the Creator of all things and evil is a thing, then God is the Creator of evil, and he is to blame for its existence. No, evil is not a thing but a wrong choice, or the damage done by a wrong choice. Evil is no more a positive thing than blindness is. But it is just as real. It is not a thing, but it is not an illusion....

 The worst aspect of the problem of evil is eternal evil, hell. Does hell not contradict a loving and omnipotent God? No, for hell is the consequence of free will. We freely choose hell for ourselves; God does not cast anyone into hell against his will. If a creature is really free to say yes or no to the Creator's offer of love and spiritual marriage, then it must be possible for the creature to say no. And that is what hell is, essentially. Free will, in turn, was created out of God's love. Therefore hell is a result of God's love. Everything is.

It's Hot as....

When we visited Texas a few weeks ago it was over 100 degrees almost every day. I never appreciated air conditioning so much in my life! It's hot in Woodstock this week too. Yesterday it got up to 98 and the next few days offer more of the same. Hot weather invariably gets me thinking about another very hot place -- much hotter temps than even Texas can boast. If you haven't guessed, I'm talking about hell. St. Robert Bellarmine, who wrote a treatise on the subject, thought priests should preach about hell at least once a month. When was the last time you heard the warning trumpet blaring from the pulpit? You can't remember ever hearing about it? Me neither.

I received a letter from an old friend today saying she had passed around the article on hell I did in the Spring issue of the Les Femmes newsletter. She wrote about the reaction from her family and friends:

I sent copies to my nephew, a priest in the Dominican Republic, my three children so my ten grandchildren would read it. (I sent a checkoff list so they could sign off.), a graduate student at G.W. University from China, a liberal lawyer (was Jewish now Buddhist - she was most impressed!).

The five grandchildren at my oldest daughter's and all the boys' friends wanted to read it also. These were boys who had just graduated from high school and were off to college. One is in graduate school. They were so impressed. Ten young men signed off on your article!... What a powerful message - "snowflakes into hell."

I want to get Sr. Faustina's Diary now myself.

I'm not the one who impressed these folks, but the message of truth which comes from the Lord. Hell is real. We all know it instinctively no matter how much we try to delude ourselves with drugs, sex, false message of universal salvation, happy talk, etc. The human heart was made for God and he draws it like a magnet. When we defy the natural law embedded in our souls, deep down we realize there are consequences. Somebone needs to prick their consciences and offer prayers and sacrifices for their salvation. Will you be that someone today?

The Devil You Say!

Many today don't believe in the existence of the devil. It's convenient not to believe because if the devil doesn't exist there isn't any hell. So you can believe in a nice fluffy God who looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy and who has his angels making tea and cinammon rolls in preparation for your arrival.

Well, one U.S. bishop isn't afraid to talk about the devil. Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput speaking in Rome recently said, “It is very odd that in the wake of the bloodiest century in history – a century when tens of millions of human beings were shot, starved, gassed and incinerated with superhuman ingenuity – even many religious leaders are embarrassed to talk about the devil. In fact, it is more than odd. It is revealing.

“Mass murder and exquisitely organized cruelty are not just really big 'mental health' problems They are sins that cry out to heaven for justice, and they carry the fingerprints of an Intelligence who is personal, gifted, calculating and powerful.... If we do not believe in the devil, sooner or later we will not believe in God.”

The Archbishop focused on the responsibility of believers to evangelize the world. Why, to make sure as many people as possible are spared "the loss of heaven and the pains of hell."

Read more here....

Years ago when I was on a weekend retreat, I spent a late night in the stairwell with another retreatant who didn't believe in the existence of hell. She did after our long conversation. But it isn't surprising that people have stopped believing. I attended a funeral of a priest who committed suicide a number of years ago. The homilist, a senior priest in the diocese cast doubt on the possibility that anyone goes to hell. I was shocked because he never asked for prayers for the poor dead priest! I wanted to scream, "Did you care about your friend? Ask people to pray and fast that he experienced final repentance."

Do a Bible search with a concordance. Jesus talked about hell (Gehenna) more than almost anything else warning people NOT TO GO THERE.

At Fatima the Blessed Mother showed the three shepherd children a terrifying vision of hell. Was she a child abuser? NO! She is good mother who warns us about danger. Those three little ones engaged in heroic sacrifices to, as Jacinta said, "save poor sinners from hell."

St. Robert Bellarmine said that priests should preach often on the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, and hell. We would all do well to reflect on them often. Ultimately, our elternal salvation is the only thing that matters. What a tragedy to lose heaven for the world.