The world of Today and Reality

EARLY CHURCH FATHERS: (Part 1) The Age of Persecution by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. The Catholic Church has been persecuted in every period of her history. However, the first three centuries of the Christian era are commonly known as the Age of Persecution because they show how promptly and aggressively the Church's enemies came to fulfill Christ's prediction to His followers, "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you." These centuries also give us directives, as we may call them, on how to cope with rejection by the world that rejected Christ. The Acts of the Apostles and the letters of St. Paul provide the revealed foundation for living out the Eighth Beatitude. But the writings of Ignatius, Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, and Lactantius show us how the early Christians lived up to - and died for - the great truths that the Savior bequeathed to His faithful. Even a man like Tertullian, though he died estranged from the true faith, highlights the...

LIST OF SINS, VICES OR SPIRITS Father Chad A. Ripperger The following is one of the lists used by exorcists to determine the sin, vice or spirit involved. This list can also be used in the binding prayers given. These are: LYING SPIRITS : Pretension, Unreality, Denial, Delusion/Labyrinth, Convoluted Thinking, Cheating, Neglect of Responsibilities, Irreverence, Circumvention, Folly, Concealment, Blindness of Spirit, Evasiveness, Deceit, Mask, Game Playing, Deception, Illusion, Diversion, Error, Drama, Marionette-Puppet, False, Farce, Hallucination; Smoke & Mirrors, Harlequin Mask, Imitation, Pantomime, Counterfeit, Role Reversal, Fraud, Detraction, Incredulity, Coy, Cunning, Undermining, Aping, Dichotomy, Juggling, Duplicity, Facade, Dual, Showmanship, Theatrics, Show, Acting, Trickery, Magic, Mockery, Appearances, Fantasy, Heresy, Legion, Subversive, Irony, Mimicry. UNCLEAN SPIRITS : Unclean & Offensive Conditions, Compulsiveness to Clean, Involuntary Vices (Obsessive Compulsiv...

DEFENDING PRAYING TO THE SAINTS Kevin Gemma Usually when it comes to the doctrine of the prayers to the saints Protestants would demand the Catholic by saying something like, “Show me in the Bible where it says to pray to Mary or the saints!”. First there are a couple assumptions that needs to be challenged here. And second, Catholics are not obligated to prove it from the Bible because the Bible itself teaches not all of God’s word is handed down in scripture. It was also handed down through sacred oral tradition (2 Thessalonians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 11:2; 2 John 1:12; 2 Timothy 2:1-2; John 21:25). Although we aren’t obligated to prove every teaching from scripture I still believe the doctrine of the intercession of saints can still be argued for from scripture using biblical inferences. 🔶TACKLING PROTESTANT ASSUMPTIONS But before we get to the argument we must first tackle some Protestant assumptions against prayers to the saints 1 - Everything must be explicitly taught in scripture ...

A LIST OF MORTAL SINS The Distinction between two types of sin All sin is an offense against God and a rejection of his perfect love and justice. Yet, Jesus makes a distinction between two types of sins. We call the most serious and grave sins, mortal sins. Mortal sins destroy the grace of God in the heart of the sinner. By their very grave nature, a mortal sin cuts our relationship off from God and turns man away from his creator. St. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews tell us that “if we sin willfully after having the knowledge of the truth, there is now left no sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26). The second type of sin, venial sin, that of less grave matter, does not cut us off from Christ. However, venial sin does weaken grace in the soul and damages our relationship with God. A person who frequently indulges in venial sin is very likely to collapse into mortal sin if they persist in their evil ways. So what kind of Sins are Mortal? In order for a sin to be mortal, it must meet three co...

By Stella Marie Lacson . .  The Catholic Church is attacked continuously by more than 40,000 man-made contradicting sects which in themselves are attacking each others. The founders and pastors of these sects are all claiming to be guided by the Holy Spirit when they read and interpret the Bible, based on their personal understanding. But how many Holy Spirits are guiding them? The is only one Holy Spirit, and many evil spirits. Therefore, it is not the Holy Spirit that guides them but the evil spirits.  If Protestantism is true, then there should be one and united Protestant church, since Christ founded only one Church in Matthew 16:18, and not 40,000+ conflicting denominations. This is what Apostle Paul told us: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you ALL SPEAK THE SAME THING, and that there be NO SCHISMS AMONG YOU; but that you be perfect in THE SAME MIND, AND IN THE SAME JUDGMENT." (1 Cor 1:10)" .  We must be united in our Faith a...

𝗩𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝘃. 𝗙𝗿. 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘇, 𝗙𝗦𝗦𝗣𝗫 Each person has a unique vocation. I need to know what God wants for me because He has already chosen my vocation.  Unique Calling Catechism teaches us that “man is created to praise, honor and serve God, and through that means to save his soul.” That is our general vocation. It’s identical for everyone. But since we are unique in God’s eyes, He has a special vocation or calling to each one of us. None of us is simply made for career, to make money, to fulfil this or that job. It is not up to us to choose our state of life. Yes, we have free will, but we must use it not to do what we feel like but to find out and embrace what God has made us for. We didn’t create ourselves; we didn’t give ourselves a purpose, God did. Our job is to do His will; find it, recognize it and do it. Following Christ "Whoever wants to be my disciple (i.e., to go to heaven) one must (1) deny himself and (2) take u...

SUN, MOON AND STARS : THE ROLE OF MARY IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION  Fr Michael Hall  Throughout the Christian centuries, the Apocalypse – the “Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John” – has been a happy hunting ground for heretics and others who wish to gain biblical backing for their predictions for the future.It is perhaps for this reason that the Catholic Church “protects” its Mass goers by severely limiting the number of times it uses the Apocalypse in its lectionary.  Safe, exhortative sections of the “Letters to the Seven Churches”, the vision of the Lamb Who Was Slain, and the All Saints day reading of the holy host gathered before the throne of God. Even during the season of Advent, when one might have thought the readings about the “last things”, the second coming of Christ and the new heaven and new earth would be particularly relevant, there is an absence of the Apocalypse.But there is one other passage that has regular – (or at least annual) – exposure.  The vision of ...

DO MANY GO TO HELL?       John Young The currently prevalent view among Catholics seems to be that if hell is not quite empty, it is very sparsely populated. In examining the question we need to be careful to base our conclusions on objective grounds, not on subjective motives. Yet this is difficult, for the thought of eternal suffering is so appalling that we tend to feel it is too dreadful to be really happening to anyone. A person can discount the danger of damnation because he doesn't want to feel worried or uncomfortable at the thought of going to hell. He knows that an uneasiness would enter his spiritual life if he really faced up to the peril of losing his soul and suffering for ever and ever. This applies particularly to someone who falls into serious sin. Even after being forgiven in confession, he may fear a further lapse. The desire to feel undisturbed may be a powerful psychological factor in his belief that scarcely anyone goes to hell. Another motive for discounting ...