The world of Today and Reality

Father José Antonio Fortea (1) - WHY DID GOD PUT DEMONS TO THE TEST The real question is, why did God not grant all the angels the Beatific Vision from the first moment of their creation? Why did He take the chance that some of them would rebel against Him and become demons? God could have created angelic spirits and immediately given them the grace of the Beatific Vision. This was perfectly possible for His omnipotence, and it would have been perfectly just to do so. But there were some powerful reasons for testing the angels before granting them the Beatific Vision. First, God had to give to each rational being a degree of happiness. Everyone in heaven sees God, but no one can enjoy Him to an infinite degree; this is impossible for a finite being. Each finite creature enjoys to the fullest degree possible without wanting more. A common analogy used to understand this metaphysical concept is that of a glass: God fills each glass (i.e., soul) to the rim but each glass is a specific siz...

WHY IS CATHOLIC WORSHIP CALLED MASS? INTRODUCTION It is uncommon for a Catholic to go to Church and say "I went for Service", He /She would always say, "I just came back from Mass. What does Mass mean and why do Catholics use the word? THE WORD MASS The English word “Mass” comes from the Latin word missa, which means to be “sent.” WHY IS CATHOLIC WORSHIP CALLED THE MASS? The Latin word Missa has been used since the 6th or 7th century to describe the Catholic celebration of the Eucharist, our main liturgical service. The word is used during the conclusion of the celebration, when the priest or deacon says in Latin, Ite, missa est. The literal translation of that phrase is, “Go, it has been sent.” Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote a commentary on these words and explained in his Summa Theologiae, “And from this the Mass derives its name … the deacon on festival days ‘dismisses’ the people at the end of the Mass, by saying: ‘Ite, missa est,’ that is, the victim [Jesus] has been se...

THE LORD'S DAY OR THE SABBATH ? Tim Staples  One of the most attractive teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination is their insistence that Christians must obey the Ten Commandments… all ten of them. They rightly expose the errant thinking among many Protestant Christian sects that claims, “We don’t have to keep the Ten Commandments anymore.” One large problem here, of course, is Jesus does not concur: And behold, one came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?” And [Jesus] said to him… “If you would enter life, keep the commandments” (Matt. 19:16-17). The Catholic Church actually agrees with our Seventh-day Adventist friends on this particular point. In fact, we believe we must not only keep the Ten Commandments, but the commandments of Jesus, the Apostles, and the Church as well. Jesus gave us “a new commandment” when he said, “Love one another as I have loved you” in John 13:34. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus repeatedly said, “You...

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 ...