THE FOUR LAST THINGS: DEATH, JUDGEMENT, HEAVEN or HELL. These come to mind as we celebrate HALOWEEN, THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS, THE COMMEMORTATION OF ALL SOULS

Our culture loves to celebrate Halloween, the Catholic Christian commemoration of All Hallows Eve  --  the eve of the Feast of All Souls.

»  As I write this I come to feel as though I am directing much of this towards those, like myself, with a protestant background, or those who are not yet part of the Catholic Church.  Please bear with me and take out of these thoughts the things that you yourself can best meditate on (or investigate further) for your own spiritual growth. «

At this time the Church draws our attention especially to the Four Last Things:  Death, Judgement, Heaven or Hell. 

We all have to face death.  That is the end of our chance to be part of the Church Militant.
Death could come any time for any one of us.  Are we ready?

• Am I in a state of mortal sin?
• Do I intend to examine my conscience and go to confession, especially if I THINK I may have committed a mortal sin?
• Have I made good use of the time, talents and material things that God has given me to use?
• Have I been faithful to Christ and His Church?
• etc. ...

As part of Christ's Body we each need to realize that we are part of the entire body of Christ  --  not only the Church Militant (the Church here on earth), but also the Church Suffering (the Holy Souls in Purgatory) and the Church Triumphant (the Saints in Heaven).

ALL HALLOWS EVE or Halloween  --
As we discussed in the post about the Christian origins of Halloween it is important in this day and age to recall that Satan is real.  Evil is real.  We are fighting a spiritual battle against forces beyond our ken.  The good news is that we already know the outcome.  Satan and his minions will loose.  Unfortunately he will convince as many people as he can to choose Hell over eternity with God.
 
In our final moment we are judged.  Many or most will choose the horror of spending eternity apart from God.  Others will choose to love Our Lord above all else.  Even if we choose God there is no guarantee that we will enter heaven right away.  Some people die for our Lord or live such pious and selfless lives that they go (almost?) directly to heaven.  Will that be you?  Will that be me?  That's my goal, but ...

The Feast of ALL SAINTS commemorates the Church Triumphant  --
We belong to a vast family.  Many holy men and women have lived lives so holy that in the end they were judged pure enough to enter into Heaven.  These people are not dead, only their bodies are dead as they await to have their souls reunited with their bodies on "the last day".  These friends are there to intercede for us with Our Lord.
Jesus Himself has gone before us with His Body and Soul and is seated at the right hand of God the Father.
Mother Mary, too, has been assumed body and soul into heaven.  God has crowned Mary, another human like ourselves, as Queen of Heaven.
We can pray and follow what Jesus commands us to do.  We can also ask our family and friends to pray for us.
But there are those who are closer to Our Lord than anyone here on earth  --  those holy souls in heaven.  They too can intercede for us.  Jesus especially listens to Mary's requests as he did at the Cana wedding (John 2:1-11).  We are to honour our father and mother.  Jesus honours Mary in the same way.

The Commemoration of ALL SOULS is when we remember those who have gone before us.  --
 God alone knows what cleansing a soul needs before being pure enough to enter Heaven.  If we die in a state of grace we may require "a bath", so to speak.
Our brothers and sisters who cannot bear the thought of being in the glory of God and worshiping Him forever are sent immediately where they choose: Hell.
The poor, holy souls in Purgatory, however, are guaranteed to enter heaven.  Bathing is the best analogy that I've been able to think of.  Some of us need a long, hot scrub in lots of very hot water in order to remove the stain of our sins.  Others will only need to rinse their hands to remove such stain.

This is not to say that Jesus's sacrifice was not sufficient.  I always think of what Jesus said about making things right before going on:

"Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.   "Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent."  (Matthew 5:25-26)

Purgatory also exists because we are responsible for our sins.  Can we really expect to go through life, even a very pious life, but never to be responsable in any way for our sinfulness?  Jesus paid the price we cannot pay.  Out of Love He suffered and died for our salvation.  Does this mean we no longer accept any blame for what we have done?  If this were the case then we could go ahead and commit any sin we felt like, just so long as we said "sorry" afterwards.  I have difficulty in understanding the protestant rejection of this.  Purgatory is not a man-made idea.  We would not even know about it if it weren't for the intervention of the Holy Spirit.

This brings me to my final point in this post on the last things.
As the Church Militant one of our jobs is to pray and make sacrifices for the holy souls in Purgatory.  They cannot do anything to help themselves.  They can no longer receive Our Lord in Holy Communion, and they are also being denied the Beatific Vision for the time being.
We do not know what Purgatory is like.  (I certainly haven't been there.  I hope to bypass it entirely.)  It is a place of temporal suffering however.  These souls are being refined into gold by passing through fire.  (1 Peter 1:7)   We know that fire hurts.  Paying a traffic fine hurts in one way.  A year in jail hurts. 
So let us always remember to pray for the souls in Purgatory.  Pray, do good works, offer up sacrifices for them.

God be with you!
Dominus vobiscum!

Halloween: The eve of the Feast of All Saints. A CHRISTIAN CELEBRATION and NOT PAGAN IN ORIGIN.

Halloween is an important Christian day  --  the eve of the Feast of All Saints.

Every year though I read people asking whether or not it is "OK" for a Christian to celebrate Halloween.
The answer is a resounding YES!

Our modern world is being strongly influenced by the enemy.  Satin is convincing people that he simply does not exist and that hell does not exist.
Halloween reminds us of our own mortality and of the FACT that evil exists.
We are fighting a battle.  One that is more important than a simple "life or death" war.  This war is for our immortal souls.  If we begin to forget evil, when we stop thinking about the four last things (Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell) we put more than our mortal lives in danger.  We risk our own immortal lives and the lives of everyone else.  This is a battle we cannot fight alone.  For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.Ephesians 6:12

Not only that but the very celebration is a Catholic (and therefore Christian) day.
My major beef with the way we celebrate Halloween is two-fold:  1) That we tone down evil and turn it into a fun time with no actual admission that evil exists.  2)  That society celebrates the eve of All Saints Day but not the Feast itself.  That is like celebrating Christmas Eve rather than Christmas.


Others have done research into the myths surrounding Halloween and its origins, so I'll give you links to those sources:

• Halloween: A Catholic View

The Reality of Evil Points Us Toward the Good

 

Much of the modern aversion to Halloween, I think, stems from the same unwillingness to acknowledge the reality of evil. But there's a reason why we dress up as ghouls and goblins on the night before we celebrate the feast of All Saints Day, and, despite the claims of supposed satanists and Wiccans and anti-Halloween Christians like Jack Chick, it's actually a Christian reason: We believe in a world that extends beyond the one that we can see, a world in which angels and demons do contest for the souls of men, and the Prince of Lies grows in power by convincing people that he does not exist.
If for no reason other than the fact that it reminds us that, as Hamlet tells his friend, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy," Halloween is worth celebrating.

• Should Catholics Celebrate Halloween?

The Christian Origins of All Hallows Eve

 

The Christian Origins of Halloween

"Halloween" is a name that means nothing by itself. It is a contraction of "All Hallows Eve," and it designates the vigil of All Hallows Day, more commonly known today as All Saints Day. ("Hallow," as a noun, is an old English word for saint. As a verb, it means to make something holy or to honor it as holy.) All Saints Day, November 1, is a Holy Day of Obligation, and both the feast and the vigil have been celebrated since the early eighth century, when they were instituted by Pope Gregory III in Rome. (A century later, they were extended to the Church at large by Pope Gregory IV.)

Finally there's another good resource again addressing the false pagan origins of Halloween:

• Halloween or Samhain?

 The belief that Halloween is pagan in origin is a myth. Many neo-pagan websites claim that it was an attempt by early Christians to “baptize” the Gaelic harvest festival of Samhain. Because of this persistent myth, some Christians are hesitant to participate in anything associated with Halloween.

Holy Michael Archangel, defend us in the day of battle; be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. -- May God rebuke him, we humbly pray: and do thou, Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God thrust down to hell Satin and all the wicked spirits, who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.
Amen.

The Extraordinary Synod on the Family -- some observations

 

I came across this tonight and I thought is very appropriate at this time:

"Again, family change and religious change go hand in hand."

That's from 

How the West Really Lost God: An Interview with Mary Eberstadt

- Crisis Magazine

  We really need to pray for our bishops.  The report, blasted by Cardinal Burke, has many non-Catholic errors in it.  

Cardinal Burke: Synod's mid-term report "lacks a solid foundation in the Sacred Scriptures and the Magisterium"

 From the above:

" Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura   ...   has expressed concern over several aspects of the Synod, including the push for changes in the handling of Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics and the waky that information about the Synod is being, in his words, "manipulated." 

Cardinal Burke responded late yesterday to questions from Carl E. Olson, editor of Catholic World Report, about his concerns, his view of the mid-term report, and why he thinks a statement from Pope Francis is "long overdue." "

 From what I'm hearing there is (little or) no talk of salvation and what we are being saved from.  Sinners need to be called to repentance, not have there sins blessed.  To receive Our Lord in Holy Communion without turning from our sin brings us further to perdition.  Do many of these bishops even believe in sin and hell anymore?

Here's a commentary.  Skip ahead to the 35 second mark. (At times the style can be off-putting to some, but it is worth watching for information.)

Satin is hard at work here, just as he was when Our Lord walked this earth ... even causing one of the original bishops to betray Jesus.

 Rev. Dwight Longenecker  has this to say:

" The Holy Father has been very good in lecturing priests and telling us what to do. We are to go out into the world and “make a mess.” We are to “smell like the sheep.” We are to welcome all with compassion, forgiveness and mercy. We are to be good and kind pastors who administer the sacraments with care and concern. We are to seek out the poor, castigate the rich, side with the unfortunate, heal the sick, support the immigrants and reach out to the lowly. We are to welcome the divorced and remarried, not judge those with same sex attraction and open the doors of the church to all with a warm hearted and affirming form of evangelization by attraction.

This is a message I endorse and embrace. I want to be that kind of priest. I want to be Jesus to the world. I long to care for the poor and hungry, minister to their needs, welcome all to the church as the father welcomes the prodigal. I wish to have the open heart Pope Francis has. I want to show the attractiveness of Christ, the radiant truth of the gospel and the joy of the abundant life that Jesus brings to the world. I long to celebrate the sacraments with love, care, hope, joy and compassion. I want to be the persona Christi, the image of God and the face of the Father not only to my flock, but to all who I meet.

I have heard the words of my Holy Father and taken them to heart. I sincerely want to be that kind of priest.

However, I can only do this if the timeless truths of the Catholic faith are firmly defined and defended. The dogmas, doctrines and disciplines of the Catholic faith are the tools of my trade. They provide the rules for engagement, the playbook for the game, the map for the journey and the content for the mercy and compassion I wish to display. The historic teachings of the Catholic faith, founded on the teachings of Christ the Lord, revealed by divine inspiration and developed through the magisterium of the Catholic Church provide the method for my mercy, the content for my compassion and the only saving truths I have to share. "

  [ Image from http://www.abouttherosary.com]

Glorious St. Michael,
guardian and defender of the Church of Jesus Christ,
come to the assistance of His followers,
against whom the powers of hell are Unchained.
Guard with special care our Holy Father, the Pope, and our bishops, priests,
all our religious and lay people, and especially the children.
St. Michael, watch over us during life,
defend us against the assaults of the demon,
and assist us especially at the hour of death.
Help us achieve the happiness of beholding God face to face for all eternity. 
Amen.

Catholics are on the "winning team"!

The 'meat' of the video starts at the 40 second mark  (+/-).

The Catholic Church was instituted by God Himself.  The world may strive to lead people one way, but in the end the world will never triumph over the Church

Being on the winning team, let us all act the part.  Be brave and speak out to the world.  Speak with charity and with Truth.  
Let us arm ourselves with knowledge (now readily available via the Internet).  Pray for wisdom.  When it is necessary to defend God's teachings as revealed through the Catholic Church let's all be prepared and do so with love and wisdom.

God be with you! 

Originally Posted on the Feast of The Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

(Image from:  http://0.tqn.com/d/catholicism/1/7/P/0/-/-/Exaltation_of_the_Holy_Cross.png)

Here's a great link with more information on "The Triumph of the Cross" AKA "The Exaltation of the Holy Cross":

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

By Scott P. Richert, About.com Guide

Go To Hell

[Image found at:  https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSWW5Or6PWpu4TAqr40GY_pUHVjTvu4vEi6bUmLGHPPnejBrvd2xBrFCx62zjqRrsXfy4j-dWEaT3Ry762pmMzwovGTZOPxLCI0vGeeswKx9h8vX61k-cNTaKHh5Nj3rc2jLFAFS3fIV9/s1600/Archangel_Michael.jpg]

The Church Militant video (no relation) is very important in understanding part of how Satin is at war with the Church and how he is attacking all of human society.

Here is the text of the video:

Hello everyone and welcome to The Vortex where lies and falsehoods are trapped and exposed. I’m Michael Voris coming to you from Wagga Wagga Australia .. or what the locals simply call Wagga.

We are in front of the Wagga Cathedral .. dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel.

It’s time to take the gloves off and come out swinging. Satan hates the Catholic Church.

Always has. His sole mission is its destruction. Again .. he HATES it.

Why? Because no other institution or organization or faith or religion has the mean of salvation. They are ALL man made and do not have the power to save.

This includes not only other religions, but governments, social help programs, social justice efforts and anything else conjured up in the mind of man.

Jesus Christ establishes the Catholic Church ALONE to be the bulwark against evil .. to be the ONE body which is commissioned to battle evil until the end of the world. Period.

That’s why Satan detests it with a burning passion that the human mind on this side of death simply cannot conceive of.

How does Satan actively go about attacking the Catholic Church? Well, just as Our Blessed Lord has disciples, so too does Satan.

We don’t think in these terms very often, and certainly not often enough to correspond to the reality, but it is most assuredly true – Satan has disciples.

Anyone in a state of mortal sin is an agent of Satan. They do not possess within themselves the Holy Trinity, they lack the indwelling of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Such a person is in darkness and therefore can be led anywhere into anything and it is Satan doing the leading.

He keeps a person in mortal sin in darkness, clouds the intellect, and smothers them in pleasures to keep them content so they will not seek a way out of their sin. They become a tool of his, a prisoner, a slave to do his bidding.

And if they die in that state, they descend to the infernal regions from which there is never any respite from its horrors.

So the devil makes use of such people while they are on earth and his control. He does not CONTROL their free will, but he is able to suggest things to them to which they

CHOOSE to offer little or no resistance.

And what does Satan use his human minions for? His sole goal of destroying the Catholic Church. He has worked enormous wreckage and destruction in the Church in the 20th century.

 

His actions, through his human agents, have resulted in a worldwide apostasy .. a rejection of almost anything and everything sacred.

 

And it matters not at all whether those who are his here on earth agents are consciously aware of their slave masters actions or not. A soul in mortal sin is a throne room for Hell.

 

We see evidence of this diabolical reality in the push for so-called same-sex marriage ..

an absolute perverse and distorted re-ordering of nature. 

 

You can bet the farm that Satan has no specific interest in whether governments pronounce sodomy as marriage. The sin of homosexual acts are being committed anyway and the guilt of that sin already being incurred.

 

What Satan gets out of the marriage question is the creation of an atmosphere where truth is denied, thus setting the stage for even greater sin to flood in.

 

AND .. above all .. he gets the establishment of an environment where the Church and Her teachings can be officially attacked and condemned. He has craftily engineered a situation where the TRUTH ITSELF is made to appear to be an enemy of people and their so-called rights.

 

Sodomy is being trotted around the world and portrayed as a “human right”. Whether his agents are conscious of it or not, Satan is behind this same-sex marriage movement

because .. at the end of the day .. it will used against the Church as a powerful weapon .. which .. we have already seen glimpses of here and there in Canada and the United States and Europe.

 

Church leaders to take the gloves off and start talking about this in the real terms that it is .. spiritual warfare .. aimed against the Church of Christ .. His Immaculate Bride. That is where this will all end up.

 

It HAS to end of there. Satan cares about nothing but the destruction of the Catholic Church and the resultant loss of countless souls. Period. And the Church cares about nothing ultimately then salvation.

 

Every battle that occurs in the spiritual realm is nothing more than a microcosm of this truth. This is how Our Blessed Lord classified it when He Himself declared Peter the Rock on which HE would build His Church and then promised that the Gates of Hell would not prevail.

 

That is talk of war. 

 

This is the spiritual reality behind all the talk of human rights and marriage equality and all the diabolical PR.

 

The Church needs to call this out and tell Satan to go to hell.

Reporting from Wagga Wagga down under in Australia, this is Michael Voris for Church Militant. TV

 

GOD Love you.