The Gospel of Elton John - Jesus - Gay Marriage

So Elton John (a man very much in need of our prayers) has once again spoken about Jesus and "gay marriage" and once again shown his total ignorance of Scripture.

Let's analyse his comments:

"The new Pope has excited me so much by his humanity," John said. "He's stripped it down to the bare bones and said it's all basically about love and taking everybody in, inclusiveness."

Well, I won't get in to whether this Pope has preached the true Gospel to it's fullness with regards to sodomy - whilst I don't think he has Elton has clearly twisted the Pope to seem like a modern liberal, something he is certainly not.

Let's look at the second part. Was Jesus about taking everybody in? Well, yes and no. He certainly calls everyone to His Kingdom but the way Elton John speaks is as if he simply accepted all with no conditions and this is false. Remember John chapter 8, the woman who was "caught in the act of adultery?" Yes, he condemned those who wished to condem her but then told her "Go away, and from this moment sin no more". This is not the inclusiveness that Elton believes in where all are simply accepted for who they are and no matter what they do. The love that Christ shows us is not an inclusive love but a call to repentence (Mark 1:15) and to follow God's commandments: with the adulterous woman see the sixth commandment.

"He was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together, and that is what the church should be about"

Matthew 10:34 would suggest otherwise: 'Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword".

Again as stated before. Christ is NOT about simply bringing people together - this is a principle of humanism which is condemned - but about calling people to holiness, calling them to turn from the flesh to a life guided by the Holy Spiriy and to take up their cross and follow Him. Elton John has no concern for any of these but simply wishes to promote his own sodomite agenda by cherry picking phrases he thinks fit his ideas.

Now for the most ridiculous comments:

"We live in a different time. If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him, as the Christian person that he was and the great person that he was, saying this could not happen"

"He was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together, and that is what the church should be about."

Wow. Now alarm bells should be ringing for any right minded Christian after reading this. He is using a very subtle but dangerous ploy which can be found all over the modern neo-pagan media. He took a true statement "He [Jesus] was all about love and compassion and forgiveness" and then twists it to mean what he wants.

So let's analyse his comments. "We live in a different time". This seems to suggest that Christ's teaching are mutable and changing. Hebrews 13:8 should be enough to refute this: "Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and as he will be for ever". It should also be noted that Christ is GOD MADE MAN. He was not bound by the times, and all of his actions were chosen not accidental so to suggest that Christ would conform to our modern society is simply false.

"If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him, as the Christian person that he was and the great person that he was, saying this could not happen" [speaking about allowing gay clergy to marry]

Well, luckily for us Christians the faith is not a personal one in the sense of interpretation and whatever Elton thinks is really irrelevant as we have Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium to guide us and not the personal views of this man.

As I've already shown Christ's teaching according to Scripture are not bound by time and circumstances. However, the big problem is that Elton seems to have fallen in to the modern fallacy that Christ never spoke about gay marriage. Well, actually he did and did so very clearly. Christians should memorise this verse to fight the perversion of the "inclusive gay Christ" that we hear of so often. The following verses completely refute the idea that Christ "would have supported gay marriage":

Matthew 19.
3 Some Pharisees approached him, and to put him to the test they said, 'Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?'
4 He answered, 'Have you not read that the Creator from the beginning made them male and female
5 and that he said: This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh?
6 They are no longer two, therefore, but one flesh. So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide.'

Mark 10:6 "But from the beginning of creation he made them male and female".

So you see, Christ did speak specifically about marriage (and divorce incidently) and defined it precisely as being between one man and one woman (Genesis 1:27) as "from the beginning" they were made "male and female". How much more clear could he possibly be?!

Interestingly, Christ goes back and teaches us to follow how it was from the beginning also showing us that we shouldn't bow to what society believes is right at any given time - especially a godless one such as ours.

For you see, Elton John's kind of "love" is one where everything is tolerated. One where sins of the flesh are fine as long as everyone is "nice" and "tolerating", where sin doesn't really exist and the only sin is "intolerance". You see, Elton does not really care about Christ, he doesn't care about finding the true Gospel, about seeking out the truth but only about his own self interest and looking to justify his own sodomite behaviour - or to put it another way: making god in his own image.

The problem is that Elton's doctrines are all based around the word "love". Love, without a true Catholic definition, is simply a word that can be twisted to justify all kinds of evils; Abortion (the killing of a child) is a "loving" act; Euthanasia is the "loving" thing to do; Divorce and remarriage is the "loving" thing to do. To truly love is to follow God's commandments and we must cling fast to them with a spirit of prayer if we aren't to be corrupted by this evil society where views like Elton's are praised and accepted.

I will leave you with two further quotes, both which I'm sure Elton would rather taken out of the Bible altogether:

1 Corinthians 6
9 Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitute, nor sodomites 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God

Romans 1
26 That is why God abandoned them to degrading passions:
27 why their women have exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural practices; and the men, in a similar fashion, too, giving up normal relations with women, are consumed with passion for each other, men doing shameful things with men and receiving in themselves due reward for their perversion.

First and Sixth Commandment: True Motivation

I recently listened to a talk from a traditional Catholic priest on exorcism and possession. Of course he spoke about cases that he had dealt with including screaming children, possessed individuals, cases of obsession etc. all of which appeals to our morbid curiosity. It was however a comment he made when speaking about the sixth commandment [Thou shalt not commit adultery] which caught my attention and has stayed with me and given me much to reflect on in prayer.

He got on to the topic by stating that almost inevitably those who lose their faith or are simply far from God are almost inevitably involved in some activity (either personal or with others) that breaks the sixth commandments. He then said how to truly fulfil the commandment not to commit adultery, and this is the interesting part, one mustn't simply stop breaking the sixth commandment but must first stop breaking the first commandment [You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind].

It is impossible to live a pure life without God's grace and it is through placing God first that we break all ties with other sins and begin to "put on the New Man" that St. Paul speaks about in the fourth chapter of his letter to the Ephesians.

Also of note he also said that nowadays many people turn from sins against the sixth commandment (although it applies to all sins) not because they truly love God above all things - first commandment - but simply because they are sick and tired of the consequences of a particular sin.

Food for thought with regards to our motivations.

Jews, Christians and Muslims - praying to the same God?

I would like to share a recent conversation that I had with a good friend of mine who stated on his Facebook that "Jews, Christians and Muslims, praying to the same and only God but in different ways". My responses are in red.

My initial response was this:

But we should also remember that Judaism is a false religion which rejects the new and eternal covenant and Islam is a heresy (Arian - diabolic?) which was founded by a man who "seduced the people by promises of carnal pleasure" (Thomas Aquinas speaking) and which seeks to, and indeed does!, lead others away from the true and living Trinitarian God.

It should also be noted that even if one accepts that Jews, Christians and Arabs pray to the "same God" (I think this is debatable) that does not mean that the different ways of praying are comparable in any way. Jews and Muslims give false worship to God and reject the true worship found in Christ's sacrifice re-presented at each Mass.

His response was:

I just wanted to say that there is only One and Almighty God. In other words, even though we pray different (doctrine, rites,...) we focus in the same big and supreme God. Buscar lo que nos une y no lo que nos diferencia! (Translation: Look for what unites us not what differentiates us!)

I took issue with this and my response was the following:

I'm sorry but this is going to be a long post as I have to disagree completely with your post. The way to true unity is through the conversion of the Muslims to the One True Faith. Any other unity is false and leaving them in their error is an evil act towards that person whose only hope for salvation is in Christ. I don't know what you mean exactly by your last sentence [Buscar lo que nos une y no los que nos diferencia!] but if it is hinting that all religions are essentially the same and we should discard "problematic" issues looking for unity and what unites us instead, well this is a free-mason idea and is very much condemned by the Church.

I understand what you are saying with we have different doctrines, rites etc. but in fact these are essential in our lives and the salvation of souls which is our goal as Catholics.

Do Muslims believe in one god? Yes they do, but it is only a natural faith and not a supernatural one which brings forth life and is completely different to Christian faith in God. Even though they believe there is one god they have not accepted the reality of that one God through the revelation of Jesus Christ without which they cannot be saved. Belief in one God doesn't unite us when the two beliefs (Trinity vs the Muslim "god") are so opposed and completely contrary.

Muslims reject Christ, they reject Him as the only way to heaven and instead trust that their own works will take them to heaven. This attitude will not lead them to heaven. They reject salvation through grace, they reject Christ as the only means to salvation, they deny his crucifixion (the ultimate act of God's love) with such twisted logic that it can only be of demonic origin. They deny the resurrection of our Lord, deny Baptism which now saves us, deny the Eucharist which unites us to Christ and through which true worship is offered etc. these are not small differences that can be brushed aside, these are key tenets required for salvation something which is unattainable through following Islam and it's tenets!

And this isn't even going in to the details of daily living inspired by the Qu'ran where multiple wives are allowed, abortion is permitted, lying is permitted under certain circumstances, contraception is approved of etc. these are all grave evils promoted by an evil pagan book. The "god" that Muslims follow and adore is not the true God revealed in Christ and there is no salvation found in Islam.

As the Church has constantly taught Islam is an evil heresy that seeks to draw people away from the only means of salvation and we should seek to convert the Muslims not seek false unity with them based on human concerns (i.e. peace, friendliness, brotherhood at any cost etc.).

We must be on our guard against the Christianisation of Islam. The religions are in no way comparable and Islam is something that must be fought not embraced and accepted.

God bless,
Paul

Corpus Christi and My Conversion

Corpus Cristi is one of the great feasts of the Church but for me it holds a special personal significance as it was this topic which lead me to the knowledge that the Catholic Church is the One True Church.

According to Wikipedia: The Feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ), also known as Corpus Domini, is a Latin Rite liturgical solemnity celebrating the tradition and belief in the body and blood of Jesus Christ and his Real Presence in the Eucharist. It emphasizes the joy of the institution of the Eucharist, which was observed on Holy Thursday in the somber atmosphere of the nearness of Good Friday.

I was received in to the Catholic Church as an adult May 24, 2009 and a big part of my conversion story was being convinced intellectually that the Eucharist is not a symbolic memorial but truly the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

After coming to belief in God and the Christian faith I began looking for the true church of Christ one with authority to teach in His name. One of the central issues that drew my attention was precisely the Eucharist. Is it truly the Body and Blood of Christ or not? What focus on this? Well, apart from being a clear difference between the Catholic Church and Protestant communities it is also one of those clear black and white issues about which there can be no middle ground and it can't be left up to the individual to decide either. It either is the Body and Blood of  Christ, or it is not. Of course this question slowly brought me on to the question of authority in the Church which only the Catholic Church can hold any reasonable claim to. Curiously enough the process of reading the Bible and the Early Church also brought me to the belief that Apostolic Authority which was passed down through the laying on of hands through the Bishops was also a Christian truth which couldn't be denied, but that is for another post.

Back to the Eucharist. After much reading and listening I slowly came to the conclusion that Christ was not speaking metaphorically when [26] ...Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body. [27] And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. [28] For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins.

Scripture

Part of coming to knowledge of the truth came from reading the Bible. There are many passages than speak about the true presence of Christ such as "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10:16) and "Therefore whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. . . . For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Cor. 11:27, 29) - if it were merely bread and wine how could someone eat and drink judgement on themselves by consuming it?

However, the most powerful passages that I read which give witness to the Eucharist being the True Body and Blood of Christ are found in John 6.

[51 ]I am the living bread which came down from heaven. [52 ]If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world. [53] The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

As you can see in John 6:51, Jesus identifies himself with the miraculous bread and then says that if any man eats of this bread they will live forever. Was he speaking metaphorically? Well, the Jews looking at their response in John 6:53 obviously took him literally. What was Jesus' reaction to them taking him as speaking literally? The answer is found in the next verse:

[54] Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. [55] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.

Jesus, rather than correct their error about as he does for example when speaking about the "yeast of the Pharisees" (Matt 16:6) instead goes on to insist on the eating His body and blood even more.

[56] For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. [57] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him.

He then re-affirms it and continues to do so in very explicit language.

[61] Many therefore of his disciples, hearing it, said: This saying is hard, and who can hear it?

If he was just speaking of symbolically eating his flesh as eating and drinking his cup, or accepting Him would this have been so scandalous? It's clear Jesus is saying something very shocking here. And now comes the shocking bit that I remember reading:

[66] And he said: Therefore did I say to you, that no man can come to me, unless it be given him by my Father. [67] After this many of his disciples went back; and walked no more with him. [68] Then Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away? [69] And Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. [70] And we have believed and have known, that thou art the Christ, the Son of God.

In verse 67 many of his disciples left him. This is the only place in the Bible where Jesus' disciples abandon him over something he taught. We know from verse 53 (The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat?) that they took him at his word and he lets them walk away. Even more shocking is that he then turns to his disciples and asks if they will leave as well.

Reading this it was obvious that Jesus really couldn't have been speaking figuratively and if he were then surely he would have corrected those that misinterpreted him and left? His silence is almost as powerful as his words.

Early Church

The other thing that convinced me that the Catholic Church was right on the Eucharist was the writings of the Early Church. Indeed, it was these that truly led me to the Church on an array of topics; apostolic authority, importance of the liturgy, obedience to the Bishops etc. Whilst researching online I remember reading many protestants who claimed that their "reformation" was not based on new doctrines but was a renewal of the church to how it was in the first centuries. That sounds quite nice. However, it struck me as strange reading and listening to debates that it was in fact only the Catholic apologists who seemed to quote from writers in the early Church. Well, what better way to see what faith the Apostles handed on than by reading the writings directly? I started reading the Church Fathers looking to see whether the early Christians believed in the real presence and to my surprise it is so unanimously taught and believed that even some Protestant scholars that reject the real presence do indeed admit that the early Christians professed it.

I will just include one quote here that I found incredibly powerful and further below is a link to a large selection of further quotes from the first centuries of the Church which confirm that the real presence was not only taught but was unanimously taught.

"They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that THE EUCHARIST IS THE FLESH OF OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in his goodness, raised up again". (Letter to Smyrnians 7:1)

The following link shows many quotations from the Early Church fathers:

http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/father/fathers.htm

Personality Cult and the Papacy

Apologies for this messy post, it is an almagamation of a few posts which I had lined up but I think the idea comes across.

What is a personality cult? The wikipedia definition is:

"A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propoganda or other methods, to create an idealized, heroic, and, at times god-like public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise".

How could this apply to the Pope? Quite easily in fact, especially since he is a very public figure that is attracting a lot of media attention. The "god-like" image as referred to in the quote and this becomes particularly problematic when one uses a public Catholic figure as the means to evangelize. What are the problems exactly? That we become obsessed with this man´s perceived holiness and humility. This, "look at how holy our Pope is" mentality can potentially lead to a problem of reducing the Gospel down to how one man lives it out however I believe that the bigger problem from this is that we place the Pope on a pedastall and fail to look at his actions objectively, believing that by doing do we will be harming the Church in some way, when in fact to defend the Orthodox is to love Christ and Church.

As said, I believe the deeper problem of the cult of Francis arises when a lack of objectivity makes us accept unquestioningly all that Pope Francis says and does as if he has a completely free reign over all the Church which is not the case and shouldn't be the case.

We should remember that even Pope Francis is not above criticism. Indeed, if a Pope strays from the Orthodox, makes questionable statements or commits liturgical abuses, it is in fact our duty to question and criticise these actions. Has the Pope said good things? Undoubtedly do. However, he has also said many things which could rightly be criticised or at least questioned. Examples include his attitude of seeming wish not to offend anyone except traditional Catholics - insulting the traditional Catholic practice of offering rosaries, calling the TLM a "fashion", the on-going Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate scandal which is deepening; placing a beach ball on the altar; calling a protestant minister "brother bishop"; his often vague and imprecise language (something he was famous for in his native Argentina before becoming Pope) with regards to various issues which has created much confusion - leading Catholic apologists to have to "explain" something he has said almost weekly it seems; his seeming support of Cardinal Kasper with his "deep" and "serene" theology despite seemingly wishing to throw the Church in to schism...the list goes on and on...

How should we address this attitude?

Well, first of all we should remember that we are not OF Pope Francis, just as was warned not to be of Peter or Paul, but of Jesus Christ. Therefore it is important to remind ourselves that the power of the Papal office does not come from the individual but rather from the Christ given office itself. We owe obedience to the Pope but that doesn't mean we must hang off his every word, or even agree with all of his actions. 

We need to read and inform ourselves intellectually through traditional sources especially through reading material written before Vatican II - encyclicals by Pius X, XI, XII, Gregory XVI are highly recommended if you wish to see what true Orthodoxy sounds like. Let's not idolise this man. Pope Francis should be judged by Tradition not Tradition and practices by Pope Francis. We should be especially careful not to follow, or get carried away by, any supposed "who am I to judge?" false mercy and also be wary of "militant humility". Or to believe that we are somehow seeing the re-birth of a new glorious age of the Church as led by Francis (the pew statistics show that the "Francis Effect" is simply non-existent.

We should also remember that those who criticise the Pope generally do not do so out of hatred of the man but out of love for Christ and His Church. They wish to defend the Orthodox knowing that by doing do they help to save souls.

Unfortunately, Pope Francis isn´t the only place we see this in the Catholic Church but this can also be seen in the near fanatical obsession with some apparitions that we see in some sections of the Church where followers of certain "visionaries" hang on their words almost dogmatically, believing everything they hear from them, basing their whole spiritual lives around these "visions" which often leads them in to error and sometimes in direct contradiction to the Church. Why? Because they have fallen in to the personality cult and latch on to it as if it were Christ himself...

My Conclusion - As Catholics we must not become obsessed with trying to prove the holiness of Pope Francis or become obsessed with this one man at all, or where he wishes to take us - the Church is much bigger than him. One day, like all of us, he will die too and the Church will continue and so will the Papal Office. Certainly, there are holy people and we should give thanks for them where appropriate, but we can´t become obsessed with them.


We must avoid that attitude that makes the Pope (or Cardinals, Priests anyone in fact) above criticism. Questioning the Pope's dubious words or actions does not makes us less Catholic and in fact if done prudently and for love of Christ and His Church it actually makes us far more Catholic than someone who hangs on his every word or whim, casting aside true Catholic teaching to follow one man's ideas.

Pope Francis - Confession

Pope Francis has just spoken about confession in a very beautiful way:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-be-courageous-go-to-confession/

It's definitely worth a read, and we should all take his advice and go to confession over the next few weeks, it truly is a wonderful Sacrament.

I will however suggest one way for him to actually make a practical change in the Vatican at least regarding confession - have all day Confessions! I visited Rome last year and went to make a confession of my sins around lunchtime but was told that I would have to come back later as there were no priests available. No priests available for confession in the home of western Christianity? I then tried two other local churches, no confessions either. I also tried a religious community next to the Vatican and was turned away. I understand that one priest probably can't stay in the confessional all day due to other responsibilities (perhaps Padre Pio and John Vianney would disagree) but surely in the Basilica of St. Peter there should at least be some priests available throughout the whole day?

This isn't the only time this has happened. I had the same experience in Lourdes this autumn. I went to the building where confessions are heard and saw that it was also closed around lunch-time. I went back much later in the afternoon and was able to confess in Spanish, no English speaking priests available at that time. Again, in one of the great places of Catholic pilgrimage how could they not have a priest for confession the whole day? I can't see there being any practical reasons why there shouldn't be as I've had the pleasure of being able to visit Fatima three times and there was always at least one priest hearing confessions, usually at least two or three in fact.

Of course, in Rome, Lourdes and Fatima there are always visiting priests looking around that one could ask for confession should one have an urgent need for it. However, the lack of confessors in the Vatican only highlights the sad state of affairs in normal parishes with regard to this Sacrament. In England at least there are limited times for confession in most churches, with a few notable exceptions, and in my own parish there is now just thirty minutes a week for confessions on a Saturday morning. If you can't go then your only option is to travel across the city or ask for it by special request if the priest is around.

The whole foundation of Christian life is realising that one is a sinner and seeking God's forgiveness. With this in mind perhaps Francis could consider having all day confessions in St. Peters and then perhaps encourage local parishes to open up the confessional and also preach about it on Sundays. Indeed, why not have confession before Mass on Sunday if it's not available already? The fact that it's almost pushed to the side of the timetable gives the appearance that it's obviously not that important.

I've experience the fruits of the Sacrament of Confession in my own life and were it made more available to the faithful I'm sure the fruits would be enormous for the Church as a whole.

Vain and Repetitious Prayer

Are vain and reptitious prayers as discussed in Matthew 6:7-8 against Catholic prayer practices such as litanies or the rosary?

Medjugorje: The Video They Don´t Want You To See

I don´t think that there is any clearer evidence than this video that the "apparitions" are not from God.

Medjugorje

Medjugorje

For any that don’t know Medjugorje is a small village in Bosnia where the Blessed Virgin Mary has allegedly been appearing over the past 25 years with a total of over 35,000 individual apparitions and messages. Millions of people have visited this place (most of whom probably against the Church’s strict teaching, although most likely without realising it).

I’ve written this blog to discuss the Church’s position on Medjugorje and how the faithful should react to it according to the Church’s teachings - if there are errors please correct me and I will be more than happy to make any necessary changes.
 

So is the Virgin Mary really appearing at Medjugoje?

Perhaps a little disappointing to hear but the answer today is maybe yes, maybe no. As faithful Catholics it is not our job to judge the worthiness of apparitions since only the Church has this authority.

Therefore those who believe it ardently and those who have large doubts should both do so with care, particularly in how they present the alleged apparitions to other. Those who believe it should NOT preach it as though it were a truth, for example they should make clear that the "apparitions" have not been verified by the Church, and in the future should be prepared to humbly reject their own private view should the Church condemn the apparitions at some point in the future. Conversely, those who do not believe in the alleged apparitions should also be open to the Church’s authority on the matter. Although at no point in the future will anybody ever be required to actually believe the apparitions since the Church can only declare that apparitions are “worthy of belief” and as such can never be declared as Dogma but rather fall under the category of private revelation. Examples of apparitions deemed worthy of belief include Fatima, Lourdes and Knock.

Are Catholics allowed to make pilgrimages to Medjugorje?

Yes and no, it would depend on what you mean by pilgrimage. Any Catholic is free to make a pilgrimage to any Catholic parish in the world and therefore Catholics are free to travel to Medjugorje. According to the Church a pilgrimage can be made to Medjugorje in the same way as you would take a pilgrimage to your own local Church, another Church in your own city or any other city for that matter – in the eyes of the Church there is nothing “special” about Medjugorje, it is simply a parish like any other and Catholics are free to visit.

Whilst Catholics are free to travel to any parish this free however comes with certain conditions so as not to place our own authority on these matters above the Church.

1)      First of all, since the Church hasn’t made a decision on the alleged apparitions no pilgrimage can be organised at a parish or diocesis level and can only be of a private nature. This means that Medjugorje should never be mentioned or promoted in an official way and as such should never be mentioned during homilies, the Mass etc. to do so would be a grave disobedience against the Church.

2)      Any pilgrimage made to Medjugorje cannot be made should it be an affirmation that the Virgin Mary is indeed appearing there as the Church has not made a decision on the events and we do not have the authority to declare it worthy of belief, only Holy Mother Church does. In the same vain it is also worth nothing that a pilgrimage cannot be made to investigate and see if it is indeed true or not, again we do not have this authority.

3)      The journey should only be based on prayer and the Sacraments and be unrelated to the alleged private apparitions that are taking place – making a pilgrimage on the basis of the Virgin appearing is not allowed if your visit is an affirmation that she is appearing. Doing this can cause great confusion within the Church and can cause divisions among the faithful.

I’ve already booked my trip, what should I do?

Go but with great caution and not allow yourself to be swept up by events there. Certainly you’ll encounter a great number of believers there, maybe some with great conversion stories or possible miracles, but remember that this doesn’t prove there is any supernatural Marian related activity (we should remember that even the devil himself can perform miracles).

In any case the place is holy because the sacraments are celebrated there with frequency. Before departing read up on the issues, read the local Bishop’s pronouncements (links below) regarding these matters and just be on your guard reminding yourself of the Church’s authority on determining the events. Go and enjoy your trip, pray, be open to the Lord, but remember the rules that the Church has put in place regarding pilgrimages and adhere to them. They are there for a reason.

The Bishop said “Therefore I responsibly call upon those who claim themselves to be “seers”, as well as those persons behind the “messages”, to demonstrate ecclesiastical obedience and to cease with these public manifestations and messages in this parish. In this fashion they shall show their necessary adherence to the Church, by neither placing private “apparitions” nor private sayings before the official position of the Church.” And this is how we should act – with obedience to the Church authorities and remember that our allegiance will always be with Holy Mother Church and the local Ordinary above any seer or alleged private apparition.

How should we respond to firm believers?

With charity and love. They may have indeed had a great conversion to Christ and we should give thanks for this. However if someone preaches the apparition as a fact, that it must be believed or possibly even that it has been approved by the Church (or certainly will be in the future), simply point out that as Catholics we believe that only the Church has the authority to declare whether the apparitions are worthy of believe and it is not their place to decide this. Remind them too that as such they should not preach that the Virgin is appearing there as though it were a truth and that they too should be open to the Church’s final decision and judgement on the matter on the “supernatural” developments. This of course, also applies to any firm non-believers that you may encounter, whom are also numerous.

Do conversions and good fruits mean that Mary really is appearing?

The majority of people that have gone to the place that I know have come back strengthened in their faith, reporting an atmosphere of peace there which they haven’t experienced before. Praise God that their faith has been strengthened! Any step towards God is a great thing. It should be noted that a “feeling” or even a strong conversion is no evidence however that the Virgin is appearing. History tells us as much. We have seen similar things in Garabanchel and Palmar de Troya over the past 40 years and both of these places whilst not condemned have been declared as having “nothing supernatural”. Indeed in the latter example there were huge conversions which unfortunately ended with someone declaring himself the Pope; a disaster for the Church and all those involved which causes a great loss of faith. With this in mind we should all be wary of events at Medjugorje, and not presume that because there are conversions (even miracles – although none have been proven) that this constitutes proof of the apparition.

How should Catholics respond to the messages of the Medjugorje?

Again with great caution since the Church has not made any official pronouncement. It should be noted that no private revelation is ever part of the deposit of faith; it can only help one to lead a more Christian life. There has been no new revelation since the death of the last Apostle and as such the messages of Medjugorje (or any other private revelation) do not add to what Catholics are required to believe. The messages of Medjugorje should be read with caution and never above the doctrine of Holy Mother Church which must always take precedent over personal belief and feelings. If a message of Medjugorje conforms to the Church’s teaching then it is fine, if it goes against the Church’s teaching it should be discarded as heresy. It should also be noted that conformity to the Church’s teaching in some messages in no way verifies the apparitions.

As Catholics we should also be cautious of the huge publicity train that comes from Medjugorje and as there are many half truths and falsehoods that have been told. A perfect example of this would be the "messages", "comments" and "special blessings" from the Pope´s that have never been verified by the Vatican. Their origins are unknown.

Conclusion

As Catholic, faithful to Holy Mother Church, we must proceed as Catholics with great caution regarding Medjugorje, especially since both Bishops (Zanic and Peric) under whose control falls Medjugorje have rejected the alleged apparitions since they were claimed to have begun.

Whether you believe or not they should be humble with regard to the Church’s pronouncement and we must always remember that it is not our place to judge these alleged apparitions and for believers especially not to place their judgement above that of the Church.e

Statement by the Bishop regarding the events at Medjugorje:

http://www.cbismo.com/index.php?menuID=98

http://www.cbismo.com/files/file/ZanicMedj_May1990.pdf

http://medjugorjedocuments.blogspot.com.es/

Fighting Sins of Impurity

Tackling Sins of Impurity

For young men especially sins of a sexual nature are among the most difficult that we face. They are often the most difficult to defeat for many reasons. For example, often it’s a taboo subject and therefore difficult to speak about with fellow Catholics, it is also very personal and can be embarrassing, but also it involves tackling deeply rooted bodily desires and these are often the most difficult to control. Here is some practical advice regarding this subject, and some tips for overcoming them.

1) Stay close to God.

I’m sure you’ve heard this one before a million times. Pray, go to Mass, go to confession etc. but it really does help. We can only overcome this by the freely given grace of God. Particularly important is prayer, each morning, each night and I’d recommend at least some time spent in prayer during the day too. Second of all, read the scriptures! Spend time reading the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God, and by reading it we obtain graces and also get to know Jesus in a real and personal way. If you’re with a partner pray together each time you meet, ask God for purity in your relationship and He will give it you.

2) Keep Active

Sins of the body are most likely to happen when you’re not busy. Maybe after school when you’re home alone? Or when you’re relaxing before you go to bed? When you’re watching a movie alone with your girlfriend? Think about when you tend to commit these sins, and then do something during this time preferably outside the house. If it’s with your girlfriend stop watching movies alone together, stop lying down next to each other. Do not be afraid about the impact it will have on your relationship because you‘re doing God‘s will. And hey, what’s wrong with just hanging out with each other in the company of others and outside the home?

3) Tackle the Root of the Problem

Often these problems are so deeply rooted that it will be unable to stop unless you really weed out every part of it. This doesn’t mean you need to become a nervous wreck every time you see a pretty girl on the street, but don’t let your eyes follow them. Try to look at them purely, but if you feel you can’t, simply look away, once they’re gone the temptation will go too so all you’ll really be doing is looking away for a few seconds. Start with the little things, as just mentioned stop looking at girls, stop talking about girls with your friends in this way (do you talk about how “sexy“ or “hot“ girls are? Show respect in your speech), stop watching them on TV, just change the channel, stop looking through pictures of girls on Facebook (yes even the pretty ones!) and try to keep your thoughts pure. When you fall into any of these things, don’t worry it’s not a problem, but once you’ve realised that you’re doing them try to stop and do something else.

4) No passionate kissing

What?!!! Yep! This can be tough, but it’s the easiest way to stop it going any further with a girlfriend. When a man kisses a girl in this way it’s like a switch that tells his brain that more is going to happen. You don’t think this affects you? Well I’m pretty sure most of the times something happens with your girlfriend, this is how it all starts, so be confident in God and give this up.

5) A New Mindset

If you’re in a relationship try not to think in “how far can we go without it being a sin?”  Instead try to think “how pure can we make this relationship?” or if you’re single “how pure can I make my life?” Pray to God and ask Him to show you how, and for the grace to do it. Yes it will be tough, and you might have to give up things you never thought you would, but it will be worth it. Never be afraid about what your partner thinks because if you’re doing it for God, then you have nothing to fear. If they’re not willing to stop? Think about if this is a relationship you really want to be in.

If you’re single perhaps you are having problems respecting you own body and perhaps watching pornography too. The devil is smart and will tempt you in many ways, making everything seem okay, think how many times will you have said to yourself “I’ll just have a look, but won’t do anything else?” or "who does it really hurt?" etc. If you get into this situation try to leave the computer if possible. If not, then remember that you’re not giving up these things for the rest of your life, but only really until the urges go, a minute? Two minutes? It’s not very much when you think about it.. 

6) Learn about It

If you’re serious about anything be it history, art, music, languages you read and learn about them. The same with this. If you’re serious about giving up, listen to talks online, read testimonies, read advice articles, watch videos, talk to people; your friends, other Catholics. There really are so many ways you can learn, and so just take the time to do it.

7) Become a Better Christian

Although it can often seem that it’s impossible and that this is making you a terrible Christian, know that this is not the case. Sins of impurity (while they can certainly leave a lasting impression) only take up a small part of your day, possibly only minutes! So it’s important to still go about trying to lead a good Christian life the rest of the day. With an injury, a doctor will say build up the muscles around it, the same applies here, try and improve all the areas of your Christian life; help out around the home, help people in your parish, give food to the homeless in your area, do all your school/university work etc. This is only a small part of your life, and so strive to give the rest of your day to God.

Finally don’t become dismayed when you fall. There are many people in heaven who have battled exactly the same sins as you have and remember that God loves you exactly the same whether you do it or not, so when you fall go to Him in prayer and “Let Him love you in your ugliness”. It takes most people years to overcome these sins and the important thing is that your heart remains strong. All us Christians, little by little and with God’s help, can overcome any sin no matter how tough it seems at times.

Stay strong and know that anything given up for God, is not really given up.

God Bless,

Paul.

Prayer during Adoration

Oh my Lord,

How great it is to be in your presence in prayer. Silently listening to you truly is the fountain of all the love that I have. To be in Your presence gives me life & makes me free, free from the chains of sin. For true freedom isn´t the ability to do what I want but the ability to choose You over all things, even those things which attract me the most.

Lord, let me selflessly throw myself at your feet, at your mercy, at the foot of Your most holy cross. Let me look no-where else but only set my eyes towards that battered & bloody man who emptied himself so that the world could know the Father´s love; that no matter how far we turn, no matter how much we hate Him, no matter how far we run from Him that he will still come for us and will break through our sinfulness & break the chains that hold us to all earthly things and bring us back to Him if only we let Him for one moment.

In this world following you can sometimes seem so hard & yet by Your grace we keep going. Oh Good Lord, let me only focus on heaven and have my gaze fixed firmly on it and not on all things which pass. Oh Lord, let me not pass you in this life without giving you my all. Let me see as you see, not as I wish to see. Let me perceive Your goodness in everyone & everything. Let my eyes see even when all is dark. Let my heart rejoice when there is nothing earthly to rejoice about. Let my ears be attentive to your voice, even when it seems I´m surrounded by silence. Let my mind ascend to you when all the world tries to drag it down. Let my body become secondary to your love and all that you have in mind for me.

I thank you Lord for all the gifts in my life, truly you have blessed me. I pray that I may not fall into sin, not by me because truly I am the weakest of all, but because Your love consumes me even with all my sin.

Curious Things About Spain

I’ve been living in Madrid now for around 2 months and I have to say it’s awesome! I’ve noticed a few strange things and it was supposed to be 10 things but it’s a weirder country than I thought..so here are a few things I've learnt during my time here:

1) Spanish students complain all the time about how much they have to study. They all claim to spend at least 3 or 4 hours studying a day although their definition of studying as far as I can tell is sitting in front of the computer watching How I Met Your Mother with their textbook open somewhere near them or doing something called “pasar apuntes” (passing notes) which as far as I can tell is just copying hand written notes onto the computer without ever actually reading them properly.

2) G & T is a real man’s drink. Yes, famous in England for being Pat Butcher’s tipple of choice here it’s about as manly as it gets! Probably not helping the view that Spanish men tend to be a bit girly..

3) Cups of tea don’t exist. It’s basically impossible to buy a cup of tea here. Despite explaining to the bar staff exactly how it’s made i.e. a bit of milk & hot water (not exactly rocket science) you inevitably end up with either hot UHT milk with a tea bag, hot water with a tea bag in, or milk & hot water without a tea bag.

4) People have gotten fat! When I was here in 2009 studying I remember noting that it was the skinniest part of the world I’ve ever been in, I hardly remember meeting anyone overweight and now it seems that more and more people are a bit well, chunky! Apparently it’s because of the financial crisis and people are shopping in worse super markets with lower quality food. Personally I blame it on the fact that at everyone’s house I’ve been to for dinner they seem to eat chocolate, natillas & ice cream for dessert on a daily basis!

5) There are homeless people everyone – in my neighbourhood there are at least 10 or 15 people sleeping rough, and various others begging outside of shops and they’re in every single neighbourhood in Madrid as far as I can tell.

6) Long working hours - apparently the Spanish work an average of 2 hours longer per day than their European counterparts but as far as I can see they’re also the least productive. The working day seem to consist of arriving, getting a cup of coffee, having a chat, working for 30 mins then having a breakfast break, bit of work, smoking break, one more hour then home for over an hour & a half for lunch, followed by an afternoon drinking coffee. And they wonder why their economy is so bad..

7) Football – the Spanish are obsessed with football! They have 4 dedicated national football newspapers including the best selling paper MARCA & in almost every bar you go to their will be someone talking about football & there are kids playing in the street wherever you go. They also play really well in general although they are incapable of dealing with a nice hefty English style long ball..I scored 5 goals last game all in this way!

8) Awful TV – apparently British TV is known all around the world as being pretty bad but it’s nothing compared to the rubbish they put on here. They’re obsessed with Question Time style round table debates but being Spanish they all just end up shouting over each other and there’s no David Dimbleby equivalent to keep the peace! They also have TV shows which last hours discussing reality shows like Big Brother. Imagine Big Brothers Little Brother but lasting the whole evening. Spanish soap operas make Home and Away look like a Spielberg production. Their comedy shows are like our comedy shows except with all the funny bits taken out. Their adverts are like something from the 80's. Their most famous late night TV show is “La Hormiga"(The Ant) which is a puppet conducting interviews & they have women commentating no the football which wouldn't be bad if those women actually knew anything about football, which they don't. I think the only criteria for them getting the job is that they are skinny, attractive & willing to wear very tight clothes.

9) Rubbish collection – rubbish is collected on a daily basis..sound good, right? Not when they do it 1am in the morning..who ever came up with that bright idea deserves to be shot..which wouldn't surprise me seeing the amount of extremists there are here.

10) It stinks – Madrid is the worst smelling city I’ve ever been in. The drains smell, there’s dog poo everywhere, and the wheely bins on every street stink. Everyone told me it was because of the rain, then it rained, and it still smelt. Conclusion: the Spanish smell.

11) Public Transport is AWESOME. Cheap, clean, on time and an extensive network of trains & buses (which never break down) and a great metro system which costs around 80p a journey if you buy a 10 pass ticket. England should really use it as an example.

12) Spanish people have the curious ability to be able to speak for a long time, without actually saying anything at all. The first minute of a story can go something like “oye, pues a ver, es que, sabes lo que pasa? Joe tronk, ya ves..me refiero..lo que quiero decirte es queeeee joe sabes tia, a ver. Pues nada ya te digo..yo que se..” all they’ve really said is "I’m going to tell you something" yet they spend a minute telling you that.

13) And finally if you don’t speak Spanish don’t go to parties here! You just end up getting left with the guy that speaks English on the basis that well, he can speak English! He also tends to be the weird guy at the party that no-one else wants to speak to hence why they’re happy to leave him with you, and he can only speak English because he spends his time alone in his room studying English leaving you with the English language as the only topic of conversation..

Note: I actually love living in this country!!!!