Posted on 12/28/2015 8:09:44 AM PST by Salvation
The average person may worry about any number of things: finances; security; strife in the family, community, nation, or world; health; the status of a relationship; how he is perceived by others. These tend to be the sorts of things that cause concern.
What do saints worry about? To provide an answer, let's consider the words of one of our canonized saints. First, here is the context within which the saint spoke.
Napoleon III had surrendered to the Prussians, bringing on the disaster. The Mother General put the sisters at the disposition of the Ministry of War. A field hospital was installed [at the convent for the retreating and battered troops] ... Military uniforms mingled with the black and white silhouettes in the courtyard and corridors of the Motherhouse ... the sick and the wounded were [all about] the convent. Twenty-five novices were sent to communities in the south and the postulants were sent home to their families. The Prussians were coming and all the area was on alert ... Cannons were installed on the inner terrace of the motherhouse and in the novitiate gardens ... On the night of October 24, 1870 ... a strange phenomenon appeared in the sky. The horizon was all ablaze ... you might have thought it was a sea of blood ... [but it was] an aurora borealis ... a very impressive display ... The Prussians were at the borders.
[And here is the question posed to our saint, who was considered by many to be a visionary]:
"The Prussians are at our gates. Don't they inspire you with terror?"
"No."
"So there is nothing to fear then?"
"I fear only bad Catholics."
"Do you fear nothing else?"
"No, nothing."
[Bernadette Speaks. A Life of St. Bernadette Soubirous in Her Own Words, by Fr. Rene Larentin, Pauline Books, pp. 415-416].
Yes, these are the words of St. Bernadette, the visionary of Lourdes. In the midst of great travail, she could only identify the fear of bad Catholics.
Really? You don't fear the enemy troops at the door? The loss of life, limb, or livelihood? The loss of land or political power? All the innumerable sufferings that are sure to come? You only fear bad Catholics?
Such is the likely response to St. Bernadette's terse, succinct reply that she fears only bad Catholics. To the worldly minded, the fear of losing life, limb, or livelihood would far outrank some fear as to whether or not Catholics were attending Mass, saying prayers, or "fumbling beads." To them, a reply like this sounds almost insensitive.
But to the spiritually minded, bad Catholics are something to fear, indeed something more to fear than even suffering and death. Bad Catholics are at extreme risk of losing their eternal salvation. Further, due to their poor example, others are also put at serious risk.
There is nothing more important than our eternal salvation--nothing. Life, limb, livelihood, and keeping body and soul together are nice; but they are temporary things and we are not to love them more than our eternal life. Indeed, we should gladly cast them aside if necessary and leave this vale of tears, this exile, and go home to live with God.
Bad Catholics risk both their own salvation and that of others. Bad Catholics prefer the world and its values to that of Christ and His Kingdom. They will not endure suffering, inconvenience or any difficulty for the Kingdom of God. They will not accept corrections to their worldview, politics, or mindset based on the Faith. They are misled and they mislead others. The truth of the Gospel is not their light or compass; it does not provide their marching orders. They will do whatever is expedient to achieve their worldly goals. The cross is not for them. Rather, pleasure, popularity, and possessions are their focus. As St. Paul says, For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things (Phil 3:18-19).
To some degree, we all suffer the tendency to be bad Catholics. We all sin, fall short, and have some bad priorities. But today there are increasing numbers of bad Catholics who are stubbornly unrepentant about this, instead insisting that the Church and Scriptures should be changed. This is a lamentable and fearful situation both for them and for those they influence.
St. Bernadette was not naïve as she looked to the horizon and saw the looming threat. There is indeed a strong, direct connection between bad faith and war. At the time of St. Bernadette, Catholics and Christians in Europe had been killing each other for centuries. War is but the cumulative effect of sin, the collective rejection of God's commandments and of the call to love God, our neighbor, and our enemy. At times, wars of defense have been and are sadly necessary. But wars among Christians are an especially poignant reminder of the failure to live the faith on innumerable levels.
Whatever the outcome of wars; regardless of who wins conflicts between passing, earthly kingdoms; the battle for eternal salvation through repentance and faith is far more important. It is the true priority of the saints.
What do the saints fear? Bad Catholics. Really? Nothing else? No, nothing.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
The Arch-Pope promotes the unbiblical idea of a separate class of Christians.
His commentaries continue to demonstrate a lack of personal study of the Scriptures. I didn’t realize how bad it was until you began to post them to show us.
Good Catholics will be taken care of by God....either victory in battle or eternal salvation. Winning either way. Suffering is but atonement. Bad Catholics will suffer eternally either way.
Repentance and confession separates the two classes of christians. No one is saved from free will choosing to reject God, nor from being redeemed despite a life of the most terrible of sins. Even Judas was loved and needed only to repent...
"I fear only bad Catholics."O Mary conceived without sin,
"Do you fear nothing else?"
"No, nothing."[Bernadette Speaks. A Life of St. Bernadette Soubirous in Her Own Words, by Fr. Rene Larentin, Pauline Books, pp. 415-416].
St. Bernadette, pray for us.
“Repentance and confession separates the two classes of christians.”
There are not two classes of Christians in Scripture. ALL Christians are referred to as saints.
“Even Judas was loved and needed only to repent...”
I suggest you reread the Scriptures about Judas - prophecy and fulfillment. Judas was never a believer. Never saved. Never a saint.
Rather those in this life are saints in training.
The only thing they are commanded to fear is God.
Church Triumphant — the saints in heaven
Church Militant — we on earth fighting the good fight
Church Suffering — those in Purgatory
Had you heard of these before?
Is purgatory a Biblical concept?
‘Rather those in this life are saints in training.’
Unfortunately, God through the Apostle Paul disagrees with that platitude. HE calls all believers “saints.”
“Church Triumphant — the saints in heaven
Church Militant — we on earth fighting the good fight
Church Suffering — those in Purgatory
“Had you heard of these before?
Yes. Unfortunately, God seems to have missed these descriptions in His Word. How that happened, we’ll never know.
Purgatory... not a thing.
Ecclesiastes tells us what to fear in the last chapter it says something like: ‘Here is the end of the matter, the purpose of man is to fear God and obey his commandments.’ or very near to that.
**Purgatory... not a thing.**
LOL! No it’s a place.
Some of us don’t buy the purgatory thing There are only 2 kinds of Christians Those in glory with Christ and those still here on earth awaiting His call to come home There are Christians of all denominations in both groups There are churchgoers of all denominations in neither group
I fear for what will be in store for my kids. Nothing else. I now God is in control but hate to think of what the world is turning into.
Yes, but only to those that understood what they have read.
**Purgatory... not a thing.**
“LOL! No it’s a place.
Show me where an Apostle ever believed or backs up that with a portion of the NT.
Show me where any believer in NT Scripture ever believes or teaches Purgatory.
Show me anything in Church history before 100 AD that demonstrates a believe in Purgatory - secular writings, Christian writings, art, etc.
Best.
Yup You have to use the magic catholic glasses or magisterium to see it. no thanks Ill stick to what scripture actually says
I supposed that if I were Msgr. Pope, I’d “fear” folks on FR treating me like I were some sort of religion rock star, like they did with Fr. E. and Fr. Corapi, so that when I turned out to be mere human, they’d be all disillusioned and have to look for their next religion rock star. Which they most certainly will. Catholics and non-Catholics alike seem to be prone to this phenomenon.
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