Posted on 08/27/2010 11:45:13 AM PDT by Hank Kerchief
The ultimate intention of Catholicism is the restoration of the Holy Roman Empire. That has always been the ambition, at least covertly, but now it is being promoted overtly and openly.
The purpose of this article is only to make that intention clear. It is not a criticism of Catholics or Catholicism (unless you happen to think a Catholic dictatorship is not a good thing).
The most important point is to understand that when a Catholic talks about liberty or freedom, it is not individual liberty that is meant, not the freedom to live one's life as a responsible individual with the freedom to believe as one chooses, not the freedom to pursue happiness, not the freedom to produce and keep what one has produced as their property. What Catholicism means by freedom, is freedom to be a Catholic, in obedience to the dictates of Rome.
The Intentions Made Plain
The following is from the book Revolution and Counter-Revolution:
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"B. Catholic Culture and Civilization
"Therefore, the ideal of the Counter-Revolution is to restore and promote Catholic culture and civilization. This theme would not be sufficiently enunciated if it did not contain a definition of what we understand by Catholic culture and Catholic civilization. We realize that the terms civilization and culture are used in many different senses. Obviously, it is not our intention here to take a position on a question of terminology. We limit ourselves to using these words as relatively precise labels to indicate certain realities. We are more concerned with providing a sound idea of these realities than with debating terminology.
"A soul in the state of grace possesses all virtues to a greater or lesser degree. Illuminated by faith, it has the elements to form the only true vision of the universe.
"The fundamental element of Catholic culture is the vision of the universe elaborated according to the doctrine of the Church. This culture includes not only the learning, that is, the possession of the information needed for such an elaboration, but also the analysis and coordination of this information according to Catholic doctrine. This culture is not restricted to the theological, philosophical, or scientific field, but encompasses the breadth of human knowledge; it is reflected in the arts and implies the affirmation of values that permeate all aspects of life.
"Catholic civilization is the structuring of all human relations, of all human institutions, and of the State itself according to the doctrine of the Church.
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Got that? "Catholic civilization is the structuring of all human relations, of all human institutions, and of the State itself according to the doctrine of the Church." The other name for this is called "totalitarianism," the complete rule of every aspect of life.
This book and WEB sites like that where it is found are spreading like wildfire. These people do not believe the hope of America is the restoration of the liberties the founders sought to guarantee, these people believe the only hope for America is Fatima. Really!
In Their Own Words
The following is from the site, "RealCatholicTV." It is a plain call for a "benevolent dictatorship, a Catholic monarch;" their own words. They even suggest that when the "Lord's Payer," is recited, it is just such a Catholic dictatorship that is being prayed for.
[View video in original here or on Youtube. Will not show in FR.]
Two Comments
First, in this country, freedom of speech means that anyone may express any view no matter how much anyone else disagrees with that view, or is offended by it. I totally defend that meaning of freedom of speech.
This is what Catholics believe, and quite frankly, I do not see how any consistent Catholic could disagree with it, though I suspect some may. I have no objection to their promoting those views, because it is what they believe. Quite frankly I am delighted they are expressing them openly. For one thing, it makes it much easier to understand Catholic dialog, and what they mean by the words they use.
Secondly, I think if their views were actually implemented, it would mean the end true freedom, of course, but I do not believe there is any such danger.
The Angel Michael is assigned as the protector of Israel ..when did God change his assignment?
Which christ? When one leans on meditation, "centering ", visions, out of body experiences , they are open the the exact same satanic forces as a pagan is.When you open the door, you do not know who will come it
Many of these "experiences? are extra biblical, so there is nothing to support them as truth from God, except the "feelings" of the one doing it..
Now that’s just a silly question.
And when was “patience” mentioned?
“The Angel Michael is assigned as the protector of Israel..when did God change his assignment?”
This question wouldn’t be necessary with a better understanding of Scripture.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with meditation on the Gospels. It’s an ancient way of praying with Scripture as guide and is called “lectio divina”.
It’s erroneous to categorize all forms of authentic prayer into the template of Eastern mysticism and it’s an error to pontificate about it as if there was truth in doing so.
It helps to keep things simple and clear and not mix apples and ranges..
True prayer is true prayer.
“”Which christ?””
Jesus Christ-There is only one
“”When one leans on meditation, “centering “, visions...””
Again ,you need to understand the difference of meditative Christian prayer and eastern mysticism of non christian.
Here is information from Vatican document
LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON SOME ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION
http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cdfmed.htm
Excerpts..
III. Erroneous Ways Of Praying
8. Even in the first centuries of the Church some incorrect forms of prayer crept in. Some New Testament texts (cf. 1 Jn 4:3; 1 Tim 1:3-7 and 4:3-4) already give hints of their existence. Subsequently, two fundamental deviations came to be identified: Pseudognosticism and Messalianism, both of concern to the Fathers of the Church. There is much to be learned from that experience of primitive Christianity and the reaction of the Fathers which can help in tackling the current problem.
In combating the errors of “pseudognosticism”8 the Fathers affirmed that matter is created by God and as such is not evil. Moreover, they maintained that grace, which always has the Holy Spirit as its source is not a good proper to the soul, but must be sought from God as a gift. Consequently, the illumination or superior knowledge of the Spirit (”gnosis”) does not make Christian faith something superfluous. Finally, for the Fathers, the authentic sign of a superior knowledge, the fruit of prayer, is always Christian love.
9. If the perfection of Christian prayer cannot be evaluated using the sublimity of gnostic knowledge as a basis, neither can it be judged by referring to the experience of the divine, as “Messalianism” proposed.9 These false fourth-century charismatics identified the grace of the Holy Spirit with the psychological experience of his presence in the soul. In opposing them, the Fathers insisted on the fact that the soul’s union with God in prayer is realized in a mysterious way, and in particular through the sacraments of the Church. Moreover, it can even be achieved through experiences of affliction or desolation. Contrary to the view of the Messalians, these are not necessarily a sign that the Spirit has abandoned a soul. Rather, as masters of spirituality have always clearly acknowledged, they may be an authentic participation in the state of abandonment experienced on the cross by our Lord, who always remains the model and mediator of prayer.10. Both of these forms of error continue to be a “temptation for man the sinner.” They incite him to try and overcome the distance separating creature from Creator, as though there ought not to be such a distance; to consider the way of Christ on earth, by which he wishes to lead us to the Father, as something now surpassed; to bring down to the level of natural psychology what has been regarded as pure grace, considering it instead as “superior knowledge” or as “experience.”
Such erroneous forms, having reappeared in history from time to time on the fringes of the Church’s prayer, seem once more to impress many Christians, appealing to them as a kind of remedy, be it psychological or spiritual, or as a quick way of finding God.11
11. However, these forms of error, wherever they arise, “can be diagnosed” very simply. The meditation of the Christian in prayer seeks to grasp the depths of the divine in the salvific works of God in Christ, the Incarnate Word, and in the gift of his Spirit. These divine depths are always revealed to him through the human-earthly dimension. Similar methods of meditation, on the other hand, including those which have their starting-point in the words and deeds of Jesus, try as far as possible to put aside everything that is worldly, sense perceptible or conceptually limited. It is thus an attempt to ascend to or immerse oneself in the sphere of the divine, which, as such, is neither terrestrial, sense-perceptible nor capable of conceptualization.12 This tendency, already present in the religious sentiments of the later Greek period (especially in “Neoplatonism”), is found deep in the religious inspiration of many peoples, no sooner than they become aware of the precarious character of their representations of the divine and of their attempts to draw close to it.
12. With the present diffusion of eastern methods of meditation in the Christian world and in ecclesial communities, we find ourselves faced with a pointed renewal of an attempt, which is not free from dangers and errors, “to fuse Christian meditation with that which is non-Christian.” Proposals in this direction are numerous and radical to a greater or lesser extent. Some use eastern methods solely as a psycho-physical preparation for a truly Christian contemplation; others go further and, using different techniques, try to generate spiritual experiences similar to those described in the writings of certain Catholic mystics.13 Still others do not hesitate to place that absolute without image or concepts, which is proper to Buddhist theory, 14 on the same level as the majesty of God revealed in Christ, which towers above finite reality. To this end, they make use of a “negative theology,” which transcends every affirmation seeking to express what God is, and denies that the things of this world can offer traces of the infinity of God. Thus they propose abandoning not only meditation on the salvific works accomplished in history by the God of the Old and New Covenant, but also the very idea of the One and Triune God, who is Love, in favor of an immersion “in the indeterminate abyss of the divinity.”15 These and similar proposals to harmonize Christian meditation with eastern techniques need to have their contents and methods ever subjected to a thorough-going examination so as to avoid the danger of falling into syncretism.
IV. The Christian Way To Union With God
13. To find the right “way” of prayer, the Christian should consider what has been said earlier regarding the prominent features of the “way of Christ,” whose “food is to do the will of him who sent [him], and to accomplish his work” (Jn 4:34). Jesus lives no more intimate or closer a union with the Father than this, which for him is continually translated into deep prayer. By the will of the Father he is sent to mankind, to sinners. to his very executioners, and he could not be more intimately united to the Father than by obeying his will. This did not in any way prevent him, however, from also retiring to a solitary place during his earthly sojourn to unite himself to the Father and receive from him new strength for his mission in this world. On Mount Tabor, where his union with the Father was manifest, there was called to mind his passion (cf. Lk 9:31), and there was not even a consideration of the possibility of remaining in “three booths” on the Mount of the Transfiguration. Contemplative Christian prayer always leads to love of neighbor, to action and to the acceptance of trials, and precisely because of this it draws one close to God.
14. In order to draw near to that mystery of union with God, which the Greek Fathers called the “divinization” of man, and to grasp accurately the manner in which this is realized, it is necessary in the first place to bear in mind that man is essentially a creature,16 and remains such for eternity, so that an absorbing of the human self into the divine self is never possible, not even in the highest states of grace. However, one must recognize that the human person is created in the “image and likeness” of God, and that the archetype of this image is the Son of God, in whom and through whom we have been created (cf. Col 1:16). This archetype reveals the greatest and most beautiful Christian mystery: from eternity the Son is “other” with respect to the Father and yet, in the Holy Spirit, he is “of the same substance.” Consequently this otherness, far from being an ill, is rather the greatest of goods. There is otherness in God himself, who is one single nature in three Persons, and there is also otherness between God and creatures, who are by nature different. Finally, in the Holy Eucharist, as in the rest of the sacraments—and analogically in his works and in his words—Christ gives himself to us and makes us participate in his divine nature,17 without nevertheless suppressing our created nature, in which he himself shares through his Incarnation.
15. A consideration of these truths together brings the wonderful discovery that all the aspirations which the prayer of other religions expresses are fulfilled in the reality of Christianity beyond all measure, without the personal self or the nature of a creature being dissolved or disappearing into the sea of the Absolute. “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). This profoundly Christian affirmation can reconcile perfect “union” with the “otherness” existing between lover and loved, with eternal exchange and eternal dialogue. God is himself this eternal exchange and we can truly become sharers of Christ, as “adoptive sons” who cry out with the Son in the Holy Spirit, Abba, Father.” In this sense, the Fathers are perfectly correct in speaking of the divinization of man who, having been incorporated into Christ, the Son of God by nature, may by his grace share in the divine nature and become a “son in the Son.” Receiving the Holy Spirit, the Christian glorifies the Father and really shares in the Trinitarian life of God.
If anything,dear RN7, protestant fall into error more often on this topic because of modernists view of Scripture. I know this first hand having devoted 2 full years working with mostly protestants on the dangers of the New Age movement. Catholics have documentation and history to fall back on to guide them
124 "The Word of God, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, is set forth and displays its power in a most wonderful way in the writings of the New Testament"96 which hand on the ultimate truth of God's Revelation. Their central object is Jesus Christ, God's incarnate Son: his acts, teachings, Passion and glorification, and his Church's beginnings under the Spirit's guidance.97
125 The Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures "because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Savior".98
Then we are in accord.
I believe that Legatus has posted the appropriate passages from the Catechism in http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2578704/posts?page=8151#8151. We most certainly do not consider the other portions of Scripture to be extraneous, but rather subordinate to, and explained by, the Gospels. Whereas so many folks here think that the Gospels are best explained by St. Paul.
He directed it to His Father.
Jesus on the cross was fully human. He felt the same pain, suffering and abondment as any other human. He was not yet with His Father.
Fascinating theology. May I ask in what ways you differ in belief from the Trinitarian formula developed through the fourth century?
Perhaps this will silence the furor
Thanks
When Sister Agnes gives instruction to a male, I'll have a point. I've been instructed by Sister Agnes, and since I have fathered six children, I'll use that as proof of being male.
And you are a Bishop?
No, and neither am I a mother. I cannot be so am I second class?
In the meantime women are second class citizens in the Catholic Church.
Does that mean if I cannot bear children I am second class in nature? What in the world are you talking about? I am talking about women!
A woman can be President of the United States. She has equality.
When multistall public bathrooms are unisex, we'll have equality. When boys are forced to sit while urinating, we'll have equality. When the WNBA admits men, we'll have equality. When we eliminate sexism from all athletic, cultural, social or political organizations, we'll have equality. We don't right now - have you posted equally forceful arguments against these entities?
A woman cannot be Pope,or even a Priest, in the Catholic Church. She has been relegated to a secondary status.
I cannot be a nun. Am I relegated to a secondary status?
You're just saying that because it is true.
Not only is it untrue, it is a statement of pure hate. Sad!
The evidence is throughtout this thread, especially over the last week. The statement is simply reflecting current posting.
Substitute the word "Catholic" for "Calvinist" in the above rant and your horde of "defenders" would be flooding the thread with "anti-Catholic", "Hater", "Catholic Hater", and the like.
If the case was that Catholics were posting such things, they would probably be taken to task by me and by certain other Catholics here who understand the ramifications of such postings.
Johns revelation was to close the inspired word of God, it was consistent and supported known revelations.
There is no revelation from God that men are to have the wounds of Christ or to suffer like Christ did on the cross ... as a personal sacrifice.. Christ already paid that debt.. a debt n o man can pay
To say pio did not "seek " it is silly for he certainly wanted the publicity from it..
He was a fake , and Rome knows it, but they are into making whats left of their church happy and "canonizing"the right nationalities, the right ages etc..
"Pio then claimed that Christ popped down for a visit and inflicted the “wounds” on his body on October 22, 1918. This time the wounds were permanent. His followers say he preferred to “suffer in secret” though letters telling people about his wounds survive and the priest allowed pictures of himself to be taken where he appears to be showing off the wounds int he most obvious way possible. He even announced, at one point, “I do want to suffer, even to die of suffering, but all in secret.” Somehow announcing it makes it less than secret, quite the contrary it publicizes the suffering and creates the attention that is being sought.
In 1923 the priest was forbidden to teach the boys at the monastery school because the Vatican considered him a “a noxious Socrates, capable of perverting the fragile lives and souls of boys.” And when he admitted to taking money during confession he was forbidden to hear confession.
http://www.miraclesceptic.com/padrepio.html
I just want to point out there is a difference between Mystics that have some supernatural force (Satan or demons) and fakers.. Pio was a faker
The only 'neighbour' that the Calvinists appear to have is the one that appears in their own mirrors. Since the Calvinist belief is that the mythical elect cannot avoid heaven, and the mythical reprobate cannot avoid hell, then the only point of Calvinistic living to get what they can however they can whenever they can.
It doesn't matter if you sin or don't sin if your course in life is entirely charted - as a matter of fact, if the Reformed God has decreed your every word and deed, then you can sin at will and blame Him for programming you in that fashion.
The only polytheism that I have read about on this thread is what you have published as to your beliefs.
You confuse me with Rome that has only proof texts to support their "doctrine"
On this thread i believe I have given full chapters or series of connecting verses for John 6, the beatitudes, the sheep and the goats ..and I have actually corrected Catholics here by presenting the verse they used by giving the context..
A check will find one of my favorite sayings , the most important thing in reading scripture is Context, context , context..
But what I have found is most Catholics can not understand the context..
Even on the purely literal level (as opposed to moral, allegorical or anagogical), tone and context and purpose must be taken into account for understanding -- unless you're reading something of the "complexity" of The Little Engine That Could.
You mean like "I am tjhe bread of life" or "I give you the keys of the kingdom" or Whos sins you shall forgive?" LOL
If one has discernment and reads the scriptures in context, suddenly the "mystic" Catholic church fades away
You studiously avoid other verses, even one as central in all the history of Christianity as "And the second is like to it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Still waiting for the Calvinist take!)
Do you?
Remembering the gospels are pre New Testament, and still point to the law ..can any man love his neighbor as himself? or like the law it summarizes does it point us to our need for a Savior?
Thank you, Alex.
RC apologists just make things up.
I think your statement knocks out half of the catholic saints
Mat 7:21 ¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
AMEN!
Consider how often RCs tell us the Bible is confusing, contradictory, incomplete and basically unknowable which necessitates its filtration through the rusting sieve of a fallible bunch of old men in Rome.
They need to pick up a Bible and read it for themselves. To trust God to guide them. To trust the Holy Spirit to enlighten their understanding. To trust God alone.
Remembering the gospels are pre New Testament, and still point to the law ...can any man love his neighbor as himself? or like the law it summarizes does it point us to our need for a Savior?
Your simple yet profound question reveals the lie at the heart of Romanism -- legalism saves.
Scripture corrects that lie and clearly teaches that men are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Or how else can sinners by saved?
We are to meditate on the word of God, however Catholic mystics, like their eastern, pantheist brothers,are not meditating on the word of God, but seeking a personal encounter with the "divine" with typical eastern methods
The lie of mysticism is it promises direct access to God and thus denies the need for Jesus Christ, the One Mediator between God and men.
EZ 13:3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
:4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.?
Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
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