The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

I was meditating on the Fifth Joyful Mystery. As part of this mystery you may meditate on the how "on the third day they find Jesus in the Temple among the Doctors who were astonished at His wisdom."

It struck me that the central message of this part of the story is that Jesus is the source of all truth. That is later expanded, verified and emphasized by Him stating "I am the way, and the truth, and the life."

The Church already teaches this, and it was probably far more obvious to others than myself. I had always, as a child, just thought "oh wow, Jesus was pretty smart for his age."

Hardened Hearts?

It appears the hearts of those in the media, and many of their true believers, have "hardened hearts" - instead of repenting their evil, we see an increase in hatred and calls for violence (against, of course the people they accuse of being violent haters).

It certainly reminds me of the biblical tale of the Pharaoh. How many more upsets will it take? Will they ever be able to repent?

The downward spiral of the left, and their evil purposes, is of course always death and destruction.

We may pray that many hearts will be woken to the reality of God, and that many may repent his sins.

Good Moments Are Eternal

God is eternal, or outside time, with perfect knowledge.

This concept I think we can not really imagine or conceive, because our lives are lived so differently, but it leads to a beautiful conclusion that affects our every waking moment.

The good we do each day,  and that others do to us, or that somehow effects us - even the most minor acts of love - such as holding my son, or kissing my wife, or helping relieve ones burden, even helping sweep the floor are truly eternal and a manifestation of God, or an aspect of Him, in reality. We may say a "small part" but God really had no boundaries in this way and may even be fully manifest in the smallest particle of the Eucharist.

[I had a beautiful dream of receiving the chalice last night, and wanting to make sure even the smallest drop was drank, and trying to get every last drop but it seemed I could never fully drain it, yet it gave me such great joy and I knew He was in even the smallest drop.]

To us living time-bound each moment seems instantly lost, each good thing always behind us. This may help us in our task of continuing to manifest God, to create beauty, to do good, to share the truth - as each new moment is created. It is like a painters canvas on which we may work.

But God is not time-bound, and he knows all, and he knows this all outside time, that is - in eternity. He knows all things in perfection, so perfect that they truly exist. He knows Himself so that it created the Son, and so loved the Son it manifests the Holy Spirit, and this Trinity bound by love of infinite power and greatness and joy beyond our conception - God loves us with this Love and sustains our very lives each moment with this Love.

So all those good things, all those even seemingly mundane and silly things, like children playing, and singing songs, and hugging are truly eternal as God is - truly existing in the eternity of eternities - world without end - is now and ever shall be.

Because we know too that God is all good, all truth, all beauty, each good moment and thing is also manifesting God in the present, in the now we can feel, and taste, and head, in the very present.

So when we fill our lives with the good we are filling our lives with the things that are eternal, moments that will eternally be really present in God and Heaven, and really bringing God Himself into our lives and others, making Him really present in what seems like "a small part" to us, though He may really and fully be present, though we may not or can not fully perceive it.

(I wrote this quickly after praying to God for an answer on whether these good things and moments were eternal, after hugging my son, because it seemed to me unbearably tragic were they not! So each Christmas the joy we manifest may be in part the same real joy that existed on the actual birth day of Christ so many years ago.)

Primary Motivation in Becoming Christian?

I think the primary motivations in becoming Christian should be:

1. Because it's true.
2. Because it brings great joy.
3. Because it gives our lives meaning.

Perhaps too short, or missing - but, indeed, Christianity is the most joyous religion, with the most good news possible. It is, in the face of a world clearly imperfect and with many suffering people, the happiest, best news we can imagine. 

In fact, we know it is greater than we can imagine - surpassing our best hopes and dreams.

The Saviour commands us to love God with everything, and we start by imagining or understanding God as He is - the most loving, caring Father possible, overflowing with joy and happiness and the infinite beauty of Himself and creation that He desires to share with us.

To participate we, ultimately, only have to let-go of the darkness in our lives, the falsehoods, errors, and flaws that somehow bind us and are destructive to creation and joy. We need to repent those things and seek God, to love Him.

The threat of great suffering is real, as we should know even now from sufferings in-this-life, but the greatest will be the loss of that relationship, and joy with God - He is infinite, and eternal, and the sufferings of that loss from a Heavenly perspective are of a greater pain, a greater loss to God's creation, and so worse than we can possibly imagine now (just as the joys are also beyond our happiest imaginings and dreams).

God Wills That None Are Lost

Some "Internet Catholics" say most are condemned to eternal torment (except, perhaps, readers of the blog?)

https://stevensperay.wordpress.com/the-fewness-of-the-saved-most-christians-go-to-hell/


Yet how can you hold that view without undermining the Mercy and Charity of God - and the efficacy of the Son of God's eternal sacrifice?

2 Peter 3:9New International Version (NIV) 

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

1 Timothy 2:3-4New International Version (NIV) 

3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be savedand to come to a knowledge of the truth. 

John 3:16-17New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 

17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 

Everyone's a Heretic

My first tongue-in-cheek title.

The real problem I've had in starting out a Catholic is that I find my own beliefs and understandings of Church doctrine are quickly called heretical by other internet Catholics, and that for those who profess that "Church teachings are very clear and consistent" appear to enjoy using that to try and bludgeon others into accepting their system - I think there is great pride for some in being the biggest "I am the most correctist person" and pointing out everyone else's heresies for them.

--

Bonald writes that the Pope's apparently heretical statements have made him doubt the trustworthiness of all the Pope's statements and writings.

David responds that we must be "subject to the Roman Pontiff" or we're going to Hell, presumably because otherwise we're heretics.

George says out the SSPX has left the church because the "Vatican II" council contains statements that or in error, or tending towards heresy, while liberals within the church accuse the SSPX of being schismatic and potentially facing the same punishment as heretics for not being directly obedient to the current Pontiff (and his apparent heretical beliefs?)

David responds that George's understanding of the Vatican II teachings (that non-Catholics belief systems can lead to salvation) are wrong and the teachings are consistent, and that George is preaching heresy by believing his interpretation of those teachings.

Olaus concludes by accusing Bonald of being heretical traditionalist, and furthermore daring to preach the heresy of Fideism.

--

I asked my local conservative Priest (I think the most, or one of the most, conservative in our parish) about what it-all-means. He explained that, indeed, non-Catholics may obtain salvation and that we should hope for it - though the Catholic church is the only true path and church established by God.

The last part sounds about right, but I'm not so sure about the first (though I'd like to believe it). At least he's not quite as heretical as the Pope, but I fear the internet might still condemn him as a heretic for not condemning all non-Catholics to Hell.

It's good to know that we as Catholics can at least figure it all out (?) even when the Pope's statements are especially hard to interpret in light of previous statements - because they're not really heretical or you're a heretic for thinking so. (I'm pretty sure Bonald's commenters have also pointed out that's a heresy too though.)

The Essential Problem of Catholicism

The essential problem of the Catholic church today is a failure to adapt to certain circumstances, and adaption attempts that have lead to more evil than good.

Traditional Catholics recognize the failings of the "Vatican II" adaptations, and would like to simply return to a pre-1960s church. Liberal Catholics want to ignore history and rewrite the doctrine of the church to be largely secular and modern. Conservative Catholics are attempting to make an apparent continuity between the traditional church and the broken and erred modernism introduced into the church with the reforms.

The specific problem is the transition of modern society from hierarchical to its present corrupted democracy. The church for centuries functioned by direct control largely via rulers, and directed a whole Catholic culture and society. It has now for many years been attempting to reassert and prove this authority (e.g. Papal infallibility) in the face of radical changes, yet has continued to fail holding onto a Catholic society and Christian populace as Protestantism fractures into further segments and the rulers and propagated culture of society itself has become anti-Christian.

The church attempted to "adapt" to this, which was an analysis of a legitimate problem, by attempting to adapt secular values - which as mentioned are largely anti-Christian. Yet at the same time the real problem persisted of a completely authoritarian church, used to ruling through secular and political ties to a large extent, completely losing those ties.

The reality is we can no longer rely on the top-down conversion of political rulers, who are in the sway of evil, but must rely on a mass, individual, personal Christianity that is made real and revealed on the individual level. We must return to a more apostolic Christianity which relied on individual conversion and experience of the Holy Spirit - direct insight and individual confirmation of the reality and truth of Jesus and Christianity.