The Strongest Political Instrument

"The spirit of our people in general is adverse to State monopoly, and this for the obvious reason that such an absorption of control would mean the end of freedom and initiative. The same consequence is sure to follow when the State attempts to monopolize education; and the disaster will be much greater inasmuch as it will affect, not simply the worldly interests of the citizen, but also his spiritual growth and salvation."

-James Cardinal Gibbons, 1919




Introduction:

State-run education is the "strongest political instrument of our time." During the twentieth century it has demonstrated that it has the power to make culture into its own image. Without exaggeration, public, State-run education in America has evolved into an powerful machine, one that is based on a socialistic model. Is it any wonder that more and more politicians and media-types are now unapologetically in favor of Socialism? "My individual salvation always depends on our collective salvation" Take, for instance, MSNBC News Anchor Lawrence O'Donnell. He said, "...I am not a progressive. I am not a liberal who is so afraid of the word that I had to change my name to progressive. Liberals amuse me. I am a socialist." Anita Dunn, former Social Communications Director of the Obama administration, referred to Mao Tse-tung, former Communist leader of China, as one of her two “favorite political philosophers.” And Jesse Jackson took his admiration for the Cuban dictator a step further: “Viva Fidel! Viva Che! Castro is the most honest and courageous politician I've ever met." They are coming out of the closet. And why not? Our school system is pumping by the year students who feel entitled to government handouts and who are, furthermore, increasingly favoring Socialism, if not by name, certainly in principle.

As to the socialistic model of public education, for the most part, competition between schools does not exist. Most parents have no choice but to send their children to the nearest public school. State funds inevitably leads to State standards and no one elses. And the exclusion of choices and ideas is but a natural outcome of its governmental standards.

For instance, public education, since the early 1960's, has grown hostile towards Christianity, constitutional principles, and towards the family itself. Yet relatively few people give this State sponsored discrimination the attention that it deserves.

If truth be told, politics and the ballot box is where most conservatives- and even most Christians -focus their attention for change. And for that reason, much our energy is invested in congressional, gubernatorial and presidential elections. However, political victories which lend themselves to the restoration of America are short lived so long as the State has a monopoly on education. The political winds which blow through Washington, D.C. are even more uncertain today because few and fewer U.S. citizens are being trained and formed by Christian principles which have alway brought about greater stability.


Survivals and New Arrivals:
In 1929 Hilaire Belloc wrote a book entitled Survivals and New Arrivals. Belloc provides an analysis on Catholicism and the emerging threats to Western Civilization. One of those threats is what he called "Compulsory Universal Instruction." To Americans, it is better known as public or State-run education. In any case, he briefly outlines why this kind of education undermines the family, democracy and the Christian religion. He said, "The inevitable conflict between the Catholic and the non-Catholic conceptions of human nature, life and destiny, cannot but make the elementary school their battlefield."


Three Points on Education and Faith:

There are three decisive points which Belloc brings to our attention. Each one illustrates why Christians and conservatives alike should introduce a national debate on the lethal effects a State-run education has on a free society.

1. To begin with, Belloc addressed the priority parents have over the State. He said, "The State is secondary to the family, and especially in the matter of forming a child's character by education. Now here the State of today flatly contradicts Catholic doctrine. It says to the parent, 'What you will for your child must yield to what I will. If our wills are coincident, well and good. If not, yours must suffer. I am master.' At least, so the State speaks to the poorer parent; to the richer it is more polite."

Now, the necessity of parents being the primary educator of children is perfectly consistent with the Second Vatican Council's document, Declaration On Christian Education, which says, "Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators."

Belloc's prophetic statement that the public school system sees itself as a "master" is no exaggeration. Public educators in the twenty-first century, especially when dealing with sensitive subjects like sex-ed, have been guilty of a superiority complex. Indeed, throughout the America, they have shown a disregard for parental rights and have put them in uncomfortable situations by having their children opt out of certain sex-ed programs. Moreover, even though parents pay their fair share into the public school system, they have very few choices when their local elementary or high school fails their children academically.

Again, it has been a long standing teaching of the Church that the State is the servant of the family. Fathers and mothers, not public school teachers and administrators, are the primary educators of their children. Their authority over their own children in terms of education is second only to God. However, the State, as it exists today- in practice and in theory -no longer sees itself as the guarantor of parental authority but rather as its rival. This general philosophy is not only problematic in terms of parental choice and rights, but it has insidiously shaped the way children see the world. Elementary school children of today will be the policy makers of tomorrow. The question is: Do we expect them to have any appreciation of the natural law or of God's rights? One such law is that the family precedes the State and for that reason "the State is secondary to the family." This is a fundamental pillar to Western Civilization. Without it, it ceases to be free and prosperous.

Although most parents have not consciously surrendered their authority and rights over their children to the State, the Federal government, nevertheless, operates as though they did. The posture public education has assumed towards the family has left a deep impression upon the psyche of Americans. And with this, we are led to Belloc's second point.

2. In Survivals and New Arrivals, Hilaire Belloc made a valuable contribution in that he speaks to the importance of, not just the content being taught, but the emphasis given to topics and issues. For instance, he said, "For the most part what is not emphasized is not believed to exist. Often, from its unfamiliarity, that which is a stranger to education in childhood, is thought incredible [lacking credibility] by the grown man." It is not just the raw content we are concerned with in public education but also the order and emphasis to which certain topics are given. It is the latter which significantly shapes how we perceive the world.

Belloc elaborates on this point further. This truth, I might add, few take into consideration when considering the power State-run education has wielded over the minds of children. He said, "Truth lies in proportion. It is proportion which differentiates a caress from a blow, a sneer from a smile. It is the sequence and the relative weight of doctrines, not the bald statement, that makes the contrast between what damns and what saves. Let a child experience through the working day and through most days of the year that this or that is emphasized in its teaching, and what is so emphasized becomes, for it, and for all its life, the essential."

One could argue that as recent as 30-40 years ago public schools gave a high priority to the fundamentals of learning such as reading, writing and arithmetic. Today, however, such a claim lacks credibility. Poor academic performance and a high rate of high school dropout certainly does not plague all public schools, but it is widespread enough to be a cause for alarm. In any case, what has replaced the basics of learning as a matter of the highest importance in public education is a curriculum marked by political correctness. To be sure, high school and even elementary school students are more likely to be taught about gay rights, the proper use of contraception, environmentalism, anti-colonialist propaganda, and the evils of capitalism than they are about the truth of Christianity, the Constitution, the free market and democracy. To add insult to injury, deference to Islam is now being promoted even as discrimination against Christianity continues unabated in many schools.

Even if the content of the lesson plans and books were silent or neutral about the Founding principles of this nation, the mere emphasis and weight given to topics like big government, environmentalism and gay rights etc., has a profound effect on how children see the world. As Belloc said, what is not emphasized in their childhood education will lack credibility in their adulthood. And what is not being emphasized in today's public schools are those principles which lend themselves to a free society. Instead of fostering self-governance or teaching about the principle of subsidiary or the need to look to God for the solution to life's problems, State-run education tends to advance the idea that the answer to any crisis is to be found in politics.

Invariably, what is held out as the ideal model for problem-solving is socialism. Administrators and educators may not call it “Socialism,” but the overall worldview being advanced is one which says that government intervention is the the way to go. Accordingly, State regulations and oversight should be the check and balance against all injustices and inequalities. From this, an entitlement mentality is fostered in the mind of the student. He or she is more likely expect more from others, especially the government, and give less of themselves in their quest to solve problems. Let their be no doubt that this has given birth to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Etienne Gilson, a Catholic philosopher, in 1951 said that the purpose of State-run education, consciously deliberate or not, is the State itself! Weigh his words and determine whether or not his insight has materialized in our nation:

"To the full extent that it educates, the State educates in view of itself…The only conceivable end of a State-owned education is the State itself. States themselves may not know it. They may sincerely believe that nothing is more foreign to their honest intentions; yet, to put it bluntly, the only reason why a State may not want children to be educated in view of God is that it wants them to be educated in view of itself. Totalitarian education does nothing more than go the whole way along the same line. The result is what we know: political, economic, intellectual and spiritual slavery."

The vacuum that Christianity has left behind is a vast one. And in our day, an all-powerful State is in the process of filling that void. If God is not all things to all people, the State will be! But as Pope Benedict XVI said, when politicians seek to do the work of God, it becomes diabolical.

In Survivals and New Arrivals, written in 1929, Hilaire Belloc addressed why public education is the "strongest political instrument of our time." Eighty years later, his insights on State-run education and its power to shape a nation's character speaks directly to America's political challenges today.

3. This takes us to our final point: Belloc maintained that with Christian education's ultimate goal, that being the salvation of the soul, nothing else counts. "It is good to be able to read and write and cast up simple sums; it is better still to know something of the past of one's people, and to have a true idea of the world around one. But these are nothing compared with the Faith." In other words, knowledge and mere intelligence, by themselves, are woefully insufficient in preparing students to become productive citizens of our commonwealth. If the content of learning is not ordained towards noble purposes, such as the good of one's soul or the welfare of the family or the betterment of society at large, then intelligence can become a vice; indeed, it can easily be co-opted for evil purposes.

During the same year Belloc wrote Survivals and New Arrivals (1929), Pope Pius XI published an encyclical entitled, On Christian Education. In it he confirms that the Faith is of the highest importance- not only for the student and his salvation -but for the integrity of education itself. Pius XI said, "There can be no true education which is not wholly directed to man's last end." To be sure, the Gospel upholds God and eternity as being among the most important truths. All other truths, all other subjects, and all other considerations hang on this point. And it is only by having God and eternity on top of the hierarchy of truths that history, science, math, and language can be used for the common good. And as for the individual student, the Catholic Faith has always held that salvation is paramount. Belloc was right, nothing else matters in comparison. As Bishop Fulton Sheen said, "If the soul is not saved, nothing is saved!"

The Revolution of the Cross: What was, still is

Preface:

The following excerpt is taken from The Church of the Apostles and Martyrs by Henri Daniel-Rops. Published in 1948, Catholic historian Daniel-Rops provides some much needed insight as to why Christianity was, and still is, the antidote for any civilization in peril.

His observations- which Christians of the twenty-first century can benefit a great deal from -a zero in on the revolutionary nature of the Cross and how it checked unhealthy tendencies of ancient Roman society while infusing new life into its good but dorment sectors.

What was, still is! That is, the revolutionary force of the Cross, spiritual and moral in its essence, is just as productive and life-giving today as it was in the early years of the Christian era.



The Revolution of the Cross:

"It is an eternal law of history that, in order to pass effectively into deeds, all revolution has need of three fundamental and simultaneously present attributes: a revolutionary situation, a revolutionary doctrine and a revolutionary personnel. In the Empire’s Golden Age outward appearances hardly seemed to favor revolution. But a revolutionary situation is not necessarily a situation in which revolution is on the verge of starting or of being successfully concluded. It merely implies a more or less open questioning of all those moral and social standards by which have become accustomed to live, a crumbling of old values, a change in the balance of forces which go to make up the particular appearance of a society at a certain moment in history. A revolutionary situation can exist even though open revolution is far away…

Christianity was to put forward the revolutionary doctrine for which the ancient world was waiting, simply because, on all of the essential points which were being questioned by the human conscience of the period, on all those matters on which society was soon to be acutely conscious of its own shortcomings, the Gospel offered the valid answers and solutions. The ‘new birth’ attainable through baptism would assure the Christian of the renewal of vital forces which a profound, inevitable transformation of his very being had made impossible for the civilized Roman. Where all the legislative efforts of the emperors to rebuild the bases of sexual and family morality had failed, the Gospel appeal to purity was to prove successful; the crisis affecting the institution of marriage and the birth-rate would be resolved at last.

The Christian attitude towards work placed the subject in an entirely new light by insisting that labor sanctified the individual who performed it. This completely broke with the idleness and sloth of which the classical world was dying, while Christ’s terrifying condemnations of the injustices of wealth and the abuse of mammon sufficed to keep the new Christian society free of that passion for gold which was the pagan world’s most serious disease. To the false universalism of [pagan] Rome, with its extremely limited number of beneficiaries, Christianity was to oppose with the universalism of the Gospel, according to which there are no longer ‘Greeks or Jews,’ slaves and freemen, rich and poor, but only brothers in Jesus Christ…

Thus Christianity not only showed itself to be a revolutionary doctrine; it contained within it an incomparable reserve of strength to sustain the men and women who were to put its principles into practice…

Here we have the third fundamental attribute: Christianity was to possess a revolutionary personnel, that is to say men who were determined to ensure the triumph of their cause, and who made this their sole aim in life…[The Church] was in this decaying world but without being in any way a part of this world. To act effectively in a society is bound to accept a certain detachment and separation from that society, as Christ had taught his followers. He taught them something else besides: the morality of heroism, which asked man to sacrifice himself for the cause in advance, counting his own life as nothing.

The ‘revolutionary personnel’ of the early Christians was to consist of all those countless hosts of martyrs in whom the spirit of sacrifice would be pushed to heights normally unattainable by mere humanity, martyrs who awaited and even desired death from the circus lions or the executioner’s sword in order to declare their faith. Carlyle pointed to the supreme and really revolutionary meaning of this sacrifice, when he wrote that in every age, place and situation it was the hero’s characteristic to return to realities, and to rely on things and not on the appearance of things. In the first few centuries of our era reality no longer meant the Ancient World, ostentatiously strong in its outward appearances, but rotten at its roots; reality meant the new world which was waiting to be born, and whose heralds were the Christians."

Secular-liberalism not an option: Conservatism not enough

Revised and originally posted in 2010:

I fear that Conservatism is having less to say about divorce, homosexuality, cohabitation, and abortion because more and more conservatives are buying into them.

I like Rush Limbaugh as a conservative commentator but even he has drifted away from the talk of social values such as chastity, abortion and homosexuality. For instance, he used to say with regard to chastity, "It works every time you try it." However, he no longer uses this phrase when discussing chastity, rather, he uses it when talking about taxes. In the early 1990's when Magic Johnson went public after he contracted the AIDS virus, that day or the next, Rush gave a great monologue on chastity. Due to the number of requests to replay, he did just that the following day. And who can forget the abortion calls when a caller would call in and a suction sound would come over the airwaves only to terminate his connection with the caller? It was a bold but useful illustration of the evils of abortion.

With some exceptions, Rush has narrowed his conservatism to fiscal policies and national security. Indeed, he is a great defender of the free market, limited government and a robust national security. But like other conservatives, his traditional views on social values have taken a back seat to the issues mentioned above.

I fear this will be a trend within the conservative movement. As many high profile conservatives take a passive role with the issues of divorce, the homosexual lifestyle, abortion, and increasing dangers of demographic collapse (i.e. too few youth and workers to support the elderly population), the contribution conservatism will have in preserving democracy and freedom will be limited.

It must be remembered that a decline in religion and morality always proceeds an oppressive, overreaching government. The Founding Fathers understood well that religion and morality are indispensable supports for political and social structures. But it's not just any religion which gave birth to free institutions and the recognition of human dignity. It was Christianity! Religions are no more equal than political regimes and economic systems. This is something that many high-profile conservatives seemed to have forgotten. If we give lip service to the equality of all religions and do not acclaim Christianity's superiority, we do so at our own peril.

Freedom is a strict discipline and for that reason it has been the exception in world history. It has not fared well outside of Christian civilization. Wherever the Gospel was preached, souls were saved. But we would be mistaken if that were the only thing that was saved. The salvation of the soul translated into civil liberty, political justice, free enterprise, charity, ingenuity and progress.

To this effect, Pope Leo XIII said: "The Catholic Church, that imperishable handiwork of our all-merciful God, has for her immediate and natural purpose the saving of souls and securing our happiness in heaven. Yet, in regard to things temporal, she is the source of benefits as manifold and great as if the chief end of her existence were to ensure the prospering of our earthly life. And, indeed, wherever the Church has set her foot she has straightway changed the face of things, and has tempered the moral tone of the people with a new civilization and with virtues before unknown."

Secular-liberalism is not an option for America but it must be remembered that conservatism is not enough. Right ideas alone will not save our country. Education is insufficient if character and virtue are left unattended. It is one thing to know the truth; it is quite another to live according to that truth. A good society and even a good economy are every bit as much dependent on the good will of individuals as it is on their intelligence.

St. Paul warned the Greeks, who prided themselves on their intellectual heritage, that "my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power." The preaching of the Gospel, the Sacraments and the Mass were the very means that brought Christian civilization to life. It is only by returning to these means that the restoration of American can be secured.

Again, Pope Leo XIII gives the reason why conservatism is not enough to save society: "When a society is perishing, the wholesome advice to give to those who would restore it is to call it to the principles from which it sprang; for the purpose and perfection of an association is to aim at and to attain that for which it is formed, and its efforts should be put in motion and inspired by the end and object which originally gave it being. Hence, to fall away from its primal constitution implies disease; to go back to it, recovery."

Recovery, therefore, involves something more than conservatism. Democracy, liberty, free enterprise and progress did not originate with the Founding Fathers of America but rather with the Apostles, the Fathers of the Church and the great movement known as monasticism (i.e. the movement of monks & monasteries). Their preaching led to the prospering of our earthly life which we now know to be the greatest civilization that ever existed.

To answer the question: Is Conservatism equal to its mission- the mission of saving America? No, it is not. It will have to draw upon something outside of itself, namely "that imperishable handiwork of our all-merciful God."

Given the priestly scandals, the mismanagement of dioceses by some Catholic bishops and the sins of Catholics that have marred the appearance of the Church, we certainly seem to be in no position to save America. Nevertheless, we need to be reminded of something Christopher Dawson, a Catholic historian, wrote decades ago: The City of Man is always weaker than it appears. And as for the City of God? It always is stronger than it appears.

For that reason, there is hope that the Catholic Church will once again be that "city set on a hill" to which Americans will come for the knowledge of the Lord. The closer the United States of America moves towards this city, the greater the chances she will have in being born anew.

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Notes:

1. "Democracy, liberty, free enterprise, and progress did not originate with the Founding Fathers of America but rather with the Apostles, the Fathers of the Church and the great movement known as monasticism (i.e. the movement of monks & monasteries)." The illustration of this truth requires yet another series of posts. Suffice it to say these blessings of Western Civilization can be traced back Catholic medieval culture. Recommended reading: "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization," by Thomas Woods; "The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success," by Rodney Starks; and "Faith and Order: The Reconciliation of Law and Religion," by Harold J. Berman.

2. Perhaps it is a design of Divine Providence that our country was named after the Catholic explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. In some small way this may have foretold the Catholic Church's role in restoring the great nation of America.

3. Cardinal James Gibbons quoting Pope Benedict XV in 1919, shortly after World War I, with regard to the importance of America's role in the world and the role of Catholics in America:

"The world awaits our fulfillment. Pope Benedict himself has declared that our people, 'retaining a most firm hold on the principles of reasonable liberty and of Christian civilization, are destined to have the chief role in the restoration of peace and order on the basis of those same principles, when the violence of these tempestuous days shall have passed.' (Letter to the Hierarchy, April 10, 1919).

Elsewhere in the Pastoral Letter Cardinal Gibbons adds this: "In his name [Pope Benedict XV], and in our own, we greet you, dear brethren, as children of the Holy Catholic Church and as citizens of the Republic on whose preservation the future of humanity so largely depends."

If it be true that America will continue to have a chief role in restoring peace and order in the world, as well as preserving the future of humanity, then it is incumbent on her to draw strength from that immortal institution known as Catholic Church. Only the Catholic Church has outlived every institution, every nation and every civilization that has come into existence over the last two thousand years.

Seven Reasons Why the Roman Empire Fell: What America can learn

Preface: Reposting for new Sky View readers. Originally posted on October 4th, 2011.

"The substitution of the State edict for the individual conscience is always a sure sign of decadence, in every country and in every age. A nation is indeed sick at heart if in order to live decently and to produce children it needs a series of subsidies and rules to enable it to do so…It was no longer for the emperor and his jurists to attempt to restore the healthy foundations of Roman society. Nothing less than a radical change in the very bases of morality itself, and in its effects upon the individual’s mind, would now suffice."

"Inscriptions dating from the first emperor’s reign have been found at several places in Asia Minor. On them we can read sentences like this one: 'Providence sent us Augustus [the Roman emperor], as a Savior, to put an end to war and to regulate all of our affairs; the day of his birth marked the beginning of Good News for the whole world.'"

Henri Daniel-Rops, The Church of the Apostles and Martyrs 1948___________________________________________________________________


Seven Reasons Why the Roman Empire Fell: What America can learn


There are seven reasons (among others) why the Roman Empire fell. The most important of the seven have to do with the break down of religion, morality and the family. Everything else rippled from these three factors.

1. Family disintegration: Bachelors became more highly esteemed than husbands and fathers in society. In the second and third century of the Christian era, it had become a stigma for men to be “tied down” to families. Sexual liberation, especially among men, was lauded.

2. Low birth rate: During the centuries that followed Christ’s ascension into heaven, the Roman Empire had already experienced a precipitous drop in the birth rate. This trend started when Augustus, the Roman emperor, reigned. Even he tried to promulgate incentives for families to have more children; but it was too late. Before Augustus, it wasn’t unusual for couples to have up to twelve children. In the decades that followed, couples, much like today, only had one or two children at the most. Over the centuries, the city of Rome went from a million inhabitants to less than fifty thousand. Depopulation had a devastating affect on both the Roman empire and ancient Greece.

3. Fragmentation of religion: There were so many gods for so many special causes and towns- especially because the Roman religion imported gods from the Hellenistic culture (Greek culture spread throughout the Roman Empire) -that the ancient pagans despaired of having any uniformity. And over the years, they increasingly found it difficult to find meaning in the rituals or even to believe the veracity of their own creeds.

4. Language, literature and art had fallen into disrepair. Like modern art today, Roman art was of poor quality because it was an escape from reality. Latin was badly used and literature became vulgar.

5. Centralization and expansion of government: Take for instance the third century A.D.(200's) Ralph Martin Novak, author of "Christianity and the Roman Empire", provides a sobering statistic of 3rd century Rome which serves as a warning to our U.S. government.

He said, "It is estimated that whereas at the start of the third century A.D. the Roman emperors employed only about 300 to 350 full-time individuals in administering the Empire, by 300 A.D. this number had grown to some 30,000 or 35,000 people. The expense of this vastly increased administrative and military structure was an enormous burden on the people of the Empire, and the burden only grew more oppressive over the course of the fourth century A.D....Rome's efforts to collect the taxes necessary to pay for defense and administration exacerbated the already deep social and economic divisions within the Roman empire."

Because the Roman government so starved agricultural incentives, miles and miles of farmland was left uncultivated and therefore unused.

6. Citizenship became cheap and immigration easy. Barbarians from outside of the Roman Empire had easy access to Roman institutions and they further began to infiltrate the Roman army. Hence, the loyalties among Roman soldiers became divided. Military campaigns had faltered as a result. What is more, Roman culture became vulnerable to fragmentation.

7. The culture of death was alive and well. Consider the following practices which had political, legal and social sanction:

a. Baby exposure: This practice of infanticide, back then called “baby exposure", couples would simply throw unwanted babies away. They would either kill them outright or take them out to the garbage. This was widely practiced. Seneca, a Roman philosopher, said this about killing babies: “We drown even children who at birth are weakly and abnormal. Yet it is not anger, but reason that separates the harmful from the sound.”

b. Gladiator games: Gladiators, slaves and prisoners would be killed in these blood sports for the purpose of entertaining the unemployed mob. Seneca, the same Roman philosopher who approved of infanticide and who was later forced to commit suicide by the Emperor Nero, said this about a gladiator game he saw:

“I come home more greedy, more cruel and inhuman, because I have been among human beings. By chance I attended a midday exhibition, expecting some fun, wit, and relaxation…But it was quite the contrary…These noon fighters are sent out with no armor of any kind; they are exposed to blows at all points, and no one ever strikes in vain…In the morning they throw men to the lions; at noon they throw them to the spectators.”

c. Slavery was prominent and the social subordination of women and children to that of men was protected by law. Not much more needs to be said about that.

These seven factors made the Roman Empire vulnerable to outside foreign forces starting in 410 A.D. St. Augustine witnessed the beginning of its collapse. And for several hundred years the Catholic Church had to pick up the pieces from what was left of pagan Rome and build a new Christian civilization. But it took blood, sweat and tears to do it.

Dr. Phil Jenkins, author of "The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia- and How it Died," wrote the following: "Dechristianization is one of the least studied aspects of Christian history. Partly, the lack of interest in vanishing churches is a matter of practicality, in that dying organizations tend not to produce records of their own extinction." The fact is...if the Church goes down, the nation goes with it. This has been a recurring reality throughout world history.

Perhaps this is why out of 45 goals Communists set out to achieve in 1958, #27 and #28 took direct aim at Christianity. According to Cleon Skousen's book, "The Naked Communist," these two goals read as follows:

#27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch."

#28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

And finally, let us not forget the infamous words of Joseph Stalin, dictator of the Soviet Union:
"America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within."

Unfortunately, the Communists, including Stalin, knew their history well. They knew why Rome fell. If America falls, it will be for the same reasons every other nation, civilization or empire fell; and that reason has everything to do with religion, morality and the family.

Map of Life: The effects of the Spirit’s initiative

The Word of God is that unchangeable yet inexhaustible standard of truth which has served as a reliable map of life for thousands of years. Map of Life is a feature of Sky View where we garner whatever insights or directives Scripture has to offer (if people like it, we'll post this series a couple of times a week). As the saying goes, praying is our way of speaking to God, reading Scripture is God's way of speaking to us. Indeed our relationship with God is a two way street. To take at least 15-30 minutes a day and meditate on the Word of God. It is food for the soul and light for the mind. Slowly but surely, this spiritual exercise is bound to yield its fruit. You will then notice a difference about the way you see God, yourself and the world around you!

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Map of Life: The effects of the Spirit’s initiative


Mark 1:9-12

It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." At once the Spirit drove him out into the desert…


Luke 1:35-40

And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her. During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.


Sky View Comments:

Driving him out to the desert to confront the devil and traveling in haste to serve a relative in need! These two "errands" are the effects of the Spirit’s initiative. To be sure, with the decent of the Spirit on Our Lord in the Gospel of Mark and on Our Lady in the Gospel of Luke, immediate action is taken. And in both cases, risks and challenges await. Nevertheless, when God gives a gift, especially the greatest of His Gifts- the Holy Spirit, He expects a return on it. What is equally true is this: confronting evil and the love of neighbor are inseparably united. That is, by Jesus conquering the Evil One by resisting his temptations in the desert and when the Blessed Virgin’s traveled to her cousin’s Elizabeth house in haste- all this immediately following the decent of the Spirit –a pattern was traced out for all Christians.

If there are two things requiring immediate action- if time is ever the enemy -it is the purging of evil from our midst (cf. I Corinthians 5:13) and meeting the needs of our neighbor. Both are an act of love. Both are the result of the Spirit’s decent. And to be sure, delaying action in both cases can be costly. Yet, sometimes, upon receiving God’s Gift, we delay action for in any number of reasons. Perhaps we count the cost or we tend to take comfort in mere resolutions. In any event, as we can see with Jesus and His Mother, after the Spirit descended there was no time to waste.

You can rest assure there are times when God calls you to a mission there will be little time for preparation. This is to show that we are to rely totally on Him. In fact, it is not uncommon that when God calls us to act an immediate response is needed. Recall when Jesus called upon St. Matthew to follow Him. The Apostle immediately dropped everything, even his profession, so that he could do what he was called to do. And soonthereafter, when a would-be disciple asked Jesus if he could bury his father first, the answer was, in so many words, “no.” Indeed, when the Spirit comes to inspire some deed or undertaking, there may be little time to do what is ordinarily an important duty.

With the decent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus and Mary there was, as we have discussed, immediate action that followed. But there is something else to consider. Some may not think of it this way but preaching the Gospel and giving witness involves, indeed, must include, the exorcism of evil. That’s right! This too is an effect of the Spirit's initiative. Purging evil and the love of neighbor in action are inseparably bound up with one another. The former presupposes the latter. For Jesus, Satan had to be confronted and defeated before he could save people from their sins. The forty days of self-denial and the rebuffing Satan’s temptations was but the first step towards this end.

And as for the Blessed Virgin, traveling to the hills of Judea to visit and serve her cousin, St. Elizabeth, was a hazardous 2-3 day journey. This was no small act of charity; and to be sure, it paid off. Upon Mary’s greeting, the souls of St. Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist were purified from sin by the Holy Spirit. Even without the drama that accompanied Our Lord's contest with the devil, what the Holy Spirit did through the words of Mary resulted in nothing less the evil's defeat. In addition, when little John the Baptist was circumcized, the mouth of St. Zechariah was opened because divine punishment had been remitted. There is little doubt, then, that these two respective missions of Our Lord (in Mark) and Our Lady (in Luke) are closely united.

St. James speaks to both effects of the Spirit's decent in the following passage: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (1:27) We are to be unstained by the world because the Ruler of the World, as Our Lord taught us, is Satan. In any case, if the Life of Christ is to take hold in a soul, community or nation then doing good deeds is insufficient; we must also avoid evil and remove it when necessary. Do we not remove old and chipped away paint before we apply new paint to the house? And do we not uproot weeds before we lay seed to the ground? Yes we do. But in recent decades we have fallen under the illusion that we can do acts of charity- that we can serve the needs of our neighbor and the poor – and that we can win souls to Christ without casting out the devil. Our Lord shows us, to the contrary, that just as evil spirits need to be safeguarded against, so too do unrepentant sinners.

St. John the Apostle, who is known for his emphasis on Christian love, calls attention to this truth in his Second Letter, “Anyone who is so ‘progressive’ as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him in your house or even greet him; for whoever greets him shares in his evil works.” Yet, in his First Letter he said, "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God."(I John 4:7) To refuse admission in our house (i.e. Church) to the unrepentant "progressive" and to love one another are seen today in many Catholic circles as incompatible. But we know the New Testament teaches, in fact, that the purging of evil and the love of neighbor are to be concurrent in any ministry worthy of the name. Indeed, upon His visitations, the Holy Spirit helps us to keep these two things in tension. And just as important, He inspires within us a readiness to do both.

Sanctifying the Moment

"We do not walk out of a theater because the hero is shot in the first act; we give the dramatist credit for having a plot in his mind; so the soul does not walk out on the first act of God's drama of salvation- it is the last act that is to crown the play."

"Every moment brings us more treasures than we can gather. The great value of the Now [the moment], spiritually viewed, is that it carries a message God has directed personally to us."


-Fulton Sheen, Lift Up Your Heart 1952


Preface:

An insight can never make one holy but it can lead to holiness. And if there is any spiritual insight that few people in today's world know about and yet every Saint understood, it is the importance of sanctifying the moment. The problem is that most Christians are not interested in learning about this spiritual truth when times are good. More often than not our interest in this spiritual truth is sparked when we are helpless in a crisis or when we must bring ourselves to make sense of suffering. When life is comfortable and all is well, spiritual wisdom and strength are relaxed. But when our comfortable abode here on earth feels more like a valley of tears, then sanctifying the moment can be the greatest of tutors. Indeed, seeing God's will enfleshed in each moment will not only unveil the greatest secret to peace, joy and stability in everyday living, but it can lead to unshakable fortitude in times of uncertainty and pain.

In his book, Life Up Your Heart, Bishop Fulton Sheen dedicates a chapter to one of the greatest spiritual insights every Saint possessed; and that is the practice of sanctifying the moment. Below are excerpts from that chapter.

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Sanctifying the Moment:

"All unhappiness (when there is no immediate cause for sorrow) comes from an excessive concentration of the past or from an extreme preoccupation with the future...

Each minute has its peculiar duty- regardless of the appearance that minute may take. The Now-moment is the moment of salvation. Each complaint against it is a defeat; each act of resignation to it is a victory. The moment is always an indication to us of God's will. The ways of pleasing Him are made clear to us in several ways: through His commandments, by the events of his Incarnate life in Jesus Christ Our Lord, in the Voice of His Mystical Body, the Church, and in the duties of our state in life. And, in a more particular way, God's will is manifested for us in the Now with all of its attendant circumstances, duties and trials.

The present moment includes some things over which we have control, but it also carries with it difficulties we cannot avoid- such things as business failure, a bad cold, rain on picnic days, an unwelcome visitor, a fallen cake, a buzzer that doesn't work, a fly in the milk, and a boil on the nose the night of the dance. We do not always know why such things as wickedness and setbacks happen to us, for our minds are far too puny to grasp God's plan...

Because God's ways are not our ways- because the salvation of a soul is more important than all material values -because Divine Wisdom can draw good out of evil -the human mind must develop acceptance of the Now, no matter how hard it may be for us to understand its freight of pain. We do not walk out of a theater because the hero is shot in the first act; we give the dramatist credit for having a plot in his mind; so the soul does not walk out on the first act of God's drama of salvation- it is the last act that is to crown the play. The things that happen to us are not always susceptible to our minds' comprehension or wills' conquering; but they are always within the capacity of our Faith to accept and of our wills' submission...

Those who love God do not protest, whatever He may ask of them, nor doubt His kindness when He sends them difficult hours. A sick man takes medicine without asking the physician to justify its bitter taste, because he trusts the doctor's knowledge; so the soul which has sufficient faith accepts all the events of life as gifts from God, in the serene assurance that He knows best.

Every moment brings us more treasures than we can gather. The great value of the Now [the moment], spiritually viewed, is that it carries a message God has directed personally to us. Books, sermons and broadcasts on a religious theme have the appearance of being circular letters, meant for everyone. Sometimes, when such general appeals do appear to have a personal application, the soul gets angry and writes vicious letters to allay its uneasy conscience: excuses can always be found for ignoring the Divine Law. But though moral and spiritual appeals carry God's identical message to all who listen, this is not true of the Now-moment; no one else but I am in exactly these circumstances; no one else has to carry the same burden, whether it be sickness, the death of a loved one, or some other adversity. Nothing is more spiritually tailored to our spiritual needs than the Now-moment; for that reason it is an occasion of knowledge which can come to no one else.

The University of the Moment has been built uniquely for each of us, and in comparison with the revelation of God gives each in it, all other methods of learning are shallow and slow. This wisdom distilled from intimate experience is never forgotten; it becomes part of our character, our merit, our eternity. Those who sanctify the moment and offer it up in union with God's will never become frustrated- never grumble or complain. They overcome all obstacles by making them occasions of prayer and channels of merit. What were constrictions are thus made opportunities for growth. It is the modern pagan who is the victim of circumstance, and not its master. Such a man, having no practical knowledge of God, no trust in His Providence, no assurance of His Love, lacks the shock absorber of Faith and Hope and Love when difficult days come to him. His mind is caught within the princers of the past he regrets or resents and a future he is afraid he cannot control. Being thus squeezed, his nature is in pain.

The one who accepts God's will in all things escapes such frustration by piercing the disguise of outward events to penetrate to their real character as messengers of the God he loves. It is strange how differently we accept a misfortune- or even an insult -when we know who gave it to us...

The swaddling clothes of an Infant hid the Son of God in Bethlehem, and the appearance of bread and wine hides the Reality of Christ dying again on Calvary, in the Mass. This concealment of Himself that God effects with us is operative in His use of the Now to hide His Will beneath the aspect of very simple, everyday things. We live our lives in dependence on such casual, common benefits of as air and water; so Our Lord is pleased to receive from us in return the thousands of unimportant actions and the trifling details that make up our lives- provided that we see, even in our sorrows, "The shade of His Hand outstretched caressingly."

Here is the whole secret of sanctity; the method is available to everyone and deserves particular notice from those who ask: "What can I do?" For many good souls are hungry to do great things for God. They complain that they have no opportunities for heroic virtue, no chance at the apostolate. They would be martyrs; but when a meal is late, or a bus is crowded, when the theater is filled, or the dance postponed, or the bacon overdone, they are upset for the whole day. They miss their opportunities for loving God in the little things He asks of them. Our Lord said, "He who is trustworthy over a little sum is trustworthy over a greater." (Luke 16:10) The Divine Beloved speaks to the soul in a whisper, but because the soul is waiting for a trumpet, it loses His Command. All of us would like to make our own crosses- tailor-made trials. But not many of us welcome the crosses God sends. Yet it is in doing perfectly the little chores He gives that saints find holiness...

On the other hand, to accept the crosses of our state of life because they come from an all-loving God is to have taken the most important step in the reformation of the world, namely, the reformation of the self. Sanctity can be built out of patient endurance of the incessant grumbling of a husband- the almost intolerable nagging of a wife -the bosses habit of smoking a pipe while he dictates -the noise the children make with their soup -the unexpected illness -the failure to find a husband -the inability to get rich. All these can become occasions of merit and be made into prayers if they are borne patiently for the love of the One Who bears so patiently with us, despite our shortcomings, our failures, and our sins. It is not hard to put up with others' foibles when one realizes how much God has to put up with us.

To accept the duty of the moment for God is to touch Eternity, to escape time...The phrase which sanctifies the moment is "Thy Will be done." It was the fiat of our Savior in Gethsemane which initiated our Redemption; it was the fiat of Our Lady which opened the way to the Incarnation. The word cuts all the guys ropes that attach us to the familiar, narrow things we know; it unfurls all our sails to the possibilities of the moment, and it carries along to whatever port God wills. To say and mean "Thy Will be done" is to put an end to all complaining; for whatever the moment brings to us now bears the imprint of the Divine Will.

-Conclusion of chapter will be forthcoming and posted below this one.

Eternity for Skeptics and Unbelievers

Preface:

Eternity for Skeptics and Unbelievers is a longer read than most Sky View posts, but it is my hope that you can read a few paragraphs nevertheless. Whatever you decide to read, perhaps the points that are raised can help you understand a little better the mystery of salvation as it relates to your non-Catholic friends and relatives. And just as important, it may even help you to communicate your faith to them. Fulton Sheen gives some very helpful advice down towards the bottom of the post.

Here are eight essential points about what the Catholic Church teaches with regard to the salvation of skeptics and unbelievers:

I. According to Romans 2, Gentiles or unevangelized people are a law unto themselves; that is, they will be judged by their own conscience on Judgment Day.

II. God speaks to us in two ways: Through our conscience and/or through the prophetic voice of the Catholic Church.

III. Non-Christians and skeptics rely, to an extent, on their inner-voice of conscience. Jesus can still save souls even without them knowing it. As we will see, it is not absolutely necessary to know the Source of our salvation in order to be saved.

IV. To be guilty of sin is to know the right and know the wrong- and then do the wrong. This is how St. James defines sin. Christ is the way, not one way among many, by which souls are saved from sin.

V. Christ is inseparably united to his Church. Through this union the Church is mystically present in all that is good in the world; even outside of her walls.

VI. Even though non-Catholics and even non-Christians can be saved, there is, nevertheless, a distinct disadvantage of not being Catholic.

VII. Advice on how to reach non-Catholics by Fulton Sheen (see below).

VIII. The mystery of God's justice and mercy in a nutshell.

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Romans 2:12-16

“All who sin outside the law will also perish without reference to it, and all who sin under the law will be judged in accordance with it. For it is not those who hear the law who are just in the sight of God; rather, those who observe the law will be justified. For when the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature observe the prescriptions of the law, they are a law for themselves even though they do not have the law. They show that the demands of the law are written in their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even defend them on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge people's hidden works through Christ Jesus.”



I. A Law unto Themselves:

Have you ever wondered about where your unbelieving relative passed on to when he or she died? I mean did you ever speculate as to what awaiting them in eternity? What about the neighbor who just couldn’t bring himself to Catholic Faith just before he passed away? What about him? Is he going to hell? Finally, what happens to people who never had a chance to accept or reject the Gospel such a miscarried or an aborted child or even those people in distant lands? Perhaps you watched a documentary on the History Channel about the Native American Indians of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Did they have an opportunity to be saved before the European explorers reached their shores with the preaching of the Gospel? After all, Christianity makes it clear that salvation is through Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans chapter 2 is an excellent place to begin with all the abovementioned questions. In the passage from Romans 2, St. Paul is making a distinction between those who know God’s law, such as the Jews and the early Christians, and those who do not. As for those who do not, he calls them as “Gentiles.” Notice that there is an unmistakable suggestion that a person can be saved or perish without knowing God’s law. St. Paul says, “All who sin outside the law will also perish without reference to it.” This is to say that a person can go to hell if even if he was never exposed to or learned of God’s law.

But in all fairness, how can that be? Answer: Those who have never benefited from hearing the Gospel or hearing an undistorted version of it will be judged in accordance to the dictates of their conscience. This also means that a person can be saved without reference to the law of God as well. Again, the Apostle said that their conscience, or their conflicting thoughts, will accuse or even defend them when God will judge all people. Yes, for those people of good will who never heard of the Gospel nor had the chance to accept Christ as their savior, their conscience will defend them. Why is that? Because they followed the law of God that was written on their hearts.


II. Conscience and Church:

Just as God can reveal himself either indirectly through the design and beauty of his creation or directly by personally revealing himself, let’s say, in a vision or apparition, he can likewise make his law known through the human conscience or through the prophetic and infallible voice of the Catholic Church.

Our conscience is that inner-voice from God (however faint) or that interior sense of right and wrong. It gives us peace when we do right and guilt when we do wrong. But it has one advantage and one disadvantage: The advantage is that it is immediate; it is always ready to be used. When we are forced to make a moral decision in the moment, obviously we don’t always have time to consult the Catholic Catechism. We must, therefore, in times of uncertainty, use the lights of our conscience. The disadvantage is that our conscience is fallible. It is prone to error because it can be diminished or deadened through sin, emotions or personal bias.

As stated, the prophetic voice of the Catholic Church is infallible. We can always rely on it to be the truth coming from God. Jesus said to his Apostles, the first bishops, that those who hear you hear me and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven etc. But the disadvantage is, as mentioned, that access to the truth of Divine Revelation as taught by the Church is not always immediately available. If a Catholic simply does not know what the Church teaches when faced with a moral dilemma or if a person was never told that premarital sex, cohabitation, contraception or homosexuality was a sin, then he would have to rely on his conscience, however uninformed it might be. But being in the state of ignorance he would be less guilty when he comes to meet God face-to-face. After all, St. James says, “So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin.” (James 4:17) To repeat, being guilty of sin presupposes that you know what the right thing to do is and you know what the wrong thing to do is- and then you do the wrong.


Non-Christians and Skeptics:

Take, for instance, the American Native Indians who never knew Christ. Did they have an opportunity at salvation? St. Paul, as we've seen, would answer in the affirmative. That is, if such an Indian followed his conscience and was a person of good will there was certainly an opportunity for salvation at the moment of death. Taking what St. Paul said in Romans 2 a little deeper, each human being is given a conscience because each human being, when created at the moment of conception, had some contact with God. Pope Benedict calls this the "memory of God." At this defining moment of creation, the Lord impresses his image and likeness upon the soul. Hence, contact is made between God and the soul but unfortunately this impression or memory of God (however direct or indirect it is) fades without the light of the Gospel and sacramental grace. As for the Gentiles or those Indians as a people- they who never knew Christ -may, if not most, filled that spiritual longing for the One True God with false gods. This is how paganism developed over the centuries.

In any case, the way in which Christians truly recover the memory of God’s goodness is through being born-again through the waters of baptism, having faith in Christ and fulfilling his law of love.

Even for those people who, like the recently deceased Christopher Hitchens, were rabidly anti-religious, it possible they may have never known an undiluted version of the Faith or have benefited from (for a long enough period of time) an authentic Christian witness. Perhaps Jesus Christ, as we know Him, was never known to a person like Hitchens (but then again maybe he was). Catholic historian Christopher Dawson, in his book, Religion and the Modern State, puts it this way:

“If the light is hidden, we cannot blame the world outside of ignoring it. It is, of course, possible that men may know Christianity and still reject it, but in the great majority of cases the men who follow the new Secularist ideals of life and regard Christianity as discredited are men who have never known it as a living reality, but have been acquainted with it only at secondhand or in distorted forms.”

So the relative who never went to Church or the neighbor who just couldn’t bring himself to embrace the fullness of the Faith may have been exposed to false and distorted versions of Christianity. Perhaps they had a hard time shaking off an act of transgression committed against them by a Catholic priest or lay person.

Again, to reiterate for the sake of clarity: When St. Paul says that the “Gentiles who do not have the law by nature observe the prescriptions of the law, they are a law for themselves even though they do not have the law,” what he means by this is that their conscience can defend them on Judgment Day. Here is where a lot of Christians get confused. Yes, a person can be saved even though they do not know the Source of their salvation. Just as a miscarried or an aborted baby can be saved without the knowledge of and the faith in Jesus Christ, so too can they be saved who never heard the Gospel or who are ignorant of its truth.


IV. Christ: The Only Way

The Catholic doctrine on the salvation of the unbeliever or skeptic is, in my opinion, the most reasonable of all the Christian explanations. Other Christians might tell you that a person- such as Native American Indians before the Gospel was preached on their lands -will go to hell simply because they did not have faith in Christ...even if some were men and women of good will. However, if God created them knowing that they would never have the opportunity to hear the Gospel and as such, never have the chance to put their faith in Christ, then can this really be counted as justice? I don’t think so. It is like a father making a rule for his child, a rule that was never communicated, only to punish the child for not observing it. If those who have never heard the Gospel automatically go to hell, like some Christian fundamentalists believe, then it seems to me that St. Paul could not say the following: God “wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:4) If God wills everyone to be saved then he must at least provide an opportunity of salvation for every single person he created.

Given this, it is important to remember that all good things- supernatural or natural -come to us in this world through Jesus Christ. But because all good things come from him, they are also destined to return to him as well. Just as rivers flow into the sea, so too does all goodness flow back to him. God the Father even made this promise to his only begotten Son: “You are my son; today I have begotten you. Ask it of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and, as your possession, the ends of the earth." (Psalm 2:7-8)

It can therefore be said that just as every soul longs for its fulfillment in Christ, the whole history of mankind will find its completion in him as well. As then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote in the year 2000, “The Lord is the goal of human history, the focal point of the desires of history and civilization, the centre of mankind, the joy of all hearts, and the fulfilment of all aspirations” (Dominus Iesus, 2000).

Even though the non-Catholic can be saved, even though they who have never known Christ can be saved, and even though God’s grace is mysteriously at work outside the parameters of the Catholic Church, still, this saving and active grace comes from Jesus Christ and his Body, the Church. As St. Paul wrote to St. Timothy: “For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus…” (I Timothy 2:5)


Outside the Church Walls: Grace at Work

You may have heard about the Catholic doctrine which holds that "no one can be saved outside the Catholic Church." Over the years this has been understood and communicated in various ways. To be sure, just as scientist comes to know the laws of nature with more depth over the years, so too does the Church absorb the truth of God’s revelation little by little over the centuries. With that said, this doctrine is still an article of Faith that cannot be changed. It remains binding on the Catholic conscience. But as stated, the understanding of this mystery- while the truth of it remains the same -have developed over the years.

The Church, in union with Christ, is present wherever God's grace is at work. Please keep in mind that the Church does not possess a human soul but a Divine Spirit as her soul. Whereas the soul of any human being is confined within his or her body, the Holy Spirit, as the soul and animating principle of the Church, is present everywhere (i.e. omnipresent). As such, just as the Lord can be present and active outside the visible walls of the Church (i.e. Sacraments, Church Hierarchy, the sanctuary etc.), so too is her soul, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, can be active outsider of her visible body. Why is this important? Because no one is saved, no good is accomplished, and no grace is given- no matter how far they are from being a member of the Church as an institution -without it being in some way connected to the Church.

This is why the Church teaches that “outside of her structure, many elements can be found of sanctification and truth...For the spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church”(Dominus Iesus, 2000). This same document goes even further: “Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full communion with the Catholic Church.” Therefore, it is not just our Lord but the Church too who is mystically present and active wherever good is found outside her visible structure. This is why the Catholic Church recognizes baptisms in Protestant churches or the real presence of the Eucharist in Orthodox churches or the spoken Word (from the Old Testament) in Jewish synagogues. Indeed, all of these elements of goodness and holiness come from (or through) this Christ-Church relationship. And, if we can use the river analogy again, these graces are oriented or programmed, if you will, towards the fullness of Christ which is to be found in the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Charles Journet gave a good example of how Christ touches souls who are near (within the Church) and those who are far (outside the Church). He said, “It thus appears that in the days of His mortal life Jesus acted in two ways: He scattered His graces far and wide, and that is action from a distance; and He communicated them in a more intimate manner to those whom He could touch, and that is action by contact.” For instance, there were times when Jesus touched the person he healed, such as the deaf man, and there were times when he healed people from afar, such as the Centurion's servant. In any event, the two ways in which he healed people during his public ministry signify how he touches souls today. In the Gospels, his "healing touch by contact" foretold the way people would be saved within his Church. On the other hand, when he healed people from afar he foretold, ever so indirectly, how people would be saved outside of his Church. This example given by Cardinal Journet is instructive.


VI. The Disadvantage:

With all that has been said, however, I would be remiss if I gave the impression that all is well and good with unbaptized, unevangelized, or uncatechized souls. Such people are saved only with difficulty. “If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain that objectively speaking they are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation.” ( Dominus Iesus, 2000). It is important to remember that Christ came into this world not only to be known in heaven but also to be known on earth.

A lot of Christians ask, “Well, if you can be saved without faith, then why bother preaching the Gospel at all?” It is a good question but it misses the point. Our Lord did not die on the Cross just so that he could hand out tickets for heaven. For sure, eternal happiness is the most import fruit of his coming. Nevertheless, he desires that fellowship with him be had by people while living in this world. In the absence of the faith, grace, Scripture, the Sacraments and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, life is less happy, less stable and life's demands are much less conducive to one’s salvation. So there is an incentive to reach out to non-Christians even though they still have an opportunity to be saved in their ignorance.


Evangelizing Non-Catholics:

What to do? In other words, how are we to approach an unbelieving relative or skeptical neighbor or a friend who happens to belong to another religion with the Good News? Bishop Fulton Sheen provides a short and concise suggestion. I believe this will be helpful in your quest to win over your loved one to Christ. In his book, Lift Up Your Heart, he said the following:

“First, we should realize that all religions, all sects, all ethical systems have a small or large arc of the circle of truth…Those who know the full truth and reject it are in a special category; we do not discuss the intellectual aspects of truth with them, for that is not where their difficulties lies. But those who are ignorant of the truth or misinformed about it may well be shown how the whole truth completes the portion of it they already have and love. We can always accept the known good as a starting point for the completion of the circle. It is not meet [i.e. advisable] to prove that members of the sects are wrong- for they are partly right –but rather to suggest that they find the truth in its fullness. When a man is hungry, we need not prove to him that he is better off without poisons; we need only give him bread, and he will relish it and gain strength from it. When souls are starving, too, it is unnecessary to discuss wrong notions of Divinity; we need only, by kindness and mercy, bring them the Bread of Truth. Divine Grace will do the rest.”

With that said, we can never be dishonest about error or the differences we might have with people of other persuasions or religions. After all, unity is based on truth. What Bishop Sheen was recommending was precisely the method of evangelization that the Second Vatican Council taught. Evangelization does not have to begin with where Catholics disagree with others. It is probably most effective when we can add to the truths other people hold. As the Church document, Dominus Iesus, says: "Those who obey the promptings of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God's universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary”.

The problem or the snag over these last fifty years has been that many Catholics, in their attempts to reach out to others, have left those difficult Gospel truths behind or failed to mention them. As a result, many who were in search of God or in search of his Church did not benefit from the fullness of Christ that the Church contains within her. This incomplete witness, therefore, has less powerful and less appealing than it could be.

Pope Benedict reminds us that we have to bring Christ and all that he commanded to the table. We cannot wince even from those doctrines which our culture finds offensive. Indeed, if our Lord Jesus was a "Sign of Contradiction," we must be that too if the circumstances require it. Even still, we must go out into the world and "meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth." And as the great evangelist Fulton Sheen pointed out, we can start with those morsels of truth that are in their possession.


VIII. The Mystery in a Nutshell:

The mystery of salvation and how it applies to the skeptic or unbeliever can be summed up as follows: Both God’s justice and his mercy are far beyond what we can comprehend. What we consider to be minor offenses against God may in fact be much greater in reality. After all, our Lord Jesus did say we will have to account for every idle word and pay back every last penny. St. Francis de Sales adds to this by saying, "If we presume his mercy, will provoke his justice."
But it is equally true to say that the slightest spark of repentance from a person who lived a life of evil is enough to make one a candidate for Divine Mercy. We are never to believe- even under the worst conditions -that our sins are greater than God's infinte mercy.

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1. Dominus Iesus. Translation: On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church, by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith 2000

The Spirit of Christ: The author of secret warnings and invitations

Originally posted in June of 2011. Reposted for new readers.

With the upcoming celebration of the Epiphany, that is, the visitation of the Magi, it is good to consider that with the coming of Christ-child, the coming of the Holy Spirit was soon to follow. In fact, a few of the Church Fathers in those early centuries taught that the Magi (three foreign kings)paying homage to the newborn Messiah was a preview of Pentecost.
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"I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts." Ezekiel 36:25-26

Our Lord Jesus knew that the mere observance of His laws and the imitation of His virtues would not be enough for our happiness. Indeed, he knew that a copy of his life would not satisfy the human heart.

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our helper and intimate friend so that we could share in his very life. Through the Holy Spirit, we participate in the same power, the same wisdom and the same love that animated Jesus for thirty-three years. This is why we can say with St. Paul, "For to me life is Christ."

From our Lord’s Incarnation to his Ascension, the Holy Spirit was there with Jesus- sanctifying every thought, word, and deed.

As for us, we are baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Christ. By receiving the same Spirit at baptism, we can live the same life that Christ lived. As such, Jesus raised the moral law to new heights. He said, "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."

In his encyclical, On the Holy Spirit, Pope Leo XIII said the Holy Spirit enters the soul and makes it like unto Himself. And he does this by exciting in our minds secret warnings and invitations. Even more, he inspires in our hearts the sweetness of paternal love. Leo XIII concludes that without the Holy Spirit’s help, there is no progress and no arriving at eternal salvation.

In the affairs of everyday life the Holy Spirit helps us to discern those values that build-up relationships. He helps us to see that sacrifice and self-denial are absolutely necessary for happiness. And He further helps us to see the world as it really is.

As for those laws of Christ that are unpopular and least understood by our culture, his Spirit generously reveals their value to us. What once seemed absurd and confounding in years past, now begins to make sense. We thus realize how important all the teachings of Christ are for our happiness.

Amidst adversity too, the Holy Spirit helps us to keep our eyes fixed on heaven; filling us with hope and putting our life in a better context. Because He is our helper and intimate friend, he can use us in ways we once thought were impossible. And remarkably, it even dawns on us that living the life of a Saint is actually within reach!

St. Cyprian, a Father of Church and a martyr in the third-century, was one such person who thought that the standards of the Christian life were impossible- something that just couldn't be done. That's right! He said that in the darkness of his life he despaired of better things. But he saw something in the lives of the Christians that drew him irresistibly to Divine Love. After he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit went to work.

In a letter to Donatus, St. Cyprian wrote:

"By the agency of the Spirit breathed from heaven, a second birth had restored me to a new man, then, in a wondrous manner, doubtful things at once began to assure themselves to me, hidden things to be revealed, dark things to be enlightened, what before had seemed difficult began to suggest a means of accomplishment, and what had been thought impossible, was capable of being achieved."

What God did for St. Cyprian in the third-century he can do for us in the twenty-first century. We too can live the life of Christ! We too can begin to enjoy eternal happiness; thanks to the Holy Spirit- our helper and intimate friend.

God Gives Back His Spirit

Originally posted in June of 2011. Reposted for new readers.

With the upcoming celebration of the Epiphany, that is, the visitation of the Magi, it is good to consider that with the coming of Christ-child, the coming of the Holy Spirit was soon to follow. In fact, a few of the Church Fathers in those early centuries taught that the Magi (three foreign kings)paying homage to the newborn Messiah was a preview of Pentecost.
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The first Pentecost Sunday, immediately following the Ascension of Our Lord, is when God gave back his Holy Spirit to mankind. You might wonder: when did he take it away?

Believe it or not, the Spirit of God had been missing in action- at least as we come to know it -for hundreds of years prior to the first-century.

In Genesis 6, just prior to the Flood, the Godly descendants of Seth- Seth being the righteous son of Adam and Eve -married into the ungodly race of Cain. The implication of course was that the descendants of Seth no longer valued the true Faith that was handed down to them. After all, they married into an irreligious people; a cursed race.

In response, God withdrew his Spirit. In fact, he said, “My spirit shall not remain in man forever, since he is but flesh.” In a word, God said “I’m out here! I am no longer wanted!”

In the absence of God’s Spirit, the rules of life changed dramatically. Immediately after the Flood in Genesis chapter 9, God spelled out these “new” rules:

-He said that dread and fear would come over the animals; they would now be afraid of man.

-Second, man would go from eating plants to eating animal meat. The harmony between man and the animal kingdom would therefore be disrupted.

-Third, God will now demand a strict accounting from man. For instance, if he kills another human being; he himself shall be killed (Genesis 9:6). An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth will be the measure by which people are measured.

To be sure, from Genesis 9 to Pentecost Sunday an exacting justice will mark God’s dealings with man. Since “man is but flesh” and no longer concerned about the things of the Spirit, he will be judged by God accordingly.

Perhaps this is why God is perceived as being harsh in the Old Testament. Because of man’s rejection of him, God withdrew his Spirit and scaled back his mercy. The unfortunate side effect was that human nature was coarsened. Indeed, man’s heart was hardened. Polygamy, superstition, and human cruelty were universal. And even with his own people, the Lord tolerated (but not endorsed) the polygamous practices of Abraham, Jacob and King David.

But that all changed when, through Christ, God gave back his Holy Spirit. If you read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5-7, you will see that Jesus is not lowering but raising the moral standards.

For instance, he said that not only is adultery was wrong but even lusting after a woman was a serious sin; not only killing is wrong but even being unjustly angry at your neighbor is a moral evil.

Notice that the new law of Christ is not content in condemning bad behavior. Rather, it strikes at the root of the problem by addressing the heart of man, the inner sanctuary where his thoughts originate.

However, to his listeners, the new law that Jesus spells out seemed demanding; if not impossible.

But by the power of the Holy Spirit, observing the new law would not only be possible, it would also be the conditions for a new and abundant life.

The Book of Confidence: Try it!

Whether you are challenged with overwhelming obstacles or just undertaking your daily responsibilities, The of Book of Confidence by Father Thomas de Saint-Laurent draws upon the wisdom of Saints and great thinkers of the Church in order to persuade the reader that God and his plan can be depended on. In fact, the chosen instrument of God to strengthen our confidence in him is adversity. Yes, virtues are tested by its opposite. Hence, confidence in God is tested by those very circumstances which naturally lend themselves to anxiety and uncertainty.

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Excerpts from The Book of Confidence:

Neither the most afflicting temporal misfortunes nor the greatest spiritual difficulties will disturb the peace of the confident soul.

The soul will lean on Him with a certainty that increases in proportion to the degree that she feels herself deprived of human help.

On one of his journeys, Saint Martin fell into the hands of highwaymen. The bandits stripped him and were going to kill him. Suddenly, however, touched by the grace of repentance or moved by a mysterious fear, they turned him loose and, against all expectations, freed him. Later, the illustrious bishop was asked if, during the pressing danger, he had not felt some fear.

"None," he responded. "I knew that as human help became more improbable, the divine intervention was all the more certain."

"Providence," Louis of Granada used to say, "wishes to give the solution to the extraordinary difficulties of life directly, while it leaves to secondary-causes the resolving of ordinary difficulties." But it is always necessary to cry out for divine help.

This is the doctrine taught by St. Francis de Sales: "Providence only delays in coming to our aid in order to excite us to confidence. If our Heavenly Father does not always grant us what we ask, it is because He desires to keep us at His feet and to provide us with an occasion to insist with loving violence in our petitions to Him. He showed this clearly to the two disciples at Emmaus, with whom He did not consent to remain until the close of the day, and even after they had pressed Him."

Therefore, do not be discouraged when the mirage of human assistance fades away. To count on nothing but the help of heaven, is this not already a most high virtue?

Our Lord Jesus says, "Seek, therefore, first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you."

It is not enough for us to skip lightly over this discourse of Our Lord. We must fix our attention on it in order to seek its profound significance and to imbue our souls deeply with its doctrine.

It behooves us, then, not afflict ourselves. We must occupy reasonably with our obligations, not allowing ourselves to be dominated by anguish over the somber prospects of the future, and counting without hesitation on the aid of Divine Providence. The Lord will occupy Himself all the more with our interests when we concern ourselves with His interests.

Mary’s Womb: The Temple of Jesus Christ

Excerpts from the writings of Archbishop William Ullathorne (1806-1889), first Catholic bishop of Birmingham, England.

From the moment of His conception He had already made His oblation, for as St. Paul says: ‘Coming into the world, He said, A body you have fitted to me. Holocausts for sin did not please you. Behold I come. In the head of the book it stands written of me: that I should do your will, O God’ (Heb 10:5-7). And Mary was the most pure temple in which the great High Priest made His offering. There He had first offered up that blood, there He first offered up that flesh, of which He said at a later time: ‘If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you shall have life. As the Father lives in me, and I live by the Father, so he who eats me, the same shall live by me’ (John 6:55-58).

But now it is in a far more intimate and constant way that Jesus lives by Mary, and Mary lives by Jesus. Oh, who can tell that mystery of life? Who can comprehend that union between the two hearts of Jesus and Mary? Everyone can understand how much He has been enriched through the heart of His mother, and how His noblest sentiments have been derived from her. But who can understand how Jesus enriched the heart of Mary in that incomparable union? For, next to that union by which Jesus is God and man in one person, there is no union so intimate as that of a mother with a child. The Saints are his brethren by adoption, but Mary is His mother by nature. They have affinity with Him, but she holds with Him the first degree of a relationship through blood. Her graces, then, are quite another order than that which sanctified the very holiest of Saints…Mary is a summary of all the truths of the Gospel, displays all the graces of her Son, strikes down countless errors, and puts sin, and the author of sin, beneath her stainless feet.

Map of Life: Finish what you began

The Word of God is that unchangeable yet inexhaustible standard of truth which has served as a reliable map of life for thousands of years. Map of Life is a feature of Sky View where we garner whatever insights or directives Scripture has to offer (if people like it, we'll post this series a couple of times a week). As the saying goes, praying is our way of speaking to God, reading Scripture is God's way of speaking to us. Indeed our relationship with God is a two way street. To take at least 15-30 minutes a day and meditate on the Word of God. It is food for the soul and light for the mind. Slowly but surely, this spiritual exercise is bound to yield its fruit. You will then notice a difference about the way you see God, yourself and the world around you!

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Scripture passage: Luke 14:25-33

Great crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and addressed them, "If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.'

Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.


Sky View Comments:

These two parables are desperately needed for the spiritual growth and salvation of the individual Catholic and for the vitality of the Church.

1. As it regards to the individual, our Lord makes it clear that his followers must put him first; not just in theory, but in practice. Possessions, family and even the one's own life must be put at his disposal. Not only is he calling for total fidelity but he says anything short of that would disqualify the person from being his followers. Here, Jesus is saying, in so many words, that he will not accept half measures. This is not to say that he is intolerant of imperfect Christians. Not at all! What he is saying- and dare I say this escapes the pastoral practices of many dioceses and parishes –is that at the very least he wants a full commitment; a resolve to believe all that he commanded, to obey all of this laws and to do one’s best to live his life to the full! If the intention is not there to go the distance, then Jesus is telling us- do not even bother! Oh! You might say, “That is harsh.” But it sounds “harsh” only because we have not taken these firm requirements by our Lord very seriously.

2. What else do these parables mean? After all, he wants all of us, not part of us. When we observe eight or nine out of Ten Commandments God is not benefiting from our total fidelity. St. James reminds us of the following: "For whoever keeps the whole law, but falls short in one particular, has become guilty in respect to all of it." Somehow we lead people to believe that they can believe in "most" of what Christ taught and do "most" of what he commanded. However, conversion means turning towards him and, at the same time, turning away from sin. Christ and the Apostles never emphasized the former without also insisting upon the latter. It begs the question: What has been result of emphasizing conversion to Christ without turning away from sin? Ministries like "Catholics Come Home" have been created to win back scores of fallen away Catholics.

Jesus says do not be like the builder who quits half way through the construction of the tower or the king who wages war with his enemy without the resources to finish. That means half measures will not cut it with him nor has it attracted prospective converts to the Catholic Church.

As a Church, with regard to our pastoral practices, compassion is defined as “accepting people where they are at.” What this usually translates into is accepting half measures; that is, permitting people to participate in the Sacraments knowing full well that they are not resolved to believe all that Christ taught and do all that he commanded. For instance, when when couples are living in mortal sin via cohabitation, many are not required to repent before the Church blesses their marriage. However, it is important to note that from the early Christian period to the 1950’s, this would not have been allowed.

As these two parables apply to the Church, the pastoral practices from the last fifty years have significantly departed from the standards Jesus had insisted on. If being a disciple of Christ is synonymous with being a Catholic in good standing, then admission into the Church and access to the Sacraments ought to reflect our Lord’s teaching on the parable of the Tower and the King at Battle.