We Are Being Deceived!

To my Catholic brothers and sisters,

We live in a time in which many misconceptions and beliefs have arisen about the truth of our Catholic faith, especially here in the United States.

Concerning SIN and HELL, rest assured these are both still very real!

We don’t seem to hear much about them anymore because they have become unpopular and uncomfortable topics for today’s believers. The Church can only refrain from incorporating teachings on sin and punishment and the remedy for such, as it is found in the sacraments, at the risk of placing many in peril concerning their salvation from eternal damnation!

Jesus has much to say about SIN and HELL in the gospels, all of which has been included in the Magisterial teachings of the Church. All we have to do is take some time away from our televisions, or any one of the many other trivial distractions we engage in, and break out the Catechism of the Catholic Church to learn more about what Christ offers us through His Church!

The bottom line is that you are not free to pick and choose what to believe as truth concerning the teachings of the Church. This is why we as Catholics enjoy one teaching authority, The Magisterium! It is the truth which has endured for the past 2000 years!

We tend to choose to believe and practice only what suits our lifestyles and the rest we discard. Take the Sacrament of Reconciliation for example! Today 75 percent of American Catholics say they don't see the importance of formal confession. That is not what the Catholic Church teaches!

The Church teaches that intentionally missing Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation is a mortal sin, as is sexual relations outside of marriage, as is also the use of artificial means of contraception, yet so many of us commit the sacrilege of receiving Christ in the Eucharist each week in the state of mortal sin rather than confessing and repenting of these sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation!

Please, brothers and sisters, let’s not fall victim to the deceptions concerning our Catholic faith, which Satan continues to so easily and effectively propagate!

I urge you to take some time to learn of the healing and nourishing grace filled power of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist and to practice the faith in accordance with its true teachings!

Peace!

Look, Here is the Messiah! No, There He Is!

Whenever I think of how much Christianity has divided since the time of the Great Schism in the year 1054 to the present time, in which there are now literally thousands of Christian denominations and movements throughout the world, I think of the following words Jesus spoke to the apostles in the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24:23-28 NAB)

23 If anyone says to you then, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it.
24 False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect.
25 Behold, I have told it to you beforehand.
26 So if they say to you, 'He is in the desert,' do not go out there; if they say, 'He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
27 For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

I think of these words also whenever well-meaning Christians, who I'm sure were genuinely concerned about my salvation, have said things to me like, 'why are you still remaining in the Catholic Church, it's a cult based on pagan practices,' or there is no biblical basis concerning the practices and doctrine of the Catholic Church, I immediately focus on the Jesus' words, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is! do not believe it.'

Christ warned in verse 24 of this passage, that false prophets and false messiahs would be able to deceive even the elect. You have to ask yourself the question, how is one so easily deceived? The answer is a lack of genuine knowledge about our faith!

I am not being judgmental here because I have certainly been guilty for many years of not taking the time and putting the effort into learning about my Catholic faith, but how many of us spend tremendous amounts of time to engage in meaningless activities, yet can never find the time or the energy to learn about our faith.

Please! Take the time to learn about your faith and put it into practice. It's been Christ's gift to us for the past 2000 years! When you sincerely seek the truth about it, you'll find it to be a beautiful source of spiritual strength and nourishment that is intended to sustain us until our Savior's return!

Peace!