The Unforgivable Sin

Jesus Christ tells us that there is only one sin that you can commit that God can not forgive. That sin, would be blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. But, don't take my word for it, take Jesus':

"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." Matthew 12:30-32.

And...

"Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." Mark 3:28-29.

I know what you're thinking, Jesus came to:

Here's where it gets interesting. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is when we choose not to ask for forgiveness. Simple, that's the unforgivable sin, not being sorry for our sins.

Jesus did come to forgive all sins, but, you have to want to be forgiven, you have to ask Jesus to forgive you.  You have to say you are sorry. You need to go to confession! That is why Jesus instituted it in John 21:22-23.

What if you aren't sorry? Has there been a time where you have committed a sin that you aren't sorry for? I'd imagine the answer is yes, as we all sometimes do something we aren't sorry for. But, are you sorry for not being sorry? This can be forgiven. You would confess that you 1. Did X, 2. Are not sorry for it and want to be sorry, and wah lah. Forgiven!

A common theme of mine is confession, in case you haven't noticed. That is because it is an important aspect of the Catholic faith. You need confession if you want to make it to Heaven. We are obligated as Catholics to go at minimum once a year. Confess all of your sins. If you haven't gone in a while, tell Father, and he will walk you through it. On top of that, Father can't tell anybody your sins. Its called the "Seal of the Confessional". Even if the police come knocking on Father's door after you have left, he can not say a word, otherwise, he is stripped of his priestly functions. Its kind of a big deal.

I want everyone to have the ability to make it to Heaven, and only Jesus Christ can allow you entrance. Ideally, I also want you to choose to go to Heaven as it is a choice to go there. Hopefully you want to go to Heaven and are constantly challenging yourself to become a better person.

Jesus instituted the Catholic Church upon Saint Peter. Jesus tells us that there is no way to the Father but through Him. Either Jesus is a liar, Jesus is loony, or Jesus is telling us the truth. Since the first two options make no sense, than the third option is the most plausible.

Pray for all of your friends, family, co-workers and well, everybody that you know. On top of that, preach the Gospel to them.

Denial of Communion Part Two

Well, I received a response from Father on denying me communion for kneeling.

I was pleasantly surprised that it came in, I honestly wasn't expecting a response so quickly. In fact, I was expecting to go the two months that I gave him and would have to just let his Bishop know what was going on.

Unfortunately, his response will lead me to write his Bishop. Even though Father was very polite and thoughtful, he disagreed with me on my main point, and I am now contemplating my next steps.

I've decided not to post the response that he gave me, mostly due to privacy and in trusting that Father did not think that I would post this on the internet for many people to complain about. If at some point in the future, publishing the letter is necessary, then I will post it at that time.

A few points that he did make that I have some qualm over and I will address them here:

1. He mentioned that he does not deny communion to those kneeling, but rather, invites them to stand and informs them. This did not occur to me. What he said to me when I knelt was "No. You have to stand." This is not an "invitation" to stand, this is a command. Also, the "no" that he gave me was an explicit denial. I did not feel that it was polite, but, out of charity's sake, I will give Father the benefit of the doubt that he was having a bad day (it was after all Palm Sunday and he may have been stressed out).

2. He explicitly called the Mass "the Mass of Paul VI". This bothers me as I've never heard the Novus Ordo Mass called this. Again, this seems like poor implementation of Vatican II. It makes it sound like its "this specific Pope's Mass" and not that of the Church. The Novus Ordo is the Catholic Church's Mass just as much as the Latin Mass is that of the Church.

3. The main point I was making, that he should not have denied, was to some extent largely ignored, I felt. I might have been too charitable in my letter to him as I did say "you requested that I stand" and he took this as he was asking. Regardless, if you look at the points I made, we are able to kneel and the documents imply that kneeling is the optimal position (since they explicitly make a big deal on how communion in the hand needs to be done with scrutiny and if suspicion occurs to not do by hand, what does this imply?)

4. He mentions the GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal) and mentions that he is in complete compliance with this document. Based on the wording of this document, he is, depending on your interpretation, however, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's letter Redemptoris Sacramentum, is not mentioned in Father's response, and on top of that, the Pope's letter has more authority than what a country's bishops have decided what the "norm" is.

I'm pretty certain that I will be writing his Bishop, and I will be posting that letter on here. I just thought I'd let you all know that I did hear from Father. Please if you can, out of charity, pray for him as well as his Bishop.

A New Blog Name

I've been mulling this idea over for quite some time. I have never really been happy with the name of this blog. Frankly, I consider myself a Traditional Roman Catholic and this blog was just my thoughts. Hence...Traditional Roman Catholic Thoughts.

Frankly, I think the name is too long. I'd like something shorter, and cleverer. I'm unsure what the new name would be. On top of that, I want this one to stick, no more jumping around (I believe I've named and renamed this blog several times, so I want to be happy with a new name).

I thought I'd open up suggestions to the readers. I'd hopefully be able to reserve an actual domain name so that instead of going to something even longer (and difficult to remember, such as trcthoughtz (what a crummy name).blogspot(really?).com.

I look forward to hearing what some of you suggest. Remember, this is my blog. If I don't like the name, I don't have to use it.

Denial of Communion Part One

I've been holding off on posting this mainly because, well, to me, its not something that I should be boasting, or blogging about, but, after a bit of reflecting, I thought I could make a decent post about it, and maybe help others who are in a similar position.

On Palm Sunday, my wife and I were out in Wisconsin, within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee visiting a couple of friends of ours. The Mass was just fine, but when I went up to receive communion, kneeling, the priest said out loud in a very audible voice "no, you have to stand". I knew he was wrong, but out of reverence for Christ, I received standing on the tongue.

I started to walk back to my pew, and he stopped me again, and began telling me that in "the Mass of Paul VI, we do not kneel..." I honestly do not know what he said, as I thought it was incredibly rude to do this during communion. Communion time is communion time, not teaching time, considering he could have talked to me after Mass.

Regardless, I know this is a common occurrence for some. I've never been denied before for kneeling. It's kind of sad, really, because at that same time, I was being denied for showing reverence for Christ, meanwhile Pro-Abortion Vice President Joe Biden received from Cardinal Dolan.

I'll be writing a letter to Father, explaining that, no, we are allowed to kneel for communion. I will also let you know if I hear back from him, and what actions I may, or may not be taking. If I get a no response or negative response, I'll be contacting his bishop, and if I get a similar response from the bishop, I will be forwarding this to the Congregation of Divine Worship in the Vatican. Let's hope it doesn't go that far.

Here is the letter. Feel free to use it if you want to.

Dear Father (Last Name),
I would like to thank you very much for the Mass that you said on Palm Sunday. (fill in name of Church) is a very beautiful parish and the artwork was incredible and intricate.

I wanted to write to you in response to what occurred at Communion, however. When I came forward to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, I knelt as I always do. You requested that I stand in order to receive, and then explained why I should not kneel.

I have never before been told that I could not receive kneeling, so I looked into the issue more deeply. 

Here is what I found:

From the GENERAL INSTRUCTION OF THE ROMAN MISSAL (emphasis is mine):

160. The priest then takes the paten or ciborium and goes to the 
communicants, who, as a rule, approach in a procession.
The faithful are not permitted to take the consecrated bread or the sacred 
chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them from one to another. 
The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United
States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy 
Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be 
addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on 
the reasons for this norm.
When receiving Holy Communion, the communicant bows his or her 
head before the Sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives the 
Body of the Lord from the minister. The consecrated host may be 
received either on the tongue or in the hand, at the discretion of each 
communicant. When Holy Communion is received under both kinds, the 
sign of reverence is also made before receiving the Precious Blood.

From REDEMPTORIS SACRAMENTUM (emphasis is mine):

90. “The faithful should receive Communion kneeling or standing, as the 
Conference of Bishops will have determined”, with its acts having 
received the recognitio of the Apostolic See. “However, if they receive 
Communion standing, it is recommended that they give due reverence 
before the reception of the Sacrament, as set forth in the same norms”.

91. In distributing Holy Communion it is to be remembered that “sacred 
ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who seek them in a reasonable manner, are rightly disposed, and are not prohibited by 
law from receiving them”. Hence any baptized Catholic who is not 
prevented by law must be admitted to Holy Communion. Therefore, it is
not licit to deny Holy Communion to any of Christ's faithful solely on
the grounds, for example, that the person wishes to receive the 
Eucharist kneeling or standing.

92. Although each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy 
Communion on the tongue, at his choice, if any communicant should 
wish to receive the Sacrament in the hand, in areas where the Bishops' 
Conference with the recognitio of the Apostolic See has given 
permission, the sacred host is to be administered to him or her. However, 
special care should be taken to ensure that the host is consumed by the 
communicant in the presence of the minister, so that no one goes away 
carrying the Eucharistic species in his hand. If there is a risk of 
profanation, then Holy Communion should not be given in the hand to 
the faithful.

Again, I would like to thank you for your service to the Church and especially the gift you have given of yourself as a priest of Christ.

I would enjoy hearing your thoughts.

God bless,
(Sign Name)
Your Name

This will be dropped in the mail tomorrow. I will let you all know what happens. If anything, pray for Father that his heart be opened.

UPDATE (June 9, 2013):
I have actually received a response from Father at this point. You can view my comments on that here.

Comments on the Supposed "Split" Within The Church

I was asked a good question earlier in the week:

"What is this split between us traditional and the 'liberal' Roman Catholics? The Creed says 'I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church'."

Simply put, what it boils down to is the traditional side being the actual Catholic, since the traditional Catholic is more than likely practicing the faith, according to the Church. The liberal Catholic doesn't want to follow the Church and her teachings. The liberal Catholic is a promoter of heresy.

But, let's look at this some more. Why are traditional Catholics, that is, those Catholics who do follow the Church and her teachings, being labeled as "traditionalist"? Catholics are supposed to follow the Church and her teachings and live those values out, right?

This would mean that the "traditionalist" Catholic, really is just a plain Catholic, that is, a Catholic who goes to Mass weekly, goes to confession as needed, spends time in prayer, is faithful to the Church, etc. Really, when you think of a Buddhist, you think of someone who is a...practicing Buddhist. When you think of a Muslim, you think of someone who is a...practicing Muslim. By this same logic, a Catholic is someone who is a practicing Catholic.

We like to put labels on groups of people to make them seem like they are our allies or our enemies. If "traditionalists" went by just plain Catholics, the threat of potential "liberals" hijacking Catholic to distort it seems greater. Case in point: The National Catholic Reporter (or Distorter (or Schismatic Reporter)). About 99% of the reporting is biased journalism wanting the Church to allow gay "marriage", ordain women, allow priests to marry and the list goes on...and on...and on.

A Catholic, as stated earlier, would be a faithful Catholic. We don't need to add any labels, really, except maybe "unfaithful". You would have Catholics, and unfaithful "catholics", that is, a catholic in name only.

What is interesting with this split, is how the Catholic and the catholic in name only argue with each other. The Catholic is always being told to calm down, listen to the Pope, not be so rash, be open minded, and other such things. Why is it that the Catholic, who already does these things have to constantly re-pledge their obedience to the Church? Meanwhile, the "catholic" never has to do this. They think for themselves, are "allowed to disagree", etc. A perfect example would be the Catholic wants to receive Jesus kneeling, and gets denied (this is "okay") but the "catholic" who is openly pro-abortion can receive Jesus. Denial of communion to the "catholic" would be viewed as a horrendous act. The Catholic would agree with me, but the "catholic" would accuse me of whining. To prove that I am not whining, and am merely opening up dialogue and am quite jolly, here is a picture of me being jolly.

Jolly Jeff

One way to help heal the split, would be to publicly excommunicate those who claim to be catholic from the Church. Now, excommunication is a form of help. It doesn't sound like it is, but here's how.

When someone is excommunicated, they are basically told that they are not in alignment with Church teaching, and are not able to use the sacraments until they have publicly repented and a bishop (normally there's) has lifted the excommunication. This excommunication would force the Catholic in question to reexamine their motives and learn why what they believe is wrong. Excommunication, in essence, is there for the individual to learn from their mistakes, to come to know Christ and His teachings on particular issues. It also let's others know that the individual is not to be trusted in religious matters and is discredited.

This split needs healing immediately. I mentioned in my last post how we need to start re-evangelizing our fellow Catholics. We all need to learn, live and love our faith. With this, we can win people over. Again, Christ is for everyone! Though you need to pray for those as well.

Let's Be Honest, The Church Isn't "1.2 Billion Strong"

I think its high time we stop using the 1.2 Billion number when it comes to talking about how many Catholics there are in the world.

Now, before you start commenting and quit reading, yes, I know, once baptized a Catholic, always technically a Catholic. But, here's the problem.

It all comes down to the numbers. I understand the above logic/theology, it makes sense. When we are baptized, we are permanently marked by the sacrament and this can not be undone. You can't be "unbaptized". Even if you leave the Church and say...convert to Islam. You will still be a "baptized Catholic". And here-in lies the problem.

When we continually pretend that all of these members are practicing Catholics, we do an insult to those that actually practice. Being a Catholic, actually means, practicing the Catholic faith.

We know that in the United States, only 30% of Catholics go to Mass on a regular basis. In Europe, the numbers are much lower (something like 10-15% in the European countries). On top of that, a number of Catholics use contraception, engage in pre-marital sex, and a slew of other sins. I'll be very clear here. These are Catholics that have not repented. The Church teaches that if you die with unrepentant Mortal Sin, you will go to Hell. Jesus teaches this when He mentions the only unforgivable sin is blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. Blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is unrepentant  mortal sin. Jesus can't forgive you if you aren't sorry. Go to confession.

So, if we actually look at the number of Catholics that actually practice their faith and are repentant for their mistakes, the actual number of Catholics is much, much, much lower.

Let's just assume that 10% is our worst case scenario (though, if you've read Matthew Kelly's Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic, it is probably a best case scenario). The Church really only has about a 120 Million.

If we ran a business with the logic that we can claim all of our money that we've ever had, even after we've spent it and given it to our employees, we would be in trouble, big time.

We need to address this problem. The 1.2 Billion number makes it seem like the Church is doing really well, when we know its not. The 120 Million number works better, as it points out how we need to improve. We need to reach out and evangelize those other 1.08 Billion Catholics.

120 million practicing Catholics in the world would be a good starting point of saying how "strong" we are. After all, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi say they are Catholic, yet we know they aren't really. If we each spent time with a fellow Catholic friend, or even a non-Catholic friend (why can't we Evangelize non-Catholics? (I wouldn't be here if my Catholic friend didn't evangelize to me)), taught them what the Church actually believed and got them to practice, we would multiple and be a 1.2 billion members strong. One by one and we will bring everyone to Christ, only one by one.

The Boston Marathon Bombings

As you have probably already heard, there were multiple bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon yesterday.

From what the latest reports are saying, it appears that there are only 3 deaths. All lives lost is a tragedy, and I'm not trying to underscore their deaths, I'm pointing out though, that for it to only be 3, is very fortunate. About 176 people were injured, though, I'm sure this number will rise. Hopefully, with lots of prayer, the injured will stay alive.

Many of these people will have a new life in front of them. Some of these people will not be amputees. I can't imagine what it would be like to one minute be able to walk, and the next have lost a limb. They face a very difficult struggle in the days to come and my prayers will be with them.

I would ask that you add the people to your personal prayer intentions.

The explosion itself was...horrifying to watch. There were many emotions I felt while watching it. Anger, compassion, rage, sadness, hopelessness are just a few. I'll attach a video of a cameraman who was filming at the finish line when it went off. WARNING: It is very graphic, if you are sensitive to this, do not watch. You've been warned.



What amazes me was the swift response by Boston's finest during this mass confusion. I'm also amazed at the volunteer's and many of the bystander's quick response in helping pull the gates off to get to the wounded. This is a perfect example of love and selflessness.

I haven't heard much if they found the guy/gal/group responsible for this yet or not. I hope they do obviously.

Its to be remembered that whoever did do this, needs prayers. Jesus told us specifically to pray for our enemies. It is hard. It is supposed to be. If they ask for forgiveness and repent, it will be given to them. We are all sinners, and its difficult to fathom why God would forgive someone for causing this much destruction, but God's love and mercy extends to all. Jesus died on the Cross for all of us, but it is up to us to ask for it.

Pray for Boston.

Federal Judge Demands FDA Make Morning After Pill Over the Counter

From Fox News:

A federal judge ruled Friday that the morning-after abortion pill known as Plan B must be made available over the counter for women of all ages.
The decision on the controversial subject comes after very lengthy legal battles over who should have access to the pill and at what age.
The Food and Drug Administration had initially decided to allow the emergency pill to be available for young teens. But Health and Human Services Secretary overruled the FDA in late 2011.
The decision Friday by U.S. District Judge Edward Korman ordered the FDA to make the pill available for all ages.

For those of you unaware, the Morning After Pill is basically an abortion in a pill. This is terrible news. Pray that the FDA does not follow this and that an appeal is made.

We have made huge strides in the pro-life circle lately, but, unfortunately, this decision is devestating news. These dangerous drugs are now being allowed to be freely given to girls at any age, without the parents' knowledge or consent.

The pro-choice community's only choice that they will allow is that of death. If you choose to kill a baby in the womb, its okay, but the choice of anything else isn't allowed. Hypocrisy at its finest.

Pray!

Rediscover Your Catholic Faith

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis just wrapped up their "Rediscover Faith" series. They worked closely with Matthew Kelly on this in order to help jump start the faith within the Archdiocese. At Christmas this past year, they gave away copies of "Rediscover Catholicism" (which I reviewed last Summer) to everybody that came to Christmas Mass (since many people want to go to Mass on Christmas).

They've encouraged book study groups to form through each parish (my wife and I started our own through our Young Adult group) and that has been taking off like wildfire, I don't recall the exact number, but if memory does serve me right, there were about 400(?) different groups. This is magnificent.

The Archdiocese sponsored a speaker series in which once a week, every other week, we would all meet at a parish and there would be a presentation of a specific topic within our faith. This was highly successful as we went generally to the largest parish in the Archdiocese, and it literally ended up being standing room only.

I wanted to more or less draw attention to the website that the Archdiocese kicked off. Rediscover-Faith.org is the name of the site and they have a numerous amount of resources to help you learn more about the faith, in a very simple and easy to understand way. They have articles, videos, and even a smart phone app for your Apple or Android phones and tablets. I personally have not used the app yet, as I apparently have too old of a phone. I should be getting a new phone shortly though, and am excited to try it out. It shows all parishes within the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis as well as confession times. It sounds like a great tool to help you in your faith and prayer life too, allowing you to organize and keep track of what you have been doing. Sounds similar to what I've been saying on spiritual discernment, spiritual examination and prayer routine.

The videos range from long to short. The long ones are generally the talk that they gave for the week, so they are about an hour in length. They are well worth the view though. I believe they are downloadable so if you would rather listen you can do that.

I highly recommend going through the site if you can. I am only one man, who works full time and has many other responsibilities. I do my best to update this blog as often as I can, and I think of lots of interesting things to talk about, but, here is a site that goes down to the basics and can probably explain it better than I can. However, I think its important that if you ever have a question about the faith, please, please, please don't hesitate to ask. Leave a comment on pages (I allow anonymous posts (for the time being)). I really do enjoy talking about Jesus and His Holy Catholic Church. So, again, don't be afraid to ask.

God Is Love But Not That Kind of Love

As usual, I'm late to the party on this. Seeing as its Holy Thursday and this news has been going on since Monday. But, in case you didn't know this and like me live under a rock (hey, its nice and cozy and I don't have to worry about nearly as much), California's Proposition 8, which was passed by the citizens of California making homosexual "marriage" illegal, is now up in front of the Supreme Court.

So, as usual in just about anything political that rallies behind the liberal cause, everyone went to Facebook and changed there profile picture to a red equals sign. Because, you know, changing your Facebook profile picture to something actually does something (makes sense right?). Remember the days when people actually made signs and went to their local government center to protest? Oh, that's too hard, let's just change our Facebook picture, because that's pretty much the same thing!

But, in all seriousness, what I'm finding is a new trend. Many people are supporting "marriage equality". This surprises me to a great deal, considering we have people trying to use morality, religion, and in some cases God. You know the old mantra "God is Love"? That means its okay for two people to do whatever they want with each other in the name of "love". This gives a whole new meaning to the song "Stop! In the name of love!"

Let me address the true meaning to how God is love, in the reality and truth of this message.

How is it, that so many Catholics and Christians can be for this? The answer is simple enough. They don't know Christ, they don't care to know Christ and they don't want to know Christ. Why this simple answer? The second you even mention that homosexual behavior (not being homosexual) is sinful, the knee jerk reaction is "Judge not, lest ye be judged!..." This quote from Luke 6:37 when Jesus tells us not to judge is used incorrectly, all the time. Its used as basically a "shut up" card. Unfortunately, they then will tell you that we should let them go about and live there lives, all along ignoring Jesus when he told the woman caught in adultery to "go and sin no more".

Another common misconception you hear is "well...Jesus never spoke about marriage specifically, so really we can do whatever we want!". Wrong. Jesus is very clear in Matthew 19:4-6 “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” (Just a side note, this is also why divorce is not allowed).

On top of this, no one reads the Gospels that speak directly of what Jesus has told us to do (if we are to follow Him, we are to obey Him and do as He says) and uses it to challenge them to grow. When they get to a reading that is too hard or difficult, like those during the Bread of Life discourse in John 6, they walk away saying "this teaching is too difficult, how are we to follow?" So, they create their own interpretation (like Protestants do all the time) and create a God in their own image. Because, you know, heresy is cool!

God is indeed truly love. But love also is having to say 'no' from time to time. If a family member is struggling with drugs or alcohol, would it be loving to say to them "oh, I know this is hurting you, but I am going to let you go ahead because it makes you happy and I don't want to appear to be a bigot, cause you know, God is love!" or is it more loving to say "look, you are causing harm to yourself, you need help". Obviously the latter. (Did I mention I can read minds and some of you are going "but that's not the same!")

It is a good analogy. In both cases, the person is born with a condition. One person is born with homosexual tendencies, the other with a tendency to abuse drugs or alcohol. Just to be fair let's throw in someone who has a tendency to sleep with women left and right. In each scenario, the respective person has been born with a tendency to do something that is not within human nature. The loving thing with each respective individual, is to point out that what they are doing is wrong and they need help to correct this behavior (yes, even the adulterous male). The success for each individual, would be to not engage in their respective unhealthy behavior. For the adulterous man, to stop sleeping with random women and to either A) marry a woman who he can spend the rest of his life with and commit himself to her or B) live single and not engage in adultery. For the druggie/alcoholic, to stop using these. For the man or woman struggling with homosexual tendencies to A) not engage in these acts and live out life single or B) train themselves to think differently.

Now, what happens if the three people mentioned above fail? Does this mean they are useless and horrible people doomed to Hell? Of course not. As Catholics we believe that the Sacrament of Reconciliation should be used often and confession will get you back on track. This is the most loving realization about Catholicism of all. God loves us so much, that He knows that we will occasionally fail and so He granted us confession so that we can be back in good graces with Him.

Finally, I don't think the Supreme Court ruling will be in favor of traditional marriage. I am predicting an over turn of DOMA, and the start of legalization of homosexual "marriage" across the country. One by one, we need to educate our friends and family members about God's Truth, not man's "truth".