The Mark of the Beast

On This Rock ^ | March 26, 2013 | Father John Hollowell

[NYer]

I just want you to know that if this is your sign then you are actively supporting my persecution, torture, imprisonment, etc.  Perhaps you know that already, and perhaps that warms your heart, but I wanted to make sure we're all on the same page here.
 
The French didn't wake up one morning and say "Hey, let's kill tens of thousands of Catholics"...it happened over time.  It was a process.

And HERE...WE...GO.  The volcano, simmering under the surface for so long, showing little eruptions here and there, being forcasted for decades by people with "eyes to see and ears to hear," people who have been pointing out that long ago we stopped using logic and reason, people who've noted words don't mean anything anymore, who've noticed an exponentially growing distaste for Truth, who've noticed that only charisma sways opinions anymore...


Of course nothing can defend homosexual sex.  When homosexual sex is described to people using proper anatomical terms, and when a discussion is had as to the fluids exchanged and so forth, most people are repulsed.

Of course nothing can defend "gay marriage".  The severely flawed argument is:
1) they love each other
2) they aren't hurting you

Of course that "marriage test" could apply to the following
1) a man and his cousin
2) a woman and three other men
3) a man and his daughter

And that is, of course, assuming that we still assume marriage is between PEOPLE (why, you ask, would it still be between people...because "it's ALWAYS been that way" screams the gay marriage activists...but where else have I heard that argument before...oh, I know, it is the same argument for keeping marriage between a man and a woman...)

"Slippery slope argument!!!" screams the liberal arts freshman, fully invigorated from his communications course on logical fallacies.  "Not so", however, because it isn't a slippery slope when there is NO SLOPE.  If Dave can marry Bill, Dave can marry Bill and Steve and Heidi and his cousin.


It is almost a line out of Animal Farm, but the motto in the U.S. is fast becoming "We are intolerant only of the intolerant" and it will soon get very bad indeed for those who are labeled "intolerant."

Interesting that the "=" sign today turned red and went viral because the symbol for the movement was blue with a yellow = before today.  It's as if the "redefining marriage" movement is now out for blood, and I believe they will soon begin seeking to slake their thirst.




The Church will get its act together, but it will be too late.  Priests and bishops will rally together and preach what needs to be preached with renewed vigor and unity, but it will be too late.  And that's okay because any Catholic who has read two minutes of Church history knows that persecution has always cleaned up the Body of Christ like nothing else.

My comfort in this showdown:

1) "If the world hates you know that it hated me first" - Jesus Christ
and
2) "The blood of the martyrs is the seedbed of the Church" - Tertullian

And why not finish it off with a little ditty from Revelation?

"A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice, “Anyone who worships the beast or its image, or accepts its mark on forehead or hand, will also drink the wine of God’s fury poured full strength into the cup of his wrath, and will be tormented in burning sulfur before the holy angels and before the Lamb.  The smoke of the fire that torments them will rise forever and ever, and there will be no relief day or night for those who worship the beast or its image or accept the mark of its name." Here is what sustains the holy ones who keep God’s commandments and their faith in Jesus I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” said the Spirit, “let them find rest from their labors, for their works accompany them.”

Revelation 14:9-12

[Misterioso]

Quit bragging that you know what God is thinking.

[DuncanWaring]

You’re denying the concept of “free will”?

[ottbmare]

The sad part about this is that 99% of our pastors will not have the guts to say squat about this

The even sadder thing is that their fears are justified. Our priest preached the truth about these intrinsically disordered acts--preached in a kind, patient, and eminently logical fashion--and he was hounded from the United States by the homosexuals.

[Misterioso]

It is written that we have free will.

[markomalley]

The even sadder thing is that their fears are justified. Our priest preached the truth about these intrinsically disordered acts--preached in a kind, patient, and eminently logical fashion--and he was hounded from the United States by the homosexuals.

Yup. And I know of many other cases...not just here in this country.

Our "shepherds" are not taking care of their assistants as well as they should, sadly enough. (And that was the primary focus of "pastors" in my earlier post)

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

“...it really saddens me to see Christians being led astray by leaders...”

As in black ‘christians’ voting for Obama...TWICE! There is pure evil in the churches that have lead these black ‘christians’...

Now, not to be one sided in these comments...how in hell does anyone explain Roman Catholic votes for Obama, or for any other Democrat who supports abortion...and the polling data shows that the majority of Catholic votes were for Obama...TWICE! And are majority for Dems who promote abortion and are anti-Constitution.

Flame away...I know my comments are accurate.

[markomalley]

how in hell does anyone explain Roman Catholic votes for Obama, or for any other Democrat who supports abortion...and the polling data shows that the majority of Catholic votes were for Obama...TWICE!

See my comments above. Personally, I think it's a matter of too much happy-clappy Christianity-lite over a period of several decades...and even longer.

Interestingly, Pope Leo XIII wrote a letter to Cardinal Gibbons (the Archbishop of Baltimore) and the rest of the American bishops in 1899. In this letter, he condemned what he called "Americanism". Before you react, please understand that he was not cautioning against being proud of our country or being willing to defend it, but he was condemning the tendency to water down Catholic doctrine in order to "fit in."

The underlying principle of these new opinions is that, in order to more easily attract those who differ from her, the Church should shape her teachings more in accord with the spirit of the age and relax some of her ancient severity and make some concessions to new opinions. Many think that these concessions should be made not only in regard to ways of living, but even in regard to doctrines which belong to the deposit of the faith. They contend that it would be opportune, in order to gain those who differ from us, to omit certain points of her teaching which are of lesser importance, and to tone down the meaning which the Church has always attached to them. It does not need many words, beloved son, to prove the falsity of these ideas if the nature and origin of the doctrine which the Church proposes are recalled to mind.

…

We cannot consider as altogether blameless the silence which purposely leads to the omission or neglect of some of the principles of Christian doctrine, for all the principles come from the same Author and Master, "the Only Begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father."-John i, I8. They are adapted to all times and all nations, as is clearly seen from the words of our Lord to His apostles: "Going, therefore, teach all nations; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all days, even to the end of the world."-Matt. xxviii, 19. Concerning this point the Vatican Council says: "All those things are to be believed with divine and catholic faith which are contained in the Word of God, written or handed down, and which the Church, either by a solemn judgment or by her ordinary and universal magisterium, proposes for belief as having been divinely revealed."-Const. de fide, Chapter iii.

Let it be far from anyone's mind to suppress for any reason any doctrine that has been handed down. Such a policy would tend rather to separate Catholics from the Church than to bring in those who differ. There is nothing closer to our heart than to have those who are separated from the fold of Christ return to it, but in no other way than the way pointed out by Christ.

Note carefully the bolded text in the second paragraph quoted above. He cautioned them then to not be silent on uncomfortable (my interpretation) portions of doctrine...

Sadly, that's what happens too much these days. They talk freely about helping the poor, the stranger, the elderly, and so on. Which is correct...don't get me wrong. But they seem to be uncomfortable about really hammering home principles of individual morality. Sure, they give their obligatory pro-life talk occasionally. And, since this DOMA debate is in the news the past couple of years, they will...on occasion...talk about genuine marriage...but I can't think when the last time I heard one of them really do a barnburner about the evils of homosexuality or about the reality that a contracepting woman should not present herself for communion...or any number of subjects along those lines.

And their silence is leading their sheep astray.

So unlike some of my peers, I don't try to deny reality. And the only excuse I offer is that they have been very poorly catechized throughout their lives and are not being fed ALL the truth.

To the shame of (many of) our pastors, our shepherds, our catechists, and...far too much...Catholic parents.

[DuncanWaring]

Which is what I said in my Post 11.

[Biggirl]

During this week, I would rather use the “+” to mean, it is time to honor the CROSS of Christ.

[Biggirl]

Pray that the new Pope will begin to “plant seeds” of true spiritual renew or springtime of faith.

[Biggirl]

Take confort, we have a new Pope who is starting to plant the seeds of faith that WILL lead to a spring of renewed faith.

[Biggirl]

It is called “free will”.

[DuncanWaring]

That’s right - all people are free to choose right or wrong.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

You mean that once these seeds of faith take root, Catholic voters will no longer support Obama and his kind of evil, will no longer support Pelosi and Biden, the ‘Faithful Catholics’ who take communion with the new Pope while still supporting all kinds of abortion (infanticide)?

[Biggirl]

The begining of a springtime renewel of faith.

[JimRed]

The Health Risks of Gay Sex

HATE SPEECH! HATE SPEECH!

HOMOSEXUAL, because there's nothing GAY about it.