Vol 9 Issue 4 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
January 23, 2015 ~ St Emerantia

1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (52)
2. Septuagesima Sunday
3. Saint Timothy
4. Christ in the Home (27)
5. Articles and notices

Dear Reader:

As the public is entertained by the media by making sport of Donald Trump (who I would hope is not playing their tune—yet wonder why he allows it), the implementation on the various levels of government of depriving children protection from perverts and psychologically deranged sociopaths has been seen by demanding schools allow boys to use the little girls’ bathroom and, if there are any curious girls they can see what goes on in the boys’ bathroom. Unfortunately parents have been conditioned to “tolerate” the intolerable and still send their children there to be morally poisoned.

Yet, those who believe they are Catholic have also been conditioned to accept anything coming from the Conciliar Church—even that there are two Covenants with God despite Scripture and the Roman Catholic Church unequivocally teaching there is only one Covenant.

As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit.—The Editor

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Baptism

Means of Salvation

Sacrament of Baptism

Saint Thomas Aquinas

In the eleventh article Saint Thomas seems to have anticipated the errors concerning baptism today: Whether three kinds of Baptism are fittingly described–viz. Baptism of Water, of Blood, and of the Spirit? And he enumerates the arguments:

1. One baptism
2. Only baptism by water is a sacrament
3. By saying there is Baptism of Water, of Blood, and of the Spirit one might as well accept all baptisms.

Quoting Hebrews 6:2, Of the doctrine of Baptisms, he then says the gloss adds: He uses the plural, because there is Baptism of Water, of Repentance, and of Blood. In his commentary on Saint Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews, Thomas has already commented on this passage with the following words:

The second thing in that process are the sacraments of faith. But these are two sacraments of those entering: for those are the only ones the Apostle is discussing here. The first is baptism, by which are reborn; the second is confirmation, by which we are strengthened.

In regard to the first he says, of baptism. But this seems contrary to what is stated in Ephesians (4:5): ‘One faith, one baptism.’ Therefore, there are not several baptisms. I answer

that there are three kinds of baptism, namely, of water, of desire, and of blood. But the last two have no force, unless they are referred to the first, because the first one must be intended, if it cannot be actually received by a person with the use of freedom. Hence, there are not three sacraments, but one sacrament, by which we are reborn unto salvation: ‘Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven’ (Jn. 3:5). Of the other two, baptism of blood produces more of baptism’s effects, provided that the first is desired, or the opposite is not present in the mind, as is clear in the case of the Holy Innocents, who were not of an opposite mind. For baptism has its power from the merit of Christ’s Passion: ‘All we who are baptized in Christ Jesus are baptized in his blood’ (Rom. 6:3). Therefore, just as one who is baptized is conformed sacramentally to Christ’s death, so the martyr is conformed really. Therefore, the baptism of blood produces the total effect of baptism in the sense of washing away all guilt and punishment for sin; but it does not imprint a character. Therefore, if one who had undergone martyrdom without baptism of water were to rise, he would have to be baptized. Penance, however, does not produce as many of baptism’s effects, because it does not take away all punishment, although it takes away all guilt. But just as a martyr conforms himself to Christ’s Passion by external suffering, so a penitent by internal suffering: ‘They that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences’ (Gal. 5:24). Therefore, penance can be so great that it would remove all guilt and punishment, as happened to the good thief and to Magdalene. Hence, penance is called baptism, inasmuch as it performs the function of baptism. And because baptism cannot be repeated, penance was instituted. Therefore, the others are called baptisms, because they produce the effect of baptism; but there is only one baptism, because the others produce no effect, unless the first is intended. (n. 282, 283)

In the same line of thought, Thomas answers the objections stated above in the following:

Baptism of Water has its efficacy from Christ’s Passion, to which a man is conformed by Baptism, and also from the Holy Ghost, as first cause. Now although the effect depends on the first cause, the cause far surpasses the effect, nor does it depend on it. Consequently, a man may, without Baptism of Water, receive the sacramental effect from Christ’s Passion, in so far as he is conformed to Christ by suffering for Him. Hence it is written (Apocalypse 7:14): “These are they who are come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” In like manner a man receives the effect of Baptism by the power of the Holy Ghost, not only without Baptism of Water, but also without Baptism of Blood: forasmuch as his heart is moved by the Holy Ghost to believe in and love God and to repent of his sins: wherefore this is also called Baptism of Repentance. Of this it is written (Isaiah 4:4): “If the Lord shall wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall wash away the blood of Jerusalem out of the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.” Thus, therefore, each of these other Baptisms is called Baptism, forasmuch as it takes the place of Baptism. Wherefore Augustine says (De Unico Baptismo Parvulorum iv): “The Blessed Cyprian argues with considerable reason from the thief to whom, though not baptized, it was said: ‘Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise’ that suffering can take the place of Baptism. Having weighed this in my mind again and again, I perceive that not only can suffering for the name of Christ supply for what was lacking in Baptism, but even faith and conversion of heart, if perchance on account of the stress of the times the celebration of the mystery of Baptism is not practicable.”

And he replies to the first objection: The other two Baptisms are included in the Baptism of Water, which derives its efficacy, both from Christ’s Passion and from the Holy Ghost. Consequently for this reason the unity of Baptism is not destroyed. They are not a sacrament because a sacrament is a kind of sign. The other two, however, are like the Baptism of Water, not, indeed, in the nature of sign, but in the baptismal effect. Consequently they are not sacraments. And, finally, cannot take the figurative in the same manner as the reality. But what effects the cleansing of sin is really a baptism.

Thomas next explains the effects of baptism through water, blood and Spirit. He does so by looking martyrdom of one who is not baptized through water. Taking apparently a quote from St Cyprian’s exhortation to Fortunatus:

. . . Let us only who, by the Lord’s permission, have given the first baptism to believers, also prepare each one for the second; urging and teaching that this is a baptism greater in grace, more lofty in power, more precious in honour— a baptism wherein angels baptize— a baptism in which God and His Christ exult— a baptism after which no one sins any more — a baptism which completes the increase of our faith— a baptism which, as we withdraw from the world, immediately associates us with God. In the baptism of water is received the remission of sins, in the baptism of blood the crown of virtues. This thing is to be embraced and desired, and to be asked for in all the entreaties of our petitions, that we who are God’s servants should be also His friends. (Treatise 11, 4)

Saint Thomas quotes the following words falsely attributed to Saint Augustine [Found in De Ecclesiasticis Dogmatibus (P.L., LVIII, 979-1054) and attributed to Gennadius of Marseilles]:

The newly baptized confesses his faith in the presence of the priest: the martyr in the presence of the persecutor. The former is sprinkled with water, after he has confessed; the latter with his blood. The former receives the Holy Ghost by the imposition of the bishop’s hands; the latter is made the temple of the Holy Ghost. (Art. 12)

Thomas emphasizes that the shedding of blood for Christ’s sake, and the inward operation of the Holy Ghost, are called baptisms, in so far as they produce the effect of the Baptism of Water, as he stated above. That the efficacy is derived from Christ’s Passion and from the Holy Ghost.

These two causes act in each of these three Baptisms; most excellently, however, in the Baptism of Blood. For Christ’s Passion acts in the Baptism of Water by way of a figurative representation; in the Baptism of the Spirit or of Repentance, by way of desire, but in the Baptism of Blood, by way of imitating the (Divine) act. In like manner, too, the power of the Holy Ghost acts in the Baptism of Water through a certain hidden power, in the Baptism of Repentance by moving the heart; but in the Baptism of Blood by the highest degree of fervor of dilection and love, according to John 15:13: “Greater love than this no man hath that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

The first step in baptism is sorrow for sin and love of God. Therefore, the words of Saint Paul, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing (I Cor, 13:3) for which Saint Thomas replies: The shedding of blood is not in the nature of a Baptism if it be without charity. Hence it is clear that the Baptism of Blood includes the Baptism of the Spirit, but not conversely. And from this it is proved to be more perfect than baptism of the Spirit. The second step is by the sprinkling of water or shedding of one’s blood or the cleansing by the Holy Ghost. (Cf. John 1:33; )

For we account a man to be justified by faith, without the works of the law. Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. For it is one God, that justifieth circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. Do we, then, destroy the law through faith? God forbid: but we establish the law. (Rom. 3:30)

This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ: not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit which testifieth, that Christ is the truth. (1 John 5:6)

And there are three that give testimony on earth: the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three are one. (1John 5:8)

I indeed baptize you in the water unto penance, but he that shall come after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire. (Matt. 3:11)

(To be continued)

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Septuagesima Sunday

Benedict Baur, O.S.B. 

The reward of victory

1. “I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty; I so fight, not as one beating the air” (Epistle). St. Paul, who here also speaks to us, knows what he is working for. He is conscious of his aim, and that aim is the winning of an imperishable crown. He is determined that nothing shall prevent his obtaining it.
2. “I believe in life everlasting.” This eternal life is our objective. This life will be the rest due to the weary soldier after battle. It is the possession of every good that the heart of man could desire, the possession of the highest and most desirable good conceived by the spirit and heart of man. The crown we shall win is an imperishable crown, not a mere perishable wreath. It will be the possession of complete inner happiness and an abode of bliss. Our crown shall be the clear vision of the living God, and a sharing of His divine life and that of the glorified Christ. It is the being honored by God and by all the inhabitants of heaven, both men and angels. This crown we shall possess, not for one brief moment, but for all eternity. It is the perfection of the entire man, the perfection of his will, his heart, his strength, his character, and his personality, which has an inborn capacity for enjoying the company of God and the saints. Is not this reward worth the striving? Should we not put aside everything that does not help us to win this crown? “Everyone that striveth for the mastery refraineth himself from all things” (Epistle).

“Bodily exercise is profitable to little, but godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (I Tim. 4:8). Godliness gives promise of a reward even in this life. The reward of virtue in this life is a perfect soul, which knows but one law: the will and honor and glory of God. Its perfection consists in nothing more than perfect conformity to the will of God. It seeks but one thing, and that is to do what is pleasing to God. When such a soul is persuaded that a certain task is the will of God, nothing is too difficult for it. It sets about its work without haste, without anxiety, undisturbed and confident in the possession of God. Come what will, it seeks only to do the will of God though men oppose it on all sides. It has only one rule-the will of God. It fears the loss of nothing but the approval of God. It is prepared at all times to sacrifice its harmless and well-intentioned pleasures, the occupations to which it is attached, and even that to which most men cling passionately, the hope of reaping the fruit of the seed they have sown. Such a soul conducts itself with equanimity in all undertakings and sufferings, in honor or in disgrace, in success or in failure, when praised or when condemned; yes, even when it has actually made a mistake, the attitude of such a soul does not change. It is attached to its own works, of course, but the honor of God comes before all these. It is good to every man, and prizes truth and virtue above all else. It offers correction without bitterness, but speaks the truth without respect to persons. It weeps with the sorrowful and rejoices with those that rejoice. It fulfills the commandments faithfully, but is not slavishly attached to them. It is prepared at every moment to forsake anything and everything for the love of God, and to fulfill the will of God. It is delighted with every opportunity to work and sacrifice to accomplish the will of God. Having found God, it has found itself and true freedom of spirit This is the reward of true piety, even in this world.

3. “Everyone that striveth for the mastery refraineth himself from all things; and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one.” The reward we seek is eternal life with God in the world to come, and intimate union with Him in this life. We seek repose in God, a repose which lifts man high above the restless and inconstant things of this world. This repose envelops the innermost recesses of the soul where only God can enter. The soul possessed of such peace no longer seeks anything and no longer complains of anything. In such a soul the passions are subdued, the imagination is kept in order, the spirit is firmly established in control, and the heart firmly guarded against any instability or impulsiveness.
4. But there can be no victory without a struggle. The kingdom of God is not for the lazy, the indolent, the sentimental, the timid lovers of ease. It has place only for those who are prepared to fight. Those who would belong to it must fight for that which is heavenly against that which is earthly, for the light against the darkness, for Christ against Belial.

He who would win the crown of victory must have courage. Only those who have the courage to deny themselves and endure hard things will win this crown. They must be prepared to reject all that is contrary to Christ and His law. They must disengage their hearts from self-will, from all that is transitory. from all that threatens to separate them from God.

PRAYER

Hear us, we beseech Thee, O Lord: cleanse our hearts and grant us Thy grace. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

SATURDAY OF THE WEEK AFTER SEPTUAGESIMA

Self-denial

1. “Everyone that striveth for the mastery refraineth himself from all things…. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty; I so fight, not as one beating the air; but I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway” (Epistle). The season that precedes Lent and the lenten season itself are seasons for serious and earnest self-denial. Even St. Paul feared that he might be lost should he fail to practice mortifications and bring his spirit into submission.
2. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself” (Matt. 16:24). No man in this world is so perfect that he can afford to neglect self-denial; that is, no man can afford to neglect the task of subjecting his senses and his passions to his will. No one has the garden of his soul so thoroughly cleansed of weeds that it needs no further weeding. Scarcely has a person finished his work before the weeds spring up again. A man never reaches so great a height of perfection in this world that he destroys the roots of sin. For this reason there can never be any secure virtue unless it is accompanied by true self-denial. He who has not gained control over his self-will, can never practice perfect obedience. He who has not brought his passions firmly under the control of his will, can never practice perfect chastity. No man can practice fraternal charity and love even his enemies unless he has first overcome himself and mortified his own desires. Self-denial is especially necessary for those who seek to practice virtue. “You will progress in virtue in the measure in which you gain control of yourself.” Why do we remain stationary so long in one degree of perfection? Why are we so lacking in strength and initiative? It is simply because we fail in self-denial. Without mortification we can have no taste for meditation, no fervor in prayer, no strength in the face of temptation, no power of resistance to the seduction of the flesh, and finally, no true virtue. Therefore, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself.”

“I say to them: Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against flesh; for these are contrary one to another; so that you do not the things that you would. . . . Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects. . . . They who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity” (Gal. 5: 16 ff.).

“Walk in the spirit.” On this principle our mortification should be grounded. If we walk in the spirit, we shall be able to free Our fallen nature from the domination of our inordinate passions and regulate it according to grace. By means of mortification we subject our lower nature to the spirit. Mortification is a powerful remedy for the weaknesses and ills of the spirit. It is indispensable as a means of acquiring perfection and union with God. “And they that are Christ’s, have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences” (Gal. 5: 24). Can this be said of the followers of Christ today? Very few of them prize mortification, and most of them flee from it. Are we, then, still really Christians?

3. In the pre-lenten season and during Lent, the liturgy centers our attention on mortification and self-denial. Daily it calls to our attention in the Preface for Lent the value of mortification: “By the fasting of the body Thou dost curb our vices, elevate our minds, and bestow virtue and reward.” Do we live according to this principle? The mortification urged by the liturgy is required, not merely of great sinners, penitents, novices, and newly ordained priests, but even of those advanced in virtue; those advanced in age also need mortification both of body and mind. These, too, need to mortify their pride and self-will, their unruly passions, their dissatisfaction, their bitterness, and their self-seeking. Even those advanced in age and virtue daily experience how prone the human spirit is to evil. Age is no protection against foolishness or temptation; for temptation follows us always, and even an old man may easily fall unless he unceasingly practices self-control by all manner of mortification. “We suffer with Him [Christ] that we may be also glorified with Him” (Rom. 8: 17). We die in order to live. Without death through mortification during Lent, there can be no resurrection at Easter or eternal life.

PRAYER

We beseech Thee, O Lord, graciously to hear” our prayers. Deliver us from our sins; protect us from all evil. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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January 24

St. Timothy, Bishop and Martyr

1. On the day before the feast of St. Paul’s Conversion, the Church focuses our attention on the Apostle’s favorite disciple and faithful co-worker, St. Timothy. He came from Lystra (cf. Acts 16: 1); his mother was Jewish, while his father was a Greek. St. Paul took him as companion on his second missionary journey and entrusted to him some important missions. Toward the end of his career, the Apostle appointed him as his representative in Ephesus; but, shortly before his death, he begged Timothy to come to him in Rome. Later, he returned, as bishop, to Ephesus and was martyred there, about the year 97. The Bible contains two letters of St. Paul to Timothy.
2. The youthful Timothy was so deeply impressed by St. Paul’s preaching in Lystra that he left father and mother to join him; he thus became the Apostle’s “faithful and dearly loved son in the Lord” (I Cor. 4:17) and his “own son in the faith” (I Tim. 1:2). A trusted companion in missionary work, Timothy attended his teacher in chains at Rome. St. Paul wrote from prison: “Others think only of themselves, not of the interests of Jesus Christ. You (in Philippi) know how Timothy has proved himself: he has helped me in the service of the Gospel as a son his father” (cf. Phil. 2:21). Again, when Paul was imprisoned the second time, Timothy hastened to him from Ephesus to offer his services. for Paul knew that his death would soon be demanded. To further the interests of Christ and His Church, to serve the Gospel, Timothy joyfully assumed the labors and sacrifices of missionary life; he was happy to be privileged to give his life for Christ. He was a true disciple, and he fought the good fight for the Faith.

“The love of money is a root . . . from which evil springs, and there are those who have wandered away from the faith by making it their ambition . . . . It is for thee, servant of God, to shun all this; to aim at right living, holiness, and faith, and love, and endurance, and kind forbearance. Fight the good fight of faith, lay thy grasp on eternal life, that life thou wert called to, when thou didst assert the great claim before so many witnesses” (I Tim. 6: 10 ff., cf. Epistle). This is a magnificent profession of faith as Timothy exemplified it in his baptism, in his activities as bishop, in his collaboration with Paul, in his Christian living, and in his sufferings for Christ. These words of St. Paul are addressed to us today, and they constitute an excellent norm for our thinking, our actions, our renunciations.

3. The Church wants us to recognize ourselves in St. Timothy. The words of the Gospel apply to us: “If any man comes to me, without hating his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yes, and his own life too, he can be no disciple of mine” (Gospel). It should be noted that when our Lord speaks of hating our relatives, He means that we may not prefer them to Himself. Christ knows no compromise and Timothy grasped the depth, the seriousness, and the implications of His words. We ought to take them seriously, too, as did St. Paul and St. Timothy.

“A man cannot be my disciple unless he takes up his own cross and follows after me” (Gospel). That is the path for the Christian. Timothy walked on it. Do we?

Collect: Have regard to our weakness, almighty God, and since the burden of our deeds lies heavy upon us, let the intercession of Thy blessed martyr bishop Timothy, now in heaven, protect us, Amen.

CHRIST IN THE HOME

BY RAOUL PLUS, S.J.

(1951)

MARRIAGE

MARRIAGE AND THE COUNSELS (1)

IS IT possible to arrive at perfection without following the evangelical counsels?

Put in this way, the question can have two answers depending on whether the effective practice of the counsels is to be understood or simply the spirit of the counsels.

1. Perfection consists in the exercise of charity as the duty of one’s state implies it. “Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” was said to all not just to priests and religious.

And again to all, “Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind and with all thy strength.”

The perfection of charity is commanded to all and not only counselled.

That the evangelical counsels are a help to the exercise of the virtue of charity for those who have elected to live by them is certain; they are not the only means.

The Gospel makes it perfectly clear: There is the observance of the Commandments—a necessity for all; there is the observance of the counsels—for those who desire it; those only would be obliged to adopt this second means who have evidence that without them they could not attain their salvation—a rare case indeed.

2. But it appears to be a very difficult thing to arrive at the perfection of charity without adopting the spirit of the counsels.

In fact there are three great obstacles to the perfect service of God: excessive attachment to the goods of earth; the tendency to seek purely selfish satisfactions where the affections of the heart are concerned; finally the habit of obeying not so much God’s will for our life as personal caprice and the false demands of the world.

From this it is evident that the pursuit of perfection presupposes the spirit of detachment; it means using things, as Saint Paul would say, as if we did not use them at all. That suggestion is good not only for life in the cloister but every bit as good if not more so, in view of the greater difficulty, in the simple life of observing the Commandments. The spirit of poverty in either case is essential.

The pursuit of perfection while living in the midst of the world likewise calls for the spirit of chastity, the chastity of the heart—not to the point of having to deprive themselves of everything as those do who are vowed to the virginal state but to the point of the privations necessary to meet the demands of the conjugal state. Therefore, the spirit of chastity is equally essential.

Striving for perfection in the midst of the world still allows the individual entire liberty regarding many of the details of life, the so-called good things of life as well as ideas, companionship, dress. The soldier Ernest Psichari yearned as he used to say “to be free of everything except Jesus Christ.”

Strive for obedience to God alone who said “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all the rest shall be added unto you.” I must not let “the rest” take precedence over “the Kingdom.”

Obedience to God should not be marked by formal passivity but by vision and conviction. Let me measure the distance from the place I am now to the summit of Christianity.

MARRIAGE AND THE COUNSELS (2)

THIS subject has too great significance for one meditation only.

Before the Fall there was a triple harmony in man:

—Harmony between God and the soul: Adam and Eve conversed familiarly with the Most High who used to walk with them at twilight in Paradise; He often left His footprints in the sands of their garden.

—Harmony within man himself between his body and soul: The senses were active but they were submissive to reason and will; concupiscence existed but it was just concupiscence

not evil concupiscence; the powers of desire were not inordinate.

—Harmony all about man, between him and nature: The animals were subject to him and were not hostile to him. Inanimate nature did not refuse its secrets to his work which was but a joyous extension of his activity and not as it has become in part at least—fatiguing labor. “You shall eat your bread in the sweat of your brow.”

Then came the Fall. Immediately this beautiful balance was destroyed. Man revolted against God. The result: Man’s senses rose up against right reason and will enlightened by faith; nature and all about man turned hostile. There would be wild beasts and venomous creatures among the animals; the earth would resist his toil and the labor of generations to come, revealing its treasures only with discouraging parsimony and at th

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