Vol 9 Issue 50 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
November 19, 2016 ~ Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, opn!
1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (95)
2. Last Sunday after Pentecost
3. Saint Mechtild
4. Family and Marriage
5. Articles and notices
Dear Reader:
As the liturgical year comes to a close it was another year God gave us to prepare for His Coming. We know that Christ will come to judge us in our particular judgement at the moment of death; but we also know that Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. Because it is a supernatural mystery and therefore only of faith which we must await, it is ignored or thought little of as a reality. Since we experience the death of people every day, we can accept that there will be a particular judgment and encounter with Christ—though few think that at that moment of death the person is meeting Christ and being judged as expressed in the prayers of the Church at the moment of death, May Christ receive thee Who has called thee (Subvenite). Yes, the resurrection of the dead, the last judgement, the end of this present world seem to be interpreted in a more of an esoteric nature that turns us into doubting Thomases. It is as though, with our mouth we profess we believe from thence He shall come to judge the living and the deadand believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting, still our practical living attempts to build a material world without end, placing the future not as Christ’s Return and Heaven, but always a better material world where there will be an earthly kingdom of Christ, even though Christ said His kingdom is not of this world (cf. John 18:36). It becomes a grafting on of the Jehovah Witness end of the world view, or the Judaic world view, or even a Mohammedan world view; but not a Catholic world view that sees the changing of this life into eternal life in heaven (not earth) and looking for Christ’s return to separate the wheat from the cockle, the wise from the foolish, the good fish from the bad fish, the sheep from the goats. As our Lord said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (cf. Mat. 19:24) so it seems today for many of us as we enjoy the good things of this world and cannot imagine ourselves detached from our possessions and comfortable life. But our Lord will come as a thief in the night cf. Matt. 24:43; also Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10) and as such we always have our wedding garment (cf. Matt. 22:11 ff.; sanctifying grace):
Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing. Amen I say to you, he shall place him over all his goods. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming: And shall begin to strike his fellow servants, and shall eat and drink with drunkards: The lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopeth not, and at an hour that he knoweth not: And shall separate him, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt. 24:46-51)
He that giveth testimony of these things, saith, Surely I come quickly: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Apoc. 22:20)
As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit. —The Editor
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Baptism
Means of Salvation
Sacrament of Baptism
Baptism in the Conciliar Church
Saint Paul expresses this same concept, as Ott outlines in speaking of the concept of Original Sin where one has the corollary of Paul showing all have sinned in Adam, but many shall be made just:
The passage which contains the classical proof is Rom. 5, 12-21, in which the Apostle draws a parallel between the first Adam, from whom sin and death are transmitted to all humanity, and Christ, the second Adam, from whom justice and life are transmitted to all men. V. 12: “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world and by sin death, and so sin passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned (in quo omnes peccaverunt — ἐφ’ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον) . . . 19. For as by the disobedience of one man many were made sinners: so also by the obedience of one, many shall be made just.”
By sin (ἁμαρτία) is to be understood quite generally sin, which here appears personified. Original sin is therefore included. What is meant is the guilt of sin and not the consequences of sin. Death is expressly distinguished from sin and is represented as the consequence of sin. Concupiscence is not meant, because sin, according to V. 18 et seq., is removed by the grace of Christ’s Redemption, while evil desire remains as experience shows. (Ott., 109)
This rejection of Original Sin that condemned all to the position of a Universal Salvation that saves all is absolutely non-Scriptural nor has the Church ever believed in such a concept. The Conciliar Church, in inculcating this concept of universal salvation placed in its Novus Ordo Liturgy under Giovanni Montini the vernacular translation of pro multis(for many) as for all (cf. Roman Missal, Eucharistic prayer I). It may now have been changed back to for many but only because the Protestants insistently pointed out that for all is not the literal translation of the Greek περὶ πολλῶν (pro multis; for many).
The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) put this explanation on their Website (http://www.usccb.org/prayer-
What does the translation of pro multis mean?
After having consulted with Conferences of Bishops throughout the world, Pope Benedict XVI determined in 2006 that the translation of qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum, would be changed in the Roman Missal, Third Edition to “which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins” (See circular letter from Francis Cardinal Arinze to Presidents of Conferences of Bishops, dated October 17, 2006 [Prot. n. 467/05/L]).
Why did the Holy Father choose to translate pro multis as “for many” and not as “for all”?
“For many” is a more accurate translation of the Latin phrase pro multis. This is also the wording used in the Biblical narrative account of the Last Supper found in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark:
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28).
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many (Mark 14:24).
Does this mean that Christ did not die for everyone?
No. It is a dogmatic teaching of the Church that Christ died on the Cross for all men and women (cf. John 11:52; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Titus 2:11; 1 John 2:2). The expression for many, while remaining open to the inclusion of each human person, is reflective also of the fact that this salvation is not brought about in some mechanistic way, without one’s own willing or participation; rather, the believer is invited to accept in faith the gift that is being offered and to receive the supernatural life that is given to those who participate in this mystery, living it out in their lives as well so as to be numbered among the many to whom the text refers.
What is the significance of for many in this context and in the context of the Gospel?
With these words, Jesus identifies his mission to bring salvation through his Passion and Death, his offering of himself for others. In a particular way he identifies himself with the Suffering Servant of the Prophet Isaiah, who suffers to take away the sins of many (Is 53:12).
What does this mean for the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy?
When the change was introduced with the Roman Missal, Third Edition in late 2011, the shift from “for all” to “for many” could be misunderstood as some sort of narrowing of the scope of Jesus salvific action. It is important to keep in mind the context of the narrative both in the Gospel and in the liturgical action. In the context of the Last Supper, Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, extending the reach of his sacrifice beyond the boundary of his closest disciples. In the context of the celebration of the Eucharist, the phrase for you and for many connects the particular gathered assembly with the larger sense of the Church in every time and place, as if to say not only “you gathered here”, but many more as well. In this regard, for many has an eschatological meaning beyond some particular limited number.
The explanation attempts to say nothing was changed but a complete understanding was changed in the beginning and a mistake was not corrected but rather an interpretation became excepted: many means all and that is why it was translated to all; again, many means all even though the word is not translated to all. A whole generation has grown up being told many means all. This error, then, is further introduced into Baptism as Baptism becomes the first step into Christian Initiation. Since Protestants and Protestant sects are now called Christian, it instantly unifies Catholics with Protestants. Since it is the first step, it then means these Protestant sects are part of the (Christian Church), just as the Roman Catholic Church. As the Catholic Church has also the Holy Eucharist, those Churches that do not have this second step do not fully participate in the Church as also those Churches that do not have Confirmation. The “Christian Church” is called to be a witness of Christ’s Life through living the Social Gospel, i.e., understood today as the Gospel lived though social works. Those who do not belong to the Church are being led by the Spirit through other paths since God wills all to be saved (Cf. 1Tim. 2:4), or universal salvation.
Therefore, if the Conciliar Church clergy baptize as is understood because Christ commanded and why they still baptize, the baptism is valid according to Catholic Church teaching and that the understanding beyond this has never been required by the Church is seen in that anyone can baptize even if they are not Catholic as long as they are intentionally baptizing. But that the Conciliar Church has a false concept as to why Christ commanded baptism and as to the effects of baptism is clearly seen in the practical realm when the account of Original Sin is designated as figurative and when the effect of baptism is simply membership in a community, a symbolic renewal of life, and a call to social service.
Gregory Baum, in Encyclopedia of Theology edited by Karl Rahner (Crossroad, New York 1991) gives a summary of this Conciliar teaching regarding Baptism:
Vatican II speaks of the universal salvific will of God in connection with membership of the Church: “Finally, those who have not yet received the gospel are related in various ways to the People of God. In the first place there is the people to whom the covenants and the promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh (cf. Rom 9:4-5) . . . But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place among these there are the Moslems, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is God himself far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is he who gives to all men life and breath and every other gift (cf Acts 17 :25-28), and who as Saviour wills that all men be saved (cf. 1 Tim 2:4). For those also can attain to everlasting salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the gospel of Christ or his Church, yet sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do his will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, art. 16; see also art. 9.) For those, however, who have recognized the necessity of the Church for salvation, baptism is indispensable as the “door” to the Church and hence to salvation (ibid., art. 14; Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, art. 7).
In our own day when we realize more than ever before that the biblical people of the Old and New Testaments is a small minority in the totality of the human family, the need to reflect on the destiny of the majority of mankind is still more urgent than in the age of the great discoveries. Does the gratuitous election of God’s own people imply that his saving action outside of this people is rare or exceptional? May we not suppose that the God who has revealed his universal will to save in Christ, is working for the salvation of men within the Church where his action is acknowledged, as well as outside the Church where his action is not as such acknowledged? Many contemporary Catholic theologians believe that God’s irrevocable election of mankind in the Incarnation, the once-for-allness of Christ’s sacrifice and the completeness of his victory imply that, with Jesus, mankind as a whole has entered a new situation, that is, has acquired an objective orientation, based not on its own nature but on the free divine choice, to be reconciled with God.
Under the notion of “baptism of desire”, then, we may include the vast action of God to save and sanctify men outside the visible boundaries of the Church. While this baptism, as distinct from the baptism of water, does not introduce men into a believing community in which they are fed by an intimate communion with their God (and hence remains a weak initiation into a reality which is fully present only in the Church), one may seriously wonder whether baptism of desire is not the way of salvation for the great majority of men in this world, chosen to be saved.(76-77)
Let this topic be summarized in the words of Saint Fulgentius (467-533) who, writing on the Faith to Peter (De fide ad Petrem, 36, 77) gives the following outline:
Hold most firmly and never doubt that the Sacrament of Baptism can exist not only within the Catholic Church but also among heretics who baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. But, outside the Catholic Church, it can be of no use. Indeed, just as within the Church salvation is conferred through the Sacrament of Baptism on those who believe rightly, so for those baptized outside the Church destruction is increased by that same Baptism, if they do not return to the Church. So much does the communion of ecclesiastical society count for salvation that the one is not saved by Baptism to whom it is not given where it ought to be given. The one baptized outside the Church has Baptism, but, for that one separated from the Church, it is for his judgment. And, because it is obvious that, wherever it is given this Baptism is to be given only once; therefore, although it will have been given by heretics in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, it is to be recognized with respect and for that reason not to be repeated. For the Savior says, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed.” (John 13:10.)
(To be continued)
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Benedict Baur, O.S.B.
God is the Judge
1. During the final week of the ecclesiastical year, the language of the liturgy becomes very earnest and impressive. The Last Judgment with all its terrors is approaching. It is foreshadowed by the destruction of the city of Jerusalem seventy years after Christ’s death. Do penance; “walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing; . . . strengthened with all might according to the power of His glory” (Epistle).
2. Christ once passed judgment on the city of Jerusalem: “If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace; but now they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee; and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee; and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone” (Luke 19:42-44). “When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place; . . . then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains; and he that is on the house top, let him not come down to take anything out of his house,” but make his flight at once. “For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be; and unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved” (Gospel). Such is the sentence Christ passed on Jerusalem. The armies of Titus surrounded the city, and those who tried to flee the doomed city, perished with fearful pain and anguish on crosses. Within the city, mothers driven mad by hunger slaughtered their own children. The terrible siege continued for two years, until finally the Romans broke into the city, slaughtered the people, destroyed the Temple, and leveled the city. This judgment of God should be a warning to us.
Christ also predicted that God would pass judgment on the world. “The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved” (Gospel). Both heaven and earth were created by the word of God, who commanded the dry land to appear and the waters to be gathered together in one place. The same God commanded the waters to flood the earth at the Deluge. On the last day the same almighty God will command His creation to be destroyed because of man’s sin. “The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.” God made all creation for man’s use; but man, corrupted by sin, injustice, and covetousness, has used the things of this world for his own pleasure and not for the purpose intended by God. Man has deserted his God and has attached himself to creatures, making them his God and his last end. Instead of being a means toward reaching God, they have become a hindrance that prevents man from reaching his last end. Nature, which was created by God and which is decked out in such wondrous beauty each year, becomes for man an occasion of sin that leads him into a final apostasy. For this reason nature, too, must be purged by fire from all perversion and uncleanness to satisfy justice and holiness. “Heaven and earth shall pass away” because of the sins of men.
“Then shall all of the earth mourn” (Gospel). The day of Christ’s return will be a day of reckoning, a “dread day,” a day on which all creation will be purged with fire. That will be a day of fear, of great misery, of terrible bitterness.
Death and nature will be quaking,
When creation is awaking,
To its Judge an answer making. —Dies irae
3. The liturgy directs our attention to the Last Judgment and admonishes us in all things to remember the day of reckoning that is to come. “In all things consider the end; how you shall stand before the strict Judge from whom nothing is hidden. . . . He who learned to be a fool in this world and to be scorned for the sake of Christ, will then appear to have been most wise. Then the mortified body will rejoice far more than if it had been pampered with every pleasure. . . . Then shall simple obedience be more exalted than all worldly cleverness. Then a good and clear conscience will bring more joy than the philosophy of the learned. Then contempt for riches will have more value than all the treasures of this earth. Then you will find more consolation in having prayed devoutly than in having fared daintily; you will be happy that you preferred silence to prolonged gossip. . . . Strict penance will be more pleasing than all earthly delights. All, therefore, is vanity, except to love God and to serve Him only” (Imitation of Christ, I, chap. 24).
PRAYER
Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord; Lord hear my voice. Let Thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If Thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand it? For with Thee there is merciful forgiveness, and by reason of Thy law, I have waited for Thee, O Lord. My soul has relied on His word, my soul hath hoped in the Lord. From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord. Because with the Lord there is mercy; and with Him plentiful redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. (Ps. 129.)
Charity
1. “When the Son of Man shall come in His majesty, and all the angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the seat of His majesty. And all nations shall be gathered together before Him, and He shall separate them one from another as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats. And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left” (Matt. 25:31-33).
2. “Then shall the King say to them that shall be on His right hand: Come ye blessed of My Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; naked, and you covered Me; sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the just shall answer Him: Lord, when did we see Thee hungry and feed Thee; thirsty, and gave Thee drink? And when did we see Thee a stranger and took Thee in? Or naked, and covered Thee? Or when did we see Thee sick or in prison, and came to Thee? And the King answering shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me.
“Then He shall say to them also that shall be on His left hand: Depart from Me, you cursed into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me not to drink. I was a stranger, and you took Me not in; naked, and you covered Me not; sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me. Then they also shall answer Him, saying: Lord, when did we see Thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to Thee? Then He shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to Me. And these shall go into everlasting punishment; but the just, into life everlasting” (Matt. 25: 34-46).
3. “And these shall go into everlasting punishment; but the just, into life everlasting.” This separation will be for all eternity. After the Last Judgment there will be only heaven and hell, and these will last for eternity. God will be blessed for eternity by the just in heaven and cursed for eternity by the wicked in hell. The godless man will be cast, body and soul, into everlasting fire (Matt. 10:28).
The poor Lazarus, who once sat at the door of the rich man, covered with sores and plagued by hunger, was carried by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. But the rich man, “who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day,” died and “was buried in hell.” Seeing Lazarus afar off, he cried out: “Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. And Abraham said to him: Son, remember thou didst receive good things in thy lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted and thou tormented” (Luke 16: 19 ff.).
On the last day God will separate the good and the bad for all eternity. On the one side will be the sheep and on the other the goats. On one side the redeemed and on the other the damned. What saved the one and condemned the other? It was the practice or lack of charity toward one’s neighbor; that is, the love of one’s neighbor in whom one saw Christ. “As long as you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me.” The love of neighbor is an expression of our love for Christ. We love Christ to the extent that we love our neighbor, in whom we see Christ. We oppose Christ if we oppose our neighbor. If we show coldness, injustice, harshness, or a lack of charity toward our neighbor, we show it to Christ. It is our charity that will decide our fate.
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