Vol 10 Issue 37 Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
September 16, 2017 ~ Saints Cyprian and Cornelius, opn!

1. Is the Chair of Peter Vacant? An Argument for Sedevacantism
2. Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
3. Stigmata of Saint Francis
4. Family and Marriage
5. Articles and notices

Dear Reader:
A television station asked to interview me this week about my thoughts about the end of the world—in as much as there were the two hurricanes back to back with also the other natural disasters and a supposed prediction of an asteroid headed toward earth that is supposed to destroy the earth this month. Of course such thoughts of an asteroid destroying the earth would be foreign to any Catholic because Catholics know that Christ will come again and this event would deny this article of our faith. Be that as it may, natural disasters are always a wake-up call for mankind to turn to God and repent. That is no longer the case, for the world only sees the natural disaster as an economic bonanza as jobs and goods will have to be created to repair and replace the damage, prices will go up as the demand will momentarily be greater than the supply, and the media sees it as viewer increase by those who want to watch the misery of others (by which the media profits also from their misfortune). If God is mentioned, the media spokesman or woman immediately mocks the person who dares to say the word God or mention Our Lord’s name (unless to curse) and points to climate change due to Industry (that produced what they are using) and how there has to be climate agreement as if the governments can control the weather. No, these events happen because God has let nature follow its course and, as we read in Luke:
And as it came to pass in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat and drink, they married wives, and were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark: and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it came to pass, in the days of Lot: they did eat and drink, they bought and sold, they planted and built. And in the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man shall be revealed. (Luke 17:26-30; cf. Matt. 24:21ff and 37ff)
Unfortunately mankind will continue in its sin until the great tribulation, when mankind will be destroyed because, except for the elect, all mankind will have turned away from God. Therefore, it is not natural disasters that usher in the end of the world and the Coming of Christ, but the loss of faith. But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved. (Matthew 24:13) Yes, we are living in this last time when there is no true faith in God.
As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit. —The Editor
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Is the Chair of Peter Vacant?

An Argument for Sedevacantism

by Rev. Courtney Edward Krier

Fourth Contradiction: Unity or Disunity?
(Continued)
That is, these non-Catholics have the means of salvation in their own creeds, though it would be better as an example to the world if the Catholic Church and they were united in a visible unity. These non-Catholics do not need to change their creeds, they need only accept that they and Catholics believe the same thing, for example, the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification is agreed to by the Catholic Church’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Lutheran World Federation in 1999 that states the churches share “a common understanding of our justification by God’s grace through faith in Christ.” For 450 years the Church condemned (by an infallible canon) that the Fiduciary Faith of the Protestants which they claim gave them justification. According to this document, after 450 years the Conciliar Church concedes the Catholic Church erred and the Protestants had it right all along but Catholics were blinded by bigotry (of which the Conciliar Hierarchy profusely apologizes at every opportunity).
The cleansing of the Catholic Faith of everything offensive to non-Catholics can be seen in the communications of Augustine Bea and Abraham Heschel as outlined by Donald Moore in his book extolling Heschel, The Human and the Holy: The Spirituality of Abraham Joshua Heschel. Moore relates on pages 9-10:

In the early spring of that year Cardinal Bea visited the United Sates, a visit which included an interfaith dinner held in New York City on April 1, 1963, at which Heschel delivered the keynote address. The day before this dinner Cardinal Bea, along with two of his staff members including then Msgr. Jan Willebrands, met with a select group of Jewish leaders at the offices of the American Jewish Committee in New York City. Rabbi Heschel was chosen to chair this gathering. In his opening remarks Heschel spoke of the ecumenical spirit which was permeating the Catholic world, due in no small part to Pope John XXIII and to Cardinal Bea; for Heschel this was “an event of historic significance, representing a “breakthrough toward the Divine message in accordance with Holy Writ.” [English translation of the minutes of the meeting with Cardinal Bea on March 31, 1963, in the archives of the American Jewish Committee, New York City, p. 6.] Cardinal Bea then responded to a series of questions which had been submitted to him three weeks earlier for his consideration at this meeting and which to a large extent parallelled the four proposals of Heschel’s memorandum of May 1962. [“Questions to Be Submitted to Cardinal Bea at the Meeting with Jewish Scholars,” dated March 7, 1963, in the archives of the American Jewish Committee, New York City.]
The Cardinal’s response to these questions began with a general refutation of the charge of deicide, using the framework of established Catholic dogma, and he concluded: “[F]rom what we have said, it is sufficiently clear how unjust it is to accuse the Jewish people as such of having rendered themselves guilty of deicide and that their dispersion among all peoples is in close connection with this curse.” He pointed out that it would be “neither necessary nor wise” to refute this accusation by attacking either the claim of Jesus’ divinity or the credibility of the Gospels, for here one would come into direct conflict with fundamental Christian beliefs. All such fundamental religious beliefs, whatever they might be, must be treated “with respect and veneration.” Then addressing the questions submitted to him, Bea assured the assembled scholars that rejection of the charge of deicide and of the Jews as an accursed people was a primary target of the statement being drafted by his Secretariat. He expected that the statement would affirm the integrity and preciousness of Judaism as a living religion in its own right. On other points Bea hoped that the Council would stress the fundamental obligations of justice, truth, and love especially toward Jews, but specific regulations or practical applications would have to come from the Church’s ordinary teaching, preaching, and practice rather than from specific actions by the more than two thousand bishops gathered at the Council. [27 “Conversation of Cardinal Bea with Jewish Scholars and Theologians,” dated March 31, 1963, in the archives of the American Jewish Committee, New York City. Cf. also Tannenbaum, “Heschel and Vatican II,” p. 11.]

He continues:

On the following evening in his address at the dinner honoring Cardinal Bea, Heschel spoke of the proclamation of the prophets that although humankind professes so many varied conceptions of God, men and women are really worshipping one and the same God, despite their ignorance of this fact. Yet intolerance so often plays a disruptive role.

And he quotes Heschel:

“This is the agony of history: bigotry, the failure to respect each other’s commitment, each other’s faith. We must insist on loyalty to the unique and holy treasures of our own tradition and at the same time acknowledge that in this aeon religious diversity may be the providence of God.” [“The Ecumenical Movement,” Insecurity of Freedom, p. 181.]

Heschel had already submitted to works, The Image of the Jew in Catholic Teaching (July 1961) and Anti-Jewish Elements in Catholic Liturgy (November 1961) which Roncalli then revised the prayer for the conversion of the Jews on Good Friday. He then sent another work, On Improving Catholic-Jewish Relations (May 1962) with a letter dated May 22 to Bea demanding further concession, such as the second proposal that the Catholic Church acknowledge the holiness of the Jews as Jews in their loyalty to the Torah (Moore, 6.) and that the Ecumenical Council would acknowledge the integrity and permanent preciousness of Jews and Judaism. (ibid., 7.) That is, Jews are already saved and the Church should not seek their conversion, but rather assist them in preserving their creed.
It will be seen that in the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra aetate) of 28 Oct 1965, the Jewish wishes came true as the Catholic faith was white-washed of its “anti-semitism.”
Father Joaquin Saenz y Arriaga (under the pseudonym Maurice Pinay) had already learned of these meetings and wrote, with the assistance of other Catholics, the book Plot Against the Church to warn the Fathers of the Council what was pending, distributing Spanish and Italian versions to all who would take it. It was received as too fantastical to be true. As Fr. Joaquin Saenez writes:

Canon 66 [cf. 4th Council of Toledo, Canons 65 and 66. Compiled by Juan Tojado y Ramiro. Same edition. Volume II. Page 308.] expressly calls the Jews “Servants of the anti-Christ,” like another already quoted Canon said of the bishops and presbyteries who help the Jews that they form part of the body of the Anti-Christ. It is worthy of note, that Canon 65 adds an innovation to the laws of the Catholic Church in that admittance is not only blocked to declared Jews to government offices, but to all those who belong to their race.
This must not be interpreted as racial discrimination; for Holy Church regards all men as equal before God, without discrimination of race. But since the conviction, repeatedly substantiated through facts, predominated that Christians of Jewish race with few exceptions secretly practised the Jewish cult, it was logical that one attempted to prevent the infiltration of crypto-Jews into the government offices. This was a vitally important defensive measure by the Christian state since, if the latter had once been ruled by its deadly enemies, who are simultaneously the principal foes of Holy Church, both institutions would have come into gravest danger. To block the door to government of the state to aggressive or converted Jews, was not only clever, but unavoidable, in order to protect it from the powerful “Fifth Column” which at a given moment could unleash its collapse. Thus it came about in catastrophic degree when a weak-minded leader of the state, who violated these laws of the Church and those announced by his predecessors, cleared anew the possibility for the Israelites to gain control of the leading posts in the Gothic kingdom. This law of public security is without doubt the predecessor of further most energetic and far-reaching laws, which Holy Catholic Church passed many hundreds of centuries later.
It is interesting to establish that Saint Isidorus of Seville in his struggle against Judaism wrote two books against the Hebrews, which according to Graetz were compiled “with that lack of taste and feeling, which distinguished the Fathers of the Church from the beginning in their warring polemics against Jewry” [Graetz, same work, Volume III. Page 50] It is completely natural that the anti-Jewish books of the Church Fathers do not please the Jews, however, one must understand that the Israelites obscure the historical truth. Also they attempt to destroy the honour of all those who have fought against them, even if it is a question of such holy learned excellent men, as the Church Fathers are.
It is completely beyond doubt, that if Saint Isidorus of Seville as well as the Metropolitans and Bishops of the Fourth Toledo Council, had lived in our days, that they would immediately have been accused of Racism, anti-Semitism or of being Nazi criminals; and in fact not only by the Jews, but also by the clergy, who give themselves out as Christians, but in reality stand in the service of Jewry. (Plot Against the Church, p. 343-344)
(To be continued)
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Fr. Leonard Goffine
The Ecclesiastical Year (1880)

INSTRUCTION ON THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The Introit of the Mass is a fervent prayer; which may be said in every necessity and adversity: Bow down thine ear, O Lord; to me, and hear me: save thy servant, O my God, that hopeth in thee: have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day. Give joy to the soul of thy servant: for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul. (Ps. lxxxv.) Glory etc.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Let Thy continued pity, O Lord, cleanse and defend Thy Church: and because without Thee it cannot abide in safety, govern it ever by Thy gift. Thro’.

EPISTLE. (Gal. v. 25, 26.; vi. 1-10.) Brethren, If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vain-glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, and if a man be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ. For if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every one prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. For every one shall bear his own burden. And let him that is instructed in the word, communicate to him that instructeth him, in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption: but he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. And in doing good, let us not fail: for in due time we shall reap, not failing. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

EXPLANATION. This epistle is taken, like that of the Sunday before last, from the epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, in which St. Paul shows them the insufficiency of the Jewish law, and that they can only be saved by a lively faith in Christ, but now he admonishes them to the performance of good works. You now live, he tells them, in the Spirit, that is, the Holy Ghost animates your heart by His grace, enlightens, confirms, and inflames you, admonishes and teaches you, impels your heart to do good; you must, therefore, also regulate your external conduct accordingly, and in particular devote yourself to the practice of humility and charity, as the foundations of a truly spiritual life. Humility must teach and move you to think little of yourself, to avoid vain glory, and not to confide in your own strength. But charity should impel you to be meek and compassionate to all, even sinners, to correct them charitably, and lead them back to the path of virtue; since he who is harsh to the erring, despises and treats them roughly, is often permitted by God to fall into the same, nay, even into greater sins.
Particularly you must show your charity one for another, that one bears the burdens of the other: that you bear the faults and imperfections of others just as patiently as you wish others to bear with your own imperfections; thus you will fulfil the law of Christ, which commands us to love our neighbor; you will prevent many sins which are occasioned by considering yourself perfect, raising yourself above others, criticising their failings, and causing disturbance. True glory consists in knowing ourselves, our faults and evil inclinations, and in eradicating them. Be grateful to those who instruct you in the word of God, and give to them willingly of your earthly possessions. What you sow, you shall reap; if you only follow the dictates of the flesh, do not mortify yourself, do not correct your failings, and indulge your sinful appetites, you will one day reap death, destruction and damnation, whereas, on the contrary, if you follow the dictates of the Holy Ghost, you will reap of the Spirit of life.
Let us obey this doctrine, for it is of interest to us, and impress deeply on our heart that without mortification of body and soul we cannot be saved.

ASPIRATION. O St. Paul! beg of God the grace for me, that I may always walk in humility, and the love of my neighbor, particularly in bearing with his imperfections and failings, and thus fulfil the law of Christ in this as in all things.

GOSPEL. (Luke vii. 11-16.) At that time, Jesus went into a city called Naim: and there went with him his disciples, and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a great, multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, said to her: Weep not. And he came near, and touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still. And he said: Young man, I say to thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all; and they glorified God, saying: A great prophet is risen up amongst us, and God hath visited his people.

Why did Christ show compassion to this widow?
To convince us that God takes sorrowful and destitute widows under His protection; and is to them a consoler and helper; and to teach us to do the same. Woe, therefore, to those who oppress them and cause them to weep. The tears and cries of widows will ascend to God, who will terribly punish the injuries inflicted upon them. (Exod xxii. 22. 23.)
Christ had still other reasons for compassion, for He saw in this deceased youth the death of sinners, and in the afflicted mother the pain which the Church experiences at the spiritual loss of so many of her children. Should this not also awaken our sympathy since it was the principal cause which moved our Saviour to compassion. If we are faithful children of our mother, the Church, it is impossible for us not to share her sorrow, and we would surely not be her children, if we could contemplate without sorrow the multitude who daily die the death of sin, and thus separated from the living body of Christ, hasten to eternal destruction. O let us with the Church unceasingly ask Jesus, that He raise sinners from their spiritual death, enlighten those in error so that all recognize the truth, find, and walk the path Which leads to life!
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