The “Greater Good” is Not a Catholic Moral System
Eugenics, the notion that the strong can kill the weak, is built on the philosophy that population reduction may have to be done for the greater good of society. It's built on the part of Darwinian evolution called natural selection and survival of the fittest. Under this philosophy, the Nazi Holocaust was simply a moral attempt to cleanse their own society of weaker Jews "for the greater good" of society, as they Nazis might say. Why then do so many on the left today say that we have to make decisions on COVID "for the greater good"? Now, in their defense, libs do not want another holocaust. And proportionate decisions in bio-ethics can be made under extremely limited criteria. So, let's jump into those limited criteria to see if we can apply the notion of "the greater good" for global [...]
CPX 90: Matrimony 3
Catechism of Pope St. Pius X (CPX) p. 108-110 Q/A 14-26 *** -15 Mortal Sins Catholics Are Missing: https://padreperegrino.org/2019/08/mortalsins/ https://youtu.be/7oD90-cvAjw
Men’s Groups: A Suggestion
Who is more chatty, men or women? You probably can guess my answer at face-value. But when you throw a single variable in there, and change it just a little bit, for example: “Who is more open about problems with new friends?” I believe the answer is: men. You see, if you started a women’s Bible Study, you would be lucky if you could get fellow women to open up about, say, internet temptations within three months of that Bible study getting together. But if you started a men’s Bible Study, the men would be open about internet problems that very first night. I mean it: That very first night you would have a bunch of weeping men. I’m not exaggerating. I used to work with FOCUS and our “thing” was campus Bible Studies. I found generally but not absolutely [...]
The Marriage of Faith and Reason
The collect in the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) for St. Albert the Great today reads: O God, Who made blessed Albert, Your Bishop and Doctor, eminent in the submission of human wisdom to divine faith, grant us, we beseech You, so to follow the path of his teaching that we may enjoy perfect light in heaven. This is such a beautiful prayer because it captures what a genius St. Albert was in matters of both human wisdom (called humána sapiéntia in the TLM collect today, now called "science") as well as matters of divine faith (called divínæ fídei in the TLM today, also called Divine Revelation.) As you know in 2021, you have no reason to trust the liberals in science. The same group of people that thinks it's okay to kill unborn babies or mutilate toddlers' between the legs or [...]
VLX 90: Death of John the Baptist
Mt 14:1-12 https://youtu.be/bWPCeLzf6xA
How Hard Is It To Avoid Heresy?
Consider a putatively-conservative Roman Catholic archbishop who invites his priests to pray with Lutherans in a Lutheran community building. This really happened. But because this bishop is "pro-life," he is considered "conservative" by most of his laity. Thus, most mainstream Catholics will pretty quickly forgive a bishop inviting their own Catholic priests to a Lutheran prayer service. That is, if they even think there's anything to forgive in that. I think the attitude among most of the laity today is basically: Well, I make mistakes in my vocation, so I can't judge my superiors who make mistakes in their vocations. Fair enough. There's some humility in that attitude. But there's several reasons that promoting the heresy of indifferentism (the notion that all religions can get you to heaven) is very different from, say, arguing with your spouse. The first reason [...]
TCE 32: How to Navigate a Church Crisis
This is Theology and Current Events (TCE) #32 and is taken mostly from St. Vincent of Lerins on how to Navigate a Church Crisis. -All quotes from St. Vincent of Lerins are found at New Advent at https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3506.htm. -This podcast is my reading of my own blog here https://padreperegrino.org/2021/11/lerins/ https://youtu.be/3V959H1AJtQ
St. Vincent of Lerins on how to Navigate a Church Crisis
Many Catholics think that "Catholic" means "universal," and they are correct, but they make the mistake of thinking this is universal not through history but just today in this current Church crisis. We look to the great saint and doctor of the Church of the 5th century, St. Vincent of Lerins, for how to navigate a Church crisis when many bishops believe and teach different things. St. Vincent of Lerins was one of the very, very few bishops who fought against the global 5th century heresy of Arianism believed by 99% of the bishops of his day. We will see below in his writings why "Catholic" does not mean "universal" (for example, as in an opinion poll of a certain time of history) but rather that Catholicism is that what has been believed "everywhere, always and by all" Catholics [...]
CPX 89: Matrimony 2
Catechism of Pope St. Pius X (CPX) p. 107-108 Q/A 8-13 CPX 33: The Eastern Rites https://youtu.be/600fkzBHdBc Ratum non Consummatum https://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2013/12/19/canon-law-marriage-consummatum/ https://youtu.be/JPbHysJL26Q
Thoughts on “The Restrainer”
And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the [...]