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| Bergoglio gives the thumbs-up to the 'artist' who covered a crucifix in his urine |
"You are Christs! You are Christs! You are Christs!"
If a reader of this blog had heard Father correctly this morning she wouldn't have stayed to hear the rest. She'd have walked. But what with the noise of the heat pump (which doesn't heat) she thought Father was saying, "You are cross!" (which was intriguing).
She stayed intrigued till he explained that because Christ was anointed by the Spirit and the word Christ means 'anointed' and because we are anointed by the Spirit by baptism, ergo, we are Christs.
Ah, well, no. We are not Christs. This sort of preaching goes a long way towards explaining how Jorge Mario Bergoglio can get away with:
- Appointing Archbishop 'Tucho' Fernández who writes homoerotic poetry as Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
- Upholding Sharia law https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/romd-papal-remarks-green-light-islamic-death-penalty-lawssH
- Welcoming to the Vatican the 'artist' who depicted a crucifix dipped in his own urinehttps://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-warmly-greets-infamous-artist-who-created-image-of-crucifix-in-urine/
- Refusing to halt the exhibition of Jesuit celeb Fr Marko Rupnik, accused of sexual assault of at least 25 nunshttps://www.ncregister.com/blog/vatican-philatelic-book-father-rupnik
Fr Rupnik - expelled from the Jesuits, welcomed by Bergoglio
It's obvious to all and sundry, surely, that these men so favoured by Bergoglio - and the 'pope' himself - are not 'Christs'. They were baptised. They were anointed. Yet like everyone they have since sinned, it seems grievously. To be Christ one must be like Christ. That is, perfect. Now although the faithful in the pews this morning are good people, they would be the first to admit - if they thought about it - that they're not perfect.
Even with the grace of frequent Confession, which doesn't happen in this parish, one is not likely to be Christ. Christians yes, but not Christ. To think of ourselves as Christs is tantamount to presumption.
Q. 1183. What is presumption?
A. Presumption is a rash expectation of salvation without making proper use of the necessary means to obtain it.
Q. 1184. How may we be guilty of presumption?
A. We may be guilty of presumption:
1. By putting off confession when in a state of mortal sin;
2. By delaying the amendment of our lives and repentance for past sins;
3. By being indifferent about the number of times we yield to any temptation after we have once yielded and broken our resolution to resist it;
4. By thinking we can avoid sin without avoiding its near occasion;
5. By relying too much on ourselves and neglecting to follow the advice of our confessor in regard to the sins we confess.
And we shouldn't presume either, that baptism has the effect that Father implied that it does by calling all his congregation "Christs". There can be impediments to the proper fruits of baptism, as explained below:
However, it does not follow from the fact that (baptism) is valid, that it is necessarily fruitful, removing sin, infusing sanctifying grace, making a person a child of God, and opening the gates of heaven. There can be an obex, or impediment, to the sacrament infusing grace. In such instances the sacrament will be valid, but fruitless, for as long as the obstacle remains.
St. Thomas Aquinas makes this distinction very clearly in the Summa Theologica, IIIa, Q. 68, A. 8, where he states that "baptism produces a two-fold effect on the soul, viz. the character and grace." He continues to explain that the Catholic Faith is not necessary for the validity of the sacrament, that is, for the baptismal character:
Right faith is not necessary in the one baptized any more than in the one who baptizes; provided that the other conditions are fulfilled which are necessary for the validity of the sacrament. For the sacrament is not perfected by the righteousness of the minister or of the recipient of Baptism, but by the power of God.
However, if the true Faith is not necessary for the validity of the sacrament, the absence of the supernatural Faith of the Catholic Church will prevent the sacrament from bearing the fruit that it ought: "A thing is necessary for Baptism, as something without which grace, which is the ultimate effect of the sacrament, cannot be had. And thus right Faith is necessary for Baptism..."
The knowing and willing refusal to embrace the true Faith is consequently, like the refusal to make an act of at least imperfect contrition, an obstacle to the sacrament bearing the fruit of sanctifying grace. Hence the valid sacrament does not remit sin.
St. Thomas also considers the case of insincerity, when a person remains attached to a mortal sin, which insincerity is not changed by the sacrament of baptism, which consequently remains valid but fruitless:
When God changes man’s will from evil to good, man does not approach with insincerity. But God does not always do this. Nor is this the purpose of the sacrament, that an insincere man (i.e., attached to mortal sin) be made sincere, but that he who comes in sincerity be justified (ST, IIIa, Q. 69, A. 9, ad 2).
In ST, Q. 68, A. 9, St. Thomas considers the special case of infants, who are not capable of placing obstacles to prevent the sacrament bearing fruit, just as they are not capable of having their own intention. It is for this reason that a valid sacrament is always fruitful for them: "Children before the use of reason, being as it were in the womb of their mother the Church, receive salvation not by their own act, but by the act of the Church" (ST, IIIa, Q. 68, A. 9, ad 1).
Thus it is that infants when baptized are members of the Catholic Church, even if baptized by heretical ministers in heretical churches, until such time as they embrace the heresy of their Protestant church (which is presumed at the age of 14 years), and this regardless of "the unbelief of their own parents" (ibid. ad 2), for "the child acquires a good conscience in himself, not indeed as to the act, but as to the habit, by sanctifying grace" (ad 3).
In infants, therefore, the baptismal character is inseparable from the infusion of sanctifying grace and of the supernatural virtue (or habitus) of Faith, and the remission of original sin, regardless of the church in which a person is validly baptized. Cf. ST, IIIa, Q. 69, A. 6, ad 3: "So that children believe, not by their own act, but by the Faith of the Church, which is applied to them: – by the power of which faith, grace and virtues are bestowed on them."
The final case to be considered is that of an adult who is baptized validly in a Protestant church, but who is not formally attached to the errors of that church, and who does not willingly and knowingly choose to be baptized in an heretical church which refuses the true Faith.
If he truly believes all that he knows that God has revealed (including at least the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Redemption and Heaven and Hell), and on the basis of the supernatural motive of the authority of God who reveals (and not for human, social or political reasons), and if he would believe everything that the Catholic Church believes and teaches if he knew about its dogmas, and if he would willingly join the Catholic Church if he knew it to be the true Church, then his faith is truly supernatural. It is the right faith (fides recta) of which St. Thomas speaks.
This falls into the case of invincible ignorance, which Pope Pius IX describes in the encyclical Quanto Conficiamur Moerore of August 10, 1863, which explains the meaning of the dogma Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus. As the pope explains, such a person will not be punished for an ignorance for which he is not culpable or responsible, and which he does not have the means to overcome.
If there is no other obstacle (e.g., attachment to mortal sin), then the baptism of an adult with such supernatural faith will also infuse sanctifying grace and remove original and actual sins, even if done in a Protestant church. ]http://archives.sspx.org/Catholic_FAQs/catholic_faqs__theological.htm
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| The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes James Tissot |
"I have compassion on the multitude, for behold they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat.
And if I shall send them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way; for some of them came from afar off"
-(Mk 82,3) Sixth Sunday after Pentecost.
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