Francis wants us to embrace his false concept of "joy"
- a "joy" which is often seen in the sign of peace at Holy
Mass. A "joy" that is artificial and contrived. By contrast, authentic
joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
In Galatians 5: 22-23, the Holy Spirit tells us through Saint Paul that, "the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness,gentleness,
self-control." Francis,
having
succumbed to the erroneous idea that insistence on Catholic moral
teaching and moral norms constitutes a form of "sickness" and even
"wickedness" (see me last post) would deny us
an authentic understanding as
to what constitutes joy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us
that,
"By the power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who
has
grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear 'the fruit of the
Spirit:...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control.' 'We live by the Spirit'; the more we renounce
ourselves, the more we 'walk by the Spirit.'.." (CCC, 736). And again: "The
fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the
first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of
them: 'Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity,
gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.'" (CCC,
1832).
You see, we live in the Spirit when we renounce
ourselves. We are not living in the spirit if we engage in sinful
behaviors such as homosexual acts. Those who do live such a lifestyle will not
have joy. The Lord Jesus promises heavenly joy to those who suffer the
consequences of following Him [and this demands picking up our cross and
following Him daily] and calls for its anticipation saying, "Rejoice and be
glad, for your reward is great in heaven" (Matthew 5: 12).
Dr. Germain Grisez
explains that, "St. Paul teaches that Christians always should call on God's
help by constant prayer, rejoice in hope, be patient, and not be anxious (see
Rom 12: 12; Phil 4: 4-6). Since Christian joy presupposes hope, Jesus' and
Paul's injunctions to rejoice can be fulfilled only by nurturing hope. But hope
grows in a kind of virtuous circle: joy amid suffering helps faithful Christians
endure what they must, this endurance conforms their character to that of Jesus,
and likeness to Jesus increases their confidence and further intensifies their
hope (see Rom 5: 3-4; cf. Phil 3: 8-21)."
Dr. Grisez goes on to explain
that the fear of Hell is essential for Christian hope (and remember, Christian
joy presupposes hope). He reminds us that, "..if one becomes forgetful of the
possibility of hell and loses all fear of it, heaven seems a sure thing, with
the bad result that it no longer is possible to have Christian hope for it or
live a life shaped by that hope. Christian hope is the intention of the kingdom
as one's end, and some good can be intended as an end only if one's action is
expected to help bring about that good. Thus, someone confident of sharing in
the kingdom no matter what, simply cannot intend it as an end and live for it,
although such a person still may think about heaven for solace when loved ones
die and during other times of suffering. In consequence, someone who forgets
the possibility of hell ignores the kingdom when deliberating and making
choices. Unable any longer to order his or her life to the kingdom, that person
becomes motivated by other interests and desires, and these alien ends, pursued
independently of faith and hope, make their own incompatible demands. Thus, the
life of a Christian forgetful of hell becomes indistinguishable from the life of
a nonbeliever. Consequently, while properly Christian fear depends on hope,
hope also depends on fear. And while hope for the kingdom always should
dominate, fear of hell never should be entirely excluded. Thus, meditation on
the last things, which appropriately begins from Sacred Scripture, should
reflect the balanced approach of the New Testament, which focuses on heaven but
never entirely loses sight of hell."
Christian joy presupposes hope. And
the fear of Hell is essential for Christian hope. How quickly some forget
this. We hear much nonsense today from those within the "homosexual community"
about "the joys of gay sex." But there is no authentic joy apart from living in
obedience to God's Commandments. Joy is a fruit of living in the Spirit, not of
living in the flesh.
Francis does not teach this. His notion of "joy" is based upon an idea of mercy which is really nothing less than presumption..
When Jesus began His public ministry, He did so with the word "repent" (Matthew
4:17). And He advised the woman caught in adultery to "sin no more" (John 8:11).
Likewise, in the case of the man cured at the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus advised
him to "sin no more lest something worse befall thee" (John 5:14).When queried
on the subject of how many would be saved, Jesus replied "few" because the
"gate" to Heaven is "narrow" (Matthew 7:13-14). And while no one can pinpoint
the precise meaning of the word "few," still, it is sobering that Jesus chose
the image of a narrow gate.
Jesus is likened in the gospel to a stern
master who has lazy servants flogged and murderous ones put to death (Matthew
21:41; Luke 12:47). And while it is true that Jesus is Mercy, He is also
Justice. And for every parable illustrative of His mercy, there are three or
four threatening divine retribution.
The Judgment Day is always described
as a day of wrath and never as a day of rejoicing (Proverbs 11:4; Zephaniah
1:15; Sirach 5:10; Romans 2:5; Revelation 6:17). Why is this? If everyone (or
even a large segment of mankind) is headed for Heaven, why does Sacred Scripture
refer to the Judgment Day as a day of wrath?
The smug, self-satisfied
"we-are-all-saved-already" attitude found in so many Catholic parishes is the
result of the sin of presumption. Such an attitude was in evidence when Francis met with homosexual activist Simon Cazal.
Francis did not tell Cazal to "go and sin no more." Instead, he merely
listened to his demands that the Church change her teaching relative to
homosexual acts. Because many other priests are betraying
Jesus by refusing to preach on the reality of sin and the reality of
Hell, a
spiritual dry-rot has infected much of the Church. This is why nearly
everyone
receives Holy Communion at Mass but nearly no one goes to Confession.
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say about presumption: "There are
two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping
to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God's
almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion
and glory without merit)." (CCC, 2092).
The words of Sacred Scripture
remind us that such an attitude is very, very wrong: "Of forgiveness be not
overconfident, adding sin upon sin. Say not:' Great is his mercy; my many sins
he will forgive.' For mercy and anger alike are with him; upon the wicked
alights his wrath." (Sirach 5:5-7).
Francis has lost sight of this truth.
TradCatKnight Radio: "2016: The Year of Pseudo-Mercy"
