“Do I seek to please men? If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.’’ Gal. 1:10.
Dear Antonio,
I was thinking after you left, you said you had to go make some people happy. Then I thought, ”Is he going to work on Sunday again?’’ If so, I feel a need to remind you, it is a serious violation of the 3rd commandment to work on Sunday. To see the gravity and severity of how punishes these crimes, I recommend you read Numbers 15:31-36. See what happened to the man just gathering sticks on the Sabbath. Apparently that man contemned the word of the Lord. What did God tell Moses to do with the man? ‘’Stone him to death.’’ Fr. Leslie Rumble said, “The seriousness of the punishment shows the seriousness of the crime.’’
Also, violating one commandment is a mortal sin, and can put us in hell. We must keep all the commandments. I refer you to St. Matt. 19:17: “If thou wilt enter life, keep the commandments.’’ St. James shows us the danger of transgressing one point of the law. “And whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, is become guilty of all.” 2:10. If we keep nine of the commandments and violate one, such as murder, that one broken commandment can send us to hell. St. John Vianney used to say that what people gained on Sunday would be to their loss in the future, and their eternal salvation.
The Catholic Church is the true Church, and Christ only established one church. The Apostles in the Apostles Creed said: “I believe in the holy Catholic Church.” The Apostles were offering the holy sacrifice of the Mass in the early Church, the Lord’s Supper, as Jesus taught them. ‘’And on the first day of the week, when we were assembled to break bread, Paul discoursed with them…’ Acts 20:7. Saying Mass, breaking bread. Jesus consecrated the bread and wine into his own body and blood. ‘’This is my body. Take ye and eat,’’ and so on. And He told the people earlier, “If you don’t eat my body and blood, you shall have no life in you.’’ St. John 6:54. You do not take the Lord’s body and blood. Jesus says, “No life in you,’’ so how can you be on the narrow road? Protestant preachers can’t change bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood like a Catholic priest. All they can do is give you a good sermon and sing a few songs, and many of their sermons have the poison of heresy in them. So if you listen to them, and believe their false doctrine, then you cannot be saved.
There is a story about a man named Theophanes, who went to the river Jordan, where dwelt a certain old man, Cyriacus by name, of great merit before God. Theophanes asked him advice concerning temptations against purity. The old man began to encourage him with talk about temperance and chastity. Greatly edified and strengthened, he said to the old man, ‘’Truly, my father, if it were not that in my own country I communicate with the Nestorians, I would remain with you.’’ Now when the aged man heard the name ‘’Nestorians,’’ distressed for the ruin of a brother, he began to rebuke him, and entreated him to withdraw that most evil and baneful heresy, and to seek admission into the holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, telling him at the same time that there is no other hope of salvation. ‘’But, my father and master, ‘’ said the brother, ‘’surely this is what all heretics say; that, ‘Unless you communicate with us, you will not be saved.’ Miserable that I am, I do not know what to do!’’
The old man was full of joy, and said to him, ‘’Come. Sit in the cave with me, and have complete hope in God, for His goodness will discover to you the true faith.’’ Then, leaving the brother in the cave, Cyriacus went forth to the Dead Sea to pray to God for him. VISION OF HELL: Now, about the ninth hour the following day, the brother beheld someone standing before him of terrible appearance, who said: ‘’Come, and see the truth.’’ And, taking him, he led him to a darksome and fetid place where there burned fire and flames; and, in these flames he saw Nestorius, Eutyches, and certain others. And he who appeared to him said, ‘’This place is prepared for heretics and for those who follow their teachings. If this place pleases you, then continue in your present doctrine; but if you do not want to undergo this punishment, join yourself to the holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church which that old man is teaching you to do. For I tell you that, although a man should practice all the virtues and yet not believe rightly, he will have to suffer in this place. ‘’ At these words, the brother regained consciousness, and told Cyriacus, on his return, all that he had seen. And then he joined the Holy Catholic Church. Because, you see Francis, St. Paul said that a man that was a heretic is condemned, by his own judgement. Titus 3:10-11. Heretics refuse to believe everything what God has revealed. Therefore, they make God a liar, 1 John 5:10. Our religion is composed of two things that we must observe, right faith and good morals. Like two tires on a bike, they both must be good to get you there. If a man has right faith but bad morals and dies in that state, he will go to hell. If a man has good morals but wrong faith and dies in his state, he will go to hell. The above story bears out this truth. A heretic is one who may profess belief in Christ, but refuses certain doctrines that He taught. For example, protestants refuse to believe what Jesus taught on the Holy Eucharist, that we must receive his body and blood in Holy Communion for the life of our souls. They reject that and make him a liar. Having that kind of faith in Christ is a grave sin, because to make Jesus Christ a liar is a grave sin. Thus, Jesus said, “He that believeth not shall be condemned.’’ St. Mark 16:16.
Look what Our Lord revealed to Mother Marianna about heretics, and their place in hell! “A thousand times cursed be those heretics and their followers, who place in doubt these mysteries concerning myself and My mother. Let them be cursed, and let their eternal abode be the center of the earth, together with the father of lies, Lucifer and his henchmen. Inside the fire, created by the divine ire for the rebellious angels , and the men who follow them, severing themselves from the truth, and leaving the Catholic Church.
“What is it that makes a heretic so repulsive to God? It’s because they refused to believe what God has revealed. They make Jesus Christ a liar. “He that believeth not the Son maketh him a liar.” 1 St. John 5:10; and damn themselves, as Jesus said, according to St. John in his Gospel, “He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” This is a condemnation in the words of St. John on heretics. St. Padre Pio once said, “To doubt is the greatest insult to the Divinity.” “A man that is a heretic avoid, after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a one is subverted and sinneth, being condemned by his own judgement.” Titus 3:10-11. Because he goes by his own judgement rather than following the teaching of Christ’s Church. Heresy is poison on the soul. Would you put arsenic on your plate of food? Then why do you go to a false church to be fed poisonous doctrine?
ONE DAY WEEPING AND IN GREAT AFFLICTION: St. Alphonsus relates a most sad story in THE GLORIES OF MARY, page 54 about a man and his mother. ‘’In the history of the foundation of The Society of Jesus in the kingdom of Naples, we read the following account of a young Scotch nobleman, named William Elphinstone. He was related to King James, and lived for some time in the heresy in which he was born. Enlightened by divine grace, he began to perceive his errors. Having gone to France, with the help of a good Jesuit Father, who also was a Scotchman, and still more by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, he at last discovered the truth, abjured his heresy, and became a Catholic. From France he went to Rome, and there a friend, finding him one day weeping and in great affliction, inquired the cause of his grief. He answered that during the night his mother, who was lost, appeared to him, and said: ‘’It is well for thee, son, that thou hast entered the true Church; for as I died in heresy, I am lost.’’
From that moment he redoubled his devotions towards Mary, choosing her for his only Mother, and by her was inspired with the thought of embracing the religious state, and he bound himself to do so by a vow. Being in delicate health, he went to Naples for a change of air, and there it was the will of God that he should die, and die as a religious; for shortly after his arrival, finding himself at the last extremity, by his prayers and tears moved the Superiors to accept him, and in presence of the Most Blessed Sacrament, when he received it as Viaticum, he pronounced his vows, and was declared a member of the Society of Jesus. After this it was most touching to hear with what tenderness he thanked his Mother Mary for having snatched him from heresy, and led him to die in the true Church, and in the house of God, surrounded by his religious brethren. This made him exclaim; “Oh, How glorious it is to die in the midst of so many angels.’’ When exhorted to repose a little, ‘’Ah,’’ he replied, ‘’this is no time for repose, now that I am at the close of my life.’’ Before expiring, he said to those who surrounded him, ‘’Brothers, do you not see the angels of heaven here present who assist me?’’ One of the religious having heard him mutter some words, asked him what he said. He answered, that his guardian angel had revealed to him that he would remain a very short time in purgatory, and that he would soon go to heaven. He then entered into a colloquy with his sweet Mother Mary, and like a child that abandons itself to rest in the arms of its mother, he exclaimed, ‘’Mother, mother!’’ and sweetly expired. Shortly afterwards, a devout religious learnt by revelation that he was already in heaven.’’ These stories bear out the truth that we cannot live and die in heresy and be saved. And you are going back to a protestant church because someone gave you a cold shoulder, or rolled their eyes at you? Surely your personal feelings are more important than truth.
Last Sunday you seemed to be questioning Mary. Have you forgotten, when you and Teresa got pulled over, and the police could have arrested you, and you and Teresa were saying the Hail Marys, how the police let you go, when they could have locked you up? Why would you question Mary, unless you had been listening to some ignorant protestants? You were very impressed, and convinced that the Blessed Mother helped you get out of that one because you were saying the Hail Marys!
After about 3 years of going to the true Catholic Mass, you should have been a Catholic by now. What is holding you back? I believe you are not corresponding to God’s grace. You have not been studying the catechisms that were given you. Especially the book THIS IS THE FAITH which explains nearly everything you need to know to become a Catholic. The Bible is a very holy book, if you have a true copy. The Church considers it, it’s number 1 book. But you will never learn the Catholic faith in it, by private interpretation. St. Peter says, ‘’No prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation. 2 Peter 1:20. The Scriptures have to be explained to us, as Philip explained them to the Ethiopian, Acts 8:30 and following. That’s how I learned the faith. That’s how the priests learn it. That’s how the saints learned it. If you want to learn the true faith, you need to start reading some good supplemental books along with reading the Bible.
When you would go to Mass, you gave up your Missal and started taking your Bible instead. The Mass, the Church teaches, is the Sacrifice of Calvary renewed in an invisible and unbloody manner. It is the pure offering of Christ being offered to the Father each day from the rising of the sun to its going down thereof: ‘’ For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.’’ Malachy 1:11. The Mass contains Bible readings, and instruction in the sermons, but it is not the place where we go to have a Bible study. We go to participate in the sacrifice of Calvary, and unite with the priest in offering Jesus to the Father for our sins. The prayers and readings and everything is set up in a most perfect way, in the traditional Mass codified by Pope St. Pius V. It is the time for offering prayer and sacrifice, not for Bible study per se. Mary did not take her Bible to Calvary. She was praying and offering herself in union with Christ’s death on the Cross, and that’s what we are supposed to be doing. Like the protestants, you just thought all you needed to do was to take your Bible to church. Thus, you never learned the Mass, nor the importance of it. St. Padre Pio, who bore the wounds of Christ in his body for 50 years, uniting his sufferings with those of Christ, Colossians 1:24, said of the Mass: ‘’It would be easier for the earth to exist without the sun, than without the value of the Holy Mass.’’ There is no comparison between the Mass and the Holy Bible. The Mass is Jesus laying down his life for us. Jesus is not dying again, but his sacrificial death is being made present to us. The Bible is a very holy book, if you have a version without errors in it, and the Church highly encourages Catholics to read the Bible, even offering special blessings on those who do so, called Indulgences. However, the Bible didn’t die for our sins, Jesus did. And we could never get to heaven if Jesus hadn’t died for our sins. Yet the Bible can be a blessing if it’s interpreted correctly, yet many wrest the scriptures to their own destruction St Peter says, because they interpret it wrongly, 2nd Peter 3:16. It is not of private interpretation, as the protestants believe, 2nd Peter 1:20; yet even they do not completely believe it because they have Sunday school teachers and seminary professors. Why do you need a teacher or a professor if all you have to do is read the Bible? The Bible is a sharp two-edged sword, Hebrews 4:12, and St. Francis de Sales said you would not put a sharp two-edged sword into the hands of just anyone, lest they kill themselves with it.
Why don’t you wear the scapular? I’m thinking you told the one lady that it itched you, or something like that. And I’m thinking, tough guy like you, and can’t even wear the scapular. Did you know, some of the saints would even wear ropes and chains around their bodies, piercing the flesh, for penance? And the little children of Fatima, little children mind you, would wear a rope around their waist for penance, 10 years old and younger, and we can’t put up with a little itch from a scapular?
And the rosary? You apparently are not praying it every day. Mary told Sr. Lucy (and remember, these messages were confirmed by a great miracle of the sun before 70,000 witnesses), she told Sr. Lucy, “In order to save souls, God wishes, ( notice she said it was God who wished this,) God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart.’’ The rosary and the scapular are the 2 main devotions to Mary that draw us nearer to God. Mary is the channel through which Jesus came to us, and He wants us to return to him by the same means. “We go to Jesus through Mary because that is the way He came to us, and He said, ‘As I have given you an example, so do you also.’’ – St. Louis de Montfort. St. Alphonsus said, “Mary is the channel, and the devil tries to close up this channel, by cutting off devotion to her, in order to overcome souls.”
What happens if you clog up your water pipe, or if it is broken? You have no water. What happens if you cut down the fruit tree? You have no fruit. Was Jesus not the fruit of Mary’s womb? In order to have the fruit, you need the tree. “He who wishes to have the fruit of life, which is Jesus Christ, must have the tree of life, which is Mary. He who wishes to have the operation of the Holy Ghost, must have the divine Mary, who makes him fertile and fruit-bearing,’’ says St. Louis de Montfort. ‘’She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her, and he that shall retain her is blessed.’’ Proverbs 3:18. St. Louis de Montfort said that, ‘Just as the Holy Ghost used Mary to form Christ the head, He also uses her in a spiritual manner to form his body and its members.’’ This is why, if we have no devotion to Mary, the Holy Ghost does not operate in us, and we live in sin and all kinds of errors.
If you worked for a business that required you to work on Sunday, such as doctors, nurses and so forth, that’s a necessity. But you are a contractor, your own boss, and it is for you to tell these people, ‘’I respect the Lord’s Day. It belongs to him, not to me. It’s for worship and rest.’’ That’s why we call it, the Lord’s Day. It belongs to him, not to us, and He commands us to do no unnessary work on Sunday. He gave us six days to work, and reserved one to himself, and we try to take that one too. St. John Vianney said there was no better way to put one’s soul in hell, by stealing the Lord’s Day from him, and using it for our own ends.
I have said enough, but your soul is in great danger if you continue on as you have been. The number one thing is to be devoted to Mary, to pray the rosary every day, and wear the brown scapular. “Now all good things came to me together with her, and innumerable riches through her hands,” Wisdom 7:11. Mary is our good spiritual mother. ‘’This man and that man were born in her.’’ Psalm 86:5. “The first man born in her was Jesus, in a natural way. The second man is mere man, born in her by adoption. The same mother that brings forth the head also brings forth the body, and St. Paul says, ‘Christ is the head of the church, and the church is his body.’ Eph. 1:22-23, and we are the members, verse 23.’’ This was the teaching of St. Louis de Montfort. So, being our good spiritual mother in heaven, she will teach us the things of God, only if we stay close to her, that is, by praying her rosary every day and wearing her brown scapular. ‘’For it she that teaches the knowledge of God…’’ Wisdom 8:4. Now, did not all good things come to us through her? And the protestants say, ‘’No! They come through Jesus.’’ And we say, “But, did not Jesus come to us through Mary?’’ And through Mary, do we not receive all good things through Jesus, as St. Paul says,’’ How hath he not also, with him, given us all things?’’ Romans 8:32. This is why the scripture says of her in Ecclesiasticus 24:24-26: ‘’ I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits.’’
If we do, she will bring us back to the true Church, back to her Son Jesus, and back to Holy Communion, the ‘’Bread of Life,’’ St. John 6:36 and 6:48, for the salvation of our souls. ‘’Amen. Amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall have no life in you.’’ St. John 6:54. Do you want to be raised up on the last day? Then get in the Church and start going to Holy Communion. “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath life everlasting, and I shall raise him up on the last day.’’ 6:55.
Sincerely in Christ and Mary,
Larry
P. S. Going to false protestant churches is also a violation of the first commandment, which forbids false worship. They didn’t even come into existence for 1500 years. How could they possibly be a church we would want to listen to, who take the private interpretation of the Bible for their guide? St. Paul says ‘’there is one faith,’’ but their private interpretation has led to thousands of different denominations. Where is their ”unity of faith,” Eph. 4:13?
Luther, the first protestant, a former Catholic priest, broke his vow of celibacy and married a nun, broke away from the Catholic Church, ignoring the warning of Our Lord, “If he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the publican.” St. Matthew 18:17. A Terrible Vision: Luther in Hell! https://motherofgodlibrary.org/2019/06/05/a-terrible-vision-luther-in-hell/
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