Sunday Edition - For the Catholic That Likes To Think

Sunday Edition

For the Thinking Catholic

Why are Christians feared so much by communist dictators the world over?

There is no doubt about it.  Rulers of communist countries the world over tremble in fear when it comes to religion.  They single out Christians for special consideration and special treatment.  It is almost as if they can tell the differences between religions and which ones they should fear and which ones are actually harmless to their cause and can be persecuted with less vigor.  What is more dangerous for example in Chinese leaders eyes, a Buddhist spinning a prayer wheel or a Catholic priest in the underground church preaching the Gospel, a document that has been known to change lives? 

The goal of communist governments the world over is to stamp out religion in all of its forms and “educate the proletariat in the progressive ways of communism.” The Church, especially the underground church in China, is making the job of ridding the regime of religion that much harder. 

I am not sure what Pope Francis is thinking when he started collaborating with the Communist regime and even called for underground bishops to surrender their office to the legal “Patriotic Catholic Church.”  The government approved patriotic Catholic Church, which is the legal Catholic Church that one may belong to in China. In 1949 the government asked Bishop Kung to denounce the Holy Father and embrace the patriotic society.  The bishop refused stating: "I am a Roman Catholic bishop. If I denounce the Holy Father, not only would I not be a bishop, I would not even be a Catholic. You can cut off my head, but you can never take away my duties."

But isn’t having a church that is approved by the government worth having the clergy belong to the patriotic association?  Actually, no. There are two purposes for the patriotic organization.  First, it is to be a substitute for the Church in all of the Church’s rolls. Secondly it is part of the plan to eliminate religion in Chinese society altogether.

Right now, parents are told not to bring their children to Sunday Mass and the government has programs to fill up this timeslot for the children so the time is not wasted but put to good use teaching the children the true gospel of the Communist Revolution. The Chinese bosses understand that the future of the church is not in the oldsters whose mind was poisoned in the fifties and sixties, but rather the future of the church is in the young people and especially the children.  With no children entering the church, it will wither and die on its own, or so that is the plan.

The underground Church has had many martyrs.  Whole communities were rounded up and sent for re-education or killed outright. Thousands perished in the camps for their faith and you would think that the constant pressure maintained by the government would show that the church was shrinking.  Far from shrinking, the Church is growing in spite of what the government tries.

The Patriotic society in China is not in communion with the Pope.  Bishops are appointed by the society no matter what the Holy See thinks of the person being ordained. I fear that Pope Francis by extending an olive branch to the Beijing leaders will pull back his arm and find nothing more than a crown of thorns.

Let us pray for the Church in China and ask God to keep it strong and to defeat the smiling government lackey’s whose smile lights up their faces and conceals the dagger behind their backs.       

      

But why have communists been afraid of religion in general and Christianity in particular? It’s a matter of control.  A person who lives in the freedom of Christ does not want to live in the utopia of communism because they know that no such utopia exists.  In the communist world everyone is to be equal.  We can see that this is not true unless everyone is to be equally poor?  But even that is not workable in their society.  In their classless society there are those that are comrade leaders and comrade followers. They stress the equality of everyone but life shows that there are those that are inside of the inner circle that reside in a world of wealth and power and there is the little guy who has nothing more than a cooking pot that maybe he can put a little rice into to feed his wife and state mandated families of wife and two kids.  In China, there is a crisis in the making.  The number of men outnumber the number of women and the dating and marriage situation in the country is getting to be critical.  This comes from the two child rule the people in this utopia have to follow.   They are allowed two children so those that have baby girls do what they can to get rid of them because a girl is a burden to them as they have to pay a dowry to marry them off so if one girl is bad, can you imagine a family that has a first girl-child and their second and last legal chance is also a girl means that the family name will not survive.  What happens if a family with two girls gets pregnant again?  What they receive in this case is a public shaming and a complimentary abortion. 

China may be booming economically but spiritually they are close to having to file bankruptcy.  The underground Church whose existence has been put at peril by Pope Francis giving in to the communist pressure is the only hope for the Chinese people.  He may think that the communists are going to be sharing power while they know that they will be doing their utmost to destroy the Faith.  To put this in terms of a football game, Francis has fumbled and the Chinese have recovered the ball at the fifty-yard line.  It is new game and the odds are on the side of the visitors.

The Underground Church, if it can stand the pressure and if it can continue to exist, in her way will keep the truth alive.  As she is persecuted and hunted by the “People’s Army” she will do what she has done so very well over the years. She will serve as a place where people can worship in Spirit and Truth. The Patriotic Catholic Church on the other hand will serve people and will erode the truth of the Gospel and preach the party line in all of the homilies that they preach.  The enemy of the Catholic Church in China has been revealed and has been identified with own eyes, it is us.

Here is what the Catholic Church teaches about Heaven, hell, and yes purgatory

Let there be no confusion what-so-ever. The Catholic Church has always taught that there is a heaven, purgatory, and hell.  This is not-withstanding what an old doddering reporter who cannot be bothered to take notes when he spoke with the Holy Father.  He reported that Pope Francis said that there is no hell and that those who do not repent of their sin will not be punished forever, they will simply disappear.  Holy Father, I pray for you daily.  I pray that the decisions you make contribute to the strength of the Church and that they are correct, moral, and decisions that Christ Himself would make if He were presently in charge of His church on earth.  I also pray that you never, ever, give an interview to Eugenio Scalfari, the aging and apparently - addlepated founder of the Italian newspaper “La Repubblica” has a history of misquoting Pope Francis because he takes no notes during the interviews with the Pontiff.  In any event, below please find everything that the Church teaches about heaven, purgatory, and of course, hell.

ARTICLE 12
"I BELIEVE IN LIFE EVERLASTING"

1020 The Christian who unites his own death to that of Jesus views it as a step towards him and an entrance into everlasting life. When the Church for the last time speaks Christ's words of pardon and absolution over the dying Christian, seals him for the last time with a strengthening anointing, and gives him Christ in viaticum as nourishment for the journey, she speaks with gentle assurance:

Go forth, Christian soul, from this world
in the name of God the almighty Father,
who created you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God,
who suffered for you,
in the name of the Holy Spirit,
who was poured out upon you.
Go forth, faithful Christian!

May you live in peace this day,
may your home be with God in Zion,
with Mary, the virgin Mother of God,
with Joseph, and all the angels and saints. . . .

May you return to [your Creator]
who formed you from the dust of the earth.
May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints
come to meet you as you go forth from this life. . . .
May you see your Redeemer face to face. ⁵⁹¹

I. THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT

1021 Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.⁵⁹² The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul--a destiny which can be different for some and for others.⁵⁹³

1022 Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven-through a purification⁵⁹⁴ or immediately,⁵⁹⁵ -- or immediate and everlasting damnation.⁵⁹⁶

At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.⁵⁹⁷

II. HEAVEN

1023 Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they "see him as he is," face to face:⁵⁹⁸

By virtue of our apostolic authority, we define the following: According to the general disposition of God, the souls of all the saints . . . and other faithful who died after receiving Christ's holy Baptism (provided they were not in need of purification when they died, . . . or, if they then did need or will need some purification, when they have been purified after death, . . .) already before they take up their bodies again and before the general judgment - and this since the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into heaven - have been, are and will be in heaven, in the heavenly Kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels. Since the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and do see the divine essence with an intuitive vision, and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature.⁵⁹⁹

1024 This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed - is called "heaven." Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.

1025 To live in heaven is "to be with Christ." The elect live "in Christ,"⁶⁰⁰ but they retain, or rather find, their true identity, their own name.⁶⁰¹

For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom.⁶⁰²

1026 By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has "opened" heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ.

1027 This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father's house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: "no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him."⁶⁰³

1028 Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man's immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory "the beatific vision":

How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God's friends.⁶⁰⁴

1029 In the glory of heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill God's will in relation to other men and to all creation. Already they reign with Christ; with him "they shall reign for ever and ever."⁶⁰⁵

III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.⁶⁰⁶ The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:⁶⁰⁷

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.⁶⁰⁸

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."⁶⁰⁹ From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.⁶¹⁰ The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.⁶¹¹

IV. HELL

1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."⁶¹² Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren.⁶¹³ To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."

1034 Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost.⁶¹⁴ Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,"⁶¹⁵ and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"⁶¹⁶

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire."⁶¹⁷ The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few."⁶¹⁸

Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth."⁶¹⁹

1037 God predestines no one to go to hell;⁶²⁰ for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish, but all to come to repentance":⁶²¹

Father, accept this offering
from your whole family.
Grant us your peace in this life,
save us from final damnation,
and count us among those you have chosen.⁶²²