MAY/ JUNE 2015

ASK A PRIEST
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

FATHER KEVIN BATES, SM
FATHER LAZARUS CHAWDI
PRIEST STAFF
CATHOLICVIEW STAFF

FATHER KEVIN BATES, SM

"Why do we say Jesus will return to judge the
living and the dead in the Creed?" - Tony

Father Kevin:

If when we die we are judged and or given God's mercy to enter His kingdom, then why do we say Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead in the creed?  I know many prayers are symbolic but always wonder at this point of the prayer. Thank You - Tony

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Good question Tony! 

What’s ahead of us all only God knows.  Our faith tells us that we will in some fashion stand before God with our lives open for God’s scrutiny.  I think we can safely say that this is the case now and every moment of our life.  Those expressions such as one you quote here from the Creed, are born of a faith that somehow the God Who knows our hearts will be our ultimate judge.  We also know through Jesus that God is utterly merciful and utterly just.

The point of naming this truth in the Creed acts as timely reminder to us all of something that occurs beyond time and beyond human understanding and is designed to prompt us into living good and worthy lives.  Every blessing to you. - Father Kevin
 


"Is the death penalty immoral?" - Zoe

Father Kevin::

Is the death penalty immoral?  I know that Jesus would not support capital punishment, but what about major terrorists like Osama bin Laden or Hitler?  I am struggling with this, please help. - Zoe

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Dear Zoe:

This is a very vexed question and one which the Church has struggled with as we are doing now.  The death penalty removes people who have committed terrible crimes.  It does not however remove the pain, the loss and the tragedy that these people have bought to others.  Knowing that these people were safely locked away for the rest of their lives would achieve just as much in terms of the healing for victims of crime.

The Church over the centuries, has accepted the right of governments to impose the death penalty for major crimes.  I think you would find it harder these days to find a member of the Church who still approved of such killing.  Is it immoral?  I think it is, but that is just my personal view.  I see it as institutionalized murder.  It serves no purpose other than providing some people with a sense of revenge, which quickly turns to a feeling of great emptiness as the pain of the original crime still persists.

When we hear victims of crime forgiving those who have brutalized them and their families, I think we see the best in the human spirit coming through as we did with those families the other week in southern USA who spoke words of forgiveness following the racially motivated Church massacre there.  I've seen the same thing here in Australia too and know of at least one father or a murdered daughter who has dedicated his life to working with convicted murderers to enable them to regain some sense of human value following crimes they have committed.  Something very good comes through these brave people, the like of which I have never seen emerge when capital punishment is enforced.

When it comes to the worst of criminals, such as the ones you've named, I think it best to leave them to God’s mercy,  as their crimes are often so far beyond anything we can imagine.  Is it ok to execute them?  What good does this do to the rest of us?  What comes from it other than a sense of vengeance which in the end becomes a sense of emptiness?

Let’s keep wrestling to find the best way forward together.  -  Father Kevin



PRIEST STAFF

"How can I "Seek first the Kingdom of God and
still pursue my life and career goals?" - Tony

Father Francisco:                                                                                                       

How can I "seek first the Kingdom of God" and still enthusiastically pursue my life and career goals with intent of being successful in achieving them?  -  Tony

____________________________________________________ 

Tony:

There is nothing in the scriptures that say seeking the Kingdom of God means that one is not driven and successful in one's career and life.  On the contrary, there is a parable that Jesus told about such drive to succeed as part of one's destiny to make the world a better place.  The parable is in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25, Verses 14-30.  It is about three servants who were given five, three and one talent (mina) to do something with this money as their master goes on a journey.  The first two servants invested their talents and made more for their master.  The other servant hid the money and gave it back to the master with no interest or profit.  The master was upset with that last servant.  The moral of the parable is in verse 29-30:  "For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."  

God wants us to use our talents, minds, intellect, strengths and weaknesses to make the world a better place through what we do.  Our destiny is to be successful in all that we do with what we have.  In God's Kingdom, there is no room for slackers!  Seeking the Kingdom of God involves our faith and heart to be focused on God and to do all for the greater glory of God.  That is summed up in the verse from Matthew, Chapter 6, Verse 21: 
"For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be."  Success in what you do must not turn into self-centeredness and greed.  On the contrary, success is always oriented to the good of all around you.  Success in your destiny is for the greater glory of God, not for you alone.  If your heart treasures God and His love, you will succeed and be fulfilled in all things!  So, don't work solely for the material, for material things will always disappoint.  Work for making a difference and you will be blest beyond your comprehension. 

In that same Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6, Verses 19-20:  "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal.  But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroy nor thieves break in and steal."  Keep your eyes and heart on the Lord, and use your energy to succeed and move up!  And as you do, bring others along with you on the road to success and fulfillment.  By doing so, you store up treasures in heaven which will last forever. - Father Francisco


"My partner is the mother of my child and is Seventh Day
Adventist and prejudicial towards Catholics.  I am Catholic
and want to marry her but will not convert.  What should I do?"
- Teddy

Father Francisco:                                        


I come from a very devout Catholic family, however my partner and mother of my child is a Seventh Day Adventist in which she too is devout. I love her and want to marry her but it is as if Adventists are brought up to be prejudicial towards Catholics. I really want her to understand my faith and maybe convert her to Catholicism ( big ask) the only reason we are not married is because I'm not an Adventist.   The literature I am giving her doesn't seem to be convincing her. And I am not going to convert. - Teddy

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Teddy:

This relationship between Christian beliefs is destined to fail.  To say that Seventh Day Adventists are anti-Catholic is an understatement.  They teach that the Bishop of Rome, the Universal Pastor of our Catholic Church and Communion, is the anti-Christ. 

It has become obvious to you that your partner's beliefs in Seventh Day Adventism is stronger than her love for you.  If she really loved you, she would be open to working with you on this issue of faith.  But she isn't.  Even though you have a child to look over and guide, your relationship will never be reconciled and will not be a source of fulfillment for you.  I pray that you can move on and find someone else who will share your Catholic faith and the love of Jesus Christ that you have in your heart within the Catholic tradition.  Be the best father you can be for your child.  That should now be your focus. - Father Francisco

 
"Why did Pope Francisco say "It is dangerous to
have a relationship with Jesus"  - Vince

Father Cervantes:         

Why is the Pope of the Catholic Church, speaking the following on June 25,2014:  "THAT IT IS DANGEROUS TO HAVE RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST?"   In reference to 2nd Thessalonians -Chapter-2: 4.  After all was not Jesus Christ that said to Peter "Take care of my sheep"?  I used to be a Catholic.  THANKS. - Vince

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Vince:

I do not know where you got this line that Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome and the universal pastor of the Church, said that it is dangerous to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  This sounds like one of those anti-Catholic campaigns that frustrate me because such campaigns are filled with hate and misinformation.  Pope Francis spoke in Italian in his Wednesday general audience about the danger of those saying that they have a personal and exclusive relationship with Jesus and have NO relationship with the Church or any Christian community.  As he said, there are no "do it yourself" Christians because all Christians receive the faith of the Lord from someone else through evangelism.  Here is what Pope Francis really said on June 25, 2015:  ....we are able to live this journey not only because of others, but together with others.  In the Church, there is no "do it yourself," there are no free agents."  How many times did Pope Benedict describe the Church as an ecclesial WE! 

At times, one hears someone say:  "I believe in God, I believe in Jesus, but I don't care about the Church..."  How many times have we heard this?  And this is not good.  There are those who believe they can maintain a personal, direct and immediate relationship with Jesus Christ OUTSIDE the communion and the mediation of the Church.  These are dangerous and harmful temptations.  These are, as the great Paul VI said, absurd dichotomies.

Once you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you enter the Body of Christ, the Church, the body of all believers in Jesus Christ.  You cannot have faith in Jesus without being part of the Church.  Saint Paul, in I Corinthians 12, describes all believers as being part of the Body of Christ on earth.  Each person has been given a part in the Body of Christ to bring others to salvation and reconciliation.  One does not have faith in Jesus without being part of the Body called the Church.  The Church is the New Jerusalem as described in Revelation 21:9-11, and it is this New Jerusalem that Jesus will be united with at the end times. 

Here is what Revelation 21:9-11 says so clearly: 
One of the seven angels who held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come here.  I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."  He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.  It gleamed with the splendor of God.  At the end times, Jesus is not going to marry individuals....He is going to be united with His Church, the New Jerusalem!  Therefore, our faith in Jesus unites me with the Church.  It has to.  My faith makes me a member of the Church and if not, our faith is not salvific and is worthless.  Certainly, Pope Francis is very clear:  it is a dangerous and harmful temptation to think that you can be a Christian without other Christians.  And that is the truth. 

Saint Paul reminds Timothy in I Timothy 3:15:  You should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.  If you truly have faith in Jesus, you are part of the Body of Christ, the Church, the pillar and foundation of truth, the bride of Christ.  To say that one has faith in Jesus without belonging to the Church is deceiving himself.  For the complete speech of Pope Francis on that particular day, here is the linkhttps://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140625_udienza-generale.html    -  Father Cervantes

 


"Is it wrong to wear religious items like medals or crosses?"
                               - Valerie 

Father Francisco:

I have two questions:  Is it wrong to wear religious items like medals or crosses?   How about having Statues or figurines?  I am confused on whether these are considered "sinful" in terms of idolizing and worshipping. we shouldn't believe in amulets, good luck charms or protective charms.  But isn't wearing these items act like amulets to "protect" us?  Most of us have these items blessed.  Is it then considered a amulet and is seen as sinful? Where is the line then being crossed.  Thanks!  - Valerie

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Valerie:

Wearing religious items like medals and crosses are not wrong or sinful to the normal Catholic.  These religious symbols are reminders of God's presence with us or of the saint's intercessory prayers for us all.  Nothing material can ever protect us from anything.  No "amulet," no religious symbol have any powers associated with protection, luck, or anything like that.  But once someone believes that any of these religious symbols have "power" to protect or bring luck, then they fall into idolatry. 

However,  images of Jesus or the saints serve to remind me of the love and spirituality that they lived so that I can live that same spirituality as they did.  Pictures and statutes are like the pictures that I have of family members and friends.  The pictures are not them, but they do remind me of their love for me and my love for them.  These family and friends pictures always bring a smile to me.  And so do the pictures and images of Jesus and the saints and other Christian heroes:  they spur me on to victory over sin through my faith in Jesus. 

As a priest, I bless these sacred images and medals to set them aside for God's greater glory.  There is NO promise of anything beyond the fact that these images and medals are being set aside for God's glory, not mine, and certainly not for some fabricated notion of luck and protection.  But if you believe that these things are more than just reminders of God's presence, then don't use them.  But I enjoy my picture of Jesus here in my home (based on the image of the Shroud of Turin).  I am always reminded of Jesus' love and His Gift of salvation, and His presence with me. 

There is a biblical reference that I want to share with you in regards to such religious articles that explains why Christians have such articles of faith close to them.  In the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 21, Verse 12, Saint Luke the writer recounts why people used to take souvenirs of the apostles back to their homes and friends:  "So extraordinary were the mighty deeds God accomplished at the hands of Saint Paul that when face cloths or aprons that touched his skin were applied to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them." 

From then on, Christians have always kept something that reminded them of God's power and presence.  In the biblical reference in Acts of the Apostles, the face cloths and aprons didn't have the power to do anything.  It was the faith of the people that these articles elicited that healed and saved, that faith in Jesus that was spurred by having a symbol to help them focus their faith in Jesus to accomplish the impossible.  These religious articles are just that....reminders.  Faith is what accomplishes all things in Jesus.  And if these articles of faith can help anyone focus on Jesus, then praise God!  - Father Francisco
 


"It seems many Old Testament men had multiple
wives yet they were favored.  I wonder if
these commandments were directed to
   single married men only?" - Bob
 

Father Francisco:

It seems many Old Testament men had multiple wives yet they were favored.  For instance Moses had 3 wives and he brought to us the 10 commandments. For a married men (especially with many wives) it would be easy follow the commandment about adultery and the commandant about neighbor's wife; however, for a single person it may be impossible or really hard to follow. I wonder if these commandments were directed to single married men only. Even when I go to church I look at beautiful women but many of those are married or engaged (some of them just go alone to masses while their husbands stay at home). - Bob

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Bob:

The commandments in the Old Testament, Exodus, Chapter 20, were meant for everyone, single, married, celibate, or even married to several others (as they were in the Old Testament).  In the Old Testament, there was an acceptance of polygamy that eventually gave way to the definition of marriage to be between one man and one woman.  When God called His people, the Hebrews (Jews), He gave them the commandments through Moses and God accepted the people as they were -- knowing that in time, their faith and spirituality would grow and mature and they would shed their old ways and accept God's ways.  The commandments are for everyone.  And the example you used that it would be difficult for a single man to keep the commandment against adultery and coveting one's neighbor's spouse, the married man is also expected to keep this commandment as well.  And if one is single, why would it be difficult to keep?  Everyone is expected to keep the commandments, do not commit adultery and do not covet.  And as a celibate priest, I am expected to keep that commandment.  And married people are expected to keep that commandment.  My faith in God and my love for Jesus DEMANDS that I keep the commandments - Father Francisco
 


"I am seeing Charismatic members of the Latin
Community in my church sharing facebook pictures
of small children hyperventilating and sobbing while
singing to Jesus.  Does the Church condone this?" - Debbie

Father Francisco:

I am seeing Charismatic members of the Latin Community in my church sharing Facebook pictures of small children hyperventilating and sobbing while singing to Jesus and praising it. The video is not even from a Catholic source but a protestant Pentecostal one. Father Nunez on Spanish EWTN sends out warnings to Catholic Charismatics to not allow children to Celebrate Halloween or All Souls Day Celebrations. Is our church monitoring these groups to make sure they aren't mixing religions right on our own church grounds? If the church approves, then fine; but something tells me the church is not aware that this is going on. I am concerned this group is going a little too far with Protestant Pentecostal practices of Speaking in Tongues at meetings, healings, and exorcisms. - Debbie

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Debbie:

I share with you my concerns for the charismatic movement within the Church.  I am really concerned for the Spanish-speaking charismatic ministries and their leadership.  I have worked with the people of this spiritual movement that has been with us since the 1970's in the United States of America.  I find that the people involved in the charismatic spirituality are faith-filled believers and they really sense and feel the presence of God in their lives.  I have also experienced the miracles of the Holy Spirit in regards to the healing of broken souls and even physical healings.  At the same time, I have become alarmed at how the leadership of the charismatic prayer groups have taken on such a dictatorial control over the members of the prayer groups. 

The manifestation of the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit is described all over the New Testament (the Christian Scriptures).  Saint Paul writes in I Corinthians 14 (a whole chapter on this subject) that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are really for unbelievers as a sign of God's presence.  The problems you have so wisely discerned about the charismatic movement was also seen by Saint Paul in I Corinthians 14.  In this issue of how prayer groups are directed and organized and what is taught there in the name of Jesus and His Church, the local pastor is ultimately responsible for the discernment of the truth of the gospel.  The local pastor must be involved and attend their meetings and give teachings according to the Word of God and the magisterium of the Church.  If the pastor cannot do that, then the bishop of the diocese must get involved and investigate what is going on with the leadership of the charismatic prayer groups in the parish. 

As a local pastor of a large parish, I know how difficult it is to keep an "eye" on everything that is going on.  But the "buck" stops with me in regards to my parish!  I cannot be derelict in my pastoral responsibilities.  I ask that you speak with your parish pastor/priest-in-charge and talk to him about your concerns about the charismatic groups in your parish.  Please be prepared to give specific examples of your concerns.  You do not want to make irresponsible or untrue accusations. 

For example, showing children in "charismatic ecstasy" crying and shaking on Facebook video is close to being abusive.  That alone would get the leadership of the prayer group in a major discussion with me as their pastor (and I would change the leadership of the groups if any kind of abusive or manipulating behavior is detected).  Once again, it is your parish pastor/priest-in-charge's responsibility to deal with all things happening in the parish in regards to ministry and parochial outreach.  If speaking with your pastor doesn't satisfy you, your diocesan bishop is willing to hear of your concerns. 

I must say again:  the charismatic prayer groups in my parish have been a source of joy and amazement to me as a parish pastor.  I have seen miracles and I have seen changed hearts.  I have seen healings and I have seen hardened hearts soften by the power of the Holy Spirit.  I have seen people spiritually mature and I have seen spiritual wisdom grow.  I have faithful parishioners who are willing to do outreach and ministerial work in our neighborhoods.  I am grateful for their generous hearts and the sacrifice of their time. 

At the same time, there are major concerns in regards to leadership, power plays, and people claiming to have the gift of prophesy when they do not have such a gift but instead have used their "prophecies" to manipulate people.  You are correct in your concerns.  I pray that you speak up when you see something in your parish that concerns you.  That means that the Holy Spirit is inspiring you to do something! -  Father Francisco



"Why would so many of our women knowing the scripture
and the Consequence ever wear pants. Why would men of
G-d allow it?"  - Daniel

Father Cervantes:

Women And Wearing Pants:   The issue is that a friend said that the Torah in Deuteronomy 22:4-5 says, " A woman must NOT wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this". They then say that this means "PANTS". So women are not allowed to wear pants today because it is man's clothing. If I miss understand Deuteronomy 22:5, THEN for a woman to wear pants, G-d accounts this as an abomination and detest it [A SIN] . So, why would ANY woman Jew or Christian ever wear pants if G-d sees it as an abomination. The last thing I would want to do is sin before G-d and be seen as an abomination and detested. Please help me to understand our teaching on this matter.  AND does THIS SCRIPTURE MEAN - Pants for today. Why would so many of our women knowing the scripture and the Consequence ever wear pants. Why would men of G-d allow it?  - Daniel

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Daniel:

All Christians, who have professed faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, have been washed clean in His Blood shed on the cross on Calvary.  The most important part of the Christian message is that all believers in Jesus Christ are now in a New Law and New Covenant with God the Father through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. In the Christian scriptures, in the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 7, Verses 17 through 23, it is written for Christians Jesus said to his disciples, " Are even you likewise without understanding?  Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart, but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?  Thus He declared ALL foods clean.  But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles.  From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.  All these evils come from within and they defile."    

For Christians, Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Old Law and has a established a New Covenant made by one's faith in Jesus.  Through faith and obedience to Christ, we are washed clean and no longer under the Old Law.  The prescriptions of the Old Covenant and the Mosaic Law has been fulfilled and completed in Jesus and these prescriptions of the Old Law are no longer legally binding for Christians.  Christians no longer follow the dictates of the Old Law for salvation and God's grace.  On the contrary, my faith and obedience to Christ in the Gospels is what gives me salvation, peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, complete access to God the Father, and spiritual freedom.  So, questions such as you proposed do not resonate with my Christian faith in Jesus.  What constitutes woman's clothes and men's clothes changes with each generation and culture.  Therefore, what one's wears does not defile me before God.  It is what is in my heart that defiles me.  And the motivations of the heart is what I am judged by, not by anything exterior to me.  Here is what Saint Paul writes to the Galatians in the Christian scriptures (the New Testament), Galatians 3:2-6 -- "I want to learn only this from you:  did you receive the Spirit from works of the law, or faith in what you heard?.....Does, then, the one who supplies the Spirit to you and works mighty deeds among you do so from works of the law or from FAITH in what you heard?  This Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 

It isn't following the Old Law and living in the Old Covenant that gives me salvation and full access to God.  In the New Law and Covenant, it is faith (and obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ) that gives me all things in God.  I am reminded of the old song, Amazing Grace.  That sums up the whole Christian message.  The Old Law has been abrogated in Jesus Christ!  Christians now live in the New Covenant of God's love, mercy, and forgiveness, not judged by appearances but by what is in our hearts.  -Father Cervantes

 


"I am a new Christian but feel so down.  Can you give
me guidance?" - Abdullah

Father Cervantes

I am a new Christian, and I need more guidance from you, I feel so down. I was trying to commit suicide. but who ever is in the sky had saved me.  Please reply to me back, I need to talk with you freely and share.  Thanks.    - Abdullah

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Abdullah:

Welcome to the Body of Christ, the Church, and welcome to the faith that will save you and give you a new purpose in life. 

You believe in something outside of yourself, and your faith and obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ will bring you to Love Itself Who is God.  You have been made in the Image of God. You have been made with God's love. You were put together by God's Plan for a purpose in this world and in your community.  You are God's gift to the world.  You are God's love to the world.  Your faith will bring you to the realization that through Jesus, you can and will touch God and God will touch you in the depths of your soul.  When you become depressed and sad, stop and open your mind to the beauty of God's creation around you and realize that you are part of the beauty of God's creation.  You are part of God's plan.  You are important to the plan that God has to save all those who live in the world.

Though you may be overwhelmed by the present moment, understand that you are part of God's BIG picture, the BIG plan that you cannot see or understand at the moment.  You are an amazing creation of God.  So, stop looking only at your problems and yourself.  Open your eyes, the eyes of your mind and soul, and see how truly amazing you are because you have been created in the Image and Likeness of God.  So, when the pressures and problems of life blind you to your own God-given beauty, please say this little prayer:  Lord Jesus, you are my Savior and Lord.  You are saving me and you have saved me.  Help me see your plan for my life, and help me to show the world that you are Lord and Savior.  Open my mind to see the wonders of your creation which includes me.  I thank you, Father, for having created me in Your Image and Likeness.  Send me your Holy Spirit to always lift my eyes to see only You and Your Love for us all.  In Jesus Name, I pray.  Amen.

Go now Abdullah in peace, knowing that you are indeed special and loved by our Heavenly Father.  - Father Cervantes
 


"Can you help me to understand the dialogue of
St. Catherine?" - Tim

Father Francisco:
 
I am reading the dialogue of St. Catherine of Sienna and in it, the God the Father refers to looking at yourself with the " eye of the Intellect". Can you please rephrase that term to help me understand what is being written?   Thanks, Tim.

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Tim:

The actual quote is included for all our readers below.  Saint Catherine of Siena was a great mystic and theological teacher of the Church during the 1300's.  She had visions of angels and Jesus Himself often since her sixth birthday.  She became a religious (professed nun) when she was only 16!   In her visions, she had such wonderful and awesome experiences of God and angels and the Blessed Virgin Mary.   In one of her revelations, about Divine Providence, she quoted this verse from her mystical encounter with God the Father:  "Open the eye of your intellect, and gaze into Me, and you shall see the beauty of my rational creature.  And look at those creatures, who among the beauties which I have given to the soul, creating [the soul] in My Image and Similitude, are clothed in the with the nuptial garment (that is, the garment of love), adorned with many virtues, by which they are united with Me through love."   I guess another way of saying this today would be this:  open your mind, your intellect, and see how rational God is, for God is all reason, all intellect, all wisdom, all beauty, all life, all love, and see God reflected in His creation of the human soul.  For each of us are created in the image and likeness of God.  By meditating on our own beauty and soul and our rationality, we can begin to understand and become united with the Creator Father who is the infinite version of ourselves.  To God, we are beauty because we have been made in the Image and Likeness of Beauty Itself (yes, you are truly beautiful to God always).  We reflect God, we are the products of God's pure love, we are love.  If only all of us could even appreciate this truth, there would never be the effects of sin and greed that surround us and comes from our basest desires.  But once we touch the face of God, we understand and live and feel that we come from God, that our soul has God's DNA in it, and that we come from God and will return to God if only we are united to Him in true faith and obedience.  God is intelligence, and in this verse from Saint Catherine of Siena's mystical vision of God, God asks us not to only know Him with our feelings, but with our minds and intellect. 

For our readers, here is the introduction to the Dialogues of Saint Catherine of Siena and the source of the question asked above:

A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE

How a soul, elevated by desire of the honor of God, and of the salvation of her neighbors, exercising herself in humble prayer, after she had seen the union of the soul, through love, with God, asked of God four requests.

"The soul, who is lifted by a very great and yearning desire for the honor of God and the salvation of souls, begins by exercising herself, for a certain space of time, in the ordinary virtues, remaining in the cell of self-knowledge, in order to know better the goodness of God towards her. This she does because knowledge must precede love, and only when she has attained love, can she strive to follow and to clothe herself with the truth. But, in no way, does the creature receive such a taste of the truth, or so brilliant a light there from, as by means of humble and continuous prayer, founded on knowledge of herself and of God; because prayer, exercising her in the above way, unites with God the soul that follows the footprints of Christ Crucified, and thus, by desire and affection, and union of love, makes her another Himself. Christ would seem to have meant this, when He said: To him who will love Me and will observe My commandment, will I manifest Myself; and he shall be one thing with Me and I with him. In several places we find similar words, by which we can see that it is, indeed, through the effect of love, that the soul becomes another Himself. That this may be seen more clearly, I will mention what I remember having heard from a handmaid of God, namely, that, when she was lifted up in prayer, with great elevation of mind, God was not wont to conceal, from the eye of her intellect, the love which He had for His servants, but rather to manifest it; and, that among other things, He used to say: "Open the eye of your intellect, and gaze into Me, and you shall see the beauty of My rational creature.

And look at those creatures who, among the beauties which I have given to the soul, creating her in My image and similitude, are clothed with the nuptial garment (that is, the garment of love), adorned with many virtues, by which they are united with Me through love. And yet I tell you, if you should ask Me, who these are, I should reply" (said the sweet and amorous Word of God) "they are another Myself, inasmuch as they have lost and denied their own will, and are clothed with Mine, are united to Mine, are conformed to Mine." It is therefore true, indeed, that the soul unites herself with God by the affection of love.

So, that soul, wishing to know and follow the truth more manfully, and lifting her desires first for herself -- for she considered that a soul could not be of use, whether in doctrine, example, or prayer, to her neighbor, if she did not first profit herself, that is, if she did not acquire virtue in herself -- addressed four requests to the Supreme and Eternal Father. The first was for herself; the second for the reformation of the Holy Church; the third a general prayer for the whole world, and in particular for the peace of Christians who rebel, with much lewdness and persecution, against the Holy Church; in the fourth and last, she besought the Divine Providence to provide for things in general, and in particular, for a certain case with which she was concerned."

Thank you for writing to us.  - Father Francisco


CATHOLICVIEW STAFF

"I am not Catholic but am engaged to a Catholic and we  
want to marry outside on a farm.  Is this acceptable  in
the Catholic Church?" - Carolyn

CatholicView Staff:

I'm currently engaged to a Catholic and we will be getting married in a couple years.  His mom would like us to get married in a Catholic Church due to God not recognizing our marriage.   We want to get married outside on a farm. Is our marriage going to be recognized by the Catholic Church and is it acceptable?  - Carolyn

________________________________________________________

Carolyn:

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage.  Pleas know that marriage isn't just between you and your fiancé - it's a Sacrament and a three-way "contract" between man, woman and God.   You can have another clergy member of a different faith marry you outside, but a priest cannot do this.

Unless there is an unusual reason, Catholics are married in the presence of our Lord within the Church.  A Catholic Christian getting married outside on a farm is not acceptable nor is recognized by the Catholic Church.  - CatholicView Staff 



 

         

 

 

                             

                                  

 

 



 

 

 



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