Antinomianism

Posted on 13 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At American Thinker there is a thought provoking piece on antinomianism:

Antinomianism: The Soft Heresy
By Daniel Ciofani

[…]

Here is the definition:
an•ti•no•mi•an•ism (noun)
1. Theology; The doctrine or belief that the Gospel frees Christians from required obedience to any law, whether scriptural, civil, or moral, and that salvation is attained solely through faith and the gift of divine grace.
2. The belief that moral laws are relative in meaning and application as opposed to fixed or universal.
In case you are wondering, Antinomianism is a Christian heresy. This gentle and soft heresy is popular for many reasons. First, it’s very old. The original Antinomians were Gnostics. They believed that Christianity was a secretive and privileged message that only the learned understood. They were the climate-changers of their day. The Gnostics held those who just didn’t get it in contempt. With that secret knowledge, you could do whatever you wanted in this life, because the material world was ultimately unimportant. Antinomianism made a return during the Reformation, and Luther had to formally put the heresy in its place. Sure, the Just shall live by Faith. Sure, good works don’t get the job done. However; Faith and bad works means all bets are off. Even the Council of Trent made a case for its specific heresy. All Christians get to clearly understand this one: antinomianism is an equal opportunity Salvation destroyer.
Today Antinomianism is alive and well in all churches. We have all met many Antinomians. They are the Christians comfortable with bankrupting the country and confiscating others’ property. They are Christians who somehow believe that Salvation has a quota based on skin color. They are the pro-choice Catholics, and the Anglicans who encourage the homosexual clergy. They include the Lutherans who pray long and hard for their church to finally move from Sola Scriptura to Some-a-Scriptura. They are even the Evangelicals who actively await the destructive end, while not even voting to prevent it. They are Saved, so they do whatever they want, even if it’s deadly. All of these Christians use their gift of Faith as an escape valve for their own irresponsible moral, religious, and Biblical decisions and public policy.
And so the next time you attend church, (assuming you still can stomach attending since November 6th) ask your spiritual leader if he or she is an Antinomian. Most will say that they’ll have to get back to you on this one, while they go and look it up. When they do respond, they’ll contend, of course not! You’ll then have to ask them to describe one religious law of the faithful, defended strongly by your church in secular society. If your spiritual leader has no response, then you have met another Antinomian. No matter how the conversation goes, it is common practice for all religious leaders to suggest, for the sake of the Church, that you pray on it. In the meantime, for the sake of the Church, the Devil too, will be preying on it.

Posted in New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged
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Scientists experiment on Sedevacantist, determine stress from Novus Ordo

Posted on 12 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the amusing Eye of the Tiber:

Scientists Test Effects of Novus Ordo On Longtime Sedevacantist

Los Angeles, CA–Attempting to explain the physical and emotional toll that an average Sedevacantist would endure during a Novus Ordo, students at UCLA have recently begun tests on 54-year-old Sedevacantist John Weiss of Glendale, California. ”Thus far the results have been quite fascinating,” Head of the Department of Sciences at UCLA Dr. William Manders told Eye of the Tiber. “We began by strapping Mr. Weiss in a pew beside a man wearing shorts. After placing eye clips over his eyes to keep his lids from shutting, we had a woman wearing a tanktop sit directly in front of him. You could immediately see that Mr. Weiss was beginning to sweat and was becoming extremely anxious…almost agitated.”

With the help of the UCLA Theatre Department, Manders began a battery of tests on Weiss, which included a staged Novus Ordo. “It appears as though the moment Mr. Weiss runs across anything remotely sentimental during the Mass, such as a smile on the a priest’s face, his heart rate begins to rise and he begins to mutter what seem to be bitter remarks. At one point Mr. Weiss became quite physical when one of our mock parishioners went to hold his hand during the Our Father. Luckily, we already had placed a taser collar on him, which we were quick to use.”

One department faculty member said she became worried for the “poor soul” when the mock congregation, led by a bearded, ponytailed guitarist, began to sing One Bread, One Body. “He was beginning to twitch for goodness sakes, and I knew then that that was about as much as I could endure. By the time I left he was foaming at the mouth. Don’t they have sedevacantist mice they could test on?”

Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged
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Pipiavit @Pontifex – FOLLOW UP and POLL

Posted on 12 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Pope sent his first tweet.

[wp_youtube]gy4sNYmfpt8[/wp_youtube]

UPDATE 12/12/12 22:36 GMT:

The Pope has something around 1.5 million followers across his various language oriented accounts.  English is the leader with close to a million.  The number is going up by 10k each time I check it, it seems.

So far he has 7 tweets.

Tweets All / No replies

Offer everything you do to the Lord, ask his help in all the circumstances of daily life and remember that he is always beside you

Any suggestions on how to be more prayerful when we are so busy with the demands of work, families and the world?

We can be certain that a believer is never alone. God is the solid rock upon which we build our lives and his love is always faithful

How can faith in Jesus be lived in a world without hope?

By speaking with Jesus in prayer, listening to what he tells you in the Gospel and looking for him in those in need

How can we celebrate the Year of Faith better in our daily lives?

Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart.

 

I have been watching a little of the @pontifex feed.

Pretty strange and pretty much as I knew it would be.

The deeply twisted and the profoundly dumb are out in force.

The insults have mostly to do with perversion (homosexual acts) and scatology.

Honestly, some of these people write things that are so stupid I marvel that they even know how to breathe.

So far, I am confirmed in my opinion that it would have been better for the Holy Father’s cat to have a Twitter feed.

Time will tell what fruits this will produce.

By the way, I am unconvinced that Popes should tweet.  There, I said it.  Yes, I know about social media and the New Evangelization.  Blah blah blah….

Choose your best answer and give your reasons in the combox.  You don’t have to be registered to vote, but you do have to have an approved registration to post.

Should Popes tweet?

View Results

I am not quite at this point, but…

UPDATE 13 Dec 1812 GMT:

In the meantime, I just caught this from a bigwig on the Pontifical Council for Social Communication:

The Twitting Bishop @raspanti speaks about the Twitting Pope @pontifex: http://ow.ly/g4RyR  (in Italian)

 

Posted in Benedict XVI, Brick by Brick, The future and our choices | Tagged , , ,
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Archd. Seattle: No same-sex marriages, receptions, preparations, events. Period.

Posted on 12 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the Canonical Defender, Prof. Ed Peters at his excellent blog In The Light Of The Law:

Seattle’s got it right
by Dr. Edward Peters

That we even have to go over this is . . . well . . . we have to go over it, so let’s.

The Archdiocese of Seattle has published four ‘policy refresher’ points regarding Catholic ministration in regard to “gay weddings”. [I object to the use of “gay” like this.  “Unnatural”… “same-sex”… “fake”… these will fit, however.] Here are Seattle’s policies in bold and my suggestions as to underlying rationales for same in regular print.

1. No priest or deacon or lay minister may officiate at a same-sex “marriage.”

Before a wedding is conducted, “it must be evident that nothing stands in the way of its valid or licit celebration” (c. 1066). Canon law defines marriage as the union of a man and a women (c. 1055 § 1). [Mean old backward Church!] Because marriage cannot arise between two men or two women, something obviously “stands in the way” of the valid and licit performing a “gay wedding”. QED. By the way, Catholic officials who attempt nevertheless to perform such “weddings” are liable to punishment under Canon 1389 § 1 for abuse of office. [Get that?]

2. No church facility or school facility may be offered for such an event, even if it is to be witnessed by a non-Catholic minister or civil official.
This seems a sound application of, among other strictures, the moral prohibition against doing evil (CCC 1707), here, by rendering proximate material cooperation to objectively evil acts (by providing a venue for same sex couples specifically to hold themselves out as marrying).

3. No church facility or school facility may be used for a reception after such an event. [I wonder if this isn’t how the activists are going to attack.  They’ll sue when they are denied hall rental.]
This seems to fall under, among other strictures, the moral prohibition against doing evil (CCC 1707), here, by rendering at-least remote, if not proximate, material cooperation to objectively evil acts (by providing a venue for same sex couples to celebrate specifically their holding themselves out as having married).

4. No church ministers, ordained or lay, may offer “wedding preparation” for such couples.
This seems to fall under, among other strictures, the moral prohibition against doing evil (CCC 1707), here, by rendering formal cooperation with objectively evil acts (namely, by instructing couples precisely in how to assume a status in the Church that they cannot assume, this by, in most instances moreover, their simulating a sacrament contrary to c. 1379).

Quid putatis, lectores?

I will take up what Peters (wrong about some things, right about this thing) said at the top.  It is nearly unthinkable that a diocese would have to clarify these things… but for the fact that it in entirely thinkable that a diocese would have to clarify these things.  And clarify them not only ad extra but also ad intra.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged , , , , , , , ,
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Madison State Journal: Bp. Morlino “cracks down” on loony nuns (ACTION ITEM!) – UPDATED

Posted on 12 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The State Journal of Madison has a breathy article about a recent move by His Excellency Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino.

Bishop Robert Morlino cracks down on Madison nuns for espousing ‘New Ageism’ and ‘indifferentism’

Morlino sent a memo to the priests of the diocese of Madison not to allow some loony nuns and a couple of their acolytes to have workshops, do spiritual direction, etc., at their parishes or other diocesan institutions.  The memo was, of course, leaked to the press as the chancery mandarins knew it would be… or should have known.

The women, who are connected to an “interfaith” center called “Wisdom’s Well”, are into some pretty strange stuff.  A couple of them are Sinsinawa Dominican nuns.  If you know anything about that group, then you have the basics.  Think Macbeth.  One of them left their bonfire lit labyrinth long enough to torture me and my friends at St. Paul Seminary years ago.  Let’s just say that clearly I remember those days, and her, and all her ilk.  But I digress.

In any event, His Excellency is going to take another one on the chin in the local paper… as if he cares.

A link to the secular paper’s article is HERE. The article isn’t blatantly skewed but it slants in the direction you would imagine in a town like Madison: women enlightened and oppressed by mean male bishop.

That said, I would like to plug an effort to create a spiritual bouquet for Bishop Morlino for his birthday on 31 December.

Please help!  Click HERE.

UPDATE:

The Diocese of Madison has issued some clarifications in the wake of the secular paper’s story.  HERE.   One of the main points is that Bp. Morlino is not cracking down on all women religious in the diocese, just these odd balls associated with that group.

UPDATE 12/12/12 19:06 GMT:

Bp. Morlino was pretty viciously attacked in a Madison publication which, as far as I can tell, is little more than a shopper insert or one of those cat-box liners you can pick up for free on wire stands inside the doorways of gas stations.  No… wait… maybe it’s only digital.  I don’t know.

The writer, styling himself “Citizen Dave”… inspired by the French Revolution, I guess… aka Dave Cieslewicz is the former mayor of the city of Madison (he lost his last mayoral election bid).  He is, big surprise, a Democrat and a “former Catholic”.

Let’s have a taste:

Citizen Dave: Bishop Morlino is failing Madison

Bishop Robert Morlino is failing badly in his role as a community leader. If the Catholic Church had any sense, they would replace him with someone more in touch with the community he should be serving. Of course, they won’t.

I don’t say this as a church hater. I grew up in a more or less devout Catholic family, and I had twelve years of Catholic education through elementary and high school. My father’s uncle was the priest in our parish. I even find myself in the odd role of defender of the faith when some non-Catholic goes off on the church. My feeling is that only those who have had their knuckles wrapped by Sister Mary Katherine get to dis the faith, I guess.

But I stopped being a practicing Catholic when I was twenty and, truth is, I stopped buying into any of it while at Thomas More High School. Ironically, the good education given to me by the Brothers of Mary taught me to think critically, and Catholicism just didn’t hold up very well to critical thinking. If you aren’t willing to accept the answer to every hard question as “it’s a mystery,” well, then it’s pretty hard to remain a Catholic.

Moreover, even as a young kid I thought that the people who were the most outwardly religious were the least likeable people I knew. There was nothing — intellectually or socially — to hold me in the church.

[…]

I am sure this guy’s column has tens of regular readers, perhaps extended family.  My linking to it will probably get him more attention in a day than he otherwise gets in a year.  Oh well.

Again, please use the link, above, to contribute to the spiritual bouquet for Bp. Morlino.

Another thing you could do to help is send an online donation to support the diocese’s seminarians. The diocese has 35 seminarians right now, if I am not mistaken.  They have foundation that budget for only 2 per year, which means that they are way over their budget to pay for the formation of the seminarians.

I have met some of these men.  They are great.  Also, Bishop Morlino has told them -and I heard this with my own ears – that he expects all of them to know the Extraordinary Form before he ordains them!  I wrote about that HERE.

The diocesan website has a donation page with a drop down menu.  Choose the St. JOSEPH Fund.

Posted in Brick by Brick, Liberals, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, Women Religious | Tagged , , , , , ,
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New Latin-ENGLISH edition of the Enchiridion Symbolorum! (ACTION ITEM!)

Posted on 12 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Ignatius Press has released a new Latin-English edition of the legendary Enchiridion Symbolorum: A Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and Declarations of the Catholic Church.

If you order the book for yourself or as a gift, please use my links.

USA order HERE.
UK order HERE.

Please use any of my links to shop amazon. I’ll get credit for anything you get once you enter through one of my links or through the search box on the right side-bar of this blog.  Thanks in advance!  It really helps.

This is the 43rd edition. There is, among other indices, an extensive systematic index.  The forward says this is first English Denzinger since 1957, the 30th ed., over a a half century ago. This edition is an exact translation of the 43rd German edition, which added material from the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI up through 2008, which means Summorum Pontificum par. 1, and the introductory letter.  Remember, on the Vatican website you can get Summorum Pontificum in Latin and, only, Hungarian.  Really.

Every bishop, priest and seminarian, for sure, needs this book.

I just put it on my wish list.

ACTION ITEM: Alas, there is no Kindle version! Therefore, please dear readers, make the request that it be also in Kindle form.  Besiege Ignatius: click this link HERE.

Along with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, this is a great tool for drilling into what we really believe as Catholics.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Just Too Cool, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill | Tagged ,
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Community of Anglican Nuns to join the UK Ordinariate

Posted on 12 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Thanks to Anglicanorum coetibus, this comes today for your “Just Too Cool” file or your “Brick by Brick” file or your “Benedict XVI is the Pope of Christian Unity” file:

HISTORIC COMMUNITY OF ANGLICANS NUNS TO JOIN ORDINARIATE

A group of Anglican nuns from the Community of St Mary the Virgin (CSMV) in Wantage, Oxfordshire, are to be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church in January 2013.

Eleven sisters from the historic Anglican community will join the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, the structure established by Pope Benedict XVI to enable groups of Anglicans to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church whilst retaining elements of their liturgical, spiritual, and pastoral heritage. The group includes the Superior of the community, Mother Winsome CSMV.

The eleven CSMV sisters, will be joined by Sister Carolyne Joseph, formerly of the Society of St Margaret in Walsingham, who joined the Ordinariate in January 2011. These twelve sisters will initially be established as a Public Association of the Faithful within the Personal Ordinariate. They will be known as the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary and will continue in their work of prayer and contemplation, whilst retaining certain of their Anglican traditions and practices. Foremost amongst these is the tradition of English plainchant for which these sisters are well known.

After consultation with Church of England authorities it has been decided that the sisters will move from their convent in Wantage and, after reception into the Catholic Church, will spend a period of time with an established Catholic community. Following this, the newly established Ordinariate community will seek to find a suitable new home.

Monsignor Keith Newton, the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, said, “The Community of St Mary the Virgin in Wantage has been at the heart of the Church of England’s Religious Life since the mid-nineteenth century. The contribution of the community to the life of the Anglican Communion has been significant, not least through the community’s care for those marginalised by society in Britain, and also in India and South Africa”.

Speaking of the decision of the sisters to enter the Personal Ordinariate, Mgr Newton continued, “Those formed in the tradition of the Oxford Movement cannot help but be moved to respond to Pope Benedict’s generous invitation to Anglicans. The sisters have always prayed for the unity of Christians with the See of Peter, now this is to become a reality for them by means of the Ordinariate. We are truly grateful for their faith, courage, and resolve”.

The community has been in discernment about the way forward since the publication of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus in 2009. Mother Winsome CSMV, the Superior of the Community, said, “We believe that the Holy Father’s offer is a prophetic gesture which brings to a happy conclusion the prayers of generations of Anglicans and Catholics who have sought a way forward for Christian unity. The future of our community is a fulfilment of its origins, and as part of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham we will continue with many of our customs and traditions, whilst also seeking to grow in Christ through our relationship with the wider Church”.

One sister, who was ordained in the Church of England and is now to be received as a Catholic, said, “The call to Christian unity must always be the primary motivating factor in the decision of Anglicans to enter the Catholic Church. Anything which impedes that process cannot be of God, and so must be set aside to achieve this aim, which is the will of Christ”.

Those members of the community who will remain in the Church of England have expressed their admiration and respect for those who have taken this decision. In a short statement they said, “Whilst remaining committed to their Religious vows in the Church of England the sisters of the Community of St Mary the Virgin wish the sisters joining the Ordinariate every blessing on their new life in the Catholic Church, and respect the integrity of their sense of call”.

The Community of St Mary the Virgin was founded by the Reverend William John Butler and Mother Harriet CSMV as one of the first communities of nuns in the Church of England since the Reformation. Under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary the community has engaged in charitable work throughout the Anglican Communion, whilst maintaining a balance with the life of prayer.

The sisters will be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church at 10.00 a.m. on 1 January 2013 at the Oxford Oratory.

In other news, I understand that a branch of the North American Ordinariate is starting up in Canada.

Benedict XVI is the Pope of Christian Unity.

Posted in Brick by Brick, Just Too Cool, Pope of Christian Unity | Tagged , , , ,
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High-living, big-spending, bloated, decadent, parasitical, wastrel monarchy v. Citizen-executive of a republic of limited government

Posted on 12 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Mark Steyn made an interesting point in his recent piece HERE:

[Pres. Obama] and his family are about to jet off on their Christmas vacation to watch America slide off the fiscal cliff from the luxury beach resort of Kailua. The cost to taxpayers of flying one man, his wife, two daughters, and a dog to Hawaii is estimated at $3,639,622. For purposes of comparison, the total bill for flying the entire royal family (Queen, princes, dukes, the works) around the world for a year is £4.7 million — or about enough for two Obama vacations.

According to the USAF, in 2010 Air Force One cost American taxpayers $181,757 per flight hour. According to the Royal Canadian Air Force, in 2011 the CC-150 Polaris military transport that flew William and Kate from Vancouver to Los Angeles cost Her Majesty’s Canadian subjects $15,505 per hour — or about 8/100ths of the cost.

Have I mentioned lately that spectacularly pro-abortion Pres. Obama is attacking our religious freedom?

 

Posted in Liberals | Tagged , , , , ,
9 Comments

12:12:12 12/12/12

Posted on 12 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

20121212-121332.jpg

Posted in Look! Up in the sky! |
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Card. George (Archd. Chicago) seems to be cancer free

Posted on 12 December 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the Chicago Tribune:

Cardinal George: Doctors ‘couldn’t find any evidence of cancer’

By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune reporter
7:39 a.m. CST, December 12, 2012

Medical tests have shown that Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George appears to be free of cancer, he said in a wide-ranging interview, though doctors have advised the Roman Catholic archbishop to skip two Christmas Day traditions dear to him.
Because months of treatment have taken a toll on his immune system, George will miss celebrating Mass with inmates at the Cook County Jail and visiting Lurie Children’s Hospital to comfort young patients who can’t be home on Christmas Day. Instead he will celebrate midnight Mass at Holy Name Cathedral downtown, followed by a quiet day at home with family.

“The first tests they did halfway through were quite successful,” George, 75, said during an interview this week at his residence. He has been undergoing chemotherapy since September, shortly after doctors discovered cancerous cells on his liver and a kidney. He expects to be finished with chemotherapy in early January.

[…]

In other news…

The cardinal, who hasn’t told the personally told the pope yet, said he would like to retire as archbishop and, health permitting, spend his remaining years in the role of a priest– hearing confessions and ministering to the poor.

“It’s a question of the coordinating my resignation with the demands of the archdiocese and then uh, I hope being able to greet my successor,” he said.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged , ,
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