Authentic Catholic: Livin’ La Vida Católica

Ray Sullivan

Sorry, folks! I don’t look or sing anything like Ricky Martin, so there will be no accompanying video to this article (for this, you should be truly thankful). But in the new dark ages we now live in, it’s imperative that real Catholics stand up and fight for Christ and His Church, by both personalizing the Word of God and living like saints, not pop culture morons.

The Dark

We now live in a world where what used to be called good is now called evil, and what used to be called evil is now called good (Isaiah 5:20). For example, up until 1930, all Christian churches considered artificial birth control to be a sin. Then, the Anglican Church, at its Lambeth Conference, declared that it was now okay in certain instances. As a reminder, the Anglican Church was created by Henry VIII in the 16th century, because Henry couldn’t conceive a male heir with his wife, Queen Catherine. Very ironic, I think. Since 1930, all Protestant churches have jumped on this “separation of sex and birth” bandwagon, even though God struck Onan down in Genesis 38:10, for spilling his seed on the ground. Methinks God was pretty serious when He told both Adam and Eve, and Noah, to “be fertile and multiply.”  This command of God has been thrown out of the windows of all Protestant churches, and by cafeteria Catholics, who think that they know better than God about sex.

In each and every country where artificial birth control was allowed, abortion, or the murder of a child in the womb, soon followed. In America, the Pill came out in the early 1960’s, and the Supreme Court “passed” the abortion law in 1973 (I know the Supreme Court doesn’t pass laws, but in effect, that’s exactly what they did.) It seems that artificial birth control doesn’t work every time it’s tried, so our highest court provided a backup plan for the sexually active among us. So, now we not only have the mortal sins of adultery and fornication to deal with that are committed with the Pill, in addition, murder can also be had as a result of disobedience to God’s everlasting command to “be fertile and multiply.”  Strangely, the newly discovered constitutional “right to an abortion” is based on the invisible constitutional “right to privacy.” By the way, I’m still looking for that in the US Constitution. Now with all of the NSA snooping going on with our smartphones, I’m pretty sure privacy is not an inherent right of all Americans. Maybe someone should tell that to the Supreme Court so that we can do away with abortion. It seems to me that Satan so hates the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the womb in which she bore Jesus, that he attacks the fruit of the womb with a vengeance. We are made in God’s image and likeness, after all, and this so infuriates Satan that he attacks mankind in the womb while this image and likeness is being created. The Bible does say that women will be saved through motherhood (1 Timothy 2:15), after all, and Satan wants all women (and men too) in hell, by denying them motherhood.

Homosexuality was once considered to be disgusting and deviant (Romans 1:26-27), but today, it seems to be the in-thing. I’m so old I can remember when homosexuals told us all that whatever went on in their bedroom was nobody’s business. Therefore, we should just leave them alone. Most of us bought into this argument, as it did make some sense. But today, they not only demand we acknowledge this deviant behavior as good, they indoctrinate our kids in schools, they demand the right to get married with all the societal benefits of heterosexual marriage, and they demand that persons who contribute to or endorse regular marriage be fired from their jobs. For now, they are only going after government entities through muddle-headed “tolerant” judges. (The Church will be the next point of attack for them.) Florists, cake makers, and photographers who refuse to provide their services to homosexual so-called “weddings” are being forced out of business by these un-American judges, who now say that the right to homosexual marriage (again, this is nowhere to be found in the US Constitution) somehow trumps the constitutional right to freedom of religion. Why?  Because these judges think that freedom of religion is what goes on inside of a Church on Sunday, and doesn’t include what happens at work the other six days of the week. This is how the Nazi Party operated – Love Jesus on Sunday, kill Jews the other 6 days of the week.

There are numerous other modern day evils out there in this arid desert we live in now, like genetically modified food (Personally, I think God knew what he was doing when He made natural food for our natural bodies), embryonic stem cell research ( . . . calling Dr. Mengele, calling Dr. Mengele), doctor assisted suicide (Can you say “Hippocratic Oath?”), and child abuse. It seems the slippery slope that the Anglicans began in 1930 is now an all-out freefall into hell.

The Light

So, what’s a stand-up Catholic supposed to do in the new dark ages we live in to combat all of this satanic evil?  Well, for starters, don’t participate in any of it. If you think you know better than the official Church teaching on sex, marriage, and life, you are basically saying that your 40-something year old brain is more intelligent than a 2000 year old Holy Spirit-guided Church. The same Church that has been present during the Roman Empire, the original Dark Ages, the Renaissance, the Protestant revolt, the Enlightenment, the Nazi pogrom of the Jews, and the Communist murders of over one hundred million people last century. It should be noted that the Church defeated the Roman Empire, even setting up its headquarters in their capital city, to this very day.  We outlasted Nazis and Communists, as well. The Bible says that “he who hears you (the Church), hears ME; he who rejects you (the Church), rejects ME (Luke 10:16). Disobeying the Church, it seems, is disobeying Christ.

Here are a few more ways that you live life as an authentic Catholic:

  • The Eucharist should take center stage in your life. Jesus suffered mightily during His Passion so that the Passover meal (to be FOREVER celebrated, Exodus 12:14) could be transformed into His eternal gift to mankind: His very body, blood, soul, and divinity offered up daily for our very own “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9). “Give us this day our DAILY BREAD” means that we should really try to attend daily Mass where this heavenly bread (daily bread is a reference to supernatural manna from heaven) is offered for our salvation. The Eucharist gives us the will to avoid sin and to do the will of God, as well as forgiving our venial sins. Every stand-up Catholic should truly want this great gift from heaven, as often as possible.
  • Increase your devotion to Mary – No Mary, no Jesus; know Mary, know Jesus. Mary always leads us to her son by the fastest and best way. Devotion to Mary is the pure imitation of Christ who was very devoted to His mother. Say the Rosary every day, because Satan runs from you like the devil (!) when you do.
  • Pray from the heart more frequently. When you get up at night to go to the bathroom, see how many “Anima Christi’s” and Hail Mary’s you can say!  Prayer opens up our hearts to God, and makes us humble.
  • Get involved with Church ministries that help the poor and down-and-out. Jesus said that you won’t get into heaven unless you bolster your faith with good works (Matthew 25:31-40, James 2:24).
  • SPEAK UP!  Tolerance of evil is no virtue; rather, it’s a vice. Let people know what’s right and wrong. If you tell them, you just may be planting a seed that will save their soul!

 

 © 2014. Ray Sullivan. All rights reserved.

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28 thoughts on “Authentic Catholic: Livin’ La Vida Católica”

  1. Great article Ray. I love how you point out the victorious Church! I find that focusing on Saints can also boost your faith. I love to read about them and even more I love to read what they wrote. They are incredible examples! God bless.

    1. Well thanks David….We win in the end. Spiritual reading is always helpful to Christians, especially the lives of the Saints!

    2. I have lost many battles personally, because of my sins. But thanks be to God and repentance, God will win the war, and so will I, if I hold out to the end…

  2. Great job, Mr. Sullivan!
    Right and wrong are not subject to popularity contests. The Church stands strong with Pope Francis (when he is not taken out of context). People forget that the “Who am I to judge?” comment was made regarding gay men who are seeking to maintain a celibate lifestyle. This is also the same Pope who said that marriage is between a man and a woman, and that abortion is never, ever right.

    1. Agree 100% Cynthia. We all have to remember that God always chose the smallest and meekest people to do His will here on earth – Moses, Mary, Peter, etc. Once the small and meek latch on to Christ 100%, the devil is more afraid of us than he is of any president or king. And that is how we defeat all of this baloney in this country that is trying to take away our religious freedom…

  3. Ray-Excellent! You echo St Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria 296-373 AD:

    “Saint Athanasius lived in the fourth century during the time of what
    used to be considered the greatest crisis of faith ever to befall the Catholic
    Church, the Arian Heresy. (The Arians denied the Divinity of Our
    Lord Jesus Christ). The vast majority of Churchmen fell into this
    heresy, so much so that Saint Jerome wrote of the period, “The
    whole world groaned and was amazed to find itself Arian”. Athanasius
    was the Bishop of Alexandria in Egypt for 46 years. He was banned from
    his diocese at least five times and spent a total of 17 years in exile.
    He even suffered an unjust excommunication from Pope Liberius (325-366)
    who was under Arian influence. It is a cold fact of history that Athanasius
    stood virtually alone against the onslaught of heretical teaching ravaging
    the Church of his day – begetting the familiar phrase, “Athanasius
    contra mundum”, that is, “Athanasius against the world”.

    The famous convert to the Church, Ven. John Henry Newman, described
    him as a “principal instrument, after the Apostles, by which the sacred
    truths of Christianity have been conveyed and secured to the world.”
    Often referred to as the Champion of Orthodoxy, Saint Athanasius was undoubtedly
    one of the most courageous defenders of the Faith in the entire history
    of the Church. If anyone can be singled out as a Saint for our times, surely
    it is Saint Athanasius. The following letter of his could, almost word
    for word, have been written yesterday.

    “May God console you! … What saddens you … is the fact that
    others have occupied the churches by violence, while during this time you
    are on the outside. It is a fact that they have the premises – but you
    have the Apostolic Faith. They can occupy our churches, but they are outside
    the true Faith. You remain outside the places of worship, but the Faith
    dwells within you. Let us consider: what is more important, the place or
    the Faith? The true Faith, obviously. Who has lost and who has won in the
    struggle – the one who keeps the premises or the one who keeps the Faith?
    True, the premises are good when the Apostolic Faith is preached there;
    they are holy if everything takes place there in a holy way …

    “You are the ones who are happy; you who remain within the Church
    by your Faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the Faith which has
    come down to you from Apostolic Tradition. And if an execrable jealousy
    has tried to shake it on a number of occasions, it has not succeeded. They
    are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis. No one,
    ever, will prevail against your Faith, beloved Brothers. And we believe
    that God will give us our churches back some day.

    “Thus, the more violently they try to occupy the places of worship,
    the more they separate themselves from the Church. They claim that they
    represent the Church; but in reality, they are the ones who are expelling
    themselves from it and going astray. Even if Catholics faithful to
    Tradition are reduced to a handful, they are the ones who are the true
    Church of Jesus Christ.”

    1. THANKS ! St. Athanasius, persecuted so much for speaking the truth, is the one who first proposed the 73 books of the canon of sacred scripture that we still use today. One of the greatest saints ever.

      I’m not sure that I could ever be compared to him, but thanks for the kudos!

  4. Pingback: G. K. Chesterton's Love Affair with the Irish - BigPulpit.com

  5. An excellent article with good background and solid advice. It’s a “drum” worth beating at every opportunity.

    I would also respectfully suggest frequent confession be added to the list. If you are blessed to be in a location to have frequent reception of the Eucharist, cleanliness of soul is paramount.

    In regards to the “Dark”. Acts of reparation and mortification are clearly called for now more than ever.
    First Fridays are good for reparation to our Lord’s Sacred Heart. Any visit to the tabernacle is an opportunity for reparation for our sins and coldness to His Presence.

    +++Ad Jesu par Mariam+++

    1. Thanks- Actually, Confession was supposed to be my first article. Read about it here next month.

  6. I have many issues with this post….while you are looking for the words “right to privacy” in the Constitution and the amendments, I will be looking for the words, God, god, Jesus, Christian or Catholic. I can assure you that none of these exist.

    Yes, “be fruitful and multiply,” are in Genesis, the Judaic-Christian creation myth. Since homo sapiens transition to a present form of normalcy about 60-65,000 years, Genesis is obviously an attempt by nomadic camel runners to explain origins. The words are “be fruitful and multiply” not “indiscriminately breed.” When few humans were around, of course the message would be to propagate the lands. This does not mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that the purpose of sex (common to all species) is only to breed. Obviously, you failed to mention the OT, “Song of Songs” or “Canticles” which speaks to the aspect of the relations. For some reason, no one ever speaks of the “Song of Songs.”

    Yes, Onan was the second son of Judah and was killed by Yahweh, but it was not because he spilt his seed on the ground….the basis for the Catholic prohibition against artificial contraception. Yahweh killed Onan because he refused to impregnate his widowed brothers wife. He refused to be obedient to Yahweh and follow the levirate marriage custom. Now, Er and Onan were brothers of a small Edomite clan. Levirate marriage demands that the brother of a deceased man marry his brother’s wife and ….. Onan’s story deals with the disobedience to God and the rejection of levirate marriage. Onanism has nothing to do with contraception or masturbation…..

    The slippery slope from contraception to abortion is an epistemological fallacy. With the prevention of egg and sperm union, abortion rates decline substantially.

    As to your bias toward homosexuality as deviant, it would appear that neither the APA, the AMA and the APsyA would strongly disagree. As a matter of fact so would most Church attending Catholics…don’t remember Christ condemning homosexuals nor would Pope “who am I to judge?”

    Too many non-sequiturs, too many non fact based assumptions, too many judgements…

    The middle ages were no moment of pride…burning heretics, inquisitions, flat earths, crusades, anti intellectualism…selling indulgences an on. There were no good olde days.

    1. The US Constitution closes with the words, “In the year of OUR LORD,” which is Jesus. The Declaration of Independence not only says that our rights come from our creator, but that the US relies on Divine Providence. Read them sometime.

      The Pill is also an abortifacient, because it not only prevents eggs from fertilzing, in some cases it destroys the fertilized egg, which is abortion.

      Onanism is coitus interruptus, which is birth control.

      The only acceptable abortion rate is zero.

      No one condemns homosexuals. Homosexuality is what God, and His Church condemn, as a mortal sin. Big difference.

      The middle ages were times of The Church and Europe being overrun by Vandals, barbarians, Moslems, Vikings, etc., who all destroyed libraries and the learned. The Church, in each of these invasions, re-educated the remaining masses, and in some cases, even converted the barbarians to Christianity.

    2. In the year of our Lord is A,D, which is a mere chronological statement. The Declaration of Independence is NOT a governing document but articles of separation from England and never referred to as a governing document. The founding fathers were not Christians but deists, even Jefferson re-wrote the Bible.
      We differ on contraception and abortion definitions….
      Onanism is defined by Webster as masturbation and coitus interruptus ,,, that is NOT why Onan was killed by God.
      Agree that abortion is unacceptable except save the life of a mother or in cases of rape and incest.
      Catholics as a whole disagree with the Church position on homosexuality.
      Converting barbarians to Christianity…that is an insult to primitive cultures, indigenous people, First Nations, etc…..the first missionaries were barbarians. Read about the Catholic boarding schools for kids in Ireland, Canada and the US among others….the abuses there certainly outweigh any good.

    3. Not all founding Fathers were deists…Check out Charles Carroll…
      Also check out what the atheists did to the world in the 20th Century in Russia, Cuba, China, etc. 100 million dead. Give me Catholic leaders any day of the week.

      It matters not that some Catholics think homosexuality is OK. That doesn’t make it right in God’s eyes..Check out what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah…

    4. Sodom and Gomorrah had nothing to do with homosexuality, rather blatant inhospitability and greed:

      “Rictor Norton views classical Jewish texts as stressing the cruelty and lack of hospitality of the inhabitants of Sodom to the “stranger”.[34] The people of Sodom were seen as guilty of many other significant sins. Rabbinic writings affirm that the Sodomites also committed economic crimes, blasphemy and bloodshed.[35] One of the worst was to give money or even gold ingots to beggars, after inscribing their names on them, and then subsequently refusing to sell them food. The unfortunate stranger would end up starving and after his death, the people who gave him the money would reclaim it.

      A rabbinic tradition, described in the Mishnah, postulates that the sin of Sodom was related to property: Sodomites believed that “what is mine is mine, and what is yours is mine” (Abot), which is interpreted as a lack of compassion. Another rabbinic tradition is that these two wealthy cities treated visitors in a sadistic fashion. One major crime done to strangers was almost identical to that of Procrustes in Greek mythology. This would be the story of the “bed” that guests to Sodom were forced to sleep in: if they were too short they were stretched to fit it, and if they were too tall, they were cut up (indeed, in Hebrew and Yiddish, the corresponding term for a Procrustean bed is a “Sodom bed”).

      In another incident, Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, went to visit Lot in Sodom and got in a dispute with a Sodomite over a beggar, and was hit in the forehead with a stone, making him bleed. The Sodomite demanded Eliezer pay him for the service ofbloodletting, and a Sodomite judge sided with the Sodomite. Eliezer then struck the judge in the forehead with a stone and asked the judge to pay the Sodomite.

      The Talmud and the Sefer haYashar (midrash) also recount two incidents of a young girl (one involved Lot’s daughter Paltith) who gave some bread to a poor man who had entered the city. When the townspeople discovered their acts of kindness, they burned Paltith and smeared the other girl’s body with honey and hung her from the city wall until she was eaten by bees. (Sanhedrin 109a.) It is this gruesome event, and her scream in particular, the Talmud concludes, that are alluded to in the verse that heralds the city’s destruction: “So[36] said, ‘Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and because their sin has been very grave, I will descend and see…'”[Gen 18:20-21] wiki

    5. The bible says differently. I’m going with St. Jude, my patron saint..

      Jude 1: Likewise, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice,*serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

      Sorry, but the inhospitable theory is now officially nuked….

    6. Sexual promiscuity and unnatural vice equate with homosexuality in your revisionist view of Biblical scholarship? Why doesn’t Jude call homosexuality in S&G homosexuality….unnatural and perversion could mean a wide range od sexual behaviors? Thanks of the inhospitable nuking….

    7. You’re welcome. For sure, the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah probably did every shameful act there was. But the Bible does mention the mortal sin of homosexuality, no matter how much you wish it didn’t…

      Genesis 19:[4] But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; [5] and they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.”

    8. Picking and choosing quotes out of context, that is revisionism. Now let me ask you since you appear to be a Biblical literalist: Do you subscribe to each of the prohibitions of Leviticus? Now there is a direct reference to homosexuality…also how to sell your daughter into slavery, how to treat slaves, what meats and shellfish not to eat, when not to have intercourse, etc. Either you believe everything in the Bible literally or you place everything in it’s historical or cultural context. You cannot have it both ways….so here is a new word “cafeteria Bible interpreters.”

    9. Of course not. Leviticus was written for the Levitical Priesthood, which was done away with by Christ, and the Melchizedekian priesthood. No more animal sacrifices. Now we have the sacrifice of Christ under the form of bread and wine.

    10. Yes, of course you’re right and thank you for your response…..and a lot more was done away with in addition to human (Genesis) and animal sacrifice, slavery, misogyny, dietary restriction, etc., etc.

  7. Loved this article. A couple of points to add. After the Dark Ages you should mention the Middle Ages too, such an important period for the Church. Then there is the matter of outliving communism; this means we’re still praying for the downfall of communism in China and a few other places, right? Pleas all pray for the Church in China.

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