Category: Blog Posts

(The following is a slightly modified email I sent on March 15, 2011 to some local pro-lifers in response to a conflict regarding how to approach Mary in a pro-life setting)

Thank you Vivianne!

I think your key point is at the end.  There are two goals we can pursue here with 40 DfL.  One is ecumenism, and one is ending abortion.  40 Days for Life is about the latter, while ensuring openness to all denominations.  I know we all agree that is the guiding principle.  How exactly to achieve it, I am not sure.  What I am sure of is that discord as the result of such a discussion is of Satan, and whoever gives himself over to despair of unity because of such disagreements has lent an ear to the Father of Lies.
But I want to take that even further and tell you all about something that has been on my heart for some time now.  It is another pro-life strategy, and it seeks to be guided by God’s methods instead of man’s.  Some have pondered “What would Mary want here?”  But we need not guess at it.  She has told us.
(If you are one of those souls who has an automatic disdain or apathy for so-called “private” revelation, this email will be of little worth to you.  But know that you are rejecting the teachings of Christ’s Church, as this Church authoritatively teaches, in CCC 67, that the Sensus Fidelium is capable of discerning these revelations.)

I must preface this by pointing out that it seems I have been more persecuted recently by Catholics for doing Catholic things than I have been by non-Catholics.  I go evangelizing door-to-door and have been greeted with warmth even by Muslims who appreciate my care, while I am condemned by Catholics for my “proselytizing and pushiness.”  I pray something Marian at an event with non-Catholics and am complimented by Protestants for my Faith, while I am condemned by Catholics for “pushing what others think to be idolatry” .  I speak of the unprecedented urgency, depravity, and apocalyptic nature of our times (merely quoting claims in many approved apparitions) and I am thanked for pointing this out by even the lost sheep; the dissolute, the homeless, the sinners: protestants, Jews, and Muslims alike; while many Catholics chastise me saying “Stop being distracted, times have been bad before, everyone dies anyway, you’re being fanatical and people don’t like that.”  I speak of the errancy of Darwinism and the fact of Adam and Eve, and Catholics roll their eyes at me, explicitly or implicitly saying that I ought to be more concerned about potentially offending modern scientists than offending God; while the uneducated youth on the streets are happy to hear me proclaim the fact that even they know to be obvious: we are not the mere descendants of apes. 

I am not seeking sympathy! I say these things only to point out that the great tragedy of today is not the persecution we receive from without, but the wretched tepidity and lukewarmness from within the walls of our own Catholic Church.  We are like a knight in full armor cowering in a corner afraid to engage a small rabid animal. Our disastrously weak faith is demonstrated by our hesitation to proclaim the full Veritatis Splendor (Splendor of Truth) to all.  Human wisdom says water down truth so it is less offensive.  Divine wisdom says “Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” (Luke 7:23) Divine wisdom proclaims Truth in all its beauty and majesty and splendor, and permits those who cannot accept it to walk away (John 6:66). 

One woman I spoke to while going door-to-door was once a Protestant and told me about how she converted to Catholicism because when she had a daughter, she wanted to raise her in a faith with more ritual.  Thanks be to God she did not run into a modern Catholic who uses that pathetic “lowest common denominator” strategy, tip-toeing timidly around and making sure to pretend we are really not much different!  This woman had fallen away from the practice of the Faith for quite some time, and said it was a sign from God that we showed up at her door when she did, and told us she would get back to Church.

To the point: I am striving to take my orders from Heaven.  Heaven speaks through the Magisterium, yes, but Heaven also speaks directly.  Our mother, who is the mother of all, the greatest creature who will ever exist, and the Queen of all Creation, has been perfectly clear that SHE is the one in charge of our current apocalyptic struggle.  Christ has saved her for these times, and she is our commander.

The strategy I suggest seeks to place itself completely under the mantle of Mary.  “So it is a Catholic campaign, then” you may say to me.  It is not!  It is far more inclusive than even those on the “inclusive” side of this debate wish to  position themselves.  It is welcoming of all true believers, for it seeks to hurl at Satan, as one massive attack, all those prayers that God hears (and these are not only not limited to Catholics’ prayers but are also not limited to Christians’ prayers); prayers directed against a common enemy.  What great allies against the Culture of Death I have met among non-Christians: Muslims, Jews, Mormons, Jehova’s Witnesses, and those who believe but are still seeking a Church!  Why should we neglect to unite their prayers with ours?  If you ask someone “do you believe in God?” and his response is an unqualified “yes” (not “yes, but…” or “yes, as a…”), and he recognizes the same enemy we recognize, then his prayers ought to be united with ours, through Mary.

She has made it clear that under her mantle Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims are to unite against Satan.  Do not accuse me of religious indifferentism!  Daily I hope and pray and work so that all may become Catholic, where alone abides the fullness of Truth.  But there is no time to wait for that to happen.  Only the most arrogant of souls could claim that God does not hear the prayers of any non-Christians.  So if we are to exceed the walls of our own Catholic Church, let us not arbitrarily limit ourselves to non-Catholic Christians. 

To Catholics Mary is the Mediatrix of all grace; the Mother of God and the Queen of the Universe.  to Protestants she is the mother of Jesus, the one whose pleas initiated His first miracle, and one of the few who accompanied Him on Calvary. She is greatly revered by Mormons as well. To Muslims she is the most regarded woman in their holy book, the fairest woman in heaven, and as a virgin gave birth to the one who is to judge the world at the end of time; one of her greatest apparitions, Fatima, carries the name of one of Mohammad’s daughters, and in Cairo in the 1960s she appeared to millions, including Muslims who greatly revered her .  To Jews, she was the perfect Jew, keeping the law like no other, having every admirable trait that a Jew ought to have; we also know she is spoken of in their own scriptures.  To all others, she is the most beautiful woman in existence, the worker of the greatest wonders the world has ever seen; from Lourdes to Fatima to Cairo to Medjugorje, the object of more Holy Pilgrimages than anything.  She is at least nominally revered by the millions who wear her weapon, the Rosary, as jewelery around their necks.    Souls of all races and colors and creeds flock to her apparition sites; her maternal love is simply irresistible to all but those with hearts of stone, for “if anyone should glory in having God for his Father and yet has not the love of a true child for Mary, he is a deceiver, and the only father he has is the devil” – St. Louis de Montfort

Abandon your fears, your concerns, and your hesitations!  Our own devices will not bring about the Triumph of her Immaculate Heart that she promised us.  She will; through our response to her call.    She has told us we are to pray together; not just Protestants and Catholics but all believers.  She has told us that the Rosary is not just for Catholics.  Reject her orders at your own peril, devout soul!  Fear Judgment Day as well, as we all ought, but consider that the rejection of a mother’s love may be more detestable to Him on That Day than all the sins against purity and temperance in the world. 

How exactly to go about with such a strategy?  I certainly have not worked out all the details, though I will continue to think and pray about this.

Remember also, devout Catholic, that outside those very few truly faithful, obedient, orthodox Catholics; we do not have any complete allies in this fight.  Even the more conservative Protestant Churches have neglected to condemn contraception, which is at the heart of this Culture of Death- so you will be doing no good in reciting to me a list of evils contained in Islam, Mormonism, etc. (even though I may agree with you)- because I will respond to you with that fact.

I am not asking you to turn this current campaign into what I suggest.  Not only would I have no right to do that, but I recognize it would be imprudent at this point.  But for the future, I feel confident that this method I describe is God’s Will, or at least a significant part of His plan.

Unlike Vivianne I have not yet taken this to expert opinions and spiritual direction.  As always I submit this to those who are more qualified and learned than myself.  But I hope you can see the wisdom in this approach, because this wisdom did not come from me; I do believe God put it in my heart.  It is not the type of approach I would come up with on my own.  And trust me, I resisted it for a long time.  I am not saying it is the only valid approach to the exclusion of an explicitly Catholic one or an explicitly Christian one, but I do think it may very well be the best one.

I anticipate there will be holier and better Catholics than myself who will disagree with me here; and I just ask that before responding  they first pause and prayerfully consider what I suggest, because I will take their input very seriously.  Consider that it is not my own ponderings, but striving after obedience to Heaven’s guidance that makes me say this.    Consider that our allies in this battle are not limited to Christians. 

 Consider that Mary clearly is the means by which God has chosen to bring about the renewal of faith that we so direly need. Consider what she HAS done and what therefore she can and will do.  Consider that she is the woman spoken of in both Genesis and Revelation, and only by God’s grace, through Mary, do we have any hope in this age. When God sought to put an end to this continent’s Culture of Death almost 500 years ago, He did not do it through man’s carefully strategized efforts.  He did it through an apparition of His mother, as you all know, Our Lady of Guadalupe.  It will not be different this time!

In Christ, Through Mary,
Dan

I’ve always wanted to save the world; to solve all of its problems with my effort. I have always hated to see people suffer, or to see them not living as full a life as they ought.

Since a very young age the most logical method of doing this seemed to me to be theoretical physics.  It is indeed the most fundamental science.  Stretching from the tiniest particles to the largest expanses of the universe, it seeks to consolidate all things into one general unified theory, always striving after “the secret of the universe.”  Before I had become a teenager I was delving into this field of study.  Finding this secret; unlocking the key to the physical universe would certainly save the world, would it not?

Well, in High School I realized I was not going to achieve my goals in this area.  So I became a little more practical.  I turned my efforts towards engineering and inventing.  Surely if I could only discover an abundant energy source, an easier means of transportation, and better construction methods, all of the world’s problems would be solved. To this end I pursued my degree in Mechanical Engineering from RPI, and poured thousands of hours into researching, designing, prototyping, and applying for patents on inventions I had conceived. I worked for GE Energy and GE Global Research.  I took classes in entrepreneurship and inventing.

This combined with my theory that right legislation would save the world.  I educated myself in every political hot-topic and spent countless hours racking up thousands of posts on internet forums debating them. I campaigned for causes and for politicians and became involved in every controversial happening I could find.  With the right machines and the right laws to encourage them and enable them, we would surely see victory!

Late in college I realized I would not be successful in these strategies, either. But something else happened around these years; my Catholic awakening.  I was leading a typical life of promiscuity, debauchery, intemperance, apathy, and the like until then.  Toward the beginning of freshman year I saw these sins tearing me apart and finally vowed to radically change my life forever.  NOW I had really found out how to save the world.  I would take these lessons I had learned; these lessons of sexual purity and faith in God, and save the world by letting everyone in on it.  I started apostolates and clubs, wrote articles, gave talks, made YouTube videos, and talked to my friends about these pressing issues.

As I was graduating college, I realized that these arguments, also, would not save the world.  But now I am onto the next step in my efforts to save the world.  And that is to realize that I cannot save the world.  I cannot, but Jesus and His mother can.  I now realize that God does have the solution; one overlooked even by most Christian and Catholic apologists, and certainly overlooked by the so-called movers and shakers of this world.  He gave us a solution, and we ignore it at our own peril.  The solution is His mother, that woman whom Satan fears even more than God.  That woman who we infallibly know will crush the serpent’s head.  Mary Immaculate, the pinnacle of all creation.  The Queen of the Universe. The Mother of God. Our mother.

How did I not know this earlier? Well, I grew up in modern Catholicism.  You could describe it in many other terms; protestant Catholicism, professional Catholicism, worldly Catholicism, cultural Catholicism, feel-good Catholicism, effeminate Catholicism. It is the type of Catholicism that appeases everybody, pleases everybody, sedates everybody, and saves nobody.  In 20 years of going to Church most Sundays, I never heard of an apparition, the rosary, the scapular, the need for confession, or even the existence of daily Mass. I probably passively believed that God ceased speaking to man after Jesus ascended.

But now I know that God has not left us as orphans.  He has sent us His mother.  It is due time that we cease placing trust in the world and turn to her.  She will lead us to the mercy of her Son, but there are only a few grains left in the hourglass for the Time of Mercy.

I do not reject any of my former methods.  I certainly still spend much time arguing for virtue; for purity, for faith.  I still tinker with inventing, and even sometimes find myself pondering abstract physics.  But I thank God that I never discovered that secret to the universe, and never invented that boundless and cheap energy production machine.  Perhaps, if I did, I would never have reached the point where I am now.  The point where I am truly saving the world, because I pray the Rosary every day.

(This article was first published in July 2008)

Lust is the most widely unopposed sin of the day. It is evident everywhere; shelves are stocked with magazines aimed at inspiring it, non-marital relationships usually involve intercourse, sexual self-gratification is expected, and impure thoughts have become a bragging point.

 

The reason is simple. Temptation wins in the absence of strong conviction to do battle with it. Conviction is withering away today. Comfort, pleasure, and immediate gratification are considered of greater meaning than eternal principles, and the temptation that lust casts upon us is relentless and powerful. Aside from the wisdom of our ancestors and the commandments of God, which are deplorably mocked and disregarded; there is solid reason upholding why refrain from lust and its expressions is absolutely necessary for everyone.

 

Premarital sex has become so accepted that a proposal to avoid it will now invoke laughter in most. People who prefer this sad, degraded moral common ground seem to act as if society has always been this way, if not outwardly then privately, but truly the prevalence of such promiscuity is only a recent trend. Those who came before us understood its perils, which result not only from casual encounters but also relations between serious, yet unwed, couples. The latter situation is flat-out expected; serious couples who save themselves for marriage are considered senseless, but that choice will lead them to incomparably happier lives. The decision to spend the rest of one’s life with another must occur before this pair engages in intercourse, so a proper judgment can be made. Such intimacy is designed for, and regardless of your views on purpose, is confirmedly adept at bonding man and woman. When applied before marriage, this bonding power acts only to cloud judgment and put in place an enslaving fear of ending an inadequate relationship, causing it to drag on and devour valuable months or years. If the relationship does end, the deprivation from that bond causes a type of sadness that no man should ever have to feel; it is a sadness that frequently accounts for depression and motivates suicide, the rate of which is unsurprisingly astronomical these past few decades,  and one that stems from giving oneself entirely to another, only to have that gift cast aside, along with a serious part of the soul. When this crippling sadness fades, all that is left is the knowledge that your love was all for naught, with the only outcomes being lost time and lessened bonding power of intimacy for future relationships. That same enslaving fear could also be the grounds for a marriage that either ends in divorce or continues with unhappiness for the duration of the couple’s lives, or at least far less happiness than could have been obtained if the spouses were instead inspired to seek a better match. This is not to say that all married couples who engaged in premarital relations are unhappy, but it is so for an astonishing number, and guarding against such a rampant affliction should be a top priority in everyone’s life.

 

Casual sexual encounters have that same effect of lessening the bonding power of intimacy for future relationships, but take it to an extreme level. When a man shares his bed with one for whom he has no strong and developed feelings, he is showing utter disrespect for himself and his bedmate. He is tearing up his prospects of ever benefiting from intimacy and tossing them into a fire, for he has removed intimacy entirely from the realm of meaning and placed it into the realm of fleeting biological gratification. Like a drug user, he becomes resistant to the pleasures he pursues, except instead of the body being affected, it is the soul.

 

Adultery is one form of promiscuity that thankfully is still frowned upon. Its prominence is caused primarily by insufficient willpower to resist and, despite a general agreement in its negative effects, an inadequate sense of true conviction opposing it. This may be a consequence of the complete lack of opposition to the other forms of promiscuity, and as evil begets evil, degradation of conviction in one area leads to the same in the others that are related. Triumph is only attainable when the door latched shut to vice, instead of leaving it ajar and hoping only some will enter.

 

In resisting lust, so many people, despite being principled in many areas, fail to firmly shut this door by inviting sexual self-gratification into their lives. Even many of today’s Christian Churches do not oppose the practice. The reasons to eliminate masturbation may be the least obvious of all the transgressions from lust, but they are neither weak nor scarce. Masturbation has the opposite effect that many theorize it has. It is not a form of releasing built up tension; it is nothing but a means to temporarily appease your passions and thereby empower the propagation of temptation. As rewarding a child with candy in response to every tantrum serves only to reinforce future tantrums, so responding to temptation with masturbation will only cause you to crave more, while promoting your body to master and demoting your being to slave. Freedom can only be realized with utter refusal to satisfy any of the demands that lust solicits, and despite its differences from sexual encounters with others, masturbation is simply another way to satisfy lust instead of combat it. Complete refusal of self-gratification will grant you far greater focus, for when you know there is no possibility of committing this act, your subconscious will cease nagging you to give in. Greater willpower for employment in any pursuit also comes into the possession of whoever accepts complete refusal. Banishing from your life a pleasure that has been so depended on is a great achievement that, as with all struggles, paves the path for more achievement. The common saying “95% of people masturbate and the other 5% of people lie” illustrates the plague of weakness and surrender filling the minds of men. The subservience to their bodies of those who share this view has been developed to such a degree that they refuse to consider that people even exist who are not under such a spell. Do not believe in such discouragements; it truly is both realistic and vital for everyone to rid their lives of this habit.

 

This all is by no means an exhaustive summary of the malice of lust; far reaching are its effects and its expressions are not limited to what has been mentioned here.  Know too that one need not go as far as intercourse with another to suffer greatly; lesser expressions of lust bring the same effects, whether or not to a similarly lesser extent.  Understand there is no safety in numbers here; God does not grade on a curve.  Today, being merely acceptable means appearing exceptional next to the norm, and even appearing just good here may not be enough. 

 

 

Notice there has not yet been any mention of the risk of disease; that is because such an affliction is a fleabite compared to the decay of the soul that is at stake. Some say that as the number of their bedmates went up, the sadness from each relationship ending went down.  Despite appearing like a good way out of the horror of promiscuity; this consists of nothing but one digging his own grave so deep that the very smell of fresh air escapes his memory, and he becomes accustomed to the stench below.  This only means that the worst has happened: sexuality has lost its ability to bind him.  His hunger still prevails, but he can no longer gain nourishment from the food.  He has descended to the realm of mindless animals who wander the earth abiding only by hormones, and the human heart residing here knows nothing but torment.

 

But hope is not lost for those who have followed these ways. Though this makes Purity more difficult than for those who have always chosen it, in surmounting the challenge true joy can be found. God can give you a chance to start anew; with His help no burden is too large to bear .  Let Him guide you towards the life given to those who reject lust; for obtaining the benefits of its absence are even more persuasive than avoiding the downfalls of its presence. 

We know when we see someone free from the chains of lust.  For him, life is truly an adventure as opposed to a weak attempt to minimize pain and maximize pleasure. His happiness is based on principles that no event will ever darken.  He is impervious to the traps that ensnare the hedonists and even those who remain moderate in this sin, for he has chosen to elevate himself to a level of meaning that is completely independent of such triviality.  His time is spent living in the deepest sense of the word.  Without the distraction of lust, he is able to pursue his true purpose.  Without the parasite of lust, he is able to give his whole heart to his cause.  Without the agony, dominance, and deceit of lust; he puts today’s permissive, purposeless, and feeble culture to shame.  Defeating lust is only one step, but it is a large step, and one that cannot be skipped.  The deepest part of every man’s heart yearns for this great existence more desperately and persistently than any other desire he knows.  This understanding can be most real at the close of reading a great novel or watching a powerful movie, but is sadly often gone by the time the next temptation knocks. Do not let such decisions tear you away from the life you crave and need.  Take heed of that which your immortal soul knows is right and cast aside that for which your mortal flesh begs.  One side must be taken.