Rejecting the doctrine of the Church does not somehow “absolve” us of reality

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Matthew Jesus explains the Parable of the wheat and the weeds to his disciples…..In the description Jesus mentions two concepts which are completely over looked today….The devil and hell…..Do you believe that the devil exists?…Do you believe that there is a hell and people go there?…..If you ask people today, most do not give these two realities a second thought - That goes for many Catholics as well…..Think about this for a moment - If Jesus came to save mankind - What is he saving us from?….The driving reason people today do not think about the reality of the devil and the possibility of going to hell is, there is no longer a concept of sin, which is commonly accept among the American people…Today we hear people say - “You do You” - That “idea” is a recipe for disaster!!!!…..Objective mortal sin is a reality and WE do not get to define it - God does…The Natural Law is written on every human heart and when we turn from the Natural Law, whether we chose to ignore it or not - There are severe consequences…..Jesus today in the Gospel very clearly tells his disciples that there will come a time when the “weeds” will be separated from the “wheat”……And by what standard will this “separation” be determined? - The answer to that question is - Not by human standards…..There is a steep cost to pay when a person ignores reality…..And to ignore the reality that there is a devil - And that the devil seeks to “trick” us into thinking that he does not exist - That the devil is trying to “trick” us into thinking there is no such thing as sin - That the devil is trying to convince us that everyone goes to heaven and there is no one in hell…..Every single one of those “tricks” is a lie!!!…How do I know this? - Jesus tells us so today in the Gospel of St Matthew….."He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear”……We do not get to define reality - God is the creator of heaven and earth and God makes the “rules” - Its for us to abide by them!

“The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to him will live for ever”

Recently I attended a Catholic funeral for a friend’s father….My childhood friend stated that his father, “Lived his life on his terms”…..How can a person live and die as a practicing Catholic and - “Live on their terms”…Please keep in mind, my friend is a highly educated man, which leads me to conclude that the large majority of American Catholics simply do not know their faith - They have no clue what the Church teaches or they simply are deluding themselves though self rationalizations…..The Church is VERY clear as far as what it teaches - Are we aware of it? - Have we been taught it in school? - Do we teach what the Church proclaims to be true to our children?……How can a people live as Catholics when they have “no clue” what the Church actually teaches?……This is a very serious problem that MUST be addressed directly…People do not “magically” have a good life just as people do not “magically” float into heaven…Jesus is VERY clear and so is the Catholic Church as to what we must do and how we must live in order to enter into eternal life…..And “living on our own terms” is NOT the way to heaven!…..”Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”…..How can we possibly be “confused” by that statement?!?

“Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name; Deliver us and pardon our sins for your name's sake”

Today Jesus addresses a concept that is often not spoken about - The possibility that some will not enter into eternal life…Recently I read a book about the existence of Hell by Monsignor Charles Pope…In the book Msgr. Charles tells the reader that twenty-one of the thirty-eight parables taught by Jesus Christ deal this this theme of heaven and hell - Yet - We “seem” put this idea out of our mind…..In the book of Proverbs we are told that - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”…..To ignore reality does not change it…..God respects our freedom but in choosing the things of the world over the things of God does not somehow “give us a free pass”…..God is our loving Father and he has given us everything we need to walk the narrow road to heaven - Are we utilizing those gifts?…..Make no mistake about it - Just as heaven exists, so does hell and people go to hell, just as people go to heaven….Rejecting the doctrine of the Church does not somehow “absolve” us of reality….JMJ