The Synod has Opened: Hello Media!! It is About FAMILY!!

Leave a comment

IT  MAKES SENSE TO ME

by Larry Peterson

The secular media (print & broadcast)  has been salivating over the Synod of Bishops that has officially opened in Rome. They have been pounding the drum about the birth of a NEW church filled with the progressiveness of the “modern, secular world”. They have also completely ignored the reason this Synod has actually been called together. HELLO media, the Synod is about Family.  Stop picking and choosing what you perceive as newsworthy. Do your job. Report the facts. The primary purpose of the Synod is discussing FAMILY.

Have any of you actually read the following. Oh, I guess not. You have been  speculating way before any of this even began. Please, listen to Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri. He is the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops and in his opening statements said, “Feeling free to express what is believed or what is doubtful shows what distinguishes a human being from other creatures and makes him  a responsible person before God and man.”

“Consequently, discussion at the Synod is to be open. When differences arise, participants in their various roles are called NOT to stress their own interests or point of view but to seek the TRUTH which is not an abstract concept or the result of philosophical or theological speculation, but the person of Christ, the God-man, man born-in-time, and Son of the Father. ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’ (John 14:6). He is the point of of departure. The first evangelizer is Jesus, who came down to walk among us and came to be known by His word and signs and, finally, with the witness of His life.”

Okay, one more time (albeit a bit shorter) “—to seek the TRUTH which is not an abstract concept or the result of philosophical or theological speculation, but the person of Christ, the God-man, man born-in-time, and Son of the Father.”

This Synod, called together by an organization that has been around for over 2000 years, will strive to adhere to the truth. It will do all in its power to defend and protect the bride of Christ which is His Church. It will do all in its power to be compassionate and understanding to all people are are hurting because of certain choices they have made and which are even given approval to by some in the Church. You see, the Catholic Church is guided by the Holy Spirit. (Hey, it really is and I do not care if you do not believe me. You simply have to open your hearts and you might understand. It is a Faith thing, okay.) When the bishops of the world conclave like this they call on the Holy Spirit to guide them. He does and as the cliche goes, “He has their backs”.

I think most people have been conditioned to giving the 1960s rave reviews. The decade began seeing John F. Kennedy elected the first Catholic President of the United States. It ended in a gathering of over 400,000 young people in the town of Bethel, NY. (Originally scheduled to be held in Woodstock, NY, the organizers could not get the necessary permits. It became known as “Woodstock” even though it took place over 40 miles south in Bethel.)  Woodstock had no sanitation facilities, no water except for hoses here and there and it poured rain for almost three days leaving most everyone wallowing in mud. Oh yeah, “It was great!!!”

The mid 60s, with the escalation of the war in Viet Nam and the rise of the “hippie” movement saw antiestablishmentism come under attack. Guys burned their draft cards and gals tore off their bras. This seemed to foment the start of the new generation where living together, premarital sex, birth control, and abortion started to become the new morality.  As we entered the 1970s, the family, as we knew it, was under attack and has been under attack ever since.

In his opening statement at the Synod, Cardinal Baldisseri has called for TRUTH. The truth is that the Family is the very nucleus of society. The Family has its beginning when a man and woman commit to each other and then join together as one in the Sacrament of Matrimony. This is how it is in the Catholic Church. Marriage unites God’s creations, a man and a woman. They vow (before God and man) to take each other and join together and remain together no matter what life hands them, until death separates them. Through the Sacrament they are strengthened and fortified to have the ability to confront all that comes their way. Most importantly, they will unite as one flesh and have children thus continuing the life of the family they have started. As the generations pass by this family grows and grows and the process continues expanding the human race as God planned.

It is not always a perfect marriage. We have this thing called Pride that is within us. We also have the Free Will that God has given us and, because He is perfect,will not ever tamper with. The secular world has promoted very successfully the beauty of self-gratification. Sacrificing for another is often times deemed foolish. The old cliche of “taking care of #1” has resonated in millions of minds. It has also been followed. Children, once thought to be the greatest joy that a husband and wife might be gifted with, are now planned and prepared for by having all the perceived material things that are deemed necessary to have before a trying to have children. Same sex couples are preaching the sermon that they have a right to “have” children too, even though this can never be and they must adopt or use an artificial means of having a child. The Church can never sanction these attitudes and these actions. In the Church the FAMILY is united in a Sacramental action and that is  how it is. This is what the media does not understand nor does it try to understand.

Everyone must remember that Marriage is not the key topic of the Synod of Bishops. FAMILY is and marriage begets a new family. The church leaders will do their best to promote a compassionate and understanding approach to divorced and remarried couples, to those who cannot receive Holy Eucharist, to those who decide to simply live together without marriage etc. But the Catholic Church cannot change its core teachings and/or principles to satisfy the mores of the current times.

Everyone should also realize that the church is always ready and willing to accept all people with open arms just as Jesus wants her to. But the individualistic and self-serving attitudes that some want to be accepted will never be. It is not about any of us as individuals. It is all about the Body of Christ which includes all of us in the Family of God. Some will accept that, some will never accept that.

One thing is for sure. The Synod will seek the TRUTH and we should all, Catholic and non/Catholic alike, appreciate their efforts to do so. In the year 2014 Truth often evades us and is even mocked. Not this time

SATAN: the Supreme Commander of ISIS

4 Comments

IT MAKES SENSE TO ME

by Larry Peterson

At 12:30 p.m. on August 31, 1939, Adolf Hitler made a decision.  He issued the order that was to plunge the entire world into its bloodiest war ever:  This is the order that started World War II

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SUPREME COMMANDER OF THE
ARMED FORCES
MOST SECRET

Berlin, August 31, 1939: Directive No.1 for the Conduct of the War;
1) Now that all the political possibilities of disposing by peaceful
means of a situation which is intolerable for Germany are exhausted, I
have determined on a solution by force.
2) The attack on Poland is to be carried out;
Date of attack: September 1, 1939.
Time of attack:  4:45 a.m. *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The order was signed by Hitler and for the next six years the world would experience an unimaginable evil  that would cause such brutality, carnage and death it gave a complete new meaning to a heretofore biblical word.  That word was Holocaust.  (I view the words Holocaust and Genocide as synonyms.)

During the 20th century Genocide(s) claimed the lives of tens of millions of people.  Joseph Stalin, the brutal Soviet dictator and our “ally” during World War II, probably killed more people than Hitler and his primary means of execution was starvation.  Yup, “old Joe” was quite the guy.  Between 1932 and 1933 alone, Stalin actually starved over 7,000,000 of his OWN people to death.  By the time he died he had killed 25,000,000 people.  Now we are in the 21st century. What has changed?   Genocide continues in the most brutal fashion.  From North Korea to the Middle East to the African continent, genocide is claiming the lives of men , women and children by the thousands.  And God help us all,  most of the current human butchery is done under the banner of virtue:  “Praise Allah”.   How sick and evil is that?

I just used the word evil.  When I use that word I am not simply referring to something morally wrong or harmful or basically wicked.  When I use the word evil I am referencing Satan, the devil himself.  He is known by other names such as Lucifer, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, Leviathan, etc.  I must be clear so make no mistake; I believe (as do millions more) that Satan does exist and that he is spreading his unending and incomparable vitriolic hatred all over the world.  He is also cunning enough to use modern day communication techniques to advertise his  demonocity.

I write under the masthead of  IT MAKES SENSE TO ME.   It follows that what I write does, in fact, “make sense to me”.  I am a Catholic man and my faith is part of my very being.  Much of that faith is reinforced by what is called  Natural Law.  Natural Law is part of who we are.  It is (in my opinion) part of our genetic makeup.  It cannot be seen or touched or examined under a microscope.  It cannot even be proven.  However, “common sense” tells us it does exist.

Natural Law is what we all, as human beings, know to be right or wrong.  Some of us call it “our conscience”.  An example of Natural Law at work is when a mother asks her small child, “Did you eat that cookie I left out for your sister?”  The child, with crumbs and chocolate on her face answers, “No, mommy.”  She knew it was wrong  to take that cookie so she made a choice.  She used her “free will”.  She answered , “No”.  That is Natural Law at work.

Angels are God’s creations just as people are.  The bible references angels in many places.  It also references the evil angels.  These are the angels that, upon the moment of their creation, were so filled with their beauty and grandeur, that they decided they were greater than God Himself.  In that moment they lost everything.  Every last ounce of hope that might have been was gone forever.  Unlike mankind, who lives and has many chances, in the angelic world, this could not be.  Filled with an unimaginable hatred and loathing and unable to attack God and the Good Angels, Satan and his followers have focused on the ones with free will, the ones filled with pride and envy, the human race.

Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein and Pol Pot are high profile followers of Satan.  But there are countless millions more who these demons  have been able to recruit and induct into their evil army.  Just the other day we all saw one of Satan’s followers  behead James Foley, an American journalist.  For full effect the grizzly execution was performed on camera, for all the world to see, including the Foley family.

How evil is this angel known as Satan?  How evil are the angels that followed him into hell?  The depths of their  hatred for God and all that is Good is incomprehensible.  These creatures were the brightest and the highest among all  others.  Now they are lower than  the lowest sinner because even that sinner still has hope for redemption.  The “fallen angels”,  filled with their own enormous pride and bursting with envy, are silently screeching and wailing as they skulk around the world seeking new followers.  Sadly, they have been very successful.

One of Satan’s greatest pupils had great success early on in his morbid career.  His name was Adolf Hitler.  He destroyed  millions.  In the end he and his followers were relegated to the ash heap of history.  ISIS and all those that are following Satan will suffer the same fate.  The cost might be very high but they can never ever win their ignominious war against God.  And that is exactly what they are waging, a war against God.

By the way, the greatest weapon at our disposal in this war is PRAYER.  Here is one written by Pope Leo XIII back in 1884. The Holy Father’s purpose back then was to combat the “father of lies”.

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host,
b
y the Divine Power of God,
cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

 *“The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” (abridged edition) by William Shirer  pg 117