THE BEST KIND OF CHARITY

"Unquestionably, the pity which we show to the poor by relieving their needs is highly commended by God. But who will deny that a far higher place is held by that zeal and effort which applies itself to the work of instruction and persuasion, and thereby bestows on souls not the passing benefits of earth but the goods that last forever." 

Saint Pius X, Encyclical on the teaching of Christian doctrine, April 15, 1905

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DECEMBER 12: FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

For the honor of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, and for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord:

“We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”

Hence, if anyone shall dare — which God forbid! — to think otherwise than as has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment.

Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius IX solemnly defining the dogma of the Immaulate Conception, 8 December 1854.

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The creation of the Angels

Both the existence and the creation of the Angels are dogmas of faith presenting one of the most inspiring and consoling aspects of our Religion. As the first creatures of this universe, the Angels were the first revelation of the Supreme Goodness of God and of His transcendent Beauty. Even though part of the universe, the Angels really constitute a world to themselves, the spirit world, so exalted and so different from our visible, material world.

It is an article of faith, firmly established in Scripture and Tradition, and clearly expressed in Christian Doctrine from the beginning, that this spirit world, our Angels, began with time and was created by God. This traditional belief of both the Old and the New Testament was given a more formal and solemn expression in the fourth Lateran Council in 1215: [God] "by his almighty power created together in the beginning of time both creatures, the spiritual and the corporeal, namely the Angelic and the earthly, and afterwards the human, as it were an intermediate creature, composed of body and spirit." [D. 428. A similar definition was given in the Vatican Council in 1869, D. 1782, 1801.]

From this definition we learn that the Angelic spirits were created when time began and not from eternity. Like all other creatures they were produced by the almighty power of God, out of nothing. It would be heretical to affirm that the Angels are an emanation of the Divine substance. [Vatican Council [I], D. 1804] Spiritual substances do not divide or split or multiply in any form whatever, nor change one into another; their individual existence can only be explained by creation.

The creation of the Angels is implicitly affirmed in all those passages of Sacred Scripture in which it is stated that all things were made by God; explicitly and formally their creation is mentioned by Saint Paul in one of those incomplete enumerations of the Angelic orders: "In Him [the Son of God, the Logos] were all things created in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether Thrones, or Dominations, or Principalities, or Powers: all things were created by Him and in Him." [Col. 1: 16]

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JUST A PASSING VISITOR

A tourist visiting the Holy Father Pio was surprised to see that the room where he lived was very simple. There was only an old carpet and a kerosene lamp on it.

Tourist: - "Father, where is your furniture?" 

Father: - "Where is yours?" 

Tourist: - "Mine? But I'm just a visitor here." 

Father: - "Me too! I'm just a passing visitor in this world. My abode, God willing, will be in Heaven with Him."

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HOW PARENTS SIN IN REGARD TO THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN

“Parents sin if they don’t instruct their children in matters of faith. They should not imitate certain fathers and mothers who do not meet this duty moved by the desire to keep their children busy in other things. The consequence is that these poor children grow up without knowing how to make their confession, and are even ignorant of the principal articles of faith; they know not what is meant by the Trinity, by the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, by mortal sin, judgment, hell, heaven, or eternity; and through their ignorance they are damned. But their parents will have to account to God for them.”

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

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AVOID THIS TYPE OF PEOPLE

"Know also this, that, in the last days, shall come dangerous times. Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, haughty, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked. Without affection, without peace, slanderers, incontinent, unmerciful, without kindness. Traitors, stubborn, puffed up, and lovers of pleasures more than of God. Having an appearance indeed of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Now these avoid."

Saint Paul, the Apostle 2 Tim 3: 1-5

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