May 2008 Archives

An email service just for our protestant brothers and sisters . . . it's way too much to pass up. Apparently YouveBeenLeftBehind.com will send up to 62 emails out to your "left behind" friends and family explaining what happened when you are raptured. That's right, for the small fee of $40, you can send out messages to those left behind to explain the good news of Jesus Christ.

Now, I'm still trying to figure out why only 62 messages (you'll have to guess which 62 friends are least likely to be raptured). But it also appears that it's $40 a year until the rapture, which could be some time off (I'm not sure what Hal Lindsey's latest date is, but he could possibly be wrong).

As a slightly technical guy, I should point out the obvious problems from a technical perspective. But Ken Magill at Direct magazine has already done a good job of explaining the realities:

Also, let's say the service gets 10,000 subscribers. That's 620,000 messages coming all at once from IP addresses that previously have shown little to no activity. As a result, Internet service providers' anti-spam filters will most certainly block or divert them into recipients' spam folders.
 
Who's going to be around at You've Been Left Behind to conduct ISP relations? Maybe the group should employ a staff of the damned to make sure things go smoothly after all those who are saved disappear. Some Unitarians would probably be up for the job--they're such an amenable bunch, after all.
 
Otherwise, imagine Satan standing at the gates of hell laughing manically and telling a seemingly endless procession of new souls: "You should have checked your spam folders! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
 
Lastly, envision the circumstances under which this service will operate: Among other things, four horsemen will have come riding out of the sky, the forces of righteousness will be locked in the ultimate battle with the antichrist, celestial trumpets are blowing, and the gates of hell are open and beckoning.
 
And someone's going to say: "Wait just a second while I check my e-mail?"

Just to explain from a Catholic perspective: the Rapture is a protestant invention brought about because protestants don't have the Mass. That's right, the Mass. The Book of Revelation (or The Apocalypse) is a book based on the Mass and is virtually impossible to understand without understanding the Catholic liturgy. Revelation explains that the liturgy we celebrate in Mass is an actual participation in the Heavenly Liturgy that is being celebrated at all times (and will be in Heaven forever).

So if you don't understand the Mass, you tend to see the book of Revelation as only a difficult explanation of the end of time. And interesting human concepts like The Rapture are invented to explain it. It's important to note that the Rapture is primarily a 20th century concept, with little to no precedent for the belief. At this point in time there are multiple versions of the belief in the rapture: pre-millennial, post-millennial, even those who are essentially mid-millennial.

So what is the Truth? Jesus Christ will come at the end of time and separate the wheat from the chaff, taking the wheat to heaven. Those who haven't achieved holiness, but aren't in mortal sin, will be perfected through purgatory.

I pray that through the Sacraments, we all become wheat for Jesus.

God bless,
Jay

In a recent discussion about the Sacrament of Penance (or Confession) with a protestant family member, this passage in particular came up:

John 20:21-23. [Jesus was alone with the disciples] Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Think about this passage for a second. What was Jesus trying to do?

In my old Baptist faith we viewed forgiveness much as Martin Luther tended to; we considered ourselves "saved" at one point in time and basically forgiven for everything from that point on (assuming we were really "saved"). So why would it matter if anyone can retain the sins of another person?

Another point of view: Jesus is taking a power that only God has, namely the power to forgive sins, and giving it to mere humans. As my protestant friends are fond of pointing out: why confess sins to a priest, I can go straight to God. That's a wonderful point of view - and it is true, we can go straight to God in prayer - so what is Jesus doing here? Why is He giving the disciples the power to not only forgive the sins of others, but to retain them? And what does it mean if a disciple "retains" the sins of another?

The Truth is beautiful and perfect, however it is only found in the Catholic Church. This is one of those passages of Scripture that only the Catholic Church can explain (as I've posted before). Jesus also offers the apostles the ability to "bind" and "loose", which is basically the same power (Matthew 18:18), but this is only given to the apostles. Is it carried down to their successors over time? Practically, why would Jesus give this power to the apostles and not allow it to be carried down through the ages? Is it only needed just after He ascends to heaven? That would be a difficult argument to make. And it is clear that this continues (at least in the minds of the apostles):

2 Corinthians 5:18-19. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, no counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

What makes this fascinating is that it is written by Paul, who was not present in the room as Christ gave the apostles the power to forgive sins or not. And Paul uses this power:

1 Corinthians 5:3-5. For though absent in body I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already pronounced a judgment in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Again, clearly Paul believes he has the power to forgive sins or to retain sins, so he believes this power was passed down to him because of his role in the Church (as a priest).

Confession is one of the Sacraments most visible in the Bible (there are other verses - and books like James - that cover confession). Together these verses alone build a strong basis that the apostles were given the power to forgive or retain sins by Jesus Himself and they believed this was passed on (at least to Paul).

Speaking as a former protestant, Confession is very effective. First, it gives you knowledge (when you leave) that you are completely forgiven for your sins (assuming you meet the conditions of confession). Second, I can personally tell you that you try harder not to sin when you have to go tell someone exactly what you've done wrong. At the least it makes you pause before committing the same sin over again!

God bless,
Jay

Wanted to pass along this benefit concert for those in/near Atlanta:

God bless,
Jay

According to an article from Catholic World News, a team of Harvard University researchers has found that condom-distribution campaigns in Africa have not significantly reduced the spread of the AIDS. They have concluded that efforts to curb the AIDS epidemic in Africa should concentrate on promoting sexual restraint.

Dr. Daniel Halperin, who led the research team from the Harvard School of Public Health, went as far as saying "We need a fairly dramatic shift in priorities, not just a minor tweaking". The group's report, released in Science magazine, found that male circumcision had a dramatic effect in curtailing the transfer of the HIV virus, while efforts to promote condom use did not affect the spread of AIDS in Africa.

The researchers discovered that programs designed to discourage sexual promiscuity had a strong positive impact in several countries. Uganda had the most successful program. Their government-backed campaign produced a reported 50% drop in the number of people reporting multiple sexual partners. Comparable programs led to a reduction in the rate of HIV infection in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Ivory Coast as well.

I hope this is reported on all the major media networks, not just Science magazine and Catholic World News. The truth about the effects immoral behavior must be exposed.

In Christ,
Daniel

The recent papal trip to the U.S. has brought out a definite contrast, in my opinion, between Benedict XVI's leadership and the general leadership of the U.S. Bishops. Listening to the pope I get a sense of clarity, continuity, and inspiration. It saddens me to say that recent events regarding some bishops has left me confused and disappointed.

The recent scandal involving Archbishop Wuerl of Washington DC and notoriously pro-abortion politicians being given communion at the papal Mass is the most recent example. Wuerl has argued that "any decision to bar prominent politicians from receiving communion should be made by the bishop in their local diocese after clear efforts to persuade and convince the person that their actions are wrong and bear moral consequences." I understand that refusing someone communion is a strong and difficult action. But how does this reconcile with what the Church has stated about pro-abortion politicians not receiving communion?

This seems like displacing responsibility to me. Can't the bishops work together to stop the confusion on the matter, especially since the repercussions are so important? I mean, we're talking about the Eucharist here; God Himself, the center of our faith, not some small tradition with a little "t". We are dealing with abortion - the biggest war and lie the world has ever known. I agree with Cardinal William Levada, who states that this kind of thinking is dabbling in "territorial morality". How is it possible that things change so much from diocese to diocese within the same country? If I'm missing something here I welcome the correction.

How confusing and how sad, especially when one of the biggest things the pope stressed was unity. We have to pray, pray, pray and storm heaven with sacrifices for that unity.

In Christ,
Daniel