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Obama Giving Commencement Speech at Notre Dame

And receiving honorary Law Degree. This is really an absolute slap in the face to all believing Catholics that despise the injustice of our country's abortion laws. Not only are they implying that he is a teacher, but a teacher of the Law! What hypocrisy.

It is just another demonstration of the erosion of Catholic Identity in our culture. What a disgrace that secularism has even infiltrated supposedly Catholic Universities. I guess Notre Dame is only interested in being little 'c' catholic—more interested in universality than Truth.

Fortunately, the students at Notre Dame appear to have more sense than it's administrators and are standing in opposition to this travesty. Of course, every major newspaper will now trot out articles and op-ed pieces, supporting Notre Dames request. Fr. Thomas J. Reese, Jesuit (go figure), quickly manages to step all over himself trying to justify it. I have heard of circular logic, but circular illogic?

He starts off in number 1 saying that "in Obama's personal life" he has not done anything to deny that abortion is wrong, then in number 5 states that the main reason Obama was asked it because he is President, in other words because of his "political life", which is exactly what is in direct opposition to the most fundamental right of life. Having him speak at a Catholic event is like having Charles Manson give the eulogy for one of his victims.

Priests like Fr. Reese do absolutely nothing for the Faith and should be dismissed from the Priesthood. Maybe it would be better if the Church was smaller and holier, instead of bigger and conflicted. I am very thankful that there are other devout Catholics who are not afraid to take on misguided members of the clergy.

Finally, all you anti-catholics out there, stop falling back on that old tired horse "free speech". Blah, Blah, Blah—Obama is the President of the United States! Not allowing him to speak at a Catholic University in NO WAY hinders his free speech. He can say whatever he wants to the entire nation for Heaven's sake!

Happy St. Valentines Day Courtesy of Ephesians 5

The Feast of Saint Valentine was celebrated as early as the year 496. Not much is known about the Saint himself other than that he is believed to have been a Martyr of the Church. Legend has it that he refused Emperor Claudius' request to renounce his Faith and was beheaded. On the establishment of this Feast Day, Pope Gelasius I supposedly said he was "justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God."

Saint Valentine died for his love - the Church. I think this is a very fitting image for this day. It stands as a reminder that LOVE is a verb, and not just a fuzzy feeling. Love demands work, sacrifice, and sincere devotion to it's object, the beloved. Men we are asked to love our wives even as Christ (and Saint Valentine) love the Church, and if we do so as God intended, our wives will not mind submitting to us as unto the Lord.

Saint Valentine's Relics

A Prayer to St. Valentine
O glorious advocate and protector,
St Valentine,
look with pity upon our wants,
hear our requests,
attend to our prayers,
relieve by your intercession the miseries
under which we labour,
and obtain for us the divine blessing,
that we may be found worthy to join you
in praising the Almighty for all
eternity: through the merits of
Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.


1. Ad Maiorem Dei Glorium Blog
2. Wikipedia Article on St. Valentine
3. Catholic Encyclopedia Entry on St. Valentine
4. Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine
5. Aquinas and More Patron Saint Index



Opening Our Hearts to Ephesians 5
This is a very good discussion on Ephesians 5. Please visit Catholic Exchange to read it.

Posted using ShareThis

The Will of God

The Will of God is like the Tide, constant and eternal

And life like the sea, which rises and falls at the whim of the Tide

Whether high or low, the Tide remains, confident in it's purpose.

Praise and Glory to God in Whom all things have their being!

Salvation by God Alone through Christ in Mary!

Amen.

Bible Study for March 24th 2007

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

For:  Sunday, March 25, 2007

5th Sunday of Lent

First Reading:

From:  Isaiah 43:16-21

Announcement of a new exodus (continued)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[16] Thus says the Lord,
     who makes a way in the sea,
     a path in the mighty waters,
[17] who brings forth chariot and horse,
     army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
     they are extinguished, quenched like a wick;
[18] “Remember not the former things,
     nor consider the things of old.
[19] Behold, I am doing a new thing;
     now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
     and rivers in the desert.
[20] The wild beasts will honour me,
     the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
     rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
[21] the people whom I formed for myself
that they might declare my praise.

*********************************************************************************************

Commentary:

43:11-44:5. God chose Israel and he had special love for his people (cf. 43:1-13).

Just as in the past he acted in ways that showed he had not forgotten them, not

least by releasing them from Egypt and guiding them through the wilderness, he

will show equal power and kindness by bringing them out of Babylon (cf. 43:14-

21). The provident care that he takes of them is not a reward that the people

have earned; it stems entirely from his mercy; he is steadfast in his love for them,

despite all their faults (43:22-44:5). His people have more than enough reason to

be tranquil and unconcerned, for the Lord, who has special love for them, is the

one true God and there is nothing, no one, to match him (cf. 44:6- 23). So, this

group of oracles ends with shouts of joy, acknowledging the redemption that

God brings (cf. 44:23).

43:14-21. This oracle is part of the doctrinal core of the “Book of Consolation”

(40:1-48:22), where we can see the exodus from Egypt as the prototype of every

instance of liberation brought about by the Lord. Its most direct reference would

be to the return of those exiled in Babylon. The original exodus from Egypt was

quite remarkable and well worth pondering; but this exodus is truly “new”,

surpassing what happened in former times (cf. vv. 18-19). This prophecy is very

carefully constructed. It first acknowledges God by giving an impressive list of

divine titles, repeated several times: Lord, Redeemer, Holy One of Israel,

creator, King (vv. 14-15); then comes the announcement of the new exodus

based on traditions to do with the first exodus, without mentioning it specifically

(vv. 26-21); it recalls, with sadness, yet serenity, the people’s infidelities (vv. 22-

24); and it ends with God asserting his forgiveness in the context of a rîb, that is,

a “legal hearing” (vv. 25-28).

The prophet’s words are designed to fill the people with hope that they will soon

be able to return home, and also with the energy to undertake the religious

restoration of Israel. But they are also a reminder to people at all times that God

never abandons his chosen ones, and a constant encouragement to renew their

fervour. The only proviso is that they must have recourse to the mercy of God

and sincerely admit their sins. Thus, we find St. Gregory the Great interpreting

the “suit” in v. 26 as describing the examination of conscience that leads to the

confession of sins: “The conscience accuses, reason judges, fear binds, and

suffering tortures” (Moralia in Job, 25, 7, 12-13).

---

Second Reading:

From: Philippians 3:8-14

The Righteousness of God Is Better Than That of the Law (Continuation)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

[8] Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of kno-

wing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things,

and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in

him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is

through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith;

[10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share

his sufferings becoming like him in his death, [11] that if possible I may attain

the resurrection from the dead.

[12] Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on

to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

The Spiritual Athlete

---------------------

[13] Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do,

forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [14] I press

on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

*********************************************************************************************

Commentary:

8. St Paul has a great love for his people. In Romans he shows that he would be
ready to accept any sacrifice "for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen of the
flesh" (Rom 9:3f). However, he recognizes that everything in which he gloried be-
fore his conversion is worthless in comparison with the grace of knowledge of
Christ: that is the hidden treasure, the precious pearl referred to in Gospel para-
bles (cf. Mt 13: 44-46). For "once a person experiences the riches of Christ the
Lord, he looks down on everything else: property, wealth and honors he views as
filth. For there is nothing that can compare with that supreme treasure, nothing
that can be placed beside it" ("St Pius V Catechism", IV, 11, 15).

9. St Paul makes the distinction between "a righteousness of my own" attainable
by personal effort, and that which comes from God. The former is the righteous-
ness a person can attain by fulfilling the Mosaic Law; it is a good thing, but it is
insufficient to give one the full revelation of God in Christ, insufficient to give one
a share in the glory of his Resurrection (vv. 10-11). For that, one needs to have
righteousness from God, that is, supernatural grace: "not the justice by which
he is himself just, but the justice by which he makes us just, namely, the justice
which we have as a gift from him and by which we are renewed in the spirit of our
mind. And not only are we considered just, but we are truly said to be just, and
we are just" (Council of Trent, "De Iustificatione", chap. 7). For a more detailed
explanation of the concept of the righteousness that comes from God, see the
note on Romans 1:17.

10-12. The calling to holiness which every Christian receives is not a reward for
personal merit: it comes from God's initiative; God desires all men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth (cf. 1 Tim 2:4), that is, to know God
himself. The Apostle bears witness to this when he says that "Christ Jesus has
made me his own." However, he also says that, in order to grow in knowledge
of Christ and enjoy God in heaven, one needs to strive to share in Christ's suf-
ferings. "The Christian is certainly bound both by need and by duty to struggle
with evil through many afflictions and to suffer death; but, as one who has been
made a partner in the paschal mystery and has been configured to the death
of Christ, he will go forward, strengthened by hope, to the resurrection" (Vatican
II, "Gaudium Et Spes", 22). This struggle, which sometimes calls for heroism,
is usually pitched in the incidents of one's ordinary day. Heroism in the everyday
battle proves the sincerity of our love and is a sure way to holiness.

"Certainly our goal is both lofty and difficult to attain. But please do not forget
that people are not born holy. Holiness is forged through a constant interplay
of God's grace and man's response. As one of the early Christian writers says,
referring to union with God, 'Everything that grows begins small. It is by con-
stant and progressive feeding that it gradually grows big' (St Mark the Hermit,
"De Lege Spirituali", 172). So I say to you, if you want to become a thorough-
going Christian--and I know you do, even though you often find it difficult to
conquer yourself or to keep climbing upwards with this poor body--then you will
have to be very attentive to the minutest of details, for the holiness that our Lord
demands of you is to be achieved by carrying out with love of God your work and
your daily duties, and these will almost always consist of ordinary little things"
([St] J. Escri- va, "Friends of God", 7).

"That if possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead": St Paul is referring
here to the glorious resurrection of the just, whom the power of the risen Christ
will rescue from the domain of death. At the second coming of the Lord, both
the souls of the blessed in heaven and the souls of those who are still in purga-
tory undergoing the temporal punishment due to sins they committed will be
re-united with their now glorified bodies. The reprobate will also rise, but their
destiny is to suffer for ever the pains of hell in body and soul (cf. Second
Council of Lyons, "Profession of Faith of Michael Paleologue").

Man's supernatural last end consists in knowing God as he is and enjoying him
in heaven. When he attains this, man finds complete fulfillment. His life on earth
has been a route leading to this perfection, a perfection which can only be fully
attained by resurrection in glory. The Apostle recognizes that he needs the help
of grace to be "perfect" (that is, faithful unto death) and thereby attain the prize
promised by God: perseverance right to the end is not entirely a function of the
merit a person has built up; it is a gift from God (cf. "De Iustificatione", chap.
13). However, God does not dispense man from generously responding to grace
in order to attain holiness. As St Teresa of Avila says. "It matters a great deal,
it is essential [...], that one have very great, very determined, resolution not to
halt until one attains it, come what may, whatever happens, however much one
suffers, however much people may gossip, whether I get there or not, even if I
die on the way or am not able to face all the effort involved, even if the world
collapses around me" ("Way of Perfection", 35, 2).

12-14. Growth in holiness always demands an effort. St Paul here uses a vivid
comparison--races in the stadium. He describes ascetical struggle in terms of
enjoyable supernatural sport. Realizing that he has not reached perfection, he
strains to win: Christ already made him his own (cf. v. 12) by entering his life
on the Damascus road; from that moment onwards he has striven single-
mindedly to serve God.

Our Lord helps everyone to discover his or her particular supernatural vocation.
In response to that calling a person should seek to serve God in such a way
that "everything good he does, interiorly or externally, he does for the glory and
pleasure of God, like a loyal slave who gives everything he gets to his master.
Moreover," St John of Avila goes on, even though he has worked as a servant
for many years past, he is not easy-going or careless [...]. He always has that
'hunger and thirst for righteousness' (Mt 5:6): he puts little weight on everything
he has done, thinking of how much he has received and how much is due to the
ord he serves" ("Audi, Filia", 92).

In making one's way towards perfection it is important to be always trying to ad-
vance spiritually. "What does walking mean?", St Augustine asked himself; "I
shall answer very briefly: it means going forward [...]. Examine yourself. You
should always be unhappy with what you are, if you want to attain what you are
not yet. For when you were content with yourself, you stayed where you were,
because if you say 'Enough', you are finished that very minute. Always grow,
always walk on, always advance; do not stop on the way, do not turn back, do
not go off course. One who does not advance is standing still; one who returns
to the things he already abandoned is going backwards; one who goes off
course commits apostasy. It is better to hobble along the road than run on any
other route" ("Sermon" 169, 15, 18).

---

Gospel Reading:

From: John 8:1-11

The Adulterous Woman
--------------------
[2] Early in the morning He (Jesus) came again to the temple; all the people
came to Him, and He sat down and taught them.  [3] The scribes and the Pha-
risees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the
midst [4] they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of
adultery.  [5] Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such.  What do
you say about her?"  [6] This they said to test Him, that they might have some
charge to bring against Him.  Jesus bent down and wrote with His finger on the
ground.  [7] And as they continued to ask Him, He stood up and said to them,
"Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." [8]
And once more He bent down and wrote with His finger on the ground. [9] But
when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and
Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him. [10] Jesus looked up
and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"  [11]
She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and
do not sin again."

*********************************************************************************************

Commentary:

1-11. This passage is absent from many ancient codexes, but it was in the Vul-

gate when the Magisterium, at the Council of Trent, defined the canon of Sacred

Scripture. Therefore, the Church regards it as canonical and inspired, and has

used it and continues to use it in the liturgy. It is also included in the New Vul-

gate, in the same position as it occupied before.

St. Augustine said that the reason doubts were raised about the passage was

that it showed Jesus to be so merciful that some rigorists thought it would lead

to a relaxation of moral rules--and therefore many copyists suppressed it from

their manuscripts (cf. "De Coniugiis Adulterinis", 2, 6).

In commenting on the episode of the woman caught in adultery Fray Luis de

Granada gives these general considerations on the mercy of Christ: "Your

feelings, your deeds and your words should be akin to these, if you desire to

be a beautiful likeness of the Lord. And therefore the Apostle is not content

with telling us to be merciful; he tells us, as God's sons, to put on `the bowels

of mercy' (cf. Colossians 3:12). Imagine, then, what the world would be like if

everyone arrayed themselves in this way.

"All this is said to help us understand to some degree the great abundance of

the goodness and compassion of our Savior, which shine forth so clearly in

these actions of His, for [...] in this life we cannot know God in Himself; we can

know Him only through His actions. [...] But it should also be pointed out that

we should never act in such a way in view of God's mercy, that we forget about

His justice; nor should we attend to His justice forgetting about His mercy; for

hope should have in it an element of fear, and fear an element of hope" ("Life of

Jesus Christ", 13, 4).

1. We know that on a number of occasions our Lord withdrew to the Mount of

Olives to pray (cf. John 18:2; Luke 22:39). This place was to the east of Jeru-

salem; the Kidron Valley (cf. John 18:1) divided it from the hill on which the

temple was built. It had from ancient times been a place of prayer: David went

there to adore God during the difficult period when Absalom was in revolt (2

Samuel 15:32), and there the prophet Ezekiel contemplated the glory of

Yahweh entering the temple (Ezekiel 43:1-4). At the foot of the hill there was

a garden, called Gethsemane or "the place of the oil-press", an enclosed plot

containing a plantation of olive trees. Christian tradition has treated this place

with great respect and has maintained it as a place of prayer. Towards the end

of the fourth century a church was built there, on whose remains the present

church was built. There are still some ancient olive trees growing there which

could well derive from those of our Lord's time.

6. The question put by the scribes and Pharisees has a catch: our Lord had

often shown understanding to people they considered sinners; they come to

Him now with this case to see if He will be equally indulgent--which will allow

them to accuse Him of infringing a very clear precept of the Law (cf. Leviticus

20:10).

7. Jesus' reply refers to the way stoning was carried out: those who witnessed

the crime had to throw the first stones, and then others joined in, to erase the

slur on the people which the crime implied (cf. Deuteronomy 17:7). The ques-

tion put to Jesus was couched in legal terms; He raises it to the moral plane

(the basis and justification of the legal plane), appealing to the people's con-

science. He does not violate the law, St. Augustine says, and at the same

time He does not want to lose what He is seeking--for He has come to save

that which was lost: "His answer is so full of justice, gentleness and truth.

[...] O true answer of Wisdom. You have heard: Keep the Law, let the woman

be stoned. But how can sinners keep the Law and punish this woman? Let

each of them look inside himself and enter the tribunal of his heart and con-

science; there he will discover that he is a sinner. Let this woman be punished,

but not by sinners; let the Law be applied, but not by its transgressors" (St.

Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 33, 5).

11. "The two of them were left on their own, the wretched woman and Mercy.

But the Lord, having smitten them with the dart of justice, does not even deign

to watch them go but turns His gaze away from them and once more writes on

the ground with His finger. But when the woman was left alone and they had

all gone, He lifted up His eyes to the woman. We have already heard the voice

of justice; let us now hear the voice of gentleness. I think that the woman was

the more terrified when she heard the Lord say, `Let him who is without sin

among you be the first to throw a stone at her,' [...] fearing now that she would

be punished by Him, in whom no sin could be found. But He, who had driven

away her adversaries with the tongue of justice, now looking at her with the eyes

of gentleness asks her, `Has no one condemned you?' She replies, `No one,

Lord.' And He says, `Neither do I condemn you; I who perhaps you feared would

punish you, because in Me you have found no sin.' Lord, can it be that You favor

sinners? Assuredly not. See what follows" `Go and sin no more.' Therefore the

Lord also condemned sin, but not the woman' (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.",

33, 5-6).

Jesus, who is the Just One, does not condemn the woman; whereas these people

are sinners, yet they pass sentence of death. God's infinite mercy should move

us always to have compassion on those who commit sins, because we ourselves

are sinners and in need of God's forgiveness.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text  from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.  We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ."  --  St Jerome

"The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever
in everlasting silence: and in silence the soul has to hear it.
   --  St John of the Cross

Catechism Lesson 3

PART ONE

The Profession of Faith

SECTION ONE

CHAPTER ONE

MAN'S CAPACITY FOR GOD

III. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD ACCORDING TO THE CHURCH

36 "Our holy mother, the Church, holds and teaches that God, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason."11 Without this capacity, man would not be able to welcome God's revelation. Man has this capacity because he is created "in the image of God". 12

37 In the historical conditions in which he finds himself, however, man experiences many difficulties in coming to know God by the light of reason alone:

Though human reason is, strictly speaking, truly capable by its own natural power and light of attaining to a true and certain knowledge of the one personal God, who watches over and controls the world by his providence, and of the natural law written in our hearts by the Creator; yet there are many obstacles which prevent reason from the effective and fruitful use of this inborn faculty. For the truths that concern the relations between God and man wholly transcend the visible order of things, and, if they are translated into human action and influence it, they call for self-surrender and abnegation. The human mind, in its turn, is hampered in the attaining of such truths, not only by the impact of the senses and the imagination, but also by disordered appetites which are the consequences of original sin. So it happens that men in such matters easily persuade themselves that what they would not like to be true is false or at least doubtful.13

38 This is why man stands in need of being enlightened by God's revelation, not only about those things that exceed his understanding, but also "about those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not beyond the grasp of human reason, so that even in the present condition of the human race, they can be known by all men with ease, with firm certainty and with no admixture of error".14

Bibliographic Resources:

11 Vatican Council I, Dei Filius 2: DS 3004 cf. 3026; Vatican Council II, Dei Verbum 6

Vatican Council I, Dei Filius 2: DS 3026

If anyone shall have said that the one true God, our Creator and our Lord, cannot be known with certitude by those things which have been made, by the natural light of reason: let him be anathema.

Dei verbum 6

Through divine revelation, God chose to show forth and communicate Himself and the eternal decisions of His will regarding the salvation of men. That is to say, He chose to share with them those divine treasures which totally transcend the understanding of the human mind. (6)

As a sacred synod has affirmed, God, the beginning and end of all things, can be known with certainty from created reality by the light of human reason (see Rom. 1:20); but teaches that it is through His revelation that those religious truths which are by their nature accessible to human reason can be known by all men with ease, with solid certitude and with no trace of error, even in this present state of the human race. (7)

NOTES

(6) First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith, Chap. 2, "On Revelation:" Denzinger 1786 (3005).

Chapter 2

On revelation

1. The same Holy mother Church holds and teaches that God, the source and end of all things, can be known with certainty from the consideration of created things, by the natural power of human reason : ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. [13] 2. It was, however, pleasing to his wisdom and goodness to reveal himself and the eternal laws of his will to the human race by another, and that a supernatural, way. This is how the Apostle puts it : In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son [14].

3. It is indeed thanks to this divine revelation, that those matters concerning God which are not of themselves beyond the scope of human reason, can, even in the present state of the human race, be known by everyone without difficulty, with firm certitude and with no intermingling of error.

4. It is not because of this that one must hold revelation to be absolutely necessary; the reason is that God directed human beings to a supernatural end, that is a sharing in the good things of God that utterly surpasses the understanding of the human mind; indeed eye has not seen, neither has ear heard, nor has it come into our hearts to conceive what things God has prepared for those who love him [15].

5. Now this supernatural revelation, according to the belief of the universal Church, as declared by the sacred Council of Trent, is contained in written books and unwritten traditions, which were received by the apostles from the lips of Christ himself, or came to the apostles by the dictation of the Holy Spirit, and were passed on as it were from hand to hand until they reached us [16].

6. The complete books of the old and the new Testament with all their parts, as they are listed in the decree of the said Council and as they are found in the old Latin Vulgate edition, are to be received as sacred and canonical.

7. These books the Church holds to be sacred and canonical not because she subsequently approved them by her authority after they had been composed by unaided human skill, nor simply because they contain revelation without error, but because, being written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and were as such committed to the Church.

8. Now since the decree on the interpretation of Holy Scripture, profitably made by the Council of Trent, with the intention of constraining rash speculation, has been wrongly interpreted by some, we renew that decree and declare its meaning to be as follows: that in matters of faith and morals, belonging as they do to the establishing of Christian doctrine, that meaning of Holy Scripture must be held to be the true one, which Holy mother Church held and holds, since it is her right to judge of the true meaning and interpretation of Holy Scripture.

9. In consequence, it is not permissible for anyone to interpret Holy Scripture in a sense contrary to this, or indeed against the unanimous consent of the fathers.

(7) Ibid: Denzinger 1785 and 1786 (3004 and 3005).

12 Cf. Gen 1:27

27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.

13 Pius XII, Humani generis 561: DS 3875

2. It is not surprising that such discord and error should always have existed outside the fold of Christ. For though, absolutely speaking, human reason by its own natural force and light can arrive at a true and certain knowledge of the one personal God, Who by His providence watches over and governs the world, and also of the natural law, which the Creator has written in our hearts, still there are not a few obstacles to prevent reason from making efficient and fruitful use of its natural ability. The truths that have to do with God and the relations between God and men, completely surpass the sensible order and demand self-surrender and self-abnegation in order to be put into practice and to influence practical life. Now the human intellect, in gaining the knowledge of such truths is hampered both by the activity of the senses and the imagination, and by evil passions arising from original sin. Hence men easily persuade themselves in such matters that what they do not wish to believe is false or at least doubtful.

14 Pius XII, Humani generis 561: DS 3876; cf. Dei Filius 2: DS 3005; DV 6; St. Thomas Aquinas, S Thess I, I, I

Dei Filius 2: DS 3005

Indeed, it must be attributed to this divine revelation that those things, which in divine things are impenetrable to human reason by itself, can, even in this present condition of the human race, be known readily by all with firm certitude and with no admixture of error. Nevertheless, it is not for this reason that revelation is said to be absolutely necessary, but because God in his infinite goodness has ordained man for a supernatural end, to participation, namely, in the divine goods which altogether surpass the understanding of the human mind, since "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor. 2:9; can. 2 and 3).

Dei verbum 6

Through divine revelation, God chose to show forth and communicate Himself and the eternal decisions of His will regarding the salvation of men. That is to say, He chose to share with them those divine treasures which totally transcend the understanding of the human mind. (6)

As a sacred synod has affirmed, God, the beginning and end of all things, can be known with certainty from created reality by the light of human reason (see Rom. 1:20); but teaches that it is through His revelation that those religious truths which are by their nature accessible to human reason can be known by all men with ease, with solid certitude and with no trace of error, even in this present state of the human race. (7)

NOTES

(6) First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith, Chap. 2, "On Revelation:" Denzinger 1786 (3005).

See Above Reference 13

(7) Ibid: Denzinger 1785 and 1786 (3004 and 3005).

See Above Reference 13

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I, 1, 1

Whether, besides philosophy, any further doctrine is required?

Obj. 1: It seems that, besides philosophical science, we have no need of any further knowledge. For man should not seek to know what is above reason: "Seek not the things that are too high for thee" (Ecclus. 3:22). But whatever is not above reason is fully treated of in philosophical science. Therefore any other knowledge besides philosophical science is superfluous.


Obj. 2: Further, knowledge can be concerned only with being, for nothing can be known, save what is true; and all that is, is true. But everything that is, is treated of in philosophical science---even God Himself; so that there is a part of philosophy called theology, or the divine science, as Aristotle has proved (Metaph. vi). Therefore, besides philosophical science, there is no need of any further knowledge.

On the contrary, It is written (2 Tim. 3:16): "All Scripture, inspired of God is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice." Now Scripture, inspired of God, is no part of philosophical science, which has been built up by human reason. Therefore it is useful that besides philosophical science, there should be other knowledge, i.e. inspired of God.

I answer that, It was necessary for man's salvation that there should be a knowledge revealed by God besides philosophical science built up by human reason. Firstly, indeed, because man is directed to God, as to an end that surpasses the grasp of his reason: "The eye hath not seen, O God, besides Thee, what things Thou hast prepared for them that wait for Thee" (Is. 66:4). But the end must first be known by men who are to direct their thoughts and actions to the end. Hence it was necessary for the salvation of man that certain truths which exceed human reason should be made known to him by divine revelation. Even as regards those truths about God which human reason could have discovered, it was necessary that man should be taught by a divine revelation; because the truth about God such as reason could discover, would only be known by a few, and that after a long time, and with the admixture of many errors. Whereas man's whole salvation, which is in God, depends upon the knowledge of this truth. Therefore, in order that the salvation of men might be brought about more fitly and more surely, it was necessary that they should be taught divine truths by divine revelation. It was therefore necessary that besides philosophical science built up by reason, there should be a sacred science learned through revelation.

Reply Obj. 1: Although those things which are beyond man's knowledge may not be sought for by man through his reason, nevertheless, once they are revealed by God, they must be accepted by faith. Hence the sacred text continues, "For many things are shown to thee above the understanding of man" (Ecclus. 3:25). And in this, the sacred science consists.


Reply Obj. 2: Sciences are differentiated according to the various means through which knowledge is obtained. For the astronomer and the physicist both may prove the same conclusion: that the earth, for instance, is round: the astronomer by means of mathematics (i.e. abstracting from matter), but the physicist by means of matter itself. Hence there is no reason why those things which may be learned from philosophical science, so far as they can be known by natural reason, may not also be taught us by another science so far as they fall within revelation. Hence theology included in sacred doctrine differs in kind from that theology which is part of philosophy.

Catechism Lesson 2

PART ONE

The Profession of Faith

SECTION ONE

CHAPTER ONE
MAN'S CAPACITY FOR GOD

II. Ways of Coming to Know God

31 Created in God's image and called to know and love him, the person who seeks God discovers certain ways of coming to know him. These are also called proofs for the existence of God, not in the sense of proofs in the natural sciences, but rather in the sense of "converging and convincing arguments", which allow us to attain certainty about the truth. These "ways" of approaching God from creation have a twofold point of departure: the physical world, and the human person.

32 The world: starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world's order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe.

As St. Paul says of the Gentiles: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.7

And St. Augustine issues this challenge: Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air distending and diffusing itself, question the beauty of the sky... question all these realities. All respond: "See, we are beautiful." Their beauty is a profession [confessio]. These beauties are subject to change. Who made them if not the Beautiful One [Pulcher] who is not subject to change?8

33 The human person: with his openness to truth and beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the voice of his conscience, with his longings for the infinite and for happiness, man questions himself about God's existence. In all this he discerns signs of his spiritual soul. The soul, the "seed of eternity we bear in ourselves, irreducible to the merely material",9 can have its origin only in God.

34 The world, and man, attest that they contain within themselves neither their first principle nor their final end, but rather that they participate in Being itself, which alone is without origin or end. Thus, in different ways, man can come to know that there exists a reality which is the first cause and final end of all things, a reality "that everyone calls God".10

35 Man's faculties make him capable of coming to a knowledge of the existence of a personal God. But for man to be able to enter into real intimacy with him, God willed both to reveal himself to man, and to give him the grace of being able to welcome this revelation in faith.(so) the proofs of God's existence, however, can predispose one to faith and help one to see that faith is not opposed to reason.


Bibliographic Resources:

7 ⇒ Rom 1:19-20; cf., ⇒ Acts 14:15, 17; ⇒ 17:27-28; ⇒ Wis 13:1-9.
Rom 1:19-20

19 Because that which is known of God is manifest in them. For God hath manifested it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; his eternal power also, and divinity: so that they are inexcusable.

Acts 14:15,17

14 And saying: Ye men, why do ye these things? We also are mortals, men like unto you, preaching to you to be converted from these vain things, to the living God, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them: 15 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.

16 Nevertheless he left not himself without testimony, doing good from heaven, giving rains and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. (numbering in Douay Rheims is different) 17 And speaking these things, they scarce restrained the people from sacrificing to them.

Acts 17:27-28

27 That they should seek God, if happily they may feel after him or find him, although he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and are; as some also of your own poets said: 'For we are also his offspring.'

Wisdom 13:1-9

1 But all men are vain, in whom there is not the knowledge of God: and who by these good things that are seen, could not understand him that is, neither by attending to the works have acknowledged who was the workman: 2 But have imagined either the fire, or the wind, or the swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the great water, or the sun and moon, to be the gods that rule the world. 3 With whose beauty, if they, being delighted, took them to be gods: let them know how much the Lord of them is more beautiful than they: for the first author of beauty made all those things. 4 Or if they admired their power and their effects, let them understand by them, that he that made them, is mightier than they: 5 For by the greatness of the beauty, and of the creature, the creator of them may be seen, so as to be known thereby.

6 But yet as to these they are less to be blamed. For they perhaps err, seeking God, and desirous to find him. 7 For being conversant among his works, they search: and they are persuaded that the things are good which are seen. 8 But then again they are not to be pardoned. 9 For if they were able to know so much as to make a judgment of the world: how did they not more easily find out the Lord thereof?

8 St. Augustine, Sermo 241, 2: PL 38, 1134,
The beauty of the unchangeable creator is to be inferred from the beauty of the
changeable creation 

"Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air, amply spread around everywhere, question the beauty of the sky, question the serried ranks of the stars, question the sun making the day glorious with its bright beams, question the moon tempering the darkness of the following night with its shining rays, question the animals that move in the waters, that amble about on dry land, that fly in the air; their souls hidden, their bodies evident; the visible bodies needing to be controlled, the invisible souls controlling them; question all these things. They all answer you, 'Here we are, look; we're beautiful.'

Their beauty is their confession. Who made these beautiful changeable things, if not one who is beautiful and unchangeable? Finally in man himself, in order to be able to understand and know God, the creator of the universe; in man himself, I repeat, they questioned these two elements, body and soul. They questioned the very thing they themselves carried around with them; they could see their bodies, they couldn't
see their souls. But they could only see the body from the soul. I mean, they saw with their eyes, but inside there was someone looking out through these windows. Finally, when the occupant departs, the house lies still; when the controller departs, what was being controlled falls down; and because it falls down, it's called a cadaver, a corpse. Aren't the eyes complete in it? Even if they're open, they see nothing. There are ears there, but the hearer has moved on; the instrument of the tongue remains, but the musician who used to play it has withdrawn.

So they questioned these two things, the body which can be seen, the soul which cannot be seen, and they found that what cannot be seen is better than what can be seen; that the hidden soul is better, the evident flesh of less worth. They saw these two things, they observed them, carefully examined each one, and they found that each, in man himself, is changeable. The body is changeable by the processes of age, of decay, of nourishment, of health improving and deteriorating, of life, of death. They passed on to the soul, which they certainly grasped as being better, and also admired as invisible. And they found that it too is changeable; now willing, now not willing; now knowing, now not knowing; now remembering, now forgetting; now frightened, now brave; now advancing toward wisdom, now falling back into folly. They saw that it too is changeable. They passed on beyond even the soul; they were looking, you see, for something unchangeable. So in this way they arrived at a knowledge of the god who made things, through the things which he made."

9 GS 18 # 1; cf. 14 # 2.

Gaudium et spes 18 § 1

It is in the face of death that the riddle a human existence grows most acute. Not only is man tormented by pain and by the advancing deterioration of his body, but even more so by a dread of perpetual extinction. He rightly follows the intuition of his heart when he abhors and repudiates the utter ruin and total disappearance of his own person. He rebels against death because he bears in himself an eternal seed which cannot be reduced to sheer matter. All the endeavors of technology, though useful in the extreme, cannot calm his anxiety; for prolongation of biological life is unable to satisfy that desire for higher life which is inescapably lodged in his breast.

Gaudium et spes 14 § 2

Now, man is not wrong when he regards himself as superior to bodily concerns, and as more than a speck of nature or a nameless constituent of the city of man. For by his interior qualities he outstrips the whole sum of mere things. He plunges into the depths of reality whenever he enters into his own heart; God, Who probes the heart,(7) awaits him there; there he discerns his proper destiny beneath the eyes of God. Thus, when he recognizes in himself a spiritual and immortal soul, he is not being mocked by a fantasy born only of physical or social influences, but is rather laying hold of the proper truth of the matter.

7. Cf. 1 Kings 16:7; Jer. 17:10.
1 Kings 16:7

      7 And the Lord said to Samuel: Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature: because I have rejected him, nor do I judge according to the look of
man: for man seeth those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the heart.

Jer. 17:10

      10 I am the Lord who search the heart and prove the reins: who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices.

10 St. Thomas Aquinas, S Th I, 2, 3.

Whether God exists?

Obj. 1: It seems that God does not exist; because if one of two contraries be infinite, the other would be altogether destroyed. But the word "God" means that He is infinite goodness. If, therefore, God existed, there would be no evil discoverable; but there is evil in the world. Therefore God does not exist.

Obj. 2: Further, it is superfluous to suppose that what can be accounted for by a few principles has been produced by many. But it seems that everything we see in the world can be accounted for by other principles, supposing God did not exist. For all natural things can be reduced to one principle which is nature; and all voluntary things can be reduced to one principle which is human reason, or will. Therefore
there is no need to suppose God's existence.

On the contrary, It is said in the person of God: "I am Who am." (Ex. 3:14)

I answer that, The existence of God can be proved in five ways.

The first and more manifest way is the argument from motion. It is certain, and evident to our senses, that in the world some things are in motion. Now whatever is in motion is put in motion by another, for nothing can be in motion except it is in potentiality to that towards which it is in motion; whereas a thing moves inasmuch as it is in act. For motion is nothing else than the reduction of something from potentiality to actuality. But nothing can be reduced from potentiality to actuality, except by something in a state of actuality. Thus that which is actually hot, as fire, makes wood, which is potentially hot, to be actually hot, and thereby moves and changes it. Now it is not possible that the same thing should be at once in actuality and potentiality in the same respect, but only in different respects. For what is actually hot cannot simultaneously be potentially hot; but it is simultaneously potentially cold. It is therefore impossible that in the same respect and in the same way a thing should be both mover and moved, i.e. that it should move itself. Therefore, whatever is in motion must be put in motion by another. If that by which it is put in motion be itself put in motion, then this also must needs be put in motion by another, and that by another again. But this cannot go on to infinity, because then there would be no first mover, and, consequently, no other mover; seeing that subsequent movers move only inasmuch as they are put in motion by the first mover; as the staff moves only because it is put in motion by the hand. Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands to be God.

The second way is from the nature of the efficient cause. In the world of sense we find there is an order of efficient causes. There is no case known (neither is it, indeed, possible) in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause of itself; for so it would be prior to itself, which is impossible. Now in efficient causes it is not possible to go on to infinity, because in all efficient causes following in order, the first is the cause of the intermediate cause, and the intermediate is the cause of the ultimate cause, whether the intermediate cause be several, or only one. Now to take away the cause is to take away the effect. Therefore, if there be no first cause among efficient causes, there will be no ultimate, nor any intermediate cause. But if in efficient causes it is possible to go on to infinity, there will be no first efficient cause, neither will there be an ultimate effect, nor any intermediate efficient causes; all of which is plainly false. Therefore it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.

The third way is taken from possibility and necessity, and runs thus. We find in nature things that are possible to be and not to be, since they are found to be generated, and to corrupt, and consequently, they are possible to be and not to be. But it is impossible for these always to exist, for that which is possible not to be at some time is not. Therefore, if everything is possible not to be, then at one time there could have been nothing in existence. Now if this were true, even now there would be nothing in existence, because that which does not exist only begins to exist by something already existing. Therefore, if at one time nothing was in existence, it would have been impossible for anything to have begun to exist; and thus even now nothing would be in existence---which is absurd. Therefore, not all beings are merely possible, but there must exist something the existence of which is necessary. But every necessary thing either has its necessity caused by another, or not. Now it is impossible to go on to infinity in necessary things which have their necessity caused by another, as has been already proved in regard to efficient causes. Therefore we cannot but postulate the existence of some being having of itself its own necessity, and not receiving it from another, but rather causing in others their necessity. This all men speak of as God.

The fourth way is taken from the gradation to be found in things. Among beings there are some more and some less good, true, noble and the like. But "more" and "less" are predicated of different things, according as they resemble in their different ways something which is the maximum, as a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest; so that there is something which is truest, something best, something noblest and, consequently, something which is uttermost being; for those things that are greatest in truth are greatest in being, as it is written in Metaph. ii. Now the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus; as fire, which is the maximum heat, is the cause of all hot things. Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.

The fifth way is taken from the governance of the world. We see that things which lack intelligence, such as natural bodies, act for an end, and this is evident from their acting always, or nearly always, in the same way, so as to obtain the best result. Hence it is plain that not fortuitously, but designedly, do they achieve their end. Now whatever lacks intelligence cannot move towards an end, unless it be directed by some being endowed with knowledge and intelligence; as the arrow is shot to its mark by the archer. Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.

Reply Obj. 1: As Augustine says (Enchiridion xi): "Since God is the highest good, He would not allow any evil to exist in His works, unless His omnipotence and goodness were such as to bring good even out of evil." This is part of the infinite goodness of God, that He should allow evil to exist, and out of it produce good.

Reply Obj. 2: Since nature works for a determinate end under the direction of a higher agent, whatever is done by nature must needs be traced back to God, as to its first cause. So also whatever is done voluntarily must also be traced back to some higher cause other than human reason or will, since these can change or fail; for all things that are changeable and capable of defect must be traced back to an immovable and self-necessary first principle, as was shown in the body of the Article.