Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Did God cause the Joplin Tornado?
Some people think the tornado in Joplin, the fire in Slave Lake, Alberta, the Earthquake in Japan, etc. are all caused by God to show his displeasure in humanity or that particular community. I would like to state my objection to such notions and my belief that they are contrary to our Catholic faith.
God IS the initial cause of all things on Earth, so in a sense he is responsible for hurricanes. But it is important to distinguish between God's permissive will, which are things God allows to happen but does not cause, and his ordained will, which are things God specifically wills and acts to create.
I think these natural disasters easily fall under the category of God's permissive will. He set into motion the laws of physics which govern how to world works. These include volcanoes, earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, floods, etc. They may seem to cause a lot of destruction, but they are necessary for the Earth to function properly. Without these natural occurrences, the Earth simply would not exist at all.
It may seem bad to us, but ultimately it's a good thing. For another example, let's look at nature. Sometimes things look messy or unpleasant, like when a lion kills an antelope. There's lots of blood and the antelope dies. But in the long run this is a good thing because it allows the food chain to continue.
Also, although these deaths are tragic, we must remember that no one lives forever on this Earth. We must always be prepared to meet God. So far in Joplin, there have been 142 confirmed deaths. These people died in an unexpected way. However, many people die in other ways each year in the United States. For example, in 2009, 33,808 people were killed in car crashes in the country. Obviously, it's crucial that people are always ready.
If God caused the Joplin tornado, did he also cause the deadly traffic accidents? Does he cause the deaths of people who die of old age? Unless one says God steps in to cause each of these deaths, I do not think it is reasonable to attribute to God only certain deaths which come in the form of natural disasters.
The Catholic understanding is that the fall of Adam and Eve is what brought death into the world. This is because of the stain of original sin. But there's good news! Jesus Christ came to pay the price for our sins so that we can enter into heaven.
People sometimes also try to look for signs for the end of the world. But this seems to me to be a pointless activity. First of all, the end of the world doesn't matter in one sense because when a person dies, that's the end of "their" world. Also, the Bible clearly states, in the words coming from Jesus himself, that no one knows the day or the hour of the end of time. So my suggestion is to stop guessing. :)
God IS the initial cause of all things on Earth, so in a sense he is responsible for hurricanes. But it is important to distinguish between God's permissive will, which are things God allows to happen but does not cause, and his ordained will, which are things God specifically wills and acts to create.
I think these natural disasters easily fall under the category of God's permissive will. He set into motion the laws of physics which govern how to world works. These include volcanoes, earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, floods, etc. They may seem to cause a lot of destruction, but they are necessary for the Earth to function properly. Without these natural occurrences, the Earth simply would not exist at all.
It may seem bad to us, but ultimately it's a good thing. For another example, let's look at nature. Sometimes things look messy or unpleasant, like when a lion kills an antelope. There's lots of blood and the antelope dies. But in the long run this is a good thing because it allows the food chain to continue.
Also, although these deaths are tragic, we must remember that no one lives forever on this Earth. We must always be prepared to meet God. So far in Joplin, there have been 142 confirmed deaths. These people died in an unexpected way. However, many people die in other ways each year in the United States. For example, in 2009, 33,808 people were killed in car crashes in the country. Obviously, it's crucial that people are always ready.
If God caused the Joplin tornado, did he also cause the deadly traffic accidents? Does he cause the deaths of people who die of old age? Unless one says God steps in to cause each of these deaths, I do not think it is reasonable to attribute to God only certain deaths which come in the form of natural disasters.
The Catholic understanding is that the fall of Adam and Eve is what brought death into the world. This is because of the stain of original sin. But there's good news! Jesus Christ came to pay the price for our sins so that we can enter into heaven.
People sometimes also try to look for signs for the end of the world. But this seems to me to be a pointless activity. First of all, the end of the world doesn't matter in one sense because when a person dies, that's the end of "their" world. Also, the Bible clearly states, in the words coming from Jesus himself, that no one knows the day or the hour of the end of time. So my suggestion is to stop guessing. :)
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Vatican shuts down monastery with dancing nun
So a nun was doing a form of dance in front of the altar. Although he intentions may be good, dancing is not appropriate in this location. As an example, playing cards is fine, but playing them on the altar is a no-no.
The Church is not condemning dancing. It is simply saying dancing as a correct time and place.
Article here
The Church is not condemning dancing. It is simply saying dancing as a correct time and place.
Article here
Infertility isn’t an illness to be cured
This is a great article about our "rights-based" society, where having children isn't a blessing but a right, one which people can demand from the government. Obvoiusly this is a violation of natural law. This concept I believe stems from our acceptance of contraception and abortion. People feel as though they have absolute power over their reproduction. Therefore, when they are unable to reproduce, they are being denied some sort of right they have attained. Click below to read the full article.
Article here
Article here
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
End of the World prediction May 21, 2011, Catholics and Confession
The news that a pastor has announced that today will be the day of the rapture does not seem to have caused a huge stir among Catholics. I went to my local church today where they have confession before Mass. The lineup did not seems out of the ordinary, although it was a relatively good number of penitents. Obviously it does not seem Catholics in general, at least where I am, have taken much heed in these apocalyptic predictions.
I think one of the big reasons for this is that as Catholics we are always reminded of what Jesus said when he told his followers that they will not know the time nor the hour of the end of the world.
I wrote a more extensive article on this subject here.
I think one of the big reasons for this is that as Catholics we are always reminded of what Jesus said when he told his followers that they will not know the time nor the hour of the end of the world.
I wrote a more extensive article on this subject here.
End of World Prediction for May 21, 2011
A pastor by the name of Harold Camping has predicted the world will end on March 21, 2011, and will happen sequentially from one time zone to the next, at 6pm local time. Here are some thoughts I had on this from a Catholic perspective, which I emailed to several friends today:
I heard about this pastor who is predicting the end of the world. He's not the first and won't be the last. I remember reading about the leader of a Christian sect and he predicted the end of the world sometime in the 1800s. He became very popular, but once the specific date he had predicted came and went, his popularity plummeted. However, I seem to remember he insisted there was some kind of error in his calculation and he basically tried again.
Anyway, in terms of the rapture, to be honest, it's not spoken of much if at all in Catholic churches. I've never heard a priest give a homily (sermon) on the rapture. I guess the idea is that the most important thing is our own relationship with God. And that you have to be always ready.
The whole idea of the rapture generally revolves around a couple of ideas. One is the reign of Jesus Christ over the world. Some people who tend to interpret the Bible very literally believe the reference to a "thousand year reign" means Jesus will be the literal king of the entire planet for one thousand years. The Catholic Church, and the historic interpretation (Augustine, e.g.) is that the reign of Christ is now, since his time on earth onward.
The other idea is the tribulation. That's a period of a lot of bad stuff. Again, some will look at more natural things like natural disasters, violence, etc. being expected during this time. The Catholic position is that this may be the case, but the most important thing about the tribulation is people falling away from faith in God, and moving toward self-gratification and worshiping themselves, and basically turning away from God.
The tribulation is also the time of the Antichrist. There is a singular Antichrist, but there's also the idea of plural antichrists, and this is in the Bible also. These would be people who are consciously working to destroy faith and things like that.
But like I said, Catholics don't usually talk about the rapture or the tribulation. We generally just talk about the Final Judgment. But I think much more emphasis is placed on Particular Judgment, which is after one individual dies, he is judged and then is either destined for heaven or hell. The Final Judgment would apply at the end of the world for those who are still living.
As I mentioned, the Bible keeps saying you know not the day nor the hour of the second coming. So I'm not sure how people can give specific dates.
I heard about this pastor who is predicting the end of the world. He's not the first and won't be the last. I remember reading about the leader of a Christian sect and he predicted the end of the world sometime in the 1800s. He became very popular, but once the specific date he had predicted came and went, his popularity plummeted. However, I seem to remember he insisted there was some kind of error in his calculation and he basically tried again.
Anyway, in terms of the rapture, to be honest, it's not spoken of much if at all in Catholic churches. I've never heard a priest give a homily (sermon) on the rapture. I guess the idea is that the most important thing is our own relationship with God. And that you have to be always ready.
The whole idea of the rapture generally revolves around a couple of ideas. One is the reign of Jesus Christ over the world. Some people who tend to interpret the Bible very literally believe the reference to a "thousand year reign" means Jesus will be the literal king of the entire planet for one thousand years. The Catholic Church, and the historic interpretation (Augustine, e.g.) is that the reign of Christ is now, since his time on earth onward.
The other idea is the tribulation. That's a period of a lot of bad stuff. Again, some will look at more natural things like natural disasters, violence, etc. being expected during this time. The Catholic position is that this may be the case, but the most important thing about the tribulation is people falling away from faith in God, and moving toward self-gratification and worshiping themselves, and basically turning away from God.
The tribulation is also the time of the Antichrist. There is a singular Antichrist, but there's also the idea of plural antichrists, and this is in the Bible also. These would be people who are consciously working to destroy faith and things like that.
But like I said, Catholics don't usually talk about the rapture or the tribulation. We generally just talk about the Final Judgment. But I think much more emphasis is placed on Particular Judgment, which is after one individual dies, he is judged and then is either destined for heaven or hell. The Final Judgment would apply at the end of the world for those who are still living.
As I mentioned, the Bible keeps saying you know not the day nor the hour of the second coming. So I'm not sure how people can give specific dates.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
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