Divine Mercy

“He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me” (Lk 10:16). The Apostles are ambassadors of Christ just as Christ is the ambassador of the Father. The bishops are successors of the Apostles. Christ commands that the teaching of the Apostles should be religiously accepted and kept as if it were His very own. Vatican II, in its document Presbyterorum ordinis, states that “The function of the bishop’s ministry was handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co-workers of the episcopal order for the proper fulfillment of the apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it by Christ.”

One key part of this mission is to continue to encourage Penance for the forgiveness of sins. The Church has always understood that Jesus Christ Himself conferred upon the Apostles authority to forgive sins. This power is exercised is the sacrament of Penance.

The sacrament of Penance is the most sublime expression of God’s love and mercy towards men. Christ waits for us and invites us to repentance. The Popes have always encouraged regular use of the sacrament of Penance. It is a means to grow in knowledge of ourselves and in Christian humility. Through confession we root out our vices and maintain spiritual fervor. Let us implore the mercy of God on ourselves and upon all mankind.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Celibacy

Chaste Celibacy:

Jesus proposed voluntary renunciation of marriage as a privileged way of serving the Kingdom of Heaven for those to whom this gift is granted. Those who can accept this gift should not refuse it: “Not all can accept this word (about celibacy), but only those to whom it is granted…Some have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it” (Mt 19.11f). Our divine Lord promised a hundred-fold in this life and life everlasting in the next for those who give up home, wife, and children for His sake (Mt 19.29).

Saint Paul recommended the unmarried state to those who are able to embrace it to dedicate themselves wholly to the service of God. This state frees the person from manifold anxieties and concerns so that he may be able to concentrate all his attention on what is pleasing to the Lord.

“To those not married and to widows I have this to say, it would be well if they remain as they are, even as I do, but if they cannot exercise self-control they should marry, for it is better to marry than to be on fire…If you marry, you do not sin, nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries; but such people will experience affliction in their earthly life, and I would like to spare you that…I should like to free you from anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. (1 Cor 7.8-33)

In his Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (1981) Pope John Paul II states that the Church has always defended the superiority of virginity or celibacy to marriage because of the special link this charism has with the Kingdom of God:

Virginity or celibacy, by liberating the human heart in a unique way, “so as to make it burn with greater love for God and all mankind, bears witness that the Kingdom of God and His justice is that pearl of great price which is preferred to every other value no matter how great, and hence must be sought as the only definitive value. It is for this reason that the Church throughout her history has always defended the superiority of this charism to that of marriage, by reason of the wholly singular link which it has with the Kingdom of God.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Women Priests?

It has been a constant tradition of the Roman Catholic Church that only males may be admitted to priestly ordination. In recent years, the question has been asked whether the time has not come for the Church to change the practice of restricting priestly ordination to persons of the male gender. However, there has never been any doubt about this matter in the official teaching of the Catholic Church. To give a definitive response to those who in recent years have been strongly advocating the ordination of women, Blessed Pope John Paul II issued the Apostolic Letter: Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, May 22, 1994, in which he declared that male priesthood was established by Christ Himself and that the Church has no authority to change this discipline. He explained that the male priest represents the very person of Christ in His spousal relationship to the Church. The Pontiff concluded with a firm statement that is intended to put an end to any doubt or debate over this question in the Church:

“In order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (Lk 22.32), I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching