by Susan Fox
My 16-year-old Catholic godson
sent me some questions recently. He is reading the whole Bible cover to cover. Here
is our dialogue.
Godson Ben: All right, well bear with me on this,
I’m going to touch on a bit of history. I tend to ask very long and complicated
questions, so apologies in advance.
The Romans
originated from Italy, they took Britain from the Briton Celtic people around
60-78 AD. While the Romans took over and the Britons ended up accepting their
new overlords, the other Celtic tribes kept struggling, refusing to give up so
easily. The Romans/Brits were the ones to kill Jesus. In the end the Briton and
Roman people mingled, so the modern day British people are mutts of the two,
perhaps thrown in with a splash of other ethnic groups (Been a long time, after
all.) (Ben understands breeding. He raises dogs)
The Roman/Brit
people continued to then fight the Insular Celts, enslaving them and selling
them in the era of slaves for the U.S. to build their railroad. To this day,
the majority of the Brits aren't very religious, and even most Italians live
their lives without caring about religion and morals. It's only an old
stereotype that Italians care about such things. And the Vatican City is
located in Italy, what was Rome. How is it not hypocritical, when the people at
the Vatican who claim to be so spiritually strong, devout believers are the
same people who killed God in the flesh all those years ago?
Susan Fox: Dear Ben, My apologies. I also tend to give long and rambling
answers, but I do reach a conclusion.
It was the Roman/Jews (Roman
authority and the Jewish leaders) who killed Jesus, not the Roman/Brits. You
could travel in any known country of the world that existed at that time and
still be in the Roman Empire. So when Jesus, Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt in
the Bible, it was like running from Colorado to Washington State. They were
still in the Roman Empire. So was the British Isles.
Many, including Catholic
bishops, are ignorant of this fact as they associate Mary, Joseph and Jesus
with “illegal aliens” and “refugees”
when they crossed into Egypt. But they were not illegal. They fled from one
state to another: they were still in the same old Roman Empire. This is
important to know if someone should tell you that Mary, Joseph and Jesus were
illegal aliens and we should let illegal aliens into this country for that
reason. Mary, Joseph and Jesus
scrupulously obeyed the law. They did not break it. Remember that when you go
into law enforcement.
Who killed Jesus? Jesus was a
Jew. There was a Jewish authority there called the Sanhedrin. They were the
Jewish cops, but in a religious sense. They were unhappy with Jesus because He
claimed to be God. He didn’t say, “I am God.” He was subtler than that, but
within the context of Jewish history the old Sanhedrin got the message:
"Very truly I tell
you," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58)
God introduced Himself to
Moses in the Old Testament, as “I AM WHO AM.” God said
to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites:
'I AM has sent me to you.'” So the Jews immediately recognized that Christ was saying he
was God when He said, “I am!” Plus how could a mere human have existed before
his ancestor?
Jesus also
forgave sins. Only God can forgive sins, so this outraged the Jews, who didn’t
realize it was the proper action for Jesus to take since He was True God and
True Man. See Twilight’s Confession for the story of how this divine power was
handed down to our Catholic priests by Jesus Himself!
Jesus was
killed for blasphemy by the Jewish authority because he made Himself to be God.
The Romans got involved because the Jews didn’t have the authority to inflict
capital punishment. So they tricked the Roman authority into doing it for them.
The first
Christians, however, were also Jews, and we Catholics are grateful for their
faith, which they handed down to us.
Got that?
Jews are our older brothers in faith, and we need to respect them. Jesus was a
Jew. Mary was a Jew, and the first Christians were Jews. We do not blame the
Jewish people for Christ’s death. That’s Hitler’s thinking, although he had no
love for Christ at all. If Hitler loved Christ, he would not have persecuted
Christ’s own relatives – the Jews.
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Some Roman Centurions were also
among the first Christian converts |
Whew, the
British are completely blameless for the murder of Christ even if they have
some Roman blood in their veins. Frankly, who doesn’t have Roman blood at this
point? Those Romans spread their blood all over the civilized world.
That is the
historical context of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But spiritually, we have
to remember that Jesus Christ volunteered for the job of dying for all men’s
sins. He allowed the crucifixion to take place. Remember what he told Pontius Pilate, the
Roman Governor:
So Pilate said to Him,
"You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release
You, and I have authority to crucify You?" Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me,
unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered
Me to you has the greater sin." (John 19:10-11) He referred to the Sanhedrin.
Perhaps
this understanding is for later in your life. But I had a good friend who was
in the Sacrament of Confession, and she understood that her sins, her own
trespasses had crucified Jesus Christ. Father asked her this question, “Whose
sins did you think crucified Jesus?”
“Why,
Father, I thought it was somebody else’s sins that crucified Jesus Christ!” she
exclaimed. So who crucified Jesus? Anyone who commits a sin.
Maybe you have encountered this Exodus story in the Old Testament. The People of Israel were complaining against God about the food He was giving them (manna). So God sent fiery serpents among the people. Many died. But
Moses interceded for his people and God told him to make an image of the
snake that bit them and when they looked at the image, they would be cured.
"Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived." (Num.21:6-9)
It sounds
almost idolatrous, doesn’t it? But everything in the Old Testament has to be
understood in the context of the the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is one Author of
Scripture over thousands of years, and that is the Holy Spirit. He shaped
events and inspired men to write about them. That bronze image that God gave them
took the poisonous bite from their bodies.
But then
God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, and when He was raised up on the cross He took
the poison of sin from their hearts! When Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross,
they also looked at Him Whom they had pierced (with real nails), and the poison
of their sin was taken from them. They –
in short -- experienced regret and sorrow for their actions. The Epistles near the end of the Bible will
explain this better than I, but think of it as potty training a cat. The cat
piddles somewhere in the house, and you take the cat and rub its nose in it.
The cat deeply regrets that experience and starts going outside or using the
cat box.
When
mankind looks at the broken Body of Christ on the Cross, and they see what
the Innocent and Merciful God suffered to save them from their sins, they
kinda lose the taste for sin. Hey, it isn’t so fun any more.
Godson Ben: I
understand it may not be entirely fair to think ill of people based on the sins
of their fathers, but I don't like people who are all heathens, seem to act
cocky among other things, and even the Pope himself is fine with gays. What do
you think of all of this? For
clarification, I essentially want to know if, in your opinion, I am wrong? If
they haven't changed as a people, when you look at the Brits they still want to
conquer Ireland, and if it was socially acceptable in the eyes of the U.S. they
would likely re-enslave them.
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5) This invites me to pass judgment, be skeptical and speak freely, so long as I am not hypocritical.
And
honestly I question whether or not the Pope is truly as pure as it is said, if
he isn't willing to quite simply say what is unnatural and wrong to be gay
(when the Bible clearly states such, Leviticus 20:13)
Susan Fox: Dear Ben, I think Brits today are interested in beer ...
and maybe Islam. I have a good friend in the United Kingdom and he tweets me
pictures of his beer. He drinks fascinating kinds of beer. I tweet him pictures
of my grocery cart and its price. So it would seem I am interested in the cost
of my groceries, which keeps going up!
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| My shopping cart: $365 |
Islam is interesting to them
because they have many Muslims in their country, and some have killed innocent
British civilians. Recently, a few Muslims killed some French magazine
cartoonists, and the Brits followed this event on the telly in the British pub.
They are justifiably worried about their families. And we should pray for them.
So in reality Brits are more
concerned now about Muslims than they are about the Irish. But I promise I will
ask my British friend about the Irish next time we speak on Twitter.
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| Pope Francis |
I’m glad you are asking
questions about Pope Francis. I have read almost every recent article about
Pope Francis. I have a friend who sends them to me regularly, so I am the right
person to ask about Pope Francis! LOL.
The articles fall into three
categories:
- Factual accounts of the pope’s true feelings
and opinions,
- Liberal fantasies of the pope’s feelings and
- Angry/doubtful conservative Catholic opinions of
the pope’s falsely reported opinions.
Don’t fall into the third
category. You see the liberal press has a totally false image of Pope Francis.
They think he is going to change the Catholic Church’s doctrine on
homosexuality. That is fantasy.
On same-sex “marriage,” the
pope said that it is an “anti-value and an anthropological regression.” It is a
weakening of the institution of marriage, an institution that has existed for
thousands of years and is “forged according to nature and anthropology.” He
means that marriage between one man and one woman is the way that God designed
the human race. To enter into a same sex relationship is to go backwards, to
regress, to devolve.
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| Pope St. John Paul II |
Pope Saint John Paul II wrote
a fascinating book called “Theology of the Body.” And it says that “man” is not
just male. No, according to Genesis, which you probably have already read, God
made “man” male and female. That means that “man” is
not present in his
completeness unless there is both man and woman. Your godfather, Larry Fox,
explains it this way: “Homosexuality is an attack on the Holy Trinity, on the very
nature of God Himself.” God is a Community of Persons, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. God generates Himself within Himself as He is eternal.
Men and women are finite. So
“man” has within his body the power to generate man because we are made in the image
and likeness of God. But only male and female “man” together can generate “man.”
Two males or two females are structurally incompatible and cannot generate
another man. Therefore homosexuality is anti-trinitarian, against the very nature
of God, who is fruitful.
Larry added that when men and
women can’t have children, they experience a sense of loss because they want to
live in the image of God, Who is fruitful within Himself. But they cannot
generate man physically within their bodies. This makes them sad.
Also remember that intimacy
is not something to be taken casually since it so closely mimics the life of
God Himself. The only place for sex is in marriage, and in that context, it is
a very holy act.
That some people regard the
pope as favoring homosexuality is total fantasy. They are not living in
reality. I have read the LGBT press, and they actually cried out to the pope to
go to Uganda, where they passed an anti-homosexuality act, and chastise those
Catholic bishops who did not support homosexual activity.
However, the reason this
false image of Pope Francis has arisen is because in 2013 when he was returning
from World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, he told reporters: “"If a person
is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge that person? These
persons must never be marginalized and they must be integrated into
society."
This is practical
implementation of that Bible quote you gave me. “Stop
judging, that you may not be judged.”
The pope is very concerned
about all the children of Adam and Eve. He is not just the spiritual father of
the Catholics. No, he is spiritual father to everyone. He realizes that for
real change to take place in a man’s heart, he must receive love and respect
for himself as a person, not as an activity. Hence, I personally don’t use the
word “gay” to describe anyone because it denotes an activity not a person.
We don’t love homosexual actions,
nor do we love the identity they have chosen, but we love them. Do you
understand? Love the sinner. Hate the sin. Remember I told you the way to
change your mother’s behavior is to see the good things she does and be
grateful.
People who self identify as
homosexuals need love. They need us to look for and find the good that God has done
in them. The secular world doesn’t understand that one can love a person
struggling to overcome a bad habit, and still condemn his actions. So they
report the Pope’s acceptance of a person, and twist that information into
acceptance of his sin.
Now if you visited Pope
Francis, wouldn’t you expect him to love you? Would you expect him to tell you
how much he appreciates your faults? Not at all. He’d tell you to change those!
Godson Ben: When I say I dislike certain ethnic
groups, what I mean is I will not, for example, hang around them. That does not
mean I would turn a blind eye if one of them were to be, for example, mugged in
an alley, for then I would be doing equal wrong. Stereotypes exist with some
merit, and while they can't all be bad, how could I honestly like them as a
people when they still demonstrate their ill-will, when people openly say my
beliefs are invalid, when a majority of people encourage abominable acts, and
so forth?
Susan Fox: Dear Ben, Hmm, are these
Brits and Italians you don’t like? It is necessary to avoid some neighborhoods
dominated by one ethnic group. The neighborhood my husband grew up in in
Baltimore is now strictly off limits because of crime. My sister-in-law drove
me to the edge of the street where his family home was located and refused to
go any farther because she was afraid. That is prudent fear.
My husband’s father used to
leave him in certain dangerous neighborhoods while he went to do work, and yup
Larry got beat up. That was imprudence.
But when you speak of the
immorality of modern Brits and Italians, it is not true they were never
religious. Before King Henry VIII, the British were devoutly Catholic people.
The Norwegians and Swedes were too. But it was kings and money. The kings
ripped the faith from the people to get the Church’s money. And God allowed it
because He Himself actually prefers to clothe His Bride, the Church, in joy,
not riches. There were many great Catholic martyrs in those countries.
I visited a formerly Catholic
Cathedral in England, and on the walls they had written (during the Protestant
Reformation), “The Eucharist is NOT the Body of Christ. It is a symbol.” They
ripped the Catholic faith from the people and now England watches the
television and worries about their Muslim neighbors. Don’t doubt it’s happening
here too. Detroit has a large Muslim population. And Muslim men are taught not
to respect Christian and secular women. They form rape gangs even in Seattle.
 |
Thanks to large immigrant population,
Sweden has the second highest rape rate
in the world. |
Sweden has the highest annual
asylum and immigration rate in all of Europe. It used to be a very family
friendly country. As a young woman, I traveled safely by myself through Sweden
in 1973-74, but now apparently one in four Swedish women face at least one rape
from a Muslim immigrant. Sweden has the
second highest number of rapes in the world after South Africa at 53 per
100,000 women. It was a pretty country, but I never want to return.
Many Italians have lost the
faith. They are not having children. If they don’t convert their hearts, their
race may die out. But Italians did once have a devout Catholic faith and they had
nothing to do with the crucifixion of Christ. The Catholic Church is
headquartered in Rome because Jesus decided it.
Jesus said, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;
and the gates of Hell will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
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| Interior St. Peter's Basilica Vatican City |
Jesus meant He would place
His own authority on Peter’s shoulders and those of his successors, the popes.
But I find it amusing that Jesus literally built His Church’s headquarters on
St. Peter’s physical body. St. Peter was martyred in Rome and buried there. "Holy
men ... took down his body secretly and put it under the terebinth tree near
the Naumachia, in the place which is called the Vatican," according to a 5th
century source.
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| St. Peter's Basilica |
In 1939, the first pope’s bones
were discovered under St. Peter’s Basilica inside the Vatican City where the
pope says Mass. Fragments found in the necropolis under St. Peter’s Basilica
(in the Vatican) were “identified in a way that we can consider convincing,”
said Pope Paul VI in 1968. They were found in a funeral monument with an
engraving that said, “Peter is here.”
Where St. Peter's bones are located is a heavenly “X” marks the spot where the True Church is headquartered! What a
blessing!
