Is free will good?

This is something I really did not desire to write about because I am not qualified; but, in the last week, I have had two people tell me how thankful we should be for free will. We should be, because it is a great gift of God, but there are also many dangers. It is my desire that we utilize an understanding of "free will" to recognize how frail we are and to cry out more for God's grace. I am writing this 3 o'clock in the morning and haven't proofed it.

Do we have free will? Absolutely. We know this because the Church teaches this. Is free will good? Absolutely. God only gives good gifts. That being said, let’s delve into it a little.

Adam and Eve were created in full light. They were created without sin.

They used their free will to rebel against God. We cannot—and must not—think that we would have done any differently. If we had been them, we would have done likewise. Because of God, because of who He is, because of His mercy and grace, He condescended to “go after them” in order to save them, to save us. St. Peter, knowing who Jesus is, denied our Lord three times, even with a curse. He had free will. He could have used that freedom to die with Christ, or he could have used that freedom to save his temporal life and deny Christ. He chose the latter. St. Peter was not forced to deny Christ; he freely chose to.

During the persecution of the Church, many chose to die for Christ. Also, there were many who, due to the threat of death, chose to deny Christ. They were not forced to deny Christ. They could have, like others, chosen death; they chose to use their freedom of the will to deny Him. This caused a division in the Church because there were some who believed that, because they denied the Faith, they could not return to the Church.

Today, I think most people use the term “free will,” thinking they have the free will to accept or reject Christ. In this, they would be mostly wrong. One needs to read St. Ambrose and St. Augustine to get a good understanding of this. What I am going to write about is experientially.

I have two brothers and three sisters; we have the same parents, were reared the same way. They are not that “religious”—for lack of a better term. Why? Am I smarter than they? Why is it that you believe in Christ, but the other person does not? Is it because you are smarter than they? No. Then why is it? Must it not come down to the mercy and grace of God?

I do not desire to go much further than this because I believe this is mostly a mystery hidden in God. This is why I recommend reading St. Augustine and St. Ambrose. We do use our free will to cooperate with the grace of God, but this raises other questions: What made me to desire to cooperate with the grace of God, yet the other person did not have the same desire? Hear Jesus: “You did not choose Me; I chose you.” Many times, our faulty view of “free will” leads us into presumptuousness.

We do not fear sinning because all we have to do is go to confession and confess our sins. The Church teaches that this would not be a good confession. The Church also teaches that we should only utilize created things to bring us closer to the Creator. Utilizing our freedom of the will, is this the purpose we utilize television for? What about the games? What about everything else we own? It is only by the grace of God that we utilize the freedom of the will correctly, and this also leads us to presumptuousness: que sera, sera (whatever will be, will be).

May we recognize our frailty and put no trust at all in ourselves, but place all trust and confidence in our God, who—because of His love for us—sent His Only Begotten Son to redeem us, to save us, by His Passion, death, and resurrection. May we recognize that we utilize free will more to rebel against God than to obey Him. We do utilize our free will to cooperate with His grace when He causes us to recognize our sins and to repent, confessing our sins in Confession. T.T.

Jesus The High Priest: Is suffering necessary?

From Hebrews 5: “Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest, but rather the one who said to him: ‘You are my son; this day I have begotten you;’ just as he says in another place: ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’ In the days when he was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, declared by God high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”


“Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” Henceforth, Jesus, Son of God, incarnate, was taken from among men and made our representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. We see this done at every Mass in the Eucharist. Jesus is, therefore, able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for He Himself was beset by the weakness of human flesh, although He never sinned. Because He was without sin, He did not have to make sin offerings for Himself; He only made a sin offering for us-- Himself.

No high priest takes the honor of high priest upon himself but only when called by God. In the days when Jesus was in the flesh, He offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save Him from death. He prayed in the Garden that the cup be taken from Him but “not my will be done, but Thine;” but I believe that these prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears were not for Himself but for us.

Because of His reverence, He was heard; His prayers and supplications were answered. Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered. When He was made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him. We also learn obedience through suffering. If we do not suffer, we better be fearful of our salvation. For this reason, we endure suffering with joy: He is sanctifying us.  T.T.


This theological reflection courtesy of the parishioners of St Paul Catholic Church in Pensacola, Florida: stpaulcatholic.net

Entering Spiritual Desolation

Entering Spiritual Desolation. The word “entering” is a misnomer; it is more a stumbling/falling into spiritual desolation. It has never felt as if it was a gradual thing; it has always been sudden. Spiritual desolation helps us grow in the faith, teaches us perseverance, but it can be a very desperate condition. Bible reading becomes a burden. It gives me no joy during those times. Prayer is a chore. It is during times of spiritual desolation, I believe, that people stray from the faith. God “seems” to be distant, not caring. The people of the world appear to be happier, more carefree than I.

Spiritual desolation varies in length. I have had occasions which lasted for days; some, for weeks; some, months.

What causes spiritual desolation? There are a myriad of circumstances which cause spiritual desolation. Sin? Yes, sin can cause it for sure. When we sin willfully, many times our conscience will convict us. If we ignore our conscience and continue in the sin, each occurrence thereafter becomes easier, and, finally, the sin no longer bothers us. Perhaps, sin is a major cause. It does not have a habitual sin. Occasional sin can sometimes cause spiritual desolation; sometimes, one instance of sin can cause it. Sometimes spiritual desolation comes when there is no sin involved.

I have gone through a period when I was working 10-12 hours a day, six days a week. During this time also, we were moving. When I wasn’t working, we were moving. There was no other alternative. Then came spiritual desolation. I had great difficulty in prayer. During the most difficult times, my prayers came down to saying, “Lord, help me!” Scripture was just letters on a page. I could not focus on the words, had no desire to read. This lasted approximately five months.

During this time, I kept reminding myself that it was God’s desire to save, not destroy. I would ask my patron saint to intervene for me, and I relied on the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail, Mary. The only thing that kept me going to Mass was the fear of mortal sin. The greatest mistake I made during this period was neglecting to speak to our priest about it. Spiritual desolation is not something I want to talk about when I am going through it, and it is very dangerous to undergo spiritual desolation, keeping it to yourself.

Nevertheless, spiritual desolation is a very beneficial thing if we do not forget them. I expect to go through spiritual desolation again. The next time, it will probably be more severe. I do have the confidence that God will not place too much upon me. In my experience, the more severe the test, the shorter the duration; the longer the duration, the severity is less.

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, after His Baptism, was driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit. Holy Scripture tells us He had to deal with wild beasts. In Scripture, “wild beasts” can refer to evil people. During this period, the angels administered to him. During our periods of spiritual desolation, we too can be assured that our guardian angels are administering to us. How do we know this? Because they administered to Jesus.

Let us take the time now to prepare ourselves for upcoming periods of desolation. It is not a matter of “if,” but “when.” These are some basic ideas. People may vary in their preparations. I utilize these because they are easy to remember.

First, know for certainty that God loves you.

Our Catechism tells us that God comes to us. Just look at a Bible. That Bible is God revealing Himself to us. He did not have to do that: He is God. Nevertheless, He condescended to reveal Himself to His creature out of love for that creature—mankind. Because He loves mankind, He desires to save them from perishing.

The next time you go to Mass, stand outside the parish and view the pictures of the saints. These saints are not dead. Jesus said, if we believe in Him, we shall never die; henceforth, the saints are alive. They are still part of the Body; therefore, they are helping us, interceding for us. St. Paul said that he was torn between leaving and being with Christ, which is better, or staying here. If the apostle was saying that he desired to leave here to be with Christ in heavenly bliss, that would be selfish for he would be thinking of himself, not others. I think he was saying that he could be of more help to the Church if he was with Christ but, because, the saints on earth were weak in faith, he would remain—because they were strengthened by his presence.

Now, enter the parish. Again, you encounter saints, along with Jesus, our Blessed Mother, Joseph, etc. We have entered; therefore, these are the “inner circle,” their intercession being more vigorous. Now, enter the nave. Use your imagination, combined with your knowledge of the Word. Pay particular attention to the altar, the Tabernacle, the candle signifying that Christ is physically present. Look carefully at everything, “seeing” how dearly God loves us, how earnestly He works for us to persevere. He knows we are weak, and He has the angels working to aid us, the saints in heaven, the saints in purgatory, and those present with us. If we do not persevere, it is because we really do not care. T.T.

The Pharisees Saw Jesus Sitting with Sinners and Tax Collectors

The Pharisees saw Jesus sitting with sinners and tax collectors, and made a judgment call. Perhaps the Pharisees were thinking of Psalms 1. “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers. Rather, the law of the LORD is his joy; and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted near streams of water that yields its fruit in season; its leaves never wither; whatever he does prospers. But not so are the wicked, not so! They are like chaff driven by the wind. Therefore the wicked will not arise at the judgment, nor will sinners in the assembly of the just. Because the LORD knows the way of the just, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.” Sinners are not good people, and tax collectors are the lowest of the lowly. Therefore, at first blush, we would agree with them. For example: We know that a (fictitious) group of people are known drug addicts and drunkards and we see a well known Christian dining and drinking with them, what would we think? Perhaps we might think, “Look at Jody Boy; he’s supposed to be a Christian.” I recall the cliché—I’ve used it myself—“birds of a feather flock together,” or “you know a person by the people he hangs around with.”

St. Mark, in his Gospel account, was referring to the Jesus’ call of Levi (Matthew). “Once again he went out along the sea. All the crowd came to him and he taught them. As he passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the customs post. He said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him. Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus heard this and said to them [that], ‘Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners’.”

This was not a party at Levi’s house, and Jesus joined in. Prior to this, Jesus was walking along the sea. The crowd came to him, and He taught them, as He walked along. As He passed by the customs post, He said to Levi, “Follow me.” As Jesus sat at table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners—who had followed Him there—sat with Him and His disciples. The scribes, who were Pharisees, probably passed by later, saw Jesus, and asked some of those who they knew to follow Jesus why He ate with sinners and tax collectors. We do not know whether they were asking this sarcastically or questioningly. This is St. Mark’s first mention of the Pharisees, and he does not appear to be rebuking them here. He is just mentioning a fact, that some scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus. Jesus heard them asking; therefore, Jesus told them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do; I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Jesus is not rebuking them, but stating a fact.

St. Mark is not desirous of us focusing on the Pharisees; he is desirous that we understand that Jesus came to call sinners. He came to call those that are not righteous in order that He may make them righteous, make them holy. He was not “hanging out” with sinners; He was calling them, teaching them. St. Mark is giving us Hope. If we are sinners—and we are—then Jesus is calling us. He calls each of us continuously, “Follow me.” He constantly beckons to us in the Mass, especially in the Eucharist, “Come, eat; come, follow.” When we cease to hear this, we will turn away. This Hope is not wishful thinking.

Many times I am tempted to fall into despair by wondering if I have sinned by omission that I forget that Jesus came to call sinners. This is comforting: He came to save sinners. We desire so much to be holy, to be pleasing to God, and we work so hard at it, so much so that one of two things will occur: 1) we think we are making headway and become full of pride, or 2) we feel we are not making headway and fall into despair. We must trust in the Sanctifier, that He is sanctifying us. We need to take our minds off ourselves and begin thinking of our neighbor. The more we place our minds on our neighbor, the less we will sin. The more our minds are upon ourselves, the more we will sin.  T.T.

This theological reflection courtesy of the parishioners of St Paul Catholic Church in Pensacola, Florida: stpaulcatholic.net

Even If You’re NOT Stupid… Keep it Simple

Even I stand a chance of understanding today’s readings. Even I can get a hold of what they are saying. Here’s what I mean.

“The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword…”

Paul doesn't leave much to the imagination.

“The law of the LORD is perfect…the decree of the LORD is trustworthy…the precepts of the LORD are right…”

The Psalmist’s point isn’t too hard to figure out.

“All the crowds came to him and he taught them.”

“Jesus said to him “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.”

“I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Mark doesn't mince words, and neither does Jesus.

In each of our readings today there is a directness; almost a sense of urgency. The meanings are clear, the thinking straightforward, and the direction unmistakable. We are at the end of the first week in Ordinary Time; Lent is literally just around the bend. We need to focus on what we are doing. ..and it’s hard.

In the last three and a half weeks we have celebrated the Incarnation in the birth of Jesus, honored his Holy Family, reveled in his introduction to the whole world through the Magi, mourned the loss of the Holy Innocents, and been absolutely awestruck by the Holy Trinity at the Baptism of Jesus. I don’t know about you, but I can really appreciate a little “straightforward” and “direct” about now…and the timing couldn’t be better.

The nights are getting shorter, and the days longer; we are moving out of the darkness, and into the light; we have to move away from ourselves, and towards him. We must decrease and he must increase.

In the fourteenth century, there was a Franciscan scholar named William of Ockham, and among his many writings, there is a short and sweet statement that has come to be known as “Ockham’s Razor”. What it basically says is “keep it simple”.

So we focus on those simple, direct statements that we hear today. That two-edged sword has to cut away our defects; his law, his decrees, and his precepts need to be written on our hearts; we are the crowd that comes to him, and he teaches us; he asks us to follow him, and we need to get up…and follow him. We are the sinners, and he’s coming for US.   W.W.

Happiness is. . .?

Merriam-Webster defines “happiness” as (a) a state of well-being and contentment or (b) a pleasurable or satisfying experience. “A pleasurable or satisfying experience” relates to happiness being temporary. “A state of well-being and contentment” could mean either permanent or temporary. Can a person live in continuous happiness in this world? I suppose the majority would say “no;” but, deep inside me, I want to say it is possible.

Why do I say that I think it is possible? If we place our pursuit of happiness in Life, it would have to be possible because, in Life, there can be nothing bad. When we place our pursuit of happiness in temporal things, things of the world, we are then placing our pursuit of happiness in death or the dying because all these things are passing away. Experience also testifies to this fact. We have all desired something; and, when we finally receive it, the happiness is short-lived. Temporal things cannot give permanent happiness; therefore, permanent happiness can only be achieved in Life—God.

To support this, we think of the Beatitudes. Happy are the humble whose confidence is in God. Happy are those who mourn over their sins and the sins of others, for they will be comforted by God. Happy are the meek; they know they shall inherit the kingdom. Happy are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Happy are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Happy are the pure of heart, for they will see God. Happy are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Happy are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of Christ. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

If we look closely, we see that the beatitudes are cyclical. True happiness begins with humility, with confidence in God. This humility causes us to mourn over sins, our personal sins and the sins of others, and God will comfort us. Mourning over sin and being comforted by God lead us to showing meekness (gentleness). We are now exhibiting love for neighbor because of God’s love for us. Because of this love of God and neighbor, we know we shall inherit the kingdom. This knowledge causes us to hunger and thirst for righteousness. This hunger and thirst for righteousness being satisfied causes us to show mercy. Because we are showing mercy, we will be shown more mercy, which leads us to being pure of heart. The pure of heart are peacemakers for they bring others to the knowledge of Christ. Due to the peacemakers being children of God, they will be persecuted. Being persecuted causes humility, and the cycle continues. Each cycle enhances our happiness because each stage brings us to more Christ-likeness.

Happiness is in Life, not death (temporal things), and Life is in God, through Jesus Christ, by power of the Holy Spirit.  T.T.

Loving Neighbor

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. First and foremost, your fellow countrymen are our fellow Catholics and those in communion with the Pope. They are our brothers. Extended from those, our fellow countrymen are those who profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Although they may not be in communion with us, they are baptized into the same Lord Jesus. These are our next of kin. Extended from those are our fellow human beings. These are our extended relatives.

Jesus loved the sinner so much that He became incarnate, took our sins upon Himself—although He was without sin—and died for us. There will inevitably be times when we will have a grudge against others, but we must not cherish (feed) that grudge. We cherish a grudge when we dwell upon it, justifying why we should be angry. On the other hand, when we do have a grudge, we should mourn the fact that we have a grudge, regardless of who is at fault. We should be confessing it as our sin because, if we had handled the situation differently, perhaps the grudge would not have been. We definitely should not take revenge. When Jesus was falsely accused and persecuted, He did not retaliate, but prayed for His persecutors, praying, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

You may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him. This we are bent to do by reason of our fallen nature. As Catholics, when we are in agreement with the Church, we have full truth. We are to rebuke our brother when he is doing wrong. We are also to rebuke our near kin and our extended relatives. If we do not rebuke, we sin. When we do rebuke, it must be done with love and gentleness that the circumstance entails. We are prone to argue, and even get angry, when others disagree with us, especially when we know we are right. This leads rapidly to anger and bearing hatred in our heart.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Jesus had just completed His forty days in the wilderness, by tempted by Satan. He had been “driven” into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, and He now returns in the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to take careful note of this. When we are in our “desert places,” it may very well be—and, in all probability, is—because the Holy Spirit has “driven” us there, that we may be strengthened so that we will persevere in the Faith. It is not by our strength that we persevere; it is by the grace of God, and this through prayer.

Now, Jesus returned to Galilee. Let us focus on “Galilee” a little. “Galilee” means “circuit.” During the reign of Solomon, Hiram rendered some services for the building of the temple by giving him timber and laborers, and Solomon paid him by giving him land containing twenty cities. Hiram was extremely disappointed with the gift, considering the cities worthless. According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, Hiram called this land “’the land of Cabul.’ The Jews called it Galil. It continued long to be occupied by the original inhabitants, and hence came to be called ‘Galilee of the Gentiles,’ and also ‘Upper Galilee,’ to distinguish it from the extensive addition afterwards made to it toward the south, which was usually called ‘Lower Galilee’.”

I am focusing on the fact that the cities were considered worthless by a king and that there were many Gentiles there who, of course, were considered “worthless” by the Jews. Nazareth was in Galilee, and even Nathanael questioned, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Hear St. Paul, the apostle, “Consider your own calling, brothers: Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something.” Possibly, Jesus went the “circuit,” finishing up in Nazareth.


Having finished the “circuit,” it was by no coincidence that He arrived in Nazareth that, on the day of Rest, He went into the synagogue, stood up, and read the passage contained in Isaiah, confessing that He is the Messiah. Consider from where our Lord had come prior to His Advent. He condescended to become a man, making His abode with the filth that we had willingly become. He who is Holy, who is Life, loved mankind so much that He willingly made His abode with the stench of death in order that He might redeem us, allowing us to share in His divine life—the Great Exchange.

The Word, God, did not become Incarnate because we were basically “good,” having a few defects. Now, when Adam sinned, we became progressively worse. The Law did not make us better; it made us worse, as testified to by St. Paul: “I did not know sin except through the Law, and I did not know what it is to covet except that the Law said, ‘You shall not covet;’ but sin, finding an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetousness…for sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it put me to death.”

Christ left His abode with Living in order to make His abode with death and the dying, in order that He might redeem us, that we might make our abode with the Living. Shall we then continue to live in death? Shall we continue in the desires and deeds of death? Holiness is no longer living as though we are the dead and dying, but the living. May God, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, give us the grace to do so, to discern between Life and Death and act accordingly.  T.T.