St. Louis, King of France, Pray for Us
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Last week, I mentioned that as Catholics, we must be involved in secular society and make our voices heard at the ballot box. Voting is not only our right, it is our duty. To exercise this duty well and in accordance with God’s law, we need to have a properly-formed conscience. In our current culture, too often we think that any opinion that we may hold is sacrosanct, and thus should guide our judgement on a specific matter. For example, my conscience might tell me that Person A has too much money; so, it is perfectly fine for Person B, who has no money, to take some money from Person A for himself. The Bible calls this stealing and thus, even though my conscience tells me that it seems to be a good thing to do, my conscience is wrong; it has been malformed. Maybe my conscience tells me that because Person A has a painful and fatal disease, it is a humane and kind thing for Person B to administer a drug to Person A that will gently usher him out of this life. The Bible calls this murder and thus, even though my conscience tells me that this is a good thing to do, my conscience is wrong.
We may feel very strongly about our opinions and be willing to lay down our lives to defend them, but are we willing to look them squarely in the face and see if they square with God’s Law? How can we attain a properly formed conscience? How do we know what God’s law is? We know what God’s law is from the Natural Law, which is engraved on every man’s heart; from the Bible, which is the inspired word of God Himself; and, from the Catholic Church, which was established by Jesus to guide us to heaven. But, you may ask, isn’t God’s law supposed to be kept separate from Man’s Law? Maybe from a Freemason’s point of view, but not a Catholic’s! Pope Leo XIII tells us in his great encyclical, Immortale Dei (#14 & #44):
“There must, accordingly, exist between these two powers [the Church and the State] a certain orderly connection, which may be compared to the union of the soul and body in man. Furthermore, it is in general, fitting and salutary that Catholics should extend their efforts beyond this restricted sphere, and give their aJen6on to national politics.”
As Catholics then, it is our duty to give great attention to the many moral issues of this day and age that demand our voice. In judging such issues, we must be willing to put our own judgement aside in favor of God’s judgement, if the two are at odds. We are faced with an array of moral issues in our modern age, but not all are of equal weight when it comes to the level of objective evil. For example, the direct killing of an innocent person is an intrinsically evil act, which can never be justified, or “made right,” by the circumstance; whereas, killing an armed intruder in my home can indeed be justified as self-defense. As a Catholic then, I must educate myself as to which acts are always, in and of themselves, sinful and offensive to God; and then, not take any part, either actively or passively, in their commission. Everything that we do, think, say or don’t do, think or say, in this very short time that we each occupy this earth, is being recorded in the Book of Life. It is of tantamount importance that we strive with every fiber of our being, to be in union with God’s Holy Will at all times, for we never know when we will be called before Him to give an account of our lives and the choices we have made. I tremble when I read the reminder of St. Alphonsus de Liguori: The books of conscience are opened, and the judgment begins. Let us all seek to form our consciences in accord with God’s will and to have the humility to say, “Not my will Lord, but Yours.”
—Fr. Epperson
Announcements
The Parish School of Religion Catechetical Program will operate online for the 2020-2021 school year. We will provide weekly live video-classes for children in grades 1-7 taught by the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa. This year, we will be combining our usual age groups into three classes:
1st Communion Preparation for grades 1 & 2
Continuing Formation for grades 3, 4, 5
Confirmation Preparation for grades 6 & 7
Classes will meet on Tuesday afternoons. Registration forms are available at the Parish Office. Meet the Teacher is September 1st.
Confessions Saturday 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. by Jesus statue - white lattice enclosures OR during office hours, by appointment call 542-6984.
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