All the Animals shown above are protected by laws of the United States except the Human Child in the Womb. This is essentially incompatible with the Catholic Faith. [The photo is taken from the Blog of Steve Ray.]
Last week I received a message in the comment section about my earlier post on the Victory of Life and of the Sanctity of Marriage:
The sender seemed to be a priest yet decided to remain anonymous. Here is the messages exchange between us:
Anonymous said...
Dear Father Abe,I think Barack Obama is a great president and we don't have to judge him just because of the issue of the abortion. The mystery of life is greater than that. I thank God every day when I celebrate Mass that he was chosen to guide and enlighten the American people. May God Bless Obama and America.
February 3, 2009 8:15 AM
Anonymous said...
Dear father, why do we base our faith and catholicity on one issue, such as abortion.It was never the test case for orthodox belief or morality till very recently. The Church settled the fundamentals of faith early on with the Nicene Creed and the Apostle’s Creed. Those were the agreed upon test questions. They were the bottom line for the first 2000 years. When and why did that change so that I am called a "Traitor"?
February 9, 2009 9:15 AM
Dear Anonymous,
The Deposit of the Faith is composed of Faith and Morals. The articles of Faith are contained in the 12 major Articles in Nicene Creed. The Moral Teachings of the Church are based on the 10 Commandments and elucidated further by Sacred Scriptures, Apostolic Witness, Patristic Sources and the Magisterial Teachings of the Popes throughout the centuries.
IT IS NOT TRUE THAT THE ISSUE OF ABORTION IS RECENT. IT IS ALREADY REJECTED BY THE EARLY CATHOLICS EVEN DURING THE APOSTOLIC TIMES:
"You shall not procure ABORTION, nor destroy a new-born child." [Didache #2]
"Thou shalt not doubt whether a thing shall be or not be. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain. Thou shalt love thy neighbor more than thine own soul. Thou shalt not murder a child by abortion, nor again shalt thou kill it when it is born. Thou shalt not withhold thy hand from thy son or daughter, but from their youth thou shalt teach them the fear of God." [Epistle of Barnabas 19:5]
"If a woman conceives in adultery and then has an abortion, she may not commune again, even as death approaches, because she has sinned twice." [Council of Elvira c. 306 Canon #63]
This command from some of the earliest documents of the Church arising from Apostolic Era and the succeeding centuries is absolutely based on Sacred Scriptures. Killing of Innocent Child in the womb is a violation of the Divine Command 'You shall not kill'. From Old Testament this is already clear:
Ex 21:22-25 22 "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely [a Miscarriage] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
Imagine that. How much more the intentional killing of the child in the womb. The declaration of love, blessing and protection of the unborn is superflously given in the Sacred Scriptures that only those who reject the authority of the Word of God and the Official Interpretation of the Church will teach the contrary:
Psalm 22:10 From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God. [It is obvious that the God of the Children in the Womb and the god of the pro Abortion is different.]
Psalm 71:6 From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you. [How about changing it to 'From my mother's womb you aborted me intentionally' against the will of my God who loves me.]
Psalm 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. [How about 'While my God was knitting me in the womb you murdered me, killed me with clinical instruments']
Psalm 82:4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. [Obviously the child in the womb is the weakest human person.]
THE PROPHETS TESTIFIED THAT MAN'S VOCATION STARTS FROM THE WOMB
Isaiah 44:2 This is what the LORD says— He who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. [The Lord is forming in the womb the abortionists kill what the Lord is forming.]
Isaiah 49:1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.
Isaiah 49:15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. [There are people who are worst than animals who forget the child in the womb.]
Jeremiah 1:4-5 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. [The abortionists mush have killed future prophets, doctors, teachers, priests and nuns and even saints in the babies they aborted.]
THE GOSPEL DECLARES THE DIGNITY OF THE UNBORN
Luke 1:15 For he [St. John the Baptist] shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. [The grace of God is given to human person beginning from the mother's womb.]
Luke 1:44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. [The child John the Baptist honored the presence of the Lord Jesus even from his mother's womb. Every pregnant woman when checked by the doctor is found having a living being pulsating inside their womb.]
The Word of God is solid in its defense of the Dignity and Value of human life from Conception to Natural Death. This is proclaimed by the Patriarchs and Prophets and by Apostles and Evangelists. As St. Paul testified:
Galatians 1:15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, [a] and who called me by his grace [Footnotes: Galatians 1:15 Greek set me apart from my mother’s womb]
The entire Sacred Scriptures cry out to each one of us to love, protect, defend and serve life. The first destroyer of life is Abortion and therefore there is no middle ground in this case. We either take the side of Life by rejecting it or we take the side of Evil by supporting it.
Dear Anonymous, you keep on insisting that I called you a 'Traitor'. Please read our exchanges carefully. I didn't refer to your person as a traitor, how can I? I do not even know your name. How can I pinpoint on someone whose identity is hidden in the dark. There are so many people sending messages here anonymously. I respect them but I do not hesitate to oppose or argue on something that is contrary to the Faith. Abortion is essentially contrary to the Faith and Morals of the Catholic Church. I refer to those who are advocating Abortion as traitors and have invited you to join us opposing it. Instead, of accepting my invitation you appear to be upset that I called you a 'Traitor'. Well, IF INDEED YOU ARE A CATHOLIC PRIEST and PRO ABORTION I REALLY WANT TO CALL YOU A TRAITOR. MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL AND MAY THE SOULS OF THE MURDERED-ABORTED CHILDREN INTERCEDE FOR YOUR SOUL BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF GOD.
If you will read the Introduction of the Gospel, it is a proclaimation of the Birth of a Child by whom Salvation comes. The Angels and the Saints rejoiced at His Birth and since then it has created Glad Tidings to all People of Good Will. Then the forces of evil works so hard to destroy and kill that Child. The last Book of the Bible, The Book of Revelation declares that the Red Dragon who is Satan was trying with all his might to devour the Child in the Womb of the Woman Clothed with the Sun [Rev 12:4] but God worked miracles to protect the Child and His Mother Mary. That DRAGON is the progenitor of Abortion. It came from Satan [Rev 12:9] the Deceiver of Mankind, the ancient Serpent who poisoned our First Parents. The Abortionists are agents of death and the supporters of such evil are the same whether they are aware of it or not. Abortion is evil and we cannot accept it. That is the reason why the most beloved icon in the Catholic Church is that of Madonna and Child. The Lord of Life gave us Salvation because He became a Child and that the Blessed Mother accepted Him in love as her Son.
It is true that Abortion is only one of the issues in Faith and Morals but it is Essential. That is why those who procure Abortions and participated in its realization automatically earn Latae Sententiae Excommunication.
ARE YOU REALLY A CATHOLIC PRIEST? I have a strong doubt if you really are because you seem to be ignorant of the reasons of the Church against Abortion. To say that it is simply a recent issue smacks of basic ignorance that is unworthy of any Catholic priests all of whom studied Catholic Ethics and Morally for several years.
I want to conclude this post with this powerful words:
“Those who hold the reins of government should not forget that it is the duty of public authority … to defend the lives of the innocent … among whom we must mention in the first place infants hidden in the mother’s womb. And if the public magistrates … do not defend them, but by their laws and ordinances betray them to death at the hands of doctors and others, let them remember that God is the Judge and Avenger of innocent blood which cries from earth to heaven” (POPE PIUS XI, Casti Connubii No. 67).
MAY ST. JEROME EMILIANI, DEFENDER AND PROTECTOR OF CHILDREN TOUCH YOUR HEART AND MIND TO LET YOU SEE THE EVIL OF ABORTION!
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![ST. JEROME EMILIANI [1486-1537]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6dKQTchkJaA/R0lo013dyBI/AAAAAAAAB_4/XzUAPDESwwQ/s1600/St.+Jerome+in+prayer,+small_1.jpg)
Dear Father Abe,
ReplyDeletesorry for not replying immediately to your blog. I would like briefly to pinpoint some concerns that I have with your position
1. It seems to me that you quote the Bible in a very strange and liberal way. The Romans used to say "Cicero pro domo sua". I don't see any reference to abortion in the first chapters of Luke and Matthew. At the same time, the dragon in Revelation is not a sign of abortion. Moreover, how do you explain the massacre of the babies by the hands of Herod after Jesus' birth? Is that another sign of abortion?
2. You invoke the traditon and quote Barnabas and Didache. However, I repeat it again: The Creed is what makes us Catholic, and not other things. Maybe you should be open to the voices of the modern prophets, such as Sobrino, Kung, Drewermann, Boff, Father Curran and Haight. They could show you new horizons and possibilities.
3. Maybe the literature,too, such as the books of David Lodge, Cider House Rules by John Irvin, and "The letter to a child never born" by the "SUPER GREAT" Oriana Fallaci could inspire you and make you see that between black and white there is also a lot of gray.
By the way, I always pray for you, too.
Dear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteIt is very strange that someone who is spousing the theology of the Modenists and Liberals is pointing at me as quoting the Bible in a strange and liberal way. While it is very obvious that I am upholding the Catholic Faith while you are abandoning it and distorting it.
So, suddenly you have become a Sola Scriptura Bible reader, eh. Looking for the word abortion in the texts that I have provided. That reasoning doesn't hold water because there is no single word in the Bible that says 'ABORTION IS GOOD AND IT IS OKAY TO PRACTICE IT.' What I have given you are Biblical principles that declares the Dignity and Value of the Human Person beginning at conception. That the human person is blessed and filled with God's Spirit even in the Mother's Womb. Definitely killing that child in the Womb runs contrary to the Biblical passages I have provided. On the other hand, it is beyond stretch of imagination can I imagine these Biblical texts to be supportive of Abortion.
"The Creed is what makes us Catholics and not other things." THAT IS WRONG. Besides the Creed there are:
1. The Sacred Scriptures
2. The Ten Commandments and the Moral Teachings of the Church
3. The Sacraments particularly the Sacrifice of the HOly Mass celebrated through her Sacred Liturgy.
3. The Office of the Successor of Peter, the Pope, as the Universal Shepherd of the Church.
4. The College of Bishops in Union with the Pope. They are successors of the Apostles.
What you are claiming is only a part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. If
* If I will follow your reasoning, then it is OK to commit RAPE because it is not prohibited in the Creed.
* If I will follow your way of thinking then, terrorism will not be evil because it is not declared evil in the Creed.
How about kidnapping, holdapping, etc. Are they listed in the Creed?
Such a reasoning is obviously a distortions of the Catholic Faith. Is that what you've learned from your so-called MODERN PROPHETS such as Sobrino, Kung, Drewermann, Boff, Curran and Haight. I have read Sobrino, Kung, Boff, Curran and Haight and I found them disgusting. No wonder that the Catholic Faith in Europe and in the entire West is disappearing because their new found prophets are leading them away from the Catholic Faith and insted replaced it with their heretical theological inventions.
My prophets are the prophets of the Sacred Scriptures and the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles of the Lord. My prophet are the successors of the Apostles led by the Holy Father. My prophets are Mother Teresa of Calcutta who served the poor with her own hands just like my founder St. Jerome Emiliani, protector and defender of poor children. My Prophet is Pope Paul VI who prophetically spoke in Humanae Vitae. My prophet is Pope John Paul THE GREAT who magnificently declared the evil of Abortion in his Encyclical Evangelium Vitae. My prophet is Pope Benedict XVI who as Cardinal Ratzinger before and now as Pope proclaimed and defended the life of the Unborn Children.
I do not recognize the theological authority of your modern prophets. They are TRAITORS TO THE FAITH AND TO THE MORAL TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH. They can deceive some Catholics but not all Catholics. I was one of those young people who were shouting before John Paul the Great in World Youth Days: JOHN PAUL II WE LOVE YOU! Yes, the Catholics by thousands and millions are faithful and are loving the Pope and his teachings. But there are also some TRAITORS. Your prophets have been suspended and were prohibited to teach in Catholic Schools because of their INFIDELITY TO THE TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH.
I PREFER TO SIDE WITH THE POPE AND WITH THE SAINTS THAN WITH YOUR PROPHETS. IF THERE ARE PEOPLE WORTHY OF DEATH IT IS THEY WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN MURDERED NOT THE BABIES IN THE WOMB. BUT OF COURSE THE CHURCH RESPECTS THEM STILL HOPING THAT THEY WILL CHANGE THEIR WAYS, THUS, THE HIGHEST PENALTY OF EXCOMMUNICATIONS ARE NOT YET GIVEN THEM.
Well, concerning Literature, I have read many classic novels. I love to read the works of Agatha Christie and Sir Conan Doyle because at the end the murderers are discovered and are brought to Justice. It is a pity that nowadays murderers of Babies in the Womb are supported by many governments of the world especially those whose culture are pagans and atheistic in origin. I love the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein too. Just to make you smile I love the Harry Potter series. And it is very interesting that the Dark Lord in the story is named Voldemort. I believe that the name is a French result of the words Vult [Will] and Mors [Death]. So Voldemort is one who wills death for others. The abortionists are Voldemorts.
No matter how good a book is if it will teach me to accept abortion then it looses its appeal to me.
Dear Abe,
ReplyDeletethank you very much for your lesson. However, it seems to me that you are a big contradiction. You defend life at all cost when it is in the womb, and then you are ready to kill people, such as the modern prophets, because you don't agree with their opinions. This is the typical Catholic position: life is sacred when in the womb, and then it is not so sacred anymore. However, reading the Gospel today I stumbled in this passage of Mark 14,21 "Better for that man if he had never been born" that could tell us that even Jesus was open to a possible "pro-choice" position.
By the way, I keep praying for You and for your Major Superiors.
Ha,ha,ha... My dear anonymous... So you consider that line as my willingness to kill your modern prophets, eh. Let me present my quote again:
ReplyDelete"I PREFER TO SIDE WITH THE POPE AND WITH THE SAINTS THAN WITH YOUR PROPHETS. IF THERE ARE PEOPLE WORTHY OF DEATH IT IS THEY WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN MURDERED NOT THE BABIES IN THE WOMB. BUT OF COURSE THE CHURCH RESPECTS THEM STILL HOPING THAT THEY WILL CHANGE THEIR WAYS, THUS, THE HIGHEST PENALTY OF EXCOMMUNICATIONS ARE NOT YET GIVEN THEM."
Now, I stated there that I prefer the babies to be born and those who should have been murdered are your prophets yet I added that the Church respects them still. I do not advocate killing your prophets because I NEVER KILLED ANYONE and God willing will die free of that sin. Your modern prophets are willing to kill babies in the womb and SO YOU ARE yet you turn blind to that. I even listed terrorism and other crime as evil that are contrary to the faith yet you will use as an argument that I wanted them dead. What I simply meant was I prefer that the Innocent be given the opportunity to live than those modern heretics - TRAITORS TO THE FAITH AND PROPAGATORS OF MURDERS IN THE WOMB. [Pro-Choice, you are beautifying the actions that are intrinsically evil... ITS KILLING OF BABIES IN THE WOMB... ITS MURDER...]
Now, going to your Biblical quote: "It is better for that man not have been born..." Let me give some points:
1. The Lord Jesus refers to Judas the Traitor.
2. The Lord with All His Power, Omnipotent Power in fact, ALLOWED JUDAS TO BE BORN AND DIDN'T ABORT HIM contrary to your position.
3. Throughout all his life the Lord showed Judas kindness in order to attract him to the side of light.
Now, which position is supported by the text? PRO-LIFE OR PRO-MURDER OF INFANTS IN THE WOMB? OBVIOUSLY THE LORD HAS CHOSEN TO GIVE LIFE EVEN TO HIS FUTURE TRAITOR AND EXECUTIONERS. How much more to INNOCENT CHILDREN. How much more to the Infants in the Child of the MOther.
Thank you for your prayers. I will continuesly pray for you too. And I will intensify my prayers all the more for the victory of life over the evil of Abortion which is Pagan in origin.
Concerning my Major Superiors, we are all PRO-LIFE because our Founder St. Jerome Emiliani was defender and protector of the weak and needy and orphan Children. Our General Council chose December 28 Feast of the Holy Innocents as Somascan Day to combat the evil of Abortion and Abuses of Children. That is the reason why I chose that date for my Presbyteral Ordination.
MAY THE LORD OF LIFE PROTECT AND DEFEND THE INFANTS IN THE WOMB AGAINST THE MURDERS PERPETRATED AGAINST THEM BY THE GOVERNMENTS, BY DOCTORS, BY THEIR OWN PARENTS... MAY THE HOLY SPIRIT DEFEAT THE HERETICAL TEACHINGS OF THOSE WHO CLAIM TO BE CATHOLIC THEOLOGIANS YET ARE TEACHING CONTRARY TO THE FAITH BY ADVOCATING THE EVIL OF ABORTION. AMEN!
Dear Abe, sorry for not replying earlier, but I was busy studying your founder. I think he was a free man and he was not afraid to think with his own brain. For example, in his prayer he writes: " Our dear father, our Lord Jesus Christ". It seems to me that he was not afraid to use his brain and to think out of the box. On the other hand, you, a follower of St. Jerome, are afraid to think with your brain and keep quoting the Vatican to justify your positions and ideas.
ReplyDeleteThen, it seems tho me that he was very open to lay people. In our Church women are still treated as second class citizens and they are denied of the gift of PRIESTHOOD. Why? Just because the Vatican says so!!!!!Please, let us be open to the gifts of the Spirit and value the ingenuity of the feminine spirit.
Lastly, your exegesis is a little bit poor and still follows the teaching of Vatican I (1870). The Greek language has 2 different words for Brother and Cousin, but the evangelist chooses the word "Brother". It is clear "why". Because Jesus had some brothers and sister and they were known at the time of Jesus. Moreover, this is not against the profession of Faith that defines our Catholicity.
I keep praying for you and your Major Superiors.
May St. Jerome enlighten and open your heart!!!!
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYour new comment requires a new post because you went out of Abortion and escalated the exchange into various topics.
hmmm, well i think that those who are pro abortion are those who believe that we humans are animals. only animals do abortion, NOT HUMANS!!!
ReplyDeleteDear Diocese of Imus,
ReplyDeleteAMEN TO THAT! Worst than Animals the pro Abortions are.
This discussion is not the end of it. Please read the continuation.
dear Fr. Abe,
ReplyDeletei'am happy that i found ur blog...
please continue defending the TRUTH
Dear girl collee student,
ReplyDeletePraise be the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Life-Giver, for leading you to this blog.
Thank you for your support and please pray for our apostolates.
God bless you.
i enjoy about to your discussion regarding abortion keep up the good work we love you father Abe from the CFD USEP
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Bro. Jeffrey.
ReplyDeleteI love CFD Davao and especially the young apologists of USEP. I've been there. Just now I'm chatting with Bro. Ryan Mejillano.
God bless you.