The Meaning of Catholic

The Pentecost Octave
Monday: Pope St. Gregory VII (“I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile.”) - Mary, Mater Ecclesia (the title that Lefebvre et al. demanded at Vatican II)
Tuesday: St. Pilip Neri
Wed-Thurs: St. Augustine of Canterbury
Friday: Pope St. Paul VI
Saturday: St. Joan of Arc
Sunday: Byzantine All Saints / Trinity Sunday - Queenship of Mary
Mariology and Ecclesiology:
Mary: The Church at the Source with Dom Dalmasso
Maria, Mater Ecclesiae with Dominique Dalmasso



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At the Pentecost Octave, the Church celebrates an end and a beginning. It is the close of the Paschal cycle, which celebrates the close of the Old Covenant. This is the beginning of the Time after Pentecost, celebrating the birth of the Church under the New Covenant not of the letter, but of the Spirit (II Cor. iii. 6).
From Advent to Christmas to Lent, Easter, and the Ascension, Our Lord accomplished the work of establishing the New Kingdom of God. We may recall here the words of the Epistle at the Ascension: The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, of all things which Jesus began to do and to teach (Acts i. 1). From Advent to Pentecost, Our Lord’s work was only beginning. And again His Majesty has declared: Amen, amen I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do; and greater than these shall he do, because I go to the Father (Jn. xiv. 12). Therefore we see in Pentecost and thereafter the work of Jesus Christ continued in His Body, the Church. Just as Our Lord was incarnate of the Holy Spirit, so too we sinners, like Mary Immaculate, say “fiat”: let it be done to me according to thy word (Lk. i. 38)
We may speak, then, of the Season of Advent and Christmas of a season of the virtue of hope — first, of Our Lord’s coming in the flesh (and at the end of time), then in His infancy, the hope of His salvation to the world. This closes the season with Simeon’s words of hope in the last words of the Gospel at Candlemas: A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel (Lk. ii. 32). This phrase points to Pentecost, as we shall see.
Through Lent, Passiontide, Paschaltide, and the Ascension, we recite the most important events in our creed, thus we see an emphasis on faith. This is the foundation of our hope for eternal salvation, since our King accomplished the work of despoiling the prince of darkness in order to establish his rule. This work is the object of our faith. For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For, with the heart, we believe unto justice; but, with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation (Rom. x. 9–10). This faith must believe unto justice in order to be a saving faith; as His Majesty said, he that believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do. We have been strengthened in our foundation, and now we must work.
Thus we find in Pentecost the longest season of the year, named for the Gift of God, the Holy Ghost. As we will discuss in the next chapter, the Holy Spirit is particularly identified with Charity. He is Charity Himself, who directs the Church corporally and individually in every Christian. This direction is so that the faith and hope engendered may not be sterile in the Christian soul, but may produce charity. These are the greater works of Jesus Christ. Neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision: but faith that worketh by charity (Gal. v. 6), and again, if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing (I Cor. xiii. 2).
It is by this charity of the Holy Ghost that Jesus Christ becomes the light of revelation to the Gentiles. Our Lord Himself closed His ministry at Jerusalem, having only occasional contact with the Gentile world. But His Majesty said, I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth (Jn. xvi. 12). There were indeed many things Our Lord knew could not be borne by the apostles at that time. But the Holy Spirit, Who is Charity, enkindled at Pentecost that “fire within us that should never be quenched,” as Guéranger puts it. This fire of charity burned for souls, first among the Jews and then among the Gentiles. It was this fire of charity that made the Jewish Christians not scorn the heathen converts at Antioch, but marvel at the mercy of God: having heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying: God then hath also to the Gentiles given repentance unto life (Acts xi. 18).
It is not the earthly kingdom of Israel that is established by the Holy Ghost. He establishes the reign of Christ the King in the Kingdom of God. As Augustine says, “two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self.”[1] Thus it is in the Holy Ghost, Who is Charity, that the reign of Christ is made effective. An early Greek variant in the text of the Our Father according to St. Luke replaces thy kingdom come with “thy Spirit come upon us and sanctify us.”[2] And again the King says, The kingdom of God is within you (Lk. xvii. 21), and again if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the kingdom of God come upon you (Mt. xxii. 28).
Since this Kingdom is founded on Charity Himself, not on force of arms like the Muhammadan false kingdom, it is truly within you. It is when the soul freely accepts the Gospel that the King drives out the devils from her, that He may reign by the Spirit of God. But, as we discussed about Ascensiontide, if this Kingdom of God is just in our hearts, then we have accepted a Gnostic dualism and abandoned Christ crucified in the flesh.
Rather, the Kingdom of God is a fundamentally political loyalty. He is the King of Kings. The heathen or Jewish convert forsakes his former blasphemy — we have no king but Caesar (Jn. xix. 15) — and by the Holy Ghost says Jesus Christ is Lord (I Cor. xii. 3). Caesar belongs to his true Lord, and he also must be made subject to His awful majesty, our great God and savior, Jesus Christ (Tit. ii. 13). Give to God what is God’s (Mk. xii. 17) — and our King has taken possession of His universal Kingdom by the Holy Ghost. Therefore, give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but give Caesar himself to the One to Whom he belongs.
Our King came to set fire upon the earth (Lk. xii. 49), and this is the fire of charity in the Holy Ghost, by Whom the nations are made subject freely to the true King, the Gospel of His reign is announced, and souls are freed from slavery to the empire of death (Heb. ii. 15). Therefore, say ye among the Gentiles, the Lord hath reigned. For he hath corrected the world, which shall not be moved: he will judge the people with justice (Ps. xcv. 10). For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens (Ps. xcv. 5). Repent and bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to the Lord glory and honour… Let all the earth be moved at his presence (Ps. xcv. 8–9). May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee (Ps. cxxxvii. 4). And may the Church say: We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and who wast, and who art to come: because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and thou hast reigned (Apoc. xi. 17). Not with an army, nor by might, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zech. iv. 6).
This is an excerpt from the book When the Gates of Hell Prevail: What Catholics do in Dark Times by T. S. Flanders.
[1] St. Augustine, City of God, Book 14, ch. 28.
[2] Nestle-Aland, eds. Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1986), 195.


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SUNDAY - St. Paschal Baylon
MONDAY - It’s Still the Octave! (Novus Ordo collect is beautiful for mental prayer)- St. Eric and the Northern Crusade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Erik
TUESDAY - On terrible and Saintly Popes (Pope St. Celestine V) - “It is wonderful how many serious mistakes the simple old man crowded into five short months. We have no full register of them, because his official acts were annulled by his successor. On the 18th of September he created twelve new cardinals, seven of whom were French, and the rest, with one possible exception, Neapolitans, thus paving the road to Avignon and the Great Schism. …In consequence, the affairs of the Curia fell into extreme disorder.” https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03479b.htm
WEDNESDAY - St. Bernardine of Siena and the HOLY NAME
THURSDAY - Ss. Constantine of Helena, Equal to the Apostles - St. Eugène de Mazenod (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_de_Mazenod) - St. Cristóbal Magallanes and companions - for forgave his murders and his last words were: “I die innocent, and ask God that my blood may serve to unite my Mexican brethren.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crist%C3%B3bal_Magallanes
FRIDAY - St. Rita of Cascia - patron saint of impossible causes
SATURDAY - Pentecost Vigil (the Novus Ordo Missae is actually more traditional than the 1962 Missal in this case!)
SUNDAY - Pentecost 3rd Greatest Feast of the Church


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***HOMEWORK REQUIRED***
Introduction to Scotism with Fr. Christiaan Kappes
No Salvation Outside Thomism? with Dr. Matthew Minerd
* “Have you Tried Scotus?” by Peter Simpson
* “Duns Scotus in the Present Moment of the Church” by Charles Balic
* The Collected Essays of Peter Damian Fehlner ---Meaning of Catholic is a collaborative lay apostolate dedicated to uniting Catholics against the enemies of holy Church through the domestic church, catechetics, and the public promotion of truth and charity.


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The advent of the internet has opened wide possibilities to human communication, increasing man’s ability to do great good and also great evil. I myself was converted to the faith through contact with Catholics on the internet. This fact about the internet has helped spread the Gospel to souls who would be otherwise cut off from the message (we think here in particular those under Muhammadan domination). In recent times we have seen the great silver lining of the lockdown in exposing many more Catholics to the Traditional Latin Mass.
Social media, however, was designed by its creators to psychologically manipulate its users into an addiction. As Facebook co-founder Sean Parker admits they were “exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology...we understood this consciously and we did this anyway.” This was done through a system designed to affect every person on a fundamental level. Social Media amplifies the natural response to human interaction, twisting it into a packaged, consumable unit of good feelings, and mass producing the effects a hundredfold. One sees the remarkable effects of this in any public place. The vast majority of people are sitting, standing, or walking around with their eyes fixed on a piece of metal with a light. Without a doubt a man from the 1950s seeing this would think he had walked into a dystopian science fiction novel.
Growth in Effeminacy
Social Media works by giving consolations and then creating attachments to these consolations through “likes,” “retweets,” and “followers.” This may seem unbelievable, but try paying attention to how you feel when you receive these throughout the day. Try putting your phone down for an entire day and see if you feel an urge to pick it up again to check for notifications. Most people feel an urge to pick up their phone and check within seconds of having any free time.
Attachments to these consolations leads to the vice of effeminacy, which is a reluctance to suffer due to an attachment to pleasure (II-II q138 a1). This attachment is the foundation of Social Media’s popularity and also its ability to be the cause of spiritual ruin. For the embracing of suffering is at the heart of the Gospel. Thus our Lord says whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple (Lk. 14:27). The Imitation of Christ declares “He wishes you to learn to bear trial without consolation, to submit yourself wholly to Him that you may become more humble through suffering” (Bk. II, ch. 2).
This suffering can range from small nuisances to overwhelming duress. We encounter suffering when we encounter other people because other people inevitably irritate us or inconvenience us. They have different opinions, manners or speech. We have to change our behavior for their sake to show them courtesy and respect. Some people are rude, unkind and even corrupted with evil. But suffering with the insufferable is the mark of a Christian.
But to one who is effeminate and attached to pleasures found in the world of Social Media, it becomes difficult to suffer with others. Social Media takes away the normal face-to-face interaction that we have with humans ordinarily. Thus it is easy to hurl insults at another person without saying it to their face, which would normally deter this sort of behavior. One can even do so anonymously online without any apparent consequence. But make no mistake, our Lord says Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it on the day of judgment (Matt. 12:36).
The Mortal Sin of Reviling
This brings us to the less obvious spiritual peril of Social Media. On the one hand, we are aware of the obvious spiritual peril of pornography and other such evils, but many Catholics may be surprised to read what St. Thomas says about reviling. This sin consists of publicly bringing dishonor to a person using words.
Now railing or reviling deserves the punishment of hell, according to Mt. 5:22, “Whosoever shall say to his brother . . . Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” Therefore railing or reviling is a mortal sin.
...Since then railing or reviling essentially denotes a dishonoring, if the intention of the utterer is to dishonor the other man, this is properly and essentially to give utterance to railing or reviling: and this is a mortal sin no less than theft or robbery, since a man loves his honor no less than his possessions. If, on the other hand, a man says to another a railing or reviling word, yet with the intention, not of dishonoring him, but rather perhaps of correcting him or with some like purpose, he utters a railing or reviling not formally and essentially, but accidentally and materially...Hence this may be sometimes a venial sin, and sometimes without any sin at all. Nevertheless there is need of discretion in such matters, and one should use such words with moderation, because the railing might be so grave that being uttered inconsiderately it might dishonor the person against whom it is uttered. In such a case a man might commit a mortal sin, even though he did not intend to dishonor the other man: just as were a man incautiously to injure grievously another by striking him in fun, he would not be without blame (II-II q72 a2).
Here one may ask, what does it mean to dishonor a man? It is the opposite of honoring someone, which means to bear witness to the excellence of someone through signs or words (II-II q103 a1). Thus “honor” is a verb for manners and respect. Dishonor means to detract from the respect that someone deserves by virtue of who they are. St. James expresses it this way:
The tongue no man can tame, an unquiet evil, full of deadly poison. By it we bless God and the Father: and by it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be (Ja. 3:8-10).
Man is made after the likeness of God, and therefore he is deserving of honor and respect by his nature. St. Thomas points out that with or without the intention of doing dishonor, reviling can be a mortal sin. Social media, through its constructed system of consolations and attachments, is able to facilitate a world of reviling without consequence but rather reward. St. Thomas says that “there is need of discretion in such matters, and one should use such words with moderation.” But such things as these are not rewarded by the Social Media system, and there is always a temptation to revile another man in order to gain the virtual accolades of others. This has led many to enter into foolhardy disputes that would rarely occur in person, leading to spiritual and eternal peril.
Avoid Being a Slave
Taking these things into consideration, it is essential that every soul learns to avoid slavery to Social Media in order to grow spiritually. Everyone needs to practice detachment from consolations, and that’s why we have fasting and abstinence. Every earthly consolation needs to be moderated so that our spiritual lives may not be hindered nor our souls fall into any kind of sin. This is true with food no less than phone notifications. Therefore it is fundamental to our spiritual lives to create space for detachments to pleasures such as Social Media.
One method is to take one day per week, perhaps Sunday, to put your phone down and never pick it up for notifications until the following day. This may be hard at first, but this will only reveal how much you are attached to your phone. Another method is disciplining yourself to only look at your phone during certain times of the day.
Another consideration is this: does this Social Media help me grow in my spiritual life? Am I more zealously fulfilling the duties of my state in life by using this app? If the answer to these is no, why not delete the app? If there is no profit to your soul, but rather detriment, then it is not worth it.
Furthermore, do an examination of conscience: am I showing proper honor to others online, or do I fall into the sin of reviling? Can I tame my tongue or is it let loose by Social Media? As we have seen, the saints have strong words for this issue, and it is not to be taken lightly. Even as secular and ecclesiastical politics continue to provide opportunities for disputes, we must hold fast to truth as well as to charity, so that we may not find ourselves in spiritual ruin.
If we can manage the negative effects of Social Media by God’s grace, the technology can then be used for God’s greater glory and the salvation of souls. This is the path that many saints have trodden before, as they used the new technology of their day to spread the Gospel and assist the Church. Let us be sons of our Holy Fathers, and, having purified ourselves from attachments and sin, let us take up this tool to use it for God’s glory, and not our own. Not to us, O Lord, not to us; but to thy name give glory (Ps. 113:9).
Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash


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