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Question

Your site really is a blessing for us Catholics.

Nowadays there are no values, young people today have no ideals, they have no desire to do anything. I am a Communist, for example, and I think there are no more old-time Communists who engage in serious struggles.

If God has issued laws, then why does nobody obey them? In the world there are still those who kill, those who steal, those who make war.

I disagree with granting forgiveness to those who kill, I think those who kill deserve death.

On the other hand, in life one must always be proud of himself, work and make a beautiful family with children, teaching them to have a positive view of life, because one must live always smiling and never getting discouraged, not like those who live alone, selfishly and with a careless attitude. If they don’t have any children, who will care for them once they get old? Those who don’t build a family have no ideals. How wasted are many young, and not-so-young, people!

I never say blasphemy. In my opinion, what matters is not going to Mass, because even the criminals do it. I know a lot of people who attend Mass and then never socialize with anyone, are bad-tempered and can’t even bear close relatives including siblings.

Then I find it hypocritical not to  eat meat on Fridays, except when Friday is a feast day. Many go to Mass just because they think of themselves as sinners, and this is not good.

Then I don’t understand why I should give more importance to a saint who I don’t know rather than my mother who loved me and whom I loved.

Anyway, in life one must be honest, make his own living without annoying anyone and always smile, given that sooner or later we die and everything ends. That is why I regard myself as a Catholic. I am in favour of abortion when the purpose is saving the mother’s life. I am also in favour of euthanasia too. What’s the point of living if you are stuck in a bed? Then I can’t bear homosexuals, they hate family and they should all be locked up in an asylum.

Many priests visit rich people’s houses only because they know they will receive generous rewards.

Have a nice evening.

Dear,

1.       In your email you’ve raised a lot of points, but I only agree with some.

I will only talk about those regarding Mass, otherwise the answer would be too long.

You write: What matters is not going to Mass, because even the criminals do it.

There is obviously no logic in this statement.

I could tell you: What matters is not eating, because even the criminals do it!

2.       You could object: so what? Eating is a necessity.

Going to Mass is a necessity too.

If in the third commandment God said “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”, that means that it is something of prime importance.

St. Thomas Aquinas says that in this commandment there’s a precept that is at least partly of natural law, and for this reason it is absolutely needed so that a person may take full responsibility for himself, in order to know the meaning of his life and especially the goal for which he/she must prepare.

We are in this life clearly in order to prepare for another one.

3.       So, here’s what St. Thomas says: “The precept about hallowing the Sabbath, understood literally, is partly moral (i. e. of natural law) and partly ceremonial (i. e. of positive law).

It is a moral precept as man should set aside time in his life for divine things. 

For there is in man a natural inclination to set aside a certain time for each necessity, such as refreshment of the body, sleep, and so forth. Hence according to what reason commands, man sets aside a certain time for spiritual refreshment, by which man’s mind is refreshed in God. And thus to have a certain time set aside for occupying oneself with Divine things is the matter of a moral precept.

But, in so far as this precept specializes the time as a sign representing the Creation of the world, it is a ceremonial precept (positive law)”. (S. Th. II-II, 122, 4, ad 1).

4. If you don’t keep the Lord’s day holy you miss the spiritual refreshment, because you don’t refresh your mind in God, you don’t satiate your soul with God.

Implicitly there’s a lot of haughtiness in not keeping holy the Lord’s day by not going to Mass.

It’s like saying: I am self-sufficient. I don’t need to satiate myself with God.

In this way you voluntarily deprive yourself of his light.

You deprive yourself of His most precious sacrifice. Regarding this, do you know that during the Mass the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is made present on the altar for the benefit of the faithful?

You deprive yourself of the Holy Communion which, if received in a state of Grace, is sublime.

Those who live in Communion with Jesus Christ can’t live without Sunday or the Mass.

5.       If some criminals also go to Mass, what is that to do with you? 

Should you deprive yourself of Christ because criminals go to Mass too?

The same logic is applicable to those who don’t socialize.

Are defects or imperfections of others reasons good enough to say that you don’t need to keep holy the Lord’s day?

6.   You’ve done another assertion about the Mass: Many go to Mass just because they think of themselves as sinners, and this isn’t good.

There’s one thing I am sure of: if you went to Mass regularly as God has ordered, then you would be more generous towards others.

The reason for going to Mass is not because we feel sinners. The reason for going to Mass is to fulfill our soul with God.Further, one should wonder: is it wrong to feel we are sinners? Isn’t this the condition to feel humbler in front  of God and others?

7.       You see, by going to Mass, by satiating us with God, by letting ourselves to be enlightened by his light, you keep vividly alive the outlines of good and evil.

By remaining far from God, the sense of sin fades.

Maybe among those who don’t attend Mass there’s somebody who is surprised to know that skipping Mass without a grave reason is a mortal sin. Such sin will need to be mentioned in Confession.

These kinds of people are surprised because they have forgotten the final purpose of all our efforts.

8.       Another brief consideration: You say that you find hypocritical he who doesn’t eat meat on Fridays, except when Friday is a feast day.

Why is this practice hypocritical?

Sure, if one doesn’t know the meaning of the feast nor the meaning of the Friday, he will consider this as hypocritical.

However, instead of making a judgment it would be far better to learn about this practice in order to live at best the mystery of Christ in our own life.

Do you know what this means?

Do you know what mystery means?

Do you know what the mystery of Christ is?

Do you know what it means to live it in our own life?

If you knew it, you wouldn’t say that he who observes abstinence on Friday, unless it’s a feast day,is a hypocrite.

I hope that I gave you some food for thought so that our site may be a blessing for you as well ( I warmly thank you for this appreciation), I heartily wish you every good, I remember you to the Lord and I bless you.

Fr. Angelo