The World, The Flesh, & The Devil – Killing for Sex!
Cont’d… (from previous article - The Two Standards – Whom Do You Choose To Serve)
Belief in God changes everything. A true knowledge of God and acceptance of His teachings causes us to want to be like Him. The question arises, “how can we know God so that we can try to be like Him?”.
Natural reason will lead an honest man to accept the fact that there must be a supreme being who is behind the created world that we observe. To claim that the variety that we witness in the universe and on earth, with all of the interdependencies that we observe, came about spontaneously without a sentient intelligence behind it, is contrary to reason and to the scientific method. This supreme being we call God.
The question of God’s existence has been debated by men for centuries. St Thomas Aquinas gives five proofs of God’s existence. He begins by looking at three questions.
1. Whether the existence of God is self-evident?
2. Whether it can be demonstrated that God exists?
3. Whether God exists?
The five proofs come from this third question and St Thomas says that, “The existence of God can be proved in five ways.”
1. The proof from motion.
2. The proof from the nature of the efficient cause
3. The proof from possibility and necessity
4. The proof from the gradation to be found in things.
5. The proof from order or from the governance of the world.
I have made a video which goes into more detail about the five proofs and this can be viewed by clicking the image below.
Natural reason leads us to the existence of God but it does not tell us very much about who or what God is. Man is a contingent being. There is no apparent reason for us to exist and so man, using his own intellect, cannot penetrate the mystery of God, Who is man’s creator. Man can simply accept the fact that he exists and not be bothered about the philosophical and theological questions concerning God, but, it is in the God given nature of man to question his existence and thus we find that a religious sentiment exists in every culture.
The only way for man to gain a true insight into and a knowledge of God is for God to reveal Himself to man. Both Judaism and Catholicism claim that God has indeed revealed Himself to man through Sacred Scripture and that God tells us about Himself in the various supernatural encounters that are recorded therein.
We learn the fundamental knowledge about God from the book of Genesis. God created the material world out of nothing. God created man in His own image and likeness. God created man for Himself. God created man for a purpose – “increase and multiply and fill the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) Man gives glory to God through fulfilling his purpose. God created man with free will. God put man’s free will to the test by instructing him not to eat the fruit of a certain tree. Man, through his own free will, prompted by the temptation of the serpent, disobeyed God. The fall of man, which Catholics call Original Sin, had grave consequences. God promised to redeem man from His fall. Speaking to the serpent, God says:
“I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.”
Catholics believe that the woman who will crush the head of the serpent is Our Lady who brought forth Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate.
The Old Testament tells the story of the chosen people of God from the fall up until the birth of Jesus Christ. The New Testament tells the story of the life of Jesus Christ and of the early events in the life of the Catholic Church. The Jews rejected Jesus Christ as Messiah refusing to believe that He was God.
This is a very brief synopsis of the history of mankind and of God’s designs for man from the Catholic perspective.
As I said at the beginning, belief in God changes everything. When we realise that the world we inhabit did not come into existence by chance, but was created by an intelligent being, it changes the way one sees the world.
Take a simple example, H2O. Two atoms of hydrogen combined with one atom of oxygen gives us the water molecule. Water freezes at a certain temperature. Water boils at a certain temperature. Water turns into steam and forms clouds. Water falls from the clouds as rain. When the conditions are right, water forms into frost and into icicles. Ice floats, which is very important for aquatic life. If ice sank, lakes would freeze from the bottom up thus leaving no water in liquid form for aquatic life to survive in winter. In other conditions water forms into snow. All of these properties did not come about by chance, they came about through the Will of God. They are by the design of the creator. With the advent of photography and microscopes the incredible designs of a simple snowflake became visible to man. Here are just two images from the Wilson Bentley (1865 – 1931) photography collection. Bentley claimed that no two snowflakes are identical.
The beauty and order that we witness in a simple snowflake teach us about the greatness of God. Those who deny God’s existence miss out on the magnificent glory of God’s creation. They also miss that life has a purpose.
All of the attributes of water reveal something of the power of God to us. Man cannot survive without water. This too is part of God’s deliberate design for creation. All creation exists through the power of God’s Holy Will. God has a definite purpose for the universe that He created and He has given mankind a particular role within that purpose. God also speaks to us through the universe that He created. As St Paul tells us regarding those who reject God.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and to the Greek. For the justice of God is revealed therein, from faith unto faith, as it is written: The just man lives by faith.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of those men that detain the truth of God in injustice: Because that which is known of God is manifest in them. For God hath manifested it unto them.
For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; his eternal power also, and divinity: so that they are inexcusable.
Because that, when they knew God, they have not glorified him as God, or given thanks; but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. For professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of four footed beasts, and of creeping things.” (Romans 1:16-23)
In the last article we noted that Original Sin changed everything. Original Sin was only possible if man had free will. Man’s free will is itself a gift from God, but, because man’s nature is fallen and because man has free will, there will always be contradictions in the world between those who believe in God and those who reject God. There will also be divisions within the communities of believers and of non-believers. The devil, who took the form of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, is called the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. The devil seeks to destroy man’s eternal happiness with Jesus Christ in Heaven, however, the devil seeks to hide his true purpose from mankind. The devil is still “more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made.” (Genesis 3:1)
Jesus Christ is “the Way, the Truth and the Life.” (John 14:6)
As mentioned in the last article on the “Two Standards”, each of us is faced with two choices. To serve God or to serve the devil. There can be no compromise between the two and one of the major difficulties in this era of ours is that it is an age of compromise. We are told that we should not offend anybody by anything that we say or do. But what if others are offended when we simply strive to live Catholic lives and to proclaim the truth? Should we abandon the practice of our Catholic faith in order not to offend?
I am reminded of the words of Fr Werenfried von Straaten, founder of Aid to the Church in Need in his spiritual guidelines.
“Today, in the religious press and even in churches and seminaries it is all too often not the Gospel of Jesus Christ but rather secular humanism or Marxist ideas that we hear proclaimed, and wide sections of the people of God - and especially the youth - have sunk back into religious ignorance. There can be no doubt, therefore, that we have a pastoral duty to perform towards our co-workers and benefactors who are called to practice love for the Church in need via our organisation.” (Fr Werenfried von Straaten – Spiritual Guidelines No. 14)
“In doing so, we should remember that Christ will always be a sign of contradiction. It is impossible to proclaim His Gospel in such a way that no-one is offended, except by suppressing certain truths. This is impermissible and can be of no advantage to our organisation. For anyone who writes or preaches in terms so veiled as not to offend will also be unable to console or to inspire. In today’s spiritual confusion, to which there is no end yet in sight, we must offer the faithful clarity, security, consolation and courage. Only then will those seeking God help us, with amazing generosity, to continue the work entrusted to us by the Church.” (Fr Werenfried von Straaten – Spiritual Guidelines No. 16 – emphasis added)
It can be clearly observed that many of the Catholics of our time prefer to suppress certain truths rather than risk offending other people. This in turn leads to laxity in the practice of the Catholic faith and leads certain Catholics into erroneously believing that some of the dogmatic teachings of the Catholic Church are optional guidelines. In these situations, we can almost hear the voice of the serpent saying, “no you shall not die the death if you do not follow this dogmatic teaching precisely, for God knows that the day you shall disobey this definitive teaching of the Catholic Church, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.” (paraphrase of Genesis 3:4-5)
Many Catholics believe that nobody goes to Hell or they do not believe in Hell. The devil knows better than these ‘nice’ Catholics. We cannot say with any great certainty how many souls are in Hell or whether or not a particular person, who was guilty of great evils in their lives, ended up in Hell. We can, however, say with certainty, because it is a dogmatic Catholic teaching, that anyone who dies in a state of unrepented mortal sin, goes to Hell. May God in His mercy spare us from such a fate.
Because God is all good and because we know that God created us for a particular purpose, we also know that to go against the goodness of God is to commit evil. This brings me back to the previous article and the subject of contraception. Let us look again at what the Catholic Church teaches regarding the use of contraception. We quoted the following passages in the previous article.
"But no reason, however grave, may be put forward by which anything intrinsically against nature may become conformable to nature and morally good. Since, therefore, the conjugal act is destined primarily by nature for the begetting of children, those who in exercising it deliberately frustrate its natural power and purpose sin against nature and commit a deed which is shameful and intrinsically vicious.
Small wonder, therefore, if Holy Writ bears witness that the Divine Majesty regards with greatest detestation this horrible crime and at times has punished it with death. As St. Augustine notes, "Intercourse even with one's legitimate wife is unlawful and wicked where the conception of the offspring is prevented. Onan, the son of Juda, did this and the Lord killed him for it."" (Pope Pius XI - Casti Conubii 54-55)
"Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation — whether as an end or as a means." (Pope Paul VI - Humanae Vitae 14)
"Consequently, it is a serious error to think that a whole married life of otherwise normal relations can justify sexual intercourse which is deliberately contraceptive and so intrinsically wrong." (Pope Paul VI - Humanae Vitae 14)
Pope Saint John Paul II, in his Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris Consortio says the following.
“When couples, by means of recourse to contraception, separate these two meanings that God the Creator has inscribed in the being of man and woman and in the dynamism of their sexual communion, they act as "arbiters" of the divine plan and they "manipulate" and degrade human sexuality - and with it themselves and their married partner - by altering its value of "total" self-giving. Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality.” (Pope John Paul II - Familiaris Consortio 32)
Couples who contracept replace the Will of God with the will of man. They substitute trust in God’s Divine providence for their family to trust in the contraceptive manufacturers who do not cared about their family. The designs of the creator are thwarted by the creature and new children are denied the gift of life. This harms the marital relationship and closes it to the gifts of God.
Jesus Christ tells us that no man can serve two masters and further clarifies that one cannot serve both God and mammon. (Matthew 6:24)
When one looks at the true purpose of contraception, to engage in sexual activity whilst denying the God given purpose of that sexual activity, it should be obvious that such actions against God will cause problems. The secondary aspect of sexual pleasure is elevated above the primary end of begetting children. Children are not wanted, but those involved in the sexual activity desire to avail of the pleasure. The desires of the flesh are elevated above the Will of God. God desires life and has given the gift of sexual pleasure in the service of life. Those contracepting seek to take that pleasure whilst denying the rights of God for which He created our sexuality.
Those who contracept put themselves at the service of the devil who is a liar and a murderer from the beginning. It should not really come as a surprise therefore, that those who promote contraception also promote murder through abortion. It is really astonishing that man becomes willing to murder the innocent in the pursuit of fleeting sexual gratification. Man also becomes a liar to justify the murder of innocent human beings because he does not want to give up the pursuit of illicit sexual pleasures. These murders are denied by claiming that what is aborted is not a human being. But the scientific evidence cries out the humanity of the unborn from the moment of fertilisation.
Widespread contraceptive use also leads to the betrayal of spouses through infidelity. Prior to the widespread availability of contraception, the possibility of pregnancy was a sufficient deterrent to curb extra marital and other illicit sexual affairs.
Widespread contraceptive use has brought about an exponential increase in sexual activity outside of marriage, which is also contrary to God’s purpose. This is turn has led to huge increases in the number of children that are born outside of wedlock.
All of this undermines the belief that children are a gift from God. Many children come to be seen as accidents - the result of failed contraception – and are thus unwanted. Children become a burden and respect for life diminishes. This lack of respect for life cannot be contained to the unwanted children. Once the principal that life is sacred is denied through contraception followed by abortion, it is only a matter of time before other groups become dispensable. The handicapped and the elderly are prime examples. In both Ireland and the UK, legislation is being prepared under the false name of “assisted dying”. The deliberate killing of the handicapped, the elderly and the infirm is now presented as helping them to die. The father of lies will always be a murderer and will always promote the killing of the innocent.
Another often overlooked aspect of contraception is the service of mammon. Those who manufacture contraceptives need a ‘market’ for their products in order to make financial profits. They thus encourage any and all sexual activity through sex-education programmes and so-called youth initiatives. They attack the Catholic Church for its opposition to their products.
One response of those who reject the Catholic Church’s condemnation of contraception as being intrinsically evil, is that “the Catholic Church has no place in the private bedrooms of those engaging in sexual activity”. The irony is, that those who make these scandalous remarks, have no problem with giving the contraceptive manufacturers intimate access to their bodies in ways which often cause harm. The abortionists and abortion pill manufacturers are also given the most intimate access to a woman’s body destroying the great gift of children created in the image and likeness of almighty God.
Contraception, because it is opposed to life and therefore opposed to God, directly leads to the destruction of any society where its use becomes widespread. The foundation of any civilised society is the family as designed by God. One man, destined to become a father, one woman, destined to become a mother, and their biological children. You cannot build a society on any other foundation than the natural family and, because contraception attacks the family at its very life giving core, this is why it destroys society.
No man can serve two masters. Either we place ourselves in the service of God and therefore at the service of life, or, we place ourselves in the service of the devil and bring about death.
The Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Christ, is at the service of God. It is the only path given directly by God, under a new covenant written in the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, which leads souls to Heaven.
May Our Lady watch over us and guide us to her Son Jesus Christ through the sacraments of the One, Holy and Apostolic Catholic Church.
May God bless you
John Lacken