Assessing the Pope's responsibility in the chastisement of coronavirus
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Summary
The Pope says that we have the Coronavirus, and that it's the result of Mother Nature getting angry at us for not doing enough to protect the environment. But Fr. James Martin says that s not what the Bible teaches.
Transcript
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Welcome to the John Henry Weston Show. You've heard by now that Pope Francis has
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scandalously said that we have the coronavirus thanks to nature being angry
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with us for not protecting the environment. Plenty of other modernist
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prelates, such as Father James Martin, have spouted similar things in the last
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few weeks, but Cardinal Burke, Bishop Schneider, and many saints and popes of
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the past, not to mention our Lord himself, have said differently. Stay tuned.
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always do with the sign of the cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
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and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. When I first heard that Pope Francis had suggested that
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the coronavirus was the result of nature throwing a fit because we had failed to take care of the
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environment, I couldn't believe it was real. Surely, even though the Pope has been wrong
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on so many matters of faith, like contraception, cohabitation, divorce and remarriage, transgenderism,
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and so on, surely he couldn't have gone against scripture and tradition on the coronavirus calamity
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that has struck the earth. So, we made sure before we ran the story that we found the video
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of him actually saying it. And for those who may not yet have seen it or don't believe it,
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you can watch him say this now. It wasn't fake news.
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Curiosamente, hacÃa mucho tiempo que el planeta no estaba tan limpio. Puede que sea todo esto un ajuste
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de cuentas de la naturaleza con nosotros. Hay un dicho que seguramente vos lo conoces. Dios perdona siempre.
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Nosotros perdonamos de vez en cuando. La naturaleza no perdona nunca.
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Los incendios, las inundaciones, los terremotos. O sea, la naturaleza está pataleando
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para que nos hagamos cargo del cuidado de la naturaleza.
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Pope Francis, of course, wasn't the only one. Fr. James Martin, one of the most notorious promoters
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of heresy on the subject of homosexuality in the Church, castigated Cardinal Burke,
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who recalled in the wake of the onset of the virus that all evil results from sin.
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And I'll quote it for you. So don't listen to anyone, even clergy, who tell you that the
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coronavirus is a punishment for sins, either your sins, the sins of some group, in brackets,
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usually a group they oppose, or the world's sins. Jesus rejects this approach, he says.
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Jesus rejects three times the idea of a monstrous God who punishes people with illness or disability.
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This is not the God of the New Testament. Instead, Jesus accompanies us in our infirmities
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and for those in his time, heals them. End quote.
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This is utter nonsense and demonstrates or plays into a profound ignorance of Scripture and the
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Catholic faith. Firstly, all evil, death included, entered the world through sin, as we know from
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the letter of St. Paul to the Romans, chapter 5, verse 12. Cardinal Burke brought this fact up in
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the statement on the coronavirus that he made. He said, and I quote,
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There is no question that great evils like pestilence are an effect of original sin and of
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our actual sins. End quote. And that was the key quote about which Fr. Martin was complaining.
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But what about the scriptural account of Noah and the flood, which is all about God punishing the
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world for sin? The church has always taught, in line with the Holy Bible, that there are four sins
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which cry out to heaven for vengeance. As you can read in the Catechism of St. Pius X, speaking of
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willful murder, the sin of sodomy, oppression of the poor, and defrauding laborers of their wages,
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These sins are said to cry to God for vengeance because the Holy Ghost says so, and because their
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iniquity is so great and so manifest that it provokes God to punish them with the severest
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chastisements. End quote. And related to that, we have the account of Sodom and Gomorrah,
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which were destroyed as a consequence of their grievous sins, especially homosexual acts.
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And in case some like Fr. James Martin would suggest that this is all allegorical and untrue,
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Jesus himself talks about the punishment of Sodom. In Matthew 11.25, we read our Lord saying,
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End quote. And you, Capernaum, shall you be exalted up to heaven? You shall go down even
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to hell. For if in Sodom had been done the miracles that were done in you, perhaps it would have
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remained till this day. End quote. All throughout the scriptures, the New Testament included what are
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today called natural disasters that are related to God's displeasure. At Christ's death, there was a
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horrific earthquake, as we read in Matthew 27.51. Quote, Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in
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two from top to bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split. End quote. Jesus himself warns
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of divine punishments. He tells his apostles, as recorded in Luke chapter 10, to wipe off the dust
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from their sandals as a testimony to those cities which have rejected his teaching, and warns, and I
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quote, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable at that day for Sodom than for that city. End quote.
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And again, when Jesus heals the invalid man at the Bethesda pool, as recorded in John 5, he tells him,
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and I quote, Behold, you are made well, sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you. End quote.
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But let's get back to what the Pope said about this. Life Cites Mexico correspondent Matthew Hoffman
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points out that the Pope's attribution of the coronavirus pandemic to environmental damage
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is in keeping with the strongly environmentalist eco-theology he has been promoting during his
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pontificate since the publication of his encyclical Laudato Si' in 2015, and particularly at the recent
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synod of bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, which tended to displace spiritual concerns with
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environmental ones. Last November, the Pope said that he hoped to add the ecological sin against
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our common home to the Catholic Church, to the Catholic Church's catechism. His opinion of the
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origin of natural disasters as nature lashing out against man's environmental sins is echoed by
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Leonardo Boff, a dissenting liberal theologian who abandoned the Franciscan order and entered into a
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union with a woman after being censured by the Vatican for a tax on Catholic doctrine.
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Boff is a strong supporter of Pope Francis and has known him since the 1970s. In a recent article for
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a Brazilian magazine, Boff stated that the coronavirus pandemic is the revenge of Gaia, a personified planet
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Earth who has become outraged over environmental offenses and which he also calls the Great Mother.
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I believe that current diseases such as Deng, Chikunga, Zika virus, SARS, Ebola, measles, and the
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current coronavirus, and the widespread degradation of human relations marked by deep inequality, social
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injustice, and a lack of minimum solidarity, are a reprisal for Gaia, for the offenses we inflict on
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her without interruption, he added. He also said, it is not without reason that the virus has erupted
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where there is the most pollution. So it seems we're back to pagan idolatry of Mother Earth,
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also known as Gaia, also known as Pachamama. It's very clear in scripture that God hates idolatry.
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When the Israelites turned to idolatry while Moses was away on the mountain speaking with God,
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God was ready to destroy them all. But Moses pleaded for the people of Israel and appeased
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God's wrath, as you can read about in Exodus 32. It's worth noting that just before this virus broke
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out, the Pope allowed for idolatry in the Vatican. The Pachamama idolatry, which commenced with a pagan
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ceremony in the Vatican Gardens, which included prostration before a statue of Pachamama, which was
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later processed in St. Peter's Basilica, where the Pope and several cardinals said prayers before it,
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was condemned by cardinals, bishops, priests, and laity all over the world. In a letter to Pope Francis
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asking him to repent, which included the signature of Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the facts were laid
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out this way. On October 4th, Pope Francis attended an act of idolatrous worship of the pagan goddess
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Pachamama. He allowed this worship to take place in the Vatican Gardens, thus desecrating the vicinity
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of the graves of the martyrs and of the church of the apostle Peter. He participated in this act of
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idolatrous worship by blessing a wooden image of Pachamama. On October 7th, the idol of Pachamama
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was placed in front of the main altar at St. Peter's and then carried in procession to the synod hall.
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Pope Francis said prayers in a ceremony involving this image and then joined in this procession.
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When wooden images of this pagan deity were removed from the church of Santa Maria in Transpontina,
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where they had been sacrilegiously placed and thrown into the Tiber by Catholics outraged by this
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profanation of the church, Pope Francis on October 25th apologized for their removal and another wooden
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image of Pachamama was returned to the church. Thus a new profanation was initiated. On October 27th,
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in the closing mass for the synod, Pope Francis accepted a bowl used in the idolatrous worship of Pachamama
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and placed it on the altar. Cardinal Burke drew attention to this kind of idolatry in comments about
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the coronavirus, which you can find on LifeSite News. He said, and I quote,
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A person of faith cannot consider the present calamity in which we find ourselves without
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considering also how distant our popular culture is from God. It is not only indifferent to his
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presence in our midst, but openly rebellious toward him and the good order with which he has created us
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and sustains us in being. And Cardinal Burke added,
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We witness too, even within the church, a paganism which worships nature and the earth.
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He continued, There are those within the church who refer to the earth as our mother,
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as if we came from the earth and the earth is our salvation, but we come from the hand of God,
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creator of heaven and earth, end quote. There is another very interesting observation between
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God's punishment and recent controversies of Pope Francis. The Pope allowed sacrilegious
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communions, allowance for Holy Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics,
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which before the Pachamama idolatry was the most common concern about the Francis papacy.
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And this, this profanation of Holy Communion has a direct tie to God's punishment as laid out in
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the New Testament. I caught this in a 2015 interview of Bishop Athanasius Schneider with
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church militant Michael Voris, which predates the coronavirus. But watching it now seems prophetic.
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In speaking of God's punishment for sins, Bishop Schneider mentions several examples in scriptural
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history and the, and in the future, actually, that are related in the apocalypse of the book of
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Revelation. He also, however, speaking of the wrath of God or punishment of God, quotes the New Testament
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first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians chapter 11, which says, and I quote,
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whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be
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answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body,
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eat and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason, many of you are weak and ill,
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and some have died. Did you catch that? For this reason, many of you are weak and ill,
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and some have died. From what? From not eating and drinking the body and blood of the Lord worthily.
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Many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. Doesn't that sound like a perfect picture of what we're
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experiencing in this coronavirus pandemic? Many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
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But, is it really sane to imagine even some part of this plague is the result of Pope Francis's
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betrayal of our Lord? Well, actually, there is historical precedent for exactly such a thing.
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In the Old Testament, we read the story of the God-selected leader of his chosen people,
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King David, betraying God and the chastisement that fell on all the people because of it.
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The account is related in the second book of Samuel, chapter 24, in which we learn that David,
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pridefully enumerated, had a census of all the Israelites. But later, he knew he was wrong,
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and he confessed his sin to God, asking the Lord to remove his sin. And the Lord made it known to
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David, through the prophet Gad, that David was to choose which punishment would befall the people
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because of his sin. Here's how 2 Samuel 24, starting at verse 12, relates the story.
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Go and tell David, This is what the Lord says. I am giving you three options. Choose one of them
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for me to carry out against you. So Gad went to David and said to him, Shall there come on you
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three years of famine in your land, or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you,
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or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over, and decide how I should answer the
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one who sent me. David said to Gad, I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord,
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for his mercy is great. But do not let me fall into human hands. So the Lord sent a plague on
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Israel from that morning until the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to
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Beersheba died. When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented
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concerning the disaster, and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, Enough, withdraw your
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hand. End quote. Wow. In truth, however, we are all guilty of idolatry in some ways. How many times
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have we given in to lust, to gluttony, to pride, to anger, to laziness, to jealousy, or to greed?
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And it is our very sins, and especially those of abortion, lust, and sodomy, which have drawn down
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upon us the chastisement of God. And beyond coronavirus, there is a more severe punishment
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that has been afflicting the world for many decades now, but more acutely in recent days.
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St. John Eudes wrote in his book, The Priest, His Dignity and Obligations, that, and I quote,
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The most evident mark of God's anger and the most terrible castigation he can inflict upon the world
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are manifested when he permits his people to fall into the hands of clergy who are priests more in
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name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of raviting wolves rather than charity and affection
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of devoted shepherds. St. John Eudes added, When God permits such things, it is a very positive proof
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that he is thoroughly angry with his people and is visiting his most dreadful anger upon them. End quote.
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So, we can never say that God doesn't have control over what goes on in our world.
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He knows, he sees, and yes, he's even able to stop bad things from happening.
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However, by going against God's plan for the good of mankind, which is called sin,
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we push God out of our lives. Christians are taught that as we push God away,
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his protection is also pushed away by us. For true Christian believers, these are realities of life,
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not speculative theories or myths. And in our busy, very materialistic life, in which we don't seem to need
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God at all, we completely lose the sense of this reality until tragedy strikes.
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Christians are also taught that the devil is what scripture calls the prince of this world.
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The devil intends evil or harm to come to us. God permits much evil in the world,
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but the faith teaches that he does so because he can bring great good,
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even from the worst and seemingly hopeless situations. I find it most easily explained by
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taking a hard look at reality, eternal reality. Most seem not to live a life that accepts the reality
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that God would have a role or shall, shall we say, a deliberately intended message for us in
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disasters such as the coronavirus. In reality, we are here on earth for a very short time,
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a blip, if you will, in terms of the span of our real life after death, which goes on for eternity.
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Those who do not believe are prone to end up in the depths of despair when calamity strikes.
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But seen in a spiritual light, life is primarily about deciding which path to take for eternity,
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the path toward God or the path away from him. And from that perspective, there can be a special
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hope regarding the plight of victims of calamities such as the coronavirus. Countless people, when
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they are faced with such a calamity, turn their hearts to God, many for the first time. Some after
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a long time of rejecting God. And while their prayers and pleadings for safety may not be realized in
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this world, they suddenly become more open to a deep change of heart that they know will set them
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in a direction of being happy, safe, and calm with a loving Father forever in the next world.
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One of the unique consoling truths in Catholic teaching on suffering is that Christ suffers with
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us. He suffers with all of us, with all of our pains, in all of our calamities. He is there for us at
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all times, but closest when we are suffering. And so in the end, it really is up to us, up to God's
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people, to bring the blessing of God on the earth. We read this in 2 Chronicles 7 14. It says,
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If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from
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their wicked ways, and I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land. If my people called by my name,
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that's us Christians, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, then I will
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hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land. So let's take up this challenge.
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Right now we're in Passion Week, the week where we prepare for Holy Week, the most sacred time of
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year. We must make it sacred, even if we are denied the sacraments. Let us kneel and pray our rosaries,
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following along with the holy sacrifice of the Mass broadcast from the holiest priests we know.
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Make our spiritual holy communions, and if you're able to find priests who will offer clandestine
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masses, or if in your area masses are once again open to the public, please remember to receive our
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Lord on behalf of the countless Catholics unable to receive him this year. Beg the Lord to return to us,
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to remember us in his great mercy. Stay under the mantle of Mary, for she will protect us and give us
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shelter, leading us always to her Son. And let us together repent for our sins and those of the whole
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world, offering to the Eternal Father the most sacred body and blood, soul, and divinity of his dearly
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beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in union with the masses said throughout the world.
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For LifeSite News, this is John Henry Weston, and may God bless you.
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Hello, this is John Henry Weston. I'd like to invite you to subscribe to the John Henry Weston Show
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