The COG Catholic

Idols of any kind are evil. The First Commandment is “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” What are idols? Are Mount Rushmore and the Lincoln Memorial idols? No, they only represent respected men whom we want to memorialize so we don’t forget them. Idols represent false gods. Are statues of Mary or Joseph or Jesus idols? No, neither Mary nor Joseph are gods at all, and Jesus is the true God. Do we worship wood, metal, or mortar? No. That would be stupid. Do we worship Mary or Joseph? No, we honor them — not as we do secular leaders, but as important and holy figures in salvation history, prominent members of the family of God. Artwork, whether paintings or sculptures, indicates our communion with them, not our worship of them. We worship God alone.

The reason Hell is bad is NOT its undesirable location 📌 or poor climate control 😓🔥. It's bad because its inhabitants are in a fixed state of mind or soul that opposes the love of God. It is eternal hopelessness, the irreversible deprivation of all goodness by their own choice in this life. Likewise, heaven is not a location; it's our immediate face-to-face relationship (as it were) with our Creator and Father, who fills our every hope and desire with his love ❤. Don't presume your eternal fate: ✝️ "Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12). Because the stakes are so high, the most important hour of life is the hour of death. Examine your conscience and pray an act of contrition every day 🙏, because you never know when that last hour will come for you. 💀

Dear non-denominational Christian friend: Please don't take offense, but take this seriously. If you insist on being saved strictly by Christ alone, with no men in the mix needed other than Christ, then why do you insist on being part of a "Bible-based church"? The infallible, God-breathed #Bible itself was penned by fallible, sinful men, not Jesus. The leatherbound collection of scriptures in your hand is not Jesus (it came off a printing press!), yet you call it (rightly) the Word of God, a title referring to Jesus -- the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. So if you believe God can use mere men to write the Bible -- and that he used other men to compile it, to tell us which books comprise it, to tell us that the collection is infallible, and to preserve it through the centuries -- then how can you say we do not need men? Especially when you have human teachers in your churches. You don't really believe what you're saying. You just feel compelled to say, "Catholic bad." Because you have to.

If you seriously identify as "Christian" but oppose "organized religion" or consider yourself "spiritual but not religious," then what's the alternative you stand for? Disorganized religion? Subjective, every-man-for-himself religion? Following your own made-up religious opinions? Or, in lieu of a religion, do you treat Christianity as a rule-of-thumb set of ethics, a philosophy of life you judge to be mostly agreeable? These are objectively wrong approaches. Sober up, man.

OPEN CARRY WHILE DRIVING It's not always ideal, but some days you may need to squeeze in your spiritual combat training on the way to work. The #rosary is a powerful weapon that, if prayed well, will help you keep your eyes on the narrow road that leads to eternal life. You can't afford not to pray it every day. Ave Maria!

We are given so much mercy in this life. It's ours for the taking. We're responsible for it, for accepting it. What, then, will we appeal to at our judgment if we're found to have died outside of God's friendship? His mercy? No, too late. If we won't take it now, we won't have it then. Today is the day of mercy. Today!

Yesterday's Mass was refreshing, because I was unable to attend my normal parish the last two times due to my schedule. Instead, I had to go to my pre-COVID Novus Ordo parish, where I was treated with: * distracting piano recital before Mass started * girl altar boys * women flooding the sanctuary * plain, minimalist sanctuary * Tabernacle out of sight and ignored * parishioners seated in front of, at sides of, and behind table-altar (the behind folks seated IN the sanctuary) * hand holding * hippie peace signs waved at everyone, even from the young priest * no babies * boomer men in t-shirts, shorts, and sandals * boomer women with lesbian haircuts * nonstop music from musicians up front * homily composed of humorous anecdotes * before Communion, music team belting out song "Sacred Silence" (of which I desired) * applause at the end of Mass * plenty of post-Mass chatter Mass doesn't have to be cringe. Find a good parish to nourish your heart and soul. To me it's worth the hour drive.

Bird feeders are one small way to bring a little fun into one's life. A nice Sunday morning.

WARNING: Be advised this post contains sexual content. Not meant to trigger anyone. === I heard a lot of misunderstandings of Catholic morality (Natural Law, actually) on Jason Whitlock's podcast recently. I want to help clear things up. HERE'S WHAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHES ABOUT SEX: Sex is meant for men and women in marriage (which is why it's called the "marital act"). Intentionally achieving climax with the hand, the beginning or end of one's digestive tract, or by any other means is wrong. It should happen in the context of "regular sex"; which is to say, the kind of union that is open to reproduction. Other forms of sexual releases are inappropriate substitutes; they are sinful. Why? REMEMBER THAT THE NATURAL EFFECTS OF SEX are twofold: bonding and babies (or love and life). The obvious purpose of sex is reproduction, but not to the exclusion of the pleasurable bonding between man and wife. The problem comes when doing the act while intentionally cutting out one of those two ends. That's why rape is wrong. That's why adultery is wrong. That's why porn is wrong. That's why homosexual acts and bestiality are wrong. And -- it's why contraception is wrong. What about old or otherwise infertile people? It's not wrong for an infertile married couple to engage in sexual relations. Even the youngest, healthiest couples are fertile only for a few days a month, but that fact of nature doesn't make it wrong to act as man and wife throughout the month (it's how God made us). It is only wrong when they engage in sexual acts that by nature render conception impossible (or has that intent). Married couples should have lots of sex and be generous with life. If for some very serious reason they desire to avoid conception, the couple can always agree upon periodic abstinence. It doesn't need to be six months at a time, or in perpetuity. With the help of science, the couple can practice "Natural Family Planning," which, if followed carefully, can be quite precise in letting you know when conception is not on the table. That's most of the month actually, so it's not like you're missing out that much. Close the door and have at it. If it gets to be too difficult to wait during the fertile times, then you can talk and decide how "serious" this reason really is to avoid conception. Maybe you'll both change your mind. But what's unacceptable is to perform sterile acts of selfish gratification on each other in order to avoid pregnancy and to get one's rocks off. That's not love, even if in the heat of the moment you wish it to be. For any Protestants who say all this is not "biblical," they should provide us with "biblical" proof or positive examples of masturbation, oral/anal "sex," or barrier or withdrawal methods. I'll wait. Even married couples are capable of sexual sin. There's no "anything goes" clause in marriage. Before saying all this is too rigid, or unfair, or too hard -- remember that we indeed live in a hypersexualized society. When we think we "deserve" sexual release any time we want, any way we want, we need to rethink our priorities, our lives. It's not the Christian Church, but the world that says "gay marriage" is fine, chopping off our body parts is fine, bondage and whips and other weird, creepy sex stuff is fine. We should live in a holy manner even when it's difficult. Trust God. He knows it's not easy. We have to put on the whole armor of God so we can stand in the evil day. Love your spouse.