Posts Tagged ‘Catholicism’

by David Cloud
Way of Life

CATHERINE OF SIENA (1347-80) was born Catherine Benincasa, in Siena, Italy. She was declared a saint in 1461 by Pope Pius II and a Doctor of the Church in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. Pope John Paul II declared her one of the patron saints of Europe.

Her body is reserved in the Saint Mary Minerva Church in Rome, while her head is enshrined in the basilica of St. Dominic in Bologna, Italy.

She took a vow of virginity to Christ at age seven and lived in near solitude, refusing her mother’s attempts to encourage her to live a normal childhood. When her mother tried to get her to dress in an attractive manner, she shaved off her hair. When her mother took her to a spa, she scalded her skin by exposing herself to the hottest geothermal vents. Biographer Kathryn Harrison says, “She allowed herself not one mortal pleasure.”

At age 16 she took the black habit of the Dominican Third Order. She claimed to have received her habit personally from Dominic, though he had been dead for a century.

She spent three years in solitary prayer in a little room, nine by three feet, speaking only to her Catholic confessor. She lived long periods of time with no food or water except the wine and wafers of the Mass. She scourged herself three times a day with an iron chain. She allowed herself only one-half hour of sleep every other day on a hard board. She wore a hairshirt and an iron-spiked girdle. “… her self-punishment left her body covered with gaping wounds, which she blithely referred to as her ‘flowers’” (The Way of the Mystics, p. 81).

She started having mystical experiences at age six when she allegedly saw a vision of Christ seated with Peter, Paul, and John. She could see “guardian angels” (Catholicsaints.org). She allegedly saw Jesus often in vision and talked face to face with Him. Click here to continue reading.

Associated Press

Benedict said he was comforted by such a “beautiful and spontaneous show of faith and solidarity” and again denounced what he called the “sin” that has infected the church and needs to be purified.

Citing estimates from Vatican police, the Vatican press office said 150,000 people had turned out for the demonstration organized by an association of 68 Italian lay groups.

Despite a drizzling rain, the balloon- and banner-toting faithful from around Italy overflowed from the piazza; banners hung up on Bernini’s colonnade encircling the piazza read “Together with the pope,” and “Don’t be afraid, Jesus won out over evil.”

“We are here to show both to other people and to ourselves our solidarity with the church in this difficult time,” said Simone Pleticos, a 24-year-old student who traveled from Milan for the occasion.

Such large crowds are usually reserved for major holiday Masses and canonizations, not for Benedict’s brief, 10-minute Sunday blessings from his studio window. The crowd interrupted Benedict frequently with applause and shouts of “Benedetto!” and the pontiff himself strayed from his prepared remarks to thank them again and again.

“Thank you for your presence and trust,” he said. “All of Italy is here.”

Benedict didn’t refer explicitly to the scandal, but repeated his recently stated position that the scandal was born of sins within the church, which must be purified.

“The true enemy to fear and to fight against is sin, the spiritual evil that unfortunately sometimes infects even members of the church,” he said.

The Vatican has been mired in scandal amid hundreds of reports in Europe, the United States and elsewhere of priests who raped and molested children while bishops and Vatican officials turned a blind eye. Benedict’s own handling of cases has also come under fire. Click here to continue reading.

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A Special Mother’s Day Story – No Longer a Secret

Book Review: Laughter Calls Me

On January 7th, Lighthouse Trails received the following email from a professor, J. Budziszewski (Boo-je-shef-skee),  who was discussed in one of our 2009 articles.  Professor Budziszewski has given us permission to post his email. Below his email is our response to him.

A summation of this situation is this: On April 1st, 2009, Lighthouse Trails released an article titled, “Concerned Family Asks Legitimate Questions of Church Leaders.” The article gave the story of a family, whose son attended a Calvary Chapel high school. For a last semester assignment for graduating seniors, students were being asked to read and study a book called How to Stay Christian in College, written by Budziszewski. The parents became concerned when they learned that Budziszewski was a Protestant turned Catholic and one who promoted contemplative prayer practices. In our article, we showed that Professor Budziszewski was promoting the contemplative practice of lectio divina in a Focus on the Family column he writes for young people (see also note at bottom of this post). 

The bottom line of Professor Budziszewski’s concern about our article is that we are equating contemplative spirituality with New Age, eastern-style meditation (i.e., Hinduism/Buddhism), and he is saying that the two are not the same at all. It is for this reason that we are posting his email to us (with his permission) and also our response to him. It is our hope to help readers see that the contemplative spirituality that is being heavily promoted in the evangelical church and within Catholicism as well  produces the same spiritual perception as that in New Age or Hindu/Buddhist spirituality.

Because we believe this to be true, we also believe it is completely inappropriate for a Christian high school to instruct their students using an author (in an approving manner) who not only has turned away from Protestant Christianity and gone into Catholicism but also points his readers toward contemplative prayer practices.

While it may be possible that Professor Budziszewski is not aware of the nature of contemplative spirituality, he nevertheless is promoting it. And it is important to understand that lectio divina is an entry point into stronger forms of contemplative mystical prayer, and warning about it is completely in line with biblical injunctions about dangerous practices. Lectio divina is a practice, which involves mantric-like repetition and focus of words and phrases (usually from the Bible) and is directly related to the contemplative spirituality of which Lighthouse Trails is opposed to. As one definition describes the practice of lectio divina, “lectio divina begin[s] with deep, cleansing breaths and reciting a chosen phrase or word over and over to help free the mind.” In Tony Jones’ book, Divine Intervention: Encountering God Through Lectio Divina, Jones instructs: “[R]epeat the word or phrase over and over in your mind, almost like a mantra (p. 72).

Please note that Professor Budziszewski refers to the article, “Calvary Chapel Termination Has Profound Implications,” but the actual article where we address him and his book is ”Concerned Family Asks Legitimate Questions of Church Leaders.”

Letter from Professor Budziszewski to Lighthouse Trails:

Your article “Calvary Chapel Termination Has Profound Implications,” posted at http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=222 , contains several erroneous statements about my beliefs and teachings, which are already being quoted on other websites.  In a spirit of truth, I ask you to correct them before they go viral.  Here is the inaccurate paragraph:

“Recently we reported on Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa’s high school in which a teacher there asked his class to read, review, and study How to Stay Christian in College written by Protestant-turned-Catholic J. Budziszewski . The book has references in the back of some editions to mystic emergent Tony Jones, and Budziszewski himself is a proponent of contemplative prayer practices. Our article “Concerned Family Asks Legitimate Questions of Christian Leaders” illustrates what many families are going through in trying to protect their children and teens from spiritual deception. Christian parents must realize that the souls of their youth are at stake.” 

1.  “The book has references in the back of some editions to mystic emergent Tony Jones.”  I have never read the works of Mr. Jones, have no idea what they are about, and have certainly never referred to them.  Authors have no control over advertisements placed in the backs of their books by the publishers. [Our note: In our original article, we stated the following:  Lighthouse Trails quickly obtained a copy of How to Stay Christian in College, and much to our dismay saw full page advertisements at the back of the book for books by Tony Jones and Eugene Peterson. We could understand why Budziszewski’s publisher would place ads for Jones, a major advocate for mystical practices, in the back of Budziszewski’s book. But we could not understand how Calvary Chapel could bring this into their school.]

2.  “Budziszewski himself is a proponent of contemplative prayer practices.”  By “contemplation,” the author [Lighthouse Trails] means New Age mental practices, which I have consistently opposed.  I have never encouraged Christians to work themselves up into altered states of consciousness.

Please notice that the author[Lighthouse Trails]  has not discovered anything offensive to the Gospel in the actual contents of the book.  [Our note: In actuality,  as noted in our original article, the first person Budziszewski favorably quotes in How to Stay Christian in College is Lutheran-turned-Catholic priest, the late Richard John Neuhaus, who many would consider a friend in the emerging church/Catholic "conversation."]

Thank you,

J. Budziszewski
Professor Depts. of Government and Philosophy
University of Texas at Austin

Our response to Professor Budziszewski:

Dear Jay,

Thank you for your email sharing your concerns about our article. I do want to first point out that the article [you refer to] references our original article regarding your book.   

In answer to your concerns, when we mentioned Tony Jones’s book being offered at the back of the book, this was not to associate you with his book but rather to question why a Christian high school would give their students a book that was advertising someone teaching a spirituality that completely negates the Gospel. We put the blame of this point to the high school, not you. I do think we made that clear in the article. 

Secondly, we said that you are a proponent of contemplative prayer practices. We documented this in our original article with your Ask the Professor column (Focus on the Family) where you encourage the use of lectio divina, which is a contemplative practice. By contemplative, we are referring to the spirituality that Thomas Merton, Thomas of Aquinas, Teresa of Avila, etc. would resonate with. And we actually believe that in its very essence it is the same as that of New Age or eastern-style meditation. Practicing contemplative prayer frequently leads to a panentheistic view of God, as it did with Merton, Nouwen, and many others. It is the reason that Henri Nouwen (who had been a proponent of this type of mysticism), at the end of his life, came to the conclusion that he wanted to help people find their own path to God, be it Jesus or any other (see http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=1355 for citations). 

It is for this reason that we do not think Christian schools should use any book whose author encourages contemplative spirituality, which you do. I do not mean to be disrespectful, but perhaps you do not understand the serious implications of the present spiritual formation movement that completely adheres to the spirituality of Thomas Merton, who stated the following: 

“It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race, … now I realize what we all are … If only they [people] could all see themselves as they really are. I suppose the big problem would be that we would bow down and worship each other…. At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth….This little point … is the pure glory of God in us. It is in everybody.” (Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, pp. 157-158)

Merton also told Matthew Fox that he felt sorry for the hippies in the 60s who were dropping LSD because they could practice contemplative and get the same effect (altered states). Merton knew it was the same thing.

We are convinced that contemplative spirituality is indeed very dangerous to the Gospel and is of the same nature as New Age or eastern-style mysticism. For example, one of the leading teachers and proponents of contemplative prayer in the world, Father Thomas Keating of Contemplative Outreach, says that many people doing contemplative prayer experience kundalini awakening.* Check out that word on the Internet for its meaning. And Richard Kirby, an Anglican mystic, said: “The meditation of advanced occultists is identical with the prayer of advanced mystics; it is no accident that both traditions use the same word for the highest reaches of their respective activities: contemplation” (samadhi in yoga).**

One of the leading teachers of contemplative prayer in Germany, Willigis Jaeger, said that the contemplative tradition is an esoteric practice on par with Zen, Yoga, and Sufism (Islamic mysticism). (from his book Search for the Meaning of Life)

These are proponents and teachers of the practice that are saying contemplative is New Age. In essence, they would agree with us, only from the opposite perspective.

 Jay, we mean you no harm. This is not in any way meant to be an attack on you as a person. But we believe this mystical paradigm that has come into so much of evangelical Christianity does not line up with Scripture or the Gospel, and as believers we are compelled to defend this Gospel. 

In closing, I would like to add two things. First, if you would like us to post your letter to us so readers can see your side of it, we will do this. Secondly, we would like to send you a complimentary copy of A Time of Departing, which addresses this issue, if you will allow us.

 Sincerely,

Lighthouse Trails editors

 * Keating said this in the foreword of Philip St. Romain’s book, Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality.

** Richard Kirby, The Mission of Mysticism, p. 7.

A final commentary by LT: In closing, we would like to state that “Christian” contemplation (i.e., contemplative prayer) is in nature the same as New Age or eastern-style meditation as Keating, Romain, etc. state. Therefore, it is obvious that “Christian’ contemplative is NOT Christian. An article we featured a number of years ago, written by a Hindu professor reiterates this, and it would be worthwhile to read it: “There is No Christian Yoga” by Yogi Bama Prem.

And lastly, we want to bring your attention to an article that just came out in Christianity Today. The article, titled “Journey to the Center,”  illustrates how dangerous the new mystical spirituality really is. It features a woman, Joanna Quintrell, a formerly-traditional Christian who decided to seek out those in the New Age after “hearing” a message from God with the words: Journey Center: Christ-centered spirituality, healing, and wholeness.  She began attending a New Age fair and did meet a New Age woman, with whom she formed a friendship. As the Christian woman continued attending the New Age fair, her views began to change as she “found out that Jesus was already there.” Soon after, Quintrell began a program at her church teaching contemplative prayer and spiritual formation. Eventually, she became convinced that “Christ” was a bridge between the various spiritualities. Today, Quintrell is no longer working with that church but helped to start a center called Journey Center in Santa Rosa California, which is an interfaith contemplative center that offers opportunity for many meditative practices including yoga, therapeutic touch, and a labyrinth. Specifically, one of those practices  is lectio divina, again making our point that lectio divina is part of this mystical realm.

It is sad to note that the Christianity Today article, written by staff writer Tim Stafford, shows no negative reaction to what happened to this woman but writes in a nuetral or even affirming manner. Another example of how the new spirituality has infiltrated the evangelical church.

Note about Budziszewski and lectio divina: Professor Budziszewski also promotes lectio divina in his book, Ask Me Anything (Book 2) where he tells readers that in prayer, some forms of prayer are “too limited,” and that we should draw from the “riches of Christian traditions of prayer and meditation” (p. 99). He then suggests to readers that they try Stations of the Cross or the “spiritual exercise called lectio divina.”

To date, Professor Budziszewski has not acknowledged whether we can send him a complimentary copy of A Time of Departing.

Related Articles:

DANGERS OF CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY/MYSTICISM: LECTIO DIVINA by Ken Silva

Read Castles in the Sand, a novel that addresses the dangers of lectio divina and contemplative spirituality.

by Chris Pinto
Adullam Films

Understanding the information we put forth in A Lamp in the Dark could not be more relevant to the Church today, especially as it pertains to the Counter Reformation.  The devil’s latest deceptive ploy is called The Manhattan Declaration – so named because of an ecumenical group that met in Manhattan in 2009. 

“We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them.”

“The purpose of the declaration is simply to speak with one voice on the most pressing moral issues of our day …. It is extremely unfortunate that anyone who claims to follow Christ might attack another for either signing or not signing it.  The focus of Christian criticism should be on the secular world rather than on each other.”

The above counsel could not be more wrong.  Throughout the New Testament, we find Jesus and the apostles contending against false teaching in the churches — not judging the actions of unbelievers and compelling Christians to march on the government in protest.  The apostles confronted doctrinal issues, such as requiring circumcision for salvation (Acts 15:1-2), teaching that there is no resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:12), glorifying men in the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-21), professing to know God while rejecting His commands (1John 2:4).  Jude clearly compels us to “earnestly contend for the faith” of Christ, against deceivers who creep their way into the churches. 

The Manhattan Declaration compels us to abandon discernment and turn aside from our God given mandate to preach the gospel to every creature. Click here  to continue reading.

LTRP Note: The following article is posted partly in relation to our recent article about the Manhattan Declaration. This is an excerpt from Roger Oakland’s book, Another Jesus: the eucharistic christ and the new evangelization, which uncovers the efforts by the Roman papacy to bring back the lost Protestant brethren. We also urge you to get a copy of A Lamp in the Dark from Adullam Films to better understand these efforts.

“The New Evangelization”
by Roger Oakland
Understand the Times

When Christians speak of evangelism, they are usually referring to efforts to fulfill the Great Commission. Just before ascending to heaven, Jesus commissioned every believer to proclaim the good news when He said: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

This Gospel of Jesus Christ is very simple. It is a message that even a child can understand. It is about God’s plan to save us from our sins. Since the fall of man, all have been born into this world separated from God our Creator by sin. About two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, supernaturally came to this earth, born of a virgin. While here on earth, Jesus lived a sinless life. He died upon the Cross at Calvary, and His blood was shed as a sacrifice for our sins. All those who will accept and believe in Jesus (that is, who Jesus is and what He has done) can enter into a relationship with Him, the Creator of the universe. This relationship will then last for eternity. This is the simple Gospel.

Unfortunately, Satan has always had an agenda to complicate the Gospel or confound people into believing in something less or something more than what the Gospel message teaches. Paul talked about “another gospel” when he was warning the Corinthians (II Corinthians 11:4) and the Galatians (Galatians 1:6) about the dangers of being deceived. Satan is a clever schemer. Deceiving people  in the name of the Savior is part of the devil’s ultimate plan.

Not everything labeled the gospel is the true Gospel. Further, it follows that the term evangelization, if it is based on a counterfeit gospel, will seduce people into believing they are going to heaven, when instead they may be on their way to hell.

 The New Evangelization [is] a program currently being promoted by the Catholic Church and designed to win the world to Christ—the Eucharistic Christ.

What is the New Evangelization?

While reading a book or an article, have you ever come across a term you have never seen before and suddenly your mind was illuminated? Just as if a light switch was turned on and a darkened room was lit, the significance of what you read became apparent. Such was the case for me when I came across the phrase the New Evangelization.

 I was reading an article published by Zenit (The World Seen from Rome) that presented a news item based on statements made by Pope John Paul II. The article caught my attention because it was about an announcement the pope had made about the Eucharist. The article was titled “Why the Pope Would Write an Encyclical on the Eucharist: To Rekindle Amazement.”1

While I was already aware the pope had declared the Eucharist to be the focal point for the Catholic Church’s missionary vision at the Eucharistic Congress in June of 2000, the idea that the pope had written an Encyclical on the Eucharist to “Rekindle Amazement” in the Eucharist was new to me. I found the following statement made by the pope very enlightening:

[T]he Church will only be able to address the challenge of the new evangelization if she is able to contemplate, and enter into a profound relationship with Christ in the sacrament that makes his presence real.2

For me, this statement helped solve a puzzle that was now beginning to fall into place—this new evangelization program was directly linked to the Eucharistic Christ.

Further, the Zenit article gave more details on how the pope wanted to see this program develop:

I would like to rekindle this Eucharistic “amazement” by the present Encyclical Letter, in continuity with the Jubilee heritage which I have left to the Church in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte and its Marian crowning, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. To contemplate the face of Christ, and to contemplate it with Mary, is the programme which I have set before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium, summoning her to put out into the deep on the sea of history with the enthusiasm of the new evangelization.3

Making it clear that the new evangelization program would be tightly associated with the sacrament of the Eucharist, the pope concluded:

To contemplate Christ involves being able to recognize him wherever he manifests himself, in his many forms of presence, but above all in the living sacrament of his body and his blood. The Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist, by him she is fed and by him she is enlightened.4

The Facts about the New Evangelization
To find out more about this New Evangelization program, I decided to look for more information. It did not take long tofind out there were many sources available confirming such a program existed. One article that was particularly helpful was found on the EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) web site. Under a heading “The New Evangelization: Building the Civilization of Love,” I read:

 As the Holy Father entrusts the Third Millennium to the Blessed Virgin Mary, EWTN inaugurates it’s New Evangelization specialty site. This site will forever be a work in progress, as we continue to bring to you information about the Catholic Faith on the 5 continents. We hope that the information on the synods will be a help to those whose mission is to evangelize, a mission which belongs to all of us at least through prayer. The historical, statistical and devotional material should give every visitor a sense of the universality of the Church and its mission.5 

Then one additional and very significant statement: 

Under the protection of St. Therese of Lisieux, Patroness of the Missions, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, to whom the Pope has committed the New Evangelization, may the Spirit of God bring about the New Pentecost to which the Church looks forward with hope.6

 This above statement may come as a surprise to Protestants who are enthusiastically joining hands with Catholics for the sake of evangelism. The Catholic program is committed to “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” Furthermore, it would be good to check out what is meant by this “New Pentecost.” Paul also warned the Corinthians about “another spirit” that was associated with “another gospel” and “another Jesus.” 

(This is from chapter 6 of Another Jesus by Roger Oakland. To read the entire chapter, click here.

Notes:
1. Zenit: The World Seen From Rome, “Why the Pope Would Write an Encyclical on the Eucharist: To Rekindle Amazement,” (cited April 17, 2003, http://www.zenit.org/english).
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. “The New Evangelization: Building the Civilization of Love,” cited April 2003, online posting: www.ewtn.com/new_ evangelization/introduction.htm, Eternal Word Television Network.
6. Ibid.

 Taken from the powerful film, The Radicals, based on the true story of Michael and Margaretha Sattler, who defected from the Catholic church and who were martyred for their faith in Christ.