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Show 110: Divine Providence · The Uncensored Catholic

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A, Hey, y'all, welcome today's show. I think my voice is
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pretty much back to normal, and so we'll jump right in here, do
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a couple of questions and answers from radio replies, and then get into a
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really fascinating topic with Father Spiago, which is divine providence. So first of
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all, the questioner asks the priests, I cannot adopt any definite profession of
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faith because the heads of all different churches disagree. Well, it's not actually
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a question, but anyway, that's a statement, and the priests answer if
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they disagree, that shows that most you cannot take their word on behalf of
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their own churches. But it does not follow that there is not a right
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church amongst them all. Your duty is to inquire and find the church that
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Christ actually established. As I always say, depending on how you count it,
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they're ten thousand denominations, but Protestants Protestant denominations, you, I mean,
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you know that's going to be like, you know, you're differentiating your
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I don't know, Sabyterian from your Reform Presbyterian, you know, or you're
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regular Baptist from your Southern Baptist, you know. But yeah, if you're
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at least ten thousand Protestant denominations, each of whom disagree with each other about
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doctrine, or they'd be the same church, and all of whom disagree with
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the Catholic Church. If you are to believe any of them is valid,
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you have to believe that all of Christianity was invalid for the first fifteen hundred
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years until Martin Luther decided to invent a new doctrine. The person says,
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but if the clergy themselves are in deadly opposition and cannot tell me for certain
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what Christianity means, again, that person doesn't ask good questions. Did you
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get his point? There is no confusion amongst the clergy of the Catholic Church,
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which alone was established by Christ, and the Catholic Church alone can lawfully
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claim your allegiance. But if you insist on including all the man made variations,
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then you are right about conflicting views of the clergy. But that would
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not give you a true view of Christianity. As an agnostic friend once wisely
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remarked to me, if there be any true church, it can only be
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the Catholic Church. He was right in his assertion, if not in his
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personal choice of unbelief. The logical choice does lie between Catholicism and agnosticism.
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Either the Catholic Church is true or there is no true Christianity. Because the
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Catholic Church gives us the Bible. All these Protestant churches that base their doctrine
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on Sola, scripture or the Bible alone don't have a Bible without the Catholic
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Church. And again you'd have to assume there was no true Christian Church for
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fifteen hundred years, that the very disciples and apostles of Christ didn't understand what
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he said until Martin Luther came along and change the words of Christ to fit
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his doctrine and cut books out of the Bible that he didn't believe. Person
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asks why is there enmity between the churches, and they reply there should never
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be enmity between adherents of various churches, nor should there be separation between the
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churches themselves, And the best thing the children of reformers could do would be
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to return to the Catholic Church their forefathers should have never left. Yet,
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granting the existence of separated churches, Catholics who belong to the true Church,
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whilst esteeming members of other churches are obliged to condemn the principles which led to
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such separation. Esteeming Protestants, they must try to separate the Protestants they esteem
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from the Protestants they to beloor. Person says, how is it possible to
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believe all the religions that claim to be true? And they say, well,
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of course, it's not possible. If any one of them is right,
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then all the others are wrong. No one asks you to take our
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word. However, for the truth of the Catholic Church, it can be
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proved historically that Christ lived, that he was God, and that he founded
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the imperishable Church, which was to be the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
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Find that church and you will have the true religion of Christ. Person
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says, can any one church claim to have all the truth which has so
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many angles? And they say, the Catholic Church can and does claim to
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have all the truth. For you must not confuse false ideas which are opposed
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to the truth, with merely different angles of the truth. For if,
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for example, it be true that confession is a sacrament instituted by Christ,
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then denial of confession is not a different angle of the truth, but it
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is a negation. Person says, your preceding replies are based on upon misapprehempsion
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that there is no real lack of essential unity in Christian churches at all altogether
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form the one true Church. Now, many people believe that. You know,
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that's your universalist Unitarian Protestants who hate the Catholic Church don't believe that.
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Trust me. Okay, hope Francis may believe it, but you know he's
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wrong in a lot of things. They say. However nice that may look
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on paper, it is impossible. We cannot hold that hundreds of conflicting churches,
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even those disowning each other, are all one united church. The good
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Wesleyan who says that Rome is idolatrous would have to admit that the idolatrous Catholic
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belongs to the same church as himself and is equally a Christian, which they
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won't do. The notion demands not a little suppression of reason. Again,
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If the Catholic Church excommunicates a man, almost any Protestant church will probably receive
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him. If the Catholic Church and Protestant Church which receives him are one and
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the same, you will have to say you will have the same Christ,
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accepting and rejecting the same man at the same time. The Son of God,
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who knew that a kingdom divide against itself, cannot stand to precautions precisely
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to avoid such intern divisions. He declared that there would be absolute unity and
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doctrine and government, and he has preserved his church from doctrinal and disciplinary dissensions.
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In the fourth century, there was the same Catholic churches today and almost
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as many cut off sects Montanas, Manicheans, Aryans, Donatists, Nestorians,
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Pelagians, this one I don't know how to pronounce. Thet Utitians, I
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guess were solemnly telling men that they were part of the one True Church.
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Those are all heretics. Those are poetical sects that have been fully condemned by
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both Catholicism and Protestantism. Now you know, they were like the Arians who
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said that Christ was not truly divine. I mean, that's basically what the
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Mormons believe. But yeah, Protestants will condemn the heretics just as much as
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you know Saint Ironeus did. And what two fifty three hundred a d I
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mean, you know, probably about two fifty. Actually, sincere men like
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yourself were deceived and maintain many sections, but the cutoff sections died lacking the
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promise of Christ. Today we have the same Catholic Church, but a new
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host of cut off sex sex sects lesser being confusion Anglicans, Wesleyans, Presbyterians,
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Baptists, Adventists, Christian Adelphians. Boy, that's what I haven't heard
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of a long time, and they have not yet lasted as long as many
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of the earlier heresies. They too will die, and a new lot will
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arise in ages to come. But you are making the same mistake as many
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sincere men in early earlier centuries, thinking these man made substitutes to be part
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of the one indivisible Church of Christ, the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
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All right, Now, let's get into Father Sparago's writings on the divine
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provenance. We call by the name of Divine providence, God's preservation and government
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of the world. Point number one, God maintains the world, i e.
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He preserves all creatures in existence as long as He wills. A ball
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hanging from a piece of string falls to the ground as soon as the string
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is cut, so the whole world would sink into nothing if God were to
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withdraw from it is supporting power for a single instant. In order that creatures
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may continue to exist, He provides all that is needed for their sustenance wheat,
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vegetables, and various fruits of the earth, etc. As soon as
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God wills it, they die when the fruits. When thou shalt take away
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thy breath thy, they shall die and return again to the dust as from
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salts. If the Sun were to cease to cast its rays upon the earth,
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all light would disap appear from the world. So if God should cease
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to support us in existence, our life at once fails us. When our
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Lord says heaven and Earth shall pass away, he does not mean that they
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should be annihilated, but that they will be changed into a better Saint Peter
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says, we look for a new Heaven and a new Earth, wherein dwelleth
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justice God. Point number two. God governs the world, i e.
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He conducts all the things in the world so that they contribute to His glory
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and to our advantage. What the engine is to the train and the pilot
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is to the vessel, God is to the world. He guides the stars
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according to fixed laws, so that the firmament proclaims his glory. He guides
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all nations. That's a quote from Daniel. We see his guiding hand in
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the lives of the patriarchs, in the history of the Jews, and in
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the Christian Church. That we cannot understand God's arrangement at first glance. Often
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we cannot understand them at all, and never shout till we get to Heaven.
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Yet in our own lives we can trace again and again the good providence
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of God. But as to the world generally, as we are forced to
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exclaim, how incomfort hincible are God's judgments and how unsearchable his ways. That's
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a quote from Romans. There is no one on earth for whom God does
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not care and provide for his welfare. A mother would sooner forget her child
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than God would forget us. That's from Isaiah. God cares for us,
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for even irrational creatures, for the beasts and the birds and the plants.
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Quote from the Gospel of Matthew. God has a special care for those who
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are in humble circumstances and are despised by the world. God has made small
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as well as great, and cares equally for them. God loves to declare
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his glory by means of the little it's quotes from references. I should say
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for the Book of Wisdom. Again, if you have a real Bible,
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a complete Catholic Bible, which all Christians had until the fifteen hundreds when Martin
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Luther decided to start tearing books out of it, you'll have the Book of
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Wisdom. It's a very beautiful book. And the other comes from Corinthians one
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twenty seven. First Corinthians one twenty seven. He chose poor shepherds to receive
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the first news of the birth of Christ. He chose poor fishermen, his
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apostles, a poor maiden for his mother. It is to the humble that
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he gives his grace. He raises the needy from the earth and takes the
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poor from the dunghill, that he may place him among the princes. That's
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also from Psalms. Nothing happens to us all through our lives without the will
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or permission of God. He's the patriarch. Joseph said to his brother,
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Not by your counsel was I sent hither, but by the will of God.
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It's from Genesis Joseph's brother tried to well. First, they tried to
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kill him, and they sold him to slavery. He ends up ruling,
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you know, being second in charge in Egypt, and saving the whole Hebrew
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race. Our Lord says that the very hairs of our head are all numbered,
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i e. The providence of God descends to the smallest detail of our
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life. There is nothing that happens by chance. There are indeed many things,
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the causes of which we are ignorant of, but all have some cause,
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and God guides us. There are many things in the world that God
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does not will, and of which He is not the cause e g.
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Murder, theft, and every crime. But God permits him, he does
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not prevent them. This is a consequence of His having given to man free
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will. Moreover, God knows how to bring good out of evil, and
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all evil he employs for his good purposes. Now, this is a very
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interesting point, and it's one that a lot of people get wrong. Let's
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listen to what spiders Progress says. He says, even the evil that God
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permits us for our good. God and his love for us, all has
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in all that happens to us the intention to make us happy. He turns
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our good to our good, all temporal misfortunes to the temptations of the devil,
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and the sins of men to those who love God. All things work
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together for good. That's from Romans. We see this in the history of
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the patriarch Joseph. His imprisonment was the means of bringing him to high honor
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and of saving Egypt from the horrors of famine. Activity of the Jews was
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the means of spreading the knowledge of the True God among Heathen nations. That's
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from Tobit. Another book you should have, if you know, if you
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have a real Bible, get rid of your King James, get a dewey
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Raems, get a ignacious Catholic version. You know, get a real Bible.
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Okay. The persecutions of the early Christians in Palestine and in Rome was
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the means of making known the Gospel and the countries to which they fled or
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were banished. So too was the expulsion of the religious orders from Italy,
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France and Germany. And modern times. So again, the persecutions of the
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Irish is doom much to christianize American in England. Very very good point.
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You know, England has been waging a genocide against Ireland. Essentially since England
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became a Protestant nation, they shipped half the population of Ireland out of Ireland
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and essentially essentially gave America Catholicism. Because America was founded as a Protestant nation.
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Only my ancestor, Charles Carroll was I mean, he was the only
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Catholic who signed the Decoration of Independence. In state of North Carolina, it
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was illegal to be Catholic. It was illegal to be Catholic in several states.
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We didn't have religious freedom. I mean, that's a joke. But
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when the Potato famine and such caused, which was basically a force starvation of
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the Irish by the English, caused thousands, tens of thousands of Irish to
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come to America, America began to have a Catholic influence. I mean far
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more so than you know, my one little family could accomplish in Maryland and
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where they went, you know, Virginia, North Carolina, different places where
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different members of the family went. And yeah, you know, all the
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bad stuff that happened around the World War One and World War Two in Italy
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sent you know, tens of thousands of Italians Catholic Italians to Americans, a
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lot of Catholic Germans and Hungarians and Polish. I mean really, America would
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have essentially no Catholic presence were it not for the horrors and wars of Europe.
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So yeah, God does work everything together for good, even when we
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cannot see it at the time. The unbelief of Saint Thomas, said Saint
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Augustine has been more useful to us than the belief of the other apostles.
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Interesting point, the sin of Peter and denying the Christ made him humble and
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forbearing to others. The fury of the Jews against our Lord was an instrument
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of the redemption of mankind. How inscrutable are God's judgments and how unsearchable his
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ways? I mean, had Judas never betrayed Jesus, had he never been
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crucified at the behest of the Jews by the Roman, we would have no
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salvation. God always uses evil for good. The very means employed by the
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wicked men against the Saints are the means of bringing them to glory and honor.
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Very important on this day when we think of the holy innocence all those
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children who King Herod killed, who were the first martyrs, and you know
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the first saints in heaven really because they were the first to die for Christ
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point number three. For this reason, a pious Christian should resign himself entirely
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to the will of God. Christ teaches us to pray Thy will be done
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on earth as it is in heaven. Saint Peter exhorts us to cast all
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our care upon God, for he cares for us. Holy David says,
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though an army should stand in battle against me, my heart will not fear.
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We must not allow ourselves to be troubled about arrangements of God's providence which
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we cannot alter, but but must resign ourselves to the will of God.
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E Gan sickness, loss of money, the death of those dear to us,
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persecution and war, etc. Above all, we must resign ourselves to
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the will of God in the hour of our death. He who dies resigned
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to the will of God, says Saint Alfonsis, leaves in the minds of
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others the knowledge that he has saved his soul. In order to gain the
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friendship of men, we adapt ourselves to their humors and fancies, but we
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take too little trouble to win the friendship of God by adapting ourselves to his
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holy will. The man who cheerfully resigns himself to the will of God obtains
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true peace of mind, attains great perfection, and will be blessed by God.
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The soul resigned to the will of God is like the needle pointing to
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the north in a compass. Obviously, the soul submits itself to all God's
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arrangements, has already begun to live the life of Heaven on earth. If
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trouble comes, its peace is not disturbed. Every trial is extinguished like a
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spark that falls into the sea. It loves suffering because it knows that come
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from the hand of God. A man resigned to God's will has his cross
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carried for him. He who announces his own will in order to carry out
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the holy will of God soon attains to perfection. Thus, the resigning of
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our will to God's is the most perfect offering we can make to Him.
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The man who is resigned is like a ship in the hands of a pilot.
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He is sure to arrive safely to port. A farmer whose field bore
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better crops than those of the others was asked the reason for it. He
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answered that he always got the weather he wanted. When asked to explaining,
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he replied, I am always content with the weather that God sends. Displeases
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God, and so he blesses my cromps our Lord. In the Garden of
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Gath's simone is a beautiful example of the submission to the will of God.
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Christ's prayer was Father, not my will, but Thine be done. He
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was obedient to his heavenly Father, even unto death, the death of the
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Cross. The Holy Angels and their happiness in the fulfillment of the will of
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God. The Holy Angels find their happiness in the fulfillment of the will of
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God. Saint Mary Magdalen of Posey, I guess pa zz I said,
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I would rather bear with joy the heaviest troubles, so soon as I knew
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that they were the will of God. So said also all the saints.
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How are the misfortunes of the good and the prosperity of the wicked to be
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repconciled with the providence of God? And of course that is the crux of
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the issue, isn't it. The answer is that they are only a parent.
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They are only a parent and not real. Seneca says, and Seneca
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the philosopher obviously that the prosperity of those who are clad in purple was often
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like the splendor of the actor who is dressed up in royal purple. The
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center, after time, loses all enjoyment from his sins. Again reference Hunter
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Biden's laptop. He's not a happy camper. He may be spending millions on
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cocaine and hookers, He's not a guy. No ciner has true happiness,
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and no servant of God true misery. For true happiness is impossible without inner
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peace and contentment, and this is possessed by the true servant of God and
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not by the sinner. The world i e. Riches, honors, sensual
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pleasures, eating, drinking, etc. Can never give us true peace.
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Reference to Gospel of John sixteen twenty seven. This can only be is that
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right fourteen fourteen twenty seven. This can only be attained by following the teachers
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of Christ. True peace and happiness are the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
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The wicked have no peace. They are like a raging sea which cannot rest.
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Peace and happiness do not come of riches, or of high position,
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or of bodily strength, or of intellectual vigor. Still less do they come
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from the wearing of fine clothes or the enjoyment of rich feasts, but from
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the peace of soul and a good conscience. The beggar at the gates of
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the rich Divys was a happier man even in this world than Dvays himself.
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That's the terrible Lazarus and the rich man. Moreover, the good fortune of
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the center is for the most part only transitory. The prosperity of the wicked
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is like a cedar of Lebanon, which in a few hours is cut down
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and a more scene. It is a building built upon sand. The storms
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will soon lay it low. How quickly Napoleon the Great fell from the height
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to which his vaulting ambition raised him, at the cost of so many lives.
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I really do wonder why people celebrate Napoleon. He was not a good
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guy. He was very much opposed to the Church and suffered a humiliating end.
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Anyway, the real recompense of man only begins after death. Hence our
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Lord says many or first, it should be last, and the last should
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be first. From the Gospel of Matthew, Many rich are distinguished men,
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and will be far below those who have been beggars at their door. God
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has provided for his friends in the next life, and enjoyment and happiness forest
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tour passed any enjoyments on this earth. This is the explanation of the apparent
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injustice in present life. Our Lord says of his disciples. Amen. Amen,
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I say to you that you shall lament and weep, and the world
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shall rejoice, and you shall be made sorrowful. But your sorrows shall be
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turned into joy. That's some Gospel John sixteen twenty. I think I got
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right that time. Sinners are rewarded on this earth for the little good that
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they have done. Just on this on the other hand, for the most
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part, or punished. Just the just, on the other hand, are
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for the most part punished in this life for the evil they have done.
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Our Lord says, woe to you, who are rich, for you have
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had your consolation, i e. Your reward for the good you have done
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in this life is given to you in this world. How is sin to
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be reconciled with the providence of God. One. It is not God who's
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responsible for sin and its consequences, but man's wrong use of his free will.
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God creates man free and therefore does not hinder even those free actions which
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are evil. There are also many reasons why he should not hinder evil.
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If there were no evil in the world, man would have no opportunity of
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doing what is good. He would not have the choice between good of evil
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and evil, and would not be able to earn the reward of good accomplished.
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Compare the parable of the cockle among the wheat. God, says Saint
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Augustine, would never have permitted evil if he had not intended to bring some
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greater good out of it. God, in his wisdom, employs even sin
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for a good end. The patriarch Joseph Fairy truly said to his brothers,
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you thought evil against me, But God turn it into good. God turned
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to good even the treachery of judas it contributed to the work of man's redemption.
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The meat makes honey out of poisonous plants. The potter makes beautiful vessels
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out of dirty earth. God does something similar to this. Besides, it
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does not become us a pride into the secret designs of God. We poor
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miserable creatures, must adore his wisdom, submit ourselves humbly to what He ordains.
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What is true of sin is true of all the suffering that is the
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consequence of sin. So we'll wrap it up there. Actually able to finish
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that topic tomorrow if I can do one tomorrow. Not sure. Really got
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to go take care of my family cemetery. Should have done it before Christmas.
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Had some sicknesses in the family. We'll sick myself, other family members
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were sick. Was not able to make it. So God willing, if
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I can go to the family cemetery and clean it tomorrow, I'm going to
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do that, And that may mean no podcast tomorrow. I'm sure you all
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understand. You know, caring for grades is something we're supposed to do as
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Catholics and Christians in general. If I'm here and able to do it,
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and you know, end up going over there on Saturday, we'll get under
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the topic of suffering, and that is it's such a deep topic and it's
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really only understood by Catholics. I mean, it's the opposite of the prospiity
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doctrine. It's the opposite of everything you know, Joel Ostein and all of
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them talk about. I mean, even you know, Franklin Graham has no
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idea on this subject. You know, Fathers for August. First point,
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no one can attain eternal salvation without suffering. We're going to get into that,
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uh, the importance of suffering and how we're to approach it and how
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we're to understand it and use it for our salvation. So anyway, y'all,
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in the words of Saint Padre Pio, pray, hope and don't worry,
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and I'll talk to you tomorrow.