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165: The Third Commandment of God, part 2 · The Uncensored Catholic

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Speaker 1: The f A Hey, y'all, welcome today's show. We will
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continue today with the third Commandment, the observance the observance
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of Sunday as the Christian Sabbath. But as usual, first
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we will get into a couple of questions and answers
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from radio replies. This one is particularly interesting. The person ask,
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if your church is infallible, why does not she impose
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peace upon earth and banish poverty and suffering. Now, most
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people these days will not say, well, if the Catholic
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Church is infallible, why can't do this? So say why
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can't God do this? Well, the very simple answer is
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free will. God gave us free will and doesn't impose
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anything over us. But let's see how the priests answer
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that question. The answer, because the ability to do these
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things is not include in the gift of infallibility. The
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Church is infallible in teaching us what we must believe
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and what we are morally obliged to do. Now, of course,
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if everyone followed the teachings of the Catholic Church, we
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could have peace on earth, we could banish poverty and well,
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not all suffering, obviously, but suffering imposed by sin, by
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the sins of one who causes another to suffer. I mean,
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but most people won't follow the teachings of the Catholic Church,
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even most faithful Catholics. I doubt any of us, except
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for those who are living saints, follow all the teachings perfectly.
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That's why we have the sacrament of confession. If we
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could perfectly follow the teachings of the Catholic Church, we
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wouldn't have to have the sacrament of confession. The fact
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that Jesus established the sacrament of confession tells us that
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perfection is not humanly possible without incredible grace from God.
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The next answer, I mean, the next question, is it
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is strange that there is so small, alic a percentage
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of Catholics in Australia. If your church alone has the
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accurate teachers of Christ. We could say the same thing
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now about America. There are certainly more Protestants or non
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Christians there and there are Catholics, and they say is
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far from strange. Australia was colonized chiefly by Protestants, and
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because seventy five percent of the population happens to be
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derived from Protestant forebears, you prove not that the Catholic
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Church is wrong, but only that the majority of this
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country happens to be Protestant. Again, this Protestant majority has
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not become Catholic because the greater number of Protestants go
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on content go contentedly, on taking things for granted and
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not bestowing much thought at all upon the subject of religion.
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Or if they start thinking, many stop abruptly when the
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Catholic Church looms on the horizon because social, family, business,
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or personal interest in the way of their becoming Catholic.
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Very true, very true. I can't speak for Australia, obviously,
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but I know here in America in my own life,
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I've seen this so many times. As I said yesterday,
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it is almost impossible to convince a Protestant, an anti
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Catholic Protestant to read the writings of the early Church,
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because they're really afraid to learn that the Catholic Church
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may be the true and original Church. It may sound
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like an in stapreme statement, but there's got to be
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some reason why they won't read the writings of the
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apostles that are outside of the Bible, the d dot
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K for instance, or the earliest Christians writing again to
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get the early Church fathers. Some of whom are actually
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writing to Saint Johnathan Cross the Apostle and to the
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Blessed Virgin Mary. I mean, you would think they'd want
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to know what the earliest Christians thought. They do not
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want to know. They just act like it never happened.
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I've seen many times, well, especially in dating. You know,
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I live in a very Protestant area. I haven't had
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I've only had the opportunity to date one Catholic girl
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in the last twenty years. Only one Catholic and she
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doesn't even live in my area. That was you know,
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we met online and we communicate online. She thought she
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might be moving to Tennessee. She changed her mind. I
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guess we parted as friends, you know, no big deal.
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But I had some very serious relationships with right after
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during my conversion, Right like right after my conversion, a
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Presbyterian who claimed to be head over heels in love
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with me, and we were going to get married and
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have a family and everything. And she said that she
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would convert to Catholicism, we'd raise the kids Catholic. And
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when it came down to it, she said no, she
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would only remain Presbyterian because she wanted to continue to
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go to the church with her where her parents and
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grandparents went, and that her children would be raised Presbyterian.
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And that was the end of that relationship. I've told
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you before about the issues I had with a wonderful,
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just beautiful, probably the best match for me there ever,
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was a Mormon girl who was absolutely convinced that she
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should become Catholic. And when her family found out about it,
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how would I put it, she disappeared literally physically, and
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they wouldn't tell me where they had taken her. It
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took me about four years to find her. I've talked
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with others that say, you know, they couldn't become Catholic
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because of their business connections, political, for political reasons, because
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they were members of the Masonic Order, or for whatever reason.
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This is not at all uncommon when someone says, well,
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you know, if the Catholic Church is right, why hasn't
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everyone converted Catholicism. There are huge barriers. I mean, when
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I was a certain Baptist university, the professors were afraid
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to even discuss Catholic doctrine for fear of being fired.
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I mean, I told you the story before about one
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who said, you're right, But I have four daughters, and
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I need this job. You know. It is a shame,
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It's a real shame. But bias toward Catholicism runs very deep,
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very deep. Many too labor under the almost invincible prejudice
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which they had, which prevents them from admitting that there
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could be anything good at all in the Catholic religion.
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And they would not dream, they would not dream of
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inquiring into the claims of the Catholic Church, Yes, exactly. Finally,
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if you base your position upon the relative numbers, then
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you have to take a broad and worldwide view to
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find that there is a larger percentage of Catholics in
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the world then all Protestants taken together, and that remains true,
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is still and will always be the largest number of
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Christians in the world. It is absurd to restrict your
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outlook to Australia alone, and that tends to be a
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very English or colonies of the English protectorates of the
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English worldview. They firmly believe that. I mean, if you
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ask a lot of Anglicans and such, they'd say Jesus
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was English, you know, and they'd swear to it. They'd say,
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you know, even though they know he was you know,
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Jewish from the area we now call Palestine, which was
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then Israel. You know, people say he was a Palestinian
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Jews that it's not really true. You know, Israel was Israel,
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and all those territories, including Bethlehem and such, were Israel
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until the fall of Israel after the Crucifixion of Christ,
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when at that time pagan run basically just raised the
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whole place to the ground and then renamed it Palestinia
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as an insult to the Jews because naming after their
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ancient enemies, the Philistines. That's Philistines Latinized, you know, in
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the in the Roman language. There is no ancient Palestine.
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It did not exist. The Philistines that now occupy what
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is now called Palestine have no right or claim on
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that land whatsoever. All right, and now we'll pick up
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they're going to get into paper infallibility. We'll get it.
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We've touched on that quite a bit. We'll get into
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that again next time. But I think we'll go on
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to the third commandment. Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy,
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or as Jesus said, for sake, not the gathering together,
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and do this in remembrance of me. You know, people today.
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A lot of them will say, well, I'm Christian, but
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I'm not affiliated with any church. I don't need a church.
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I pray to God and I have the Bible. The
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Bible doesn't tell you that. The Bible tells you go
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to church, all right. So, under the topic of motives
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for the sanctification of Sunday, God rewards with temporal blessings
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those who keep holy his day. Consider the loving kindness
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of God. It is no toilsome service. He requires a view,
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but that you should rest. There are one hundred and
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sixty eight hours in the week. God only demands one day,
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twenty four hours for himself. Must you use this for
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worldly affairs? Those who would prosper in their business must
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consecrate Sunday to the service of God. Christopher Columbus the
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Discovery of America, when on his voyage, always kept his
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vessels stationary on Sunday. God often protects in a special
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manner those who keep His holy day. One of the sailors,
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a steamer on the Mississippi River, refused to shift the
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cargo and unnecessary work on Sunday. He was dismissed in consequence.
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Shortly after the boiler burst and several of the crew
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members lost their lives. Thus the god fearing the god
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fearing sailor escaped. God often increases the gains of those
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who say from pursuit of their calling on Sundays. A
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pious friend once persuade an artisan to desist from working
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on Sunday, saying he would compensate for the loss thus occasion.
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In six months time, he returned and the artists and
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acknowledged that far from losing, he had made more money
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than usual. In the interval. Holy scripture said God bless
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the seventh day Genesis two three. That is to say,
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he made it productive of blessing for us. It is
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a false argument to allege that the suspension of work
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on Sunday is prejudicial to the produce of manufacturers, for
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it is an ascertained fact that the factory hands do
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more and better work if they have one day of
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rest in seven A bow never unspanned loses its elasticity.
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That means, like you know archery, if you've never slacked
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the bow, this is like an old long bow. It
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will begin to bend and it won't keep going back straight.
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You lose the tension that you would need to shoot
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the arrow, so the workman loses his powers if they
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are ever on the stretch. Rousseau, no friend of religion,
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that's for sure, used to say that holidays were essential
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to the welfare of a nation. In England, the observance
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of Sunday is such a strict rule, and see how
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her commerce has prospered. Of course that is no longer true.
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And since giving up the observance of Sunday, England has
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been an economic train wreck. I mean in eighteen ninety, yeah,
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I was doing real well. Now that the shops are
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all open on Sunday and everything goes on just as
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it would on Monday or Saturday or Friday, England has
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been It went from being the leading economic power in
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the world to well certainly falling far behind American Germany,
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and I could go down the list, but really the
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recessions of the seventies and what they're heading into now, wow,
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I mean, what's going on in England now? They have
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such a huge Muslim population and looks like England the
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Great is fallen in the process. I mean, it's been
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in a gradual decline and it looks pretty bad. It
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looks pretty bad. What's going on I mean, had it
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not been really for all the destruction and bombing and
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everything during World War Two and the rebuilding and the
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international money that was put into England to rebuild England,
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probably would have collapsed long before now. I mean, they're
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still just kind of coasting on moneies and institutions that
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were made generations prior. They've been essentially a socialist welfare
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state for a long time. And you open your borders
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and you bring in a lot of non citizens and
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give them all those benefits, You're going to exhaust the
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treasury pretty quickly. There's something a lesson we need to
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learn here in the United States as well. Regardless what
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Pope Francis has to say on the subject, Q knows
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nothing of economics in his entire life. He's never signed
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the front of a paycheck that I know of. He's
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never employed another person, and he's never signed the back
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of a paycheck. He's always been a priest. Now, he
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could have been paid in check, because I'm not saying
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he was paid always in cash, I'm sure. I mean,
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I'm not saying a priest doesn't get a check like
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anyone else and have to go to the bank. What
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I'm saying is when your needs are entirely taken care
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of by your congregation or by charitable organizations, by or
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if you say you're a government employee and you get
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a paycheck no matter what the quality of your work is,
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and guess there's some good ones, there are a lot
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of bad ones. Or you're in, say the teachers' union,
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and you spend your time teaching woke ideology and the
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kids can't even read, write, or do math, and you're
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guaranteed a paycheck and three months off in the summer
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and all the benefits. You have no idea what it's
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like to be a hard working person trying to put
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food on the table, or an entrepreneur. And I've been both,
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and it's a very different mindset you take to your
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politics and your economics when you are not guaranteed your
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next meal, when you are not guaranteed your housing, when
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everything rests on your ability to work, it's a very
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different mindset. And honestly, you know, we've got all these
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educational requirements for prec these days, I don't think like
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getting a degree in psychology is anywhere near as beneficial
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as saying you know what, hey, before you become a priest,
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you have spend about five ten years working a menial
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job or starting a company. I think if a lot
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more priests waited tables, worked in construction, worked on farms,
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or started a business and got the understanding they would have,
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they'd have a farm, better understanding of human nature. That's
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economics in practicality, in practical terms. Commerce is a much
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better way of learning human nature than anything you're ever
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going to learn in a classroom. And their politics would
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probably be a lot more in line with common sense
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as opposed to you know, social justice and all that
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crap and social environmental justice is absolute crap, and it
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needs to be eradicated from Catholic teaching universities in its
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current form. Now in the you know, the command of
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Jesus to care for the poor and to give alms
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and work, do chair of works, that's good, Being a
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steward of the earth, that's good. Those are actually things
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you can learn a lot more working a job and
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understanding the kindness of some and the cruelty of others
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than you ever learn in the classroom. But anyway, ah,
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he said that, and in the eighteen ninety he says
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some Jews still rigorously keep the Sabbath day and no
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disadvantage ensues them. And that is true. Look at the
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Hasidic Jews, the most religious of all the Jews. They
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are very strict about the Sabbath, and they tend to
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make a darn good living. You know, God keeps his promises.
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The prophanation of the Word's day is frequently punished with
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temporal evils, sickness and poverty, because the Jews habitually violated
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the sanctity of the Sabbath. God permitted. This is the
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that wor the name I have so much trouble. Ne
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boo chad non no ne boo chad don no sore
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godly pete. I mean, how many syllables can you fit
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into a name that's where than some Russian names I've
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had to pronounce before. Nebboo chad don no sore Babylonian
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of course, to destroy Jerusalem and take the people into captivity.
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The usual punishment for profaning Sunday and not hearing Mass
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is to become the captive. Advice those whose work continuously
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ruins their health, Those who work continuously ruin their health.
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Man can no more live without taking repose than he
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can without eating. Thus, the day of rest is not
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only religious duty, but a natural necessity to those who
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work on Sunday. God says to the Jews of your
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I will quickly visit you with poverty Leviticus twenty six sixteen.
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Those who, through greed of gain, desecrate Sunday obtain the
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very opposite of their aim. The Chinese have no fixed
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day of rest, and to what a deplorable state of
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degradation and misery, both physically and morally they have sunk
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as a nation. All the more true today this was
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before the Communist revolution, and now thinks there are so
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much worse. The non observance of Sunday undermines family life
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and social relations. This sin causes the disintegration of the family.
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I can tell you my own life, that's true, Okay.
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When my grandfather ran the family businesses on my father's side,
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grocery stores, a tavern, various things like that, the family
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was really prosperous and intact. There were many He had children,
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brothers and sisters which he was leaving the businesses. He
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I mean, generations of real prosperity. When I was about four,
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my dad decided he was going my grandfather died and
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he said he was going to open the stores on Sunday.
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And my mother said, can we just go to church
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as a family, even if you have to open it
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in the afternoon, if you feel compelled to do that,
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and he became That's when he became very abusive, and
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the marriage ended and the stores are gone. What should
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have been my inheritance. If you know anything about me,
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food is like my passion cooking, you know, fresh groceries.
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I grew up in a butcher shop. I grew up
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in a cheese shop. I grew up in a wine shop.
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That should have been a family legacy that was passed down,
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and it all ended when he decided to open the
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stores on Sunday. Now the stores are no more. The
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I guess he's on his fifth wife now. I don't
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know how many kids he has. You know, what are
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you going to do? He hasn't really spoken to me
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but once in the last thirty years, when he found
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out that I had become Catholic and disowned me because
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he's hanging out with Franklin Graham now and he thinks
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he's a great Christian. Well, what are you going to do?
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But I can tell you this statement is very true.
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The non observance of Sunday undermines family life and social relations.
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The sin causes the dis integration of the family. If
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the members of a family neglect public worship, they lose
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all sense of their duties and fall into evil ways.
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The father becomes dissolute, the mother indifferent, and the children
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in subordinate. The father does not fulfill his duty of
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the children occupied all week. All the week he sees
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but little of them. Very true on Sunday he has
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leisure to observe their individual characters and give them useful instruction.
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The disintegration of society follows, and that of the family.
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The prophiation of Sunday is an open violation of God's law.
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The yoke of the secular law is next thrown off.
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No respect is shown to the authority of the king
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or civil government, the bishop, the legislature, or the parent.
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Catholics who are careless in regard to the holy days
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of obligation gradually lose all sense of their religious duties.
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They forget God their final end, and become like the heathen.
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Those who are not found on Sunday morning among the
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children of God on earth will be excluded from his
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presence to all eternity. By sanctifying Sunday, we lay up
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for ourselves treasures which will last forever. And we just
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talked about rest. So we'll continue on this topic with
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the precept of labor, which again I mean this is
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all part and part of the same. Work may be
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either bodily or mental. It must not be thought that
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by those who work only servants, artisans, operatives and the
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like are intended. Students, priests, school masters, doctors, etc. Are
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included out of the term. The latter do not indeed
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work with their hands, but with their head, and mental
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work is far more difficult and fatiguing than physical exertion.
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Obviously written by someone who never dug a ditch. As
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someone who has dug a ditch, I can tell you
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mental work is not more difficult and fatiguing and physical exertion,
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although it can be in certain yes, yes, But I
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don't think Father Spirago had exactly toiled in the fields.
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Work was formally held to be degrading until it was
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sanctified by our Lord. That is very true. If you
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read in the Bible, you kind of get the disdain
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that was held by the ancient Jews for people who
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are interacting commerce, storekeepers, anything like that. Anybody who labored
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in the fields was seen as lower than someone who
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didn't have to do that. And that's really still the
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true among the English, especially today, the French to some extent,
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and you can see how great their societies are going
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right now. Among the Pagans, there are two classes of people,
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the upper or governing class, and the slaves, the working class.
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In some states, artisans were deprived of civil rights, that's right.
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Why to ever watch that ridiculous film Great Expectations or
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read the book? I mean, I'm sorry, Yeah, Dickens wrote
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some great stuff, any I mean, Dad was stupid. I mean,
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it's the most ridiculous story ever written. But if you
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want to know how a blacksmith, an artisan was was considered,
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you know, check that out. People who worked with their
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hands were considered to be like animals. And you know
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the gentleman. Remember when Pip becomes a gentleman, he has
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nothing to do with any kind of physical labor or
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any kind of work whatsoever. The whole option was to
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he would dance, and he would fence, and he'd do
24:28
a little boxing, and he'd you know, he dressed like
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a gentleman and they to sully their hands. Was just
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considered to be the beneath the Protestant English. You know
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this is I've heard enough about the Protestant work ethic.
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The English never bought into that. Anyone who works has
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always been considered to be a lower class. I mean,
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tell me what physical labor King so called Charles has
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ever done, Okay or his sons. Yeah, I mean they
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served a little military duty, that's cool. You know, when
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my ancestors were the Kings of England the House of Wessex,
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things were much different and they were Catholic. By the way,
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I don't believe the current monarchy is legitimate in any way,
25:16
shape or form. I believe there are a bunch of inmbred
25:19
pedophiles and well I can't say that about the princes obviously,
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but they don't seem to be very good people either.
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Just my opinion, just judging the fur of the bune,
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not condemning them. I hope they were repent of their
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ways and become Catholic, but I don't see that happening
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because if they did, under English law, they couldn't become
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They would have to leave their royal positions. You have
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to be an Anglican, or perhaps episcopalia would pass. I
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don't know, but you have to be an Anglican to
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be a king or a prince of England, which is
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utterly ridiculous. As work was regarded as a degradation. Men
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used to either join the army or spend their days
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in idleness. And there you have it, to join the
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army or spend your days in idleness. And I think
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you've just described the British royal family and our lord's coming.
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He gave dignity to labor by his example. He chose
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a carpenter for his foster father, and from an early
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age he worked himself in the parable of the laborers
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and the vineyard. He gave his hearers to understand that
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work was necessary for salvation Matthew twenty. Many eminent men
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men have not disdained to engage in manual labor. Saint
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Paul earned his own living by the work of his hands.
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Acts twenty thirty four. He was a tent maker, Acts
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sixteen to three. The monks of old times occupied themselves
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with agriculture and in transcribing manuscripts. In fact, most of
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the agriculture of Europe is due to especially the Benedictines,
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absolutely revolutionized the growing of food and lifted many people
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out of hunger and poverty. Work is no humiliation. On
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the contrary, it is greatly to a man's credit to
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maintain himself by his own exertions, vice and pride alone.
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Really to great a man, he who serves his fellow man,
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because there's the will of God, really serves God, who
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lays the obligation upon him. Christ himself did not come
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to be served, but to serve. He who is the
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servant of another man is more is to be more
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respected than he is the slave of his passions. The
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obligation to work was laid upon mankind by God after
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the Fall as penance. Previous to the fall our first parents,
27:42
work was only a relaxation for man. But after the fall,
27:45
God said to Adam and the sweat of thy face
27:47
they shall eat. Thou shalt eat thy bread until thou
27:51
return to the earth out of which thou wert taken
27:54
Genesis three nineteen. Every individual who can work is bound
27:58
to work. Saint Paul says, if any man will not work,
28:01
neither let him eat. Second Thessalonians three ten. Again, this
28:06
is why the social justice is taught in Catholic universities
28:09
now is actually communism, which is opposed to the teachings
28:13
of the Church and really needs to be perched. No
28:17
man is free from original sin, and on account of
28:20
original sin we are obliged to do penance. Thus almost work.
28:24
That means no universal basic income. All you good Catholic socialists,
28:29
so called you work in order to compel a man
28:34
to work. God has ordained that the earth shall not
28:36
afford him nourishment unless it is cultivated. If no one labored,
28:40
all the people on earth would die of hunger. The
28:42
rich or not exempt from this obllegation. They can give
28:45
the proceeds of their work and charity, or at least
28:48
devote them to some good object. Royal personages have often
28:53
worked costly vestiments for the church. Queens and princes used
28:56
to spend a great part of their time in this manner.
29:00
The royal family used to actually make things for the church,
29:04
and they do it with their own hands. Believe it
29:06
or not. Now they wouldn't turn their hand to anything.
29:12
Upon a rich man being once asked why he was
29:15
always working at something or other, though there was no
29:18
need for him to do so. He replied, do you
29:20
think Almighty God has given me my hands for no purpose?
29:23
Saint Benedict, and making the rule for which for his monks,
29:26
provided that they should be occupied alternately alternately with prayer
29:31
and work, or at lebora. Nothing but old age, bodily, infirmity,
29:36
and sickness exempts us from the universal law. Man is
29:40
born into labor as the bird is to fly Job
29:44
five seven. Even the lower animals teach us this in respect,
29:49
witnessed the industrious ant as reference in Proverbs of sixt' six.
29:55
We exhort you to work with your hands as we
29:57
command you first Thessalonians four eleven. Every man is bound
30:02
primarily to perform the work appertaining to his calling or station.
30:07
There are various grades or states of life in human society.
30:11
There are ecclesiastics, physicians, lawyers, soldiers, married people and unmarried.
30:16
Human society is like a body in which each member
30:18
has its own individual functions First Corinthians twelve twelve, or
30:22
like a clock in which all the wheels, large and
30:24
small work into one another. It is God himself who
30:28
calls every man to his special state Hence we speak
30:30
of it as his vocation, and God gives everyone the
30:34
grace is necessary to his calling. Thus, if a man
30:38
feels inwardly drawn to one particular state, he ought to
30:40
obey this attraction, just as when the migratory birds obey
30:44
the motion that teaches him to seek a warmer climb
30:46
in the autumn. Those who do not follow that interior impulse,
30:51
but force themselves to embrace a calling for which they
30:53
feel no inclination, too often share the fate of the
30:56
birds who do not journey southward. Like them, they do
30:59
not thrive. Parents ought not to compel their children to
31:02
enter a profession for which they have no attraction, As
31:06
our vocations come from God. In fulfilling this obligation, we
31:10
serve him. Consequently, the duties of our state ought to
31:14
take precedence of over all others. In some case we
31:18
have to leave God for God. The object for which
31:21
Christ came into the world was to redeem it, And
31:23
when the time came for him to fulfill his duties,
31:26
to fulfill the duties of that vocation, everything else was
31:29
subservient to it. Remember his words in the temple when
31:32
he was twelve years of age, two forty nine, and
31:35
how he neglected to take food while conversing with the
31:38
Samaritan and Jacob's will John four thirty four. So Moses
31:42
acted when God told him on Mount Sinai that the
31:45
people had sinned grievously. He immediately immediately left the conversation
31:50
with God and returned to the camp Exodus thirty two seven.
31:55
Careful fulfillment of one's duties. Careful fulfillment of the duties
31:59
of one sad calling leads to perfection, the neglect of
32:03
them and tells fatal fatal consequences, both in time and
32:08
in eternity. Those who conscientiously accomplish the duties of their
32:12
calling are conscientious in all things, like the principal wheel
32:16
of a machine. If this goes well, all else goes well.
32:20
But if it stops, the whole of the workers are
32:22
at a standstill. In the process for canonization, the first
32:26
inquiry is how the candidate has fulfilled the duties of
32:29
his calling. It is a mistake to imagine that time
32:32
and trouble devoted to the duties of one's calling are wasted.
32:36
On the contrary, there is no speedier means of attaining perfection.
32:40
Those who deluded by the devil, neglect their duties for
32:42
prayer and pious works, commit a sin. If a man,
32:46
says Saint Francis to sell, does not perform the grave
32:51
obligations of his state, though he raised the dead and
32:54
practice all manner of austerities, he is in mortal sin
32:57
and will perish eternally in vain. Those pray who will
33:01
not work. All piety is faults, which is not subordinate
33:05
to the claims of our calling for no state of life,
33:08
if lawful is a hindrance to salvation. We must not
33:11
forget God in what we do. Before enduring our work,
33:14
we should implore His aid and renew our intention. God's
33:18
blessing we need if our work should succeed. Witness the
33:22
miraculous draft of fishes in Luke five, when they caught
33:25
a bunch of fish. Three men with God's blessing will
33:28
do more work in a day than ten without it.
33:30
To begin one's work without prayer is as if a
33:33
soldier went to battle without weapons. Saint Paul exhorts us
33:38
to renew our intentions in the words, whether you eat
33:41
or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to
33:44
the glory of God. One Corinthians ten thirty one. In
33:47
our actions we must take aim like one who shoots
33:50
at a mark. However long a row of cipher's a
33:53
child makes on a slate, they have no value whatsoever
33:56
into a figure is placed before them. So it is
33:59
with our work and themselves they are worthless. But if
34:02
they are performed in God's name, he makes them fruitful
34:04
and meritorious. As when writings, one dips one's pen from
34:09
time to time and ink in order to write on
34:11
It's the the old style of dip pens. There were
34:16
like fountain pins, but you had to dip them in ink.
34:18
A love those things really cool. I kind of collect them, actually,
34:24
So we ought to look up to God to gain
34:26
fresh strength and fresh strength for our work. We should
34:31
do the like. We should do like the mariner who
34:34
looks up at the stars or consults the compass, that
34:37
he may steer his course of right. The angels, while
34:40
a ministering to man, do not cease to gain upon
34:42
the countants of God, as the builder constantly uses square
34:46
and plumbline. So all our actions should be measured by
34:49
the rule of love of God. Pray without ceasing. First
34:54
Thessalonians five seventeen. In other words, everything you do becomes
34:57
a prayer. Accustom yourselves to out ejaculatory prayers at your work,
35:02
and take for your motto of the words aura at
35:05
labora pray and work, or work and pray. No, it's
35:08
pray and work. Yeah, he wrote it backwards. I got
35:10
it right in. While putting your hand to work, raise
35:14
your heart to God. Labor obtains a temporal an eternal
35:19
recompense because it is a kind of divine worship. The
35:23
temporal recompense is a commitment and earthly happiness. The temporal
35:28
recompense is contentment and earthly happiness. As the law of
35:32
work was laid upon Adam and Paradise by God as
35:35
an expiation for his fault when he acknowledged and confessed it,
35:39
all who work do the will of God and perform
35:42
an act that is pleasing to him. Work and its
35:45
character of penance, is more excellent than prayer. Saint Francis
35:48
de sal And, obliged to curtail his prayers because of
35:51
the press of business, excused himself by saying, in this
35:54
world we must pray by work and action. Work has
35:58
a bitter root, but it's fruit. But the fruit it
36:01
bears is sweet, It has temporal reward. The idler finds
36:05
his time long and is a burden to himself, whereas
36:07
the industrious is contented and cheerful. He experiences the truth
36:11
fair Lord's words. My yoke is sweet, and my burden
36:14
is Like Matthew eleven thirty, the devil cannot molest a
36:18
busy man with his temptations. He has no leisure to
36:21
listen to his enticements any more than a man will
36:24
leave some important transaction to go where music and dancing
36:27
goes on. Work generally ensures earthly prosperity. The bees who
36:31
gather honey all day long in summer lay it up
36:34
in their hives as a store of nourishment for the winter.
36:38
The industrial industrious man's future is assured. A Roman who
36:43
had accumulated a large fortune by hard work was accused
36:46
of magic arts being brought before the Senate. He produces
36:49
tools and said, behold the charms I have made use
36:52
of the sweat of my brow I cannot show you. Finally, labor,
36:56
like all other acts of penance, merits and everlasting re ward.
37:00
Our Lord says, the laborer is worthy of his hire.
37:04
Luke ten seven, and Saint Paul said every man shall
37:08
receive his own reward according to his labor. First Corinthians
37:11
three eight. The anticipation of reward Sweeten's labor, as we see,
37:16
is the case with all working classes. They labor for
37:19
a temporal reward, but we labor, but we for an eternal.
37:23
Saint Bernard told a monk who was always busily employed
37:27
that if he continued to work so zealously, he need
37:29
not dread purgatory. Let us not, in our work look
37:33
so much to what we shall gain in it in
37:35
time as to our eternal reward. For if we think
37:40
of the present profit, we shall work less, and we
37:43
shall lose the eternal profit to which we show ourselves indifferent.
37:48
The precept of labor is transgressed by indulgence in idleness,
37:52
by the non fulfillment of duties of our station and calling,
37:56
and by omitting to offer to God the work that
37:59
is done well. The next section is very short. I
38:02
think we can actually wrap this one up today, and
38:05
it says the relaxations permitted to the Christian It is
38:08
lawful for those who work to seek relaxation, for this
38:11
is a means of renewing one's strength. After one's work
38:14
is done, the bow, never unspanned will break. As I've
38:18
already explained, the man who works without cessation will become
38:21
unfit for work. Social convivialities are productive of much good.
38:25
They promote charity and concord. It is God's will that
38:28
we should enjoy recreation. He has provided us with pleasures
38:32
in nature alone. But the beauty is coloring, the delicious
38:37
perfume of flowers, the songs of birds, of various kinds
38:40
of fruit, etc. Our Lord himself was a guest at vanquets,
38:44
and even at a marriage feast. He speaks without disapproval
38:47
of music Luke fifteen twenty five. We must, not, however,
38:51
endure indulge too freely in amusements, and certainly we must
38:54
to shew all those that are sinful. Moreover, in all
38:57
our recreations, the thought of God must be present in
39:00
our mind. We must not be too great votaries of pleasure,
39:05
for diversions are not the object of life. They are
39:08
only a means of renewing our strength of work. Another
39:11
problem being taught in socialism and Marxism and all that
39:15
they say, you know, people shouldn't have to work a
39:17
universal income. And what did Nancy Pelosi say, They can
39:20
all be poets. Yeah, you can all be poets. Go
39:27
down to the housing projects and see how well that
39:30
model works. Trust me. You know, growing up where I did,
39:36
from the mountains, North Carolina, grew up in eastern North
39:38
Carolina what you call a majority minority community, more blacks
39:44
and lumby Indians and Hispanics and such, and that were
39:47
white people. One side of town was entirely housing projects,
39:53
and the people there did not work. And you know,
39:58
it wasn't all just one race, It was just one
40:00
side of town. The people there that did not work,
40:03
most of them. Anyway. There are a few little shops
40:06
in such little convenience stores. And the violent crime, the poverty,
40:14
the despair, the filthiness, you know, broken out windows, a
40:21
building burned, nobody goes in and repairs it. And they
40:25
all were living the socialist dream of leisure and entertainment.
40:29
Lots of drugs, lots of prostitution, lots of violent crimes,
40:33
lots of gangs, and everyone just basically sitting around drunk
40:36
and high all day watching television. You know, if that's
40:39
the life you think is ideal, and go ahead and
40:42
be a socialist, Go ahead and be a democrat. Whatever
40:46
I can tell you by experience, it doesn't work. I
40:49
had several friends from that side of town. It was
40:51
pretty horrible the kind of things say they went through.
40:54
And yeah, still to this day, good high crime right there,
41:02
as you'll find in Chicago. And frankly, that's why Chicago's
41:05
so bad. So anyway, life is for work, not for play.
41:12
Excess in everything is harmful. Medicine taken in two large
41:15
doses is injurious. And the best of condiments, if used
41:20
too freely, will spoil a dish. So it is with amusements.
41:23
They are only to be enjoyed when all our duties
41:26
have been duly performed. The thought of death is a
41:28
useful check upon indulgence of the pleasures of the senses.
41:32
If we remember that at any moment our soul may
41:35
be required of us, we shall be moderate in our
41:38
use of enjoyments. An exaggerated leve of pleasure, in a
41:41
craving for excitement, prevails in the present day. This is
41:45
eighteen ninety. Remember, I can't imagine you say about our time.
41:49
One festivity and dissipation follows another. And yet everywhere one
41:54
hears complaints of the evil times, May not the thirst
41:58
for enjoyment be the cause? And above all, dangerous or
42:01
sinful pleasures are to be avoided, such as gambling for
42:04
high stakes, games of chants, which are prohibited, slandering the absent,
42:08
sarcastic speeches, unseemly words are contempt of holy things. Those
42:13
who indulge in such pleasures are like thankless children who
42:16
delight in offending their father when enjoyment. When enjoying innocent pleasures,
42:22
we should think of God as our highest destiny, the
42:25
Psalmist says, be glad in the Lord. Saint Charles Borromeo
42:29
is said to have once is said wants to have
42:32
played a game of billiards. When asked what he would
42:35
do if he was told of the last judgment was
42:39
at hand, he replied, I should finish the game, for
42:41
I am playing for the glory of God. He is
42:44
present in my thoughts. I like that I quite enjoy billiards. Actually,
42:50
in our family tavern downstairs, we had a pool haul
42:53
and I used to be quite the little pool shark
42:56
when I was about when I was of small child. Actually,
43:00
I think, you know, the adults always let me win
43:02
but I developed a love of the game. I also
43:07
enjoyed so much that that life had to offer my
43:13
family for several generations and is no more. Those wonderful
43:18
pistrabi sandwiches and ham and Swiss on rye and the
43:21
tavern and the fresh produce and the wonderful cheeses and
43:25
interacting with the customers and cooking all that's very much
43:30
suited to to my my nature. So anyway, y'all have
43:36
a going and remember the words of Saint Padre Pio, pray,
43:40
hope and don't worry, and I'll talk to you next time.