News Item: : Go and Sin No More!
(Category: Torch of The Faith News)
Posted by admin
Monday 16 January 2017 - 13:44:56

As must be the case for many Catholics throughout the world, the Criteria for the Application of Chapter VIII of Amoris Laetitia, issued recently by the Bishops of Malta and Gozo, has troubled me throughout much of the weekend.

So, too, has the wider implication of the fact that it appeared to receive a certain Francis-related kudos, by being featured without condemnation in the pages of L'Osservatore Romano.

During the Second World War, Malta was, at one point, defended by three R.A.F. Gloster Sea Gladiator biplanes nicknamed Faith, Hope and Charity. Well, it seems that the Bishops of Malta and Gozo have accomplished, what the Luftwaffe could not do, by shooting down faith, hope and charity in one fell swoop... 

By the way, before going any further, I must sincerely apologize, and ask forgiveness, for initially rendering that as the ''Bishops of Malta and Goa'' in my haste to get Saturday's article posted on-line before going out. It was corrected in the original yesterday.

The above picture features on the cover of the scandalous document that has been issued by Malta's Archbishop Charles Jude Scicluna and Gozo's Bishop Mario Grech.

It is one of the religious mosaics created by Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik S.J. - creator of a number of successful catechetical artworks, as well as the rather more disturbing Jubilee of Mercy logo - and depicts the scene of the woman caught in adultery. Although we had no desire to promote the weird-looking Jubilee logo, we have drawn from Fr. Rupnik's richly symbolic Crucifixion scene when giving catechesis to teenagers in the past. (We speak of the mosaic image which is pictured below; and which features in the Vatican's Redemptoris Mater chapel).

It is interesting that the Bishops of Malta and Gozo should illustrate their document with this particular piece of artwork though.

Perhaps, like many dissenting liberals, they think that this will allow them to forestall any criticisms from orthodox Catholics. You know the score: a faithful Catholic defends the Faith, only to be rebuffed with the misapplication of Jesus' words to the woman caught in adultery: ''Let him without sin cast the first stone''.

Of course, this is a misapplication of the Saviour's words because, in the original account presented by St. John's Gospel (John 8:1-11), Our Lord's dialogue with the woman goes like this: ''Then Jesus lifting up Himself, said to her: Woman, where are they that accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee? Who said: no man, Lord. And Jesus said: neither will I condemn thee. Go and now sin no more.''

Notice that: Go and now sin no more. Jesus sets us free from sin; not for sin!

When reading the sacrilege-enabling document by the Bishops of Malta and Gozo, one gets the distinct impression that they are telling their people, rather, to ''Go and sin some more!''

Oh yes, there is that little rider in their phraseology that suggests that no-one can be precluded from Confession and Holy Communion. But, of course, that is standard Church-teaching.

But, as any half-catechized person should be able to tell you, the conditions for a valid sacramental absolution include true contrition, integral vocal confession of all known mortal sins and a firm purpose of amendment to avoid future occasions of sin.

Scicluna and Grech don't make any of that clear with their relativistic twaddle, which states: ''If a separated or divorced person who is living in a new relationship manages, with an informed and enlightened conscience, to acknowledge and believe that he or she are at peace with God, he or she cannot be precluded from participating in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.''

Nope, there is no teaching on the objective components of a valid Confession and Absolution here. It is a relativistic invitation for adulterers to come to confess all their other sins, except for the in-your-face ''biggie'' of living in an objective state of adultery, and then go on to receive Holy Communion.

Again, in Catholic teaching this represents an invitation to sacrilegious Confessions and sacrilegious Communions.

It all reminds me of Our Blessed Lord's strong words to the pharisees, when He warned: ''Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you go about the sea and the land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, you make him the child of Hell two-fold more than yourselves'' (St. Matthew's Gospel: 23:15).

As we illustrated in Saturday's article, the Council of Trent declares an excommunication on anyone who presumes to teach, preach or obstinately maintain, or defend in public disputation that Holy Communion may be received without Holy Confession of all known mortal sins.

There is one other key teaching in the Council of Trent which particularly exposes the falsehood of Scicluna and Grech's attempt to subvert Holy Matrimony with their fancy ''informed and enlightened conscience'' fraud.

In the Council of Trent's Canon XII on Holy Matrimony, we read: ''If anyone saith, that matrimonial causes do not belong to ecclesiastical judges; let him be anathema.''

When Christ rescued the woman from those who sought to stone her, He did not only set her free from that penalty; He set her free with His forgiveness and instruction to ''Go and sin no more''. His saving grace was available to accompany her into a better future. If bishops Scicluna and Grech were truly merciful, that is to say truly Catholics, this is the message that they would be giving to their people.

This incident is not the only one involving stones to be reported in the Gospels. St. Luke (Lk 17:2) warns: ''It were better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones.''

Perhaps Scicluna and Grech might contemplate that divinely revealed fact next time they wander along the coasts of the Maltese archipelago.

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This news item is from Torch of The Faith
( http://www.torchofthefaith.com/news.php?extend.1529 )