Dear Readers,<\/p>\n
Each year the mailing list waxes and wanes, and I find myself torn between sorrowing for those who leave because they cannot accept what we believe, and rejoicing in those who have finally found the truth. I have never said that I, or those who believe as Catacomb Catholics believe, are the only ones who can claim to possess that truth. What I have tried to show is that what is presented here is only the Church\u2019s own presentation of the truth and not my own \u201ctake.\u201d No one who has ever accused me of presenting my own \u201copinion\u201d has ever demonstrated that this is what I do, or that the manner in which I state what the Church teaches is at variance in any way with how She presents Her own truths.<\/p>\n
What it seems to come down to on all levels can be reduced to a scriptural passage, the \u201ctidings of great joy\u201d the angels announced at Christ\u2019s birth: \u201cPeace on earth to men of good will<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d Of course the King James version reads: \u201cPeace on earth, good will toward men.\u201d But God does not grant good will to unrepentant sinners; this leads us back to the Novus Ordo lie that He died \u201cfor all,\u201d when we know that He told us the Sacrifice on the Cross once renewed daily on our altars was offered \u201cfor many.\u201d\u00a0 Good will, or as some call it \u201cgood faith\u201d only goes so far.\u00a0 We can be in good faith only as long as we truly are totally unaware of the truth, and accept that truth the minute that we hear it. What those who make the \u201cgood faith\u201d argument are really saying is that if they are ignorant of anything, their ignorance is invincible.<\/p>\n But sadly, they misunderstand invincible ignorance. The truth of such ignorance is best taught by the well-respected Scottish Bishop George Hay in his \u201cThe Sincere Christian, written in the mid-1800s. Bp. Hay describes three things that are necessary for invincible ignorance to exist. 1) \u201cThat a person have a real and sincere desire of knowing the truth;\u201d\u00a0 he cannot be \u201cpositively unwilling to seek after the truth for fear of worldly inconveniences,\u201d such as the loss of some material gain or human respect; 2) \u201cThat he be sincerely resolved to embrace the truth wherever he may find it and whatever it might cost him, for if he be not fully resolved to follow the will of God wherever it shall appear to him, in all things necessary to salvation\u2026ignorance arising from it can never excuse him before his Creator;\u201d 3) He sincerely use his best endeavors to know his duty, and particularly that he recommend the matter to Almighty God, and pray for light and direction from Him.\u201d<\/p>\n Bp. Hay continues: \u201cIf a person be deficient in using his endeavors to know his duty, his ignorance is not invincible\u2026And if, from attachment to the world, and to sensual and other selfish objects, he be not so disposed, and neglect to use the proper means for coming to the truth, then his ignorance is voluntary and culpable, not invincible \u2026 It \u00a0is enough to make his ignorance blameable that there be sufficient reasons for doubting. Saul had no doubt of his doing well when he offered sacrifices before the prophet Samuel came; on the contrary, he was persuaded that he had the strongest reasons for doing so, and yet he was condemned by that very action, and himself and family rejected by Almighty God\u2026.A person brought up in a false faith which the Scriptures call sects of perdition, doctrines of devils, perverse things, lies and hypocrisy; <\/em><\/strong>and who has heard of the true Church of Christ which condemns all these sects and sees the divisions and dissensions which they constantly have among themselves, has always before his eyes the most cogent reasons to doubt the way that he is in. \u201d<\/p>\n On the eve of this most blessed day, the birth of our Lord, we must sadly behold those who have been sternly warned they are committing grievous sins ignoring these warnings to go before false priests and into false places or worship to dishonor Him, who came to save them from these very sins. We wish them no ill will, only good will; but having rejected the truth He came to bring at His birth, it is certain they will never have the true Peace the angels came to sing to us about, for that alone comes with good will. And in wishing them good will, we can only conclude that this will must be to wish them to be separated in whatever manner is necessary for their salvation from all that compels them to do evil, be it family, friends, \u201cpriests\u201d, and especially the abominable ceremonies and rites they call mass and sacraments.<\/p>\n That is true charity; that is truth; that is good will. And should it be that it happens, then that is what truly will bring all true Catholics peace on earth.<\/p>\n Blessings,<\/p>\n T. Benns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear Readers, Each year the mailing list waxes and wanes, and I find myself torn between sorrowing for those who leave because they cannot accept what we believe, and rejoicing in those who have finally found the truth. I have never said that I, or those who believe as Catacomb Catholics believe, are the only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":211,"menu_order":15,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betrayedcatholics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betrayedcatholics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betrayedcatholics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betrayedcatholics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betrayedcatholics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1170"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.betrayedcatholics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2631,"href":"https:\/\/www.betrayedcatholics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1170\/revisions\/2631"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betrayedcatholics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betrayedcatholics.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}