Sobriety and Serenity

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

I use to think sobriety was just about not drinking and trudging through life and trying to tell people not to do what you did. Today I know that sobriety for me is a simple equation.

Being Dry + Serenity = Sobriety

But what is serenity? Better still how do I find it, reach it, etc? By definition serenity is the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; sereneness. Serene is calm, peaceful, tranquil; unruffled. The word originated in between the late 1400s to early 1500s. It came from the latin word serenus which was in reference to weather and a clear sky.

For me serenity comes with a realization that the only thing I have power over in many situations is my emotions,  my actions, and most of my thoughts. Serenity is an inner peace attained by letting go and letting God. This is where I come to qualms with the program of AA.

A higher power, is merely a descriptive term for God, it does not identify who the true God is. There is only one God, for all of us, whether one accepts Him as God or not; it is the triune God with His three natures the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I understand that AA is a program of attraction rather than promotion. And for good reason, to save individuals from the disease of addiction no matter what they happen to believe in.

However what good is it to have a sober life when your soul is damned for eternity?  Let’s be realistic,  when we die we either go to Heaven or Hell, forever. If one used a scale to measure their life, with the things they were suppose to be doing in order to know, love, and serve Our Creator to get to Heaven; and they started at zero (which is untrue from original sin, but lets say we start at zero), then addictive behavior or alcoholism would put them in the negative.

Achieving sobriety therefore, cancels out addiction and removes that distraction from our lives. However, it does not set us on the path that Christ Himself gave us through the Church He established. Sobriety may give us a clearer mindset, but it does not give one the Faith. AA is a program based on mostly charity (which is essential,  but not the only requirement for salvation), and a touch of spirituality.

Sober living is wonderful, in just the short time I’ve been sober I have learned and gained appreciation for so much.  Being sober is the way one should be to make life decisions. But what good is a sober life if it is not used to glorify the One True God? Being sober is not the end all be all. And being sober without the Faith established by Christ is likened to trying to catch up to someone running down the street by jumping on a treadmill.

Another big saying in AA is that it is a program of progress not perfection. I have to disagree here too. Most everyone has heard the phrase, “practice makes perfect” but what if one is practicing (whatever they are doing), the wrong way? Should not the phrase be modified to say, “perfect practice makes perfect?” 

“We are not saints, the point is we are willing to grow along spiritual lines…”, A.A. HOW IT WORKS

Why can’t we strive to be saints? Is this not what we are called to be? I understand the humility of this statement, could it be modified to state that we are not saints but we are striving to be in the eyes of Our God?

“Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48

Considering how many examples of saints are across the world in all the ages…even if one were to not believe about one example of a story they hear about a saint; there are too many accounts of people in all places and times, testimonials from Catholics, Protestants, and people from all different beliefs converting because of these Catholic saints!

Saints who so loved God and did His will that they actually had supernatural abilities!! Testimony after testimony after testimony…all over the world!

“Otherwise believe for the very works’ sake. Amen, amen I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do; and greater than these shall he do.” John 14:12

Sobriety is undoubtedly a good thing. When, like all good things, it is used for the glory of God. Why all for Gods glory? Because we have absolutely no right to claim anything as our own. Not even our own bodies, it’s all His, everything is His. We are living on borrowed time, why? Because He loves us and wants us to be with Him.

All good comes from God as we know, but have we given that obvious statement much thought? If all good comes from God then the things that are not good do not come from God. The things that appear as good are deceitful lies that steer us away from God to Hell. Sobriety is the tool we have to see through the lies. This is how we discover objective truths, and this is how we find God and how to serve Him the right way.

Truth is in history, its in day to day activity,  its in everything. The truth about what things really are, what truly matters and what matters not is where you find God and from God and His Will you can achieve true serenity, true happiness, and true life for eternity. His Will is not easy according to the comforts of the world and society, and it’s because the world lies to us. It makes us comfortable so the devil can take us from Him who made us.

True serenity is found in doing the Will of God. Doing otherwise leads to impossible expectations that don’t get met and get people angry, lustful, or drunk. Sorting through the world of chaos and finding His Will for us will lead us to a perfect peace we will never know here.

God Bless BJS!!

7 Deadly Sins

“​Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but that you be perfect in the same mind, and in the same judgment.” 1 Corinthians 1:10

We should not be satisfied merely to keep the commandments of God, but should always be ready to do good deeds, even when they are not commanded. The commandments of God state the minimum requirements for salvation. They should be kept not merely according to the letter, but also according to the spirit, which obliges us to strive for greater perfection.
Actual sin is any willful thought, desire, word, action or ommission forbidden by the law of God. 

All of these seven deadly sins, are the origins of every offense we commit before Our Creator. They become the obstacles and chief obsessions in our minds of what we want to focus on instead of what we should be focusing on.

Pride-Unrestrained appreciation of our own worth (opposite of Humility)

Greed-Immoderate desire for earthly goods (Opposite of Liberality or being poor in spirit)

Lust-Hankering for impure pleasures (opposite of Chastity)

Anger-Inordinate desire for revenge (opposite of Meekness)

Gluttony-Unrestrained use of food and drink (opposite of Temperance)

Envy-Sorrow over another’s good fortune (over Brotherly Love)

Sloth-Laxity in keeping the Faith and the practice of virtue (over Diligence)

Note:
The 7 Deadly Sins, also known as “The 7 Capital Sins,” are those sins that give rise to other sins. They were first enumerated by Pope St. Gregory the Great in “Moralia in Job.”

God Bless BJS!!

Pride

“And I will break the pride of your stubbornness, and I will make to you the heaven above as iron, and the earth as brass:” Leviticus 26:29

Pride blinds us to EVERYTHING. We have impossible expectations of everyone and everything to serve our needs. When these are not met we burst into fits of anger or other extreme emotions out of self will run riot. If we are not in control of our own emotions what an illusion that we think we can control anyone or anything else? It is pride that put the devil in Hell. It is pride that condemned Our Lord to die on the cross. It is pride that sprouted all these different Protestant religions along with private interpretation of Scripture, that takes them off the path the Christ has shown us to follow and that was reiterated by countless saints and martyrs.

To think we are something when truly we were made from nothing. Pride gives fuel to every other sin, believing we are entitled to so offend God. Like a weed in your garden that starts as a seed. It grows first in vanity of one’s self. It then leads to selfishness, and finally the worst of the forms of pride, arrogance. It chokes out the delicate flowers of virtue that ever need our attention in being cultivated and watered. It grows up to attack these virtues no matter how hard we try and the world puts miracle grow on these weeds.

Pride is defined as excessive self-love and is committed in a number of ways with three main forms of vanity (or vainglory), selfishness, and arrogance.

Vanity – this is the lowest form of pride, and consists of paying extra attention to yourself. Along with this is the expectation that others should pay the same amount of attention to you. It is right and proper for people to look good and well kept respectably, but too much looking in the mirror and focus on one’s self means you are pleased with yourself in such a way you believe others should be too.

This is made manifest by boasting of one’s self. Exaggerated conversation as to make what you speak sound more important. Praising your children as to extol your feelings of pride through them. All of these are subtle ways in which individuals express pride. Drawing attention to yourself.

Human respect is defined as the acceptance of sinful living in order to draw or maintain acceptance of other humans over Gods. Early English Protestants lived in such a way as to earn the attention of their king. As well stubbornness engenders discord.

Selfishness- when one seeks their own needs excessively. We have too great a desire and attention to fulfilling our own needs then to think about God or others. This is manifested by us in excessive interest and pursuit of pleasures. Excessive material things lead to an inability to make sacrifice. This inability destroys marriages and religous vocations.

Selfishness destroys marriages because one or both parties are unwilling to do anything outside of pleasing themselves to preserve the blessed union of matrimony before God. They are blinded by pride into lust, gluttony, anger and all the others. People do not choose religous vocations because it is not a “lucrative market”, it doesnt appeal to the senses like pleasure and money do.

Your duties in life become abandoned for ease out of laziness. There is an arising of anger and strong passions. One does not care if people’s lives are miserable, as long as theis person can lash out and throw their fit like a child when they don’t get their way. This selfishness leads to cold-hearts and a general lack of compassion.

Arrogance – this is the worst kind of pride and inclines rebellion of the intellect and disrespect. We believe we are not even subject to reality. The errors of subjectavisim and relativism take hold to the point the mind cannot discern between what is real and obviously true anymore.

Rejection of standard norms of reality, today anything goes.  Society embraces heresy and is in acceptance of everything. This is one of the worst sins you can commit before God. It is just under hatred of God and is the spirit of the devil. Contempt for authority and humility. Love of self to the hatred of God as He becomes an obstacle to us and eventually obtains hatred from us. As the devil hates Him, us, and everything, in such ways.

The first question of Catholic Catechism is why God made us. The Catholic answer would be to know, love, and serve Him in this world to be happy with Him in Heaven. The answer the world gives us is to obtain as much human respect, money, and impure pleasure, to die and go to Hell forever. Heroes of human ages are heretics to the truth, they are held with such great esteem. Godless, and liberalized in their thinking of what is owed to them. We were created out of nothing, and it is God that maintains our existence,  not us.
God Bless BJS!!

Our Crosses

“Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and takeup his cross, and follow me.”Matthew 16:24

I have found that if the things I am doing are hard, there is the possibility I am not doing things right,  but there is also the probability that I am doing the right things. 

This life was not meant to be easy. I use to let things, people, and places get me drunk. And when one loses sight of the end goal you get distracted and caught up in worldy things and pleasures very easily, until they control you. I had the illusion that I could control everything and that it should be done the way I want. This way of thinking was to no one’s benefit. Not even my own. It only served as another reason for me to drink excessively. At least until I got to the point where I didnt care anymore, and I couldnt stop after the first drink.

To quote a twenty-four hour meditation for alcoholics and addicts:

“When you live the right way, things seem to work out well for you. When you live the wrong way, things seem to work out badly for you. You seem to take out of life about what you put into it. If you disobey the laws of nature, the chances are that you will be unhealthy. If you disobey the spiritual and moral laws, the chances are that you will be unhappy. By following the laws of nature and the spiritual laws of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love, you can expect to be reasonably healthy and happy.”

I know that I am only truly happy when I am doing the will of God. Because all good comes from God, I know that what appears good, in the long run often isn’t. The things that are most hard are those that will pay off in eternity. When I let myself become preoccupied with something other than the glory of God each day, such as sloth, lust, or anger, I am focused on myself.

Like a car on the road, I affect the people closest to me with my actions. Everyone ahead of me is gone I cant get through to them, if I slow down everyone behind me does too. I think that is something that hurts me the most about my drinking. I really hurt a lot of people especially my parents. I was selfish my whole life, and I didn’t listen, I have always had the habit of taking the most simple things in life and messing it all up because I got complacent or bored.

I have always battled procrastination or sloth. I have a hard time getting interested into things because everything has lost its shimmer. I have grown up and sobered up and finally see the world for what it really is. Why it has taken me this long when I was told all about it and didn’t listen, I do not know. Right now however,  I can change for the rest of my life.

Part of this change includes an acceptance of His Will for me on a daily basis. When I wake up in the morning I try to get on my knees and offer God every physical, mental, and emotional pain I will have to endure for the day. I do this to say sorry for how I have offended Him and I ask that I may have the grace to know, love, and serve Him that day. There are plenty of tests everyday which I am so thankful for and try to be ever mindful of. The problem in the past was I let these things get to me, when in the end it is the Supreme Judge who will take into consideration our whole life.
Our judgements will be alone with our creator (there will be a general judgement,  and a particular judgment more on them later). We will have to render account for everything before Him trembling and remorseful. When I talk to God, I do so alone, as with most all Catholics I know. This is a reason I do not typically hold hands with others when I pray. I think it takes the attention of what YOU want to say to God and puts it on…well holding hands.

I could write a few pages on the Sign of the Cross, but as most know, Catholics make it before and after prayer and some many times a day. The reason we do this in short, is because  everything should be done or said, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of The Holy Ghost”, and the cross that is made with our hand is in respect to the tool used for our salvation. To ever remind us that Jesus died for our sins. I never understood why so many people make fun of this holy and sacred act. Given the immense power it has had in healing and miracles,  its all out there, people just have to read.  There are countless testimonials of saints lives, exorcisms, and everyday living that illustrate the power of the Sign of the Cross. Again, it’s out of respect and reverence for Our Creator and Saviour, nothing else.

When I keep in mind that all the sins and sufferings will help me become better at the virtues; it makes dealing with life on life’s terms a whole lot more bearable. When I can  put my needs and wants to death and sacrifice as much as I can to show charity to someone even if they hate everything I stand for, my trials and tribulations are all worth surmounting

You only live once, and those decisions echoe for eternity. Pick up your cross and smile,  walk with The Lord awhile.

God Bless BJS!!

Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone)

​The Bible was not put under one cover until the Councils of Hippo (393) and 3rd Council of Carthage (397) accepted the official list of books. Not for over 1000 years after these early Councils was the printing press invented (~1450), so Bible manuscripts were quite rare and costly before the printing press came about. Between 397 and 1450 then, how did most people learn about the contents of Scripture, and who was the authoritative figure for the early Church during these centuries? The authority clearly could not have been the Bible, but clearly was the Church Herself who preached it to the faithful. So how can Scripture have been our only guide for the centuries before copies of the Bible were readily available, and were the people who lived during those centuries all damned because they did not have access to Scripture?

Consider this verse from Scripture: “Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing, you may have life in his name” John 20:30-31. What else does this tell us than Jesus did and said other things that were not recorded in Scripture? Are we really to think that anything Jesus did or said that didn’t make it into the books of Scripture are false or should not be adhered to?

Consider the verse, “But there are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written” John 21:25. Clearly there are many things Jesus said and did that were passed on as tradition (by word of mouth) and did not make it into the books of Scripture.Nowhere in Scripture do we see references to Jesus writing anything down during His public life, nor does Scripture show that He ever asked His Apostles to write down what He was teaching either. We can see only Peter, Paul, James, John Jude, Matthew, Mark and Luke wrote parts of what Our Lord taught, the others did not write anything as far as is recorded. If Scripture were the ONLY resource we should have for our salvation, surely Jesus and His Apostles would have written constantly, but they did not. Instead Scripture shows that the Apostles TAUGHT as they were instructed by Our Lord: “Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” Matt 28:19. So while Scripture is essential, tradition is also essential. Nowhere in Scripture does it say Scripture alone should be accepted as revelation, and it certainly does not say we should condemn Apostolic tradition. Look all through the Gospels and you will see nothing spoken against tradition except for traditions which are human or against Scripture. Why do the Protestant reformers add this to Our Lord’s words? It is forbidden to add anything to Scripture, as it is to take anything away from it. Why do the Protestant reformers also take away the traditions which are expressly authorized?

Consider the verse, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle.” 2 Thessalonians 2:14. What else does this tell us than the Apostles spread the word of God not only through Epistles, but also by WORD, and that we should hold to the traditions which we are taught? Any unwritten Apostolic doctrine we call Tradition. 

Consider the verse, “If any man be hungry, let him eat at home; that you come not together unto judgment. And the rest I will set in order, when I come.” 1 Corinthians 11:34. This clearly shows St. Paul writing important words to the Corinthians, then stating he will “set the rest in order” when he comes, yet we do not have writing about them elsewhere. What he said then, will it be lost to the Church? No, it has come down through tradition.

Consider the verse, “Having more things to write unto you, I would not by paper and ink: for I hope that I shall be with you, and speak face to face: that your joy may be full.” 2 John 1:12. St. John had something worthy of being written yet he chose to speak instead. Instead of Scripture, he has made tradition.

Consider the verse, “Hold the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me in faith, and in the love which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 1:13. This is clearly St. Paul recommending to St. Timothy an unwritten Apostolic word. This is tradition! Also consider the verse, “And the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2. What is this but the Apostle speaking, the witnesses relating, and St. Timothy teaching, followed by these teaching others? This is clearly tradition.

Consider the verse, “I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now” John 16:12. When did He say these things which He had to say? Was it all written? It is also said that He was forty days with them teaching them of the Kingdom of God, but we have neither all of His apparitions nor everything He told them during that time.

Consider the verses, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” Matthew 28:20, and “He that heareth you, heareth me” Luke 10:16, etc. This clearly shows the Apostles teaching is true revelation.

God Bless BJS!!

Sola Fide (Faith alone)

​Nowhere in the bible does it state faith “alone” justifies, and this new doctrine was not heard of before the 16th century. Why did the Protestant reformers propose it and what authority gave it to them?

Consider the verse, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in. Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.” Matthew 25:34-36. Are these not examples of good works? 

Why would Our Lord give them so much emphasis if only faith was of importance?

Consider the verses, “And behold one came and said to him: Good master, what good shall I do that I may have life everlasting? Who said to him: Why asketh thou me concerning good? One is good, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He said to him: Which? And Jesus said: Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man saith to him: All these I have kept from my youth, what is yet wanting to me? Jesus saith to him: If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.” Matt 19:16-21. Are the above verses not filled with good works?

How much more proof from Scripture do we need to show that Our Lord commanded us to do good works for our salvation?

Consider the verse, “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels: and then will he render to every man according to his works.” Matthew 16:27. Again here we have more proof that good works are required of us.

Consider the verse, “And every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labor.” 1 Corinthians 3:8. Again this clearly does NOT refer to faith alone, but to labor, which is works.

Consider the verse, “And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2 (St Paul). What is charity other than helping the needy? Charity is clearly considered among good works. And in the same Chapter we also see the verse, “And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corinthians 13:13). This clearly puts charity BEFORE faith, so to say “faith alone” is all that is required of us is clearly contrary to Scripture.

Consider the verse, “Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by faith only?” James 2:24. How much more plain can it be said that faith alone is not enough for our salvation?

Consider the verse, “What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him?” James 2:14. And we see several verses later that the answer to this question is NO.

Consider the verse, “So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself.” James 2:17. No explanation is needed for this verse!

Consider the verse, “But some man will say: Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without works; and I will shew thee, by works, my faith.” James 2:18. Another extremely obvious verse that proves our point on the subject.

Consider the verses, “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, offering up Isaac his son upon the altar?” James 2:20-21. No explanation is needed for these verses.

Consider the verse, “For even as the body without the spirit is dead; so also faith without works is dead.” James 2:26. How can the Protestant reformers claim faith is sufficient when we read a verse like this with such obvious meaning?

And finally consider the verse, “Wherefore, brethren, labor the more, that by good works you may make sure your calling and election.” 2 Peter 1:10

In summary, justification by faith alone has overwhelming opposition in Scripture. Some Protestants have been known to reference other verses from Scripture in an attempt to show that works are NOT required for our salvation. However if one looks at verses that appear to speak negatively about works, they are clearly referring to works that glorify men and not God. Here we agree; works done to please men do not help with attaining our salvation.

God Bless BJS!!

Free Masonry

​Some facts about Freemasons

Freemasonry and the Masonic Lodge
·            6 million masons worldwide: 33,700 lodges
·        4 million members in U.S.: 15,300 lodges
·        Formed in 1717 in London, England
·        All masons enter the “Blue Lodge” in the beginning and make their first three degrees
·        From there, they can choose to go into the Scottish Rite (32 degrees with 33rd being honorary) or York Rite (13 degrees and opportunity to join Shriners)
·        Shriners are the highest level of Masonry
·        Every mason takes a blood oath to preserve masonry
·        Oath taken before “Worshipful Master”
·        Dr. Albert Pike is the leading quotable authority on freemasonry wrote “Morals and Dogma”
·    Masonry is a religion “Every masonic lodge is a temple of religion and its teachings are instruction in religion” pg. 213.  “Masonry is from the earliest times the custodian and depository of the great religious truths, unknown to the world at large and handed down from age to age by unbroken current of tradition that was embodied in symbols, emblems and allegories.” Pg. 210.  “Masonry is a worship.  Masonry is the universal religion in the heart of universal humanity.  The ministers of this religion are all masons.  Its sacrifices are to God, our good works and perpetual efforts to attain to moral perfection of which man is capable” pg 219
·    “The mystery of the Blue Lodge, which every mason joins, finds symbolic meaning within the temple and the whole structure which was intended to represent the universe.  The grand principle of the occult philosophy, veiled under the name Kaballah, and so little understood by the mass of initiates of the ancient and modern free masonry.” Pg. 304
·   Symbolism behind the compass and rule:  Compass represents the heavens and the male generative deity.  The rule represents the earth and the female deity.  They are coming together in the generative action.  The “G” in the middle stands for the “generating principle of life”.
·   Mason’s God is named “JBO” for Jehovah, Baal, and Osiris
·    According to Masons, Jesus was simply a great reformer and that He taught a lofty morality.  He was just like Confucius, Buddha, Mohammad, and Moses.
·   All Shriners take a blood oath and swear allegiance to Allah, the God of Mohammad and the Arabs as his God. 
·    Red Fez for Shriners: “Why do they wear the red fez and why does it have an Islamic sword and crescent on it. When Mohammad and the Muslims swept across North Africa in the 7th century they came to Fez, Morocco.  In Fez, there is a large Christian Community and Mohammad had ordered the slaughter of all the infidels, meaning Christians, who would not bow down to Allah and Mohammad.  When those Christians refused, the Muslims went in with the Islamic Sword and they slaughtered the Christians by the thousands.  And then to glory in the defeat of Christianity, the Muslims would take their Fez and dip it in the blood of the Christians slaughtered by the Islamic sword to glory in the defeat of Christianity.  And every Shriner now wears the red Fez with the Islamic sword to glory in the defeat and slaughter of Christians.” 
Historic Origins of Modern Masonry
Modern Masonry was founded in London in 1717 when four small Masonic lodges united to become the Grand Lodge of England. Subsequently, in 1736, the first Masonic Lodge in Europe, the Grand Orient Lodge in Paris, was founded.
Freemasonry known also as the Craft or the Brotherhood, was no longer a guild of operative stone masons who had built Europe’s great Catholic cathedrals, It had become a collection of intellectuals who out of pride valued reason over faith which in turn led to a descent into the spiritual darkness of self-deification.
In Defense of Christianity
Since 1738, the Popes have warned of the intrinsic deceitfulness of Freemasonry and similar secret societies because of their rejection of Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer.
The intrinsic evil of Masonry, which embraces organized naturalism and denies the divinity of Christ, was already so evident by 1738 that Pope Clement XII in an encyclical binding to the entire Christian Church admonished the faithful to avoid membership in and association wit Freemasonry: ” All the faithful of Christ of whatever state, grade, condition or order, we ordain stringently and in virtue of holy obedience, that they shall not under any pretext enter, propagate or support the aforesaid societies, known as Freemasons, or otherwise named, that the faithful shall not be enrolled in them, or take part in their proceedings, assist them, or afford them in any way counsel, and, or favor, publicly or privately, directly or indirectly, by themselves or by others in any way whatever under pain of excommunication to be incurred by the very act without further declaration….” Absolution from this most grievous offense against God, was only obtainable from the successor to St. Peter.
Clements’s condemnation was absolute “…because of the wickedness and perversion of Masonry and their ability to deceive.”
In 1829, Pope Pius VIII stated, ” Lying is their rule, Satan is their God, and shameful deeds their sacrifice.” And in 1885, Pope Pius IX told the Archbishop of Paris that Masonic secret sects formed ” The Synagogue of Satan.”
Pope Leo XIII, in Human Genus, labeled Freemasonry “this foul plague [with] a fraudulent external appearance,” and proclaimed, “we wish it to be your rule first of all to tear away the mask from Freemasonry and let it be seen for what it really is; and by sermons and pastoral letters to instruct the peoples as to the artifices used by societies of this kind in seducing men.”
Masonic Black Masses
In a 1991 interview Cardinal Eduard Gagnon, member of the Church’s Curia, said he knew from his personal experience in Canada, that Masons stole the Consecrated Hosts to be used in the celebration of Masonic black masses. The Cardinal stated further that Masons had made repeated efforts to influence the Vatican to lift all prohibitions against Catholic membership.
Masonic Wars and Assassinations
The Masonic lodges, together with the Jacobins and the Illuminati masterminded the bloody French Revolution to overthrow the Catholic monarchy and the catholic Church so as to install a Masonic republic. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded; the Catholic clergy were either murdered or forced to hide; a Masonic black Mass desecrated the high altar of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and Masonic governments have ruled France for most of the past two centuries. In 1914, World War I was precipitated by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir apparent to the Hapsburg throne and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Gavrilo Princep, one of the assassins, testified that the Serbian Masonic Lodge had ordered the assassination-the goal was to destroy both the Hapsburg dynasty and the Austro- Hungarian Empire. Kaiser Wilhelm II stated in his biography that the Masonic Grand Masters of Europe intended to destroy the Catholic Hapsburg dynasty, eliminate the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and destroy the Catholic Church. They were successful in two of the three goals!
In 1917, Maximilian Kolbe watched in horror as the Freemasons, celebrating their bicentennial, marched through the streets of Rome carrying banners depicting Satan defeating St. Michael and declaring: “Satan will rule on Vatican Hill and the Pope will serve as his errand boy.” Martyr and saint, Fr. Kolbe worked tirelessly against Masonry because he knew how this enemy of the Church insidiously effects revolutionary social changes by promoting spiritual paralysis, moral compromise, secular humanism, and the heresy of indifferentism.
In July, 1992,Mexico’s Masonic Grand Master Francisco Valle Guzman condemned the Catholic Church as “the most powerful and ruthless enemy of science, civilization, fraternity and love. Any reconciliation between us is impossible.” He then added that Masonry’s “duty” is to be the “gravediggers” of the Catholic Church.
In the spring of 1993, Mexican Cardinal Posadas Ocampo stated, “the principles and traditional philosophy of the Freemasons makes it clear that they don’t act in our favor,” adding that the 1994 presidential elections “would be an appropriate occasion for change.”
In May 1993, the Cardinal was gunned down in the Guadalajara Airport. Although circumstantial evidence points to a Masonic assassination, Mexico’s Masonic government continues to declare that the murder was an accident.
Warning
At each degree of initiation, Masons take a deadly oath, and swear allegiance to Masonry above God and Country. Under pain of death, they swear never to reveal the secrets of Freemasonry- not even to their wives.
Therefore, no matter what Masons claim about their good works or intentions, they cannot be believed. They are the Church’s diabolical enemy.

Agents of the Anti Christ
Root Causes of the Great Apostasy
St Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians foretold events which must take place before the second coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Let no one deceive you in anyway, for the day of the Lord will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and is exalted above all that is called God, or  that is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God and gives himself out as if he were God.” (2:3,4)
St. Paul’s letter explicitly prophesizes that the great apostasy and the advent of the Antichrist must precede the second coming. “It is possible for the faithful to recognize the era of the great apostasy or will they be deceived by the lying wonders of the son of perdition the marks of which deceive.” 
Our Lord Jesus Christ established His Church to be His teaching authority on earth and He chose St. Peter as the first Pope. It was Pope Pius XII one of St. Peter’s successors who, at a pastoral conference on May 23, 1958, while warning the faithful of the great apostasy also identified the causes of the great apostasy: “the roots of modern apostasy lay in scientific atheism, dialectical materialism, rationalism, illuminism, laicism, and Freemasonry which is the mother of them all.”

God Bless BJS!!