Unholy Veneration

According to the Catholic News Service the blood of Pope John Paul II is to be venerated this weekend. From the news story:

A small vial of Pope John Paul II's blood is the relic for the Mass for his beatification, the Vatican said.

The relic was to be presented to Pope Benedict XVI and exposed for veneration during the Mass in St. Peter's Square May 1, the Vatican said April 26.

Yep, the church of Roman continues it’s horrid practice of the veneration of dead saints and relics just as it continues to sell indulgences.

I guess it could be worse, after John Paul II’s death some Polish officials are quoted as saying that they hoped John Paul's heart would be removed from his body and returned to his homeland for burial. Just imagine the venerating that could be accomplished with a whole heart instead of a vial or two of the former pontiffs blood.

As a friend of mine said on his Facebook wall; "There is only one Blood to be venerated and it isn't this one."

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Today’s Quote Of The Day From Leo The Great

Today’s quote of the day is from Leo the Great warning the hearers of his sermon on the Feast of the Nativity (Sermon XXIV.6) and us today as well to be on guard against false teachers who wish to introduce new teachings and doctrines under the “a cloak of piety and chastity” and to remain steadfast in the apostolic faith:

You, dearly beloved, whom I address in no less earnest terms than those of the blessed apostle Peter, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession,” built on the impregnable rock, Christ, and joined to the Lord our Savior by His true assumption of our flesh, remain firm in the faith, which you have professed before many witnesses and in which you were reborn through the water and the Holy Spirit, and received the anointing of salvation and seal of eternal life. But, “if anyone preaches to you anything besides that which you have learned, let him be anathema”; refuse to put wicked fables before the clearest truth, and what you may happen to read or hear contrary to the rule of the catholic and apostolic creed, judge it altogether deadly and diabolical…. Indeed, they put on a cloak of piety and chastity, but under this deceit they conceal the filthiness of their acts, and from the recesses of their ungodly heart hurl shafts to wound the simple…. A mighty bulwark is a sound faith, a true faith, to which nothing has to be added or taken away, because unless it is one, it is no faith, as the apostle says, “on Lord, one faith, one Baptism, on God and Father of all and through all and in us all.” Cling to this unity, dearly beloved, with minds unshaken, and in it “follow after” all “holiness.” In it carry out the Lord’s commands, because “without faith it is impossible to please God,” and without it nothing is holy, nothing pure, nothing alive, “for the just lives by faith” and he who by the devil’s deception loses it is dead though living, because as righteousness is gained by faith, so, too, by a true faith is eternal life gained, as our Lord says. And this is life eternal, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. May He make you to advance and persevere to the end, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

- Leo the Great, On the Feast of the Nativity, IV, Sermon XXIV.6

HT: From the always awesome and edifying Treasury of Daily Prayer, which can be purchased through Concordia Publishing House.

An Irenaeus Quote And Guarding Against Heretics

The following is today’s reading from the Treasury of Daily Prayer:

We have learned from none others the plan of salvation, than from those whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and the pillar of our faith…

We allege…against those who do not recognize Paul as an apostle: that they should either reject the other words of the Gospel which we have come to know through Luke alone, and not make any use of them; or else, if they do receive all these, they must necessarily admit also that testimony concerning Paul, when he (Luke) tells us that the Lord spoke at first to him from heaven: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? I am Jesus Christ, whom you persecute”; and then to Ananias, saying regarding him: “Go your way; for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name among the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him, from time to time, how great things he must suffer for My names sake.” Those, therefore, who do not accept him [as a teacher], who was chosen by God for this purpose, that he might boldly bear His name, as being sent to the forementioned nations, despise the election of God and separate themselves from the company of the apostles… But they are altogether deceived who imagine that they may learn from the scriptural text adduced by heretics, that [doctrine] which their words plausibly teach. For error is plausible and bears a resemblance to the truth but requires to be disguised; while the truth is without disguise and, therefore, has been entrusted to children.

-Irenaeus of Lyons

Sadly, there are many folks in the church today, both in leadership positions and otherwise, who should fall under the same critique as those who Irenaeus addressed in the quote above. These persons, while teaching in public forums disparage Saint Paul for being too focused on doctrine or too systematic with the ease at which they openly scorn their ex-wives. While expressing concerns that sound Biblical doctrine is a hindrance to spirituality and kingdom growing, these false teachers are more than happy to introduce the doctrines and practices of mystics who believed that God is a she and “sin is necessary part of life because it brings one to self-knowledge” as well as Roman Catholic monks who actually fought against the Lutheran reformers for a papacy which can praise the devotion of members who state “I will believe that the white that I see is black if the hierarchical Church so defines it!”

Irenaeus correctly ties the Gospel preached by the apostle Paul with the one they learned from Luke who records eye witness testimony to assemble his Gospel text, Paul’s conversion, as well as traveled with him for a bit on his missionary journeys. If they fail to acknowledge Paul’s epistles as being received by God (and if being consistent is an attribute that doesn't offend their post modern sensibilities) then shouldn’t they throw out Luke’s testimony as well? Or maybe a effortless re-imagining of Luke’s account will suit what it is that they wish to introduce into the Church as some seem to have the tendency to do these days with the praise and approval of their ecclesiastical superiors.

I guess that since Saint Peter considered the epistles of Paul to be Scripture (2 Peter 3:16), the setting aside Peter’s epistles as suspect along with the Gospel according to Mark (as Mark’s account is more than likely derived from the testimony of Peter) might also be in order so we don’t fall into an abyss of doctrine where the color white is white and black is black to the vexation of that Roman monk some idolize.

Just as when Irenaeus was defending the Gospel against the Gnostics and those who wished to introduce into the Church new doctrines and practices cloaked in biblical terminology and themes; we must be on guard right now, today, for wolves that hide themselves behind plausible errors that resemble Biblical truths while maintaining that these new or recovered teachings are for the purpose of growing the kingdom, spirituality, or even salvation itself.

As Irenaeus wisely points out, a heretic’s errors are often disguised as plausible teachings and bear a resemblance to the truth. We must always, always be watchful and test what is being taught in the name of God to the very Word of God whether we are pastors, deaconesses, Sunday school teachers, or even slack jawed yokels like myself.