ANT: Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.
V. Send forth Thy spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray
O God, Who hast taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may be always truly wise, and ever rejoice in His consolations, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
As a Catholic I feel I must take a stand against this atrocity. The Church cannot in anyway condone this sin. Below you will find a link to a news story that sickened me and beneath that the CATHOLIC Churches teaching on this matter. Remember, the Church cannot err in the teaching of faith or morals and this is definitely a moral issue.
http://ncronline.org/news/politics/cardinal-dolan-pope-francis-opened-door-gay-civil-unions-debate
Read also: From the Huffington Post
WASHINGTON -- Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York said Sunday that Pope Francis' recent remarks on same-sex civil unions should not necessarily be interpreted as an endorsement of those unions.
Rather, said Dolan, the pope was suggesting that the Catholic Church should seek to understand why there is growing support for recognizing same-sex unions.
"If I saw the reports accurately, he didn't come right out and say he was for them," said Dolan in an interview with David Gregory of NBC's "Meet the Press." "Once again, in an extraordinarily sincere, open, nuanced way, he said, 'I know that some people in some states have chosen this. We need to think about that and look into it and see the reasons that have driven them.'"
The pope, said Dolan, was arguing that "rather than quickly condemn" civil unions, "let's just ask the questions as to why that has appealed to certain people."
Gregory asked Dolan whether civil unions would make him "uncomfortable."
"It would," said Dolan. "Marriage, between one man and one woman forever leading to life and love, that's not something that's just a religious, sacramental concern … It's also the building block of society and culture."
"If we water down that sacred meaning of marriage in any way, I worry that not only the church would suffer, I worry that culture and society would," he said.
Gregory also asked about Michael Sam, the University of Missouri football star who recently came out. "How did you view it?" Gregory asked Dolan, a native of Missouri.
"Good for him. I would have no sense of judgment on him. God bless ya," said Dolan. "Look, the same Bible that tells us, that teaches us well about the virtues of chastity and the virtue of fidelity and marriage also tells us not to judge people. So I would say, 'Bravo.'"
My comments: So Dolan thinks "Bravo" that someone came out as gay? Something is very, very wrong with that!
SINS THAT CRY TO HEAVEN FOR VENGEANCE
Sins that cry to heaven for vengeance are sins of great malice. They are: wilful murder, oppression of the poor, defrauding laborers of their wages, and the sin of Sodom. These sins are of so abominable a nature, that every man's feelings must revolt against them.
When Cain killed his brother Abel, God said to him:
"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to Me from the earth " (Gen. iv. 10). Every nation on the face of the earth punishes murder with exceptional severity, generally by the execution of the criminal. The oppression of the helpless Israelites in Egypt was a sin that cried to heaven (Exod. iii. 7). The Pharisees were guilty of this sin; they oppressed the poor and prayed long prayers (Matt, xxiii. 14). God expressly forbade the Jews to injure the widow and orphan (Exod. xxii. 22; Ecclus. xxxiv. 26). To keep back the wages of the needy (Deut. xxiv. 14), is a sin that cries to heaven, also on some pretext or other to defraud them of the whole amount (Jas. v. 4). In the Middle Ages an action brought by a working man took precedence of all others in the law courts, and judgment was given within three days. The sin of Sodom takes its name from the inhabitants of Sodom, who were guilty of unnatural sins, by reason of which they were destroyed by God, Who rained down upon them brimstone and fire (Gen. xix. 24). The Dead Sea is still a mournful memorial of their sin; ONE SO SHAMEFUL THAT IT MUST NOT BE NAMED AMONG US.
From: The Catechism Explained by Spirago - Clarke, Imprimatur 1899
Sins that Cry to Heaven for Vengeance
76. What are the sins that cry to heaven for vengeance/
1st. Wilful murder.
"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to Me from the earth." (Cor. iii. 15)
2nd. Sins against nature.
"The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievious." (Gen. xviii. 20)
Source: Exposition of Christian Doctrine, Imprimatur 1919
DISCOURSE II
ON THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
Thou shalt not commit adultery.-—Exod. xx. 14.
HAVING shown you, dear Christians, what you are obliged to by this precept, and what you are forbid, and how great this sin is in Christians, who thereby defile the temple of the Holy Ghost, and dishonor the members of Jesus Christ, I shall proceed to show you the enormity of this vice, by the punishments God has and does inflict upon it in this life.
We reasonably judge of the greatness of a fault by the greatness of the punishment, when the judge who inflicts it is just and impartial. To punish a fault more than it deserves, is always injustice, and is usually the effect of some disorderly passion, the weakness of man. But when God punishes, who is the fountain of justice, and in whom there can be no imperfection, we must; conclude from the severity of his judgments, the grievousness of the fault he punishes.
I shall only relate some of those punishments, which the justice of God has inflicted upon such as have been guilty of the sin of impurity, to revenge this crime upon them, and to be a terror to future ages.
The first remarkable punishment we find in scripture, is that of the deluge, wherein Almighty God drowned the whole world about 1650 years after the creation, and buried under the waters all mankind, with all the birds and beasts upon the earth, excepting' only four men and four women, who were innocent, and reserved for the repeopling of a better world, and some few of the birds of the air and the beasts of the land, to preserve the species. These were secured from the devouring waves, in the ark or ship, which Noah was ordered to build; all the rest of the world perished in the water, which overspread the whole face of the earth. The sea over swelled its banks, and came roaring in upon the land; the floodgates of heaven were also opened upon their heads, and the rain poured down for forty days and forty nights without intermission, and covered the highest mountains as well as the tallest trees. Thus perished all mankind, once the favorites of heaven, made to the image of God, and made for a noble end, to serve him on earth, and to enjoy him in heaven; to share in, and to be happy by the same happiness whereby he himself is infinitely happy.
What caused this change? What drew this heavy and universal judgment upon them? It was their sins, and particularly the sins of impurity: "For all flesh," says the sacred text, "had corrupted its way upon the earth;" (Gen. vi. 12.) and God seeing that the thoughts of their hearts were bent upon evil, and being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart; I will destroy man, (says He,) with the birds and beasts, it repenteth me that I have made him and them.
It is with great difficulty that Almighty God is brought to these extremities; it is our repeated crimes that force him to it; for he "desires not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; and why will you die, 0 house of Israel?" says he, by the prophet Ezechias, xxxiii. 11.
He had used means to reclaim them, but all in vain. Noah had preached to them for an hundred years together, but to little purpose. He admonished them of their crying sins, and the impending judgments of God, but they slighted both. And this is but too commonly the unhappy case of those who are given to the sins of impurity—they are hardly reclaimed either by advice or threats; they run on in their evil ways, without duly considering the greatness of the offence to Almighty God, or their own imminent danger; and this till the just judgment of God surprise their neglect, and bury them in greater floods of woe.
One would think this general and severe punishment should have been a warning to the small remains of the world, who were saved in the ark, and that they should have left such impressions of it in their posterity, as never again to dare to provoke the Almighty by such wickedness. But alas! all this water was not enough to extinguish the fire of lust; for as the world increased in number, it increased again in wickedness, and in a little time they attempted the raising of the tower of Babel, which they designed should reach heaven. For the punishing of this insolence, Almighty God was contented to change their language, and disperse them over the earth; but this was soon followed by a more hateful crime, which called for a more remarkable punishment:
the impurities of Sodom and Gomorrah grew great, and the cry of their sins grew loud, so that the ,God of purity, not able any longer to bear with these provoking crimes, resolved upon a more frightful judgment than that of the flood, to strike a greater terror into the minds of men, and give them a more lively sense of the greatness of the offence. He once drowned the world with floods of water from heaven, but now he pours down upon them floods of fire and brimstone, and in a moment reduces into ashes all the inhabitants of the towns and country, sending them flaming down to a greater fire below; with them perished all the buildings, and whatever grew upon the ground. The place, remains to this day a filthy lake, called the Dead Sea, so noisome that nothing can live in it. This, no doubt, is left to all posterity as a standing monument of God's great aversion to this sin of uncleanness, as is declared in the Book of Wisdom, 10, 7. "Whose land for a testimony of their wickedness is desolate, and smoketh to this day."
When Almighty God, whose nature is goodness, and who has that love for man, as to have made all things in this visible world for him, and man for himself, chastises him in this severe manner, both temporally and eternally; we may be sure the provocation is great; we may be sure the sins that drew down these heavy judgments upon their heads, were heinous in his sight; yes, dear Christians, and they were sins of impurity, as the sacred text
expressly mentions; no doubt they were guilty of many other crimes, but these being the blackest, darkened the others, and the most enormous called loudest for vengeance.
Had there been any hopes that these people would have been reclaimed, and like the Ninevites, returned to God upon the preaching of a Jonas, they had never been the dreadful victims of God's wrath at that time, nor the terrible mark of his vengeance to future ages; but they were bent on evil, and increased it daily, and laughed at the warning which Lot gave them, as others before ridiculed the preaching of Noah: or had there been but a small number of just, to have appeased the angel of God, Sodom might have stood to this day; for before he destroyed this infamous place, he acquainted Abraham with his design. "I am resolved, (says he, Gen. viii.) to destroy Sodom, this wicked town, that has completed the number of its sins." Lord, says Abraham, is there no means to appease your anger? You are too just to involve the righteous in the same ruin with the wicked; if there be but fifty just persons in the whole town, will not you spare the rest upon their account? Yes, says Almighty God, if there be but thirty, if there be but twenty, or if there be but ten just persons amongst them, I will spare the whole city for their sakes; but that number not being found, Lot and his little family were ordered to leave it. Then showers of fire and brimstone were poured down upon them from heaven, and in a moment set them all on flame.
What we read in the book of Numbers is not a little terrible; there we find twenty-four thousand of the people of Israel put to death by the express order of God, for the sin of fornication with the Moabites; and in the last chapter of the book of Judges, it is recorded, how almost the whole tribe of Benjamin was destroyed for an abomination of this nature. The seven successive husbands of the virtuous Sara, were all murdered by the devil Asmodeus, as is expressed in the book of Tobias, the first night of their marriage, for giving more way to their lust, than to the end and design of matrimony. Her and Onan were struck dead also upon the place by Almighty God, as it is recorded in the book of Genesis, for committing a sin contrary to the end and duty of marriage. But there would scarce be an end, should i mention all those particular persons whom Almighty God has made visible examples of his anger, and recorded their punishment in holy writ for the terror of others, that they may avoid that rock whereupon so many millions have been shipwrecked.
But I shall pass by all these to come to the greatest of punishments which God inflicts, and but too often upon those who give themselves to this sin, though it appears not to the eyes of men, yet it carries with it all the anger of God and is the mark of his utmost indignation; and this is Almighty God's forsaking them; his leaving them to themselves, to their own passions, and to a reprobate sense. He calls upon them no more, chastises them no more; He no more speaks to their hearts by his preventing grace, or interior inspirations; he no more calls upon them by exterior affliction, or medicinal punishments, to bring them to their duty, but leaves them to work their own wills, and by increasing their sins, to increase their damnation, and that he may punish them in the fulness of their crimes, as the Holy Ghost expresses it.
This is what we find in St. Paul's epistle to the Romans, (c. 1.) speaking of those who know God, but did not honor him according to the knowledge they had of him, but gave the honor due to the incorruptible God, to corruptible creatures. " Wherefore, (says the apostle,) he delivered them up to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness, to dishonor their own bodies;" and again, (v. 28.) he delivered them up to a reprobate sense, to do those those things which are not convenient."
To punish a sinner, and to punish him indeed, one would not expose him to the rage of wild beasts to be torn in pieces by lions and tigers; one would not set up gibbets or racks to fasten him to; one would not prepare ropes to hang him, fire to burn him, or the sword to destroy him; one would not expose him to the miseries of plagues, famine, or war. No; but to abandon him to himself, and his own passions, to fill the measure of his sins, that his damnation may be deeper and surer. The rage of wild beasts, fire or sword, plague, famine, or war, are temporal punishments, and of no long continuance: whereas the being abandoned by God is a spiritual punishment, and drawing many crimes after it, whereby he fixes and determines himself to an eternity of the greatest punishments; wherefore God delivered them up to their depraved desires, unto the passions of ignominy, unto a reprobate sense, filled with all iniquity.
We read in Ezechiel, of a strange figure of this truth; this prophet, surprised to see God abandon his temple, could not hold from saying: "Why Lord! will you no more remember your ancient promises, will you thus leave the place you once chose to dwell in? Yes, I am too much provoked, I will depart far from my sanctuary; and to shew thee that I have reason, look through this wall and see what passes there; and he beheld in vision seventy of the ancients of the House of Israel offering incense to false Gods. Come farther, and I will shew thee greater abominations;. and he saw women that sat mourning for the death of Adonis, the god or idol of impurity, &c. Can I stay here—is this a place for the God of purity? I will go; I will depart far from my sanctuary." The application, dear Christians, is easy.
Are not our bodies, by grace, made the temples of the Holy Ghost; and our souls the sanctuary which Christ has chosen? It is in us, and by us, that he would be known, adored, and loved; it is in us, and by us, he would have our passions sacrificed to him And what do we do, if instead of this we be found offering incense to Venus or Adonis? If instead of sacrificing our passions to him, we sacrifice him to our passions ? What can we expect from him, will he bear with these abominations for ever? Will his patience never be tired? Yes, dear Christians, he will depart far from this sanctuary, and leave them to themselves, to their infamous passions, which they have made the idols of their hearts.
He could send them temporal afflictions, but he finds they grow worse upon them; they are so far from reclaiming them from evil, that they occasionally increase it; for, as St. Gregory says, " Great afflictions have one of these two effects, they either make a saint like Job, or a reprobate like Antiochus." He could speak to their hearts by interior grace, as he has often done, but alas! they resist it all; he many times called upon them, and they as often refused to hear him. The word of God that was once the food of their souls, now makes no impression upon them; they hear the most terrible truths, and they little regard them; they hear the great and obliging promises of God reserved for his servants in another world, but the satisfactions of this stifle all sense of another. What shall God do when they are not to be gained by promises, nor overawed by threats? When heaven does not relish with them, nor hell affright them? when they continue in sin without remorse, and play with eternity without fear? when all past judgments are slighted, and present afflictions abused? when by continuance they grow obstinate in their evil ways, and deaf to all good counsel? they hear divine truths without any sense, and pray without any devotion? when all the means of salvation are neglected or abused, and the care of their souls has the least share in their thoughts? What shall God do with these, but leave them to themselves to take their own course, and by that means become their own greatest enemies ? Yes, God delivers them up, says the apostle, to a reprobate sense, to ignominious passions, to be their own executioners, and by daily augmenting their sins, to treasure up wrath in the day of wrath.
We have a remarkable confirmation of this truth in the second book of Machabees, where the author of it, after he had reckoned up the many calamities, oppressions, and extraordinary persecutions that nation suffered under Antiochus, gives this admonition to the reader. I beseech all, says he, that shall read this book, that they be not astonished at our adversities, but that they look upon those things that have happened to our nation not to be for the destruction, but the chastising of our generation; for not to suffer sinners a long time to do as they will, but forthwith to punish them, is a make of a great favor. For it is not with us as in other nations, that our Lord patiently expecteth, that when the day of judgment shall come, he may punish them in the fulness of their sins.
It is evident from hence, that there are those, whom God patiently expects not to repentance, for he foresees they will never seriously amend, but till they have completed the measure of their sins, that he may eternally punish them not for two or three crimes, but in the fulness of their sins, that their damnation may be so much the .greater, as their sins are more numerous".
Certainly, this is the greatest punishment God ever inflicts upon an obstinate sinner. The general flood that overflowed the whole earth; the fire and sulphur that rained down on Sodom, and the neighboring country; plagues, famine, war, or any other temporal punishments whatever, are small to this. As far as eternity exceeds time, as far as the torments of hell surpass the afflictions of this life, so far this punishment is greater than any we have named. And therefore, above all, sinners have reason to dread this, and all those evil dispositions which lead to it; as the neglect of prayer, contempt of instructions, the hearing the word of God without fruit, or desire of amendment, neglect or abuse of the sacraments, and obstinacy in sin. It is these which lead a sinner to a hard and obdurate heart, and it is these which force Almighty God to refuse them his grace and abandon them to their own passions, according to that of the psalmist, "The sinner has exasperated our Lord, and in the severity of his anger he looks not after him."
Here you have heard some of the most remarkable punishments which God has inflicted upon such as have given themselves to the sin of impurity; they are recorded in holy writ, and made public to the world, to be a lasting monument of God's great anger, and a continual warning to all ages. Those who were the first examples of the divine vengeance, no doubt, deserved what they suffered; but those who will not take warning by other's misfortunes, as they are more to blame, so they shall be more severely punished.
These, I say, are the public judgments of an offended God; but besides them, no doubt, there are innumerable private ones upon particular persons, in many sudden and unprovided deaths, or by being left in errors, or to a hard heart, and a reprobate sense, by bringing them to a sudden and an untimely end, or by an angry patience, leaving them to fill up the measure of their sins for their greater damnation.
I hope, dear Christians, that these judgments of Almighty God may make such an impression in your heart, that you may fly to his mercy in time, and, by a sincere and speedy repentance, obtain pardon for what is past, and, by a pious and exemplary life, deserve a reward for the time to come.
Source: The Commandments and Sacraments Explained, 1819
V. Send forth Thy spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray
O God, Who hast taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may be always truly wise, and ever rejoice in His consolations, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
As a Catholic I feel I must take a stand against this atrocity. The Church cannot in anyway condone this sin. Below you will find a link to a news story that sickened me and beneath that the CATHOLIC Churches teaching on this matter. Remember, the Church cannot err in the teaching of faith or morals and this is definitely a moral issue.
http://ncronline.org/news/politics/cardinal-dolan-pope-francis-opened-door-gay-civil-unions-debate
Read also: From the Huffington Post
WASHINGTON -- Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York said Sunday that Pope Francis' recent remarks on same-sex civil unions should not necessarily be interpreted as an endorsement of those unions.
Rather, said Dolan, the pope was suggesting that the Catholic Church should seek to understand why there is growing support for recognizing same-sex unions.
"If I saw the reports accurately, he didn't come right out and say he was for them," said Dolan in an interview with David Gregory of NBC's "Meet the Press." "Once again, in an extraordinarily sincere, open, nuanced way, he said, 'I know that some people in some states have chosen this. We need to think about that and look into it and see the reasons that have driven them.'"
The pope, said Dolan, was arguing that "rather than quickly condemn" civil unions, "let's just ask the questions as to why that has appealed to certain people."
Gregory asked Dolan whether civil unions would make him "uncomfortable."
"It would," said Dolan. "Marriage, between one man and one woman forever leading to life and love, that's not something that's just a religious, sacramental concern … It's also the building block of society and culture."
"If we water down that sacred meaning of marriage in any way, I worry that not only the church would suffer, I worry that culture and society would," he said.
Gregory also asked about Michael Sam, the University of Missouri football star who recently came out. "How did you view it?" Gregory asked Dolan, a native of Missouri.
"Good for him. I would have no sense of judgment on him. God bless ya," said Dolan. "Look, the same Bible that tells us, that teaches us well about the virtues of chastity and the virtue of fidelity and marriage also tells us not to judge people. So I would say, 'Bravo.'"
My comments: So Dolan thinks "Bravo" that someone came out as gay? Something is very, very wrong with that!
SINS THAT CRY TO HEAVEN FOR VENGEANCE
Sins that cry to heaven for vengeance are sins of great malice. They are: wilful murder, oppression of the poor, defrauding laborers of their wages, and the sin of Sodom. These sins are of so abominable a nature, that every man's feelings must revolt against them.
When Cain killed his brother Abel, God said to him:
"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to Me from the earth " (Gen. iv. 10). Every nation on the face of the earth punishes murder with exceptional severity, generally by the execution of the criminal. The oppression of the helpless Israelites in Egypt was a sin that cried to heaven (Exod. iii. 7). The Pharisees were guilty of this sin; they oppressed the poor and prayed long prayers (Matt, xxiii. 14). God expressly forbade the Jews to injure the widow and orphan (Exod. xxii. 22; Ecclus. xxxiv. 26). To keep back the wages of the needy (Deut. xxiv. 14), is a sin that cries to heaven, also on some pretext or other to defraud them of the whole amount (Jas. v. 4). In the Middle Ages an action brought by a working man took precedence of all others in the law courts, and judgment was given within three days. The sin of Sodom takes its name from the inhabitants of Sodom, who were guilty of unnatural sins, by reason of which they were destroyed by God, Who rained down upon them brimstone and fire (Gen. xix. 24). The Dead Sea is still a mournful memorial of their sin; ONE SO SHAMEFUL THAT IT MUST NOT BE NAMED AMONG US.
From: The Catechism Explained by Spirago - Clarke, Imprimatur 1899
Sins that Cry to Heaven for Vengeance
76. What are the sins that cry to heaven for vengeance/
1st. Wilful murder.
"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to Me from the earth." (Cor. iii. 15)
2nd. Sins against nature.
"The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievious." (Gen. xviii. 20)
Source: Exposition of Christian Doctrine, Imprimatur 1919
DISCOURSE II
ON THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
Thou shalt not commit adultery.-—Exod. xx. 14.
HAVING shown you, dear Christians, what you are obliged to by this precept, and what you are forbid, and how great this sin is in Christians, who thereby defile the temple of the Holy Ghost, and dishonor the members of Jesus Christ, I shall proceed to show you the enormity of this vice, by the punishments God has and does inflict upon it in this life.
We reasonably judge of the greatness of a fault by the greatness of the punishment, when the judge who inflicts it is just and impartial. To punish a fault more than it deserves, is always injustice, and is usually the effect of some disorderly passion, the weakness of man. But when God punishes, who is the fountain of justice, and in whom there can be no imperfection, we must; conclude from the severity of his judgments, the grievousness of the fault he punishes.
I shall only relate some of those punishments, which the justice of God has inflicted upon such as have been guilty of the sin of impurity, to revenge this crime upon them, and to be a terror to future ages.
The first remarkable punishment we find in scripture, is that of the deluge, wherein Almighty God drowned the whole world about 1650 years after the creation, and buried under the waters all mankind, with all the birds and beasts upon the earth, excepting' only four men and four women, who were innocent, and reserved for the repeopling of a better world, and some few of the birds of the air and the beasts of the land, to preserve the species. These were secured from the devouring waves, in the ark or ship, which Noah was ordered to build; all the rest of the world perished in the water, which overspread the whole face of the earth. The sea over swelled its banks, and came roaring in upon the land; the floodgates of heaven were also opened upon their heads, and the rain poured down for forty days and forty nights without intermission, and covered the highest mountains as well as the tallest trees. Thus perished all mankind, once the favorites of heaven, made to the image of God, and made for a noble end, to serve him on earth, and to enjoy him in heaven; to share in, and to be happy by the same happiness whereby he himself is infinitely happy.
What caused this change? What drew this heavy and universal judgment upon them? It was their sins, and particularly the sins of impurity: "For all flesh," says the sacred text, "had corrupted its way upon the earth;" (Gen. vi. 12.) and God seeing that the thoughts of their hearts were bent upon evil, and being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart; I will destroy man, (says He,) with the birds and beasts, it repenteth me that I have made him and them.
It is with great difficulty that Almighty God is brought to these extremities; it is our repeated crimes that force him to it; for he "desires not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; and why will you die, 0 house of Israel?" says he, by the prophet Ezechias, xxxiii. 11.
He had used means to reclaim them, but all in vain. Noah had preached to them for an hundred years together, but to little purpose. He admonished them of their crying sins, and the impending judgments of God, but they slighted both. And this is but too commonly the unhappy case of those who are given to the sins of impurity—they are hardly reclaimed either by advice or threats; they run on in their evil ways, without duly considering the greatness of the offence to Almighty God, or their own imminent danger; and this till the just judgment of God surprise their neglect, and bury them in greater floods of woe.
One would think this general and severe punishment should have been a warning to the small remains of the world, who were saved in the ark, and that they should have left such impressions of it in their posterity, as never again to dare to provoke the Almighty by such wickedness. But alas! all this water was not enough to extinguish the fire of lust; for as the world increased in number, it increased again in wickedness, and in a little time they attempted the raising of the tower of Babel, which they designed should reach heaven. For the punishing of this insolence, Almighty God was contented to change their language, and disperse them over the earth; but this was soon followed by a more hateful crime, which called for a more remarkable punishment:
the impurities of Sodom and Gomorrah grew great, and the cry of their sins grew loud, so that the ,God of purity, not able any longer to bear with these provoking crimes, resolved upon a more frightful judgment than that of the flood, to strike a greater terror into the minds of men, and give them a more lively sense of the greatness of the offence. He once drowned the world with floods of water from heaven, but now he pours down upon them floods of fire and brimstone, and in a moment reduces into ashes all the inhabitants of the towns and country, sending them flaming down to a greater fire below; with them perished all the buildings, and whatever grew upon the ground. The place, remains to this day a filthy lake, called the Dead Sea, so noisome that nothing can live in it. This, no doubt, is left to all posterity as a standing monument of God's great aversion to this sin of uncleanness, as is declared in the Book of Wisdom, 10, 7. "Whose land for a testimony of their wickedness is desolate, and smoketh to this day."
When Almighty God, whose nature is goodness, and who has that love for man, as to have made all things in this visible world for him, and man for himself, chastises him in this severe manner, both temporally and eternally; we may be sure the provocation is great; we may be sure the sins that drew down these heavy judgments upon their heads, were heinous in his sight; yes, dear Christians, and they were sins of impurity, as the sacred text
expressly mentions; no doubt they were guilty of many other crimes, but these being the blackest, darkened the others, and the most enormous called loudest for vengeance.
Had there been any hopes that these people would have been reclaimed, and like the Ninevites, returned to God upon the preaching of a Jonas, they had never been the dreadful victims of God's wrath at that time, nor the terrible mark of his vengeance to future ages; but they were bent on evil, and increased it daily, and laughed at the warning which Lot gave them, as others before ridiculed the preaching of Noah: or had there been but a small number of just, to have appeased the angel of God, Sodom might have stood to this day; for before he destroyed this infamous place, he acquainted Abraham with his design. "I am resolved, (says he, Gen. viii.) to destroy Sodom, this wicked town, that has completed the number of its sins." Lord, says Abraham, is there no means to appease your anger? You are too just to involve the righteous in the same ruin with the wicked; if there be but fifty just persons in the whole town, will not you spare the rest upon their account? Yes, says Almighty God, if there be but thirty, if there be but twenty, or if there be but ten just persons amongst them, I will spare the whole city for their sakes; but that number not being found, Lot and his little family were ordered to leave it. Then showers of fire and brimstone were poured down upon them from heaven, and in a moment set them all on flame.
What we read in the book of Numbers is not a little terrible; there we find twenty-four thousand of the people of Israel put to death by the express order of God, for the sin of fornication with the Moabites; and in the last chapter of the book of Judges, it is recorded, how almost the whole tribe of Benjamin was destroyed for an abomination of this nature. The seven successive husbands of the virtuous Sara, were all murdered by the devil Asmodeus, as is expressed in the book of Tobias, the first night of their marriage, for giving more way to their lust, than to the end and design of matrimony. Her and Onan were struck dead also upon the place by Almighty God, as it is recorded in the book of Genesis, for committing a sin contrary to the end and duty of marriage. But there would scarce be an end, should i mention all those particular persons whom Almighty God has made visible examples of his anger, and recorded their punishment in holy writ for the terror of others, that they may avoid that rock whereupon so many millions have been shipwrecked.
But I shall pass by all these to come to the greatest of punishments which God inflicts, and but too often upon those who give themselves to this sin, though it appears not to the eyes of men, yet it carries with it all the anger of God and is the mark of his utmost indignation; and this is Almighty God's forsaking them; his leaving them to themselves, to their own passions, and to a reprobate sense. He calls upon them no more, chastises them no more; He no more speaks to their hearts by his preventing grace, or interior inspirations; he no more calls upon them by exterior affliction, or medicinal punishments, to bring them to their duty, but leaves them to work their own wills, and by increasing their sins, to increase their damnation, and that he may punish them in the fulness of their crimes, as the Holy Ghost expresses it.
This is what we find in St. Paul's epistle to the Romans, (c. 1.) speaking of those who know God, but did not honor him according to the knowledge they had of him, but gave the honor due to the incorruptible God, to corruptible creatures. " Wherefore, (says the apostle,) he delivered them up to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness, to dishonor their own bodies;" and again, (v. 28.) he delivered them up to a reprobate sense, to do those those things which are not convenient."
To punish a sinner, and to punish him indeed, one would not expose him to the rage of wild beasts to be torn in pieces by lions and tigers; one would not set up gibbets or racks to fasten him to; one would not prepare ropes to hang him, fire to burn him, or the sword to destroy him; one would not expose him to the miseries of plagues, famine, or war. No; but to abandon him to himself, and his own passions, to fill the measure of his sins, that his damnation may be deeper and surer. The rage of wild beasts, fire or sword, plague, famine, or war, are temporal punishments, and of no long continuance: whereas the being abandoned by God is a spiritual punishment, and drawing many crimes after it, whereby he fixes and determines himself to an eternity of the greatest punishments; wherefore God delivered them up to their depraved desires, unto the passions of ignominy, unto a reprobate sense, filled with all iniquity.
We read in Ezechiel, of a strange figure of this truth; this prophet, surprised to see God abandon his temple, could not hold from saying: "Why Lord! will you no more remember your ancient promises, will you thus leave the place you once chose to dwell in? Yes, I am too much provoked, I will depart far from my sanctuary; and to shew thee that I have reason, look through this wall and see what passes there; and he beheld in vision seventy of the ancients of the House of Israel offering incense to false Gods. Come farther, and I will shew thee greater abominations;. and he saw women that sat mourning for the death of Adonis, the god or idol of impurity, &c. Can I stay here—is this a place for the God of purity? I will go; I will depart far from my sanctuary." The application, dear Christians, is easy.
Are not our bodies, by grace, made the temples of the Holy Ghost; and our souls the sanctuary which Christ has chosen? It is in us, and by us, that he would be known, adored, and loved; it is in us, and by us, he would have our passions sacrificed to him And what do we do, if instead of this we be found offering incense to Venus or Adonis? If instead of sacrificing our passions to him, we sacrifice him to our passions ? What can we expect from him, will he bear with these abominations for ever? Will his patience never be tired? Yes, dear Christians, he will depart far from this sanctuary, and leave them to themselves, to their infamous passions, which they have made the idols of their hearts.
He could send them temporal afflictions, but he finds they grow worse upon them; they are so far from reclaiming them from evil, that they occasionally increase it; for, as St. Gregory says, " Great afflictions have one of these two effects, they either make a saint like Job, or a reprobate like Antiochus." He could speak to their hearts by interior grace, as he has often done, but alas! they resist it all; he many times called upon them, and they as often refused to hear him. The word of God that was once the food of their souls, now makes no impression upon them; they hear the most terrible truths, and they little regard them; they hear the great and obliging promises of God reserved for his servants in another world, but the satisfactions of this stifle all sense of another. What shall God do when they are not to be gained by promises, nor overawed by threats? When heaven does not relish with them, nor hell affright them? when they continue in sin without remorse, and play with eternity without fear? when all past judgments are slighted, and present afflictions abused? when by continuance they grow obstinate in their evil ways, and deaf to all good counsel? they hear divine truths without any sense, and pray without any devotion? when all the means of salvation are neglected or abused, and the care of their souls has the least share in their thoughts? What shall God do with these, but leave them to themselves to take their own course, and by that means become their own greatest enemies ? Yes, God delivers them up, says the apostle, to a reprobate sense, to ignominious passions, to be their own executioners, and by daily augmenting their sins, to treasure up wrath in the day of wrath.
We have a remarkable confirmation of this truth in the second book of Machabees, where the author of it, after he had reckoned up the many calamities, oppressions, and extraordinary persecutions that nation suffered under Antiochus, gives this admonition to the reader. I beseech all, says he, that shall read this book, that they be not astonished at our adversities, but that they look upon those things that have happened to our nation not to be for the destruction, but the chastising of our generation; for not to suffer sinners a long time to do as they will, but forthwith to punish them, is a make of a great favor. For it is not with us as in other nations, that our Lord patiently expecteth, that when the day of judgment shall come, he may punish them in the fulness of their sins.
It is evident from hence, that there are those, whom God patiently expects not to repentance, for he foresees they will never seriously amend, but till they have completed the measure of their sins, that he may eternally punish them not for two or three crimes, but in the fulness of their sins, that their damnation may be so much the .greater, as their sins are more numerous".
Certainly, this is the greatest punishment God ever inflicts upon an obstinate sinner. The general flood that overflowed the whole earth; the fire and sulphur that rained down on Sodom, and the neighboring country; plagues, famine, war, or any other temporal punishments whatever, are small to this. As far as eternity exceeds time, as far as the torments of hell surpass the afflictions of this life, so far this punishment is greater than any we have named. And therefore, above all, sinners have reason to dread this, and all those evil dispositions which lead to it; as the neglect of prayer, contempt of instructions, the hearing the word of God without fruit, or desire of amendment, neglect or abuse of the sacraments, and obstinacy in sin. It is these which lead a sinner to a hard and obdurate heart, and it is these which force Almighty God to refuse them his grace and abandon them to their own passions, according to that of the psalmist, "The sinner has exasperated our Lord, and in the severity of his anger he looks not after him."
Here you have heard some of the most remarkable punishments which God has inflicted upon such as have given themselves to the sin of impurity; they are recorded in holy writ, and made public to the world, to be a lasting monument of God's great anger, and a continual warning to all ages. Those who were the first examples of the divine vengeance, no doubt, deserved what they suffered; but those who will not take warning by other's misfortunes, as they are more to blame, so they shall be more severely punished.
These, I say, are the public judgments of an offended God; but besides them, no doubt, there are innumerable private ones upon particular persons, in many sudden and unprovided deaths, or by being left in errors, or to a hard heart, and a reprobate sense, by bringing them to a sudden and an untimely end, or by an angry patience, leaving them to fill up the measure of their sins for their greater damnation.
I hope, dear Christians, that these judgments of Almighty God may make such an impression in your heart, that you may fly to his mercy in time, and, by a sincere and speedy repentance, obtain pardon for what is past, and, by a pious and exemplary life, deserve a reward for the time to come.
Source: The Commandments and Sacraments Explained, 1819
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