Be Not Afraid Of Them Who Kill The Body, Rather Fear Him Who Kills The Soul

By Gary L. Morella

THE HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE

CHAPTER 12.

Christ warns us against hypocrisy, the fear of the world, and covetousness: and admonishes all to watch.

1 And when great multitudes stood about him, so that they trod one upon another, he began to say to his disciples: Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed: nor hidden, that shall not be known.

3 For whatsoever things you have spoken in darkness, shall be published in the light: and that which you have spoken in the ear in the chambers, shall be preached on the housetops.

4 And I say to you, my friends: Be not afraid of them who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

5 But I will shew you whom you shall fear: fear ye him, who after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say to you, fear him.

6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

7 Yea, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows.

8 And I say to you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.

9 But he that shall deny me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God.

10 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but to him that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven.

11 And when they shall bring you into the synagogues, and to magistrates and powers, be not solicitous how or what you shall answer, or what you shall say;

12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you must say.

THE NEW TESTAMENT FIRST PUBLISHED BY THE ENGLISH COLLEGE AT RHEIMS, A.D. 1582

THE WHOLE REVISED AND DILIGENTLY COMPARED WITH THE LATIN VULGATE BY BISHOP RICHARD CHALLONER, A.D. 1749-1752

PUBLISHED WITH THE APPROBATION OF HIS EMINENCE JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS

What is America supposed to do? Allow it to be destroyed? The call by some clergy to do nothing is nonsensical. More importantly, it is NOT CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHING. Please reference the Universal Catechism on a "just war" quoting Saint Thomas Aquinas. Someone should have told the terrorists and their sponsors who have sworn to "kill every American" that "nothing can justify the taking of innocent life."

The United States of America has every right to defend itself, as does any country attacked so cowardly with such devastating results.

Would these same clergy have appeased Hitler, Stalin and Tojo? If so, if the world would have done nothing, the human misery today would be beyond comparison as the vast majority of the world will be living in the gulags with the remainder dying horrible tortured deaths.

With the help of Almighty God and only through His help, America will overcome this evil and once again become a great nation under God, something that it hasn't been since Roe v. Wade. That should be our prayer, especially for our military called to defend us, to defend authentic freedom to do what we ought, not license to do what we want.

The innocent who were brutally murdered cry out to Almighty God for the punishment of those who perpetrated this dastardly act, and the states who sponsored them, in the same manner that the millions of innocents who were brutally murdered in the womb do. That's the meaning of justice. God's mercy is meaningless without His justice as the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah could attest to. This is a more than a crime. This is an act of war! We are talking about our very survival as a nation. That should be America's first and foremost consideration. To realize why it was founded, to see how it has strayed, and to get down on its knees and beg a loving God for forgiveness, amending its direction to His will.

To "love your enemy" does NOT mean that you allow him to wantonly destroy your country. That isn't Catholic teaching. To go after the states responsible for sheltering these heinous terrorists means to go after the head of the snake that gives it mobility. It does not mean to destroy innocent lives, but the sad reality of war is that innocent lives will be lost. To tell a country that it has no right to defend itself because of this fact, that it must do nothing in the face of the murder of thousands of its citizens and the destruction of a major part of one of its cities is lunacy.

What would be these clerics’ reaction if a terrorist nuke, for example, incinerates Chicago. I am not advocating nuclear destruction of the sponsoring states. However, neither am I advocating that such an option would never be considered for one very good reason. Once that threat is removed, your enemies know your weakness in that you're crying wolf. There is much to be said for strong deterrents. The fact that the world still exists today given the closeness with which it has almost experienced nuclear destruction speaks to that success.

Countries have to realize that their very existence is at stake before aiding and abetting monstrous activities such as what happened on Sept 11, 2001. If that was the case, they might think twice before harboring those who have no concept of "loving your neighbor" but rather slitting his throat to include that of his innocent citizenry as what happened on those doomed flights to the stewardesses. And while we’re talking about loving your neighbor, and loving your enemies, you don’t show love by not witnessing to the truth in the same manner that Jesus was Perfect Love and Truth. One of the highest forms of love is discipline; else anarchy exists. It is not showing love by saying to someone who breaks the Fifth Commandment that you have no punishment coming. Souls are at stake as referenced in Luke 12. Justice demands punishment for such heinous crimes in the same manner that the temporal punishment due to sin must be atoned for in Purgatory, a Catholic dogma.

We live in an imperfect world because of the Fall and the onset of Original Sin. We are in the battle for our eternal lives. That is the real war. We cannot fight that battle as referred to in the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel if we're not here to fight it, letting the modern Neville Chamberlains tell us that doing nothing will allow for "peace in our time." History and the concupiscence due to Original Sin, which will exist to the end of time, prove otherwise. Do we honestly believe that our unilateral disarmament will make the world a Heaven on earth. If so, then our theology is flawed as that means that Original sin doesn't exist, and the devil does not prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls like a raging lion. Has history, in particular, has our faith taught us nothing?

We are working and perfecting ourselves to the real Heaven that can only be attained by abiding by God's laws, not an illusionary natural "heaven on earth" that exists only in the minds of those who have forgotten the supernatural reasons for their creation, their final end. This is why we have to be ever vigilant putting on the armor of God to fight the spiritual battle and its natural manifestation, as all wars have been, raging around us. To be successful we must be a country under God. Pray that we will be.

We have gone from being a country under God to a country that mocks God. There are hopeful signs with President Bush, whose Administration deserves our unreserved prayers during this time of crisis, that we're slowly getting back to our roots as a country founded under God, and the promotion of the culture-of-death is starting to be mitigated in America. We have a long way to go, however, given the sad events of the last eight years leading to the necessity of debates on the merits of partial birth infanticide, cloning, stem cell research, and the promotion of sexually perverse lifestyles as a cause for affirmative action in a civil rights sense.

I am a Catholic Vietnam era Navy Veteran, my father and uncles served in WWII in the Army Air Corps and Marines respectively, my uncles going through the hell of Iwo Jima. At least their generation knew that without God's protection, they would have no hope of winning the war. We didn't "legally" kill babies in the 40's and 50's or promote sexual perversion as a civil right. This generation goes out of its way to eradicate any trace of God from the national scene, making disobedience to his laws a matter of public policy in not recognizing that any law is worthless if it is not rooted in the truth of the Natural Law given to us by a loving God for our own well being.

In this moment of national crisis we need to get down on our knees and ask God to bless this country as He has for so long in order to win this tragic war in which we're now immersed. It's not God that brings evil into the world; man does that quite well enough on his own when he acts as agents of the devil. We need God's help now more than ever.

Beware more of he who kills the soul than the body. The former has eternal consequences more horrible than anything that can happen in this life to include especially any and all forms of physical death. Evil came into the world as a result of the concupiscence due to Original Sin. Man caused that by disobeying God, not God. God has withdrawn His protection for our country because we've grievously sinned. If we don't become a country under God, instead of mocking Him by disobeying His laws, then what happened on September 11 will seem like nothing to what will happen. This is Biblical. How can a country that has sponsored the culture-of-death to the point of exporting it to the rest of the world expect anything else? Did we honestly think that Almighty God would allow Himself to be mocked indefinitely? We need God now more than ever in our history. And we need every form of prayer possible, especially Holy Mass and the Rosary to ask God through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother for the Grace of conversion that all in America will come to realize that we're nothing without Him. If we persist in the manner that we have, leading to this tragedy, we're doomed. Thousands lost their lives in New York. Millions have lost their lives in what should have been their most secure haven, their mothers' wombs. And our country not only allowed that to happen but also encouraged and coerced the world to follow in lockstep. On Tuesday September 11, 2001, this country got a wakeup call!

My heart goes out to those who are suffering in New York. In particular, I have tremendous respect for those firemen, policemen, and emergency personnel who are putting their lives on the line for their fellowmen as my oldest son is a State Trooper, and I know first hand how under appreciated this group is. They are the first to get budget cuts, and the last to get any thanks for heroic efforts. This is not happening in New York because of the enormity of the tragic events of September 11. What's also not happening is any deference to the radical fringe of the ACLU in this country who had the audacity to take issue with a moment of silence, not even called prayer, with the Supreme Court in a state case the week of the tragic New York events. The Senate of the United States broke out in simultaneous affirmation that we wouldn't exist without the protection of the Almighty in singing "God save America."

There is no one who is more pro-choice than God. The choice that he gives mankind is a very simple one. His ultimate gift to us at creation is to choose Him via authentic freedom to do what we ought, or to choose the devil via license to do what we want. He cares about us enough to allow what happened on Tuesday to wake us up to that Truth, to allow good to come out of evil.

The REAL enemy that we are facing is addressed in a forgotten prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel. It used to be said after Holy Mass. It needs to be said again. What happened on Tuesday was a physical manifestation of the spiritual battle for our souls that has been constant since the Fall.

Saint Michael the Archangel, Defend us in the day of battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and Do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell, Satan and all the other evil spirits who wander through the world, seeking the ruin of souls, Amen!

We better get down on our knees and beg God's forgiveness and ask for Divine Intervention to help us through this crisis. We won't have far to go because we've been brought to our knees by the weight of our sins collectively as a nation. More so than any other time in its history this country needs a Catholic witness to the faith as a beacon of hope in overcoming the present darkness. Pray God that happens.

We also need to pray for our military, our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, who will be putting their lives on the line in defense of authentic freedom, not license, if America is to be a country under God.

I encourage all prayer, especially novenas like the Divine Mercy. The priest at Holy Mass today said the complete Litany of the Saints. It was beautiful. At the prayer services and Masses that I've attended all week, there was a Rosary asking for the intercession of the Mother of God in this time of need, prayers during times of trial and tribulation, Benediction, and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

On September 11, God said, "Enough is enough." You no longer deserve my blessing! What has happened to you, America?

Apparently some in the media are not getting this message. They demand apologies from people like Jerry Falwell for doing nothing more than witnessing to the Truth that is found in the Gospel, Truth that is a Somebody, not a something.

According to a recent op-ed from Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald, eradicating God from our culture, killing millions of babies in the womb, and promoting the filth of homosexual lifestyles is no big deal in the eyes of God. For a person who presumes to know all about God, Pitts needs to review Sacred Scripture, in particular, Genesis 19 in the Old Testament, and especially the New Testament Gospel of Matthew where Christ speaks more of the consequences of serious sin than any other figure.

No, we're told by Pitts that what is important is that our women need to be able to wear bikinis. That’s why the Islamic fundamentalists hate us. Presumably, our women need to be able to contracept and abort generations into oblivion also, and have unlimited freedom to participate in the most debauched pornographic acts imaginable for sale to the rest of the world. Is that what makes us right and them wrong per Pitts' commentary?

Is the fact that on one coast thousands of people had their bodies killed, a physical manifestation of the spiritual warfare for our salvation, coupled with the other coast destroying our souls by erasing thousands of years of Judeo-Christian tradition via trashing the family in promoting homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle as "proposed law" in California, "no big thing" to a God Whose mercy is meaningless without His justice? The gospel according to liberal pundits like Leonard Pitts answers, "Of course, it's no big thing. How can you be so stupid?"

The terrorists committing these despicable acts are wrong and deserve swift justice as well as all of their sponsoring states, but we certainly are NOT right, contrary to what Pitts would have us believe. They kill the body. But our country has been publicly sanctioning the killing of souls and exporting it to the world. Today, it was reported that our Secretary of State, a man who is planning the defense of this country, publicly acknowledged the homosexual partner of a Romanian diplomat, thereby showing to the world that America de facto approves of sexually perverse lifestyles.

We better get "right" with God Almighty or this country is not going to survive this crisis.

In all most all of the wars fought for America with the exception of Vietnam as a function of how it was waged and given the outcome, Vietnam is now completely communist, we have enjoyed the protection of the Almighty. We stood for decency, not debauchery. When my dad and uncles went to war in the 40s, suffering through the agony of the Aleutian campaign and Iwo Jima respectively, our country wasn't telling us that killing millions of innocents in the womb in the most hideous of fashion, and promoting sexual deviancy was accepted law. Do you believe that it was an accident that Vietnam ended as it did in '74 after Roe v. Wade? Not if you believe that God is in control. Our consolation is that God allows good to come out of evil.

It is to be noted Leonard (It's bikinis not baby killing) Pitts has been invited to speak at Penn State as a part of their "distinguished speaker" program this year. Since he's such an expert on God, someone ought to ask him to explain God's admonition in the Bible that he who kills the soul is more to be feared than he who kills the body.

In further news , included in today's edition (9/20/01) of the Penn State COLLEGIAN student paper was an insert for Depo-Provera contraceptive injection.

This country needs repentance and to amend its ways in order to get on a strong moral foundation needed to win a war. Instead, God is continuously mocked by this blatant promotion of promiscuity to upwards of 40,000 college students at University Park.

Missing from the lists of printed side effects was "the very real risk of going to hell."

For those interested in contacting Penn State Catholic Community to urge the director to speak out against the promotion of contraception in Penn State COLLEGIAN, the phone numbers are below.

Penn State Catholic Community Staff

Fr. Stephen Honeygosky, O.S.B., Ph.D., Director

865-4281, 205 Eisenhower Chapel

Fr. Conan Feigh, O.S.B., Campus Minister

865-4281, 204 Eisenhower Chapel, cef4@psu.edu

Fr. David Griffin, O.S.B., Campus Minister

865-4281, 203 Eisenhower Chapel

Our military is now being called to defend freedom. People like Leonard Pitts need to be continuously reminded that we're talking about defending "authentic freedom" to do what we ought, not "license" to do what we want. The former provides the moral foundation needed to survive as a civilization physically, and especially spiritually. The latter is the work of the "father-of-lies" that leads to physical, and spiritual ruin with eternal consequences.

Gary L. Morella