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One of the key events of Holy Week is the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot—something many Christians are convinced caused Judas to go to hell. I used to be one of them.
However, several times recently, Church officials have stated that—even though hell is a real possibility humans can choose—the Church does not teach that any particular person is in hell.
For example, in his 1994 interview book Crossing the Threshold of Hope, John Paul II discussed who will go to hell and wrote:
<blockquote>The Church has never made any pronouncement in this regard. This is a mystery, truly inscrutable, which embraces the holiness of God and the conscience of man. The silence of the Church is, therefore, the only appropriate position for Christian faith. Even when Jesus says of Judas, the traitor, “It would be better for that man if he had never been born” (Matt. 26:24), his words do not allude for certain to eternal damnation (139).</blockquote>
Similarly, in a 2006 audience, Benedict XVI said,
<blockquote>Even though he went to hang himself (cf. Matt. 27:5), it is not up to us to judge his gesture, substituting ourselves for the infinitely merciful and just God (<a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20061018.html">October 18, 2006</a>).</blockquote>
Despite these statements, <a href="https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/is-judas-in-hell">it has long been commonly held</a> that Judas is, in fact, damned. So how can we understand the traditional opinion in light of the possibility of Judas’s salvation that John Paul II and Benedict XVI hold out?
One approach is to review the evidence we have for Judas being in hell and seeing how conclusive it is.
A first type of evidence is something that many people may not be aware of: data from exorcism cases.
Christians are familiar with the concept of exorcism being used for possession by demons—that is, fallen angels. However, there are also occasional reports of spirit possession by human souls.
In Judaism, such spirits are referred to as dybbuks. A <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/dybbuk-Jewish-folklore">dybbuk</a> is “a disembodied human spirit that, because of former sins, wanders restlessly until it finds a haven in the body of a living person.”
Although dybbuks are more commonly associated with popular Jewish belief, they are also sometimes reported in Christian contexts, and that includes Judas. Exorcists periodically report that during the course of the rite, one of the possessing spirits will identify itself as a former human, typically a famous sinner such as the emperor Nero or Judas Iscariot.
If a possessing spirit identifies itself as Judas and speaks truthfully, then that would support the idea that Judas is a lost soul.
The difficulty is the “and speaks truthfully” part. Demons—and any human allies they have in the possession racket—are working for “the father of lies” (John 8:44), which means that you can’t trust anything they say.
Consequently, the 1614 rite of exorcism—which is still in use—warns that the exorcist must “be on his guard against the arts and subterfuges which the evil spirits are wont to use in deceiving the exorcist” (n. 5). Further, it specifically warns that “neither ought he to give any credence to the devil if the latter maintains that he is the spirit of . . . a deceased party” (n. 14).
The Church does not have a teaching on whether damned souls can ever possess the living, so this is an open question theologically. However, because of how untruthful possessing spirits are, their identity claims are not a reliable form of evidence, and the Church has warned us not to pay heed to such claims.
I thus don’t think we can rely on evidence from these cases to prove Judas is in hell.
Another source of evidence is the common opinion itself that Judas is damned, including by many Church Fathers.
The Holy Spirit guides Christian opinion—including the views of the Fathers—on matters of faith, and so this also could count as evidence for Judas’s damnation.
However, for it to be conclusive, two conditions would have to be met: (1) Judas’s damnation would have to be a matter of the Faith, and (2) the relevant parties would have to agree that this is definitively the case, meaning that there is absolutely no possibility of disputing it.
Neither of these seems fulfilled. For an infallible definition to occur, the members of the Magisterium (bishops teaching in union with the pope) must—at some point in time—come to a position where they are “in agreement on one position as definitively to be held” (<a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html">Lumen Gentium 25</a>).
However, John Paul II and Benedict XVI indicate that they have not done this. When John Paul II says (above) that “the Church has never made any pronouncement” on individuals who are in hell, including Judas, then that means it doesn’t have a teaching on this position, much less a definitive one.
Individuals—including many of the Fathers—may hold the opinion that Judas is in hell, but opinions—no matter how common—are not infallible Church teachings. Consequently, we can’t appeal to this kind of evidence as conclusive of Judas’s damnation.
What about the idea that this might be a matter of the Faith? Here we come to the subject of what Scripture teaches. The reason that many in Catholic history have held Judas is damned is because of what Scripture says, so does this give us conclusive evidence?
John Paul II and Benedict XVI have already responded to the two passages in Scripture that one might appeal to.
John Paul II dealt with the passage where Jesus said, “Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born” (Matt. 26:24; see also Mark 14:21), and the pope said that Jesus’ words “do not allude for certain to eternal damnation.”
This is true. Although the warning is reasonably taken as meaning that Judas will go to hell because of what he has done, it—like biblical warnings in general about the consequences of sin—presupposes one thing: that the person does not repent (Jer. 18:7-10).
So if Judas were to heed the call, “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19), then his sins would be blotted out.
Now, here’s the thing: Matthew’s Gospel—the same one where Jesus warns of Judas’s fate—goes on to say this:
<blockquote>When Judas, his betrayer, saw that he was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood” (Matt. 27:3-4).</blockquote>
Matthew says that Judas repented! He recognized that he had sinned and that Jesus was innocent, and he sought to return the money. When the priests refused to take it back, he threw it into the Temple (27:5a) so that he would not profit from his sin. That sounds like a sincere repentance!
But what about what Judas did next? He hanged himself (27:5b), and this is the second text one might appeal to for Judas’s damnation. Even if he repented of having betrayed Jesus, wouldn’t he still go to hell because of his suicide?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states,
<blockquote>We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives (2283).</blockquote>
Suicide does not always result in hell because a person may not be fully responsible for his action due to lack of knowledge, or psychological factors, and because “in ways known to him alone,” God may help the person to repent—even in the act of committing suicide itself.
Judas thus may have been so grieved by his offense that he wasn’t fully responsible for his suicide, or he may have repented of taking his own life while he was still hanging from his neck.
As Pope Benedict said, “Even though he went to hang himself, it is not up to us to judge his gesture, substituting ourselves for the infinitely merciful and just God.”
It thus appears that we don’t have conclusive proof that Judas is in hell, and there is still a ray of hope for him.
This Holy Week, let us thank God for his mercy upon all of us. It is a mercy that—in principle—might extend even to Judas.

Hope for Judas?

@shamelesspopery did WHAT?? 😳

Is Salvation Possible for Non-Catholics?

<div>What do you do when someone only focuses on the bad stuff in the Church?</div><div>It depends on how well you know this person. If this person is merely an acquaintance, you can offer information that addresses that person&#8217;s concerns, and then move on if it is not received well. With someone you do know well, you can also offer information, but if it is not received well then you can politely ask that person for a respite from negative discussions. I recommend Joanna Bogle&#8217;s article <a href="https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/seek-something-to-be-glad-about">Seek Something to Be Glad About</a>.
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Focusing on the Bad

Chris Stefanick advises a caller who has trouble talking about the faith to people in his life, exhorting him to let it flow naturally from his true personality and make Jesus and prayer parts of his everyday interactions.
Transcript:
Host: We go to Brian in Ohio listening on 870 AM. Brian, you are on with Chris Stefanick, what&#8217;s your question?
Caller: Hi Chris, thanks for taking my call.
Chris: How&#8217;s it going, Brian? Good, good. Can you hear me now?
Host: We can, yes. Can you give Chris your question?
Caller: It&#8217;s sort of along the line of some of the more recent callers where, you know, modern Catholics seem to rely on institutions like CCD or Catholic schools, but they, you know, we have the adults even now where they don&#8217;t really know the faith and and therefore they don&#8217;t know Jesus. They more or less know, you know, rituals, and maybe some obligations, things like that. And you know, I learned my faith from my mother and my grandmother, as you talked about, but but you know I have a hard time introducing Jesus even within my own married family and and friends and things like that. Hopefully my question came along clearly.
Chris: Yes it did, thank you. So you said they don&#8217;t know the faith, therefore they don&#8217;t know Jesus; I think very often it&#8217;s the case that they don&#8217;t know Jesus, therefore they don&#8217;t really care about the faith, even if they kind of know it, you know? And I think it&#8217;s&#8211;again this stuff&#8211; to be an effective evangelist, it has just drip from who we are, you know? We have to bring up the name of Jesus in conversation as if he&#8217;s an intimate friend of ours. That doesn&#8217;t mean we have to force things or be awkward. Frankly, a lot of us feel like we&#8217;re forcing things when we&#8217;re NOT bringing up His name, cause He&#8217;s always on our minds, always in our hearts.
I would just encourage the average Catholic: Stop repressing yourself. Just start being who you are! You know, we were always who we were throughout Catholic history. I mean I&#8217;m half Irish, right? The traditional greeting in Ireland was &#8220;God and Mary be upon you.&#8221; Until maybe the 1950s, from the time of Saint Patrick. Uh, I&#8217;m half Slovak. [Slovakian greeting], &#8220;Praised be Jesus Christ,&#8221; is how you said &#8220;Hi.&#8221; You know, this is just dripped from our mouths, from our interactions. It was ingrained in us.
It&#8217;s still ingrained in us but, for that percentage of Catholics I know we are kind of small, kind of minority, who like, &#8220;This is the most important thing in our lives,&#8221; can we please just be ourselves? Just stop hiding, just stop worrying about the response you&#8217;re gonna get to that constantly. Stop thinking you&#8217;re gonna offend people all the time, because again, if you&#8217;re yourself in a way that&#8217;s joyful, that&#8217;s not giving in to frustrations of people who aren&#8217;t as far along as you are, in a way that you&#8217;re showing like, &#8220;I&#8217;m just in love with Jesus, he&#8217;s my friend,&#8221; you know, if someone&#8217;s having a hard day, just comes around the top of your head, you know, &#8220;I&#8217;m gonna pray for you.&#8221; Even if they don&#8217;t believe, you know, if they act offended to that, first of all that&#8217;s their issue, you know, but second of all, you planted a thought about God into their hearts and mind and they&#8217;re not gonna forget that, you know.
So with your family members, be patient but just keep being yourself, man. And just keep saying the name of Jesus in casual conversation. You know, in a way that&#8217;s not forced but just natural.

How to Evangelize: Be Yourself

Today is my oldest child’s twenty-eighth birthday. Every year, the arrival of August 4 (feast of St. John Vianney—pray for priests!) sets off a similar routine:
-I express incredulity at his advancing age, which surely can’t be that much less than my own at this point. Then I yell at neighborhood kids to get off my lawn.
-There are group texts and phone calls with him and his six siblings, who, I never stop feeling blessed to note, all love one another.
-I mention on Facebook or in a conversation that this is the anniversary of the day I “became a father.”
-I get shirty corrections from well-meaning people who inform me that I became a father when he was conceived, because pro-life.
Okay.
Look, I am as hard-core about the full humanity of the unborn as anyone, even among other pro-life Catholics. I tend to favor embryo adoption, for instance, where many Catholic moralists say (and it may be the more probable opinion of the Church) that it&#8217;s impermissible.
But although it’s technically correct that someone becomes a parent at the moment of his or her first child’s conception, in the sense that the unborn child is a full human being with a mother and a father, there is nonetheless a hiddenness to that child’s time in the womb. He hasn’t yet come into the world; there’s a still-to-be-completed aspect to the whole arrangement.
This is surely why we celebrate Christmas as a specially solemn feast, even more so than the Annunciation (when the Lord was conceived) or the Visitation (when John the Baptist leapt in the womb at his presence). The Incarnation has already occurred; Mary is the mother of God. But it’s only at the Nativity that the shrouded, silent intimacy of pregnancy gives way to the visible, audible, unmistakably public presence of God made man, in the world. 
Mary’s divine maternity, and the guardianship of God’s foster-father Joseph, become fully realized when Jesus is born. That’s why we devote whole seasons to preparing for and commemorating that birth.
And of course, it’s after a child is born that mother and father become fully initiated into all the subjective, practical, phenomenological aspects of parenthood—the love and care, the feedings and bodily fluids, the lost sleep and discipline and lifetime of worry that make even an adoptive parent a true father or mother. In a world where there is a sad and ever-growing distinction between being a dad or mom and being a mere baby-daddy or -mama, we shouldn’t let Pro-Life Prenatal Correctness bully us into ignoring that parenthood is as much about doing as being.
So happy birthday to Joe, my oldest boy, the man who made me a father twenty-eight years ago and who makes me proud every day. (And no, I don’t say “eldest”—that’s a topic for another post…)

When Did I Become a Dad?

<div>I was given only the host at a recent Mass, not the precious blood. Was this appropriate?</div><div>Yes. A full Communion is made when a communicant receives either the host or the precious blood. It is not necessary to receive both the host and the precious blood; in fact, for centuries the standard eucharistic protocol was for the laity to be given only the host.
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Receiving Only the Host

<div>May I be anointed every time there is anointing of the sick at Mass or just one time?</div><div>The Catechism of the Catholic Church:
<blockquote>If a sick person who received this anointing recovers his health, he can in the case of another grave illness receive this sacrament again. If during the same illness the person’s condition becomes more serious, the sacrament may be repeated. It is fitting to receive the Anointing of the Sick just prior to a serious operation. The same holds for the elderly whose frailty becomes more pronounced (1515).</blockquote>
The Code of Canon Law:
<blockquote>This sacrament can be repeated if the sick person, having recovered, again becomes gravely ill or if the condition becomes more grave during the same illness (can. 1004 §2).</blockquote>
If you have been anointed and are no longer ill, then you should not be anointed again. If, however, you were anointed and there are ongoing sufferings and issues, then you may be anointed again periodically.
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How Often One May Be Anointed

<div>What Is Lent?</div><div>Lent is a season of preparation for Easter, mirroring Jesus’ forty days in the desert and also anticipating his passion, death, and triumphant resurrection:
<blockquote>“By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.” (CCC 540, see 542)</blockquote>
Additionally, paragraph 1438 of the Catechism describes Lent as a penitential season:
<blockquote>The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church’s penitential practice. These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works). [CCC 1438, emphasis original] </blockquote>
Thus, Lent is a season of spiritual preparation, one that not only looks forward to the joy of Jesus’ Resurrection (beginning with the Easter Octave), but also provides the faithful—both Catholics and those joining the Church—an annual opportunity to fortify their faith and otherwise grow in holiness for the sake of Christ’s kingdom (John 13:34-35; see Matt. 6:10; 24:14).

For those preparing to become Catholic—whether catechumens (who will receive all three sacraments of initiation: baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist) or candidates (baptized Christians who will receive confirmation and the Eucharist)—Lent is a period of learning and spiritual formation that leads to their coming into full communion with our Lord Jesus Christ and his Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. For existing Catholics, Lent is an opportunity to reflect on their faith and strengthen their relationship with God and others through prayer, fasting, acts of charity, and spiritual reading.
Each year, then, by calling us to turn away from sin and soul-sapping distractions, Lent helps us focus on what truly matters, drawing us closer to God as we prepare to celebrate the triumphant joy of the Easter season.
<h2>More Resources About Lent</h2>
Top 20 Questions and Answers about Lent <a href="https://www.catholic.com/tract/top-20-questions-and-answers-about-lent">Catholic Answers Q&amp;A Guide for Lent</a>
When is Ash Wednesday? <a href="https://www.catholic.com/tract/ash-wednesday-the-first-day-of-lent" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Catholic Answers Guide for Lent</a>
When is Holy Week? <a href="https://www.catholic.com/tract/holy-week-catholic-answers-guide-to-holy-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Catholic Answers Guide for Holy Week</a>
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What Is Lent?

<div>What does the Church teach about divorce? When Catholics ask whether they can divorce, what they’re really asking is how God intended marriage to work, what makes a marriage truly valid, and what happens when a union breaks down, especially when questions of Holy Communion and remarriage arise.</div><div>The better question we might ask is &#8220;May Catholics divorce?&#8221; The Church teaches that a valid marriage between two baptized Christians is indissoluble, meaning that once God has joined a man and woman in such a union, no civil authority may dissolve that bond or declare it null, not even the Catholic Church (CCC 2382). The Church does have the divinely ordained power to determine whether a couple exchanged valid consent in getting married (see Matt. 16:18-19, 18:15-18), and thus possibly to issue a declaration of nullity if determined they did not (see CCC 2384, 1625-1629). The State may claim to end a marriage through granting a civil divorce, but the State has no God-given power to break a marriage covenant or declare one null.
Because God established marriage as a natural and permanent union between a man and woman (Gen. 2:23-24), and then elevated it in Christ to the level of a sacrament (Matt. 19:3-9, Eph. 5:21-33), God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16). Consequently, the Church considers <a href="https://www.catholic.com/qa/im-thinking-about-divorce-what-does-the-catholic-church-have-to-say-about-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">divorce</a> a grave offense when chosen as a way to abandon one’s marriage or to enter a new romantic union. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a divorced person who seeks to contract a new union—without receiving a declaration of nullity regarding his marriage—places himself in a situation of “public and permanent adultery,” harming not only the couple but also their families and society (2384).
However, the Church also recognizes that sometimes civil divorce is forced upon an innocent spouse—or may be the only means to protect oneself, children, or property from an unjust partner. In such cases, the Church teaches that the innocent spouse does not sin and that civil divorce may function as a form of legal separation when necessary, provided it is not treated as ending the marriage (CCC 2383).
What civil divorce cannot do is determine whether the marriage itself is valid or dissolved. Only Christ, through his Church, has authority over the <a href="https://shop.catholic.com/20-answers-divorce-and-remarriage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sacrament of marriage</a>. As Jesus said, “what God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (Matt. 19:6).

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Can Catholics Divorce?

Most Catholics have heard of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is referenced dozens of times throughout the Catechism, mentioned in the sermons of bishops and priests quite often, and generally known as the “main character” of Catholic theology even by those outside of the Church. Few, however, know about the theological tradition that the Angelic Doctor belonged to—and which bears significant importance for us today.
As opposed to dogmatic or positive theology, which explains and proves the truths of the Faith from Scripture and Tradition, scholastic theology (or scholasticism) explores the nature of these truths and their place within the Catholic faith. It enables the theologian to synthesize the faith and resolve apparent contradictions. To put it succinctly, the maxim of scholastic theology is “faith seeking understanding.”
The rise of scholasticism was concurrent with—and in many ways caused by—the rise of universities in Christendom. Scholastic theologians, also referred to as schoolmen, often belonged to theological schools that held to and preserved their own theological tradition. Thus, it is not uncommon to hear about disputes between Thomists (followers of St.
Thomas Aquinas) and the Scotists (followers of Bl. John Duns Scotus) on how the sacraments cause grace in the recipient, and, though belonging more to speculation, whether or not God would have become man if Adam had not sinned.
At the center of medieval scholastic theology is Peter Lombard (d. 1160)’s Sententiae or Sentences, a four-book work on theological judgments about the Christian religion. The work systematically covers questions about the one God, his triune nature, creation, man, sin, the Incarnation, redemption, and the last things. It is divided into four books and sectioned by “distinctions.” Shortly after its publication and approval from theologians, a commentary on the Sentences became a requirement for a Master’s degree in theology. Thus, the procedure later theologians followed when inquiring into what different theologians taught on a certain question was to refer to their commentary on the Sentences, each of which was uniformly organized after Lombard’s original work. For example, if I want to know what St. Bonaventure taught about the different aspects of purgatory, I simply go to the locus classicus of purgatory: book four, distinction 21. Every commentary on the Sentences is uniformly structured like this, allowing one to easily compare the teachings of the scholastics by simply referencing the proper book and distinction.
<h2>Should We Reject Scholasticism?</h2>
Many today want to forget and move past this historical period of theology, labeling it irrelevant and outdated. Others reject scholasticism due to its “heavy” reliance on extra-biblical, Aristotelian terms, such as “substance,” “virtual,” and “relation.” But these charges fail to demonstrate any true reason to reject such a powerful and beautiful theological system.
First, several recent popes have commended scholasticism as being integral to Catholic theology. Pope Benedict XVI said:
<blockquote>Still today, in reading the Scholastic summae one is struck by the order, clarity, and logical continuity of the arguments and by the depth of certain insights. With technical  language, a precise meaning is attributed to every word and, between believing and understanding, a reciprocal movement of clarification is established.
Dear brothers and sisters, in echoing the invitation of the First Letter of Peter, Scholastic theology stimulates us to be ever ready to account for the hope that is in us (cf. 3:15), hearing the questions as our own and thus also being capable of giving an answer. It reminds us that a natural friendship exists between faith and reason, founded in the order of Creation itself” (General Audience, October 28, 2009).</blockquote>
Pius XI, in his reformation of Catholic universities, commended the scholastic method as an authentic medium of doing theology in the Church:
<blockquote>Sacred theology is to be handed on with both the positive and the scholastic method; therefore, having explained the truths of faith and proved them from Holy Scripture and Tradition, the nature of those truths and their intimate reason are to be studied and illustrated according to the principles and teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas. (<a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/la/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-xi_apc_19310524_deus-scientiarum-dominus.html#%3A~%3Atext%3DHaec%20autem%20disciplina%20methodo%20cum%20positiva%20tum%20scholastica%20tradenda%20est%3B%20ideo%20veritatibus%20fidei%20expositis%20et%20ex%20sacra%20Scriptura%20et%20Traditione%20demonstratis%2C%20earum%20veritatum%20natura%20et%20intima%20ratio%20ad%20principia%20et%20doctrinam%20S.%20Thomae%20Aquinatis%20investigentur%20et%20illustrentur">Deus scientarum Dominus</a> 29).</blockquote>
In fact, Pope St. Pius X identified the dislike of scholasticism as one of the errors of the modernists.
<blockquote>For scholastic philosophy and theology they have only ridicule and contempt. Whether it is ignorance or fear, or both, that inspires this conduct in them, certain it is that the passion for novelty is always united in them with hatred of scholasticism, and there is no surer sign that a man is on the way to modernism than when he begins to show his dislike for this system (Pascendi Dominici Gregis 42).</blockquote>
As for the application of extra-biblical terms, we should keep in mind that the early Church, before scholasticism, also did this in its defense of trinitarian orthodoxy, with terms like “consubstantial” and “person.”
<h2>Why Read the Scholastics?</h2>
Scholasticism is not even primarily about niche theological questions, like whether the fire of purgatory is material or not. In exploring the nature of the mysteries in our faith, the mind, already believing in these, begins to understand their interconnectedness, opening the path for deeper meditation and contemplation before the Lord.
Scholastic theology also helps us synthesize Catholic doctrines. Some that seem to contradict at first, such as the belief that baptism is necessary for salvation and that a baptism of desire can substitute the absence of the sacrament, are easily resolved when we understand that baptism is necessary per accidens but sanctifying grace is necessary per se; the former may be substituted but is the ordinary means to an end, and the latter, being absolutely necessary, cannot be substituted, which is supplied by repentance, faith, and the desire for baptism. When asked how baptism can save us while upholding that we are saved by Christ alone, we may reply that baptism is the instrumental cause of our justification, whereas Christ’s passion is the meritorious cause: Christ achieved our salvation on the cross but applies it through the sacraments.
<h2>Where to Start?</h2>
Aquinas’s works, most of which have an English translation, are available for free at <a href="http://aquinas.cc/">aquinas.cc</a>. There is his famous Summa Theologiae, in which he treats the Christian faith systematically, which he never finished.
In his exposition on the Ave Maria, he comments on St. Gabriel’s annunciation to the Virgin Mary, reflecting the contemplative mind of the medieval Church regarding the Mother of God. His commentaries on the Pauline epistles are especially illuminating for understanding Catholic teaching on grace, which Aquinas claims is the subject of Paul’s “entire teaching.” Aquinas synthesizes all of Paul’s letters by showing how the Apostle presents the grace of Christ as diffused throughout the body of Christ: from our head to the pastors and the faithful of the Church—both considered in itself and in its operation through the sacraments.
Some prominent contemporaries of Aquinas, like his teacher, St. Albert the Great, have also written wonderful works, such as <a href="https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=Medieval-EN/XCT.011.html%3Bchunk.id%3D00000007">On Cleaving to God</a>. One may also read <a href="https://www.franciscan-archive.org/scotus/">Scotus</a> or St. Anselm’s <a href="https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=Medieval-EN/XCT.005.html%3Bsurl%3DaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZjYXRob2xpY2xpYnJhcnkub3JnJTJGbGlicmFyeSUyRmJyb3dzZSUyRmNlbnR1cnklMkYxMDAw%3Bchunk.id%3D00000007">Why God Became Man</a>.
Later Thomists, like Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., have amazingly edifying works like <a href="https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=Contemporary-EN/XCT.145.html%3Bsurl%3DaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZjYXRob2xpY2xpYnJhcnkub3JnJTJGbGlicmFyeSUyRmJyb3dzZSUyRmNlbnR1cnklMkYxODAw%3Bchunk.id%3D00000005">On</a> <a href="https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=Contemporary-EN/XCT.145.html%3Bsurl%3DaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZjYXRob2xpY2xpYnJhcnkub3JnJTJGbGlicmFyeSUyRmJyb3dzZSUyRmNlbnR1cnklMkYxODAw%3Bchunk.id%3D00000005">Providence and Trust in God</a>, along with <a href="https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=Contemporary-EN/XCT.144.html%3Bsurl%3DaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZjYXRob2xpY2xpYnJhcnkub3JnJTJGbGlicmFyeSUyRmJyb3dzZSUyRmNlbnR1cnklMkYxODAw%3Bchunk.id%3D00000005">his commentary</a> on Aquinas’s treatment on grace.
In fact, some of the best defenses of the Catholic Faith were written by scholastics. One interested in defending the Faith against Islam or Eastern Orthodoxy may read St. Thomas’s De Rationibus Fidei (“Reasons for the Faith”), in which he explains and defends uniquely Catholic doctrines against these groups. Bellarmine has several volumes in his work Controversies where he defends the Catholic faith against the Protestant Reformers and their successors. Cardinal Franzelin, S.J.’s On Divine Tradition offers a fantastic explanation of the Catholic view of Sacred Tradition, occasionally responding to Protestant objections. The Sacrae Theologiae Summa is a great theological manual that covers all aspects of Catholic theology written by theologians who attended and influenced the Second Vatican Council. All of these have English translations and many be published online for free under public domain. Dozens of important theologians could be listed for each century, but when one becomes acquainted with just a few, he quickly becomes introduced to their contemporaries and grows in understanding of the scholastic tradition all the more.
In sum, scholasticism is not dead. It remains alive within the ecclesial tradition, practiced by those in the theological schools and commended by the Magisterium as most helpful.

The Way a Catholic Should Think

Put aside what exactly we mean by sight—physical, intellectual, etc. Whatever sight is, it is a form of direct knowledge. Intellectual sight is the direct apprehension of some reality. Physical, sensory sight is the direct sense apprehension of some reality. So to ask the question “Does God see us?” is really to ask, “Does God know us?”
We almost certainly want to say yes. But if we are Christians and thinking rationally, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that we do not often act as if this were true.
After all, we do not seem to be aware that God sees us and knows us when we are in the midst of sin. Or perhaps we are aware, but we think that God simply looks away for a moment, for which we feel guilty. I mean, such presence and perception seem overwhelming, and so the mind finds ways of tuning it out. As T.S. Eliot writes, “Humankind cannot bear very much reality.”
There are, furthermore, deep currents of Christian—especially Protestant—thinking that deepen this divide in vision. Often, when teaching the doctrine of justification, I’ve had occasion to discuss the Lutheran concept of imputed righteousness—the idea that Christ’s merit gets credited to our spiritual accounts in a kind of cosmic book-fixing, meaning that we get to go to heaven without actually having our sin-sick souls healed. Where this becomes especially strange is when the legal metaphor turns into a visual metaphor. I grew up hearing that when God the Father looks at us, he doesn’t see us at all; he sees Christ. There’s some truth there that a Catholic can and should accept. But instead of seeing how we grow into the full stature and likeness of Christ, what these preachers more often mean is that God really does not see us because he cannot see sin. Our existence is meaningless. We are but dust, onto which God slaps a picture of Jesus.
I have to confess that I never found that image comforting, because it makes God comfortable with the idea of falsehood; it makes God appear too weak to elevate and heal the creatures that he made in his image. It makes God blind.
But in the tradition, we are the ones who are blind. We are so blinded by the double-darkness of sin and ignorance that we do not even fully know ourselves. God, says St. Augustine in his Confessions, knows us more intimately than we know ourselves. We see in a mirror dimly. He sees face to face. Augustine adds, “And though in your sight I may despise myself and reckon myself dust and ashes, I know something about you which I do not know about myself.” By this I think the saint means, I know that you know more about me than I do, so there must in the end be more to my life than mere dust and ashes.
God sees us. He sees the dust that we were, the dust that we are, and the dust that we will become. And yet there is this wonderful fact, recounted in the Ash Wednesday collect—one of the best treasures in this missal unknown anywhere else in the Roman Rite: “Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou has made . . .”
We might rush through it, but what an extraordinary statement. Undeniably true, theologically speaking, and not just because it’s in part a quotation from the Book of Wisdom: God can hate sin, because sin isn’t something that is made, but rather the corruption of what was made. God’s hatred of sin, then, follows from the fact that he refuses to hate what he has made. Dust, in other words. Us.
Ash Wednesday is normally seen as a reminder of our mortality. And it is. But that statement that we make isn’t just about death; it is also about creation. It’s not just “unto dust shalt thou return,” but also “remember that thou art dust.” In other words, you aren’t an accident, you aren’t a necessity, you exist by the love who crafted you out of the dust and gave you his own breath.
And he sees you. He knows you. Even if you do not.
This theme of sight and blindness is a common one in Lent. It starts with the contrast—I find it interesting to think of it almost like a ritual insistence on our hypocrisy—between being seen by God and being seen by men. It reaches its experiential climax in Passiontide and the sacred Triduum, when the images in the church are veiled, then again unveiled, as on Good Friday, with a command to look: behold the wood of the cross, on which was hung the world’s salvation. You may not want to, but look. See what you have done. See what you have become.
Lent is certainly about self-examination and penance. But the point I want to make is that the perfection of these things is not simply in making a perfect act of penance and self-examination; we do not know ourselves well enough. To know ourselves well enough, we have to know God. We have to see him. Just as I often tell people in the confessional, it is not ultimately good enough to just stop sinning—we have to replace the bad habit with a good one. We have to see beyond what we are doing, what we ought not be doing, to the good that God wants for us.
So we have to clear up all the debris that clouds our sight. Sin, yes, but also the various good things that cloud our vision. I know it’s popular these days to de-emphasize giving up food and drink and such for Lent, but I don’t really know of anything that gets quite so viscerally at our human ability to be distracted by good things.
If we can turn from sin, and turn also from the good things that hold us back, God will “create and make in us new and contrite heats,” raising us from the dust once again—preparing us, this time in the glory of the Resurrection, to behold his face with clear eyes.

Does God See You?

<div>Does the Church accept an annulment granted by an Orthodox archbishop?</div><div>No, the Catholic Church does not accept annulments granted by non-Catholic churches or faith communities.
Generally speaking, the Eastern Orthodox do not issue annulments; they issue an &#8220;ecclesiastical divorce.&#8221; While similar to a Catholic annulment in that there are an investigation and a judgment by the appropriate church authority, it differs in its focus and grounds. There are limited grounds on which the Eastern Orthodox would issue an actual annulment, but such a decree would have no juridic validity in the Catholic Church. A separate Catholic investigation would need to take place.
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