FEBRUARY 10, 2008: AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS HOLINESS
POPE BENEDICT XVI:

DISCOURSE ON GOD’S MANDATED DAY OF REST:

BY IVAN ERICKSON
AUTHOR OF “SONG OF THE STORM WINDS”:

‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’:

GREETINGS TO YOUR HOLINESS IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST;

INTRODUCTION:

I must first address the public by stating that I have not been able to reach His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, via the channels available to me; and as the replies that I have received from the emissaries of the Catholic Church – through whom I have sent my initial copy of this letter – have not been directed toward the specific premises established herein, I am directing this revised article as an Open Letter to Your Holiness, along with my hope and trust in the Lord that His Holy Spirit will carry this message to you via one of His chosen disciples for your kind review. I will qualify my request by stating that my spirit will not rest until the Your Holiness or one of your chosen emissaries responds to this letter by refuting, agreeing with, or answering each of the premises of which I have established herein. I say this in light of the fact that, to date, no person to whom I have sent this document has as yet been able to refute what I have premised herein.

I will preface my discourse on God’s Mandated Day of Rest by first clarifying that the laity as well as the clergy must understand that – in spite of the fact that I have established my premises in this discourse by writing what I have been inspired to write, and by utilizing primarily the words of God from His Holy Bible – no one person or establishment on earth except the Pope and the Holy See of the Catholic Church, under the providence of the Holy Spirit, has been granted by God the authority and the jurisprudence to establish the Magisterium to change the current status of revering Sunday as God’s Holy Day of Rest!

Thus stated, I am writing to Your Holiness regarding this matter of utmost importance for the Catholic Church, as well as for the other Christian faiths of the world, and especially for those Christians of our own once great nation under God here in America, specifically because you are the only person chosen of God who has the authority, the fortitude and the prudence to be the catalyst and the efficient cause via the Holy Spirit poured forth from God through Jesus Christ – the Prism of God’s Spirit – to establish a final cause in a matter that is far overdue, for these many centuries; and which is regarding the erroneous change of the Day of Rest from God’s mandated Seventh Day, Saturday, to the Catholic Churches mandated First day, Sunday. I have for these many long years now carried the burden of this matter in the marrow of my being, and the Holy Spirit of Wisdom will give me no peace until this matter has been prudently resolved. Thus stated, I put forth the following demonstration for Your Holiness’ review, and hopefully for your swift jurisdiction in this matter.

MY PREMISES ON WHY SATURDAY IS GOD’S MANDATED DAY OF REST:

2. I must first digress in order to acknowledge that I am a member of Saint Stephen the Martyr Church in Renton, WA. I am also the author of a 1,700 page, 3-volume religious novel entitled, “Song of the Storm Winds.” I commenced writing my novel in 1994, and continued to pray, meditate, research and write for many hours day and night until I published the first small print edition in 2005. I revised the book, prior to marketing via amazon.com in May of 2007. I feel now in the heart of my soul that it could have been only the Spirit of Wisdom whom had guided me to begin writing in 1994 of those many catastrophic events that are currently taking place around the world in these times of darkness under the sun; for I am a simple man – though college educated – and am incapable of writing about those many mysteries of God’s Holy Bible – as I did in my novel – that are beyond my own humble realm of reasoning. For this gift, I continue to give Glory and Praise to God the Father, to His Son, Jesus Christ and to His Holy Spirit of Wisdom, now and forever more.

3. In conjunction with the marketing of my book, and in order to get my message out to a wider audience, I received permission to write a series of essays and discourses based on some of the premises that I established in my book – and which include excerpts from the New American Bible, CCD – for the Fargo Catholic School Network (FCSN), as I am an Alumni of Shanley High School in Fargo, N.D. The FCSN has also listed an online link to my discourses for the public. As I intend to post this letter on my personal website, as well as to submit this letter addressed to Your Holiness in its entirety to the FCSN and to future additional online sites and to the media as a discourse entitled, God’s Mandated Day of Rest, and since this topic is regarding a matter of the Magisterium of the Holy Catholic Church, I am addressing it to Your Holiness as an Open Letter for your review, with the request that, if you or one of your chosen emissaries would be so kind, I would appreciate it if you could take the time out of your busy schedules to compose a letter for me on the subject of God’s Mandated Day of Rest, with permission for me to include your inspired words on the subject, publicly, along with this document, as I wish for the readers to get the entire spectrum on this matter of utmost importance; and also for the reason that I personally do not wish to lead so much as one beloved soul away from the Truth and the Light of our Beloved Father. I say this, not because I lack faith in my convictions on the premises that I have herein established, but rather for the reason that I wish to ensure that I have correctly interpreted the Biblical passages that I utilized to establish my premises. For I am cognizant of the fact that the Inspired words of God’s Holy Bible can be correctly interpreted in more that one manner, as long as all interpretations connote the Truth, and that they each agree with the exegesis and Magisterium of the Holy Catholic Church! Thus, “…Deep calls unto deep…” as we delve further and further into the depths of the infinite Inspired Words of the One True God Who Lives!

4. I now return from my digression in order to establish my premises for your kind review, Your Holiness. I have read the late John Paul II’s Letter, Dies Domini, and personally believe that these are among the most inspired words ever written on the revering of Sunday as a Holy Day on which we attend Mass, receive Holy Communion, and hold Sundays sacred as a perpetual Liturgical Celebration of Easter and the Resurrection of our Beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As you will learn in my discourse below, I disagree with only one matter on which Pope John Paul wrote – that being, in the establishing of Sunday, rather than Saturday, as God’s mandated Day of Rest. I have “tested the Spirits” and feel that the Spirit that has led me to come to this conclusion some many years ago can come only from God’s Spirit of Wisdom; so please bear with me as I continue to write these words from the marrow of my soul.

5. In my book, “Song of the Storm Winds,” in the establishing of my premise that Saturday – not Sunday – is God’s chosen Day of Rest, is His Commandment, and thus should not have been changed by mankind, I wish to affirm that I was careful not to make a final decision on this subject as, again, I am aware of the fact that matters such as this must be undertaken by the Holy See and enacted according to the Magisterium of the Holy Catholic Church – as has been done several times in the past regarding the Day of Rest, but with what I feel in the heart of my soul have not produced a concrete Catholic Doctrine regarding God’s Will in this matter of utmost importance. Thus, in chapter 35 of my book, when Father James Madigan – the fictional University of Notre Dame President – is discussing this subject with the fictional Fighting Irish football Coach, Charles Cichy, Father Madigan confides to Charles that he was going to the Vatican during summer break to announce their mutual convictions to the pope; and the two then agreed that the decision would be left entirely in the pope’s capable hands, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I will admit that both President Father Madigan and Coach Charles Cichy expressed in very positive dialogue that the decision would be in their favor – even to the extent that Coach Cichy confided that he was already working on a plan to schedule all future Notre Dame games on days other than Saturday. Thus, the issue regarding the Day of Rest was never resolved in my book by me through my characters.

6. In chapter 23 of my book, and in conjunction with several Biblical Passages, I expounded on my premise by utilizing the following quotation from Emperor Constantine’s Edict, Sunday Law of Constantine, which was enacted by the Emperor on March 7th, A.D. 321 – for this was the rhizome of the root from which the idea to change The Day of Rest from Saturday to Sunday had sprung forth, and hence was propagated throughout the world:

“All judges and city people and craftsmen shall rest on the Venerable Day of the Sun. Country people, however, may tend to the cultivation of the fields, because it frequently happens that no other days are better adapted for the planting of the grain in furrows or the vines in trenches. So that the advantage given by heavenly providence may not for the occasion of a short time perish.” i

Emperor Constantine made some grievous errors in the enacting of this Edict – as well as in the subsequent five additional Sunday Laws that he enacted over the following years – that should be obvious to the discerning man of wisdom. First, he made the mistake of transgressing against God by countermanding, as well as superceding, God’s Fourth Commandment that states that we must keep Holy His Day of Rest – which He plainly mandated that mankind is to observe on the Sabbath, the Seventh day of the week, not Sunday. Secondly, the motive behind Emperor Constantine’s enacting this Edict was to improve the relationship between the pagans and the Christians; and to make the pagans more receptive to the Christian faith by mandating that the Christians must celebrate their Day of Rest on the same day that the pagans reverenced their sun god. We must bear in mind while reflecting on this aspect that Satan’s intent was to lead our Catholic Church and other Christian faiths into sin, over the future generations!

7. To show all mankind throughout all time that God was against the abominable practice of commingling the Christian rites with that of the pagans, God told us clearly in 1 Corinthians, 10:14-22:

“Therefore, my beloved, avoid idolatry. I am speaking as to a sensible people; judge for yourselves what I am saying. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

Look at Israel according to the flesh; are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? So what am I saying? That meat sacrificed to idols is anything? Or that an idol is anything? No, I mean that what they sacrifice, [they sacrifice] to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to become participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealous anger? Are we stronger than he?” ii

8. Thirdly, Emperor Constantine unwittingly has shown us in another very overt manner that Satan’s evil power was involved when he enacted this Edict! How? By stating in his Edict that he would allow farmers to work on Sunday, his newly mandated Day of Rest. This permissiveness has allowed myriads of unwary Christians from that time on not only to believe the lie that Sunday was God’s Day of Rest, but also to rationalize to themselves that it was morally permissible to work on that day, which they believed in their hearts to be the Day of Rest. For as you know, Your Holiness, if we believe in our hearts that Sunday is the Sabbath, God’s Day of Rest, and sin by doing work on that day – other than to perform good deeds and do those specific things that are absolutely necessary as mandated by Jesus Christ – we have sinned against God. Thus, Satan accomplished Its fatal triple ruse, which was firstly, to lead mankind away from the Truth and the Light of God’s Commandment to keep Holy the Sabbath; and secondly, to give Catholics carte blanche permission to toil on the newly mandated Day of Rest, without fear of sinning against God. Also, it is of the utmost importance that we all bear in mind that by working on Saturday, God’s true mandated Day of Rest, as most Catholics and most other Christian faiths now do, they are accruing additional sin! This was Satan’s fatal third ruse against the Church!

As you know, Your Holiness, the Catholic Church gave its blessing to observing Sunday as the Day of Rest through men such as Ignatius of Antioch and Pope Sylvester I. The transition from Saturday to Sunday as the official Day of Rest was confirmed at a council of Bishops at the Council of Laodicea in A.D. 363, and this tradition has, of course, continued to the present day.

9. I utilized the following quotation from Mark, 7:5-9, in chapter 23 of “Song of the Storm Winds” to clarify one of the major reasons why the Catholic Church has been induced by Satan to perpetually honor Sunday as the Day of Rest:

“So the Pharisees and the scribes questioned him, ‘Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?’ He responded, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
“’This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
In vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human pre-
cepts.’
You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.’” He went on to say, ‘How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition!’” iii

This passage from Mark, 7:5-9 is extremely important in that it specifically shows us that in spite of passages, such as Acts 20:7, Revelation 1:10, Colossians 2:16, 17, and Corinthians 16:2, we are still obligated to keep God’s Commandments – all of them! And, that we are not to enact, establish or practice human traditions or laws in place of God’s Commandments!

10. As you also are aware, Your Holiness, some other proponents for revering Saturday as the Day of Rest have used several debatable quotations from the New Testament to substantiate their premises, such as Matthew, 5:17, 18, Matthew, 12:7, 8, and Matthew, 15:3-9. Therefore I will instead use the following quotations from the Old Testament to further substantiate my premise; for to the discerning man of God, these Commandments from God are non-debatable and irrefutable:

Exodus, 31:12-18:

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘You must also tell the Israelites: Take care to keep my sabbaths, for that is to be the token between you and me throughout the generations, to show that it is I, the LORD, who make you holy. Therefore, you must keep the sabbath as something sacred. Whoever desecrates it shall be put to death. If anyone does work on that day, he must be rooted out from his people. Six days there are for doing work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of complete rest, sacred to the LORD. Anyone who does work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. So shall the Israelites observe the sabbath, keeping it throughout the generations as a perpetual covenant. Between me and the Israelites it is to be an everlasting token; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day he rested at his ease.’” When the LORD had finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the commandments, the stone tablets inscribed by God’s own finger.” iv

The phrases: “…throughout the generations…” “…keep the sabbath as something sacred…” “…sacred to the LORD…” and “…keeping it throughout the generations as a perpetual covenant…” are irrefutable, and in no way connote that God is mandating or allowing for a change in this or any other Commandment – by the Israelites or by any other person, religion or institution at any time throughout the history of mankind – until the end of time. God’s term “perpetual” thus signifies to us that the New Covenant would not change this Commandment – nor would it change any of His Commandments! The New Covenant did however allow for those Christians whom are free from sin and thus have God’s Spirit within them to no longer be under the Law – but as you are aware, Your Holiness, God’s Laws are a separate entity from His Commandments! Our Beloved God the Father of course knows all things! He knew prior to creating the universe and our world and all that exists that His Fourth Commandment regarding His Day of Rest would be desecrated by Emperor Constantine in A. D. 321, and that the Catholic Church would thereafter give Her blessing to this Edict. This is the very reason why God stated in Exodus 31 that, “…all of His Commandments are perpetual…” He did this for those of us for all generations up to the current times, and until the end of time, in order to give our Church the guidance and the wisdom to know that we have been sinning against Him, and also to infuse us with the prudence to discern that we must reinstate God’s Fourth Commandment Sabbath, Saturday, as His perpetual Day of Rest – as soon as possible!

11. The following are some additional excerpts from the Old Testament regarding God’s Commandments:

Exodus 34:11:

“But you, on your part, must keep the commandments that I am giving you today.” v

Exodus 34:21:

“For six days you may work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; on that day you must rest even during the seasons of plowing and harvesting.” vi

Deuteronomy 4:2:

“In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.” vii

This last passage specifically mandates that we are not to change any of God’s Commandments as much as one iota throughout all generations on earth! For again, even if many of us Catholics have the Spirit of God within us, and are thus no longer under the Law, we are still obligated to keep all of God’s Commandments, for “…we are all slaves of the master whom we serve…” whether we serve God or Satan!

Deuteronomy13: 1 – 6:

“’Every command that I enjoin on you, you shall be careful to observe, neither adding to it nor subtracting from it.

“’If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer who promises you a sign or wonder, urging you to follow other gods, whom you have not known, and to serve them: even though the sign or wonder he has foretold you comes to pass, pay no attention to the words of that prophet or that dreamer; for the LORD, your God, is testing you to learn whether you really love him with all your heart and with all your soul. The LORD, your God, shall you follow, and him shall you fear; his commandments you shall observe, and his voice you shall heed, serving him and holding fast to him alone. But that prophet or that dreamer shall be put to death, because in order to lead you astray from the way which the LORD, your God, has directed you to take, he has preached apostasy from the LORD, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and ransomed you from that place of slavery. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.” viii

12. There are those proponents for revering Sunday as the Day of Rest who argue that the Old Testament Commandments – including keeping Holy the Lord’s Day – were nullified by Christ’s death on the Cross. There are those also who argue that the Sabbath Commandment was meant to apply only to the Jews – not the Christians. To substantiate for all time that these conjectures are not the truth, Jesus testified in Mark 2:27, 28:

“Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’” ix

Thus, by specifically using the word “man”, Christ was speaking about all mankind, and not just the Jews!

13. There are those of whom also contend that verses such as the following from Matthew 16:18, 19, are proof extent that Jesus Christ gave the Apostle Peter, and subsequently all future Catholic popes, the passé partout to change the Fourth Commandment of God:

“’And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’” x

The footnote on Matthew 16,19 from the New American Bible, CCD, reads as follows:

“The keys to the kingdom of heaven: the image of the keys is probably drawn from Is 22, 15-25, where Eliakim, who succeeds Shebnah as master of the palace, is given “the key of the house of David,” which he authoritatively “opens” and “shuts” (Is 22, 22). Whatever you bind…loosed in heaven: there are many instances in rabbinic literature of the binding-loosing imagery. Of the several meanings given there to the metaphor, two are of special importance here: the giving of authoritative teaching, and the lifting or imposing of the ban of excommunication. It is disputed whether the image of the keys and that of binding and loosing are different metaphors meaning the same thing. In any case, the promise of the keys is given to Peter alone. In Mt 18, 18 all the disciples are given the power of binding and loosing, but the context of that verse suggests that there the power of excommunication alone is intended. That the keys are those to the kingdom of heaven and that Peter’s exercise of authority in the church on earth will be confirmed in heaven show an intimate connection between, but not an identification of, the church and the kingdom of heaven.” xi

Again, neither Matthew 16:18, 19 or the footnote on verse 19 in any way connote that God has given His beloved popes the power or authority to change any of His Holy Commandments – God granted Moses no authority to enact addenda to His Commandments, nor may man change, add to, or subtract from them.

14. As you are well aware, Your Holiness, the Word of God has plainly stated that to sin against one Commandment is to sin against them all! Satan has brought about Its ruse in the Catholic Church through a non-pope, namely Emperor Constantine, and we Catholics have allowed Satan to ensnare us in this veil of lies and deceit since Its Edict on March 7, A.D. 321! By utilizing the words, Its Edict, I am reiterating that Satan is obviously the root and rhizome through which this ruse has been propagated, and that Emperor Constantine was merely one of Its slaves of whom Satan ensnared through Its powers of Conditioning, Compulsion and Control to carry out this deception to deceive the Catholic Church – and subsequently, most of the Protestant faiths – down to this present time. Thus, Satan has brought about Its greatest coup and deception against mankind since the Fall of Adam and Eve! And we Catholics, for our part, have allowed Satan to keep us in perpetual bondage since the passing of the Emperor’s Edict.

15. Why have we Catholics not seen through this ruse and deceit of Satan? I believe that the obvious answer to this question is that many of our Church clergy and especially many of the hierarchy do, in fact, understand that we have been duped, but that they have thus far felt powerless to break out of Satan’s chains of bondage for one very important reason – that being, that Satan has not only chained us in bondage, but has seemingly sealed us from escape through the double jeopardy of duping us into believing the ruse that the law to change the Day of Rest from God’s mandated Saturday to mans mandated Sunday was ratified by a Catholic pope and by the Catholic Church, and is therefore irreversible and perpetual, because of the Infallibility of the pope in matters of Faith and Morals. This is only partially true! It is true that, as I stated above, Ignatius of Antioch and Pope Sylvester I gave their blessing to Constantine’s Edict, and that the transition from Saturday to Sunday as the official Day of Rest was confirmed by a council of Bishops at the Council of Laodicea in A.D.321, but this does not negate the truth that the rhizome and source of the ruse is Satan, and thus stemmed from Satan and not from God!

16. But glory be to God the Beloved Father, together with His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and His Beloved Holy Spirit! For in spite of the fact that Satan believes that It has ensnared the Catholic Church in perpetual bondage by inducing many of the Church laity, clergy and hierarchy to believe that there is no way out of Its bondage – because the Infallibility of the popes would be questioned if they were to change the Day of Rest back to Saturday – there is in fact a Gate out of Satan’s ensnarement, and this Gate is Jesus Christ. Through much prayer and faith in Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Wisdom will lead the Holy See and the Catholic Church hierarchy to understand that Satan is the root cause of this error; and thus we must acknowledge this as fact, that the Chuch was subsequently duped, and that a change must be brought about to rectify the situation! It was in labeling Sunday as the “Day of Rest” rather than as simply a “Holy Day” that the Church made its grievous error!

17. Does this mean that we must no longer celebrate Sunday as a Holy Day on which we perpetually revere Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savor, give Him thanks, glorify God, and celebrate Mass through the partaking of the Blessed Sacrament of Holy Communion in the partaking of the Body and Blood of Jesus? Of course not! As has been established by the Church, and most judiciously by that saintly man of God, the late Pope John Paul II – especially as professed in his Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini – our salvation itself is contingent upon putting our faith in Jesus, and in the partaking of His precious Body and Blood in the celebration of Mass on Saturdays, Sundays and Holy Days. Pope John Paul II stated that Sunday is the perpetual celebration of Easter to revere Christ’s Resurrection throughout each Liturgical Year. Thus, as previously stated, by simply adhering to God’s mandated Will, the Catholic Church can escape the phantasmagoria in which Satan seemingly has us ensnared; and through the celebrating and reverencing of Sunday as a perpetual Holy Day and Saturday as God’s perpetual Holy Day of Rest, we can return to doing God’s Will and escape His Wrath, which the Church has been accruing due to our sinning against the Fourth Commandment – as we have been doing since A.D. 321!

18. As you are aware, Your Holiness, the greater sin of myriads of the Catholics and Protestants lies not only in the fact that they are not reverencing Saturday as a Holy Day of Rest and Sunday as a Holy Day, but rather that that they are keeping no day Holy and are resting on no day, and are sinning throughout all seven days! Countless people of not only the Christian faiths, but also myriads of people of all faiths and ethnicities of the world, are running to and fro in their chases after the winds of materialism, consumerism, commercialism, wars and other grievous sins in these current, tumultuous times of darkness under the sun. At the same time, God’s “Storm Winds” – His wars, hail, fire, lightning, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, volcanic eruptions, famine, pestilence, plagues, economic chaos and other acts of God – continue to increase exponentially in frequency and magnitude, as God continues to both chastise and warn us all to turn away from sin, to repent, change, seek forgiveness, forgive others, put our faith in His Son, and to do His Holy Will as best we can from that time forward.

And as myriads continue to run to and fro, much of mankind is moving ever closer to the “fullness of sin,” just as the sinners did at the time of Sodom and Gomorrah, and at the time prior to the Great Flood. The sound of our perverted revelry is so thunderous that countless poor souls fail to hear the plaintive call of the Blessed Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Heavenly Host, as They plead day and night with love and tears and open arms for us to repent and change. Nor is mankind able to hear the loud, defiant cheering and laughter of Satan and Its demons; for these evil ones sincerely believe that they are winning the battle. And who are the biggest fools? Is it mankind for not listening to the Word of God and to the voices, tears and pleading of the Blessed Trinity, our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Heavenly Host? Or is it Satan and Its demons, for believing that they can win out over the Almighty God for the souls of mankind?

19. I wrote in “Song of the Storm Winds” that the Catholic Church – like the twin towers of 9/11 – has been hit hard, and is precariously rocking to and fro in these tumultuous times of darkness under the sun. Secularism, communism, atheism, Darwinism and other forms of the antichrist and godlessness are running rampant throughout the world, and especially so here in our once great nation under God.

But blessed be Jesus Christ! For He has promised us that not even the gates of hell shall prevail against the Church! For Jesus is the Head of our Church and all believers are the Body, and our Church will therefore stand until Jesus returns to this earth at the end of time. Sadly, in spite of this promise, the Church continues to reel to and fro in these times because of the multitude of sins being committed by a small percent of our clergy, and by myriads of our laity. The ears of many have continued to be deafened to the warnings and instructions and Word of God, as well as to the words of the clergy, the Church hierarchy, and to the words of your Holiness and the late Pope John Paul regarding matters such as adultery, pedophilia, attending church faithfully, the “slaughter of the innocents” or abortion, homosexuality, divorce, by denying that Jesus is the Son of God, and by countless other abominations and transgressions against God and His Commandments.

20. The Church is in dire need of more disciples of Christ to step forward in these times – for the women of God to emulate the Beloved Virgin Mary and the late Mother Teresa, and for the men of God to become saints like Your Holiness and the late Pope John Paul II – both of you of whom have displayed the courage to “… obey God rather than man…” as the Apostles Peter and John so aptly phrased it. The “army of Christ” that is already out toiling in the harvest fields needs countless more beloved people of God to join them in their battle against Satan, Its demons and the antichrist. The hierarchy of the Church, for their part, must pray for, seek, and find the Truth and the Light regarding revering Saturday as the Day of Rest, and commemorating and revering Sundays as a Holy Day of celebrating the Body and Blood of Christ and His Resurrection – which made a Resurrection and everlasting life possible to all whom will but believe in Him and do God’s Will in all things.

CONCLUSION:

21. In conclusion, I wish to say that in searching for the proper words to state as mundanely and as succinctly as possible, on those matters of which the hierarchy, clergy and laity of the Catholic Church must do first in order for us all to get back on the path to the Truth and the Light, the words that come to mind are the following: We must collectively get our heads back out of the darkness of the abyss in which myriads are currently ensnared; we must collectively get tough; we must stop kow towing to those blatant sinners who are disregarding God’s Commandments, mandates, laws, jurisdictions and decrees regarding all those sins that I just listed above, as well as via enacting and upholding laws that allow myriads of poor souls to sin against God; we must emulate the late Pope John Paul and call a sin a sin, and not try to brush these things into the proverbial abyss, as has been common practice in these times regarding many of our sins. The clergy, for their part, must dedicate a larger portion of their Homilies to instruct their flocks on the truth regarding the abominable sins such as abortion, euthanasia, adultery, fornication, homosexuality and divorce, rather than to worry that they will lose some of the members of their congregation if they should have the courage to speak out – as true disciples of Christ are called to do.

I pray that I may hear from you soon regarding these matters.

May the peace, love, grace and blessings of our Beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, continue to be with you, Your Holiness, and with your loved ones in all things, always.

Yours in Jesus Christ’s Holy Name,

Ivan Erickson

icerickson@yahoo.com
www.ivan-erickson.com (web site for “Song of the Storm Winds” and my religious essays)

ENDNOTES:

i The Sunday Law of Constantine, March 7th, 321 A.D., “The Code of Justinian”, Book 3, Title 12, Law 3, (Public Domain)
ii New American Bible, N.T., 1 Corinthians, 10:14-22, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD), Washington, D.C. (1969, 1970, 1986, 1991), pg. 255
iii Ibid, N.T., Mark, 7:5-9, (CCD), pg. 79
iv Ibid, O.T., Exodus, 31:12-18, (CCD), pg. 90
v Ibid, O.T., Exodus, 34:11, (CCD), pg. 93
vi Ibid, O.T., Exodus, 34:21, (CCD), pg. 93
vii Ibid, O.T., Deuteronomy, 4:2, (CCD), pg. 178
viii Ibid, O.T., Deuteronomy, 13:1-6, (CCD), pg. 188
ix Ibid, N.T., Mark, 2:27, 28, (CCD), pg. 72
x Ibid, N.T., Matthew, 16:18, 19, (CCD), pg. 38
xi Ibid, N.T., Matthew, footnote, 16, 19, (CCD), pg. 38