Americans Should Learn the Difference Between Freedom and License!

I have fond memories of the 4th of July going back to when I was probably only four or five years old. We remember the parades, the picnics or barbecues, and the happy gathering of families. During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain actually took place on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve the resolution of independence previously put forth by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. After debate and revision Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4th.

Of note is the letter John Adams, one of only two Founding Fathers who went on to become president, wrote to his wife Abigail:

…This day ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever more. (Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society)

Like so many of the Founding Fathers, Adams recognized that the day of deliverance came from the providential hand of almighty God. I am not sure about large numbers of duplicitous politicians and other so-called public servants today, whether elected or appointed.

Freedom is a great thing, and we do well to celebrate it on the 4th of July. That being said, it’s something rooted in truth, and apart from the truth there can be no authentic freedom.

If you continue in my word [truth] you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. (John 8:31-32)

An individual, a country, or a world that does not remain rooted in objective truth cannot ultimately live in freedom. If you are serious about your faith, my dear friends, I strongly recommend that you read #1730-1748 as we approach the wonderful celebration of Independence Day, or the 4th of July.

Some highlights of this reality:

1731: Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. By free will one shapes one’s own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude [true happiness].

1733: The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes…

One of the most common errors of all time is to confuse freedom and license. Today, frequently under the specious pretext freedom, mankind acts in a manner that is really license. We are not morally free to do whatever we choose to do. Only when rooted in truth and acting in objective truth can we hope to be free. No one has the moral right to do evil. No one has the moral right to choose to take an innocent life or to engage in actions that are out of accord with right reason or any objective standards of morality we have ever known.

The inevitable consequence of abusing freedom is losing freedom. Soon, if we do not alter our present course, the United States will no longer be the home of the brave and the land of the free. Loss of personal freedoms, one at a time, is already well underway. One day we shall awake from our moral slumber and find that we have become slaves.

We must live in truth and act in truth if we are to remain free. Abuse it and I assure you we shall lose it! Wake up America! God is not a disinterested spectator. Let’s thank God for our freedom, but let’s not sit by idly while the forces of darkness divorce freedom from truth. For, as Jesus says, “The man who sins is the slave of sin.” (John 8:34)

I’ll leave you with the motto of the United States Army Special Forces on this 4th of July:

De oppresso liber! (To free the oppressed)

Indeed, Jesus came to set the captives free. Let’s do our part for our country and our world that we might all remain free in the glorious freedom of the children of God.

God bless you,

Fr. John Corapi

By Examining Our Conscience and Going to Confession

One of the most important things we can do as individuals seeking to love God above all things, and love our neighbor as ourselves out of love for God is to make a daily examination of conscience and then take advantage of one of the greatest gifts God has given us — the ability to receive sanctifying grace in a healing and forgiving way through the sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation (Confession). Repentance is not a one time thing. It is a daily requirement and an ongoing act of love of God and neighbor.

“If you love me you will obey my Commandments,” Jesus tells us. If we stumble along the way and fail to obey His Commandments it is very encouraging to have the assurance that His forgiveness is waiting for us. We must seek it actively, however, especially when we are conscious of mortal sin. We, as Catholics, do this by going to Confession. When we make a daily examination of conscience, and then go to Confession regularly, we are showing our merciful and loving God that we are serious about our relationship with Him.

God Bless you,

Father John Corapi

To read Father Corapi’s in depth discussion on making an examination of conscience, click here

Here’s the third talk  highlighted by Derrick Flannigan, “Truth Alone Will Set You Free!”

• Fr. Corapi began discussing that “without truth there is no freedom”. Without truth we become slaves!

• “Why is there scandal in society and the Church…because of scandal by individuals”. Scandal causes disunity in society.

• As Catholics we have been given the great gift of faith, which in turn means we have a great responsibility! “You have to live the faith! If you don’t do it, who will?”

• Fr. Corapi especially noted the different between freedom and license. He mentioned how the Founding Fathers of our nation understood that true freedom was the ability to do good, not the ability to do whatever one pleases.

• If we want unity, then we have to have freedom AND responsibility!

• Fr. Corapi gave the definition of freedom from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

• Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. By free will one shapes one’s own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude” (CCC 1731)

• Fr. Corapi reminded all present that “there are two destinations: Heaven and Hell!”

• We must reform ourselves to reform the Church and society!

• Look to the example of St. Francis of Assisi. He was called to “rebuild the Church” and he did so by first reforming himself.

• Fr. Corapi shared a meeting he had with Blessed Teresa of Calcatta. She told Fr. Corapi to look at her and said that Jesus has used [her] this sick, short, poor woman to do so much good in the world and the Church. She then told him, “Now you go do it!”

• In reference to St. Francis of Assisi, Fr. Corapi noted how he had to reform his own life with the grace of God. He briefly mentioned his conversion story.

• Fr. Corapi exhorted all once again to live the faith in our daily lives. “Do no be afraid”, he said, echoing the words of Pope John Paul II.

Here’s the fourth talk  highlighted by Derrick Flannigan’s, “Fear Not, There is Truth!”

• Fr. Corapi said that there is much fear, anxiety and a lack of trust in society and the Church today.

• “Fear is useless…we need to trust!”
  

  Fr. John Corapi

   

• “Things will get worse before they get better.”  Fr. Corapi mentioned this in light of his own life and conversion story.

• Psalm 34: Seek the Lord! Pray, do penance and live a life of virtue!

• We must read and know Scripture (Note: “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ” St. Jerome). Fr. Corapi noted that we must read Scripture in light of the Church.

• “Read Scripture in totality”- do not take it out of context, especially for one’s own benefit.

• “Read Scripture in light of Sacred Tradition”.

• “Apply the ‘anaology of faith’”- do not be taken away by strange teachings.

• Fr. Corapi ended his last talk by reminding us that we will have to endure great difficulties because of our faith in Jesus Christ and the Church.

• “No pain, no gain…no cross, no crown…no gall, no glory” (Similar to a quote by William Penn)

• “God love you!” Fr. Corapi’s line at the end of all of his talks.

Fr. Corapi motivated thousands of St. Louis Catholics to fall deeper in love with the Faith.  His four talks are highlighted by Derrick Flannigan’s. Here’s the second talk, “Only the Humble See Truth!”

• Fr. Corapi discusses that fact that there are many learned people in society that “just don’t get it”. These people do not see what is really going on in society because they lack humility.

• Humility is the virtue of acknowledging God as the author of all that is good.

• In order to be humble we must have a “poverty of spirit”. By such we will have an “acknowledgment of the truth” (St. Teresa of Avila)

• Fr. Corapi discusses suffering in the world and in the Church, saying that we can only get to Heaven via much tribulations: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” Mark 8:34

• What is the beginning of evil?

• First: Fall of the angels. Lucifer, one of the archangels, was one of the great angels. When God says that he will become a creature (man), Lucifer becomes angry and says “Non Serviam” or “I will not serve”. The pride of Lucifer leads to disobedience.

• Second: Fall of Man. Adam and Eve are tricked by Satan and want to be like God.

• Man is “playing God”, forming his own ‘truths’.

• Without objective truth there is no unity…no life!

• Jesus know man and becomes a creature like us to save us! (Note: “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God” CCC 460, St. Athanasius) This is the greatest sign of humility…the Incarnation!

The following was repeated throughout Fr. Corapi’s talk
Order of Causes:

• Humility…Obedience…Life

• Pride…Disobedience…Death

• Fr. Corapi exhorted all to be faithful, to pray, and to truly live the faith!

• The unraveling of the Christian Faith is the unraveling of society (the world)”

• We were reminded that sin is the rejection of God and His love.

• Fr. Corapi warns against having ‘false humility’, “which is worse than no humility at all”

• When we think we are better than others we should say to ourselves, “Except for the grace of God, there go I”.

Who Else Wants To Keep Track of Fr. John Corapi?

We do at Courageous Priest!  You can follow Fr. John Corapi by simply entering your main email address on the top right hand side and then confirming the request in your email box.   30 seconds, that’s it.   By doing so you will get the latest, not only from Father Corapi, but also from all of his courageous counterparts, like Archbishop Burke and Archbishop Chaput.  The following is a great little Fr. Corapi selection . . .

Fr. John Corapi motivated thousands of St. Louis Catholics to fall deeper in love the Faith.  His four talks are highlighted by Derrick Flannigan’s blog.  Here’s the first talk, “What is Truth?”

• Fr. Corapi notes that there is more fear and anxiety in the world today, saying “These are pivotal times”.

• “Truth…what is it?” This is the question raised by Pontius Pilate before he sentenced Christ to death. “Quid est Veritas?” (Latin)

• Ontological Truth: “God as truth”. The Essence of God is to exist.

• Intellectual Truth: the mind coming into conformity to the reality of God as truth.
  

  Father John Corapi

• The rise of Subjectivism in modern society: Descartes “I think, therefore I am”. Such principals turns philosophy upside down and leads for moral relativism.

• Fr. Corapi says, “Only the humble see truth”, despite how intelligent one may appear to be or how many degrees one may have.

• “Without humility you are like a loose canon on a ship”.

• “Error in the beginning is an error indeed” (St. Thomas Aquinas). We need to have a solid foundation in truth..to live in reality.

• “God knows all things perfectly in knowing Himself” (Aquinas)

• Without the light of truth, death comes. The truth is light…error is darkness! “Truth leads to life, error leads to death!”

• “The United States has a death wish,” because there is so much error in society.

• Conformity of the knower and object known: this is truth.  Fr. Corapi held us his water bottle and said, “No matter how much I believe this water bottle is a pepperoni pizza it still remains a water bottle…no matter how sincere I am!” Basically, we can’t change reality!

• “Vatican II did not change the Ten Commandments to Ten Suggestions!” Fr. Corapi notes that we can’t pick the Commandments that are convenient for us.

• “True freedom has been lost because of a loss of truth in society!”

• The fulfillment of freedom is not being able to sin”, as seen by the Blessed Virgin Mary

• “So, why are there so many problems in society and the Catholic Church?” Fr. Corapi believes it is because we as Catholics have been unfaithful!

• “To the degree we are faithful, we lift the world up and infuse life into the Church….life into the world!”

• Without faith it is impossible to please God

• We need memorization in our faith…”like it was in the old days with the Baltimore Catechism.”   “What if a brain surgeon or an engineer did not memorize certain medical operations or formulas…he wouldn’t operate on me….I wouldn’t drive across his bridge! We need to memorize our faith”

• So, what is faith! It is the theological virtue to believe all God has said and revealed…all the Church proposes for our belief…because He who has revealed it is truth itself

• “Be careful what you wish for…If you don’t want God as the heart and soul of life, society…you will inherit darkness!”

• “If don’t practice your faith, who will? Don’t be ashamed of your faith-you are the light of the world!”

• “The sin of the century is the loss of the sense of sin!” Pope Pius XII

• “I thought our Lady was the only one immaculately conceived?” Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, speaking on how many people think they are without sin.

• Fr. John Corapi took some time to speak on socialism, quoting Pope Leo XIII: “Socialism will not help the poor. Rather it reduces everyone to the same lowest common denominator of poverty and misery, while at the same time drying up the very sources of capital”. (Large applause after this quote)

Catholics Must Learn Their Faith
If We Are To Be The Salt and Light of the Earth!

One of the first things I became acutely aware of as I began ministering as a priest was that the vast majority of Catholics have never really learned their faith. For years I administered a simple test at the end of parish missions. The average grade, achieved by adults, was 43%. This failure translates into the ills and evils seen today in contemporary society. Why? For the simple reason that Catholic-Christians are called to be the salt and light of the world. When we fail to do so the world sinks under the weight of its sins. If we do not provide the moral compass to guide the world through dark and turbulent times, no one will.

Learning our faith is a moral mandate. It is not optional. We do it and please God, or we don’t do it and don’t please God. It isn’t rocket science and it doesn’t take that great a commitment in time and energy. To fail to do it is to fail in our mission, which is the same as the mission of the Redeemer – Redemption.

There is no opposition between learning and loving. If I love God and my neighbor as myself out of love for God (Charity) then I’ll want to know God (Truth). Our ignorance of basic moral and doctrinal teaching is ultimately harmful to ourselves, our families, our Church, our society and our world.

We should make a commitment to study our faith at least 30 minutes per day, 5 days per week – or some comparable program. Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which will in turn help you to understand your reading of Sacred Scripture. You should be able to answer the basic moral questions of the day, as well as give simple explanations for the Church’s basic doctrinal teaching.  Failure to do so results in gross error in faith in morals both among the clergy and among the faithful.  Pray the rosary daily.  By praying the rosary daily, Our Lady will lead you to her Son in the Eucharist, and her Son will obtain for you the grace to obey the Holy Father and magisterial teaching.  Praying the rosary with the scriptures is a lesson in theology however, you must learn to read scripture the way the Church reads scripture.  Therefore, the Bible and the Catechism are inseparable tools to learning the Catholic Faith.

As the darkness settles in ever greater layers our only defense is prayer, the sacraments, and learning all you can about the Catholic Faith. There will be no defense for not learning your faith before the judgment seat of Almighty God.  All the resources are there, but you must be proactive in obtaining the knowledge.

God Bless You,

Father John Corapi

(edited by Jeff Gares)

Fr. John Corapi’s Autobiography To Expose
Those Untold Stories You Have Been
Wondering About for Years!

You can imagine the conversation Fr. Corapi and Santa Cruz Media had concerning his autobiography.  It makes you wonder if they had to get his Superior to play the obedience card in order to get it written.

HT Justin’s Corner – This past Wednesday evening, Father Corapi was on EWTN’s Bookmark with Doug Keck discussing his soon-to-be-published autobiography. This ought to be a fascinating book to read. Although Father has told his life story many times in conjunction with his conversion story, he has never gone publicly into the depth and detail that this autobiography will contain.

Fr. John Corapi's Autobiography

This will be the complete story–from Father’s early childhood in upstate New York through his brief stint in the Army, his days as a multimillionaire accountant in southern California, his drug addiction and subsequent homelessness, re-conversion to the Faith, seminary studies, ordination and years of preaching the Gospel all over the United States and the world.

One interesting detail of Father Corapi’s life previously unknown to me and which he mentioned on the show was that he grew up within half an hour of Stockbridge, Massachusetts–the headquarters of the Divine Mercy devotion in the United States. Father Corapi’s book will delve into other lesser-known aspects of his life such as his brief experience as a parish priest in his hometown, and his longtime friendship with Mother Angelica, including his firsthand witness of her miraculous healing in January of 1998.

As Father Corapi’s amazing life and fruitful ministry have been, his autobiography will surely be a powerful testament to the fact that God’s Name is Mercy, and that His infinite mercy is strikingly evident in every twist and turn of our lives. I will be watching for this book, and I can’t wait to read it when it comes out–late this year or early next, according to predictions.

The Holy Triduum is  a three day remembrance of the last days of Jesus’s life that leads up to the Easter celebration of his resurrection.  For those who are seeking to learn more about the Holy Triduum, I recommend listening to Fr. John Corapi’s three part series covering Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.  MP3 versions of these talks can be listened to here.

Happy Easter!

Without the Cross

There is No Crown

As we approach the joy of another Easter victory it is necessary to first pass through the penance and prayer of another Lent. There is no glorious sunrise on Easter morn without first passing through the darkness of Good Friday. This was true for the Master, and, as He told us, “the servant is no better than his Master.”

Lent is a preparation for Easter, just as Advent is a preparation for Christmas. It is a time when we should redouble our efforts to “fight the good fight and run the race to the finish line.” As Scripture tells us, “A three-ply cord is hard to break.” This cord in the spiritual life is prayer, fasting, and good works. Each one strengthens the other, making that cord that binds us to God all the stronger.

Have a real plan to maximize the potential of this Lent. Perhaps you can attend Mass daily, or 3 times each week of Lent. Make a good Confession at least once during Lent, if not monthly or even weekly. Pray the Rosary daily. Eat less and more simply if you can. Even something like sacrificing desserts for Lent can be a fine penance. Remember St. Therese’s “Little Way,” doing “little things with great love.” Please do something for the poor. There are actually thousands of normal people who are suffering the terrible anxiety of seeing their children hungry. Do something to feed the hungry, house the homeless, visit the sick or the elderly. They are the least of Jesus’ brethren and as you care for them, you care for Him.

Remember that you cannot float through the spiritual life, or life in general. It takes work to succeed. Work at your spiritual life. One of the greatest benefits of doing this is that you will find peace and joy almost immediately. All of your problems won’t go away, but you will be given strength to handle them. That three-ply cord of prayer, fasting, and good works will bind you closer and more strongly to God who loves you.

Most of all remember the last chapter of the Book: We win! Lent and Good Friday always lead to Easter Sunday.

With God’s blessing,

Fr. John Corapi, SOLT