Bishop Strickland, who has warned of the dangers of the Synod which started on the fourth of this month, has published his latest pastoral letter, which one can find on his website, The Catholic Diocese of Tyler, about the dangers of universalism. It reads:
“My dear sons and daughters in Christ,
It is an honour and a joy to continue to share the basic truths of our Catholic faith with you, as we now delve more deeply into the sixth truth I outlined in my pastoral letter of August 22, 2023: “The belief that all men and women will be saved regardless of how they live their lives (a concept commonly referred to as universalism) is false and is dangerous, as it contradicts what Jesus tells us repeatedly in the Gospel. Jesus says we must ‘deny ourselves take up our cross and follow Him’ (Matt 16:24). He has given us the way, through His grace, to victory over sin and death through repentance and sacramental confession. It is essential that we embrace the joy and hope, as well as the freedom, that come from repentance and humbly confessing our sins. Through repentance and sacramental confession, every battle with temptation and sin can be a small victory that leads to embrace the great victory that Christ has won for us.” We are all sinners, and we are all in need of a Saviour because we are all born into original sin and, therefore, subject to its consequences. (cf. Rom 5:12-21). Original sin was the first sin that was committed by our first parents, Adam and Eve, in disobedience of God. That original sin is now a hereditary stain with which we are all born on account of our descent from Adam and Eve. Thus, original sin is an ongoing privation of God’s grace, and because of its effect in our lives, we as humans are born in a state of separation from God. If we were left in this state of original sin, we would be eternally separated from God because nothing unclean will be allowed to enter into Heaven (cf. Rev 21:27). However, through Baptism, God has made a way for us to be justified in Him – through Jesus Christ alone – and to remove not only the stain of the original sin of our first parents which we carry, but also the stain of all actual sins we ourselves commit. And for our sins after we have been baptized, God has given us the Sacrament of Reconciliation (also called Confession or Penance) in order to allow us to repent and be cleansed of the stain of our sins.
From the Cathecism of the Catholic Church, we read that “Sin is an offense against God: ‘Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight.’ Sin sets itself against God’s love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become ‘like gods’, knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus ‘love of oneself even to contempt of God.’ In this proud self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation.” (CCC 1850).
That first sentence is packed with deep theological insight – “Sin is an offense against God.” Consider that God is infinitely good and holy, and He is infinite love. Thus, according to St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica, when we sin, we sin against the infinite, and thus our sins are infinitely offensive to Him. “Now a sin which is committed against God is infinite: because the gravity of a sin increases according to the greatness of the person sinned against (thus it is a more grievous sin to strike the sovereign than a private individual) and God’s greatness is infinite. Therefore, an infinite punishment is due for a sin committed against God.” (Summa Theologica; I-II, q. 87, a. 4, obj. 2)
https://bishopstrickland.com/uploads/blog/4a8ec7b2be09e50aa39b0467538c983edf62e8e1.pdf
Bishop Strickland’s pastoral letter on the dangers of universalism (1)
Bishop Strickland, who has warned of the dangers of the Synod which started on the fourth of this month, has published his latest pastoral letter, which one can find on his website, The Catholic Diocese of Tyler, about the dangers of universalism. It reads:
“My dear sons and daughters in Christ,
It is an honour and a joy to continue to share the basic truths of our Catholic faith with you, as we now delve more deeply into the sixth truth I outlined in my pastoral letter of August 22, 2023: “The belief that all men and women will be saved regardless of how they live their lives (a concept commonly referred to as universalism) is false and is dangerous, as it contradicts what Jesus tells us repeatedly in the Gospel. Jesus says we must ‘deny ourselves take up our cross and follow Him’ (Matt 16:24). He has given us the way, through His grace, to victory over sin and death through repentance and sacramental confession. It is essential that we embrace the joy and hope, as well as the freedom, that come from repentance and humbly confessing our sins. Through repentance and sacramental confession, every battle with temptation and sin can be a small victory that leads to embrace the great victory that Christ has won for us.” We are all sinners, and we are all in need of a Saviour because we are all born into original sin and, therefore, subject to its consequences. (cf. Rom 5:12-21). Original sin was the first sin that was committed by our first parents, Adam and Eve, in disobedience of God. That original sin is now a hereditary stain with which we are all born on account of our descent from Adam and Eve. Thus, original sin is an ongoing privation of God’s grace, and because of its effect in our lives, we as humans are born in a state of separation from God. If we were left in this state of original sin, we would be eternally separated from God because nothing unclean will be allowed to enter into Heaven (cf. Rev 21:27). However, through Baptism, God has made a way for us to be justified in Him – through Jesus Christ alone – and to remove not only the stain of the original sin of our first parents which we carry, but also the stain of all actual sins we ourselves commit. And for our sins after we have been baptized, God has given us the Sacrament of Reconciliation (also called Confession or Penance) in order to allow us to repent and be cleansed of the stain of our sins.
From the Cathecism of the Catholic Church, we read that “Sin is an offense against God: ‘Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight.’ Sin sets itself against God’s love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become ‘like gods’, knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus ‘love of oneself even to contempt of God.’ In this proud self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation.” (CCC 1850).
That first sentence is packed with deep theological insight – “Sin is an offense against God.” Consider that God is infinitely good and holy, and He is infinite love. Thus, according to St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica, when we sin, we sin against the infinite, and thus our sins are infinitely offensive to Him. “Now a sin which is committed against God is infinite: because the gravity of a sin increases according to the greatness of the person sinned against (thus it is a more grievous sin to strike the sovereign than a private individual) and God’s greatness is infinite. Therefore, an infinite punishment is due for a sin committed against God.” (Summa Theologica; I-II, q. 87, a. 4, obj. 2)
https://bishopstrickland.com/uploads/blog/4a8ec7b2be09e50aa39b0467538c983edf62e8e1.pdf