This is a defense of our Catholic faith that is taking place on our Catholic Brothers For Christ Youtube account where we posted the videos from the 2015 North Texas Catholic Men’s Conference. Father Larry Richards’ “Be A Man” video seems to be causing quite a bit of controversy.
25EllisDee25 response to Catholic Brothers For Christ: at one point, i too reached the bottom. drug addicted, unemployed and homeless, things looked pretty bleak. i had years before tried suicide, but i missed. after living among the raccoons and other animals for several years with no money or job, and surviving by eating the food supermarkets tossed away each day(eating better than i had when earning a six figure salary) i realized that i was much more at peace having nothing than when i had a big corporate job and a big house with tons of useless crap. when you are homeless, you do not accumulate fake friends quite as readily as when you have many things. i am no longer homeless, but i have no savings, no retirement fund, no bank accounts, stocks, no nothing. i have a bunch of computers, cos i am the local computer god, and goto guy for whatever you need fixed, but nothing too fancy. i did away with pretty much the same lifestyle you did, but mine wasnt quite so pleasure seeking, and even when i believed in god, i never believed masturbation was wrong, and as far as i can recall, there was only 1 bible passage about it, and that was a matter of interpretation. he just said dont get it on the ground, because someone might slip on it and hurt themselves. and what of female masturbation? that was never discussed was it ? (1)
sure, there is power in prayer, like there is power in static electricity when you shuffle your feet on the carpet. but neither one is able to do much useful work. for example, i’ll bet even the atheists were praying when those people were trapped in the world trade center. all those people praying, and all for naught. not one of them were saved. and many died trying to save them.
if god really was all powerful, then so should be satan. one force must balance the other, like yin/yang. otherwise, evil would already be vanquished. if they are equal, one cannot have created the other, but the two must have come from the same thing, like a coin with 2 sides. there may seem to be an imbalance of power, but it also seems like there is an imbalance of matter over antimatter in the universe, and this should not be. all this means is that we have more to learn. perhaps the missing antimatter is god, and there is some missing matter, and that is satan? perhaps all the xtians are worshipping the wrong god?
Catholic Brothers For Christ response to 25EllisDee25: I experienced similar events. I tried to commit suicide through extreme sports but failed, only severely injured myself a number of times.
I actually enjoyed living out of my car for years. San Diego is the perfect environment to be homeless. You could not ask for better weather year round.
It is amazing how well you can live off the castoffs of an affluent society. Gourmet dining is often only one dumpster away. (-:
I am in similar shape financially and depend daily for God to supply for my needs…and He always does. It is interesting that I too am a computer aficionado. I earn enough to enjoy a simple existence with a focus on serving God and the Body Of Christ. Material possessions do not have much appeal.
People and their salvation are my primary concern now. When you have an eternal perspective, you realize just how much God loves each person.
It is only by God’s grace that we have one more second to live. I focus my life on living today as if it is my last. Every morning, I ask myself, “What should I do if this is my final day on earth?” Then, I do what God informs me through my prayers.
A good example is to invest the time in our discussion about atheism and God. This is His priority, not mine. I would prefer working on websites and earning money to pay my monthly bills. However, I know He will miraculously provide exactly what I need to keep serving Him with all my heart, mind, soul and strength.
You begin to appreciate the incredible suffering Jesus experienced to pay the price for the sins of the world, from the beginning to the end. Even if I could pay for my own sins and attain eternal life through my own efforts there is no way I want to experience one iota of what Jesus experienced, or could I.
Masturbation, male or female, is the ultimate form or self-gratification and self-love. It denies the love of a spouse and the miracle of creation. Every time I did it, loneliness, sadness and self-loathing over-whelmed the few moments of physical pleasure.
After reading Napoleon Hill’s book “Think and Grow Rich” I was impressed with Chapter 11, the Mystery of Sex Transmutation. He highly praised those who chose celibacy to transmute their sexual addiction into extra energy to fuel mental creativity and focus. I have tried it and can report his theory really works.
God made us to have a loving relationship with Him or our spouse. Some people choose celibacy for spiritual reasons.
Celibacy has allowed me to focus all my energies on developing my intellect, strengthening my spiritual life and improving my relationship with the Trinity, Mary, Saints, Angels and serving the members of the Body of Christ.
The reference you are seeking on masturbation is the sin of Onan. It is hard to understand if you relate it just to the sin of masturbation.
The following explanation is on of the best on this the topic of sexual sin by Brian W. Harrison: “The witness of Christian as well as Jewish tradition on this point should be emphasized in conclusion. That Onan’s unnatural act as such is condemned as sinful in Gen. 38: 9-10 was an interpretation held by the Fathers and Doctors of the Catholic Church, by the Protestant Reformers, and by nearly all celibate and married theologians of all Christian denominations until the early years of this century, when some exegetes began to approach the text with preconceptions deriving from the sexual decadence of modern Western culture and its exaggerated concern for ‘over-population.’ Sad to say, these preconceptions have since become entrenched as a new exegetical ‘orthodoxy’ which can no longer see even a trace of indignation in this passage of Scripture against intrinsically sterile forms of genital activity as such. We shall give the last word here to Pope Pius XI, who, in quoting the greatest of the Church Fathers, summed up and reaffirmed this unbroken tradition in his Encyclical on Christian Marriage, Casti Connubii (31 December 1930). After roundly condemning as intrinsically contrary to the natural moral law all practices which intend to deprive the conjugal act of its procreative power, the Pontiff gave an authoritative interpretation of this biblical text which not only confirms the tradition, but is itself confirmed by impartial and historically well-informed exegesis:
Wherefore it is not surprising that the Sacred Scriptures themselves also bear witness to the fact that the divine Majesty attends this unspeakable depravity with the utmost detestation, sometimes having punished it with death, as St. Augustine recalls: “For it is illicit and shameful for a man to lie with even his lawful wife in such a way as to prevent the conception of offspring. This is what Onan, son of Judah, used to do; and for that God slew him” (cf. Gen. 38: 8-10).23″
When you don’t believe in God or life after death, then prayer is meaningless. However, for those who do pray, God does answer their prayers. He does mine and those of the other Prayer Warriors who know, love and trust Him.
When you deny the historical teaching of the Christian Church, beginning with oral tradition and ending with the Bible, Magesterium and teachings of the Fathers of the Church, it is difficult to understand the concept of God and Satan. The human mind, no matter how brilliant, does not have the power to discern things we cannot comprehend.
They are also beyond the scope of science. Scientific theories are only man-made explanations based on human consensus. It is all subjective because scientists have yet created the devices that measure and explain energy we know exists but transcends our abilities to understand. After all, many scientific theories are debunked as technology becomes more powerful and sophisticated.