Augustine on Impure Looks

 St. Augustine on the Couch

“Dr. Joylove, Dr. Joylove!”

Dr. Joylove picked up the phone and responded: “Yes, Clare, what is it?”

“Dr. Joylove, your patient, the bishop, St. Augustine of Hippo, is in to see you!”

“Ok, have him come in!”

The door to the psychologist’s office opened, and a very heavy-set man with a sad and melancholic expression, walked in.  He brushed his long white beard and sighed deeply as he slowly walked over to the sofa. Extending his hand to the therapist, he said:

“I am very happy to know you, doctor and I greet and bless you in the name of our holy Lord, Jesus Christ! Thank you so much for being able to attend me today.”

“The pleasure is mine, your Eminence. I am a great fan of your works and admire you greatly for your wisdom and profound intelligence; but tell me, what is it that brings you here today to my clinic?”

St. Augustine sat on the couch and staring out the window, lost in his thoughts, answered:

“A group of nuns have blamed me for the loss of many of their vocations, saying that my counsels have been extremely difficult to put into practice. A few had a moral and spiritual crisis and left the convent. This upset me emotionally and affected my mental health. It has been some nights now that I have not been able to neither sleep nor rest, perturbed by all these developments.” 

Dr. Joylove quietly fixed his eyes on the bishop:

“I see. When was the last time you spoke to the nuns?”

St. Augustine turned to the therapist:

“I was afraid to go and speak with them. I could have lost my temper and complicated things instead of making them better, so I wrote them a letter in place of the proposed visit.”

Dr. Joylove bent over to the bishop:

“May I read the text?”

St. Augustine reached over to a long folded parchment he had brought with him:

“Of course, here it is, by all means you may look at the copy of it.”

Dr. Joylove opened the parchment and read silently the following paragraph:

 

“……Though a passing glance be directed towards any man, let your eyes look fixedly at none; for when you are walking you are not forbidden to see men, but you must neither let your desires go out to them, nor wish to be the objects of desire on their part….”

Dr. Joylove removed his glasses, buried his face in his hands, and after a few silent moments, looked up to the bishop:

“Your Eminence, what did you mean by the words: Neither let your desires go out to them..? Are you telling me that it is possible to see something without desiring it? How can you disassociate the two without turning someone into a robot or statue or lifeless zombie? Is not the function of our senses exactly to awaken and stimulate within us, in an involuntary, spontaneous way, emotional responses to the object? Is not desire, as an emotion, a valid psycho-physical response to a good before us, independent of the will, and therefore outside the realm of morality and sin? In other words, for a nun to spontaneously and involuntarily feel a normal human desire for a man is something very valid and good! There is nothing wrong in this at all! This desire must neither be fought nor repressed if you do not want to have a whole convent of religious women going through a psychological crisis.

 Of course, if the nun in question purposely and willfully stirs up desires for a man, then she is being dishonest and incoherent with her very vocation and religious vows. This, however, is a different situation.

There is also nothing wrong with a man desiring the beauty he perceives in a nun.  It is something that he simply permits and allows himself to feel spontaneously. Now, if he too, purposely and willfully stirs up his desires for the nun, then he is in the area of morality and sin in his action. “

Dr. Joylove continued further on in the text:

“………. For it is not only by touch that a woman awakens in any man or cherishes towards him such desire, this may be done by inward feelings and by looks. And say not that you have chaste minds though you may have wanton eyes, for a wanton eye is the index of a wanton heart. And when wanton hearts exchange signals with each other in looks, though the tongue is silent, and are, by the force of sensual passion, pleased by the reciprocation of inflamed desire, their purity of character is gone, though their bodies are not defiled by any act of uncleanness…”

St. Augustine remained in a deep and attentive silence as he awaited the therapist’s comments.

 Dr. Joylove placed the letter on the table, and looked into the soft, inquisitive eyes of the bishop:

“Your Eminence, I agree fully with what you say, but the problem is your failure to distinguish the spontaneous aspect of our sense impulses from the willed actions that may or may not follow. You conclude this automatically and do violence to our normal psychological responses, developments and patterns. You pre-suppose that the spontaneous emotive sense desire is already a moral act that needs to be dealt with. In truth, you are really doing away with human freedom and the autonomy of sense responses. No wonder Martin Luther picked up on this one!”

St. Augustine wrinkled his nose: “Who is Martin Luther?”

Dr. Joylove (with a bit of humor):

“A great admirer of yours! Now what did you mean by the phrase the force of sensual passion…? Are you so suspicious of human nature that you do not believe that anyone, be he or she a nun, priest or layman, capable of simply allowing these desires to be, without needing to do anything about them? Why do you suffer from such anxiety in this matter? Has your past wounded you so profoundly that you created a trauma in regards to desires and feelings?

Dr. Joylove picked up the text and continued reading it silently:

 “…….Nor let her, who fixes her eyes upon one of the other sex, and takes pleasure in his eye being fixed on her, imagine that the act is not observed by others; she is seen assuredly by those by whom she supposes herself not to be remarked. But even though she should elude notice, and be seen by no human eye, what shall she do with that Witness above us from whom nothing can be concealed? Is He to be regarded as not seeing because His eye rests on all things with a long-suffering proportioned to His wisdom? Let every holy woman guard herself from desiring sinfully to please man by cherishing a fear of displeasing God; let her check the desire of sinfully looking upon man by remembering that God's eye is looking upon all things. For in this very matter we are exhorted to cherish fear of God by the words of Scripture: -- “He that looks with a fixed eye is an abomination to the Lord." 1 When, therefore, you are together in the church, or in any other place where men also are present, guard your chastity by watching over one another, and God, who dwells  in you, will thus guard you by means of yourselves..”

Dr. Joylove set the letter on his table and sat back in his swivel chair. With a look of dismay he said to St. Augustine:

“To be frank with you, I am really ashamed of the piece I just finished reading.  Don’t you think this is a bit exaggerated and cowardly now to paint a picture of God as some sort of heavenly watch dog, who is scouting us out for every furtive look we may sneaking permit? Was not your whole life mission to present to everyone the infinite God of mercy and love rather than the great chastiser who will strike us with his thunderbolts if our eyes wander? Do you want people to fear God or to relate to Him with a perfect and mature love?

St. Augustine did not respond, but lowered his head in silence.

Dr. Joylove picked up the final part of the letter.

“I really do not know if I can go on with this. The one who will have the neurotic break-down will be me pretty soon!”

"......And if you perceive in any one of your number this forwardness of eye, warn her at once, so that the evil which has begun may not go on, but be checked immediately. But if, after this admonition, you see her repeat the offence, or do the same thing on any other subsequent day, whoever may have had the opportunity of seeing this must now report her as one who has been wounded and requires to be healed, but not without pointing her out to another, and perhaps a third sister, so that she may be convicted by the testimony of two or three witnesses, and may be reprimanded with necessary severity. And do not think that in thus informing upon one another you are guilty of malevolence. For the truth rather is, that you are not guiltless if by keeping silence you allow sisters to perish, whom you may correct by giving information of their hulls. For if your sister had a wound on her person which she wished to conceal through fear of the surgeon's lance, would it not be cruel if you kept silence about it, and true compassion if you made it known ? How much more, then, are you bound to make known her sin, that she may not suffer more fatally from a neglected spiritual wound. But before she is pointed out to others as witnesses by whom she may be convicted if she deny the charge, the offender ought to be brought before the prioress, if after admonition she has refused to be corrected, so that by her being in this way more privately rebuked, the fault which she has committed may not become known to all the others. If, however, she then denies the charge, then others must be employed to observe her conduct after the denial, so that now before the whole sisterhood she may not be accused by one witness, but convicted by two or three. When convicted of the fault, it is her duty to submit to the corrective discipline which may be appointed by the prioress or the prior. If she refuse to submit to this, and does not go away from you of her own accord, let her be expelled from your society. For this is not done cruelly but mercifully, to protect very many from perishing through infection of the plague with which one has been stricken. Moreover, what I have now said in regard to abstaining from wanton looks should be carefully observed, with due love for the persons and hatred of the sin, in observing, forbidding, reporting, proving, and punishing of all other faults. But if any one among you has gone on into so great sin as to receive secretly from any man letters or gifts of any description, let her be pardoned and prayed for if she confess this of her own accord. If, however, she is found out and is convicted of such conduct, let her be more severely punished, according to the sentence of the prioress, or of the prior, or even of the bishop.

Dr. Joylove returned the parchment to St. Augustine:

"Now, now your Eminence, who are we to judge the feelings, internal actions and desires of another human being? How can we draw such conclusions and even mete out punishments for such speculations on the sacred internal forum and regime of a person's personal thoughts, feelings and actions! This whole text is just a sticky mess of beaurocratic thought and complicated reasoning. Just forget it, and help people to live a sound, healthy, free, fulfilling emotional life and existence. Forget punishments, judgments and chastisements and work more on mature development, unity, and goodness, healing and strengthening. I am sure if you do this, you will save the nuns, their peace of mind, vocation and your reputation and friendship with them..."

Tears slowly rolled down St. Augustine's aged face.

"Yes, doctor, you are right. After so many years, I find it so hard to forgive myself and my past. It is for this reason that I then take it out on others in the form of harsh counsels. I will reflect on all you said and ask my Lord to illuminate my mind and heart further on these mysterious intuitions of yours. I thank you so gratefully for your time and concern, and want to say how good it was to speak with you!"

St. Augustine, rose, smiled a deep and authentic smile, and shook vigorously the hand of the therapist. After a warm and affectionate hug, he slowly lumbered out the door with his thoughts reflecting on the psychologist's words.

Father Anthony Mellace

Crying with your Belly Full

                     Pathetic Minds of Central New York (II)

As I read further into the pathetic article of the pathetic journalist, I came across some more pathetic and naïve phrases that she wrote: “how long can we delay human rights on the religious basis that “marriage” should be between a man and a woman?” Obviously she is talking about gays having rights to marry. I do not need religion to tell me that the marital institution is common sense with obvious evidence of it being a female-male union. If you look at every primitive society on earth (from the pygmies of Australia, the Zulus of Africa to the Cossacks of Russia), every family is composed of husband and wife and not the insane joining of two people of the same sex. These groups have no religion to tell them the obvious of conjugal unity. The truth surges from their very human nature. Even the animals know this. You do not see two male zebras mating or two female eagles uniting on a nest. This is simply an obnoxious, disgusting, repugnant, perverted, sick idea of mentally and emotionally unbalanced kooks. Our myopic journalist must be one, too.

Our entertaining clown then writes: “Our congressman should put his firmest foot down and not allow any mitigation to the health care reform.” You know, our planet earth has one third of its nations of a different mindset than the rest. They are called Socialist-Communist Republics like China, North Korea, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, etc. They are real and authentic paradises for people who truly believe in abortion, homo-eroticism, contraceptives, embryonic stem cell research, socialized medicine, etc. This is all legally permitted there. People like our journalist would be welcomed there with open arms. Her words would be printed and exalted in every newspaper in the country. Her ideas would be accepted and put into practice and taught at the universities. She would be treated as a hero and considered a real intellectual person and avant-garde thinker. She would have all her dreams realized and fulfilled in such a red paradise. So why doesn’t she go there to live and ventilate her concepts of a brave new world (and take Obama with her)? Why is she so obsessed with implanting these things in a culture that is directly opposed to such undermining ideas?

Our culture and society is based and founded upon the Judeo-Christian beliefs and concepts of traditional family values. If someone doesn’t like them or is unsatisfied, let them go to the classless society of Russia or Cuba. Why the obstinate persistence in trying to raise the sickle and hammer over America?  Or is she really too cowardly to admit that her stupid ideas are unreal in these nations and is too embarrassed to admit it? Is that why she does not leave America, but has to confess that we are, despite everything, still number one? Where are the millions of dollars pouring in from the red nations that scream to high heaven when accusing others of injustice, but do not raise a finger to help the earthquake victims of Haiti? I do not see any of their names in the news! Now they stay quiet and find it embarrassing and shameful to give to others in need and face the fact that justice is not simply a question of terms, but action also, unless you want to appear like a fool, liar and hypocrite. Why is it that the whole world wants to come to America, hidden in trucks, sneaking across protected borders, in the bottom of boats, etc? They are not doing this in the direction of socialist nations like Cuba or Venezuela, North Korea or Russia, but our good old USA, that takes such a beating and hard criticism from our spoiled journalist, who too, abused of its privileges when growing up and now, will not respect the country that gave her freedom to write what she writes.

Father Anthony Mellace

Religious Prejudice

                        Pathetic Minds of Central New York

There is a Brazilian proverb that says: “If you don’t reason with your mind, you will breathe and speak from your behind.” These words came to my attention as I read an article entitled “God, Roads and Societies” in the “Utica Phoenix” from a writer who did not have the courage to sign her name. At a certain point she wrote: “..I had a family member pass away in October, and maybe, just maybe, stem cell research and the cloning of organs could have saved her life. But religion holds us back.”

Alice Teixeira is Brazil’s foremost and number one’s stem cell expert in the nation. She is a bio-chemist and geneticist who teaches at the Federal University of Sao Paulo. She is prominent in world circles on the subject of stem cell work. She was solicited by the Supreme Court of Brazil for professional advice when questions of stem cell legislation or decisions were to be taken. She is constantly on national TV talk shows whenever stem cell issues come up and debates people of the medical profession on the question. I was privileged to attend several of her lectures and took down many notes of what she said.

Dr. Alice began her lecture by telling us the story of how stem cell research began first in animals. She cited the cases of the sheep, the cat and the horse. In all the situations, the experiment was a flop. The sheep prematurely aged and died, the cloned cat was nothing like its original counterpart, but was nasty and rebellious (the other was gentle and meek) and the cloned horse did not run as fast as its original. This disappointed the rich feline owner who mourned the death of his cat and the horse racers who wanted to continue producing purebreds. The animal rights groups also protested the whole cloning process since it left behind a whole array of warped and maimed beasts.

Dr. Alice showed everyone some rare photos of cloned human cells and embryonic stem cell experimentation.  They were simply big blobs of confused and separated cells with no logical order to them. Lacking certain proteins and specific cell orientations, these embryonic cells were practically useless in giving any sort of positive results. Dead embryonic cells were useless in experimentation, but had to be living human beings.  The live human beings that were manipulated on were later discarded after dying from the experimentation.

Dr. Alice pointed out that there were various types of stem cells and their differentiation was determined by their speed of action and growth. Embryonic stem cells are three times faster than adult stem cells in order for the human being to develop quickly. To place one of these cells in an adult would result in tumors, disorganized growth and a fast aging process. The body’s immunological system also does not recognize it and combats it with antibodies. The stem cells of the mother’s umbilical cord, however, have given positive results in the cure of diseases and are in harmony with nature and morality. They have been successful in recuperating people from leukemia and cerebral palsy.  Adult stem cells have also been known to cure and treat 72 diseases already.

After the Catholic Church had condemned embryonic stem cell research, scientists decided to abandon the experiments and rather work with the umbilical cord and adult stem cells. Thanks to the Roman Catholic Church, many people were cured of their diseases through adult stem cells. When the Roman Catholic Church condemned socialism and capitalism, political and social thinkers began to apply the social doctrine of the Church to practical problems instead and brought prosperity and justice to their nations. When the Roman Catholic Church condemned contraception, doctors and scientists therefore turned to the Billings method, inspired in Humanae Vitae, and saved many marriages and women’s health and bodies. Our ignorant, unscientific and incompetent journalist apparently did not do her homework and came up with these very stupid and backward statements, showing a most lazy and dull mind in the matter.

Father Anthony Mellace

Bosom Friends?

                                 Bosom Truth

Many of the local newspapers and TV news channels have put out a significant amount of material on breast cancer. They published articles and televised events like breast cancer walks and marches which raised over 200,000 dollars for cancer research institutes. This is all fine and good and necessary to raise awareness of the problem. My question, however, is: why is a dead and sullen silence maintained in regard to some of the more evident causes of breast cancer, such as chemical contraceptives and abortions? Why aren’t these women told or warned about the harmful effects of these breast cancer causing elements and practices? I heard not one word spoken no one line read in any of the newspapers saying that women who swallow chemical contraceptives or have their babies murdered by abortion will have an 80% risk of getting breast cancer. Therefore, what use is it to raise money to resolve a problem if the causes are willfully ignored and women kept in dark in regards to the issue? Or is the cancer society so stupid and short-sighted that it can’t see beyond its nose a situation whose  cause is so evident?

         I am not saying that every woman who has breast cancer has had an abortion or used chemical contraceptives (many got it by other means), but that such  factors should not be purposely ignored and hidden to them  by those who want to defend these evil practices to the cost of the poor women’s lives. If I know that smoking causes lung cancer and I hide this fact from smokers because I own a tobacco factory and do not want to hurt my business, I will therefore suggest marches and the wearing of T-shirts that say: “Lung cancer awareness day”, but will hide the information that ties smoking to this disease. This is an extremely insincere and dishonest way to deal with unfortunate victims of disease and shows that one’s selfishness is more important than their true good. If people are truly concerned about getting rid of breast cancer, then bare the facts and expose the full truth to the public.

Father Anthony Mellace

Real Awareness

He who obstinately and stubbornly will not see, will not see

For all the technology and knowledge that we possess, we still are one of the dumbest and most naïve nations on the earth. Is this willfully and purposely construed or do we really lack a screw somewhere in our brain? It is amazing: we have a cancer awareness month and thousands of dollars go into research for a cure, yet all become blissfully blind to its causes, of whose removal and prevention could easily resolve the problem. If we all stop smoking, using contraceptives, practicing abortion and avoiding chemical additives and erroneous eating habits with lack of exercises, we won’t need a cancer awareness month.

Now we are into the diabetes awareness month. However, no one has said a word about the terrible harm that white refined sugar causes on our internal organs. It is sold by the tons in the supermarkets and then people complain as to why they came down with diabetes! I would suggest that we start a “cause of diseases” month. Maybe that one could just wrap up the rest and do more good than all the jargon thrown and spilled out throughout the year on useless rhetoric.

Father Anthony Mellace

Who am I?

Who is Father Anthony Mellace?

           If you have nothing interesting to do,then don't miss the opportunity to come and read Father Anthony Mellace’s articles, the fiery promoter of  a "new way", (dealing with an exciting and historical break-through in human relationships). Anyone who has listened to his talks has never been the same after that (for better or for worse). I guarantee that it will be difficult to hear the like of his kind. He has kept his audiences spell-bound for hours and astounded them by the depth, originality and freshness of his ideas. Come to read someone who still speaks in the style of a Church Father.

         Father Mellace is neither conservative nor liberal and because of
this, is persecuted and rejected by followers of both tendencies. Father
Mellace is too intelligent to reduce himself to such infantile,
short-sighted and foolish categories, but calmly maintains and firmly
adheres to a balanced vision of a mature, human lifestyle and mentality. He
is not impressed by the great majority of writers and thinkers in vogue
today, but has an extreme difficulty in accepting them. Any author that does
not have a "St." before him does not enter into his bibliography.

        As a youngster, Father Mellace would rip up playboy magazines in
grocery stores and tear down calendars of nude chicks from a mechanic's
shop. He felt enraged that society allowed women to be treated as sexual
objects and took the matter into his own hands. While being chased by the
angry owners, he would shout out a defense in favor of purity and decency as he ran for his life.  At age 14, he sent his first article to a local
newspaper exposing the abortion issue as an argument used by the rich to
legalize their irresponsible sexual activities and to show their disdain and
contempt for the sacredness of human life.

      In high school, he publicly debated his atheistic friends in
cafeterias, gyms, or classrooms trying to show them the stupidity and
futility of their disbeliefs. In the seminary years of formation, he
provoked his professors by chiding and calling them to attention for their
teachings that defended birth control or denied the authenticity of Sacred
Scriptures and the miracles of Christ. The dean of the University, tired and
upset by so much controversy, disputations and arguments, decided to
dispense Father Mellace of future classes and granted him his degree without
any further necessity of academic studies.

     Freed from the dead scholasticism of the University, Fr. Mellace
prepared and fed his mind and heart with the official teachings of the
Catholic Church, the encyclicals of the Popes, the works of the Church
Fathers and the writings of the saints. He also read up on all the works of
holy and scholarly professors and scientists as well as all the chief
enemies of the Church and society. He was now ready to take on the world,
the devil and the flesh itself.

   During his thirty years as a missionary in Brazil, Father Mellace was
fiercely persecuted by the followers of Socialism (including many high
clergy members) and expelled from parishes and towns no less than twelve
times. Father Mellace would not go along with their thesis, but proclaimed
aloud the social doctrine of the Catholic Church (as Pope John Paul II, time
and time again, had asked all the clergy to do in South America). Besides
being Marxist inspired, the socialists also were in favor of abortion,
homosexuality, divorce and re-marriage as well as Communion to be given
to these groups. For his constant defense in favor of the rights of the
poor, homeless, jobless, sick, old, young, oppressed, and down-trodden, he
was greatly loved by the simple and humble people of the country (just as
much as he was hated by the proud and covetous). Even many of the rich
admired and followed him.

   Having learned the secret of an affirming love, he amazingly converted
regions that were considered to be well-nigh, morally lost. The most violent
city in the world (Diadema, with 1,100 deaths per month), was transformed
into an area of peace and friendship. Everywhere he went, the affirmation he
practiced provoked a response of enthusiasm, joy and love in people. The
radio program that he started with an audience of 14,000 soon rose to over
1,000 percent (144,000 listeners). Out of the ten books he published, three
went through eight editions. The affirmation retreats he gave were often
commented for many months by the participants, after they were over.

Optional information:

         While in Brazil, Father Mellace also discovered the natural healing
power hidden in the herbs of the Amazon forest. If people knew what richness lay there, they would dispense of 60% of pharmaceutical products and 90% of our modern surgeries would be rendered unnecessary. Father Anthony Mellace doesn't even use so much as an aspirin for a headache. He would rather just make a tea of Artemisia leaves. For pains and backaches, a hot cabbage leaf applied to the area does the trick and alleviates the problem. For ulcers, collard green juice, coco water or a fruit salad with yogurt and honey is also curative. Father Mellace has planted, in his backyard, the "Avalos" and Aloe Arboresecens plant that he brought with him from Brazil. This plants has been successful in healing many Latin women of breast cancer.

        There are many conventional ideas in the area of medicine that
Father Mellace rejects. To him, the AIDS issue is the biggest hoax that the
pharmaceutical and medical profession ever invented. According to Father
Mellace, it is not possible for one simple virus to destroy our entire
immunological system. The real culprit is cocaine, crack and heroin and anal sex practiced by homo-erotics and the injection of anti-biotics. They
are the true cause. Anyone who swallows a small glass of bleach will also
destroy his entire immunological system, but no virus under the sun
possesses such power to do that. Father Mellace knows of many people with
AIDS who, after many years, did not die, but are still alive. He also says
that what kills a cancer patient is not the cancerous cells, but the
chemotherapy that destroys healthy cells. Father Mellace is adamantly
against the use of chemicals in any physical treatment as far as this is possible.

Salvation of the Rich and Poor

                          The Poor, the Rich and the Miserable

         The entrance into everlasting life, which is participation into the very life of the Holy Trinity, is a privilege granted to mankind through the free and bountiful mercy, goodness and love of God.

        God, however, desires that all men be saved and come to everlasting happiness. He wants to share His Divine Life with us. Since society is basically divided into rich and poor, Jesus did establish certain conditions for the salvation of each group. In order for the rich to be saved, it is necessary that they utilize their wealth in benefit of the poor who are in misery. There is a difference between poverty and misery. The poor have the basic elements needed to live, though they might lack certain comforts and privileges that the rich possess. The miserable poor, on the other hand, live in subhuman or inhuman conditions and lack the fundamental elements needed for a decent human life and survival.

         In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man went to hell and Lazarus to heaven. Even though the rich man was aware of Lazarus’ suffering, anguish and miserable conditions, he closed his eyes to the situation and continued his voluptuous life. For leaving Lazarus in his misery, the rich man merited the punishment of eternal chastisement. Lazarus went to heaven for patiently bearing up his pains and privations in peace and humility. Lazarus did not curse the rich man, nor attack and assault him, or become avaricious, envious and full of hate. If he had had these feelings, actions and attitudes, he too, would have gone to hell and lost heaven. We read, however, in the Gospel account, that no such evil came out of the mouth and hands of Lazarus. For this reason, he merited to gain everlasting life.

        The rich, therefore, have a serious moral obligation to help those in misery if they want to enter into the kingdom of God. They, don’t, however, have any duties towards the poor. If a rich man does not assist a poor person, he will not go to hell nor lose his soul because of this. This was the case of the young rich man. He had kept all of the commandments, and Jesus loved him for his fidelity. Jesus then told him that if he wanted to be perfect, to sell all his goods and follow His group. Jesus, in this case, was offering a counsel, a free choice, and not something obligatory. Pope John Paul II, commenting on this episode, said that the young man lost a lovely vocation, but not his soul. If a rich man, besides helping the miserable, also wants to be generous with the poor, he proves that he is living a greater and more perfect love and charity. This, of course, is his personal decision (which is highly meritorious), though not binding to him.

        Someone might ask: “If the salvation of the poor and miserable consists in patiently and humbly supporting their state of life and sufferings, would this not justify Marx’s phrase that “religion is the opium of the poor”? No, because the poor are encouraged to better their conditions and the rich exhorted to help them out. This is the essence of the social doctrine of the Church. Christ Himself came on earth to combat misery and establish a world of justice and goodness. God does not approve of the millions of human beings dying of hunger in the world, without protection, education, higene, etc. He wants to put an end to the thousands of abandoned children on the streets, the great number of unemployed or elderly people without social benefits. On the other hand, Jesus praised and loved the poor that were not avaricious, envious or full of violence because of the wealth that others possessed. He called these blessed and told them that their future inheritance was nothing less than the kingdom of God and everlasting life.

       It is for this reason that socialism and capitalism are such loathsome, despicable and hideous doctrines and philosophies. Such teachings have brought millions of poor people to eternal perdition, since they sowed and incentivated hatred, violence and deep envy in their hearts towards the rich and the goods they possess.

Father Anthony Mellace