Dear Friends of the Kolbe Center,
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
One of the terrible consequences of the mythologization of Genesis by Catholic theologians and teachers is that the faithful can no longer easily see the important parallels between the work of creation in the beginning and the redemptive work of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Sacred Tradition teaches that the "first Adam" was created on the sixth day of creation, the First Friday of the world, and that he stretched out his hands to reach for the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil on a Friday. It is no coincidence that Sacred Tradition also teaches that the last Adam, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, stretched out His arms on the Cross on the sixth day of the week, on Good Friday. In the words of the Coptic Liturgy:
It is believed that it was the sixth hour of the day when Adam stretched out his hand and touched the fruit. It was also at the sixth hour on the sixth day that the new Adam, Christ, stretched out His hands on the Cross, in order to remedy the first Adam's ruin.
Sacred Tradition also teaches that God made a perfectly beautiful, complete and harmonious universe for us in our first parents Adam and Eve and "rested" on the seventh day, the First Saturday of the world. It is no coincidence that the Last Adam, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, having "finished" the work of our Redemption, "rested" in the tomb on a Saturday. This striking parallel between the work of Creation and the work of Redemption highlights the fact that God does all things well and does not perform incomplete or defective works. It is as inconceivable that Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross without "finishing" His work of Redemption - as Islam and most other subsequent heresies claim - as it is to imagine that He created an incomplete world, filled with defects and deformities.
Tragically, the main youth catechism in use today, the so-called YOUCAT, distorts the constant teaching of the Church on this important topic. In its summary of questions 47 and 51 the YOUCAT authors show the consequences of their blind acceptance of Teilhardian uniformitarianism. In reply to Question 47: "Why did God rest on the seventh day?" YOUCAT answers:
God's rest from his work points toward the completion of creation, which is beyond all human efforts.
In the whole history of the Church, no Father, Doctor, Pope or Council has ever taught that God's rest from the work of creation "pointed towards its completeness," in the sense that the original creation was unfinished or incomplete. On the contrary, the correct explanation of the "rest of the Lord" was well articulated by the Catechism of Trent which taught that:
the seventh day was called the "Sabbath." because [God], having finished and completed the creation of the world, rested from all his work which he had done (emphasis added).
This statement was a reflection of all the Church Fathers and of the Doctors including St. Augustine who wrote: "... God rested from all the works that He made in the sense that from then on He did not produce any other new nature..." Similarly, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in the Summa: "...the completion of the universe as to the completeness of its parts belongs to the sixth day, but its completion as regards their operation, to the seventh...Nothing entirely new was afterwards made by God, but all things subsequently made had in a sense been made before, in the work of the six days..."
The essential truth that God created a world that was finished and complete has been withheld from YOUCAT's young readers who are told that "evolution takes place as God's continuous creation in natural processes." The YOUCAT view conjures up a Teilhardian vision of a monstrous god who deliberately created an incomplete world filled with physical evils like birth defects and natural catastrophes when it states:
God created the world to be good, but it is not yet complete. In violent upheavals and painful processes it is being shaped and moved toward its final perfection. That may be a better way to classify what the Church calls physical evil, for example, a birth defect, or a natural catastrophe. Moral evils, in contrast, come about through the misuse of freedom in the world.
From the time of the Apostles until now, no Father, Doctor, Pope or Council in an authoritative teaching has ever taught or tolerated YOUCAT's distorted implication that God created a world with birth defects before Original Sin. On the contrary, the unanimous teaching of all of the Fathers and Doctors is that God created all of the different kinds of creatures perfect according to their natures, in a state of harmony with man and with each other, and that all deformity and disease was a consequence of the Original Sin. The prayers of the Maronite Liturgy beautifully proclaim this truth:
O Lord, how marvelous are Your works; You made them all with power and wisdom! On the first Friday of time, You created man in Your image. You allowed him to enjoy Your creation and took pride in the fact that he was Your friend. You walked with him in the paths of paradise, in the breeze of the evening. On another Friday You were nailed to a cross between two thieves, redeeming us by Your blood. (Hoosoyo Qolo)
And again:
On this Friday, the Church celebrates Your resurrection, for You shook off the dust of the grave, adorned Yourself with the light of glory, and became the First-born of those who rest in peace. Glory to You, O Word, by whom all things were made. On the first Friday You created man in paradise, on the second You made of him a new creature by Your death and resurrection. We glorify and praise You, O Creator and Redeemer, for what You have done, now and forever. Amen (Prayer of the Faithful, Common of the Week, Season of Resurrection, Friday, Safro (Morning).
Through the prayers of the Mother of God and of all the Saints, may the Holy Ghost lead us all into all the Truth!
Yours in Christ through the Immaculata,
Hugh Owen
P.S. We have been granted a permit for our outreach to the public near the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, May 19, to expose the evolution fraud and to proclaim the truth of Creation and of Our Lord's Life-giving Passion, Death and Resurrection. If any of our readers would be willing and able to come to Washington, D.C. to participate in this project, please send me an email at howen@shentel.net If you live too far away to commute to the venue but would like to participate, we can find you a place to stay at our home in Virginia or with another family closer to Washington, D.C.
P.P.S. Our sixth annual leadership retreat will take place at St. Anne Retreat Center in Melbourne, Kentucky, from June 16 to June 22. The retreat is open to all Catholics (and their families) who are committed to advancing the mission of the Kolbe Center in their spheres of influence. If you would like more information about the schedule, facilities, and suggested donations for the retreat, please email me as soon as possible at howen@shentel.net .
