Metallica Commentary on St: Anger Part I: Catholic imagery in video

This is part Two of my discourse on St John Paul II's call for saints blending wiht popular culture. I listen to Metallica, and am a fan of some off their songs, and look for unintentional Christian undertones, while ignoring the intended message. I have actually found bona fide Christian/Catholic themes of redemption, faith and providence in not one but TWO Metallica videos!

Top of Form

Part 1 is Comm

Exhibit A: Metallica band member wearing Sacred Heart shirt inside San Quentin Prison, of all Places. This screenshot is from their music video titled St. Anger. Stay tuned for commentary on themes of video itself.

Jesus may in some way actually be a metallica fan..this rock star is unknowingly glorifying His Sacred Heart, the Heart of Mercy.. 
Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us.. back to the program.. 

Exhibit B: Jesus may in some way actually be a metallica fan..this rock star is unknowingly glorifying His Sacred Heart, the Heart of Mercy..  
Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us.. back to the program..

Metallica band member wearing a shirt with the Sacred Heart of Jesus!!! Who said religion has to be boring??!?!

Exhibit C: Sacred Heart/Immaculate Heart(not sure?) tattoo:

You may not realize this, but this actually combines the two most sacred icons in Catholic liturgy..the Sacred Heart of Jesus, often depicted with a cross on top, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, often depicted with a sword piercing the heart, which is straight out of the Bible: 

Luke 2:34-35 New American Bible (NAB):
"..and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and will be a sign of contradiction*, 35 and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed"
*edited for Clarity, origional NAB text reads "and to be a sign that will be contradicted.. NAB is sometimes problematic, but it is the only translation I currently have. 

Exhibit D; Man  in Catholic church

Self explanatory. Jesus, look kindly upon the gentleman shown here and show him mercy, grant him peace, prosperity and Your way. Amen.. Hope he is praying for all of us! 

Exhibit E:  And this is what the man in church is looking at when he is praying.. coincidence? I don't think so! Even in the midst of a heavy metal video, He is at work, planting seeds, drawing souls, taking His own mockery and scorn from His enemies and molding it to glorify Him!

(Intro to the uninitiated: A litany is a Catholic prayer emphasizing various praises and asking without ceasing for his mercy. The leader reads the salutation, and all respond with "Have mercy on us" Caveat: the phrase have mercy on us is ONLY used in direct reference to God Himself.. for any other invocation, the phrase pray for us is used, but more on that later :) )

Lord, have mercy 
Christ, have mercy 
Lord, have mercy

Christ, hear us 
Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, 
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, 
God, the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, One God, 
Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, 
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother,
Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God, 
Heart of Jesus, of Infinite Majesty, 
Heart of Jesus, Sacred Temple of God, 
Heart of Jesus, Tabernacle of the Most High,
Heart of Jesus, House of God and Gate of Heaven, 
Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity, 
Heart of Jesus, abode of justice and love, 
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love, 
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues, 
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise, 
Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts,
Heart of Jesus, in whom are all treasures of wisdom and knowledge, 
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwells the fullness of divinity, 
Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father was well pleased, 
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received, 
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills,
Heart of Jesus, patient and most merciful, 
Heart of Jesus, enriching all who invoke Thee,
Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness, 
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins, 
Heart of Jesus, loaded down with opprobrium,
Heart of Jesus, bruised for our offenses, 
Heart of Jesus, obedient to death, 
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance, 
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation, 
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection, 
Heart of Jesus, our peace and our reconciliation,
Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins 
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who trust in Thee, 
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in Thee,
Heart of Jesus, delight of all the Saints,

Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, 
Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, 
Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world,

V. Jesus, meek and humble of heart.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.

have mercy on us.

have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.

have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.

have mercy on us.

have mercy on us.

have mercy on us.

have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.

spare us, O Lord.

graciously hear us, O Lord.

have mercy on us, O Lord.

R. Make our hearts like to Thine.
Let us pray;

Almighty and eternal God, look upon the Heart of Thy most beloved Son and upon the praises and satisfaction which He offers Thee in the name of sinners; and to those who implore Thy mercy, in Thy great goodness, grant forgiveness in the name of the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who livest and reignest with Thee forever and ever. Amen.

Stay tuned for part 2.. commentary of the song itself. 

Pax bonum!

Apologies and food for thought

Hello, my apologies to anyone who has been reading this. I have been caught up in other things, but do plan to continue to write this blog. one thing ill say, is boettner says theres no distinction between mortal and venial sin.. but in 1 John 5 we read all wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly, meaning there is sin that is not mortal.. 

Lest you think all I do is criticize...

Hello again!

My brothers and sisters, I want to make one thing absolutely clear: I DO NOT hate Boettner, or any other anti-Catholic writer who has disagreements with the church, nor do i say that they are totally devoid of good points or merit. One thing Boettner and I actually agree on is the good of private parochial schools, although we disagree on the necessity of them being Catholic. Indeed, he makes a valid point that parochial schools would do good if students learned the Word of God along with their academic studies. Indeed, it is a good thing to have private Christian schools, both Catholic and otherwise, and it is a sad state of affairs that our state decided against vouchers for Catholic schools. Such vouchers would give parents a choice as to where to send their children for schools. It is a known fact that in quite a few cases, Catholic school gives children a better education. So, on the fact that parochial schools are a good thing, Boettner and I actually agree.

Until next time, may God grant you peace, and may our Lady keep you wrapped in her mantle. Amen

Scholarly research or lack thereof

Hello my brothers and sisters,

Since my last post, I have had a chance to skim several chapters of Roman Catholicsm (a VERY poorly chosen and misleading title, since this book COMPELETLY misrepresents the faith), and while I have not read the book page by page word by word, one thing is PAINFULLY clear. Dr. Boettner's book lacks citations of sources, and worse, the citations that are there, are done badly that it seems like he was deliberately trying to avoid someone looking it up. I have with my own eyes affirmed what Karl Keating asserted in his book Catholicsm and Fundamentalism. I hold a Bachelor's degree in sociology.. and in order to graduate, I had to write a 122 page thesis, and cite numerous sources. I had to use APA format, which makes it easy to link author to source text. Every sentence, every claim I made in my senior thesis I had to substantiate with a reference. Perhaps Boettner did not have time to do a thorough study and cite all his sources. But still, if his work is to be regarded as the definitive anti-Catholic work, and it does indeed have that standing amongst Protestants, or did at one time, then it needs to be better done. It's one thing to make valid claims against the Church and cite sources. It's quite another to make baseless accusations and print them as fact.

Lord, may your Holy Spirit guide all to truth. Amen.

Boettner's take on Communism and Catholicsm in America

Hello! Let's begin with a prayer. Lord, bless all those who read this blog. May they seek your will in all truth, may they strive to know your holy will. May the light of truth overshadow the darkness of deceit. May it foster a true spirit of ecumenism and understanding between Roman Catholic Christans, and the rest of our brethren who wish to understand the faith better, whether they acknowledge the pope or not, consider themselves Catholic or not. May we hold each other in mutual respect, remembering that all who profess Christ are Christians. May we all be one, as you are one. Amen.

 Well, my brothers and sisters, today I received the book Roman Catholicsm by Lorraine Boettener. I have read the fist few pages, and at one point i had to stop and begin responding to it. This edition was probably not the same editon that Karl Keating referred to in his masterpiece of Catholic apologetics Catholicsm and Fundamentalism. However, the version I'm reading is still quite outdated. The reason why i am still examining it in detail is because it seems safe to say it echoes the sentiment still of those who oppose the church. One thing that really took me aback, was Boettner's assertion that "If the United States should become Roman Catholic the result undoubtedly would be the rapid conquest of this country and the rest of the world by Russian Communism." (p 6) Consider for a moment that Russian Communism was dedicated to destroying religion. Karl Marx, the founder of Communism said "Religion is the opium of the people." It hardly seems plausible then that a Church that proclaims itself to be established by Christ and faithful to Him to the end would bring about a fall to Communist atheism. I really would like to see Boettner's reaction in print now, when the true attack on religious freedom is happening with Obama forcing Catholics to pay for things they don't agree with in good conscience. The United States is becoming more socialist, and NO ONE opposes this MORE than the Roman Catholic Church. Boettner does not cite any source for this assertion; the reader it seems, is to take this as face value fact. It is simply erroneous. Communism in Russia collapsed, largely due to the efforts of none other than St. John Paul II http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/asktheexpert/nov7.html

 I will close this post now. I promise to post more once i have read the first chapter and give a summary, but that outlandish comment deserved an immediate response.

Until next time, may God richly bless all who read this. Amen

Introduction and Greetings

Hello world! This blog is an apologetics blog defending the Catholic faith. Apologetics is a word that derives from Greek.. and it means to explain or defend. I hereby am defending and explaining my faith to those who do not know about it, have questions, or have doubts, or express things they think are wrong about the Church. I will explain and defend my faith. I DO NOT apologize for it. I love my faith to the death. At the start of this blog, I will be analyzing a well-known anti-Catholic book called Roman Catholicism by Lorraine Boettner. I decided to start there for two reasons: One, it is apparently a well known book among non-Catholics, and it should be responded to to clear up the confusion. Second, according to the author of Catholicsm and Fundamentalism, Karl Keating,  "his tome would require a small library to reply", tome referring to book, and his tome referring to Roman Catholicsm. I will attempt to give time and space to doing what Keating could not. However, as time goes on, after i have given a thorough answer, as much as I can, page by page, to Boettner's book, I will also analyze other books by those who are less that cordial to the Church. I do this because I have realized that there are many who are uniformed about the untruth of many anti-Catholics' charges against the faith. I have titled this Blog A Light Upon a Hill because I believe the Church to be the truth, and it is a beacon of light. I want to set it atop a hill for all the WORLD to see. I am a Knight of Columbus, and have proudly been a member for over 10 years. The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic fraternal family organization dedicated to the principles of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism.


 A few disclaimers here: First, I am a fairly well-informed layman. I am not a theologian, or a professional apologist. I will present Catholic doctrine as best I understand it; this blog will not in and of itself have a Nihil Obstat, or an imprimatur (formal declaration of the Catholic church that a printed work is free from doctrinal error). That being said, I will rely heavily on sources that DO have the Nihil Obstat and the Imprimatur. Also, this blog is not intented to be an open forum where I will allow every comment posted under the sun. I welcome genuine questions from those who disagree or have more questions about a particular doctrine, but I will moderate comments closely. Any snide remarks or slamming of the faith will NOT be tolerated. I am awaiting arrival of the book in the mail.. when it comes I will begin my commentary. I will be as charitable as possible..but I will not hesitate to covey the TRUTH. This blog contains my own personal insights, my own explanation of why the church "works" for me, personally. I believe it to be at the time of this writing, to be in line with actual teaching. I would advise those with further questions that I cannot answer to go to www.catholic.com... that is the Catholic Answers website. By "Catholic" I mean the Roman Catholic Church, loyal to His Holiness, Pope Francis. I do not think sedevacantism is valid (the claim by ultraconservative traditionalist so-called "Catholics" who say the chair of Peter is vacant; there IS a true pope..and there always will be..I will touch on that in a later post :). )