PURPOSE

The purpose of this document is to alert the well meaning faithful about the dangers associated with the misuse or Religious Asceticism.


BACKGROUND

Ascetic practice, a common characteristic of many religions, may be defined as:


This is attained through the voluntary denial of physical pleasures, superfluous needs and bodily comforts. The most common practice is periodic fasting. The most severe, spiritually dangerous and not of Divine origin (1) form of asceticism is self flagellation and/or any type of self inflicted wounds.

Because certain individuals derive a perverse sexual pleasure from flagellation and/or any type of self inflicted wounds, then abstaining from normal sexual pleasures to indulge in deviant sexual pleasures, instead of edifying the soul, it contributes to its destruction.

As Campbell Oman (2) proposes, it is quite possible that the first original practice of asceticism came into being from a desire of self humiliation before the invisible powers - to invoke them as well as to expiate the neglect of their obligations.

Throughout the centuries, those who with great devotion devoted most of their lives to observation and meditation, realized that through the practice of asceticism they obtained unexpected merits and benefits of supernatural origin and magnitude.

The purpose of this brief survey is to: (a) Illustrate how those benefits, obtained by means of ascetic practices, can be, and are being utilized to secure material benefits, precisely denying the original intent of such practices; and (b) Assist and encourage the faithful to avoid such pitfalls.

Take careful note of this - This misapplication of supernatural graces, sooner or later, will bring upon the abuser, and even the innocent victims of such deviation, grave consequences.


DETAILS

Abuses of Divine Graces

Once again, the system of sublime merits which was provided by God in His Omnisapient Creative Design for man, has been placed at the service of evil by fallen man. We shall use two common examples of the misuse of the Creative Design of God, in an effort to convey this concept.

Tasting Ability


Erotic Capacity



Consequences of the Abuses

The use of any of the mechanisms created by God to sustain His Creation outside the intended context, i.e., against the Divine designs, will yield, sooner or later, detrimental results.

Most specifically: The use of ascetic practices for the purposes of accumulating material wealth and consolidate temporal power is against Divine Laws. (3)

When we pursue the accumulation of material wealth and the acquisition of temporal power, regardless under which guise it is done to hide the true intentions, we are refusing to be dependent on God and base our security on the material world. This is precisely the reverse of the Divine Plan for humanity. (3)

This behavior also violates the First Divine Commandment (4), deny all the Divine Blessings (5) and bring upon the abusers all the woes which our Lord Jesus Christ willed upon the spiritually deviant (6).


Details about the great abuse being perpetrated utilizing Religious Asceticism

When the human body is subjected to a rigorous physical fitness program, it assumes great strength and physical development. This is the logical result of the system created by God for the physical body. Such physical strength and endurance may be used to serve good or to serve evil. The decision on how to utilize such gifts rests in our hands.

Once the physical body is subjected to the spiritual body as the result of ascetic practices, the soul grows and automatically acquires certain supernatural benefits and powers which may be used to serve either good or evil.

If the austerities practiced are done under the mantle of piety and religiosity, the apparent holiness that accompanies such behavior, not only draws popular admiration, but also much temporal power. Many ambitious and power hungry men are drawn to ascetic practices with the only purpose of acquiring and enjoying such earthly advantages.

The spiritual benefits associated with ascetic practices may be used strictly to serve evil and against God. Let us not forget that Lucifer fell when he rebelled against God but, the power inherent to his original condition before his fall was not lost after the fall. He kept it and uses it for evil.

Now, perhaps for the first time in your life, you will understand why Jesus, through Matthew, alerted us thus:



A Flagrant and Serious Example

If the ascetic practices are legitimized through the falsification of pious intentions, the results are worse. For example - Ecclesiastical Masonry (7), which, as an invisible cancer, has penetrated the furthest recesses of the fabric of the Roman Catholic Church until finally it has taken control of its temporal Nervous System: The Vatican.

The leaders and sympathizers of the Ecclesiastic Masonry (7) give the appearance of being very religious and pious, thus, by the time the other members and the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church realized what was taking place, it was too late. They find themselves already enmeshed in their cancerous fabric and any overt action by them to protect themselves and protect the integrity of the Church will give the impression of disobedience and ecclesiastical scandal.

This is why when the real antiChrist manifests itself, it has to be recognized for what he really is: The falseChrist. That is: He who appear to be but is not.

Why does God allow this situation to develop?

For the same reason that He allows other evil to be manifest in the world: Because the free will that God granted His human and spiritual creatures "shall not be violated" by order of His Divine Decree.


CONCLUSION

It is inevitable to note that, of all religious organizations within and in the periphery of the Roman Catholic Church, there is one which, according to a multitude of reports and personal observations, appears to exhibit all of those characteristics (8).

We say appears because discretion is the byword of its members and sympathizers. Therefore, like with the detection of sub atomic particles, their presence and influence may only be detected by inference and, shall we say, their subtle interference in world affairs. (9)(10)

It may be a coincidence but, by functioning essentially independently of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy and surrounding the Supreme Pontiff with its members, to the point of constituting the official voice of The Vatican, the Opus Dei has essentially gained control of the Roman Catholic Church, thus, propitiating the fulfillment of certain Biblical prophecies related to The End of These Times (11).


EPILOGUE (added on August 29, 2001 and updated on February 26, 2012)

H.H. John Paul II was entrapped by such deceit. By the time he realized what happened it was too late for him to back out. Maria del Carmen Tapia and others have been able to free themselves from the enemy's yoke after many years (12) but, unfortunately, H.H. John Paul II was not able to do so.

In there lies the secret of the living Martyrdom of his transitional Pontificate.

For those who have been led to believe that the Pope is a superhuman creature and not subject to the failings of all humans, we suggest that they become familiar with the Church History and Tradition, beginning with the history of all Popes (13) from the time Peter became the first Roman Pontiff in the year 42 A.D., approximately nine years after (14) the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

May those who have ears to hear, hear!



(1) Jeremiah 41:5, Leviticus 19:28, Deuteronomy 14:1, 1 Kings 18:26-28, Mark 5:1-5


En Español:  Abuso del Ascetismo Religioso

Originally published on November 10, 1995







The M+G+R Foundation