|
|
 |
Anne
Van Tilburg
wrote:
|
|
Hi Mike,
My name is Anne Van Tilburg. I am a catechist in our parish, Saint Mary's in Mount
Evelyn, Australia.
The Kingdom of the Divine Will is popular here in Australia. What it means is this:
- We give our will to God, live in His Will, and become more or less robots.
- Because
we live in God's Will we cannot sin anymore.
You will find this explained more fully on the
web sites I sent you.
- Do you have any opinion on this?
Yours sincerely,
Anne
|
|
{
What is the Catholic response to the Kingdom of Divine Will and do you have any thoughts? }
|
|
Mike replied:
|
Hi Anne,
I couldn't find any explanation from the web sites you sent me, but let me
comment on what you have said.
You said:
The Kingdom of the Divine Will is popular here in Australia. What it means is this:
- We give our will to God, live in His Will, and become more or less robots.
- Because
we live in God's Will we cannot sin anymore.
That is a misunderstanding of Divine Will according to the Catholic Church.
Because of all things the Catholic Church takes seriously, one of the
most, if not the most important things is our free will. When we choose to give our will to God and live in His Will,
it assumes a set of on-going,
free-will choices for God with the assistance of the grace of perseverance.
This falls in line with the Catholic concept of justification which is
not static but dynamic or ongoing.
All mankind is called to partake in the Kingdom of Divine Will here on
earth. Nevertheless, both men and women can always choose not to partake in the Kingdom of Divine Will.
We do this when we
sin but always have recourse to the sacrament of Confession were we get re-justified.
There is nothing robotic in partaking in the Divine Will of the Lord.
Every choice, yes, every choice we make is of our own free will.
In every choice we make here on earth, we are either saying:
God, I want to choose Heaven.
or
God, I want to choose Hell.
Hope this helps,
Mike
|
Mary Ann replied:
|
Hi Anne,
I believe the Kingdom of the Divine Will Movement is based
on the locutions or visions of a woman, Luisa Piccarreta, whose writings have been condemned.
The description you give is one of an old heresy that periodically recurs.
It usually results in people living very licentious lives.
Mary Ann
|
Anne replied:
|
Hi Mike and Mary Ann,
Thank-you for your e-mail. I totally agree with the Church's teaching
on this new revelation of the Divine Will. I apologize for
not making this clear.
Quite a few people here in Australia are deceived by this Kingdom
of the Divine Will but it is very hard to convince them that our free will is the greatest
gift God has given us.
I will pray for you and the good work you do.
Yours Sincerely,
Anne Van Tilburg
|
Mike replied:
|
Hi, Anne —
We have addressed Luisa Piccarreta in a previous
answer.
Though she has been declared a Servant of God by the Church, I would agree with Colin Donovan, head theologian from EWTN when he says:
For several years an incongruity has existed between the fame of holiness of Luisa Piccarreta, which includes:
- the beatification of one of her spiritual sons, Blessed Annibale de Francia
- the establishment of a Cause for her own beatification, and
- the confusion and controversy surrounding her name and spirituality, especially in the United States.
It has never seemed justified to attribute this confusion to the Servant of God, but rather to:
- poor translations
- rash interpretations of her writings, and
- a lack of theological competence by some who try to explain her writings.
For this reason, EWTN has always urged Catholics to use great caution, until such time as clarity could be brought to the situation by ecclesiastical authority.
For short, use caution and listen to what comes from Luisa's local diocese and Rome.
Take care,
Mike
|
|
|
|
