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KARL KEATING'S E-LETTER
TOPICS:
GOING AFTER THE BEAST OF REVELATION
A PASTOR'S CREED
Dear Friend of Catholic Answers:
Rosalind Moss brought to my attention an ad in the "San Diego Jewish
Journal." A deli not far from my home now features "kosher sushi."
Kosher sushi? Hmmm.
My area has many Jewish and Japanese residents, but, for his sake, I
hope the proprietor has not miscalculated. I hope he is not counting on
there being a lot of Japanese Jews in the neighborhood. (Question: Are
there any Japanese Jews at all? I don't know.)
Still, "kosher sushi" might be worth a try. I'll see what my wife,
Teruko, thinks.
WHO IS 666 THIS WEEK?
Merced is in the Central Valley of California on Highway 99. A mainly
agricultural community, it has 67,500 residents and some day will have a
campus of the University of California. In the meantime, the town rarely
rises into anyone's consciousness.
But recently its newspaper, the "Merced Sun-Star," brought attention to
the town in a way that many residents (certainly the Catholics and no
doubt many others) found unsavory. The paper printed a full-page, color
advertisement with the headline: "Earth's Final Warning: What is the
Mark of the Beast?"
The ad was placed by the International Seventh-Day Adventist Fellowship,
headquartered in Englewood, Tennessee. If you know about the Seventh-Day
Adventist church, you know that it traditionally has been strongly
anti-Catholic, and anti-Catholicism was precisely what this full-page ad
promoted. There was nothing subtle about it.
Half way through the very lengthy text, the ad identified the beast of
Revelation as the Pope. "The title of the Pope reads: 'Vicarius Filii
Dei,' that is, 'In place of the Son of God.'"
Well, two mistakes here. "Vicarius Filii Dei" is not a title of the
Pope. The proper title is "Vicarius Christi." And "Vicarius Filii Dei"
does not mean "In place of the Son of God" but "Vicar [Representative]
of the Son of God." The translation given in the ad suggests that the
Pope shoves aside the Son of God and takes over his place.
In fact, the ad claims that this incorrect title means that the Pope is
calling himself God. Even if this were a title of the Pope, that would
not be its import, and the proper title, "Vicarius Christi" ("Vicar
[Representative] of Christ") is even further removed from such a
misconstrual.
Just in case the reader does not find the bogus title sufficiently
alarming, the ad goes on to note that the numerical value of the letters
in "Vicarius Filii Dei" add up to 666, the number of the Beast. Quite
so, but note that the title "Vicarius Christi" does not add up to 666.
The Adventists turned to a similar-sounding title because they needed
the right tally. It would do them no good to use a real Latin title for
the Pope, if that title adds up only to 214, which is the case with
"Vicarius Christi."
But that's not all, folks! The ad provides four other numerical proofs
of the Pope's "Beastliness." The phrases "The Latin Kingdom," "Italian
Church," "Latin Speaking Man," and "Roman Kingdom" all add up to 666, it
is claimed, if one uses the values of the letters in the Hebrew or Greek
alphabets.
Aha! That proves it. We all know that if someone says, "Latin Speaking
Man," the phrase must mean the Pope, since no one else in today's world
knows how to speak Latin.
And "Roman Kingdom" or "Latin Kingdom"? Don't think they mean the Roman
Empire or pre-imperial Rome. Not a chance. They too, quite obviously,
must mean the Pope, even though the Pope is a person and not a kingdom.
And "Italian Church"? Again, that must mean the Pope. It certainly can't
mean St. Mary Major or St. John Lateran. It must be a reference to the
Pope, even though we normally don't think of the Pope as a building.
All this seems nearly irrefutable, but I espy a weakness. The composers
of the ad left out an important numerical clue to the Beast's identity.
The five phrases or titles given are not the only ones that add up to
666. There is one more that might be considered.
You can perform the tally yourself, keeping in mind that in Roman
numerals D=500, L=50, U=5, W=U+U=10, and I=1. You will arrive at 666, by
summing the letters in the name Ellen Gould White.
And who was Ellen Gould White? Why, she was the founder of the
Seventh-Day Adventist church, of course!
(Footnote: The pastor of one of the Catholic parishes in Merced
encouraged his congregants to write to the "Merced Sun-Star," and many
did. The paper printed an apology.)
MY NEW PASTOR SAID WHAT?
I have not had much reason or opportunity to attend the installation of
new pastors, so I am not sure how the ceremonies are conducted most
commonly. I know there is a set procedure, but often set procedures are
set aside in favor of extemporaneous utterances. (Extemporaneous is from
the Latin words for "banal" and "tinny.")
So I didn't know what to expect when the pastor of the parish I recently
began attending was installed by one of our auxiliary bishops. The
priest had been in charge of the parish for several months--it was his
good repute that drew me to the parish--but had not been appointed
formally as pastor. The installation occurred during a Sunday Mass.
At the conclusion of the Creed, the priest read these words:
"With firm faith I also believe everything contained in God's Word,
written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the Church, whether
in solemn judgment or in ordinary and universal magisterium, as divinely
revealed and calling for faith. I also firmly accept and hold each and
every thing that is proposed by the Church definitively regarding
teaching on faith and morals.
"Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to
the teachings which either the Roman Pontiff or the college of bishops
enunciate when they exercise the authentic magisterium even if they
proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive."
The priest said this with evident sincerity and gravity. It was an
impressive moment. You almost could hear his mental translation: "Yes,
folks, I really believe 100 percent of what the Church teaches!"
For all I know, every new pastor reads aloud the same words at his
installation. Then again, maybe not. They are just right, loaded with
meaning and theological precision. I wouldn't mind if each priest were
to affirm these words each year, perhaps on the anniversary of his
installation. Such an affirmation would convey much to the congregants
and might suggest to them that they, too, should hold fast to everything
the Church teaches.
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