I am Jesuit educated but am not on their bandwagon in protest that perhaps more than 20 of 28 Jesuit institutions of higher learning foster affiliation of students with Planned Parenthood Intern programs, holding hands with a primarily abortion organization, performing 330,000 abortions each year, primarily using taxpayer funding. Some Jesuit schools favor the homosexual agenda with funding of LGBT campus clubs and there is the issue of immoral plays like “The Vagina Monologues” that have no place in a religious-based school.

Georgetown in Washington DC has the honor of being the oldest Jesuit American College founded in 1789, but Georgetown Jesuits sold out Jesus in caving to President Barack Obama, complying with his request to cover up the symbols of Jesus as he was giving the commencement speech. Many other Jesuit institutions featured pro-abortion or pro-homosexual speakers rather than Christian conservative types.

There was a running e-mail exchange with Jesuit Stephen A. Privett SJ, President of University of San Francisco-California (USF-CA), and I argued that USF was no longer considered to be “Catholic” and to prove the point, used Father Privett’s own complete unedited e-mail that it was the case, and Father Privett’s defense was that his statements were taken out of context. Huh. He did admit that USF-CA was no longer considered to be Catholic by many. His final defense was to request that I remove him from the mailing list.

Jesuits are a proud bunch whose formal name is really “Society of Jesus” that I brought to their attention. My formerly all-male College is now a coed University. St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia PA had hard-core Obama-fanatic Chris Mathews as commencement speaker a couple of years ago. Mathews is famous for his never-to-die line that “Obama makes me have a tingling feeling going up my leg.”

While at St. Joseph’s, I learned from a particular prominent Jesuit how to legally cheat on the Lenten and Advent rules of fasting by “liquefying” food including oranges and milkshakes with raw eggs blended in, etc. I learned that by eating two LARGE meals a day, I could be certain that one of them did not exceed the other. By this method, I actually ate more than I normally would have, though I was supposedly fasting. Two daughters and a granddaughter graduated from St. Joe’s though I never pushed for it, as they chose it completely on their own.

My wife and I attended orientation day for our eldest daughter, and along with other parental groups strolled through the dorms housing both male and female students, I opened a door, and there lay a clothed couple on the bed. From there it was on to the Mass and Jesuits had scantily dressed girls flitting about the altar doing some kind of exotic dance.

Needless to say, I am disenchanted with my Alma Mater and Jesuits in general, and now that there is a Jesuit as Pope, I wonder if Pope Francis will call out the once Catholic Jesuit schools and clean house of the continuing infestation of the homosexual lobby in the Vatican and the US. That is the true test. How will the Pope treat his failing compatriots? If Pope Francis can clean his own Jesuit house, there can be a confidence that once again all is right in the Church of Jesus Christ.

Preceding Popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI have made half-hearted attempts at ridding the Church of the homosexuals that infiltrated the Church in the 1950s and 1960s. The Church lost a good one-third of its membership along with related contributions, forcing closures of churches, schools, hospitals, and social services. A recent poll disclosed that fewer than 25% of Catholics attend mandatory Sunday Mass weekly. Is Pope Francis creating a conundrum by diverting attention from the distasteful task of cleaning house of pervert clergy to a new look of salvation by “works alone?”

Fasting and abstinence from meat were religiously mandated twice each year for every day except Sunday during the 40 days of Lent leading up to Easter, and the 22-28 days of advent in preparation for Christmas. These religious fasting observations were difficult at times and have been dispensed with in modern times (every age considers itself to be ‘modern’ compared to the preceding unenlightened age), and dispensing with these customs results in the tendency for people becoming overweight and/or obese. Leading modern-day do-gooders advocate for reduction of meal sizes and at the least, partial abstinence from meat, like “Meatless Tuesday,” God forbid they should advocate for abstinence from meat on Fridays. Is it not better to do those things for repentance and the honor of God so as to receive spiritual benefits and guidance, rather than doing these sacrifices for merely NOTHING?

Modern cultural ways are not necessarily better simply because of vast advances in communication technology wherein the cell phone has morphed into instant 24/7 pictorial coverage and video of everything and anything, of consequential significance or not.

There are biblical cases to be made for charity as in Matthew 25-40 places the importance of Christian charity. “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Lazarus of Bethany was a poor sick man begging for morels of food at the gate of the rich man but received none, but when they both die, the rich man is suffering in Hades, begs the now comfortable Lazarus for a drop of water to quench the fire on his tongue, but the chasm between heaven and hell constitutes an abyss that cannot be crossed. Their earthly roles are reversed forever and lend credence to the eternal consequences of human actions while on earth.

Modern life and its free and easy thinking with its  philosophy of anything goes lifestyles, if it makes you feel good, are severe problems for an old fogey like me who is troubled troubled troubled. But there is nothing I can do about it but pray, but even my prayers are old, weak, and faint as I am getting to be. Some beliefs and truths are carved in stone and no amount of whitewashing can change that.

In no way am I trying to anger or cause problems with Catholic readers with this commentary. Actually the purpose is raising a serious alarm against anti-biblical statements dealing with redemption.

During his homily at Wednesday’s mass in Rome, the Pontiff quoted Jesus:

“They complain. If he is not one of us, he cannot do good. If he is not of our party, he cannot do good. And Jesus corrects them: ‘Do not hinder him, he says, let him do good.’ [The disciples] were a little intolerant, closed off by the idea of possessing the truth, convinced that ‘those who do not have the truth, cannot do good.’ This was wrong … Jesus broadens the horizon. The root of this possibility of doing good – that we all have – is in creation.

"The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can… The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”

The very definition of an atheist is one who does not believe in God or in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. In John 14:6, Jesus responds to Thomas saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Romans 10:8-13 says, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him". For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The principle message in the Bible is that belief in God and Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation. According to the Pope Francis sermon, atheists will be saved just for doing good. Belief in God and Jesus Christ are central for salvation but atheists must merely “do good.” Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Many Protestant Ministers take the opposite tack, that faith alone is sufficient for salvation, no mention of good works needed, leaving the door open to justify non-Christian sinful lifestyles. Joel Osteen preaches a “feel good” Christianity and Michael Murdoch is a principal proponent of minimally accepting Jesus as Savior, concentrating on fund-raising and tithing that will be rewarded during the earthly lifetime. Precious little time is devoted to the purposes for which this money will actually be used. Murdoch goes so far as to ask poor people without available funds to make large contributions by credit card to insure a big payback, never mind that their financial hole will no doubt simply get deeper. Murdoch often narrates stories of gifts he received that he in turn gave to the ministry and that in return he received still more gifts.

Is immoral behavior not subject to the final judgment in which Jesus will separate the goats from the sheep? June is “Gay pride month?” Is gay pride something to celebrate and define who we are as a country? Perversion (look it up) is officially honored but Christianity is disparaged and persecuted. “My Country ‘Tis of Thee…Land of the Pilgrim’s Pride…of thee I sing” is no longer applicable. Welcome to the final US agonizing days reliving the Roman Empire that was a mirror image of our moral state of affairs in this once great county.

President Obama celebrated gay pride month of June by nominating five gay men as ambassadors and if all are confirmed, they would be among eight openly LGBT people to serve as U.S. ambassadors. Does that reflect who our President is; persecuting Christians while honoring a perverted lifestyle? “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are” is an adage that says it all. The curse of Obama’s pastor, Jeremiah Wright, “Not God Bless America, but God da– America” has taken on a real life. There is no doubt that many gays have done good deeds, so the question posed to Pope Francis is: “For doing good, does the active GAY, anti-biblical, anti-natural, lifestyle give gays a "Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card” at the Last Judgment?

Taking the Pope’s sermon to its logical conclusion, Jesus had no need to become man, suffer, and die on the cross to redeem mankind if just doing good works would suffice. Atheists can be good and kind and still have hate for Christianity, God, Bible, and Ten Commandments, so how does that earn redemption if they hate the Redeemer? According to the sermon of Pope Francis, hate for Christ and all that is good notwithstanding, atheists hating Christ are redeemed in return for good they have done.

The bottom line is that according to the Pope’s pronouncement, Christ’s redemptive work might have been for naught. Some Protestant Preachers promote false teaching against what Jesus actually said. Pope Francis may have joined dissident ranks with what at this point is an alleged false teaching, opening a can of worms with his sermon that doing good is sufficient for redemption, belief not required.