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“He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom”. In the Gospel, of today’s Mass, Our Lord teaches us the parable of the wheat and weeds. The world is a field, where God is continually sowing the seeds of His grace. This divine seed takes root in the soul, and produces fruits of holiness. He prepared us like soil, and bestowed upon us His saving doctrine. The Father’s of the Church understood the weeds of cockle, to be a metaphor for false doctrine, not easy to distinguish from the truth. The devil mixes falsehood with the truth causing error. And if allowed to continue, it always has catastrophic affects in people’s lives. Today, may Christians have fallen asleep allowing the enemy to sow bad seeds and almost every truth of the Catholic faith has been called into question. There are many false doctrines today. Such as Mary was not a Perpetual Virgin, and that she had other children besides Jesus. Or falsely claiming, Mary is not the Mother of God. There are also books, which contain weeds of false doctrine, or are harmful to Christians and should be avoided. Some so-called Christian books contain false Christian doctrine, such as the Da Vinci Code and Maria Valtotre’s Poem of the Man-God. The Da Vinci Code distorts, the truths of the Gospel. The book mixes truth (wheat) with false doctrine (weeds). The book claims Mary Magdalene, not John the apostle sat next to Jesus at the Last Supper. And that Mary Magdalene, was the wife of Jesusi. What blasphemy to suggest Our Lord was married, contradicting 2000-years of Church tradition. The book Poem of the Man-God is popular among Catholics. However, the Church forbids it be readii. The book contains theological, historical, and geographical errorsiii. For example, the book falsely claims the Blessed Virgin Mary is second to St. Peteriv. However, Holy Mother Church has always believed the Blessed Virgin to be Queen of Apostles, and God’s most perfect masterpiece. She is the greatest of His creation and was certainly holier and more virtuous than St. Peter. The book was placed on the Forbidden Books index in 1959. With regard to this specific book, Cardinal Ratzinger in 1985, Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, now Pope Benedict XVI, said the index retains its moral forcev. Though many people claim that "Poem of the man-God" helps their faith, or their return to reading Scripture, do not understand they are still being disobedient to the Church's decisions. Once we know, we cannot disregard Church authority, which tries to protect us. Harry Potter books are likewise controversial. Gabriel Kuby, an English critic wrote a letter to Cardinal Razinger, in 2003 about the books. In the letter, Kuby objects to Potter stating the books corrupt the hearts of the young, preventing them from developing a properly ordered sense of good and evil, thus harming their relationship with God, while that relationship is still in its infancyvi. Cardinal Raztinger, responded to the letter, with his own letter on March 7, 2003. He said, "It is good that you shed light and inform us on the Harry Potter matter, for these are subtle seductions that are barely noticeable and precisely because of that deeply affect (children) and corrupt the Christian faith in souls even before (the Faith) could properly grow,". The book of Wisdom (4:12) in the Old Testament states, “For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good, and roving desires pervert the innocent mind.” None of us have the intention to allow a child’s mind to be harmed. A good healthy imagination is important. A child’s mind is impressionable and innocent, which needs to be protected and nurtured with truth and goodness. However, the fascination with witchcraft and magic, can plant bad seeds, which later in their teen years, can lead to the practice witchcraft and magic, and to the occult, which leads to the worship of Satan. On Jan. 2, 2002, Rome's official exorcist, Fr. Gabriele Amorth, warned parents against the Harry Potter book series. Fr. Gabriel said Satan is behind the works. In an interview with the Italian news agency, Fr. Gabriele said, "Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil." An exorcist is one, who has Church authority to cast out demons from those people, who are possessed by the devil. Perhaps, we should ask our self this question. What is better for the child’s mind and soul, to be fascinated by the lives of the real people who are saints, or fascinated by that, which can lead a child away from God and even toward the devil? Miracles of the saints are real, not based upon fantasy. Such as St. Padre Pio’s bilocation, being physically in more than one place at time. Or the miracle of St. Charles of Sezze, changing water into wine. Some saints in prayer were raised above the earth, like St. Joseph of Cupertino, St. John of the Cross, and St. Bonaventure. Or the thousands of physical healings, which have taken place through the lives of the saints. These are not fantasy, but real. More important than the miracles of the saints are their holy and virtuous lives, as they were obedient to the Church, in all things grounded in the truths of the Church’s doctrine.// To be faithful Christians, we have to be constantly watchful, and not let ourselves be caught off guard, because one false doctrine, can manage to take root in the soul, causing it to quickly become lost, and turn from God. We shouldn’t let ourselves be fooled with excuses, not seeing how things really affect our lives. We should be careful about how false ideas, which can also affect, true doctrine entrusted to our care by God, to be handed down to our children. What enters into our mind, will become, who we are. To those who knowingly, intentionally and unrepentantly push books on us, contrary to our faith, perhaps the words of Our Blessed Lord at the end of the age, at the final harvest, when the weeds will be separated from the wheat are most fitting: Jesus said, “The Son of man will send His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom, all who cause others to sin, and all evil doers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father.” Let us pull out, the weeds of books and doctrines contrary to our faith, and sow the good seeds of the children of the kingdom. The Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, good Catholic spiritual reading, and books and movies of the Lives of the Saints for adults and children, sow good seeds, and produce the fruit of eternal salvation. May these become part of every family’s home. As we prepare to receive the Jesus in the Eucharist, let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for us, that we may not give into false doctrines, or pass them down to our children. Rather, let us protect and pass down our Holy Catholic faith, come to love and understand the true doctrines of Christ, be faithful to the Church’s teachings, become fascinated by the extraordinary lives of the saints, and strive to imitate their virtues, and we will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father, with all the angels and saints in heaven. i Debunking the Davinci Code, Rome Feb. 12, 2004 Zenit. Poem of the Man-God, www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/poem_of_man.htm iii Is the Poem of the Man-God Simply a Bad Novel, www.ewtn.com/libraty/scriptur/valtorta.txt iv Ibid. v Poem of the Man-God, www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/poem_of_man.htm vi Pope Benedict Opposes Harry Potter Novels, www.Lifesitenews.com June 27, 2005 ii