SOME POINTS TO PONDER
The following introduction to the purpose and objectives of The Saint George Educational Trust is based on extracts from an interview with a representative of the association. The interview was printed in The Remnant newspaper in the year 2000.
The Saint George Educational Trust is, by all means, a traditional Catholic charity, but its purpose is not fundamentally spiritual; rather, it is a social endeavour. Although all of the charity's volunteers and trustees are avid supporters of a return to the old Latin Mass and to the authentic Catholic religion, the main focus is the diffusion of works concerned with the idea of Catholic social teaching.
There are many traditional apostolates and associations throughout the world advocating the old Latin Mass, but it is remarkable how many people, even (or especially) amongst traditionalists, have forgotten that the Church has a rich social teaching. Advocates of Vatican II's NewChurch, as it has been called, both clerics and lay leaders, don't want to acknowledge the full body of social teaching as it would necessarily bring them back to real (i.e. traditional) Catholic theology and the Social Kingship of Christ.
We're fortunate because our focus on the social teaching provides answers to today's problems and this appeals both to Catholics, traditional or otherwise, and to anybody that has got any common sense left in this mad world. It is truly amazing how many people have come to the Faith because they were caught up and fascinated by the richness of the Church's social teaching. Thus, ours can serve as an indirect apostolate leading to the salvation of souls.
Some believe that attending Mass, praying the rosary, and maintaining a personal relationship with God fulfils the extent of Catholic duty, but it cannot end there. As the Catholic Church is a divinely instituted organisation, specifically instructed by Christ to “Go forth and teach all nations,” the Faith must be something that is applicable to public life as well as private life. The Faith is a rule of life for nations as well as individuals, and each individual has his personal aspect and he also has his social aspect. Likewise, since nations are made up of peoples and families, this divine instruction implicitly proclaims and defends the family and its place as the basic building block of any nation or community.
Catholic sociability, then, involves God, the individual, and society, not merely God and the individual alone. Cain asked God: “Am I my brother's keeper?” and God said, “Yes, you are.” This idea is very appealing to those who have a sense of the right order of society and its interconnection with right conduct in daily life, but who aren't yet sure where those principles come from.
The world is essentially a battlefield where the forces of God fight the forces of Satan. If Catholics don't fill a vacuum, then supporters of Satan will. For example, if you don't have Catholic financial principles, then you will have Satanic principles instead. The Satanic financial principle in the modern world is known as usury.
Anyway, the idea is this: We're living in an age in which most Catholics don't understand Catholic doctrine in its totality. Unfortunately, the Lutheran principle has really entered the Church to a terrible extent. It suggests that there is a clear division between Justification by faith and good works. Now, the Catholic Church has said that firstly you have to believe in Jesus Christ, and secondly that such faith must show itself in good works. Unfortunately, we've got too many Catholics now who think that believing in Jesus Christ is enough.... and it's not.
That faith must be incarnated and, whilst you're living and breathing and walking the face of the earth, your life must incarnate your faith. There's no such thing as a division between your spiritual life and any other aspects of your life. Whatever your station or status in life, there is a Catholic model and ethic towards which you should be striving; banker or businessman, farmer of fisherman, it makes no diffe
The following introduction to the purpose and objectives of The Saint George Educational Trust is based on extracts from an interview with a representative of the association. The interview was printed in The Remnant newspaper in the year 2000.
The Saint George Educational Trust is, by all means, a traditional Catholic charity, but its purpose is not fundamentally spiritual; rather, it is a social endeavour. Although all of the charity's volunteers and trustees are avid supporters of a return to the old Latin Mass and to the authentic Catholic religion, the main focus is the diffusion of works concerned with the idea of Catholic social teaching.
There are many traditional apostolates and associations throughout the world advocating the old Latin Mass, but it is remarkable how many people, even (or especially) amongst traditionalists, have forgotten that the Church has a rich social teaching. Advocates of Vatican II's NewChurch, as it has been called, both clerics and lay leaders, don't want to acknowledge the full body of social teaching as it would necessarily bring them back to real (i.e. traditional) Catholic theology and the Social Kingship of Christ.
We're fortunate because our focus on the social teaching provides answers to today's problems and this appeals both to Catholics, traditional or otherwise, and to anybody that has got any common sense left in this mad world. It is truly amazing how many people have come to the Faith because they were caught up and fascinated by the richness of the Church's social teaching. Thus, ours can serve as an indirect apostolate leading to the salvation of souls.
Some believe that attending Mass, praying the rosary, and maintaining a personal relationship with God fulfils the extent of Catholic duty, but it cannot end there. As the Catholic Church is a divinely instituted organisation, specifically instructed by Christ to “Go forth and teach all nations,” the Faith must be something that is applicable to public life as well as private life. The Faith is a rule of life for nations as well as individuals, and each individual has his personal aspect and he also has his social aspect. Likewise, since nations are made up of peoples and families, this divine instruction implicitly proclaims and defends the family and its place as the basic building block of any nation or community.
Catholic sociability, then, involves God, the individual, and society, not merely God and the individual alone. Cain asked God: “Am I my brother's keeper?” and God said, “Yes, you are.” This idea is very appealing to those who have a sense of the right order of society and its interconnection with right conduct in daily life, but who aren't yet sure where those principles come from.
The world is essentially a battlefield where the forces of God fight the forces of Satan. If Catholics don't fill a vacuum, then supporters of Satan will. For example, if you don't have Catholic financial principles, then you will have Satanic principles instead. The Satanic financial principle in the modern world is known as usury.
Anyway, the idea is this: We're living in an age in which most Catholics don't understand Catholic doctrine in its totality. Unfortunately, the Lutheran principle has really entered the Church to a terrible extent. It suggests that there is a clear division between Justification by faith and good works. Now, the Catholic Church has said that firstly you have to believe in Jesus Christ, and secondly that such faith must show itself in good works. Unfortunately, we've got too many Catholics now who think that believing in Jesus Christ is enough.... and it's not.
That faith must be incarnated and, whilst you're living and breathing and walking the face of the earth, your life must incarnate your faith. There's no such thing as a division between your spiritual life and any other aspects of your life. Whatever your station or status in life, there is a Catholic model and ethic towards which you should be striving; banker or businessman, farmer of fisherman, it makes no diffe