Cameron Riecker

You're going to Mass daily. You're praying the Rosary. You're reading Scripture, going to Confession, doing everything the saints tell you to do. And you still struggle with lust. If that’s you, I want you to know something: you’re not alone, you’re not broken, and there’s a reason this is happening. Let me explain. 🧵 1/

Getting married and having kids is hard. Really hard. I had to leave my job and get creative just to afford feeding my family and keeping my wife at home. There were months where we weren’t sure how we were going to afford our mortgage. Our firstborn didn’t sleep for the first 2 years of her life. We unexpectedly lost our infant son in February. The Cross of fatherhood has been heavy on my shoulders, And yet, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. There is no suffering more worthwhile and I cannot wait to grow old with my beautiful wife and watch our kids grow up. God is good. This is the Cross I would have chosen for myself. I have no regrets.

If it’s not too much trouble, Please include me and my family in your Rosary intentions today 🙏 God bless you!

@The_Catechumen Uncertain but unlikely this year 🥲

@riecker Thanks homie. Are we going to see you at the conference this month?

This is demonstrably false. All Protestant Confessions deny the propitiatory sacrifice of the mass even though this is explicit and unanimous in the Fathers. For example, the following Protestant confessions say the following, (and, I might add, the view that the elements of the Eucharist are not truly changed into the body and blood of Christ forwarded by Westminster is also in complete opposition to the faith of the fathers): The Augburg Confession XXIV "The Mass is not a work which takes away the sins of the living and the dead" Westminster Confession 29.2 "In this Sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father, 👉nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sins👈 of the quick or dead; but only a commemoration of that once offering up of himself, by himself, upon the cross, once for all; and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same: so that the Popish sacrifice of the mass, as they call it, is most abominably injurious to Christ’s one only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the priest 👉actually changes the elements of the Lord’s Supper to the physical body and blood of Christ, and that the sacrifice of Christ is literally repeated on the altar of the church each time the mass is said. That is why the table is called an “altar.” Reformed churches avoid that name for the communion table. 39 Articles, 31 "Wherefore the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the Priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits." However, Protestant historian J. N. D. Kelly says, "the eucharist was regarded as the distinctively Christian sacrifice from the closing decade of the first century, if not earlier. Malachi's prediction that the Lord would reject the Jewish sacrifices and instead would have a 'pure offering' made to Him by the Gentiles in every place was early seized upon by Christians as a prophecy of the Eucharist." (Early Christian Doctrines, 196). Presbyterian historian Philip Schaff says, "The idea and institution of a special priesthood, distinct from the body of the people, with the accompanying notion of sacrifice and altar, passed imperceptibly from Jewish and heathen reminiscences and analogies into the Christian church... the Levitical priesthood, with its three ranks of high-priest, priest, and Levite, naturally furnished an analogy for the threefold ministry of bishop, priest, and deacon, and came to be regarded as typical of it... The Lord’s Supper was universally regarded not only as a sacrament, but also as a sacrifice, the true and eternal sacrifice of the new covenant, superseding all the provisional and typical sacrifices of the old; taking the place particularly of the passover, or the feast of the typical redemption from Egypt... the common Protestant cultus, which, in opposition to the Roman mass, has almost entirely banished the idea of sacrifice from the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, except in the customary offerings for the poor." (History of the Christian Church vol 2. 123, 245-246) The Eucharistic Celebration is a True Sacrifice: The Didache 14 (late 1st century) “But every Lord’s day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure.” St. Justin Martyr (mid 2nd century) "[Malachi] then speaks of those Gentiles, namely us, who in every place offer sacrifices to Him, i.e., the bread of the Eucharist, and also the cup of the Eucharist, affirming both that we glorify His name, and that you profane [it]." (Dialogue With Trypho 41) St. Irenaeus of Lyons (late 2nd century) "The oblation of the Church, therefore, which the Lord gave instructions to be offered throughout all the world, is accounted with God a pure sacrifice, and is acceptable to Him... And the Church alone offers this pure oblation to the Creator, offering to Him, with giving of thanks, [the things taken] from His creation. But the Jews do not offer thus: for their hands are full of blood; for they have not received the Word, WHO IS OFFERED TO GOD... the bread over which thanks have been given is the body of their Lord, and the cup His blood... For we offer to Him His own, announcing consistently the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity." (Against Heresies 4.18.1, 4-5) St. Cyprian of Carthage (3rd century) "Some, either by ignorance or simplicity in sanctifying the cup of the Lord, and in ministering to the people, do not do that which Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, the founder and teacher of THIS SACRIFICE, did and taught... Also in the priest Melchizedek we see prefigured the SACRAMENT OF THE SACRIFICE of the Lord, according to what divine Scripture testifies, and says, And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine. Genesis 14:18 Now he was a priest of the most high God, and blessed Abraham. And that Melchizedek bore a type of Christ, the Holy Spirit declares in the Psalms, saying from the person of the Father to the Son: Before the morning star I begot You; You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek; which order is assuredly this coming from that sacrifice and thence descending; that Melchizedek was a priest of the most high God; that he offered wine and bread; that he blessed Abraham. For who is more a priest of the most high God than our Lord Jesus Christ, who offered a sacrifice to God the Father, and offered that very same thing which Melchizedek had offered, that is, bread and wine, to wit, His body and blood?... For if Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, is Himself the chief priest of God the Father, and has first offered Himself a sacrifice to the Father, and has commanded this to be done in commemoration of Himself, certainly that priest truly discharges the office of Christ, who imitates that which Christ did; and he then offers a true and full sacrifice in the Church to God the Father, when he proceeds to offer it according to what he sees Christ Himself to have offered... And because we make mention of His passion in all sacrifices (for the Lord's passion is the sacrifice which we offer), we ought to do nothing else than what He did. For Scripture says, For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show forth the Lord's death till He come. 1 Corinthians 11:26 As often, therefore, as we offer the cup in commemoration of the Lord and of His passion, let us do what it is known the Lord did." (Epistle 62) The Eucharistic Sacrifice is Propitiatory for the Living and Dead: St. Cyprian of Carthage (3rd century) "The bishops our predecessors… decided that no brother departing should name a cleric for executor or guardian; and if any one should do this, no offering should be made for him, nor any sacrifice be celebrated for his repose." (Epistle 65) Apostolic Constitutions (4th century) "[Included in "The Form of Prayer for the Ordination of a Bishop"]: offer to You a pure and unbloody sacrifice, which by Your Christ You have appointed as the mystery of the new covenant... We offer to You, our King and our God… this bread and this cup… and to sacrifice to You… Send down upon this sacrifice Your Holy Spirit… that those who are partakers thereof… may obtain the remission of their sins… and may obtain eternal life upon Your reconciliation to them... Let us pray for our brethren that are at rest in Christ, that God… may forgive him every sin, voluntary and involuntary, and may be merciful and gracious to him…" St. Cyril of Jerusalem (4th century) "[Speaking of the sacrifice of the eucharist at the hands of the "priest" upon the "altar"]: Then, after the spiritual sacrifice, the bloodless service, is completed, over that sacrifice of propitiation we entreat God for the common peace of the Churches, for the welfare of the world ; for kings; for soldiers and allies; for the sick; for the afflicted; and, in a word, for all who stand in need of succour we all pray and offer this sacrifice. Then we commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us, first Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, that at their prayers and intercessions God would receive our petition. Then on behalf also of the Holy Fathers and Bishops who have fallen asleep before us, and in a word of all who in past years have fallen asleep among us, believing that IT WILL BE A VERY GREAT BENEFIT TO THE SOULS, for whom the supplication is put up, while that holy and most awful sacrifice is set forth. And I wish to persuade you by an illustration. For I know that many say, what is a soul profited, which DEPARTS FROM THIS WORLD either with sins, or without sins, if it be commemorated in the prayer? For if a king were to banish certain who had given him offense, and then those who belong to them should weave a crown and offer it to him on behalf of those under punishment, would he not grant a remission of their penalties? In the same way we, when we offer to Him our supplications FOR THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP, though they be sinners, weave no crown, but OFFER UP CHRIST SACRIFICED for our sins, propitiating our merciful God for them as well as for ourselves." (Catechetical Lecture 23.8-10) St. John Chrysostom (late 4th century) "What then? Do not we offer every day? We offer indeed, but making a remembrance of His death, and this [remembrance] is one and not many. How is it one, and not many? Inasmuch as that [Sacrifice] was once for all offered, [and] carried into the Holy of Holies. This is a figure of that [sacrifice] and this remembrance of that. For we always offer the same, not one sheep now and tomorrow another, but always the same thing: so that the sacrifice is one. And yet by this reasoning, since the offering is made in many places, are there many Christs? But Christ is one everywhere, being complete here and complete there also, one Body.  As then while offered in many places, He is one body and not many bodies; so also [He is] one sacrifice. He is our High Priest, who offered the sacrifice that cleanses us. That we offer now also, which was then offered, which cannot be exhausted. This is done in remembrance of what was then done. For (says He) do this in remembrance of Me. Luke 22:19 It is not another sacrifice, as the High Priest, but we offer always the same, or rather we perform a remembrance of a Sacrifice." (Homily 17 on Hebrews, 6) St. Augustine (5th century) "Nor can it be denied that the souls of the dead are benefited by the piety of their living friends, who offer the sacrifice of the Mediator, or give alms in the church on their behalf. But these services are of advantage only to those who during their lives have earned such merit, that services of this kind can help them. For there is a manner of life which is neither so good as not to require these services after death, nor so bad that such services are of no avail after death; there is, on the other hand, a kind of life so good as not to require them; and again, one so bad that when life is over they render no help. Therefore, it is in this life that all the merit or demerit is acquired, which can either relieve or aggravate a man’s sufferings after this life. No one, then, need hope that after he is dead he shall obtain merit with God which he has neglected to secure here. And accordingly it is plain that the services which the church celebrates for the dead are in no way opposed to the apostle’s words: “For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad;” for the merit which renders such services as I speak of profitable to a man, is earned while he lives in the body. It is not to every one that these services are profitable. And why are they not profitable to all, except because of the different kinds of lives that men lead in the body? When, then, sacrifices either of the altar or of alms are offered on behalf of all the baptized dead, they are thank-offerings for the very good, they are propitiatory offerings for the not very bad, and in the case of the very bad, even though they do not assist the dead, they are a species of consolation to the living. And where they are profitable, their benefit consists either in obtaining a full remission of sins, or at least in making the condemnation more tolerable." (The Enchiridion 110) "For she, when the day of her [St. Monica's] dissolution was near at hand, took no thought to have her body sumptuously covered, or embalmed with spices; nor did she covet a choice monument, or desire her paternal burial-place. These things she entrusted not to us, but only desired to have her name remembered at Your altar, which she had served without the omission of a single day; whence she knew that the holy sacrifice was dispensed, by which the handwriting that was against us is blotted out; Colossians 2:14 by which the enemy was triumphed over, who, summing up our offenses, and searching for something to bring against us, found nothing in Him John 14:30 in whom we conquer. Who will restore to Him the innocent blood? Who will repay Him the price with which He bought us, so as to take us from Him? Unto the sacrament of which our ransom did Your handmaid bind her soul by the bond of faith. Let none separate her from Your protection. Let not the lion and the dragon introduce himself by force or fraud. For she will not reply that she owes nothing, lest she be convicted and got the better of by the wily deceiver; but she will answer that her sins are forgiven Matthew 9:2 by Him to whom no one is able to repay that price which He, owing nothing, laid down for us." (Confessions, 9.13.36)

Mind Blowing Fact About The Angels

Today is my son Jude’s birthday! Please stop a say a quick Hail Mary for him 🙏 God bless!

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You will be a saint or you will be nothing. There is no middle ground. There is no "good enough." There is no "someday." The final battle is here. And it's being fought in your bedroom, on your phone, in your thoughts — RIGHT NOW.

Most men lose the battle against lust. Not because they're weak. Because nobody told them the one thing that actually wins it. I've coached 120+ Catholic men out of lust. This is the missing piece 🧵