Is Feeneyism Catholic? - Society of St. Pius X

A NSWER TO OBJECTIONS 103
ficient; it is sanctifying grace that brings to perfection the soul
sealed with the character, not the contrary.
Moreover, it is also the constant teaching that Christian perfection
consists in the perfection of charity, 153 i.e., in a perfect love
of God and of our neighbor. St. Paul says that charity is the “bond
of perfection” (Col. 3:14). The Church teaches that baptism of
blood is more perfect than baptism of water precisely because it
includes a perfect act of charity: “Greater love than this no man
hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13).
WERE SOME MIRACLES PERFORMED
TO PROVE THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM OF WATER?
God did indeed perform some miracles, right from the beginning
of the Church, to manifest the necessity of the grace of baptism:
in the Acts of the Apostles (8:26-40) the Deacon Philip is
miraculously warned to go and evangelize the eunuch of the
Queen of Ethiopia, whom he baptized, and then was “rapt” by the
Spirit back into his place. The lives of the saints have similar and
even more spectacular examples.
But a miracle is not opposed to another miracle! It is not because
God performed one kind of miracle that He does not perform
other kinds of miracles. Let us consider a similar case: it belongs
to the natural law that one must eat to sustain his own life.
God performed a miracle sending the prophet Habacuc to Daniel
in the lions’ den in order to bring him some food (Dan. 14:32-
38). Similarly, God sent ravens to bring Elias some bread and
meat in the desert (III Kg. 17:6.); yet the fact that God miraculously
brought the natural food to His prophets does not mean
that God did not also miraculously sustain the life of some saints
without food (e.g., St. Nicolas de Flüe, Theresa Newmann…).
All these miracles perfectly fit the divine power and goodness:
it perfectly fits that Christ supports the predication of his missionaries
and His law of baptism by performing miracles to provide
the exterior sacrament of baptism to some souls (see Acts
8:26-40). It also perfectly fits that Christ supports the truth of His
own words: “Ask and ye shall receive…” (Mt. 7:7), and of the
beautiful prayer “Never was it known that any one who fled to thy
153 ST, II-II, Q.184, A.1.