This past week two comments from Pope Francis caught my eye. (I try not to pay much attention to his off the cuff comments.) These occurred in a somewhat "official capacity". His comments in his Homily and what was said and not said in his meeting with Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Italian Republic. I'm not going to go into it word for word, we all probably know what was said. And how in his homily the other day he talked about the danger of being to caught up with Marian apparitions. These and his obvious dislike for the Latin Mass have led me to this conclusion; Our Pope (and the men who surround him) want to flat-line out the Catholic church to the point where the Church is completely inoffensive. Our Holy Fathers' comments on Medjugorje say to me that the Church wants nothing to do with any type of spiritual event that stands out or is different, or 'offensive to our Protestant brothers.' For him, I believe, any Marion apparition fits this category. (Notice he didn't defend, denounce or even mention Fatima or Lourdes.) And I believe it is the same with the TLM. Anything that takes away from the simplicity of the Novus Ordo Mass or that causes any division in a parish is not good, so, time to crush it. No doubt about it, these are dark times for Holy Mother Church. To keep our heads in the sand and just either ignore what Pope Francis says or go along with him is to agree with what is happening to our Church. To ignore 2,000 years of Christ's and the Church's teaching and to just show love for neighbor and works of charity, well, anyone can do that. All the hugging and smiles will not help the Sunday Catholics who never go to confession, don't bury their dead properly, show lack of reverence in Mass, who don't believe in Hell and probably don't even believe in Heaven. The dumbing down of our Church so as to make it inoffensive fly in the face of Christs own words. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
All because people disagree with Catholics or see us as 'righteous' or any of the denouncements used today, should mean nothing to us. We should always take the high road, the Road to Heaven, no matter what the cost.
Intercede for us O Holy Mother of God, from the anger of God the Father.
5 comments:
Hi! I just found this posted linked from a friend on Facebook, and this is the only thing I've read by you. I find myself generally in agreement with what you're saying here, and I share your concerns.
I have a sincere question. You write, "To keep our heads in the sand and just either ignore what Pope Francis says or go along with him is to agree with what is happening to our Church."
What do you see as the alternative for us?
Paul, thank you for your comments. For us, I assume you mean the faithful who do not agree with the way Pope Francis either acts or what he says. For starters, we must, above all things acknowledge and remain committed to Pope Francis as our sovereign Pontiff. There is no question there. As to your question, I don't think there is a real alternative for us, in possibly the way you frame the question. As a Catholic man who is blessed to be able to go to the Latin Mass most days a week, believes strongly in the 'old theology' that goes hand in hand with the Mass of All Time, and knows in the depths of my soul that the experiment of the Novus Ordo mass and most of the thoughts and ideas that have emanated from Vatican II have done much harm to the faithful and the Holy Catholic Church. That said, for myself, I say if possible find a Latin Mass and go as often as possible, and better yet find a parish that is FSSP or even better, SSPX. The Latin Mass is what will save the Church, and these two communities, especially the SSPX, who never stopped saying the TLM, are the way to go. Remain steadfast in your faith, never compromising. I think those who live a life of going between the N.O. and the TLM suffer, and I can say that because I've lived it and seen it first hand with good friends of mine. Stay with Tradition, and develop close ties within that community. If possible, as a layman seek out a Third Order Franciscan community that is traditional, not the Seculars, and inquire. With the Seculars, you will truly lose your faith. But above all, (except for Holy Mass), is to pray. Pray for the Church to somehow regain its senses and escape from the drugged state that it's been since 1960. Pray for our Holy Father and all religious and for more vocations to the Traditional Mass. Prayer, especially contemplative prayer (and of course the Rosary) is really the only way to help to slowly straighten out our wayward ship.
Thank you very much for your thoughtful reply.
Forgive my ignorance, but my reaction is that your advice to remain committed to Pope Francis and to find an SSPX community seems contradictory. Perhaps you can help me with that.
I was once blessed to attend mass at a parish served by the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, but I am no longer so blessed; I miss it. Their celebration of the TLM was wonderful, and their celebration of the NO was unlike anything I've seen anywhere else.
Still, I suppose I must find some way to bloom here where God has transplanted me.
There is an FSSP parish about an hour's drive from me (the only one in the diocese), but that sort of distance makes participation in parish life so difficult.
Best wishes to you...
Firstly, and above all, the Pope is the Pope, period. Unless he does something truly bad, truly heretical, we are bound as Catholics to say and believe that whoever is duly elected to sit in the Chair of Peter is our Pontiff, and we must follow him. That is the way I see it. We may not agree with some of the things he says or does, but that is another issue. He is the Pope, and in my opinion we desperately need anchors in these stormy seas of today. The Pope is just such an anchor. And let me continue a bit. I myself, am hoping and praying for our Pope Francis, praying that he will realize that the office of the Pope is not a life of soundbites and photo ops. I pray that he comes to his senses and sees that the Church needs to get back to the basic theology and practices that helped it to remain strong for almost 2,000 years. Will this happen? None of us knows. I will keep this brief. As we are all aware, Pope Francis is our first full-blown Pope completely imbued in the Modernist theology that has been the norm since Vat.II. We must live with that fact. We don't have to like it, and we can rebel against it if we want, but really, it will be to no avail. But whatever, he is still our Pontiff. The SSPX position, if I am correct, is the same as everyone's; the man duly elected by the Cardinals is the Pope. They, like us, may not agree with him all the time, but I believe that is their position. The SSPX has been much aligned in all the years of it's existence. Contrary to what most people think they obviously are not sedavacantists, and never have been. Their problems with Rome have not been explained very accurately, and much can be learned by just going to their website. For me, they are the last line of solid defense against Satan, who is forever trying to destroy the Holy Mass. The TLM is trying to make inroads here and there in Parishes around the world, but these small communities are only bright spots in a sea of darkness.
Paul, I hope I cleared up any questions you had, but I'll be the first to admit, I'm not much of a writer and I do become long winded. If you stayed with this 'till the end God Bless You! k
my comments on The middle road
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