Take a Breath, Reflect, and don't React...

Sometimes it can become easier to throw in the towel and just give up.  The gains that ‘we’ the more Traditional minded acquired over the last two Pontificates, (Opus Dei prelature, Motu Propio Ecclesia Dei and Motu Propio Summorum Pontificum) it would seem are now in danger especially according to some current trends of thought(paranoia) freely whirling about in different Sacristies throughout the world.  Gentle Pope Francis is gonna undo everything, turn back the clock to 1975 and resurrect the clown ‘Mass.’  To be fair, I sincerely believe that not to be the case, still I sincerely believe that this is an excellent opportunity to undergo Sanctification.  What can we do to further the Universal Call to Holiness (Vatican II)? 

Well for one, we can stop acting like the most arrogant and hardened ‘I know better than the Pope crowd’ that sometimes we can all fall into.  We can pray for our Holy Father, obey and use that to unite our sufferings to the Cross of Christ.  We can, as the Holy Father requested, ‘Go out and make a mess!’  So here is a battle plan!  When news (usually a slanted editorial) disturbs you, take it to prayer!  The enemy uses occasions like this to make us fall into sin. For some it can be booze, women, drugs, etc… Gentlemen, you know what I’m talking about, high level stress = Pornography/masturbation.  Then when it’s over (the act), we are angrier than ever at the latest Liturgical abuse, seek to blast the hierarchy and claim that we, and others who think like us know better.  We fall into depression and despair, and forget that the Holy Spirit is still in charge, and Pope Michael, Pope Gregory the 17^th, the brothers Dimond, Pope Pius 13^th, the sedevacante, the sedeimpede, the SSPX, even the Stay Puffed Marshmellow Man, all look like like a salvific end for our own sanity. The end result?  We are deep in mortal sin and cut off… The cure?  The Sacrament of Reconciliation and a great Spiritual Director.  To use a personal anecdote, I too questioned an awful lot of stuff, (especially recently) and without hesitation my Spiritual Director asked when my prayer life was cut off.

Prayer.

The oxygen of the soul!  No doubt about it.  A prayer life is constantly bookending your day (as St Paul says, To pray constantly…) with Laudes and Vespers.  Daily Mass if you can, Adoration (even prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament) and of course the Rosary!  A trick that I use, is to meditate before the Blessed Sacrament upon the Gospel of the day.  My day is then given its orientation in God and thus when a ‘down’or a disturbance in my soul interferes, I can tell the thought is not from God.  (Think of St John of the Cross, and discern.)  In prayer is where we praise and thank God for our very being, and whereby we can ask for the Grace to understand.  I am reminded of the prayer attached to Our Lady of Perpetual Help,..’If it be your Will that we should suffer longer,..’ 

Work

In my case, academics and Pastoral works.  Sometimes listening to a person tell us their problems can shed a light on our inadequacies.  People are hurting, and an absence of Faith sees the confessional empty, but long line ups at the made for profit ‘self help psychological guru of the day.’  What’s most perplexing is that even practicing Catholics who claim a relationship with Jesus, will justify seeing a ‘shrink’ but not confession, even though they will still spill their souls to these people.  The sad part is that the guru can’t offer Absolution.  Back to the work dynamic, sometimes keeping busy, can be therapeutic, yet again, we can’t go too far.  If the devil can’t tempt you, he’ll keep you busy. (and thus, too busy for prayer.) 

I truly believe that the Pope when critiquing pelagianism, did so after critiquing the other extreme, about making the Church an NGO.  He went after extremes, a point that Benedict also went after!  A great strategy for the more Traditional minded, (myself included) is to show the Holy Father that despite our love of Liturgy, that we do have a heart for social issues.  If we love through the eyes of Jesus, then we need to show it!  Sure, we are mobilized on Life and Family issues, but what can we do to show the ‘social justice’ crowd, that we too care for the poor?  We pray Rosaries, but can we not set up a soup kitchen?  Give a little or our time?  The question is not ‘Either ‘or’ but rather a ‘Both’ /And!’…

Exercise

Well, in my opinion, this is crucial!  In a day and age when we take better care of our cars than we do our bodies.  Training is good for you, it makes you stronger and can train the Will as well.  How many times are you tired and your psychology takes over, you gotta get it in!  That is training!  Resistance, weights, heavy bag, kettle bells, battle ropes, sled dragging, bench pressing and squatting!  If you can take care of your body, your discipline will grow along with your will power!  Those days when you live a down, are frustrated?  Take it out in the gym!  Leave it all there, hit the irons and hit them hard!

A few years back, I lambasted an arch liberal who disrespectfully used to refer to Pope Benedict XVI as ‘Papa Ratzinger’ or ‘Pope Ratzinger.’  It was one of the most disgusting and harsh treatments of an office, (a Divinely instituted one at that! St Matt 16:18) that I had ever heard.  Now ‘we’ the most Liturgically minded find within our ranks people criticizing Pope Francis, even calling him ‘Papa’ Bergoglio?  C’mon!  The Holy Spirit chose him and regardless of what happens, we can offer it all to God in reparation for our own sinfulness!  The battle plan of prayer, penance, and exercise is a no brainer and has been offered to us down through the ages. 

To borrow a line from ‘Big’ John McCarthy; ‘LET’s GET it ONNN!!!

Sacred Heart of Jesus,……………………….Have Mercy on us!

Lumen Gentium(A walk through), Mary and Francis

                              

I guess this blog will be more of a walk through the recesses of my own thoughts, trying to speculate and piece together what is my opinion.  To be sure, it is just that, my opinion. 

I think I’ve resisted writing a full post about Vatican II as it was intended, however I fully believe that the time has come in order to shed some light and a ‘How to’ so that it reads in continuity with the previous Councils of the Church.  While everyone remembers Pope Emeritus Benedict, in his final address to the priests in Rome, distinguished between the actual Council and the Council of the media, people forget that a major point of contention dear to many Catholics is the hermeneutic of continuity and the role of Mary in the Church.  ‘Lumen Gentium,’ The Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, is the first written text to address specifically Mary.  Before we begin, let’s set the stage.  First off, there are no dogmatic definitions and it is written in what is a ‘pastoral’ language.  Secondly, the sexual revolution is in full swing, women going to work in the wake of the second world war, and thirdly, especially in the west, the Communist threat is building.  (Cuban missile crisis).  As well the teachings of Vatican II do not use ‘ex’ cathedra language because that was not its intent.  Vatican II is meant to reach the world, and presupposes that the Truths do not change.  See the opening address by Pope John XXIII.  The reality that this hasn’t happened yet is not because of Vatican II, ‘ambiguities’ or ‘Spirit of VII’ or whatever, it is because of sinful people with an agenda, demolishing the Church from the inside.  It took 300 years for Trent to be implemented fully in Quebec, it shouldn’t shock anyone that Vatican II is only just beginning.  The issue today is one of Mass media, and many more ‘freemasons.’ (Even Pope Francis acknowledged that,..)  Did Vatican II cause a priest shortage and demolish the Church?  No, but an argument can be made that it served as a cataclyst launchpad for an agenda ridden ideology to hijack the Church.

Let us begin with a base schema of the Textual Corpus of Vatican II, basically how we can read it.  We begin with God who reveals Himself in Jesus Christ through Revelation.  This comes to us by transmission in a Document called Dei Verbum.  It affirms both Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture as having both the same font of Truth as its source.  For our protestant friends, this means that Vatican II affirms and explains the Catholic position that the Bible didn’t and couldn’t fall out of the sky, all wrapped up with a leather bound ‘Divine’ Table of contents. 

From this document, we can now understand, our two Constitutions on the Church, namely Lumen Gentium and Sancrosanctum Concilium.  The first is composed of eight chapters, each with a specific point to address;  ‘Lumen Gentium’ means ‘Light of the World!  Already the Church in Her Divine Constitution presupposes a Christocentric approach.  Let’s go through them, shall we? 

1.      Church as Mystery

2.      Church as ‘People of God.’ (All the baptized)

3.      Church as Hierarchical.  (The favorite of the heterodox crowd)

4.      Church as Laity

5.      Church ‘Universal Call to Holiness’

6.      The Religious

7.      The Eschatological dimension

8.      Mary

I think it is important to highlight the Marian dimension.  If there was a ‘hot button’ topic at the Council, this topic was akin to speaking about the benefits of Marxism while attending a Bible tent revival in the deep south of the USA.  Mary was formally given the title ‘Mater Ecclesia’ as a compromise.  One school of thought was that ‘Co-redemptrix’ and ‘mediatrix’ as titles (5^th Marian dogma?) were not ready to be accepted at that time.  This is where this walkthough becomes a little personal, not as Optimusmastro but as Marco, a seminarian. 

Mary, in the economy of Salvation already co-operates with Christ, by simply saying ‘Yes’ to God by her ‘Magnificat.’ (St Luke 1)  In this light, can now be read, not only her Immaculate Conception but all the way to Her Assumption and eventual crowning as Queen of Heaven.  Mary participates by suffering with her Son.  She stands at the foot of the Cross and was given to us by Jesus Himself. (St John’s Gospel.)  She intercedes at Cana, and She appears with a Crown in the Apocalypse of St John (Revelation.)  Regardless of these realities, our current ecumenical situation finds ourselves in dialog with protestants. That being said, defining as Co-redemptrix would have fundaMENTALists doing handstands frothing at the mouth, as they would hear ‘Co-equal’ instead.  Can you picture the CNN interviews with such ‘scholars’ as Bob Jones III and Benny Hinn?  It would be entertaining,..(I digress).  Since Biblical times, then there have been countless apparitions of Our Lady, from Our Lady of the Pillar, (To St James) all the way to Our Lady of Fatima, (1917).  One constant, is that throughout all of the CHURCH APPROVED apparitions, the message is always Christocentric, she points to Jesus! 

At Fatima, Our Lady gave three ‘secrets’ with which, depending upon who you listen to have either been completed, not fulfilled or somewhere in between.  A sticking point has been Russia.  Has Russia been consecrated?  Pope Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart, subsequently, Pope John Paul II did the same.  One theory is that consecrating Russia by itself would cause an Ecumenical nightmare from the perspective of the Russian Orthodox Church.  Another theory is that this consecration must take place in communion with the world’s bishops, and in this light, it is safe to assume that back in the 1980s, not everyone was on the same page.  Now what does any of this have to do with Pope Francis?

Well,…since his election to the chair of Peter, his first visit was to the Church of St Mary Major in Rome, bringing flowers to the high Altar.  He has since asked that he be consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima, he will consecrate the world this coming October 13^th  to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Now knowing this, according to the media, he has approved gay actions (nope) thinks abortion is okay (nope) and believes atheists are going to Heaven. (nope.)  According to Catholic sources, he has since his Papacy began;

-Reaffirmed Church Teaching against women’s ordination.  (same airplane interview where he supposedly was open to homosexual marriages.  Sadly the media must of all went to the washroom at the same time when he cited Ordinatio Sacerdotalis?)

-Publically rebuked the LCWR in the USA, thereby backing the CDF findings.

-Has mentioned the presence of ‘masons’ and a homosexual lobby in the Vatican.

-Has mentioned satan more than any other Pope in recent memory.

-Consecrated the Vatican (invited Pope Emeritus Benedict) to St Michael the Archangel.

-Publically criticized Archbishop Mueller’s personal opinions of ‘Liberation Theology.’

-Publically endorsed and reconfirmed Msgr Guido Marini, against the wishes of the Italian bishops who wanted him gone.  Warned of extremism but nothing that Pope Benedict XVI didn’t already say either.

-Theologically endorsed by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (‘Theologically we are in agreement.’) 

(To be fair, I doubt that Liturgically they are,…)

-Excommunicated a dissident priest in Australia who promoted women’s ordination, pro choice pro gay marriage, and gave Communion to a dog.  (Again, certain media outlets didn’t openly wonder how he is so fluffy, smiley and cuddly, yet did something like this.)

-Finally, Cardinal Raymond Burke still at the Apostolic Signatura.…nuff said!

Perhaps as some people on the extreme right are wondering, he is a Pope of contradictions, or maybe he is a crafty old school Jesuit? 

How do we tie in Lumen Gentium, Mary and Francis all together? Well, after some prayer, this is my OPINION, nothing more.  It stems from my Faith in the Church, that the Holy Spirit  guides Her and that ultimately, the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph.  I believe that Pope Benedict resigning means that the 2^nd Vatican Council has been given its proper orientation within the hermeneutic of continuity.  Pope John Paul II, gave us and reasserted the Catechism, when dogmas such as ‘Purgatory’ were called into question.  Pope Benedict XVI corrected and set into motion proper Liturgical understanding and reform.  Pope Francis will usher in the real Vatican II the way the Holy Spirit wants, not the way Fr McFruitloop and his merry band of lesbian universalists want it. 

Back to Lumen Gentium,.. I think I'll need a dozen more posts to develop it more!

I smell Co-Redemptrix…

Just sayin’

Our Lady of Fatima,…………………………….ora pro nobis!

Vatican/Wag the Dog...

Catholic Church declares salvation for atheists!  Yup, that was one headline, and I won’t even bother cite the source because it is so completely ludicrous that it doesn’t warrant a backlink to a news outfit so completely left of center and agenda ridden that it can make George Orwell green with envy.   In 2000, the Vatican released ‘Dominus Iesus’ a theological document clarifying certain positions with regard to person’s outside the visible Communion of the Catholic Church, while under the Pontificate of John Paul II signed by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and thus began a flood of ‘Catholic Church changes’ headlines complete with spin doctoring par excellence!  (And you thought I was gonna reference Pope Francis!,.;)) 

‘Dominus Iesus’ was released to reign in certain ecuMENTALists relativising everything.  It contained nothing new, and still maintained that the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of Salvation.  Still, the media, complete with its editorial lapdogs rushed to interview every protestant, muslim and Buddhist they could find, in order for them to comment on the mean old Catholic Church once again being medieval. 

In 2005, then Pope Benedict invited his buddy Hans Kung to the Vatican for a private 3 hour chat.  Similarly, the headlines began with ‘God’s Rottweiler getting soft’ and ‘Pope Ratzinger develops his ‘pastoral’ side.  Again, this time in 2006, then Pope Benedict made an academic  comment in an academic setting (Regensburg) referencing an 11^th century Caliph… It took the media blitz of 48hours and lo and behold, worldwide protests calling for the Pope to be beheaded.  Sigh,..

Enter Pope Francis.  On an airplane coming back from World Youth Day, he cites the Catechism of the Catholic Church with regard to people suffering from homosexual orientation.  ‘If they seek God and to do good, who am I to judge? (paraphrased.)  He did not say, that the Church will reconsider gay marriage, or any of Her other teachings.  Recently, he wrote a letter to the Italian Press, and well, I’m happy that I understand Italian!  You would have thought the Pope canonized atheists!  The Church’s teaching regarding all those outside communion is the following!

First from the Church Fathers;

Ignatius of Antioch:  (Letter to the philedelphians)  Those outside visible communion.

Clement of Alexandria:  (Miscallenies 1:5 208)  Speaks of philosopher attempting to find Truth. (Arche)

Point through all of this?  That all religions are not equal.  The Catholic Church is the means to Salvation, and those outside of Her, should they attain Heaven, are not saved by their protestant faith, but by those Catholic elements in it those communities that are a means of Salvation.  Can one set sail for Europe on a rowboat?  The short answer is YES!  However, there chances of getting there are greatly reduced.  The fact remains that all the available Grace open to them in the ordinary sense will not be there.  So in common speak,..an 8 year old boy living in the southwestern Pacific island of yet undiscovered Klpxgs, speaking the language of ‘mookmook’ yet seeking to achieve the good that his conscience, in conformity with natural law desires can attain Salvation by Christ, in a way known only to Himself.  I firmly believe this, The Church believes this, and St Thomas Aquinas believed this!  We are Saved by Grace!  The ordinary form of this is found in Jesus’s ONE HOLY CATHOLIC and APOSTOLIC Church.  God will be our judge. 

My friends, Pope Francis said absolutely nothing new, and yes atheists can be Saved.  Invincible Ignorance.  Are they free, and in clarity?  Two questions to ask when presenting the Gospel.  On a side note, let’s have some fun with the mass media, who is clearly pitting Pope Francis against Pope Emeritus Benedict,…Here we go!  Muahahaha!!! By the way, I read, and receive an awful amount of email, but always make time for Pope Francis' homilies;

On the 'ordination' of women?  Gasp! He's 'conservative! Quite hide that and don't publish it!   Gosh that Pope Francis likes to smile but he's against women's ordination?  I just can't believe it... hehehe...

On the Hierarchy/Magisterium of the Catholic Church?  Gasp! He's called out the heretic nuns on the bus!! I need to brew myself another pot of Sanka, by jove!  We were supposed to have elected in a 'Pope' who wouldn't 'Pope' in such an ideological way!  He was supposed to be the anti-Ouellet!!!  Get me Peter Parker and have him take more pictures of Spiderman, because we can't publish that!

Consecrating the Vatican to St Michael?  No,..Angels are mere literary devices, and well, that's soooo pre Vatican II!!  This Pope was supposed to concentrate solely of the plight of the Argentinian humming bird headed for extinction!  

Joining the Pro-Life March in Rome?  Again,..we can't publish that mainstream! What will our current democratic lesbian editorial staff think? That we are anti woman?  This Pope is supposed to relax and be pro choice, because well, he smiles alot and cares for the poor.

Consecrating his Papacy to the Blessed Mother?  Noooo,..don't you dare publish that, that sounds like something Wojtyla would have done!  Pope Francis, the 'progressive' and Mary... Because everybody knows that a hallmark of heterodoxy is devotion to the Rosary.

I think you get my point.  Oh yeah,...He has also finished Pope Emeritus Benedict encyclical on Faith (which is beautiful and shows,..gasp!  Continuity!)  He has mandated a worldwide Adoration vigil, (another hallmark of social justice 'catholicism' sarcasm...) and recently pleaded for a worldwide prayer vigil and fasting to avoid a war.  (The last two weren't covered by the mainstream media!)

His new Secretary of State (Parolin) is a solid theologian, Archbishop Ganswein remains prefect of the Papal household.  To my American friends, Cardinal Burke is still head of the Apostolic signatura. (He recently ordained some Institute of Christ the King priests. )  

For my fellow Liturgy lovers?  Despite a reprimand regarding the EF Form of Mass for the Franciscans Friars of the Immaculate (a move that I agree with by the way, as they used the Mass as a political tool...) The Summorum Pontificum Celebration/Anniversary is still taking place this October.  As well, in an address to the Italian Bishops, specifically with regard to this issue, 'The old Mass is not to be touched!'  It should be noted that Jesuits are/were never known to be great Liturgists...(See Msgr Guido Marini's aging the last 6 months..)

The media is clever and they are being told to divide Francis from Benedict.  The latest assault is that he is now friendly to Liberation Theology.  Some of it is good, while the Marxist stuff isn't.  So before anyone goes crazy; What are then Cardinal Bergoglio views on it?

'Though he is averse to liberation theology, which he views as hopelessly tainted with Marxist ideology, Cardinal Bergoglio has emphasized outreach to the impoverished, and as cardinal of Buenos Aires he has overseen increased social services and evangelization in the slums.' (The Conservative Touch)

Our Lady of Fatima,.............................ora pro nobis!

Pope Fiction and Media Nuttiness,...

     So it would seem that the media will soon be lighting up the message boards with a ‘This just in,..’ or better still, a ‘Breaking News!’  The story is that after a month of gushing from the social justice crowd, That Pope Francis in his Wednesday audience promoted the traditional roles of women as mothers and grandmothers.  The feminazis must be beet red with anger, their pantsuits crinkling with sweat from their furor.  (here)  Obviously in trying to separate Francis from Benedict, the media has all but covered every move the Pope has made, from the foot washing of the juvenile muslim girl yet covered up his positions on abortion, same sex unions, Satan, Confession(that’s biggie!) Eucharistic Adoration and Marian devotion.  Now suddenly, while the Traditional Catholics say ‘duh.’. the Traditionalists complain about his inexperience with the Extraordinary Form of Mass!  Pope Francis will soon be angering both the Rad Tradies and the Extreme Left, the media Honeymoon will soon be over.

     First off Happy Easter!  Christ is Risen!  Indeed He is Risen!  I hope everyone had a Blessed and Holy Easter.  Myself, this was truly a special Easter as it was my first as a Seminarian and sitting in the Sanctuary of the Church was a little surreal and a very intimate and spiritual experience.

     I haven’t blogged since the Easter season, busy with prayer, the Triduum and frankly upset and still hurting over the complete lack of respect shown to the Holy Father by so-called ‘Traditionalist Catholics.   I will not comment upon Pope Francis in any negative way.  Sadly, the Traditionalist movement has not reacted with the same obedience.  ‘But Marco, The Pope needs to,..blah blah blah,..’  Sorry.  The Pope is chosen by the Holy Spirit through the College of Cardinals, (not by consulting certain blogs!)  I for one, am not going to tell God what I think!  Instead, when I don’t understand something, (When Pope Benedict wanted to open a discussion with priests regarding Catholics and the issue of divorce in 2005,..) I take it as an opportunity for prayer and growth in personal holiness/sanctification. 

     We need to draw a distinction between a ‘Traditionalist’ as opposed to a ‘Traditional’ Catholic. A ‘Traditionalist’ to paraphrase a seminarian brother of mine, (Thanks Frank S) subscribes to an ideology. Any Catholic faithful to the Magisterium can rightfully be called a Traditional Catholic, although personally I tend to discourage the label and much prefer Catholic.  Catholic means that I accept the Teachings of the Catholic Church in Her fullness.  Truth cannot change, yet dogmas can and do evolve.  (We must remember that Aquinas at his time was nearly treated as a heretic for using Aristotle as his base.  The common school of thought was Plato and St Augustine.) 

To all the modernist heretics;

     The Pope will not ordain women.  This issue was closed in 1994, despite all the calls for the contrary.  The Pope can wash the feet of all the muslim women in the world, this act was done as a pastoral jest, one of service, not of ordination!  The media should have also said that the Pope is open to ordaining muslim girls to the priesthood,… Yup its that ridiculous!

     To all the angry whacko tradies;

The Pope will not repeal ‘Summorum Pontificum.’  Why would he?  The communities which celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form are growing in number, and their age is significantly younger than the people who frequent the Ordinary Form of Mass.  Why would he alienate a large part of his flock?  A Pope doesn’t undo what his predessesor does, he builds upon it!  Obviously this Pope’s charism is not Liturgy, (Monsignor Marini’s face being priceless,..as so far he has remained Master of Ceremonies) so I doubt this will be his priority. 

     To conclude, it will take some time for Pope Francis to learn how to be Pope.  Pope Benedict had his style, and Pope Francis will have his, in many ways the beauty of Catholicism!  To the modernist crowd, despite all your wishful thinking, no Truth will ever change, EVAAAAA!  To the RadTrads, if you don’t like something, sanctify yourself by praying and fasting!  Chill out and breathe!... In the end, its all about Jesus, not about our personal preference.

Our Lady of Fatima,.......................ora pro nobis!

Blowing Off Steam,..

Lord Jesus I thank you for the gift you gave Holy Mother Church.  The Holy Spirit selected Pope Francis and I along with all the baptized faithful, pledge obedience, loyalty and respect.  These are exiting times.  I think back to 2008, when 'Confessions' was launched, I Optimusmastro was in a relationship with an amazing woman, discerning marriage,.. (actually was running away fro priesthood! ) and we were in the middle of Pope Benedict's reign.  All Popes are gifts to the Church and in many respects, represent where the Church's mission is at the moment.  Pope Francis has already indicated that he is a man of prayer, deeply devoted to the Blessed Mother, and to the poor.

What saddened me, were the reactions almost immediately that the so-called 'Spirit of VII' crowd was diappointed,....again.  This Pope has about as much chance of ordaining women and marrying gays, as of repealing the laws of gravity.  He is a stalwart defender of orthodoxy, but what makes him truly dangerous, (in the socialist view) is the fact that he is extremely pro preferential option for the poor!  WOW!  Truth and humility?  Has there been any other?  Well,.. All Popes charism's were necessary at the time of their elevation to the Papacy,..But this Pope has shown strength and humility,..

On the other side of the coin,. **sigh**.  I have never hid the fact that I love the Liturgy.  Though I consider myself a Blessed JPII kind of guy, I admired Benedict for his Liturgical appreciation.  Ordinary Form and Extraordinary both accepted and promoted.  Liturgy at the end of the day is the work of God, and the people participate in it.  What I do have a problem with is the angry radical crowd of Liturgical perfectionists angry at anything not Latin.  Then within minutes of Francis' election they were complaining that he didn't celebrate the EF Form?  C'mon!!!!!!!  First off, I love the Extraordinary Rite, I really do,.. but a well celebrated Ordinary Form is great too,.. This is not a question of 'either' 'or'... But instead of, 'Both' 'And!'...I appreciate Church Militant TV, as well as EWTN, Catholic Answers, and of course Word on Fire!!!! (Fr Barron is my modern intellectual hero while I await the day to train with Fr Steve Grunow! ;)) What I do have a problem with is not so much the Vortex, with Michael Voris, but the fanbase who eagerly await the next episode exposing liturgical abuses within an Ambrosian Rite parish in Iceland,.. These people remind me of people, (sorry to say this,..) who are addicted to porn, complete (sorry for the image, but,..) with a box of kleenex beside them.


The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, but She is also very human.  Jesus promised infallibility, not impeccability, and we at times seem to forget that.  In St Matthew's Gospel, we read that the gates of hell will not prevail.  That, my friends, is Jesus speaking!  So whatever Pope steps out on the balcony is the will of God!  By obedience do we attain sanctification!  Pope Francis, I, your lowly seminarian pledge my obedience to you.

Thanks be to God for the gift of Pope Francis!

Sedevacante Day 1,..

     Well aware that Jesus is head of the Church, His vicar St Peter’s chair is empty.  Times like this, I can’t help but feel like an orphan.  In 2005, we watched Grandpa (Pope John Paul II) pass away with a teaching catechism on aging and death.  Fast forward to 2013, and Benedict XVI Pope Emeritus has taught the world that the Papacy is not power, but a very large responsibility to be at the service of. 

I will post some prayers to St Peter for the next few days; 

-Thou art the Shepherd of the sheep, the Prince of the Apostles, unto thee were given the keys of the kingdom of heaven. "Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church." Raise us up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by the apostolic assistance of blessed Peter, Thine Apostle; so that the weaker we are, the more mightily we may be helped by the power of his intercession; and that being perpetually defended by the same holy apostle, we may niether yield to any iniquity, nor be overcome by any adversity. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.-

Lord Jesus, send us a strong, holy and heroic Pope!  Let us confer this request to the intercession of the most Blessed Mother!

Veni Creator Spiritus!

Two Champions, the End of an Era.

**Networkedblogs will continue to autopublish on all my social networks despite my absense**

It is almost laughable, the media storm surrounding the Pope’s decision to step down.  Really it is almost coming off as an intellectual assault whereby the mass media, y’know ‘experts’ on everything, seemingly run the gammut of news programs and trot out on stage nearly every heretic and dissident priest and theologian for an interview.  What is truly most perplexing, is the amount of Facebook armchair/keyboard ‘theologiunnns’ weighing in on the subject.  You have the orthodox crowd with the most balanced opinions, but the truly ‘fun’ opinions come from the schismatics, sedevacantists and conclavists all the way to the crackpot ‘Call to Action’ aging hippie crowd trying desperately to propagate Pope ‘Sr’ Joan Chittister in the chair of St Peter along with a magisterium of the LCWR.  Let’s not forget,.yesterday, in light of Benedict’s announcement,  ‘Fr’ Hans Kung  was let out of his modernist asylum in order to contribute his two cents of subjectivist ridden ‘Spirit of VII’ sappy drivel and all out tired heterodoxy.  

      

Yet sifting through the ‘experts’ in the media , it produced a fun conversation at lunch between Seminarians and Clergy.  We all agreed on this one, who was more conservative Pope John Paul II or Pope Benedict XVI?  For us, the answer was clear and simple, Pope John Paul II was way more ‘conservative’ than Pope Benedict XVI simply because he had to be!   These men inherited entirely different Churches!  In 1978, The Holy Spirit chose Pope John Paul II when the Church was ready to dislocate from the inside.  Heretic Bishops and Cardinals were the norm, and the post Council euphoria (stemming from commentaries, not from the Documents) took possession of an entire generation of pseudo Marxists dressed up as clergy.  So what did Pope John Paul II do?  Well, he didn’t stick around the Vatican,.much.. Instead, he travelled and put the Bishops on stages introducing them to their own flocks.  World Youth Day was created and Pope John Paul II was the catechist.  Next up, he took a young liberal theologian and rising VII ‘star’ (back then,..) and stuck him in as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith!  (Translation, your goofy nutty opinions from Tubingen will now have to be kept to yourself as you will be definding the Truth!)   This young guy though was a lover of liturgy, despite his sometimes questionable theology, (Karl Rahner esque).  So now we have Pope John Paul II and then Bishop Joseph Ratzinger as a tag team which in the eyes of the modernist crowd were akin to Hawk and Animal from the Road Warriors! (Gratuitous wrestling reference!).   Next up was ‘liberation theology’ a dressed up Marxist ideology which essentially reinterpreted the Gospel.  The tag-team went right after Leonardo Boff and his South American compatriots, reigning them in and finally publically disciplining them. 

As they say, new heretic, new paragraph!  This time, the dynamic duo turned their attention to Fr Hans Kung, the ‘Godfather’ of ultimate nuttiness!  He published a book critiquing the Infallibility of the Pope, called for women’s ordination and has been part and parcel of every dissident fest since the silly sixties.  Well, Pope John Paul II suspended him as a Catholic theologian, and sent him into the Bermuda Triangle of the Church.  Next up was appointing quiet Bishops,..guys who would work behind the scenes, cleaning up chancery offices.  In this regard, Michael Voris is right, they were quiet, but they had no choice, they could only operate in that manner!  The 1980s, had seminaries chalked full of heretic professors, however, an interesting phenomenon was happening, the seminarians themselves were more and more ‘orthodox!’  The 80s gave way to the 90 and by the end, the information age!  The information age gave way to a new generation of laymen (bloggers) discovering their Faith, through other avenues, social media, EWTN, Catholic Answers,..you name it!  So while the Bishops were being replaced by younger ones, younger priests were playing ‘the game’ in seminaries across the world, hiding from their formators and telling them what they wanted to hear    !  Get to ordination and then be Faithful!  The sacraments and people’s souls were at stake!  In 2005, Pope John Paul II taught us how to age and then finally die.  The athletic charismatic Pope was shown to the world as a frail old man, who needed to depend upon others. 

      

Enter Pope Benedict XVI.  A different man who inherited an entirely different Church!  Orthodoxy and the hermeneutics of continuity was settling in as Vatican II was only now being received.  Pope Benedict, now had some allies in the Vatican(for the most part, with the exception of a few powerful people), and could focus upon other things, namely Reform of the Reform regarding the Liturgy.  So while the chances of Pope John Paul II inviting Fr Hans Kung for coffee was in the same breath as the chances of a man giving birth, Pope Benedict had no problem inviting his former collegue over for a chat, which he did!  He also wanted to have a open discussion regarding divorced Catholics.  While Pope Benedict as Cardinal Ratzinger was known as the ‘panzer-kardinal,’ now he was given charge of the universal Church as its supreme Pastor!

     

  Following in the Pontificate of Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict reasserted Catholic doctrine and dogma on all things.  With regards to the extreme right, the Priestly Fraternity of St Pius X, the Pope sought to reconcile them to the Church, lifting the excommunications and did everything possible except give them the keys to the Magisterium itself, (see my posts on the SSPX,..).  The Motu Propio regarding the Extraordinary Form of Mass and an invitation to commence doctrinal talks regarding ‘Religious Liberty’ which has nothing to do with doctrine at all.  Essentially an amplification for a prelature which was already offered them in the 1980s under Pope John Paul II, however, he left it and asked the Bishops to be generous, clearly this was ignored, with the exception of the Ecclesia Dei commission giving birth to the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP.)

      

Pope John Paul II was an athlete, Pope Benedict is an intellectual.  While John Paul II had to toe a more strict line, he possessed the media savvy to hide it all.  Young people loved their ‘Grandpa Pope’ and he felt close to them.  Nevertheless, under his Pontificate was published Evangelium Vitae, (abortion always wrong and intrinsically evil), Veritatis Splendor (lays the smackdown on modernism,..again..), Pastores Dabo Vobis (reiterated Thomas Aquinas and proper metaphysics for the training of priests, and includes a human dimension as well) and finally Dominus Iesus (Re-asserts the Catholic position with regards to other Faith communities and religions.)  Pope Benedict, marks his pontificate with a Reform of the Liturgy, something his predessessor didn’t get to, and of course being Polish, wasn’t exactly known as a Liturgist! (subtle humour!)  Pope John Paul showed us strength, and Pope Benedict has taught us humility.  That the Papacy is not his to grab, instead, it is to serve.  In resigning the Papacy, Pope Benedict showed the entire world, his frailty and most importantly, his humanity!

The modernists are heading into extinction, along with the 'Spirit' of VII poltergeist, and while they are sounding the death rattle, the true Council is about ready to begin.  Obviously the work of the Holy Spirit, but these two men were the instruments God used.

As for the sedevacante conclavists and overall whackjobs, depending upon where you live, they always seem to have one 'pope,'  and yes, Pope Michael is still my favorite! 

      

To conclude, I will link the text to the Pope’s resignation speech to the consistory of Cardinals. (See here )For many, it came out of left field.  We were all taken a back.  Now we place our trust squarely in the Holy Spirit as ultimately God will choose a successor for us.  These two giants are the last of a breed.  A breed of priest ordained before Vatican II and thus were charged with rescuing the Council from misapplication and error.  May God guide us as we the Church of Christ, enter into a new era.  An era where relativism should have swept us away, still though we may experience the Cross, we are ever confident in the Ressurection!  God bless you Pope Benedict XVI, keep us all in prayer!  We will pray for you and for your successor!

**On a sidenote, I've been off FB (though my account is open) for Lent, please keep me in prayer!  God bless!**

Veni Creator Spiritus!

Historic day,..

There are 8 Popes in history who have resigned,..Whatever the reasons, Pope Benedict we will miss you and our prayers are with you.  God bless!

Our Lady of Lourdes,........................ora pro nobis!

Pope speaks on Africa,..

Pope Benedict XVI once again caused a secular tsunami over his remarks regarding condoms. According to the Pope,..condoms don't prevent AIDS. It is really amazing how the media looks to isolate a sentence thereby making who they want to look stupid,..look stupid. Now for all you media folks out there, I'm about to drop a bombshell,..are you ready, sitting down?,..Okay here goes......THE POPE IS CATHOLIC!..Yes it is true, I figured that would need some clarification, especially in light of the fact that the media is either secular or filled with dissident catholics, y'know the Richard McBrien type...First off, back in the sixties and seventies there was this magical document called 'Humanae Vitae.' It came in light of questions concerning whether or not Catholics would be allowed to use artificial birth control. Pope Paul VI orchestrated this document about the dangers of artificial contraception, (ie promiscuity...etc) and today he looks like a prophet!

The root problem is that we (mankind,..oops humankind) need to humanize the sexual act as a free expression between two married people,..not just a sensual pastime designed in order to get off. OOOOhhhhh, I can almost hear the groans from the left, dissidents everywhere saying, 'yeah, but they're gonna do 'it' anyway, at least they'll be safe with condoms. Well to them I say if their kids are doing heroin, instead of getting to the root of the problem, we should just give them clean needles!

Ciao..!