I think the Arkes piece is especially worth pondering, given the overt quoting of Lincoln's "A House Divided" speech:
These
[of the Pope] are words familiar, and ever sustaining. But the problem is that they
would be the words ever to be spoken by a statesman bringing about “a
new order of things,” even while the familiar forms are still in place.
From
an earlier crisis, some words of Lincoln are called back: “[W]hen we
see a lot of framed timbers, different portions of which we know have
been gotten out at different times and places and by different workmen. .
. and when we see these timbers joined together. . .the lengths and
proportions of the different pieces exactly adapted to their respective
places,” we are left with the uneasy sense that something is being
prepared for us.
Is it alarmist? No, not if you take the word of Adolfo Nicolas, the Pope's confrere at the head of the Jesuits, who suggests a "revolution" could be in the offing for next year's synod finale.
Lest we forget, the Pope appointed Nicolas to the drafting committee, so he's no mere gum-flapper. After all, you'll have another year's worth of Francis appointees and wet fingers testing the wind for next year's meeting...
Look, if you're satisfied with some orthodox lip service, you'll get that. Enjoy your pot of message. But those pushing a moral revolution are focusing on praxis, and praxis is culture. Praxis is where you win. And they're playing to win.
At best, the orthodox are playing not to lose. At worst, they are strenuously arguing that not only is there no game, there is no such sport.
So...we're doomed. Okay. Do we just roll over, close our eyes, and think of England?
ReplyDeleteThere's no enemy to fight. There's no way to counter this. The battle is lost.
I guess I should quit bothering with church on Sunday and, I don't know...sleep in...or go to Starbucks...or...hmm...I don't know.
I guess, at the end of the day, I don't know what the point of all this hand wringing is. It's all beyond our control.
How does that not render the promises attributed to Christ and at the "core" of the Church's self-justification since (at least) the Protestant Revolt null and utterly void?
And, seriously, what do we do about it? Accept that all this is just farce and we've been duped?
Not even a relentless Eeyore like me would counsel giving up.
ReplyDeleteI would say that it's not entirely beyond our control. For my part, I'm content if I can see others at least wake up to the notion there is a problem. From that, something flows. Finding that one is not alone in a world that threatens to go completely bughouse is no small thing.
What can I do? I can pray, I can stand up in my diocese against those trying to confuse the issue, I can support my bishop and pastor when they stand for truth, and the like.
And even if it happens that certain processes are beyond our control, that doesn't mean our actions are meaningless. Just because something is not *sufficient* does not mean it is not *necessary.*
But surely none of this is unexpected? Our Lady has been coming to have certain little chats with some people, you know in Quito, Fatima, La Salette, Fatima, Akita. The diabolical disorientation is here, and lots more to come.
DeleteBut as said by my betters: stand fast, support the good when we see it, don't panic, and pray the Rosary.
Barbara
Dale. You gotta read Zmirak's great piece at Rorate. He identifies exactly where the bear shit in the buckwheat (Vermont idiom).
ReplyDeleteFrancis will pay the ultimate price of Divine Providence being withdrawn from him if he ( as we both expect he will) continues this war.
M.J. prays for him daily but he shows no sigs of anything other than an advance to the rear and from where he can try to relaunch his revolution.
He is courting death and he has nobody to blame but his own self.
Dang. M.J. intended to write that the Pope advanced to the rear, not retreated
ReplyDeleteI lose hope several times a day. But here's one of the things that keeps me going:
ReplyDelete"The men in charge know they have a relatively short time-frame (in terms of Church history) to remake the Church. But each one of us knows the generations of priests who are coming of age. We know them in our parishes, chapels, and oratories. They are not simply the sons of large rural families who ended up entering seminaries and religious orders almost automatically, who formed so many generations of great priests, but some of whom lost the faith (and even left the priesthood) amid the post-conciliar chaos. They are men who chose to do so against all easier and more comfortable options of the contemporary world, who actually believe in God, who were deeply inspired by John Paul II, who may not be traditionalists (as Wojtyla certainly wasn't) but who are confidently conservative.
"The men in charge are taking a huge risk: they are bringing the pendulum to their side almost to breaking point. When it moves to the other side, the reaction (yes, reaction) will be so strong and loud and clear they will regret their playing with the Eternal Truth. Liberals, we know most of you don't believe in God, but indeed He does exist: and "Be not deceived, God is not mocked." (Galatians 6:7)"
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-purge-will-hit-new-levels-they-know.html
It's always darkest before the storm
ReplyDeletehttp://athanasiuscm.org/2014/10/21/aude-sapere-006-meet-archbishop-bruno-forte/comment-page-1/#comment-362