"The groundwork is being laid. I'll be even stronger than Msgr. Pope: any attempt to separate Christ from His words by invoking some modern notion of how merciful He should be preaches another Christ. Back when the Church listened to St. Paul, that was a serious problem.
One of the things I always liked about Catholicism was that it had a full life of the mind. Now I'm not so sure: hardly a day goes by without the Pope, his inner circle, defenders of his initiatives or his vociferous fans insulting my intelligence. The past two years have been a cult of personality and papal positivism run amuck. But I'm the problem because I'm believing my lying eyes.
I'm so tired of it. Spiritually, emotionally, and even physically. So very tired."
Courage, friend. If nothing else, you may take comfort in this: the Church endures, but no Pope is forever.
ReplyDeleteI hear you, Dale. I don't have any glib words of wisdom. I do have prayers, for what they are worth.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying very hard to pay no attention to what's going on in the news or in Rome. It helps me a bit to just keep my head down, pray the Office, sing Divine Liturgy, and raise my family.
We are not foolish enough to think the church is perfect but we do expect it to be better, more consistent, mature, noble than the newspaper world we read about daily.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't know what to tell you, Dale, except that I'm praying for you, brother.
ReplyDeleteElijah was afraid. And rising up, he went away to wherever his will would carry him. And he arrived in Beersheba of Judah. And he dismissed his servant there. And he continued on, into the desert, for one day's journey. And when he had arrived, and was sitting under a juniper tree, he requested for his soul that he might die. And he said: "It is enough for me, O Lord. Take my soul. For I am no better than my fathers." And he stretched himself out, and he slept deeply in the shadow of the juniper tree. And behold, an Angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him, "Rise up and eat." He looked, and behold, at his head was bread baked under ashes, and a container of water. Then he ate and drank, and again he slept deeply. And the Angel of the Lord returned a second time, and touched him, and said to him: "Rise up, eat. For a great journey again stands before you." And he when he had risen up, he ate and drank. And he walked by the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights, as far as the mountain of God, Horeb. And when he had arrived there, he stayed in a cave. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" And he responded: "I have been very zealous on behalf of the Lord, the God of hosts. For the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant. They have torn down your altars. They have killed your prophets with the sword. I alone remain. And they are seeking my life, so that they may take it away." And he said to him, "Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by. And there was a great and strong wind, tearing apart the mountains, and crushing the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, there was an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the whisper of a gentle breeze. And when Elijah had heard it, he covered his face with his cloak, and going out, he stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there was a voice to him, saying: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" And he responded: "I have been very zealous on behalf of the Lord, the God of hosts. For the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant. They have torn down your altars. They have killed your prophets with the sword. I alone remain. And they are seeking my life, so that they may take it away." And the Lord said to him: "Go, and return on your way, through the desert, to Damascus. And when you have arrived there, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Syria. And you shall anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi, as king over Israel. But Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who is from Abelmeholah, you shall anoint to be a prophet in your place. And this shall be: whoever will have escaped from the sword of Hazael, will be slain by Jehu. And whoever will have escaped from the sword of Jehu, will be put to death by Elisha. And I will leave for myself seven thousand men in Israel, whose knees have not been bent before Baal, and every mouth that has not adored him, kissing hands."
ReplyDeletePlease don't give up!!! There are good priests and bishops who are aware of all the problems. Be positive! Support your "good priests" by sending letters of support for him to his bishop. Send letters of support for good bishops to Rome. We must become stronger & more-pro-active for the sake of the good clergy who are suffering. The progressives within the church, & they are in almost every parish, are very good at networking with letters to flush good priests. Don't just give-up. Support our brave clergy in a real way. I am the mother of a good priest. Solid Catholics accomplish little by complaining & just reading about the problems. Let's really network for the good clergy!!!
ReplyDeleteHang on as this too shall pass. Despite how taken with his own notoriety our Pontiff may be, the Holy Spirit will rein him in when necessary. God's will be done and may He have mercy upon us all.
ReplyDelete“When Christ at a symbolic moment was establishing His great society, He chose for its cornerstone neither the brilliant Paul nor the mystic John, but a shuffler, a snob, a coward – in a word, a man. And upon this rock He has built His Church, and the gates of Hell have not prevailed against it. All the empires and the kingdoms have failed, because of this inherent and continual weakness, that they were founded by strong men and upon strong men. But this one thing, the historic Christian Church, was founded on a weak man, and for that reason it is indestructible. For no chain is stronger than its weakest link.” - G.K.Chesterton
ReplyDelete“Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave.” - G.K.Chesterton
ReplyDeleteThe flock was protected from the same kind of nonsense (and evil) in the Age of Sail, whereas we suffer the slings and arrows of a thousand tweets and blog posts from water carriers, intent on gilding every lily that sprouts forth from the dung heap of compromise that has reigned for too long. As insane and facile as it may sound, we really are "just" living through a gigantic Vatican clique, spiritually on par with the darkness of the Borgias, but cloaked in the light of religious platitudes and feel-goodism. I've said it for months: the captain is a Spiritual Borgia and this barque's not big enough for the both of us. My consolation is that I'm simply holding to the faith, while Francis & Co. is holding to it self. "I must increase that He may increase." Wrong. The fact that he released multi-colored balloons this year instead of doves says all you need to know about him, both semiotically and anagogically. "This shall not end well" (for agitators who would bury Christ's Lordship under the mantle of His own mercy). Look for fireworks, and hang on to the gunwales!
ReplyDeleteSimilarly appalled here. Praying for you--
ReplyDeletefrom Sybil Marshall AKA Arowyn (let's HUNT some ORC)
Damn, the torpedoes. Full speed ahead!
ReplyDeleteKarl