"Jesus could have limited His Presence only to the celebration of the Mass, but no! He wanted to make a permanent dwelling among us.
(St. John Bosco from 15 Days of Prayer With Don Bosco)
Am I understanding this correctly?
Catholics have been poorly catechized for more than five decades. They do not know their Faith and very few practice it. Their spiritual shepherds (for the most part) have not taught them the Faith.
Polls indicate that the majority of those claiming to be "Catholic" actually reject many of the Church’s teachings on such fundamental issues as the Real Presence of our Lord in the Sacred Eucharist, attendance at Sunday Mass, abortion, artificial insemination, contraception, euthanasia, the family, active homosexual lifestyle, same sex marriage and transgenderism.
Yet these same shepherds who have failed to teach,
fraternally correct or defend the fundamental Truths of our Catholic Faith are
now going to listen to, and to seek the opinion of, “Catholics” who don’t know
their faith, don’t live or practice their Faith, and even publicly oppose the
teachings of the Catholic Church. They will also "listen" to the viewpoints of non-Catholics
and atheists. Is this a wise and prudent path to follow?
Since when do teachers seek to be taught by their students or by those who know nothing of the subject matter being reviewed? Reminds me of the parable of the blind man in Luke 6:39: "A person who is blind cannot guide another who is
blind, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?".
Our bishops are embarking on this journey in order to discern “the direction in which [God] wants to lead” His Church and how we are “to empty ourselves, to free ourselves from all that is worldly, including our inward-looking and outworn pastoral models”.
Truth is not arrived at by seeking some type of consensus among disparate groups and individuals. Jesus Christ is the Truth. The Deposit of Faith already exists. We need but follow Him and It.
Does
it shock you to be told that our reliance for more than two thousand
years upon the clear example, teaching and guidance of our Lord, our
sacred liturgies and the exemplary lives of countless saints, was
misguided, is outdated and of little or no value to Catholics today?
This simple man must ask: Have we gone absolutely mad? How many souls will be lost for all eternity over the next few years as we travel down this rabbit hole? Just look at the rotten fruit and confusion being generated by the German Synod.
Rather than making that error, let us do three simple things certain to revitalize our Faith:
- Acknowledge that it is God and God alone Who will transform us and His Church. We need only to humble ourselves, get down on our knees and ask.
- Restore reverent silence and a sense of the sacred within our Church buildings at all times and most especially during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; and
- Unlock our Church doors and invite everyone professing to be Catholic to spend time on their knees, visiting and adoring God Almighty, present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
It will be a much shorter and more fruitful journey.
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| (Photo©Michael Seagriff) |
When He said this, many of His friends left Him, because they did not understand what He said. 'Who can accept these words?' they asked. They tried to understand it with their intellects and so they left Him. This gift far transcends all natural understanding; when this food is eaten, the eater becomes one with what he eats."
(Johann Tauler, O.P. from Spiritual Conferences)
Pope Pius XI
“…if Christ is to reign as King of nations, he must first
reign totally as King of individuals…” Christ must reign in our minds - which
must assent firmly and submissively to all revealed truth and to all Christ's
teachings. He must reign in our wills - which should bow in obedience to
God's law and precepts. He must reign in our hearts which turning aside
from all natural desires should love God above all things and cling to Him
alone. He must reign in our bodies and our members which should serve as
instruments of our souls sanctification.”
(From Encyclical - Quas Primas)
Johann Tauler, O.P.
“Dear children, to receive the Sacrament worthily is the best and finest thing that we can do, but to come to it unworthily and unprepared is the most terrible and sorrowful of all things.”
(From Spiritual Conferences)
Father Jacques Philippe
"By accepting the sufferings ‘offered’ by life and allowed by God for our progress and purification, we spare ourselves much harder ones. We need to develop this kind of realism and, once and for all, stop dreaming of a life without suffering or conflict. That is the life of heaven, not earth. We must take up our cross and follow Christ courageously every day; the bitterness of that cross will sooner or later be transformed into sweetness."
(From Interior
Freedom)
(From A Eucharistic Handbook by Saint Peter Julian Eymard)
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| Photo by Joshua Eckstein on Unsplash |
Few books that I have read have had more of an impact on me than God, A Woman and The Way, written in 1954 by Trappist, Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. Unfortunately, getting copies of this superlative book now is a challenge.
Today, we are quick to blame our bishops and priests for the sorry condition of our world and God's Church. It is true that far too many of them can be justly criticized for not teaching and defending the Truth, for creating ambiguity in the Church's teaching where none existed, and for living lives inconsistent with their call to be alter Christus.
But their failures, however, do not excuse our own. We lay folk far outnumber our ordained and flawed shepherds. As Father Raymond points out, our world would be far different if we lay Catholics had fulfilled our obligation to be true witnesses of Christ.
Let this gifted Trappist set the stage for his observations with these excerpts from Pope Pius XI's Quas Primas:
“if Christ is to reign as King of nations, he must first reign totally as King of individuals…Christ must reign in our minds - which must assent firmly and submissively to all revealed truth and to all Christ's teachings. He must reign in our wills - which should bow in obedience to God's law and precepts. He must reign in our hearts which turning aside from all natural desires should love God above all things and cling to Him alone. He must reign in our bodies and our members which should serve as instruments of our souls’ sanctification.”
Now let Father Raymond's observations penetrate our hearts and souls:
"If each Catholic in these United States acted at all times
as a Catholic should, the impact on Communism [insert the “ism” of your choice - Marxism, socialism, modernism, transgenderism, etc.] in these United States and
all over the world would be very like the impact of the tiny stone David flung
at Goliath. We may be numerically small in comparison with the whole; the “armor
of Saul” most likely will not fit us; but we have the sling and we have the
stones from the brook. Is it that we lack courage?
It takes courage to be a Christian. It takes great courage
to go out and meet Christ when He is on the road to Calvary…It is not easy to
be a follower of Jesus. But it is glory! And if Faith be the central problem of
our day, then faith with fortitude is the only solution. Each of us who has
been baptized is called upon to be a witness to Christ.
Do you know what that means?...A witness is a man whose life
and faith are so completely one that when the challenge comes to step out and
testify for his faith, he does so, disregarding all risks, accepting all
consequences…
[Whittaker] Chambers says a life of faith must be one. That is, the individual must not only have a lively faith but must live his faith. He must believe with his whole being what he professes to believe with his lips. He must say aloud his Credo, not with words, but with every action of his life. He must be a Catholic not only for the hour or so he spends in church on Sunday, but he must be Christ twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks of the year..."
Have you been an effective witness of Christ? If not, begin today.
"The Eucharist is alive. If a stranger who knew nothing about the Eucharist were to watch the way we receive, would he know...
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