Something about the Virgin Mary and "poop" to be specific. Be prepared, I'm gonna get all fire and brimstone in this post.
Before I click on the blog post "Seeing Beyond the Poop: Mary’s Perfect Love" by RACHEL PENATE, I go see what "Life Teen" is all about.
Our Mission"As a Eucharist-centered movement within the Roman Catholic Church, Life Teen leads teenagers and their families into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. With the Blessed Virgin Mary as our intercessor and guide, Life Teen seeks to unleash the fullness of the Sacramental power present within the young Church."
That part sounds great, so I clicked on the video...
...and I was more than a bit disappointed. As a convert to the Catholic Church, seeing anything remotely Protestant-like used to bring anyone (especially our youth) to a deeper understanding and love of our Faith is very bothersome to me. We are Catholic, we don't need Protestant gimmicks! Folks, this is NOT what Catholicism is supposed to look like. This is not the Catholicism of our great Saints and the Apostles in the Bible. This is what happens when Catholic clergy think they need to be "hip" and mimic Protestant mega churches and televangelists to keep the attention of Catholic youth. Life Teen claims their mission is "Eucharist centered"...I have to ask after watching that video, just what do they believe the Eucharist to be?
"When the Eucharist is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the divine victim immolated on the altar." ~ St. John ChrysostomFrom watching the video, this screenshot (below) seems to be a Mass (I hope it's not,and if anyone knows for sure please share). But if it is...
The Mass IS Calvary. Does anyone seriously think, if they traveled back in time, that this is how they would act on Calvary while Jesus was nailed on the cross suffering for our sins? If you wouldn't behave like this THEN don't do it at Mass now!
"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the centuries until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us" (Sacrosanctum Concilium 47)
Before anyone gets on my case about shredding Catholic youth ministries, I am all for it. I love to see Catholic youth get together for love of their Faith. That's great, I'm not criticizing everything in the video. But lets keep it Catholic. Authentic Catholicism, not to ever be confused with Protestantism- who reject the Eucharist as the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. When you blur the lines you get folks leaving the Church because hey, they're all the same right? The Church had no problem before the spirit of Vatican II came along, raising Catholic kids who stayed in the Church and became Catholic adults - without all the hands in the air and Kumbyah moments. Okay, enough about the video.
I clicked back to the "poop" post and read in part...
"Even the Poop - Have you ever felt as though you can’t relate to Mary because she is so perfect?
Being a mom has taught me that Mary actually doesn’t mind all of our “poop.” Before my daughter was born, I probably changed a total of three diapers, and each time I gagged a whole lot. I was a little bit surprised upon spending the first few days with my little girl that I didn’t care one bit about her poop. It was still poop, it was still gross, but it was somehow different – she was my daughter. Mary looks at all the “poop” in our lives – those dumb situations we often weasel ourselves into – and she
doesn’t bat an eye. It doesn’t bother her, but (the best part is) she doesn’t leave us in our filth. She sees the messiness in our lives, and with her assistance, she offers us a change of heart and practice.
For Real -Do you ever feel undeserving of Mary’s attention and love?
Me too. But the good news is this: By simply being her child (despite any insecurity or impurity), Mary loves us. My daughter hasn’t done much of anything to win my love. She poops, she sleeps, she does smile, but she also has a terrifying scream. There has been no conversation, no plea in which she’s vied for my attention or poetically tried to win me over. She is my daughter regardless of what she has, says, or does. And, I love her intensely. Mary’s love for us is even deeper than this, and thank goodness for that! Because, my insecurities and impurities are overwhelming sometimes and a life in which we need to constantly prove ourselves is exhausting. We don’t need to prove anything to Mary. Her love is unconditional."
Horse-hockey!
Really? "Mary looks at all the “poop” in our lives – those dumb situations we often weasel ourselves into – and she doesn’t bat an eye. It doesn’t bother her..." Maybe I am wrong here, but is "poop" supposed to be sin? If so, then the author is wrong. Any time we sin it bothers Mary because it hurts her Son and separates us from God! Duh! How anyone can say that the Holy Virgin Mary, the Mother God "doesn't bat an eye" when we sin is beyond me. But hey, maybe the "poop" the author is talking about is not sin. To be honest, its hard for me to tell from her post just what she is talking about by "those dumb situations we often weasel ourselves into". Like what? The author doesn't tell us so we are left guessing.
'There are many who arrive at the faith, but few that are led into the heavenly kingdom.' -Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor and Father of the ChurchAll this "unconditional love" talk can be misleading. No one should confuse "unconditional love" with a free pass to sin -which is a mistake most Protestant groups make. Does Mary love us? Sure! Doesn't Jesus? Sure Jesus loves us and we are sinners, but he didn't come so we could stay in our sin and end up damned. That's the link that is missing in all this "poop" talk. Sin leads to Hell. I sincerely hope no Catholic of any age, actually believes that Mary "doesn't bat an eye" at people in sin.
Read what the Virgin Mary, the Holy Mother of God told Saint Bridget of Sweden about sin:
'They pierce his side when they have the intention of persevering in sin.
I tell you truly, and you can tell this to my friends, that in the sight of my Son such people are more unjust than those who sentenced him, worse enemies than those who crucified him, more shameless than those who sold him. A greater punishment is due to them than to the others. . .
Pilate sentenced him due to fear, in accordance with the petition and intention of others. These people sentence him for their own advantage and without any fear, by dishonoring him through sin that they could abstain from, if they wanted. But they neither abstain from sin nor are they ashamed of their already committed sins, for they do not take into consideration their unworthiness of the kindness of the one whom they do not serve.' -Our Lady, 'The Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden'
Anyone still think Mary "doesn't bat an eye" at sin?
I think our youth and their parents need to learn more about the reality of hell and understand that they might very well end up there if they insist on following heretical nonsense because it gives them the warm-fuzzies.
'Meditate on the horrors of Hell which will last for eternity because of one easily-committed mortal sin. Try hard to be among the few who are chosen. Think of the eternal flames of Hell, and how few there are that are saved.' - St. Benedict Joseph LabreThe confused author goes on to say:
"There is nothing we can do to lose her favor as her children. Even when we don’t deserve it. I think of my own mom who always stood right by me in the mess I made but then pointed me to something greater. I want to be just like that – always there by my daughter’s side guiding the way; always there with her while she chases her dreams, even running right by her side if necessary. This is Mary, Our Lady. She has hope for our future and is always leading us back to the One — the only One — who has the power to fulfill our every hope and desire."That my friends is NOT the Gospel message. Jesus is NOT there to "fulfill our every hope and desire." Sure, He's got the power, but the author is being misleading here. Jesus came as our SACRIFICE, our SAVIOR. He is not our genie in a lamp to grant us wishes so all our hopes and desires are *poof* magically given to us.
Jesus was tortured and died so we could have eternal life in Heaven with Him, IF we repent of all sin, live our Catholic Faith as it was handed down from the Apostles. Jesus told us to pick up our crosses and follow him. He didn't say He'd give us "our every hope and desire" in this life. If we make it to eternity with Him in Heaven, then and only then will we have "our every hope and desire" precisely because we are in Heaven for eternity with Christ! What more could anyone want? The issue is, very few ever make it to Heaven. Our Catholic youth would do well to understand this and never forget it.
The road to salvation is not easy and along the way Jesus is NOT giving us "our every hope and desire", that is pure Protestantism and no one should be teaching our Catholic youth this heresy! What Jesus gives us in this life is the GRACE we need to get to eternity with Him. What we do with that grace is up to us.'Woe to you who command others! If so many are damned by your fault, what will happen to you? If few out of those who are first in the Church of God are saved, what will happen to you? Take all states, both sexes, every condition: husbands, wives, widows, young women, young men, soldiers, merchants, craftsmen, rich and poor, noble and plebian. What are we to say about all these people who are living so badly? The following narrative from Saint Vincent Ferrer will show you what you may think about it. He relates that an archdeacon in Lyons gave up his charge and retreated into a desert place to do penance, and that he died the same day and hour as Saint Bernard. After his death, he appeared to his bishop and said to him, "Know, Monsignor, that at the very hour I passed away, thirty-three thousand people also died. Out of this number, Bernard and myself went up to heaven without delay, three went to purgatory, and all the others fell into Hell."' -St. Leonard of Port Maurice
Our youth don't need gimmicks folks! Just the Truth. Tell the youth the Truth, teach them reverence and holiness and scare the Hell right out of them! Teach them that the Mass is Calvary and how to properly behave, dress and worship. Priests must feed the sheep with what God gave His Holy Catholic Church alone, and for the love of God Himself, quit feeding them Protestantism! It's poison!
'I truly am supreme charity itself; for all things that I have done from eternity, I have done out of charity; and, in the same way, all things that I do and shall do in the future proceed entirely from my charity. For charity is as incomprehensible and intense in me now as it was at the time of my passion when, through my death and out of exceeding charity, I freed from hell all the elect who were worthy of this redemption and liberation. For if it were still possible that I might die as many times as there are souls in hell so that for each of them I might again endure such a death as I then endured for all, my body would still be ready to undergo all these things with a glad will and most perfect charity. But, in fact, it is now impossible that my body could once more die or suffer any pain or tribulation. And it is also just as impossible that any soul that after my death has been or will be condemned to hell would ever again be freed from there, or would enjoy the heavenly gladness that my saints and chosen ones enjoy at the glorious sight of my body.
No, the damned will feel the pains of hell in an everlasting death because they did not will to enjoy the benefit of my death and passion and did not will to follow my will while they lived in the world.' - Christ, to St. Bridget of Sweden, 'The Revelations'
In Christ,
Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner
Links:
http://lifeteen.com/blog/ladys-perfect-love-looks-beyond-poop/
http://lifeteen.com/about/
https://twitter.com/Sir_Creaky/status/887723790343524352
Finally! Thank you for putting into words what I have felt in my gut, but couldn't understand process in my brain. God bless you Julie.
ReplyDeleteI have much to do, but wanted to say good job. I had to stop at "giving us our every hope and desire." As an adult who experienced a powerful reversion to the Faith, I would say this is true. But the only reason it is true is what He told us to pray, "...Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..." So, all that God gives us should be considered Him giving us our every hope and desire, because above all we must desire Him, His Holy will, His Holy desire for us to know in this life and in the next. Our entire being, our entire life must become all that every moment of every day He desires for us, for our growth in holiness, and for eternity with Him. Unfortunately, I don't believe this part is being put forth to the youth and to challenge them.
ReplyDeleteLifeTeen was founded by a priest who was suspended and ultimately dismissed from the clerical state over sex abuse allegations, and excommunicated for refusing to cease and desist public ministry during his suspension. The co-founder was a layman who also had sex abuse allegations. It's true the LifeTeen organization distances itself from its founders, but it's hard to see how it can fail to be tainted by its corrupt roots.
ReplyDeleteI've been saying it for years, LifeTeen is from the pits of hell. Parents need to be INVOLVED in their kids Catholic formation, not drop them off every Sunday to be taught by emo 20-something Steubie graduates, and hope everything turns out alright.
ReplyDeleteOh, and associating the Virgin Mary with poop is just disgusting, much like our pope.
ReplyDelete1) You came from Protestantism only to find the innovators are keen to turn the Catholic Church Protestant.
ReplyDelete2) What amazes me is how people are taken in by what is titillating but very superficial.
3) We thank God for bringing you to his Church because it appears one way you contribute to building His Body the Church, is to warn Catholics as to the workings of the enemy and where they want to take the Church.
Has that writer ever read Mary's messages at Fatima? Mary "turns a blind eye" to our sin? What nonsense. She showed three little children what sin does when she gave them a brief vision of hell. Lucia said they would have died on the spot if they hadn't been assured they would go to heaven. Are people like this writer for real?
ReplyDeleteHoly Spirit, you who makes me see everything and shows me the way to reach my ideal, you who gives me the divine gift to forgive and forget all the wrong that is done to me and you who are in all instances of my life with me. I, in this short dialogue, want to thank you for everything, and affirm once more that I never want to be separated from you no matter how great the material desires may be. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. To that end and submitting to God's holy will, I ask from you..(mention your favour). Amen
ReplyDeleteThis prayer should be said for 3 consecutive days. After the 3rd day, your sincere wish will be granted no matter how difficult it may be. Promise to offer thanksgiving by sharing it and expressing it on granting of your favour. The idea is to spread the wonder of the Holy Spirit.