If you haven’t heard about it or signed up already, I wanted to make sure you knew about the conference coming up in March at the Dunwoodie Seminary (Yonkers) - “Gregorian Chant in Pastoral Ministry and Religious Education.”
We’d love to have you join us for what promises to be an excellent conference, with nearly forty excellent presentations, beautiful liturgies, and plenty of time for discussion and meeting colleagues.
There are various tracks that focus on sacred music in Spanish-speaking communities, vernacular-language chant, sacred music programs for children, and Church teaching on sacred music. Especially if you’re looking for ideas on how to improve the music program in your current situation, this is the conference for you.
See more information below. ++++++++++
http://dunwoodiemusic.org/conference National Conference: “Gregorian Chant in Pastoral Ministry and Religious Education” Friday, March 10 – Saturday, March 11, 2017 St. Joseph’s Seminary (Dunwoodie), Yonkers, New York
What role does the Church’s treasury of sacred music play in contemporary pastoral ministry and religious education? How does one build a sacred music program of excellence which serves as an integral part of the sacred liturgy and is also effective both in drawing souls to Christ and forming people in the Catholic faith? This national conference will bring together clergy, seminarians, scholars, musicians, teachers, and Catholic school administrators to consider the place of Gregorian chant and excellent choral music in the life of the Catholic Church in America today. The conference seeks to inspire attendees with ideas for starting or continuing to develop sacred music programs of excellence in Catholic parishes and schools. The conference organizers also hope to encourage discussion about the vitality and necessity of beauty and sacred music in the catechesis and formation of Catholics, as well as in the evangelization of non-Catholics and non-practicing Catholics.
This two-day conference will feature plenary addresses by Msgr. Robert Skeris on “The Theology of Worship and Its Music.” Msgr. Skeris has for years directed the Centre for Ward Method Studies at the Catholic University of America. Developed in the 1920s by Catholic convert Justine Ward, the method has as its goal the cultivation of active participation of children in the sacred liturgy through the singing of the Church’s sacred music.
Another keynote by Fr. Christopher Smith will address liturgical formation in Catholic schools; Fr. Smith is the pastor of a booming parish with parochial school that has liturgical and musical formation at its center.
The final keynote is by Mark Langley, founding headmaster of the Lyceum, a classical Catholic school in Ohio; he will discuss the central role that a choir has in the intellectual and spiritual formation of students in a Catholic school.
In addition to the plenary addresses, nearly forty presenters will give workshops, papers, and recitals featuring topics such as:
Sacred Music in Spanish-Speaking Communities Sacred Music in the Secular Sphere Chant Camp for Parishes Pastoral Care of Musicians Pastoral Implications of Vernacular Chant Parish Youth Orchestra and Conservatory for a Diverse Neighborhood Mystagogical Catechesis and Sacred Music The Schola Cantorum as an Integral Part of the Catholic School A Practical Perspective in Starting an After-school Children’s Choir Program Gregorian Chant as a Unifying Force in Multiethnic Parishes Liturgical Formation in Catholic Schools Forthcoming English Translations of Hymnody of the Liturgy of the Hours Musical Literacy and Liturgy The Role of Beauty and Chant in Spiritual Formation The Dollars and “Sense” of Catholic Education Training Choristers according to the English Cathedral Tradition and Royal School of Church Music Liturgical Formation in Catholic Schools Gregorian Chant in a Small Rural Parish The Ward Method of Music Instruction
Presenters include: Dr. Mary Jane Ballou, Dr. Francis Brancaleone, Mary Ann Carr Wilson, Heitor Caballero, Colleen Crafton, Fr. Richard Cipolla, Dr. Jennifer Donelson, Fr. David M. Friel, Raymond Henderson, Dr. Aaron James, Fr. Robert Johansen, Lisa Knutson, Nathan Knutson, Alexis Kutarna, Frs. Robin Kwan and Kevin Mann, SJC, Dr. Ann Labounsky, Nicholas Lemme, Mary Catherine Levri, Dr. Crista Miller, Joel Morehouse, James Monti, Dr. Jared Ostermann, Kurt Poterack, Dr. Ronald Prowse, Laurence Rosania, Jonathan Ryan, Dr. Samuel A. Schmitt, Fr. Innocent Smith, OP, Students of the Atonement Academy, Dr. Jay Swain, Fr. Jon Tveit, Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth, The Ward Centre of Richmond, Virginia, Nicholas Will, and Amy Zuberbuler. ++++ Paul A. Zalonski Catholic Connecticut 255 Foxon Hill Road East Haven, CT 06513-1216 USA Email Paul: CatholicCT@gmail.com Follow Paul on Twitter @CatholicCT Connect with Paul on Facebook "Catholic Connecticut CatholicCT"
***Paul Zalonski is the Catholic Events contributor for Connecticut Catholic Corner***
This is a new feature you will see more of on my blog. As a collector of old Catholic books (100+ years old) I have quite a collection to read from. These books clearly show how the Catholic Church used to be- how and what it taught in comparison to what we sadly see today after modernism entered and tipped the scales. So they have inspired me to start a "Then and Now" feature. I will be sharing what I am reading in them and on the Internet while comparing what is currently being taught in our Church - more specifically the teachings and views that showed up in the 1960's and afterwards in our Church. There are some big differences in these teachings, and I admit as a convert who 100% believed the Church didn't change Her teachings, reading these old Catholic books (published by the Church mind you) and listening to today's clergy and reading what I see on the U.S. Bishops website...how can anyone think the Church hasn't changed what She used to teach compared to what She is currently teaching? Please read these "Then and Now" quotes and tell me the Catholic Church's teaching hasn't changed on this topic. I'd love to hear comments from everyone, most especially clergy or religious. Today’s focus is on Islam.
Then: COUNCIL OF VIENNE (1311-1312) [25]. It is an insult to the holy name and a disgrace to the Christian faith that in certain parts of the world subject to Christian princes where Saracens[followers of Islam] live, sometimes apart, sometimes intermingled with Christians, the Saracen priests commonly called Zabazala, in their temples or mosques, in which the Saracens meet to adore the infidel Mahomet, loudly invoke and extol his name each day at certain hours from a high place, in the hearing of both Christians and Saracens and there make public declarations in his honour. There is a place, moreover, where once was buried a certain Saracen whom other Saracens venerate as a saint. A great number of Saracens flock there quite openly from far and near. This brings disrepute on our faith and gives great scandal to the faithful. These practices cannot be tolerated any further without displeasing the divine majesty. We therefore, with the sacred council's approval, strictly forbid such practices henceforth in Christian lands. We enjoin on catholic princes, one and all, who hold sovereignty over the said Saracens and in whose territory these practices occur, and we lay on them a pressing obligation under the divine judgment that, as true Catholics and zealous for the Christian faith, they give consideration to the disgrace heaped on both them and other Christians. They are to remove this offence altogether from their territories and take care that their subjects remove it, so that they may thereby attain the reward of eternal happiness. They are to forbid expressly the public invocation of the sacrilegious name of Mahomet. They shall also forbid anyone in their dominions to attempt in future the said pilgrimage or in any way give countenance to it. Those who presume to act otherwise are to be so chastised by the princes for their irreverence, that others may be deterred from such boldness. ~ (click image to view larger)
~ Council of Basel 1431-45 A.D. SESSION 19 - 7 September 1434 “They urge and daily stimulate us in a wonderful way to pursue this holy work, strongly and persistently affirming two things: that union is only possible in a universal synod in which both the western church and the eastern church meet, and that union will assuredly follow if matters proceed in that synod in the way that is agreed below. We were filled with joy and gladness when we heard this. For what happier and more glorious thing could ever happen to the catholic church than that so many eastern peoples, who seem to be about equal in number to those of our faith, should be joined with us in the unity of faith? What could be more useful and fruitful to the Christian people, since the beginning of the church, than for an inveterate and destructive schism to be completely eradicated? Moreover, we trust that with God's help another benefit will accrue to the Christian commonwealth; because from this union, once it is established, there is hope that very many from the abominable sect of Mahomet will be converted to the catholic faith. What, then, should not be attempted and done by Christ's faithful for so holy and salutary an objective? What Catholic is not in duty bound to risk not only the passing substance of this world but even his body and soul for such an advance of the Christian name and the orthodox faith?” ~ Fifth Lateran Council 1512-17 A.D. SESSION 12 - 16 March 1517 We are suitably carrying out the duty of our office when we renew again that reform of the whole church and its affairs which we have accomplished with profit; when we plan to apply suitable remedies for the unchallenged observance of the reform and to make provision for cathedrals and metropolitan churches so that they may no longer be without their pastors; and when we supervise these remedies with ever-present attention and untiring efforts, by means of which we may be able to render the Lord's flock, which has been entrusted to our care, acceptable and submissive in the sight of the divine majesty. Our aim is also to crush the Turks and other infidels standing firm in the eastern and southern regions. They treat the way of true light and salvation with complete contempt and totally unyielding blindness; they attack the life-giving cross on which our Saviour willed to accept death so that by dying he might destroy death, and by the ineffable mystery of his most holy life he might restore life; and they make themselves hateful enemies of God and most bitter persecutors of the christian religion. Strengthened by defences not only spiritual but also temporal, we may be able, under God's guidance and favour, to oppose the bitter and frequent sallies by which, in wild rage, they move savagely amidst christian blood . ~
~ Encyclical of Pope Benedict XIV promulgated on August 1, 1754. To Our Venerable Brothers the Archbishops and Bishops as well as Our Beloved Sons, the Parish Priests and Missionaries of the Province of Albania. Venerable Brothers and Beloved Sons, We give you Greeting and Our Apostolic Blessing. Forbidding Use of Mohammedan Names The Provincial Council of your province of Albania, Venerable Brothers and Beloved Sons, was held in the year 1703 during the pontificate of Our predecessor Pope Clement XI. It decreed most solemnly in its third canon, among other matters, as you know, that Turkish or Mohammedan names should not be given either to children or adults in baptism. It also decreed that the faithful of Christ should not allow themselves to be called by Turkish or Mohammedan names which they had never received, for the purpose of either exemption or immunity from taxes, or the advantage of free trading, or avoiding penalties. We have confirmed and commanded the observance of this decree in Our encyclical letter Inter omnigenas, addressed to the kingdom of Serbia and its neighbouring regions. This encyclical letter, covering many subjects of religion and discipline, was published on the 2nd of February 1744 in the fourth year of Our pontificate. This prudent and saving statute was established by your predecessors with great wisdom and devotion as a shining example of your Catholic faith and sincere Christian piety; in our 1744 encyclical, We strictly ordered it to be imitated and fully observed by other churches. Just as adhering to it clearly results in the greater fame and reputation of your province and in greater benefits for securing the eternal salvation of souls, so if it should be neglected, it would greatly dishonor your province and openly endanger these souls. In Our letter mentioned above, We designated that abuse as a cowardly concealment of the Christian profession, approaching infidelity. Since then, We have learned with great mental anguish that many people in that province continue to take Turkish or Mohammedan names despite the consideration of their eternal salvation. They do so not only in order to be immune and free from those taxes and burdens which have often been and continue to be imposed on the faithful of Christ, but also in order that neither they themselves nor their parents may be thought to have abandoned the Mohammedan sect, thereby avoiding the requisite penalties. For all this cannot take place without a pretense of the errors of Mohammed, even if the faith of Christ is adhered to in the heart, and this is at variance with Christian sincerity. It involves a lie in a most serious matter and includes a virtual denial of the Faith, most insulting to God and scandalous to their neighbors. It even gives the Turks themselves a suitable opportunity to rate all Christ's faithful as hypocrites and deceivers, and accordingly to persecute them justly and deservedly. 2. Our sorrow and anguish is further increased by the fact that some of you yourselves, venerable brothers, and of you also, beloved sons, parish priests and missionaries, take no measures against so vile and hateful a pretense. In fact, some of you even connive at it; by being impressed by empty motives to find excuses for sins, you do not hesitate to allow those who take common Turkish or Mohammedan names and desire to be addressed by them, to partake of the Sacraments with no pang of conscience at all, to the public offense of the obedient faithful. 3. We who are entrusted with the care of all the churches and the supreme administration of the sacred Apostolate; in this capacity, We are obliged to lead all Christians back to the way of salvation and to present them to God pure and sincere, walking in the spirit and in truth without stain. We have heard Our Venerable Brothers, the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, who are general Inquisitors for evil heresy on this subject. In accordance with their advice, We first renew and confirm by Our Apostolic authority in this letter the praiseworthy canon of the council of your province of Albania, and We command that it be strictly observed. Also We extend the decrees of Our church by the same authority and uniformity to include your province; We equally strictly prohibit any of Christ's faithful from daring to take Turkish or Mohammedan names in order to be considered Mohammedans, in any case, under any pretext, or in any conceivable circumstances. 4. Furthermore, venerable brothers and beloved sons, We ask and urge you in the Lord to think seriously about your ministry and the strict account you will have to give to the Eternal Judge Jesus Christ, the Supreme Prince of Pastors, for the sheep entrusted to each one of you; to this end, We urge you to take personal care by your good works that your election will be assured. Since it would be very careless and negligent on your part not to, do not fail to patiently convince, implore, and exhort the faithful of Christ in your Province to lead a good life among the nations. Urge them in all affairs to conduct themselves so as to be an example of good works in order that those who oppose them may be chagrined since they have nothing evil to say of them, and they cannot accuse them of being evildoers who for the sake of base gain profess one thing with their lips while believing differently in their hearts. But if they do not accept your warnings and Our commands, they must be compelled by the rod to follow the norm of Apostolic discipline. The sanctions and penalties provided for by your Albanian council and by Our letter mentioned above must be fully applied in their case: that is, they must be declared unfit to receive the Sacraments in their lifetime, and if they die unrepentant, to benefit from prayers after death. Insofar as it is necessary, We renew and reapply these penalties; We enjoin you to ensure their due execution. This should not be hard for any one of you, venerable brothers and beloved sons, for none of the schismatics and heretics has been rash enough to take a Mohammedan name, and unless your justice abounds more than theirs, you shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven. 5. Finally, gravely advise those who have converted from Mohammedanism or the children of such converts, if they lack confidence in their constancy in the Faith, fearing punishment by their rulers if they abandon their Turkish names, to emigrate secretly from those territories and come for refuge to Christian lands. There they shall in no way lack the help of God who gives food to all flesh, or the charity of the faithful, especially if their Bishops provide them with letters of recommendation. In the meantime, We lovingly grant you Our Apostolic Blessing, venerable brothers and beloved sons, and We desire each Venerable Brother Bishop to extend it in Our name to all the orthodox faithful of Christ in his own diocese. Given at Rome in St. Mary Major on the first day of August, 1754, in the fourteenth year of Our Pontificate. ~ CONTRA GENTILES By Thomas Aquinas - On the Truth of the Catholic Faith [4] On the other hand, those who founded sects committed to erroneous doctrines proceeded in a way that is opposite to this, The point is clear in the case of Muhammad. He seduced the people by promises of carnal pleasure to which the concupiscence of the flesh goads us. His teaching also contained precepts that were in conformity with his promises, and he gave free rein to carnal pleasure. In all this, as is not unexpected, he was obeyed by carnal men. As for proofs of the truth of his doctrine, he brought forward only such as could be grasped by the natural ability of anyone with a very modest wisdom. Indeed, the truths that he taught he mingled with many fables and with doctrines of the greatest falsity. He did not bring forth any signs produced in a supernatural way, which alone fittingly gives witness to divine inspiration; for a visible action that can be only divine reveals an invisibly inspired teacher of truth. On the contrary, Muhammad said that he was sent in the power of his arms—which are signs not lacking even to robbers and tyrants. What is more, no wise men, men trained in things divine and human, believed in him from the beginning, Those who believed in him were brutal men and desert wanderers, utterly ignorant of all divine teaching, through whose numbers Muhammad forced others to become his followers by the violence of his arms. Nor do divine pronouncements on the part of preceding prophets offer him any witness. On the contrary, he perverts almost all the testimonies of the Old and New Testaments by making them into fabrications of his own, as can be. seen by anyone who examines his law. It was, therefore, a shrewd decision on his part to forbid his followers to read the Old and New Testaments, lest these books convict him of falsity. It is thus clear that those who place any faith in his words believe foolishly. [Book One] ~ Now: Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium 16, November 21, 1964 “But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place among whom are the Muslims: these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.” ~ Paul VI, address to the Islamic communities of Uganda, August 1, 1969 “In our prayers, we always remember the peoples of Africa. The common belief in the Almighty professed by millions calls down upon this continent the graces of his Providence and love, most of all, peace and unity among all its sons. We feel sure that as representatives of Islam, you join in our prayers to the Almighty, that he may grant all African believers the desire for pardon and reconciliation so often commended in the Gospels and in the Qur’an. “Our pilgrimage to these holy places is not for purposes of prestige or power. It is a humble and ardent prayer for peace, through the intercession of the glorious protectors of Africa, who gave up their lives for love and for their belief. In recall the Catholic and Anglican Martyrs, We gladly recall also those confessors of the Muslim faith who were the first to suffer death, in the year 1848, for refusing to transgress the precepts of their religion.” ~
~ John Paul II, address to a symposium on “Holiness in Christianity and in Islam,” Rome, May 9, 1985 “All true holiness comes from God, who is called ‘The Holy One’ in the sacred books of the Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Your holy Qur’an calls God ‘Al-Quddus,’ as in the verse: ‘He is God, besides whom there is no other, the Sovereign, the Holy, the (source of) Peace’ (Qur’an 59, 23). The prophet Hosea links God’s holiness with his forgiving love for mankind, a love which surpasses our ability to comprehend: ‘I am God, not man; I am the Holy One in your midst and have no wish to destroy’ (Ho 11:9). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches his disciples that holiness consists in assuming, in our human way, the qualities of God’s own holiness which he has revealed to mankind: ‘Be holy, even as your heavenly Father is holy’ (Mt 5:48). “Thus the Qur’an calls you to uprightness (al-salah), to conscientious devotion (al-taqwa), to goodness (al-husn), and to virtue (al-birr), which is described as believing in God, giving one’s wealth to the needy, freeing captives, being constant in prayer, keeping one’s word, and being patient in times of suffering, hardship and violence (Qur’an 2:177). Similarly, St. Paul stresses the love we must show toward all, and the duty to lead a blameless life in the sight of God: ‘May the Lord be generous in increasing your love and make you love one another and the whole human race as much as we love you. And may he so confirm your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless in the sight of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus Christ comes with all his saints’ (1 Th 3:12-13).” ~ Evangelii Gaudium, Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis, 2013 252. Our relationship with the followers of Islam has taken on great importance, since they are now significantly present in many traditionally Christian countries, where they can freely worship and become fully a part of society. We must never forget that they “profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, who will judge humanity on the last day”.[198] The sacred writings of Islam have retained some Christian teachings; Jesus and Mary receive profound veneration and it is admirable to see how Muslims both young and old, men and women, make time for daily prayer and faithfully take part in religious services. Many of them also have a deep conviction that their life, in its entirety, is from God and for God. They also acknowledge the need to respond to God with an ethical commitment and with mercy towards those most in need. 253. In order to sustain dialogue with Islam, suitable training is essential for all involved, not only so that they can be solidly and joyfully grounded in their own identity, but so that they can also acknowledge the values of others, appreciate the concerns underlying their demands and shed light on shared beliefs. We Christians should embrace with affection and respect Muslim immigrants to our countries in the same way that we hope and ask to be received and respected in countries of Islamic tradition. I ask and I humbly entreat those countries to grant Christians freedom to worship and to practice their faith, in light of the freedom which followers of Islam enjoy in Western countries! Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalisations, for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.
To be blunt I don’t like anything Pope Francis said in his
final speech of the Synod (more below).
I believe (as Cardinal Burke said) Pope Francis is harming the Catholic
Faith*. Yes, I know Burke was talking about
the Pope not setting the record straight and allowing progressive views to grow
and spread through the media- but isn’t that EXACTLY what Pope Francis has done
all along? [Holy Week washing Muslim women’s feet, ‘who am I to judge’, etc]
Pope Francis IS a progressive Catholic. There can be no question about that after all
his interviews and off the cuff comments.
This Synod was a progressive attempt to change the Church. At first I believe progressives thought they
had it in the bag- hence the “working document” about welcoming gay couples in mortal sin because they have “gifts” to offer the Church. They seemed completely stupefied by the large outcry heard around the world. These people don't know their own Faith or the Saints who kept and taught the faith.
“If
one yields ground on any single point of Catholic doctrine, one will later have
to yield later in another, and again in another, and so on until such
surrenders come to be something normal and acceptable. And when one gets used
to rejecting dogma bit by bit, the final result will be the repudiation of it
altogether.” –St. Vincent of Lerins
If anyone thinks Pope Francis wasn’t completely behind this progressive push, you’re
fooling yourselves. Everything he’s done
since day one has pointed to that “working document” so adored and fawned over by progressives.
What he didn’t expect was the complete spanking he got for
his efforts.
Pope Francis during heated Synod discussion.
Church Militant TV’s Michael Voris says it’s because
faithful Catholics around the world heard Catholic media reporting these events
as they happened and they rightly protested what was going on.
I see it differently.
“The gates of hell will not prevail” against Christ’s Holy
Catholic Church. Sure faithful Catholic media and laity voiced their
unhappiness and anger at what was going on, but it was the Holy Spirit who
stopped Pope Francis and his progressive gang in their tracks.
They [progressives] can waste all their efforts TRYING to
change doctrine, but it won’t happen.
What they WILL do, is lead people to Hell with their heretical beliefs
and THAT is what angers me.
“What
shall a Catholic do if some portion of the Church detaches itself from
communion of the universal Faith? What other choice can he make if some new
contagion attempts to poison, no longer a small part of the Church, but the
whole Church at once, then his great concern will be to attach himself to
antiquity (Tradition) which can no longer be led astray by any lying novelty.” –St.
Vincent of Lerins
I completely trust the Holy Spirit to protect the
Church. Pope Francis cannot destroy Her
or change Her, but Pope Francis [and other progressive clergy] CAN be the Piped
Piper leading ignorant people into heresy and subsequently Hell. That is what faithful devout orthodox
Catholics have to fight against. We have
to help save people from misleading 'off the cuff' comments and bold heresy- even from our own clergy.
“The
Church of the Lord is built upon the rock of the apostles among so many dangers
in the world; it therefore remains unmoved. The Church's foundation is
unshakable and firm against assaults of the raging sea. Waves lash at the
Church but do not shatter it. Although the elements of this world constantly
beat upon the Church with crashing sounds, the Church possesses the safest
harbor of salvation for all in distress.” – St. Ambrose of Milan
Back to Pope Francis’ final speech … guess he didn’t like
the smack down, because he (at least in my opinion) struck back at all the
Catholics who dared oppose the progressive agenda he had so hoped would be
accepted.
- One, a temptation to
hostile inflexibility, that is, wanting to close oneself within the written
word, (the letter) and not allowing oneself to be surprised by God, by the God
of surprises, (the spirit); within the law, within the certitude of what we know
and not of what we still need to learn and to achieve. From the time of Christ,
it is the temptation of the zealous, of the scrupulous, of the solicitous and
of the so-called – today – “traditionalists” and also of the intellectuals.
He just had to slap
traditional Catholics across the face (again) didn’t he?
-
The temptation to a destructive tendency to goodness [it. buonismo], that in
the name of a deceptive mercy binds the wounds without first curing them and
treating them; that treats the symptoms and not the causes and the roots. It is
the temptation of the “do-gooders,” of the fearful, and also of the so-called
“progressives and liberals.”
Guess traditionalist are the “fearful”
“do-gooders” ignoring the cause and root of the wounds in the Church. Those “wounds” are of course caused by telling
people what sin is and that it must be confessed before Holy Communion. And the “wounds” of telling homosexuals they
can’t get ‘married’ because it’s a mortal sin.
Pope Francis believes to heal the ‘causes and roots’ of these wounds we
need to shut up about gay ‘marriage’ and abortion etc. His idea of “curing them” is leaving them ignorant and in a state of mortal sin.
-
The temptation to transform stones into bread to break the long, heavy, and
painful fast (cf. Lk 4:1-4); and also to transform the bread into a stone and
cast it against the sinners, the weak, and the sick (cf Jn 8:7), that is, to
transform it into unbearable burdens (Lk 11:46)
What Pope Francis calls “unbearable
burdens” is what the rest of us call “picking up our crosses and following
Christ”. Christ didn’t promise anyone
life would be easy- Mary, sinless Mother of God suffered pain in this life
(Luke 2:34-35) why shouldn’t the rest of us?
No one is casting stones at sinners, but we are telling them to REPENT
and sin no more because that is what Jesus taught us to do. That is the key: repenting. If the Church doesn’t tell people what sin
is, how can sinner’s repent? The Church
is COMMANDED by Jesus to teach the FULL Truth to all people so that they might
be saved (Matthew 28:19-20). That is the mission of the Church. That is how wounds are healed.
- The temptation to
come down off the Cross, to please the people, and not stay there, in order to
fulfil the will of the Father; to bow down to a worldly spirit instead of
purifying it and bending it to the Spirit of God.
He must have choked on that
one. Continually we see Pope Francis and progressive Catholic clergy attempting to 'bow down to worldly spirit" by watering down the Faith and telling Catholics to shut up about abortion and gay marriage. Rather worry about the worst crisis in the world- youth unemployment and lonely elderly people. Ahuh. Last I checked those weren't mortal sins that send a person to Hell. But what progressive is worried about the souls of people? None. They are worried about being welcoming, not offending and finding the "gifts" in homosexual relationships!
-
The temptation to neglect the “depositum fidei” [the deposit of faith], not
thinking of themselves as guardians but as owners or masters [of it]; or, on
the other hand, the temptation to neglect reality, making use of meticulous
language and a language of smoothing to say so many things and to say nothing!
They call them “byzantinisms,” I think, these things…"
If ANYONE is tempting to “neglect
the depositum fidei [deposit of faith]" its progressive clergy. They don’t want to be guardians of the faith,
they want to change the faith- just like Martin Luther before them.
And another slap to devout
orthodox Catholics with “…on the other hand, the temptation to neglect reality,
making use of meticulous language and a language of smoothing to say so many
things and to say nothing!” Clearly,
traditional Catholics to Pope Francis’ mind are “neglecting reality” because we
don’t believe the MORTAL SIN of homosexual relationships are a “gift” to the
Church.
“It is an error to believe that Christ did not teach a determined body of doctrine applicable to all times and to all men, but rather that He inaugurated a religious movement adapted, or to be adapted, to different times and different places.”–Pope St. Pius X
This Synod has only reaffirmed my already none to favorable
views of our current Pope. I don’t trust
Pope Francis and I don’t like him. I wanted/want
to trust him, like him and love him like I did Pope Benedict before him, but
the honest truth is I don’t- and I probably never will. I’ve accepted that. I also accept Pope Francis 100% as our
current pope. God (for His own reasons) has allowed Pope
Francis to be pope, I accept it. Let’s remember,
God also allowed such popes as Alexander VI to hold the papal office for a time. Just because you’re pope doesn’t mean you’re
a good one or that the faithful will love you.
“Given the breakdown in family life, the wholesale attack on innocent and defenseless human lives, and the violation of the integrity of the union of marriage in our society, the call to the martyrdom of witness is ever more urgent.” –Cardinal Raymond Burke
Many Catholics are rightly pointing their fingers at
progressive Bishops/Cardinals who pushed their liberal agenda’s at the
Synod. Like Cardinal Kasper, who is
about as Catholic as my dead dog. I don’t
like Kasper, not because he’s liberal, but because he’s a heretic. He wishes (and is attempting) to change the
Church. Kasper is a closet protestant-
he doesn’t love the Church as She is, he wants to change her to be more
Protestant. Then he will love Her. Along the way, his heretical beliefs are
destroying the weak faith held by many Catholics. Catholics who
don’t properly know their faith. He is
putting his heretical ideas into the heads of Catholics who sadly, will follow
him and his theology away from the Church.
Kasper is today’s Martin Luther. Only instead of opposing the pope, he's working with him to push a progressive agenda that is in direct opposition to Church teaching.
Not a single word
of public correction has been given to Kasper for all the misleading and
heretical views Kasper has PUBLICLY made before, during or after the Synod. Instead we get the above.
That’s wrong.
"Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is
to suppress it; and indeed to neglect to confound evil men, when we can do it,
is no less a sin than to encourage them." -Pope St. Felix III
"If the faith is in imminent
peril, prelates ought to be accused by their subjects, even in public."
-St. Thomas Aquinas
"According to their knowledge,
competence and prestige which they possess, [the Christian faithful] have the
right and even at the times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their
opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their
opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful"- Canon Law 212 Section 3
In Christ,
Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner
*Yes [to answer the emails on this], I know Church Militant TV took down the video about Cardinal Burke’s comment that “Pope Francis is harming the Church”. Why was the video
taken down? I have no idea. Perhaps
Burke requested it? Perhaps Voris saw
the video as harming the faithful in some way?
Or perhaps it was simply to controversial, I honestly don’t know and don’t
really care. I saw the video and I agree
with Cardinal Burke- though I go much further in my belief that Pope Francis
has been damaging the Church since his first Holy Week- that is my opinion and
it hasn’t changed.
