So this was going around Twitter tonight and I thought I'd take a stab at it. And I am passing this on to other Catholic bloggers to do too! 😇
1) Latin 2) Convert 3) 2007 4) 2007 5) The Virgin Mary 6) The Virgin Mary 7) Have never been to Extraordinary, but I dream of it. 8) I'm a Catholic gypsy at the moment, haven't attended mass at my official parish in ages (too progressive). I attend assorted parishes around my state looking for a new home parish. Mostly I feel like the Jews in the wilderness (see more on that HERE). 9) None currently 10) Hail Mary, Glory Be, Hail Holy Queen, Our Father 11) Answered above 12) My blessed "I'm A Catholic, Please call a Priest" necklace, holy water bottle & rosary beads - never leave home without them! 13) Advent 14) Holy Guardian Angels (Oct.2) 15) Consecration 16) It's as hard to find as Bigfoot around here! 17) 2 weeks ago 18) Coming from Protestantism hearing "vocational life" was completely foreign to me. If only I'd been raised Catholic... 19) Too many to pick from - hate hearing new or folk type music at Mass. Give me old Gregorian Chant every time! 20) Favorite Catholic meme...
21) I have a ton of favorite Catholic movies, love the Bernadette/Lourdes movies, "Going My Way" and "Come to the Stable" are my top favorites. 22) Do Christmas carols count? I love "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Oh Come all Ye Faithful" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!" 23) I'm no expert on encyclicals as I haven't read a whole lot of them, but I would say JPII's "Ecclesia de Eucharistia" and Benedict XVI's "Deus Caritas Est" (as they are currently sitting beside me at my desk😎). 24) Blue 25) "Ave Maria" and "Daily, Daily, Sing to Mary" 26) The verses in John 21 where Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. 27) There are so many! I probably pick up St. Faustina's Divine Mercy Diary the most often (love reading this during Lent). 28) Blogging? 😇 29) Pope St. Gregory I, Pope Pius X, Pope St. Leo the Great 30) ? 31) my best friend 32) Dominicans 33) Seeing people hold hands and raise them up during the Our Father at Mass. 😕 34) The Sacraments! Passing this on to other bloggers...lets see you post on this. Leave a link in my comments area so I don't miss your post answers! God bless! In Christ, Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner Thanks to JenToInfinity on Twitter for inspiring this post!
Why do the Catholic laity insist on adding things to the Mass that aren't there? And why don't priests correct them? Coming into the Church from Protestantism, I had a very clear (and apparently wrong) idea that Mass was Mass, and it would be the same at any Catholic parish I attended. I wanted order, uniformity, a truly universal Church where all Masses were alike. I wanted the Catholic Church I had fallen in love with- the one that didn't resemble Protestantism where everyone did their own thing because everyone is their own pope. I expected priests to follow the same rubrics in all parishes and I expected the laity to follow the instructions set down in the missal for Mass. The missal isn't complicated. The readings are there and it tells you when to stand, sit or kneel. Easy-peasy right? Not for some folks. What the missal never says is to hold hands or lift your hands in the air during the Our Father (except for the celebrants of the Mass- but I am talking about the laity). My interpretation (for what its worth) is that if it doesn't say "do this...", you don't simply stick something in there you want to do. Others see things differently and have decided to either hold hands, stretch out their hands like the priest, or combine the two as we see here from St. Raymond Parish, Philadelphia from earlier this month.
I know why I used to lift my hands in the air when I was a Protestant during services. It is a verse from the New Testament (there are several other verses as well, some in the Old Testament) and encouraged by the ministers to join them in raising our hands (the only 'priesthood' is among all the believers). This was done to show the congregation was the same as the minister- mere believers. Ministers were nothing special.
1 Timothy 2:8 "I will therefore that men pray in every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger and contention."
But that isn't how a Catholic Mass works...or so I thought when I first became Catholic a decade ago. The missal said "stand" and I stood, the missal said "sit" and I sat, the missal said "kneel" and I knelt. The missal never said "hold hands" or "raise your hands in the air" etc., so I didn't, but others do. I don't get that. What are these people trying to do? Put their own personal stamp on the Mass? By gesture attempt to show the priest he's nothing special, that they are all equally members of the 'priesthood' as happens in Protestantism? Or maybe they just want to let Protestantism creep into the Mass? The USSBC statement reads:
"Q: Some people hold hands during the Lord's Prayer, while others hold their hands out like the priest. Is there a prescribed posture for the Our Father?A: No position is prescribed in the Roman Missal for an assembly gesture during the Lord's Prayer."
To a person who likes order at Mass, this is chaotic and in some cases actually causes division in some parishes between the hands clasped in prayer folks 🙏, the raise your hands in the air folks 🙌, and the hold hands folks, and the hold hands while raising them in the air folks.😕 When Canon Law states:
Can. 907 In the eucharistic celebration deacons and lay persons are not permitted to offer prayers, especially the eucharistic prayer, or to perform actions which are proper to the celebrating priest.
I guess I'm a dope, but to me that means I don't get to raise my hands in the air, as that is proper only to the priest. To others Canon 907 has nothing to do with the Our Father at Mass or any hand position. With no clear direction from our Bishops, we get confusion in the pews with everyone doing their own thing. No unity in this prayer at the moment. The Bishops/priests could at the very least tell people to put their arms down, even if the hand holding continues. Orans position (hands raised in the air):
"Among the laity this practice began with the charismatic renewal. Used in private prayer it has worked its way into the Liturgy. It is a legitimate gesture to use when praying, as history shows, however, it is a private gesture when used in the Mass and in some cases conflicts with the system of signs which the rubrics are intended to protect. The Mass is not a private or merely human ceremony. The symbology of the actions, including such gestures, is definite and precise, and reflects the sacramental character of the Church's prayer. As the Holy See has recently pointed out, confusion has entered the Church about the hierarchical nature of her worship, and this gesture certainly contributes to that confusion when it conflicts with the ordered sign language of the Mass."
If all that hand-holding, arms in the air stuff isn't bad enough, where does it stop? We all know from history that the progressives in the Church never stop pushing the limits and often reach into new age areas for their next gimmick- like sand in the holy water fonts during Lent.😩 But about those assorted positions for prayer...what if a dozen people decided they wanted to lay prostrate during the Our Father? Or worse, assume some loony yoga position? Since the USSBC states "no position is prescribed" what's to stop the next new thing from making its way into our Mass? Don't laugh! It could happen! From the Society for the Propagation of the Faith the Mission Office of the Archdiocese of Chicago I found some instructions on numerous different types of prayer, including the new to me "body prayer".
Quote: One way to think about the many different types of prayer is to look at it as a kind of communication with God. There are different ways to communicate with God. Consider these types of prayers:
Rote Prayers: These are prayers that you memorize and repeat. These are prayers that the church tradition has passed down for many years. Sometimes they are said over and over so that the meaning goes far beyond just the words. With rote prayers we are telling God that we believe. The Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and Creed are examples of this.
Spontaneous Prayer: These are prayers that come straight from the heart. The words are all your own. When you pray this way you can tell God about what ever is on your mind. Sometimes you will say thank you, sometimes pray for someone you know or sometimes you want to ask for something.
Meditation: This kind of prayer involves our imaginations. When you meditate you envision yourself there with Jesus. You need to focus your thoughts on the scene or story. You could also meditate on the life of a saint or another event in your life where God spoke to you.
Contemplation: This is a difficult form of prayer! It requires you to only think about God. You need to not only focus your mind, but you focus only on God! Go somewhere quiet and sit comfortably, then think “I am in the presence of God.” (it really is difficult)
Body Prayer: This kind of prayer uses your whole body posture. The way we move also comunicates with God. Some people like to kneel, some like to dance, and some like to walk (in a labrynth). This helps you to think and pray about how God is a part of your life. Give this one a try, look at the example below! [end quote]
It's really time Christians had an alternative to Facebook.
While Facebook continues to allow live streaming of sex acts, assaults, rape, child porn and murders on their media outlet, they are working hard to silence Catholics.
Over at ChurchPop today there are two articles on popular Catholic Facebook pages being shut down by the Zuckerberg zombies.
These are clearly widely popular Catholic Facebook pages with millions of Likes and followers.
ChurchPop quote: “It is extremely heartbreaking,” Kenneth Alimba explained. “It’s too horrible.” Alimba, a Catholic who lives in Nigeria, was the owner of the Facebook page titled “Catholic and Proud.” It had over 6 million Likes when it was removed by Facebook today without explanation. He had another page titled “Holy Mary Mother of God,” which had around 200,000 Likes and was also removed. His pages are just two of possibly dozens of Catholic Facebook pages simultaneously removed around the world in the last day or so, including the “Father Rocky” page (3.3 million Likes) and a popular Portuguese-language Pope Francis page called “Papa Francisco Brasil” (3.8 million Likes). “I’ve worked on the page for over five years,” he told ChurchPOP, “and have put in all I am into it.” Godwin Delali Adadzie, the owner of another removed Catholic Facebook page “Jesus and Mary,” with 1.7 million Likes, also shared his story with ChurchPOP. “This page is the joy of my apologetics ministry online. It is like the digital heartbeat of my ministry.”
Church Militant has an article about Facebook silencing conservatives who use Facebook to try to educate the public about the dangers of Islam terrorism and the push for sharia law in numerous countries around the globe.
CM quote: Facebook is continuing to censor Conservative websites critical of Islam. Steve Amundson, founder of Counter Jihad Coalition, told Church Militant that Facebook has been locking him out of his page, Counter Jihad Coalition, since July 11. Amundson uses his Facebook page and website CounterJihadcoalition.org to "educate people on political Islam, the threat of sharia and the violence that's in political Islam."
In another timely article on Church Militant's website, Christine Niles warns about the silencing of anyone the Zuckerberg zombies deem "racist" or "zenophobic".
CM quote: Shortly after, Facebook implemented its "Initiative for Civil Courage Online" to delete what it deemed "racist" or "xenophobic" comments. But Douglas Murray at the Gatestone Institute warned it was a tool for further censorship of legitimate conservative voices. "The sinister thing about what Facebook is doing is that it is now removing speech that presumably almost everybody might consider racist," said Murray, "along with speech that only someone at Facebook decides is 'racist.'"
Church Militant's Michael Voris is clearly seeing the writing on the wall and is taking steps to protect his Catholic voice on the Internet by purchasing CM's own internal server so that it's material doesn't suddenly disappear at the whim of some leftist media platforms that could pull the plug on them at any moment like Facebook has done to so many Catholics.
What will become of my fellow Catholic bloggers and I if Blogger and WordPress etc, decide to silence us?
If anyone knows of a Catholic platform or has been toying with the idea of creating one such platform, now is the time my friends.
Another lost opportunity for The Walking Ignorant to be fed the Faith from our Pope and learn something to save their souls. Before clicking play on the video I read the description...
Quote: April 2017 - The Pope Video: Young people have in their hands the challenge of building a more just future, a future of solidarity. Let us support them. Let’s pray with the Pope that our youth will respond and work generously for the changes the world needs. “I know that you, young people, don’t want to be duped by a false freedom, always at the beck and call of momentary fashions and fads. I know that you are aiming high. Is that true, or am I wrong?” Don’t leave it to others to be the protagonists of change. You are the ones who hold the future! I ask you to be builders of the world, to work for a better world. Do you accept the challenge? Pray with me for young people, that they might know how to respond generously to the vocation God has given them, and immerse themselves in the great causes of the world.”
...sounds good. Then I watched the video. *sigh* What "great causes of the world" is the Pope telling our youth to get involved with? What "work for a better world" does Pope Francis want from the next generation? -Ending abortion? Nope. -Promoting chastity and modesty? Nope. -Protesting euthanasia? Nope. -Faithfulness to their Catholic Faith (attending Mass, Confession, etc)? Nope. -Does Pope Francis ask for vocations to the priesthood and religious life? Nope. -Evangelizing the world with the One True Faith? Nope. -Devotions? Nope. -Saving souls? Nope. -Helping refugees off rafts? *DING!*DING!*
The images are of ONE thing...getting refugees off rafts.
That's it. That's how the youth, according to Pope Francis can build a better future for themselves and the world. [Note: Refugees was the theme in numerous previous months also.] Catholic laity...young and old are spiritually starving to death because our clergy refuse to feed us the Faith Christ gave the Church. I'm not saying we don't help those in need, I am saying we too have needs -spiritual needs- and the Church is not fulfilling those needs. Instead our clergy stuff social justice causes at us every day. The Catholic Church is raising up secular laity to live in and be part of a secular world without putting God first. Want to truly make the world a better place? Raise up better Catholics! Convert people! Imagine that? Teach us the Faith Christ gave the Church. Too many Catholics are The Walking Ignorant because our clergy are so busy telling us about immigration and climate change that we almost never have the opportunity of hearing a Catholic priest teach the authentic Faith. This nonsense from the Vatican is disheartening. In Christ, Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE9WcFtYX3g
On Friday (November 14, 2014) Michael Voris’ “The Vortex” (entitled
The Razor’s Edge) was once again devoted to clarifying their position on Pope
Francis and the fear running rampant among the faithful because of what is and
isn’t coming out of the Vatican.
I am assuming (perhaps wrongly), this Vortex was done because the faithful are
still contacting Church Militant TV with their concerns about the Pope and
their possible confusion over where exactly Church Militant TV stands on the too often controversial hot topic of Pope Francis and the direction of the Catholic Church under his
pontificate. Here is "The Razor's Edge" from The Vortex:
I listened to and read this episode of The Vortex over a
half a dozen times – I do that quite often with what Church Militant TV
produces because I respect them and want to make sure I am clearly hearing
exactly what is being said- or in some cases NOT said.
In “The Razor’s Edge” Voris gives his opinion of only two
opposing sides of Catholics (the traditional leaning group who are running in
fear over what Pope Francis says, does and seems to allow with his blessing)
and the “Church of Nice” crowd- who refuse to admit anything is wrong at all. Overall, Voris makes excellent points with what he says, my point in writing this is more with what he didn't say and about another side of opposing Catholics who don't fit in the groups he mentions.
Voris says: “As of now, a
careful middle seems to be being carved out – indeed, NEEDS to be carved out -
amidst the flurry of hysterical responses from both extremes of the Catholic
world – those angry mean-spirited Catholics who populate the ranks of so-called
traditionalists – but, and this is VERY IMPORTANT – do NOT, repeat do NOT speak
for the vast majority of faithful Catholics – even though they think and act
like they do – AND on the other end of the spectrum – those Catholics who
simply refuse to report on anything troubling – like recent affairs at the
Synod, sugarcoating everything. Battle lines
have been drawn between a subset of traditional-minded Catholics who write and
publish venomous screeds against the Pope, and those who pretend Rome is
nothing else than a valley of lilies where everything is perfectly fine –
denying the reality of what Bishop Athanasius Schneider has rightfully termed –
the fourth great crisis in the life of the Church. Both sides are
wrong in their reactions because they each fail to take into account the
DIFFERING damage they inflict on various individual Catholics. Neither
approach is – quite frankly “catholic”, meaning universal enough.”
Here I disagree with Voris in two respects. Yes both sides mentioned are causing
damage- though I think the damage they are causing is rather low. Admittedly, I could be completely wrong on this. I am sure the folks at Church Militant TV pay far more attention to many of these groups than I do. Yet, there is another opposing side of Catholics Voris failed to mention. Catholics who are not in the least bit tempted by the "subset of traditional minded Catholics who write and publish venomous screeds against the Pope" to leave the Church or the Church of Nice Catholics who bury their heads in the sand. There are Catholics who believe the Pope is a legitimate valid pope, though not a very good one- so far at least (we still hold out hope things will improve). Why do we feel this way? Because we believe it is Pope Francis himself causing the MOST damage - not the hardcore traditionalists or even the Church of Nice crowd- though it is Pope Francis himself who strengthens the Church of Nice crowd when he says things like "Who am I to judge?".
It is Pope Francis’ OWN WORDS AND ACTIONS that are
panicking people. The hardcore
traditionalists have been beating their drums for decades and the “Church of
Nice” crowd has remained silent on anything and everything for just as long.
The difference now is, the Pope himself.
Suddenly, the Church of Nice crowd have a pope leading their way to more progressive points of view INSIDE the Church (look at Cardinal Dolan and the upcoming St. Patrick's Day Parade- this is another direct effect of our current Pope on the Church). The Pope’s words and actions are now lining up with many of the
warnings the hardcore traditionalists have been warning about for decades. It's causing some Catholics to contemplate whether or not these hardcore traditionalists are right or not (their not).
So the Pope himself is sending people into the arms of
religious groups OUTSIDE the Church.
That is the problem that *I* see and I believe the Vortex
has not (and probably will not) address.
Voris has always made it very clear, that he and the folks
at Church Militant TV have a deep concern over a SINGLE Catholic leaving the
Church because of any sort of confusion or fear.
Because of this Christian concern, Church
Militant TV does their best to tread carefully in what they say and do.
That is commendable and why I have such respect for them.
This Vortex was no different in that respect. Voris again reiterates the need to STAY IN
THE CHURCH regardless of what we see and hear.
I agree completely- though I am very vocal in my distrust of
our current Pope (see my sidebar for more on that- specifically those entitled "My Issues with Pope Francis: Part I and II").
One problem is, it is natural human nature to RUN when we
feel fear and panic. Most of us like our
comfort zones and get very antsy when we are pushed out of it.
Sadly, Pope Francis IS pushing us out of our comfort zones-
and not in any good way that I can see (I truly hope that perhaps one day I see
things differently, because I don’t like the fact that I dislike and distrust
my own Pope). The result is fear and
panic and for some a hasty exodus from Christ's Holy Catholic Church to something that LOOKS like what they believe is Christ's Holy Catholic Church.
I was not raised a “cradle Catholic”. I came from outside the Church and personally
KNOW how being on the outside has little to offer compare to the fullness of
being inside the Church. There is no man
on earth, pope or not, who would make me look outside the Church for anything. There is only ONE Church that Jesus Christ
created on earth- there is no other. In
the words of our first Pope, St. Peter “To whom shall we go?” (John 6:68)
To whom indeed? There
is nowhere else to go. Hold fast to what
Jesus has given us, don’t allow fear to chase you from where our Lord wants you
to be.
We have a “flight or fight”
instinct, yet right now too many are in full “flight” mode. Stop.
Fight back that fear with the trust in our Lord. He has not abandoned us- he won’t. It is us who are abandoning Him when we leave
His Holy Catholic Church for anything else.
I get it.
Faithful
Catholics are seeking comfort, stability and that homey feeling the Church used
to give us, but is too often these days lacking. I feel it too, but I won’t give in to it by
abandoning the gift of the Holy Catholic Church from Christ to us because I don’t
particularly like who the current Pope is.
It is MY problem to get over those fears. It is MY cross to carry, not dump on the
ground and go running for something outside the Church that gives me the “warm
fuzzies”. I belonged to the “warm fuzzy”
Protestant denominations once upon a time, and I left that for a good
reason. There is no substance to those “warm
fuzzies”, the true substance is with staying inside the Catholic Church no matter
what. Don’t be shaken. Stand firm and trust in Jesus. Period.
Voris goes on to say: “This is the
position of ChurchMilitant.TV. We have never said the Pope, or more
importantly his prudential decisions or misstatements or off the cuff personal
thoughts are beyond the realm of critique.
What we consider simply out of bounds is the name-calling, Pope-bashing
response of SOME, important distinction there – SOME, a few, in the more
traditional minded crowd. Here’s the
bottom line. Unless he is speaking directly on a question of faith or
morals and makes it binding on all the faithful, whatever the pope says, or for
that fact, ANY pope says, or sometimes doesn’t say, carries with it no
guarantee of infallibility whatsoever. THAT is why
there exists a reserved set of circumstances in the first place for him to
speak infallibly. If he isn’t speaking in that very narrow set of
circumstances, then it shouldn’t be regarded as infallible.”
Personally, I think Voris is dead wrong here.
The “bottom line” isn’t about the Pope
speaking infallibly – the entire world would know if the Pope was speaking
infallibly- that would be clear news.
The “bottom line” in my opinion is “WHO is driving people into a panic
so awful that they are abandoning the Catholic Church for 'hardcore
traditionalist' groups outside the Church?”
In my opinion
that is Pope Francis himself.
It’s never
(at least in my mind) been about infallible teaching…it’s been about the words
and actions of this Pope.
The ripple
effect of “who am I to judge” and washing Muslim women’s feet during Holy week
and horrible interviews and his removal of orthodox Bishops from positions
inside the Church only to replace them with liberals and so on. These actions speak VOLUMES to the “bottom
line” problem Catholic laity are suffering now and it all points back to Pope
Francis himself.
Pope Francis is the author of this
storm we are all trying to weather.
With each news day more panic and fear is poured out to the
faithful by way of off the cuff comments, liberal priests or heretical speaking
Bishops. See it for what it is…the Church
is under attack. This isn’t new or
news. But it is troubling- especially
when the terror rippling across the world is seen as coming from the Vatican.
When our Holy Father FAILS to comfort his children (and let’s
face it Pope Francis himself is too often the epicenter of the problems) the
fear grows.
We want a Vicar on earth who will comfort us against the
storms, not a Vicar who IS the storm.
The problem with that way of thinking is that good and bad
Vicars come and go. It would be
WONDERFUL to again have a Vicar of Christ who kept us in our comfort zone,
where we felt safe and protected against the evils in the world. Pope Benedict did that for me. And because he did, I naively thought ALL
popes did that. I was wrong. Our comfort should be in our Lord
himself. Jesus sent the Great Comforter
to us who will protect His Church against ALL the storms –inside and outside
the Church.
Stop running OUT of the Church seeking the Comforter, you
won’t find Him there. He is INSIDE the
Church- in Her Truth and official Teachings.
Find your comfort in the ONLY place it truly exists, inside the Holy
Catholic Church with Jesus Christ himself.
You won’t find that anywhere else. On that, Michael Voris and I will always agree.
"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
About once a year I find myself in opposition to something Michael Voris says (most of the time I think he is spot on and an excellent teacher of the Faith - I highly recommend watching his 'Talks' videos).
Sadly today is one of those rare occasions when I disagree with
Michael Voris.
God love you Michael Voris for trying to be the calm in the
chaos of Pope Francis’ wake yet again, but I think you’ve got it wrong- at
least partly wrong.
Today Voris put out an episode of the Vortex telling
Catholics to ‘take a chill pill’ and wait a few days each time Pope Francis
opens his mouth so that the Vatican has time to come out with numerous
statements clarifying what the Pope MEANT to say.
Got that?
Don’t listen to what the Pope says; only pay attention to
what the Vatican tells you Pope Francis MEANT to say.
That is the SAD reality of our Catholic Church today. We've got a pope problem and the only answer some are giving is 'ignore him'.
For months, especially this last week, Catholic writers and bloggers (some of them priests)
have been suggesting Catholics “IGNORE THE POPE” because he's causing chaos and division within the Church. And now it seems Michael Voris
is telling us the same thing, but for a different reason.
Voris quote: "Did you hear the reports saying the Pope said God doesn’t
REALLY exist? Or did you see the headline that said the Pope said all that
matters is overthrowing world economic markets? Those
might as well be the headlines, because they are just about as valid as any of
the stuff being trotted out under the banner “WHAT THE POPE SAID TODAY”.Really,
this nonsense has got to stop. From Rome on down to the Catholic blogasterium, to
the secular press to Catholics on Facebook and so forth.This
pope has an off-handed way of talking. Ok. Does he guard his every word and consider
that he should be much more circumspect in what he says and to whom? It’s clear
its not his style. No, he doesn’t do that.He
talks a lot – and that’s who he is. And he has perhaps in little more than a
year, become
the most ill-quoted and misrepresented Pope in the history of the Church.Does
he need to stop talking to so many people in such an off-handed fashion. That argument
could be made somewhat easily. But face it, he aint gonna do that.So,
Catholics around the world need to stop going crazy andjust ignore much of
this reporting
until a few days have gone by after a reported strange comment."-end quote-
The issue for me, isn't what the media says, its what the pope ACTUALLY says..."who am I to judge"..."make a mess"...‘The most serious of the evils that afflict the world these days are youth unemployment and the loneliness of the old". And what about what he's done? Washing women's (and Muslims) feet during Holy Week? I KNOW Voris objects to that (because its WRONG), he's voiced his disapproval for priests who wash women's feet numerous times. These things are a problem, and this problem will not go away by ignoring it.
Many Catholics (bloggers, Facebook, Twitter or other social media junkies etc) are voicing their confusion because we WANT someone to tell us ‘it
ain’t so!” but most of the time the Vatican can’t even do that because these ‘interviews’
are done with no proof of what was actually said.
So we either call the person doing
the interview a liar (maybe they are, we don’t know) or we point out the fact
that the Pope continues to put HIMSELF in a position to BE confusing.
When the pope does that, Catholics (on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc) should NOT be blamed for freaking out. It's not our fault this stuff comes out of his mouth constantly causing us to feel confused and disappointed and quite frankly nervous.
Voris says: What’s the moral of the story. Forget the headlines, forget the blogs by the Church of Nice crowd, forget the knee jerk stupidity and just chill out and wait for the ACTUAL facts, or correct translation, or appropriate clarification to be issued.
I am really surprised at Voris for basically stating that Catholics should ignore everything that comes out of the pope’s
mouth because only the Vatican can correctly interpret the Holy Father. That the laity must sit back and wait for the
Vatican to tell us what the pope means.
Really Michael?
Is that where we are now? Am I misunderstanding Voris here?
I understand the other Catholic bloggers who say 'ignore the pope because he's not THE FAITH and he can't change dogma so why worry', but I don't understand being told to ignore the pope because we must wait for the Vatican tell us what the pope MEANT to say.
Has this ever before happened in our Church history? That a pope could not speak for himself
because no one but the Vatican could understand him?
The problem is, ignoring the head of the Holy Catholic
Church is NOT easy- especially when he scares you.
I don’t know Michael Voris personally, but have followed his
web shows for years now and watched more of his Youtube Catholic teaching
videos than I can count.
But to be honest, I get the feeling from listening to Voris
for so many years that he isn’t any happier with the current pope than most of
the rest of us. (I say this because I recently listened to a talk he gave
called “Satan’s Defeat” (excellent by the way) which took place after Pope Benedict resigned, in which
Voris was asked who he wished would be our next pope and Voris said Cardinal Raymond
Burke whom he wished would take the name Pope Leo XIV- clear indicator he was
wishing for a very orthodox, straight talking, no confusion holy pope-like many
of us). (note Voris' comment is the final few seconds of the video)
He tells us not to have a 'knee jerk' reaction to the pope, but if I were a betting person I would bet Voris has had his own knee jerk moments because of the pope- he just refuses to do so publicly. I get a visual of Voris doing a face
plant each time Pope Francis does an “interview/non-interview” as the tsunami
of chaos ripples over the world. Once he
prays and calms down he has to get to work figuring out how he’s going to steer
through the latest storm the Holy Father has unleashed on the world with his
next Vortex episode. I admire him for
trying and respect him tremendously for NOT going against his view that
publicly criticizing a pope is wrong.
Where I disagree with Voris this time, is in laying the
blame on the laity and even the media for freaking out when we hear or read
what the Holy Father has said. If this
was JUST that the media was at fault for taking something out of context
(like with Pope Benedict and the “condom” incident) Voris would have a point. But the issue is Pope Francis himself- he's purposely putting himself CONTINUALLY in the position to cause chaos.
There are NO MORE excuses for Pope Francis on this- at least
in MY opinion.
Pope Francis gives the first interview and chaos
erupts. The interview was on the Vatican
website, then taken down from the Vatican website and yesterday it’s back up on the
Vatican website and then taken down TODAY- again.
Chaos and confusion.
The Pope does a second interview and the world goes into a
tailspin over it. The Vatican (as Voris
points out) has to AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN come out with statements to calm
the Catholic world by telling us basically NOT to listen to anything Pope
Francis says, just wait for the Vatican to tell you all what he actually MEANT
to say.
And last week Pope Francis has done it again.
More chaos and confusion.
Voris puts a lot of the blame on Catholics for freaking out
and the media for misunderstanding or misinterpreting the Pope.
Well WHEN is the Pope going to be responsible for what HE
says and does?
Why is everyone else getting
blamed for what HE says? What he’s said
at times IS scary. We have a legitimate
reason for our unease with this Pope.
Pope Francis said he wanted "a mess" and he's doing a fantastic job of creating a mess in the Church.
Are we in for YEARS of one mess after another?
This "mess" is on the Pope, not the laity.
If he cared about the confusion and chaos suffered (and it
is suffering) by the Catholic laity he would STOP doing these
interview/non-interviews, but apparently he’s MORE concerned with his own
pleasure in being interviewed, rather than what is best for the Church.
He’s got a priority problem.
And we the Church have a
pope problem.
Some people don’t want to
say what needs saying, but it’s the truth.
We have a pope problem.
It’s an
easy fix, just STOP giving off the cuff interviews/non-interviews. Stick to pre-written statements that the
Vatican has looked over to make sure there will be NO chaos or confusion. That way we won't have to wait days for the Vatican to explain what the pope MEANT rather than what he said.
Sadly, I don't think Pope Francis will change for the good of the Church. He wants a 'mess' and he's determined to continue making a mess within the Church. That's a problem we can't ignore.
I pray someone at the
Vatican will fix it and be able to clean up Pope Francis' mess.
God help us and give us clarity where we have a mess of chaos and confusion.
In Christ,
Julie @ Connecticut Catholic
Corner
"Is the hierarchy perhaps free to teach what they find most to their liking on matters of religion, or what they expect will be most pleasing to the proponents of certain current views opposed to all doctrine? Certainly not! The prime duty of the episcopate is to transmit strictly and faithfully the original message of Christ, the sum total of the truths which He revealed and confided to the Apostles as necessary for salvation." -Pope Paul VI
"The sacred deposit of truth must be safeguarded. It is absolutely vital that the Church never for an instant lose sight of the holy patrimony of truth inherited from the Fathers ... This is the certain and unchangeable doctrine to which the faithful owe obedience." -Pope John XXIII
