Keep This In Mind As You Reflect on the Sad Situation in the Church

I'm reading Bishop Gracida's Autobiography, An Ordinary's Not So Ordinary Life. [Visit Bishop Gracida's Blog, Abyssum Abyssum Invocat.] In the preface, Fr. Patrick Serna makes an observation that should give us all comfort as we see horrifying revelations explode almost daily:

While it was in God's power to make redemption possible without the assistance of apostles, it was nonetheless His choice to choose these men, as well as the bishops who succeeded them, to carry on this reality of apostolic succession. If some bishops have failed in their awesome responsibility in the last 2000 years, it is no surprise, since of the original twelve apostles, one sold our Lord for thirty pieces of silver, the leader of the apostles denied Jesus three times, the other nine apostles were nowhere to be found in Jesus' time of greatest suffering, and only one apostle, John, followed Jesus all the way to the cross.

Bishop Gracida continues to follow Christ in his 10th decade of life. He has an Open Letter to the Cardinals on his blog calling for them to consider whether Pope Francis, in view of revelations since his becoming pope, was validly elected:

The Catholic faithful must look back for an answer to a point from where we have come—to what occurred in and around the Sistine Chapel in March 2013 and how the fruits of those events have generated such widespread concern among those people of magisterial orthodoxy about confusing and, or, erroneous doctrinal statements which emanate from The Holy See.

The bishop goes on to discuss Pope John Paul II's document,  Universi Dominici Gregis, outlining  prescriptions  for the valid election of a pope:

His Apostolic Constitution (Universi Dominici Gregis) which governed the supposed Conclave in March 2013 contains quite clear and specific language about the invalidating effect of departures from its norms. For example, Paragraph 76 states: “Should the election take place in a way other than that prescribed in the present Constitution, or should the conditions laid down here not be observed, the election is for this very reason null and void, without any need for a declaration on the matter; consequently, it confers no right on the one elected.” From this, many believe that there is probable cause to believe that Monsignor Jorge Mario Bergoglio was never validly elected as the Bishop of Rome and Successor of Saint Peter—he never rightly took over the office of Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Roman Catholic Church and therefore he does not enjoy the charism of Infallibility. If this is true, then the situation is dire because supposed papal acts may not be valid or such acts are clearly invalid, including supposed appointments to the college of electors itself.

It is a sobering article and, as confusion (i.e., the smoke of Satan) continues to create a dense fog in the Church, Bishop Gracida's Open Letter deserves serious consideration. Please read it.

On this Feast of the Assumption I'm praying to Mary, Queen of the Clergy, to intercede for our shepherds. As my dad often said, "Where there's life, there's hope." Our pathetic bishops are not beyond conversion and one drop of Christ's blood is more than enough to save the entire world.

Jesus, Our High Priest, have mercy on us and bring the false shepherds among us to conversion and repentance. Thank you for the true shepherds. Give us the wisdom to know who's who -- to recognize the true shepherds and those who are wolves in sheep's clothing.

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Thine.

Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.

St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, pray for us.