The old adage that age brings wisdom has, in our day, become something of a joke. Think of the grannies for abortion cheering the murder of their grandchildren; the aging, raging feminist nuns on the bus; priest dissenters like Charlie Curran who at 85 is still stuck in 60's rebellion and the even older Church wrecker Hans Kung! Think of geriatric Catholic politicians like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi treading over the bloody bodies of babies on the road to perdition. Not an ounce of wisdom in the lot!
As they say, there's no fool like an old fool!
But we have some wonderful examples of wise old men filled with zeal for the gospel and the love of Christ. One, Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, is certainly a role model for our age. He was among the four dubia cardinals calling for Pope Francis to clarify the ambiguities in Amoris Laetitia recognizing the disaster of the confusion and chaos being sown. The dubia exhorted the pope to explain the document asking five simple questions. The response of Pope Francis, who promised openness and transparency and claims to welcome questions and criticism, has been stony silence -- for over three years now he's played the sphinx.
The pope refuses to respond to orthodox clergy and laymen who lament the chaos he's inflicted on the Church. But he happily meets with and gives a platform to atheists, population controllers, abortionists, homosexual activists, and other scandalous leaders of the secular world.
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| A two-headed papacy would be a monstrosity! |
It wasn't the first time he risked controversy.
When Pope Benedict resigned the papacy, the cardinal expressed his concern and after some clerics described a sort of dual papacy with a contemplative pope and an active pope, he said, "A two headed papacy would be a monstrosity." He felt Benedict's resignation gave the impression that the pope is a political figure and risked creating a “secular-political understanding” of the papal role.
Back in 2015 during the Synod on the Family, he said those trying to change doctrine on marriage "are heretics" even if they are bishops.
Cardinal Brandmüller is an expert on Church history and from 1998 until 2009, was President of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences. To know history is to have a deep understanding of the present crisis. He has also expressed support for more reverent reception of Holy Communon saying, “It is evident that receiving Holy Communion on the tongue while kneeling expresses the faith in Christ's real presence better than Communion in the hand while standing."
The cardinal's latest great gift was his praise for the young men who threw Pachamama in the river. LifeSiteNews reported him saying:
These two young men who threw these tasteless idols into the Tiber have not committed theft, but have done a deed, a symbolic act as we know it from the Prophets of the Old Covenant, from Jesus – see the cleansing of the Temple – and from Saint Boniface who felled the Thor Oak near Geismar....These two courageous 'Maccabees' who have removed the 'horrors of the devastation of a holy site' are the prophets of today. Spoken in secular terms, I would think that the champagne corks really had to pop here.We are living in times that call for a new league of Maccabees rising up to fight for the faith. The wisdom and encouragement of men like Cardinal Brandmüller is imperative as we mount the ramparts. Like the prophets Samuel and Nathan, God is sending us wise guides. Let us pray in thanksgiving and ask Mother Mary to intercede for them. [For more information on the cardinal visit the LifeSiteNews archive and put Cardinal Brandmüller's name in the search box.]
Cardinal Walter Brandmüller adopted as the coat of arms motto "Ignem in Terram (To Cast) Fire Upon the Earth" taken from the Gospels of Luke [12:49]. In the Gospel of John [12:46], the Lord Jesus says about himself: "I came into the world as a light, that everyone who he believes in me, he did not remain in the darkness". Therefore, the fire according to Luke [12:49] is a person and in addition different from the Lord Jesus. Therefore, in the cardinal's coat of arms there are 2 flames (fires) from the same branch: Jesus Christ and ... Paraclete, both from the same royal house of David. The Paraclete is mistakenly identified with the Holy Spirit - this is a different person, although full of the Holy Spirit. The Paraclete is the fire that Jesus Christ wanted to cast upon the earth.
ReplyDeleteWalter Brandmüller is the Cardinal-Deacon of San Giuliano dei Fiamminghi, meaning Saint Julian the Hospitaler (of Flanders). When as a student I traveled by hitchhiking in the old days through Belgium, I experienced an extraordinary hospitality in Ghent, not only did I have accommodation in a private house, but the host took me to dinner at a medieval inn. I did not care about that at the time, but now I know that it was the work of Saint Julian, the patron of Ghent, "who is invoked by all as the patron of hospitality by travelers on a journey and far from home pray hoping to find safe lodging."
Cardinal Walter (with his coat of arms) seems to herald the arrival of the Paraclete, who will lead the Church into a new era of God's Kingdom on earth.
Dear Mary. I hope your husband's knee surgery went well..
ReplyDeleteMy Bride had the operation a few years ago and the recovery period for her was a bit problematical but she is aces today
What a great story, Myron. Thank you for sharing it and the information about the cardinal's coat of arms. He is certainly not afraid to throw burning coals on the heads of the traitors in the Vatican.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you ABS for your encouraging words. I hope my husband will be "aces" in a few months. I'd love it if we could go hiking again.