Fr. Collins always cuts to the chase and his observations on the flawed attitudes that accompanied Vatican II certainly have been born out in its implementation whether intended or not by the council fathers. Despite efforts to reform the reform, the faithful continue to see serious desecrations of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, for example the recent "vampire Mass" in Germany. Even more scandalous, in February, at the installation of the Archbishop of Chapecó in Brazil, a female Anglican minister "concelebrated" and received Holy Communion. [Source] She wears the blue stole in the above photo. How can one fathom the faithlessness of all the Catholic priests who participated in that grievous sin against Christ?
The diocese described the scandal as an "inadvertent violation of liturgical norms" in communicating with the nuncio about the event. Really? "Inadvertent?" That looks more like a teenager's statement that it's easier to apologize than ask for permission. The real question is Do any of the priests participating in this travesty believe what the Church teaches and what canon law bans? Does the new bishop? This event called for an anathema, but don't hold your breath waiting for any real discipline. That is reserved for those who embrace Sacred Tradition! Lord Jesus, have mercy on your poor flock subjected to the grievous sins of the many shepherds who have lost the faith!
THE LACUNA OF VATICAN II THAT BECAME AN ACHILLES HEEL
by Fr. Tom Collins
When Pope St. John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962, the news of the council had already aroused an abundance of hubris, excitement and anticipation on the part of millions of Catholics. The paradigm of "opening the window" to allow new insights of science and psychology to bring "fresh air" into the Church's "antiquated" theology and spirituality was viewed as an invitation to more creativity in the Church, allowing her to become more adept at adapting to and adopting the blessings of the modern world and to initiate a new era of evangelization. In the years to follow, Catholics were given the impression that they were being "empowered" to pro-actively engage in updating and reforming the Church, her liturgy and her teachings, so as to make them more relevant and appealing to the modern world.
All of this zeitgeist, at the time, seemed rather appealing - and, apparently, rightly so. However, this enthusiasm seems to obscure some serious spiritual dangers, which became increasingly evident - so much so that Pope St. Paul VI, on June 29, 1972, sadly noted that, from some obscure crevice, the smoke of Satan had entered the very sanctuary of the Church. Many Catholics, under the auspices of an ambiguous "Spirit of Vatican II" were embracing distorted understandings of basic Church doctrines and moral disciplines. This, in turn, led to metastasizing distortions of the Council's teaching on the supremacy of conscience so as to justify outright dissent against such teachings and disciplines. in addition, this disintegration was hailed by many in the secular media as a sign of the Church's evolution into spiritual maturity - i.e., into making the teachings of Jesus more attuned to the "felt needs" of our age.
Moral capitulation was praised as "compassion". Modern psychological theories were used to degrade the harshness of some of the more awkward and challenging dimensions of Christ's teachings. Feasting and prayer replaced fastng and prayer at many retreats. Rationalizations for sin (especially sexual sins and violations of the command to keep holy the Lord's Day) were used to obviate the necessity for life-giving repentance guided by serious accountability to the whole truth of God. And assertions have been made that God's mercy is so great that we can have a reasonable hope that all will be saved - just so long as their "fundamental option" in life is in harmony with His love.
In reflecting on all this, one is led to wonder whether a major mistake was made even before the Council was convened. Noting that the Church on earth is the Church Militant (united with the Church Suffering in purgatory and the Church Triumphant in heaven), it seems that, in preparing for the Council, vigilant humility, docility and repentance would have been preferable to optimistic hubris, which easily tends to identify emotional excitement as zeal, as the proper spiritual preparation for this great event.
In our spiritual life as in our political life, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Thus while on earth, we always need to maintain a spiritual vigilance, realizing that the seductions and desecrating power of Satan, sin and cynicism are both multidimensional and ever-metastasizing. Failure to maintain such vigilant discipline inevitably allows the smoke of Satan to pollute the sanctuaries of our souls as well as the sanctuaries of our churches.
The failure or refusal to recognize the necessity and seriousness of this struggle is exemplified in numerous ways For example. many "faithful Catholics in good standing" support the premise that pre-born babies have neither the right to live nor the right to be born, thus agreeing with King Herod' contention that Jesus had no right to be born. Sadly, even many bishops, acquiescing to the possible legitimacy of this premise, as well as to the further perverted assertion that Jesus Himself wills to regularly give His Eucharistic endorsement to the butchering of pre-born babies. And some bishops have even gone so far as to "cancel" priests for daring to vigorously condemn such evil as well as the blasphemous conflation/identification of Jesus with Moloch. Then again, as one pope pointed out, "Who am I to judge?".
The hubris embraced even before the convening of the Council thus left the Church exposed to infiltration be a myriad of evil spirits. In seeking to deal with problems without directly and decisively confronting and exorcising the demonic forces, of which these problems were mere symptoms, was a serious error. It is worth noting that, in His profound wisdom and love, Jesus taught us to end the Lord's Prayer with the words, "but deliver us from evil", not with the words, "but deliver us from problems." Merely dealing with symptoms does not cure the disease.
Fr. Tom Collins
Hot Springs VA
No comments:
Post a Comment