Praying for You While I'm on Retreat; In Your Kindness, Please Pray for Us!

Our Lady's Lamp will be shining brightly
as my annual Ignatian retreat begins.

I'm leaving today for my annual five day silent retreat with Fr. James Buckley (FSSP) using the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. This particular retreat will have three generations of Kreitzer women attending, since I will be there with my daughter and her daughter, our oldest grandchild.

What a blessing! And what a memory! We plan to get a photo with Fr. Buckley together. I imagine this may be the first time he has a retreat with three generations from the same family.

My daughter has attended several times over the past 15 years with me, but this will be a first time for the third generation.

Monday Morning Thought: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Are you discouraged about the state of the Church? Are you scandalized by the bad guys in Roman collars? Do you imagine them at the pinnacle of the temple looking down upon the earth while the evil one whispers in their ears about what he will give them? 

Don't be!

Things have always been thus and the Holy Spirit remains with Holy Mother Church despite the ear tickling, scandalous clergy.  Here are a few situations that prove sin is never original and never goes out of style among bad clergymen. It ain't new, but it's not the "rest of the story."

THE BAD GUYS

Example #1

Cardinal Cupich is our own modern Cardinal Wolsey. Just as Wolsey was willing to mess with the doctrine of marriage to give Henry VIII what he wanted (i.e., normalization of his adulterous relationship with Ann Boleyn), Cupich is ready to dump Christ's teaching on marriage to normalize adultery and encourage sacrilegious Communion for the adulterers. Unfortunately there are plenty of others in the Church just like him. (The bishops of Malta and Argentina come to mind.)

U.S. cardinal writes foreward to new book approving Communion for adulterers

Is "Personal Relationship with Jesus" Truly Catholic?

A friend told me recently that her Bible Study group on Wednesday mornings at her parish in Connecticut had over a hundred women in it.  I was pretty amazed and when she told me about the program they followed, I naturally wanted to find out more about it.  We should all be glad when Catholic's enthusiasm for the faith is raised.   Bringing women together who have not previously been involved in their parishes is a really good thing.  My hesitation to get on board with this program, however, stems from its embrace of the concept of "getting to know Jesus personally."  Of "having a personal relationship with Jesus."  This is part of the message or plan in the materials written by Lisa Brennickmeyer in her program called Walking With Purpose. 

This "Scripture-based" program, I have discovered, is growing in popularity among Catholic women around the country.  I have not read the Brennickmeyer material and I could be very wrong but I would encourage all to tread with caution on any path not based on solid, historical, Catholic concepts of our relationship and knowledge of God.