It seems to me that we all make life too darn complicated. In many ways we get lost in the weeds. And yet, the prescription for a happy life is really very simple. The Baltimore Catechism set it down in question #6:
6. Q. Why did God make you?
A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.
There was a time when I totally trusted Phil Lawler's take on things. I read several of his books with pen in hand and made margin notes to return to later. A trusted source, he was my regular go-to source as I slogged along in the Church crisis. So I was truly disappointed in his recent articles on the SSPX situation and upcoming consecrations. I was staggered when he said there was no state of necessity since it's up to Rome to make that decision. Really? If I see a child about to run into the street and be hit by a car, I'm not waiting for a policeman to tell me I can jaywalk. I also disagree with Lawler's interpretation of Fr. Pagliarani's statement that “In an ordinary parish, the faithful no longer find the necessary means to ensure their eternal salvation.” Perhaps that statement was overbroad, but certainly not untrue.
Have you ever had a good friend who ditched you after a disagreement? In these days of TDS and disputes over religion, it seems pretty common. I still mourn over some lost friends. I pray for one who died years ago. I'm confident she and I will be friends again worshiping together before the throne of God. Until that day, I think of her kindly and pray for the repose of her soul and our happy reunion.
In 1972 Brian Moore wrote a short novel titled Catholics about a remote abbey on an island off the coast of Ireland. [online here] It's the year 2000 and the monks continue to offer the Latin Mass after Vatican II and even after Vatican IV. The Protestants have long been acclimated to the new Church and the new faith. The move now is to incorporate the Buddhists and a conference is scheduled in which the head of the order is participating.
The monks have become an embarrassment and stumbling block to the new church. Ever since a television crew televised the Mass thousands of Catholics from all over the world flock to the liturgy offered on the mainland. The crisis comes when the head of the order in Rome sends a young priest to examine the abbey and order the monks to immediately adopt the new mass. There are no more private confessions. No one is required to believe that the bread and wine really become the Body and Blood of Christ at the consecration. No clergy are allowed to resist. They are ordered to conform.
In the old calendar, today is the feast of Pope St. Pius V, a courageous reformer. He put into Catholic practice many of the reforms of the Council of Trent. His holiness was obvious to the flock he served. An interesting bit of trivia relates to his impact on publishing and printing. He ordered that all books have the author and publisher announced on a title page. Prior to that many printers omitted the authors and their own responsibility for the book. Think of that the next time you look to see the publisher of a book and the date it was printed. I did that just yesterday with two books by Walker Percy to see which one was published first.
Papolatry refers to the excessive reverence or worship of the pope. It is derived from the combination of "papa," meaning pope, and "latry," which denotes worship or adoration.
Really! Yes, some Catholics put the pope right up there with Jesus Christ, the head of the Church. After all, since the pope is the "visible" head of the Church, he must be a saint who never gets anything wrong. Right?
Poor Wheeling-Charleston, a diocese that covers the entire state of West Virginia! What has Pope Leo done to you, conservative state that cooperates with ICE? He's named a bishop committed to the illegal invasion as your spiritual father. In fact, the bishop is himself an illegal invader who's never apologized for or repented of his own criminal entry into the country. Let's face it, most of those who enter illegally claim a right to be here and a right to help themselves to the wallets of citizens. Hospitals closing and schools overwhelmed? Citizens victimized by criminals? No problemo for the leftist thugs.
During my middle school years, my parents rented a lovely home on Juniper Lane in Falls Church, Virginia. The street got its name from an enormous Juniper tree that occupied a plot along the road. I think it was in the center and the road went around it on both sides, but that memory may not be accurate. At any rate, it was an impressive sight! Much more than the picture above.
If the Society and priests who minister to me are about to be declared schismatic and excommunicated, I want to know the rationale and justification for their consecrating bishops without a papal mandate. Canon law 1387 from the 1983 revised code of 1917 says this about those consecrations:
Can. 1387 Both the Bishop who, without a pontifical mandate, consecrates a person a Bishop, and the one who receives the consecration from him, incur a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See. [For anyone who wants to read the law, the entire 1983 code is online here.]
The laity are not members of the Society so if rumors turn out to be true, I presume we will be told we cannot fulfill our Sunday obligation by going to Mass at SSPX chapels and that they do not have the authority to forgive sins so sacramental confessions will be invalid. And, of course, so will the sacrament of Confirmation and Matrimony. Whew! The sword of Damocles will be over our heads wielded by Cardinal Fernandez of kissing and porno book fame. Really, it boggles the mind. So while Pope Leo embraces and dialogues with Patriarch Bartholomew of the schismatic Easter Orthodox Church, he refuses to meet with the SSPX.
What a father, eh?
“For those who believe in God no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God no explanation is possible.”The quote is often attributed to Franz Werfel who wrote Song of Bernadette, because the film included a similar quote in the introduction. It does not appear in the historical novel, however, although Werfel's powerful testimony to the Lourdes miracles proclaims it without words.
Fr. Joseph Gill has an important article at Crisis Magazine about the Novus Ordo, The Novus Ordo and the Interior Life. Don't miss it!
Does your diocese have a good shepherd? Does your parish? How can you tell? Scripture says, "By their fruits you shall know them." The measure of a good shepherd is how zealously he defends the faith and protects his flock from scandal. If you are fortunate enough to have a good shepherd, be sure to express your gratitude.
And now I have a story to tell from my own two dioceses, Richmond and Arlington. Arlington is blessed to have many faithful priests. How grateful I am for them because they have kept Arlington from going the way of so many places that have essentially lost the faith altogether. Fr. John Hardon, S.J. warned about the crisis of faith for years and predicted that entire dioceses would lose the faith. Has that happened in your diocese? He described the crisis in a 1997 article that outlined what has become ever more obvious. Who can deny it today?
"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." Gustav Mahler
The pilgrimage by the French mothers (and grandmothers) of priests. They walked 800 miles to beg the pope for the continuation of the Traditional Latin Mass for the sake of their sons. His answer? The crushing and uncharitable Traditionis Custodes.
I was thinking about going to see my sister for a few days. Frederick, MD is halfway on the two hour journey to her home. We've met in Frederick before and walked the Cross Creek path which is lovely and level. So I was looking at restaurants in the area where we might stop after hiking and before going back to her place.
