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Tuesday 26 April 2016

St. Irenaeus preached as heresy "various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it."

We read from Amoris Laetitia the following words of Pope Francis.

Para: 3. Since “time is greater than space”, I would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium. Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it. This will always be the case as the Spirit guides us towards the entire truth (cf. Jn 16:13), until he leads us fully into the mystery of Christ and enables us to see all things as he does. Each country or region, moreover, can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its traditions and local needs. For “cultures are in fact quite diverse and every general principle… needs to be inculturated, if it is to be respected and applied”.

We read also from yesterday's Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist this Treatise against Heresies by Saint Irenaeus in the Office of Readings, or Matins, of the Liturgy of the Hours:


Second Reading From the treatise Against Heresies by Saint Irenaeus, Bishop - Preaching truth 
The Church, which has spread everywhere, even to the ends of the earth, received the faith from the apostles and their disciples. By faith, we believe in one God, the almighty Father who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became man for our salvation. And we believe in the Holy Spirit who through the prophets foretold God’s plan: the coming of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, his birth from the Virgin, his passion, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension into heaven, and his final coming from heaven in the glory of his Father, to recapitulate all things and to raise all men from the dead, so that, by the decree of his invisible Father, he may make a just judgement in all things and so that every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth to Jesus Christ our Lord and our God, our Saviour and our King, and every tongue confess him. 
The Church, spread throughout the whole world, received this preaching and this faith and now preserves it carefully, dwelling as it were in one house. Having one soul and one heart, the Church holds this faith, preaches and teaches it consistently as though by a single voice. For though there are different languages, there is but one tradition. The faith and the tradition of the churches founded in Germany are no different from those founded among the Spanish and the Celts, in the East, in Egypt, in Libya and elsewhere in the Mediterranean world. Just as God’s creature, the sun, is one and the same the world over, so also does the Church’s preaching shine everywhere to enlighten all men who want to come to a knowledge of the truth. 
Now of those who speak with authority in the churches, no preacher however forceful will utter anything different – for no one is above the Master – nor will a less forceful preacher diminish what has been handed down. Since our faith is everywhere the same, no one who can say more augments it, nor can anyone who says less diminish it. 

7 comments:

My Blog said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wolverine said...

Greg J Ben your comments are spot on!!

I strongly suggest you check out James Larson's articles at
http://www.waragainstbeing.com/

Specifically, scroll down to read his article from March 16th, 2016 titled
"Our Chastisement, Our Blessing". A question Larson raises in the article that all faithful Catholics must sincerely ask..'Is it conceivable that we have been so whittled down through a long historical betrayal of the Gospel that we now stand, uncomprehending, in the face of a severe chastisement which we deserve?'

Anonymous said...

Well, the Church is sick, and although its visiblity as Sacrament of God's saving love is tarnished, it is still what it is, but very much soiled. As per this reading from St. Irenaeus - serious words from a Church Father to ponder and weigh in the perhaps difficult days and weeks to come. In this time of trial, the Eucharist continues to be the true spiritual food that enables us to live our Baptism with joy in a world and Church that are suffering tremendously. The Eucharist does not depend on the worthiness of the minister (Ex opera operato), and we are assured that our entire lives and intentions are united to Christ on the altar and with Him, re-presented to the Father. We cannot give in to discouragement. It is truly time to strengthen weary knees and mobilize. The body of Christ needs our prayers.
"…All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed."(Heb 12:11-12)
Tony

Proftwist said...

Satan is the father of lies. It is sometimes more profitable to Satan to sow discord and uncertainty than to sow outright heresy.

Read the pre Vatican II encyclicals. They are by and large short and to the point. There is no ambiguity in them. We now have a pope who wallows in ambiguity and who refuses to clarify what he says and writes. There can be no other conclusion than that he is a willing agent of Satan. Even the heretical popes spoke with clarity, even when they were in error.

Brian said...

Vox

You certainly know that, in "The Francis Zone", every doctrine has a shelf life, even De Fide teachings. Remember how Jorge supported "Conditional Immortality" of the soul(aka Annihilationism), when talking to his atheist buddy. Do you think that he cares what Lateran V defined about the immortality of the soul if it goes against his New Theology, of pure becoming? Jorge and friends, are masters of disposable doctrine. Again, you know how it goes, as one Bergoglio sycophant, stated; "pastoral contexts shift" and that's how doctrine changes.... Amoris Laetitia has those embedded escape clauses, does it not? Seems to me that there is some high quality cockle sowed, in it, with holes through which you could drive a Mack truck. Uncatholic clergy will have a field day with this Sexhortation.

Peter Lamb said...

“In order not to shock the ears of Catholics, the innovators sought to hide the subtleties of their tortuous maneuvers by the use of seemingly innocuous words such as would allow them to insinuate error into souls in the most gentle manner. Once the truth had been compromised, they could, by means of slight changes or additions in phraseology, distort the confession of the faith that is necessary for our salvation, and lead the faithful by subtle errors to their eternal damnation.... [This] cannot be excused in the way that one sees it being done, under the erroneous pretext that the seemingly shocking affirmations in one place are further developed along orthodox lines in other places, and even in yet other places corrected; as if allowing for the possibility of either affirming or denying the statement, or of leaving it up to the personal inclinations of the individual – such has always been the fraudulent and daring method used by innovators to establish error. It allows for both the possibility of promoting error and of excusing it...
The heretic Nestorius “expressed himself in a plethora of words, mixing true things with others that were obscure; mixing at times one with the other in such a way that he was also able to confess those things which were denied while at the same time possessing a basis for denying those very sentences which he confessed.”
(Pope Pius VI, Apostolic Constitution Auctorem Fidei, 1794.)

Unknown said...

Bri i i i i i lliant.