Q: What can a pastor say to a Catholic who feels bewildered by these winds of change?
A: The faithful should take courage, because the Lord will never abandon his Church. We should think about how the Lord calmed the sea in the storm and his words to his disciples: “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” (Mt. 8:26). If this time of confusion seems to put their faith at risk, they have to only work even harder to live a life that is truly Catholic. But I am aware that to live in these times is a source of great suffering.
Q: It is becoming difficult not to think of this as a time of chastisement.
A: I think about this first of all concerning myself. If I am suffering at this time because of the situation in the Church, I think that the Lord is telling me that I have need of purification. And I also think that, if the suffering is so widespread, this means that the whole Church is in need of purification. But this is not because of a God who is waiting only to punish us. This is because of our own sins. If in some way we have betrayed doctrine, moral teaching or the liturgy, it follows inevitably that we will undergo a suffering that purifies us to put us back again on the narrow way.
Read the rest there, including my little friend who delights in mocking everything that this humble and holy lion says.
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