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Wednesday 31 May 2017

But for a chicken leg, John?

Malcolm Muggeridge, the legendary English author and journalist, knew Svetlana Stalin, the daughter of Soviet dictator, “Uncle Joe,” Stalin. It was through Muggeridge that it came to be known that on his deathbed, Stalin was plagued with terrifying hallucinations when suddenly, he sat up halfway in bed, clenched his fist and shook it towards heaven, before falling back down, dead. The last gesture of this murderous, sadistic loser was to defy and curse God.

As Catholics, we know that the only sin that God cannot forgive and will not forgive is the sin against the Holy Spirit – that is, final impenitence and an utter rejection of His Divine Mercy. While we cannot state with knowing certainty, based upon known knowns, it is likely that Joseph Stalin is in Hell.

In 1938, John Terrance Shields was born in New York City. The Irish-American Catholic became a priest sometime in the 1960’s probably around 1965. His formation would have been prior to, and during, the Second Vatican Council. Shields became "disillusioned" with the Church after the death of John XXIII particularly over what he saw as a rejection of the liberality of John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council by Paul VI. He was particularly disturbed by the Pope's affirmation of Original Sin, the theology of which Shields abhorred. He left the priesthood, and came to Canada in 1969. We assume that he was “laicised” by the Church. Eventually he married, a woman and then another woman.

Just like Stalin, Shields was a darling of the political Left. Alas, if only the similarity ended there.

In his book, The Priest Who Left His Priesthood in Pursuit of Cosmic Spirituality, Shields wrote, "I have drawn great personal strength from knowing that my conscious energy will persist beyond the moment of my death."

What arrogance. What hubris.

Euthanasia is now the law of the land in Canada and the cause has been led for years by those living on the west coast. Having left the priesthood and married, Shields was dying and chose, as did Stalin, to shake his fist at God and take his own life, with the aid of the doctor who murdered him, the nurses who assisted and the politicians, lawyers and judges who enabled it.

“Two days before he was scheduled to die, John Shields roused in his hospice bed with an unusual idea. He wanted to organize an Irish wake for himself. It would be old-fashioned with music and booze, except for one notable detail — he would be present. The party should take up a big section of Swiss Chalet, a family-style chain restaurant on the road out of town. Shields wanted his last supper to be one he so often enjoyed on Friday nights when he was a young Catholic priest — rotisserie chicken legs with gravy.”  John Shields, who had a rare and incurable disease called amyloidosis, was relieved to discover he qualified for medical assistance in dying. John Shields would have his “last supper.”
The link to the whole, original article in the New York Times follows. Catholics with faith will find it chilling.


A supper like the “one he so often enjoyed on Friday nights when he was a young Catholic priest — rotisserie chicken legs with gravy," on a day when Catholics, priest and laity alike, are to do penance and refrain from flesh-meat.

He was as defiant in his priesthood as he was on his deathbed actively shaking his fist at heaven and mocking the Church in exchange for a rotisserie chicken dinner.  

Catholics can have hope that if John, before taking that final breath, before the brain waves flattened and his heart ceased to beat, called out from his mind to the LORD whom he abandoned for his Divine Mercy, he would have been heard.

Because of John Shields' example, how many others will choose to follow his path where more than the chicken is on the rotisserie.



10 comments:

Barona said...

A powerful, brilliant post. A sober warning as to how far Canada has traveled - led by so many apostate churchmen, through both actions and silence - down the path of spiritual darkness.

Osusanna said...

Priests are attacked by satan mercilessly.

Jonah said...

There are actually two stories here:

1) The blatant apostate, and
2) The duplicitous one.

Can you spot the duplicitous one? Hint: Malcolm Muggeridge was a key inspiration for Michael Coren. You can piece together sordid truth here:

http://jonahintheheartofnineveh.blogspot.ca/2015/05/games-neocons-play-pedotourism-obscured.html

Dorota Mosiewicz-Patalas said...

Brilliant post. Thank You, Vox.

mazara said...

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/06/01/jesuit-superior-general-we-have-formed-symbolic-figures-such-as-the-devil-to-express-evil/

Anonymous said...

A number of years ago I heard the same story about another atheist shaking his fist at Heaven on his death bed. It was Voltaire. First, I wonder why someone who doesn't believe in God bothers to curse Him and second, I wonder if these atheists are shown just before their death that there is a God and that's why they die cursing Him? Who knows, but I'll bet they're keeping each other company.

Midwester said...

Today at 6:00 pm I will be meeting with at least one other person at our parish church to say a rosary for our priests throughout the world. We began this about a month ago, and will continue as long as we are able. Without our priests, we have no Eucharist. Without our priests, we have no sacrament of Penance. It is a catastrophe for us to be without our priests. Not enough people prayed for this poor man. Pray for your priests so that they may bring us Christ.

Anonymous said...

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-ontario-passes-totalitarian-bill-allowing-govt-to-take-kids-from-c

Anonymous said...

When I saw that story on the top of the fold of Sunday's New York Times in the lobby of my building, before I even read it, I shook with rage. I turned over all the papers on the table so it would not get anyone's attention. I didn't know then that this was an ex-priest though I assumed from his picture that he was a model leftist, loved mother earth and civil rights activism. In other words, a saint of the world. And now the New York Times was glowing and bowing to his oh-so-rational choice to kill himself. No mention of what happens to us after we die. Of eternity. Eternal life. Of where our immortal souls go. Most disheartening is that until your blog, I have seen or heard nothing from the Catholic Church in NY where our progressive Democrat legislators are pushing hard at every session to have suicide legalized.

By now the former-Father Shields has learned what eternity is -- that it ain't "this day you will be with me in the Cosmos".

Is there any Catholic voice in our city that will speak out like you Vox? All it would take is one priest holding a copy of that demonic NYT article in his hand and delivering a sermon about preparation for death the likes of which would rouse St. Alphonsus Liguori dancing out of his grave.

DisturbedMary

Anonymous said...

I also wonder if people are shown just before their death that there is a God.

In my Dad's case, as he was dying, surrounded by his wife and us children, he suddenly became animated, pointed to an area where the wall met the ceiling and said one word:"Home".

Dad was a practising Catholic who as much as was possible, attended daily Mass and said the Rosary daily.