A corporal work of mercy.

A corporal work of mercy.
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Tuesday 5 May 2015

If this were only a comedy routine, I would laugh, alas; it is not!

Never before have Popes given "daily homilies." This practice by the current occupant of the Chair of Peter belittles his teaching role. He has reduced the universal papacy to the mutterings of an incoherent pastor bordering on lunacy

He said today:
When St. Paul is persecuted, despite a thousand tribulations, he remains firm in his faith and encourages others to hope in the Lord. Pope Francis was inspired by the passage from the Acts of the Apostles, in the First Reading, to dwell on these three points: tribulations, trust and peace – saying that to enter the Kingdom of God, one must "go through dark times, difficult times." The Christian bears tribulations with courage However, he warned, "this is not a sadomasochistic attitude", rather, it is "the Christian struggle" against the prince of this world who tries to tear us away "from the word of Jesus, from faith, from hope." "To endure the tribulations" is a phrase, the Pope pointed out, that the Apostle Paul uses frequently:
Does he have any fledgling idea what the word "sadomasochism" actually means. I searched for a theological understanding but it does not appear in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
From Psychology Today: "Sadomasochism can be defined as the giving or receiving of pleasure, often sexual, from the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. It can feature as an enhancement to sexual pleasure, or, in some cases, as a substitute or sine qua non. The infliction of pain is used to incite sexual pleasure, while the simulation of violence can serve to form and express attachment. Indeed, sadomasochistic activities are often initiated at the request of, and for the benefit of, the masochist, who often directs activities through subtle emotional cues."
From Merriam-Webster: "Sexual behavior that involves getting pleasure from causing or feeling pain."
The Free Dictionary Online: "The combination of sadism and masochism, in particular the deriving of pleasure, especially sexual gratification, from inflicting or submitting to physical or emotional abuse."
Oh Benedict, why did you desert us?

Monday 4 May 2015

Our Catholic hearts are in turmoil

How hard it is for any of us as Catholics to criticise the Pope. I know that when I do my Catholic heart bothers me. 

I have been disturbed by Pope Jorge Bergoglio from that evening he came out on the loggia with his "good evening." The next day, he celebrated his first Mass and did not genuflect after the Elevations and does not to this day. He refused to bless the assembled media because he respected their "consciences." Well, what about the Catholics there or those who might have benefited from this grace? A few days later, he more than genuflected by grovelling on the floor to wash the feet of non-Catholics on Holy Thursday when these should have been priests. If he wishes to wash the feet of the poor in a humble manner do it without cameras on any of the 364 other nights of the year, but not that night.

It has only gotten worse. The insults, the confusion, the literally idiotic statements. He has invited a man to pray in the Vatican whose "religion" was founded by a murderous, pervert and antichrist. We are now told to kneel in veneration of the poor while he still does not genuflect at Mass at the Consecration! Last week, pro-abortion and population controllers were at the Vatican at an environmental conference. Today, he met with some silly woman in clerics from Sweden who needs a therapist as she thinks she's a bishop as Jenner thinks he's a woman. Frankly Bruce Jenner has more potential to become a bishop than this Swede. There is the persecution of the FFI and so much more.

My friend Aged Parent of The Eye-Witnesss blog has a post that resonates:
The current Pope has, let us face obvious facts, left the Church in a state of disarray, not to say blind panic.  From one day to the next we hear messages from his garrulous lips that are either mildly orthodox, of dubious orthodoxy and/or outright rubbish.  No one seems to know if he has the intellectual capacity for his exalted position or if he just likes to talk, to say anything that enters his head, without much forethought.  He cannot be pinned down.  His words and actions are so "all-over-the-place" that no one can form a definitive judgment.  I most certainly can't.  He keeps everyone on tenterhooks or, worse, in a state of real fear for the Church.  Dignity does not seem to be a concept he is too familiar with, so when an ordinary Catholic sees him putting on a clown nose they cringe with embarrassment for the Church, and for him.  These are not the actions of a grave or earnest man. 
Imagine, Catholics who are so distressed over the occupant of the Chair of Peter that we are forced to write in this manner in alarm for what we are facing. 

And Asia Bibi still suffers on death row.

Pope meets with leader of schismatic and heretical ecclesial community from Sweden - Is she coming home?

Dear Pope Francis,

We understand the Lord Jesus met with sinners - tax collectors, prostitutes, pagans of all kinds. He called them to repentance and unity with Him. This is true mercy.

This woman in a clerical collar is neither a priest, nor is she a bishop let alone an archbishop. She is leading an organisation that is schismatic and heretical. She herself is a baptised Christian dissenting from the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

When you met with her today, did you call her to repentance and to come home to the Catholic faith, or would that have been proselytising? 

Would Our Lord be acting out of sync with the current attitude in Rome?

Are we leaving Christian unity, a return to the Church under Peter, to a far off time in the future? Is it some esoteric utopian vision? It will never happen unless the Pope and Bishops preach it and teach it and if that is proselytising then so be it.

Just askin'

Vox


Pope Francis welcomes head of Lutheran Church of Sweden


Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala Antje Jackelén who met with Pope Francis on Monday - RV
04/05/2015 13:21

(Vatican Radio) Catholic-Lutheran dialogue was under the spotlight in the Vatican on Monday as Pope Francis met with the head of the Church of Sweden and Archbishop of Uppsala Antje Jackelén. Originally from Germany, Archbishop Jackelén is Sweden’s first foreign-born archbishop since the 12th century and the first female head of the Church there. Philippa Hitchen reports….
Listen:
The importance of actively promoting Christian unity, the impact of the forthcoming joint commemoration of the Reformation and the need to work together on behalf of the poor and marginalized. Those were among the key themes that Pope Francis focused on in his words to Archbishop Jackelén, noting that the Vatican II document, 'Unitatis Redintegratio', half a century ago, invites all Catholics to read the signs of the times and overcome the divisions that cause scandal and hinder the preaching of the Gospel.
While there is still much work to be done, the Pope said he hoped the 2017 commemoration of the Reformation and the recent joint document ‘From Conflict to Communion’ may encourage Lutherans and Catholics to take further steps towards full unity of sacramental life and ecclesial ministry.
In particular Pope Francis spoke of the need for a common commitment of Christians towards those who are most in need, building on the shared witness of our persecuted brothers and sisters. Key contemporary questions of the dignity of human life, family and sexuality must not be ignored, he said, out of fear of endangering the ecumenical consensus that’s already been achieved.
Finally the Pope added his personal thanks to the Lutheran Church in Sweden for its welcome of so many South American migrants who fled from the dictatorships on that continent during past decades. 

Saturday 2 May 2015

Michael Coren is something else

Michael Coren has given an interview with the National Post. I am posting it because of certain points he has made, otherwise I would just leave him to himself.

Before I highlight the points let us be clear.

Four years ago, this man wrote a book Why Catholics Are Right. He made money from groups and then betrayed those same people and groups. He comments now in public that he was worshipping as an "anglican " for a year and he still took their money. He says he cannot be a "hypocrite," well, he has been something else. He has taken the money of the Interim, Catholic Insight, the Catholic Register, Legatus, the Toronto Traditional Mass Society, Una Voce Hamilton and dozens of others whilst not believing what he was saying.

Michael Coren, you made your choice. Go and worship God in a false church founded upon adultery and murder.

"An obsession on contraception and on life that Jesus never mentioned" said he.

I feel sorry for you and I feel sorry for you wife.


May you find your way home. Quietly and humbly.

"Right-wing Catholic bloggers" made your departure from the Church an issue.

Now, I am done with you.

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/religion/i-felt-a-hypocrite-author-michael-coren-on-why-he-left-the-catholic-church-for-anglicanism?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter



Q: Some people see you as a Catholic champion against an amoral, secular world. How have they reacted?

A: It’s brought out the worst in the Catholic right. If you look at some of the comments, there’s a little tinge of anti-Semitism there (Coren’s father was Jewish), a lot of very sectarian hatred. The Catholic right is very frightened and very aggressive right now, because they have a pope who they no longer think is one of theirs, and so they’re feeling very defensive.

Vox: What is this "Catholic right" Coren speaks about? He no doubt means people such as me. He has referred to this blog as a "right-wing blog" and and "extreme" one at that on the now defunct SUN News and in the National Post. What does "right wing Catholic" mean? One who accepts the teaching of the Church? I have seen no anti-Semitism in any comments. The rest of his commentary is ignorant, pedantic and juvenile.

Q: Even as Pope Francis is welcomed with unprecedented vigour by the popular culture?

A: That’s one of the main reasons they can’t stand it. They don’t want to be accepted.

Vox: "Can't stand it?" What? that the Pope is admired by the UN enviro-fascist movement? That NARAL has used his careless words to their advantage? That homosexualists have also used his words to beat the Truth of the faith? If the world loves the Pope something is indeed wrong. So, I'll give Coren this, but he fails in what he is not saying.

Q: You left the Catholic Church for three years in the 1990s, worshiping in various evangelical and Anglican churches. Why did you leave?

A: Not really for particularly good reasons. I had written a piece about (the late) Cardinal (Aloysius) Ambrozic for Toronto Life, and that’s a very long story, and I still don’t really think I did anything wrong, but it was a very difficult time. I was being sort of personally attacked by the Cardinal and his people. I quoted him saying things that were not very Christ-like, I suppose. He had called someone a name. He was a very harsh man. … I just thought I needed a closer relationship with Christ at that time. I just wanted something simpler, a relationship rather than a religion.

Vox: Speak well of the dead, Michael. You did not know Cardinal Ambrozic or what his own issues may have been. You did not seem to understand the problems that this woman whom he called "that bitch" now a former Anglican/, then Catholic Nun, then married Catholic woman, then divorced Catholic woman and now a lesbian Anglican priestess caused. Really Michael, I've heard you say worse over coffee in your living room! You said much that day and on numerous phone calls to me over a few years; I'll keep all of that to myself.

Q: What brought you back?

A: It was really the pull of the Eucharist. It really was that. That is a centrepiece of worship for me.

Q: It is not exclusive to the Catholic Church. The same sacrament is given elsewhere.

A: That’s why I’m now in the Anglican Church.

Vox: Really Michael? There is no Eucharist in the Anglican communion unless it is from a priest ordained through an Old Catholic line and then, it is illicit. You are receiving a piece of bread and you know it. 

Q: You say you could no longer worship with integrity as a Catholic. Why not?


A: I could not remain in a church that effectively excluded gay people. That’s only one of the reasons, but for someone who had taken the Catholic position on same-sex marriage for so long, I’d never been comfortable with that even though I suppose I was regarded as being a stalwart in that position. But I’d moved on, and I felt a hypocrite. I felt a hypocrite being part of a church that described homosexual relations as being disordered and sinful. I just couldn’t be part of it anymore. I could not do that. I couldn’t look people in the eye and make the argument that is still so central to the Catholic Church, that same-sex attraction is acceptable but to act on it is sinful. I felt that the circle of love had to be broadened, not reduced.

Vox: Michael Coren, you are wrong and you have publicly misrepresented the teaching of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church does not exclude "gay people." You know this as you have had a Brother Knight (until you left our Council) on your program. You know him from the parish. You know well that he was never mocked and always welcomed. 

Michael, you may not want to be a hypocrite but you are something else.

Thursday 30 April 2015

Father Nicholas Gruner, Requiescat in pace

When the curtain is raised upon the darkness of this age and the light sines forth it will be because of the faithfulness and labouring in the vineyard of priests such as this man.

O LORD, have mercy on the soul your priestly servant Nicholas. Forgive him for his failings and reward him for the mercy he showed to his flock. O Mother of Priests, Mary of Fatima, intercede for this priest, your son, before your Son.

It is almost as if the LORD has preserved him from what is to fall upon us.

Rest in peace Father Gruner.


Thank you for what you have done. May you rest in the peace of Christ.

Wednesday 29 April 2015

Kneel before a man or you defy the god of surprises!

In the interests of "dialogue, dialogue, dialogue," and the new commandment revealed on the Mount of Casa St. Marta that "Thou shalt dialogue" lest one disobey God, I wish to ask Jorge Bergoglio, Bishop of Rome and Pope a question.

Holy Father, it's hard enough to get people to kneel before the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament at Holy Communion. Do you really think it is better that we "kneel in veneration when a poor person enters the church?"

Really, you just can't make this stuff up. Can you just pinch me now and tell me that since March 2013 I've been sleeping and this is all just a nightmare. Fox, wake me up!


Maybe I drank some mate before bed. What's in that stuff anyway?


(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis said on Tuesday that poverty is the great teaching Jesus gave us and we can find his face among the poor and needy. Stressing that the poor are not a burden but a resource, he said he wished that both the city of Rome and the local Church community could be more attentive, caring and considerate towards those in need and that Christians could knee before a poor person. The Pope’s words came during a video message which was broadcast at a charity theatre performance organised by Caritas Roma. 
“If it were not for you” was the title of the fund-raising performance at Rome’s Brancaccio theatre where the cast were not professional actors but instead the poor and needy who are being sheltered at Caritas hostels in the capital. The performers explored the theme of love that included unhappy love stories, the love they bear for their children and parents, for life and for God. 
In his video message Pope Francis told the performers that they will be conveying a precious teaching not just on the theme of love, but also on our need for each other, on solidarity and how amidst all the difficulties we can discover God’s love for us. 
Poverty, he said, is the great teaching that Jesus gave us and he assured the performers that they are never a burden for us. Instead they represent a resource without which our attempts to discover the face of Jesus would be in vain. 
He concluded his address by saying how much he wished that the city of Rome could shine with the light of its compassion and its welcome for those who are suffering, who are fleeing from war and death,  and respond with a smile to all those who have lost hope. Pope Francis said he wished for the same on the part of the Church community in Rome so that it may be more attentive, caring and considerate towards the poor and vulnerable and recognize in them the face of our Lord. How I wish, he said, that Christians could kneel in veneration when a poor person enters the church.

Pope condemns the climate change prophets of doom

No, not Francis, it was another.

Yesterday, a conference was held at the Vatican with UN officials including the pro-abortion, population-control advocate Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. The Pope is preparing his "encyclical" on the environment and potentially the junk science of global warming.


Down for the Unholy Cause
For real science, take a visit to the McAbee Fossil Beds which clearly show that trees once grew where it is now cold and at elevations unexpected proving that at one time, this area of British Columbia was warmer. We also have a report by Smithsonian scientists on the presence of tropical palm fossils and forests in Greenland and north of the Arctic Circle. I learnt this in elementary school nearly fifty years ago (oh my, has it been that long?).

Global warming as a result of mankind and Co2 is junk science, yet yesterday, distinguished scientists opposing this global scam were badly treated by Vatican officials desirous of questioning this agenda promoted by Ban Ki Moon. As if speaking directly to Pope Francis, British journalist and political commentator and Roman Catholic Christopher Monckton said, "You demean the office that you hold and you demean the church whom it is your sworn duty to protect and defend and advance, ... You will be kicking the poor in the teeth. Stand back and listen to both sides. And do not take sides in politics." s

I couldn't agree more. I am shocked, dismayed, embarrassed and ashamed of this Pope for coddling up to this leftist and globalist political agenda. As a Catholic, I am scandalised by the Bishop of Rome, Jorge Bergoglio and his embracing of this climate-change agenda. I dread this upcoming encyclical on the environment and what it means for the credibility of the Church and the Vicar of Christ. I am more scandalised that Asia Bibi is still in prison and this Pope meets with pro-abortion and population-control advocates such as Ban Ki Moon. The Pope and the Church have lost their direction. The focus is not on Christ and the salvation of the world by preaching Him crucified and risen but on globalist political agendas. Is it too bizarre to state that communists, sodomites and Freemasons have infiltrated the Church or it more bizarre not to believe it?

The world is burning. Christians are dying for the faith and being persecuted by the sodomite-mafia. Souls are being lost and the Pope has focused on the environment? Frankly, if the world is heading to a crisis due to "climate change" or "global warming" the Church should be pleading to God for intervention, not putting its trust in globalist Freemasons with an agenda to reshape the world. What is next, this Pope chairing a UN Committee on One World Religion?


There was a time when Pope's spoke with clarity and dignity. When one reads below the clarity of Papa Ratzinger, one is left to hang ones head in dread and to cover ones self with ashes over what has become of our Church under this Pontificate. 

When the world and the most pro-abortion, anti-Christian President in American history praises the Pope, we have a problem. Has someone put Kool-Aid into his mate?

Thanks to PewSitter.com for the lead on this story.

THE POPE CONDEMNS THE CLIMATE CHANGE PROPHETS OF DOOM 

By SIMON CALDWELL
Last updated at 11:01 13 December 2007

Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology.

The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering.

The German-born Pontiff said that while some concerns may be valid it was vital that the international community based its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement.

His remarks will be made in his annual message for World Peace Day on January 1, but they were released as delegates from all over the world convened on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali for UN climate change talks.

The 80-year-old Pope said the world needed to care for the environment but not to the point where the welfare of animals and plants was given a greater priority than that of mankind.

"Humanity today is rightly concerned about the ecological balance of tomorrow," he said in the message entitled "The Human Family, A Community of Peace".

"It is important for assessments in this regard to be carried out prudently, in dialogue with experts and people of wisdom, uninhibited by ideological pressure to draw hasty conclusions, and above all with the aim of reaching agreement on a model of sustainable development capable of ensuring the well-being of all while respecting environmental balances.

"If the protection of the environment involves costs, they should be justly distributed, taking due account of the different levels of development of various countries and the need for solidarity with future generations.

"Prudence does not mean failing to accept responsibilities and postponing decisions; it means being committed to making joint decisions after pondering responsibly the road to be taken."

Efforts to protect the environment should seek "agreement on a model of sustainable development capable of ensuring the well-being of all while respecting environmental balances", the Pope said.

He added that to further the cause of world peace it was sensible for nations to "choose the path of dialogue rather than the path of unilateral decisions" in how to cooperate responsibly on conserving the planet.

The Pope's message is traditionally sent to heads of government and international organisations.

His remarks reveal that while the Pope acknowledges that problems may be associated with unbridled development and climate change, he believes the case against global warming to be over-hyped.

A broad consensus is developing among the world's scientific community over the evils of climate change.

But there is also an intransigent body of scientific opinion which continues to insist that industrial emissions are not to blame for the phenomenon.

Such scientists point out that fluctuations in the earth's temperature are normal and can often be caused by waves of heat generated by the sun. Other critics of environmentalism have compared the movement to a burgeoning industry in its own right.

In the spring, the Vatican hosted a conference on climate change that was welcomed by environmentalists.

But senior cardinals close to the Vatican have since expressed doubts about a movement which has been likened by critics to be just as dogmatic in its assumptions as any religion.

In October, the Australian Cardinal George Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney, caused an outcry when he noted that the atmospheric temperature of Mars had risen by 0.5 degrees celsius.

"The industrial-military complex up on Mars can't be blamed for that," he said in a criticism of Australian scientists who had claimed that carbon emissions would force temperatures on earth to rise by almost five degrees by 2070 unless drastic solutions were enforced.


Tuesday 28 April 2015

A "dialogue" with the Vatican's English news bureau - "we are all saved already"

The other day, News.va English left a post on its Facebook page following the Pope's meeting with the Bishops of Benin on the on the matter of "interreligious dialogue." THe Pope urged the Bishops of Benin to increase this dialogue with the Islamists in Benin. Since the Pope has recently spoken about the importance of "dialogue" I decided to take him up on this idea ande begin a dialogue with News.va English.

Let us take a look at the discussion, shall we?

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has encouraged Bishops from Benin to support families, to pursue the formation of young people and to promote inter religious dialogue.The Pope was receiving a group of Bishops from the West African Nation who are in the …

An interesting lecture from them has ensued:

  • Vox Cantoris Are all religions equal?
    Like · Reply · 1 · 22 hrs
    • News.va English Dear David, please find an excerpt from the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions “Nostra Aetate” proclaimed by Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965: "Other religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing "ways," comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Himself.(4)

      The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men. [...] As the Church has always held and holds now, Christ underwent His passion and death freely, because of the sins of men and out of infinite love, in order that all may reach salvation. It is, therefore, the burden of the Church's preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God's all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every grace flows."

      Also, we would like to share an excerpt from the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium":

      "those who without any fault do not know anything about Christ or his Church, yet who search for God with a sincere heart and under the influence of grace, try to put into effect the will of God as known to them through the dictate of conscience... can obtain eternal salvation". [...] "Nor does divine Providence deny the helps that are necessary for salvation to those who, through no fault of their own, have not yet attained to the express recognition of God, yet who strive, not without divine grace, to lead an upright life. For whatever goodness and truth is found in them is considered by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel and bestowed by him who enlightens everyone that they may in the end have life".
      Like · 1 · 5 hrs

  • Vox Cantoris Dearest News.va English please find this Encyclical QUANTO CONFICIAMUR MOERORE of Pope IX on false doctrines http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9quanto.htm

    How much cause we have to grieve over the...
    PAPALENCYCLICALS.NET
  • Vox Cantoris The Church did not begin at Vatican II. How soon you have forgotten Pope Benedict XVI and the "hermeneutic of continuity."
  • Vox Cantoris You see News.va English, you are misleading and confusing by putting that statement Nostra Aetate which is the lowest of the Vatican II documents. It is not doctrinal and it is not a Constitution. We are not talking of those "with sincere hearts." Further, God is not bound by His sacraments. If the "dialogue" does not PROPOSE JESUS CHRIST and salvation through the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, then what are we doing?
    Like · 7 mins
  • Vox Cantoris Frankly News.va English, you are imbued with modernism and syncretism. All religions are not equal. There is only One, True Faith and it is the Catholic faith outside of which there is no salvation. Get it?
  • Vox Cantoris Should they not promote conversion to Christ?
    • News.va English The very concept of "promoting conversion" is not in line with Christ's message of love of God and of our neighbour. One cannot oblige one person to believe, nor is it the result of rational thinking, rather of humble openness of one's heart to God's grace which gives the gift of faith. What we can do is to share with people our joy for the revelation of the message of salvation and the fact that God is our Father and is a God who loves us and that we have no reason to fear death because death and anything evil have been already condemned and defeated on the Cross by Jesus' sacrifice. We know there will be a new life because Jesus has come back from the dead. We are all saved already and we need to live by Jesus' teaching of sacrificing our evil instinct and acting for unconditional love.
      Like · 2 · 22 hrs  
    • Vox Cantoris What of "no salvation outside of the Church?"
    • Vox Cantoris, News.va English, This is outright scandalous: "The very concept of "promoting conversion" is not in line with Christ's message of love of God and of our neighbour. One cannot oblige one person to believe, nor is it the result of rational thinking," All have free will. You are preaching heresy when you say that "promoting conversion" is not Christ's message or will. "That all be one..." Who is writing this stuff?
      Like · 4 mins

  • Like · 4 hrs

  • News.va English Dear David the Church brings the message of salvation with love, not with judgement.

    Like · 2 hrs