Our Lord Himself addressed the issue directly in Matthew 7:24-27, when He spoke of the "foolish man, who built his house on the sand".
I wonder how judgement will fall on those South Americans who decide, in their quest for Christ, to follow the Evangelicals? On the face of it, I think Our Lord will not be too hard on them. It seems to be the only Christianity being presented-the alternative seems only to be Marxism.
Abp Viganò warns against silence of ‘reckless pastors’ who fear losing ‘human favor’ Diane Montagna | https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/a...-reckless-pastors-who-fear-losing-human-favor ROME, October 6, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has today issued a statement warning all pastors of the Church not to “hide in silence” but to speak out against the “wolves” and “worldly powers” that are threatening Christ’s flock. The “fraternal correction,” written on the Oct. 6 memorial of St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusian Order, comes on the opening day of the Amazonian Synod, being held at the Vatican Oct. 6-27. Taking a page from the “Pastoral Rule” of St. Gregory the Great, a sixth-century patristic text which carefully details the duties and obligations of the clergy concerning the spiritual formation of their flock, Archbishop Viganò invites priests, bishops, cardinals and “especially” the Pope to examine their hearts so as to conform them to its “superntural light.” Here below is the official English text of Archbishop Viganò’s statement, which was published in Italian on Duc in altum. Fraternal Correction Today, October 6, the XXVII Sunday after Pentecost and the memorial of St. Bruno, the Office of Readings offers pastors for their meditation the following passage from the “Pastoral Rule” of St. Gregory the Great, Pope, (Book 2, 4 PL77, 331): “The pastor should be discreet in keeping silence and profitable in his speech, lest he either utter what ought to be suppressed or suppress what he ought to utter. For just as reckless speaking leads someone into error, so indiscreet silence leaves in error those who might have been instructed. For often reckless pastors, fearing to lose human favor, shrink timidly from speaking freely the things that are right; and, according to the voice of Christ who is the Truth (John 10:12), fail to attend to the care of their flock with the love of shepherds, and act instead as mercenaries. For when the wolf comes, they flee and hide themselves in silence. Thus, the Lord through the prophet upbraids them, saying: ‘Dumb dogs, that cannot bark’ (Isaiah 56:10). And, again He complains, saying: ‘You have not gone up against the enemy nor have you built a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord’ (Ezekiel 13:5). Indeed, to ‘go up against the enemy’ is to oppose worldly powers with a free voice in the defense of the flock. And to ‘stand in battle on the day of the Lord’ is to resist, out of the love of justice, evil persons who oppose us. For if a shepherd fears to say what is right, what else is it but to turn his back in silence? But certainly, if he puts himself before the flock [so as to protect them], he ‘builds a wall for the house of Israel’ against its enemies… Whoever undertakes the priesthood assumes the office of a herald, so that wherever he goes he proclaims the coming of the dread Judge. Therefore, if the priest does not know how to preach, with what voice will such a mute herald proclaim? It is for this reason that the Holy Spirit sat upon the first shepherds in the form of tongues (Acts 2:3), because whomever he has filled, he gives the power of eloquent speaking.” Every priest must examine himself assiduously so as to conform his conduct to the supernatural light of this “Pastoral Rule” of St. Gregory the Great, including the cardinals and bishops, and especially Pope Bergoglio, S.J.! + Carlo Maria Viganò Translation by Diane Montagna of LifeSiteNews. *** Father Mark Goring is on the same page as Archbishop Carlo Vigano... *** Oct. 5, 2019 Faithful Gather in Rome to Pray for a Church in ‘Crisis’ Participants said the Church is in situation from which only God can rescue it. Edward Pentin | http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/faithful-gather-in-rome-to-pray-for-a-church-in-crisis “The situation in the Church at the moment is one of chaos, and so we’re here because we want to pray for the Pope, for the Church, and for the Synod Fathers attending the Amazon Synod that’s just beginning,” said Dario Maria. A 40-year old Rome citizen, Maria was one of about 500 faithful who had gathered in a piazza in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday under the banner of “Let’s Pray for the Church!” For a couple of hours, laity from different parts of Italy along with priests and religious recited the Rosary and other prayers in light of the sins, scandals, and divisions currently emanating from within the Church. In particular they had gathered to pray for 10 particular intentions, such as that those involved clerical abuse scandals not be promoted but removed from leadership positions; that the deposit of faith “not be adulterated”; and that the Church be courageous in preaching the Gospel. Other prayers included a plea to teach the “non-negotiable principles,” that love for Creation not be confused with paganism or pantheism, and that defense of identity have “nothing to do with nationalism or other aberrations.” The participants said the prayer vigil was not a march or movement against any one person, and especially not the Holy Father, but rather driven by the challenges facing the Church that to many seem impossible to humanly resolve. “The Church is in a deep crisis and at this time no human effort is likely to rescue her, so prayer is the only option, for heavenly intervention,” said Boris, a Swiss citizen who had traveled to Rome especially for the prayer vigil. “The biggest challenges are the crisis of doctrine and the crisis of the priesthood,” he added. “They don’t know any more what their vocation is, and it’s a crisis in discipline.” Helping Priests Giulia from Rome said “priests are suffering greatly — they won’t say it but they’re in a kind of catacomb, they can’t come out, we must help them.” Gianfranco Amato, president of Jurists for Life, an Italian group of lawyers defending life, family and religious freedom, said the event was important because of the time we are living in. Echoing words of the late Cardinal Carlo Caffarra and others, he said this is the “final time of battle between Satan and God — you can feel it, people can feel it, so the most important thing we can do is pray.” “It doesn’t depend on us,” he continued, “the result of this battle is in the hands of God, and we would be really crazy if we think the result depends on us. The only thing we can do at this moment is to pray, and it’s very important, and very symbolic to pray here, in the center of Christianity, close to the tomb of Peter. “The only thing we can do is ask Him to protect His Church, the Church which is now trembling.” Amato said he was not so concerned about the Pan-Amazon Synod, whose working document has been criticized as heretical, but rather the push by German bishops for a binding synodal path which would contain moral teaching at odds with the Church’s magisterium. “It’s a false council that’s very, very dangerous because where would it stop?” Amato said. “Why couldn’t the Swedes, Canadians or Australians follow suit? There could be a domino effect, the Church could implode. “I don’t know why they don’t stop it, even though the Holy See has told them to.” Esther Maria Ledda from Rome said, “We are Catholics, Roman Catholics, Roman papists, we are cum Petro et sub Petro [with Peter and under Peter].” But, she said, “We’re looking to see how to resolve this crisis, these problems, and we say honestly with a filial love.” Ledda added, “As baptised and confirmed children of God, we must, and have the right to, defend the true faith.” ‘Beautiful Occasion’ Dario Maria said the vigil was a “beautiful occasion,” as there was “no anger or protest.” But he noted that in Italy, as in much of the rest of the world, “we have a crisis of vocations, empty churches.” According to him, what will bring a “new spring” to the Church is principally the Rosary and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. “We can’t have bishops who make excuses for abortion, justify euthanasia — this is the confusion in the Church,” he said. The Church “must recover strength of mind, the language of the saints, the language of the fathers of the Church, and this will refill the churches, because strong language is the language of Jesus, because Jesus always attracts by the Cross.” He said the crisis in the Church was due to a crisis of faith that was owed itself to people feeling they could do whatever they wanted. But quoting from the Second Vatican Council document Dei Verbum, he said, “We must be faithful and obedient to sacred scripture, the Sacraments and also to the Magisterium.” “It is important to return to fidelity to the Magisterium,” he said. “What is new is not what I or a priest say, but what is in Jesus Christ, yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever.” Boris said although he wished “even more people had joined” the vigil, he was “very happy so many people had got to pray here.”
I was watching a video recently made by a man who had never been a member of, or attended, any 'church' but had been taught some prayers by his Evangelical grandmother and retained a vague belief in Jesus and an afterlife and, in times of trouble, prayed in his own words to Jesus. This guy was attracted to males from an early age and lived the full 'homosexual lifestyle' eventually becoming 'partnered' with a very attractive and pleasant man who everyone liked. His parents were supportive and enjoyed the company of his partner and he was happy. However his happiness was interrupted sometimes by nagging thoughts that Jesus may not approve of his way of life and that maybe he risked going to hell, if such a place existed. He eventually decided to detach himself from his partner and sought advice from a Christian outreach group who admitted him to a hostel. On the first night of his stay, he asked Jesus to tell him whether or not hell existed and whether his former lifestyle merited it. He looked out onto the street view from his room to see a Shell service station and saw the letter 'S' in the neon sign go out leaving the word 'hell' shining in the night and aimed directly at him. He changed his life, joined a Christian group, married and had three children and was very happy in his marriage. He said that some of those he had known and considered friends from the 'scene' let him know that they had cursed him (literally) during Satanic and Wicca ceremonies. He knew that this form of 'worship' was not unusual in those circles but was shocked that his former friends couldn't let him go without trying to harm him. If Jesus was prepared to communicate so clearly and directly with a person who hardly knew Him, what could a sincere prayer from an ordained and consecrated priest of God's own Church achieve? I can only conclude that Fr. Martin, the Pope and other such people never, ever, question the truth of their personal views and so never make the kind of sincere prayer that this man did (and from such an unpromising spiritual beginning and personal situation). They are locked in certainty that they know the mind of God far better than the Church and the generations of Catholics who have gone before them.
Prophecy has foretold that when this era of confusion is over there will be a great Pope who will hold a great council that will correct all of the errors of this current age. I bet right before that council begins the Holy Pope will walk out into the Vatican gardens with a shovel, dig up this cursed tree and toss it into the Tiber...
Finally, there is a segment of the Church rising to the challenge! I love the tenacity of Archbishop Vigano, the exuberance and passionate preaching of Fr. Mark Goring, and the rising tide of intercessory prayer among the faithful. We are doing our part here if we spend as much or more time praying than we do catching up on the news. Informing ourselves right now must serve to let us know how to pray and where to direct our prayer. May we never loose sight of the fact that the Church in prayer diffuses the climate of fear JoeJerk seeks to cause and dispels the smoke of his lies. But just as the devil was "forced" to persecute and even physically assault the persons of the Cure of Ars and Padre Pio, if we persevere, then we also will be persecuted. You may say, "O Mario, must you be so gloomy?" No, it is just that as the dawn scatters the darkness of night, JoeJerk will do whatever is necessary to extinguish the emerging Light. May we stand firm in the battle. After all, Padre Pio tells us: “You say you are anxious about the future, but don’t you know that the Lord is with you always and that our enemy has no power over one who has resolved to belong entirely to Jesus?” (3/29/1914) O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
That man is the kind of whistleblower we all need. Fair play to his granny and her mustard-seeds, too.
I might be suffering from an outbreak of wishful thinking, but Pope Francis' facial expression and posture in that photo does not represent to me a man fully at ease. Please God, he was contemplating Judgement. Well, he has an opportunity with this Synod to bring all this heresy and apostasy to an end. He will have the final word. Let the poison drain out into our full view and may he, with the Help of God, debride and heal the wounds.
Well said. I do think there was something off there. He didn't seem happy and he discarded his prepared remarks in favor of a simple prayer. Perhaps all of the Rosaries are having an effect.
Imagine how many truly Great Catholic Saints are living in the world at the moment praying for him, imagine how many millions of ordinary Catholics; it must have some effect. But on the other hand Judas Iscariot lived in close company with Our Blessed Mother and Jesus Christ for several years and it all went over him like water of a duck's back. God can give us great graces but we have to wish to receive them.
Blizzard, It feels like we are on the verge of approaching a moment like the following: View attachment 11141
I don't believe that the following has been posted yet. After reading it, I am sure that I feel that the Holy Spirit has been telling me to listen to Cardinals Burke, Mueller, Brandmueller, Sarah and Archbishop Schneider and Father Goring and others like them. I think it may be a bit prophetic that the pope referenced the burning bush given that I believe that we are close to a similar moment when Moses threw the 10 commandments at the Israelites. Pope Francis presides at the opening Mass for the Amazon synod Oct. 6. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA) Oct. 6, 2019 Pope Francis Prays for ‘Daring Prudence’ During Amazon Synod At the opening Mass for the synod Sunday, the Holy Father prayed that the Holy Spirit would help the Church in the Pan-Amazonian region be renewed by the fire of faith. Hannah Brockhaus/CNA | http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-prays-for-daring-prudence-during-amazon-synod VATICAN CITY — At the opening Mass for the Amazon synod Sunday, Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit would give the bishops prudence, wisdom and discernment to help the Church in the Pan-Amazonian region be renewed by the fire of faith. “Prudence is not indecision; it is not a defensive attitude,” he said in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 6. “It is the virtue of the pastor who, in order to serve with wisdom, is able to discern, to be receptive to the newness of the Spirit.” “Fidelity to the newness of the Spirit is a grace that we must ask for in prayer. May the Spirit, who makes all things new, give us his own daring prudence; may he inspire our synod to renew the paths of the Church in Amazonia, so that the fire of mission will continue to burn.” The Synod of Bishops on the Pan-Amazonian region is taking place at the Vatican Oct. 6-27. Bishops, priests, lay experts and religious men and women will meet to discuss issues of importance to the Church in the Amazon, including a lack of priestly vocations, ecological challenges and obstacles to evangelization. Present at the Mass Oct. 6 were the synod fathers and the 13 cardinals created in a consistory Oct. 5. In his homily, Pope Francis pointed to the Old Testament episode of the burning bush to show that “God’s fire burns, yet does not consume.” “It is the fire of love that illumines, warms and gives life, not a fire that blazes up and devours. When peoples and cultures are devoured without love and without respect, it is not God’s fire but that of the world,” he said, condemning the times people have colonized others instead of evangelizing them. “May God preserve us from the greed of new forms of colonialism,” he continued. “The fire set by interests that destroy, like the fire that recently devastated Amazonia, is not the fire of the Gospel. The fire of God is warmth that attracts and gathers into unity.” Francis reflected on St. Paul’s Letter to Timothy, in which the apostle says: “I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands.” Addressing bishops, the Pope said they are not bureaucrats and their episcopal ordination is not an employment contract, but “a gift of God.” This gift, he explained, is for service of others, not for personal gain. “We received a gift so that we might become a gift.” “To be faithful to our calling, our mission, St. Paul reminds us that our gift has to be rekindled,” the Pope stated, adding that the status quo smothers the missionary fire. There is also, he said, a kind of destructive “fire” that wants everything and everyone to be the same. It “blazes up when people want to promote only their own ideas, for their own group, wipe out differences.” Instead, “the fire that rekindles the gift is the Holy Spirit, the giver of gifts.” He quoted St. Paul again, who says, “Do not be ashamed, then, of testifying to Our Lord, but take your share of suffering for the Gospel in the power of God.” “Paul asks Timothy to bear witness to the Gospel, to suffer for the Gospel, in a word, to live for the Gospel,” he said. “To preach the Gospel is to live as an offering, to bear witness to the end, to become all things to all people (Corinthians 9:22), to love even to the point of martyrdom.” Praising especially those martyrs who died in the Amazon, he said, “For them, and with them, let us journey together.” After Mass, Pope Francis led a traditional Marian prayer, the Angelus, from a window in the apostolic palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square. He reflected on the day’s Gospel passage, which contains the apostles’ request to Jesus to “increase our faith.” “A beautiful prayer, which we must pray a lot during the day,” the Pope commented. He explained that in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus gives his disciples two images of faith: the mustard seed and the willing servant. Jesus “wants to make it understood that faith, even if small, can have the strength to uproot even a mulberry tree; and then to transplant it into the sea, which is something even more unlikely,” Francis explained, with reference to Jesus’ words in the Gospel passage. “But nothing is impossible for those who have faith,” the Pope continued, “because they do not rely on their own strength, but on God, who can do everything.” He said the faith of a mustard seed is a faith that is humble in its acceptance of its own littleness and need for God, abandoning itself to him with complete trust. “It is faith that gives us the ability to look with hope at the alternating vicissitudes of life, which helps us to accept defeats and suffering, in the awareness that evil never has, will never have, the last word,” he stated. The measure of this kind of faith is service, having the “attitude of availability of the servant,” he continued. “This attitude towards God is also reflected in the way of behaving in community: It is reflected in the joy of being at the service of one another, finding in this its own reward and not in the recognitions and the gains that can be derived from it.”
Apparently these indigenous people know their own history better than this Pope knows his. Recently it seems that glibness has somehow become a virtue. Pope says Amazon feathers same as Vatican hats Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Francis on Monday hit out at “offensive words” spoken against the Amazon’s indigenous people, noting that a feather headdress is no more ridiculous than hats worn at the Vatican. “I was pained to hear, right here, a sarcastic comment about a pious man with feathers on his head who brought an offering,” the pope said at the opening of a synod focused on the Amazon’s poverty-stricken and isolated indigenous communities. “Tell me what’s the difference between having feathers on your head and the three-peaked hat worn by certain officials in our dicasters (Vatican ministries)?” the pope said to loud applause. The three-week synod, or assembly, unites 184 bishops, including 113 from the nine countries of the pan-Amazon region, including Brazil. Representatives of indigenous peoples, some with their heads adorned with coloured feathers, are attending the synod, with many gathering in Saint Peter’s Square on Monday. Before an audience of around 250 people, the Argentine pontiff decried “offensive words” used about indigenous peoples, and rejected reductive or destructive “ideological colonisations”. The working document for the synod, known as the “instrumentum laboris”, denounces in scathing terms social injustices and crimes, including murders, and suggests a Church action plan. The document has been criticised by ultra-conservative Roman Catholics, but the pope called Monday on the gathered bishops to feel free to draw up their own final document. He called the document “a martyr text destined for destruction”, prompting laughter from the audience, before the synod got down to work. https://www.breitbart.com/news/pope-says-amazon-feathers-same-as-vatican-hats/
And young priests are condemned as 'rigid' for daring to wear a saturno. If there's no underlying pagan attachments, there's nothing wrong with wearing feathers, but is he sure that's the case? More glibness in his mockery of martyrdom. No chance any of those who engaged in laughter would risk a hair on their head for Christ, I'd reckon.
