I won't loose hope, unless I loose my faith and that won't happen unless I reject the grace God is giving me in these times of sorrow. Praying the rosary a few times a day along with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and visiting the Blessed Sacrament almost daily is my hope in staying close to our Lord. I have not lost any of the zest for the faith after rediscovering my faith 35 years ago and I have made it through 30 years of social justice pastors and lukewarm and apostate Catholics all around me. I think Our Lady of Fatima, whom I credit my recovery and sustainability within the faith too, has my back Thus the name I gave myself when joining the MOG forum.
SgCatholic, I think we need to speak up when we are confused about the actions and statements of the pope, but we also need to try our best to keep things in context. He is walking a fine line right now and I suppose we need to do the same in return. It is not easy, if we don't say anything and things get worse then do we blame ourselves for not saying anything? and if we say too much such as labeling him this or that, are we doing more damage? It feels like a bad game some times. The clergy can and should invite every sinner possible into the church, but they are supposed to be reminding us to, "Go and sin no more". (I say us because I am a sinner too. ) A good teacher/shepherd needs to continually remind his sheep over and over again. So right now I am choosing to say that some of the clergy are not good shepherds and I am praying that there is no hidden agenda. But I believe that all MOG members have their radar up, so to speak, even if they are choosing to keep silent at the moment.
I believe this is a good and necessary thing, to have the radars up. As St Paul said in Ephesians 6:12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.
Absolutely! Radar up and rosary in hand. Also, I think we should give thanks that we have Cardinal Burke speaking about almost all of the things you mention. http://www.onepeterfive.com/cardina...alta-freemasons-pope-francis-president-trump/
Cardinal Müller, yesterday, in Poland. Again and again, a rock in speaking the truth, what a beautiful witness. His term is up this July, will he be gently dismissed? Let's pray for him... “What do you think about Holy Communion for divorcees who are living in non-sacramental unions? We can approach this question only from the perspective of the fullness of the teaching of the Church. The pope has not, will not, and cannot change Revelation. Some claim that the pope has changed the foundations of Church morality and has relativized the sacrament of Holy Matrimony. This he would not and cannot do." http://aleteia.org/2017/04/21/exclu...djugorje-amoris-laetitia-and-radical-islam/2/ Sorry, maybe if this was already posted.
Today, the parochial vicar at my parish said in his homily that Judas was a sicarius—something that would be roughly equivalent to a terrorist today—and that he belonged to an armed resistance group that aimed to overthrow the Roman Empire. According to that view, when he realized Christ would not meet his expectations, he decided to betray his Master and use the silver coins he received to help finance his armed group. I’m not sure whether that entire description of Judas is historically accurate, but I found it interesting because it would portray Judas as someone who never truly opened himself to God’s grace and saw Christ only as a political and military triumph.
I have heard this also from a priest online. The word Iscariot which is also Kerioth apparently has associations with militant groups plotting to overthrow Rome. Simon the Zealot was from another radical group but he clearly gave it up to follow Jesus. Barabas was also a revolutionary apparently. Israel had a lot of terrorist groups during that time.
