I am totally amazed how bad things got so fast. But maybe they were bad all along and I just had not realised. Yes I would guess we are beyond the point of no return really. So sad, so very,very,very sad. I love the Church so much. So sad.
I used to wonder if the Restrainer had already been removed. I do think that He will be removed soon. I used to think maybe the restrainer was the Church. But, the Church is and has always been referred to as a Lady like many Governments as well. I wondered if the Restrainer was the Holy Spirit but that doesn't make sense because we know many will be saved in the days of Tribulation. I now think that the Restrainer may be the Archangel Michael but only through my own reason which is faulty. Are there any Church teachings which broach this? We know that once He is removed that the Lawless one will be revealed. It seems logical to me that these times are ones in which this obviously has not happened. Yet. Even with all the sorrows in the Church today we have not seen this.
The way God will turn it round is through the Blood of the Saints. Through the Great Persecution, which will serve as a Purifucation This has already begun. We have entered the End Chapters of the book of Revelation.
“The most evident mark of God’s anger, and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world, is manifest when He permits His people to fall into the hands of a clergy who are more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds. They abandon the things of God to devote themselves to the things of the world and, in their saintly calling of holiness, they spend their time in profane and worldly pursuits. When God permits such things, it is a very positive proof that He is thoroughly angry with His people and is visiting His most dreadful wrath upon them.” Saint John Eudes It does require a lot of patience. Although I do think that we can speak up and remain charitable, some times we feel that our statements will go on deaf ears. I also believe that we may loose a little bit of ourselves if we remain silent even when we know in advance that our words will not have any effect on a particular individual. A letter is often more effective in some situations, the person on the receiving end may take our thoughts more seriously if they receive something in writing. In the particular situation which Padraig describes where the priest stated, "that by Pharisees scriptures means those who are Conservatives" and "that while Conservatives may be good people they refuse change and that this is a huge problem for a Church which is trying to bring about wide ranging change." Unless I already know the answers to the following questions, I would want to know what qualities does this priest believe a Conservative person has and then I would like to ask him what changes he feels that the church is trying to bring about. If would be difficult to write a letter to the priest if I did not know the answers to these questions and a conversation with the priest would make more sense. BUT, I can't help but feel that a lot of the confusion that is occurring will be cleared up when Cardinal Burke moves forward as he has stated he would and formally corrects the Pope's teaching, “so it is now necessary simply to state what the Church teaches about marriage, the family, acts that are intrinsically evil, and so forth.” At least I hope that things will be cleared up. PS - I did a quick search on the forum to see if the quote from Saint John Eudes had been stated on the forum in the past and it had been on the following thread over 3 years ago, http://motheofgod.com/threads/shepherds-and-the-flock.6515/#post-68689 .
Mark Mallett believes the restrainer was lifted a few years ago, 2014 I think. He has a great writing on it here. https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2014/03/16/removing-the-restrainer/ Part of it...... WHAT IS THE RESTRAINER? Theologians are divided about the meaning of these mysterious words of St. Paul. “What” is it that restrains? And who is “he who now restrains?“ The Early Church Fathers often held that the restrainer was the Roman Empire, based on Daniel 7:24: Out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. (Dan 7:24) Now this restraining power [is] generally admitted to be the Roman empire… I do not grant that the Roman empire is gone. Far from it: the Roman empire remains even to this day. —Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890), Advent Sermons on Antichrist, Sermon I And yet, St. Paul also refers to “he who restrains,” as in a person or possibly angelic entity. From the Navarre biblical commentary: Although it is not altogether clear what St. Paul means here (commentators ancient and modern have offered all kinds of interpretations), the general thrust of his remarks seems clear enough: he is exhorting people to persevere in doing good, because that is the best way to avoid doing evil (evil being the “mystery of lawlessness”). However, it is difficult to say precisely what this mystery of lawlessness consists in or who is restraining it. Some commentators think that the mystery of lawlessness is the activity of the man of lawlessness, which is being restrained by the rigid laws enforced by the Roman Empire. Others suggest that St. Michael is the one who is holding lawlessness back (cf. Rev 12:1; Rev 12:7-9; 20:1-3, 7)… which show him combating Satan, restraining him or letting him free… others think that the curb on the man of lawlessness is the active presence of Christians in the world, who through word and example bring Christ’s teaching and grace to many. If Christians let their zeal grow cold (this interpretation says), then the curb on evil will cease to apply and the rebellion will ensue. —The Navarre Bible commentary on 2 Thess 2:6-7, Thessalonians and Pastoral Epistles, p. 69-70
Padraig, I gave up on the Redemptiorists years ago. They have a beautiful church and shrine in Limerick but the rot set in years ago with Fr Tony Flannery who was in Limerick for years. Prayer really needed for their conversion even though they don't realize it themselves.
Sometimes I feel I just have to pinch myself to see if this whole thing is really happening. ...and a dual emotion too. Deeply sad that so many, may, many souls are plunged into hell and that the Vatican itself has fallen. But on the other hand a up and at them spirit which surprises me. For this I was born, I will go into battle full of it. Must be the Irish in me. I dearly love a good fight. I am not the least bit afraid. I am ready for it. Plus I backed the winning hand..and that does help!!!
Yes they are totally awful. The worst of it is they are cashing in on the goodness of past generations of ordinary hard working Catholics. they are gone, gone, gone.
So are the Passioonists too. But if you still want to see a good religious order look to the Contemplatives. The cloistered ones. Still full of saints.
The devil has pretty much got us where he wants us. There are remarkable exceptions. But on the whole he has good grounds for thinking he has won the whole deal. But Our Lady is coming up behind him with a big, big, big surprise.
I give the Franciscans a wide berth these days. We really shouldn't be tarring them all with the same brush just because there are some bad apples in our own area. There could be great Franciscans and Redemptorists in other provinces or other countries. Looking at the person the Jesuits voted to be their Superior General, I reckon that only a small minority of them would say the Creed without crossing their fingers behind their backs. Watching an Argument of the Month discussion, it struck me that if only half the Church's hierarchy had some of Chris Ferrara's passion for the faith, we wouldn't be in this mess. He mentioned something about Pope Francis having declared that Jesus doesn't judge because He is mercy, but we profess in the Creed that He will judge the living and the dead. I had read some articles written by Ferrara but had never heard him speak and somehow I had the mistaken impression that he was Italian. Turns out he's American. The topic was whether the Church has effectively abandoned the Great Commission. Ferrara was arguing in the affirmative. Mark Shea, who argued against, is a convert and did well considering that we only have to look around us to see that the Great Commission has been replaced by a false ecumenism. Someone should introduce Shea to Fr. Spadaro and the Pope's Presbyterian friend who edits Argentina's official Catholic newspaper because they don't seem to know any converts who are convinced by the Vatican's Catholic lite approach to the faith. A convert to Catholicism might be something of a novelty in the Vatican. Come to think of it, any kind of Christian might be a novelty in the Vatican nowadays. The Argument of the Month videos are worth watching. Here's a link to the one about the Great Commission. If you can't watch it on Vimeo, it's also on YouTube but I would have to do a YouTube search to find it there.
I think this is in some ways relevant as to why God permits the current situation - " a house divided must fall " Maybe all the bad that is happening is going to result in a lot of good which we can't forsee. I think Gods wrath is even an act of love, chastisement could possibly save more souls than we could imagine.
I have to admit that I have had a hard time with this as well. To the point of wondering if I am being delusional in some way. I have never been a conspiracy theorist of any sort or given to fantasy in my thinking. If what we think is coming is actually going to happen though it seems fantastical at times. I have come to the conclusion that it really is happening though. It is not just a bunch of "kooks" that are seeing this, but good and responsible men and women from all walks of life all the way up to the highest echelons of the Church. Even so my mind has a hard time trying to actually come to grips with the reality of things like the Three Days of Darkness, etc. Perhaps others feel this way too?
I have to pinch myself often too. It's so surreal and disorienting to watch all this happening I will say, however, that the priests that were speaking at the Marian conference in Scottsdale last weekend were amazing. They talked cold, hard facts along with their main topic while they spoke. One priest, a Franciscan from Bosnia originally spoke about how the churches in Europe were empty and he saw the beginnings of it here in America. His opinion was that he didn't think anything short of God's direct intervention would bring back the decline of Cristendom. His words were really sobering. None of the priests giving talks softened their words regarding what was going on. They stopped short of criticizing but they made it clear that the Church was in trouble. Fr. Don Calloway spoke very candidly and begged people to pray the rosary, often. He said he had been praying to God to allow the Blessed Virgin to once again come to Earth and have another Our Lady of Guadalupe moment and convert Muslims. It was nice to be somewhere with like minded people. The talks were all orthodox and straight forward and often sobering. But sobering is not a bad thing, IMO, especially when we have moved away from God. We NEED to hear these things from our religious. But alas, there are so many that are " squishy" nicey, nice Catholics. They do so much harm under the false mercy banner. It is very sad to see and very hard to watch. Jesus, I trust in You!
