One cannot have a Resurrection without a Crucifixion. It seems to be of a piece with the universalist tendency that everyone will be saved, no matter what they do or don't. A 'nice' religion, with nothing difficult or demanding about it. Of course, it brings forward the question of why God went ahead with the creation of this world at all if everyone is destined for Heaven. Why put us through all the stress and suffering of this world for no purpose rather than introducing us straight into Heaven?
At the FSSP parish I attend in Dallas, the choir sings this at the end of the Mass every Sunday (followed by the closing hymn). It was my first experience of singing this, and by now I can sing along with everyone else every Sunday
That looks to me like the Good Shepherd holding one of the sheep across the top back of His shoulders and He has His arms criss crossed holding onto the lamb from both ends I don’t find it inspiring but I am not grossed out But it’s not something I would expect a Pope to wear even though he is supposed to shepherd his flock, ahem.
When that happens in my house we always say "If it was a snake it would've bitten you!" I can't say it's a guy thing cause I'm guilty of it too!!
I hear you. Let me share with you what my day / life is like. I say this not discourage, but encourage. Everyone! In the morning, I get up, and at some point, consecrate myself to the Blessed Virgin. I pray this prayer by Saint Ephrem: O Virgin Immaculate, Mother of God, and my Mother, from Thy divine heights please turn Thy eyes of pity on me! Filled with confidence in Thy goodness, and knowing full well Thy power, I implore You to extend to me Your assistance in the journey of life, which is so full of dangers for my soul. In order that I may never be a slave of the devil through sin, but may ever live with my heart humble and pure, I entrust myself wholly to You! I consecrate my heart to You forever, my only desire being to love be Your Divine Son, Jesus. Mary, none of Your devout servants has ever perished. May I, too, be saved. Amen. I go to work, do my best to pray as I work, untangle my thoughts out of nonsense and get back to praying, and go home. Once home, I read the Douay-Rheims Bible on my cell phone here , and say a novena to Saint Rita, too, via my phone. Last, I pray one decade of the Rosary, for peace, and for souls, and for the Holy Father against heresy, Lutheranism, Communism, and Feeemasonry. On Sunday mornings, at some point, I make a general confession to God, and receive spiritually using this You Tube video. I usually don't get off Sundays; when I do, Mass is not possible. I often have wondered why God allows me to keep going on like this. I think He wants me to offer up my little period of loneliness, waiting, want, and longing for Christ for those who do not or who soon will not have access to Him or to the Church in any regular form, either. I use AdoreCast to adore Him in the Eucharist, and when able, pop in my head phones and listen to some Sensus Fidelium, hymns, lectures, or prayers. This happens late at night, silently. Mostly, I pray. In my head. That is all I can do. I also memorize things. Prayers. So when I need to, I can say them in my head. I know that Sola Fidé is heresy, and that the Papacy is true. John Paul II and Truth pin me here. Outside, but inside, too. As with you all as possible. I don't own a Rosary, but pray on my fingers. Just passing a Catholic Church in the car gets me all excited! Whooped up. Hey, She's still there! There She is! How cool! You guys have everything you need! Hang on! Keep Jesus in front of you, and love Him above all things, and if you do that, you will be fine. We may all be going dark soon. But if we use what we have, even if it feels like nothing, we can do tiny things with great love, offer Him everything, and make ourselves smaller, to make Him bigger. If we just hold on, everything will be ok! I know it! Jesus will come back, the triumph of the Immaculate Heart is imminent, and the darkness can never overcome the Light! Someday, One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
I also want to say that am not a victim. I choose this. I could leave my situation and be free and unrestricted, but I choose this. Some days, admittedly, just barely. But it is a small, small sacrifice. I have it so much better than many Christians. Seriously. And even if we stay out of the Church, technically, at least I know so many cool and true things in my soul! I am not being mislead by some televangelist hack and sending all my money to some scam. I'm free from Protestantism. I didn't wind up becoming Greek Orthodox. So that's good! I got it pretty good! Hang in there! We can make it!
Hi Gracia, I wonder if you could go to a St Vinni's store or any catholic book store and purchase a rosary, order one in maybe?... Also find out the phone number of the Catholic presbytery on your mobile phone and ask if you could come around to recieve the sacrament of confession and have your rosary blessed and also find out about Mass and adoration times. I don't know your circumstances but this would be wonderful if it could happen.
I agree, it would be! Right now, being able to pray on my fingers is enough. A lot would have to happen before that, though. Many, many folks on here have friends and family hostile to the Catholic Church, and my position is delicate. I am ok with fingers, though! Someday I'll have my own!
Point is, if things keep going south, we could all end up like this. Or like the Kakure (hidden) Christians of Japan. The point is, there's a game plan. For some weird and apparently divine reason, I'm living it. Keep everything in your heart, memorize important things, save and keep any important sacred art work, imagery, medals, and objects. Keep praying and living as a Catholic Christian no matter what. Follow Christ! If at all possible, receive Him any way you can. The isolated, priestless Christians of Japan used rice balls and saké, bless them. They tried! Receive spiritually if you have to, and be exceedingly glad for everything you know and still have! Even in the dark. This kind of scenario might be years and years down the road. Maybe. But just in case, guys, be prepared. I can tell you, even in the dark and silence, the joy is immense.
While we are on the topic of grotesque images being used in the church, that resemble satan, do you know of the scary symbolisms seen in the Paul VI Audience Hall in Vatican City/ Rome? This is right next to St Peter's Basilica. The hall was built by Pier Luigi Nervi from Italy in 1971. In the hall, there is a statue made of bronze called La Resurrezione, which was designed by Pericle Fazzini. Compare The Head Of A Snake With The Overall Exterior The image below shows the building from the exterior and above, and it is compared with the shape of the head of a snake. Take a look at the shape overall, it is wide towards the back, narrower and rounded at the front, has two eye shapes in the middle, nostril at the front and a top that is curved, coming up from the front and down towards the back. Two windows on either side of the building are what represent the eyes, and these were designed in stained glass and placed around halfway down the length of the building on both sides. There is what seems to be a slit in the middle of the window, or eye, which gives the appearance of a reptile’s eye. Things start to get even stranger when both of the windows are viewed from inside the building. You can then begin to see that there are two reptilian eyes that are staring back when you look down towards the stage. Two Reptilian Eyes, Sharp Fangs And Scales Once you have seen the eyes in the design, allow the glance to wander down to the center onto the stage. There is a statue in the middle of the stage, and on both sides of this, there are two sharp and pointed fangs in white, coming down, while the roof of the building and the sides look like scales. When you pull away and are given a long look down the walkways towards the stage, the hall takes on a presence that is even more menacing. The eyes, the curvature, scales and fangs all give the hall a look and the feel of the face of a snake. Statue Shows Christ With Head Shaped Like Snake In the center of the stage taking pride of place is a statue of Christ who is said to be rising from the atomic apocalypse. The statue was placed there in 1977, and there is something very unusual about the head of Christ. It is difficult to see when looking at the statue from the front, but from the sides, it looks like the head of Jesus is a snake. If there was only one side of the head that gave the impression of a snake it could be called nothing more than a coincidence, however, it looks like it from different angles, and this is something that cannot be ignored. The statue must have been designed to look that way and the planning and thought behind it would have been immense. There is also an obvious reason for the imagery. The big question is why would a building be constructed in such a way that suggests the Pope is talking out of the mouth of a snake? There are seven different pieces that make up the snake or reptile symbol, if it were just one or two, then skepticism would have a place, but all seven of the pieces fit together perfectly and tell us that the design was intentional to look like a snake. So why does the symbolism of a snake exist? *************** Most of the above were from an article on www.disclose.tv I don't agree with everything in the full article. But in addition to the above, imo there is the figure of baphomet (goat head) in that awful statue - don't know if anyone else sees it. And it is also said that there is no crucifix in that building - don't know if it's true.
There is nothing wrong with the image of Christ as the shepherd holding the lost sheep. On the contrary, it is a Holy and wonderful symbol of a universal truth. My problem would be the symbolism of displaying it in the context of the Crucifix, another Holy symbol of a universal truth and historical incident, where it conceals the reality of Christ's Crucifixion. It suggests, perhaps unintentionally (but I wonder, these days), an embarrassment or even willful denial of the scandal of our murdered God.
At the very least, all modern art is ugly, dissonant, anti-structural and even simply fraudulent, but these images are very disturbing and undoubtedly your interpretations are not invalid. As ugly as the place is, the Pope Emeritus still conveys an aura of goodness and innocence within its midst, to my eyes, anyway. The new fellow never conveys that to me, wherever he is.
What a beautiful and uplifting witness you have given us Gracia. The prayer of St Ephrem is powerful. Wonderful. What a way to start the day. You have laid out a rule of life. To long for Jesus but to be unable to join His Church is a kind of victim soul apostolate I think. What comfort you bring to the Heart of Jesus by longing for Him this way. You show us how to live when the Church is not there. Thank you and God bless you.
