OCKHAM´S RAZOR! Occam's razor (also Ockham's razor; Latin: lex parsimoniae "law of parsimony") is a problem-solving principle attributed to William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347), who was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. His principle can be interpreted as stating Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. Or, to put it in even simpler terms: The definition of Occam's Razor is the idea that the most likely explanation for an event is usually the simplest explanation. Our good friend Mark Mallett is an extremely gifted writer, God bless him and his beautiful family (below). Especially of late he has come up with extraordinarily insightful pieces. But when it comes to undestanding the present situation at the Vatican someone could remind him of Ockham´s razor!
No internet blogger/ministry gets closer to The answer of how we keep faith in Christ, maintain strength in the battle against Satan and his fallen angels, the importance of the sacraments, humility , etc on the road to heaven. He stands strong in the faith and his writings are beacon to those needing a modern day source to help understand our faith better in this fallen world. For most people the battle is an internal one first and foremost. Looking outside at the world required balance, putting those things we can't change or control in their place so they don't snuff out the thing we can and should be doing for God daily. Mark understands this balance. If what is going on with the pope and Vatican is the only question, no you won't find the answer it at Mark's blog. If you spend as much time looking in as out you'll find a treasure of writings.
His blog postings were a part of the last few years for me and contributed toward my leaving an evangelical faith and becoming Catholic. There are others as well but you hit the nail on the head with it MMM. Seeing and being aware that we even in our small ways contribute each day toward things which make a difference regardless of our or the worlds outward circumstance is something that is very valuable.
Yes Mark and his family are a great gift to the Church there is no doubt about it. Having said this a bright eyed, bushy tailed attitude to what is going on in the Church is a great blessing too.
I think a what can you do attitude would be a grave error. Ostrich 's sticking thee heads in the sand didn't save them either. The first defense againswevil is to recognise its existence and to pass this on to others. There is nothing wrong with this.
I think Mark is well aware of what is going on in the Vatican. To understand this, one only has to look at the extreme's on MOG from one faithful Catholic to another. Some have 'knee jerk' reactions and want to immediately kick ass with anything they sense is less than their own criteria for Catholic practice. I don't think this is Christ's way. Some on the other extreme will dismiss even the most bizarre and unorthodox statements and actions from the Pope and his close allies and I don't think this is Christ's way either. These folks will follow a pope in error right off the cliff and hope their fidelity will excuse them on judgement day. Social justice people seem to have the attitude that their adherence to the cause of the poor will excuse them for not following the doctrines or the rigidity of the faith. I think Mark, like others on MOG forum, searched, studied, prayed about and discerned that the problems within the Vatican are well defined now within its highest offices. However, they will not throw the baby out with the bathwater. They feel prayer and sacrifice for the pope is more powerful than condemnation. They feel this is authentic mercy and speaking of the problems without getting nasty about the Pope is taking the high-road, ie., Christ's way. They believe we will be judged on love and remaining in prayer and not in contempt for those who are believed to be in error is love.
It's a time of huge confusion as Our Lady warned. I suppose it depends how dangerous the threat is. I apprehend it to be critical and that the Church is being dismantled and that the Pope is the primary force behind it. It doesn't get more critical than that. If that's being nasty, I am sorry but there you go. Guard dogs that don't bark when a thief is in the house are not much use. I am howling
A lady said one time that her family was not religious, they were Church of England. We will soon be able to claim the same kind of sad thing
Mark states that he "doesn´t have the answer." He is an honest, straightforward guy. So is it possible that he sees it and chooses to ignore it? Or is he indeed at a loss to comprehend why this is happening? And how should one react to the facts in the article below? Ignore them and pray they will go away because God will eventually sort things out? Try to warn some that this is a deviation that undermines the teachings of the Bible and 2,000 years of Church tradition? Blame the media that reported it because they misunderstood/misinterpreted/misquoted/mis-whatever the facts? Say that this is unfortunately going on behind the current pope´s back despite his arduous efforts to implement Church teaching? Say this is actually a welcome change? None of the above? New Jersey Cardinal Welcomes Gay Activists to His Cathedral By Adsderrick - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55910020 JOHN ZMIRAK Published on April 19, 2017 • 129 Comments John Zmirak One of the more forgettable comedies of 2011 was Cameron Diaz’s farce, Bad Teacher. It wasn’t actually funny. Its efforts at wild irreverence seemed desperate and strained. The sequence that led me to hit Stop and eject the DVD was this one: Diaz was working against her will as a teacher in a high school. Hung over and apathetic, she over and over again blew off giving a lecture. Instead, she popped in a movie of dubious relevance and left the kids to watch it as she napped. That didn’t make me chuckle. It made me livid. I’ve had some amazing teachers, and a few really bad ones. I know how important the devoted ones can be. They can change your life. And the rotten ones do grave harm. A highly educated person who’s being paid to pass on his learning to you sends a message. If he takes the material seriously, he teaches you it’s important. If he shrugs and waves it off, young impressionable people get that message too: This topic is so bogus, not even the teacher cares about it. I still remember with bitterness a cynical high school religion teacher. His blasé, sarcastic attitude toward core Christian doctrines made my teenage blood boil. I learned he later went off to peddle suburban homes. I hope he took them more seriously. Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark: Bad Teacher Which brings us to the Catholic Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, Joseph Tobin. Recently boosted by Pope Francis to cardinal, Tobin will be one of the tiny group voting on who the next pope will be. He leads a flock of millions, in the New York metro area, with a major Catholic university, Seton Hall right in his city. In fact, Seton Hall is one of the small group of Catholic schools which have seen a resurgence of Catholic identity. That depends in large part on Tobin’s good will. Which is really a shame for Seton Hall. Because like Cameron Diaz’s character in the movie, Tobin is a bad teacher. The role of a bishop is first and foremost as a teacher. His authority in his diocese is similar to the pope’s over the whole church. He’s considered an heir of the apostles. He is meant to do for (let’s say) Newark what St. James did for Jerusalem: serve as the primary evangelist of the faith of Jesus. On crucial moral issues, Tobin is snoozing through the class. In this he is like far too many bishops around the world. Worst is that that faction of bishops which Pope Francis seems to favor and promote: social justice activists, who go way beyond the church’s actual teaching on political issues in fashion with the left. But on topics that might bother Caesar, or anger elites, they shrug and go back to sleep. Or worse, with a wink and a nod they give aid and comfort to the enemies of our faith. Gay Activists at the Cathedral The man who called Tobin’s abuses to our attention is Joseph Sciambra. Once sunk so deep in the homosexual lifestyle that he acted in pornographic films, Sciambra was granted the grace to escape. Now he bares his soul and braves the scorn of angry activists, defending the Gospel’s teaching on chastity and repentance. If I had to name one person alive today whom I expect someday to be canonized a saint, Sciambra would be that man. On his blog, Sciambra reports that Cardinal Tobin is sponsoring the following event: An LGBT Pilgrimage and Mass to the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey. According to a flyer for the event, the Pilgrimage and Mass are taking place: “With the blessings and best wishes of His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark …” Mass will be offered by Rev. Francis Gargani, C.Ss.R. Gargani frequently offers retreats to LGBT Catholics, one of which was advertised by the gay-affirmative Open Hearts GLBT Ministry located at St. Patrick – St. Anthony Church in Hartford, Connecticut. The Open Hearts group recently read a book which celebrated the “Queer Christ.” According to a description for the retreat: Through ritual prayer, reflective input sessions, shared discussion, personal time for prayer and quiet, and social gatherings, this retreat offers a special opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons to celebrate their identity and deepen their experience of community in the living God. Not a word about chastity or repentance. Sciambra dug deeper and learned about the organizers of the event. They work closely with pro-gay activists who reject Christian moral teaching outright. And Tobin is hosting them at his own cathedral. Why invite gay activists to a Catholic cathedral? Why silence a pro-life priest? Silencing Faithful Priests But don’t let it be said that Tobin is always asleep at the switch. When it comes to enforcing conformity with liberal politics, his diocese swings into action. As LifeSiteNews reported: The Archdiocese of Newark says it will crack down on an outspoken pro-life priest after a hit piece on a local news site against him. On Wednesday, NJ.com published a scathing article about posts made by Father Peter West on his Facebook page. The article says West “has repeatedly railed against Muslims,” voiced “strong support for the president’s travel ban” and “assailed millennials as ‘snowflakes’,” among other accusations. The article suggested the priest has violated the Johnson Amendment by being so political on Facebook and worried that West’s “withering attacks … run counter to the statements and philosophies of his own leader, Newark Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, and his ultimate boss, Pope Francis.” James Goodness, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Newark, told NJ.com that the archdiocese is “concerned about Father West’s comments and actions, and will be addressing them according to the protocols of the Church.” …. West is … vocally supportive of Catholic moral teaching on his social media. He has 8,494 Facebook followers. More than 200 people have signed a recently-launched petition asking the Archdiocese to condemn the “false, inaccurate” hit piece on him. West said his posts about radical Islam were made “on what you might say are feminist grounds.” He said he was troubled by “the fact that they don’t treat women as equals, that one man can have up to four [wives], that a woman is treated as an article of property, that in many of these Muslim countries, they practice female genital mutilation.” “Eat My Sheep” Why were gay activists invited to Newark’s cathedral? Why was a faithful New Jersey priest silenced for taking sane stances on social media? Is Tobin catering to social justice leftists while kicking moral conservatives to the curb? That’s what you call a bad teacher. This article has been updated to correct an error conflating Cardinal Tobin of Newark with Bishop Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island. 140 https://stream.org/new-jersey-cardinal-quashes-pro-lifers-conservatives-welcomes-gay-activists/
This is meant with respect. I have a little trouble understanding MOG rants in the bigger scheme of things. And this isn't a defense of the pope, bishops or vatican peeps. Padraig, you do use this expression often when defending your critiques of the pope and Vatican hierarchy as do many others here. Just so I understand, is posting on MOG forum that reaches a relatively small readership constitute the idea of howling?? I know this is your site and therefore your home but do you and others really think constant postings about every possible negative thing is more effective than prayer? Do you think you are saving readers from the evil pope and Vatican the more you post about it? Or is this really to make you feel better by voicing your fears? Are you warning friends, family, church members, priests, your bishop etc, real people off the internet and spending the same amount of time and effort to warm them? Do you think constant threads about it will attract luke warm Catholics back to the faith? Or will they and even good Catholics avoid MOG since 50% or more of active threads are always negative? Mary called you to start this thread, do you feel she is happy with how it has developed to this point? It's organic and outside of any one persons control obviously. One thing I can tell you honestly if I met someone at church that spent most of their time bashing the pope and cardinals instead of talking Jesus and Mary I'd be moving on in a hurry. As for MOG, I think I might not be alone in the "I get it already! Enough!" Which I why I think for many it's just somewhere to vent, the fruit of venting here is unknown at best. The reason I think MM's blog is so good is he doesn't take his eye off the prize while still standing firm in the faith.
MMM, I couldn't in a million years express my thoughts so succinctly as you did for me above. Thank you. Each of us must prayerfully respond to what the Holy Spirit is speaking to their hearts, given the grave situation of apostasy that abounds in the Church. There are literally millions of Catholics who will follow depraved Church leaders over a cliff due to their own lack of discerning faith. Watchmen are needed to sound the alarm. I have not been called to blow the trumpet, but to hold out to the wavering the protection of Our Lady's mantle, to alert my fellow deacon candidates (soon-to-be leaders in the priest-starved Northeast) to the enveloping deception, and to minister the mercy of Jesus to those in nursing homes and hospitals. Come Holy Spirit, living in Mary; please reveal any aspect of Your call in my life that I am missing! Souls are at stake, O Lord; arouse your people to be bold and fear not. Let God arise and His enemies be scattered!
MMM, Why don't you think I pray for the pope everyday? Why don't you think I believe he has some great attributes? I always thought catholicism was both left and right (for lack of better way of putting it). With Pope Francis it seems all left, which is why I pray for him.
Fatima, your post is the most perfect balanced perspective on all the discussions I have read so far. I would just add, those who don't want to get into condemnation might also be prepared to state the traditional faith and values when called to do so. For example in face to face encounters or with family and friends if the subject comes up.
I am, I suppose, one of those criticised here. I do pray very hard for the Pope (and did so earlier today before the exposed Blessed Sacrament) I do not hold him in contempt and neither I do not doubt his sincerity. I believe that he is one of the (very many) modernist churchmen who are leading the Church in a direction of which the Lord strongly disapproves (the alternative being that earlier Popes and tradition have had many things wrong for a very long time). Do not doubt our sincerity, I agree that prayer is the answer. What makes you think that we pray less than you do?
The answer to this is in Mario's post quoted below: I am grateful to have this MOG forum where we are kept abreast of the frightful developments in our beloved Catholic Church. Only by being forewarned, will many be able to discern that the developments are not in line with doctrine or sacred Tradition. This applies also, and maybe especially, to lukewarm Catholics. It is surely not only devout Catholics who stop by here on this forum. Those called to be watchmen must sound the alarm. No one here denies that prayers need to be offered and intensified in such troubling times.
One good thing about this troubled times is that the filth that used to be relatively contained with the previous popes now is coming out of the closet, because so many in the hierarchy feel they can freely speak of changing the sacred doctrine of Christ. This is from Fr. Thomas Reese, the director of the most important jesuit magazine in the American contintent, the America Magazine, he relitivizes everything: 'What God has joined together ...' Thomas Reese | Apr. 6, 2017 https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/faith-and-justice/what-god-has-joined-together "Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." These statements are clear and definitive and end the discussion in the minds of the critics of Pope Francis. "Jesus said it. Case closed." But is it? ... How do we determine which words of Jesus are to be treated as absolutes and which are open to interpretation? ... When Jesus wants to threaten someone with hell fire, he knows how to do it! But even here, do you really take him literally? ... I look upon Jesus' teaching on divorce as the first feminist legislation because a divorced woman was kicked out on the street with no assets or alimony. Her father would not take her back because she was a failure. No man would marry her. She had no education and few marketable skills. She would have to beg on the streets or prostitute herself. It was not until the 19th Century that divorced women began to get some protection from the civil law. As a result, divorce was clearly a devastating injustice to women for most of human history. Jesus quite rightly condemned it since practically all divorces were done by powerful men to powerless women. Today we live in a different world. How can we be so certain that Jesus would respond in the same way to divorce today? True, most divorces involve sin, moral failure and great pain. True, in most divorces women get the short end of the stick. Divorce is not something to be shrugged off, but once it has happened and a marriage is dead, can there be a possibility for healing and life in the future? Francis thinks so. So do I." Cardinal Ratzinger, in his now famous Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice homily of 2005, rightly predicted the wind of error now swiping the Church : "Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine", seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires. We, however, have a different goal: the Son of God, the true man. He is the measure of true humanism. An "adult" faith is not a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ. It is this friendship that opens us up to all that is good and gives us a criterion by which to distinguish the true from the false, and deceipt from truth."
Wow! Stated so boldly and definitively by this Jesuit priest Fr Reese! Isn't this just what the protestants do? Interpreting scripture as they like. Well, I won't be holding my breath for a rebuttal from the Vatican.
