Where Peter is, there is the Church! Charlie Johnson has a brilliant post today. What he has to say absolutely resonates with my spiritual sense of what's happening in the Church... https://charliej373.wordpress.com/2014/11/21/the-great-apostasy-begins/
True, but imagine a conclave out of which two 'Popes' emerged each of them backed by a large group of Cardinal Electors. Who would you cling too then? I have a feeling it will be complicated like that. I don't beleive we are at the Schism part just yet. This is nothing compared to what will come.
I think Charile is right on in that those who are leading in the apostasy are from he far right. They are mad as hell, because they think their rightousness views are what is absent. HUMILTY is what is absent in the Church today. We are not called to be leaders, but followers of the Viar of Christ
Sometimes we fall back on thinking we 'the faithfull' are in control of Christ's Church and not Him. God is in control of every detail of what is happening in the Chruch yesterday, today and always. It is our discipleship to be faithful. This is where my peace of heart comes from.
Blame the orthodox for apostasy? Probably how the Christians felt when Nero blamed them for burning Rome. And they will be blamed.And persecuted. Those who preserve their fervour and adhere to virtue with love and zeal for the truth, will suffer injuries and, persecutions as rebels and schismatics; for their persecutors, urged on by the evil spirits, will say they are rendering a great service to God by destroying such pestilent men from the face of the earth.
If the best you can do is turn to Charlies angel for guidance ,you're on shaky ground. How about using approved prophecy or church teaching to make any points.
Oh, there will be an apostasy, we know this, but who leads the apostacy is anyone's guess. We'll know eventually, in our lifetime I believe. The rock is the sum total of all the great doctors, saints, popes and hopefully us - we are all 'the church' that are built on the solid foundation of truth. The truth I will cling to. The doctrines and dogmas that were given to us, guided by the Holy Spirit, I will cling to.
The Pope of Vatican I, Pius IX, spoke on two different occasions. In an allocution (address to an audience) on December 9th, 1854 he said: We must hold as of the faith, that out of the Apostolic Roman Church there is no salvation; that she is the only ark of safety, and whosoever is not in her perishes in the deluge; we must also, on the other hand, recognize with certainty that those who are invincible in ignorance of the true religion are not guilty for this in the eyes of the Lord. And who would presume to mark out the limits of this ignorance according to the character and diversity of peoples, countries, minds and the rest? Again, in his encyclical Quanto conficiamur moerore of 10 August, 1863 addressed to the Italian bishops, he said: It is known to us and to you that those who are in invincible ignorance of our most holy religion, but who observe carefully the natural law, and the precepts graven by God upon the hearts of all men, and who being disposed to obey God lead an honest and upright life, may, aided by the light of divine grace, attain to eternal life; for God who sees clearly, searches and knows the heart, the disposition, the thoughts and intentions of each, in His supreme mercy and goodness by no means permits that anyone suffer eternal punishment, who has not of his own free will fallen into sin."
It was the highly offended purists who led the Protestant Reformation. God's answer? St. Francis! Humility and obedience are sadly lacking in the highly offended , hyper-critical voices attacking the Holy Father in our day. Humility and obedience will keep us from deception, and the lack of it will almost guarantee it.
Once a group of people went to St. Francis, complaining about a priest who was having an affair with a woman, insisting he go and well straighten this priest out. They all rather forcefully walked him to the priest's door. They knocked and the priest came out and St. Francis embraced him, thanking him for giving us the Holy Eucharist. The priest did reform and became a good priest. That to me has always been the answer for me. Does Jesus call me to be Martin Luther or St. Francis?
Orthodox is good. But. There are some Catholics on the left (liberals) who need correction and some Catholics on the right (conservatives) who need correction. Indeed every Catholic at some time needs correction and should be open to correction. If we think we know the faith perfectly then we are deluded and on dangerous ground. Look around the internet at the number of people pontificating about the Catholic faith as if they know the faith better than everyone else. They look through the rose tinted glasses of arrogance. I am using these 'political' labels deliberately since I believe this has become a real problem, the politicization of the Church and her teachings to suit people's 'political' identity and personality. Some people like to use 'their truth' as a weapon of pride and love to sit on the high horse of self-righteousness. Thankfully, no one on our forum is like that as we all sit at the feet of Mary, Queen of Humility. conservatism does not always equate to orthodoxy. There are many who think conservative and orthodox are the same - they are not.
It's funny because that is EXACTLY the point that Charlie is making himself, if you read the article: "I now understand why my angel was so enthused when, during my period of supernatural blindness after being received into the Church, I eagerly chose the solid meat of the Church over the airy uncertainty of private revelation – even if it meant I would not see him again until after my death to this world. In so choosing, I chose full submission to Christ. The rise of this abusive primacy of private revelation over Church teaching is primarily what has made me, in this last month, consider dropping any mention of such visitations so as not to further pollute the waters. But I understand now that God has other plans. It pleases Him that one who values obedience over “secret knowledge” should speak on this to combat the abuse of this satanic-inspired apostasy."
What is "orthodox" in today's world? Does it mean I'm right and your wrong? Does it mean that I am holier than the guy who doesn't see as I see? Does it mean that I am going to heaven and the poor slug who is not like me is going to hell? Now we already have an Orthodox Church. A Church which left Peter 1000 years ago, because of pride. They were more orthodox then 'Peter' too. Is this the will of God? Is this what Christ desired when he said "that they all become one, Father, as you and I are one"? Oddly enough, I claim to be orthodox too, but with a much more defined meaning. When I claim othodoxy, it is because I believe and adhere to all holy mother chruch teaches in the area of faith and morals, which is nothing more than her unchanging doctrines. My fidelity is to the Viar of Christ on earth. I do not modify or change what I do not like. I do not sit on a high place in my own mind and think others are not as holy as I. I do not measure (even though at times there is a temptation to do so) every word uttered by the media in the name of Pope Francis and think he speaking heresy. Oh, there was a few moments early on where I too had a 'knee jerk reaction' to what the media wrote in their own words what Pope Francis said, but then I found what he really said and prayed on it, till I found peace. We are at the end of an age and about to enter a new age. Satan has never been allowed more access to the souls of this world then today. I once read a story about a few monks centuries ago speaking about the future of the world and the end of times. One monk asked another wise old monk if he thought the people in the end times would be able to do the type of penances they do for the love of Christ. The wise old monk said NO, they will hardly be able to do the smallest of penances, but if they perservere in their faith they will be greater saints in heaven then us, because we deal with satan chained, they will be dealing with satan unchained. This is where we are at. It is not a time to judge others orthodoxy or heterodoxy. It is a time to put on the armour of God and His Blessed Mother. A time of prayer and penance. A time of solitude with heaven, so we can be guided and defended by them in this troubling world of ours. The cross of Christ and the sorrowfull heart of Mary were possible through humility, faith and prayer. This is the only way.
Charlie J. has done a great job in terms of raising awareness of long-term historical trends, to which I would just like to add a few contextualizing remarks: i) with regard to the role of private revelation in fostering heresy, while MDM and other false mystics before her (think Bayside...) have undoubtedly done much damage, I would question how many people are actually reading this material when you look at the bigger picture and realize that the we need to remember that entire sects and religions have been founded on spurious private revelation (just last week I was accosted in the street by a couple of evangelists for a sect named the 'Pilgrims of Arès' who believe in a completely heterodox gospel allegedly dictated by Jesus to their founder Michel Potay, an avowed occultist, so this is on my mind). Think Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, the seven million readers of Neale Donald Walsch's 'Conversations with God', the ten million Brazilian followers of Allan Kardec's spiritism. Not to mention the biggest of all elephants in the room when it comes to private revelation, the small matter of some alleged dictations by the Angel Gabriel in the Arabian peninsula in the seventh century which have since taken over huge tracts of the planet. So a sense of proportion is called for here... ii) regarding current forms of apostasy, as many folks have correctly remarked, this can come from the right or the left. Charlie is of course absolutely correct to call out the right-wing variant, although we do need to remember that this is not a new phenomenon: Abp Lefebvre's revolt is nearly 50 years old now and began with exactly the sort of mis-directed indignation in the name of orthodoxy that we're seeing on the rise once more. It is however the apostasy of the theological left that has already seduced huge swathes of Christianity. Just look at the dire present state of much of the Anglican communion and the doctrinal capitulation of the Protestant 'mainline' denominations, plus the stranglehold that modernist 'scholarship' has acquired over academic theology over a period of nearly 200 years). This shows no signs of abating - indeed, quite the contrary: if at some point the dreaded One World Religion of secular humanism in pseudo-religious garb rears its ugly head, this surely is where it will be coming from.
Charlie writes with so much depth and understanding that at the start of much of his message I am over whelmed to be able to follow and put all the many parts of the puzzle together. Yet, what ever is so good and true and what ever is so merciful the Holy Spirit guides you into drawing in all that is needed for where you are on your journey and all that you can take in at this very minute of life. I was touched with Truth & Mercy: "Twin guardrails of faith - and in the end Christians know that if it is not true, it is not merciful and if it is not merciful it is not true" "The Catholic Church - Here you find your home. It is always Christmas here." God is with us! When he wrote on the "unseen hand of God" , the Holy Spirit guides us through our disappointments our errors, our sinfulness, our untrue thoughts, our joys and our sufferings to a greater understanding and love for God which leads us deeper to truth and life that He truly is and what He wants us to be. In his comment on the recent Synod, I again was opened to the understanding that another layer was placed upon our own truth and understanding of Gods almighty power and His infinite love for His Family when He said, " God forms yet another layer upon the great pearl which is His Church" Charlie said, "I was told long ago that vanity and self - love run far deeper than we can imagine, that even many of the best are not so devoted to God as they are to their own superiority and enlightenment and that the Storm would be used to expose and sweep away that toxic vanity from all." Pride is the greatest of all sins and is a part of all sins in our life. I seem to fight this daily in my living and wish so much to overcome this and to become more humble and obedient as a child of God. I look forward to this storm to more fully recognize the hurt that I have placed upon my Lord Jesus. "The great apostasy has begun and you who promote the failure of the church Christ guaranteed, and the apostasy of Peter, whose faith Christ guaranteed, are the apostates. Some of you are unknowingly satan's minions... His latest writings expose his total love and faithfulness to the church and he has made a vow within as those of us who have received the sacraments have made to love honor and cherish you Lord Jesus till death do I part, until life do we once again unite. "If, when all is done, I am publicly celebrated for having served the faithful well, I will die in the Barque of Peter. If I remain an obscure fellow scribbling along on these matters, I will die faithful to the Barque of Peter. If, for some odd reason, I should be condemned by the home I love, I will die loyal to the Barque of Peter trusting that, like St. Joan of Arc, I will be rehabilitated as a faithful and loving son of the Church in better times. There is no middle course here. That is where I have lived and that is where I will die." Wonderful! Amen
The Great Apostasy started three generations ago when Catholics followed their separated brethren into accepting the contraceptive mentality. We are at the tail end of the Great Apostasy now, not the beginning. Its almost over, not just getting started. And the schism will result from the promotion of heterodoxy, whether that heterodoxy comes from the far left or the far right. Given what just transpired at the Synod, its far more likely to start from the far left.
It is true about false religions founded on false revelations. A curious thing happened to me in Jerusalem a few years back which woke me up to the importance of discerning false prophets. I was in the Al Asqua Mosque and the Mosque of the Golden Dome (on the former Temple Mount . where the Holy of Holies was and where Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac.) View attachment 2399 Anyway in the gorgeous Mosque of the Golden Dome there is a set side place of solid rock where the false Prophet Mohammed is supposed to have ascended into heaven. . Anyway a thought occurred to me and I decided to pray for Muhommed 's soul in case he was still in purgatory. But I was told at once in prayer i no uncertain terms that he had been sent straight to hell for being a False Prophet. This shocked me as it goes against modern, 'Let's all get along, what does it matter?' notions but there you are. By the way I fell asleep on the wonderful carpet on the Mosque floor and woke up by being giving a few well placed kicks by true believers for being a dozy impious unbeliever. A fact which did not encourage inter-faith dialogue.
It is the same with all false prophets. Heaven regards this kind of thing very,very seriously indeed. Type in false prophet scripture and see what you come up with. It is different for their followers if they follow in good faith. But for the guys themselves. Deep hell looms.
