The two priests in my parish (both recently installed) are the most orthodox and sound pastors I have ever had. There sermons are inspiring and I feel so blessed and thank God for this God-send as I have a double reason for loving Mass. I want to point out that God needs the faithful to pray for the shepherds. Even if they should stray from truth we have a responsibility to pray and fast for them. We are clearly living in diabolical times and the priesthood has been under direct assault and priests are specifically targeted by the forces of darkness. It is the faithful laity by their prayers and sacrifices who can protect the shepherds from the diabolical disorientation that surrounds us all.
I know some shabby priests and some excellent ones. I thank God for every priest, pray for every priest. We NEED them as much as we need food and water.
Synod will endorse Church teaching on family – Cardinal Pell By Elise Harris Vatican City, May 9, 2015 / 03:23 pm (EWTN News/CNA Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy, spoke this weekend on issues surrounding the family and the upcoming Synod of Bishops, saying the synod is unable to change Church teaching. Church teaching, he said, referencing papal documents such as those of St. John Paul II on marriage and family, can’t be “abdicated, (because) it’s based on the teachings of Christ.” “Christ is very clear about divorce, very clear about adultery; and not quite as important, but still very important, St. Paul is explicit about the conditions that are required for proper reception of communion.” When it comes to October’s Synod of Bishops on the Family, the cardinal said he expects “the synod will massively endorse the tradition” of the Church’s teachings on these issues. There is a great desire to help people and to be compassionate, and these are things everyone wants, he noted, saying he believes synod delegates “will recognize that the Christian tradition of St. John Paul the Great, Benedict, the Council of Trent, is well established … and I don’t anticipate any deviation of that.” later in article the Cardinal stated When asked if a merciful response to divorced and remarried Catholics would mean a return to strict practices of the early Christian community – which included keeping an adulterer away from the rest of the community even after making an act of repentance – Cardinal Pell said going back to “these very stiff disciplines” isn’t the answer. However, he also stressed the importance of defending the values we hold dear. If there are no consequences for doing something wrong, then “we send the wrong message, and that’s not merciful in the long run.” Using the example of a ship stranded at sea, the cardinal noted how “some people have been saying the role of the Church is to help those people who are in the life boats.” Although reaching them is important, a bigger concern for the Church now “is to guide the big ships, the liners, so that they’re not shipwrecked, so that they don’t need to get into the lifeboats.” “We defend through the law that which we value; and to deny that will increase the decline and the slide in the wrong direction.” another clip Tolerance of others’ views and opinions is good, he said, but when tolerance is based on the belief that there is no objective truth and that each “unprovable moral conviction” is just as valid as all the rest, “we deprive ourselves not only of the legitimation of human rights, we deprive ourselves also of the foundations of much of our sexual legislation.” When parents themselves become moral relativists, they lose the authority and foundation needed in order to instill moral and religious convictions into their children, the cardinal explained. “No parent should forget to show and teach their children that the way to growth, both personal and community, is through fidelity to the core teachings of Christ and the Church,” he said. Those who downplay the demands of the faith and family that Christ himself enjoyed as a child are only “increasing and hastening the exodus.” FULL STORY... http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/Vatican.php?id=12055
