To much prophecy to ignore. Sister Elena...'Even Rome will be punished according to justice for its many and serious sins, because here sin has reached its peak.” La Salette...'because for a while the Church will yield to large persecution, a time of darkness and the Church will witness a frightful crisis. “The true faith to the Lord having been forgotten,' Quito ...“Unhappy times will come wherein those who should fearlessly defend the rights of the Church will instead, blinded despite the light, give their hand to the Church’s enemies and do their bidding. But when [evil] seems triumphant and when authority abuses its power,' Blessed E Mora...'They, who should increase the spirit of the Lord in the hearts of others by their good example, instead mortally persecute Him with their bad conduct and teachings.” ... 'all who give themselves to debauchery and follow the false maxims of their deplorable contemporary philosophy!'
Cardinal's demotion helps Pope Francis quell 'conservative backlash' -- for now http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/2...pope-francis-quell-conservative-backlash-for/
I have heard that the pope has included Archbishop/soon to be Cardinal? Chaput and San Francisco shepherd Cordileone to the upcoming synod, hopefully a good sign.
It has been said that the Synod caused conflict and this bad 'fruit' indicates that the Synod was not 'good'. I think that a similar argument is felt about this forum when conflict arises. But when I see such comments, I always think of Jesus' words: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34) I increasingly see Pope Francis as a truly Christ-like figure that God has given to the Church at this time. And of course Jesus caused great conflict in His Church at that time. It is these thoughts that came to mind when I read Pope Francis' latest homily in Santa Marta. Here is a quote: Commenting on the Gospel of the Day, Pope Francis said Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because its people did not recognize the One who brings peace. He said the Lord weeps because of the “closure of heart" of His "chosen city, His chosen people. They had no time to open the door. They were too busy, too self-satisfied. And He continues to knock on doors as he knocked on the door of the heart of Jerusalem, at the gates of His brothers, His sisters; on our doors, the doors of our hearts, the doors of the Church. The people of Jerusalem were content with their way of life and did not need the Lord: they failed to realize that they needed salvation. This is why they had closed their heart before the Lord". "Jesus weeps” over Jerusalem - said the Pope – the same as He “weeps over His Church, over us today” "Why did Jerusalem not welcome the Lord? Because [the people] were content with what they had, and did not want any problems. But - as the Lord says in the Gospel - 'if you only knew, on this day, what brings you peace. You did not recognize the time of your visitation '. The city was afraid to be visited by the Lord; afraid of the gratuity of the Lord’s visit. The city felt safe in the knowledge of what it could handle. We all feel safe in the things that we can handle ... But the visit of the Lord, its surprises, those we cannot handle". And Pope Francis added: "Jerusalem was afraid of this: of being saved by the surprises of the Lord. The [people] were afraid of the Lord, their Bridegroom, their Beloved. And so Jesus wept. When God visits His people, He brings joy, He leads us to conversion. We all fear happiness – that joy that the Lord brings, because we cannot control it. We are afraid of conversion because conversion means allowing the Lord to lead us". "Jerusalem was content, happy - the Pope said - its temple worked. The priests made sacrifices, people came on pilgrimage, the teachers of the law had arranged everything, everything! Everything was clear! All the commandments were clear ... And with all of this Jerusalem had closed the door". The Cross, which was the "price of that refusal" - the Pope noted -, shows us the love of Jesus and what leads Him to "weep today - often - for His Church”.
Almost reminds me of Obama's speech last night dealing with immigration. I keep saying to myself, sounds great but where is the truth?
picadillo, I think that the U.S. Bishops are the ones who elected Abp. Chaput and Cordileone to the Synod, but it's still good news.
I guess the world is just one great field hospital, including myself and all catholics. Make Elton John(gay community) feel comfortable in their sins, after all, if we love them enough maybe they will have a deathbed conversion. What about Jesus driving out the money changers from the temple, if He just loved them maybe they would have converted. What about the parable Jesus gave of "if they don't heed your words kick the dust off your sandals and leave, it will be more tolerable in Sodm and Gommorah than in that city." I pray the rosary every day, adoration every day and am totally confused about the direction the church is taking. Did St JP2 and Pope Benedict lead us in the wrong direction? It does remind me of Obama's speech, we have to fix immigration when he broke the system by not enforcing the laws for six years. Someone please tell that to Archbishop Cupich. Fr Phleger as a role model, are you kidding????? No truth no obedience but all social justice? I will say it again, where is the truth?
picadillo, prophecy tells us the confusion will get much greater. I figure we can allow the confusion to control and frustrate us to the point where we loose our peace of heart and even our soul, or we can continue to live our faith journey out in faith through the cross. You know the truth so why do you question it? We are in the end times. We need only pray and trust now and if we can be of service to others then we must be, but do not trouble your heart with what we cannot control or you may loose your own soul in the confusion. Be at peace brother.
What struck me in the Gospel was that the "chief priests and teachers of the Law wanted to kill him (Jesus) and the elders of the Jews as well..." Surely even then wanting to kill someone would have been a bridge too far? You've got to really, really, really, really hate someone to want to kill them? Even if their hearts were stone, they must have seen the error in their thinking? Or is there something in the Law that could justify the decision (besides the 'better for one man to die' argument)?
Yes, picadillo, Jesus did show his anger at what the money changers were doing in the Temple and he spoke very strong words against the Pharisees. I think the thing that provoked Jesus' justified anger was the hypocrisy of both groups. They professed to be serving God but were serving themselves. I think it is notable that Jesus never spoke against the prostitutes or the tax collectors in this way. I hope the following is not too 'preachy' but it is very good that you pray the rosary daily but the crucial aspect of being a Christian is to love. First of all, to love God and then our neighbour - yes, even our sinful neighbours. A wonderful post has been made on another thread about St Francis, having been 'pushed' into confronting a priest who was misbehaving, instead went to see him and embraced him, thanking him for giving the Holy Eucharist. Clearly, there are times when we are called to correct others but the best way of correction is through good example. We need to focus on God and learning to love Him, not to think we should be confronting sinners about their behaviour.
POPE APPOINTS TRADITIONAL CARDINAL TO HEAD NEXT SYNOD Pope appoints Cardinal Napier as synod organiser by Mark Greaves posted Friday, 21 Nov 2014 Cardinal Napier (Photo: CNS) The cardinal was a leading critic of the mid-term report Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, South Africa, has been added to the organising committee for next year’s family synod. The appointment is seen as significant because Cardinal Napier was critical of the mid-term report in last month’s synod and is regarded as an influential voice in favour of tradition. Otherwise the committee remains the same, including the theologian Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti Vasto, who is seen as responsible for the most contentious aspects of the mid-term report. Other members of the committee are Cardinal Luis Tagle, Cardinal Peter Erdo, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois and Cardinal Damasceno Assis. The 2015 gathering will continue the work of last month’s synod and will come up with pastoral guidelines. It will be attended by a much larger group of bishops.
I came across the following quote about the parable of the prodigal son, from a pope of this millennium. I'll give the name at the end if you haven't figured out who it is from: …what Jesus says about the older brother is aimed… at the specific temptation of the righteous, of those who are “en régle”, at rights with God…For them, more than anything else God is Law; they see themselves in a juridical relationship with God and in that relationship they are at rights with him. But God is greater: They need to convert from the Law-God to the greater God, the God of love. This will not mean giving up their obedience, but rather that this obedience will flow from deeper wellsprings and will therefore be bigger, more open, and purer, but above all more humble. …Their bitterness towards God’s goodness reveals an inward bitterness regarding their own obedience. In their heart of hearts, they would have gladly journeyed out into that great “freedom” as well. There is an unspoken envy of what others have been able to get away with. They have not gone through the pilgrimage that purified the younger brother and made him realize what it means to be free and what it means to be a son. They actually carry their freedom as if it were slavery and they have not matured to real sonship. They, too, are still in need of a path; they can find it if they simply admit that God is right and accept his feast as their own. ….Christ is addressing us, the ones who never left home, encouraging us too to convert truly and to find joy in our faith. Quote taken from Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI
Bart, I get the point, for me it feels like we are back in "the spirit of v2 and kumbaya". Fought those battles, thought we were past it. I guess you could say we are finally implementing it. I don't understand making people feel good in their sins. Next thing is to start praising Cardinal Bernadin.
Your pain with the current 'vibe' is truly evident in your posts, and my heart goes out to you. I don't think we are ever meant to make people "feel good in their sins". But I think we are not meant to define people according to their sins either. All have the chance of redemption - its an option available tothem. But the train to damnation looks so attractive right now. We run the risk of trying to entice people onto the salvation train by telling them the average velocity of our train, the horse power of the engine, the diameter of the wheels and the grade of steel in the tracks. These may all be true but that'll only get the odd person to choose our train. We need to bring the joy of the final destination to people, show them by our lives, that we'd gladly stand in the aisle, being knocked all over the place, just to get to the destination; and that the people standing in the aisle too are a mixed up bunch but their hearts are good and they make the journey seem shorter. Meanwhile our travellers choosing trains are able to see through the windows. They see the seats with lots of leg room, the free coffee, and air-conditioning. What we have to work on is how we encourage people onto our train. Its not enough to say that if you get on the other train you're going to hell. We need to show them the kingdom of God now - in our lives ...even if involves having your nose in someone else's armpit for a chunk of the journey!
That is excellent.... There have been many who have openly discussed the Prodigal Son parable here, and many have envisioned themselves as the "older brother", but in that envisioning, i don't recall any having espoused the disposition set forth above. .....
'The priests of the Lord have assimilated themselves to the people, when, on the contrary,they should raise the people to the holiness of the priesthood.The sacerdotal dignity is soiled by contagion with the worldly .The anointed of the Lord have lapsed from their noble and Godlike station.Therefore they wander away from pure doctrine,and sometimes even from the truth,they slime it over with their own ingenious subtleties'. Mary of Agreda [ The city of God]
