My excepts are from a longer article by the National Catholic Register. Cardinal Dolan's homily is on line and I watched it and it was very good except for the concerning part which you can read in full by pressing the following:
Cardinal Dolan Outlines 7 ‘Non-Negotiables’ for the Synod on Synodality
Here are the pertinent excerpts:
A synod is a meeting of bishops gathered to discuss a topic of theological or pastoral significance, in order to prepare a document of advice or counsel to the pope.
“[Pope Francis] wants us to join him in praying, listening, discerning, examining ourselves personally, and the Church communally, to see if we’re truly on the path Jesus has set for His beloved bride, His mystical body, the Church,” Cardinal Dolan said.
“He has reminded us of certain clear essentials intended by Jesus, constant, although, at times, we admit, clouded and dimmed, in the Church’s amazing 2,000-year drama. Here are some of those non-negotiables.” Cardinal Dolan went on to outline the following points:
Cardinal Dolan said that “the energy and direction driving the Church comes from the Holy Spirit, not ourselves.”
“While in the world, we are not of the world, and thus our guiding principles come from the Gospel, revelation, and the patrimony of the Church’s settled teaching,” he said.
Dolan said “that the principles of the innate dignity of every human person and the inherent sacredness of all human life are the towering moral lighthouses on our path.”
Cardinal Dolan said that "our journey through this life back to our true and eternal home of heaven is most effectively accomplished precisely as a journey as we walk with and accompany each other, with Jesus as our guide, His Mother and the saints, and we sinners at each other’s side.”
"On this journey we pay special attention to those at the side of the road, especially those who are sick, weak, poor, or unable to keep up with us,” he said.
“Our wealth only comes from faith, trust, prayer, the sacraments, and His grace,” he said.
Finally, Cardinal Dolan said that "mercy, love, invitation, humility, joy, selfless generous service, and good example are our only tools, never harshness, condemnation, or pride.”
All of the above is powerful, good and hopeful.
The following is of great concern, though:
The Cardinal acknowledged in his homily that he himself has questions. “I don’t know if I completely understand [Synodality],“ Cardinal Dolan said, adding that ”the Holy Father is honest in admitting that neither does he have the full comprehension, which is precisely why he has summoned us to this endeavor.”
18 comments:
That neither does he have the full comprehension,
to quote the great philosopher, Homer (Simpson)
DOH
If P. Francis said he knew all the answers, this blog would be filled with howls of protest and mockery.
His Holiness admits he doesn't have all the answers, and what do we already see here?
The Egyptian,
The blind leading the blind
I hope the "howl" of my observation here doesn't offend the sophisticated ears of the more enlightened readers, but it strikes me that this entire charade of "I don't quite comprehend it all myself" is just more scripted "See My Humility" theater by the Jesuit pontiff showman. I don't buy it for one minute. I think we should also take note that most previous popes cared enough about the Church to proceed with extreme caution rather than recklessly drag the faithful into uncharted waters.
But even that's not entirely the case here. I believe, like the previous dog-and-pony-show synods, these waters are quite well-charted. The outcomes of this synod (and all of the "listening sessions" that will be performed--and I do mean PERFORMED) have all been predetermined. This pope and the people who selected him know exactly what they want and they have a road map to get there that takes the term "contrived" to new heights.
Father K,
Your answer is to vote for the party of intrinsic evil.
Thomas Garrett,
Well said
When you have nebulous terms as your only non-negotiables then anything is possible. I was expecting things like priestesses, Communion as a symbol, gay marriage blessings and married priests as possible non-negotiables. I had to reread the short article to see if I was missing something. When love is a non-negotiable, we’re in trouble. Dolan is a creature of the establishment and I agree he also knows that Francis is up to something and he’s willing to go along by playing dumb. This Synod needs to be exposed as the sneaky plot that it is and honest prelates need to clearly state what the Synod better NOT attempt to do. Start speaking up now before it's too late.
As for practicing "extreme caution, one, sophisticated and/or enlightened or not, might do well to recall the words of the Lord from Sacred Scripture, "When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”
How ironic that we are given the scripture quote instructing Simon--a future pope--to drop his nets into deep water for a catch. There's generally a consensus among Catholic exegetes that this verse refers to reaching out to evangelize souls in unexpected places...which only amplifies the irony of the Church's latest obsessive novelty of stretching synodality far beyond its purpose to manipulate the edifice into changes that, until the mid-20th century would have appalled any faithful Catholic.
Synods were gatherings and consultations of BISHOPS. But who are the mitered hirelings consulting with this time? A laity that has lost its faith. A laity that looks upon ecclesiology in terms of "empowerment" ("We demand women's ordination"), a laity where 30% (or often less) believe in the Real Presence of the Eucharist. A laity that has been conditioned to accept ANYTHING if they see their parish priests tolerating it--clown Masses, liturgical dance, rotten music, Communion in the hand, heretical homilies, etc.. THOSE are the experts we are to consult with for "listening"? Horse manure.
The nets HAVE been put into deep water--the net of the Traditional Sacraments (or for those who delude themselves that the concocted Bugninian liturgy which has less than 20% of the original Mass in it is "traditional", I'll call it the Sacraments of the Missal of 1962). The result has been a catch so deep that it has baffled the evangelizers of the failed Church of What's Happening Now that has been imposed upon us. And Bergoglio and those who pressured him to do so--who ELECTED him to do so-- in their envy and misunderstanding of what REALLY increases Mass attendance and brings young people into the sanctuary--in their infinite wisdom, they have taken their ecclesial knives and attempted to slash the net.
Yes, let us recall the words of the Lord from Sacred Scripture and help repair the net, instead of falling for every novelty our false shepherds are trying to "catch" with. We and they have a choice: Follow the path that brought in a steady catch for 2000 years, or follow the path of novelty that is a proven failure. Anyone with a brain can see that the decision has already been made. God help us.
Or, to get to the short version--Jesus came to convert sinners and unbelievers, not to lead us into conforming to THEIR ways.
Since we are quoting scripture:
"It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."
The Party of Instrinsic Evil is guilty of this in spades with its worship of transgenderism and forcing perversions of all kinds into public schools. Look to the Loudoun County, Virginia school board for an example. Of course, most of the "mainstream' media is suppressing that story
There is zero concensus "among Catholic exegetes" that this passage refers to "evangelizing souls in unexpected places."
Zero.
Infallibly spoken! Thank you, your grace.
Father Kavanaugh's "expertise" is hilarious. Tearing a page from his playbook (or obsession), it reminds me of a more recent Alinsky-ite attempt at creating groupthink when less than 48 hours after the presidential election was over last November--that same 48 hours when we had videotape of vote counters shutting out observers and people pulling hidden boxes of ballots out from underneath tables to count after sending everyone home and poll workers coming out of the woodwork with complaints of irregularities--while all of this was going on, we had the "mainstream" media, including Fox News (!) all chanting the same mantra: "No evidence of voter fraud."
Groupthink. Father K, we gotta admire your persistence! "There is zero consensus. Zero. DO YOU HEAR ME???? ZERO!!!!! REPEAT IT! ZERO!"
I was so inspired by Fr. K's comments, I thought I'd add a few more whoppers to the list of ideas we must accept to "get our minds right" with those who know what's best for us:
The Novus Ordo is the Mass of Vatican II
The New Mass IS the traditional Mass
The sex abuse crisis in the Church was caused by pedophilia, not homosexuality
The U.S. Economy is thriving under Joe Biden's terrific leadership
Bugnini was not a Freemason
You can be a good Catholic and join the Masonic lodge anyway
Communion in the hand IS the norm
Traditional sacraments, prayers and devotions are rigid
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a great man of the Church
If you don't like the Glory and Praise hymnal you're mean
If you don't sing at Mass, you have not participated
If you don't wear a mask, you are not as virtuous as the rest of us and you obviously don't care about anyone's health, especially the vaccinated, who aren now safe from infection, but must still wear masks anyway
The vaccine is perfectly safe
The U.S. Economy is thriving under Joe Biden's superior leadership
There is no evidence that aborted fetuses had any role in the research and development of the vaccine
Traditional Catholics are all egotistical meanies
There is no evidence that Joe Biden is senile
There is no evidence that Ivermectin or Hydroxycholoroquine are effective in treating COVID patients
Pope Francis issued Traditiones Custodes because of the negative attitudes displayed by traditional Catholics, so it's all their fault. They asked for it.
If you don't get vaccinated and you die of COVID, HA! HA! YOU HAD IT COMING!
There is no Sankt-Gallen Mafia.
There is no evidence that any group attempted to create a voting consensus before the last conclave
The U.S. Economy is thriving under Joe Biden's unquestionably effective leadership
Shutting down the Keystone pipeline has saved the environment
Shutting down the Keystone pipeline had not made us more dependent on foreign oil
If you don't get vaccinated, you deserve to be fired
Forget the lack of evidence, Donald Trump colluded with the Russians
The BLM riots were peaceful
It doesn't matter that out of over 100,000 protesters surrounding the capital, only a proportionate handful came in, it WAS AN INSURRECTION
White people are all hateful, racist bigots
Black people are incapable of racism
Critical race theory isn't being taught in public schools
I suppose I could go on. But I would like to thank the "mainstream" media, U.S. Catholic, the National Catholic Reporter and all the other tolerant liberals in the Church and government for supplying me with these examples.
Oops! I left out the favorite lie of progressive bishops and priests:
"There is no demand for the Traditional Latin Mass"
Jerome Merwick:
Have you undertaken unbiased research and exercised your own independent, critical reasoning faculties regarding all these matters? If, and when, you do, I strongly suspect you will find that many of the statements you list do not in fact represent the “groupthink” you suggest they do, that the claim made regarding the matter in question is actually much more nuanced than presented in the list, and/or that many of the implied opposites of these statements, to which one assumes you subscribe, represent an inaccurate groupthink of their own.
Good point. I suppose I unconsciously made the shift from mere "groupthink" to lies we are all supposed to blindly accept at face value.
Whoever controls the message and the language controls the narrative. Our current "respectable" media has a hardcore lock on their narrative. However, that could very well backfire, as it appears to me that the more tightly they grip their control on their "truths", the more they are creating disbelief.
But then again, what do I know? I'm just another lemming following the unwashed down the path of our own groupthinl.
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