MAKE NOTE OF THIS: AT MY REQUIEM I WANT THIS HEARSE!

JOHN ALLEN OF CRUX, I FEEL YOUR PAIN

Memo to Synod: If you don’t want focus on married priests, give us something else

Poor John Allen, an excellent, slightly, ever so slightly, left leaning orthodox progressive, is frustrated with the Synod on the Amazon and Cardinal O'Malley's critique of the Catholic press over its coverage.

Here are some money bytes: 

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who speaks both fluent Spanish and Portuguese and has long experience of Latin America, is a papal appointee among the 184 voting members of the Oct. 6-27 Synod of Bishops on the Amazon. As he generally does, O’Malley is using his blog to share impressions, and on Friday he issued a mild rebuke to reporters that could be a sign of things to come.

“Despite the impression that is being given in the media,” O’Malley wrote, “the synod is not some sort of a referendum on priestly celibacy.”

“A speech proposed launching local experiences of temporary ministries for married men, provided they’re recognized and approved by the local ordinary and by the ecclesial community,” the bulletin reported.

One might think today’s canonization of John Henry Newman might provide a respite from such debates, but honestly, it’s just as likely to contribute to them, with various people jousting during the days to come over what Newman might say about the Amazon synod if he were around today.
(In the Apologia, Newman said that Catholicism’s defense of an unmarried priesthood at a time when it was unraveling in the Church of England was an early part of the journey that led to his conversion: “Her zealous maintenance of the doctrine and the rule of celibacy, which I recognized as Apostolic, and her faithful agreement with Antiquity in so many other points which were dear to me, was an argument as well as a plea in favor of the great Church of Rome.”)

However, voices such as O’Malley do have a point that the discussion in the current synod is far broader than a “yes” or “no” to married priests, touching on disparate themes such as ecology, the impact of extractive industries, the rights and dignity of indigenous persons, the importance of education, the inequities of globalized capitalism, and lots else besides.

Perhaps one difficulty in getting those of us in the media to focus on those subjects is that while they’re undeniably important, it’s hard to know what the Catholic Church can really do about them. In concrete terms, the pope could permit married priests tomorrow; he cannot, at least by himself, reverse climate change or solve income inequalities.

READ THE REST THERE

My comments: Exactly, John Allen, when synods get bogged down on political, governmental issues in which most bishops and observers have no real expertise, like the pope telling Galileo that the sun revolves around the earth not the earth around the sun, we get into a mess, because Catholics only need to agree with the pope and bishops on issues of faith and morals as revealed through Scripture and Tradition, not political or scientific editorials from them, which they are free to give especially if they wish to continue to alienate Catholics around the world and others as well. 

Just how is Pope Francis going to end climate change and what dogmas and doctrines, new ones, can he enact that will bring it about?

But he can change the rule of celibacy for certain circumstances as Popes Pius XII, John Paul II and Benedict did, like it or not. 

He cannot, though, change a dogma into something else because His Holiness thinks that the Holy Spirit creates chaos, messes and enables people to make mistakes as though the Holy Spirit is responsible for Original and actual sins. 

An no, one cannot say that what was believed as a part of the Deposit of Faith up until Pope Benedict can now be changed because the Holy Spirit is leading the Church to new paths, such as recognition of the LGBTQ ideologies, women ordained to be deacons priests and bishops. This is GNOSTICISM because belief in these things is ideologically produced and not a part of the Deposit of Faith, which gnostics decry.  As well, Gnostics they have a direct line to the Holy Spirit who is telling them that it is okay to take new paths in this new outpouring of the Holy Spirit who not only opens the shut windows of dogma, but knocks down the walls and doors of the Deposit of Faith.  When elitists in the Church, be they popes, bishops, priests, deacons, religious or laity claim this, they are Gnostic since no where can these things be honored as Catholic when an ordinary Catholic looks at all the teachings that are out in the open for all to find and believe in the Deposit of Faith. The truths of Catholicism are out in the open for all, not just in the domain of those who think they have a direct line to God that no one else has. 

The only way Gnostics can get their way is to denigrate orthodox Catholicism and Catholics, just like it was done in the 1960's and 70's when they would label Catholics who disagreed with them as so pre-Vatican II, then the equivalent of the "N" word. The denigration of orthodox Catholics by the pope and others is but another attempt at this spirit of Vatican II "N" word use.  

And tied into Gnosticism is Dualism, like the pope decrying those who love doctrines and dogmas (the truth) instead of God. Thus the pope implies that you can separate the truth from God and God is good and the truth you can take or leave or change. In other words, you can make your own truth, which is the ideology of the current day.  It's just another form of saying the spiritual is good and the material bad. 

What say you?

VATICAN II'S SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM ASKED THAT MORE SCRIPTURE BE ADDED TO THE MASS AND THIS IS WHAT WHAT CAME ABOUT, MORE OR LESS!

The following is the Mass for the 18th Sunday after Pentecost in the Extraordinary Form.

It is this form of the Mass that Vatican II asked to have a more lavish use of Scripture added to it.

Here's what they did:

X INTROIT ELIMINATE THE INTROIT AND SING A SONG LIKE "GATHER US IN" Ecclesiasticus 36: 18 Give peace, O Lord, to them that patiently wait for Thee, that Thy prophets may be found faithful: hear the prayers of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel. -- (Ps. 121. 1). I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we shall go into the house of the Lord. V.: Glory be to the Father . . . -- Give peace, O Lord . .   COLLECT -  Let the exercise of Thy compassion, we beseech Thee, O Lord, direct our hearts: for without Thee we are not able to please Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth . . .   Add an Old Testament Reading before the Epistle and remove the Gradual and have a longer psalm EPISTLE I Corinthians 1: 4-8 Brethren, I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God that is given you in Jesus Christ, that in all things you are made rich in Him in all utterance and in all knowledge, as the testimony of Christ was confirmed to you; so that nothing is wanting to you in my grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who also will confirm you into the end without crime, in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.   GRADUAL Psalms 121: 1, 7 I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of our Lord. V.: Let peace be in thy strength, and abundance in thy towers.   Alleluia, alleluia. V.(Ps. 101. 16). The Gentiles shall fear Thy Name, O Lord; and all the kings of the earth Thy glory. Alleluia.   GOSPEL Matthew 9: 1 - 8 At that time, Jesus entering into a boat, passed over the water and came into His own city. And behold they brought Him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed; and Jesus seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee. And behold some of the Scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth. And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? whether is it easier to say: Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say: Arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins (then said He to the man sick of the palsy): Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. And he arose, and went into his house. And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God, who had given such power to men.   Get rid of the Offertory Antiphon and sing something like "Companions on the Journey) X OFFERTORY Exodus 24: 4 - 5 Moses consecrated an altar to the Lord, offering upon it holocausts, and sacrificing victims: he made an evening sacrifice to the Lord God for an odor of sweetness, in the sight of the children of Israel.   SECRET - O God, Who, be Thy venerable intercourse with us in this Sacrifice, dost make us partakers of the one Supreme Godhead: grant, we beseech Thee, that as we know Thy truth, so we may follow it by worthy lives. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost . . .   PREFACE (Preface of the Most Holy Trinity) - It it truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying:   Get rid of the Communion antiphon and sing something like "Peace is Flowing like a River or "Let there be peace on earth" X COMMUNION Psalm 95: 8, 9 Bring up sacrifices, and come into His courts: adore ye the Lord in His holy court.   POST COMMUNION - We who are fed with Thy holy Gift, O Lord, do offer our thanks unto Thee: beseeching Thy mercy that Thou mayest make us worthy to share in it. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity . .

CAN THE SYNODAL PROCESS LEAD TO NEW PATHS THAT REMOVE ALL IMPEDIMENTS TO ORDINATION AS A DEACON, PRIEST OR BISHOP?

This little ditty was reported by Vatican News this week!

A question about women deacons

Journalists present in the Holy See Press Office were reminded there are nearly 40 women at the Synod. Many more participated in the pre-Synodal consultations. The Church has a feminine face, said Sister Echeverri, she is Mother. There is a path for us to pursue as women, she added. We are not protagonists because many others have gone before us, like Saint Clare. She went on to mention the indigenous women of the Amazon, mothers and grandmothers. The Church discerns, she added. We do not know if this is the moment, but many people are seeking the “feminine face of the Church”, not one of of power, but of service. This is a moment of grace, “Kairos”. This is part of the discernment toward new paths, she concluded.

Can all impediments to ordination be undone (Mary, untier of knots pray for us) through discernment toward new paths and lead also to same sex marriage and men, women, LGBTQ ordination and people who look like this?

SYNOD ON THE AMAZON, WHY NOT START WITH THE INTEGRAL ECOLOGY OF THE DIVINE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST WHO HAS TWO INTEGRAL NATURES, HUMAN AND DIVINE, DESPITE WHAT SCALFARI STATES POPE FRANCIS DENIES, AND THEN MOVE TO THE ECOLOGY OF THE HUMAN PERSON WHO IN AN INTEGRAL ECOLOGICAL WAY IS CONFIGURED TO THE ECOLOGY OF JESUS CHRIST THROUGH BAPTISM? THEN MOVE TO THE INTEGRAL ECOLOGY OF EVERYTHING ELSE!

As I have already bemoaned, this silly, corrupt, pagan ideology of “ecological conversion” spewed by some Synod of the Amazon fathers needs to be replaced by an integral ecological conversion to the Divine Person of Jesus Christ who Himself has an integral ecology of two natures, human and divine and to which we who are baptized also have an integral ecology with Him!

I am not opposed to taking care of the earth and yes, I will confess in kind and number my mortal sins during confession to a priest all the plastic bottles of water I have drunk and failed to recycle!

But I can’t and will not confess what governments are doing to us and the environment. I will not confess that I voted for a politician who wants to burn down the Amazon but supports the right to life of every unborn child, no matter how that child is conceived.  I think the formation of my Catholic conscience allows me to do that as it does allow a Catholic to vote for a rabidly pro-choice politician if that person wants to ban what is happening to the Amazon.

But we all know that most rank and file Catholics aren’t going to do a single thing to stop governments from doing their corrupt deeds. Why? Because we can’t do a thing!

But what can we do as individual Catholics about the ecology and integral relationship our bodies have with each other and the earth? Exactly what the Church has always taught and more vociferously during the pre-Vatican II era.

What is that you ask?

1. It is a mortal sin and a pagan practice to pierce your skin, expand your neck and earlobes with rings and tattoo your body all over the place and have face lifts, Botox and other age defying treatments.

2. You must not be cremated after death and certainly before and your body after death must be treated with Christian dignity, given a proper Christian burial or entombment. If, though, for the most serious reason, cremation is necessary, the cremated remains must be treated with Christian dignity and given a Christian burial or entombment.

Now this is something that every Catholic can do and be obedient to Holy Mother Church, no?

WHEN THE SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION FALLS ON A SUNDAY, AS IT DOES THIS YEAR, WHY IN THE NAME OF GOD AND ALL THAT IS HOLY CAN’T THE ORDINARY FORM SIMPLY FOLLOW THE COMMON SENSE OF THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM? WHY OR WHY? WHAT IDEOLOGIES ARE PRESENT THAT PREVENT THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION FROM BEING CELEBRATED ON THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT? AFTER ALL ISN’T EVERYTHING CONNECTED AS POPE FRANCIS MAKES ABUNDANTLY CLEAR AS DOES THE AMAZON SYNOD?

Oh, the humanity of it all, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December 8th, falls on the Second Sunday of Advent this year. Thus the Ordinary Form of the Mass’s rigid rules and regulations, the kind of Pharisaical Doctor of the Law sort of thing Pope Francis so despises, insists, demands and dictates that the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception be transferred, get this, transferred to December 9th, the Feast of Saint Juan Diego which is abrogated this year in the Ordinary Form!

The Diocese of Madison offers this: 

Eight days into the 2019-2020 liturgical year, Sunday, December 8, is the Second Sunday of Advent, and the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, patronal feast of the United States, is transferred to the following day. The obligation to attend Mass, however, does not transfer.

Because of the transfer, the optional memorial of Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin on December 9 is omitted in 2019. It would not be difficult to mention him, however, in the homily or the petitions on the Immaculate Conception, as he was a faithful servant of Mary in spreading her message from Tepeyac Hill in Mexico City.

Summary: 

Sunday, December 8, 2019 is the Second Sunday of Advent.

On Monday, December 9, 2019, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception will be celebrated.

It will not be a holy day of obligation. (Since it is a solemnity, the Glory to God and the Creed still will be included in the Mass.)

The Feast of Saint Juan Diego (December 9) will not be observed in 2019.

 But what about the Extraordinary Form, that flexible experience of the Latin Rite Mass, what is possible on December 8th this year, which also in the Extraordinary Form Calendar is the Second Sunday of Advent? The EXTERNAL CELEBRATION OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION IS ALLOWED!!!!! HOW FLEXIBLE AND NON PHARISAICAL RIGID IS THAT?  HOW NON DOCTOR OF THE LAW IS THAT?!?

All that needs to be done is this: In addition to the Immaculate Conception Collect, Secret and Post Communion Prayers, the Celebrant also prays the Second Sunday of Advent Collect, Secret and Post Communion Prayers. The Propers, though, are from the Immaculate Conception as are the Epistle, Gradual/Alleluia and Gospel. However, a nod to the Second Sunday of Advent takes place at the Last Gospel when the Prologue of Saint John is replaced with the Second Sunday of Advent Gospel. 

How cool is that! How flexible and non rigid doctor of the law????

 Why or why can’t the Ordinary Form be as flexible as the Extraordinary Form this December 8th? 

ECOLOGICAL CONVERSION???????

Isn't the Church's mission to call people to conversion to Christ from which all else flows?

Are we heading back to a time when "Vatican II" is turned into an idol, replacing conversion to Christ?

Are we heading back to a time when "ecclesiology" is turned into an idol, replacing conversion to Christ?

Are we heading back to a time when liturgical renewal is turned into an idol, replacing conversion to Christ?

I could go on.

Don't get me wrong. It would be well and good that salvation in Christ means taking care of both the body and soul in a holistic way in this life. Just as we should not disfigure the earth, so too the Church might focus on how so many today disfigure their bodies with tattoos, piercing and the like.

And for the most part, individual Catholics can doing something about these things, whereas we are pretty much at a loss as to how to stop governments from burning down the Amazon rain forests.

I think the Church should preach caring for the physical as a sign of eternal salvation in Christ. But I haven't really heard much about eternal damnation only that we will be damned in the here and now if climate change ruins people's lives, especially the poor (as though the middle and upper class lives don't matter that much in this scenario! Typical Latin America crap).

I can remember as a child a friend of mine telling me that when his mother told him to go out and get a switch so she could beat him with it as punishment, he brought back a switch that had new buds on it.

She told her son that you never break off a switch that is budding, never. Now that's ecological conversion! So he got beaten with a belt and its buckle. That taught him!

The bishops at the synod seem to be full of themselves. In the USA they can't get Catholic politicians, let alone non-Catholics to promote the right to life of the innocent unborn. For so many, abortion is a secular sacrament. And the Church's bishops are too feminized or impotent to actually introduce some excommunications and censures against these Catholic politicians.

God is teaching these bishops that even a person like President Trump can be pro-life and the best pro-life person, as it concerns the completely innocent unborn, that the presidency has ever seen.

What about Catholic Beto O'Rouke? He wants to take away the Church's tax exempt status if it stands in the way of LGBTQ ideologies.  Got that? A Catholic wants to do that. Of course, he's not really Catholic or is he. Once a Catholic always a Catholic. Not a peep out of the bishops on that one. Interesting, no?



So bishops of the Amazon, how are you going to force politicians to do your bidding when bishops can't even get Catholics to obey Holy Mother Church about abortion?

DAGNABIT! VIDEOS ON THE REAL PRESENCE IN THE EUCHARIST ISN’T GOING TO DO MUCH ABOUT THE MALAISE OF ORTHODOX BELIEF IN THE REAL PRESENCE!

Does this priest and do these kids really believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist. Yes, this is casualness to an extreme. But the question must be asked, why in the name of God and all that is Holy, did this priest think celebrating Mass this way was a good idea? And what malformation did it bring to the kids in this photo?

Recently I saw a video of a bishop exhorting his priests to use a variety of orthodox videos to promote orthodox belief in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Fine! But so much more is required and this bishop doesn’t seem to get it as don't most bishops unfortunately.

Belief in what the Magisterium teaches, what the Sacraments are in general and the Real Presence of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament in particular, has to be supported by solemn right praxis not sloppy, casual praxis.

Yet, the revival of the 1960’s and 70’s by Pope Francis and other prelates his age is placing casualness and cavalier attitudes about solemnity, orthodoxy and reverence to the test.

I look at prelates the first day of the synod all wearing what Pope Benedict required at Vatican settings the Episcopal Cassock and zucchetto and two days later at the encouragement of the pope to wear more casual suits. The synod looks casual and sloppy now and not to be taken seriously (which depending on what the pope approves, might be a good thing!). At a point when the Church isn’t taken seriously by 80% of Catholics and about 99% of the world, do we need to encourage this ambivalence and outright hostility to the Church by this casualness and sloppiness?

I can sympathize with Pope Francis in terms of not being able to genuflect properly due to knee issues when he is in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament be it at the consecration or when praying before the Blessed Sacrament. But when I see him on both knees on the floor without assistance, groveling before secular leaders and begging for peace as he kisses their feet or receives a blessing from charismatic leaders, I just have to wonder and many others do too.

But in terms of the bishop I sight above, I would tell him, look Bishop, tell your priests to celebrate Mass with attention to detail. Tell your priests to allow for kneeling to receive Holy Communion and encourage receiving on the tongue. Tell your laity to dress properly for Mass, and anyone having a official liturgical role to wear appropriate clothes. I am beginning to think that a white alb should be mandated for lay lectors and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion given what I see in my parish and other parishes in terms of Sunday apparel.

The place that most Catholics will be properly formed in what the Church believes is at Mass. And the Mass as celebrated in 99% of Ordinary Form parishes is abysmal. In terms of orthodox belief, reverence and seriousness of celebration, bishops would do well to tell priests to learn how to celebrate the EF Mass and experience its celebration by attending EF Masses. They might not like the Latin or the orientation or the complexity of ceremony, but they should love and respect the reverence of the priest and the laity who attend the EF Mass.

The Ordinary Form can learn much from the Extraordinary Form!

A CLEAR REBUTTAL OF A 95 YEAR OLD DEMENTED ATHEIST WHO POPE FRANCIS SHOULD AVOID AT ALL COSTS FOR THE SANITY OF THE FAITHFUL

The problem that Pope Francis has is His Holiness confusing remarks, his denigration of orthodox Catholics, and eyebrow raising of the dualism between truth (doctrine) and the Lord.

Thus many Catholics actually think that perhaps the pope isn’t Catholic and believe that Pope Francis said what an aging atheist said he said. That’s the problem and it is of the pope’s making not Scalfari!

Neo-traditionalists have lighted up twitter and blogs and the like but now the Vatican clarifies:

At the end of today's #SinodoAmazonico #AmazonSynod Presser; Paolo Ruffini says "the Holy Father never said what Scalfari writes”, in reference to an article by Scalfari which claimed Pope Francis said "Jesus of Nazareth ... was man of exceptional virtue, not at all a God."

YOURS TRULY THE CELEBRANT FOR THE CATHEDRAL'S 1:00 PM EXTRAORDINARY FORM MASS THIS SUNDAY FOR THE 18TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST IN HISTORIC DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH; BE THERE OR BE SQUARE, LAFAYETTE SQUARE THAT IS!

Traditional Propers for the Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost   Vestments:  Green   INTROIT Ecclesiasticus 36: 18 Give peace, O Lord, to them that patiently wait for Thee, that Thy prophets may be found faithful: hear the prayers of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel. -- (Ps. 121. 1). I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we shall go into the house of the Lord. V.: Glory be to the Father . . . -- Give peace, O Lord . .   COLLECT -  Let the exercise of Thy compassion, we beseech Thee, O Lord, direct our hearts: for without Thee we are not able to please Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth . . .   EPISTLE I Corinthians 1: 4-8 Brethren, I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God that is given you in Jesus Christ, that in all things you are made rich in Him in all utterance and in all knowledge, as the testimony of Christ was confirmed to you; so that nothing is wanting to you in my grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who also will confirm you into the end without crime, in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.   GRADUAL Psalms 121: 1, 7 I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of our Lord. V.: Let peace be in thy strength, and abundance in thy towers.    Alleluia, alleluia. V.(Ps. 101. 16). The Gentiles shall fear Thy Name, O Lord; and all the kings of the earth Thy glory. Alleluia.   GOSPEL Matthew 9: 1 - 8 At that time, Jesus entering into a boat, passed over the water and came into His own city. And behold they brought Him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed; and Jesus seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee. And behold some of the Scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth. And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? whether is it easier to say: Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say: Arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins (then said He to the man sick of the palsy): Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. And he arose, and went into his house. And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God, who had given such power to men.   OFFERTORY Exodus 24: 4 - 5 Moses consecrated an altar to the Lord, offering upon it holocausts, and sacrificing victims: he made an evening sacrifice to the Lord God for an odor of sweetness, in the sight of the children of Israel.   SECRET - O God, Who, be Thy venerable intercourse with us in this Sacrifice, dost make us partakers of the one Supreme Godhead: grant, we beseech Thee, that as we know Thy truth, so we may follow it by worthy lives. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost . . .   PREFACE (Preface of the Most Holy Trinity) - It it truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying:   COMMUNION Psalm 95: 8, 9 Bring up sacrifices, and come into His courts: adore ye the Lord in His holy court.   POST COMMUNION - We who are fed with Thy holy Gift, O Lord, do offer our thanks unto Thee: beseeching Thy mercy that Thou mayest make us worthy to share in it. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity . .

EPISCOPAL CASSOCKS AND ZUCHETTAS NO LONGER REQUIRED FOR BISHOPS AT SYNOD. NICE, NO? NO!

Like our priestly retreats and conferences we’ll soon see these characters in shorts, tank tops and flip flops! Groovy! We’ll really be able to take them seriously, no? No!

IT IS NO WONDER THAT SECULARIZED, POLITICIZED CATHOLICISM HAS LOST SO MANY CATHOLICS TO PENTECOSTAL FUNDAMENTALISTS WHO PREACH AND TEACH JESUS CHRIST AND A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM!

What does this photo have to do with Catholicism? Certainly the Church has something to say about it just as Cardinal Marx has some political opinions inspired by his secular faith and Catholic moral and ethical teaching.

Cardinal Marx an atheist could agree with this. Yes we should save the earth if it isn’t terminal or give it palliative care if it is terminal. Yes we can work with political powers of all kinds of persuasion to achieve political consensus and improve a worldly quality of life.

But should the Church also promote the ecology of the sin sick soul that only Jesus can save from the pollution of sin and corruption? Shouldn’t the Church promote the integral ecology of the soul and body that at the termination of the world, the final consummation, Jesus will return for the Last Judgment and from the rubble of the destroyed earth raise up bodies that have returned to the earth in dust and join these bodies to their souls and their just eternal reward?

Cardinal Marx are you a political operative or a Catholic Bishop? Inquiring Catholic minds which integrate the Deposit of Faith in an ecologically integral way would like to know.

Synod of Bishops 2019 in Rome – Special Assembly for the Pan-Amazon region
Statement by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Member of the Council of Cardinals and President of the German Bishops’ Conference

At the Synod of Bishops in Rome, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Member of the Council of Cardinals and President of the German Bishops’ Conference, spoke on the Instrumentum laboris. We document his statement before the Synod:

1. The Instrumentum laboris describes the destruction of Amazonia: “The massive felling of trees, the extermination of the tropical forest by intentional forest fires, the expansion of the agricultural frontier and monocultures are the cause of the current regional climate imbalances, with obvious effects on the global climate, with planetary dimensions such as great droughts and increasingly frequent floods.“ (IL 54) This destruction of nature fundamentally contradicts the Christian understanding of responsibility for creation.

2. As the “lung of our planet“, Amazonia is of great importance for the global climate and, with its diversity of species, also a valuable natural heritage. This extraordinary biodiversity is not only useful for humans, for example in medicine, but every species has its own value. This treasure of mankind, however, is threatened. If forest areas continue to be cleared – for which the industrialized countries are partly responsible in view of global trade links – the tropical forest threatens to dry up completely, resulting in incalculable consequences for the global climate.

3. The climate is a global public good and we have the mission to protect it and preserve it for future generations, in Amazonia and around the world. This requires a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels and comprehensive ecological change. This change can only succeed with the right political and social framework conditions that prevent the ecological and social resulting costs of economic action from being passed on to uninvolved third parties. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol speak of “common but differentiated responsibilities“ between countries. Accordingly, the major industrial nations have a special responsibility for climate protection in view of their emissions of greenhouse gases. The industrialized countries can take the lead in ecological change and develop sustainable consumption and production patterns. They also have a duty to support the countries of the South in adapting to the climate change that is already being observed. Ultimately, we are talking about global solidarity, the basis of which is a “new notion of progress“ (cf. also LS 46, 194).

4. If we want to rescue the Amazon territory, as the Instrumentum laboris demands (IL 56), we need an integral ecology and a change of perspective that leads us to a new balance between mankind and nature and a peaceful coexistence of people. In this context, we are not concerned with individual questions, but with a new, comprehensive perspective, as Romano Guardini has already analyzed:

“The only measure for properly evaluating an age is to ask to what extent it fosters the development and attainment of a full and authentically meaningful human existence, in accordance with the peculiar character and the capacities of that age.” (cf. EG 224) It is part of integral ecology and economy to put an end to corruption, exploitation and global indifference and to review our actions again and again for the effects they have on nature and on people in the world. It is as you, Holy Father, have expressed in your Encyclical Letter Laudato si’: Everything in the world is connected!

FEMALE LAY MINISTRY!

A terse summary from the Amazon on the role of women. Please note the Vatican heading:

A female lay ministry

Widespread violence against women must be confronted. Some proposed establishing a female lay ministry for evangelization. It is necessary to promote a greater active participation of women in the life of the Church, in a “Samaritan” perspective.

 My comments:

In the Name of God and all that is Holy! Haven't we had women in some of the most powerful servant roles in the Church for the past 2000 years???????

We call them nuns and sisters. Some of monastic others work in the world. Prior to Vatican II there were phenomenal numbers of these women who, my friends, are not clergy, they are lay women! 

Keep in mind, too, that all deacons, priests and bishops are lay people who wanted to serve the Church as ordained clergy. We don't come from Mars dammit!

What have Women Religious done?

Started schools and universities, charitable organizations and hospitals and hospices. 

They got laymen and women active in  the parishes where they are or were.

And in terms of women, in my 40 years as a priest, women have places of ministry as Religious Education Coordinators/Directors, pastoral assistants, principals, teachers and a whole host of volunteer ministries that keep parishes going. 

Men, including this priest, are in the minority in terms of woman having so many paid and volunteer roles in parishes. 

CARDINAL SARAH: THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE POPE ARE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH! (SCHISMATIC AND OR PROTESTANT)!

Let's be clear, when a Catholic or a group of Catholics break with the pope and say to the Supreme Pontiff, you are no longer the head of the Church, this is what is called schism. The biggest group to declare this to a pope was the Eastern Church. When they became schismatic, they called themselves Eastern Orthodox and became very national. But there were other schisms some big and some small.

Not all schismatic groups lose apostolic succession or the Sacraments of the Church, i.e the Orthodox and the Polish National Catholic Church.

But some do lose these things, like the Protestant Reformation sects and the Old Catholics after Vatican I who today ordain women and are quite liberal.

So what Robert Cardinal Sarah has to write about this is extremely important for those tempted to throw in the towel and think things have never been this bad with the Church in general and this papacy in particular. Yes, things have been worse and faithful Catholics stuck with the Church.

The danger that "traditionalists" have brought to the table and they should not have been the ones doing it as it undermines otherwise good intentions, is all the horrible things they say about "Pope Bergolio" which in this country is an insult to the person of the Pope. How in the name of God and all that is holy could anyone call themselves a traditional Catholic and insult the person of the pope? Pre-Vatican II Catholics would be mortified.

Cardinal Sarah: Those who oppose the pope are outside the Church

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

10.9.2019 9:20 AM ET 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, said the people who portray him as an opponent of Pope Francis are being used by the devil to help divide the church.

"The truth is that the church is represented on earth by the vicar of Christ, that is by the pope. And whoever is against the pope is, ipso facto, outside the church," the cardinal said in an interview published Oct. 7 in Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily.

The 74-year-old cardinal, who Pope Francis appointed in 2014 as head of the office overseeing liturgical matters, often is portrayed as a critic of Pope Francis, especially because of the cardinal's cautious attitude toward welcoming Muslim migrants to Europe, his concern about the church acting more like a social-service agency than a missionary church and his traditional approach to the liturgy.

The Corriere piece was published to coincide with the release of a new book-length interview with Cardinal Sarah, "The Day is Now Far Spent." The English edition was released Sept. 22 by Ignatius Press in the United States.

The cardinal's book dedication reads: "For Benedict XVI, peerless architect of the rebuilding of the church. For Francis, faithful and devoted son of St. Ignatius. For the priests throughout the world in thanksgiving on the occasion of my golden jubilee of priesthood," which was July 20.

In the Corriere interview, the cardinal was asked what the "truth" was about his relationship with Pope Francis.

"The truth is that many people write not to give witness to the truth, but to place people against one another, to damage human relationships," he said. "The truth doesn't matter to them."

"Those who place me in opposition to the Holy Father cannot present a single word of mine, a single phrase or a single attitude of mine to support their absurd -- and I would say, diabolical -- affirmations," Cardinal Sarah said. "The devil divides, sets people against each other."

Cardinal Sarah said it is normal for the church to experience difficulties and divisions, but every Christian is called "to seek unity in Christ."

"I would add that every pope is right for his time," the cardinal said. "Providence looks after us very well, you know."

However, Cardinal Sarah's new book is filled with warnings about how a lack of faith, trust in God and adherence to tradition is threatening the Catholic Church, particularly in Europe and the wealthy West. But he especially focuses on clerical sexual abuse and how that has meant "the mystery of betrayal oozes from the walls of the church."

Still, in the chapter, "The Crisis of the Church," the book includes the cardinal saying, "I would like to remind everyone about Jesus' words to St. Peter, 'You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church' (Mt 16:18). We have the assurance that this saying of Jesus is realized in what we call the infallibility of the church. The spouse of Christ, headed by the successor of Peter, can live through crises and storms."

Noting that some Catholics "are quick to hurl anathemas at those who do not follow their line of thought," the cardinal said that it is time "to rediscover a bit of peace and benevolence. Only faith, confidence in the magisterium and its continuity down through the centuries can give us unity."

Catholics today must ask themselves if they truly believe the faith the church always has taught, the faith of their ancestors, is still valid today, Cardinal Sarah told Corriere. "We are called to rediscover the truth of these (teachings) both with the incomparable analysis of Benedict's thought and with great and sunny industriousness of Francis."

Although the two popes have obvious differences, Cardinal Sarah said, "there is a great harmony and great continuity between them as everyone has been able to see these last few years."

"The history of the church is beautiful," he said, and reducing it to a political battle "typical of a television talk show is a marketing ploy, not a search for truth."

My comments:

Those traditionalists who have completely undermined orthodox traditionalism, have also politicized the clergy, deacons, priests, bishops and the pope. They act as if they are a political party and are on CNN's side or Fox's side and they can win adherents in the most crass political way as we see what is happening with those who oppose or support President Trump. 

The pope is not elected by the people and His Holiness only answers to God. That's why His Holiness is called the Supreme Pontiff.  

VATICAN RADIO REPORTS WOMEN HEARING CONFESSIONS IN THE AMAZON SINCE THERE ARE NO PRIESTS AVAILABLE! IS THIS KOSHER?

Amazonia: the women religious who "hear confessions"

The first briefing of the Synod hears about the experience of women religious in villages where priests visit very rarely. We cannot give absolution, they say, but we think of the comfort we bring that person

A 1943 western had a similar subplot:


The Oxbow Incident on Turner Classic Movies. 

Three innocent men are about to be lynched. One, a Mexican played by Anthony Quinn, asks for a priest to hear his confession. There is no priest and the Mexican asks a Mexican layman to hear his confession and take it to a priest. KOSHER?

CARDINAL MUELLER, GID BLESS HIS LITTLE HEART, HITS THE NAIL ON THE HEAD!

Treating Jesus as simple a historical person, a dead hero, was and is the 1970’s great manipulation of rank and file Catholics to accept the heterodoxy of the heterodox. They still use this worn out hermeneutic!

08 ott 

Müller Accuses: From This Synod They Have Driven Out Jesus

> Italiano
> English
> Español
> Français

> All the articles of Settimo Cielo in English

*

The Synod on the Amazon has begun. “But it will have consequences for the universal Church,” warns Cardinal Gerhard Müller, in a lengthy interview with Matteo Matzuzzi for the newspaper “Il Foglio,” released on the very day of the opening of the work. “If one listens to the voices of some of the protagonists of this assembly, one understands easily that the agenda is entirely European.”

European, and above all German. Also in Germany, in fact, there has been launched a “synodal path” that will take its cue from the Amazon in order to reform nothing less than the universal Church, a synod in which the laity will have numbers and votes on a par with the bishops, a synod whose resolutions will be “binding” and will concern the end of priestly celibacy, the ordination of women, the reform of sexual morality, and the democratization of powers in the Church.

It is an earthquake that, ever since it was announced, has sown disquiet in Pope Francis himself, who in June wrote an open letter to the German bishops to persuade them to moderate their exorbitant ambitions. In September, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the congregation for bishops, wrote an even more pressing letter to them, rejecting as canonically “invalid” the synod set in motion in Germany. And that Ouellet is acting in accord with the pope is beyond doubt. He gave evidence of this a few days ago when he said he was “skeptical” about the idea of ordaining married men - a key point of the Amazonian and German synods - and immediately added that “someone above me is also” skeptical. As for Francis, he decided to meet on September 25 with eight young catechists from northern Thailand, the leaders of small communities far apart from each other, visited very rarely by a priest who celebrates the Mass and yet averse to asking on account of this for the ordination of married men. “The kingdom of heaven belongs to the little ones,” the pope told them, “deeply moved,” in the account of “L’Osservatore Romano.”

But the warnings Rome has given to Germany have so far had no effect. “Rome will not be the one to tell us what we have to do in Germany,” Munich archbishop and German episcopal conference president Cardinal Reinhard Marx had already stated between the first and second session of the synod on the family. And that mantra continues to hold firm in Germany with the approval of most and the opposition of few, the highest-ranking of whom is the archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, who has gone so far as to decry the threat of a “schism.”

“In Germany,” Müller now says - he a German as well, although he does not govern a diocese and therefore is not part of the episcopal conference - “they almost want to refound the Catholic Church. They think that Christ is just a man who lived two thousand years ago, they maintain that he was not a modern man, they are convinced that he had none of their education. They therefore think that it is necessary to fill in these gaps and that it is up to them to act. In a homily Cardinal Marx asked rhetorically: ‘If Christ were here today, would he say what he said two thousand years ago?’ But Christ is not an historical figure like Caesar. Jesus Christ is risen and present, he celebrates the Mass through his representative, the ordained priest. He is the subject of the Church, and his Word remains and stands true forever. Christ is the fullness of revelation, because of which there will be no other revelation. It is we who must seek to know it more and better, but we certainly cannot change it. Christ is unsurpassable and irreversible, and today this does not seem to be very clear at certain latitudes.”

For Müller, this error is also present in the “Instrumentum Laboris,” the base document of the synod on the Amazon: “a document that does not talk about revelation,  about the incarnate word, about redemption, about the cross, about the resurrection, about eternal life,” but instead raises up in place of divine revelation, to be accepted as such, the religious traditions of the indigenous peoples and their visions of the cosmos.

In Aparecida, in 2007, Benedict XVI cautioned the bishops of the continent about this. “The utopia of going back to breathe life into the pre-Columbian religions, separating them from Christ and from the universal Church,” he said, “would not be a step forward: indeed, it would be a step back. In reality, it would be a retreat towards a stage in history anchored in the past.” But he was overwhelmed with criticisms from theoreticians of “a new understanding of God’s revelation” to be identified in indigenous peoples, and therefore without the desire to convert them. Among the most battle hardened was none other than a German theologian who had emigrated to Brazil, Paulo Suess, the inspiration of Bishop Erwin Kräutler, born in Austria, leading strategist of the synod on the Amazon, coauthor of the “Instrumentum Laboris” and proponent of the idea of having the Eucharist celebrated not only by “viri probati” but also by “married women who lead a community.”

“But there does not exist nor can exist a right to the sacrament,” Müller objects. “We are God’s creatures, and a creature cannot claim a right from his creator. Life and grace are a gift. Man has the right to marry, but he cannot demand that a particular woman marry him by invoking a specific right. Jesus freely chose from among all his disciples twelve of them, exhibiting thereby his divine authority. He chose those whom he wished, it is God who chooses. No one can enter into the sanctuary without being called. Once again the secularized mentality prevails: one thinks like men, not like God.”

“Priestly celibacy,” Müller continues in the interview with ‘Il Foglio, “can be understood only in the context of the eschatological mission of Jesus, which has created a new world. It has been a new creation. With the categories of secularism one cannot understand the indissolubility of marriage, as also the celibacy or virginity of the religious orders. Nor, with these categories, can problems be resolved that have their origin exclusively in the crisis of faith. This is not a matter of recruiting more people to administer the sacraments. A spiritual and theological preparation is needed, one must enter into the spirituality of the apostles, not paying attention to the secular agencies that advise much and on many things for reasons entirely in contrast with the mission of the Church. Spirituality is needed, not worldliness.”

And Cardinal Müller also sees worldliness in the way in which part of the Church has sided with environmentalist ideology:

“The Church belongs to Jesus Christ and must preach the Gospel and give hope for eternal life. It cannot make itself a protagonist of any ideology, whether that of ‘gender’ or environmentalist neopaganism. It is dangerous if this happens. I come back to the ‘Instrumentum Laboris’ prepared for the synod on the Amazon. In one of its paragraphs it speaks of ‘Mother Earth’: but this is a pagan expression. The earth comes from God and our mother in faith is the Church. We are justified through faith, hope, and love, not through environmental activism. Of course, taking care of creation is important, after all we live in a garden willed by God. But this is not the decisive point. What is is the fact that for us God is more important. Jesus gave his life for the salvation of men, not of the planet.”

To "L'Osservatore Romano," which has published an obituary for the Icelandic glacier Okjökull, which died “through our fault,” Müller objects: “Jesus became man, not an icicle.” And he continues::

“Of course, the Church can make its own contribution, with good ethics, with social doctrine, with the magisterium, recalling anthropological principles. But the Church’s first mission is to preach Christ the son of God. Jesus did not tell Peter to concern himself with the government of the Roman empire, he does not enter into dialogue with Caesar. He kept himself at a good distance. Peter was not a friend of Herod or of Pilate, but he suffered martyrdom. Cooperation with a legitimate government is just, but without forgetting that the mission of Peter and of his successors consists in uniting all believers in faith in Christ, who did not recommend involvement with the waters of the Jordan or the vegetation of Galilee.

DO RANK AND FILE CATHOLICS GIVE A FLIP OR ARE THEY EVEN AWARE OF INTERNAL CHURCH ANXIETY?

My cogent comments at the end in RED.

This is a very sober and I believe right on analysis:

Father Thomas Weinandy: Threat of Church Division ‘Growing in Intensity’

Father Weinandy calls on the Catholic faithful to pray “in fear and trembling” that Jesus might “deliver us from this trial.”

Edward Pentin

The Catholic Church is heading toward an “internal papal schism” whereby Pope Francis effectively leads two opposing factions, Capuchin theologian Father Thomas Weinandy has warned.

These are divided, he said, into one loyal to the papacy yet critical of this pontificate, and the other supportive of him due to his tolerance of ambiguous teaching and pastoral practice.

“This is the real schism,” observed Father Weinandy, a former chief of staff for the U.S. bishops' doctrinal committee, in a commentary published today in The Catholic Thing.

It is a situation “ever growing in intensity,” he added.

A member of the Vatican’s International Theological Commission, Father Weinandy began by clarifying that he believes when the Pope refers to contemporary schismatics in the Church, he means his American critics.

But he pointed out that the “overwhelming majority” of those critics “would never initiate a schism” as they wish to remain faithful to the Pope, even if that means being critical of him.

The Capuchin also believes that the German Church would also not go into schism, despite their bishops’ wish to take their faithful down a “binding” synodal path contrary to the universal tradition of the Church.

They would not break away, he believes, because they would lose their Catholic identity, something they could not afford, and will, in any case Father Weinandy believes, be allowed to pursue ambiguous teaching and practice as it is “in accord with Francis’ own.”

Read the rest there.

My comments:

1. Is the Pope making us like the Anglican Communion which has always touted that it is the bridge between Catholicism and the Protestant sects with high and low churches? In this way the Anglican Communion gets a pope they can accept as he is the pope of confusion and a mess.

2. What's wrong with married priests who come from a limited pool like what Pope Pius XII allowed with some Lutherans which was extended to other Protestestnt sects by John Paul II and Benedict XVI?

3. If married clergy is the panacea for the Amazon, why aren't there plentiful numbers of married Permanent deacons in the Amazon that could be called to the priesthood? 

4. The first day of the synod speaks of saving the earth from ecological disaster which is a noble thing for the Church to desire especially if we can do it. But Catholic dogma teaches that the earth is terminal. Why isn't there a nod to that and the final consummation and that we are always walking toward the Second Coming and the Final judgment and the resurrection of the bodies of the dead? Isn't this in fact where the Church's expertise lies, Catholic must accept and all must prepared? No Catholic has to accept ecology theories or believe we can stop the final consummation. We do need to take care of the physical and spiritual though! But we aren't our Saviors in either realm, only Jesus is!