With timid churchmen, including especially those who present themselves as defenders of Catholic tradition, unwilling to call a spade a spade (or in the present case, a heretic a heretic), Francis apparently feels free to flaunt his heresy with impunity.
His homily delivered yesterday at Casa Santa Marta is but the latest case in point.
Commenting on the first reading, he said:
“An invitation to conversion, avoid evil, learn to do good… ‘Come, arise, come to me, let us reason together, and let us go forward.’ But [you might say] I have so many sins… ‘But don’t worry’ [God responds]. ‘If your sins should be like scarlet, they will become white as snow.’ And this is the path of Lenten conversion. Simple.”
How simple?
“He, the Lord, names three concrete things, but there are many: seek justice, relieve the oppressed, give orphans justice, defend the cause of the widow… but concrete things. You learn to do good with concrete things, not with words. With deeds…”
Not with words…
Francis, as he is wont to do, is setting corporal works of mercy in opposition to spiritual works of mercy; as if both are not necessary in order to “do good.”
His difficulty with the latter is obvious: They include such things as instructing the ignorant and admonishing the sinner, and these necessarily entail preaching the “words” of the Divine Law.
Let’s apply Francis’ homily more clearly to current events, shall we:
But, you might say, I am in an adulterous relationship! ‘But don’t worry about the Divine Law,’ God responds. ‘If your sins should be like scarlet, they will become white as snow.’ Just make time for some earthbound acts of social justice. This is the path of conversion. Simple.”
I am reminded of the woman caught in adultery that Jesus saved from stoning, ultimately saying to her, “Go and sin no more.”
In other words, Our Lord was telling the woman (and us), “Obey the Commandments.”
Obey…
This is a word that cuts directly against the Bergoglian grain; so much so that he ignored it entirely such as it appeared in yesterday’s Mass reading:
“If you are willing, and obey, you shall eat the good things of the land; But if you refuse and resist, the sword shall consume you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken!” (Isa 1:19-20)
If you obey… If you refuse…
Now, this is truly “simple.”
Undaunted in his rejection of Sacred Scripture, however, Francis boldly claimed recourse to Christ for his false gospel:
“You learn to do good with concrete things, not with words. With deeds… For this reason Jesus, in the Gospel we have heard, rebukes this ruling class of the people of Israel [the scribes and the Pharisees], because ‘they talk and don’t act,’ they don’t know concreteness. And if there is no concreteness, there can be no conversion.”
The reality that one “learns to do good” at the feet of Jesus Christ, hearing His voice both in Sacred Scripture and in the infallible proclamations that come to us from Holy Mother Church, she who was commissioned by Him to teach, is clearly reprehensible to Francis.
As found in yesterday’s Gospel reading, here is what Jesus actually said:
“The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23:2-4)
Do and observe…
Our Lord, in other words, was telling those under the Mosaic Law to obey the Law; even as He acknowledged that its 613 commandments represented a “heavy burden.”
This is the same Jesus who, in establishing the New Covenant, would do far more than just “lift a finger;” rather, He would “make void” (Eph 2:15) that burden by allowing even Himself to be lifted upon the Cross.
As such, it is He alone who could say:
“Come to me all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: And you shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is sweet and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Francis apparently does not believe this, otherwise, he would never insist that adultery is sometimes “the most generous response which can be given to God” in response to “the overall demands of the Gospel.” (cf Amoris Laetitia 303)
Nor would he insist upon the existence of certain “concrete situations that do not allow” one to avoid such mortal sins. (cf Amoris Laetitia 301)
Look, everyone with even a modicum of sensus Catholicus knows damn well, even if only intuitively, that Francis is preaching a false gospel.
The truly well-formed among us, however, surely realize that Amoris Laetitia constitutes heresy plain and simple; i.e., it constitutes “a rejection or contradiction of a truth that is not only revealed but also proposed as such by an infallible act of the ecclesiastical Magisterium.” (See the Council of Trent as cited HERE and HERE.)
Returning now to yesterday’s Mass readings…
God’s word in the “Responsorial Psalm” read in part:
“Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth, Though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?” (Psalms 50:16-17)
Is it not clear to all of us that, in these words of the Psalmist, God is speaking directly to men like Jorge Bergoglio?
What may not be so clear, however, is the degree to which this Divine rebuke serves to indict all the more those churchmen who, presenting themselves as defenders of Catholic tradition, actually do recite the Lord’s statutes and yet cannot bring themselves to condemn the false “gospel according to Francis” for what it truly is – heresy.
God help them all.
I think its time to start making distinctions. Heresy, as most people, on this site would agree, is denying an article of the Catholic faith. Now to call Francis a heretic, while accurate in the traditional sense, is not accurate in the NO V2 Modernist sect. There are so many loopholes and ambiguities in V2 and every document since that infernal council to give cover to anything Bergolio et al proposes. Yes, Bergolio is a heretic compared to the True Catholic Church. No, Francis is not a heretic as judged by the V2 NO Magesterium.
Imagine having to be seated in front of him and listen to him talk.
Archbishop Lefebvre:
“Now some priests ( even priests in the Society) say that we Catholics need not worry about what is happening in the Vatican: we have the true sacraments, the true Mass, the true doctrine, so why worry about whether the Pope is a heretic or an imposter or whatever: it is of no importance to us. But I think that is not true.
If any man is important in the Church, it is the Pope. He is the center of the Church and has a great influence on all Catholics by his attitude, his words and his acts. All men read in the newspapers the Pope’s words and on television they see his travels. And so slowly, slowly, many Catholics are losing the Catholic faith by scandal of the Pope’s partaking in false religions (…)
When the scandal comes from so high in the Church, from the man in the chair of Peter and from almost all the bishops, then poor Catholics who do not know their faith well enough to keep it despite all, or who do not have priests by their side to help them to keep the Faith, these Catholics are completely at a loss what to do. They are no longer practicing their faith or they give up praying, or they are losing the Faith altogether and are joining some sect or other. I ask, what people are keeping the Faith? Where are they? Where are they? And I asked even the Traditionalists!
For I think that many Traditional Catholics enjoy the traditions: they like the old Mass, they like the old sacraments, they like the old teaching of the Church, but they do not really believe in Jesus Christ as the one and only Savior, God and Creator. That is the bad influence of all the modern errors coming through television and the media – they are so bad, so pagan, so opposed to Jesus Christ and the Catholic Faith that few people remain true Catholics wholly faithful to Jesus Christ. That is why we can’t be indifferent to the scandalous events in Rome, we must judge them in the light of our Faith and help Catholics, Traditional Catholics to see that this bad example of the Pope is a great scandal, very dangerous for their souls.”
As usual, maryiloveher, thank you once again for the wisdom of saint-in-waiting Archbishop Lefebvre.
What do you mean? it ‘s Lent. Time to do penance.
Thanks for the reminder!
Don’t get me wrong, Pope Francis says and does a lot of things that disturb the sensus fidei . He says and does things that one may consider to be leaning towards heresy; to put it mildly reflecting upon A. L.. However, despite his track record, Francis sometimes says things that are not necessarily incorrect. Another slant from his homily might simply be interpreted as “put your money where your mouth is”. I do not think that he is essentially denying the spiritual works of mercy by reminding his bishops that talk is cheap if not accompanied with action; corporal good works of mercy. Would not Jesus agree with this? I think our problem is that we now see Pope Francis as the enemy of the faith and so everything he does or says must be condemned; considering his previous actions this is understandable. In this case I think we must be careful. If we are seen as pernickety in everything he says, we could lose credibility. He is subtle and we need to vigorously challenge obvious breaches of the faith but otherwise give him the benefit of the doubt. That being said, Pope Francis could of mentioned the sin of presumption. We are saved by the mercy of God if we conform to the will of God, not by habitually living in the same sin without amending one’s life. But I guess that does not fit well with the social gospel or ideas of universal salvation. Correct me if you think I am wrong.
Your welcome!
@Gildaswiseman:
I believe that you are correct in this. There is nothing heterodox or offensive in the homily quoted above, unless one indulges in a bit of hermeneutical gymnastics and insists on viewing everything as connected to “Amoris Laetitia” and the dubia. There are certainly problematic sayings by the Pope (the Zika virus / contraception imbroglio comes to mind), but we should not be hasty in crying “wolf” at the expense of leaving us with little credibility when a real wolf comes along.
Toiletgate! Pope Francis learns meditative techniques from his idol, Martin Luther:
https://onemillimeterpeter.wordpress.com/2017/03/29/toiletgate/