The paradoxical nature of our faith is never more apparent than during the Easter season as we contemplate the reconciling power of the Resurrection of Our Lord; making sense of the seeming contradiction that exists between the Cross as an instrument of execution reserved for the guilty and the sign of victory upon which the Innocent One was pierced on behalf of poor sinners that we may have life everlasting.
“I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for His body, which is the Church.” (Colossians 1:24)
It is only in view of Easter that our existence in this valley of tears takes on any real meaning; allowing us to recognize our sufferings as redemptive both for ourselves and for others – and this even as we confess the perfection of Our Lord’s Sacrifice.
Lately, I have been thinking about certain other paradoxes that seem especially pertinent to the times in which we live; namely, the tension that lies between wisdom and simplicity; knowledge of the faith and a faith that is childlike.
“Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)
In our day, we are faced with the objective reality (denied outright by precious few) of a “pope” who clearly does not intend to teach, nor even appears to personally hold, the Catholic faith in any substantial measure.
In an effort to strike a balance between the serpent that is wise enough to know when it is safe to level a well-calculated strike, and the dove that simply responds to things as they are while trusting in the providence of God, many “traditionalist” (aka Catholic) commentators (including churchmen) appear to be resigned to a life of practical paralysis; unable (or unwilling, as the case may be) to offer anything more in their public witness than an acknowledgment that the situation is dangerous, unprecedented and grave.
Such are those who privately harbor little doubt that Francis, in Amoris Laetitia, is teaching heresies and blasphemies that have been condemned in no uncertain terms by the Church and yet are unwilling to speak their convictions plainly; measuring their words ever so carefully in order to avoid the charge of imprudence.
With regard to knowledge and understanding of the Faith, surely this is a necessary part of every Christian life. This much was made plain in the Divine Commission as given by the Lord when He saw fit to stress no less than twice that His is to be a teaching Church.
“Go ye therefore to teach all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
At the same time, however, Our Lord made it clear that the way of salvation does not lie in knowledge itself; i.e., it is not necessary for one to become a scholar of sacred theology in order to believe and behave rightly – even in the most trying of times – and to remain well within the Church on the sure path to sanctity.
“Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4)
As it concerns the present situation in Rome, I am aware of “traditionalists” who privately believe that Jorge Mario Bergoglio is a notorious heretic whose public heresy is such that “no maneuver can conceal it, nor any legal defense excuse it” (cf Canon 2197, 1917 Code of Canon Law), and yet are unwilling to speak their convictions plainly lest they be accused of failing to apply an adequate measure of scholarship to the matter.
When the Bergoglian crisis is approached in this manner, one of two things sometimes follows; either a near-endless academic exercise long on research and study but short on concrete conclusions, or a veritable surrender via the claim that we must defer to the judgment of experts (or history, or future popes); as if the entire affair is so far above the pay grade of ordinary Catholics as to be inaccessible.
On the other end of the spectrum are perhaps those who would not hesitate to plainly condemn the errors of Francis (and at times, Francis himself), but are moved to do so primarily by their emotions; inspired more by anger directed at the offender than by love for the Offended and the souls that He desires to save.
The issue here is not so much that the “counter attack” is unwarranted, but rather that it is launched from the standpoint of one’s own sensibilities as opposed to a solid awareness of the reality that Jesus Christ alone is worthy of better than the status quo.
Such an effort is ultimately personal; thus falling short of defending Our Lord and the Catholic faith and therefore doing very little to recruit others to embrace and defend the same.
So, wherein lies the proper response to the present situation concerning Jorge Mario Bergoglio, aka Francis?
The obvious conclusion, I suppose, is that it lies somewhere in the elusive middle wherein a balance is struck between contemplation and action; learned reservation and passionate childlike abandon ignited by sensus Catholicus.
I will leave it to readers to decide for themselves how well (or how poorly) this difficult balancing act is achieved on these pages.
One thing we may perhaps be able agree upon is that the great majority of “traditional” Catholics with a public presence appear determined, at least at this point, to hold their cards close to the vest; playing the part of the “serpent” and “scholar” almost exclusively.
While I am pleased to presume good intentions on the part of all concerned, there can be no doubt that this particular course appears to be the “safer ground” upon which to travel; a path littered with landmines of its own to be sure, but one that allows for self-preservation as it is largely confined to the fringe of the battlefield.
Why, one wonders, are so few in our day willing to risk (more properly, knowingly incur) the wounds that are reserved for those who plainly speak, explain, and defend their well-formed private opinions concerning the Bergoglian occupation?
This tendency toward timidity, it seems to me, is the direct result of the conciliar crisis itself; a crisis that has come to affect all of us to some degree or another.
More specifically, it is a fruit of the general de-masculinization of the Church that promptly followed the virtual uncrowning of Christ the King at Vatican II; creating a decades-long environment that is far more conducive to raising up generations of careful dialoguers than authentic Christian soldiers.
Indeed, the very idea of the Church Militant wherein one builds the Kingdom of God by fighting against the forces of evil has been shelved in favor of the so-called “Pilgrim Church” wherein both truth and error effortlessly drift toward some ill-defined Omega Point.
To be very clear, I do not count myself immune to the ill-effects of the “post-conciliar Apostolic cease fire” (as I like to call it); in fact, I have a sense that those of a healthier age than our own will one day look back upon my feeble attempts to defend Our Lord and the one true faith as an effort lacking in courage and boldness.
All of us, it seems, are a product of the age in which we live.
“I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.” (Exodus 20:5)
Even so, we are called to transcend the confines of our present day circumstances in order to aspire to something greater, and what’s more, we know that by the grace of Almighty God we can do just that.
“Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
“With men this is impossible: but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
Alas, the paradox of Catholic life goes on…
Louie, you seem to be saying that those who engage in endless academic exercises or those who feel the subject must be left to our betters, are just as guilty as those who go off half cocked on emotion. Well there is one problem with equating these two. The first group can be known by their actions and what they say and what they print. Their external actions give them away as those who perpetuate the crisis by inaction. The second group you criticize are not so easily identified. For they operate in the internal forum. We do not know their motives and levels of discernment. Emotion is a tricky thing. One man’s emotional exuberance is another man’s zeal. I also do not agree with your “obvious conclusion” that the answer lies in the middle somewhere. History is not kind to moderation, it only remembers those who acted heroically and usually against great odds. History will remember Abp Lefeberve as one of those men. I fear Bp Fellay will fall into that moderation camp you advocate. This is not a time for trads to go “wobbly” to quote a great leader. Francis has stuck his neck out for the whole world to see where he really stands. If only there was someone with guts to chop off that heretical head and let the chips fall where they may. The status quo is unacceptable.
FSSP Superior Distinguishes Fraternity from SSPX, Eschews “Traditionalist” Label @onepeterfive.com.
I wonder what the blowback from this will be? We are certainly not living in normal times. Those one takes as being Traditional to the core are now coming out as despising such a title. There is more to this than meets the eye. Maybe an olive branch from the man who almost destroyed them? The silence from the SSPX on AL & the four Cardinals Dubia is also hard to understand when the faithful are desperately wanting good spiritual leadership from their prelates. These groups seem to be more intent on their own survival rather than the survival of the One Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church of Christ.
Abbe de Nantes (crc):
“ The mere thought of belonging to the Church is enough to renew the jubilation of our souls, for the Church is Holy like her Spouse Jesus Christ, from Whom she has received such a likeness that there is nothing in this world so beautiful, so wise, so majestic as her face and her whole being. She is our Mother, and I add : she is the unique, incomparable Spouse ; she alone is holy, wise, sublime, leaving false religions and philosophies far behind in their delusive darkness (…).
“ It is only the violent love I bear for my Mother that leads me to tear, to snatch from her face and her body magnificently adorned by God Himself, these loathsome rags, these soiled and sacrilegious cloths in which the World and our Times seek to clothe her (…). I shall carry my cry to the end. I will plead for my Mother. ”
+Lefebvre quotes:
“You will denounce these scandals in order to prevent them from leading souls to hell. You will not be afraid to denounce all that which drags souls into sin.
In order to have this courage and this force, you will ask these graces particularly of the Blessed Virgin Mary. You know, my dear friends, Mary is our Mediatrix Mother. She is the Mediatrix of all graces.”
“Let us keep the Faith above all else. It is for this that Our Lord died, because He affirmed His divinity. It is for this that all the martyrs died. Let us flee from those who make us lose the Faith or diminish it”
“We thereby refuse any imperfection in God; God is perfect. We deny any limitation; He is infinite. We deny any limit in space; He is everywhere, omnipresent. We deny any limit in time; He is eternal. We deny any change; He is unchanging.”
“Let us ask the Blessed Virgin to have faith like hers – to have faith as deep, as firm, as courageous as that of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.”
“…we cannot accept that, those errors which say that the social reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ is now an impossibility and should no longer be sought. We do not accept that.”
“Obedience is a virtue intended to direct us toward good, not toward evil. To pretend not to see evil in order not to appear disobedient, is a betrayal of truth and a betrayal of our own selves.”
“For us, our Lord Jesus Christ is everything. He is our life. The Church is our Lord Jesus Christ; the priest is another Christ; the Mass is the triumph of Jesus Christ on the cross; in our seminaries everything tends toward the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“We must thank God for the grace to remain true Catholics. It is very important in order to save our souls and the souls of our children.
Today we must pray to Our Lord Jesus Christ, we must pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary to remain true Catholics and to do everything possible to become saints (…)”
“Indeed the grace of Baptism transformed you and united you deeply to Our Lord Jesus Christ for the realisation of His law of love. His law of charity.”
“(…) -even to the sacrifice of self, even to death if need be, even to the shedding of one’s blood, in order to remain united to Our Lord Jesus Christ.
” (…)priests of Our Lord Jesus Christ, priests of crucified love, priests of Jesus crucified, and not priests of the world, nor priests for the world!”
“The Pope making himself, as I was saying a little while ago, into a sort of guardian of the Pantheon of all religions, making himself the Pontiff of Liberalism! (…)Our heart is grieved, our heart is crushed by this situation! We would give our life, we would shed our blood to turn it around -but there it is.”
“…my dear brethren, my dear friends, during this Mass we shall pray, especially to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, guardians of the Church: may they enlighten us! May they help us! May they obtain for us the Gift of Strength and the Gift of Wisdom to continue their work, to carry on the work of Peter and Paul and all their successors. Let us ask for this from the Blessed Virgin Mary above all, and let us consecrate our persons, our families, our cities to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.”
“… Mary was with the Eternal High Priest throughout His life, right up to His complete self-sacrifice on the Cross. She was there. So then, be assured that Mary, Mother of the priest, will be with you too, all the days of your life.”
“Our Blessed Lady was born to trample on the head of the serpent, to bring to naught Satan and all his works.
Let us therefore unite ourselves to her and remain always united to her. Thus she will preserve us from sin and all errors and she will keep us in the spirit of truth and holiness.”
“The Church was saved from Arianism. She will be saved as well from Modernism. Our Lord will triumph, even when, humanly speaking, all seems lost. His ways are not our ways. Would we have chosen the Cross to triumph over Satan, the world and sin?”
“Since everything in God’s plan is ordered to the salvation of souls by Jesus Christ, and by Him alone, we are to encourage in every domain, social, political, economical, familial, those who strive to attach their actions to the law of Our Lord, both natural and supernatural. For Our Lord rules all: His law should be that of all nations, and of all men without exception.”
“We are convinced that the most Blessed Virgin, our good Mother who is always in the heart of the fight, encourages us. She came on earth to request that we fight, fearlessly, because she is with us.”
The problem is that we are operating on very little knowledge of what is occurring behind the scenes.
The only way to solve this is to round up all of them, including both Francis and Benedict. Put a gun to their heads and make them talk.
Maybe when the Muslims or Russians inevitably march upon Rome, they’ll at least do us all this favour.
Catholics seem afraid to criticize their clergy, no matter how egregious their actions. They seem afraid that they will end up on the wrong side of “authority.” The torrent of modern novel doctrine that has come speeding down the pike is never questioned for reasonableness or conformity to Tradition, we just get : “But…it has the approval of the Pope, it must be true !” This is simply the tired old argument from authority again — and it seems to be the only kind of argument some Catholics know how to make, as if the opinion of every Saint or Doctor or Pope comes straight from God Almighty. Jesus respected the authorities of His time, but only as long as they conformed to God’s will, He was very quick to criticize bad teaching. It is intellectual laziness to hitch your wagon to any and all teachings from some guru “spiritual director” or bishop or cardinal or Pope without so much as cracking open a book to study the issues. But even so, you don’t need to be a canon lawyer or theologian to smell the horseshit, and while scholarly things may have their place, the faithful know the sound of the True Shepherd. So Popes never give their approval to bad things? And EVERYTHING that comes with a papal stamp of approval is automatically good? We don’t have to look at any other considerations? C’mon, people, grow up.
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Thank you Louie for having the manly courage to speak out, at great cost I’m sure, to be a pebble in the shoes of “the authorities.”
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Michael F Poulin
It is today as it was at the Crucifixion of Our Lord. Of those who truly loved HIm, some stood by Our Lady, others ran away. One pious woman courageously walked past Roman soldiers to wipe the Holy Face of Our Lord.
There were degrees of love and courage on display that day as there are today in this Passion of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, that we are witnessing.
You are one of the brave among us, Louie. May your reward be great.
When Holy Lord Jesus the Christ, our Redeemer, our life, is mocked, or when the blasphemies and sacrileges against Him are unending and public by anyone, including and especially those who are thought to be in authority and to be obeyed, and when He is forgotten, rebuked, considered an enemy rather than a Saviour, if we truly love Him we cannot be silent nor can we compromise with those who are guilty of these grievous sins. The faithful are to be militant in the face of an attack against the Lord while humble when that attack is against us. Didn’t Jesus upturn the moneychanger’s tables outside the temple? He did not humbly go on past them. His righteous anger was justified and so is ours when our Trinitarian God is so blasphemously maligned while Jesus is re-crucified daily by the worldly, false prophets, and wolves who pretend to be our shepherds.
Here is the balance: We fearlessly and militantly defend our Lord against any and all false teachings and all of His enemies no matter who they are while humbly accept the sufferings we will incur by doing so. And just as important is our conduct, the way in which we live, pray, fast, do penances and reparations for our own sins and those of the world, with frequent participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacrament of Penance, daily reading and study of Sacred Scripture and time for contemplation and silence to listen for, hear, and respond to God’s will for us, for then we will have the grace necessary to love God above all else. And if we truly love our Lord, we will follow Him even unto death.
In the world, on awakening in the morning I used to think over what would probably occur either pleasing or vexatious during the day; and if I foresaw only trying events I arose dispirited.
Now it is quite the other way: I think of the difficulties and the sufferings that await me, and I rise more joyous and full of courage the more I foresee opportunities of proving my love for Jesus, and earning the living of my children-seeing that I am the mother of souls.
Then I kiss my crucifix and lay it tenderly on the pillow while I dress, and I say to him: “My Jesus, thou hast worked enough and wept enough during the three-and-thirty and-thirty years of thy life on this poor earth. Take now thy rest…. My turn it is to suffer and to fight.”
St Therese of Lisieux, Counsels and Reminisces
We are living in an unprecedented time in history. The list in the following website of the changes that have occurred since Vatican II, some of which have been damaging to the faith. The list is extensive;. mind-boggling when you see it. And it is change that seems to never end. What is the real goal? If one says that any of them have brought about a greater understanding of the faith and greater fidelity to Christ, with more of His Truth and Light shining in the world, with more converts to the true faith as a result, they deny reality. Is it really possible that the Holy Ghost has been at work here?
http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/cg/latin_mass_and_catholic_tradition/summary_of_changes_since_vatican_ii.htm
What a list. Satanic plans achieved.
Thank you for the link.
To Louie a comment from Pope St. Pius V
“All the evils of the world are due to lukewarm catholics.”
Thank you for your articles.
God Bless,
Gerard
Excellent quote, EM.
I totally agree. This quote from Saint Therese de Lisieux gave me a great laugh while at the same time, when I read her final words, I couldn’t help but have tears welling in my eyes. Thank you EM for this quote. Loved it!
It seems that just as politically and socially everything always moves to the left and to liberalism, in religion everything gradually moves toward apostasy.
Except that in our times it’s all happening much faster than usual.
Abbe de Nantes… his Books of Accusations (of heresy) against Paul VI and JP II, and against the New Catechism, are worth reading (available online).
God rest his soul.