Dear Sg I understand where you are coming from. Where is Our Lords Church today? It is very confronting and confusing. If we look at the words of Our Lord Jesus when he instituted His Church we see He made a distinction. Jesus said...... Matthew 16:15-18 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Sg, notice Our Lord said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church, built on the rock of Peter! Jesus did not say that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the person sitting on the rock! but on the Church built on the rock of St Peter! That's you and me, we are the church! The Church is mighty! The Church is of Christ, it is Christ's Bride! The Church is humble like Our Lord Jesus! Therefore the Church is stronger than the fallible ones who may sit on the seat of St Peter at any age of the Church! God Bless
Dear Josephite, I agree. But Christ also prayed for Peter: Luke 22 [31] And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: [32] But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren. +
I agree with everything you have said Sg but the only thing I struggle with is the proclamation that Benedict XVl is still the Pope. I think the Bishops would have to be the ones to call that into question. So it seems to me that the laity need to do what you have said and resist the heresies proceeding from him. I just recently read an article about why the democrats hate President Trump so much and it's because he has and is capable of stacking the deck against them and their agenda to change the culture by appointing conservative judges. Now we have a Pope who has stacked the deck with liberal/modernist prelates to change the culture to adapt itself to a fallen world. There certainly is a division taking place, but like Michael Matt has said it is time to unite the clans and I agree Yes, we do need to fight! But we know that in the end the Immaculate Heart will triumph and the Church will be restored.
I suggest you, me, we all do what St. Padre Pio said: Pray, trust and hope. This is the thing God wants from us. This is His will for us. Agitation does not come from God, but the devil. Nothing any of us can do or say matters, expect what St. Pio has declared.
Yes, Sunburst. If there will be a schism, it is imperative that we remain in the Barque of Peter, under the Papacy. That’s Catholic. Nothing else is.
Sg, “above my pay grade” means that since the Catholic Church is a hierarchy, the issues you describe are out of our hands. Solving those issues belongs to the hierarchy, a new Council, perhaps, as member garabandal proposed might occur in future times. At any rate, the outcome belongs solely to Almighty God. That’s truly above our pay grade. One of Our Lady’s hallmarks is Her humility. May we learn from Her.
Tagle couldnt evangelise philliphines cos prods and muslims are making serious inroads as more catholics are lapsing. Hes only 62 and got promoted. Dont think he's ripe for pope. Current times demands a certain cardinal to fit in in present political economic environmental climate. It would be something akin to PF successor similar to PF. PF appointed lot of cardinals similar to his own idealogy as some fron far away unknown places. Had a feeling that popes appoint a cardinal where vatican gets the biggest donation as part of saying thank you. I switched off any news coming from the Vatican and also in particular to PF. Switched on more and more to M Voris and their church militant.Voris is somethinng else, something like elijah for the present times. Lot catholics are voting for DUP bec pro life stance in coming election.
Our chances of a Pius XIII, a Pope John Paul III or a Benedict XVII are dim, so a pope uninterested in tinkering with doctrine might be the best we can hope for. Involvement with worldly matters such as left wing politics will inevitably lead to worldly disaster, which in itself might prove to be no bad thing. Let's expect the worst and hope, and pray, for the best.
I don’t think it has really dawned on many of us what it means that poor Archbishop Vigano had to go into hiding for fear of his life! I mean he fears HE WILL BE KILLED. Sorry for stating the obvious but this is absolutely astounding. What kind of people are running the show at the Vatican!!? What tremendous dark forces were unleashed against this simple humble man! All he did was reaffirm Catholic doctrine as it has existed for 2000 years. And he’s sure he’ll be killed for that? The mind reels. Amazing times!
Exactly Blizzard. Malachi Martin portrayed this very well in Windswept House. So did Michael OBrien in Father Elijah. I expect such danger and ruthlessness were common in the time of the Borgias. Sad to think we have sunk down that low once again. This is serendipitous but today I was at my assigned Holy hour and I was so out of sorts. Very grumpy and whiny with the Lord,apologizing all the time for being so ungracious. I felt overwhelmed. Just overwhelmed. The holiday season places so many unnecessary social obligations on us and on top oc that we had people coming to stay tomorrow night so lots of getting the guest room. Ready and then my husband invited more people for dinner. I was just at the end of my rope. So I'm pouring all this out and I apologized before I left--again. And I prayed a Rosary going home but I felt like an ungrateful child. When I got home my husband tells me the friends suddenly canceled. And then he himself canceled the additional dinner guests because he felt like he was coming down with a cold. It was a gift! An absolute gift from the Lord. I just dont see how it could be seen any other way. How GOOD our God is. I would so much rather the quiet time of taking care of my husband than the dashing to and fro that was shaping up. Just feel restored!! And I didnt ask Him to do this for me. Just s free gift.
I knew about Pope Emeritus asking for protection from "the wolves" back in 2005. It boggled my mind to hear this blatant claim of infiltration. But I haven't heard his quote of "scaling the mountain". I have to pray about this. Safe in the Barque of Peter!
AED, He was so happy to have you with Him at Adoration that He took all that stressful stuff off your plate... I call those kinds of things that happen to us “kisses from Jesus!”
I didn't say you were angry. I'm angry and was using the forum as a place to vent my anger. After some unpleasant Confessions and wrestling with my conscience over receiving Communion at Mass, I decided that the best course for me is to not criticise the Pope in public. On one occasion I had to leave the confessional rather than get into an argument with the priest. As it is, I worry whether it's right to receive Communion while having such a low opinion of the Pope and Bishops even when I keep my opinions to myself. Essentially, you're saying what I'm thinking except that I believe that Francis is still the Pope. The passage you quoted from St. Luke's Gospel in your reply to Josephite is the example Jesus gave us. If prayer was good enough for Jesus, it should be good enough for us. Jesus said that anything we ask the Father in His name will be granted to us. I'm praying that Pope Francis will have a St. Paul style conversion. Those of us who believe in the Petrine office need to be careful not to play into the hands of the Catholic Spring types whose aim is to turn the Church into a democracy.
Believing in the Petrine Office is Catholic. It’s grave not to. Yes we are the Church, but the Pope is the successor to Peter and the visible head of the Church on earth. It’s pretty clear cut. Thanks, Dolours, for your honesty.
