Who Am I to turn down a once in a lifetime request?!?
GRPL PING!
Posted on 02/28/2007 6:28:51 PM PST by NYer
Preacher Draws On Work of V.S. Solovyov
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Antichrist is the reduction of Christianity to an ideology, instead of a personal encounter with the Savior, says the cardinal directing the retreat which Benedict XVI is attending.
Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, retired archbishop of Bologna, delivered that message during a meditation Tuesday, drawing on the work of Russian philosopher Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov.
The cardinal's meditation came during the weeklong Spiritual Exercises being attended by the Pope and members of the Roman Curia. The retreat ends this Saturday. The Holy Father suspended his usual meetings, including the general audience, in these days.
According to Vatican Radio's summary of his preaching, the cardinal explained that "the teaching that the great Russian philosopher left us is that Christianity cannot be reduced to a set of values. At the center of being a Christian is, in fact, the personal encounter with Jesus Christ."
Quoting the work "Three Dialogues on War, Progress and the End of History," Cardinal Biffi told his listeners that "the Antichrist presents himself as pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist."
"He will convoke an ecumenical council and will seek the consensus of all the Christian confessions, granting something to each one. The masses will follow him, with the exception of small groups of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants," he said.
The cardinal added that Solovyov says in that work: "Days will come in Christianity in which they will try to reduce the salvific event to a mere series of values."
No cross
In his "Tale of the Antichrist" Solovyov foresees that a small group of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants will resist and will say to the Antichrist: "You give us everything, except what interests us, Jesus Christ."
For Cardinal Biffi, this narrative is a warning: "Today, in fact, we run the risk of having a Christianity which puts aside Jesus with his cross and resurrection."
The 78-year-old cardinal said that if Christians "limited themselves to speaking of shared values they would be more accepted on television programs and in social groups. But in this way, they will have renounced Jesus, the overwhelming reality of the resurrection."
The cardinal said he believes that this is "the danger that Christians face in our days … the Son of God cannot be reduced to a series of good projects sanctioned by the prevailing worldly mentality."
However, "this does not mean a condemnation of values, but their careful discernment. There are absolute values, such as goodness, truth, beauty," Cardinal Biffi said. "Those who perceive and love them, also love Christ, even if they don't know it, because he is Truth, Beauty and Justice."
The preacher of the Spiritual Exercises added that "there are relative values, such as solidarity, love of peace and respect for nature. If these become absolute, uprooting or even opposing the proclamation of the event of salvation, then these values become an instigation to idolatry and obstacles on the way of salvation."
Cardinal Biffi affirmed that "if Christianity -- on opening itself to the world and dialoguing with all -- dilutes the salvific event, it closes itself to a personal relationship with Jesus and places itself on the side of the Antichrist."
Sandeggo--
Sounds eerily similar to the plot of "Father Elijah" by Michael O'Brien, no? The whole package being the One World Religion movement. We have "spoken" of the impact of this book several times by Freepmail. I hope more Catholic readers will pick it up and be enlightened and horrified simultaneously. O'Brien also has it pegged.
F
Who Am I to turn down a once in a lifetime request?!?
GRPL PING!
Sounds like liberal protestant theology....
What a find! That image is what haunts me still! I need to get another copy. I lent it out and never got it back. To think that it is sitting on a bookshelf gathering dust because someone "could not get into it" is too much to bear.
Thanks!
Frank
Oh come on. St. Francis did love animals. There is way too much evidence for that, He was not however a worshiper of "Mother Earth".
St. Francis loved animals as God's creatures and often used animals as examples - for example, the lamb was the example of innocence and humility, the birds cared not for possessions and sang God's praise, etc. There is a lovely statue of him at Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi, standing with a kneeling lamb at his his side. This refers to a story where someone gave him a lamb that followed him around and, when it came into church with him, knelt at the Elevation of the Host.
I think what people here are saying is that St. Francis wasn't the type who'd be out buying a rhinestone-studded raincoat for his dog or feeding his cat hand-chopped filet mignon. He loved animals, but in their place, as animals and God's creatures.
Strike the "protestant" ... actually, it's the essence of the so-called "liberation theology", which was little more than repackaged Marxism, and which Pope John Paul II condemned.
Roman Catholic tradition BTTT
I take it the latter group must be us Freepers Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants. :O)
I agree with the Cardinal although I'm not convinced the "Anti-Christ" will be a person per se. We're seeing this movement now, not by an individual but by a group of people.
Have your read "Man Of Sin" by Kim Riddlebarger?
He goes on for a few pages on the types and shadows of the anti-christ found throughout Scripture. Never thought about that until I read the book.
Examples include, but are not limited to, the Pharoah and King Herod.
I was on pilgrimage in Ha Eretz last May and saw the Franciscans at several of the holy sites. They seemed to be very orthodox there. At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre they not only have Masses (carefully following the horarium set out in the 1850's by an accord with the Greeks, Armenians and maybe others) there every day but also do some special prayers at the most significant spots within the church, i.e. at Calvary, the stone of unction, and the tomb; these are done vested in habit and surplice, with incense, and in Latin. I was very edified. I wish I could get the texts of the prayers they used but cannot find the right source.
The Franciscans also have the only organ in the church, which can be heard throughout when played, even if at the times the other groups are conducting their services. Quite a sight to see the Armenians, in full monk outfit, beards, hood and all, making prayers, chanting, incensing, etc., and then to hear the Franciscans' organ on top of it all. Very exotic.
On a broader note, Israel was great; we felt very safe and the economy is almost completely dual currency, everyone takes and makes change in either dollars or shekels, as desired. In addition to Jerusalem, Haifa was a very beautiful city, with Mount Carmel right there, and worth the trip itself.
For pilgrim accommodations in Jerusalem (i.e. for those not needing TVs in the room, but requiring a chapel on site) I highly recommend the Notre Dame Institute, run by the Legionaries of Christ. Fr. Juan Solana, LC, who is the director, took us around to many of the sites in Jerusalem himself, and he was greeted by the locals there as if he were another mayor of Jerusalem or something. He is really quite something. For those who can understand Spanish, I would recommend a visit to see him give a reflection on the Nativity, at the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYi00JltpIw
If you follow the link, you will see the inspiration for my tag.
Fr. John several times during our stay there was careful to say that we all owe the Franciscans a debt of gratitude for reopening the Christian holy sites there in the Holy Land, and for providing so many martyrs there.
No I haven't but I'll checked it out. Looks very interesting and well done. Pharoah and King Herod might have been foreshadows of the Anti-Christ but I'm not sure they were very ecumenical. But I'll have to read the book.
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