Posted on 03/28/2002 6:15:38 PM PST by father_elijah
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. Psalm 137:1
We Catholic Americans are at a crossroads. Our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Light of the World is exposing acts of evil within the Church. He is revealing those who wound his sacred Body by abusing children and youth. Our Lord is also exposing rot and disease within the structures and leadership of the Church from within provinces of religious orders, Catholic universities, and diocesan chanceries.
It is time to clean house. Not only do the pederasts, sex abusers, fornicators, adulterers and homosexuals need to be removed from leadership and the ranks of the ordained, but also the Church needs to deal with all Catholic politicians and voters in the USA who work or vote to continue the holocaust of abortion. We need the Holy Father to declare that any Catholic who votes for abortion or pro-abortion candidates will have automatically excommunicated themselves from the Church.
PREPARATION
In order to serve Christ and his poor Church in this time of crisis, each of us are called to avail ourselves of the sacraments that we may trample down the devil under our feet. Let each of us 1) make a good confession; 2) receive the Eucharist on the Feast of Divine Mercy and receive Christ’s promises to St. Faustina of mercy and pardon; 3) engage in works of mercy; and, 4) encourage others to do the same.
We lead by prayer, and we are made strong by Christ’s self-offering of his Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We have a great weapon for fighting evil in the rosary. We do not turn to prayer as a last resort, but we turn to prayer as the beginning, center, and end of all that we strive to do for Our Lord Jesus Christ. We engage in prayer for the Church knowing that when we pray we are not alone in prayer or in action. The Lord Jesus Christ intercedes for us as the Scriptures teach us, and Our Lord delights to call Our Lady, St. Joseph, and the whole communion of saints to join in interceding for each member of the Body of Christ and the mission of his Church.
We -- who long for the cleansing of the Church from these grave acts of evil -- have the means of prayer through which we can grow in holiness even as we pray for the Church to be purified from every stain of evil and made holy as Christ is holy. Let us avail ourseves of these powerful gifts of prayer:
The Daily Mass or a daily Act of Spiritual Communion
Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration
Benediction and Adoration
Prayers of Reparation
Stations of the Cross
The Holy Rosary
The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy
The Litanies
Novenas, especially the Novena to the Holy Spirit
The Liturgy of the Hours
Other Chaplets and Devotions
Let every action we undertake be covered in prayer and overshadowed by the Holy Spirit so that only God’s will is desired and achieved through our efforts.
ACTION
For love of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to action against evil. Let each faithful Catholic offer themselves at Mass or at home to be the beginning point of the Church’s cleansing and renewal. Ask the Lord’s blessing that we may each speak the truth in love and walk in the Holy Spirit.
There are a variety of actions that one can undertake to be part of a holy response to these times of crisis. The following are suggestions that have been made on various internet discussion lists:
*Show up at the nearest Chancery on the Monday after Easter at 12 noon and pray the Rosary for the Cleansing of the Priesthood and the Church.
*Show up at your parish and pray at 3pm every day.
*Show up at your diocesan Chancery and pray whenever you can.
*Write, telephone, and e-mail your bishops and priests and express your horror over the sexual scandals and tell them you expect full disclosure and immediate action.
*Direct your financial support to those parts of the Catholic Church that are beyond reproach i.e., the Sisters of Life, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, the Nashville Dominicans, Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, EWTN, among many others.
* Get involved in the lay opportunities for service in your parish by volunteering yourself to your pastor to serve on any committee or in any capacity -- especially those for which you have identifiable gifts.
*Write to the Holy Father -- write in Polish if you can -- and beg him to intervene and clean up the Church in the United States. Be sure to copy the letter to your bishop and pastor.
The following are some actions you may consider asking of the Holy Father(and recommending to your bishop):
1. Ask the Holy Father to lead the Church in a worldwide Day of Penance for the sexual sins of the Church’s leadership;
2. Ask the Holy Father to require churches without fail to restore the Tabernacle back to its original location directly behind the center of the altar.
3. Ask the Holy Father to declare that homosexuals may not receive Holy Orders but are welcome to carry their cross among the ranks of the lay faithful;
4. Ask the Holy Father to remove Cardinals, bishops, priests, and deacons who have covered up cases of sexual abuse and see to their prosecution.
5. Ask the Holy Father to please give the Church in the USA new Cardinals, for example, elevating men of the caliber of Archbishop Chaput of Denver.
6. Ask the Holy Father to suspend the US National Conference of Catholic Bishops and to appoint a Triumvirate to clean house, to root out evil, and to liberate the Church in the USA from error and crime.
7. Ask the Holy Father to restore the prayer “St. Michael the Archangel” to the close of every Mass to be prayed aloud by all present.
8. Ask the Holy Father to extend the faculty to every priest in the Church to celebrate Mass according to the 1962 Missal.
9. Ask the Holy Father to issue a sentence of automatic excommunication for any Catholic who votes or works to support the ongoing holocaust of abortion.
10. Ask the Holy Father to disassociate the Church from those once Catholic universitiies and colleges that no longer affirm the magisterium of the Church or loyalty to the Pope.
Also, some have suggested asking the Holy Father the following:
a) Beg the Holy Father to shut down religious orders or provinces of religious orders (like the California province of the Society of Jesus) that are a scandal in themselves.
b) Inquire of the Holy Father whether or not it would be better to give Cardinal Law, Cardinal Egan, and Cardinal Mahony new jobs at the Vatican.
c) Ask the Holy Father to give the Cardinal’s red hat to great men of faith, men like Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.
d) Ask the Holy Father to make someone like Fr. Benedict Groeschel the next Archbishop of New York.
e) Ask the Holy Father to make someone like Bishop F. Bruskewitz the next Archbishop of Boston.
Some will find these ideas too presumptuous, but it is clear that the Holy Father and the leadership of the Church in the USA need to hear from the faithful. Also, they need to hear specific suggestions and not merely our generalized revulsion and grief over the crises and crimes exposed in the Church today.
Finally, be sure to pray for the Pope with all your heart, and write to the Holy Father a letter of encouragement. Assure him of your prayers for his intentions and for him personally. Also, write letters of encouragement to any deacon, priest, or bishop whom you know to be defenders of the faith and devoted to Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our good and faithful priests and religious need to know that they are loved and cherished.
Be not afraid, as the Holy Father always reminds us. Do not despair. All is not lost. All things are possible with God. Trust in the Lord.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:26-28
Jesus, King of the nations, hear us.
Jesus, Our great High Priest, hear us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
St. Michael the Archangel, fight for us.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.
Good Saint Joseph, pray for us.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us.
Bottom line is that I wonder how much can actually be blamed on Vatican II, when there were other factors at play (demographic changes, communication changes, technological innovation) which may have changed the dynamic instead.Not a great deal. Vatican II often used the vague language that accompanies consensus building. Its greatest flaw was a lack of clarity.
For the liturgy, for example, it indicated that Latin was to remain the norm, but that the vernacular could be used for some portions (such as the readings, one supposes). It indicated that Gregorian chant and then polyphony were to be the music. You can’t find a reference to what goes on in most modernist parishes, things like guitars and folk music.
I could probably go on for quite some time, but it would get boring. There are somethings in V2 I didn’t like, but for the most part it wasn’t so bad once you actually read the documents. What is bad is what the liberals claim it said, and they have been largely successful in pushing their interpretation. Both the hyper conservatives and the liberals claim that V2 changed everything and is the source of clown masses, etc.
They never seem to be able to find cites for these things in the V2 documents though. Of course, their word is good enough, right? Its only the little people who need to actually cite to something.
patent +AMDG
Have a great Easter!
AT the same time, we now have people making changes merely for the sake of trying something new. The parish liturgical director doesn't like this or that, so she changes this or that to something else. A great deal of the deeper spiritual meaning is lost when there is no reason for the change, other then it is a neat thing to try!
Going to Mass becomes less a mystical union and more an entertainment venue/social gathering.
patent
This is my "beef:" When people take the time to show-up for a service at 3pm... they are there because they want to be! At least have the courtesy to conduct a proper service... not the Readers-Digest version.
In two words, you can't. It is not a ping/flag list where you are flagged to a thread. It is a bump list where a list of all threads bumped to a particular topic can be seen. So, you can see the list of all Catholic-related threads that have been bumped to the Catholic_list.
Thanks for the post Fr. I will offer all of my Holy Week prayers and communions for priests, bishops and for an increase in vocations.
Looking forward to the Easter Vigial Service and new Catholics inducted into the Church!
Please pray for my parish priest, and I beg all those here to do the same, I believe this poor man is going through some kind of crisis of faith right now as I have witnessed several very odd incidents by him and he asked me to pray for him during one of them.
Thanks again!
I hope that those in authority are doing some substantial self-examination right now. If they are, good will ultimately come out of this.
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