An End to Apostacy?
Jack Kemp forwards this New York Times piece:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/us/bishops-renew-fight-on-abortion-and-gay-marriage.html?_r=2
Bishops Open ‘Religious Liberty’ Drive
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: November 14, 2011
BALTIMORE — The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops opened a new front in their fight against abortion and same-sex marriage on Monday, recasting their opposition as a struggle for “religious liberty” against a government and a culture that are infringing on the church’s rights.
The bishops have expressed increasing exasperation as more states have legalized same-sex marriage, and the Justice Department has refused to go to bat for the Defense of Marriage Act, legislation that established the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.
“We see in our culture a drive to neuter religion,” Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the bishops conference, said in a news conference Monday at the bishops’ annual meeting in Baltimore. He added that “well-financed, well-oiled sectors” were trying “to push religion back into the sacristy.”
End excerpt.
A NOTE FROM TIM:
As everyone knows, I am a lifelong Catholic and have had a solid Catholic education. I am most happy to learn the Bishops have stopped with the "social justice" stupidity of the '80's and 90's. During those periods the U.S. Bishops were on board with the nuclear freeze movement, with the radicals on redistribution of wealth, with the neo-Marxist Liberation Theology, with just about every kook left-wing cause.
But the Papacy has waged a long battle to rein in the U.S. Bishops, and now they are fighting for the things they are SUPPOSED to be fighting for. Abortion is anathema, and the Church has made that quite plain. Unlike Global Warming the debate is over on abortion; the Pope has made it quite clear that abortion is wrong; he has invoked his Ex Cathedra infallability. And homosexual marriage is not far behind on this.
Social justice is a subject much open to debate inside of the Church, and ultimately is a matter of conscience. And the case must be made that it is ultimately a matter for personal decisions. I made that precise argument in a post at American Thinker a while back, for instance. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/05/the_cruelty_of_caesars_charity.html
To quote from myself;
"No. The command is for you to do them. These are personal commands, not principles of societal organization.
Jesus also said of taxation "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God that which is God's" which means Caesar gets his cut but not more than his cut. The works of mercy are God's portion. This is a critical thing to understand; these Catholic professors advocate for Caesar to take God's province, and ultimately His place.
Theirs is the sin of idolatry.
Jesus was commanding you to do these things; you are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, comfort the stranger. This was not proclaimed the job of government. Jesus did not say "render to Caesar that he may feed the hungry" - he told you to do it.
What Caesar does is steal. Caesar steals money from the citizenry by force of arms (you will be arrested if you refuse to pay taxes, and if you resist arrest you will be killed). And those who receive the largess of the beneficent state become trapped in a cycle of dependency, a whirlpool of despond that traps them. They must support the eternal nipple at their mouths, since they can see no other way to survive. They become wards of the state, and their job is to vote for more of these programs and for the people who created them. This is one of the cruelest of actions, because it essentially turns free people into serfs, obedient to a government that gives them enough to survive but not enough to thrive. And it is a curse, a curse that passes on to their progeny, and their children's children."
[...]
"
And it steals the opportunity to perform real acts of charity. Before the coming of the welfare state the Christian had many opportunities to perform acts of charity, and he did so eagerly. Now, government takes the money he would use to really help those in need and redistributes it for purposes that serve the master, the government. Those who would perform acts of mercy find their charity stolen."
[...]
"Also, they think it kinder to throw a few crumbs to the poorer of our society (and many of those we deem poor have two cars, big screen televisions, computers, and cell phones) and worry nary a wit for the future - a future that will not be there if we do not get a handle on our overspending. Would any diocese or even parish in the Church spend so much giving to charity that it had to close, leaving those who have come to depend on this aid completely on their own resources? Government has more resources, but the end will be the same. There is nothing righteous about killing the golden goose, which is precisely what we are doing. A dead goose will do little but draw flies.
Is that what Christ commanded? Is that what the Church teaches is our responsibility?"
End excerpts.
The assault by modernism and liberalism on the Church has gone on for well over a hundred years, and too many - particularly the U.S. Catholic Bishops - have been quite happy to throw in with the enemies of that Church to curry favor with the world. As the Bible says in James4:4;
"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."
And friendship with the World produces nothing but bad fruit. Mainline Protestantism is dying from this very problem as the various sects try to coax people into joining by virtue of being accepting. Why? Because people see no reason to join a boring social club. They want red meat in their religion, or none at all. Accepting the World into the Faith means adulterating the Faith, and THAT means you end up with an insipid Kumbaya social that turns everyone off. (Read this piece from the American Spectator today for more on this theme. http://spectator.org/archives/2011/11/16/spiritual-decay)
Since the time of Charles Darwin there has been a movement among many in the inner depths of Christendom and particularly Catholicism called Modernism, which is a fancy name for the Religious Left. Modernists say Christianity (and Judaism, too) has become stuffy, something better fitted to primitive times and must be updated to make it square with modernity and with advancements in science and culture. The actual purpose is to strip it of any worth so as to "liberate" people from the more onerous aspects, things like sexual morality or gender roles. It is rebellion disguised as theology. And for far too long U.S. Catholic Bishops pursued it.
But now they are changing course. Well they should; the path of Modernism means the end of Catholicism and Christianity in general. I suppose some of these Bishops realized they are slicing their own ecclesiastical throats. Some may be obedient to orders from Rome, but perhaps some just have awakened to the dangers posed by their efforts to be hip and cool.
Sr. Lucie, one of the visionaries of Fatima, warned of the coming apostacy inside of the Church in an interview given to a Mexican priest named Father Fuentes (and receiving an imprimatur, or official Church blessing from Archbishop Sanchez of Vera Cruz)on December 26, 1957:
http://themodernpriest.blogspot.com/2011/08/final-secret-given-to-srlucie-one-of.html
"Father, the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin. And the devil knows what it is that most offends God and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls. Thus, the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God, because in this way, the devil will succeed in leaving souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them.
That which afflicts the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus is the fall of religious and priestly souls. The devil knows that religious and priests who fall away from their beautiful vocation drag numerous souls to hell. … The devil wishes to take possession of consecrated souls. He tries to corrupt them in order to lull to sleep the souls of laypeople and thereby lead them to final impenitence."
(For those who do not know, Fatima was a town in Portugal where the Holy Mother of Jesus, Mary, miraculously appeared to three shepherd children. It was one of the most powerful supernatural events in Church history, and is beyond dispute to believing Catholics. Mary warned that time was running out for Mankind.)
And certainly through my lifetime there has been a tug-o-war between the Vatican and the Catholic Bishops over Church teaching; the Vatican has fought to defend traditional values while the Bishops have followed the will-o-the-wisp of Social Justice and whatnot. They seem to be turning, which suggests that Mary's prophecy of the triumph of her Immaculate Heart may be coming to fruition.
But is it too little, too late? The whole world scoffs at God, scoffs at morality, rejects the most mild limitations on absolute freedom (license). The apostacy seems to be reaching it's climax, while the enemies of the Most High are blossoming like mushrooms.
Still, it may not be too late.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/us/bishops-renew-fight-on-abortion-and-gay-marriage.html?_r=2
Bishops Open ‘Religious Liberty’ Drive
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: November 14, 2011
BALTIMORE — The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops opened a new front in their fight against abortion and same-sex marriage on Monday, recasting their opposition as a struggle for “religious liberty” against a government and a culture that are infringing on the church’s rights.
The bishops have expressed increasing exasperation as more states have legalized same-sex marriage, and the Justice Department has refused to go to bat for the Defense of Marriage Act, legislation that established the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.
“We see in our culture a drive to neuter religion,” Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the bishops conference, said in a news conference Monday at the bishops’ annual meeting in Baltimore. He added that “well-financed, well-oiled sectors” were trying “to push religion back into the sacristy.”
End excerpt.
A NOTE FROM TIM:
As everyone knows, I am a lifelong Catholic and have had a solid Catholic education. I am most happy to learn the Bishops have stopped with the "social justice" stupidity of the '80's and 90's. During those periods the U.S. Bishops were on board with the nuclear freeze movement, with the radicals on redistribution of wealth, with the neo-Marxist Liberation Theology, with just about every kook left-wing cause.
But the Papacy has waged a long battle to rein in the U.S. Bishops, and now they are fighting for the things they are SUPPOSED to be fighting for. Abortion is anathema, and the Church has made that quite plain. Unlike Global Warming the debate is over on abortion; the Pope has made it quite clear that abortion is wrong; he has invoked his Ex Cathedra infallability. And homosexual marriage is not far behind on this.
Social justice is a subject much open to debate inside of the Church, and ultimately is a matter of conscience. And the case must be made that it is ultimately a matter for personal decisions. I made that precise argument in a post at American Thinker a while back, for instance. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/05/the_cruelty_of_caesars_charity.html
To quote from myself;
"No. The command is for you to do them. These are personal commands, not principles of societal organization.
Jesus also said of taxation "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God that which is God's" which means Caesar gets his cut but not more than his cut. The works of mercy are God's portion. This is a critical thing to understand; these Catholic professors advocate for Caesar to take God's province, and ultimately His place.
Theirs is the sin of idolatry.
Jesus was commanding you to do these things; you are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, comfort the stranger. This was not proclaimed the job of government. Jesus did not say "render to Caesar that he may feed the hungry" - he told you to do it.
What Caesar does is steal. Caesar steals money from the citizenry by force of arms (you will be arrested if you refuse to pay taxes, and if you resist arrest you will be killed). And those who receive the largess of the beneficent state become trapped in a cycle of dependency, a whirlpool of despond that traps them. They must support the eternal nipple at their mouths, since they can see no other way to survive. They become wards of the state, and their job is to vote for more of these programs and for the people who created them. This is one of the cruelest of actions, because it essentially turns free people into serfs, obedient to a government that gives them enough to survive but not enough to thrive. And it is a curse, a curse that passes on to their progeny, and their children's children."
[...]
"
And it steals the opportunity to perform real acts of charity. Before the coming of the welfare state the Christian had many opportunities to perform acts of charity, and he did so eagerly. Now, government takes the money he would use to really help those in need and redistributes it for purposes that serve the master, the government. Those who would perform acts of mercy find their charity stolen."
[...]
"Also, they think it kinder to throw a few crumbs to the poorer of our society (and many of those we deem poor have two cars, big screen televisions, computers, and cell phones) and worry nary a wit for the future - a future that will not be there if we do not get a handle on our overspending. Would any diocese or even parish in the Church spend so much giving to charity that it had to close, leaving those who have come to depend on this aid completely on their own resources? Government has more resources, but the end will be the same. There is nothing righteous about killing the golden goose, which is precisely what we are doing. A dead goose will do little but draw flies.
Is that what Christ commanded? Is that what the Church teaches is our responsibility?"
End excerpts.
The assault by modernism and liberalism on the Church has gone on for well over a hundred years, and too many - particularly the U.S. Catholic Bishops - have been quite happy to throw in with the enemies of that Church to curry favor with the world. As the Bible says in James4:4;
"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."
And friendship with the World produces nothing but bad fruit. Mainline Protestantism is dying from this very problem as the various sects try to coax people into joining by virtue of being accepting. Why? Because people see no reason to join a boring social club. They want red meat in their religion, or none at all. Accepting the World into the Faith means adulterating the Faith, and THAT means you end up with an insipid Kumbaya social that turns everyone off. (Read this piece from the American Spectator today for more on this theme. http://spectator.org/archives/2011/11/16/spiritual-decay)
Since the time of Charles Darwin there has been a movement among many in the inner depths of Christendom and particularly Catholicism called Modernism, which is a fancy name for the Religious Left. Modernists say Christianity (and Judaism, too) has become stuffy, something better fitted to primitive times and must be updated to make it square with modernity and with advancements in science and culture. The actual purpose is to strip it of any worth so as to "liberate" people from the more onerous aspects, things like sexual morality or gender roles. It is rebellion disguised as theology. And for far too long U.S. Catholic Bishops pursued it.
But now they are changing course. Well they should; the path of Modernism means the end of Catholicism and Christianity in general. I suppose some of these Bishops realized they are slicing their own ecclesiastical throats. Some may be obedient to orders from Rome, but perhaps some just have awakened to the dangers posed by their efforts to be hip and cool.
Sr. Lucie, one of the visionaries of Fatima, warned of the coming apostacy inside of the Church in an interview given to a Mexican priest named Father Fuentes (and receiving an imprimatur, or official Church blessing from Archbishop Sanchez of Vera Cruz)on December 26, 1957:
http://themodernpriest.blogspot.com/2011/08/final-secret-given-to-srlucie-one-of.html
"Father, the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin. And the devil knows what it is that most offends God and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls. Thus, the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God, because in this way, the devil will succeed in leaving souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them.
That which afflicts the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus is the fall of religious and priestly souls. The devil knows that religious and priests who fall away from their beautiful vocation drag numerous souls to hell. … The devil wishes to take possession of consecrated souls. He tries to corrupt them in order to lull to sleep the souls of laypeople and thereby lead them to final impenitence."
(For those who do not know, Fatima was a town in Portugal where the Holy Mother of Jesus, Mary, miraculously appeared to three shepherd children. It was one of the most powerful supernatural events in Church history, and is beyond dispute to believing Catholics. Mary warned that time was running out for Mankind.)
And certainly through my lifetime there has been a tug-o-war between the Vatican and the Catholic Bishops over Church teaching; the Vatican has fought to defend traditional values while the Bishops have followed the will-o-the-wisp of Social Justice and whatnot. They seem to be turning, which suggests that Mary's prophecy of the triumph of her Immaculate Heart may be coming to fruition.
But is it too little, too late? The whole world scoffs at God, scoffs at morality, rejects the most mild limitations on absolute freedom (license). The apostacy seems to be reaching it's climax, while the enemies of the Most High are blossoming like mushrooms.
Still, it may not be too late.
posted by Timothy Birdnow | 2:24 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home