Monday, May 30, 2011

Thoughts About Joan d'Arc and Henri de la Croix

Today is the feast of Saint Joan of Arc. When I read the Mark Twain biography of Joan it made me ashamed of my English roots. Twain's book, which many regard as his magnum opus, did great justice to Joan's many fine qualities, even though she was a simple peasant.

When I think of Joan, I compare her to Henri de la Croix, the Great Monarch - Son of David.
Despite her many battles, Joan never stained her sword with an enemy's blood.  Scripture is clear, "Thou Shall Not Kill".

I believe it will be the same for Henri. He will engage the enemies of Christ in many battles but not be compelled to kill anyone, out of respect for the sanctity of human life.

Let's consider for a moment some of Henri's other qualities.
His personal sanctity and holiness will be great.
His trust will be entirely in God, not in generals or princes.
Everything he will accomplish will be done for the greater glory of God, not himself.

My wife and I debate whether he is a family man. I believe he has a wife and children.
My wife believes he is more likely single so that, like a priest, he can dedicate all his energy to serving God through God's people.

I believe that Henri is alive today. He leads a hidden life waiting for the time of his destiny. I wonder does he pray to Joan d'Arc, asking her to intereceed for him with Jesus or does he direct all his efforts to the Mother of Jesus, our Mediatrix par excellance.

We know that Henri suffers from a limp caused by a problem with one leg.
Surely he will be bilingual in French and English and perhaps also fluent in German.
Given how he will cooperate with the future Czar of Russia, it would be beneficial for Henri to speak Russian.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

It's Often Good Until It Becomes an "...ism".

There is nothing wrong with being social until it becomes Socialism.
Being liberal can be a virtue until it becomes Liberalism.
We are all human but Humanism tries to put man in God's place.
The Commune opposed God even before the advent of Communism.
Luther's protests against certain Catholic practices had merit until they became Protestantism.

Virtue lies in the middle of a continuum which has vice at both ends.
Take charity as an example.
An abundance of generosity might involve giving away all one's material possessions and being unable to provide for one's family.
Being unable to share could result in scrooge-like behavior.
Genuine charity lies in the middle.
I don't believe in Catholicism because it seems to be an extreme at one end or the other.

I am joyful being a Catholic.
I am happy to be a member of a Church that is universal in outreach and centered in Rome, but I do not subscribe to many things that today are dubed Catholicism.
Lack of belief in things supernatural such as the messages of Fatima or Lourdes.
Lack of recognition of the role of  Mary, the Mother of God, in the Economy of Salvation.
Lack of practice of the Communion of Saints.
Lack of emphasis on the four last things, death, judgement, heaven and hell.
Lack of belief in the need for sacramental confession.
Lack of respect for the consecrated host and Eucharistic Adoration.
Lack of respect for the sanctity of the church building as God's residence.
Equating the killing of an abortionist with abortion or suicide bombing.
Putting priests, bishops and even popes on a pedestal and not holding them accountable.

Blessed John Paul II was a great Pope but he made some serious mistakes, as all humans do.
Pope Benedict XVI is a good Pope but he too is human.
The Roman Church has made a large number of mistakes since Vatican II but given she is holy, she will repent of them and try to make restitution.
It seems to me that the suppression of the Latin Mass was a great mistake but it does seem that Pope Benedict is recognising the error and making restitution.
Will the extremists allow it? or will they go into schism?

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

When Did The Church Change Its Teaching on Usury?

There was a time when lending money at interest was a sin.

There was a time if a Catholic had gone to confession and admitted lending money at interest he would only have received absolution after agreeing not to repeat the sin.
This obviously made it impossible to be a Catholic banker

Why did the Church change its position on Usury?
Has the Church changed its teaching on prostitution?

I don't believe lending money at interest was a Church law like eating meat on Friday.
Usury is repeatedly condemned in the Old Testament.
From the earliest days of the Church it was forbidden for followers of Christ to engage in usury.

Today, usury is defined as charging exorbitant interest rates.
Isn't that just a legal way of redefining sin?

If I had to point to one change made by the Church which has lead, more than any other, to the Great Apostasy,  it would be the change on usury.

In my opinion, the Bankers of the world have the control they do over every element of society because of usury.

Most wage earners have become essentially wage slaves because of usury.

Student loan debt has surpassed consumer credit card debt.
I recently heard of a veterinarian student who still had one year to complete her studies, whose student loan debt was $400,000. It is quite possible it will reach $500,000 by graduation.

The worst example of usury seems to me that when a congregation decides to build a new church or school and the bishop decides the diocese will lend the parish the funds. The bishop takes title to the church and then charges the parish interest on the money borrowed.

I find it interesting that Muslims may not charge interest. Muslim banks takes an equity position in an enterprise in which they invest.

It is impossible to worship God and money. Doesn't the Church still teach this?

Sunday, May 22, 2011

The Scoffers Won The Day - Again

May 21st came and went and no Rapture.
One pastor was proven to be a 'false' prophet.
It's not hard to be a scoffer in these end times.
Afterall, 2,000 years have passed and still no Rapture.
The odds are always in favor of the scoffers.

The issue for me isn't is the Rapture Biblical or not?
The issue is, does God, in an act of mercy, choose to reveal apocalyptic events and timetables?

Many events and times have been revealed and published before the fact. Fatima is probaly the best known of the 20th century. The Mother of God revealed that World War I was about to end but unless mankind changed, a worse war would begin during the reign of Pope Pius XI.  She also predicted the evils of Communism/Socialism.  Several other predicted events have yet to occur.

The final Fatima apparition and miracle occurred in October 1917.
The Bolsheviks gained control of the Russian Revolution in the same month.

It is said that Jesus gave the devil 100 years to do his worst and who would argue the devil has been unbelievably successful?

I am convinced that events leading up to 2017 are going to reveal that God's warnings, delivered through the Mediatrix of ALL Grace, should not be ignored, even if one man got it wrong on May 21st.

It is easy to be a scoffer. It is just as easy to be a doomsayer.
Pope John XXIII called the children of Fatima doomsayers when he opened the council.
Pope Paul VI was a doomsayer himself soon after he closed it.

The choice is not between being a scoffer or a doomsayer.
The choice is between believing that the devil is winning but that the Mediatrix will be given the Grace to warn each of us and show us the truth before it is too late.

I choose to believe that a Merciful God will allow the Mediatrix to give us one more "Warning" before localised tribulations become universal.

God is so merciful. God knew that giving the devil that much power and time would have dire consequence, so I pray that through the intercession of the Mediatrix, each of us will experience an Illumination of Conscience.
The truth will kill some of us.
       The truth will cause some of us to repent and be converted.
              The truth will have no effect on some.

What greater grace could the Creator give the creature than the truth about the deceptions of the devil. I believe this Good God will not allow the Tribulation to become universal until the truth is revealed to each of us, individually and personally.

Daily, I pray for the Illumination of Conscience. That doesn't mean that I couldn't die in a flood, an earthquake or a tornado in the meantime. But the Mediatrix made certain promises to those who would make the Five First Saturdays of Reparation. I am counting on that promise just as much as I am counting on her predictions/prophecies.

What else is worth counting on other than the Mercy of a Good God?
I know I can count on God 's justice too, but I beg for mercy before justice.

Monday, May 16, 2011

March 11th Isn't Getting Our Attention Like September 11th Did

It is now over two months since the beginning of the Fukushima disaster on March 11th. Rarely a day goes by that does not involve new revelations of the magnitude of the unfolding disaster but for most of the media and therefore most of the people, Fukushima is yesterday's news.

It is now 25 years since Chernobyl. The latest translation of Russian language reports suggest nearly one million deaths directly attributable to Chernobyl. The official number is less than one hundred.

I am sixty five years old and likely to die in the next twenty years. My concern is for my children and grandchildren and all the other people in the world who were hoping to live to a ripe old age, enjoying a reasonable, cancer-free life.

It is clear that the managers of TEPCO are incompetent yet the Japanese government has no immediate plan to nationalize the company or take over the direct management of the crisis. The failure to direct the world's most competent resources toward Fukushima will result in the world's most competent not living to enjoy their pensions.

Japan is in imminent danger. Asia is in imminent danger. The northern hemisphere is in imminent danger. There is no one who is not in imminent danger.

Are we going to wait until we seen a dramatic increase in birth defects before we take action? Are we going to wait until the Japanese healthcare system is overwhelmed?

This is a planet earth crisis happening before our eyes. This is worse than global warming. This is as bad as nuclear war.

The crisis in Japan is more important than the price of gas; more important than the unemployment problems; more important than the rocketing increases in the cost of living; more important than the Arab Spring; more important than the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya.

When are we going to see through the smoke and mirrors? Japan's problem is our problem.

The national debate needs to be about how we commit our finest resources to solving the Fukushima problems. This is a crisis which needs our attention in the "national interest"!

What is the point of being the most powerful and advanced nation in the world if we sit back and wait for everyone we know and love, to be poisoned?

The only possible explanation for the failure to act must be that Fukushima is the long sought-for answer to the population problem. The billionaires that invest their wealth in population control have been handed a solution that simply requires a failure to act. Most of them are old men anyway and they can afford to take precautions that are unavailable to us useless eaters.

God help us. We are going to let evil have its way without a fight. Perhaps we deserve nothing better?

Sunday, May 15, 2011

The Silent Schism

On May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, William Cardinal Levada, head of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, issued instructions to the Church Universal advising the hierarchy on the implementation of, "Summorum Pontificum" issued July 7, 2007, but as yet implemented by so few priests and bishops.

The Tridentine Mass is referred to as the extraordinary form, while the Novus Ordo as the ordinary form. Rome reminds the bishops of the world it is their responsibility to undertake all necessary measures to ensure respect for the extraordinary form. An interesting choice of word, respect.

The faculty to celebrate in the extraordinary form is given to all priests and they do not require special permission from their ordinaries or superiors. A priest responsible for a church is to be guided by his own prudence, motivated by pastoral zeal and a spirit of generous welcome in offering the Tridentine Liturgy, codified by the Council of Trent in 1570.

The instructions are aimed at "Promoting reconciliation at the heart of the Church" but I wonder does Rome really believe this can happen without a great outpouring of grace from heaven. Given how few priests and bishops have yet to respond to instructions already nearly three years old, why does Rome think these new instuctions will make a difference?

For me, the issue here is not the extraordinary and/or the ordinary forms of the Holy Mass. The issue is will the bishops of the Catholic Church exercise obedience and do what they have been instructed to do? Or will they choose to distance themselves from the Roman Pontif?

Pope Benedict has placed the Pontifical Commission under his direct authority. William Cardinal Levada reports directly to the Pope. I read this as a sign that the Pope will not allow anyone or anything to come between him and the widespread reintroduction of the Tridentine Mass.

It is my opinion, post-council Popes have been unwilling to give direct orders to the bishops of the world, as for example, to consecrate their dioceses to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Recent Popes were afraid the bishops would disobey them and a schism would result.

I find it interesting that the issue of the extraordinary form of the Holy Mass is one on which Pope Benedict is willing to risk schism. I have little doubt that the majority of the bishops will refuse to follow Cardinal Levada's instructions and a "quite schism", will ensue.

Is the reintroduction of the Tridentine Mass something the Pope is willing to risk schism for? It seems yes. Unless he is deliberately trying to bring about a schism, which I doubt, the Tridentine Mass must be something worth risking everything for.

What must we the faithful do?

As for me and my family, we will immediately ask our priest for the Mass in the extraordinary form. We will do this in a spirit of charity in the hope that the grace flowing from obedience to the instruction will be a grace to the Church in a time of great need.

Yesterday, I asked a priest I met in another parish, what his reaction to the instructions was. He told me he was unaware of it but that he had been told in the seminary, from which he graduated three years earlier, that according to Canon Law, the Tridentine Mass could not be celebrated in a church built after the council. Amazing!

The instructions made a point of reminding the bishops and superiors of religious orders, of the Church's rule of prayer, "lex orandi - lex credenti", which I translate, as the Church prays so it believes. Some claim this rule has been reversed in the new revisions to the Roman Missal.

Everything could be at stake with this "Summorum Pontificum".

It is not too early to be asking oneself, "Is there anything that will seperate me from the Romam Pontif?"

Thursday, May 12, 2011

May 13, Fatima Anniversary

It's now ninety four years since the Virgin Mary appeared to the three children at Fatima.

In almost a century the Church has failed to consecrate Russia or promote the five saturdays of reparation.

In the meantime secular humanism has become the world's religion, especially in the economically more developed world.

I have just finished reading the story of the St. Benedict's Center in Cambridge, Mass, where Father Leonard Feeney taught the Faith. Fr. Feeney was ultimately dismissed as a Jesuit but his words contained in a letter dated August 10, 1949, to the General of the Society of Jesus ring true today.

"The more I express my distress and suffering to see the Catholic Faith disappear from among the Catholics of the United States, because of the heretical teachings of my brothers of the Society of Jesus, the more do my enemies, who are betraying their Faith and their sacred vows of fidelity to the Catholic doctrine and to His Holinesss, the Pope, find themselves supported in their tyranical measures by the decrees and the disciplinary measures directed against me and proceeding from Your Paternity." (Trans from the French.)

In May of the same year he had written the General of the Society,
"If Your Paternity does not do this (investigate at once the orthodoxy of the Jesuit Provincial) it means the ruin of the Faith in this country, due to the negligence of our own order."

How prophetic were Fr. Feeney's words. He realized that the Jesuits had the power to stop the Liberalization of the Roman Church, but history now suggests they were prominent in the promotion of Liberalism.

Only six years now to the centenary of Fatima. Only six years to repent and be converted. God give me the strength to repent.

Monday, May 9, 2011

"The Cult of Man."

A brief extract from Pope Paul VI's words during the closing of Vatican Council II on December 7, 1965.
"Secularizing and profane humanism has finally appeared in its terrible stature, and has, in a certain sense, defied the Council. The religion of God Who became man has encountered the religion of man who makes himself God."

"What happened?
A clash, a battle, an anathema?
This could have happened; but it did not take place.
The old story of the Samaritan has been the model of the Council's spirituality.
An unlimited sympathy has pervaded it completely.
The discovery of human needs has absorbed our Synod's attention."

"Recognize for it at least this merit, you modern humanists, who deny the transcendence of the highest things, and recognize our new humanism: we too, we more than anybody, have the cult of man."

The cult of man or secular humanism was initially the religion of Marxism but today it is the religion of most intellectuals and those with a liberal disposition.

Has the religion of God, who became man, been overwhelmed by the religion of man who makes himself God?

Has the revolt against God yet reached the point where the God, who became man, will intervene and what form will the intervention take?

I believe the intervention will be a Great Illumination of Conscience!

Through the intervention of Mary Most Holy, each of us will see the truth about ourself in the "Light of Christ."

We will come face-to-face with the Truth who is the Christ, He who referred to Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Many people have lost their lives in recent years to eathquakes, tsunamis, storms, inundations and other natural disasters. Many more will lose their lives to radiation poisoning and from the polluting of the Gulf of Mexico.

Surely through the mediation of Our Blessed Mother, God will soon give us the Illumination so that we might know the Truth and be set free from the Cult of Man.

Friday, May 6, 2011

The Third Part of the Fatima Secret

I have just finished reading Frere Michel's book, "The Third Secret", which is volume three of a four volume set "The Whole Truth About Fatima". What a great read and written before the Vatican released information which I  believe to be only the vision given to the children without the words of the Blessed Virgin. The book was also written while John Paul II was Pope. I suspect with no thought on Frere Michel's part that the next Pope would be Joseph Ratzinger.

Here are my thoughts on what I think the Blessed Virgin said, in my words NOT hers.

In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will be preserved; not so in other nations unless my ministers fulfill my requests. The Holy Father must preserve that which has merit before God or those infiltrating the Church at the highest levels will place man above the Creator. The Great Apostasy spoken of in Sacred Scripture will see the pastors leading their flocks into perdition. In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, and she will be converted and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world.

I believe the Pope seen in the vision to be Pope Benedict XVI and the city half in ruins to be Rome. This means that Pope Benedict will be killed by the Church's enemies; a consequence of not heeding the Blessed Virgins's requests. I continue to hope that Pope Benedict will have a change of heart as he remembers Our Lord's words to Sister Lucy at Rianjo, in August 1931.

"Make it known to My ministers, given they follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of my request, they will follow him into misfortune. It will never be too late to have recourse to Jesus and Mary."

The centenary of Fatima will be 2017. I believe ALL will be revealed by then.

Monday, May 2, 2011

What Did May First Mean to You?

Osama Bin Laden is dead. People are coming together at Ground Zero, Times Square and the White House to express, what we would normally call joy, but can joy, a gift from God, be an appropriate sentiment at the death of a man and his son?

Over the weekend we learned that Colonel Gadaffi's son and grandchildren had been killed by an American airstrike. Is this a cause for celebration?

Do the people of the USA intend to kill Gadaffi? Is that a "just" solution to the conflict in Libya?

Can American forces be used to kill Castro, Chavez, Putin?

It is interesting that the announcement of Bin Laden's death came on May Day, the same day Hitler's death was announced. In much of Europe, May first was highjacked by the Socialists and Communists but it is still the first day of the month in which we are invited to honor Mary, the Mother of God.

When Mary appeared to the children at Fatima she promised that if the Pope, in union with the bishops of the church, would consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart, peace would result. Neither the Pope nor the bishops did as Mary asked and Russia has spead her errors as predicted. Interestingly, the bishops of Portugal consecrated their dioceses to Mary, and Portugal was spared involvement in the Spanish civil war and WWII.

Mary said that "...in the end..." Russia would be concecrated but it would be late, perhaps too late.

Yesterday, a great Pope was beatified, yet even he did not consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart. Pope John Paul II did not proclaim a fifth Marian dogma, that of Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate. This despite Mary's claim that "...in the end..." this dogma would be proclaimed.

All of this means that we are not yet "... in the end...", because neither of the actions requested by Mary have happened. My question is why?

Why do Popes and bishops not consecrate their sees to the Virgin Most Holy?

Has the spirit of Protestantism, so overwhelmed the Catholic Church, that it cannot believe that the Mother of God has the power and the authority to end wars and counter the attacks of the devil?

A Church lead by such men is headed for destruction. We cannot hide behind Christ's promise that the gates of hell will not prevail. Better we remember that the bride, like the groom, must die in order to experience resurrection.

The Church is dying and not from old age. She is being destroyed and the means given to us by God to revive her are being ignored.

Yesterday, was Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast instituted by Pope John Paul II. Despite the fact that this was the date chosen for his beatification, the church I attend did not celebrate it as John Paul  II intended.

How long, I wonder, before the first Sunday after Easter will return to only being the Octave of Easter? At the church I attend there was no mention of  Mary, Divine Mercy or the Beatification. No alter or flowers for Mary! No crowning of a statue by the children! Nothing to acknowledge the role of Mary or John Paul II in the economy of salvation. This is the same church where the priest consecrated leaven bread for Easter.

In 1961, at Garabandal, Spain, Mary said, "We must make many sacrifices, perform much penance, and visit the Blessed Sacrament frequently, but first we must lead good lives." In 1965, she returned to Garabandal saying, "As my message ... has not been complied with and has not been made known to the world, I am advising you that this is the last one."

When are our Popes and Bishops going to get it? When will they understand that "..in the end..." God's will is always done?