I'm sorry, but you ought to read this thread before you say I'm presenting one side. Geez... You may be right. However, even the papal spokesman, who is orthodox, left the debate open. I'm not a theologian. It may indeed be morally impermissible. I not only support Humanae Vitae (of course), but practice it. As for ignoring the current.... https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2019/02/11/only-jesus-walks-on-water/
Oh good, grief. You sound like the atheists I debate with. You tell me if remaining in communion with the Pope, defending his words when one can, but agreeing with those who feel a fraternal correction may be needed... should leave me unhappy?
This pontificate is a complex one. For Pope Francis very, very often teaches and preaches the Gospel in a very powerful way. He has a strong devotion to Our Lady. He has done many things to try and change the Curia, but even he recognizes that it's like polishing the sphynx with a toothbrush (his words). On the other hand, he does other things that seem to contradict his words, or at least, water them down. That leaves the rest of us, as one commentator said, "seem like the men with shovels who follow the elephants at the circus." I have fought, through my blog, to keep my brothers and sisters from abandoning ship, to not lost hope, to place their faith not in Francis, but in Jesus. I have also defended the Pope when he was clearly being misunderstood, because frankly, a lot of what he says is nuanced (for better or worse). Moreover, he purposely does create a mess. And I will say it has resulted in testing many's faith. Some have left the Church, as Brian noted. Others have publically turned on the Vicar of Christ. Others have remained silent and prayed. Others, like me, have tried to walk the razor-thin edge of communion with the Pope but defending every tittle of the Faith. It's not black and white. Don't try to make it. We're in the grey of confusion, diabolical disorientation, and satanic attack (that would divide us today if possible).
Okay folks, I've said my piece—for better or worse. I have to leave for the city and won't be checking this thread again. I think my last blog speaks for itself: Only Jesus Walks On Water. God bless you all. Pray for me as I will for you.
I, too, am watching friends go nuts, have spiritual break downs, and leave the Church over what this Pope says and does. It is sickening, and sad. He is doing so, so much obvious damage.
You told us to quote the pope and only posted an orthodox one from him. How is that not posting one side? And when I post one of his that is not orthodox (to show you this is a problem, not that I think he always teaches against morality) you tell me not to only post one side, it is kind of comical! I don;t have to read the entire thread( which of course I did) to see that only presented one side of the quotes for contraception. Everyone can see that. Again with the "may ." It either is, or it is not. This is what I'm talking about when I say ignoring the current. For the record, is using birth control to prevent pregnancy - as the pope suggested to those he just visited - gravely immoral or not? How can it be so hard for you to state such a basic thing?
Mark, Some posts here have already dealt with the contradictory statement by the Pope on issues especially of sexual morality. I and most people like me haven't the time to dig out the orthodox statement he may have made on the same subject. Case on point is his apparent wink and nod to same sex relationships. I feel we are on continually shifting ground and I generally ignore his statements as I never feel comfortable with what I might hear. I pray every day for the church and for the Pope. Sadly all the confusion is causing many to stumble.
Not only that, it's embarrassing to try to explain what's happening to devout non-Catholic Christians. They must believe that the false church is finally losing it.
It is not spoken of enough, but It has been said, you can tell allot of what one believes by who they hang with. If one wants to honestly assess what the pope means by this comment or that action, look who his closest friends are and look who he has isolated and removed from key positions within the Vatican and places around the world. Look what he did to the poor hidden Catholics in China, even going so far as to let the communists in government there pick the bishops. Look at his best of friends and one can better realize his true agenda. You put like minds around you to do your bidding as he has done from day one. The likes of Kasper and Martin just to name a couple. This is how we can know where his heart is at when Pope Francis double talks, which has been more often then any of us can count. Name one other pope in the past 100 years that would have accepted a communistic crucifix? One could go on and on. Name one that would decorate the Vatican in rainbow colors. Yes, I will pray for him and I offered my visit to the Blessed Sacrament today for him, but we cannot not speak to the great errors of his pontificate without being somewhat culpable in our silence. I am not here to judge his soul, but Jesus said we are to judge by ones fruits and there is allot of bad grapes on this vine that need prunned as our spiritual leader. Ones that deals with our faith and morals which all the social justice teachings in the world will not remedy.
Because this forum is dedicated to our Lady there is a certain Marian charism here Mark that you may not have had a chance to encounter. We already have had many heated debates about this pontificate. We read and know the signs of the times and most here are personally consecrated to our Lady and pray the daily Rosary. Many have been crushed by personal tragedy but still cling to the rock of Christ. None of us are leaving the barque, none of us as schismatic. All of us confess that we are sinners in need of the mercy of God and regularly go to confession. We make sacrifices, pray and do penance in the spirit of love of Christ and His Holy Church. We love the Church and are prepared to shed our blood for Christ. Some I know are already enduring a white martyrdom. I consider those on this forum to be the church militant unafraid to speak the truth in love, who love Jesus Christ and all His teachings including the hard teachings. Many of us who are married live out the teachings of Humanae Vitae in our marriages and see children as a blessing from God and pray and make sacrifices for our children for their salvation. All here are consecrated to God and honour God mostly in their deeds and actions. Our role models are the saints. We recognise that all good in us comes through the grace of Christ and the mediation of our Blessed lady. None of us are perfect but we strive for the perfection as Christ wills. Just because we have issues coming out of this pontificate does not make us less Catholic. Rather we surrender ourselves to the will of God - we make sacrifices and pray for Pope Francis in anticipation that our prayers will be heard. One day the errors of this generation will be corrected by a holy Pope who will cleanse the church of the vile filth, perversion and errors that have been sown from within by wicked men who have no sense of their own wickedness. These Judases have been allowed to flourish in the seminaries, teach and write books contrary to the teachings of Christ because someone above in a position of sacred responsibility allowed them to do so. The rot goes deep, very deep and the purification which has already begun will ultimately very, very painful. None of us here on earth really understand or comprehend how deeply evil this generation has become -- it is worse than before the flood, worse than Sodom & Gomorrah. None of us really understand the depth to which evil has penetrated into the body of Christ through the sins of perversion and impurity -- from some of the shepherds -- the Judases of our age. But the angels and saints in heaven know that this is an evil & adulterous generation and are pleading for the Justice of God to cleanse humanity by fire -- holy fire -- what is holding back this justice is the intercession of our Lady but soon the age of mercy will end and the age of justice begin -- This forum has succeeded in preparing an army for our Lady -- warriors who will heed her call and follow her every word to the foot of Calvary and we will not abandon her there! Rather we will unite our sufferings with her at the foot of the cross. Ave Maria
Yes. Absolutely. It is pretty much impossible to mention the Church positively around conservative, well-read, Biblically based Protestants. They know something is up, and they know something is wrong with Pope Francis. It *does* make the Church look false. Sadly. It does.
"There, you see, it's a false cult. It's Satanic. I've been telling you that all along, and now, it's coming out". I've heard that. It's sad, and crushing, and frankly, disorienting, and there is literally no good response but to hunker down, pray, and follow Christ and put our souls into Mary's hands no matter what. Keep praying.
I also found it troubling that the Pope said Mary is a normal woman, like the women of today. "In his book-interview, from which the Italian daily Corriere della Sera1 published some excerpts, Francis says that the Blessed Virgin Mary was “a normal girl, a girl of today …. normal, normally educated, open to marrying, to having a family. …. Then, after conceiving Jesus, [she was] still a normal woman. …. Nothing was exceptional in her life, [she was] a normal mother: Even in her virginal marriage, chaste in that framework of virginity, Mary was normal. She worked, went shopping, helped her Son, helped her husband. Normal.” . . . She was not normal in that sense, she was immaculate, born without original sin. She was offered a mission and said, Yes! This Pope is confusing me by trying to belittle and berate our Blessed Mother. Even while on the cross Jesus informed us that she is the mother of humanity. She was pure, chaste, humble, obedient. I don't consider that the normal woman of today . . . O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
It sounds a bit like saying, of someone , 'He only beats his wife now and then but apart from that he's great'. The best way to help people keep the Faith is to defend it. The best way to Defend the Truth is to speak it. You've dug yourself into a foxhole Mark. Don't keep digging. I can tell you're highly conflicted in all this. Take time out . Pray.
I think (as someone else recently pointed out so well) that’s the disadvantage and danger of being a solo blogger with no comments permitted. You’re in an echo chamber, without the free flow of ideas and correction that a forum like this can provide. You start to believe your own press and your livelihood depends on your pontifications to a certain extent. That makes it difficult to be honest with yourself and admit when you might have missed a major point. None of us stand to gain or lose by the content of our posts on a forum; we’re simply trying to share the faith, build each other up, and hopefully save some souls in the process.
The great danger here is that a majority of Catholics do not fit into their lives the time it takes to sift through the contradictory statements of Francis. The latest dumbfounding and public statement that "pluralism and diversity of religion is God's will" is a case in point. The average Catholic will hear that and conclude, "O good, what my friend said about all religions being OK, well, even the Pope agrees with that." It should not be the role of -Catholics in the midst of the world- to be doing damage control for the Holy Father. It is good and wonderful that Mark has felt that call to be part of his ministry, but I dare ask, "How many times did he have to do so for St. John Paul II or Benedict?" I will always remember how proud I was, when in Regensburg, Germany, in 2009, Benedict stated that the contradictory positions of Allah in the Koran, are incompatible with the unchanging nature of God. That caused a huge uproar, if you recall, and Benedict never repeated that. But you can be sure that Francis and the Church of Nice would never in a million years contemplate ever articulating that truth. Safe in the Barque of Peter!
Mark Mallett wrote, " We're in the grey of confusion, diabolical disorientation, and satanic attack (that would divide us today if possible)." I would add all possible because of PF.
It confirms all their suspicions about the whore of Babylon. Wait til all the ugly truth comes out about what some churchmen have done. None of this will be pleasant.
