Thank you for sharing these thoughts! I, too, have wondered similarly, and here's where I end up going with it... When I pray the Surrender novena, Jesus (who actually gave this novena to Don Dolindo via locution) stresses repeatedly to us little ones that we must turn everything over to Him and trust Him to work out all our affairs for us, because He can do it far better than we ever would do for ourselves. God takes the sinful, ignorant mess that we humans (including the hierarchy in the Church) create, and with the faith and prayers of us messy, sinful humans who love Him, He moves all things toward our good and His ultimate plan. So yes, I think it's very possible that Christ is shifting and sifting His Church in such a way that it's setting up for a massive reunification of all of Christianity. Perhaps a huge humbling of the Catholic Church was in order, to bring us down to our knees, so that other weak souls are not afraid to approach. Or perhaps the Church is doing what a mother does with her children when they are all out of sorts and won't listen or look her in the eye... She gets down on their level and holds out her arms and brings them all in. I have done this many times with my own children. Sometimes when your children just can't seem to behave and are spiraling out of control, your motherly heart sees past their bad behavior to the causes and realizes that what they really need instead of a scolding right now is warmth and connection with someone who loves them no matter how "bad" they've been. Sometimes I've had to hold an angry, misbehaving child for a good while before their defiant tense muscles begin to relax, and they eventually are overcome by their sheer desire for love. I thought of this when I saw those lgbt people entering the Vatican. I wondered what works on their hearts when they lie thinking in bed at night? And what was in Pope Leo's heart when he let them come in? So, to return to the surrender novena... We don't know everything. But God does. And its HIS Church and His world. We can absolutely trust that He knows what He's doing and we DON'T have to figure it out. All he's ever really asked of us is to love and trust Him, follow His commandments, receive Him in the Eucharist and the Sacraments, pick up our crosses and die to ourselves, and bring Him to everyone around us. We can do these things (and they take a lifetime of trying) without getting caught up in endless discussions on whether the Church hierarchy are properly doing their job. We need not be tied up in knots over anything, because God knows all, and directs all to His purpose.
PurpleFlower, You are very insightful with your analogies; the one concerning how to respond to "out of sort" children is one, even though for myself it reflects a time in my life as a parent that is at best 25 years past! With those of us rooted in the ancient history of Catholicism, the recent flirting of universalism by our Popes without ever endorsing it (except for Pope Francis) is a recent phenomenon since Vatican II. Most Catholics are no longer deeply rooted in our Sacred Tradition, and the display of such videos will prove detrimental to their understanding of Jesus' words in John, Chapter 14: I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me! I weep.
Well, Terry, I still think that God knows what He's doing, and He works in individual hearts in mysterious ways. I was born after Vatican II, but such videos are not dangerous for me, because I seek the Truth and study the tradition of the Church. Who is it dangerous for, then? People who want to believe sin is not sin? They will use the video to confirm their own wants and beliefs. I'm not sure if they'll truly be any worse off than they were before. Let people see who have eyes to see. Is all of this ideal? It sure doesn't seem to be. But God did let it happen. So of all the options God saw before Him when He watched where the world was headed, this is the way He chose to let it play out. These are the popes He chose to have in charge during these times. God's ways are not our ways. I think our job is to lament the sin of ourselves and others through prayer and atonement, put all our faith in God to lead and clean up His Church, and be at peace. God does not want us to worry.
Yes I think the tendency to see or want to see some kind of progressive increase in God's Revelation may be part of this diabolical disorientation. And the Hegelian dialectic may be connected. Some day I would like to get grounded in St. Thomas Aquinas' writings. But even St. Thomas viewed his own writings as like chaff in the wind at the end of his life after a mystical experience. It is really all about love and the heart. Heart speaks to heart as St. John Henry Newman said. On that subject, the latter wrote a book about the development of doctrine which I would like to read.
It is really helping me and my husband! We're facing some big, hard decisions right now, and it is so comforting to know God has it all in His hands.
PF said: I was born after Vatican II, but such videos are not dangerous for me, because I seek the Truth and study the tradition of the Church. Who is it dangerous for, then? People who want to believe sin is not sin? They will use the video to confirm their own wants and beliefs. ______________________________________________________ You do have a marvelous faith and that is such an encouragement to me! But like many Americans, the poorly catechized at times need to be "bonked on the head" in order to look past the optics. Confusing optics are similar to a watered down homily that fails to cut to the chase or even includes a veiled untruth. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee! Her prayers are such a beautiful channel of grace!
You have good insights Mariaba but I did not like this: There are many religious for whom doing the Will of God involves being hidden away from the world in Christ, devoted solely to praying for the world. In fact they uphold the world with their prayers. St. Faustina puts it very well in her diary, if I could find the passage. Yes, Our Lord did say that not every one who calls "Lord, Lord!" will be saved but those who do the will of the Father. But he also said that Martha had chosen the better part compared to the activism of Mary. There is a danger of sliding into activism if all the stress is on "doing".
I think part of the trouble with Henry VIII was that he wanted a male heir. I seem to remember that. The irony is that now we know that the sperm determine the sex of the child.
I totally understand. When we were attending a novus ordo church, the homilies were so bland and carefully empty of hard truths that my husband and I would struggle on the drive home every Sunday, wishing our priests had something more to teach us and our fellow parishioners. I know you give good, truthful homilies. You're doing your part!
I don't think I said God developed in the course of moving through the Bible but rather that there was a development in God's Revelation. I think we are saying the same thing. Yes, God had to transmit His Revelation of Himself according to the mode of the receivers.
Excellent post and excellent advice. I have started the Surrender Novena. In Proverbs 3:5-6 we are told to trust the Lord with our whole heart and to lean not on our own understanding. In all our ways we are to submit to God and He will make our path straight. In other words, He will sort out the mess in our lives. This promise to us from Jesus is echoed again in this powerful novena. Day 1: Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to Me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to Me produces the effect you desire and resolves all difficult situations. O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything! (x10) From the messages of Our Lady to Fr. Gobbi: 110. THIS IS WHY I SPEAK TO YOU (SEPTEMBER 25, 1976) "If you are little, you will always hear my voice. My beloved sons, do not let yourselves be misled by the many voices which are heard today. My Adversary deceives you with ideas and confuses you with words. You are, as it were, being submerged by a sea of words which grows ever greater and covers everything. The event of the Tower of Babel described in the Bible is now being repeated. You are now reliving the drama of the confusion of tongues. Your own words confuse you. Your own voices hinder you from understanding. It is now more than ever necessary to listen to my voice. This is why I speak to you. I speak to you to help you recover from the confusion, created today by your own words. Hence, as a Mother, I gently lead you to listen only to the Word of the Father. This Word was made flesh and life in my most pure womb. My Heart opened to welcome it, and guarded it as a precious treasure. I speak to you because today it is necessary to listen to his word. It is necessary to welcome it and to guard it Jealously. It is only the Word of my Son that I want you to hear. Today his Voice has become, as it were, drowned out: it is the Word of the Father, it is my Son Jesus who is no longer heard. His Word, so clearly contained in the Gospel, is, as it were, submerged by so many other human voices. You have made a gospel of your own with your own words. You, my beloved sons, should listen to and announce only the Word of my Son, just as It is set down in his Gospel. The Church speaks to you. But each one wants to have his own say as to what she is telling you, and thus insecurity and confusion spreads about. And the Church is more than ever torn by this real confusion of tongues. Little children understand their Mother I speak to you to tell you what sort of word you should listen to today in the Church: that of the Pope, and that of the Bishops united with him. The darkness grows ever deeper and I speak to you to be your light. Error spreads and I speak to you, my beloved sons, because you are called to remain in the Truth. You are ministers of the Word, you the heralds of the Truth. The future looks distressing and I speak to you to urge you to be confident and completely abandoned, in my motherly Heart. A deafening uproar of voices brings greater and greater confusion to everything. And I speak to you to implore silence, suffering and prayer. I speak to you to ask of you today those things which are most precious to Me: each day I gather up your prayer and your suffering and they are deposited by Me in the chalice of my Immaculate Heart and are offered to the justice of God which seeks to be appeased. Hence today everything can still be saved: and this is why I speak to you! Beloved sons, do not close your hearts to my words. The plan of the Father has made much of what awaits you depend on whether my words are harkened to or rejected. The purification can still be set back or shortened. Much suffering can still be spared you. Listen to Me, sons, with simplicity. If you are little, then you will hear Me and heed Me. Little children understand very well the voice of their Mother. Happy those who still listen to Me. They will now receive the light of the Truth and will obtain from the Lord the gift of salvation."
Years and years ago when I was very young I was reading Karl Rahner and his famous theory on the, 'Anonymous Christian'. Basically that proposes that someone can still be a Christian even if they are (say) a Communist. This happens Rahner said because they act and think like a Christian even though not a member of the Church. I was surprised when I repeated this to m brother Sean he reacted angrily. What was the point then he said of him being a Catholic and enduring all the discipline , like going to Mass every week? Of course he was right. Teaching like this radically undercuts the Faith. Looking back on it the main reason I lost my Faith was that I was full of hate. However the second reason was that I drunk in all kinds of poison from heretics. Another example of such poison was from Thomas Merton. He proposed that people from other religions like Zen Buddhists could achieve the highest states of prayer as Catholic saints could. Again this religious indifferentism radically undercuts the Faith. What is the point of being a Catholic if you could become a saint as a Zen Buddhist .A Sufi mystic or whatever? The Vatican is full to the brim of such total poison now. Full to the brim. The only progress this wicked brew brings is to Progress us all to hell.
@inveitatem Indeed, my words were unfortunate. However, the actions of consecrated persons and those living a contemplative life are put to an even greater test. Their crosses are very heavy and sometimes include the "dark night." There is no ethics without action, and there is no religion without ethical morality. Living together in the convent and the works of charity or tasks they must perform are the means by which God tests them. Prayer in itself has several characteristics: It tends toward friendship with God (toward love). He is persevering. He tends to advocate for others and is humble in that we cannot demand results.
Jason, I am so glad you posted this. There is hope. I pray always that Pope Leo will open up the Church to the TLM.
