On this, the eve of his May 18th birthday, I want to share a snip of the wisdom of the greatest man of the 20th century, since his teachings (along with Benedict xvi) are being repressed.... "The fundamental error of socialism is anthropological in nature. Socialism considers the individual person simply as an element, a molecule within the social organism, so that the good of the individual is completely subordinated to the functioning of the socio-economic mechanism. Socialism likewise maintains that the good of the individual can be realized without reference to his free choice, to the unique and exclusive responsibility which he exercises in the face of good or evil. Man is thus reduced to a series of social relationships, and the concept of the person as the autonomous subject of moral decision disappears, the very subject whose decisions build the social order. From this mistaken conception of the person there arise both a distortion of law, which defines the sphere of the exercise of freedom, and an opposition to private property. A person who is deprived of something he can call “his own,” and of the possibility of earning a living through his own initiative, comes to depend on the social machine and on those who control it. This makes it much more difficult for him to recognize his dignity as a person, and hinders progress towards the building up of an authentic human community."
Hard to believe that its 20 years today on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday that our beloved Holy Father returned to the house of the Father. Praying for his intercession. We still love you JP II. He had so many great writings but this has become important to me …. http://www.vatican.va/content/john-.../hf_jp-ii_apl_11021984_salvifici-doloris.html
A fair amount of the duration of my class's preparation for deacon ordination focused on the writings of Pope John Paul II. It's tempting to highlight the questionable incidences in his Papacy, but compared with some of the subsequent Papal writings, he was very clear and orthodox. Also, it appears the Vatican currently is applying tighter screws on lovers of the TLM. At least Bishop Schneider will be allowed to celebrate the TLM tomorrow at beautiful St. Mary Major Basilica this weekend, after the request to have the Mass celebrated in St. Peter's was denied. There is still a thinly disguised plan to bring the freedoms of Summorum Pontificum to an eventual end, I believe. May the Papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI soon be remembered positively; may Our Queen Lady soon intervene, that joyful peace and blessings for the Church may revive.
One thing I think we can see around the Popes and the saintly Church leadership leading up to and after Vatican 2 is how heavily they can be influenced, even if saints by bad currents. Bad ideas. Bad directions. All of us. But that anyone who follows the leadings of the Holy Spirit also has a highly Prophetic Spirit in their lives that goes against the currents. The danger is that we just get swept along with the currents no matter how bad they are. I would say the Pontificate of Pope St John Paul 2 was highly Prophetic. I would say the more we pray the more like the Prophets we become. I was just listening to a German nun this morning. Mother Maria Steiren who set up her own Benedictan Missionary Order in Africa. She was a real Prophet in this. She reminds me a lot of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster in the USA who body was found recently incorrupt.
