October 18, 2014
Faithful Catholics the world over have been deeply concerned about the machinations going on at the Synod these past weeks. I am no exception. While I firmly believe that Jesus meant it when He said in Matt. 16:18: “And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”, I, nonetheless, am horrified to see a very small group of bishops conniving to control the outcome of the synod in the favor of secular desires. Visit Father Z’s blog to read more details on the Synod.
The midterm report, called the Relatio (full text here), was a scandalous piece of work and caused the Synod hall to erupt as faithful Cardinals reacted against its contents. The Kasperites and gay ideologues in attendance must have thought they could shove their agendas down the throats of the majority, but fortunately that failed. What I noticed was a complete lack of quotes from Sacred Scripture, the CCC, and Fathers of the Church to bolster their secular nonsense in this document, precisely because no such quotes exist. Nevertheless, Kasper has been the darling of the media and has given numerous interviews in which he continues to claim that the majority of the Synod backs his approaches and that he has the backing of the Pope.
One interesting event this week was the release of an interview Kasper gave to Edward Pentin of the National Catholic Register and published at Zenit on Wednesday, October 15. Pentin recorded it on his iPhone and Kasper seemed only too happy to promote his views. When severe criticism erupted over his remarks, not only on the Synod atmosphere concerning divorce and remarried Catholics being admitted to Holy Communion, but particularly on the African Cardinals of whom he said, “they should not tell us too much what we have to do,” Kasper denied that he had ever given the interview in the first place and Zenit removed it from their site. Read the entire interview at Pentin’s site.
Claiming that “this is the spirit of the Council”, Kasper is the poster child for why Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had to declare repeatedly that the Second Vatican Council had to be interpreted with the “hermeneutic of continuity”. That a Pope would even have to make such statements shows that skullduggery is, and has been for the past 50 years, afoot on the part of key Church leaders. These men are well educated in theology, Scripture, and the Catechism but we’d never know it by their utterances. It’s obvious that they want to court the adulation of the world and that Christ appears not to be the center of their lives. They seem to truly want to change Church teachings through subterfuge bit by bit.
I was thinking this morning of Judas, the betrayer of Our Lord. Jesus loved him and kept him with the rest as His closest companion. Even up to the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the sacred priesthood, Judas was there. He saw all the miracles Jesus wrought, His compassion and mercy towards sinners, the sick, and the dead, His unwavering expression of the truth, but still he persisted in his evil ways. Did Judas remain in Jesus’ inner circle because he believed that one day he would have even greater power and control over money to feed his greed? Surely it couldn’t have been because he believed and took to heart all of Jesus’ teachings and admonitions, or that he had a commitment to the truth. Jesus must have known all along what Judas was up to and his motivations, yet He permitted him to stay close.
I am sad to say that in our Church today we have a frightening number of apparent Judases among the clergy. How else can we interpret the words and deeds of bishops and cardinals that are in clear opposition to the words of Christ? These past couple of weeks surely show that we laity must pray and sacrifice for our bishops, and keep them close as Jesus did even when they are up to questionable behavior.
God never asks a person to live a particular vocation without giving that person abundant graces to fulfill his calling. That would be utterly cruel and against His nature. Therefore, we must assume that when a person acts contrary to his calling, and in this case the bishop’s calling is first and foremost to teach the faith clearly, he is betraying his vocation and repulsing the graces God is giving him. The Catechism of the Catholic Church #888 couldn’t be more clear about the preeminent task of bishops:
Bishops, with priests as co-workers, have as their first task “to preach the Gospel of God to all men,” in keeping with the Lord’s command. [Mk. 16:15] They are heralds of the faith who draw new disciples to Christ; they are authentic teachers” of the apostolic faith “endowed with the authority of Christ.”
Attempting to introduce new practices that undermine the teachings of Christ is a betrayal. Refusing to reach out with the truth in charity yet not compromising with the world is a betrayal. Peace of heart and life in union with God is only found in staying true to the teachings of the Church which we received from Christ and the apostles. To downplay or deny these teachings when ministering to those in pain from their mistakes and sins is the height of cruelty. The bishop who does this will be accountable to Christ on judgment day, less so the flock he has deceived.
Fortunately, Cardinal Pell has some comforting words concerning the outcome of the Synod for faithful Catholics everywhere. You can also find today’s Bulletin from the Synod here, which places the focus where it belongs. Take a few minutes to listen to Cardinal Pell, who is one of Pope Francis’ advisers on the council of eight cardinals.
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R. Now and forever!
(Click on the link above to read why I end my posts this way.)
This post linked to Sunday Snippets.
