Making the mistake of confusing Jesus with the people inside of the Church

And that brings us to the point. Like the guy in the “I hate religion but love Jesus” video, I was making the mistake of confusing Jesus with the people inside of the Church. And this is, in a nutshell, the main problem with post-Vatican II Catholicism AND Protestantism in all its forms. BOTH – because the Novus Ordo milieu and so-called “spirit of the Council” is simply the Protestantization of the Church and the Liturgy.  And since Protestantism is a heresy, and leads inevitably to atheism (Look around, kids.  What exactly do you think is happening?  You have a front-row seat to the five-centuries coming culmination of Luther’s heresy.), the Novus Ordo WILL die, if not by the Arm of Justice, then by its own built-in suicide mechanism.

What is going on in these liturgies and services is NOT the worship of God. What is going on is the WORSHIP OF THE GROUP. Christ is merely the meme, or excuse, that these people are using in order to get together and WORSHIP THEMSELVES. The focus is ENTIRELY on the people.

Read more from Ann Barnhardt

Shocking violence and depravity from San Francisco pro-aborts

Police Had to Form Human Shield Around Pro-Lifers to Protect Them From Abortion Activists

The 2nd Vatican Council, and much more its aftermath and application, by and large have been a disaster for the Church, a disaster at once pastoral, intellectual and institutional.

As a result of this disaster the popular Catholic life that had existed was in large part destroyed.  Although Catholic culture is much broader than simply the reception of the sacraments and catechesis, it depends upon such formal elements of Catholic life. Without them it cannot last.

It is thus hard to envisage any ready way out of our present situation, since both the formal and the popular sides of Catholic life have been affected.  So how can we respond to that situation, in which the Church neither enjoys the patronage of any powerful government nor commands widespread enthusiasm and loyalty on the part of the Catholic people at-large?  In such circumstances how can the Church and Catholic life be maintained, nourished, and extended?

Sadly, the measures that can be suggested to achieve this end seem woefully inadequate.

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Pope Francis finally gets around to a little “judging”: “The greatest sin today is that people have lost the sense of sin.”

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – “The greatest sin today is that people have lost the sense of sin” and therefore “the meaning of the kingdom of God” and in its place a “supernatural anthropological vision” has emerged according to which “I can do anything.”

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Seattle Seahawks tight end Luke Willson – practicing Catholic.

Have you always been able to connect your Catholic faith with sports?

My faith is a huge part of who I am today, and it always has been huge, ever since I was a child. My siblings and I were raised to believe what the Church teaches and to act in certain ways. Clear demarcation of right and wrong made decision-making pretty easy. That’s incredibly helpful for pursuing excellence in life, because you see what’s truly valuable and worth sacrificing for and also what you shouldn’t even bother to give attention to.

It’s an irreplaceable thing to be raised in the Catholic Church, where you have the teachings of Jesus passed down through the centuries. His goal is our eternal salvation, but even if you look only at the earthly benefits you get from being Catholic, they’re amazing. The peace of mind that comes from being in God’s will is awesome. I’m very grateful for the Catholic upbringing I had. Without it, I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today. Not even close.

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Submitted by Robert K.

More “New Springtime” for the post-VII Church: Diocese of Helena, Montana files bankruptcy due to $15M clerical abuse settlement.

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan comes after confidential mediation sessions with the plaintiffs’ attorneys and insurers, resulting in a proposed deal to resolve the abuse claims, diocese officials said.

Bishop George Leo Thomas expressed “his profound sorrow” and apologized to the victims in a news conference.

Link

Unholy alliance: Catholics and Democrats in Chicago.

Over the span of 50 years the Democratic Party and the archdiocese arrived at a mutual understanding. Each would protect and support the other. Each would deal with scandals and corruption by looking the other way. The sheepskin of civil rights hid the wolf of minority segregation.

As the Church became more insular, the Democrats became more liberal. The passage of same-sex marriage in Illinois demonstrated the price the Church paid for the marriage of convenience between Catholics and Democrats.

In spite of this duplicity, many Democrats like those in the group “Catholics for Obama” still believe that the most anti-Catholic president in U.S. history is something other than what he is.

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Shameless support for Pro Abortion politicians leads to Girl Scout Cookie Boycott

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Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wa: A woman’s right to access free or low-cost contraception under the Affordable Care Act trumps anyone else’s religious freedom.

The Obama administration is being handed a lesson in Christianity 101 as religious leaders rise up to condemn an Obamacare requirement that forces religious organizations to pay for abortifacients or face crippling financial penalties.

“Christian doctrine states it is a sin for a Christian to enable or aid another in doing what the Christian believes to be sin,” states a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by a coalition of dozens of prominent Protestant theologians, African-American pastors and participants in the Manhattan Declaration.

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed over the requirement in the Affordable Health Care Act that employers pay for abortifacents. Two cases, involving Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Woods, are pending for review before the Supreme Court.

Even members of Congress have weighed in against the provision, which effectively forces Christians to violate their faith by participating in the killing of unborn children.

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Editor’s note: Sen. Murray’s totally wrong-headed point of view is very popular in the Seattle area, where liberal “Catholicism” has been the norm, for many years.

Nasty church politics and intrigue in liberal Germany

One might think we were living back in the days of the Renaissance.

Tremendously high expenses for “luxurious” buildings by the Bishop of Limburg have brought him into the headlines as the “Protz-Bischof” (“the showy Bishop”). Scandal has rocked the diocese and Rome decided therefore in October 2013 that bishop Tebartz-van Elst was to take some time out, while a committee investigated the matter. He has retired to the Bavarian monastery of Metten, while awaiting a final decision.

Given the reaction of the press, of the diocese and the general public outcry, one might have thought he had done something far more serious. In reality, this affair is really about something quite different than a project that went over budget.

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The little known encyclical on Marriage that predated Humanae Vitae by almost 40 years

When the Anglican church at the Lambeth Conference of 1930 became the first Christian church or sect to break ranks with the 2000 year belief and practice of the Christian Faith regarding contraception, there was massive scandal in religious circles.  

The breech in doctrine was roundly derided even by most other “mainline” liberal protestant sects.  Of course, Pope Pius XI responded with the seminal Casti Connubii, which just absolutely castigated the Anglican position and still is the most comprehensive Magisterial statement on the evils of contraception and the “sex for pleasure” mentality that has ever been released.

All Catholics should read it – the differences between Casti Connubii and Humanae Vitae are stark.

Link to article

Read  Casti Connubii

Read Humanae Vitae

Aging relic of the 1960’s culture finally gets his picture on the cover of Rolling Stone

Text and photo

A current-day case of apparent demonic activity and subsequent exorcism in Gary, Indiana

Read more to see what actually transpired and why the handling of these types of things is best left to the experts.

CBS Grammys “marriage equality” routine was patently offensive

Los Angeles (AFP) – The music industry’s top night turned into the big day for 34 couples on Sunday as Madonna and other stars presided over a mass wedding in a celebration of gay marriage.

The 34 couples — some same-sex, some opposite-sex and diverse in race and appearance — exchanged rings before the Grammys stage at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, which was momentarily transformed into a brightly lit church with a gospel choir.

Link

Editor’s note: An event worthy of the “Son of Perdition” – proudly and gleefully perpetrated upon millions of unsuspecting viewers by the CBS Television Network.

Before and After Vatican II: Statistics Do Not Lie.

Graph from CARA Georgetown U.

You can see by this graph, that since Vatican II, 50 % more Catholics have stopped attending Sunday Mass.

There’s more

A prophetic “sign” – or just bad timing?

As tens of thousands of people watched in St. Peter’s Square today, two white doves released in St. Peter’s Square were attacked by a crow and a seagull.

Text and photos

Editor’s note: Where’s Daniel the Prophet when we need him? What should we make of this, if anything?

Today’s Catholic Church is whatever “they” say it is … until “they” say it’s something else!

…does the Church consider the Second Vatican Council an ecumenical council? What is the authority attributed to it?

The late Melkite Patriarch Maximos V did not, as seen in 30 Days (no. 2, 1997). Maximos declared it “unthinkable” to treat the second millennium “Councils of the Western Church” (!) as a condition for unity with the Orthodox, “including papal infallibility”(!!). And: “…it must be recognized that all the Councils after the first millennium, including Vatican I and II, cannot be described as ecumenical… . The decisions taken in those assizes cannot regard the Eastern Churches which did not participate in them.”

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Editor’s note: A funny thing happend on the way to Vatican II: A handful of “token” Protestants showed up, but the bulk of the Eastern Orthodox Churches were either never invited or failed to attend. Hence, the “ecumenical” 2nd Vatican Council turned out to be a lot less all-inclusive and all-embracing than many/some/a select few might want you to believe.

Of course, the liberals/modernists who succesfully hijacked the council are still firmly in charge, and if they say the council was ecumenical, then “ecumenical” it must be!

Having succesfully dispensed with truth, it was then a simple matter to go on to redefine and reinterpret the entire Church – making the Mass, Canon Law, the Sacred Deposit of Faith, the Bible, the Sacraments and even the sanctuaries whatever “they” say they are … sort of like the “New Pentecost” of which the last several popes have spoken – but with man, rather than the Holy Spirit, providing the bulk of the inspiration.

Wouldn’t that be one hell of a turn for a Catholic “ecumenical” council to take?

Is the pope Catholic?

Oy vey! Pope Francis has begun drafting an encyclical on ecology.

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Editor’s note: Why the oy vey? The man who governs the church is now behaving like Jimmy Carter.

We have a pope who promotes himself like Barack Obama, governs like Harry Reid, and  has the “ecological sensitivity” of Jimmy Carter. What more could any Catholic want?

Video highlights of the 2014 Washington, D.C. March for Life

Less than 2 minutes. Click here to watch.

The Faith, the Truth, is no longer clear, no longer the possession of the ordinary holy believer in the pew but is something handed down from the specialist Cardinal or Archbishop or Pope or theologian.

We cannot compromise with the Truth, if we are to be taken seriously as witnesses to the Truth. We cannot compromise with the Truth if we are to be credible witnesses. There can be no worthwhile evangelisation unless it begins and ends in Truth and unless the evangelisers are believable.

Personally, I believe that the ‘misson’ of the Second Vatican Council was to find a way to express the Truth in the modern world, however in the interpretation of the Council’s teaching a fracture was introduced between the Church’s practice and prayer, and the Church’s belief.

The fracture meant the Church lost its credibility, hence our churches emptied. We became seen as ‘hypocritical’. We lost the sense of ‘noble simplicity’ which comes from the basic premise of the Catholic Church that Jesus Christ is God, God founded the Church and promises to be with it until the end of time, hence you can -and must- trust the Catholic Church, the Church ceased to be immediately intelligible, the greater Truth was obscured by lesser truths.

In practice it meant that theology, and everything else, including liturgy, became the realm of the specialist…

Read more from Fr. Ray Blake

Editor’s note: Our dioceses are staffed with many of these “specialists” – people who went off to Catholic-in-name-only universities, learned one of several new and different, thoroughly fractured versions of the Catholic faith (often from Protestant or radical, nominally Catholic teachers) and then returned to wreak havock on the faith of the people.

I attended a Bible study conducted by one such as this. 

According to my prestigously degreed instructor, the Gospel writers had “put words in the mouth” of Jesus, our Savior – words which he had likely never, ever spoken.

To find out what Jesus actually said I would need to consult the “Q” source – a totally theoretical and non-existent “document” which allegedly contained all the “authentic sayings of Jesus” – from which all the Gospels were (supposedly) derived.

The Blessed Virgin Mary was virgin no longer – but simply a “young girl”.  “Full of grace” was “out”. Mary had merely “found favor with the Lord.”

Henceforth, only the passages of scripture that (arguably) dealt specifically with matters of salvation would be considered inerrant. (The Holy Spirit had evidently taken a day off – or three – when he was inspiring the sacred writers!)

I soon found it necessary to ask precisely what had happened over the last forty years to cause the entirety of the Sacred Scriptures (and supposedly, their official interpretation) to so drastically change? But no facts were forthcoming. No detailed answer was provided.

A “common core” of modernist heresies

There were no new discoveries – no additional archeological discoveries, no new books, no new divine revelation. This is what is taught at university, these days – and this is what was now passing for “official” Catholic “truth”.

The pastor was OK with it. The other attendees uttered not a word of protest, and the bishop could see no real issue. Didn’t I know that the  USCCB approved, New American (Catholic) Bible, said pretty much all the same things?

In his article, Father Blake hit things right on the head: The unchanging, irrevocable truths of the Catholic Church have, for many, many years now, been obscured by the vain (and probably illegal) actions of the prideful and sinful clerics who continue to dominate it. The result is a Catholic faith that has been fractured – wrecked – almost beyond recognition.