St. Bernard
If only those who are incapable of remaining continent would fear to profess perfection rashly and to assume the title of celibacy...it would without doubt have been better to marry than to burn (1 Cor 7:9), to be saved in the humble ranks of the faithful than to live less worthily in the lofty ranks of the clergy and be more severely judged...They abstain from from the remedy afforded by marriage and give themselves up to all forms of vice. (On Conversion, a Sermon to Clerics, trans. Bernard Saïd, OSB)
There is a grass roots movement gathering steam calling for the mass resignation of all US Cardinals like happened in Chile. Pope Francis can either accept or reject. Seems radical but necessary.
ReplyDeleteThe bishops resigned in Chile not the Cardinals though I doubt they have a leg to stand on but since I do not have the gift of reading hearts, minds, souls, I will refrain from calling for their heads as I will for those of the US Cardinals.
DeleteSusan, there is a mixed bag among the Cardinals here in the US. Some were made Cardinal by St. JPII some by Benedict (Wuerl), some by Papa Francis.
I want to strike the same posture as that of Saint Bernard in the picture ... one of intercession, prayer, humility, love, hope, personal conversion,penance.
My hope is more will join Saint Bernard in imitation of such, myself included.
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DeleteWallacehamilton 8:09
DeleteI meant to include Bishops in my statement. I think all US Cardinals have come up though the ranks and all were Bishops at some point so they too must take the same action. Anything less is ineffective and just rearranging those Titanic deck chairs. The news media is again being superficial in talking about this issue. It is a two headed snake. The past and the present. The coverup and the ongoing gay controversy within the clergy. I have long felt a schism is coming. I wonder what awaits us?
You are right to imitate good St. Bernard, and I will gladly join you. It is very good to place ourselves at the feet of Jesus and to offer Him comfort, and to ask for reparation. It is going to be a long, painful time of penance we will all have to suffer. God bless you.
DeleteMeh ... let's start at the bottom then since many lay Catholics support the LGBT crowd and Fr. James Martin. Just read an article about that fact too written by a Catholic convert. So while they do not support rape/child/seminarian abuse, I bet many in pews support homosexual clergy. So yeah, while heads may roll at the top, the gay agenda will still be pushed from the bottom, from the pews, in secret.
DeleteBut hey, what do I know?
I only know one thing ... personal conversion, a change of heart, repentance, prayer, hope, remaining steadfast, that's a full plate and one I hope to follow through on and all while placing this entire cabal at the foot of the Cross of the Crucified One.
Leaves me no time let alone energy to even begin to try and pull the plank from my brother's eye since I got two in my own and they're log jammed.
St. Bernard pray for the Bride of Christ to endure the storms here now and the many more to come.
Amen!
Susan, Robert George has some solid commentary regarding the current scandals. I suggest you take a moment and read it.
DeleteHe confirmed what I have come to understand more clearly now, that of complete disobedience to God. The complete abandonment of fidelity, of love, of relying on our good and most holy God for every single gift, virtue, moment.
Reminds me of Lucifer, when he rebelled saying,"I will not obey!"
Tossed straight into hell too for such arrogance.
Anyway, just my two cents.
While I agree this is a two fold controversy. I want accountability at the top. Anything less is unacceptable to me. The same men apparently are deep in both controversies apparently. They must all resign in humility and penance. Let Pope Francis choose who goes and who stays.
DeleteAccountability will come but that's gonna take lots of patience and prayer on our part. The Vatican works in years, not months unless the Lord himself, literally steps in and wipes His own temple clean, laity included.
DeleteMy gut tells me even if that miracle were to occur, many will still cry foul. Whatever, I ain't gonna fret since the Lord is already at work having exposed some truly vile vermin.
St. Bernard was a man ahead of his time. We could use him right now, with his sensible, forthright defense of the Faith. And St. Francis of Assisi ("Francis, rebuild My Church, which has fallen into ruin,") and St. Catherine of Siena, who was not afraid to call out even the pope when she thought he and the hierarchy were not following the faithful path set out by Jesus for His Church.
ReplyDeleteWallace, I think you are right. But I am afraid we may get what we ask for. If all the Cardinals resign, the faithful and the unfaithful, Pope Francis will be the one who will name the new cardinals. Like our beloved St. John Paul, I believe he is a good, holy, and saintly man, but that he has a blind spot when it comes to sizing up the character of others. For all his goodness, remember, it was St. John Paul who supported and promoted Fr. Maciel, the head of the Legionnaires of Christ, and it was our good Pope Benedict who was left to impose punishment for Maciel's crimes and deal with the humiliation and fall out in the wake of Maciel's scandal and sin.
Aside from this, whoever reads this, please, if you will, ask St. Bernard to intercede with Jesus to send a good, holy, and faithful pastor to my parish, Akron St. Bernard, and our sister parish, St. Mary. I am sure Jesus has a plan for us, but school is starting and we are a great burden for our excellent and much-loved parochial vicar, who is close to retirement age, to handle on his own.
God bless and protect all here, and our brokenhearted Church.
Hi Terry - sorry to post something unrelated. I left a comment on an older post with your icon of Elijah with the Virgin Mary in the cloud. I am wondering if it is for sale or if you have prints of it for purchase. Thanks...
ReplyDeleteHi David - I missed your comment, I'm not always alerted to a new comment on an old post. I'm sorry I do not have it for sale - I've done 3 versions and each are in cloisters. I no longer have prints of any of them. I'm sorry. You are welcome to download any of the photos, but they are not high resolution for printing. But I have no copyright restrictions. God bless you.
DeleteThank you for your reply. I am appreciative of your permission to download it.
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