On a lighter note ... More Crackpot Headlines:

"Catholic Exchange calls communist crank Dorothy Day 'holy,' compares her to Catherine of Siena"

I saw it on Canon212.

I dunno.  It made me laugh.

Actually, I always thought Dorothy Day was more like St. Catherine of Genoa, but I can see a kinship with Catherine of Siena as well.

I think Steve Skojec is going after Frank Walker now, a good sign that Skojec is distancing himself from the extremists.

Pope Benedict writes, The Church and the Scandal of Sexual Abuse.

-photo credit-

"The matter begins with the state-prescribed and supported introduction of children and youths into the nature of sexuality..."

It is important to note that Benedict wrote "at the invitation of Pope Francis, the presidents of the world's bishops' conferences gathered at the Vatican to discuss the current crisis of the faith and of the Church." [...] "Having contacted the Secretary of State, Cardinal [Pietro] Parolin and the Holy Father [Pope Francis] himself, it seemed appropriate to publish this text."

I could be wrong about that, but I don't think Benedict was acting in any way to damage Pope Francis nor the work undertaken by the bishops to exact reform.

That said, Benedict traces the origins of the scandal to the cultutal changes in the 1960's, especially as it concerned sexual morality.  He confirms for many of us, things we already knew - he addresses the problems candidly.  I can not help but see agreement between Benedict and Pope Francis, though each man has a different method or style.

Like Pope Francis*, Benedict points to the accuser, mentioned in Scripture, namely the Apocalypse and the Book of Job.  The Accuser is the agent attempting to discredit the Church, to destroy it, to make it apostasize and form a 'new' church.  Benedict writes:

The timeliness of what the Apocalypse is telling us here is obvious. Today, the accusation against God is, above all, about characterizing His Church as entirely bad, and thus dissuading us from it. The idea of a better Church, created by ourselves, is in fact a proposal of the devil, with which he wants to lead us away from the living God, through a deceitful logic by which we are too easily duped. No, even today the Church is not just made up of bad fish and weeds. The Church of God also exists today, and today it is the very instrument through which God saves us. 

It is very important to oppose the lies and half-truths of the devil with the whole truth: Yes, there is sin in the Church and evil. But even today there is the Holy Church, which is indestructible. Today there are many people who humbly believe, suffer and love, in whom the real God, the loving God, shows Himself to us. - Letter

I love how Benedict concludes the essay:

"At the end of my reflections I would like to thank Pope Francis for everything he does to show us, again and again, the light of God, which has not disappeared, even today. Thank you, Holy Father!"

Praise God!

* One cannot live a whole life accusing, accusing, accusing the Church. 

Whom does the office of the accuser belong to? Who is he that the Bible calls the great accuser - the devil! And those who spend their lives accusing are - I won't say children, because the devil doesn't have any - but they the friends, cousins and relatives of the devil. 

Well, when things are not right, one has to report the defects to correct, but when you report the defects, you make known the defects, you love the Church. Without love is something from the devil. - VR

No one who comes to me will I ever reject.

Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me. - John 6

I love the readings from John's Gospel for this week.  Today's reading is stunning, because Jesus speaks openly, revealing that he is I AM.  Since Sunday I have been pondering his message of merciful love, when he told the woman caught in adultry, 'neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.'  Jesus came not to condemn, but to save.  This is Truth.  

Yesterday I discovered that Sr. Consolata Betrone has been declared venerable.  She was a Capuchin Poor Clare from Italy, a mystic in the spirit of St. Therese of Lisieux*, to whom our Lord revealed the desires of his Sacred Heart: Confidence and love.  (To learn more about her, go here.)

He stressed his mission to save souls, teaching her a prayer, an act of continual love, "Jesus and Mary I love you, save souls."  He warned against passing judgment, and therefore, condemning others, assuring Consolata that 'no one who comes to him will he ever reject.  "The way my heart feels toward souls: though they be ugly, soiled, filthy, my love considers them always beautiful."

"My parental heart is wounded by every severe judgment, reprimand, or condemnation, even though based upon truth, and how much comfort, on the other hand, is afforded me by every act of compassion, indulgence and mercy?  You must never judge anyone; never say a harsh word against anyone; instead console my Heart, distract me from my sorrow, with eager charity, make me see only the good side of a guilty soul. [...] if you only knew how much I suffer when I must dispense justice!  My Heart needs to be comforted; it wishes to dispense mercy, not justice!" - Jesus Appeals To the World

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. - John 3

I like to read quietly and slowly and rest on the Gospels during Passiontide.  What they reveal about the Sacred Heart is echoed in Jesus' words to his friends, which can help one to understand our times better.  When we find we don't quite 'get it' and in the midst of confusion, we can say, "Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!"  Followed up with "Jesus I trust in you!"

Therefore, how can we doubt, and continually sadden the Holy Spirit and the Heart of Love?  Ven. Consolata helps us find and hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church, in and through that little, yet powerful prayer, "Jesus and Mary, I love you, save souls!" Repeated over and over from the heart, the Heart of Jesus cannot reject.

The readings and the Gospel in these last days of Lent are so important for us, this year especially.  We need to learn from the mistakes of the Apostles, the first bishops, who expected a political coup from Jesus, even though they were told that he must suffer and be rejected.  Today bishops and priests and laity expect the Church to triumph over her enemies, many are like the disciples, ridiculing the failures of the Pope, condemning his actions, his faulty diplomacy, and reluctance to condemn.  Yet that is how Christ himself acted, that is the example Christ gave to his disciples, revealing to us in every event, "It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice."

Venerable Consolat Betrone, pray for us.

Do not look to be consoled,
   - rather seek to console.

No one who comes to me will I ever reject.

*Sister Consolata  saw herself as one of the legion of even smaller souls which Saint Therese of Lisieux mentioned in the account her life, Story of A Soul. 

Veiling of Images for Passiontide.

I wish.

As a sign-symbol it worked better than all the felt banners, dried branches and rocks, and rough hewen crosses the Liturgical Environment Team could throw at us.  In some churches with really bad modern statues and art, covering them would be an act of mercy.  Just saying.

Something more to offer up.