A warning from the Pope.

Cardinal Sarah Corrects the Anti-Papist Catholic Fringe.

Sarah said that whoever is against the pope is outside the Church.

ROME - Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, said the people who portray him as an opponent of Pope Francis are being used by the devil to help divide the Church.

“The truth is that the Church is represented on earth by the vicar of Christ, that is by the pope. And whoever is against the pope is, ipso facto, outside the Church,” the cardinal said in an interview published Oct. 7 in Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily. - Finish reading here.

Hopefully this will help the anti-papist-Catholic-conspiracy-mongers to repent.

“I would add that every pope is right for his time.” - Cardinal Sarah

Our friend Mary, the author at Catholic In Brooklyn just posted a great essay contradicting the contentious anti-papist rhetoric originating at Mrs. Kreitzer's blog, Les Femmes, signalling out the post, "Anti-Pope. That's my final decision." Authored by Susan Matthiesen, a contributor to Krietzer's blog.  As Mary notes, "It is a complete and total renunciation of Pope Francis and denies the validity of his papacy."  Please read Mary's entire post, it is very well done.  Mary Ann Kreitzer, Who Are You Serving?

Cardinal Sarah would be proud of Mary for her defense of the papacy and offering fraternal correction to bloggers such as Kreitzer and Matthiesen:

“Those who place me in opposition to the Holy Father cannot present a single word of mine, a single phrase or a single attitude of mine to support their absurd - and I would say, diabolical - affirmations,” Sarah said. “The devil divides, sets people against each other.”

Sarah said it is normal for the Church to experiences difficulties and divisions, but every Christian is called “to seek unity in Christ.”

“I would add that every pope is right for his time,” the cardinal said. “Providence looks after us very well, you know.” - Crux

The Holy Father's Homily to the New Cardinals

Look at who is in the background.

(source)

At the heart of the Gospel, we have just heard (Mk 6:30-37) is the “compassion” of Jesus...

Once again, I'm perplexed by all the fears expressed by the Pope's critics, now watching him closely in Rome.  Fr. Z posted a sort of panicked Action Item post, stressing the gloom over-hanging Rome.  To tell you the truth, Z and his cronies, as well as a couple of Cardinals and Bishops, cast a blanket of doom over everything they witness in Rome and the Church.  Especially as regards the Amazon Synod.  They are all stocked up on crazy, fearing Masons and 'homosexualists' and all sorts of boogie men 'infiltrating' the Church to establish the New World Order.  I don't get it?  How did these scare tactics influence and overtake so many?

Yesterday the Holy Father appointed new Cardinals.  A joyous occasion, considering the new Cardinals are not the typical, expected choices - a diverse bunch.  Critics interpret the Pope's appointments the way they assess the Presidents choices for advisers or appointees to the courts.  It is an attitude which lacks a supernatural perspective, judging as human beings, rather than as God judges. 

Jesus goes out in search of the outcast, those without hope. 

The Pope's homily reveals so much about the Holy father himself, and his ardent desire to make known the merciful love of God - his compassion for ourselves as well as the most alienated.  When I read his words, it seems to me I hear the Gospel and then everything falls into place - everything the Pope says or does makes sense in the light of Christ. 

At the heart of the Gospel, we have just heard (Mk 6:30-37) is the “compassion” of Jesus (cf. 34). Compassion is a keyword in the Gospel. It is written in Christ’s heart; it is forever written in the heart of God.

In the Gospels, we often see Jesus’ compassion for those who are suffering. The more we read, the more we contemplate, the more we come to realize that the Lord’s compassion is not an occasional, sporadic emotion, but is steadfast and indeed seems to be the attitude of his heart, in which God’s mercy is made incarnate.

Jesus goes out in search of the outcast, those without hope. People like the man paralyzed for thirty-eight years who lay beside the pool of Bethzatha, waiting in vain for someone to bring him to the waters (cf. Jn 5:1-9).

Jesus’ disciples often show themselves lacking compassion, as in this case, when they are faced with the problem of having to feed the crowds. In effect, they say: “Let them worry about it themselves…” This is a common attitude among us human beings, even those of us who are religious persons or even religious “professionals”. The position we occupy is not enough to make us compassionate, as we see in the conduct of the priest and Levite who, seeing a dying man on the side of the road, pass to the other side (cf. Lk 10:31-32). They would have thought: “It’s not up to me”. There are always justifications; at times they are even codified and give rise to “institutional disregard”, as was the case with lepers: “Of course, they have to keep their distance; that is the right thing to do”. This all too human attitude also generates structures lacking compassion. - Finish reading here.

As the Holy Father said:  "At the heart of the Gospel, we have just heard (Mk 6:30-37) is the “compassion” of Jesus ..."  So - is Jeus going to abandon us then?  Is he going to desert the Church?  What is wrong with those who reject His Vicar, those who slander and calumniate the Holy Father?  There are Catholics online who call him a monster, a pig, and an assortment of other derisive names, even suggesting he is possessed, a heretic, an anti-pope.  Those who reject him, reject Christ.

Pray for the Holy Father.  

Writing about things I don't know ...

Or why I no longer read novels.

That's my blog in a nut cup...

Actually my blog is my journal - a sort of diary - documentation based upon personal observation and experience, opinion and knowledge...

Although, I don't know the machinations behind the politics and scandals and religious debates which resonate throughout the ethersphere.  I'm not sure anyone really does - hence all the conspiracy theories and crazy cults and Facebook likes and dislikes and unfriending and promiscuous friending and following tweet-hearts which goes on online.  What?

So.  That said.  Having said that.  Be that as it may.

So. Anyway.  Whatever.  You know what I mean.  What.  (And I laugh)

• I like the Pope.

• I like the Church.

• I like Vatican II.

• I'm Catholic.

• I like the Ordinary Form of things.

• I like Laudato si.

• Obviously, I'm conservative - but not.

• I'm liberal - but not.

Others may define me however they like ...

But they don't know me as I am known:

Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me. You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery; you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass; and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me. - Hamlet, Act III, Scene ii

You cannot play upon me.

Now that I've cleared all of that up, Conservative and Conservative Catholics in the U.S. have their own strange history - their own 'mystery' - not so occult as one may imagine.  From Artur Rosman, a Patheos writer:

"American Catholic dissent has a conservative-Republican genealogy as I pointed out in the case of Andrew Sullivan’s important role in mainstreaming gay marriage. It turns out that Kennedy and Cuomo school also has its conservative predecessor: William F. Buckley.

The piece, “The Last Time Conservatives Dismissed a Major Encyclical, It Ended Terribly for Them,” is guaranteed to shake you out of your commonplaces, or at least help you to develop more adequate ones:

Buckley’s feud with the Catholic left came to a boil when Pope John XXIII released the encyclical Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher) in 1961, which reaffirmed the church’s support for government welfare programs and coupled them with calls to fight poverty in the Third World and end colonialism. The anti-imperialism of Mater et Magistra was particularly repellent to National Review conservatives, who thought that European domination of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia was essential for fending off communism.
In an angry editorial, National Review described Mater et Magistra as a “venture in triviality.” The magazine also published a joking note saying “Going the rounds in Catholic conservative circles, ‘Mater Si, Magistra no.’” (The joke was first made by Garry Wills, who was playing off a slogan of the Cuban Revolution: “Cuba si, Yanqui no.”)

This conservative-ideology fueled anti-papist crusade did not end there:

Buckley turned to his learned friend Garry Wills to work out a more theoretically satisfying response to liberal Catholics. A former seminarian, Wills tried to resolve the argument by writing a pioneering scholarly treatise on the nature of encyclicals, titledPolitics and Catholic Freedom (1964). In this book, Wills argued that encyclicals are merely advisory, and not binding on specific policies . . . [click below to continue reading--the best/worst is yet to come]" - Read the rest at CosmosTheInLost  (Really cool header BTW)

Not bad for a Patheo-gen, huh?

When I say I don't fit in - I really don't - and I never have.  Just when you think I do - I don't.  I've battled temptations to try to fit in for most of my life - but it is next to impossible for me to do that.  And that is how I remain Catholic and faithful to Catholic teaching.

Sorry to disappoint the Blogosterics.


I'm trying so hard to remember something I forgot.

Bonus pull-quote: For more than three decades neo-conservative Catholics like Michael Novak, George Weigel, and the late Richard John Neuhaus struggled mightily to demonstrate that there is a near perfect congruence between church teachings and the policies of the Republican Party. - Source

I'm against it.

And what's up with the Acton Institute and Fr. Sirico?  Huh?

I'm against it.

You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery...

You little freak.

How does it feel to be such a freak.

Song for this post here.


What?

On Thursday, Laudato Sii is expected to be officially released by the Vatican...

"... 'Supposing the Pope looked up and saw a cloud and said 'It's going to rain', would that be bound to happen?' 'Oh, yes, Father.' 'But supposing it didn't?' He thought a moment and said, "I suppose it would be sort of raining spiritually, only we were too sinful to see it.'" - Fr. Mowbray, Brideshead Revisited

Is it just me or is it really, really hot out?


Song for this post here.

Dance Bonus:  The mood of the Catholic channel/blogosterium here.