With continued lost of Real Presence in the faithful.... the more focus will be on performance and entertainment more applause and more on the people than on God. The Churches are turning into concert halls, meeting places the community and catch-ups and even a place to purchase coffee during Mass? Perhaps we should remind ourselves what had happen perviously in the temple of God... "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the chairs of them that sold doves: And he saith to them: It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves." ~ Matthew 21:12-13
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All Saints' Day is about celebrating Catholics who have lived their lives in such a holy way that when they passed on, they were worthy of entering Heaven.
Some are now saying that we can be saints here on earth... but does it sound logical? Imagine life as a sports grand final game, and you are playing it the best you can. You may be a great sportsperson but can you really call yourself as a champion when the game is not yet over? The closest living person we got to call as a saint in our time was "Mother Theresa." She was dubbed the "living saint," yet notice how she was not called a "saint" until she died and was later officially canonised as a saint. No living Catholic would call themselves a "saint" or "living saint for that matter." It's just not a humbling thing to do. So what can we do - what do we do? What does Saint Paul say? "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." ~ 2 Timothy 4:7 Is this not fitting enough, on how we should play our one and only grand final? Saints do not play this worldly game, they do not fall as we do like foot-soldiers when we fight the good fight. What matters is when the game ends, we did our best and that we have kept the faith. One thing that we absolutely must do is to fight through prayer... Saints don't need to do this, but we do. "If you pray well, you'll live well, if you live well, you'll die well, if you die well, all is well." ~ St. Augustine We don't need to be saints in this world, we can't be. What we need is to keeping fighting until the end and that we kept the faith. Saint's did not live their lives as "saints of this world" here and now, but as faithful Catholics who continuously plays and fights for the real end game. Thats all that matters. Heaven, purgatory and hell are all real, and also is the reward for the foot-soldier - the faithful Catholic. So on All Saints Day, let us cheer to all the faithful Catholics who have made it. Cheers to all the Saints - Not for us wannabes! It seems that faitful Catholics are wanting to attend the Latin Mass, over the Novus Ordo Mass and Neo Catholics are worried. Please have the look at the following response to this in a Novus Ordo bulletin notice from St. Bernadette's Parish in Australia. Is this really written out of charity for Catholics who simply want to attend the Latin Mass, or just to scare Faithful Catholics away from the beauty of the Latin Mass?
The bottom line is, if both forms of the Mass are the same, why make such a big deal out of it? If you love the Novus Ordo form keep on celebrating it. If other Catholics love the Latin Mass let them attend it. (Catholic Conference Centre: Catholic Mass arrangement removed and covered-up, for Buddhist worship.) As Catholics is it acceptable to accommodate other faiths as we do with our own faith - to treat our Faith as the same as other faiths? To make this point clear, we should ask ourselves, what is the purpose of our faith? To save our own soul, and to save other souls. WITNESS was made aware of a Catholic conference centre where Mass is celebrated on a regular basis. Only recent the centre has allowed Buddhists to use the facilities for worship. After talking with a few members of the Catholic community, it becomes apparent that this news, was quite common knowledge. The majority did not seem to agree with this - that this was their place of worship, not other faiths. While the minority took the impression that it "pays the bills", and that the priest in charge can do as he see fit. It must be noted that the whole property was purchased and built by the Catholic community through their generous donations. While dialogue will be likely needed for a positive outcome for this Catholic community. Let's leave that up to the shepherd and his sheep.. Having said that, what are the broader implications? The following Latin maxim tells us how we do one thing, affects how we do other things, and vice versa. So how we live, will actually effect how we believe, and how we worship...This applies also when we accommodate other faiths, the same way we accommodate our own Faith. It is like having one facility for two different sports. Sure they are different but maybe, just maybe, we'll try out the other sport and who knows we might even like it and never go back. Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi. What about following.., what is the Gospel teaching us? How seriously do we follow it, and act on it? "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work." As stated, at the heart of our Faith is to save our soul and the souls of others. Surely accomodating other faiths is not the way to go? "There is nothing colder than a Christian who is not concerned for the salvation of souls." Seriously - we are called to love our neighbour, but the real problem arises when we do not know our Faith enough, or we do not believe in our Faith enough, or even love our Faith enough to supersede other faiths and to actually love our neighbour. We want to save our own souls by doing good to our neighbours, but do we really want to save our neighbour's soul also?
This video is about Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre; a great holy man who could see before-hand the dangers of modernism within the Catholic Church. In this video Michael Matt talks about Archbishop Lefebvre with great admiration. I would also like to put it out there that Michael Matt is also a great Catholic Man, who loves Catholic tradition, aka the Catholic Church. Michael speaks plainly the Catholic truth and does not misdirect Catholics toward any biases. Thank you Michael Matt for your Faith and works. (Thank you also to Michael Sestak for making this shorter version of Michael Matt's "The Church of Accompaniment: Luther vs. Lefebvre.") (Note: If you clearly understand modernism inside the Catholic Church and love it, this video is not for you.) Let's get to the heart of it... In order to push "forward" to get with the times; Modernists want to change anything and everything they can. They have been successful so far in changing the Church’s liturgy, it’s traditions and even managed to ignore it’s laws, but that can only go so far. They are not happy until the Church is fundamentally something else – something that it is not. But something is in their way. What is it?
They have hit the final roadblock and there is no getting pass it unless they change it. It is the fundamental laws, the dogmas, the absolute truths of the Catholic Church. They want to change it, but they cannot. They have been trying to change the truth, while remaining silent about the truth. Faithful Catholics are seeing this happening and so now have called them out… there is no way around this… It will be a test for each and every member of the Church to follow that they love. The Modernists want a new church for their times, they want to change the Catholic Church into this new church that it is not. The Church belongs to Christ, and Christ does not change. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” ~ Hebrews 13:8 Something gotta give, but not the Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church: The Church's ultimate trial 675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh. +++ In relation to LifeSiteNews article: ‘Apocalyptic’: Filial Correction organizer warns of schism if errors aren’t corrected With all due reverence, where is it? Where is the 'all due' reverence to God in the New Mass?
There is one thing that advocates of the New Mass do not care to focus too much on, something they know they cannot compete with the Old Mass. Perhaps, it is not their primary goal at all - that is the 'all due' reverence to God. For if the New Mass was to focus on all due reverence to God it will look something very much like the Old Mass. However that is not the goal of the New Mass. Let's try to prove it. The goal of the New Mass is the welcoming of each other; it is focused more for the people, instead of for God. If we randomly chose a few people off the streets and took them to both the Old and New Mass, and ask them which one seem more "reverent" and which one seem more "welcoming", we would be able to predict their responses fairly accurately. So why is this? It's because that's the intended purpose of both the Old and New Mass. One Mass clearly focuses on all due reverence to our Lord, the other is focuses on welcoming the people. So in a way it depends on what you want to focus more on, our Lord or the people. Remember we are not just talking about showing reverence to God, we are talking about showing "all due" reverence to God. The moment a priest from the New Mass realizes this and tries to change the focus on giving more reverence to God, he will face strong opposition. Why? Because the New Mass is not build for that... That's the evidence, that's the proof. While advocates of the New Mass keep on saying 'we can never go back', but why? Does God not deserve our all due reverence to Him? The faithful will always seek out what is righteous, and they will give back what is owed to God. Ad Orientem: Are we really waiting for Christ's return? Let's hope so...
Let's make a simple case for Ad Orientem, and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit. Matthew 24:27 "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be." Jude 1:21 "Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life." Philippians 3:20 "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;" Luke 12:36 "Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks." [Let us be honest: when we are eagerly waiting, we are more likely to be facing the door, than sitting together facing each other. This sense of eagerness for Christ to return should be most relevant at Mass than any other times in our daily lives; for we are together as part of the Mystical Body of Christ. So why does the priest and the people need to face each other and not to the east? Has our sense of eagerness been lost for Christ's return? ] Catechism of the Catholic Church III. CHRIST OFFERED HIMSELF TO HIS FATHER FOR OUR SINS Christ's whole life is an offering to the Father 606 The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do [his] own will, but the will of him who sent [him]",413 said on coming into the world, "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."414 From the first moment of his Incarnation the Son embraces the Father's plan of divine salvation in his redemptive mission: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work."415 The sacrifice of Jesus "for the sins of the whole world"416 expresses his loving communion with the Father. "The Father loves me, because I lay down my life", said the Lord, "[for] I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father." [Yes - it's the offering of Christ TO the Father, NOT to us but for us. Notice with ad orientem we face "to" the Father (eastwards) not "to" the people. That is the focus - to the Father. Too many people who do not like ad orientem say they want to see the priest, to see Christ. So if the priest is Christ would Christ not want to look to the Father? After all the offering is to the Father, not to us but for us. So why is it not suitable for us to face along with Christ to the Father? Let us appreciate the Mass for what it really is - the offering of Christ to His Father, for our salvation. Appreciate the significance of Christ's love, His offering to His Father.] If we are to wait, let us wait eagerly, and if we are to "look forward" (Nicene Creed), let us look forward to the east. If we are to celebrate Christ's glory, let it be the offering of Christ to His Father and not to us, but for us... Let us not look to each other but to the east, to the coming of Christ, to where God is. For a very long time now the Catholic Church have chosen to go "soft" on the Catholic teachings in the hope it would not to offend anyone; That there was "no right or wrong answers"; that we have to be nice and get along while compromising our faith. Even now we are being told half truths and many fall for it. Like "the Church has the fullness of the truth" while implying it was "ok" to remain outside the Church, they just don't have the full truth; that there is even other paths to Heaven. Christ would not be pleased. Due to the softness in the teaching of the faith, Catholics had to, or choose to make up their own beliefs and would consider it as being Catholic, since they are Catholics. They would also follow other Church leaders who they themselves do not follow Church teachings. Just take a look at the "Universal Church" today... unfortunately not so much. How do we fix this, what can we do, or at the very least what can the individual do? When faced with uncertainty or peer pressure, or even if things sound to good to be truth... Please repeat after me: "What does the Church teach?" Yes, what does the Church teach? We only need to look to the unchanging truth of the Church, it's tradition, what our saints have said and taught us. St Paul even said: "So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter." ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:15 If we claim to be Catholics we must keep on turning to the truth of the Church... we must keep in the back of our minds... "What does the Church teach?" |
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