Somebody help me out here. I’m having a lot of trouble understanding this:
Oh, Dear Lord, a friend just sent me the link.
This was done at St. John Lateran on the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 18, 2017.
Christ have mercy.
Supplement posted June 30th: Thanks to “G.S.” for sending the following link, which explains a lot:
http://www.gruppoilva.com/en/stories/2017-05-18/ilva-employees-pay-tribute-pope-francis
Originally, my concern was removing the Corpus of Christ from the Cross on — of all days — Corpus Christi! Now the link explains this is a commercial “thank you!” Double yikes! Doesn’t this open the door for all kinds of “thank you” gestures which are only thinly veiled commercials? Like the environmental color dance on the walls of St. Peter’s Basilica, where are the limits between God and mammon to be? “Chapel of St. Stephen brought to you by Saul’s Rock Quarry?” or “This confessional sponsored by “Piece of Peace Eternal Enterprises”? or how about “Sanctuary sponsored this month by Wholly Natural Foods, Inc.?” STOP!
Mat 6:2-4: “Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
And leave the naming rights and image promotion to the baseball and football stadia, puleeze!
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I don’t understand it either.
Why is the cross empty?
And we have all witnessed how all the seemingly “little” tweeks (holding hands and the orans posture by other than the priest celebrant, waving and hugging and kissing after the Our Father, and a dozen more innovations we could all name) have chipped away at the sacred. Forget chips: this pope makes great big chunks fly about.
….and this
http://www.crisismagazine.com/2017/how-to-think-about-luther
Yes, Dominick, this Holy Father’s stated and demonstrable esteem for Luther is just another concern I have for current Vatican leadership. God is with us, even in these very strange times; may not many be lost to the social agenda coloring over eternal Kingdom Jesus preached. +JMJ
thanks for the link, Dominick. Linked from that article is yet another troubling article from Bishop Barron. I guess it goes to show the trouble with Catholic celebs and that comparisons to Archbishop Sheen miss the mark.
Thanks, Dominick… I missed these comments earlier, so am moving my text here:
Regarding Crisis Magazine’s article “How to think about Luther,” here’s the answer I’d suggest: “Luther was a heretic. End of discussion. Next question?”
But I have another thought to share, one which stuns at first! It’s about how God really does write straight with crooked lines. In spite of the reprehensible division caused by that heretic Catholic priest, including damage to scriptural understanding and interpretation, conflicting with Catholic Teaching and the Deposit of Faith, much progress has been made in the last century toward reconciling New Testament texts to the original Greek. That effort has been a cooperation of Catholic scholarship with many other faith communities. If Vatican powers-that-be try to change Christ’s words (especially on passages such as Luke 16:17-18) the Protestants know better from all the cooperative scholarship that has been done. And that very work, rising out of the ashes of division, may indeed be a means of preserving what has been taught for so long, and of holding back unwanted change. God is the One Who brings order out of chaos, even if protecting His Church in most unlikely ways. Just a thought for today. Ironic.
And, for the sake of more irony, to the extent Pope Francis praises Luther, it is as if the Holy Spirit put words into the papal mouth to give us permission to set forth our core objections to the ‘new teachings.’ How about that?
Christine Vollmer encourages trust in Jesus while the Barque of Peter navigates rough water:
https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2017/07/15/when-waves-break-over-the-barque-of-peter/
For sure, Dominick, we all know that God has this all in hand, that nothing happens without his nod, so of course we trust in him!
But that’s not to say that we should just nod and let those who watch and hear believe we are in sync with great big errors and dangers we perceive. It is appropriate and even necessary for loyalty to the Lord to say that Tradition and the tenets of our Faith trump all the theology being bandied about by some of the current Magisterium. It’s my duty to caution at the very least those who look to me, like my own children. There is a looming huge divide among the leaders of our Church, and it is no minor disagreement. I thank you, Diane and Ben, among others, for your courage in speaking your mind and heart and cautioning those who will hear. All the while, we all pray for our Church and all its leaders and members as we trust in God’s plan, even as we don’t and can’t understand that part in these events.
When we need to be strengthened in our determination for what we discern the Lord calls us to do and say, it is well to remember ACTS Chapter 4, and how to answer any religious authority which insists that we not speak in the Name of the Lord:
“So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.'”
And, so too, we cannot be disloyal to the Faith which we have embraced.
Cardinal Burke has courage for love of Christ Jesus, His saving good News, His Church!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.lifesitenews.com/mobile/news/cardinal-burke-heres-what-the-formal-correction-of-pope-francis-will-look-l
Come Holy Spirit, come for love of Christ Jesus, come for love of His saving good News, come for love of His Church and Her Unity under His Holiness, Pope Francis
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/the-dark-symbolism-of-the-ceiling-collapsing-in-maltas-oldest-catholic-chur?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com&utm_campaign=6c6d1376e9-Daily%2520Headlines%2520-%2520U.S.&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_12387f0e3e-6c6d1376e9-401405341
Analysis and conclusions that are well worth our reading and reflection are found in the article accessed here:
https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2017/09/13/shooting-the-orthodox-catholic-messenger/
Example excerpts include:
“the dispute revolves around pastoral and theological issues concerned with the well-being of the subjectively innocent person.
For example, whether he should receive Holy Communion despite being aware that he departs from Catholic belief and practice. Or how best to deal with the ignorance and compulsion that trap him in a situation that, despite his innocence, is actually (i.e., objectively) harmful to him and others.
To date, these proponents have not offered their critics precise solutions that safeguard the well being and rights of all parties. This is deeply troubling, but not the ultimate source of concern.
The real problem is that some of the innovators do not base their justification on the objective-subjective distinction, but on a radically different claim that the subjectively innocent person is actually doing what is proper under the circumstances.”
So, if the subjectively innocent person is actually doing what is proper under the circumstances, does that mean God, Holy God, commands actions that are intrinsically evil and immoral?
May the innovators recover themselves from these logical conclusions and may we the faithful be given clear teaching that is definitive……