Mr. Michael Brown (www.spiritdaily.com) has it right:
IF THE CHURCH GETS TOUGH -- VERY TOUGH -- WITH DEVIANCE, POPE WILL MAKE HIS MARK
Pope Benedict XVI may be shaping his pontificate as a quiet one that will tend to housecleaning -- the first of which, critically, is to root out homosexuality. If he is doing this, he is truly receiving the torch from John Paul II, who had ordered an investigation of seminaries. If he sticks to his guns, he will be known as the Pope who corrected a terrible situation.
For the Church, nothing is more urgent. Sexual transgression has created a crisis of historic proportions. Whether homosexual or heterosexual, perversions and those who practice them have no place -- none whatsoever -- in the clergy.
With the current case, the crisis is homosexuality. In the United States there have been allegations of sexual misconduct against approximately one priest in fifty. Of the alleged victims of these assaults, about 10,000 were male, and about a thousand female.
In April 2002, Wilton Gregory, then bishop of Belleville and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, noted that "there does exist within American seminaries a homosexual atmosphere or dynamic that makes heterosexuals think twice" about entering the priesthood, adding that "it is an ongoing struggle to make sure the Catholic priesthood is not dominated by homosexual men."
It is a struggle that the Church must now decisively win.
This is not to judge those who are "gay." It is to judge the sin. Many are sensitive and talented people who like the rest of us have failings. Many of them yearn to be spiritual. They are skilled in many ways. They are anything but the picture of hardness and militancy we envision when we see radical "gays" parading around Greenwich Village or San Francisco. Some of the most considerate, sensitive, and upstanding people are of this leaning -- good in other ways. We are to love them as we love anyone else. Nor can we judge them: how do we know how they got to where they are? And have we looked for the logs in our own eyes?
But we are also to hate the sin and acknowledge the truth and the truth is that those who are homosexual grapple with a disorder that requires deliverance. It is a spiritual issue. And while they struggle with that disorder they do not belong in a position of any spiritual authority.
It is better to suffer a severe priest shortage than to limp on with those who are too immersed in personal turmoil to tend to the flock -- and who in fact can pose (as has been startlingly seen) an actual danger.
Let's tell it like it is. The demonic is at work. How did the spirits invade? We note that much of the onset for this crisis was in the Sixties. During alleged messages at Akita, Japan (a partially Church-approved occurrence in which a statue wept), the Blessed Mother warned around that time that "the demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God."
Priests are exceptional men on the front line and prone to horrific temptation and assault. We must sympathize with that.
But those who are homosexual must be rooted out and hopefully the Vatican is moving forcefully in this direction.
We have been accused of being too easy on priests. We believe that they should be defended because, by and large, they are exceptional, well-meaning, and selfless. They deserve our respect. A minority have caused the crisis. One in fifty.
But that respect will not return until the "gay" element is rooted out and the typical Catholic can go back to the assumption that his or her pastor is not disordered or deceived or otherwise touched in such a way.
Plain truth: at least 81 percent of priest-abuse cases involve men who are homosexual.
This disorder has manifested not only in sinful, aberrant sex, but also in a modernism that has replaced spirituality with intellectuality (which is less "judgmental") and has helped lead to an epidemic of pride. The crisis spread because the Church has always sought to hide scandal before everything, because priests were in short supply (and bishops reluctant to get rid of even one), and because priests were arrogated above the common man when they are supposed to stand for humility.
That says a lot. Let us not make excuses here.
But also, let us also not throw every priest out with the bathwater.
Instead, let us purge the homosexual element -- ministering to those so afflicted, praying for their deliverance (from actual evil), but removing them from authority no matter how painful this will be in the short run. We must purify the priesthood even if the shortage of priests becomes excruciating.
Doubtless, there will be parishes without priests. Doubtless, there will be a special strain on dioceses that have tolerated homosexuals and as a result are deeply infiltrated.
But in the long term, reducing and then purging such from the priesthood will reshape public perception of the priesthood and once more attract heterosexuals to their calling.
All this we mention because the Vatican is set to reaffirm a policy that has said just this all along: that gays should not be in the priesthood.
Reportedly, it is preparing a document to this effect.
And at the same time, Rome is ready to begin a review of all 229 U.S. seminaries, looking for homosexuality.
A loud cry of secular protest there is, already -- but Rome must remain firm. To go on as we have because we need the priests or because we wish not to offend -- because we wish to be politically correct -- will lead to a disaster greater even than what we have seen already!
In recent decades, Vatican officials have stated several times that homosexuals are "intrinsically disordered" and should not become priests. Let us now enforce that. How many are "gay"? No one knows. The estimates range as high as 25 percent and in some cases upward. Many with a homosexual proclivity are not practicing homosexuals. Those who already are priests will and should remain -- as long as they are strictly celibate, and as long as they are working at correcting this deep spiritual flaw, as we all must work at correcting our flaws.
Any priest who is not celibate, whether homosexual or heterosexual, is breaking his vows and sinning. When there is a perversion or "disorder," it makes it all the worse. It is not for the laymen to pry into the personal lives of priests, but surely it is in the domain of bishops. It is also in the jurisdiction of law enforcement: those who have abused children belong in jail like anyone else.
The fact that such abuse has happened is stunning and will be a stain on the Church for much of this decade, if not this century -- an historic crisis.
But not one from which we can't recover.
Priest shortages in the West?
Bring in heterosexual priests from places like Poland and "third world" countries where the seminaries are bursting at the seams. Along with the rapid expansion in Catholic population, reports one Catholic newspaper, "has come an explosion in African bishops, priests, brothers, sisters, and deacons. There are today more than 600 African bishops and almost 30,000 priests, and Africa and Asia each number approximately 30,000 seminarians. In 2004, roughly 20 priests were ordained for all of England and Wales, while Nigeria alone ordained more than 200."
Bring those they can spare to areas where there will be shortages due to the purge.
That sounds harsh:
A "purge"?
To purge is to cleanse. Homosexuality is often the result of what Christ called unclean spirits. Purge them. Christ did not tolerate such spirits. He cast them out.
Let's help those who are homosexuals -- but not by pretending that what they do (or want to do) is normal. Let us help them as Jesus helped the adulteress.
Until they expurgate the spirits or personal flaws behind their disorder, homosexuals have no place in the ministry; none. They are in need of ministry.
Perversity of any kind can not be allowed in the priesthood, no matter how the priesthood shrinks.
Good will come from the fire.
We must purify the Church at all costs.
Nothing else will work.
A gay should not become a priest. He should seek out a good priest for help and deliverance.
"I do think about leaving," a 30-year old Franciscan seminary student told The New York Times in the wake of the announcement of the new document, which apparently will affirm policies set in 1961 and again in 2002 against homosexual priests. "It's hard to live a duplicitous life, and for me it's hard not to speak out against injustice. And that's what this is."
An injustice? To allow a priest to contravene God's law? And to afflict the faithful?
Good-bye, dear friend. You have our love and prayers but you do not belong in the priesthood.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Our Lady: Coredemptrix
This article, written by Dr. Mark Miravalle, may also be found at: www.spiritdaily.com
Mary Co-redemptrix: A Dogmatic Crowning for the Queen?
By Mark Miravalle
What do St. Padre Pio, St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, St. Gemma Galgani, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Leopold Mandic, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, St. Jose Maria Escrivà, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Servant of God, John Paul II, and Sr. Lucia of Fatima all have in common (beyond their eminent sanctity as witnessed by the twentieth century)? They all repeatedly invoked Our Lady as the “Co-redemptrix” and taught the doctrine of Marian coredemption concerning Mary’s unparalleled role with and under Jesus Christ in the Redemption of the human family.
One of the greatest examples of Catholic development of doctrine is visible with the historical unfolding of Marian dogma. Like a small acorn which grows over years into a towering oak tree, the divinely planted seeds of Scripture regarding Mary have grown under the nurturing of the Holy Spirit into solemnly declared dogmas of faith, which constitute the highest form of recognized Catholic truth.
In 431, the Council of Ephesus solemnly declares Mary the Mother of God, or literally the “God-bearer” (Theotokos) in the midst of the Nestorian controversy over the nature and person of Christ.[1] Two centuries later (649), Pope Martin I declares the “Perpetual Virginity” of Our Lady, that she was virginal before, during, and after the birth of Jesus Christ.[2]
A span of over a thousand years passes before the next Marian dogma is proclaimed with the solemn papal definition of the Immaculate Conception (1854) by Bl. Pope Pius IX, whereby the Holy Father exercises the charism of papal infallibility to pronounce that from the moment of Mary’s conception, she is free from original sin and full of grace.[3] A century later, Venerable Pope Pius XII again exercises papal infallibility by solemnly defining the Assumption of Mary (1950), that at the end of earthly life, the Mother of Jesus was taken body and soul into heavenly glory.[4]
The present four Marian dogmas identify the principal prerogatives of the Blessed Virgin Mary during her earthly life and in relation to her Divine Son. But the sublime tasks assigned by the Holy Trinity to the Virgin Mother do not cease there. Mary received a fifth role with specific relation to the human race, which was declared first by her Crucified Son as his final gift to humanity before his redemptive death: “Woman, behold your Son!…Behold, your Mother!” (Jn. 19:25-27).
Not only is Mary Mother of God made man, the Perpetual Virgin of Virgins, the Immaculate Conception, and the Assumed One, she is also the Spiritual Mother of all peoples and all nations. As the Second Vatican Council teaches: “Taken up into heaven, she did not lay aside this saving office, but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation… Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix” (Lumen Gentium, 62).
As Spiritual Mother of all humanity, Our Lady exercises three maternal functions on behalf of her earthly children. She is a “Mother suffering” or “Co-redemptrix.” The prefix “co” does not mean equal but “with,” as exemplified in St. Paul’s call for all Christians to be “co-workers with God” (1 Cor. 3:9). Mary cooperated “with Jesus” in ways unlike any other human or angelic creature, by her shared suffering with Him in the work of redemption. Vatican II again reminds us that the Blessed Virgin “faithfully persevered in union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, associated herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s heart, and lovingly consented to the immolation of this victim which was born of her” (LG 58). John Paul II of happy memory called Mary the “Co-redemptrix” on six occasions.[5]
Her second motherly function for humanity is as a “Mother nourishing” or “Mediatrix of all graces.” As the fathers, doctors, saints, and popes teach us, every grace that we receive from the redemption of Jesus Christ comes to us through the intercession of Mary. Cana makes clear the Mother’s ability to release the graces and miracles of her Son for the needs of humanity (Jn. 2:1-10). The late great John Paul called Mary the “Mediatrix of all graces” on seven occasions.[6]
Her third maternal function is as a “Mother pleading” or “Advocate.” There is no greater intercessor to the throne of her Kingly Son than that of the Queen Mother. As King Solomon could deny his mother the Queen nothing, (cf. 1 Kings 2:19) so too, Christ the King denies his Queen Mother nothing.
Since Our Lady’s Spiritual Motherhood under its three aspects of Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces, and Advocate is already part of the authoritative doctrinal teachings of the Papal Magisterium, why the need for a papal definition of these three titles? From where did the movement for a papal definition of Our Lady’s universal mediation derive?
Apart from certain misunderstandings that the movement for a fifth Marian dogma has its origins in private revelation, the actual historical beginnings of this international Church drive date back to the first two decades of the twentieth century with the efforts of the renowned Belgian cardinal, Cardinal Mercier and the enthusiastic support of St. Maximilian Kolbe.
By the end of 1915, Pope Benedict had received numerous petitions for the dogmatic definition of Our Lady’s universal mediation from Cardinal Mercier, fellow bishops, religious superiors, and clergy.[7] Cardinal Mercier issued a pastoral letter calling for the dogma of Our Lady’s mediation, which specifically included the concept of Coredemption as an integral part of her mediation, in 1918.[8] With the papal approval by Pope Benedict XV for the mass and office of “Mary, Mediatrix of all graces” at the request of Mercier and others in 1921, the worldwide movement for the solemn papal definition of Mary’s universal mediation of grace was launched in a letter from Cardinal Mercier to all the bishops of the world (April, 1921), wherein he expressed his deepest hope for this dogmatic crowning of Our Lady’s mediation.[9]
The illustrious Belgian cardinal continued his advocacy for the dogma with Pius XI on the very day of his papal election (Feb. 6, 1922).[10] The newly elected pontiff responded immediately to the petition for the dogma by ordering the establishment of three theological commissions to study the question in 1922. The Belgian and Spanish commissions concluded strongly in favor of the papal definition, while the conclusion of the Roman commission was never released.[11]
From that time to the present, great numbers of petitions have continued to flood the Holy See for the papal definition of Our Lady’s universal mediation. Petitions for a new Marian dogma from only the last ten years (approx. 1994-2004) number over six million from over 165 countries, and include over 550 bishops and 45 cardinals.[12] Although these numbers do not include the hundreds of bishop petitions, along with the multitudinous number of clergy and lay petitions submitted to the Holy See by Cardinals Mercier,[13] Gagnon, and others prelates from 1930 to 1994, the recent petition campaign of the last decade for this fifth Marian dogma represents the largest per annum petition drive in the history of the Church.
But the question of “why” must again be addressed. If the Magisterium already teaches the truth of Marian mediation in its three components of Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate, then where is the need for a solemn papal definition of the same truth in the form of a dogma?
Historic graces and world peace. With every new Marian dogma proclaimed by the successor of Peter, bearer of the keys of the kingdom, a new ocean of graces descends upon the Church and the world. For Our Lady to exercise fully the motherly roles granted her by God, humanity must exercise its free will in accepting her roles that they may be activated on our behalf. God never forces his sanctifying grace upon us, but awaits our free “yes” before bestowing them.
Humanity’s “yes” as spoken by the Holy Father in a papal proclamation of our full acceptance of Our Lady’s Spiritual Motherhood would release extraordinary graces of peace and redemption to a world where internal wars of abortion, child abuse, pornography, divorce, drugs, depression, loneliness, and external conflicts of terrorism, poverty, famine, pestilence and natural disasters are threatening most every family, country, and society throughout the world.
The proclamation of the dogma would allow the Mother to have her chance to intercede for a new peace and grace for our world. The Holy Father would be declaring our acknowledgement, on the highest level of Catholic truth, that She truly is our universal Spiritual Mother, our Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces and Advocate, and that we humbly and trustingly beseech our Heavenly Queen and Mother for the interior peace of Christ in the hearts of humanity that is necessary for any authentic and perduring global peace.
The succinct but profound words of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta most eloquently summarize the heart and the imperative of the contemporary call for the fifth Marian Dogma:
Mary is our Coredemptrix with Jesus. She gave Jesus his body and suffered with him at the foot of the cross.
Mary is the Mediatrix of all grace. She gave Jesus to us, and as our Mother she obtains for us all his graces.
Mary is our Advocate who prays to Jesus for us. It is only through the Heart of Mary that we come to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.
The papal definition of Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate will bring great graces to the Church.
All for Jesus through Mary.
God bless you
Mother Teresa, MC[14]
[Dr. Miravalle is Professor of Theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. We present his argument at the same time acknowledging that as head of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope Benedict XVI, in a book called God and the World, expressed opposition to such a dogma; we seek to be both objective and obedient]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Council of Ephesus, 431 A.D., as cited from Henricus Denzinger, Enchiridion Symbolorum, Definitionum et Declarationum De Rebus Fidei et Morum, Barcelona, ed. Herder, 1946, n. 113.
[2] Martin I, Lateran Council, 649 A.D., Denzinger 256.
[3] Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1854, Denzinger 1641.
[4] Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, 1950.
[5] John Paul II, Greetings to the Sick Following General Audience (Sept. 8, 1982); Angelus Address (Nov.
4, 1984), L'Osservatore Romano, 860: 1; Palm Sunday Address at Alborada, Guayaquil, Ecuador (Jan.
31, 1985), L'Osservatore Romano, 876: 7; Palm Sunday and World Youth Day Address (March 31,
1985), L'Osservatore Romano, 880: 12; Address to Federated Alliance of Transportation of Sick to
Lourdes (March 24, 1990); Address Commemorating Sixth Centenary of Canonization of St. Bridget of
Sweden (Oct. 6, 1991), L'Osservatore Romano, 1211: 4.
[6] John Paul II, Address to the General Council, Provincial Superiors and Directors of the Italian Institutes of the Congregation of St. Joseph (Dec. 1, 1978), n. 3; Address to Young People at Our Lady's Shrine on Mount Roio (Aug. 30, 1980) n. 3; Angelus Address (Jan. 17, 1988) n. 2; Homily for Octave of Easter in the Roman Parish of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer (April 10, 1988) n. 7; Reflection Made at the Shrine of Our Lady of Graces in Benevento (July 2, 1990) n. 1; Angelus Address in Lecce (Sept. 18, 1994) nn. 1, 3; Address to the General Chapter of the Mercedarian Sisters of Charity (June 28, 1996) n. 4.
[7] Cf. Cardinal Mercier, Pastoral Letter (Sept. 8, 1918), as found in Manfred Hauke, Mary, Mediatress of Grace, Mary at the Foot of the Cross IV: Supplement, Academy of the Immaculate, 2004, p. 3; cf. Mercier, Oeuvres pastorales V, 160, as found in Hauke, Mary, Mediatress, p. 6; Mercier, in the Archdiocesan Archives, Carton XXV, Document 21, as found in Hauke, Mary, Mediatress, p. 95.
[8] Mercier, Pastoral Letter (Sept. 8, 1918), as found in Manfred Hauke, Mary, Mediatress, p. 3.
[9] Mercier, Letter (note 7), in Oeuvres pastorales VI, 471f, as found in Hauke, Mary, Mediatress, p. 3.
[10] Hauke, Mary, Mediatress, p. 96
[11] Ibid.
[12] Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici Petition Center Archives, PO Box 220, Goleta, CA 93116.
[13] Cf. J. M. Hupperts, “Kardinaal Mercier, dienaar en apostel der allerheiligste Maagd” in De Standaard van Maria 6, 1926, p. 68, note 5, as found in Hauke Mary, Mediatress, p. 93.
[14] Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Letter of August 14, 1993.
Mary Co-redemptrix: A Dogmatic Crowning for the Queen?
By Mark Miravalle
What do St. Padre Pio, St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, St. Gemma Galgani, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Leopold Mandic, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, St. Jose Maria Escrivà, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Servant of God, John Paul II, and Sr. Lucia of Fatima all have in common (beyond their eminent sanctity as witnessed by the twentieth century)? They all repeatedly invoked Our Lady as the “Co-redemptrix” and taught the doctrine of Marian coredemption concerning Mary’s unparalleled role with and under Jesus Christ in the Redemption of the human family.
One of the greatest examples of Catholic development of doctrine is visible with the historical unfolding of Marian dogma. Like a small acorn which grows over years into a towering oak tree, the divinely planted seeds of Scripture regarding Mary have grown under the nurturing of the Holy Spirit into solemnly declared dogmas of faith, which constitute the highest form of recognized Catholic truth.
In 431, the Council of Ephesus solemnly declares Mary the Mother of God, or literally the “God-bearer” (Theotokos) in the midst of the Nestorian controversy over the nature and person of Christ.[1] Two centuries later (649), Pope Martin I declares the “Perpetual Virginity” of Our Lady, that she was virginal before, during, and after the birth of Jesus Christ.[2]
A span of over a thousand years passes before the next Marian dogma is proclaimed with the solemn papal definition of the Immaculate Conception (1854) by Bl. Pope Pius IX, whereby the Holy Father exercises the charism of papal infallibility to pronounce that from the moment of Mary’s conception, she is free from original sin and full of grace.[3] A century later, Venerable Pope Pius XII again exercises papal infallibility by solemnly defining the Assumption of Mary (1950), that at the end of earthly life, the Mother of Jesus was taken body and soul into heavenly glory.[4]
The present four Marian dogmas identify the principal prerogatives of the Blessed Virgin Mary during her earthly life and in relation to her Divine Son. But the sublime tasks assigned by the Holy Trinity to the Virgin Mother do not cease there. Mary received a fifth role with specific relation to the human race, which was declared first by her Crucified Son as his final gift to humanity before his redemptive death: “Woman, behold your Son!…Behold, your Mother!” (Jn. 19:25-27).
Not only is Mary Mother of God made man, the Perpetual Virgin of Virgins, the Immaculate Conception, and the Assumed One, she is also the Spiritual Mother of all peoples and all nations. As the Second Vatican Council teaches: “Taken up into heaven, she did not lay aside this saving office, but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation… Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix” (Lumen Gentium, 62).
As Spiritual Mother of all humanity, Our Lady exercises three maternal functions on behalf of her earthly children. She is a “Mother suffering” or “Co-redemptrix.” The prefix “co” does not mean equal but “with,” as exemplified in St. Paul’s call for all Christians to be “co-workers with God” (1 Cor. 3:9). Mary cooperated “with Jesus” in ways unlike any other human or angelic creature, by her shared suffering with Him in the work of redemption. Vatican II again reminds us that the Blessed Virgin “faithfully persevered in union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, associated herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s heart, and lovingly consented to the immolation of this victim which was born of her” (LG 58). John Paul II of happy memory called Mary the “Co-redemptrix” on six occasions.[5]
Her second motherly function for humanity is as a “Mother nourishing” or “Mediatrix of all graces.” As the fathers, doctors, saints, and popes teach us, every grace that we receive from the redemption of Jesus Christ comes to us through the intercession of Mary. Cana makes clear the Mother’s ability to release the graces and miracles of her Son for the needs of humanity (Jn. 2:1-10). The late great John Paul called Mary the “Mediatrix of all graces” on seven occasions.[6]
Her third maternal function is as a “Mother pleading” or “Advocate.” There is no greater intercessor to the throne of her Kingly Son than that of the Queen Mother. As King Solomon could deny his mother the Queen nothing, (cf. 1 Kings 2:19) so too, Christ the King denies his Queen Mother nothing.
Since Our Lady’s Spiritual Motherhood under its three aspects of Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces, and Advocate is already part of the authoritative doctrinal teachings of the Papal Magisterium, why the need for a papal definition of these three titles? From where did the movement for a papal definition of Our Lady’s universal mediation derive?
Apart from certain misunderstandings that the movement for a fifth Marian dogma has its origins in private revelation, the actual historical beginnings of this international Church drive date back to the first two decades of the twentieth century with the efforts of the renowned Belgian cardinal, Cardinal Mercier and the enthusiastic support of St. Maximilian Kolbe.
By the end of 1915, Pope Benedict had received numerous petitions for the dogmatic definition of Our Lady’s universal mediation from Cardinal Mercier, fellow bishops, religious superiors, and clergy.[7] Cardinal Mercier issued a pastoral letter calling for the dogma of Our Lady’s mediation, which specifically included the concept of Coredemption as an integral part of her mediation, in 1918.[8] With the papal approval by Pope Benedict XV for the mass and office of “Mary, Mediatrix of all graces” at the request of Mercier and others in 1921, the worldwide movement for the solemn papal definition of Mary’s universal mediation of grace was launched in a letter from Cardinal Mercier to all the bishops of the world (April, 1921), wherein he expressed his deepest hope for this dogmatic crowning of Our Lady’s mediation.[9]
The illustrious Belgian cardinal continued his advocacy for the dogma with Pius XI on the very day of his papal election (Feb. 6, 1922).[10] The newly elected pontiff responded immediately to the petition for the dogma by ordering the establishment of three theological commissions to study the question in 1922. The Belgian and Spanish commissions concluded strongly in favor of the papal definition, while the conclusion of the Roman commission was never released.[11]
From that time to the present, great numbers of petitions have continued to flood the Holy See for the papal definition of Our Lady’s universal mediation. Petitions for a new Marian dogma from only the last ten years (approx. 1994-2004) number over six million from over 165 countries, and include over 550 bishops and 45 cardinals.[12] Although these numbers do not include the hundreds of bishop petitions, along with the multitudinous number of clergy and lay petitions submitted to the Holy See by Cardinals Mercier,[13] Gagnon, and others prelates from 1930 to 1994, the recent petition campaign of the last decade for this fifth Marian dogma represents the largest per annum petition drive in the history of the Church.
But the question of “why” must again be addressed. If the Magisterium already teaches the truth of Marian mediation in its three components of Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate, then where is the need for a solemn papal definition of the same truth in the form of a dogma?
Historic graces and world peace. With every new Marian dogma proclaimed by the successor of Peter, bearer of the keys of the kingdom, a new ocean of graces descends upon the Church and the world. For Our Lady to exercise fully the motherly roles granted her by God, humanity must exercise its free will in accepting her roles that they may be activated on our behalf. God never forces his sanctifying grace upon us, but awaits our free “yes” before bestowing them.
Humanity’s “yes” as spoken by the Holy Father in a papal proclamation of our full acceptance of Our Lady’s Spiritual Motherhood would release extraordinary graces of peace and redemption to a world where internal wars of abortion, child abuse, pornography, divorce, drugs, depression, loneliness, and external conflicts of terrorism, poverty, famine, pestilence and natural disasters are threatening most every family, country, and society throughout the world.
The proclamation of the dogma would allow the Mother to have her chance to intercede for a new peace and grace for our world. The Holy Father would be declaring our acknowledgement, on the highest level of Catholic truth, that She truly is our universal Spiritual Mother, our Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces and Advocate, and that we humbly and trustingly beseech our Heavenly Queen and Mother for the interior peace of Christ in the hearts of humanity that is necessary for any authentic and perduring global peace.
The succinct but profound words of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta most eloquently summarize the heart and the imperative of the contemporary call for the fifth Marian Dogma:
Mary is our Coredemptrix with Jesus. She gave Jesus his body and suffered with him at the foot of the cross.
Mary is the Mediatrix of all grace. She gave Jesus to us, and as our Mother she obtains for us all his graces.
Mary is our Advocate who prays to Jesus for us. It is only through the Heart of Mary that we come to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.
The papal definition of Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate will bring great graces to the Church.
All for Jesus through Mary.
God bless you
Mother Teresa, MC[14]
[Dr. Miravalle is Professor of Theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. We present his argument at the same time acknowledging that as head of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope Benedict XVI, in a book called God and the World, expressed opposition to such a dogma; we seek to be both objective and obedient]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Council of Ephesus, 431 A.D., as cited from Henricus Denzinger, Enchiridion Symbolorum, Definitionum et Declarationum De Rebus Fidei et Morum, Barcelona, ed. Herder, 1946, n. 113.
[2] Martin I, Lateran Council, 649 A.D., Denzinger 256.
[3] Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1854, Denzinger 1641.
[4] Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, 1950.
[5] John Paul II, Greetings to the Sick Following General Audience (Sept. 8, 1982); Angelus Address (Nov.
4, 1984), L'Osservatore Romano, 860: 1; Palm Sunday Address at Alborada, Guayaquil, Ecuador (Jan.
31, 1985), L'Osservatore Romano, 876: 7; Palm Sunday and World Youth Day Address (March 31,
1985), L'Osservatore Romano, 880: 12; Address to Federated Alliance of Transportation of Sick to
Lourdes (March 24, 1990); Address Commemorating Sixth Centenary of Canonization of St. Bridget of
Sweden (Oct. 6, 1991), L'Osservatore Romano, 1211: 4.
[6] John Paul II, Address to the General Council, Provincial Superiors and Directors of the Italian Institutes of the Congregation of St. Joseph (Dec. 1, 1978), n. 3; Address to Young People at Our Lady's Shrine on Mount Roio (Aug. 30, 1980) n. 3; Angelus Address (Jan. 17, 1988) n. 2; Homily for Octave of Easter in the Roman Parish of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer (April 10, 1988) n. 7; Reflection Made at the Shrine of Our Lady of Graces in Benevento (July 2, 1990) n. 1; Angelus Address in Lecce (Sept. 18, 1994) nn. 1, 3; Address to the General Chapter of the Mercedarian Sisters of Charity (June 28, 1996) n. 4.
[7] Cf. Cardinal Mercier, Pastoral Letter (Sept. 8, 1918), as found in Manfred Hauke, Mary, Mediatress of Grace, Mary at the Foot of the Cross IV: Supplement, Academy of the Immaculate, 2004, p. 3; cf. Mercier, Oeuvres pastorales V, 160, as found in Hauke, Mary, Mediatress, p. 6; Mercier, in the Archdiocesan Archives, Carton XXV, Document 21, as found in Hauke, Mary, Mediatress, p. 95.
[8] Mercier, Pastoral Letter (Sept. 8, 1918), as found in Manfred Hauke, Mary, Mediatress, p. 3.
[9] Mercier, Letter (note 7), in Oeuvres pastorales VI, 471f, as found in Hauke, Mary, Mediatress, p. 3.
[10] Hauke, Mary, Mediatress, p. 96
[11] Ibid.
[12] Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici Petition Center Archives, PO Box 220, Goleta, CA 93116.
[13] Cf. J. M. Hupperts, “Kardinaal Mercier, dienaar en apostel der allerheiligste Maagd” in De Standaard van Maria 6, 1926, p. 68, note 5, as found in Hauke Mary, Mediatress, p. 93.
[14] Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Letter of August 14, 1993.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Thank you Our Lady of La Salette....
Powerful news on the anniversary of Our Lady of La Salette:
Pope approves barring gay seminarians
Vatican, Sep. 19 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has given his approval to a new Vatican policy document indicating that men with homosexual tendencies should not be ordained as Catholic priests.
The new document-- which was prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education, in response to a request made by the late Pope John Paul II (bio - news) in 1994-- will be published soon. It will take the form of an "Instruction," signed by the prefect and secretary of the Congregation: Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski and Archbishop Michael Miller.
The text, which was approved by Pope Benedict at the end of August, says that homosexual men should not be admitted to seminaries even if they are celibate, because their condition suggests a serious personality disorder which detracts from their ability to serve as ministers.
Priests who have already been ordained, if they suffer from homosexual impulses, are strongly urged to renew their dedication to chastity, and a manner of life appropriate to the priesthood.
The Instruction does not represent a change in Church teaching or policy. Catholic leaders have consistently taught that homosexual men should not be ordained to the priesthood. Pope John XXIII approved a formal policy to that effect, which still remains in effect. However, during the 1970s and 1980s, that policy was widely ignored, particularly in North America. The resulting crisis in the priesthood-- in which one prominent American commentator observed that the priesthood was coming to be seen as a "gay" profession-- prompted Pope John Paul II to call for a new study on the question.
The Congregation for Catholic Education prepared the Instruction after soliciting advice from all of the world's bishops, from psychologists, and from moral theologians. A draft of the Instruction was then circulated among the Vatican dicasteries concerned with the issue, notably including the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The pending release of the Instruction, in the face of certain criticism from liberal forces in America and Western Europe, demonstrates the determination of the Vatican to improve the quality of priestly ministry, and to protect the Church from some of the scandals that have recently shaken the Catholic community-- and no doubt deterred many men from entering priestly training.
Informed sources in Rome indicate that the Instruction probably will be made public after the Synod of Bishops, which meets in Rome from October 2 through 23.
Pope approves barring gay seminarians
Vatican, Sep. 19 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has given his approval to a new Vatican policy document indicating that men with homosexual tendencies should not be ordained as Catholic priests.
The new document-- which was prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education, in response to a request made by the late Pope John Paul II (bio - news) in 1994-- will be published soon. It will take the form of an "Instruction," signed by the prefect and secretary of the Congregation: Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski and Archbishop Michael Miller.
The text, which was approved by Pope Benedict at the end of August, says that homosexual men should not be admitted to seminaries even if they are celibate, because their condition suggests a serious personality disorder which detracts from their ability to serve as ministers.
Priests who have already been ordained, if they suffer from homosexual impulses, are strongly urged to renew their dedication to chastity, and a manner of life appropriate to the priesthood.
The Instruction does not represent a change in Church teaching or policy. Catholic leaders have consistently taught that homosexual men should not be ordained to the priesthood. Pope John XXIII approved a formal policy to that effect, which still remains in effect. However, during the 1970s and 1980s, that policy was widely ignored, particularly in North America. The resulting crisis in the priesthood-- in which one prominent American commentator observed that the priesthood was coming to be seen as a "gay" profession-- prompted Pope John Paul II to call for a new study on the question.
The Congregation for Catholic Education prepared the Instruction after soliciting advice from all of the world's bishops, from psychologists, and from moral theologians. A draft of the Instruction was then circulated among the Vatican dicasteries concerned with the issue, notably including the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The pending release of the Instruction, in the face of certain criticism from liberal forces in America and Western Europe, demonstrates the determination of the Vatican to improve the quality of priestly ministry, and to protect the Church from some of the scandals that have recently shaken the Catholic community-- and no doubt deterred many men from entering priestly training.
Informed sources in Rome indicate that the Instruction probably will be made public after the Synod of Bishops, which meets in Rome from October 2 through 23.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Our Lady of La Salette: Pray for us who have recourse to Thee
Today is the anniversary of the La Salette apparition which occured in 1846. More than ever, we are witnessing disturbances in nature which are truly unparalleled. Signs of the times are springing up all around us. My father always had an intense devotion to Our Lady and used to speak regularly about the emerging signs of the times. It was his strong conviction that the apostasy had already begun and that our society was heading for disaster.
Dad saw Our Lady as he hovered between this world and the next, a fact which was verified by his cousin - a Roman Catholic priest serving within the Diocese of Worcester. Just before he died (on September 19, 2000) - the anniversary of Our Lady of La Salette during the great Jubilee Year - I felt Our Lady's presence as she entered the hospital room. Although dad's system had already shut down and the only thing keeping him alive was a machine, when I asked him if he could see Our Lady and his biological mother who was also in the room, his eyes immediately shot up to the ceiling and a look of awe came across his face. With that, a tear fell from his eye and he breathed his last. His cousin, the priest who administered him the last sacraments (and who had served as a La Salette priest for some years before becoming a diocesan priest), remarked "Did you see that?...He saw Our Lady."
Indeed he had. And this gentle man, my beloved friend and mentor, was escorted by Our Lady and his earthly mother to the New Jerusalem where God Himself "..will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away." (Revelation 21:4).
I love you dad. Pray for me. That whatever may come, I may arise to the challenge and never fear. That I may always give witness to the truth in love and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit Who grants the gift of fortitude to those who ask for it.
Dad, you were always an inspiration to me. I love you my friend.
Paul
Saturday, September 17, 2005
The Diocese of Manchester NH on the Saint Benedict Center
The Diocese of Manchester stated in a letter of 29 September 1999:
"The St Benedict Center is located in Richmond, NH, and is therefore within the boundaries of the Diocese of Manchester. However, the Center is in a canonically 'irregular' status with the Bishop of Manchester. Basically, the Center refuses to operate within the authority of the bishop and, therefore, operates outside the legitimate authority of the church. There are two reasons for this, outlined in a 1995 letter written by then Msgr. (now Auxiliary Bishop) Francis J. Christian:
1. They continue to refuse to accept the understanding of the formula, 'No Salvation Outside The Church.'
2. They are canonically irregular in regard to the church because they are present in the diocese without permission of the bishop and are running ministries without the permission of the bishop and because they have no legitimate authority who has oversight over them and to whom they are responsible."
Also problematic is this community's intention to seek priestly ordination for one of its own (Brother Andre Marie) without dimissorial letters (canonical permission) from the local ordinary.
These confused souls claim to follow in the footsteps of St. Louis de Montfort. But nothing could be further from the truth. St. Louis de Montfort lived his life in total obedience to Holy Mother Church. He did not engage in disobedience as do the members of the Saint Benedict Center. And he certainly did not engage in anti-semitism.
Paul
"The St Benedict Center is located in Richmond, NH, and is therefore within the boundaries of the Diocese of Manchester. However, the Center is in a canonically 'irregular' status with the Bishop of Manchester. Basically, the Center refuses to operate within the authority of the bishop and, therefore, operates outside the legitimate authority of the church. There are two reasons for this, outlined in a 1995 letter written by then Msgr. (now Auxiliary Bishop) Francis J. Christian:
1. They continue to refuse to accept the understanding of the formula, 'No Salvation Outside The Church.'
2. They are canonically irregular in regard to the church because they are present in the diocese without permission of the bishop and are running ministries without the permission of the bishop and because they have no legitimate authority who has oversight over them and to whom they are responsible."
Also problematic is this community's intention to seek priestly ordination for one of its own (Brother Andre Marie) without dimissorial letters (canonical permission) from the local ordinary.
These confused souls claim to follow in the footsteps of St. Louis de Montfort. But nothing could be further from the truth. St. Louis de Montfort lived his life in total obedience to Holy Mother Church. He did not engage in disobedience as do the members of the Saint Benedict Center. And he certainly did not engage in anti-semitism.
Paul
Friday, September 16, 2005
Holocaust Denial
In an interview given to The Boston Globe, Mr. Douglas Bersaw was quoted as having said that: "There's a lot of controversy among people who study the so-called Holocaust...There's a misperception that Hitler had a position to kill all the Jews. It's all a fraud. Six million people - it didn't occur."
Now the Holocaust (or Shoah) is so well documented that I won't bother to document what so many other websites have already done. However, Mr. Bersaw's comments are deeply disturbing and I would like to address them. In his book Mein Kampf (My Story) Hitler wrote that, "anyone who wants to cure this era, which is inwardly sick and rotten, must first of all summon up the courage to make clear the causes of this disease." (Mein Kampf, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1943, p. 435).
Hitler's diagnosis was racial. For him, according to Robert Jay Lifton in his excellent study entitled "The Nazi Doctors - Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide," "The only genuine 'culture-creating' race, the Aryans, had permitted themselves to be weakened to the point of endangered survival by the 'destroyers of culture,' characterized as 'the Jew.' The Jews were agents of 'racial pollution' and 'racial tuberculosis,' as well as parasites and bacteria causing sickness, deterioration, and death in the host peoples they infested" (p. 16).
For more information on Hitler and his "Final Solution" to "cure" the Aryan race of this "racial pollution," please visit the Simon Wiesenthal Center online or the Holocaust Pictures Exhibition at: www.phdn.org/histgen/schmitz/indexeng.html
Although the Saint Benedict Center in Richmond, New Hampshire has now added a disclaimer to its website disavowing any connection with www.fatherfeeney.org (no doubt because of my past articles taking them to task for not doing so in the past), the comments made by Mr. Douglas Bersaw, one of the founders of the center, are deeply troubling.
Paul
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Priesthood as vocation
Before entering into any state of life, a divine vocation is necessary. This because without such a vocation, it is difficult if not impossible to fulfil the obligations which pertain to that state and to obtain salvation. This is particularly true for the ministerial priesthood or any other ecclesiastical state. After all, it was Our Lord Who said: "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1).
Consequently, the man who takes holy orders without a call from God is convicted of theft in taking by force a dignity which God has not called him to and does not desire to bestow upon him. This is the teaching of Saint Paul:
"Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. So Christ also did not glorify Himself that He might be made a high priest; but he that said unto Him: Thou art My Son; this day I have begotten Thee." (Hebrews 5:4,5).
It matters not then how learned or prudent or holy a man may be. No man may place himself into the holy sanctuary unless he is first called and introduced to the same by Almighty God. Jesus Our Lord was certainly the most learned and holy among all men, full of grace and truth (John 1:14), the Son of Man in Whom were (and are) hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). And yet, Jesus required a divine call to assume the dignity of the priesthood.
This is the teaching of the Council of Trent. That the Church regards the man who assumes the priesthood without a vocation not as a minister but as a robber:
"Decernit sancta Synodus eos qui ea (ministeria) propria temeritate sibi sumunt, omnes, non Ecclesiae ministros, sed fures et latrones per ostium non ingressos habendos esse" (Session 23, cap. 4).
Those who seize the priesthood without a vocation may labor and toil exhaustively. But their labors will profit them very little before God. In fact, the very works which would be considered of much merit when performed by others will deserve chastisement for such souls. Because such men are not in conformity with the divine will, not having a vocation to the state of life which they have usurped, the Lord Jesus will not accept their toils:
"I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will not receive a gift of your hand" (Malachi 1:10).
Not only will God refuse the gifts of their hand, He will punish the works of the minister who has entered the sanctuary without being called; without a vocation:
"What stranger soever cometh to it (the Tabernacle) shall be slain." (Numbers 1:51).
Bearing all of this in mind, please read the following which first appeared in The Wanderer and may be found at the Faithfulvoice.com website:
On October 1, 1986, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published an instruction entitled, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Pastoral Service for Homosexual Persons, signed by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and approved by Pope John Paul II.
In this Instruction, Cardinal Ratzinger writes, "It is necessary to point out that the particular inclination of a homosexual person, though not a sin in itself, nevertheless constitutes a more or less strong tendency to an intrinsically evil behavior from the moral standpoint. For this reason, the very inclination should be considered as objectively disordered." (No. 3).
This would appear to be especially significant since Canon 1040 of the Code of Canon Law states that: "Persons who are affected by a perpetual impediment, which is called an irregularity, or a simple impediment, are prevented from receiving orders." Now, irregularities arise either from defect (ex defectu) or from crime (ex delicto). It seems clear to me that a homosexual inclination, which Cardinal Ratzinger has referred to as "objectively disordered," constitutes an irregularity ex defectu.
In fact, when asked by a Bishop if it is licit to confer priestly ordination to men with manifest homosexual tendencies, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments replied with a letter signed by Jorge Cardinal Medina Estevez which stated that, "Ordination to the diaconate and the priesthood of homosexual men or men with homosexual tendencies is absolutely inadvisable and imprudent and, from the pastoral point of view, very risky. A homosexual person, or one with a homosexual tendency is not, therefore, fit to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders."
Until next time,
God love you
Paul Anthony Melanson
Consequently, the man who takes holy orders without a call from God is convicted of theft in taking by force a dignity which God has not called him to and does not desire to bestow upon him. This is the teaching of Saint Paul:
"Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. So Christ also did not glorify Himself that He might be made a high priest; but he that said unto Him: Thou art My Son; this day I have begotten Thee." (Hebrews 5:4,5).
It matters not then how learned or prudent or holy a man may be. No man may place himself into the holy sanctuary unless he is first called and introduced to the same by Almighty God. Jesus Our Lord was certainly the most learned and holy among all men, full of grace and truth (John 1:14), the Son of Man in Whom were (and are) hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). And yet, Jesus required a divine call to assume the dignity of the priesthood.
This is the teaching of the Council of Trent. That the Church regards the man who assumes the priesthood without a vocation not as a minister but as a robber:
"Decernit sancta Synodus eos qui ea (ministeria) propria temeritate sibi sumunt, omnes, non Ecclesiae ministros, sed fures et latrones per ostium non ingressos habendos esse" (Session 23, cap. 4).
Those who seize the priesthood without a vocation may labor and toil exhaustively. But their labors will profit them very little before God. In fact, the very works which would be considered of much merit when performed by others will deserve chastisement for such souls. Because such men are not in conformity with the divine will, not having a vocation to the state of life which they have usurped, the Lord Jesus will not accept their toils:
"I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will not receive a gift of your hand" (Malachi 1:10).
Not only will God refuse the gifts of their hand, He will punish the works of the minister who has entered the sanctuary without being called; without a vocation:
"What stranger soever cometh to it (the Tabernacle) shall be slain." (Numbers 1:51).
Bearing all of this in mind, please read the following which first appeared in The Wanderer and may be found at the Faithfulvoice.com website:
On October 1, 1986, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published an instruction entitled, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Pastoral Service for Homosexual Persons, signed by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and approved by Pope John Paul II.
In this Instruction, Cardinal Ratzinger writes, "It is necessary to point out that the particular inclination of a homosexual person, though not a sin in itself, nevertheless constitutes a more or less strong tendency to an intrinsically evil behavior from the moral standpoint. For this reason, the very inclination should be considered as objectively disordered." (No. 3).
This would appear to be especially significant since Canon 1040 of the Code of Canon Law states that: "Persons who are affected by a perpetual impediment, which is called an irregularity, or a simple impediment, are prevented from receiving orders." Now, irregularities arise either from defect (ex defectu) or from crime (ex delicto). It seems clear to me that a homosexual inclination, which Cardinal Ratzinger has referred to as "objectively disordered," constitutes an irregularity ex defectu.
In fact, when asked by a Bishop if it is licit to confer priestly ordination to men with manifest homosexual tendencies, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments replied with a letter signed by Jorge Cardinal Medina Estevez which stated that, "Ordination to the diaconate and the priesthood of homosexual men or men with homosexual tendencies is absolutely inadvisable and imprudent and, from the pastoral point of view, very risky. A homosexual person, or one with a homosexual tendency is not, therefore, fit to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders."
Until next time,
God love you
Paul Anthony Melanson
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Archbishop Edwin O'Brien and the ordination of homosexuals
To read the comments of Archbishop Edwin O'Brien on the subject of ordaining homosexuals, please read the Associated Press article written by Rachel Zoll and entitled "U.S. Prelate Says Gays Shouldn't Be Ordained":http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050912190409990004
Paul
Paul
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Saturday, September 03, 2005
A world passing away.....
"Life is passing away....Eternity is advancing in great strides....Soon we shall live the very life of Jesus....After having drunk at the fountain of all sorrows, we shall be deified at the very fountain of all joys, all delights....Soon, little sister, with one look, we shall be able to understand what is taking place within the inner depths of our being!....
The image of this world is passing away....Soon we shall see new heavens, and a more radiant Sun will light up with its splendors ethereal oceans and infinite horizons!...Immensity will be our domain....We shall no longer be prisoners on this earth of exile....All will have passed away!...With our heavenly Spouse, we shall sail on lakes without any shores....Infinity has no limits, no bottom, no shore!...(Courage, Jesus can hear the very last echo of our sorrow.) Our harps, at this moment, are hung on the willows which border the river of Babylon....But on the day of our deliverance, what songs will be heard....with what joy shall we make the strings of our instruments vibrate!"
- St. Therese of Lisieux to Celine, Carmel, March 12, 1889.
The image of this world is passing away....Soon we shall see new heavens, and a more radiant Sun will light up with its splendors ethereal oceans and infinite horizons!...Immensity will be our domain....We shall no longer be prisoners on this earth of exile....All will have passed away!...With our heavenly Spouse, we shall sail on lakes without any shores....Infinity has no limits, no bottom, no shore!...(Courage, Jesus can hear the very last echo of our sorrow.) Our harps, at this moment, are hung on the willows which border the river of Babylon....But on the day of our deliverance, what songs will be heard....with what joy shall we make the strings of our instruments vibrate!"
- St. Therese of Lisieux to Celine, Carmel, March 12, 1889.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
More from Mr. Michael Brown
This article may be found at: www.spiritdaily.com:
NEW ORLEANS EVENT RANKS AS ANOTHER SPIKE IN A SERIES OF EVENTS THAT INTENSIFY
By Michael H. Brown
Prophets have been dismissed in every period and so now prophecy runs into the same resistance as applies to disasters like "Katrina."
Amos. Jeremiah. Jonah. What would they say?
We have a feeling they would have said what was said at Sodom or Nineveh and that it would be dismissed, of course, in a modern world that has gone "politically correct."
It is not politically correct to point out anything "negative" (the evil in our society tries to intimidate anyone from identifying it), even though the real negative is ignoring and tolerating evil that if not purged will cause thousands more to die in the future.
The cruelest thing we can do right now is to ignore the aspect of the Church that (like Christ Himself) is prophetic and to ignore the fact that God in His mercy purifies.
When it leads to repentance, and prayer, prophecy saves lives. It can't save lives if it is ignored. Nor can one be Catholic without believing in the Bible, which is chock-full of situations whereby societal darkness led to calamities like what has occurred in New Orleans (a city we love in a special way).
Perhaps it is time for the Roman Catholic Church to revisit passages such as Matthew 24.
Quakes. Roaring seas. Was Jesus "negative"?
At any rate, down to business:
Periods of purification or "chastisement" have occurred throughout history, the last major one during the Middle Ages, when -- as in our own period -- there were huge storms, famines, unusual droughts, quakes, the breakdown of infrastructures, and last, but hardly least, the bubonic plague.
God speaks to us through nature; always has; is doing so now -- in His mercy.
The current phase of purification began with special earnest in 1989 and was marked by the earthquake in San Francisco -- which affected another stadium, this time Candlestick Park during the World Series.
In quick sequence we saw tremendous northeasters, El Ninos, record blizzards, a storm system that shut down every major airport on the East Coast (for the first time ever), the great Mississippi flood, Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Opal, record tornado years, the onset of frequent tropical storms, gargantuan floods in India and China, glaciers melting, the "perfect storm," the L.A. quake, and other events through the following decade.
After that came a new century and a new millennium and increasingly dramatic climate shifts, far more intense weather, record heat, record storms in the Pacific, great tempests and fires and drought in Europe, wildfire too in the American West, the Florida hurricanes, and the Asian tsunami as each up-tick, it seemed, gained in intensity.
Not to mention September 11.
The cycle that kicked off in 1989 hit a higher stride and now we see a higher stride still with what can only be known as the New Orleans catastrophe.
Such events were foreseen in the "1990 prophecy," which, recorded anonymously on December 3, 1990, was a "word of knowledge" that was supposedly from Jesus. We have taken it seriously in part because it correctly foresaw September 11.
"These chastisements will differ according to regions, and like the great evil, will not always or usually be immediately noticeable for what they are," the alleged inspiration said. "In the period also will be a warning that involves not fire from the sky but fear of fire from the sky, and strange loud rumblings. This, according to mankind's response, will then be followed by another chastisement, or the inevitable onset of the change of era. Your era is ending. Soon the world will not be the world you know. I am not speaking of a barren world, or one depopulated, but of the end of your technological era. Many inventions of mankind will be broken down and there will be more of a peasant attitude and way of life everywhere."
Fifteen years later, as the purification takes another spike upward, it certainly looks like a preview of things breaking down there at the Superdome or on the highways near New Orleans. Women are carrying their children to unseen lands like scenes from the Dust Bowl.
And how true: no one will admit the event for what it is. Prophecy has been usurped by bureaucracy.
Was it the long-prophesied "mega-storm"?
"Katrina" was certainly an event that was expected in prophetic circles and it will now rank as one of the three greatest natural disasters in history, even if the death toll does not reach the level of the great Galveston flood of 1900 or the Great San Francisco Quake, which killed 6,000.
The prophetic is as hopeful as it is realistic (there is nothing to fear in Jesus, Who will protect us in all circumstances), but prophecy knows that when we confront the truth -- especially about ourselves -- we dispel evil.
What have been some of the prophetic pulses? Something called the "Elijah list" carried a prediction from a man named Kim Clement, who on July 22, 2005, heard the words:
"O New Orleans God speaks to you from Houston tonight and says enough of this! For a judgment is coming says the Spirit of the Lord, and I will take the men that have stood in faith, raise them above the flood that shall destroy... Enough of this! For I will take the curses and the bodies will even rise and they will come forth on the water, but I will keep you, and the stench of death will only last a few days. And then what I promised two years ago will come to pass for August, September and October of this year I made a promise it would happen, and God said be strengthened now, be strengthened now for enough is enough says the Lord."
We cannot vouch for all such things and as usual leave it for you to decide. We can state from the mailbag that there is an uneasiness among many people (let us know your experiences). We often get the word, "prepare."
"It was in the middle of the night, I was restless and couldn't sleep when all of a sudden I heard these words, not in a voice but in my heart," writes Sharron Patraw of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. "'Be vigilant and persevere.' I was shocked and for a minute it startled me."
From a small group that claims prophetic dreams came the alleged vision -- two weeks ago -- of a woman whose husband worked on a Gulf oil rig.
"The same week, when he was offshore, I had this dream," she said. "I wasn't in my house, but another house much smaller. I went outside with intentions of going to a neighbors home. Children followed me, not my own and much younger.
"When I opened the door, I wasn't surprised to see the wood floor of a porch, nor the boardwalks connecting each house to the next within a small community. There was a small bateaux (boats -- flat bottom, usually aluminum) tied up close to each porch. Water was everywhere you could see, with only small rises on which a couple-three short trees were growing in the surrounding marsh. It was a marsh riddled with tiny canals and very tiny 'cheniers.' (the tiny island like rise of ground that supported the trees.) In the middle of the boardwalk was a huge alligator.
"As soon as I saw the alligator, I turned to shoo the kids back inside, then returned inside, too. The dream ended when the door closed behind me, separating the danger (alligator) from the kids and myself. The buildings were not the normal 'camps' you would find in the marsh areas around here, yet that is where they were. They were real homes, houses. In the marsh, if more than one camp is in an area, it's nothing unusual for them to be connected by board walkways.
"The camps are usually scattered rather randomly, these were not. These were like any neighborhood, in a nice neat line, only in the water instead of dry land. These two dreams were two weeks ago."
Last January, another woman in the group from Louisiana got the numbers, "29."
The storm struck, of course, on August 29.
"There are big upheavals coming soon," says another who claims prophecy. "That is all I can say for now. Dick Cheney will assume a major role in our fate. Big explosions."
We'll take that under advisement. We'll try to discern it. We try to be careful but we don't despise prophecy. God is watching out for us, and even if such prophecies come true, will keep us secure if we love, fast, and pray.
"I do like the idea of praying-interceding in great numbers for certain prophetic revelations," wrote Connie Etie of Highlands, Texas a while back. "I thought it might be great if Catholics could do the same for some of your readers most powerful prophetic dreams, etc. I especially say this because I had a dream in which much of the Louisiana coastline disappeared. Might not many of your other readers have similar stirrings in the spirit requiring increased prayer to benefit someplace or some event?"
That's what prophecy is for -- and the Church will revive when it realizes this.
There were also personal events.
"Signs from Heaven: ten days ago my husband who is a software engineer and was looking for a job got an exceptional offer," said a female reader. "We live in Florida and the job offer was to start this week in New Orleans. But something was not right, we prayed for guidance and strange signs happened: at the parking lot we found a red piece of fabric, later on a red flag show up at the computer screen and did not go away…red flags. He called back to say that he couldn’t take the job… it was not easy, there was no logic reason… just the signs from Heaven."
Said a woman from Upstate New York:
"Below you will find the briefest account of what appears to be a visionary experience that I can make. I have been praying about it for several months and have also sought discernment, which has been uniformly positive.
"In August of 2001, while driving past Manhattan, I heard very clearly: 'Take a good look at the World Trade Towers -- you will never see them again.' I only told this to one or two people because I was afraid to take the risk of being wrong. This time, I am willing to be mistaken, but I feel that there is something real here.
"Sometime in early November, 2004, I woke up around four a.m. Whether the following experience was a dream or a vision, I don’t really know because I was in that drowsy half-awake state for a while when this experience started.
"I saw the continent of North America as though from very high up above it. It appeared to be normal green and brown colors. Suddenly the whole continent turned into a flat plain uniformly gray in color as though covered in dust.
"I saw Jesus, enormously huge stride across the continent in about a dozen or so steps. Each place He stepped left a deep footprint — an impression in the land. In each of these footprints clear water sprang up like a fountain and lush green grass filled in the depression in the ground.
"Suddenly the scene changed. Jesus, still huge in size, was standing in the middle of North America right at the border between Canada and the USA, looking south toward the USA. His Face was very grave — stern and sad. Suddenly, He lifted up His right foot and stomped it down very hard on the ground just on the south side of the border. There was a huge booming shaking which rippled outward from Jesus’ foot like ripples on a pond when you throw in a stone. The ripples of shaking moved outward until the whole North American continent was terribly shaken.
"When I awoke in the morning, I was very shaken up by what I saw. I didn’t want it to be true. I deliberately pushed the whole thing out of my mind to forget it. I did forget about the experience completely.
"However several weeks later the same experience happened again in exactly the same way: North America turned gray, Jesus walked across it leaving oases of water and grass in His footprints. Then He stood right in the middle of North America (measured from East to West) at the Canadian border, looking at the USA. He lifted His foot, stomped it down in the middle of the Northern part of the USA so that there was a huge, deep boom. The ripples went outward so that the whole continent shook all the way to both oceans. I knew I was dreading something coming in early August, I just didn’t know what it was. I believe that this dream/vision is a call to prayer for mercy on our land and its people."
Again, we'll take it all under advisement. The view from here: the purification has hit a high stride but has a long way to go.
I'll be back to blogging tomorrow. But I wanted to share Mr. Brown's article because of what he has to say about the forces of evil and how these forces attempt to intimidate authentic followers of Christ from exposing them.
Mr. Brown's website: www.spiritdaily.com
God love you,
Paul
NEW ORLEANS EVENT RANKS AS ANOTHER SPIKE IN A SERIES OF EVENTS THAT INTENSIFY
By Michael H. Brown
Prophets have been dismissed in every period and so now prophecy runs into the same resistance as applies to disasters like "Katrina."
Amos. Jeremiah. Jonah. What would they say?
We have a feeling they would have said what was said at Sodom or Nineveh and that it would be dismissed, of course, in a modern world that has gone "politically correct."
It is not politically correct to point out anything "negative" (the evil in our society tries to intimidate anyone from identifying it), even though the real negative is ignoring and tolerating evil that if not purged will cause thousands more to die in the future.
The cruelest thing we can do right now is to ignore the aspect of the Church that (like Christ Himself) is prophetic and to ignore the fact that God in His mercy purifies.
When it leads to repentance, and prayer, prophecy saves lives. It can't save lives if it is ignored. Nor can one be Catholic without believing in the Bible, which is chock-full of situations whereby societal darkness led to calamities like what has occurred in New Orleans (a city we love in a special way).
Perhaps it is time for the Roman Catholic Church to revisit passages such as Matthew 24.
Quakes. Roaring seas. Was Jesus "negative"?
At any rate, down to business:
Periods of purification or "chastisement" have occurred throughout history, the last major one during the Middle Ages, when -- as in our own period -- there were huge storms, famines, unusual droughts, quakes, the breakdown of infrastructures, and last, but hardly least, the bubonic plague.
God speaks to us through nature; always has; is doing so now -- in His mercy.
The current phase of purification began with special earnest in 1989 and was marked by the earthquake in San Francisco -- which affected another stadium, this time Candlestick Park during the World Series.
In quick sequence we saw tremendous northeasters, El Ninos, record blizzards, a storm system that shut down every major airport on the East Coast (for the first time ever), the great Mississippi flood, Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Opal, record tornado years, the onset of frequent tropical storms, gargantuan floods in India and China, glaciers melting, the "perfect storm," the L.A. quake, and other events through the following decade.
After that came a new century and a new millennium and increasingly dramatic climate shifts, far more intense weather, record heat, record storms in the Pacific, great tempests and fires and drought in Europe, wildfire too in the American West, the Florida hurricanes, and the Asian tsunami as each up-tick, it seemed, gained in intensity.
Not to mention September 11.
The cycle that kicked off in 1989 hit a higher stride and now we see a higher stride still with what can only be known as the New Orleans catastrophe.
Such events were foreseen in the "1990 prophecy," which, recorded anonymously on December 3, 1990, was a "word of knowledge" that was supposedly from Jesus. We have taken it seriously in part because it correctly foresaw September 11.
"These chastisements will differ according to regions, and like the great evil, will not always or usually be immediately noticeable for what they are," the alleged inspiration said. "In the period also will be a warning that involves not fire from the sky but fear of fire from the sky, and strange loud rumblings. This, according to mankind's response, will then be followed by another chastisement, or the inevitable onset of the change of era. Your era is ending. Soon the world will not be the world you know. I am not speaking of a barren world, or one depopulated, but of the end of your technological era. Many inventions of mankind will be broken down and there will be more of a peasant attitude and way of life everywhere."
Fifteen years later, as the purification takes another spike upward, it certainly looks like a preview of things breaking down there at the Superdome or on the highways near New Orleans. Women are carrying their children to unseen lands like scenes from the Dust Bowl.
And how true: no one will admit the event for what it is. Prophecy has been usurped by bureaucracy.
Was it the long-prophesied "mega-storm"?
"Katrina" was certainly an event that was expected in prophetic circles and it will now rank as one of the three greatest natural disasters in history, even if the death toll does not reach the level of the great Galveston flood of 1900 or the Great San Francisco Quake, which killed 6,000.
The prophetic is as hopeful as it is realistic (there is nothing to fear in Jesus, Who will protect us in all circumstances), but prophecy knows that when we confront the truth -- especially about ourselves -- we dispel evil.
What have been some of the prophetic pulses? Something called the "Elijah list" carried a prediction from a man named Kim Clement, who on July 22, 2005, heard the words:
"O New Orleans God speaks to you from Houston tonight and says enough of this! For a judgment is coming says the Spirit of the Lord, and I will take the men that have stood in faith, raise them above the flood that shall destroy... Enough of this! For I will take the curses and the bodies will even rise and they will come forth on the water, but I will keep you, and the stench of death will only last a few days. And then what I promised two years ago will come to pass for August, September and October of this year I made a promise it would happen, and God said be strengthened now, be strengthened now for enough is enough says the Lord."
We cannot vouch for all such things and as usual leave it for you to decide. We can state from the mailbag that there is an uneasiness among many people (let us know your experiences). We often get the word, "prepare."
"It was in the middle of the night, I was restless and couldn't sleep when all of a sudden I heard these words, not in a voice but in my heart," writes Sharron Patraw of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. "'Be vigilant and persevere.' I was shocked and for a minute it startled me."
From a small group that claims prophetic dreams came the alleged vision -- two weeks ago -- of a woman whose husband worked on a Gulf oil rig.
"The same week, when he was offshore, I had this dream," she said. "I wasn't in my house, but another house much smaller. I went outside with intentions of going to a neighbors home. Children followed me, not my own and much younger.
"When I opened the door, I wasn't surprised to see the wood floor of a porch, nor the boardwalks connecting each house to the next within a small community. There was a small bateaux (boats -- flat bottom, usually aluminum) tied up close to each porch. Water was everywhere you could see, with only small rises on which a couple-three short trees were growing in the surrounding marsh. It was a marsh riddled with tiny canals and very tiny 'cheniers.' (the tiny island like rise of ground that supported the trees.) In the middle of the boardwalk was a huge alligator.
"As soon as I saw the alligator, I turned to shoo the kids back inside, then returned inside, too. The dream ended when the door closed behind me, separating the danger (alligator) from the kids and myself. The buildings were not the normal 'camps' you would find in the marsh areas around here, yet that is where they were. They were real homes, houses. In the marsh, if more than one camp is in an area, it's nothing unusual for them to be connected by board walkways.
"The camps are usually scattered rather randomly, these were not. These were like any neighborhood, in a nice neat line, only in the water instead of dry land. These two dreams were two weeks ago."
Last January, another woman in the group from Louisiana got the numbers, "29."
The storm struck, of course, on August 29.
"There are big upheavals coming soon," says another who claims prophecy. "That is all I can say for now. Dick Cheney will assume a major role in our fate. Big explosions."
We'll take that under advisement. We'll try to discern it. We try to be careful but we don't despise prophecy. God is watching out for us, and even if such prophecies come true, will keep us secure if we love, fast, and pray.
"I do like the idea of praying-interceding in great numbers for certain prophetic revelations," wrote Connie Etie of Highlands, Texas a while back. "I thought it might be great if Catholics could do the same for some of your readers most powerful prophetic dreams, etc. I especially say this because I had a dream in which much of the Louisiana coastline disappeared. Might not many of your other readers have similar stirrings in the spirit requiring increased prayer to benefit someplace or some event?"
That's what prophecy is for -- and the Church will revive when it realizes this.
There were also personal events.
"Signs from Heaven: ten days ago my husband who is a software engineer and was looking for a job got an exceptional offer," said a female reader. "We live in Florida and the job offer was to start this week in New Orleans. But something was not right, we prayed for guidance and strange signs happened: at the parking lot we found a red piece of fabric, later on a red flag show up at the computer screen and did not go away…red flags. He called back to say that he couldn’t take the job… it was not easy, there was no logic reason… just the signs from Heaven."
Said a woman from Upstate New York:
"Below you will find the briefest account of what appears to be a visionary experience that I can make. I have been praying about it for several months and have also sought discernment, which has been uniformly positive.
"In August of 2001, while driving past Manhattan, I heard very clearly: 'Take a good look at the World Trade Towers -- you will never see them again.' I only told this to one or two people because I was afraid to take the risk of being wrong. This time, I am willing to be mistaken, but I feel that there is something real here.
"Sometime in early November, 2004, I woke up around four a.m. Whether the following experience was a dream or a vision, I don’t really know because I was in that drowsy half-awake state for a while when this experience started.
"I saw the continent of North America as though from very high up above it. It appeared to be normal green and brown colors. Suddenly the whole continent turned into a flat plain uniformly gray in color as though covered in dust.
"I saw Jesus, enormously huge stride across the continent in about a dozen or so steps. Each place He stepped left a deep footprint — an impression in the land. In each of these footprints clear water sprang up like a fountain and lush green grass filled in the depression in the ground.
"Suddenly the scene changed. Jesus, still huge in size, was standing in the middle of North America right at the border between Canada and the USA, looking south toward the USA. His Face was very grave — stern and sad. Suddenly, He lifted up His right foot and stomped it down very hard on the ground just on the south side of the border. There was a huge booming shaking which rippled outward from Jesus’ foot like ripples on a pond when you throw in a stone. The ripples of shaking moved outward until the whole North American continent was terribly shaken.
"When I awoke in the morning, I was very shaken up by what I saw. I didn’t want it to be true. I deliberately pushed the whole thing out of my mind to forget it. I did forget about the experience completely.
"However several weeks later the same experience happened again in exactly the same way: North America turned gray, Jesus walked across it leaving oases of water and grass in His footprints. Then He stood right in the middle of North America (measured from East to West) at the Canadian border, looking at the USA. He lifted His foot, stomped it down in the middle of the Northern part of the USA so that there was a huge, deep boom. The ripples went outward so that the whole continent shook all the way to both oceans. I knew I was dreading something coming in early August, I just didn’t know what it was. I believe that this dream/vision is a call to prayer for mercy on our land and its people."
Again, we'll take it all under advisement. The view from here: the purification has hit a high stride but has a long way to go.
I'll be back to blogging tomorrow. But I wanted to share Mr. Brown's article because of what he has to say about the forces of evil and how these forces attempt to intimidate authentic followers of Christ from exposing them.
Mr. Brown's website: www.spiritdaily.com
God love you,
Paul