In a locution to Fr. Stephano Gobbi given on March 10, 1977, Our Lady said that, "..some priests have become nothing but ministers of the world and live according to the world. For prayer they have substituted a feverish activity; for mortification, the constant seeking after comfort and pleasures; for holiness, a progressive yielding to sin, especially impurity [see here], which is becoming more and more committed and justified. They have become walking corpses, whitened sepulchres who still call themselves priests, but whom my Son Jesus no longer recognizes as such. And these are indeed sometimes the most esteemed, those who have succeeded in achieving success and those who have been placed in positions of responsibility....Those who have remained faithful are generally the most persecuted, the most ignored, and sometimes intentionally ostracized. Thus the darkness spreads, and the smoke of Satan seeks to cover everything; each day the apostasy grows greater."
"If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me." (John 15: 18-21).
My parish recently transitioned from the Jesuit order to the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE). In a meeting my husband and I had with the pastor he said this: (paraphrased)
ReplyDelete"Our founder asked God on our behalf for the gift of persecution. We expect it and are blessed by it. If we are not persecuted, then we are doing something very wrong."
Blessed be the holy name of the Lord forever and ever, Amen+
I don't think we've seen the full extent of the clerical sex abuse crisis yet. And there are many more priests who may not abuse children but who engage in homosexual or heterosexual sex. Indeed the apostasy is engulfing much of the Church. This too is part of the chastisement. It represents a spiritual chastisement.
ReplyDeleteFr. Gobbi wisely said that we should fear spiritual darkness even more than physical darkness (he was referring to the prophesied three days darkness on Mother Angelica Live while answering the fears of a woman who was very concerned about the prophecy).