I have in the past written, when writing about miracles, that it we don’t pray for miracles, we won’t receive them. Praying does not compel God to grant them, but praying prepares us to accept all that God grants and does not grant.
But God also works miracles. He pours out extraordinary, undeserved graces.
My friend Msgr. Charles Pope penned a thoughtful and also heartfelt reaction to the Synod, the antics in and around in, and its closing document, to which I subscribe. He contextualized it against the background of those things Francis has been rumored to have said, things hardly to be believed about the divinity of Christ and the annihilation of the souls of sinners rather than damnation.
Msgr. Pope recognizes, as so many do, that these are times of unprecedented uncertainty and disorder, and much of that disorder is coming from the top. Ex capite.
Finally, as I have done in some of my posts, Msgr. Pope prays. He prays for a ostensibly miraculous Humanae vitae moment. In 1968 who thought that Pope Paul would remain strong and true, and not give in to the spirit of the times. And this of those times! 1968. If 1968 was bad, 2019 is worse. Who believes that Francis will be strong and true in support of and in defense of tradition in wake of this Synod (“walking together”)?
We pray for many things. Sometimes we promise prayers. Sometimes we fulfill those promises. Sometimes we pray in passing. Sometimes we pray in earnest.
How will you now pray?
Now pray as you have never prayed before. Pray often, intensely, with purpose.
This is what Msgr. Pope says:
Let us pray: Help us, Lord. Save us and have mercy on us, and draw us back from the brink. We acknowledge our sins Lord and that all of us have fallen short of the glory and holiness to which you have summoned us. But now, on the edge of a precipice, we pray for a miracle — indeed, Lord, one that will stun the world. Guide the Holy Father, who now writes an apostolic exhortation, and may his thoughts be directed only to you and the precious faith you have revealed. Lord, we are poor and needy — whom do we have but you, O Lord? To whom else can we turn? In these times of deep confusion and division we ask a miracle, Lord — yes, a miracle.
Mother Mary, intercede for us. Amen.
Thank you for this prayer. I pray a similar prayer several times a day( I am quite certain most of your readers do as well) but I had not thought to include a choate request for a miracle. I will now.
I think I witnessed a semi-miracle yesterday at Mass. One of the associate pastors at the parish I attend announced that he wouldn’t be giving a homily, he would be giving a sermon. He briefly explained the difference between the two. His main topic was on the Creed. And he spoke on two specific parts of the Creed, one being the mention of Pontius Pilate. The other being on the divinity of Christ. He actually spoke of the divinity of Christ. He spoke of how the Church is universal but that regardless of the Church being welcoming to everyone regardless of creed, sex, national origin, etc., that it doesn’t give a person the entitlement to do whatever they want. He quite clearly and loudly said that cohabitation and homosexual lifestyles are sinful.
I know it may not seem like much, which is why I called it a semi-miracle, but this is a first. I’ve been Catholic for 12+ years and I have never heard anyone from the pulpit speak out against homosexuality or cohabitation. Most priests talk about the poor or being charitable towards one’s neighbor or God’s mercy – all the fuzzy, fluffy things – but never really about sexual sins. I know this Monsignor, without mentioning the synod or the recent interview on Christ’s divinity, was speaking about those events. (Even if he had, I doubt the majority of the crowd in this massive Basilica would have known what he was talking about.) I don’t know how this sermon would have panned out in a bongo and rainbow parish, probably not well, but no one walked out yesterday in disgust. Maybe it’s a sign that there are going to be priests who will really defend the Church.
Amen. I will be praying a novena to Our Lady of Good Success. I trust in the Lord and in His Blessed Mother. Thank you for rallying the troops, Father.
I have been praying and urging others to pray but will be increasing my prayers for the miracle!
Thanks for the extra push, Fr. Z!
How messed up is it that we need to pray that the Pope will act Catholic?
Anneliese– “Most priests talk about the poor or being charitable towards one’s neighbor or God’s mercy – all the fuzzy, fluffy things – but never really about sexual sins.” I think it’s great that your pastor preached on these sins. But the poor, charity towards one’s neighbor, and God’s mercy are the HEART of Jesus’ life and ministry! Hardly fluff!
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reg: I think you nailed it. Of course, this is far from the first time that Holy Mother Church has been this “messed up.”
Msgr Pope and Fr Z are absolutely right. We need to pray for that miracle.
A beautiful heartfelt prayer from Mgsr Pope. Thank you, Father for the encouragement to pray more and to pray for a miracle.
veritas vincit says: reg: I think you nailed it. Of course, this is far from the first time that Holy Mother Church has been this “messed up.”
No, I think this is actually the first time that Holy Mother Church has been THIS messed up.
Today in Peru is the feast of Our Lord of the Miracles.
Save us, O Lord. Remember your Bride, whom you died for.
A Biblical Litany (based on Psalm 108:8)
Because Pachamamma. may another take his office
Because Amoris laetitia, may another take his office
Because Cor orans, may another take his office
Because the desecration of Santa Maria in Traspontina, may another take his office
Because the nomination of unworthy bishops, may another take his office
Because the suppression of Mariawald, may another take his office
Because the harassment of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, may another take his office
Because the unclarified interviews with Scalfari, may another take his office
Because his surrounding himself with unworthy counselors, may another take his office
Because his hostility to asceticism, may another take his office
Because Cdl Blaise Cupich, may another take his office
Because Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, may another take his office
Because his evisceration of the Pontifical Pope John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, may another take his office
For his disheartening and confusing the faithful, may another take his office
For his fomenting and not being afraid of schism, may another take his office.
For his praise of and consorting with and inviting to the Vatican proabortion, anti-natalist politicians and activists, may another take his office
For tolerating a pagan ritual in the Vatican gardens, may another take his office
For supplying our religious enemies with anti-Catholic propaganda, may another take his office
For embarrassing our apologists, may another take his office
For disheartening our priests, may another take his office
For focusing on worldly concerns and so earning the praise of the likes of Jeffrey Sachs and Paul Ehrlich, may another take his office.
(for private devotion only)
The response in this litany has the advantage over many other prayers in that it is a prayer inspired by God, is wonderfully pithy, evinces great confidence in God. It wishes no one ill, but only the good of the Church whose highest office is worthy of someone idoneus.
I will pray Msgr Pope’s prayer every day, as well as Bishop Schneider’s:
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, receive through the hands of the Immaculate Mother of God and Ever Virgin Mary from our contrite heart a sincere act of reparation for the acts of worship of wooden idols and symbols, which occurred in Rome, the Eternal City and the heart of the Catholic world, during the Synod for the Amazon. Pour out in the heart of Our Holy Father Pope Francis, of the Cardinals, of the Bishops, of the priests and lay faithful, your Spirit, who will expel the darkness of the minds, so that they might recognize the impiety of such acts, which offended your Divine majesty and offer to you public and private acts of reparation.
Pour out in all members of the Church the light of the fulness and beauty of the Catholic Faith. Enkindle in them the burning zeal of bringing the salvation of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, to all men, especially to the people in the Amazon region, who still are enslaved in the service of feeble material and perishable things, as they are the deaf and mute symbols and idols of “mother earth”, to all people and especially to the people of the Amazonian tribes, who do not have the liberty of the children of God, and who do not have the unspeakable happiness to know Jesus Christ and to have in Him part in the life of your Divine nature.
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you the one true God, besides Whom there is no other god and no salvation, have mercy on your Church. Look especially upon the tears and the contrite and humble sighs of the little ones in the Church, look upon the tears and prayers of the little children, of the adolescents, of young men and young women, of the fathers and mothers of family and also of the true Christian heroes, who in their zeal for your glory and in their love for Mother Church threw in the water the symbols of abomination which defiled her. Have mercy on us: spare us, O Lord, parce Domine, parce Domine! Have mercy on us: Kyrie eleison!”
If the Pope jumps off a cliff, do you follow him?
A post-synodal apostolic exhortation published by a pagan idol worshipper and denier of the one true faith in favor of diversity, will undoubtedly reflect the personal opinions of a pagan idol worshipper who has denied the one true faith. Those opinions can, and should be rejected, summarily, by all of Christianity, with absolute confidence, as opposed to entertaining cliff-side hestrionics and dispair. Catholics follow Christ. They don’t jump off a cliff just because a pagan idol worshipper who denies the faith decided to do so, and they don’t stand on the precipice in order to hear, much less lend credence to, what’s emanating from the abyss.
Yes. The part of the problem is that we’re also expected to live a life that’s not bogged down by sin. What good does it do for the soul if a person lives a life that’s not virtuous? What good comes from the corporal acts they perform if they’re committing adultery? Or fornicating? It doesn’t cancel out their act but it won’t bear fruit either. Christ told the woman caught in adultery that her sins were forgiven but to sin no more. And a lot of people sight of that part at times because no one’s saying it from the pulpit. People begin to believe that because they serve the poor they can escape any consequence or God’s judgment. At least that’s the observation I’ve made with individuals who are living lives that aren’t exactly chaste. Perhaps that mindset comes from the sexual revolution.
My former Pastor, who has been at a neighboring parish for a few months now said at the conclusion of the Sunday masses a few weeks ago (I happened to attended) regarding adoration and Mass: “If we can not make time for God in our lives, you may be surprised to find yourself at a different final destination.” He went on to briefly explain the unity with God in Heaven and the eternal consequences of our actions. It was truely a little miracle to see so many people nodding in agreement.. He is a wonderful role model of a prayerful life, and is doing wonders at every parish he’s been assigned to. It’s amazing to see the impact of a prayerful and holy priest..
RLseven says:
Anneliese– “Most priests talk about the poor or being charitable towards one’s neighbor or God’s mercy – all the fuzzy, fluffy things – but never really about sexual sins.” I think it’s great that your pastor preached on these sins. But the poor, charity towards one’s neighbor, and God’s mercy are the HEART of Jesus’ life and ministry! Hardly fluff!
*
The main point is that the points that you emphasize are ones that are non-controversial and require little courage and fortitude to address. It takes courage and fortitude to go against the grain and speak to counter-cultural issues. Christ’s hard teaching about the Eucharist cost Him the loss of most of His disciples. Is the Church forming all-weather Catholics, or is it forming fair-weather Catholics?
The sons of Samuel, Jo’el and Abi’jah, didn’t look good to the elders of Israel. They were not good judges; they perverted justice and took bribes. Sounds pretty awful to me.
But Samuel’s line is what God deemed best for His people. Men supplanted God’s wisdom for their own (or is that the other way around?). They rejected God’s Kingship for the kingship of a mortal man. It delayed the Good that God intended for humanity. Consider the cost in souls
lost as a consequence!
Now we find ourselves with a regent on the Chair of Peter who seems to do and say things contrary to what is righteous….I don’t know him. I can’t read souls nor know his heart….maybe the rumours one hears of his being held and manipulated are true. If these people in the machine of the Vatican will be so brazen as to change the formal letter of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and maliciously and libelously tamper with the online reputation of a public figure such as Taylor Marshal, what’s to make us believe they don’t use the same tactics on the seated Pope? To me it seems a given that they are running amok. What was once just smoke has turned into a full on infestation (at least!). He seems to do the best he can given his natural temperament and situation.
But what if all of our worst fears were to be true? That Pope Benedict XVI was forcefully removed by the Gallen Mob and the Lavender Mafia and Jorge Bergoglio was the man with the plan and was seated by finaglings and politicking. What if he really was an idol worshiping, gay supporting, married priest supporting, pro female priesthood heretic who puts hits out on zucchetto wearing traditional Catholic priests and prelates? That sounds pretty awful to me.
Is it any worse than Jo’el and Abi’jah? Would it justify supplanting God’s wisdom for my own? (presupposing I had any..lol) Does it warrent my rejection of God as my King?
Nerp.
I like this solution of prayer…and if we have valid concerns, then follow the example
of Saint Francis rather than Martin Luther…We should follow the example of Saint Catherine and plead with our Papa to do what is right, rather than eviscerate him and make demands.
Note the error honestly, call it out by name, work dillegently and with fidelity, prayer and love to resolve it. Frankly this is what our good Cardinal Burke has done. He sets an excellent contemporary example for us all.
Thank you for providing this excellent prayer.
I have been wandering around Rome all week. There hasn’t been a visit to a church, the tombs of the martyrs and saints where I have not prayed for their intercessions on behalf of the Church. I was at saints Ambrose And Charles on the Corso, there the relic of St Charles was visible. I prayed hard that his intersession would bring about a greater knowledge and fidelity of Church teaching. At St. Prassede yesterday I prayed that the blood of the thousands of martyrs there would once again be the seed of the Church in our time. PS Every Catholic who visits Rome must make a stop in this church. It’s across from Santa Maria Magore. There are over 2300 martyrs entombed there. The saints Cyril and Methodius made a visit to the abbey in the 9th century. A must especially in these days.
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Surely there’s also a votive Mass or ten for that…
LeeGilbert, May God be merciful to your soul. This is prayer?? It feels a great deal like hate-filled despair. What a lot of time and energy spent on writing this, that could have been used productively for the benefit of the Kingdom.