This message from a friend sums up what I believe a great many people are feeling right now.
They say I sow schism because I remain faithful to the Faith and customs of my forbears.
I feel like I have become an “undocumented Catholic”.
Baptized, but without any right to receive sacraments the way Rome always gave them.
Confirmed, but warned not to “proselytize”.
Married, but told that remarried adulterers are probably closer to God than I and my wife are, with our self righteous sense of “certainty” and “conformity” (in 2021/22!!).
My never allowing longer than two weeks between confessions is said to be scrupulous and the fruit of a “punishing” idea of the faith.
My receiving communion only after having examined my faith and my morals is said to impose limits on the “surprises” of Spirit.
How do I get within the borders of this new Church without documents and with zero will to integrate?
Those who are causing so many souls to doubt the Church Our Lord came to establish in his very Blood will burn in Hell.
“Beware the fury of a patient man,” as John Dryden paraphrased Publius Syrus.
Loading ...
Ouch.
Stole the words right out of my mouth.
Pingback: Cri de Coeur: I feel like I have become an “undocumented Catholic” – Via Nova Media
I’m right there with you, Pal!
It looks like we’re both in the Underground Church now.
I keep pondering how it can be that I’ve loved the Church my whole life, made many sacrifices for her and now find myself an enemy of the Pope, and according to him, an enemy of the faith. It is bewildering and very difficult to maintain faith.
I was recently reminded of a wonderful quote by Father Weinandy in the excellent “St. Gallen Mafia” by Julia Meloni. I am typing it here for you.
Page 158: “Outside the synod, Fr. Thomas Weinandy warned of possible ‘internal papal schism.’ He pointed out that Pope Francis remained the ‘ultimate protector’ of German leaders who promote ‘ambiguous teaching and pastoral practice…in accord with Francis’s own.’ There was thus the danger that the pope, even as pope, would ‘effectively be the leader of a segment of the Church that through its doctrine, moral teaching, and ecclesial structure, is for all practical purposes schismatic.’ ‘This,’ said Weinandy, ‘is the real schism that is in our midst and must be faced, but I do not believe Pope Francis is in any way afraid of this schism. As long as he is in control, he will, I fear, welcome it, for he sees the schismatic element as the new ‘paradigm’ for the future Church.’”
Recently, a priest during his homily mentioned reading this part of the Catechism:
675 Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.
That sums it up in a nutshell for me. Everything is being turned upside down…Even in the Church.
Without being disobedient, there is no need to listen hard to somebody who is maundering on, insincerely or with deliberately inconsistent thought, even if making a show of saying it highly emotionally. When someone speaks with the Church, then you pay attention and obey.
We don’t have to make a show of not listening, just like we don’t have to be excruciatingly obvious about dragging feet.
If someone is saying things that are harmful to others or to his own reputation, we don’t have to help that person do damage. Especially not to our own sense of right and wrong, or our own sense of self.
I just watched this today and it is so clear and a great consolation. SSPX Superior General speaks at length about the suppression of the TLM.
https://youtu.be/xw9kh1ITI4A
mysticalrose writes, “… now find myself an enemy of the Pope, and according to him, an enemy of the faith.”
The situation certainly does introduce cognitive dissonance into our lives. “How can I possibly a ‘good Catholic’ if the Holy Father almost certainly considers me, based on my liturgical views and preferences, to be a very bad, misguided, divisive Catholic?” It wouldn’t surprise me if quite a few of us are asking ourselves this question, or some variation thereof. The thought certainly has occurred to me. And then I go to my diocesan TLM and I see in the pews the French sisters who operate a soup kitchen in one of the worst neighborhoods in America providing free meals to some of the most down-and-out people in the country (e.g., “the least of My brethren”). And I think, “You know, if those sisters are ‘bad Catholics’ because they love the TLM, then I’m okay being a ‘bad one’ too.”
Pingback: New Liturgical Movement: Second Roundup of Articles on the CDW Responses