June and Martin, SJ

Posted on 2 June 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Why is Jesuit homosexualist Father James Martin’s obsessive focus so troubling?  Here’s an example.

No mention of June as the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart. Rather, his focus for June is on “pride” in sodomy.

To his credit, he did tweet out thanks to Our Lady of Lourdes the other day after a successful “minor surgery”.  I’m sure we wish him a good recovery.     Maybe he just hasn’t gotten around to Jesus’ Sacred Heart yet and its on his list of things to do next.  There have been times when I have not posted about a specific feast or event that I could have and maybe should have.   I get that.

However, Catholics know that certain months are dedicated to certain things.   This is how we roll, right?

January – The Holy Name and Childhood of Jesus
February – The Holy Family
March – St. Joseph
April – The Blessed Sacrament
May – Mary
June – Sacred Heart of Jesus
July – The Precious Blood
August – Immaculate Heart of Mary
September – Seven Sorrows of Mary
October – The Holy Rosary and also the Holy Angels
November – Poor Souls in Purgatory
December – The Immaculate Conception

June… same sex attraction?   What world view does this come from?   I will grant that we don’t always post everything that we could post.  Things slip through the cracks, especially when we are busy.

However, if you are going go out of your way very publicly to put your focus on a special month dedicated to recognition of something and, as a Catholic priest and a Jesuit, you stress sodomy before the Sacred Heart….   Really?  I don’t get that.

Did I miss his tweet about the Sacred Heart and June?  I looked for it.  Maybe I was banned that day from his feed.

Another point.

No one denies that people with same-sex attraction are made in God’s image and likeness and that they have contributions to make in every sphere of life.   What is disturbing about Martin’s messages is his consistent avoidance of answering the basic question that comes to mind when he tweets and talks like this.  Namely: “Do you mean that the gifts and contributions people homosexual people bring to the Church flow from their humanity or from their homosexuality?”

A homosexual orientation or attraction is not properly ordered according to nature.  Hence, even though God made everyone who has such attractions, he did not make them in order that they have those attractions.  The attractions are a defect.  Defects are permitted by God by they aren’t from God.  Defects can be the way that people come to great holiness, through overcoming them in a holy way.  People with this affliction can attain to amazing holiness of life and a magnificent reward in heaven.  However, Martin thinks that the defects are authored by God, from God, intended by and put into people by God.  That’s impossible, but that’s not the impression you get when you read what he writes.    That’s, I believe, a diabolical deception.

In any event June, dear readers, is the month dedicated especially to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, after Whom a certain Society was named.

Battoni’s painting in great church of the Jesuits in Rome, the Gesù.

June and Martin, SJ

Let’s pray for Fr. Martin and all who have this affliction.  There’s a good prayer by – soon-to-be-canonized John Henry Newman whose motto on his coat-of arms was “Cor ad cor loquitur … Heart speaks unto heart”.  It would not be wrong to kneel to say this, even now:

O SACREDHeart of Jesus, I adore Thee in the oneness of the Personality of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Whatever belongs to the Person of Jesus, belongs therefore to God, and is to be worshipped with that one and the same worship which we pay to Jesus. He did not take on Him His human nature, as something distinct and separate from Himself, but as simply, absolutely, eternally His, so as to be included by us in the very thought of Him. I worship Thee, O Heart of Jesus, as being Jesus Himself, as being that Eternal Word in human nature which He took wholly and lives in wholly, and therefore in Thee. Thou art the Heart of the Most High made man. In worshipping Thee, I worship my Incarnate God, Emmanuel. I worship Thee, as bearing a part in that Passion which is my life, for Thou didst burst and break, through agony, in the garden of Gethsemani, and Thy precious contents trickled out, through the veins and pores of the skin, upon the earth. And again, Thou hadst been drained all but dry upon the Cross; and then, after death, Thou wast pierced by the lance, and gavest out the small remains of that inestimable treasure, which is our redemption.

My God, my Saviour, I adore Thy Sacred Heart, for that heart is the seat and source of all Thy tenderest human affections for us sinners. It is the instrument and organ of Thy love. It did beat for us. It yearned over us. It ached for us, and for our salvation. It was on fire through zeal, that the glory of God might be manifested in and by us. It is the channel through which has come to us all Thy overflowing human affection, all Thy Divine Charity towards us. All Thy incomprehensible compassion for us, as God and Man, as our Creator and our Redeemer and Judge, has come to us, and comes, in one inseparably mingled stream, through that Sacred Heart. O most Sacred symbol and Sacrament of Love, divine and human, in its fullness, Thou didst save me by Thy divine strength, and Thy human affection, and then at length by that wonder-working blood, wherewith Thou didst overflow.

O most Sacred, most loving Heart of Jesus, Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and Thou beatest for us still. Now as then Thou savest, Desiderio desideravi — “With desire I have desired.” I worship Thee then with all my best love and awe, with my fervent affection, with my most subdued, most resolved will. O my God, when Thou dost condescend to suffer me to receive Thee, to eat and drink Thee, and Thou for a while takest up Thy abode within me, O make my heart beat with Thy Heart. Purify it of all that is earthly, all that is proud and sensual, all that is hard and cruel, of all perversity, of all disorder, of all deadness. So fill it with Thee, that neither the events of the day nor the circumstances of the time may have power to ruffle it, but that in Thy love and Thy fear it may have peace.

Posted in One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, Sin That Cries To Heaven | Tagged , , , ,
15 Comments

DAY 3 – Novena of Prayer to the Holy Spirit – AUDIO

Posted on 2 June 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

DAY 3 – Novena of Prayer to the Holy Spirit – AUDIOLet us, upon our knees, pray in a special way to God the Holy Spirit during this time between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost.

This is one way to pray.  I invite the readership to join in.

MANNER OF PRAYING THE NOVENA

Each day the meditation and prayer for the particular day is said, followed by 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary and 7 Glory be to the Father, followed by the Act of Consecration and the Prayer for the Seven Gifts.

THIRD DAY OF THE NOVENA

Thou, of all consolers best,
Visiting the troubled breast,
Dost refreshing peace bestow.

The gift of Piety begets in our hearts a filial affection for God as our most loving Father. It inspires us to love and respect for His sake persons and things consecrated to Him, as well as those who are vested with His authority, His Blessed Mother and the Saints, the Church and its visible Head, our parents and superiors, our country and its rulers. He who is filled with the gift of Piety finds the practice of his religion, not a burdensome duty, but a delightful service. Where there is love, there is no labor.

Listen & subscribe: Apple Podcasts Overcast Pocket Casts RSS feed

Come, O Blessed Spirit of Piety, possess my heart. Enkindle therein such a love for God, that I may find satisfaction only in His service, and for His sake lovingly submit to all legitimate authority. Amen.

(Our Father and Hail Mary ONCE. Glory be to the Father 7 TIMES. Act of Consecration, Prayer for the Seven Gifts)

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY GHOST

On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer myself, soul and body, to Thee, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Thy purity, the unerring keenness of Thy justice, and the might of Thy love. Thou art the Strength and Light of my soul. In Thee I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve Thee by unfaithfulness to grace, and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against Thee. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Thy light, and listen to Thy voice, and follow Thy gracious inspirations. I cling to Thee and give myself to Thee and ask Thee, by Thy compassion, to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus, and looking at His five wounds, and trusting in His Precious Blood, and adoring His opened side and stricken Heart, I implore Thee, Adorable Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, so to keep me in Thy grace that I may never sin against Thee. Give me grace, O Holy Ghost, Spirit of the Father and the Son, to say to Thee always and everywhere, “Speak Lord, for Thy servant heareth.” Amen.

PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST

O Lord Jesus Christ, who before ascending into Heaven, didst promise to send the Holy Ghost to finish Thy work in the souls of Thine Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me, that He may perfect in my soul the work of Thy grace and Thy love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom, that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal; the Spirit of Understanding, to enlighten my mind with the light of Thy divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel, that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining Heaven; the Spirit of Fortitude, that I may bear my cross with Thee and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation; the Spirit of Knowledge, that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the saints; the Spirit of Piety, that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable; the Spirit of Fear, that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, Dear Lord, with the sign of Thy true disciples, and animate me in all things with Thy Spirit. Amen.

Posted in PODCAzT, PRAYER REQUEST | Tagged , , ,
1 Comment

ASK FATHER: Playing cards and deception, bluffing, lying

Posted on 1 June 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I play board games and card games and some involve
deception/bluffing/lying.

For example, one game called cockroach poker involves different animal suits of cards, and on your turn you place a card facedown in front of someone and declare what type of card it is. You can either tell the truth or lie (e.g. say “this is a frog”, but its really a cockroach card). The person must then respond by either saying “yes it is a frog” or “no its not a frog”. If they are wrong, they are penalized, if they are right you are penalized. If you only told the truth in this game, you would lose and the game would be broken. I have other games that similarly include deception.

Is this a sin against the 8th commandment? Or, like acting, since it is in the context of a game and everyone knows you could be lying is it not a sin?

GUEST PRIEST RESPONSE: Fr. T. Ferguson

This is a seemingly simple question, but it calls for a necessarily complicated answer.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us: A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving. The Lord denounces lying as the work of the devil: “You are of your father the devil, . . . there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error. By injuring man’s relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord. The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity. CCC 2482-2484

In playing a card game, is the falsehood spoken with the intention of deceiving? To some extent, perhaps, but since all players know that deception is part of the game, is there really an intent to deceive? I would argue that, in the circumstances you cite, and many other games besides, there is no sin, especially if all players are given the instructions of the game at the outset.

Janet Smith, one of the finest moral theologians out there, has written some pretty interesting stuff on the question of lying and the sinfulness (or not) thereof in specific situations. https://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/06/fig-leaves-and-falsehoods. It’s a topic worth exploring.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, HONORED GUESTS | Tagged ,
27 Comments

Reminder to priests having the care of souls about hearing confessions: do it … or probably go to Hell.

Posted on 1 June 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Reminder to priests having the care of souls about hearing confessions: do it ... or probably go to Hell.My friend Fr. Martin Fox has a good post – directed at priests – about hearing confessions.  HERE

I like his peroration…

Yes, it’s hard work, especially when you’ve got lots of other things to do, and that’s certainly true the week before Christmas, and Holy Week. But people WILL come to confession at those times. And if you preach about (and also practice in your own life) frequent confession, you can and will make a difference. I’ve seen it work; I’ve heard people say, “I heard you talk about confession at Mass…” “You kept hammering the point, I finally came…”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

GO TO CONFESSION!

And, Fathers, if you are NOT hearing the confessions of the souls entrusted to your care, you are in serious trouble and in peril of going to Hell.

Again, if souls are entrusted to your pastoral care… if you have the cura animarum… and you are not preaching about and teaching about this sacrament, if you are not preparing children and reminding adults about how to make a good confession, you are in danger.

Hell is real.   Do you want to wind up there?   And, as far as that “surely nobody is in Hell” B as in B – S as in S, … yeah.  Go ahead and try that for a while.  You know it’s BS.  And God cannot be deceived.

Go have a look at Fr. Martin’s post.

The moderation queue is ON.

Posted in GO TO CONFESSION, Mail from priests | Tagged , ,
7 Comments

CQ CQ CQ Ham Radio Saturday: Shhhhh!

Posted on 1 June 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

CQ CQ CQ Ham Radio Saturday: Shhhhh!First things first.

  • I’m calling CQ for a good graphic artist who might design an appropriate logo for ZedNet.  Maybe something with… lightning bolts against ones and zeros. I dunno.  I’m not creative that way.
  • Regarding ZedNet and DMR operation, I refer to you THIS.
  • I created a page for the List of YOUR callsigns.  HERE  Chime in or drop me a note if your call doesn’t appear in the list.

Today I went to a weekly gathering of local hams at a bar/restaurant just up the block from the National Museum of Mustard.  Yes, really.

One of the members of the assembly, also my local Elmer, brought a little gizmo.

CQ CQ CQ Ham Radio Saturday: Shhhhh!

Meet WSPR.

No, this is not a counteragency to UNCLE.

This is mode of communication that uses very weak signals to create propagation reports.  Weak Signal Propagation Reporter.

The idea is this.  The gizmo intermittently transmits a very weak signal, about 200 mW that includes location, call sign, etc.   Receivers around the world participating in WSPR, which detect and read the signal, some 30 dB below the noise line, then report the contact with information about signal strength etc. to a central network which can be accessed on the internet.  Thus, you are able to look up your call sign and see how your antenna is functioning, learn about propagation, etc.  The gizmo, below, is just a transmitter.  It runs off a little powerbank, such that you might haul around to give your phone a little juice during the day.  The Elmer just put that and this into a ziplock to protect it from the elements and let it do it’s thing.

It is, in effect, a beacon.

CQ CQ CQ Ham Radio Saturday: Shhhhh!CQ CQ CQ Ham Radio Saturday: Shhhhh!

This is nifty technology, developed by K1JT, a Noble Prize winner in Physics, the guy who also developed FT8.  It is highly dependent on the use of a very accurate clock, because part of the way that signals are detected and read require a high degree of synchronization.

Of course some people’s minds immediately go to clandestine, super-secret communications connecting various shady people doing who knows what.   But, in the meantime, this is very spiffy.

In the picture below, you do NOT see a WSPR device, though they can indeed by constructed from a Raspberry-Pi.  This is my little hotspot for ZedNet (DMR), in the window of my Roman apartment last week.

CQ CQ CQ Ham Radio Saturday: Shhhhh!

I wanted to see how from what distance I could reach it and communicate with my little handheld transceiver.

As it turns out, given that streets are narrow and wall of buildings are super thick in Rome, I was able to get quite a distance before I lost the hotspot using the Hi power setting.   On an amusing note, when I emerged from a narrow way into a wider spot where cars were parked, when I keyed to TX, all the car alarms nearby went off.  So much for stealth!

Meanwhile, I used the ZedNet quite a bit from Rome.  Hey you hams!  If you get into DMR, contact ZedNet!    I also used it from GITMO.  Very cool.

In any event, today I made contact with stations operation on a Special Event Day.  It is Museum Ship Weekend.  Today I contacted, inter alia, USS Intrepid, Mew Jersey, and Wisconsin.  I visited Wisconsin the last time I was in Norfolk.  HERE It is one of the amazing WWII battleships that is still able to be brought back into service.

I was told by N4WIS, operating on USS Wisconsin, that on 30m they are using the ship’s original equipment!    I think around 1.144.   On 20m, they have a wire sloping down to the guns.    From the site: ” Our station is located  on the 03 level aft of the bridge with 2 transceivers. One antenna is a ships 35 foot whip on the port side aft and the other is a Carolina Windom 80 from the yard arm forward to the top of 16″ gun turret #2.”

BB-64’s main battery had nine 16 inch (406 mm) guns, which could hurl 2,700 lb (1,200 kg) around 24 miles (39 km). As a backup she had twenty 5 inch (127 mm) guns in ten turrets which could hit targets 9 miles (14 km) away.

CQ CQ CQ Ham Radio Saturday: Shhhhh!

Not exactly WSPR!

73!

Posted in Ham Radio | Tagged , ,
10 Comments

DAY 2 – Novena of Prayer to the Holy Spirit – AUDIO

Posted on 1 June 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

DAY 2 – Novena of Prayer to the Holy Spirit – AUDIOLet us, upon our knees, pray in a special way to God the Holy Spirit during this time between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost.

This is one way to pray.  I invite the readership to join in.

MANNER OF PRAYING THE NOVENA

Each day the meditation and prayer for the particular day is said, followed by 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary and 7 Glory be to the Father, followed by the Act of Consecration and the Prayer for the Seven Gifts.

SECOND DAY OF THE NOVENA

Come. Father of the poor.
Come, treasures which endure;
Come, Light of all that live!

The Gift of Fear

Listen & subscribe: Apple Podcasts Overcast Pocket Casts RSS feed

The gift of Fear fills us with a sovereign respect for God, and makes us dread nothing so much as to offend Him by sin. It is a fear that arises, not from the thought of hell, but from sentiments of reverence and filial submission to our heavenly Father. It is the fear that is the beginning of wisdom, detaching us from worldly pleasures that could in any way separate us from God. “They that fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and in His sight will sanctify their souls.”

Come, O blessed Spirit of Holy Fear, penetrate my inmost heart, that I may set Thee, my Lord and God, before my face forever; help me to shun all things that can offend Thee, and make me worthy to appear before the pure eyes of Thy Divine Majesty in heaven, where Thou livest and reignest in the unity of the ever Blessed Trinity, God world without end. Amen.

(Our Father and Hail Mary ONCE. Glory be to the Father 7 TIMES. Act of Consecration, Prayer for the Seven Gifts)

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY GHOST

On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer myself, soul and body, to Thee, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Thy purity, the unerring keenness of Thy justice, and the might of Thy love. Thou art the Strength and Light of my soul. In Thee I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve Thee by unfaithfulness to grace, and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against Thee. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Thy light, and listen to Thy voice, and follow Thy gracious inspirations. I cling to Thee and give myself to Thee and ask Thee, by Thy compassion, to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus, and looking at His five wounds, and trusting in His Precious Blood, and adoring His opened side and stricken Heart, I implore Thee, Adorable Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, so to keep me in Thy grace that I may never sin against Thee. Give me grace, O Holy Ghost, Spirit of the Father and the Son, to say to Thee always and everywhere, “Speak Lord, for Thy servant heareth.” Amen.

PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST

O Lord Jesus Christ, who before ascending into Heaven, didst promise to send the Holy Ghost to finish Thy work in the souls of Thine Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me, that He may perfect in my soul the work of Thy grace and Thy love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom, that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal; the Spirit of Understanding, to enlighten my mind with the light of Thy divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel, that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining Heaven; the Spirit of Fortitude, that I may bear my cross with Thee and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation; the Spirit of Knowledge, that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the saints; the Spirit of Piety, that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable; the Spirit of Fear, that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, Dear Lord, with the sign of Thy true disciples, and animate me in all things with Thy Spirit. Amen.

Posted in PODCAzT | Tagged , , ,
5 Comments

Quam terribilis est locus iste! Hic non est aliud nisi domus Dei, et porta caeli!

Posted on 31 May 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Holy Church has given two great gifts to all of humanity: art and saints.

Both art and saints reflect God’s beauty and, therefore, call to each man to recognize also what is good and what is true.

Art reflects God’s beauty through inanimate things and saints reflect His beauty as animate.   In each case His images are His agents, so that we can can even call art, God’s grandchildren.

I’ve long thought that the architecture, art and music of each given age and culture employed for worship reflects that people’s self-understanding and their understanding of who and what the Church is.  There is a simultaneous enrichment constantly going on between a culture and a people with the Church through which they offer their first duty, proper worship through the virtue of Religion.  When the world’s offering is given logical priority in this chronologically simultaneous exchange, one result is produced.  When what the Church has to give to the world is given logical priority, another result is produced.

And, thus, I arrive at the goal of this post.   Behold a photo from a Solemn Mass at the Faldstool at the Wallfahrtskirche in Birnau.

Right click this and open it in a new tab.  Put down your coffee first.

Quam terribilis est locus iste! Hic non est aliud nisi domus Dei, et porta caeli!

There are so many things to say about this photo.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged , , ,
10 Comments

CHICAGO Fri 31 May – Procession with “Our Lady of the Broken” from @SJCantius

Posted on 31 May 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Are in or near Chicagoland? Check this out.

Go to the site: HERE

May I just add that the people at St. John Cantius were formed to think and to pray in this way over many years. This doesn’t just happen automatically or overnight.

The one who guided that formation in thought and prayer was Fr. Frank Phillips, who was “broken” on the wheel of the Archd. of Chicago, though he was exonerated from what he was accused of.

Meno chiacchiere – più processioni!

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Events, Our Solitary Boast, The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged , , ,
1 Comment

Zersetzung and the Pontifical Shunning of Prof. John Rist

Posted on 31 May 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I noted at LifeSite something which is personally upsetting.   It concerns a friend and old prof of mine at the Augustinianum, the Patristic Institute, in Rome.   Prof. Rist taught at the Augustinianum for years.  He is a serious and well-known scholar, still working!  Prof. Rist, even when he wasn’t teaching courses at the Augustinianum, still used their excellent library for his research.

The Augustinianum has, apparently, banned Prof. Rist because he signed that (ill-fated, I think) Letter to Bishops which levels a charge of heresy at Francis.   In other words, this is nothing other than payback.

Prof. Rist recounted what happened to LifeSite.   The President of the Aug.num. also stripped Rist of his supervision of a candidates thesis, thus punishing also the student (who pays the school for services).

Not only, Prof. Rist seems also to have been banned from all other Pontifical institutions, including CUA.  And CUA cancelled a Festschrift!

I also understand that no communication has been given to Prof. Rist explaining why.

We. Know. Why.

Zersetzung and the Pontifical Shunning of Prof. John RistBTW… Prof. Rist was the author of one of the essays in the amazing Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church.  [US HERE – UK HERE] 

Rist wrote: “Divorce and Remarriage in the Early Church: Some Historical and Cultural Reflections”.

BTW… this book was famously stolen from the mail boxes of the participants of the Synod on the Family.

Rist’s treatment is the stuff of the Stasi.   It’s called Zersetsung.

Here is the definition from East Germany’s own manual.  Zersetsung is… (my emphases)…

… a method of operation by the Ministry for State Security for an efficacious struggle against subversive activities, particularly in the treatment of operations. With Zersetzung one can influence hostile and negative individuals across different operational political activities, especially the hostile and negative aspects of their dispositions and beliefs, so these are abandoned and changed little by little, and, if applicable, the contradictions and differences between the hostile and negative forces would be laid open, exploited, and reinforced.

The goal of Zersetzung is the fragmentation, paralysis, disorganization, and isolation of the hostile and negative forces, in order to preventatively impede the hostile and negative activities, to largely restrict, or to totally avert them, and if applicable to prepare the ground for a political and ideological reestablishment.

Zersetzung is equally an immediate constitutive element of “operational procedures” and other preventive activities to impede hostile gatherings. The principal forces to execute Zersetzung are the unofficial collaborators.  Zersetzung presupposes information and significant proof of hostile activities planned, prepared, and accomplished as well as anchor points corresponding to measures of Zersetzung.

Zersetzung must be produced on the basis of a root cause analysis of the facts and the exact definition of a concrete goal. Zersetzung must be executed in a uniform and supervised manner; its results must be documented.

The political explosive force of Zersetzung heightens demands regarding the maintenance of secrecy.

Edward Feser, very smart, reacts to this news HERE.  Feser thinks that that Letter wasn’t the best move, but that this is,

“undeservedly shabby treatment.  Whatever one thinks of his views, Rist is not some hotheaded pamphleteer or hack blogger.  He is a serious thinker, an eminent scholar of classical and early Christian philosophy, the author of many important books, a longtime professor at the Catholic University of America, and a loyal and orthodox son of the Church.  It seems to me not irrelevant to point out that he is also 83 years old.”

A couple things come to mind.  First is the issue of academic freedom. That’s obvious.

However, Feser also brings up the point of Prof. Rist’s age.   If the Aug.num., or any other institute, thinks they are defending Francis from Rist, consider what Francis has said about treatment of old people.

I agree with Feser.  This is shabby.  Especially shabby is how Rist seems to have been banned from all Pontifical institutes.

Posted in Pò sì jiù, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged ,
23 Comments

A warning from recent history about changes to the CDF and notes about authentic and deficient “evangelization”

Posted on 31 May 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A warning from recent history about changes to the CDF and notes about authentic and deficient "evangelization"A priest friend sent this around to a select group.  I think more people should know about it.

As we read about the proposed Curial “reforms”  Ottaviani reminds us that the seeds for this were sown by Paul VI another disastrous decision for the Church among so many others by Paul VI and the price the Church will pay for this politicization of the Church:

1966

Msgr Simcic recalling:

when in the reform of the Curia immediately after the Second Vatican Council, the Holy Office was recast and its title “Supreme  Sacred Congregation” was taken away, Ottaviani commented on the fact before a group of his collaborators with these words (I am giving you their gist): “Remember this is a dark day for the history of the Church because we are not dealing with form with titles but with substance. [NB] Indeed, up to now, the supreme principle of governance for the Church was revealed doctrine, whose custody and right interpretation in the Church is entrusted in first place to the Pope, who makes use of this Congregation and that’s why it is ‘Supreme’. Now I don’t know what will be the critical inspiration for the governance of the Church, but I fear that the diplomatic and contingent will prevail.  I foresee that the Church will suffer much damage from this but because assisted by the Holy Spirit, sooner or later, she will take up the standard of government inspired by Revelation and its essential contents….

Il Prefetto del Sant’Offizio Le opere e I giorni del Cardinale Ottaviani by Emilio Cavaterra p.85

US HERE – UK HERE

I remind the readership that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – if reports are accurate – is about to be knocked down a couple of levels of importance under some new “super dicastery” for Evangelization.

This is a Very Bad Idea, for the reasons that Card. Ottaviani mentioned at the time of the Pauline reforms.

There is another reason, too.

In the context of the “New” Evangelization we are supposed to be about, I have often wondered aloud about, “What about the ‘Old’ Evangelization?  When did that stop? What can it teach us about the ‘New’?  Is is substantively different, or is it mostly the same but with a different emphasis and audience?  What’s ‘Evangelization’ anyway?”

Since this is the First Day of the Novena after Ascension and before Pentecost, let’s bring these mysteries into play.

Before His Ascension, in Luke 24, the Lord tells the disciples that

“repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

He said that it was prophesied, as indeed it was in Is 52 & 53 about the Suffering Servant and in Jonah, when God’s servant preached to the Ninevites.  What did Jonah (a type of Christ, a foreshadowing figure) preach?  Repentance for sins.

Evangelization is about conversion – first and ongoing – metanoia.  That means that bringing the “Good News” to people – whether baptized or not – MUST involve preaching repentance for sins.   This is essential for any kind of evangelization according to the way the Lord intended it.  Christ effectively says that there is no evangelization without repentance for sins.  If we gloss over repentance for sin, whatever it is that we do we are not doing what Christ commanded.   Repentance is a universal dimension of all evangelical practice.  It was to start with the Jews and go to all nations.

I’m not making this up.  “… repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached…”.

Some people very high in the hierarchy of the Church and some who are not so high are preaching that you don’t have to make changes, change your view of sin and your life.  They talk about joy joy joy happy happy happy but they don’t mention repentance and true conversion.

Sure! Go to Communion without changing your life.

If you leave out sin and repentance, you don’t have any kind of authentic evangelization.

Evangelization does not have to dwell only on repentance, of course.  Repentance and reconciliation results in joy.  However, repentance for sins must be first at least logically if not chronologically.   It also must probably be chronologically first, too.

But those who exclude or diminish repentance… FAIL.

Posted in The Coming Storm, The Drill | Tagged , , , , , , ,
13 Comments