Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Fatima: How a Specific Lack Affects Your Daily Life

"If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer…"
~Our Lady of Fatima, July 13, 1917

It is vitally important that we understand the yet-to-be-accomplished collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary has always affected and continues to affect our own personal lives.

In a word, the Church's traditional dogmas, doctrines, "rubrics," traditional pious devotions, and truly charitable actions et al, collectively suffer from an almost total eclipse of the modernist heresy, as is evident by the following (admittedly incomplete) list:

-The pervasive denial of the dogma of the Faith, even by Catholics - e.g., that "the Church" founded by Jesus Christ is the Catholic Church and only the Catholic Church, which alone is the means of salvation.

-The astounding number of progressives (what modernists sometimes call themselves; unfortunately, they are now being dubbed 'conservatives') in key positions within the Church.

-"Ecumenism the euphemism" [catchy, isn't it? Forgive the pun, because ecumenism is catchy, like a nasty virus coursing through the Mystical Body]. It's an old word given a new definition, which is now nothing more than "religious indifferentism." In addition to dismissing the centuries-old definition of "the Church," the new ecumenism demands rejection of "the dogma of the faith" –e.g., that Catholicism is the one truth faith that offers salvation. Thus it follows that so-called "churches" not in union with Her are, objectively speaking, no more than groups of individuals who share similar heretical beliefs.

-The refusal to define the dogma of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, for fear it would offend those outside the Church.

-The alleged need for a "reform" of the Church (which led to the use of words like "traditional" or "perennial" to lead lay Catholic 'luminaries' to mock fellow Catholics who "hold fast" to tradition)

-The subsequent need for a "reform of the reform"

-The modernist changes made to all of the traditional Rites of the Seven Sacraments

-The same modernist changes made to the traditional definitions of all Seven Sacraments – e.g., Holy Eucharist fallaciously became a meal instead of the unbloody Sacrifice of the Lord's Body, Blood,Soul and Divinity; Baptism makes one only a member of the people of God instead of washing away Original Sin (although leaving its effects) and thus becoming an adopted child of God; Confirmation is now the "sacrament of personal responsibility," etc.

-The resistance that quickly arose against the Pope's "Motu Propio" of July 7, 2007.

-The tragic fact that the "Motu Propio" was even needed in the first place.

-The redefining and alterations [Can you say 'Aggiornomento!'?] of every Church doctrine, made under the excuse of a "deeper understanding," including but not limited to the following:

***Charity, the highest virtue, substituted for a politically-correct "social justice" in which God and His Truths are noted only by their absence.

***Charity, defined as a holy love (of the whole heart, mind, soul and strength) which first is given to to God and secondly our neighbor for love of God, is now subjugated to and superseded by a heretical definition of obedience.

***The Magisterium also redefined, again by the heresy of modernism. The brief definition is as follows: "the authority of the Church, by divine appointment, to teach the truths of religious belief; the commission of the Church to teach; the teaching office of the Church; the teaching and interpreting of the doctrines of faith carried on by the Church through the Pope and bishops andthose commissioned by them." (The Concise Catholic Dictionary)

***Papal infallibility also heretically redefined to mean that the Vicar of Christ is "only" first among the bishops, possessing no higher prerogatives than any other bishop. However, the new definition insists that he must always submit to "collegial authority" [authority now redefined as subjective opinion of the majority].

NOTE: INFALLIBILITY is a special prerogative of the Church as a teacher by which, being guided by the Holy Ghost, when she actively defines revealed truths, she is protected from error or the possibility of error. It is also a prerogative of the Pope when he DEFINES a matter of faith and morals with the intention that the definition is to be held by all the faithful. Too many sources explaining infallibility wrongly use the word 'teaches' instead of 'defines,' and there is a huge difference between the two. To teach [in a homily, a speech, a prepared statement] is not the same as to define!

-At the same time, the error of what Dr. William Marra called "papalotry" simultaneously arose with the redefining of "papal infallibility." The result is that many Catholics have tragically yet ironically assimilated the erroneous, terribly-skewed Protestant outlook in regard to the Holy Father's office – e.g., Protestants believe that the Holy Father may arbitrarily hold and express a personal view or make a practical decision on any matter, with the result that his personal view or action then becomes "a matter of faith" binding upon all Catholics. Such a belief is far removed from the true definition of "papal infallibility"!

To clarify this point, an alarmingly high number of contemporary Catholics have been led to believe the absurd Protestant definition (without even realizing it is a Protestant view on "papal infallibility") is, indeed, the Church's definition. Once more, that definition is not a true one; that insulting,derogatory view of the pope, his holy office and the filial duties of the Catholic faithful was originally held and spread by the apostate priest, Martin Luther. It then spilled over to other (and likewise new) Protestant sects. This skewed outlook upon the Holy Father and his prerogatives is the primary excuse of most Protestant sects which hate the Church and specifically despise the office of the Pope, if not also his person.

-The erroneous definitions above also support the total disregard that each reigning pope is 1) the Vicar of Christ and 2) the most highly placed monarch on earth, for his reign is not only temporal but more importantly is intended to guard and transmit the Deposit of the Faith, whole and intact, for the salvation of souls.

-Related to papalotry, there also arose another misguided, non-Catholic notion (related to the "new" and heretical definition of "collegiality"). That false notion is that any clergyman (priest, bishop, cardinal) must be perceived to be an oracle of the Holy Ghost; this is in direct contradiction to the traditional doctrine that, while a priest is "another Christ," especially when he offers the Sacraments, he, too, is a soul working out his salvation (hopefully, as the Scriptures phrase it, "in fear and trembling." That means a correct fear of God, fear of his faults, fear of abusing grace, fear of presumption, etc.)

-On the other side of this same coin [modernism being a heresy that seemingly contradicts itself], there is also opposition to the same false notion directly above, because most parishes possess a plethora of "ministries" (headed by lay people) and to which the pastor must submit himself!

-The alarming number of Catholics who, in recent decades, "voted with their feet" and left the Church.

-The willful blindness of family, friends and neighbors who, either with guile or direct openness, actively despise the Truths of Divine Revelation.

-The 1960's "Sexual Revolution." Result: The pervasive depth and breadth of sexual sins in world-wide society

-The euphemisms that accompany the most "popular" sins, which no longer cause Catholics to even blink their eyes – e.g., "living together" replaces the sin of fornification, "live-in girlfriend" replaces concubine, "live-in boyfriend" replaces a word that cannot be used in polite company, and "open marriage" replaces adultery - etc., etc., etc.!

-The ever-growing numbers of youth who do not know the Faith in which they were baptized, do not want to, have abandoned it, and are disrespectful to all authority, including that which they owe to their own parents.

-Continuing injustices and expectations against the family in various forms, including faithful Catholic men and women placed in horrific, sinful work situations (making it practically impossible to avoid "near occasions of sin"), enduring pay too low for the husband and father to adequately meet his family's needs, the financial necessity forcing mothers to work outside the home, lack of job security, etc.

-The spread of Communism throughout the world, just as Our Lady of Fatima foretold.

-Wars and skirmishes that have continued throughout the world since World War I.

-Lack of personal safety in our own neighborhoods, towns and states.

-The dire spiritual necessity to provide our children with a sound Catholic education at home .

We've never known a world any different, but that can all change if each one of us does all we spiritually can to follow all that Our Lady of Fatima requested...please join us in our Collegial Consecration Campaign!

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