With friends like this….

Catholic leaders stung as rape victim bill advances

“A spokesman for the Connecticut Catholic Conference, Barry Feldman, said the church’s bishops in this state “see things differently” concerning this issue from their counterparts in those other states. He said that, because the pope has not taken a position on this issue, bishops in different states are able to decide what position to take for their dioceses.  When it comes to religious beliefs and moral values, no position is right or wrong,” said Feldman

Say What??? This is a spokesman for the Connecticut Bishops trying to explain why some bishops have compromised with regulations concerning Plan B in other states but Connecticut Bishops refuse (kudos so far to them). Doesn’t “spokesperson” imply that such a person would understand that which they are charged with speaking about?

Jesus was a hunk

 Or so says Andrew Greeley… While that could very well be true I think the years Fr. Greeley has spent writing his trashy novels may have corrupted any pastoral and theological sense he, at one time, may have had. It seems he feels the need to spice Jesus up a bit in his newest book: Jesus: A Meditation on His Stories and Relationships with Women.

The reviewer, Susan Hogan/Albach, says in her article that:”The book reads like an adolescent fantasy about manhood and priesthood (priests represent Jesus). It’s salvation through titillation. Women are portrayed as shallow — a mindless mass of bodily desires who fall all over Jesus like Brad Pitt groupies.” Ms. Hogan/Albach then goes on to explain that Fr. Greeley has a very nontaditional view of the sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Apparently it seems likely to Fr. Greeley that the sisters were teenagers infatuated by Jesus’ good looks and charming manner and Martha’s complaints about her sister were nothing more then a jealous snit because Mary was getting all the attention. Fr Greeley is quoted as saying:

“If we accept that Martha and Mary were both teenagers, the squabbling between them becomes understandable. It is also not unlikely that they both had crushes on him.”

I guess being God Incarnate was only incidental to the women followers who were more impressed with Jesus’ suave manners and good looks. Apparently not being content with reducing the holy women to nothing more then horny teenage girls vying for the attention of “Jesus the hottie” Fr. Greeley goes on to give us this titillating nugget:

“Jesus was the “most attractive man” Mary of Magdala ever encountered, Greeley says, and it’s possible that Jesus fantasized about “making love” with her.”

Eh! — so what if Jesus warns In Matthew chapter five that anyone who “looks at a woman with lust” has already sinned. I suppose this little indiscretion just makes Jesus all the more likable, more approachable— more like us— this Jesus is much more meaningful to our world today— way more then that stuffy old Jesus in the bible…

Awakening

There is a wonderful blog that I read. It is written by Mark Mallet. The first time I read it I sat and cried. This is a man who is truly gifted in many ways. Upon stumbling onto his blog I was overcome with so many thoughts and emotions— mostly my feeling was that of— “yes, truly there are others that recognize what is going on— others who have the same perceptions and visions. I felt affirmation. Waves of emotions washed over me relief, acceptance, joy, excitement, a little fear— but mostly peace. Finally— proof that I am not daffy, nor am I plagued with an over active imagination—two doubts I have carried with me for over six years.

I came home to the Church about ten years ago. During the thirty years I was away from the Church I traveled just about every path there is. I was deep into new age, reiki, tarot reading among other occult interests. I was also working as a homecare nurse at a Catholic Hospital. I was desperately seeking inner peace— spiritual contentment— but I was chasing down not only the wrong paths—but very dangerous ones. Oddly in the midst of all this out of the blue when I would walk past the gift shop in the lobby of the hospital I would see the rosaries in the window and feel that I should pray it. This went on for months and finally the feeling was so powerful I finally told one of my co-workers, whom I knew to be a very devout Catholic woman, about this feeling and admitted that I no longer remembered how to pray the rosary. I will never forget her response for two reasons– First, she was so generous— the next day she brought me not only a rosary from Fatima, but also rosary pamphlets and tapes so that  I could learn how to pray it again— then secondly after she gave me these things she took my hand and told me “Susan— I don’t know why but Our Lady is calling you back to the Church.” At the time I was appreciative of her help but I thought her comments were just a little over the top. I was willing to pray the rosary but returning to the Church wasn’t even on the radar screen at that point.

Fast forward a few years— I was back in the Church— after a profound conversion experience —- On Good Friday after “accidentally” wandering into a Catholic Church during the veneration of the Cross— I was allowed by our Lord to feel the love he felt for me and the forgiveness he wanted to grant me. In a church packed with strangers I was home— I was overwhelmed by sorrow in that moment of conversion when Jesus reached out and touched my heart— I knew what my sinfulness had cost— I could do nothing but tell Jesus how terribly sorry I was. What hurt me the most was that I was made to understand that of all the things I had done wrong in my life the thing that offended Our Lord the most was that neither of my children were baptized— they didn’t know Him— I knew in Jesus’ eyes this was my greatest betrayal —-how I had wounded Him the most. So I begged Him and promised Him that if He would grant that my children would come to know and accept Him that I would do anything He asked of me. In His incredible love and mercy He did grant me this— within three years not only were both my children (young adults at the time—late teens to early twenties) in the Church but my unchurched, Protestant husband had converted as well. The happiest day of my life was the first Easter Vigil when all four of us were able to receive Jesus in the Eucharist together as a family.

In 2001 something unusual happened to me— It was right after the New Year— it was a cold crisp and beautifully sunny day. The sky was that pale aqua blue that is possible only when temperatures are frigid. I was on my way to run my Saturday errands and as I drove down the country roads where I live I was taken aback by the beauty of that winter morning— then suddenly out of the blue these words came into my head— “This world will never be the same”. It stopped me in my tracks— I didn’t know what it meant— There was just a sense of what I would call foreboding in them but no anxiety or fearfulness— it was a statement of fact it seemed.

That evening I began my evening prayer as was my habit and while praying suddenly I saw a vision— internally. I was standing in a field— it was very dark and there was a large crowd of people around me— they were all milling about aimlessly— like they were sleep walking or in a trance. I seemed to be the only one who was awake. I noticed on the horizon in every direction there were flames. In fact I can still see in my mind the silhouettes of trees, buildings and vehicles against the flames— no one seemed to notice the fire except me— then just as quickly as the vision came it was gone and replaced by another— this one was of humble little Church made of adobe— like those found in the southwest —silhouetted against a bright, blue cloudless sky— atop the church was a gleaming silver cross.

The next day I discovered was the official end of the Jubilee year— the day John Paul the Great had closed the Holy Doors in Rome. I wondered what it all meant. I wasn’t troubled or frightened— I knew though that I was given those images for a reason. I spoke of them with my spiritual director- a Jesuit priest— He gave me good advice— he told me not to dwell on it all and to take it to prayer and to ask the Lord if these visions were from Him to help me understand. It wasn’t too long before I began to understand— at least what the words I had heard on that cold January morning meant— Just eight months and five days later was 9/11/01. The world did change that day.

Since then so much has happened—wars, natural disasters, escalating social and moral decline, one Church scandal after another, cloning, embryonic stem cell research, Terry Schiavo’s death, “Gay marriage” laws, human animal hybrids, increasing division in the Church—every day things seem to escalate and despite all this we—as a nation— seem oblivious to the implications—we act like everything is normal— just great— unaware that the world is slipping into chaos— I look around me today and it seems so many people are asleep— or in a trance…

An era is ending—grace is being withdrawn— not because God no longer loves us but because so many of us no longer love God— we have rejected Him— not He us. The flames are on the horizon— As a loving Father he will awaken us from our perilous slumber and in His mercy give us the opportunity to turn our hearts back to Him— but we will have to pay the consequences of our rebellion. There is no need to fear —the end of my vision that evening was one promising hope— a clear blue sky, a simpler world, a humble church—a gleaming silver cross—vibrant faith restored… A Father who keeps his promise….

Witness

 To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda, nor even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery. It means to live in such a way that one’s life would not make sense if God did not exist. ~~~Cardinal Suhard~~~

I am a subscriber to Catholic World News. One of the perks to that is being able to read the opinions of  someone who is known as Diogenes. So many times I find myself nodding in agreement with his insights. So often what he says is exactly what I have been thinking— only he says it much better then I ever could. Anyway—- yesterday in commenting on something (inane) Rev. Donald Cozzens said with regard to priestly celibacy he used this quote by Cardinal Suhard.

It made me stop in my tracks and think not only about my own life but also the past thirty plus years of Church history that has seen the decimation of religious life as well as Catholic tradition and culture. I never realized how fortunate I was to have been born long enough before the Vatican II to remember the “old” Mass, bells, incense, to have been raised on the Baltimore Catechism, to remember meatless Fridays, communion rails, chapel veils, busy confessionals and priests in cassocks (now the challenge is to find one with even a collar!). Maybe this sounds like nothing more then a nostalgic trip down memory lane but after some reflecting I realized that coming from that era there were a few things that even my child sized mind could grasp. Being Catholic meant being different— Our churches were different, our prayers were different, the language and postures we worshipped in were different —but most of all what we believed was different. We believed that Jesus was really there in that little round wafer. I remember being prepared for my First Holy Communion— the awe, the mystery, the excitement—feeling special and radiant as I walked up the aisle in my bride white dress and veil— I knew this was a very special day in my life.

Perhaps in an odd way I was fortunate to have fallen away from my faith before all the changes occured. I find myself wondering if it was that thirty year prodigal journey that saved me from the post VII “virus” whichs seems to have run pandemic among my fellow boomers and those catechized by them.

I don’t know how much of the “throwing the baby out with the bath water” that occured after the council was a result of some misguided attempt at ecumenism or how much of it was the “smoke of satan” (these days I tend to favor the latter— see Pope Leo XIII) but I think it is pretty obvious what the result has been. There is wisdom in Cardinal Suhard’s words— they bring to mind Our Lord’s words in Matt 5:13 We are to be the salt of the earth and our presence here is worthless if we have lost our flavor—

As a young nurse in 1974 one of my first jobs was in a Catholic hospital and I remember the sisters there still wore habits— although a few had opted for the shorter more modern style. Perhaps it was my preoccupation with finding a husband and raising a family but I don’t remember exactly when that all changed— but soon even though I continued to work in Catholic hospitals nuns gradually disappeared or became unrecognizable— there was no “endanged species” list back then.

I remember one of my last encounters with a nun working in a hospital because it made a lasting impression on me—even in my most secular and pagan days she would come to mind because her words struck me as so unusual. I worked in ICU with Sr. Lorraine–she was just slightly older then I was—around thirty or so—one evening she and I had dinner together and she was telling me about how excited she was to be going on her first plane trip. I asked her if she was nervous to be flying for the first time. I remember this so vividly—-she smiled at me and said “absolutely not! Susan wouldn’t it be wonderful if that plane just kept going up and up and took me straight into the arms of Our Lord” I remember thinking to myself that Sr Lorraine’s comment— in fact her life— made no sense to me— I felt at that moment we lived in different universes with no frame of common reference. I truly did not understand her thinking or her chosen life. She was a complete mystery to me.

A little more then thirty years have passed since that day and I can say that over those decades Sr. Lorraine’s words persued me— they would pop into my head at the strangest times— out of the blue I would find myself pondering them and her— asking myself questions without any answers—at least answers that could be formed from my worldly vantage point. Then ten years ago that changed—- those arms that Sr. Lorraine longed to fly into embraced this child who had wandered far from her Father’s house. Finally, I can say “Yes, sister wouldn’t that be wonderful!” God Bless you Sr. Lorraine where ever you may be — Finally—I understand and I thank you!

In defense of Pope Benedict

"Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence," So the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

Sufis allege forced conversion in Muslim town

Christians protest kidnapping, forced conversion

Journalists’ Forced Conversion Not Contrary to Islam

EASTERN ORTHODOX COPTIC GIRL ABDUCTED

Forced Conversions, Circumcision in Moluccas

Pakistan Hindu girls forced to convert to Islam

Forced conversion to Islam fatal for Christian boy

Coptic Christians of forced conversion to Islam triggered demonstrations in Cairo

Christian woman recalls horror of forced conversion to Islam

So where exactly did the Holy Father go off-track? Seems to me it was a bull’s eye.

Madame foreign minister should perhaps do a quick google search—she just might discover where we got this wacky(???) impression! Remember that saying "do as I say not as I do" the operating principle here is similar—-"believe what I say not what I do."

Well duuuuh!

"THE country’s most influential Catholic has offended Islamic leaders for the second time in a month by declaring Islam more warlike than Christianity."

Supposedly Cardinal Pell said something controversial— for the second time! I don’t know—- from my point of view it seems his Eminence was just saying aloud what most of the rest of us know— but are too timid to say.

Yes— I do know that there are good, peaceful Muslims but there is no fudging the fact that, as Cardinal Pell said earlier, "the Koran was riddled with "invocations to violence", and Islam was not a tolerant religion." To which I would say both its past and recent history provide plenty of proof of Islam’s attitude towards non-Muslims— or as we are "affectionately" (tic) known –the infidels. In an Islamic world we would have three choices. We could choose conversion (impossible — Jesus is Lord and Savior and there is no way I will deny Him). So that leaves submission (and living as a lower class without rights) :

"Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of truth, from among the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), until they pay the jizya (tax payed by non-Muslims) with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." (Sura 9:29)

And finally the third "choice" which is death. The majority of Koranic texts insist fighting the unbeliever is mandatory. "Make war on them until idolatry shall cease and Allah’s religion shall reign supreme." (Sura 8:39). Also Sura 4:84,89 says:

"fight in Allah’s cause…and rouse the believers. It may be that Allah will restrain the fury of the unbelievers. … They only wish you would reject the faith as they do, and thus be on the same footing as they. So do not take friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah from what is forbidden. But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them…"

Those wishing to obscure the violence advocated by Allah and his Prophet point to the rare passages in the Koran like "There shall be no compulsion in religion" (Sura 2:256) but the few such seemingly tolerant passages were written early in Muhammad’s career when he still had hope that he could sway Jews and Christians to follow him. As it became evident to Muhammad that that was not going to happen the directives to subdue or slay those who refuse to convert quickly overwhelmed in numbers the few early verses to the contrary. History shows in every era violence towards and conquest of of non-believers has been the hallmark of Islamism. Eras of peaceful, tolerant coexistence with other religions is what is rare.

What is sad is that those moderate Muslims who do seem to seek to live peacefully appear to be held hostage by those who do not. How often have we heard the moderate Muslim leaders speaking out against those who perpetrate violence and war? How often have we seen the same moderate Muslim leaders publicly denounce acts of terror and and carnage? Not very often.

It was an eye opener for me when I heard that after the big terrorist bust in Canada over the weekend— (CANADA??? home of the liberal and tolerant—refuge of draft dodgers and peaceniks— land of near porous borders—open to all) that a group of moderate Muslim leaders called a news conference— not to condemn those who planned to blow up buildings and kill hundreds if not thousands of Canadian citizens— not to deny any link between their community and that of the terrorists— nope— they called a news conference to complain of intolerance because someone had thrown a brick through their front window……

Retrospective

I have been ‘reverted’ for almost ten years. As I navigated the internet in the early days searching for every morsel of information I could glean about the Catholic Church sometimes I would stumble upon this or that saint’s prophecies. I’d read them with some interest— probably more akin to curiosity— and being unable to make any pertinent sense out of them I just left them floating in the far reaches of my mind.

Every once in awhile a particular one would resurface in relation to a current event but mostly they seemed like cryptic messages about things to come at some vague distant time in the future.

There are many similar themes—- warnings, tribulations, persecution, fire from the sky, darkness, rampant apostasy, heresy, terrible crises in the Church— and of course finally renewal and triumph as the Church rises from the ruins— smaller, more humble and radiant —-drawing many converts —-then a time of peace before the final battle with the anti-Christ and then the end of the world when Jesus returns in glory. 

While straightening out my book shelves recently I ran across Trial, Tribulation and Triumph by Desmond Birch. I read it years ago and most of it just flew past me. Just five or six years ago I found it interesting but not relatable to the times I was living in— funny how that has changed in just those few short years. I have now reread most of it– and this time I found myself thinking — we seem to be living through many of these things right now— or at the very least it is obvious the stage is being set for them.

For example— back in the 1990′s it still seemed implausible that the Church would suffer persection at the hands of our American government (religious freedom was what we were founded on—right?)— I couldn’t imagine the scenario leading up to it— today it is obvious— atheistic secularism and homosexual activism are feeding the anti-Catholic bigotry that has always remained just below the radar— since the the days of "Knownothingism" when churches, convents and Catholic schools were burned. Just read the news— Catholic charities and adoption, Catholic hospitals and abortion, Political leaders publicly threatening Church leaders to stay out of politics or else lose the tax exempt status— Christianity and Catholicism particulary are slandered, misrepresented and shown in the most unflattering way possible in mainstream media and entertainment venues (Madonna for instance), celebrities attack the Church publicly— like Elton John’s recent (and completely ludicrous) statement that the Church, due to her teaching on contraception was responsible for the AIDS deaths of sixty of his friends—  (they were such good Catholics they apparently listened to the Pope’s teaching in regards to contraception and condoms but somehow forgot the part about extramarital and homosexual relations!). We are even at war among ourselves in many places ("bishops against bishops—cardinals against cardinals")

I don’t know about anyone else out there but each day that goes by I cannot help but see that we are living in very extrordinary times—dare I say prophetic times… I know one question that keeps nagging at me lately is IF these are the times Jesus spoke of (see Matthew 24) and prophets have warned about why did God want me here now at this particular time…

—-that’s a lot to think and pray about….

April 20, 1823

"I had another vision of the great tribulation. It seems to me that a concession was demanded from the clergy which could not be granted. I saw many older priests, especially one, who wept bitterly. A few younger ones were also weeping. But others, and the lukewarm among them, readily did what was demanded. It was as if people were splitting into two camps."

April 22, 1823

"I saw that many pastors allowed themselves to be taken up with ideas that were dangerous to the Church. They were building a great, strange, and extravagant Church. Everyone was to be admitted in it in order to be united and have equal rights.’

I saw the Holy Father surrounded by traitors and in great. distress about the Church. He had visions and apparitions in his hour of greatest need. I saw many good pious Bishops; but they were weak and wavering, their cowardice often got the upper hand… Then I saw darkness spreading around and people no longer seeking the true Church.".

April 23 1823

"I saw the fatal consequences of this counterfeit church:

I saw it increase; I saw heretics of all kinds flocking to the city. I saw the. ever-increasing tepidity of the clergy, the circle of darkness ever widening. And now the vision became more extended. I saw in all places Catholics oppressed, annoyed, restricted, and deprived of liberty, churches were closed.

…."I saw deplorable things: they were gambling, drinking, and talking in church…. All sorts of abominations were perpetrated there. Priests allowed everything and said Mass with much irreverence. I saw that few of them were still godly…

…the Catholic religion fell into complete decadence. Most priests were lured by the glittering but false knowledge of young school-teachers, and they all contributed to the work of destruction. In those days, Faith will fall very low, and it will be preserved in some places only…"

"But I saw also that help was coming when distress had reached its peak. I saw again the Blessed Virgin ascend on the Church and spread her mantle [over it]. I saw a Pope who was at once gentle, and very firm….  I saw a great renewal, and the Church rode high in the sky. 

Anne Catherine Emmerich 18th century

Do you want to know a secret?

Do you promise not to tell? wooooooooo…closer….

For baby-boomers those words are instantly recognizable as the lyrics of a Beatle song. I think they also explain some aspects of the "Da Vinci phenomenon". Like fear of the dark the lure of secrets seems instinctual.  We have all heard the saying that "knowledge is power"… and it is true. Way back when as mankind struggled through the centuries knowledge of one’s environment was essential for life. Everything from fire starting and tool making—- to which plants were helpful and which were dangerous— needed to be passed on from one generation to the next. Understanding signs in the skies and the earth was often essential to survival. Back then as well as now knowledge can literally mean the difference between life and death.

It doesn’t take too big of a stretch of the imagination then to see the implied advantage to those possessing "secret" knowledge. Knowing things that others do not puts one ahead of the pack—and above all others. It instantly makes you special and more important then those who don’t have the hidden information. This is why secret knowledge is so enticing and why we are all so ready to listen to it with "itching ears".

The popularity today of the Da Vinci Code, The Gospel of Judas and the many other Gnostic writings as well as the persistence of “secret societies” down through the ages attests to not only our fears but also our pride. Gnostics, as the Catholic Encyclopedia states, “were ‘people who knew’, and their knowledge at once constituted them as a superior class of beings, whose present and future status was essentially different from that of those who, for whatever reason, did not know.”

When Christ came he made it clear that salvation comes from God and that God desired that all people be saved through faith in Him. This was Jesus’ mission to show every human being the face of God—so that all people could see Him and through seeing Him know God. He tells his disciples in Matthew Chapt 10:26-27

"….Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”

In other words— there is no hidden knowledge or any secret handshake one must learn to attain salvation— it is simply believing in Christ and then living in the truth He revealed to all people. In John’s Gospel chapter 14:4-7 he tells Thomas and the others:

“Where (I) am going you know the way." Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?"

Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father.”

While coming to know Christ seems exceedingly simple and in some ways it is, living out that faith isn’t. It entails sacrifice, suffering and self denial. As John the Baptist explained we must decrease so that He can increase. It is not an easy thing to persevere in faith with all the trials and tribulations of this material world. Judaism and Christianity, and in fact most religious “systems”, hold that the soul attains salvation by obedience of mind and will to God, in other words, by faith and works. In Gnosticism the salvation of the soul rests merely in the possession of a quasi-intuitive knowledge of the mysteries of the universe and the magic formula signifying that knowledge. Its goal is to shed the physical world which is seen as an unnatural and an inferior state of being for a supposed non-physical “higher” state of being. Shedding one’s body through attaining higher levels of consciousness is the goal of Gnosticism.

Whether it is mind altering substances, tantric sex, astral projection, awakening one’s Chakras or simply denying the whole Christ for a stripped down more comfortable and easily accepted version—this knowledge offers a way to avoid the reality of sin as well as the personal sacrifice and suffering redemption entails. It is human nature to want to have what others can’t have— it is human nature to want to find a short cut— to discover the easy way out— and this is precisely the lure of “gnosis”.

The Cross is a sign of contradiction. One of my favorite scenes from the “Passion of the Christ” was where Jesus embraces the cross and He is called a fool for doing so. The Cross reveals the depravity of human beings while at the same time revealing their true dignity and goodness. Only through the dying and rising of Christ can we come to true knowledge of ourselves and of God and this good news is not hidden, it has been offered out in the open and through the ages unto the ends of the earth.

Happy anniversary Papa!

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum;
habemus Papam:

Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Josephum

Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Ratzinger
qui sibi nomen imposuit Benedictum XVI

April 19,2005

Of Domination systems, prophetic collisions and Empty Tombs—

It seems Fr. Pat Brennan of Holy Family Parish had been doing some Lenten reading. In case you don’t know Holy Family Parish an "Evangelical church in the Roman Catholic tradition" here in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Fr. Pat’s inspirational choice of spiritual material this Lent was "The Last Week" by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan of Jesus Seminar fame.

Here is the link to Fr. Pat’s insights on this "historical" perspective (click on "the Bulletin" and then on "Fr. Pat Brennan/Living Faith")— I will give you the highlights (?) to whet your appetite–

Under Thursday:

"Eucharist is the continuation of the meal-oriented ministry of Jesus. Jesus did a lot of His teaching at meals…. This Passover sacrifice like meal that Jesus gave His followers was not a substitution sacrifice in which Christ gave his life to atone for the sins of humanity, rather it was a meal in which he invited, and invites, His followers to participate with Him in the movement from death into new life."

According to Fr. Pat— Borg and Crossan emphasize the "new life" that Jesus invites us to is acheived only through death to the "domination style" of life that prevailed and prevails in the culture around us.

Further on under the Friday (as in Good Friday) meditation Fr. Pat says—

"Why did Jesus die? It is clear in Mark’s presentation that He died because of His prophetic collision with the domination system of Roman Government and the Jewish temple oriented religion."

SILLY ME!!! I thought he died for our sins!!!!

Fr. Pat concludes by saying "the relevant issue for us is to what degree is this conflict of domination system vs. the Reign of God at work in our own day, and whose side are you and I on?" And this folks is the end result a belief system centered on social/political action and stripped of mystery and any hint of the supernatural— It doesn’t matter what you believe—maybe Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes, maybe it was just a generous change of heart in the crowd, maybe Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist or maybe He instituted nothing more then a communal meal, maybe Jesus is truly man and truly God or maybe he is just another really nice teacher/prophet who stood up to the domination system of his day….. it doesn’t matter as long as you pick-up your anti-war picket signs as you leave the narthex today…..

Perhaps Cardinal George is somewhat preoccupied by the sins (or rather is that tactics of their "domination system") of a few of his brother priests. It is pretty blatant move on Fr. Pat’s part to use the writings of known heretics— those who spend countless hours and fortunes attempting to debunk Christ’s divinity— for his Holy week reflections to his "sheep" —- and still the sign outside his church says "Catholic".

From Saturday’s Trib—- The Catholic Church Born Again  and from last year—- The Curt Jester covered Fr. Brennan’s feelings about Benedict XVI’s election— It seems along with "paradigm paralysis" and "directive images of Jesus" we can add "domination systems", "prophetic collisions", and "meal ministry" to the lexicon of those who are busy singing "a new church into being".