Sunday 24 January 2016

Highlight: "Traditional Catholic" Rant of the Day, Courtesy of Terry of Abbey Roads

Hello Everyone,

May the Lord bless you on this, boring old, sickly green, 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time in the "nervous disorder" ..... (High tradmaster stares angrily at me with his lawyer, and his counsel points to a legal paper .... gulp!) .... AHEM! Sorry, I meant the Septugesima Sunday of the year of 2016. For a minute there, the "Spirit" of Vatican II possessed me, Ha Ha Ha!

Anyways, moving on, it seems that we are all in a state of gloom and despair, my Traddie brethen. Many of you seemingly want to abandon Holy Mother Church because our most "fluffiest pope evuh" to quote Trad Hero Fr. Z, has decided that in his whole mercy thing, to make a change to Church Law. He gave that "nice" executive order to Cardinal Robert Sarah of the Congregation of Divine Worship, that the foot-washing para-liturgy (bull excrement, it's not part of the TRUE liturgy) in the Holy Triduum for the Nervous Disorder, be open to all believers, including, women.

GASP!!!! What diabolical-ness!!!! Women in the Sanctuary again!!! Blech!! As if female altar servers and those extra, unnecessary Communion defilers with soiled and unconsecrated hands were not enough!!!

But fear not, my "Neo-Pelagian" friends!!! For I bring you good cheer!!! A young man, by the name of Terry at the blog "Abbey Roads" has turned totally Trad today!!!! Turns out he is a police officer of the Catholic Church liturgical police force!!! Today he gives us his report while on his usual rounds among his confreres at the March For Life!!! And boy did he rake in those sin tickets!!!!

So many liturgical abuses were caught by our dutiful officer!!! Hurrah, finally someone is enforcing Church law and bringing those violators of Christ to justice!!! Now if only he could arrest Justin Trudeau for heresy and declare him excommunicated in a Church court of law, ha ha ha!!!

Anyways, my Traddie brethen, for your hope and joy, here is officer Nelson's report:
http://abbey-roads.blogspot.ca/2016/01/snowy-novus-ordo-mass-on-turnpike.html

So remember my friends, there is always hope. Keep up the good work, only attend the Latin Mass because of examples like above, and we will win in the end, since the rest of the Church embraces sterility and banal on the spot products that pass for "worship."


animated winking and thumbs up man


Pax Tibi Christi, fratres et sorores. Julius Alexandrius Barkinius. Ianuarius viginti quattuor, MMXVI.

Monday 18 January 2016

Highlight: Elizabeth Scalia, The "Anchorress" Counters the Slanderers and Quasi-Schismatics Who Say Pope Francis is Trad Bashing Again!

Hello Everyone,

If someone you know today is a:

  • Radical who Misrepresents Traditionalists everywhere, 
  • A Pope Francis hater, (different from being just "uncomfortable" with his mannerisms and choice of language in conveying the message)
  • A "quasi-schismatic" (as defined by Dave Armstrong) who has truly abandoned Holy Mother Church in mind, body, and soul, but sticks around for the pomp and circumstance of fancy vestments and Latin Masses, afterwards feeling spiritually superior to the "simple" Novus Ordo Catholic they think is the rest of the Church, or
  • Just a negative person, etc.
Then they likely woke up to hear another excellent homily of Pope Francis from the Casa Sancta Marta today about being "spiritually open." In typical spiritual pride, conspiracy alert mode, Francis the modernist bashing mode, etc., they then took to their smartphones and social media, and decided to commit more acts of the Devil (e.g. gossip), or perhaps slander and calumny, because once again, "Francis hates traditional Catholics and is evil and wants to destroy the Church. He hates Jesus and is the meanest pope evuh.... wah wah wah ... blah blah blah .... calumny, detraction, slander ....."

(Ha ha. I took a page out of Fr. Z's book.)

Well, allow me to dispel your unfortunate friend's tirades of hate and anti-Catholicism. If they told you that Francis once again went on a hate tirade to wipe the Church of Traditionalists, and they've vowed to be obstinate in their hatred, they are wrong in action and their interpretation of such a homily. 

Or should I say, allow me to feature someone who is much more versed in depth of the Catholic faith, and a professional author and writer on the TRUE Catholic blog-o-sphere and in Catholic newspapers, Mrs. Elizabeth Scalia of "The Anchoress" blog. Today, she writes on the Conservative Catholic or Christian web portal, Aletelia, to counter the fury caused by the Catholic blog-o-sphere of darkness. 

Being a short opinion article, it shall be posted in full. 

Pax, Julian. 



Opinion  
Nothing Grows in “No”: Pope Francis on the Idolatry of Ideas. Pope urges resistance to the god of "but we’ve always done it this way.”

Elizabeth Scalia  
• January 18, 2016
   
During his homily at Mass today, Pope Francis said:


“Christians who obstinately maintain ‘it’s always been done this way,’ this is the path, this is the street—they sin: the sin of divination. It’s as if they went about by guessing: ‘What has been said and what doesn’t change is what’s important; what I hear—from myself and my closed heart—more than the Word of the Lord.’ Obstinacy is also the sin of idolatry: the Christian who is obstinate sins! [And damned do they. They commit the most Deadliest Sin: The Sin of Pride, taking after their real "god", Satan himself, who told God the ancient equivalent of a middle-fingered salute, "NON SERVIAM!"]The sin of idolatry. ‘And what is the way, Father?’ Open the heart to the Holy Spirit, discern what is the will of God.”

Around the Internet there have some negative responses to these words, particularly by those who feel like Catholic traditions are under attack, but I can’t help wondering if some aren’t missing the pope’s point which is one I made in my book, Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols in Everyday Life:

"We cling to ideas long past the point of what is healthy or reasonable, and we set them before us, daring anyone to knock them down. I once heard a new pastor complain about a dreaded first meeting with his pastoral team and liturgy committee. “In every parish,” he sighed, “the first thing they want a priest to do is bow down to the god of ‘but we’ve always done it this way.’” 

When we are too fast to say “no” — especially if we are entrenched in a bunker-mentality that said, “but this is the way we have always done it…” we cannot help but benumb ourselves to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. And that’s all His Holiness is saying. “But this is the way we have always done it…” shuts the door to Joseph accepting a wife carrying a child not his own; “the way we’ve always done it,” would prevent the church from taking careful looks at who it elevates to canonical sainthood; “the way we’ve always done it” prevents Pope Pius X from advocating for the reception of Holy Communion by children; “the way we’ve always done it,” means no female doctors of the church.

Nothing grows in “no.” Especially not a church, or the life of faith. [Including bringing those "simple" Novus Ordo Catholics that collectively are shunned by these Radicals, to the Latin Mass that they value so much.]

Pope Francis words seem less a call for revolution than a frustrated cry of “ephphatha be opened”! He is prompting us to make sure we leave enough room in our lives, and in the life of the church, to give the Holy Spirit — who has a way of using the most confounding events and people to bring about God’s will — the room to move, and flow, and put God’s purposes to action. As the great saint, Philip Neri reminds us [of whom the Oratory of St. Phillip Neri in Toronto holds the Latin Mass], “All of God’s purposes are to the good, although we may not always understand this we can trust in it.”

Saturday 2 January 2016

Simple Novus Ordo Catholics is an Insult to the Body of Christ and the Majority of Catholics Worldwide!

Hello Everyone,

Unfortunately, there will be no Part II to the Dave Armstrong posting I did. The apologist contacted me and thanked me for my efforts, but no more will be needed on the matters at hand.

Sure. Glad to serve the Catholic Church and you, SIR!

However, there is one thing that bothered me on the attack from Mr. Armstrong, and it really did bother me because I felt it was quite heretical, not to mention blatanly offensive to the Church at Large, the majority of believers who attend Mass in the Roman Rite (the majority of the Catholic Church), and embarasses once more those of us who participate in any way, even occasionaly, the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite/Latin Mass.

In the attacks on Mr. Armstrong, the following statement was said by his assailant, which I will not link to, to prevent you from being exposed to spiritual evil and possible corruption of your souls, and that they deserve no more web hits feeding their Internet Troll-ism:

"As for my "bombastic" comments, they are reserved for those who undermine the faith, not the simple "Novus Ordo Catholic" which you will never find on this blog."

WHAT THE HECK? "SIMPLE" NOVUS ORDO CATHOLICS??????

This comment has a number of sick problems with it. I'll start with the theological/heretical problems with this statement, and then I will tackle it common sense, which I think might be the more powerful evidence that this statement is quite asinine. 

Theological, Basic

This is foolish, even on a basic level. When Christ got together his Apostles, the 12 ordinary men from all walks of life, Christ did not summon only the elite and the wealthy to spread the Gospel and build his Church. If he wanted to turn to those who were the "elite" and/or with the most forceful and literal interpretation and knowledge of religious laws among the Jews, he would have taken 12 of the following: The Sanhedrin or other high/chief priests. Rabbis. Rich and wealthy in biblical times in Jerusalem. Popular scribes.

Jesus did NOT practice a spiritual elitism in his choice of people to carry out his mission. If he didn't want "simple" Jews, those who weren't the tops at practicing the law including the 613 Mitzvahs, he would have picked people from the above groups mentioned.

But he did not. He picked 12 ordinary men of the day and age, with the most wealthy or privileged being Matthew the Tax Collector, as in that time, as is this day and age, government jobs usually mean security and a fairly decent wage. Not to mention that Matthew, being the tax collector, got to take money from other people according to the Roman government's dictatum! But even Matthew wasn't "elite" or popular. In fact, as a tax collector, he was despicable to the common citizen because of his association with the Roman Empire as the guy who steals your hard earned money, only to give it to a corrupt and merciless government.

Christ clearly, even in his picking of his 12 Apostles, clearly shows that he did not want his Church to be one of popular prestige, nor that he only wanted perfect practitioners of the law to head it and demand the same rigoristic, non-merciful rendering of God's order and law to be part of his Church. That rendering, by the way, is purely how humans interpret the carrying out of the law, not necessarily the law in and of itself.

Theological, Advanced. Statement has Possible Traces of Heresy

The statements, also commits comments of a pseudo-Gnostic nautre. Gnosticism, of which the Church has condemned Gnosticism always in its history as heresy, is defined as by Wikipedia:

"Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: γνωστικός gnostikos, "having knowledge", from γνῶσις gnōsis, knowledge) is a modern term categorizing a collection of ancient religions whose adherents shunned the material world – which they viewed as created by the demiurge – and embraced the spiritual world.[1] Gnostic ideas influenced many ancient religions[2] that teach that gnosis (variously interpreted as knowledge, enlightenment, salvation, emancipation or 'oneness with God') may be reached by practicing philanthropy to the point of personal poverty, sexual abstinence (as far as possible for hearers, entirely for initiates) and diligently searching for wisdom by helping others .... In Gnosticism, the world of the demiurge is represented by the underworld, which is associated with matter, flesh, time and, more particularly, an imperfect, ephemeral world. The world of God is represented by the upper world and is associated with the soul and perfection. The world of God is eternal and not part of the physical. It is impalpable and timeless"

While people do not formally call themselves, "gnostic" in their religious denomination on censuses taken by governments, it is entirely possible for people to subscribe to its heretical ideas, including pseudo-forms such as the idea expressed in the sentiment above. In this statement, it is a blend of both Gnosticism, as well as Puritanism/Jansenism.

Applied to the statement above, the Novus Ordo Church is what is the demigurge,  associated with improprieties in form, in the priest's demeanor, supposed poor theological education and lack of proper formation, and the majority of the laity as a whole being hypocrites to the Scriptures. The Novus Ordo Church, in the mind of bloggers and other Radical Traditionalists, is the demigurge, associated with only a face value love of Jesus.

Where the Pharisicm/Jansenism comes in, is that in the Catholic Church, is that in Pharicism/Jansenism, there is a high strictness for criteria of worshiping the Lord, according to specific ritual, law etc. as placed on papers, in definitions, etc. with no other interpretation but the most strictest.

Further, Jansenism as applied in the Catholic Church, was more of a practical level, denying Sacraments in combination with a lack of mercy and forgiveness, but also implying a denial of freely received and used grace, including free will. Today, these neo-Jansenists apply that theology in new ways with the Latin Mass and Roman Rite, whereby only the Latin Mass is "TRUE" Catholic Worship with true grace and true sacramental gifts, and where the TRUE Catholic faith is. The Novus Ordo, and the people within it are receiving a "bastardized" form of the faith, where the True Church is nearly all but absent.

How to we tie this all back into the statement from the attack on Dave Armstrong? Well, due to a misconstrued understranding of true Catholic tradition, the statement commits a fallacy in stating that the Novus Ordo, essentially, is a second class form of the Mass, and everyone involved is not a true believer, or are hypocrites. Thus, the only true form of the Mass in the Latin Rite is the Extraordinary Form, 'untouched by heresy and the Devil', and only those who attend this form of the rite, and believe everything that the neo-Jansenists and other "True remnants of the Catholic faith", the priests who serve it, are true sons of Christ, who are sacramentally nourished.

One could also argue that such a statement and the behaviour underlying the statement, even dovetails along the line of other schismatic groups in Church history, such as the Donatists.

The Killer .... Common Sense and the Statement Above Insults Normal Novus Ordo Catholics!
So, you may think I, beacause I am not of Holy Orders, or have umpteen theological degrees, have utter hogwash. Well, then, in preparation for a response of denial of my arguments, I decided to see just how offensive this statement is to those "simple" Novus Ordo Catholics.

Taking a poll of my friends on Facebook, I asked what they felt about this statement, positive or negative, or neutral. I received a good half to full dozen responses at this time, all from differrent perspectives. but also, one could say, different levels of Catholic education and involvement in the Church. Of the responses, I shall post the most prominent of the responses that illustrate the hatred and contempt (and even, possible heresy) of the comment. Two actually go together. All contributors names have been withheld to prevent Facebook stalking.

The first, from "Joan":
" XXXXXXXXX Yeah, kinda rubbed the wrong way by this. Someone who is Catholic, and therefore abides by Jesus' teachings, is telling others not to come to his/her blog because his/her profound statements are for people who think like him/her only. Doesn't that run contrary to the whole point of Jesus' teachings? What if He'd said at the beginning of a parable that it was only for those who were already following Him, or who agreed with what He'd taught in a previous lesson, or whatever, and everyone else should go away? I mean, of course it's this person's right to say and do as he/she sees fit, but I don't know, it doesn't seem very...Catholic."

What I love about this statement is it is quite common sensical, and even just on common sense alone, the argument is nearly blown away, and the hypocrisy and LACK of Christ`s example is present.

Next, someone, ``Augustine,`` a recent graduate of a Catholic-run theology School in Toronto, with a Masters in either Theology/Divinity, adds onto Joan's comments with this:

" XXXXXXXXXX [Joan] has already said what needs to be said but as a theologian I feel the need to point out that this person is dangerously close to denying that the NO sacraments are just as efficacious as the VO ones."

Ouch! Clearly this graduate, who has the proper credentials of study in Catholic Theology, is supporting what Joan has said, and adding a wealth more. Further, he support what I have said in my advanced section with this statement coming close to, if not containing, heresy. Mind you, I am not surprised at this heresy in a way, as the Society of St. Pius X speaks in a similar manner about the Novus Ordo, with firm detestment, and even statements in past such as it being "evil" which convey the same heretical message.

Finally, I will display some commentary from a devout, woman, "Theresa" who has attended the Latin Mass, though mainly attends the Novus Ordo. Despite not being a theologian, a Catholic teacher, or a lay minister of any sorts, her statement is full of knowledge, Truth of the Faith, and is powerful:

" The Catholic church, in it's truest meaning is an Universal Church, It includes everyone. The Magisterium permits either form of Mass and adherents to either form were extolled not to hold the other form in contempt. His statement belies both the universality of his Church and the acceptance of both forms."

Whoa. This one blew me away. This is quite a catechesis indeed!!! Universal, is one of the 4 marks of the Church, meaning Christ meant it for everyone. This is something basic that I've taught to confirmandi in past, and is key. Christ meant salvation for everyone, not just a select few.

Further, the Magisterium is the authority of the Church on matters of the Faith, including its deposit of dogmas/doctrines (what must be believed by all Members of the Church, even if struggling with the concepts,) and the lessons of Christ and the Moral Truth. Yes, this is true, and even in Trad Hero, Benedict Emeritus XVI's Summorum Pontificum, he reiterates this concept of NOT bashing the other form of the Roman Rite, from either side.

Finally, that last statement ..... it's clear as day. This Mark of the Church, universality, is being denied in the statement, and the statement is also tratorious to the author's causes, and one of his Latin Mass heroes, Benedict XVI, who "freed" (though the Latin Mass was never legally/formally banned), the Latin Mass.

............................................................................

This just had to be countered. Offensive to the Church, as proven here by fellow `simple`` Catholics who attend the Novus Ordo Mass, and even heretical, I, Julian at Servimus Unum Deum, could not allow this to stand and with the help of my friends, I must "apologize", as in engage in Apologetics, against this statement, sadly even against my own Sibling in Christ.

All of us, have the duty, as a spiritual work of Mercy, as well as Practicing Roman Catholics, to instruct those needing counsel on matters of THE Faith, but as well to be proud and defend our truly universal, One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian.