Dissidence – Plague Of The Church

There is nothing that frustrates me more than those Catholics who are continuously engaged in highlighting all that is wrong with the Church; continually stressing why the Church’s teachings are unreasonable or incorrect; emphasising the need for the Church to conform to current popular opinion on a variety of subjects; accusing the Church leadership of being out of touch and draconian, while also making anecdotal pronouncements of them being guilty of bigotry, misogyny and a host of other offences.

The Scourge Of The Modern Evangelical Atheism

Our Lady of La Salette said "Fight, children of light, you, the few
who can see. For now is the time of all times, the end of all ends."

Joe writes:    It is beginning to dawn on Christians from all walks of life that the twenty first century has set the stage for the proverbial cleansing of the temple. The armies are marching, the battle lines have been drawn and in the words of Gandalf “things are now in motion that cannot be undone”. The fight is to the death between the faith established by Jesus Christ and hovered over by the Holy Spirit (guide of sacred tradition) and modern man’s doctrines, secular intellect and illuminism. The age-old doctrines of the Catholic faith remain the refuge of the believer, for there can only be one flock, one shepherd and one faith.

Why Is Contraception Associated With A 'Culture of Death'

Picture From "Creation Revolution"

Not every women who uses contraception necessarily supports abortion. So why is the use of contraceptives associated with the ‘Culture of Death’. The article, “Why Do We Call It a "Culture of Death"?”, by Jennifer Fulwiler in the National Catholic Register provides an explanation for why this is so. You can read more there.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

Lamb of God on the altar in the apparition of Knock in 1879;
St Joseph,  Our Lady and St John in a bishop's attire (lest we forget)

Joe writes:    The recent effort by the Church in South Africa to re-catechise Catholics through ecclesia has achieved some positive and in some cases eye opening results. Among other things, it has shown the extent to which Catholics have drifted away from the teaching of the Church.

Tradition And The Future

Sacramental Seal

Alan Shatter - Wikipedia

The Irish Justice Minister gave a statement on 25 April 2012 saying that the sex abuse reporting bill, due to be introduced later this year in Ireland, would compel priests to break the seal of the confessional. In the event of a failure to report sex abuse, even if it is disclosed during Confession to a priest, a jail term of up to ten years could be imposed.

Preaching Truth

This mornings second reading in the Office of Matins ends with these words: “Now of those who speak with authority in the churches, no preacher however forceful will utter anything different – for no one is above the Master.”

Contraception and Conscience

This picture is from the Southern Orders Blog

The Southern Cross ran a couple of articles on the subject of conscience during the first quarter of this year. At the time I remarked, both through comments on the newspapers website and on my Blog here, that these articles were incomplete in their explanation of conscience.

Not Ordinary Food

The inscriptions reads, "The bones of St.Justin, philosopher and martyr"

oiboyz.blogspot.com

The second reading for Matins for today is taken from The First Apology of St Justin Martyr. St Justin Martyr, one of the Church Fathers, lived during the period A.D. 100 to A.D. 165 and I find his writing amazing precisely because it is so close in time to the actual lifetime of our Lord Jesus and the Apostles.

Sticks And Stones

I often get extremely disheartened at the way the Church is under constant attack from within. I accept that the Church will naturally be subjected to constant attacks from outside, as Satan frantically and desperately attempts to destroy the Church. However, I find it extremely heart breaking to come to terms with the fact that so many attacks that take place on the Church, come from within the Church.

Naked Filth Before EWTN?

Sometimes you cannot help asking yourself if the world has gone mad? I asked this when I read a story this evening, about Jon Stewart, on the Catholic League website. I am not sure if there are many people in South Africa who know who Stewart is? I know the name because I happen to have come across his television show once or twice on the “Comedy Channel” of DSTV. It is a genuine waste of time and has not yet managed to hold my attention for longer than about 5 minutes.

Mutual Respect Will Lead To Unity

The Southern Cross recently began a new initiative. This entails publishing weekly articles that are written by members of other Christian denominations. It is referred to as the “Ecumenical Series”. Undoubtedly this series was launched with only very good intentions. I do however remember thinking at the time that allowing non-Catholics to write in the newspaper was fraught with risks.

Happy 85th Birthday Pope Benedict XVI

Today Pope Benedict XVI celebrates his 85^th birthday. The Pope, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, was born and baptised on the 16^th of April 1927 in Marktl, Germany.

Cardinal Napier On The Bible Debate (Amended)

On the 22^nd of March 2012, The Southern Cross published, as its “Letter Of The Week”, no less, a letter from two lecturers of St Augustine College in South Africa. The letter was titled, though I am not sure if the writers or the editor chose this title, “Are We Using The Right Bible?”

The Real Presence – Really

I have been reading the amazing book, written by Michael Hesemann, on the story told to him by Georg Ratzinger about his brother Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. The book is titled “My Brother The Pope” and makes for fascinating reading. I could not put it down, though it started a little slow.

Petition DSTV To Include EWTN

I wrote to DSTV recently to enquire why the Catholic Television Network, EWTN, is available to DSTV subscribers in the rest of Africa but it is not available to South African subscribers. I believe it is available to the rest of Africa on channel 348.

Priests Must Delegate Administration And Logistics

I have found another piece of treasure this evening while browsing Fr. Z’s Blog. This time a reader writes to Fr. Z to tell him that on Good Friday the new priests in the parish advertised that they would be available in the Confessional from 8 am until 2 pm.

Prayer Before Using The Internet

St Isidore

This is a prayer for before one connects to the Internet. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf wrote it and you can find it translated into various other languages on his Blog here ≫≫. It may be a good idea to print it and stick it up next to your computer.

Dems Declare Catholics Second-Class Citizens

Last week's Senate vote tabling Roy Blunt's amendment said it all.

Read more ≫≫

How Do We Know We Are Right?

I was contemplating today the constant debates and arguments that we seem to have in the Catholic Church around various subjects. I was in particular thinking about emotionally charged subjects like the ordination of women, gay marriage and the use of contraceptives to regulate childbirth.

Proudly Always Be Christian

Today, Cardinal Keith O’Brien is due to call on Catholics to make the cross more prominent in their lives. His homily, which was apparently made available in advance to the Catholic News Agency, is set to call on Catholics to wear the cross, to show others their willingness to love and serve others, as our Lord Jesus did.

Pope Calls For Obedience To Magisterium

Pope Benedict XVI  at Chrism Mass

Those deacons, priests, bishops, religious, theologians and lay people who have continuously been calling for and supporting the ordination of women, would have found Pope Benedict XVI’s homily, given during the Chrism Mass on Thursday 5 April 2012, particularly uncomfortable. (Here is the link to the full text of the homily.)

Daily Roman Missal - Parallel Latin Text

Buy From Kalahari (South Africa)
or
Buy From Amazon

I made the decision recently to order the Daily Roman Missal published by the Catholic Truth Society. It is the version of the Roman Missal intended for use in the United Kingdom. It is not the version intended for use in South Africa.

'Catholic' Newspaper Displays Advert Of Pro-Abortion Group

Photo from Blog of Fr. Z
One of my favourite Catholic Bloggers

I have previously written about the newspaper, National Catholic Reporter, in a post titled Refute Falsehood. In the post, I highlighted that as far back as 1968 the newspaper was publicly reprimanded and asked, by Bishop Charles Herman Helmsing, to stop using ‘Catholic’ in its title. Bishop Helmsing warned Catholics about the newspapers “‘poisonous character’ and ‘disregard and denial of the most sacred values of our Catholic faith.’”[i]

Cuba Responds To Pope's Request

I love hearing news like this. During the Pope’s recent visit to Cuba, the Pope specifically asked the Cuban President, Raúl Castro, to declare Good Friday a public holiday in Cuba. In response to the Pope’s request, Cuba has now declared that Good Friday of 2012 will be a public holiday, even though it is just a once off holiday for this year. Slowly, slowly!

We Are Church In Disguise

A "Mass" of the "We Are Church" Modernists

Nearly three months has passed since the editor of The Southern Cross wrote, in “Unity In The Church”, that the “We Are All Church movement in South Africa (or WAACSA) has decided to modify its name and adopt its own mission statement, so as to set it apart from the international We Are Church movement”.

Time Magazine Poll Alert

The dreadful TIME Magazine (dreadful when it comes to anything about the Catholic Church) is having a poll and you should participate.

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