Highlight: Homily from Pope Francis Regarding the Deadly Sin of Envy

Hello Everyone,

It seems that as of recently, around my life, but also sadly in the life of the Church, many people, those who should know better, are being sorely tempted by the Devil and associates. Many a loose tongue is flying around, slandering, gossiping, and doing the Evil One's work.

I see this most recently in the Church in light of a couple of issues. First, Benedict Emeritus XVI came out with a new book with Peter Seewald, post-retirement from the Papacy. Right away a number of Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists bashed his Holiness Emeritus, accusing him of being a coward because he revealed after his last WYD, he couldn't travel. Instead of chalking it up to health issues, they go for the jugular instead of their former Trad Hero who "saved" the Latin Mass because they think his "cowardice" led to "Pope Francis the Destroyer" being put into power.

Secondly, someone either leaked or posted a pastoral letter the Pope gave to some bishops back in his home country for their bishop's conference. Because it dealt with communion and remarrieds without annulments (w/divorces,) and how to implement 'the most heretical document that has evuh been released by the Church,' Amoris Laetitia, the RMTs screamed bloody heresy and accusations foul of His Holy Father, for dealing with a situation pastorally, despite it using something called the "Internal Forum" which is acceptable in certain circumstances in the Church when applied properly, as discussed here by GladTrad Fr. Mcdonald of Southern Orders.

As for personally, myself and a few other friends of mine are coming under attack by forces we can discern is not of Christ, from those who seem friends and "good" Christians, but are truly doing the Evil One's work with loosened and foul tongues of slanderous/detracting nature, and gossip. Between our work for a living, our spare time, and personal challenges, it seems like the Lord is allowing us to undergo these times of trial, bringing us closer to our Faith and showing us what is His Work, and what is not. He certainly is testing our faith. We know, though, that as he showed the disciples in the Gospel with the crashing waves that stormy day (Mark 4:31-41,) when you have true Faith and love of the Lord, the most violent storms will be dissipated by Him, who is our Sovereign King!

In light of the nastiness flowing about, both online from these RMTs and from those in our personal lives, allow me to repost a valuable catechesis shared to me by one of my Catholic friends from our Holy Father. What great timing! Thanks for the gift! My emphasis will be bolded and red coloured text, occasionally underlined too. Deo Gratias. Pax, Julian.

Pope: jealousy and envy are sins that kill with words

Pope Francis celebrating daily Mass at Casa Santa Marta. In his homily, the Holy Father spoke against the sins of jealousy and envy. - OSS_ROM

21/01/2016 11:47

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Holy Mass on Thursday, the feast of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr. In his homily, the Holy Father prayed that God might preserve us from the sins of envy and jealousy – ugly sins that kill others with words and that exist even in our Christian communities.

Envy is an ugly sin that grows like a weed
The first reading (1 Sam 18:6-9; 19:1-7) tells the story of Saul, the king of Israel, and his jealousy towards David. After the victory over the Philistines, the women joyfully sang, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” From that day forward, Saul looked on David with suspicion, fearing that David might betray him. Ultimately, Saul decided to kill him. Later he followed the advice of his son and reconsidered. But his wicked thoughts returned. Jealousy, the Pope said, is “a sickness” that returns and brings with it envy:

“How ugly envy is! it is an attitude, it is an ugly [DEADLY] sin. And jealousy or envy grows in the heart like a weed: it grows, but it doesn’t allow good plants to grow. It harms everything that its shadow seems to fall upon. There is no peace! It is a tormented heart, it is an ugly heart! But the envious heart, too – we hear it here – leads to killing, to death. And Scripture says clearly: through the envy of the devil, death entered the world.”

Envy kills, even in our communities
“Envy kills,” the Pope said. “It does not tolerate others having something that I do not have. And it always suffers, because the heart of an envious or jealous person suffers. It is a suffering heart!” It is a suffering that desires “the death of others.” “But how many times,” he asked, “in our communities – and we don’t have to look too far to see this – are people killed, through jealousy, with the tongue? Someone is envious of this, of the other, and they begin to gossip – and gossip kills”:
“I too, thinking and reflecting on this passage, invite myself – and everyone – to see if, in my heart, there is any jealousy, any envy, which always leads to death and doesn’t make me happy; because this sickness always leads us to regard the good others possess as if it were against us. And this is an ugly sin. It is the beginning of many, many crimes. Let us ask the Lord to give us the grace not to open the heart to jealousy, not to open the heart to envy, because these things always lead to death.”

Jesus handed over out of envy
Pope Francis concluded by noting that Jesus was handed over to Pontius Pilate because of the envy of the chief priests and the scribes:

“According to the interpretation of Pilate – who was very intelligent, but a coward – envy was what lead to the death of Jesus: the instrument, the ultimate instrument. They handed him over out of envy. Let us also ask the Lord the grace never, because of envy, to hand over to death a brother, a sister of the parish, of the community, or even someone in our neighbourhood. Everyone has their sins, everyone has their virtues. They are specific to each individual. Look at the good, and do not kill with gossip through envy or jealousy.

Dangerous Tides A Swimming? Pope Francis' Mission Of Mercy and the SSPX: Silver Lining or Pandora's Box Part II?

Hello Everyone,

Now begins part II, whereby after last evening's post here, I will give you my reasoning for why Pope Francis should NOT allow the SSPX into Holy Mother Church in their current state.

We Should Not Let Them In .... Without Diligent Re-Education and Monitoring ...

Fine, yes without them the Latin Mass may have faded from existence as they were the biggest publically known "presence" for the EF in the Church, and yes, they are at least on paper not being lie-berals and such, but the real problem is their disobedient and anti-Church of Post Vatican II stance (including the Holy Father, Francis I himself.)

If Francis does let them in unchecked, I can forsee much division and they will act contrary to the Pope's wishes of ecumenism and reconciliation, causing more division and the falling away of the devout, orthodox faithful. I mean such in the following ways (word of warning: drug abuse analogies to be used to illustrate the problem. No intentional offense to people valiantly fighting the addiction of drugs/alcohol):

1. Abuse of Mercy, the Parable of the Just Judge and the Lower Lord - Do you remember in Scripture when Christ is speaking about the merciful judge and the ungrateful slave? Here's a little refresher, from the NRSV Catholic translation used in Canada:

"The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents[c] was brought to him; 25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii;[d] and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister[e] from your heart.”

While the whole servants and kings thing isn't happening in a literal sense, this does relate to the SSPX. Allowing the SSPX, whose mentality has hardened into one of anti-Papacy, anti-Church, and even at times Protestant nature, is akin to treating a person for alcohol/drug abuse, and then letting them lose in society without serious outpatient monitoring and teaching them HOW to live post-treatment. How many times have we seen this happen with our modern celebrities (e.g. Lindsay Lohan) where they then just relapse into the same drug-addicted, partying lifestyle that put them in physical, emotional, and spiritual harm from before? As for those who do not partake in modern media/entertainment, when those people do come back and relapse, they lash out in their addicition-based rage against their family due to being drug addicted all those years, or still on the drugs.

Yes, giving the person mercy is good, but like the Samaritan woman, she was told to "sin no more." Unchecked, the SSPX would be given free reign to bash the Church and the Novus Ordo Mass, all the while offering sacraments only in the Extraordinary Form, and teaching things wrong or with a damaging spirit as they normally would. Like the drug addict without outpatient care, they would still, yet with licence, lash out at: the Pope, Novus Ordo Masses like the videos mentioned in Part I, Catholics who attend the Novus Ordo only, etc. while attesting the EF as the only form of salvation in the Latin Rite. They wouldn't be able to be contested because Pope Francis "approved" them back into canonization with the Church. Mind you they could always be re-suppressed, like the Jesuits, but in this modern technological age, they would elicit a firestorm of revenge, disobedience, and division in the Church and carry our a malicious campaign to tear Her apart after said re-suppression. They would take numerous souls with them in their campaign.

It would be best .... no ... there MUST be a strict restructuring process like the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. Here I applaud Pope Francis and those in charge of the restructuring, because without the swift correction of those malices brought about by the "EF only/SSPX "mindset" crowd in the community, they would have mentally and spiritually poisoned the novitiates, and these priests would carry out that poisonous mindset by infecting the laity who attend their Masses within their reach ... despite being canonically valid in the Church.

In addition, other young people who are more naieve or have started their journey of becoming Orthodox/Catholic Traditionalism and/or including the Latin Mass, may not have the ability to discern spiritually those in their company who are more rigid (and sinful) in their practice and thoughts of  "Traditionalism." If the SSPX Latin Masses were "OK" now to attend, and have made the Latin Mass their preferred, if not sole form of attendance in the Latin Rite, these debilitating influences in that young man or woman's life, combined with attendance at the SSPX chapels, will cause the young soul to be completely lost to the anti-Church mindset disguised as Radical Traditionalism. They would likely NEVER enter through the doors of another regular parish again, with (possible) rare exceptions for family events, that is, if the SSPX priest of the chapel does not corrupt the individual by preaching/saying that any Novus Ordo Mass puts the soul in occasion of sin. Under the same corruption or in their "happy land," that person's friends (and family, if they follow their relative,) will only support them in the hardening of their hearts, encouraging them to reject anyone, clergy or laity, who are not of their ilk or are "heterodox/heretics" according to the Radical Traditionalist and their SSPX clergy.

In summary, using one of the similar or same arguments poised by the RMTs, this would be the similar with the SSPX, albeit with one major additional problem. Here, I bring into my essay the change to the footwashing rite within the Mass on Holy Thursday. When Pope Francis legalized the foot washing of men and women in the Novus Ordo for Holy Thursday, they decried this as the legalization of disobedience to the Church." However, that change to the rite was disciplinary and did not attack the sacramental validity of a rite and/or form of the Holy Mass, promulgated by a Pope, and also the magisteruim of the Church by employing Pharisaical twists on its teachings and crude, indirect and direct attacks on the mentioned parts of Holy Mother Church. Argue as you will (organic vs. disruptive,) this is entirely NOT the same as legitimizing the SSPX unchecked, who would cause dissent from within Holy Mother Church, with a valid and legal "licence" to do so, an unintended consequence of Pope Francis' mercy.

2. The Katholic Krazies Would Be in Paradise! 
We already have it bad in the Traditional Catholic/Latin Mass scene worldwide. With lay organizations, bloggers, etc. it's clear that these (usually) Latin Mass loving extremists, already exhibit severe hatred for the Church they purport to "love" and "defend." With their calumny, slander, and detraction online and in person, they do not serve Christ and His Church, rather they serve some other master than Him. They make it bad enough for all of us who try to do it the "proper" way, in love with Mother Church, respecting her liturgical rites INCLUDING forms. These people/groups/websites give bishops and priests legitimate excuses to shy away from the Latin Mass, or prevent Ecclesia Dei requests from being fully granted (and I include in this "ghettoization" of the communities that DO get a request granted for a Latin Mass.)  

Already, based on that presence, and how they assault and belittle the Holy Father, the Novus Ordo Mass and its attendees, and the Church herself (just check my archives for postings, like this one as a sample,) these false "heroes" or "leaders" (self-appointed of course with NO actual Church authority) would now have legitimate reason to harden their hearts and souls even more, and even become more extreme with the SSPX's legitimacy. They already express their views publicly, and share in their Church hate.

In fact when I presented commentary similar to this posting on the Southern Orders post of 27/4/2016, save a couple of them, multiple commentators came out with daggers of the Devil against me, or flat out defended the SSPX as if they were not guilty of anything, for violating their golden calf (which is the SSPX,) despite me saying this would be a major mistake of Pope Francis. If anything, it reveals that upholding the First Commandment and going against the SSPX, is a greater "sin" in the RMT's books than defending Pope Francis. The moderator, Fr. Allan McDonald, could have easily dismissed my comment as ``trolling`` according to his policy in the comments section of Blogger, but clearly has NOT replied directly to my comment in chastizement or deleted it, and has allowed what has transpired to remain. If anything, he has allowed the discussion and the stabbing to ensue, possibly to demonstrate their insanity and idolization of the SSPX.

The only thing keeping them from being full radicals in liturgy, aside from their false "faith" is the fact that frequent attendance at SSPX chapels constitutes a possible (and likely self-schismatic) break from Holy Mother Church, the more you attend:

" PCED: "Catholics who frequent the chapels of the Society of St. Pius X do not incur any sin or canonical delict by doing so. However, we further refer you to what we have already stated in #4 above ...." "".... While it is true that participation in the Mass at chapels of the Society of St. Pius X does not of itself constitute "formal adherence to the schism" (cf. Ecclesia Dei 5, c), such adherence can come about over a period of time as one slowly imbibes a schismatic mentality which separates itself from the teaching of the Supreme Pontiff and the entire Catholic Church ...." (Published, PCED private correspondence with layman, and journalist, Brian Mershon for www.renewamerica.com)

If the SSPX were granted canonical validity, making their Masses licit AND VALID, using another drug/alcohol addiction analogy, this would be like giving a (non-medical) marijuana addict crack cocaine! The once user of gateway drugs would likely, (with great probability,) become so addicted and change into an extreme drug abuser! Sadly, based on what was unleashed against me in the post above, and some bloggers' sympathies out there in their incessant postings about the SSPX, the obvious interpretation is they want the perfect excuse to "jump over" and the SSPX is perceived as the "only hope" is saving the Catholic Church, especially liturgically in the Latin Mass.

Whether their reasons are wholly for the liturgy of the Latin Mass, or the whole extremist environment, or just to spite the institutional Church (read, parish pastors, institutions, individual priests, bishops, etc.,) they would get exactly what they want .... which would be catastrophic for their already damaged souls. At the very least, being in valid and licit Latin Masses approved by Holy Mother Church, keeps them in unison with Her, with a chance of salvation and Her mercy. While approving the SSPX outright might restore full abilities and sacramental privilege to the priests who hold those Masses, the environment and the untreated minds and hearts of the SSPX clergy, would make the heart of those mentioned, damaged souls, truly absent to those blessings within the EF Mass.

It would be akin to a beautiful pearl being held in a misshapen ugly clay jar, absent of all light inside. Because the of the ugliness of the clay jar surrounding the pearl, no one would come near the jar and dip their hand into the darkness to get the pearl, and it would lay there forever, forgotten, and never obtained. The blessings and graces possible in the EF Mass, would be that pearl, and the deadly sins of Pride, Anger, Envy, etc. with many additional sins, would be that darkness. The SSPX Masses, despite the Mass itself NEVER being a source of evil in itself, but because of the anti-Church and anti-Pope environment and erroneous teachings from the SSPX priests that would channel all that, would be the ugly misshapen clay jar.

Conclusion
In summary, it is already bad that these RMTs embarass Traditional Catholics or Latin Mass attendees, by associating with licit and valid liturgical environments, groups, or parishes, spewing their hatred of the "N.O Church." Giving the SSPX full approval without harsh disciplinary measures or a thorough clean up like the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, would be giving those radicals what they truly desire in their hearts: A "Church approved" excuse to hate Her and abuse her from within her own house.

Analogy: If you knew your own son or daughter was extremely, verbally and/or physically violent, like the drug abuser mentioned above, and you knew your life was in danger by letting that person in, would you allow that threat to your life in your house? You would not. You would get that person committed to a psychiatric ward or drug rehab facility if possible, to treat them. In the worst case scenario, you would call the police, even if it meant a standoff with a possibility of firearm discharge and the death of your own son/daughter.

This instance, is one occasion, where I pray and hope the Holy Father, does NOT act without consideration, or ``off the cuff`` as it were, to extend his hand fully and give them his version of mercy that he is doing in this current Papacy. If he TRULY wants to be merciful to the souls of both the clergy and attached laity of the SSPX, as well as the current flock still in "good standing" in the Church (at least on paper,) Francis will not reconcile the SSPX, instead of giving them carte-blanche freedom to pilfer and plunder souls from WITHIN Holy Mother Church.

Giving the SSPX the freedom and the personal prelature without HARSH discipline and reorganization, will spell doom for many a good soul wanting more Traditional Catholicism, and a perfect excuse for those ``corrupted`` souls to make themselves further fit for Hell as desired .... it will be the kind of disguised ``Traditionalism,`` which is truly extremism, and neo-Jansenism, leading souls off the narrow path to salvation on the right side of the road instead of the left.

END

Due to the nature of this post, judging by the reaction I received here, in prudence comments will be closed for this posting. 

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian Barkin.

Dangerous Tides A Swimming? Pope Francis' Mission Of Mercy and the SSPX: Silver Lining or Pandora's Box Part I?

Hello Everyone,

Yes it's been quiet here on S.U.D. That's mainly because of me being squeezed out between my work, and wedding preparations. Only 2 weeks to go! That doesn't leave me much time for entries. But finally, I have something for you ..... something concerning ... yet it is Latin Mass/Traditional Catholicism related.

My basis started after I read a post on the great, Fr. John Zuhlsdorf's WDTPRS blog. It was reported here on these Orthodox "Glad Trad" blogs (e.g. Southern Orders, Fr. Z), and the RMT sites that I will not hyperlink to (e.g. Rorate Caeli), with confirmation on the Vatican's major news portal (see here: http://www.news.va/en/news/press-office-confirms-pope-francis-meeting-with-ss) that Pope Francis had a meeting with the current head of the Society of St. Pius X, "Reverend" Bernard Fellay. That is as far a title I will allot to him, because he and the other "priests" of the Society of St. Pius X are NOT in communion with Holy Mother Church. Also, pastors of Christian churches can be called "Reverend" so it's not just the SSPX. Turns out the SSPX leaked that their leader, "Reverend" Bernard Fellay, had a meeting with Pope Francis.

I couldn't believe this, and it got my wheels turning, so I started to draft this in response. After multiple starts and stops, an interesting article surfaced yesterday on Southern Orders blog run by Fr. Allan J. McDonald of the diocese of Macon in the USA. He featured an article from once-Boston Globe associated CRUX news about possible reconciliation between the SSPX and the Church. I took an alternative viewpoint in the comments box, which only further proved what I am about to say, and makes this posting more prominent in terms of its timing.

Throughout his papacy, there's been interesting news about Pope Francis and who he is choosing to extend his "Mission of Mercy" to. Now, while I take a lot of what the Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists (RMTs) (and Catholics everywhere,) say on their armchair thrones from their domiciles or workplaces, with a heavy grain of salt, there is something that has been going on that has me deeply concerned with whom Francis is possibly bestowing "Mercy" to.

Allow me to remind you of the status of the society as to WHY they are not in communion with the Church, and why I will NOT call Fellay a bishop, despite technical or formal jargon and processes, or not. This is important because this post and its follow up in Part II, concerns the news that has been floating around, and it's highly concerning for the future of the Church.

Background as to why to be deeply concerned with the SSPX's re-entry ...

As per Benedict XVI's lifting of the censure of excommunication from Fellay and his fellow "bishops", De Mallerais, Williamson (who is now likely RE-EXCOMMUNICATED for consecrating bishops without the authority of Pope Francis and the Holy Catholic Church), and Alfonso de Galarreta, ".... As long as the Society does not have a canonical status in the Church, its ministers do not exercise legitimate ministries in the Church...."

The only absolute exception is recently, with Pope Francis' granting of temporary faculties for confession until November 20th this year for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. As for their Eucharists, those done by the SSPX ``clergy`` are ALWAYS consecrated illegally, in disobedience to Holy Mother Church, but is likely valid due to the odd canonical situation of the Society. One, however, should not play with the safety of their salvation and consume it, due to its questionable status.

The SSPX became "non-canonical" due to then Vatican II council father and founder of the SSPX, Marcel Lefevbre, and a co-consecrating bishop (who had since reconciled with Holy Mother Church,) illicitly consecrating bishops without a papal mandate from John Paul II in 1988. Regardless of whatever supposed politics between the two parties happened, the four men above, including current head Fellay, were the illegally consecrated bishops. When this happened, the SSPX (that is, its clergy) incurred the status, having NO sacramental jurisdiction in the Church, and Lefevbre, that bishop, and the four "musketeers" being excommunicated (until Benedict's intervention for the four & the co-consecrator's reconciliation.) The Sacramental jurisdiction comes from being under the authority of a bishop, even one from Rome in the Church as part of a personal prelature or missionary order (e.g. Opus Dei, Fraternal Society of St. Peter.) Sadly, Lefevbre NEVER reconciled with the Church, which is a very concerning statement for the foundation of the Society: one founded on disobedience and rebellion to Holy Mother Church.

In current day, the SSPX STILL has not reconciled with the Church. While Benedict XVI tried with negotiations in 2012, they ended in failure because once again, the SSPX refused to submit doctrinally to Holy Mother Church, and it is rumored the log in their eye, Vatican II, was to blame. The refusal was supposedly against a direct order from Benedict XVI, a condition which if not filled, would not allow them to reconcile with the Church. Currently, they operate two major "seminaries" with their major one in the birthplace where its establishment began, Econe, Switzerland, and have numerous chapels (I will NOT call them parishes, that's only reserved for those priests and communities in canonical validity with the Church) as well as private schools.

More Holier than Thou ... or how the SSPX are Protestant in the Sense of Church Hating ...

However, in existing in the world, they adhere to an education that is almost 100% how it was "pre-1962" with its strictness, teaching methods, and application of such methods in strict authority. Unfortunately, coupled with all this is the teaching to their "adherents," a twisted theology that attacks Holy Mother Church, the Novus Ordo Mass, Pope Francis, even professing incorrect teachings that are not in force in the Church. An incorrect teaching, for example, I take from a former friend now with the SSPX, who told me it was a mortal sin to eat meat on Fridays. He goes to the chapel in my archdiocese (obviously NOT under the jurisdiction of ++Collins,) and never went to their schools, so this is likely where he learnt this error. This is entirely incorrect. The current Canon Law in the Church and its Catechism, do NOT state this, nor any document in the Church's history. Furthermore, our current Canon Law of 1983, clearly states that this version of the law is in effect, not this AND/OR any other version of Canon Law, here in Section 5, subsection 1:

``Can. 5 §1. Universal or particular customs presently in force which are contrary to the prescripts of these canons and are reprobated by the canons of this Code [of Canon Law promulgated in 1983] are absolutely suppressed and are not permitted to revive in the future. Other contrary customs are also considered suppressed unless the Code expressly provides otherwise or unless they are centenary or immemorial customs which can be tolerated if, in the judgment of the ordinary, they cannot be removed due to the circumstances of places and persons.``

As to hating the Novus Ordo, I turn to these YouTube videos: " Should Catholics Attend the New Mass? - Part I or II - Episode 14 - SSPX FAQ Series." and the second part in episode 15 with the similar title. I will not link to it, so you will have to do the grunt work, but if you do, watch it with caution and concern. I am merely watching these videos for the most relevant parts to this post.

First, at 2:19-2:30, the collared cleric begins to weave the web of confusion about the necessity of avoiding the Novus Ordo to be necessary. He tells the viewer that while the Church obliges all Catholics to attend Mass, it is "according to the Human Condition" and that there are occasions that might make attendance at Mass on a Sunday "impractical." This cleric's word choice is interesting. He does not say the more appropriate "unavoidable," but rather "impractical," meaning if it doesn't fit one's routine or personal needs, it is not necessary.

While continuing on in part I, the cleric correctly addresses common reasons for dispensation from the obligation, and the parish priest's ability to dispense the obligation when the situation falls outside common reasons or scenarios.

Part II is where the conspiracy theories and the hate train begins. They set you up in part I with the "basics" which are mostly correct. However, like how the Devil twists truths or things good to bring out malicious intention and sin, likewise the SSPX does so to go into part II to say why you should reject and hate the Novus ordo.

Immediately, as RMTs are wont to do, it goes for the conspiracy theory angle, implying that Pope Paul VI was directly responsible with Annibale Bugini, to create a Protestant, heretical product: ".. under the influence of Fr. Annibale Bugnini and Pope Paul VI, both of whom wanted a liturgy that was ecumenical and would not be a “stumbling block” to Protestants. This goal was accomplished with the new liturgy by obscuring or even removing from its prayers the Catholic doctrines concerning the propitiatory nature of the Mass, the sacrificial and mediatory character of the priesthood, and the dogma of the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist."

Further, the cleric goes on to say about the Novus Ordo:
"...  the New Mass departs from the Catholic Faith “as a whole and in its details .... this new liturgy has confused or destroyed the Faith of millions of Catholics since the 1970’s to the point that most churchgoers today have an erroneous understanding of the Catholic doctrine of the Mass and sometimes do not even believe in the real presence .... The Church cannot ask her members to endanger their Faith. This is the reason why Catholics are not obliged to attend the New Mass to fulfill the Sunday Precept. In fact, for those who have knowledge of its inherent problems, the New Mass is to be completely avoided, as they understand that it is also an offense to God ...."

So let's see, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the most POWERFUL form of prayer in the world, that which Christ has asked his Holy Priests to perform for all time, is a product hellbent on destroying the faithful of Millions?

There is so much fault at this explanation I'll only briefly wax over it.

First of all, I quote from Scripture from the NRSV-CE the Gospel of Luke 11:9-13:
"9 “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for[e] a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit[f] to those who ask him!”

I may be no JCD or P.hD, but I'm pretty certain that tied into the OH SO FAMOUS Matthew 16:18-19, that Christ would NEVER let the Church be destroyed by Satan, and above, would never seek to purposely poison his sheep. Think about it, if the Church, were to do so, then clearly Christ lied in establishing His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, it would NOT be guided by the Holy Spirit, it would not bear the mark of HOLY, and at best Jesus as God made Flesh, reflecting God, would be nothing more than like the Greek Gods of old, who sometimes looked after humanity, but also sometimes had fun playing around with them, like in Oedipus Rex and other Greek tragedies.

Also fine you might go on about the whole Bugini thing and such. First, the general Church did NOT have the Internet to propagate information as quick as a button, so the majority of priests, lay leaders, etc., had to rely on whatever was taught/handed down to them. Liberal influences and people clearly got a hold of that to curb things in their favour. Secondly, the translators used dynamic equivalence, more meaning vs. literal translation in other words. That definitely screwed up the translation. Final point on the propagation of such a "malformed" product: If it was that bad, wouldn't the Church have more quickly closed up shop in multiple (arch)dioceses already, with barely a physical presence in the world today, with only Latin Mass parishes, Byzantine parishses, etc. surviving? If it was truly a product of the Devil, and we can trust our Lord to only give us truly GOOD gifts, as per His Holy Words above, wouldn't he have allowed rapid and quick destruction of those institutional parts of the Church with this new Mass to die immediately? Did he not also tell His Disciples that He would separate the wheat from the chaff, and cursed a fig tree producing no spiritual fruit to show that that which is not of God will wither and die?

Further to add, despite the calumnies of the SSPX against Holy Mother Church and the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, it STILL brings in converts and new faithful every year, around the world, at the Holy Triduum's Saturday Easter Vigil. If this Mass was clearly poison to the lay faithful, then why does the bosom of Holy Mother Church, continue to entice people to join her? Why then, would other noted apologists and lay leaders, such as Scott Hahn, Dave Armstrong, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Jimmy Akin, Marcus Grodi, etc. who are CONVERTS, attend such a "bastardized" form of the Mass, only to spread the faith and do their absolute best to bring other people into the Church, with their apologetics and Internet websites?

Now, listen, it's one thing to analyze the Masses properly, and state what has been gained/lost from prior forms/updates. It's also one thing to state that "Form X has a temptation to allow priests to become entertainers due to versus populum and factors a, b, c, in the Church." However to imply that the form itself is defective, as this "priest" has said, even if the statement does or does not literally say so, contains in itself heresy and hate for the Church.

On a final note, as for the Pope Hate? Once Pope Francis ascended to the Seat of Peter, Fellay had calumnious words for Pope Francis that he was practicing heresy by being a modernist from a sermon he did, and put it publicly for distribution on the SSPX regional websites, also committing the grievous sin of detraction, as well as what Pope Francis has called the Devil's work: gossip.

Conclusion Part I

With this history, and a gander of what these "fine" folks will bring into the Church with regards to their vicious stances against the Novus Ordo and Pope Francis, contravening Scripture and other important facets of the Church in the process, these are the "gifts" they will bring into the Church when they come in.

So then, with these gifts in mind and their current stance on our modern Church, why should the SSPX not be receiving the gift of mercy, unchecked, in having their canonical validity and status restored in Holy Mother Church?

That, my dear friends, and enemies and their fanboys/fan-maidens (I know you are watching me,) will be for Part II, which shall be scheduled for release this evening. But before I bid you adieu, Due. to the nature of this post, judging by the reaction I received here, in prudence, comments will be closed for this posting.

Ta Ta, and Pax.

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.

Highlight: Intermission. Dave Armstrong Follow Up.

In the meantime while waiting for Part II of my pro apologia defense for Dave Armstrong, enjoy this commercial break. Geez, some people cannot understand true, fraternal correction in the Catholic faith and true apologetics/evangelization/ecumenism. Oh well, Pax.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2015/12/lately-ive-been-exceedingly-blessed-by-insults.html

Pro Apologia for Dave Armstrong, Professional Catholic Apologist, Part 1

BAAAAD To the Bone. Catholicism's Heavy Metal Gunslinger of Apologetics .... Dave Armstong!!! Source: http://speakerpedia.com/speakers/dave-armstrong

EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to starting the draft of this posting on an Iphone, and not doing what was necessary to fix things, the text displays itself all weird. I'll have to rewrite 

this post to fix the weird error later. 

Hello Everyone,

If you wonder why Catholic Traditonalism, never mind even in general the Catholic Faith is 
not spreading, it is because of sick, vile hypocrisy. Catholics, who are full of zest and vigor, and a sound knowledge of the Church's teachings, are misapplying their efforts into sinful 
stabs of Satanic action (e.g. gossip, misinformation) against other faithful Catholics, twisting truths into mis-truths, while trying to tell people about our faith and the awesomeness of our Catholic Liturgy. 

Who are the stabbers and the hypocrites? If you thought it's those dreaded "neo-cons" or 
"neo-traditionalists" ... You are being misled by the wrong kind of Catholic social media. The truth is, it is Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists who are the ones doing this stabbing. 

Some of the most prolific examples, comes from blogs and "news sites" such as Rorate 
Caeli, PrayTell blog, Mundabor, etc. Every day is virtually another story that paints Pope 
Francis, many cardinals and bishops who are not Cardinals Burke or Athanasius Schneider, etc. as the Devil's servants from within. Other individual bloggers add to the fray in a 
likewise, similar manner, projecting their true inner hate for Jesus' Church, oddly 
abnormal, even OCD-like obession (no offense to truly diagnosed OCD sufferers reading 
this, you are not THESE RMTs, and any overlap is entirely coincidental if you are a true 
case,) with Church liturgy and Tradtionalism, and/or untreated spiritual and mental wounds, 
in the form of calumnious and slanderous posts. They are not fraternal correction, they are 
hate crimes. 

Recently, I had the displeasure of being informed of a hate piece targeting a well-known 
Catholic apologist who've I've frequently featured here on Servimus by the name of 
Dave Armstrong. Dave's analysis of the sad situation of the poisoning of Traditional 
Catholicism by these individuals (e.g. as in this "Penses" piece) and groups who supposedly"love" the Church enough to commit evil to achieve good (ignoring St Thomas Aquinas,) is 
excellent and highly recommended reading, aside from the plethora of work he has done 
with other areas of Church apologetics and TRUE Church ecumenism. Such reading can 
be found in his blog postings, as well as in his two major books on Radical Traditionalists, inboth hard copy and e-reader formats. 

I will not link to the blog post attacking Dave, under the axiom of "Don't feed the Trolls." in 
Internet lingo. Web hits feed the trolls. The blog also does not deserve any more hits or 
exposure to gain access to innocent, Catholic souls, young and old alike, but especially 
young, "wired" ones. However, a blog search with Dave Armstrong might yield you the hate piece. Sadly it is when works like this are made public, and lies are spread, the New 
Evangelization is halted further in the church and further division is maintained or enhanced.

So, allow me to dispel these calumnies of Mr Armstrong in a pro apologia defense, where 
"the pot has called the kettle black," with some assistance from Mr. Armstrong as he has 
already taken this assassin's claims apart with factual information.  

The first major calumny is to attack Mr Armstrong in his profession as a Full Time 
"professional" Catholic apologist, that is it a self-appointed, claim. Now, we need to break 
down the attacks in this claim to show you the calumnies and retractions within, as well as 
hypocrisies. 

1a. Lay Apologist Status - Detraction combined with Selective Preference

First, the claim of being a ``self-appointed`` lay apologist must be examined. Here at the 
least the sin of detraction has been committed. What will be examined is how the claim is 
used in a detracting way, despite "truths," but also that based on his work, a "Catholic" 
curriculum vitae, the blog cannot make any claim about his status in this manner. 
Also, it can be argued that the blog post is implying in its attack, that one cannot bear a 
written or verbal status or title of work in the Church if it is non-official, or not pertaining to 
ordained clerics. 

Yes, it's true that in terms of employment or ministry, Mr. Armstrong is not formally 
employed in a company or institution that specializes in apologetics, with an annual salary of x dollars/yr. He would be ``self-employed,`` as per other professions, such as trades. If you are not providing service to someone, or people are not buying your products, you don`t 
make money. It is also true that his diocese, does not have a formal position of a "Lay 
apologist for the archdiocese of X, USA" that Mr. Armstrong can apply to, and smack on a 
business card. 

To tear apart this attack on his ``job`` we need to look at various apostolates and other 
church ministries/apostolates that other lay people do, without full compensation or salary, 
or no compensation at all. Within the Catholic Church, many laypeople, and even clerics, 
perform apostolate/missionary work that are full time hours, such as a parish assistant (not 
formally paid associate), and even duties a Deacon does, would qualify for this "Full-time" 
status, or perhaps a lay head of an intensive ministry (e.g. Catechesis of confirmandi in a 
multi-week program). These parish volunteers and Deacons are "full time" in terms of their 
quantity of hours of work, but more so, they are devoted in time and energy to their 
missionary work/apostolate in the Church. 

Does the Church acknowledge such work as, work per se, or that it is valuable? Yes it does.It even encourages it. One can especially see Mr. Armstrong's work as a lay apologist as 
exactly part of the Church's missionary spirit, vital to the New Evangelization, and also
allowable as She recognizes that with time, or change within a community, the Church must be able to meet new challenges and demands. A lay apologist is doing exactly that in this 
post-Vatican II/1962 environment. From the Vatican II Apostolic Decree, Ad Gentes, "On the Missionary Activity of the Church:"

" ...."Missions" is the term usually given to those particular undertakings by which the 
heralds of the Gospel, sent out by the Church and going forth into the whole world, carry outthe task of preaching the Gospel and planting the Church among peoples or groups who do not yet believe in Christ. These undertakings are brought to completion by missionary 
activity and are mostly exercised in certain territories recognized by the Holy See. 
The proper purpose of this missionary activity is evangelization .... Moreover, the groups among which the Church dwells are often radically changed, for one reason or other, so that an entirely new set of circumstances may arise. " (AG, 6)

And what of course are these new conditions? Well, if you want to follow the narrative of the Radical Traditionalists that Vatican II nearly killed vocations of the priesthood as well as the orthodoxy and quality of seminary formation, we have a crisis of vocations, and not enough orthodox priests to effectively carry out the "Old Style/Old Concept" of evangelization as 
above in AG 6, and even the "New Evangelization." 

And ironically, here is Vatican II acknowledging a new approach and need for evangelization and more lay involvement, yet the RMTs say Vatican II caused the crisis in the first place: 

" ....Therefore, let the missionaries, God's coworkers, ( cf. 1 Cor. 3:9), raise up 
congregations of the faithful such that, walking worthy of the vocation to which they have been called (cf. Eph. 4:1), they may exercise the priestly, prophetic, and royal 
office which God has entrusted to them .... To obtain all these things, the most important and therefore worthy of special attention are the Christian laity: namely, 
those who have been incorporated into Christ and live in the world. For it is up to them, imbued with the spirit of Christ, to be a leaven working on the temporal order from within, to dispose it always in accordance with Christ.(16) .... Now, in order to plant the Church and to make the Christian community grow, various ministries are needed, which are raised up by divine calling from the midst of 
the faithful congregation, and are to be carefully fostered and tended to by all. Among these are the offices of priests, of deacons, and of catechists, and Catholic action. Religious men and women likewise, by their prayers and by their active 
work, play an indispensable role in rooting and strengthening the Kingdom of Christ in souls,and in causing it to be spread." (AG, 15)

So in attacking Mr. Armstrong's position as a "lay apologist," on a broad basis it can be said 
that any type of missionary/apostolate work without compensation is not an official position one can say they do, and invaluable to the service of the Church, contrary to the above in 
Ad Gentes. 

Even if the implication was not intended by the blog post, detracting his lay apologetics 
position is an ad hominem attack, a foolish one when you consider the examples of other 
full-time apostolate work by lay people/clerics in the church without a formal requirement for secular/religious, post-secondary degrees and/or formal job postings. Furthermore, 
the attack is contradictory to the aims and goals of the Church in how the laity 
are to participate in Her missionary work and what Holy Mother Church encourages her 
adopted sons and daughters of Christ to do in being Hearlds of the Gospel. 

Having stated what I have above in the context of formal employment vs. voluntary work in 
the Church, it is also an ironic attack in a way, as the poster on the blog is involved in an 
apostolate/ministry centering around the Latin Mass that requires work, organization, 
training of involved members, (e.g. serving, schola cantorum, executive roles, priest 
training,) including the holding of an annual general meeting. The primary focus of the blog author is cantoring. The author is also a lay cantor at a parish for their Saturday vigil Mass 
weekly. All the activities, qualify quantitatively as a "Full-time" career of sorts, yet the 
author's positions are not formally titled or compensated, that of ``cantor`` nor head of their 
lay ministry. In addition, the blog author spends many hours blogging, in their ``journalism.`` 

However, the blog author, then, according to their logic, should not be publicly calling 
them self by any title that isn't formally part of ordained ministry or formal, employed work. 
That means the author should not be calling themselves a cantor, or a journalist, or 
whatever else they claims to be in their blog posts, as that is public, just the same as 

Mr. Armstrong. 

1b. Lay Apologist Status - Discrediting the Work, Training, and even the Mentorship of Mr. 
Armstrong. 

What I will state is factual, that the attack on Mr. Armstrong's position totally discredits 
the work, training, and formation of Mr. Armstrong. In fact, the training, experience, and 
body of work proves the opposite of the claim, that Mr. Armstrong in fact merits the title of 
lay apologist, and is perfectly justified to use it publicly. 

I will allow Mr. Armstrong`s factual information to speak for itself, that he has, quantitatively, and qualitatively, the combined practical experience, mentorship, and body of work 
equivalent to that or exceeding a post doctoral student (Ph.D) in the field of apologetics:

`` "self-appointed" huh? This is one of the favorite lines of "usual suspect" 
slanderers. Let's see, for starters, I have twenty officially published books 
with six different publishers, including most of the largest Catholic ones 
(including four bestsellers in the field). My first book has a Foreword by 
Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, who was Blessed Mother Teresa's catechistand a close adviser to Blessed Pope Paul VI. My second book has a Foreword by 
Dr. Scott Hahn. I've been endorsed by virtually all of the leading apologists, 
have been interviewed on Catholic radio over 20 times, including twice on 
"Catholic Answers Live". I have Imprimaturs, including from my own bishop, 
a column every other week for "The Michigan Catholic," worked for The Coming Home Network for three years, but I am merely self-appointed and not even entitled to use the title "apologist"to describe myself. What the heck am I, then? I've made my living by writing apologetics these past 14 years. Oh, I forgot: I'm just one "of these sorts." That's what I'll put on my tax form, for occupation]

[Note: this guy favorably cites Fr. Hardon in articles dated 9-20-14, 1-17-14 (inthe title), 1-4-13, Fr. Hardon loved my work and called it "very Catholic." 
I studied with him for many months in 1990-1992. He received me into the Church and baptized my first two sons ``]"

Not to mention, on top of that, his formator, sponsor, and clearly his "supervisor" as it would be for a Masters/Doctoral student, was Fr. John Hardon, SJ. Hardon is widely acclaimed by good and Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalism as a holy priest and orthodox, and one ofthe few good Jesuits left they would cite if asked. 

Mr. Armstrong clearly received proper theological, and practical formation by Fr. Hardon, 
who brought him into the Church. Then again, Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists 
already have an axe to grind with Dave, being a convert. They are seen as "spies" for the 
enemy, despite their conversion, who never truly give up their old ways. Do not believe the RMTs at face value when they deny this. 

Further, just look at the quantity of work, produced, published, created, and endorsed. Whenyou look at all that, that at the very least is quantitatively equivalent in man hours and work 
produced, to that of a post doctoral degree. Qualitatively speaking, it is clear that his 
formation if anything, even rivals or superceeds that of our modern seminary system, of 
which also, Radical Traditionalists love to bash for churning out "modernist" priests. 

For the blog author to discredit all this experience, betrays the time, energy, and the 
dedication that Mr. Armstrong has done in devoting his life to. He even has stated outright, 
this IS how he has made a living, and might I add in the process he has done so while 
having his larger family of more than two children home schooled AND participating in the 
life of the Church via his Ordinary parish under the archdiocese, one blessed with both the 
Extraordinary Form, and the rarer Latin Novus Ordo liturgy. 

The blog author, certainly does not have equivalent, nor superior experience, quantitatively, and qualitatively in a field as apologetics, to make such a claim. Further, the same can be 
applied to the blogger's past experience in the field of choir-mastering or his blogging, that 
because it is: a)  not based on formalized education, but rather years of practical experienceobtained from a combination of secular/religious experience, b) nor attached to a holy order, c) nor that the author possesses any formal post secondary education, period, and d) not 
part of formal paid work as implied in 1a (of which, as Dave has admitted, HE HAS DONE 
TO MAKE ENDS MEET) the blogger should not claim then, to be a choir master nor any 
position within the Catholic Church, regardless of "practical" experience. Clearly, to the 
author, practical experience does not merit the status of an individual. 

An secular side note, in the working world, is that one can obtain all the degrees, even 
doctorates or multiple degrees, in their post-secondary education, but employers refuse to 
look at them over those with practical experience. Formalized education is clearly not 
everything for work, and thus students, after degrees are going back to colleges for that 
practical experience and entry level job, to enter the workforce. 

Summary of 1a and 1b: My main points are such. The blogger's claim of the foolishness of Dave calling himself as a lay apologist, is asinine. In making the claim, it is an ad hominem attack on Dave. The blogger makes at least a broad claim that ministry in the Church, 
unless formalized or attached to religious orders, cannot be formally recognized through 
usage of a title to describe one's apostolate or ministry. Even if not part of the claim, it still 
singles out Dave's work as an apologist as fake and that he cannot use the title, 
"lay apologist", compared to others with "full-time" ministry in the Church and volunteers 
such as the bloggers and other lay ministers who can. Furthermore, it is an insult to the late Fr. John Hardon, SJ, and to the training, experience, and quantitative volume of work to be simply dismissed by the author. If anything, even at the least quantitatively, Mr. Armstrong 
has the equivalent and even more, of one or multiple Ph.D's in the field of both theoretical 
and practical apologetics, to rightfully deserve the title "lay apologist," even if no formal 
position with compensation exists in his diocese or in his parish. Dave also has used his 
field as a full, and at times a partial means, to provide for his family. Finally, the author's 
statement of claim contains an additional hypocrisy when attacking Mr. Armstrong, in that 
they discredit themselves as a cantor and journalist, or whatever ministry position/title they 
are, because they lack a formal education in their fields of practice, and their training 
was not under an official institution of the Church or a university/college/formal work 
experience. 

Logic is clearly lacking here in the attacks on Mr. Armstrong. 

I will follow up with a second post, attacking the claim that Mr. Armstrong`s respect for 
Traditional Catholicism is false in his apologetics work.  

Due to past history that the author and his adherents/loyal fans commit verbal/written 
harassment against  those who dare to say anything even remotely intelligent and insightful,
properly debated or analyzed, when it comes to their arguments, or the 
``establishment`` of what Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalism THINK is Traditional 
Catholicism, (Not to mention anyone who is an anathema or gentile in their eyes, clerical or 
laity, young or old, even the Holy Father,) the combox is closed. 

Pax.

Pope Francis is not Confusing ... He's Darn Right, and He's Consistent!!!

So the Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists are getting all confused over a statement Pope Francis Made about religious fundamentalists. They just don't know who he is talking about. Well maybe, just maybe, The Holy Father (and the RMTs) know absolutely who Pope Francis is talking about.

The "confusing" quote is what's being passed around and making these RMTs angry. It is this from media sources like the National Catholic Reporter:

""Fundamentalism is a sickness that is in all religions," said the pontiff. "We Catholics have some -- and not some, many -- who believe in the absolute truth and go ahead dirtying the other with calumny, with disinformation, and doing evil."They do evil," said the pope. "I say this because it is my church."

Well, the RMTs should not be angering themselves at others, especially Pope Francis, but rather take Pope Francis' words to heart.

Before we begin, let's clear up a couple of things:

The translation is incorrect, and other things were left out of the snippit being sent out online. 

The part where Pope Francis speaks, has been somewhat incorrectly translated, and things added that were not there. The full transcript, as seen here at Catholic World Report, shows it differently:

`` Fundamentalism is a sickness that exists in all religions. We Catholics have some, not just some, so many, who believe they have the absolute truth and they move forward with calumnies, with defamation and they hurt (people), they hurt. And, I say this because it’s my Church, also us, all of us. It must be combatted. Religious fundamentalism isn’t religious. Why? Because God is lacking. It’s idolatrous, as money is idolatrous. Making politics in the sense of convincing these people who have this tendency is a politics that we religious leaders must make, but fundamentalism that ends up always in tragedy or in crime, in a bad thing comes about in all religions a little bit.   ``

So guess what? He didn't directly call the lot of you evil. That's purposeful misquoting or misinterpretation.

Pope Francis was mainly answering a question in response to the terrorist attacks in France. The Fundamentalists were perhaps a part of it, but the end result was to answer the question.

The original question: "Philippine De Saint-Pierre, KTO (France): Holiness, good afternoon, you paid homage to the platform created by the archbishop, the imam and the pastor of Bangui. Today more than ever, we know that fundamentalism threatens the entire planet. We also saw this in Paris. Before this danger, do you think that religious leaders should intervene more in the political field? (Pope Francis asks for clarification) ...the religious “dignitaries,” bishops and imams?"

See the full quote above for Francis' answer.

Now onto business:

While Pope Francis was mainly responding to the reporters` question, spiritually speaking, HE`s damn consistent in his preaching, he IS talking about faith and morals, and yes he`s talking about your anti-Christian behaviour. He`s done it before many times, with similar or the exact same words. 

Funny, a little search of the old internet, connects material terrorism and religious fundamentalism, which he compares to spiritual terrorism:

".... In fact, those who spend their lives bringing reconciliation and peace are saints, and those who gossip are just “like a terrorist who throws a bomb and walks away”, destroying others while making sure they stay safe and sound, he said .... “This is an evil, this is a disease in our Church: to sow division, sow hatred, plant [what is] not peace, .... “Gossiping is terrorism because the person who gossips is like a terrorist who throws a bomb and walks away, destroying; they destroy with their tongue, they don’t make peace,” the Pope said....”

And this was all but a couple of months ago. The Paris attacks didn`t even happen until a couple of weeks ago. Eerie coincidence or foreshadow??? Only God knows. But no surprise he's said this message before.

More appropriately, Let's take a look back at this wonderful little Fervorino from the Casa Santa Marta back in April 15, 2013, appropriately titled, "Slander Kills":

"Slander destroys God's work because it is spawned by hatred. It is a daughter of the “father of lies” and wants to wipe out man and distance him from God ....  it wants to destroy God's work and is spawned by something very nasty... by hatred. And the person who generates hatred is Satan”. Falsehood and slander go hand in hand ....  "

_____________________________________

So yeah .... do these people have to ask who are his targets? It's a rhetorical question because they know the answer.

Pope Francis knows darn rootin` and tootin` well who he is addressing and he is consistent and intentional in his spiritual, fraternal correction.

Thing is, there's this Year of Mercy coming up in the Church. It might be best if the RMTs took some time out in this year to TRULY seek the Lord's healing mercy of their lives ... that is if they are not too spiritually blind to what the Holy Father is saying.

Oh, and to boot, their "Latin Mass heroes," the Society of St. Pius X (who consistently have partaken in slander and detraction against the Holy Father) can be accessed for valid and licit confession as of December 8 thanks to, who else, but Pope Francis granting them special privilege for that Sacrament, a la Matthew 16:19. That`s right, Pope Francis did that. And yet they accuse him of hating ``Traddies`` cause he is not making the Latin Mass the ``real`` Novus Ordo`` and he won`t just let the SSPX walk back into the Church uncontested. The message is behind their language.

Pax, Julian.

P.S. The whole `he does not kneel thing` is so incredibly stupid. He`s got health issues!!! Are you his primary physicians with his full medical chart and can therefore declare him free of arthritis and a clean bill of health to kneel? Or have you spoken directly to His Holiness and asked his straight out if he can kneel?

Now, if your mother grandmother was mostly or healthy, would you demand in a commanding tone for her to kneel before the tabernacle at a Church if she did not, or at the Liturgy of the Eucharist at Mass? Yeah I didn't think you would be that authoritarian to say yes. If you want to prove me wrong, by all means try it this Sunday and see what happens.

SERIOUS AND GRAVE WARNING!!! ANTHONY PERLAS WITH SICK FETISH FOR LATIN MASS SYMBOLS ABUSES NAME OF LATIN MASS SOCIETY OF CANADA!!!

All involved in attending or participating in the Latin Mass. Please Read! Important warning of mentally ill or possible, demonically possessed, Anthony Perlas, fraudulently representing Latin Mass societies in USA and Canada.

Normally I do not delve into the darkest recesses of the (anti Church, Christ, Gospel, etc.) areas of Latin Mass culture that threaten to misrepresent he EF. I leave that to the Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists usually. However, I must agree with them on this occasion, as it seems a really sick, perverted, and in my opinion, possibly demonically possessed or drug-addled (or both?) individual is fraudulently posing himself and others as a "Latin mass society" in the USA and Canada. I wouldn't care about this, but because this has a strikingly similar name to a sincere society in Canada, an official chapter of Una Voce International, I must warn all of you NOT to allow Anthony Perlas to suck you into his gateway to Hell, disguised as a Latin Mass society. Thanks to Fr Z, I now realize this spiritual threat even extends into my country. 

The story is as follows: In the last couple of years, an individual named Anthony Perlas, became involved with a Latin Mass parish in Los Angeles, California, USA, under the pastor ship of Fr James Fryar. Said individual Perlas, even began receiving altar serving instruction here.

Eventually, Perlas began to expand into actual audio/visual media with a weekly rosary, and eventually even had the assistance of other men in private Catholic Media (even some of those I consider RMT bloggers) participate.

Things went well until recently, when Perlas created a webpage titled the "Latin Mass Society of the United States and Canada" webpage. I will not lead you there as contained within are vile perversions of the symbols of the Catholic Faith and Latin Mass, being adorned on models in pornographic photo shoots. Further, as identified on a picture on Fr Z's warning posts, the major symbol contains small but noticeable, inlaid swastikas in the logo, which of course speaks to Neo-Nazi worship.

Now, why should we be aware of this unwilling (or possibly, willing?) servant of evil? Here's why he is NOT in anyway, shape, or form, representing the Latin Mass, but rather the works of Satan:

1) As revealed by Steve Skojet on 1Peter5, in conversation on social media, this individual has believed that a Seraphim revealed itself to him by name. Perlas calls the seraphim(s) Seroptia. In our Catholic belief, we never are allowed to know the name of our angels, save those revealed in Scripture (the 3 archangels.) Revelation of a name is in fact a sign the fallen "angel" or even the daemon is really a servant of Satan.

2) Identification or glorification of Nazi-ism, and its ideals are absolutely contrary to the Catholic Faith. E.g. Genocide, subjective acknowledgement of human dignity and respect limited to certain creeds or religions, etc.

3) Pornography. Mortal Sin, and part of the deadly sin of Lust. Plain and simple.

4) True practitioners of the Catholic Faith, never mind the Latin Mass, would never consistently engage in such virile crimes of morality which are mortal sins against Christ. My point is not to ignore those rightfully deserving of my RMT title, or are hypocrites who attend the Latin Mass and commit immoral or Satanic behaviours with the TLM as a shield, but rather that these things are contrary to the Catholic Faith.

Here is where all the above applies to Canada. In Canada, the official lay man's Latin Mass association, Federation International Una Voce (FIUV), is represented by two officially listed chapters (possibly 3, however the website has not updated this yet.) The two chapters are the Vancouver Traditonal Mass Society, and the Latin Mass Society of Canada (LMSC.) The latter has its base city being Ottawa, Ontario. I covered the LMSC in one of my posts announcing Last year's Sacred Heart Mass for the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir.

Both chapters, can officially represent the FIUV in Canada, and according to FIUV's laws, use the FIUV's official logo and title "Una Voce." Any sub chapters cannot use the logo and/or name "Una Voce" unless the official chapter of FIUV in their country, has a constitution that extends to sub-chapters. Anyone else doing so legally abuses the name and/or logo Una Voce and its intellectual property, misrepresenting them.

While the LMSC has no official webpage yet, they do have a Facebook account. This fact makes it even more dangerous that Perlas is misrepresenting the Latin Mass and this society. So when people are looking for the Latin Mass society of the UK or Canada, they will encounter Perlas' fraudulent site and see his pornographic photos and heretical ramblings. Innocent believers will then get sucked into becoming a part of the Devil's snares and even his acts.

Therefore, on this side of the border in Canada, let me be the first to forewarn all readers of the following:

Although I, Julian Barkin, sole author of the Servinus Unum Deum website, in no way officially represent any parish, society, charity, or official Latin Mass society/organization, I hereby for the sake of all laity and Latin Mass organizations in Canada, especially for the Latin Mass Society of Canada, (and thus, Federation International Una Voce,) solemnly declare and warn, that the "Latin Mass Society of the United States and Canada" run by Anthony Perlas and associates, has ABSOLUTELY NO affiliation to any parish, society, organization, apostolate, website, etc. affiliated with the Latin Mass, in the country of Canada. Any affiliation with Perlas and his site, and the content within, is spiritually grave, and will expose you to moral and possible, demonic evil. 

Finally, let me also share the extent to what association with these kinds of individuals involves, from similar experience. It may also give you insight as to what and why this man is acting the way he does.

A good share of us key players in the Latin Mass in Toronto, used to work with an individual who would assist the Latin Mass via altar serving and web/social media. Unfortunately, this individual had a history of drug abuse tied to his youth, and personal problems that gave him an unnecessary cross. Although this individual likely has a genius IQ, his past drug use may have altered his application of such IQ.

When he started out, his efforts were genuine, and he became a central assistant in his home parish. He even helped create a website for his parish, using computer skills so few people (save programmers and those who study web design/database) have.

However as time proceeded, first he became the unfortunate target of the RMTs, in his efforts to reach out to people. However, the way in which he would communicate, with incessant, non-logical and incoherent, lengthy emails, did nothing in his favour to alleviate the situations. This grew worse when he got into e-mail and Facebook discussions/arguments over certain things with myself and others who were involved in the Latin Mass. Furthermore, this individual had trouble finding work, or even reused to seek even minimal-wage labour.

The end result was that he eventually angered many people in the community, even other parishioners who extended their hand, homes, or wallets out to him. Finally, after approximately 2.5-3 years of this behavior, both his priests (one doing the TLM) desperately tried to intervene, only to be rebuffed at every instance. The worst I witnessed which is publicly viewable as a lengthy audio recording, should you search the individual`s name and look for mp3 audio files, even has the individual speaking heresy (possibly under the influence of drugs in that period) , as well as admitting seeing hallucinations with skulls while hanging at a friend's place. With all efforts exhausted, at this individual was banned from his parish, and moved to another city, totally unrepentant of his actions.

My main point is this. These individuals do need our mercy and assistance. They have major problems in their lives such as drug abuse and maybe even, exposure to the demonic. Unfortunately, these individuals, without sufficient drug treatment and/or exorcism, wreak havoc on others physical and spiritual lives. Yes we are to exhaust our efforts to accommodate these individuals and `walk with them to Emmaus` as much as we can, but should they be resilient and unwilling to work on bettering themselves spiritually, and go down the path of self-destructive behaviour such as this, the end result is a lot of what I`ve described in my case, as well as Perlas. Worse, via the ``mercy`` route, one without seeking spiritual and material justice, these individuals eventually become occasions of sin to themselves and to others. Thus, we must dissociate from them, having done all we can. Actions, such as those of Perlas, are the end result. Drug induced or not ... these actions are of the Devil.

Therefore everyone, please send this out to all your friends and family if they have ANY association with the Latin Mass, especially in Canada. Also, if you are a member of any Latin Mass society, group, parish, etc. then please post this on your blog or website or bulletin, etc. Please just quote me as the source you found the information from, or if you choose one of the other links (e,g. Fr. Z, Skojet at 1Peter5,) please say their webiste or name as the source.

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian Barkin

EXTREME DANGER!!!!! I"M SERIOUS!!!! KIDS ARE SUMMONING A MEXICAN DEMON NAMED "CHARLIE" AT SCHOOLS!!!!

EVERYONE!!!!! PLEASE STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND LISTEN!!!

Something really creepy, sinister, and Satanic is happening at our schools right now, worldwide as we speak. It's just as worse as any creepy ephebophile priest, and much more serious than pope bashing right now. I'm BEING DAMN SERIOUS. 

There has been a disturbing trend happening in social media, and now kids are doing it. While I do not support the source of this story, nor it's CEO/head, Michael Voris, due to Radical Traditionalism, ChurchMilitantTV has been the best source of information right now about this sick, new way that Satan and his minions are using to get kids to become possessed, or open new holes into this world for demons to putrify our world further!

SEE HERE!!!! 

In short kids use ordinary school pencils, paper, and write some letters A to D on a paper. You ask a "Mexican demon" by the name of Charlie to answer your questions, just like the old Ouija board. Except that this can be done, anywhere, anytime. 

To quote from a priest interviewed for the article:

"there is no such thing as innocently playing with demons.... The problem with opening yourself up to demonic activity is that it opens a window of possibilities which is not easily closed."

The CCC is also quoted, but to me, the greater impact is that IT IS HAPPENING, HERE, RIGHT NOW, IN OUR VERY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS! YES EVEN IN TORONTO!!!!

Someone I know who works as a teacher, was at one of the high schools in the Archdiocese today. Their teens WERE TRYING TO START PLAYING THIS GAME, HAVING PICKED IT UP FROM THEIR TWITTER(TM) FEEDS!!! SHE HAD TO STOP THEM IMMEDIATELY AND TAKE AWAY THEIR PENCILS!!!! 

Everyone .... this will only serve to strengthen the Devil's presence against our sickened Church, further destroy are already weakened clergy, and create many more problems with our youth and families already dealing with strain and discipline problems. 

Even sadder, we are ill equipped to combat this madness. Due to many different forces including the "Spirit of Vatican II", there are already a shortage of exorcists in the Church, and many priests have likely dismissed the Devil as a fairytale, and won`t do exorcisms if you asked them. 

PLEASE!!!! Spread the word to your teachers and priests and parents!!!! Stop your kids from doing this, or anyone else! And most of all, pray hard! Frequent the sacraments and do great pennance such as fasting! This wave of attacks is only going to increase the influence of the demonic on our world!!! This must be curbed and halted before more demons are unleashed on the world any further

SANCTE MICHELE, ORA PRO NOBIS!!!! 

HIGHLIGHT: Whoa!!! Pope Francis Asks us to Wage War on Satan??? NO WAY!!!!

Taken from http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-at-angelus-lent-is-a-time-of-battle-against-e. My emphases in bold.

Pope at Angelus: Lent is a time of battle against evil

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2015-02-22 Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said Lent is a time where we struggle against the temptations of Satan and worldliness.  His words came at his Sunday Angelus address at the end of which he announced the distribution of 50,000 free copies of a pocket-sized booklet called “Safeguard your Heart” containing reflections on Jesus’ teachings.  Many of those distributing the booklets to the pilgrims present in St Peter’s Square were homeless people.
Listen to this report by Susy Hodges: 
In his Angelus address the Pope recalled how Jesus went into the solitude of the wilderness for 40 days where he successfully overcame temptations in “a hand-to-hand combat” with Satan. And through his victory over Satan, he said, “we have all triumphed but we need to protect this victory in our daily lives.”  

He went on to explain how in the wilderness we can listen to God’s voice and that of the tempter. And we listen to God’s voice through his words and that why it’s important to read the Holy Scriptures because otherwise we’re unable to resist the lure of the evil one.  The Pope said it was for this reason that he wanted to renew his advice to the faithful to read the Gospel every day and reflect on its meaning, even for just 10 minutes and carry around a copy in one’s pocket or bag every day. The Lenten wilderness, he continued, “helps us to say ‘no’ to worldliness, to “idols”, it helps us to make courageous choices in line with the Gospel and to strengthen our solidarity with our brothers and sisters.”

He concluded by reminding those present that he and other members of the Roman Curia would be beginning their spiritual retreat later on Sunday.  Pray for us, he urged, so that in this “wilderness” of the spiritual exercises "we can hear Jesus’ voice and also correct the many defects that we all have and thereby overcome the temptations that attack us every day.”

In his address following the recitation of the Angelus, Pope Francis announced a personal initiative of his which was the distribution of 50,000 free copies of a small booklet to those present in St Peter’s Square.  Holding up the pocket-sized booklet which is entitled “Safeguard your Heart,” the Pope explained that it contains several key “teachings of Jesus and the essential tenets of our faith.” These included, he said, "the seven sacraments, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the 10 commandments, the virtues and works of charity."

Pope Francis said a group of  volunteers, including many homeless people, were distributing it to the pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square.  He urged everybody to take a copy of the booklet and carry it around with them to help in their conversion and spiritual growth which always comes from the heart. It’s there, he stressed, that we play out the daily choice “between good and evil, between worldliness and the Gospel, between indifference and sharing.” “Humanity needs justice, peace and love and we can have this only by returning with our hearts towards God who is the source of all this.” 
(from Vatican Radio)

NO way ..... Considering all the anger and hatred directed towards the Vatican right now in the "Traditional Catholic" blogosphere, it is great to see that Pope Francis truly knows what's important right now in the liturgical season of Lent. Why are we NOT concentrating on the season and what he is saying? Wait maybe the Pope answered my own question, as the Pope has spoken. Where do I get one of those booklets???

Pax, Julian.