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.

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.

Triple Highlight: Terry Nelson, Mark Shea, and Catholic Culture Hit It on the Head!!! Re +Daneels Conspiracy and Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalism!!!

Hello Everyone.

So it looks like Pope Francis' visit to the USA, as well as some stupid documentary where a cardinal in the Church "plotted" with others to sway the conclaves of 2005 and 2013, has made the Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists froth at the mouth like crazy.

Thankfully, to protect the Catholic faithful from being swayed by detraction and slander of the Holy Father, as well as from acts of the Devil, a number of bloggers have risen to the Church's defense against, sadly, the slings and arrows from their own disgruntled members.

First up is one of my favourite bloggers, Terry Nelson, an outstanding young man who blogs at Abbey Roads. This young buck, like me, hates radical traditionalism and sees the damage it is causing the Catholic Church, especially in the wake of the Francis Pontificate. Adding to his credibility, is that he is a chaste man, who carries the cross of Same-Sex Attraction, yet he is faithful to Holy Mother Church, an important stance to take especially with the whole Synods of the Family occurring. He`s even not afraid to take to task other SSA individuals, whose approaches to being gay and Catholic, steer somewhat in a darker direction, despite appearances of being ``chaste.``

In the comment box of one of his posts, "Papal visit - it's not over till the fat lady sings ... and I'm sure she will," Mr. Nelson comments on how he is keeping his soul pure by avoiding certain blogs. He states his reasoning why:

"Terry Nelson4:24 PM
These are a few blogs I consider poisonous gossip-mongers:

Vox Cantoris
Pat Archbold
Carol McKinley
Ann Barnhardt
and a few others they link to.

Other blogs by people with admitted mental health issues or who give indications of it, I simply avoid.

This type of conspiracy chatter and traditionalist extremism has plagued me my entire adult life - since my return to the sacraments. This constant vitriol and suspicion and requirement to check the papers of all who profess to be Catholic. The constant repetition of false visionaries and reinterpretation of Fatima and pulling out ancient encyclicals to bang over people's heads. Today Medugorje is very near to be being discredited, The Locutions to the World lady is backtracking and saying the time of collapse has been put back. The fake prophets are falling - yet doomsayers are repeating their warnings. Even the politicians who promise an end to abortion if we elect them - and when we do - nothing happens - let it all fall to pieces.

Who cares if the economy collapses? Who cares about predicting the future? Why do we waste our time worrying about the Synod? Defaming people who went to see the pope or did the readings? Pray - yes - but working ourselves up over this stuff? To what end?

How can we keep doing this? Why? Just to taunt and drive OCD people nuts? To heap guilt upon the guilty? To shame the shameful? 

I don't get it.

LarryD once said my blog is littered with road kill - I laughed so hard because it's true. My entire life is too.

Nutcases have come and gone. Doomsayers predicting the Ball of Redemption - aged, infirm, some dead now - I hope they saw it before they died - just like Joey Lomangino and Padre Pio before they died, huh? Who taught people to believe this crap? To talk this crap? 

The Pope spoke about salvation. The Pope came preaching Jesus Christ. The Pope came to teach us about mercy. I need mercy. I need salvation. My fear and trembling is before God - not the Catholic blogosphere.

Sorry - I'm tired of it."

Well Said Terry. He's also not the only one, who is fed up with this nonsense which is damaging souls. Another commentator by the name of "Joshua" also comments, with this zinger in the comment:

".... One identity I do own is Catholic, which is why I can't read any of the blogs Terry mentioned. (Terry, I think you left off one. Starts with R, ends with orare Caeli :) ) They attack the Church. They attack her priests and bishops. They don't critique in charity--they attack. Just like a man can commit adultery in his heart without ever touching anyone other than his wife, you can do the same with schism (which is really just ecclesiastical adultery). They make me angry, so I don't read them. (Also, there is absolutely nothing to learn from them that can't be learned elsewhere, assuming it's worth learning.) .... "

Wow .... Joshua really has a great point about sinning via spiritual adultery and schism. Sins apply in more than just one specific context, and we don't need flesh acts to commit them. 

So in that post, Terry quotes from another fighter against RMTs and also, those "conservatives" who are falsely pro-life and anti-social justice, Mark Shea. The post of Shea's he quotes from concerns the release of a book chronicling the life of some cardinal named Danneels. So the short story is him, and a bunch of cardinals, including the oh so anti-doctrine front man of the 2014 synod, Cardinal Walter Kasper, were meeting together to try and influence the Synod to get Francis in, and therefore Pope Francis I`s election was invalid and Super Trad Hero, Pope Benedict XVI, is reigning pope and will come back and save the Church from the total ruin it is becoming!!!!

Well all I got to say ... is THEY ARE DARN TOOTING WRONG!!!

Mark has this to say on his blog, "Catholic and Enjoying it!" about the stupid Daneels conspiracy plot to overthrow the Papacy via rigging the conclaves, ironically involving Pope Benedict XVI himself as part of his reply to these conspiracy theorists: 

``... Here’s the thing: Benedict has already schooled the Conspiracy Theorists on this:

“There is absolutely no doubt regarding the validity of my resignation from the Petrine ministry,” Benedict, 86, who now has the title “pope emeritus,” said in a letter to the Italian website Vatican Insider published on Wednesday.

“The only condition for the validity of my resignation is the complete freedom of my decision. Speculation regarding its validity is simply absurd,” he wrote in answer to a request by the website for comment on recent Italian media reports.

What’s hilarious is that the Always Obviously Wrong Charism of Discernment of the Reactionaries manages to ignore the plainly truthful Benedict while somehow managing to make the person they themselves declare to be a Deceiver the fount of all truth–and all on the say-so of two guys hawking a book. The spectacular ability of Reactionaries to be wrong about everything, and to believe whatever their itching ears want to hear, is just breathtaking.

And it’s amazingly postmodern. What matters is not facts, but how it hits Francis Haters in the feels. Facts are unimportant. What matters is truthiness.

Sorry guys. Francis really is the Pope. Deal with it.``

Not to mention that he added an update to the post, which includes analysis from a canon lawyer with the chutzpah to put his name out there and blog, who is often sought by Trad blogs for his analysis on Canon Law, Ed. Peters.  

Finally, to truly cast the final nail on the coffin of the conspiracy theory of rigging the 2013 Conclave and Pope Francis being ``invalidly elected,`` Catholic Culture, a balanced orthodox blog with useful Catholic resources and balanced news and reporting, covered the whole issue of the supposedly rigged conclave thanks to that biography, and blew it out of the park with proper deductive reasoning and logic:

``On the other hand, there are compelling reasons to dismiss the claims of conspiracy:

• Even if the authors of the Danneels biography were quoted accurately, they had an obvious incentive to exaggerate the power of the St. Gallen group, to create publicity for their book. A story about a secret cabal is more likely to sell briskly than the life story of a retired cardinal.
• If the St. Gallen group did make an effort to control the conclave of 2005, they failed miserably. The conclave almost immediately turned to Cardinal Ratzinger: the man whose influence the group was allegedly fighting to curtail.
• Cardinal Martini was widely seen as the leader of the liberal group that might have sought for an alternative to Cardinal Ratzinger. But Vatican insiders know that Cardinal Martini was not at all favorably disposed toward his fellow Jesuit, Cardinal Bergoglio, and would never have supported his election.
• Since the St. Gallen group stopped meeting in 2006, it was not likely to be an important factor in the conclave of 2013, which elected Pope Francis. By that time Cardinal Martini was dead, and other members—Cardinals Silvestrini and Murphy-O’Connor—were too old to participate in the conclave.
• In the days leading up to the 2013 conclave, virtually no one expected the election of Cardinal Bergoglio. If a group of cardinals had been working for years to generate enthusiasm about his candidacy, they must have been singularly inept .``

And I`d say that between these wonderful bloggers and their defense, not much more needs to be said, other than that with each strike from these RMTs, credibility is diminished as to the value of their words, ramblings of internal discord being expressed publicly, and further damages the good name of the Pope, the Church, Catholicism, and good movements of the Reform of the Reform such as the revitalization of the Latin Mass. 

Finis.  

Highlight: Professional Apologist Dave Armstrong Counters RMT Anger at Pope Francis Not Being Clear on Abortion in USA

Hello Everyone,

Professional Catholic Apologist, Dave Armstrong, over at the Patheos Catholic channel, at Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, has just delivered an excellent apologetic post today.

He is countering the awful and bile-laced complaints of the Radicals Misrepresenting Traditionalists' (RMTs) blogs, who are slandering and committing calumny against Pope Francis, all because he was not explicit in his language today when he was speaking on a number of occasions, especially that he did not speak directly about "abortion."

The ironic thing is, these people didn't crap on Blessed Mother Theresa, when she spoke about these matters to the UN and elsewhere in the 1990's, yet didn't speak about abortion explicitly. But thanks to the marvel of the Internet and the False "Traddies" or as Dave has used before, "quasi-schismatics' ," supreme hatred for anything that doesn't smell like Benedict XVI, they've once again assisted the Devil through the grievous sins of gossip/calumny, and struck out against the Vicar of Christ, and henceforth, Christ Himself.

I'd say Dave shares my thoughts exactly in this snippit:

".... What is not acceptable, though (I agree) is truly grumbling or complaining or thinking that oneself knows how to be pope better than the real pope does. Thus, each instance of a registered criticism would have to be examined on its own. A lot of it may indeed be unsavory whining ...."

Allow Mr. Armstrong, to cleverly debunk the hatred of these RMTs in their latest bile filled hate trains, and explain to those desiring true education, on true Catholic teaching on obedience/disobedience to the Pope in non-ex cathedra matters. Please direct yourself to the link below:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2015/09/must-the-pope-explicitly-mention-abortion-to-congress.html

Pax, Julian.

Annum Secundum and a Summary from our Holy Father on This Feast of St. Michael (and Gabriel and Raphael)

Hello Everyone,

Lo and behold, this is the second anniversary of Servimus Unum Deum existing in the Catholic blogosphere. While I admit I have not been blogging as much this year, it's still good that this blog's voice exists, to counter that of the Radical Catholic Reactionaries. Not to mention my original focus still stands, and those serving position summaries are here to stay.

More importantly, this is the Feast of St. Michael in both EF and OF calendars of the Latin Rite, though the OF adds archangels St. Gabriel & Raphael on this feast as well. To commemorate this anniversary and the feast of a Saint I love dearly since my time at good old SMCS, allow me to post in full from www.news.va/ the Pope's daily fervorino from today, in the Santa Marta chapel. This one is about angels and how they protect us:

Pope at Santa Marta: The angels defend us

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2014-09-29 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The angels battle Satan for the destiny of mankind and win.  They defend and custody  the greatest mystery of the Church, God-made-Man.  Even though in Satan often presents “humanistic explanations” for his attacks on mankind.  This was the focus of Pope Francis homily at Mass Monday morning at Casa Santa Marta, marking the Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

Today’s readings present us with very strong images: the vision of the glory of God described by the prophet Daniel with the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, before the Father: the archangel Michael and his angels fighting against "the great dragon, the ancient serpent, he who is called the devil" and "seduces all of inhabited earth," but who is defeated, as affirmed by the Book of Revelation; and the Gospel in which Jesus says to Nathanael: "You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man". Pope Francis speaks of "the struggle between God and the devil":

"This struggle takes place after Satan seeks to destroy the woman about to give birth to a child. Satan always tries to destroy man: the man that Daniel saw there, in glory, and whom Jesus told Nathanael would come in glory. From the very beginning, the Bible speaks to us of this: Satan’s [use of ] seduction to destroy. Maybe out of envy. We read in Psalm 8: 'Thou hast made ​​man superior to the angels,' and that angel of great intelligence could not bear this humiliation, that a lower creature was made superior to him; thus he tried to destroy it".

Satan, therefore, seeks to destroy humanity, all of us:
"So many projects, except for one's own sins, but many, many projects for mankind’s dehumanization are his work, simply because he hates mankind. He is astute: the first page of Genesis tells us so, he is astute.  He presents things as if they were a good thing.  But his intention is destruction. And the angels defend us. They defend mankind and they defend the God-Man, the superior Man, Jesus Christ who is the perfection of humanity, the most perfect. This is why the Church honors the Angels, because they are the ones who will be in the glory of God – they are in the glory of God - because they defend the great hidden mystery of God, namely, that the Word was made flesh".

"The task of the people of God - the Pope said - is to safeguard man: the man Jesus” because "He is the man who gives life to all men". Instead, in his plans for destruction, Satan has invented "humanistic explanations that go against man, against humanity and against God":

"This struggle is a daily reality in Christian life, in our hearts, in our lives, in our families, in our people, in our churches ... If we do not struggle, we will be defeated. But the Lord has given this task mainly to the angels: to do battle and win. And the final song of Revelation , after this battle, is so beautiful: Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night”.

Pope Francis concluded urging those present to pray to the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, and "recite the ancient but beautiful prayer to the archangel Michael, so he may continue to do battle and defend the greatest mystery of mankind: that the Word was made Man, died and rose again. This is our treasure. That he may battle on to safeguard it".

(from Vatican Radio)

Pax, Julian. 

Two Notes of Blogging Here on S.U.D and Highlight from Fr. Z on Pope Francis End of Papacy (What?)

Hello Everyone,

Just a couple of brief notes here on blogging at S.U.D.

1) Don't expect a lot of altar serving progress or new postings here on Servimus for the next while. Right Now I am knee deep in a really excellent summer course I am taking with St. Paul University Ottawa and Mission of the Redeemer Ministries, called the Summer Institute for New Evangelization. When I am done, I intend to do a post about this course to highlight (and thank) the awesome work of the people and content that created this course, including some of its awesome, powerful revelations I gained with it. They are a lot more Traditionally Catholic than one might think.

Might I add it's for 3 years and earns a certificate or university credit w/St. Paul? Needless to say I have to get my papers (3 of them! One per section of lectures) done by Aug 29th and I have to catch up on video lectures cause I can't afford to take that time off work (I only get 3 weeks unpaid leave until a couple more years later).

Oh, one other note of importance here, on this point. of whom I must give credit to. My TA for the course is none other than the blog-roll master for the SCCC .... Dr. Colin Kerr! Small world eh?

2) I have noticed that I have been getting a lot of hits this past while because of a post I wrote here, about the Nun symbol and my reasons for NOT jumping on this trend, despite now, more and more "Glad Trad"/Orthodox Leaning/"Neo-Cath" bloggers and friends are jumping on it. While I do value the additional hits because it is still a trend, do realize that I present an alternate viewpoint, and those were my reasons at that time. Also, despite the change in who's donning the symbol of death (or solidarity), I am not going to change my stance on the issue, to be consistent, even if this isn't the "Traditional Catholic" thing to do.

However, the positive side effect is that you have been viewing my other postings on my blog, whether archived, or even the more recent ones, even those that wouldn't be deemed "major" posts. Thank you for doing so, and please, do view the central focus of my blog, the altar serving postings that have been created under this page.

And now, the Highlight from Fr. Z.

Today's highlight is a post from prolific Traditional hero priest, Fr. John Zuhlsdorf of What Does the Prayer Really Say?. He posted an interesting post about questions asked to the Holy Father on the airplane leaving from South Korea. Read the posting here. In a nutshell, Pope Francis speaks about Benedict XVI and his re-introducing of the Pope Emeritus (or ability to retire from the Papacy). In the interview, it sounds like as if Pope Francis is pretty much telling us how he's going to leave the Papacy: A) "I'll be dead in a few years given my age", or 2) "I will copy Benedict XVI when I'm too weak to function, and I'm retiring."

My take on it: It's perfectly logical and rational for Pope Francis to say such things. He's 77, a few years shy of being an octogenarian, he's got 1.5 lungs, he might be receiving medical treatment (corticosteroids) according to some sources and weight gain is a common side effect, and he's possibly been slowing down a bit. Look, he's getting old folks, it happens. Also being in a leadership position in an institution in a modern world of the Internet and 24/7 social media, with many of the people in the Church being lukewarm or your enemies (in truth), would stress out anyone, and age them biologically too. It's gonna happen folks. Not to mention Benedict XVI changed the game plan with that Pope Emeritus thing. So you could say "The writing is on the wall," not barring miracles of the Holy Trinity.

Pax, Julian.

Highlight: Pope Francis Speaks to Altar Servers in Germany!

Hello Everyone.

I was browsing my Facebook news feed and came across a posting from one of my Catholic groups: Our Lady's Knights of the Altar. This group is a modern re-working/return of a classic program that was used by many parishes pre-Vatican II (and sadly sacked post Vatican II in the wake of the Novus Ordo), and within the last 2 years the group has existed, they already have 8 Chapters! Please see their program at http://www.knightsofourlady.com/home/lightbox.html if you are thinking about a formal structure for your Novus Ordo or Extraordinary Form altar serving. It even has a special rank built in for those who can do the EF, above the normal serving of the OF!

Today, they linked to this article from the National Catholic Register (affiliated with EWTN and receives articles from Catholic Answers affiliated apologists and authors), where the Pope spoke to ~50K altar servers in Germany. One may see the video of his speech at Radio Vaticana's website:
http://www.radiovaticana.va/player/index_fb.asp?language=it&tic=VA_LHQNGP3U . There is also the summary report here on News.Va, the Vatican`s News reporting website. As for the full context of the speech, it`s too soon for the English translation, but one will find it here eventually:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/august/index.html .

Since News.VA has a more detailed summary, I`ll post some of its juicier tidbits here and let my commentary be in Marian blue (or close to it) ink.:

“Through this concrete man by the name of Jesus, we can understand what God really meant. He wants to free human beings, so that they might always feel protected as children of a good father.” 

That's right, through JESUS, not just through God/Allah, etc. Not to mention he is un-heretical by acknowledging Jesus' human nature here as well, vs. the heresies of early Church history. Syncretism or lukewarmness here? I think not! 

But, the Pope said, to realize this plan, God needs a human person, “a woman, a mother, who brings the Son into the world. She is the Virgin Mary, whom we honor in this evening's celebration. Mary was totally free. In her freedom she said ‘yes.’ She always did good. So she served God and human beings. Let us imitate her example, if we want to know what God expects of us as His children.”

So, doctrinally, we have here acknowledgement of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her "fiat" as it were, as well as indirectly, though not initially, her freedom from Original Sin, as well as that she had a human free will. Might I remind you, that her freedom from sin IS the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, pronounced Ex Cathedra in 1854 by Pope Pius IX, in Ineffiablis Deus?

Here, in the example of Mary, is some of how the Pope is trying to provide for a model for altar servers. That in Mary's fiat, she said, Yes, "servo" to God in His desire to have her be the Theotokos, the Christ-bearer. Likewise, we servers, should too, say yes, to serving, whenever we can to our Lord, barring utter necessary duties. What a great example for Pope Francis to give us altar servers to emulate in our practice.  

.... He said the world “needs people who will testify to others that God loves us, that He is our Father.” Young people have a special role to play in this mission, the Pope said: “You are called to speak of Jesus to your contemporaries, not only those within your parishes or associations, but especially to those outside....”

Here, responding to the call of the New Evangelization, I love what the Pope is saying here. First, I love that he is acknowledging the role that young people, even youth altar serving, can play a role in the New Evangelization. It is tying in with our Baptismal role that we have as members of the Body of Christ, that we all play a role in bringing about the Gospel to our world, and the salvation of souls. It's not just for the priests, or the choirmasters, or the teachers. No, we young people, too, without credentials, or Holy Orders, can be apostles for Christ! 

Further, he wants us to take what we do as servers, and our Faith, outside of the Church! Now, I am going to go on a bit of a stretch here, but I hope would hope it would agree with what the Holy Father has said and preached. In my journeys as an altar server, one thing I have sadly witnessed, is that people tend to simply remain inward with our faith, and huddle in our little traditionalist/Novus Ordo, etc. communities, all the while giving into the temptation to be ... "querulous and disillusioned pessimists, "sourpusses." (85, Evangelii Gaudium). This would include both generally, and in the serving parts somewhat, things such as only remaining with the "ultra-trad" communities and not all trad communities, keeping a firmly rigid traditionalist (or liberal) view on things, and going about as a Catholic without a joy of the Gospel, or not being involved in both forms of the Roman Rite. This would also include comments that are anywhere from passive-aggressive, to possibly disparaging against Vatican II, the Novus Ordo, Ecumenism, etc. It is almost like rebellion against Holy Mother Church and makes you wonder why should one bother being a Catholic when it is so "damaged?:  

Now, does sticking to the EF alone make you a sourpuss? No. However, when done in part and parcel with a certain "fortress" mentality and just staying put without spreading the Faith, we altar servers are not spreading the Joy of the Gospel. We might be serving on the altar, or praying our Latin, but our actions become reduced to clockwork-like mechanics on display, vs. inspiring our fellow laity to more reverence. Our dispositions and words become ``grey`` and uninviting to those who are seeking spiritual nourishment or considering EF serving. I particularly think about the contradictions I've seen in my few years between servers with a ``joy`` in serving, vs. others who have an all ``holy`` mentality. The joyful ones, were those who showed when they served on, and acted outside of the altar, a positive influence in what they do and a happiness about serving the Lord, one that, were I not so Traditionally minded, would make me want to come back to the EF if I was lukewarm or just ``trying it out.`` Even our youngest servers, can express this joy, as I witnessed at the Sacred Heart 2014 Mass I served with St. Patrick`s Gregorian Choir. 

To me, Pope Francis is saying (as he has repeatedly,) we have to stop being closed minded upon ourselves, only remaining in our little elitist communities whereby anyone who is "not Trad" or "not-uber Catholic" (that is not blatantly trying to dissent from the Church willfully), is not worth speaking to, and we need to start being more happy about our Faith and the joys it offers, all the while NOT giving into the errors of our more radical brethren. Further, let's not just be an example to our fellow Trad Catholics, how about our non-EF Catholics too, and even our Non-Catholic friends too as servers! Let our Joy and our service be our basis for our Evangelization! He`s doing a Missionary calling for us! Time to take our serving (and our Glad Trad or Happy Ordo) minds and hearts outside the Sacristy, and into our lives!

Finally, to me, or what I want to focus on, he said about commitments in a young person`s life:

`` ... he understood the difficulties many young people experience in balancing their commitment to serving at church with various other activities “necessary for human and cultural growth.” ... among the many demands in one’s daily routine, the Pope said, one of our priorities must be remembering our Creator, Who gives us life, Who loves us, and Who accompanies us on our journey.

He realizes that young people`s attentions are constantly being competed for, whether by their own interests, teachers who think piling homework on kids is the best way for them to learn, or eager parents who want their children`s lives to be fully ``enriched,`` be it to have what they did not, to not be bored, or to prepare junior to become the world`s next Bill Gates or Sidney Crosby. These interests do compete and clash with ``Holy`` activities, as these primarily happen 1) usually on school weeknights in the case of practices (e.g. choirs), or 2) on weeeknds whereby most sports activities and practices often tail into music classes, or occur in the mornings contradicting Holy Mass, even on Saturday evenings. In otherwords, as I`ve hinted at in my introductory serving posts, you gotta make this your #1 activity! Christ! God! Best thing since sliced bread over your other activities! While I wish Pope Francis would have been more gutsy and told the youth that should conflict occur to toss those things aside for Christ as the ``Pearl of Great Price``, Making God #1 isn't too bad. 

So there. What a good find! H/T to Our Lady's Knights of the Altar. Pax, Julian. 

Objects and Evil Part 2: A Commentary on the Issue of Using Things and Social Media, or Why I Choose Not To Abhor Facebook

Hello Everyone.

In this second part, I am going to be telling you why I choose to still use Facebook, and perhaps give you more reasoning to consider why just pulling apart from it is NOT the best solution in reaction to its filth.

1) Trads Behaving Badly Behaviour: The SSPX and the Banishment of the TV from the Home
First reason why I will not be signing off Facebook and continue to use it: This kind of radical reaction to cease such an item is one that is similar, or exactly like those of the radical traditionalists, giving a negative impression of those of Traditional Catholicism.

Alright, so for those of you tuning in, the SSPX is a "fraternal organization" of traditionalists who are around the world, with seminaries and chapels/missions in a number of countries. They were formed by a Vatican II Council Father, Archbishop Marcel Lefevbre, in retaliation to the egregious liturgical and spiritual abuses made "in the name of Vatican II/Spirit of Vatican II" that were happening post-council. However, he consecrated four bishops without permission of the Holy See in 1988 (of which the Holy See under the Pope is supposed to consecrate the bishops), and put the society in a weird "no man's land". It's priests are valid but illicit in their ordinations, and while they can confect the sacrament of the Eucharist and can administer a valid baptism (under the Trinitarian formula,) and do everything according to the liturgy and the books of 1962, they are not in communion canonically with the Catholic Church. Further more, the laity attending their "Masses", can be brought into schism with the Church. You should not also consume their Eucharist, because it would be supporting schism with the Church. While they do give "lip service" to the Pope by not committing the heresy of sedevacantism (Yes, you are a valid pope, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis), they call the Novus Ordo "Evil" thus denying it's sacramental validity and licitness, and are pretty much anti-"Novus Ordo" Church. Most importantly, They have no canonical/sacramental ministry within the Church, as restated by Benedict XVI when he released the excommunications of the 4 bishops illegally consecrated by Lefebvre.

Okay, do you get the picture? Basically their way of "living" is all pre-Vatican II, from their schools to their liturgy, to what they believe, etc. They may profess to all doctrine of the Church and the Magisterium, but their anti-"Novus Ordo" Church attitude (which also includes accusing the Pope of heresy in being a modernist in their 25th anniversary statement), as well as actions they have, as a society committed over the years (e.g. having an anti-Semitic bishop in the expelled Williamson, making an anti-Semitic statement last Xmas after a visit held in MY diocese and Illegally and INVALIDLY administering confirmations ...) is totally against our Holy Mother Church, and will only lead one off the narrow path. It is also important to say a number of traditionalists do support them, despite staying in the "Novus Ordo" church through licit Masses and means due to their status and the individual NOT wanting to be eternally damned by schism, in a Canon Law sense.

Summary picture: They give all Traditional Catholics a bad impression as being rigid, shaming people. WE ARE NOT ALL LIKE THAT!!!

Back to the Facebook issue. While I have not seen anything with regard to specifically Facebook from the SSPX (and in fact, their adherents are on Facebook and use it to push the SSPX propaganda/TBB views), there is a similar vein in their arguments with regards to the television. It was only recently with regards to a movie that puts their founder in a positive light that the SSPX relaxed their views on television and movies. However, at their core, and for the past 25 years, they held rigorist views on the matter. Let's look at their "literature", shall we?

Angelus: Online and Paper publication/Magazine
From an interview with then SSPX bishop Williamson:

"So then would you say that the Internet is a mix of both good and bad, while the television is almost all bad or at least useless?
Even on TV, there can still be some good things. Satan is not stupid. He's going to bait the hook with a nice, juicy worm. Families, however, should undoubtedly keep the television set outside of the home. Period. Especially if there are young children. The television set must go. "

From another Angelus Article:
"Objection: “I always think that Archbishop Lefebvre comes across great on TV!"    Response: “if you can't be present at the Bishop's Mass, then it is God's will.  But if you want to be there, then you will get your priorities straight and make some room in your activities so as to be able to go and see him.  TV is not a channel of God's grace.  It stultifies the sacred and belittles good, while enhancing evil.  You cannot televise Christ's Mystical Body.”

However, despite the SSPX's change in its stance on video this year (which I think, as a measure to try and shake off the "Bad press" they receive and look less oppressive to outsiders, in a bid for their adherency), I restate that it is still TBB in behaviour at its core,  and the criticism of its own members, or other TBBs of the SSPX, still demonstrate the TBB viewpoint with regard to the TV/Internet. Here's an example of one on line, showing that radical response (Chuck out the TV/Internet) as he/she is criticising the notoriously well known SSPX school, St. May's Kansas, for the junior girls promoting a showing of "For Greater Glory" about the 1920's Cristeros war in Mexico:

"One of our readers from St. Marys, KS just told us that the priests there are having their own junior high school girl class promote, as a fundraiser, the recent movie "For Greater Glory" to the adults and children of that parish.  She forwarded us their January 20th, 2012 parish bulletin on the right (yellow emphasis is ours). Besides the problem of tv/movie watching in general, the movie "For the Greater Glory" has problems.   First, it includes a scene with women in their underwear.  It is true, the underwear is 1920's style (and therefore mild compared to modern style); yet our innocent children have (hopefully) never seen any such thing, and therefore watching such a scene would be harmful to their innocence.  Second, the movie leaves the viewer ignorant as to the real nature of the Mexican conflict: Catholicism vs. Masonry.  The movie never mentions or even implies Masonry." http://www.truetrad.com/index.php/the-truth/problems-in-the-sspx/slow-subtle-poison-from-the-sspx/all-poison-newest-first/232-1-15-2013-sspx-weakens-its-stand-against-television-and-movies

While perhaps For Greater Glory should not be seen by younger children, I will say that the comment clearly upholds the TBB standard of `The TV/Internet is wholly evil" as well as NOT explaining the context of the scene (The women aiding the soldiers/husbands/men, by stashing ammunition in the folds of their underwear, in order to give it to the resistance fighters because government surveillance would have made vehicle transportation and housing ammunition highly unsuccessful). Not to mention a nice side note of obsession with Masonry to boot. Might I also add the site that I got this quote from is "True Trad.com - No compromise with Modernist Rome?" With a title like that, can I seriously  as a practicing Roman Catholic, spiritually and logically, give credence to someone like that?

Summary: The reaction of chucking out the TV/Computer/Internet entirely is associated with TBB behaviour, and makes a mockery of Traditional Catholics. I will therefore not subscribe to such a radical reaction.

2) Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis: Social Media and Evangelization.
The second reason I will not subscribe to such a measure to ditch Facebook (and other programs like YouTube and Twitter) and call it a plague of evil: Our Holy Father, Francis, is encouraging us to go out and Evangelize others and even uses social media himself to proclaim the Gospel and preach. Also, our Holy Father Emeritus, Benedict XVI, focused on the Internet as a new Frontier for Evangelization in his recent papacy.

We can start with our Holy Father Emeritus, Benedict XVI, in his recent speech May 17, 2013. This speech was prepared ahead of time, before the conclave this spring, when Francis was elected Supreme Pontiff, and hence is attributed to Benedict XVI.

Benedict XVI opens his speech on the 47th World Communications Day with this quote:
``Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As the 2013 World Communications Day draws near, I would like to offer you some reflections on an increasingly important reality regarding the way in which people today communicate among themselves. I wish to consider the development of digital social networks which are helping to create a new “agora”, an open public square in which people share ideas, information and opinions, and in which new relationships and forms of community can come into being. ``

I couldn`t have said it better myself. And my very blog means I am guilty as charged, Your Holiness Emeritus. Continuing on:

 

``.... These spaces, when engaged in a wise and balanced way, help to foster forms of dialogue and debate which, if conducted respectfully and with concern for privacy, responsibility and truthfulness, can reinforce the bonds of unity between individuals and effectively promote the harmony of the human family. The exchange of information can become true communication, links ripen into friendships, and connections facilitate communion. If the networks are called to realize this great potential, the people involved in them must make an effort to be authentic since, in these spaces, it is not only ideas and information that are shared, but ultimately our very selves ....``

 

Whoa! I think Benedict XVI just parroted my thoughts and what I said in the first post. See, even he, implies, that an object such as the Internet can be a good that can be used in one of two ways: for good, or evil. Further, such a tool, especially for the youth, is where relationships are being formed, maintained, etc. online. But most importantly in what I underlined, we are sharing our VERY SELVES. I reflect that we are not just sharing our physical selves, but also our spiritual selves, and shaping our ``selves`` while on there. What self are we sharing, one that respects our self-dignity and reflection as a Creation of God, or a false self, an incorrect self, one which affects other selves? Moving on ....

 

``.... The development of social networks calls for commitment: people are engaged in building relationships and making friends, in looking for answers to their questions and being entertained, but also in finding intellectual stimulation and sharing knowledge and know-how. The networks are increasingly becoming part of the very fabric of society, inasmuch as they bring people together on the basis of these fundamental needs. Social networks are thus nourished by aspirations rooted in the human heart .... ``

 

So even Benedict XVI, the Traditionalist favourite of our post-Vatican II popes, realizes that the internet and these social works (and their associated programs, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), are a daily means of living, especially in the modern, technologically driven world. To tune yourself out, to me, is willful ignorance of the reality which our Holy Father Emeritus Benedict XVI is calling much attention to.

 

And now, a big one:

".... The challenge facing social networks is how to be truly inclusive: thus they will benefit from the full participation of believers who desire to share the message of Jesus and the values of human dignity which his teaching promotes. Believers are increasingly aware that, unless the Good News is made known also in the digital world, it may be absent in the experience of many people for whom this existential space is important. The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual world, but is part of the daily experience of many people, especially the young. Social networks are the result of human interaction, but for their part they also reshape the dynamics of communication which builds relationships: a considered understanding of this environment is therefore the prerequisite for a significant presence there .... "

 

Finally, what is Benedict XVI telling us Catholics to do with the Internet? He certainly isn't saying to dispel it as a cesspool of evil, rather:

 

".... In social networks, believers show their authenticity by sharing the profound source of their hope and joy: faith in the merciful and loving God revealed in Christ Jesus. This sharing consists not only in the explicit expression of their faith, but also in their witness, in the way in which they communicate “choices, preferences and judgements that are fully consistent with the Gospel, even when it is not spoken of specifically” (Message for the 2011 World Communications Day). A particularly significant way of offering such witness will be through a willingness to give oneself to others by patiently and respectfully engaging their questions and their doubts as they advance in their search for the truth and the meaning of human existence. The growing dialogue in social networks about faith and belief confirms the importance and relevance of religion in public debate and in the life of society ...."

 

This speaks for itself. Now what about the other guy? That 'modernist' Pope who just can't get a good day without some TBB site smearing him, Francis? Well, he himself is encouraging others to be concerned with applying the Gospel to other areas of society, including social Media. In his first ever speech which was given in FULL English, at the First Phillipine Conference of the New Evangelization, he said this:

 

"... Don’t get tired of bringing the mercy of the Father to the poor, the sick, the abandoned, the young people and families. Let Jesus be known in the world of politics, business, arts, science, technology and social media. Let the Holy Spirit renew the creation and bring forth justice and peace in the Philippines and in the great continent of Asia that is close to my heart ...." (Oct 18, 2013)

 

POPE FRANCIS IS TELLING US TO GET ON THE BANDWAGON AND EVANGELISE AND SHOW THE WORLD CHRIST VIA SOCIAL MEDIA!!!!!

 

Further, look at all the social media the Pope/Vatican has engaged in to reach our "wired" generation:

News Media site - www.news.va/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pontifex for the English, and for the Latin, https://twitter.com/Pontifex_ln !!!

Facebook: N/A? There are multiple groups and pages, though which one is "official" is uncertain.

Websites: (1) Vatican's official page: www.vatican.va/  (2) Pontifical Council of Social Communications for Youth - http://www.pope2you.net/

 

Now, what did he tell other young people to do? Make a mess/Noise/Lio's! It comes from this speech he gave at WYD RIO:

".... Let me tell you what I hope will be the outcome of World Youth Day: I hope there will be noise. Here there will be noise, I’m quite sure. Here in Rio there will be plenty of noise, no doubt about that. But I want you to make yourselves heard in your dioceses, I want the noise to go out, I want the Church to go out onto the streets, I want us to resist everything worldly, everything static, everything comfortable, everything to do with clericalism, everything that might make us closed in on ourselves. The parishes, the schools, the institutions are made for going out ... if they don’t, they become an NGO, and the Church cannot be an NGO. May the bishops and priests forgive me if some of you create a bit of confusion afterwards. That’s my advice. Thanks for whatever you can do ...."

 

Now, some of you might say, "Uh, Francis told you to resist the TV in resisting things closed in upon yourself." Yes he wants us to resist worldly things, but does he say to ban them from our homes and societies if they are neutral goods or instruments? NO! He is telling us to resist worldly temptations, but to PREACH THE GOSPEL and make ourselves heard! In today's world, the equivalent of the megaphone is: The Internet and mobile, Internet capable phones!!!

 

Personal Evangelization: Summing it up with my personal example: Youth Ministry

My third reason, which is personal, for not ditching the Facebook: By not using Facebook, we lose a critical means to evangelize to others, and more importantly, to help our fellow youth live a Life in Christ, when the secular world (also on the Internet) is with them. This includes it as originally intended: A means to connect and to communicate with another living being.  

 

How can I put this succinctly? Well I'll use a personal example in my life. I am now involved in youth ministry, in an active capacity. I currently at one of my parishes are part of a teen youth ministry, whereby our main means of communication with the youth, outside of Mass IF they come to church, or in school if you are a priest/teacher/volunteer/student teacher, is the internet, via a Facebook Group (as well as our online profiles for direct messages).

 

In fact, as a regular old lay guy, employed in a hospital, I am reduced in being able to reach out to the youth because I am not in a position to be in a school, without good reason (e.g. parent, sibling, attending a play open to the community). You can't just show up at a school by any means to say hello. Between enforcement of visitor policies, cameras, the sexual scandals that have rocked the church, an overall increase in legal enforcement against crimes committed by children, etc. basically, someone like me can't really do what we used to do to maintain relationships with young people. Schools, are also funny business, and might not want "outside interests" coming into "their territory" to promote things, unless it fits with their ideals, or isn't truly 100% Catholic/will get the Ministry of Education on their backs. Worse, the young people themselves are "wired" constantly to mobile phones that text and are hooked to internet and download with great speeds that weren't present in a little device even a few years ago, not to mention video games for both sexes (yes, there are girl gamers out there, and they all aren't stereotypical "geeks." They are normal teenagers, and it's possible they are doing it with their male and female friends, and even are playing games typically oriented towards males). So they are "plugged in" a lot, and between their homework and such, it's not like the past where everyone's out and about in the neighbourhood.

 

Therefore, Facebook serves as a means of communication and a lifeline to these young people, and a way to, like our Holy Fathers have said, be a part of the lives of youth in our world, and to evangelize and preach the Gospel.

 

For my ministry, we have a main Facebook page moderated by the Head Youth Minister of the parish. While I am a member of the page, I can post content, but everything is observed by the head minister and approved or not. Also, we both have online profiles specifically for this ministry, with myself taking the additional step of a second profile that is ONLY for the youth, and will only have content appropriate for youth ministry. I even tell them, "I won't accept friend requests under my first profile." They MUST friend the youth ministry profile. Not that I don't want them to see the real me and know me, but I did that because: other youth ministers in the parish were doing it; I saw it as a safeguard for the youth; it keeps everything in one spot instead of going between two profiles (for reference); it provides a written, online record of messages, and so there is no question as to what our communication is for.  

 

But more importantly, why I keep Facebook, is that the 2nd profile serves as a means to spread the Gospel of Christ, AND as a lifeline for them as a Brother of Christ. Say an emergency happens whereby a young person in my charge doesn't feel they can talk to a priest, a teacher, their parents, etc. and they need someone to talk to. Let's use the extreme example of a whole bunch of garbage happens in their life, and they want to commit suicide. They don't want to tell their parents what's happening out of guilt or chastisement, and well Father is not around or is going bring fire and brimstone on them with their problems (which may or may not be their fault). It's 7pm and school isn't open, so no teachers. They don't know what a crisis center is or Kids Help Phone. They are approaching a bridge/overpass where they can jump off. They are depressed and they are not thinking straight, coupled with their biology (specifically, their pre-adolescent brains that need to be further matured). Say I choose to buck Facebook cause it's evil, regardless of my ministry. Thinking there is no hope left and no one to talk to, one of my charges kill themselves. We now have another Amanda Todd, another teen suicide, another soul whose salvation we don't know where they will be ... and a whole lot of people left behind on Earth, wishing they had heard his/her cries for help or given them a means to do so. AND THAT INCLUDES ME. I will be forever wondering and blaming myself for not helping them. I could have been there!

 

Now same scenario, but they have me on Facebook with messaging capability. At the last second, they contact me because of all this and online chat happens. It's easy for them to whip off a message on their phones, and chat online (with an attitude of ``privacy`` a.k.a. "mom and dad aren't here so I can be comfortable to speak freely"). I drop what I'm doing, and despite the time spent, I am able to help the young person realize they are valuable, they are loved by Christ, and all of us here in their lives, and help them with the slew of stuff that is causing them to consider ending their life. THEY DESERVE THAT MESSAGE. They might even request police/ambulance, even myself to get them wherever they ended up. LIFE SAVED. SOUL SAVED. And this could open them in future to the Gospel of the Lord .... just from one message. ONE MESSAGE AT A NEEDED TIME. CHRIST WAS THERE FOR THEM. I WAS THERE FOR THEM.

 

Kay maybe my scenario is extreme, and perhaps in future it will be just a minor problem, or just listening to their lives that will need a message to me, but that`s part of youth ministry, and part of my role as a Catholic and my witness to my Lord`s Gospel. Yes it might not be the heavy stuff, but Facebook is one of those means to minister to the youth, those very youth that are at the heart and forefront of the Church`s concerns. And should that emergency happen .... I may be the last hand outstretched of Christ's to that young person, the one that saves them from forever turning away from Him. May it never come to that though.

 

BIG OLD SUMMARY!

 

So let me repeat my three central points why ditching Facebook, all social media, is not a choice I will make, nor I`d encourage:

1) This kind of radical reaction to cease such an item is one that is similar, or exactly like those of the radical traditionalists, giving a negative impression of those of Traditional Catholicism, and even could be extended to Catholics in general.

 

2)  Our Holy Father, Francis, is encouraging us to go out and Evangelize others and even uses social media himself to proclaim the Gospel and preach. Also, our Holy Father Emeritus, Benedict XVI, focused on the Internet as a new Frontier for Evangelization in his recent papacy.

 

3) By not using Facebook, we lose a critical means to evangelize to others, and more importantly, to help our fellow youth live a Life in Christ, when the secular world (also on the Internet) is with them. This includes it as originally intended: A means to connect and to communicate with another living being.  

 

Now, by no means am I validating Facebook as inherently good. It`s a tool that can be used for good, or for evil. It would be better if Zuckerberg and company, did not lace it with the heavy financial involvement it does now in its advertisments and stocks. It would be better if heavier monitoring of the tool for malicious/inflammatory statements against Catholics and immoral acts happened, but we are not Zuckerberg and company.

 

Further, I have not denied that each and every one of us using the tool, must conduct ourselves accordingly online. That includes US. Yes, us Catholic youth, and what we reveal, even to only our friends and family, in our messages and pictures.

 

However, to deny total usage of the tool altogether, will severely cut and restrict your means of evangelization of the Catholic faith to the youth and secular friends (Unless of course, you don't care to evangelize, and like to restrict your interactions to your circle of 100 people you relate to Mon-Sunday.). I can guarantee that just limiting that evangelization to our already youth-deprived Catholic parishes, and the schools, or the few young people in your families, will result in a miserable failure, and a Church closed in on itself.

 

Latin Mass Side note: I will also say, that this will have a blowback on your ability to evangelize and help others Come to Christ, especially if you are involved in the Latin Mass like me. Summorum Pontificum was a big help, but in total, we conservatives, and especially us Latin Massers, have been able to successfully make the Catholic public aware of the Latin Mass, as we have been using online social media, including Facebook and YouTube. That also includes getting people to come out to the Masses when they are held, instead of restricting it to the "already converted" or your Latin Mass/Traditional friends. Considering one Latin Mass can make an impact, or a few over a string of occasions, why are you NOT using Facebook to do that? In addition, the "liberals" did not pick up early on, as to another form of media to spread their "lukewarm Jesus" ways, so we got the upper hand early, and now look at what's happening? A recovery in the church of Tradition and "t"raditions. Plus don't you want traffic to your Catholic/Traditional blogs? Your Facebook page connected to your blog directs traffic to the blogs.

 

So while it's up to everyone of us to spiritually discern if Facebook is helping or hurting our spiritual progress and our ability to do the Work of the Lord, taking a violent reaction of rejection, does not seem reasonable. There is too much at stake with the younger generations today, to merit losing a vital tool to the New Evangelization.

 

And that's my take on this issue.

 

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian Barkin,

Young person making messes on Facebook and the Internet in his ministries, and with Servimus Unum Deum.

More Follow up to Stupid Trad Behaving Badly Criticism of Francis "Young unemployed and Lonely Old People" Comment

Hello Everyone,

FIRST, A CATECHESIS MOMENT:
The four greatest sins that one can make against the Heavens, that cries out for vengeance are:
(1) Willful murder (2) The Sin of Sodom (= homosexuality, despite what others say ...) (3) Oppression of the poor, and (4) Defrauding labourers of their wages.

The above relates to the content of this post.

This post will be covering # 3 and #4 in a sense, tying into the Francis interview in La Repubblica with an Italian Atheist, but also to show how foolish the TBB insults against the Pope's comment on the young and unemployed + lonely old people are, where are Holy Father should be placing any one of X moral issues, liturgical devastation, the Latin Mass etc. on the top of the list.

When I first heard the criticism of this, I was upset, and rightly so at those bloggers of the TBB atmosphere online, personally, and also at more "Pope bashing", a common activity of these TBBs.

Personally, I am upset at these bloggers, because, I am young, but I am underemployed, which to me, for my future, is just as bad as being unemployed. When I do marry and want to start a family, I know unless my wife chooses to work, or comes from unbridled wealth, I will not be able to afford living where I currently am in my area, near my family. Also, when I have children, besides my living expenses, I want their faith intact! This means first of all, a parish with orthodoxy in the Catholic Church, which is a rarity to find with Novus Ordo parishes, unless I have an EF parish nearby.

This will also mean an education that will not corrupt their minds and souls with government interference or "Jesus loves everyone" garbage, which is another increasingly rare occurrence. This limits me to two options: Homeschool, or Private Catholic schools/academies. Both options will be expensive, and to homeschool, that will mean one of us, the wife, or the husband, will have to give up a "normal" job to do so. I will also want them to not be a state of schism, and this will mean my children will NOT be going to an SSPX or other type of TBB school, not in communion with the Church. I heavily desire to AVOID the separate system in Ontario, unless it is our LAST, viable option, in which case both of us in our exhausted and stressful states will have to continually re-educate our kids every night after their daily dose of separate system "religious education."

So, how does what I say tie into the Pope's statement? Well, currently, my job does pays significantly better than minimal wage in our country. However, I know that I am not in the field I was trained for, one that pays a minimum of $30 starting CDN, and can go up to $38-39/hr with experience. This job is in short supply due to our selfish government and the recession back in 2010. Unless I can get a job of this quality, I will NOT be able to afford the salvation of my future children, and barely be able to support myself, and likely, not a marriage. To marry, it might require both of us have jobs, and this significantly will decrease the likelihood of your child maintaining the Catholic Faith after (or even before) high school, without HEAVY supplementation.

In addition, should we WANT that beautiful, orthodox worship with the reverent Novus Ordo or the Extraordinary Form, it WILL cost money. Those booklets, the choirmaster, stipends for the clergy(and maybe servers), choir materials, the altar cards, candles .... it all costs money! And many of the items fit for worship were destroyed in the great wreck-o-vation after Vatican II concluded by misguided or intentionally destructive liberal priests and laity in the "Spirit of Vatican II". So to restore it, IT COSTS MONEY. I covered this important fact in my two cents on the Pope's comment here. It was followed up by apologetics from a Traditionalist blogger, Kevin Tierney, here.

A couple of days ago, something popped up, courtesy of the almighty Father Z:
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2013/10/26-year-old-obamacare-has-raped-my-future/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wdtprs%2FDhFa+%28Fr.+Z%27s+Blog+-+What+Does+The+Prayer+Really+Say%3F%29

He passed on a link from another site, of an account of a young woman in the United States of America, currently suffering under the ultra-liberal reign of Anti-Catholic tyrant, President Obama.
Because of his "Obamacare" act he passed in the last couple of years, the sad effects are starting to unravel, including the impoverishment of the young, who DID get a solid education. Please read this young woman's account here, which I have re-pasted below. It`s that important to see what happens when the youth are under/un-employed with suitable paying work:

From Liberty News:

Obamacare Has “Raped My Future!” Says Underemployed College Grad in Viral Letter

Ashley Dionne is a 26 year-old college graduate who says her future has been “raped” by Obamacare, reports Campus Reform.

This University of Michigan alum shared her story of Obamacare sticker shock and outrage with radio host, Dennis Prager.  Here’s a copy of her open letter:

“My name is Ashley Dionne and I’m a 26-year-old recent graduate from Michigan.
The phony Obamacare signup poster boy made me want to send a message about how Obamacare is really affecting people.

I graduated from The University of Michigan in 2009. In my state, this used to mean something, but even with a bachelor’s I was told I was too educated and wouldn’t stay. I watched as kids with GEDs and high school diploma’s took the low-paying jobs for which I applied.

I went back to school and got a second degree and finally found work at a gym. I work nights and only get 32 hours a week for eight dollars an hour. I’m unable to find a second job at this time.

I have asthma, ulcers, and mild cerebral palsy. Obamacare takes my monthly rate from $75 a month for full coverage on my “Young Adult Plan,” to $319 a month. After $6,000 in deductibles, of course.

Liberals claimed this law would help the poor. I am the poor, the working poor, and I can’t afford to support myself, let alone older generations and people not willing to work at all.

This law has raped my future. It will keep me and kids my age from having a future at all.This is the real face of Obamacare and it isn’t pretty.” 

This isn’t the first time an American citizen has discovered the truth about Obamacare.  It will not be the last.

Hear that? Two degrees, only able to get part time work (Full time is 37.5 or 40 hrs a week depending on workplaces or countries/states/provinces) on unsociable shifts that decrease life expectancy, on top of her current health issues, and a high cost on a "young adult plan" to cover her health care needs. She might as well have not done degrees and been uneducated. She would have been better able to score those low-paying jobs. Cleary her higher education does not = good job.

Now that you've read the account, it's clear more and more, that the Pope is right in making the young and unemployed a vital concern of the Papacy or morally speaking. It clearly makes the heavens enraged under sins #3 and #4, and worse, by damming the prospects of the next generation, they will:

1) Not be able to support your generation or their parents when they need health care,
2) Aid in the push of another grave sin, euthanasia, as a morally depraved, but quick solution to rid the taxed economy and impoverished of the ``burden`` of those lonely old people,
3) Because my generation and the one below it will be struggling to provide even the most basic needs for our families, or ourselves, we might even forsake marrying and having a family, and increase the duration of mortal sins, like abortion, co-habitation, homosexuality, contraception, etc. and finally
4) Because you are so addicted to your EF liturgy, No money from the young people = NO LITURGY!

I think I and others have spoken enough on this matter. TBBs, curb your tongue at this one, as the fate of the EF is in the hands of the youth. If you slam the Pope on this one, you are slamming the younger generation. You are slamming the future of the EF, for when you and the older generations die off, it's either we pick up the financial tab, or no one does. Will you destroy one of the New Evangelization's greatest means of evangelization, in the EF, by making the financial future of my generation and under, less of a priority?

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian Barkin.