Skip to main content

Undermining of St. John Paul II’s Legacy”?

From a Catholic Website:

"....numerous statements and programs from the Vatican demonstrate the expression of excessive anger at St. John Paul II’s remarkable legacy and prophetic writings. The new light shed upon Our Lord’s plan for marriage and sexuality, so badly needed in our time, has been very beneficial to Catholic youth, marriages, families, educators as well as the priesthood and the episcopacy over the past 35 years. It has begun to have a noticeable and constructive effect upon marriage preparation and the priestly vocation. Attempts at undermining St. John Paul II’s legacy are, therefore, almost inexplicable" (my emphasis).


And:  

"As we follow the continuous succession of ambiguous statements from the Vatican, it’s troubling to see the obvious anger expressed toward St. John Paul II and his teaching. This anger is not expressed in a clear and direct manner, but rather in an anger of the passive-aggressive type, i.e., anger expressed in a covert or masked way. This anger has been manifested primarily by ignoring his work, much as a spouse expresses anger in marriage by the silent treatment." 


Now, for the legacy of Pope St. JPII the Great's teachings on marriage and the family:

According to research by the Barna Group, Catholics had one of the lowest incidences of divorce, with 28 percent having been divorced out of 875 interviewed. The Gospel Coalition noted that there is a somewhat significant difference between those who are actively practicing Catholics and those who consider themselves nominally Catholic. (No surprise here, given JPII's legacy-italics mine) The coalition found that nominal Catholics are five percent less likely to divorce than non-religious persons, while Catholics who are actively practicing in their parishes are 31 percent less likely to get divorced than non-religious persons.

But I must take issue with the following: "
Attempts at undermining St. John Paul II’s legacy are, therefore, almost inexplicable." No, there is an explanation, offered by Pope Blessed Paul VI:

"
We have the impression that through some cracks in the wall the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God: it is doubt, uncertainty, questioning, dissatisfaction, confrontation. And how did this come about? We will confide to you the thought that may be, we ourselves admit in free discussion, that may be unfounded, and that is that there has been a power, an adversary power. Let us call him by his name: the devil..... Don't be surprised at Our answer and don't write it off as simplistic or even superstitious: one of the Church's greatest needs is to be defended against the evil we call the Devil..... This matter of the Devil and of the influence he can exert on individuals as well as on communities, entire societies or events, is a very important chapter of Catholic doctrine which should be studied again, although it is given little attention today."

As we know, Our Lord when he commissioned Peter “the rock” upon which He would build his Church, also said that the gates of Hell would not prevail against it. He never said Hell would not try to prevail. In St. John’s gospel, Jesus calls Satan “ruler of this world,”  teaching that the salvation he would bring us as God’s gift involved the destruction of Satan’s power in this world. Just before His passion, Jesus told the apostles that an eternal fire awaited Satan and his angels. Sacred Scripture teaches that The Prince of Darkness will be allowed by God to test us for a time, but in the end will be “thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”  Thus, in Catholic teaching, the reality of spiritual warfare, though often dismissed, is something the Church Militant here on earth must be prepared for. It is in this light that we must view the questioning, dissatisfaction and eventual confrontation  that stem from the continuous succession of ambiguous statements from the Vatican, it’s troubling to see the obvious anger expressed toward St. John Paul II and his teaching. 

I suggest that whenever one feels that certain events seem inexplicable, remember that although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries - of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature- to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but "we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him." (Rom 8:28.)


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

This video of a young boy twerking at Pride has homophobes outraged | Gay Star News

DANCING WITH MR. D:   This video of a young boy twerking at Pride has homophobes outraged | Gay Star News : 'via Blog this'

Snakes Return to the Emerald Isle

As a history teacher I am fond of pointing out to my classes examples of how the Evil One working with his compatriots have attempted to drive Catholicism from the public sphere and out of existence altogether. The Body of Christ is still here, but that doesn't mean that the historically ignorant will not continue trying. Catholics have Our Lord’s promise that the gates of Hell will not prevail over the Church. But the hellish gates always want another crack at the Church. Let’s start with the Roman Empire - not content with the crucifixion of Christ, they persecuted and killed his disciples for hundreds of years. Emperors came and went and all sorts of policies and goals changed but one thing they all had in common was that they all seemed to think killing and persecuting Catholics was a good thing. The more the Church was persecuted, the more people wanted to know what the Church was about. The blood of the martyrs was seed for the faith. As the saying goes, if y...

Dancing With Mr. D: Grooming the Little Children

A former pro-transgender activist said she regretted her previous work in pro-transgender activism, adding she felt she was "indoctrinated" on gender ideology in an interview with  Fox News Digital.  "I started to realize that what I had been doing at my job at the LGBT Center, it was grooming," Kay Yang, a former employee of a location in New York, said. Grooming in this context means "to get into readiness for a specific objective." Kay works as a 'deprogrammer' to help parents and children who have been 'indoctrinated' by the 'cult-like' transgender agenda. Yang herself previously went by they/them and worked as a 'trans educator' in schools for years.  Listen to her testimony.    

Thou Shalt Not Spin

Ruminating on excerpts from John Allen’s one year review of the pontificate of Pope Francis (in red): Many Points of Praise for Pope’s First Year By  John L. Allen Jr. GLOBE STAFF   MARCH 12, 2014 ….In the year since, Pope Francis has electrified the world with his taste for the improbable: his spurning of the papal apartment, his resolutely informal personal style, his startling words, such as his instantly immortal “Who am I to judge?” line on gays. Quite right! Who are we to judge anyone? He’s popular at the Catholic grass roots and may be the most celebrated pontiff ever in non-Catholic venues, and even some secular circles where criticism of the papacy is much more common than praise. I rejoice at this, and pray that the world will listen to all of Francis, even the hard sayings…. Symbolically, Francis, 77, has changed the narrative about Catholicism. Substantively, he has taken bold steps toward reform and reoriented the church toward the political an...

Truth Always Seeks Its Revenge

Homosexuality ‘Natural’? Studies Prove Otherwise : 'via Blog this'

Are You Headed to Heaven or Hell?

While I think I would need some Purgation if I died today, here is an important question as boomers get up there in age: How can spiritual direction help you on the road to heaven? To answer this question, be sure to register for  our webinar  “ Understanding Spiritual Direction: Finding a Director and Thriving in the Relationship ,” scheduled for September 14, 2015. Read more:  http://www.spiritualdirection.com/2015/09/07/are-you-headed-to-heaven-or-hell#ixzz3l3ujESca Spiritualdirection.com | Catholic Spiritual Direction | Are You Headed to Heaven or Hell? - SpiritualDirection.com Catholic Spiritual Direction : 'via Blog this'

Tolkein, Paul VI, and the Devil

In 1941, Tolkien wrote a masterful letter to his son Michael, dealing with marriage and the realities of human sexuality. The letter reflects Tolkien's Christian worldview and his deep love for his sons, and at the same time, also acknowledges the powerful dangers inherent in unbridled sexuality. From the letter: This is a fallen world…. the dislocation of sex-instinct is one of the chief symptoms of the Fall. The world has been 'going to the bad' all down the ages. The various social forms shift, and each new mode has its special dangers: but the 'hard spirit of concupiscence' has walked down every street, and sat leering in every house, since Adam fell….The devil is endlessly ingenious, and sex is his favorite subject. He is as good every bit at catching you through generous romantic or tender motives, as through baser or more animal ones.  Tolkien advised his young son that the sexual fantasies of the 20th century were demonic lies, intended to ensnare u...
George Weigel has just published a proposed blueprint for  the “New Evangelization,” entitled Evangelical Catholicism which, to the extent that it is read will greatly amplify the New Evangelization, i.e., t he Church’s duty   everywhere and at all times  to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was Pope Paul VI   who in Evangelii Nuntiandi observed that the work of evangelization was so necessary because of the de- Christianization of the twilight year of the 20 th century. Pope Montini noted the multitudes of baptized Catholics living lives that did not distinguish them all that much from those ignorant of the Gospel; also those who, while ignorant of the full gospel, nevertheless had faith and lived according to the natural moral law, and Catholics who desired a more heartfelt relationship with Jesus Christ not given emphasis in the catechesis they received as children. His successor Pope John Paul II said that his predecessor’s use of “New Evangelizati...

Francis: Liberal Catholic? Conservative Catholic? or Roman Catholic?

Fr. Richard McBrien But I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh, as babes in Christ.   I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not ready for it; and even yet you are not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving like ordinary men? For when one says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not merely men?      -1 Corinthians 3; 1-4                                                                                                                     IN THE SMOKE OF SATAN, I WROTE: "Lest we forget...