The Church "on the margin of society"

"Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil."

These are extraordinary times in which we are living. And so I take an extraordinary measure and provide in full an article which I found posted at another site. In 1984 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger gave a series of interviews which became the book "The Ratzinger Report". The excerpt below is nothing short of prophetic. How many people in 1984 fully understood that "gay marriage" would become legal in many states? And Cardinal Ratzinger tells us that this is only the beginning. And it is only the Church which can save society and the world from falling deeper into this trap. But he warns that there are bishops in the Church that have fallen prey to this satanic plot.

This holy man will now retire and live a life of prayer. For me, he will always be my Holy Father.

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The Rupture between Sexuality and Marriage
Reflections on unnatural liberation

by JOSEPH CARDINAL RATZINGER

The issue is the rupture between sexuality and marriage. Separated from motherhood, sex has remained without a locus and has lost its point of reference: it is a kind of drifting mine, a problem and at the same time an omnipresent power.

After the separation between sexuality and motherhood was effected, sexuality was also separated from procreation. The movement, however, ended up going in an opposite direction: procreation without sexuality. Out of this follow the increasingly shocking medical-technical experiments so prevalent in our day where, precisely, procreation is independent of sexuality. Biological manipulation is striving to uncouple man from nature (the very existence of which is being disputed). There is an attempt to transform man, to manipulate him as one does every other "thing": he is nothing but a product planned according to one's pleasure.

At the end of this march to shatter fundamental, natural linkages (and not, as is said, only those that are cultural), there are unimaginable consequences which, however, derive from the very logic that lies at the base of a venture of this kind.

It logically follows from the consequences of a sexuality which is no longer linked to motherhood and to procreation that every form of sexuality is equivalent and therefore of equal worth. It is certainly not a matter of establishing or recommending a retrograde moralism, but one of lucidly drawing the consequences from the premises: it is, in fact, logical that pleasure, the libido of the individual, become the only possible point of reference of sex. No longer having an objective reason to justify it, sex seeks the subjective reason in the gratification of the desire, in the most "satisfying" answer for the individual, to the instincts no longer subject to rational restraints. Everyone is free to give to his personal libido the content considered suitable for himself.

Hence, it naturally follows that all forms of sexual gratification are transformed into the "rights" of the individual. Thus, to cite an especially current example, homosexuality becomes an inalienable right. (Given the aforementioned premises, how can one deny it?) On the contrary, its full recognition appears to be an aspect of human liberation.

There are, however, other consequences of this uprooting of the human person in the depth of his nature. Fecundity separated from marriage based on a lifelong fidelity turns from being a blessing (as it was understood in every culture) into its opposite: that is to say a threat to the free development of the "individual's right to happiness." Thus abortion, institutionalized, free and socially guaranteed, becomes another "right," another form of "liberation."

The now dominant mentality attacks the very foundations of the morality of the Church, which, as I have already said, if she remains true to herself, risks appearing like an anachronistic construct, a bothersome, alien body. Thus the moral theologians of the Western Hemisphere, in their efforts to still remain "credible" in our society, find themselves facing a difficult alternative: it seems to them that they must choose between opposing modern society and opposing the Magisterium. The number of those who prefer the latter type of opposition is larger or smaller depending on how the question is posed: consequently they set out on a search for theories and systems that allow compromises between Catholicism and current conceptions. But this growing difference between the Magisterium and the "new" moral theologies leads to unforeseeable consequences, also precisely for the reason that the Church with her schools and her hospitals still occupies an important social role (especially in America). Thus we stand before the difficult alternative: either the Church finds an understanding, a compromise with the values propounded by society which she wants to continue to serve, or she decides to remain faithful to her own values (and in the Church's view these are the values that protect man in his deepest needs) as the result of which she finds herself on the margin of society.

Thus today the sphere of moral theology has become the main locus of the tensions between Magisterium and theologians, especially because here the consequences are most immediately perceptible. I should like to cite some trends: at times premarital relations, at least under certain conditions, are justified. Masturbation is presented as a normal phenomenon of adolescence. Admission of remarried divorced couples to the sacraments is constantly demanded. Radical feminism — especially in some women's religious orders — also seems to be gaining ground noticeably in the Church (but we will speak about that later). Even as regards the question of homosexuality, attempts at its justification are in the making. Indeed, it has come to pass that bishops — on the basis of insufficient information or also because of a sense of guilt among Catholics toward an "oppressed minority" — have placed churches at the disposal of "gays" for their gatherings. Then there is the case of Humanae vitae, the encyclical of Paul VI, which reaffirmed the 'no' to contraceptives and which has not been understood. Instead it has been more or less openly rejected in broad ecclesial circles.

At first sight it seems that the demands of radical feminism in favor of a total equality between man and woman are extremely noble and, at any rate, perfectly reasonable. It also seems logical that the demand that women be allowed to enter all professions, excluding none, should transform itself within the Church into a demand for access also to the priesthood. To many, this demand for the ordination of women, this possibility of having Catholic priestesses, appears not only justified but obvious: a simple and inevitable adaptation of the Church to a new social situation that has come into being.

In reality this kind of "emancipation" of woman is in no way new. One forgets that in the ancient world all the religions also had priestesses. All except one: the Jewish. Christianity, here too following the "scandalous" original example of Jesus, opens a new situation to women; it accords them a position that represents a novelty with respect to Judaism. But of the latter he preserves the exclusively male priesthood. Evidently, Christian intuition understood that the question was not secondary, that to defend Scripture (which in neither the Old nor the New Testament knows women priests) signified once more to defend the human person, especially those of the female sex.

Against "trivialized" sex

But it is further necessary to get to the bottom of the demand that radical feminism draws from the widespread modern culture, namely, the "trivialization" of sexual specificity that makes every role interchangeable between man and woman. When we were speaking of the crisis of traditional morality, I indicated a series of fatal ruptures: that, for example, between sexuality and procreation. Detached from the bond with fecundity, sex no longer appears to be a determined characteristic, as a radical and pristine orientation of the person. Male? Female? They are questions that for some are now viewed as obsolete, senseless, if not racist. The answer of current conformism is foreseeable: "whether one is male or female has little interest for us, we are all simply humans." This, in reality, has grave consequences even if at first it appears very beautiful and generous. It signifies, in fact, that sexuality is no longer rooted in anthropology; it means that sex is viewed as a simple role, interchangeable at one's pleasure.

What follows with logical necessity is that the whole being and the whole activity of the human person are reduced to pure functionality, to the pure role: depending on the social context, for example, to the role of "consumer" or the role of "worker"; at any rate to something that does not directly regard the respective sex. It is not by chance that among the battles of "liberation" of our time there has also been that of escaping from the "slavery of nature," demanding the right to be male or female at one's will or pleasure, for example, through surgery, and demanding that the State record this autonomous will of the individual in its registry offices. Incidentally, one must realize that this so-called sex change alters nothing in the genetic constitution of the person involved. It is only an external artifact which resolves no problems but only constructs fictitious realities. Nor is it by chance that the laws immediately adapted themselves to such a demand. If everything is only a culturally and historically conditioned "role," and not a natural specificity inscribed in the depth of being, even motherhood is a mere accidental function. In fact, certain feminist circles consider it "unjust" that only the woman is forced to give birth and to suckle. And not only the law but science, too, offers a helping hand: by transforming a male into a female and vice-versa, as we have already seen, or by separating fecundity from sexuality with the purpose of making it possible to procreate at will, with the help of technical manipulations. Are we not, after all, all alike? So, if need be one also fights against nature's "inequity." But one cannot struggle against nature without undergoing the most devastating consequences. The sacrosanct equality between man and woman does not exclude, indeed it requires, diversity.

In defense of nature

The interchangeableness of the sexes, viewed as simple "roles" determined more by history than by nature, and the trivialization of male and female extend to the very idea of God and from there spread out to the whole religious reality.

Christianity is not "our" work; it is a Revelation; it is a message that has been consigned to us, and we have no right to reconstruct it as we like or choose. Consequently, we are not authorized to change the Our Father into an Our Mother: the symbolism employed by Jesus is irreversible; it is based on the same Man-God relationship that he came to reveal to us. Even less is it permissible to replace Christ with another figure. But what radical feminism — at times even that which asserts that it is based on Christianity — is not prepared to accept is precisely this: the exemplary, universal, unchangeable relationship between Christ and the Father.

I am, in fact, convinced that what feminism promotes in its radical form is no longer the Christianity that we know; it is another religion. But I am also convinced (we are beginning to see the deep reasons of the biblical position) that the Catholic Church and the Eastern Churches will defend their faith and their concept of the priesthood, thereby defending in reality both men and women in their totality as well as in their irreversible differentiation into male and female, hence in their irreducibility to simple function or role.

Besides what I shall never tire of repeating also applies here: for the Church the language of nature (in our case, two sexes complementary to each other yet quite distinct) is also the language of morality (man and woman called to equally noble destinies, both eternal, but different). It is precisely in the name of nature — it is known that Protestant tradition and, in its wake, that of the Enlightenment mistrust this concept — that the Church raises her voice against the temptation to project persons and their destiny according to mere human plans, to strip them of individuality and, in consequence, of dignity. To respect biology is to respect God himself, hence to safeguard his creatures.

Feminine radicalism announces a liberation that is a salvation different from, if not opposed to, the Christian conception. The men and above all the women who are experiencing the fruits of this presumed post-Christian salvation must realistically ask themselves if this really signifies an increase of happiness, a greater balance, a vital synthesis, richer than the one discarded because it was deemed to be obsolete.

It is precisely woman who is paying the greatest price. Motherhood and virginity (the two loftiest values in which she realizes her profoundest vocation) have become values that are in opposition to the dominant ones. Woman, who is creative in the truest sense of the word by giving life, does not "produce," however, in that technical sense which is the only one that is valued by a society more masculine than ever in its cult of efficiency. She is being convinced that the aim is to "liberate" her, "emancipate" her, by encouraging her to masculinize herself, thus bringing her into conformity with the culture of production and subjecting her to the control of the masculine society of technicians, of salesmen, of politicians who seek profit and power, organizing everything, marketing everything, instrumentalizing everything for their own ends. While asserting that sexual differentiation is in reality secondary (and, accordingly, denying the body itself as an incarnation of the spirit in a sexual being), woman is robbed not only of motherhood but also of the free choice of virginity. Yet, just as man cannot procreate without her, likewise he cannot be virgin save by "imitating" woman who, also in this way, has a surpassing value as "sign," as "example" for the other part of humanity.

-- Excerpted from The Ratzinger Report

Copyright 1985 Ignatius Press. All rights reserved.

Strong in faith, bold in hope and zealous in love

These are excerpts from the prayer of Pope Benedict XVI to Our Lady of Fatima on May 12, 2010. Notice that he consecrated the whole world to her as she requested.

Our Lady,
Mother of all men and women,
I come before you as a son
visiting his Mother,
and I do so in company
with a multitude of brothers and sisters.
As the Successor of Peter,
to whom was entrusted the mission
of presiding in the service
of charity in the Church of Christ
and of confirming all in faith and in hope,
I wish to present to your
Immaculate Heart
the joys and hopes
as well as the problems and sufferings
of each one of these sons and daughters of yours
who are gathered in the Cova di Iria
or who are praying with us from afar.

Mother most gentle,
you know each one by name,
you know each one’s face and personal history,
and you love them all
with maternal benevolence
that wells up from the very heart of Divine Love.
I entrust and consecrate them all to you,
Mary Most Holy,
Mother of God and our Mother.

I thank you, beloved Mother,
for the prayers and sacrifices
that the shepherd-children
of Fatima offered for the Pope,
led by the sentiments
that you inspired in them in the apparitions.
I also thank all those who,
every day,
pray for the Successor of Peter
and for his intentions,
that the Pope may be strong in faith,
bold in hope and zealous in love.

I am sure that the shepherd-children of Fatima,
Blessed Francisco and Jacinta
and the Servant of God Lucia of Jesus,
are united with us at this hour of prayer and jubilation.

The old is good

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new; for he says, "The old is good."
 -- Luke 5:37-39

The new wine is Christ. The new skin is the Catholic Church which Christ established with St. Peter as the first Pope.

Christ is speaking here of the new covenant with the people of God.

The wine is the blood of Christ. It is the new sacrifice -- the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

The temple in Jerusalem cannot hold the new wine of Christ. As He prophesied those who wished to turn the Messiah, the Son of God, into an earthly king of the Hebrew people ended up destroying both the Messiah and the Temple. Christ was crucified; the Temple was reduced to rubble.

And yet Christ concludes by saying "The old is good."

Christ does not destroy the old covenant but rather reveals its full truth and glory. He is both the new wine -- the Messiah -- and the old wine. How is this possible? Through the mystery of the Trinity -- the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

There is also a message here for the Church of today. Now, 2000 years after the birth of Christ, is not the time for a "new skin" -- a new Church. We have seen that whenever Christians attempt to create a new church as the Protestants did that confusion arises and eventually that new church crumbles.

Christ proclaims that "The old is good." The Catholic Church preserves the rich heritage of the Old Testament and the early Christians. Through the centuries the Holy Spirit has guided the Church and she has grown and matured.

This is our rich inheritance and we would be fools to toss this aside in favor of some worthless novelties.

As the Church prepares to select a new Pope, let us pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Now more than ever we need a Church that is rooted in tradition and which is unafraid to proclaim the full truth of the Gospel of Christ to the world.

And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

From the Vatican, 10 February 2013
BENEDICTUS PP XVI

The Liturgy -- Heaven on Earth

This is a preview of a DVD on the liturgy of the Catholic Church.



Blessed John Paul II is quoted in the DVD: “The mystery brought about in the Liturgy is truly great. It opens a glimpse of Heaven on earth,” I have felt this same way myself and I think that I have even expressed this thought in one of my articles in PublicVigil.

“Our celebration of the worship of God in this world is a preparation for the eternal celebration of God in heaven, which will never end.” This quote comes from Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect Emeritus of Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. This is another thought that I have had and it is wonderful to hear a high ranking Vatican official confirm this as official Church teaching.

I believe the Mass is intended to prepare us for entering into Heaven. As Catholics we are privileged to share in this act of preparation as we humbly receive the Eucharist. One day with the help of the Divine Mercy we will stand before the throne of God and sing with the choirs of angels as we receive the heavenly Eucharist.

I have not seen this DVD other than this preview, but I would recommend it regardless. And I think this would be a far better choice for Catechism of those preparing for First Communion than the DVD set produced by Father Robert Barron.

THIS is Catholicism! Catholicism begins and ends with the Liturgy of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And so it is fitting that this DVD which is part of a series should begin with the Liturgy.

There is more information and I believe it can be purchased here:
http://www.eukmamie.org/en/television/series/visible-invisible/1365-liturgy

There is an article in Zenit about this DVD here:
http://www.zenit.org/article-36407?l=english

I feel like a motherless child

When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. 
 -- John 19:26-27

More than ever we need Mother Mary's love to guide us through these turbulent times.

It used to be that the mother of the family was the one who kept the faith alive. Where were the fathers? They should have been the priest of the family church, but they had abandoned that role. And it was left to the mother to bring God into the home and to teach the children about the truths of the Church.

The great victory of the forces of evil in the 20th century was to pull the women over to their side. Whole generations were left without a protecting mother's embrace to shield them from the assaults of the diabolical forces that fought to conquer their souls. Daughters grew up not knowing how to be faith nurturing mothers that could keep their children's souls safe from harm.

The men had already been largely won over by Satan's demons long ago. The modern industrial world tore them from the cultivation of the soil and the husbandry of animals that helped to draw them closer to God. In those days men knew that their fate depended totally on God's mercy both physically and spiritually.

The modern man of the city was easily deceived into believing that he held his fate in his own hands. And he clung to this belief despite the frequent experience of failures. His was a foolish optimism. Even the ones who succeeded suffered illness, loss of loved ones and heartbreak proving that we are always at the mercy of God.

The child of today is a motherless child. And we even see that mothers are told that it is their right to kill the children that they have conceived.

I was reading St. Therese and she had obviously been troubled by the thought of the loss of so many souls because they had not experienced the saving grace of the Catholic Church. She was able to receive some comfort in her understanding that the "savages" who had never been exposed to Christ could still be led to God by the natural law.

O but we modern "savages" are determined to defy the natural law. I suppose that one can defy even the laws of nature for a limited period of time -- as if by jumping we could defeat gravity. But sooner or later we come crashing back down to earth.

We are falling fast now. It will take a host of angels and all the saints in heaven to save us from falling straight into the pit of Hell. God have mercy on us.

But we can always turn to our Mother in Heaven. There in her arms we can find the love and protection that we have been searching for. And she will take us by the hand and lead us to the Father -- the source of all wisdom and knowledge, and all truth and light.

On Mt. Carmel

"My horizon is expanding... my sky is all calm, all starry"

"God is very good to have taken me all for Himself and set me apart on the mountain of Carmel."

Letters from Carmel: 198 [April 9, 1904]

Blessed Elizabeth's cell

A straw mattress, a little chair, a board for a desk, and there you have the furnishings, but it is filled with God and I spend such wonderful hours there alone with the Bridegroom. For me, the cell is something sacred, it is His intimate sanctuary, just for Him and His little bride. We are so much "together," I am silent. I listen to Him... it is good to hear everything He has to say.

Letters from Carmel: 168 [June 29, 1903]