Sunday, 26 October 2014
Viewpoint from one of my Aussie readers to all of us..
In the face of famine-like spiritual conditions presently endured by so many throughout so much of Christ’s church it is very easy to pray for those priests, bishops and cardinals whose theology and practice are sound, all too easily forgetting or even dismissing the notion of praying for those prelates whose theology and practice is revolutionary, post-modern, liberal. Nonetheless, it is the latter group for whom it is essential to pray. The truth of such prayer is vividly illustrated in an an encounter I experienced On SS Peter and Paul day some months ago. I happened to be in a large city attending the FSSP TLM. Needing the sacrament of confession, I took my place in the queue prior to mass. Upon entering the booth, I heard a voice unfamiliar to me, not this congregation’s usual confessor nor his assistant, but an older man with a pronounced ‘accah’ Australian accent. I confessed and then let it out a bit (due to the shenanigans in our diocese), things about struggling with the concept of love that has been so distorted etc. to wit I mentioned our bishop. Now, to my surprise, it turns out that this Fr came up with him through the ranks and knows him. What is more, he used to think just like him and believe fully in ‘the revolutionary church’ with all that this entales. But somewhere along the way, someone would have prayed for this courageous Fr. likely over a long period of time and eventually, he saw the light, came across to the FSSP, and is now a hermit for them who assists with confessions on feast-days when attendances are greater. He gave me a summmation of our bishop and told me to listen to Garrrigou- Lagrange. Now, if the likes of this Fr. can be so utterly and completely transformed, so can Cardinal Kaspar, who is of their vintage; the ‘before and after’ vintage. We need to pray more fervently for those priests that are endangering themselves and their flocks for it is easy to sledge them and become angry, all too easy. As you so rightly say, if we’re not praying for them, what chance do they have? If St. Paul could turn to the truth, and the Fr. I have mentioned above then how much more for those souls who have allowed themselves to become entranced by the spirit of the age ; what a marvelous witness for Christ would it be; Kaspar offering a TLM (or even AO), being re-captivated by Christ’s glory, set aflame for truth by Our Lady queen of the Priesthood, and bearing our Lord or Lady into the streets in procession, either in Rome or better still in Germany, saying no to German money on German terms for churches etc, truly kicking the Teutonic luxuries once and for all and opting for the whole truth, which is love, pure and simple.