He's not just fiddlin' around...

I received this post from a friend this morning. It refers to the Papal Motu Proprio which has been given by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI which liberalizes the use of the Traditional Latin Mass. There are, unfortunately, those who still think that they can reject the direction of the Pope and still find themselves in union with Christ.

It is clear we must be humble before our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ. Part of this humility is the gift of piety, which, Holy Mother Church teaches us, we recieve in the Sacrament of Baptism. Why is it that we Christians at times reject this gift? Why can we not accept that Jesus, the Son of God, has established a Catholic Church for the sake of our salvation. In our modern world so many people think that they can come up with their own "Protestantized-Catholic-Faith." Some think they can pick and choose what they will be obedient to... could you imagine Jesus picking and choosing what He would be obedient to in the Garden of Gethsemane? "Hmm... I will save Fr. Schaffer, but that Tomas guy... forget it!" OUCH! I am glad he didn't pick and choose, but accepted in obedience that God the Father has a plan and that part of that plan is for us to die to our own desire for the sake of finding our greatest joy in God the Father's plan.

In the article on WDTPRS above, he speaks about those bishops who continue to reject the express wishes of St. Peter's Successor. Now, either we accept the Catholic Church or we make it in our own image. We have seen, at Eden, what happens when we make the world in our own image. Perhaps, some of our beloved bishops should be reminded of this fact. How can any of us - lay, religious, priest, or bishops - presume to reject the living Tradition of the Church & the Pope who is entrusted with the guidance of that Tradition? We must consider the state of our own souls. This is the point of my reflection today. If we feel that we can take any aspect of the Catholic faith, established by Jesus Christ and maintained by the Holy Spirit of God in the plan of God the Father, then let us reconsider whether we truly believe in God or not. Either we are Christians who believe in Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church he established or we are not and we may as well give up on being Christians, because we will face being "spewed out of the mouth" of Jesus (Rev. 3:16) because of our lukewarmness!!! Its that serious!

I am reminded of what one of my professors told me at University, "It is the parish priest who will face the Gates of Hell for the parish... not you!" This has brought me both comfort and sadness in understanding this notion. Fr. Darrell has a great weight to bear in guiding St. Jude. He deserves our respect and our prayers, even if we don't agree with Him. We have a right to expect that he justly seeks to serve Christ in all of his decisions, but if he doesn't have that as His goal then he will have to answer to the Divine Judge for his actions. This is the reason we should pray for Him to receive grace in his leadership of this parish. He alone will face those gates of hell for what he did or did not do. But, even each one of us for our own lives and what we did or did not do. Let no one of us think that by rejecting certain teachings of the Church we can draw closer to Christ, for he himself did not give this example or this teaching. Rather, he said, "He who is not willing to take up his cross and follow me daily is not worthy of me (Lk 14:27)."