As I read this post by Fr. Stephen this morning, I found it to be very moving and a beautiful reminder as to how our Lord truly is the Head of the Church, His bride. The Night Before Christmas comes to mind and heart within me. With Fr. Stephens approval, here are a few of his thoughts…
FEEL FREE TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS!
For the benefit of those who haven’t followed me, here is JUST THREE of my posts or comments about the connection between VCII and AL and the movement of the Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit: we know over the centuries the Holy Spirit has always brought His Church through dark times to the truth. E.G. Centuries of heresies, some saturating, about the divinity and humanity of Christ. But the Holy Spirit will always expose error and lead us to the truth. So let me start with a simple example. I love Pope Benedict. But when Benedict was Pope, few among the average worldwide Catholics knew that several of Benedict’s fellow German bishops had heretical beliefs. He surely didn’t expose them. He retires and Francis calls this Synod which exposed Kasper et al and their false beliefs. Remember Kasper et al wanted their teaching extended to homosexual relationships. Francis wouldn’t touch that but we see the same false teaching of Kasper et al applied to these relationships and this problem is now getting a lot of attention. So the Synod and AL is exposing a lot of false teaching and teachers. Now I do not know whether this was Francis’ intent, but it is the intent and work of the Holy Spirit to expose false teaching and purge His Church of it. The problems we see now go deeper than the issue of marriage and sins against it. This is about the heresies around mortal sin and conscience… The Fundamental Option and relativistic heresies of consequentialism and proportionalism which go back prior to VCII. Prior to the council though they were hidden within the Church as were the false teachers. Many criticize the council for what it caused, but what it caused was this boil which had been growing under the skin for years to rise above the surface to be lanced. We saw the puss and the smell post VCII. Much was confronted by JPII (his encyclicals) but during his and Benedicts’ reigns many of the heretics went on the lay low, but this issue of what is mortal sin, the conscience, its relationship to confession and marriage has never gone away. It was the root issue around the backlash against HV and it is the root issue now. So I feel that this heresy of the fundamental option is being exposed again by the Holy Spirit so everyone can see who believes it and who adheres to true Catholic teaching so it can finally be put to rest. Bottom line, you know and I know, that one unrepented mortal sin can cost us our salvation. Kasper, McElroy, Cupich and many others don’t seem to believe that. They seem to believe in the fundamental option. This has been going on for 50 plus years. I believe this will be the final exposition of this heresy and the final rejection of it. This may not be Francis’ intent but it is the intent of the Holy Spirit. This fight has been needed for decades and I have been itching for it since I have been a priest because 50 years ago the FO caused me to walk away from my Faith. Today, We are slowly but surely seeing where everyone stands. That is always the second step of the Holy Spirit. Expose the false teachers. Many have taught against these heresies (1st move of the Holy Spirit), but few have exposed the heretics (2nd move) . They are being exposed now. The third step of the Holy Spirit will be the cleansing.
Here is what happened after VCII and seems like it is happening here.
1st we need to understand that there are bishops and priests who are going to disobey Church teaching regardless of how clear it is. When this happens after Councils ( VCII) or in this case, a document, AL, those who desire obedience will often point to the Council or document as faulty. Fact is, the fault is in the heart of the disobedient. The fact that the disobedient are now being exposed is the work of the Holy Spirit. And the disobedient is neither the Pope or the Cardinals of the Dubia. The disobedient are shepherds like Kasper, McElroy and others who are using this as an opportunity to justify their disobedience…allowing anyone in good conscience to receive communion in spite of sexual intimacy.
Have you read the 16 documents of VCII? Where is there ambiguity? Give me one example. I will give you an example to make my point about disobedience in spite of truth. Read the document on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium! You will see what the Council intended and what the libs did were two disparate things. The craziness that came out after VCII existed in the Church prior to VCII. VCII was a movement of the Holy Spirit to lance a boil that had grown so the puss could be released and cleaned up. It takes 50 to 100 years for the fruits of a council to be seen in its fullest. The heresies that existed prior to VCII that came to the light after still exist. Now we know who are pushing these heresies. Let me give you another example of the movement of the Holy Spirit more recently (and I am really tired of stating this for the outsiders to my page). Few average Catholics under Benedict (and I love Benedict) knew that many of his fellow German bishops were pushing heresy. Benedict didn’t expose them. But the Synod exposed them. Remember Kasper and the boys wanted to give gays the right to have sex and still receive communion (see elsewhere on my page). Now we know who the good guys are and who is bogus. The boil grew back because the heretics went underground during JPII’s papacy. (Remember Kasper is a product of JPII). The boil is being lanced again. I believe this could be the final battle to deal with the “fundamental option” heresy that has lingered going back pre VCII. This heresy is at the core of everything we are seeing now and was at the core of the backlash after HV and VCII.Here is a 4th comment…
As I have said often, the Holy Spirit is moving in His Church. Now Francis may not be intentional in this movement but he is the Pope so he has to be a part of it. So I posit!
If the Pope is perfectly clear (as was JPII and Benedict), the disobedient false teachers would go on the lay low and continue doing what they have been doing! Causing division through disobedience. The Holy Father remains vague and everyone has to vocalize their interpretation of AL thus exposing what they believe…truth or heresy. I have been clear about this! Few knew that Kasper et al was a heretic under his fellow German Pope, Benedict. Everyone knows now. JPII taught the truth but elevated Kasper and Cupich to bishops. See my comment above about the 3movements of the Holy Spirit. – Fr. Stephen Imbarrato
Peg Pondering Again 